Prelude

  For as long as the deaths of Wisteria, Pebble and Shredder, it felt like a curse was placed onto the Fire Colony. It was one of despair and every Fire Colony cat knew the source of it. The Web Colony had put this heavy feeling of impending doom on everyone’s shoulders. At any time they could strike and the Fire Colony cats still had no clue what their intentions were or how this all started. The Clover Colony had clued the Fire Colony in on some things, but the Fire Colony knew practically nothing otherwise.

  Perhaps with so much lacking information, things were hopeless. No solution in sight and things would only worsen. The last battle left them with wounded cats, yet they still believed themselves lucky nothing more happened.

  Despite the tragedies, some cats kept their heads held high. The Fire Colony had to bounce back, their resilience was their whole origin after all.

  When Tinder began assigning patrols, their commoners were happy to oblige in this duty. And so we follow today’s patrol; Chickadee, Millie, Wasp and Rose.

  Millie stopped at the border, giving it a tentative sniff. Like they’d all thought, the Web Colony was taking more of the Fire Colony’s territory. But why? They’d tried to back off when told the Web Colony was defending itself…

  As the group traversed the border, wind carried with it the scent of the Web Colony, stronger than the border itself. The Fire Colony patrol was quick to fix itself into a defensive position. This time they were matched in numbers.

  “Halt! Away from the border, Fire scum,” snarled the leader of the patrol.

  Wasp was the one to stand up, his voice hardened. “This is rightfully our border. We aren’t afraid to drive you away.” He faced Rose, quick to give his nephew a signal to get help. The leader of the Web Colony patrol caught on and did the same, but it didn’t seem to daunt Wasp as he looked back.

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  The Fire Colony’s camp was quiet as cats shared their meals. With their territory steadily decreasing, it got increasingly more and more difficult to keep everyone fed. But appetites faded anyway as Rose came into camp calling for back-up. Pressed for context, Rose said that the Web Colony may’ve been planning for back-up too. The Fire Colony knew how high the Web Colony’s numbers were, it meant they needed everyone they could get in this fight.

  For Tinder, giving orders to their friends and family was heart-wrenching. Tinder hated to practically sacrifice their whole colony, yet stay at base themself. They feared leaving the Fire Colony with no leader and no successor. And their numbers had already shrunk, leaving only a pawful of cats able to fight. What would Tinder do if the Web Colony reached the Fire Colony’s camp, if they were raided?

  Their eyes grew weary as they watched their own children. Sending everyone off alone didn’t feel right, and thinking about it, they didn’t know how this fight would go. The Fire Colony was so vulnerable at this point and only a few more hits would mean the end of the Fire Colony. If this could be the Fire Colony’s last breath, then perhaps Tinder needed to go to lead their colony when it mattered most.

  So they gave their orders: Tinder would lead the Fire Colony out with a march to defend their remaining territory, while two messengers were sent to get the support of the Fire Colony’s allies, the Lake Colony and the Frost Colony.

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  Lune leaped up onto the cliff of the Web Colony’s camp, where she’d give her orders. She and Spider had just gotten news of the fight by the Fire Colony, and it was likely those fighting would be exhausted by now. But the Web Colony wouldn’t let up now that they’d caught the Fire Colony by their border.

  “Cats of the Web Colony! It’s come to our attention that there’s just been a border confrontation between us and the Fire Colony.” The white molly gave a quick glance to a few cats in particular. “Alouette, Ember, Thrasher, I call upon you three to send an urgent message to our allies. The Cavern Colony, Clover Colony, and Hill Colony must join us in this fight if we hope to finally extinguish the indifference and cruelty that lies by our border. Though this means we’ll be missing numbers in our initial joining of the fight, if we persist long enough, our success will be guaranteed.”

  “We must gain the upper paw in this battle. Let us win in the name of justice!”

  Lune dipped her head to the rest of the colony before stepping down, the breath she’d held onto finally escaping. She had to keep strong and lead the Web Colony properly if they wanted to win this. Despite trying not to underestimate the Fire Colony, she knew the Web Colony had this. She doubted the Fire Colony was willing to call upon their allies yet, if they had any. After all, for all they knew, the Web Colony was just getting started.

  Paws light as she pushed herself through the crowd, Lune’s voice rung strongly throughout camp with her commands. She only stopped as a familiar white pelt brushed up against her, Aurora.

  “Lune, we have to talk-” Aurora quietly urged.

  But what was there to talk about now? They had to go if they wanted to protect the Web Colony cats already fighting. Lune lowered her ears sympathetically. “It’ll have to wait, Aurora.”

  Reluctantly, she’d catch up to the patrol and take lead, just casting a grim look toward her Overlord before doing so.