Journey to the Trinity Tree

Envy knew it was a mistake to go exploring.

It was a risk, and an unnecessary one at that. The golden she-cat hadn't thought much of it at the time, assuming that there wouldn't be anything that dangerous by the tree. That was her first mistake. It was careless on her part, to go out simply believing that the army of decay would not be able to get this close. They'd launched a surprise scouting party on them after all. When that happened, that should have been her first clue that everything was not as safe as they were led to believe. The strange call attempting to lure them away (and that succeeded in luring many of their fellow champions away) should have been her second clue.

And yet, here she was, staring down a contingent of the decaying army that had stepped out of the shadows like bad omens. This was what she got for trying to learn more information about the goddess by exploring in the tunnels of the tree.

Pride wouldn't have had this problem. Pride wouldn't have gone out in the first place. He would have sent someone else out to explore, but he never would have left the confines of the city and would have given some excuse that would have made others go so far as to agree with his decision, insisting he not come along for whatever half-witted lie he fed them. Lust wouldn't have left either; Envy was sure the goody-two-shoes would still have been in the garden, tending to others' plants and fixing the mistakes of those like Envy herself, who couldn't be bothered to do it correctly. The only one Envy could say would have gone out was the black and white she-cat, Gluttony, and this situation wouldn't even be an issue for her, because she was a fighter. Envy, on the other hand, was a diplomat (and expert at blackmailing). She could fight, certainly, but not well enough to fight against an army.

And that was what they were currently staring in the face.

"I'm out of here," she muttered to herself, spinning on her paws and sprinting back the way she came. Her heart pounded and her legs ached as she ran; this was just a sign to Envy that she needed to do so more often. Lungs heaving for air, she began to yowl as loudly as she could, "They're here! The army is here!" Her voice echoed almost teasingly in the tree, bouncing about with no sign of actually reaching anyone's ears.

And of course Envy made the mistake of looking back. She wanted to know if she'd put sufficient distance between herself and the surprise attack, and in the process, tripped over a stray pebble, falling onto her face. To make matters worse, she had not put nearly as much distance between her and the enemy as she'd hoped to; at least one of the beasts had followed her, and Envy had no clue how to go about handling it.

"Dung beetles," she hissed, clambering to her feet as the creature approached. "Fine! You want to fight? Let's fight." This would at least give Envy a chance to get up close and personal while learning their weaknesses (or, more accurately, testing the weaknesses she had perceived from scouting out the scouting party during their attack). She just prayed she would be quick enough (maybe she ought to have taken Gluttony up on that offer to practice fighting a few weeks ago, but Envy hadn't liked the look in Gluttony's red eyes, and besides, she hadn't thought she'd be fighting a creature like this in such close quarters back then), that she wouldn't get too much of the disgusting mud it oozed on her fur (she'd seen with the champions who'd actually fought how it dried and caked on their fur, and it looked like an absolute nightmare to clean), and that none of its friends would join the fight.

That wasn't asking too much, was it?

---

Kina quickly found that sticking around to help this god was nothing like sticking around to help the goddess in the the other tree. There, it felt like there was a strict schedule, as if everything was preordained and there were rules to be followed about where they could and could not go. They were given tasks, and then they might have the chance to roam freely, but even then there were unspoken rules about what they could and could not do. Here, there was none of that.

Despite his speech, the god contained in the gnarled, almost decrepit tree was not the same commanding presence. Kina got the sense that he hadn't really expected them to stay around, and was simply trying to lessen the army against him. But the champions had rallied around him and were determined to help ensure balance was in place, and Kina was right there with them.

Cole had been very quiet since they arrived, but that was nothing new. Still, she got the sense that he was a bit conflicted, but since he didn't say anything about it, she didn't either. She didn't want to push her nose where it didn't belong. Unlike everyone else, the gray lion had approached the creature that was falling apart, examining it and the plants curled around it. As she passed him by to examine the pile of supplies, she swore she heard Cole mumble, "Balance." He was obviously deep in thought, contemplating something. She had noticed he seemed hesitant after the god's first speech, and perhaps whatever he was noticing about the rotting, falling apart soldier had opened up his eyes to something. She was sure if it was important, he'd tell her, or at least try to (and she would help him figure out how to get the words out). For now, she'd leave him be.

Instead, she turned her attention to the pile of old objects and artifacts, sniffing through to see what it contained. There were plenty of bizarre items, some weapons and others more unexpected, like half of a torn flag. Still, Kina believed there had to be something helpful contained within the pile, something to help them in the upcoming battle. So, she would search alongside the other champions who had come over to look and would see if any of the weapons could help her in the fight, or if any of the other items could be utilized in a more unconventional way when the battle finally came around.

Whatever happened, Kina would throw her all into fighting if it meant ensuring that balance was kept, and that death would not be completely upturned. If it was, then what would the point of the ancestors be? What would happen in fights? There were so many questions that Kina had in relation to that concept, but she pushed them aside. Right now, she just needed to make sure she was prepared.