Journey to the Trinity Tree

The army of decay was large and intimidating; there was no denying that. However, that did not make the army of life any less formidable. Envy watched in silence as the battle broke out, for once not sure which way the tide would turn. If it were just the champions against the beasts of wood and ooze, the monsters that reeked of the stench of death like you would not believe, the golden she-cat would have been confident that the battle would be an easy victory for the goddess and her summoned champions. Despite their numbers, the creatures were slow and dim-witted due to being puppets under the control of some other being, and defeating them was even easier for the citizens and champions Envy had managed to share the weaknesses she observed in the scouting mission (and tested during that sneak attack) with. No, it was those creatures' attacks paired with those of the champions that had switched sides that was really proving to be a problem. That really bolstered the numbers of the decaying army, and everyone seemed hesitant to attack those they knew, no matter which side they were on.

That thought made Envy's nose wrinkle in disgust. How foolish. In war, there was no time to think of anyone you knew being on the other side. In war, the enemy was the enemy, plain and simple, and if you did not attack them, they would attack you. You couldn't trust even those that you already knew. It didn't matter what kind of war you were fighting: verbal, physical, emotional, or other; you always had to be prepared to strike first and strike hard. No matter who the enemy was, you could not be weak and you could not show mercy.

It was a dance, a game of give and take. At least in physical war, the choices you made had obvious consequences, and it was much easier to see what you were doing. In her verbal sparring, Envy had quickly learned that it is not always easy to tell what the ebb and flow of words did. Sometimes, it was easy to see when you won and when you lost, but more often than not, it was hard to tell who came out victorious, and the victory really came through in how you used the conversation to your advantage moving forward.

All of those lessons had really hit home in her personal war against Pride, a constant challenging of his control to see what he would do next, and if she could overtake the control he had worked so hard to do. She didn't actually want to become leader; that was too much work when she could just as easily reap the benefits of being considered powerful and important while doing relatively nothing except continuing to dig up dark secrets that most would rather see buried six feet under. But the golden she-cat couldn't resist troubling the leader of the cats in the Depths, liking the way he squirmed as he wriggled his way out of whatever traps Envy laid to try and expose him.

It was quite the game of wits, and it was very refreshing to play with a worthy opponent. That was much more fun than fighting mindless beasts and champions who were too weak to fight against their enemies. At least the citizens of the city beneath the tree, for the most part, had the right idea, not hesitating to fight against the champions that were meant to fight beside them.

"Not today," Envy growled as she noticed one of the soldiers of decay circling beneath her, an ugly noise exiting its mouth and its wooden limbs creaking as it began to try and climb up the tree she was seated in. Turning her attention from the fight, she gave an irritated hiss, swiping at its face and growling as her claws came away with the disgusting, muddy ooze clinging to them. "Gods, it's absolutely vile. Can't you just go away so we don't have to do this?"

Sadly, if the creature understood anything she said, it didn't intend to anything about it, just adjusting its grip and trying to reclaim the progress it'd made up the tree before she slashed at its face. Envy hissed against, claws digging into the tree branch as she considered the best way to get it down the tree and away from here. "Don't you have better things to do? Like try to get at the tree that actually matters to you in this fight instead of trying to climb the one that doesn't matter with a cat that isn't even trying to fight in it?" It wasn't her most artful speech, but no one was around to hear except for this beast, which obviously did not care for the finer points of the art of speaking, and Envy was too annoyed to sound pretty. Once again, it kept steadily climbing up the tree, and the golden she-cat gave a resigned sigh, casting one last glance to the battle field before slamming her claws into its eyes.

It gave an absolutely guttural cry as it fell, and Envy prepared to launch herself down on it, golden eyes glinting.

As the battle began, Kina hesitated for only a moment before throwing herself into the fray. She had not gotten to know many of the citizens of the city or the other champions, and now, that worked in her favor. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she pushed through the battle, fighting alongside the monsters she had fought so tirelessly in that first battle.

The black and brown lioness was on the offensive, which worked for her impulsive nature. She did not have time to think about how to block; all that mattered was disabling her opponents (not killing them, because she could not bring herself to strike the final blow against those they now fought, unlike the creatures she now fought alongside, whose eyes looked so lifeless).