The moon shone brightly overhead, illuminating the river below and the rocky shoreline beside it. It was nearly full, and it cast an eerie glow down on the landscape below. In a few days time, it would reach its fullest size, and it would signal a time of peace—but tonight was not that time. The surrounding forest was quiet, aside from the chirping of crickets and the occasional croak of a frog, but there were creatures moving silently forward.

As though they were otters, a group of cats dove into the river from the shore opposite the rocks. They were silent as they swam across. From across the river, glowing eyes watched from behind the thick undergrowth. The second group was anticipating their arrival.

Then, as if on a silent signal, the river cats leaped from the water, and the forest cats raced out from their hiding. The tranquil air was suddenly split with screeches and yowls as the two groups met.

A massive tabby towered above all others, and in a heartbeat, his furious amber eyes became fixed on one of the wet river cats. "Oakheart!" he roared. The mighty tom charged forward, and leaped for the enemy. "How dare you trespass on Sunningrocks! These stones belong to ThunderClan!"

The soaked cat easily dodged the oncoming attack and landed a swipe of his own across the tabby's shoulders. "After tonight, Tigerclaw, they will belong to RiverClan, as they rightfully should!"

Tigerclaw hissed with rage as scored his claws down Oakheart's flank. "This will be the last time you try to steal our land, fish-face!"

Oakheart growled as Tigerclaw's claws ripped open his flesh, but he struck back again, and sliced through the ThunderClan warrior's nose. "I'm only taking back what has been stolen from RiverClan, squirrel-chaser!"

Tigerclaw spat as blood spurted from his split nose, and he shook his head. He braced himself to attack again, but a startled yelp stalled him.

"Look out! More RiverClan warriors coming!"

At the cat's desperate warning, more sleek-furred warriors jumped from the water. Tigerclaw only snarled. "You cannot win!"

"ThunderClan!" the voice of another warrior rang out. "We must retreat! Fall back!"

Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes and turned away to face his own Clan. A massive gray tom stood atop a flat stone. "Retreat!" he repeated. "Back to camp!"

"Thistlestar!" Tigerclaw protested. "We must fight them! We can easily win!"

Thistlestar shook his head. "I loathe these wetpaws as much as you, Tigerclaw, but they will get theirs in time. Back to camp. Now." His eyes burned with rage at the all-too-fast defeat.

Tigerclaw snarled wordlessly before he looked back to Oakheart. The RiverClan warrior grinned, before he threw back his head to let out a victorious caterwaul. In turn, each of his warriors followed suit, and the clearing was filled with the cries.

Rage burning deep in his chest, Tigerclaw turned away. This battle was lost.

…

When RiverClan returned home, their Clan was jovial. Though it was late, all were awake, and they tossed fat fish to one another to celebrate their victory.

Oakheart nudged the large tabby beside him. "Cheer up!" he purred. "We finally gave Thistlestar a taste of his own medicine! He won't be scrounging around here for land for at least another moon."

His companion sighed. "But then what, Oakheart?" He stared down at the carp at his paws, uneaten. "How many more battles must we fight against Thistlestar and his cats? That tom is hungry for RiverClan blood, and he has been such since he was a young warrior. It won't be long before they have more strong warriors and attack in full force."

"Crookedstar, you think too much," Oakheart chuckled, nudging the tom again. "Eat! This is a sign good as any that RiverClan is stronger than ever. Sunningrocks is finally ours again, which just means more hunting grounds for us."

Crookedstar glanced at the warrior, tired smile as lopsided as the twisted jaw he was named for. "I suppose you're right," he sighed. "This is a great victory for us." He gave Oakheart a grateful nod. "Thanks to your leadership in it, that is."

Oakheart puffed out his chest. Despite being a senior warrior in his Clan, he still kept the energy and charisma of a young cat. "Our warriors are strong," he said. "This victory can only boost their spirits and make them stronger."

Crookedstar nodded, but gave no reply. My clan is still struggling, regardless, he thought. Thistlestar is relentless. RiverClan needs more young warriors if it is to survive.

"Crookedstar, I need to speak with you."

The light tabby turned to face a thick-furred brown tom. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, though his expression was guarded.

Crookedstar nodded. "Of course, Mudfur." He glanced at his deputy. "Feel free to eat my fish."

Oakheart swiped his tongue over his lips. "My pleasure."

Mudfur led his leader a bit sways from the rest of the clan, towards a secluded reedbed. "I have seen a sign from StarClan."

Crookedstar's eyes widened. Let this be another blessing for the Clan, please! "What did you see, Mudfur?"

"I am sorry I did not share sooner," the medicine cat meowed. "But as the sun was setting, I gazed out upon the river. Suddenly, a flash of red and orange scorched across the surface of the river, brighter than any reflection of the sunset I have ever seen." He closed his eyes, silent for a moment. "Fire will scorch through the shadows of the forest, then cleanse with water's gentle flow."

Crookedstar blinked. "What in StarClan's name does that mean?"

Mudfur shook his head. "I do not know yet," he admitted. "But I believe it is important we remember this. I will think on this more, Crookedstar."

Puzzled, the leader only nodded. "Of course. Thank you."

As his medicine cat turned away, Crookedstar gazed up at the night sky. StarClan, what do you mean? He wondered. Is this a good sign, or a warning?

The stars offered no answer.

That's right - Fire and Water (formerly known as Blazing) is back! If you've been following the story on tumblr, that's old news, but if not... hopefully this is exciting for you! And if you're new to the story, welcome! This is a story that's been years in the making (I just checked - the first chapter originally came out in 2016... phew!), and there's been many changes to my own writing and the plot, characters, and world of this story since. I decided to rewrite Blazing a couple years ago when I hit a roadblock in the second book. It wasn't going quite where I wanted, and my plans for the later arcs just weren't coming together. Some of the changes were inspired by other rewrite stories that started coming out (particularly Warriors Redux on tumblr, who introduced me to the idea of traditional naming, and the concept that I could change worldbuilding if I felt like it), and I decided to go back to the drawing board and start fresh. Much of the story has already been written, so updates will be frequent for quite a while.

So here we are, three years after the first posting of this story. There are a considerable amount of changes to the story, so if you're an old reader, things might be different. The worldbuilding of Warriors has been somewhat altered. Most notably, this story uses a naming system, which serves to give actual meanings to the names cats have. This means some of the characters you know may have different names. There are some minor changes to the code, to the lore, and to politics - but everything important will be addressed and touched on throughout the story. And if you're interested in getting into more detail, I have a blog for the story on tumblr - warriorsfireandwater - where you can also read the story, see posts that get into greater detail about the lore, and ask questions/share theories/etc!

I hope you enjoy the new (and hopefully improved) Warriors: Fire and Water!