Hello. This was originally my (Sky'sFire - formerly Poppystream) idea. I decided to re-write it with Mormeril (formerly Aduial Rana, but that was several months ago, people just know me as Mormeril now). But don't worry - it still has all of the original characters!

Mormeril: And new characters, too!

Sky'sFire: Well, DUH!

Mormeril: 1: Stop using caps lock all the time, seriously. 2: Just saying!

Sky'sFire: 1: Make me! 2: I realize that. Now, start the story!

Mormeril: *grumbles under breath*

Tree-tops and Earth-dwellers: The Journey

Prologue

Meadow stalked forward, her eyes narrowed. Her attention was fixed entirely on a tiny creature scuffling among the leaves not three tail lengths ahead of her. Her muscles suddenly tensed, and she kicked up off the ground.

Meadow's paws landed directly on the mouse, crushing it. She killed it with a swift bite to the back of the neck. She picked it up gently between her jaws, trying not to make it bleed. Meadow then padded through a thickly packed bush, growling under her breath as she lost a few strands of blue fur.

Leaving the bush behind her, Meadow broke into a run, her paws barely making any noise as they flew over the ground. She loved the feeling of the fresh air blasting into her face, and she started to run faster.

Her run was cut short when a dark shape suddenly hurled itself out of the bushes and onto her path. Meadow crashed into the strange cat at full pelt, unable to slow down in time. Her mouse flew from her jaws, flying through the air and landing in a bush out of sight. Meadow untangled herself from the other cat, and leaped backward as its horribly familiar scent flooded her nose.

Earth-dweller! The words shrieked in her head, and her fur was suddenly fluffed out with anger. She barely registered the fact that she was in unfamiliar territory. Territory that had tunnels snaking beneath the earth, stretching out farther than Meadow had ever ventured in her life.

The Earth-dweller had a similar reaction. He narrowed his amber eyes at her, baring a set of very long, very sharp teeth.

It was at that moment that Meadow became aware of where she was. Her stomach twisted into fearful knots. How had she not noticed how far she had gone? Wandering into Earth-dweller territory was one of the worst things a Tree-top could do. She took a step back, noticing with a flash of despair that there were suddenly multiple pairs of eyes staring out of the bushes at her.

Uh-oh.

The brown tabby tom was sunning himself happily on rocks near a river. It was a beautiful day, nice and warm, with a fresh breeze. The sun was shining brightly amongst the numerous clouds in the sky.

He was debating whether or not he should go hunt when an odd scent stuck him. Tree-top! He tried unsuccessfully to leap to his paws, the effort resulting in him dumping himself in the river. Mouse-dung! he snarled at himself in annoyance.

He hauled himself slowly out of the river, which took much longer than it should have, except for that he kept slipping back in.

He ended up running as quickly as possible straight into a tree, nearly knocking himself out. He shook his head, then ran again, somewhat more carefully, hoping he wouldn't slip on rocks or trip. Luckily, he didn't.

Another scent struck him, and he skidded to a halt just in time to avoid running into his friend Night.

"Hey Night, do you know where the trespasser is?" he asked.

"Yeah," Night meowed, gazing at something in front of him. "Right here." There was a small blue furred she-cat crouched in front of him. She was glaring at the cats around her.

"Oh," was all that Brann meowed in response. He quickly crouched and tried to look as threatening and menacing as he possibly could, but all it did was make him look like an idiot. "Rawr!" he meowed at the she-cat. "Get off of our territory, Tree-brain!"

"It's Tree-top, you Earth-dweller fool!" The she-cat

"Oh, uh, yeah, Tree-top! That's what I meant!" he meowed quickly, ducking his head and shuffling his paws. He wouldn't have been surprised if the she-cat rolled her eyes at him. He had a feeling that most of the Earth-dwellers there were upset about him.

"Yeah? Well get it right next time, you mouse-brain!" The she-cat retorted. Night rolled his eyes at his friend. "Brann, just shut up."

Brann didn't respond, but kept his head down. He wished that he was more intelligent. He knew that he was the laughing stock of the Earth-dwellers, especially since he would sometimes rather stupidly let his pacifism show.

Eventually, he raised his head again and bared his teeth, trying to look menacing, even though he knew he probably just looked like a total idiot.

Meadow stared at Brann. He looked like a total idiot. Her whiskers twitched, and she tried not to let a snort of laughter escape. She rose up from her crouch, baring her teeth and letting an angry snarl tear itself out of her throat. She took a step toward Brann.

Brann leaped back, fear creeping into his amber eyes as she stepped towards him. His pelt began to fluff up in his terror.

Night intercepted Meadow, growling. "Back off," he snarled.

Meadow turned to him. She knew she was badly outnumbered. Her only chance was escape. So that's what she did. Turning, she darted back the way she came, leaving Night and Brann behind her. She was almost certain that one of them would give chase, but she didn't look back.

She darted through unfamiliar land, weaving skillfully around the trees and undergrowth. Only when she was certain that she had left the Earth-dwellers behind did she slow her pace, and then eventually stopped completely.

Panting, Meadow flopped onto her side, trying to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, and slowly her rapidly pounding heart slowed.

Laying there on the grass, surrounded by trees, Meadow began to drift in and out of consciousness. Then a distant voice called out her name, breaking the pleasant silence. Meadow shuffled to her paws, feeling groggy and sleepy.

Her eyes focused on a gray and black blurred shape. She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision.

The black and gray shape became her brother, Smoke. She blinked at her brother. "Smoke?" She meowed, bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

Her brother rolled his amber eyes at her. "Hunting. What does it look like?" He padded over to her, and dropped the mouse that he had been carrying. "Wanna share?" He asked suddenly.

Meadow's stomach growled. Smoke's whiskers twitched in amusement. "I'll take that as a yes," he meowed. Meadow was to focused to the warm-smelling mouse to respond to her brother's teasing. She practically pounced on the prey, and started gulping down huge mouthfuls. Before she knew it, the entire thing was gone, and she was licking her lips in satisfaction.

"Hey! I said share, you mouse-brain!" Smoke growled in mock-anger. Meadow looked up at him and purred, "Oops. I guess you'll just have to catch another."

"Oh, no. I'm not. You can catch me my meal, since you refused to share." Smoke meowed, his tail twitching. Meadow casually licked her paw. "Me? I think you're mistaken. I don't catch food for others." She then started to groom her pelt.

Smoke narrowed his eyes, starting to get truly annoyed. "Look, Meadow. I didn't have to share that mouse with you in the first place. It's only fair that you should-" He was cut off by distant, furious yowling.

Heartbeats later, several cats raced into the clearing, their fur bristling and their lips drawn back into fearsome snarls. The black furred Earth-dweller tom was in the lead.

A golden and light brown tabby she-cat with blue-green eyes raced to find her friends. She was a Tree-tops she-cat, and she had caught the scent of Earth-dwellers on the Tree-tops territory. She paused for a moment, and scented the air. Meadow and Smoke weren't very far off.

She started to run again, and soon saw them. The Earth-dwellers were right in front of them.

"Meadow! Smoke!" she yowled, racing over to them.

Smoke's head snapped around to look at her, his amber eyes wide. "Laurel!" Meadow glared at the Earth-dwellers, not taking her gaze away from the black-furred tom.

"I scented Earth-dwellers; looks like you guys found them." Laurel's eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at the Earth-dwellers. "Do you need held dealing with the dirt-pelts?"

Meadow unsheathed her claws. "Sure. These cowards don't know how to fight anyway, just run away and hide in the dirt." At her words, the Earth-dweller tom, Night, glared at her furiously, taking a step forward.

Laurel mrrowed with laughter at her friend's words, then narrowed her eyes as Night stepped forward. "Get out of here, dirt-pelt. This is tree-top territory."

Another Earth-dweller tom, glanced at Night. "Let's listen to her and just get out of here, Night. Its not worth it," he muttered.

Laurel's ear twitched. "Yes, Night. Listen to your reasonable friend."

Night's eyes narrowed, and he growled deep in his throat. "Why should we leave? We're as entitled to be here as the Tree-brains are."

Laurel's claws unsheathed and she crouched down, taking a step forward aggressively. "You most certainly are not!" she hissed. "This is Tree-top territory. You are Earth-dwellers, dirt-pelt. Get out. Now."

Meadow growled in agreement, and Smoke nodded. Night's reaction was to crouch down also, hissing in fury. "I'll make you change your mind," he spat, about to spring.

Laurel hissed furiously and leaped at him, claws unsheathed.

Night responded instantly, also leaping. Meadow and Smoke crouched, ready for battle.

Laurel sank her claws into his shoulders as they met in mid air, her teeth latched onto him, sinking into the place where his neck and shoulder met.

Night hissed in pain and in rage, clawing randomly at her. He caught her in a vicious blow to her flank. Smoke stiffened as he watched, and Meadow hurled herself into the two-cat battle, ripping Night away from her friend.

Laurel screeched as fur and flesh were ripped away from her flank, making blood well and flow freely from the open wound. She hissed as Meadow tore him away from her, and she charged at the two, determined to pay Night back in kind.

Night faced the two angry she-cats bravely, hissing and rearing up on his hind legs, lashing out at them as they approached.

"Get out of our territory now, dirt-pelt. Or else," Laurel hissed as she reared, paws striking his chest and knocking him over backwards, pinning him down with Meadow's help. Her bright blue-green eyes were as vicious and angry as her tone of voice.

Night hissed and writhed, but he couldn't escape. "Well, you flea-pelts, you'll have to let me get up." He snarled at them after struggling some more. Meadow flattened her ears to her head, bristling at the insult. "Shut up!" She snarled, extending her claws against his throat.

Laurel nodded. "But you will have to leave immediately after we let you up, or else we will kill you," she hissed, ears flattened against her skull in her fury.

Night nodded. But Meadow had a different thought in mind. "Why should we him go?" She hissed to Laurel. "We should just kill him right now!" She dug her claws into his flesh, and fresh blood welled around the new wounds.

Laurel shook her head. "What honour is there in pure viciousness? Mercy is honour. We are better than they are because of it. Do you really want to sink to their level, Meadow?" she asked her friend, sheathing her claws and stepping back, her head dipping respectfully as she moved to stand by Smoke.

Meadow continued to glare into her enemy's eyes, fury rolling off of her in waves, so strong that Night could actually feel them. He felt a flash of fear. What if this cat actually killed him? She looked angry enough to do it. Eventually, Meadow sheathed her claws and stepped away as well, but her eyes were still murderously angry. She turned raced across the clearing, disappearing into the bracken, not bothering to even look at Laurel and Smoke. Night watched her go, eyes narrowed.

"We have shown you mercy, Earth-dwellers. I expect you to do the honourable thing and do the same. Go back to your home and leave us," Laurel told Night, her eyes serious, although not narrowed. She touched her tail to Smoke's flank and walked away calmly, not looking back.

Smoke followed her, looking back at the Earth-dwellers as he went. Eventually, Night turned and padded back to his own cats, pushing past them and out of sight. They soon followed, casting uneasy glances at where the Tree-tops had disappeared, as if they thought their enemies would come racing after them.

Laurel sighed and turned to look at Smoke. "Why would they enter our territory like that, for no reason? It makes no sense."

Smoke opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off again, this time by his sister, as she emerged from the bushes. "It was my fault. I accidentally trespassed into theirs, first." Her blue eyes were still glowing with anger, but it didn't show in her voice.

"Why would you do that, Meadow?" asked Laurel, eyes widened in horror.

"It wasn't on purpose. I was hunting, and I guess I got lost." Meadow shrugged, as if it didn't matter. Smoke narrowed his eyes at his sister, and growled, "That was an irresponsible thing to do. You should be more careful."

Laurel stepped between the two. "It doesn't matter, what's done is done. They're gone now. We all have to be careful. Now come on, let's head back to camp."

Meadow gave her friend a long look, and then sighed in agreement. She had had enough of adventure for today. But something told her today was only the beginning.