Mormeril: Why are there no reviews? *glares*

Sky'sFire: Yeah! Why, people? Don't you like us? :(

Mormeril: In the meantime, please read this. And review. And vote on our poll on whether or not we should wright a comical LOTR fanfic. What the heck. If you don't care enough to review, like you'll bother voting. But please do. *puss in boots face*

Chapter 1

Nalya sat in a tree, gazing down at the Earth-Dwellers' camp. The idiot mousebrains had trespassed on the territory of the Tree-tops. She mrrowed with laughter as they argued about whether or not the Tree-brains' would attack them. She then hopped to a branch on another tree, showering them with pine-needles and leaves. One of them, a tom whose name she believed was Night, looked up, and their eyes met.

Foxdung! She began to scramble from branch to branch, then suddenly, she was running through the air above a clearing where Night just happened to have followed her to. Great Spirits!

She landed on all four paws and bolted, hearing his angry yowls following her, growing closer to her as she ran.

"Hey! You! Stop!" Night snarled loudly after Nalya. As he got close, he snapped his sharp teeth at her tail.

She shrieked in fear and ran faster, blood pounding in her ears in her terror. She saw a tree and began to climb as quickly as she could, claws scraping at the wood.

Night snarled, skidding to a stop at the base of the tree. His blue eyes blazed angrily.

"What? Can't even drag me down from the tree, Earth-dweller? I am only a few inches away from you," she taunted, scrambling a little higher, her gray tabby tail waving tauntingly.

Night's tail fluffed out. "I'm not afraid to climb up there, you know," he growled, and suddenly shot up the tree at a speed that was shocking for a cat that lives in the earth. He stopped when he was one branch lower than Nalya. He batted at her tail, claws unsheathed.

Nalya hissed at him and shot up higher. "Too high for you yet, dirt-face?" she taunted.

"No way!" Night spat, lunging after her, sending leaves and bark showering down. He clawed his way up, slipping once and dangled in mid-air, before recovering and with a fierce snarl, shot up until he was on the same branch as Nalya.

Nalya mrrowed with laughter again and raced up further. "I had no clue that your kind could climb, Night!" she meowed, clearly impressed.

Night froze. "You know my name?" He growled, eyes widening.

She purred. "Yeah, I've been watching you for ages now. Ever since you entered Tree-top territory. But don't worry, I'm just a rogue, not a 'Tree-brain' as you call them."

Night's eyes widened even more, and then narrowed. "Watching me, hmm?" He echoed. "What about those Tree-tops? Do you watch them, too?" He asked, mind straying to a certain small blue Tree-tops she-cat. What had her name been? His thoughts were reflected in his eyes.

She shrugged slightly. "I just watch whatever happens to interest me. I assume you haven't heard of the Mountain Cats before. I've watched them, too. Then I got bored and wandered here. You two are very interesting. Tree-tops and Earth-dwellers, the mortal enemies who are constantly fighting. Never have I seen anything quite so fascinating as two groups such as yours entirely at war with each other." Her amber eyes flickered and gleamed with interest and amusement. "I find it amusing to watch others." Her lips twitched slightly.

Night blinked. "There's a story behind the Tree-tops and Earth-dwellers you know. We're not just two random groups of cats fighting over territory."

"Oh, is there now?" she mewed, sounding interested. "Tell me. I'm curious now. If you want, we can get out of this tree to help you feel more comfortable," she meowed, turning the last part of her comment into a taunt.

Night's eyes flared up indignantly. "No, I'm perfectly comfortable here," he growled. Then he looked up at the sky, and started his story. "It all started with four groups of wild cats, known as 'Clans'. They were ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan. Each Clan had their own territory, prey, and living styles. They lived fairly peacefully for moons and moons, following the code their warrior ancestors set down for them. These ancestors called themselves 'StarClan'." Night paused, and then continued, "But then, the Dark Forest – the place where evil cats go when they die – started to get hungry for vengeance on StarClan, so they started training cats from the four Clans. There was a big battle between StarClan cats and Dark Forest cats, and many lives were ended. The Clans disbanded, the surviving cats scattering, turning rogue. But some cats refused to turn away from StarClan. They banded together, trying to contact their ancestors, with no success." Night took another breath. "At the same time, Dark Forest followers also banded together, enemies of StarClan. The two groups fled their current home, looking for a new home, hoping to restart what they had lost. But the two groups constantly clashed, and they became eternal enemies." Night stopped.

"And here we are. Earth-dwellers, we're supposedly 'Dark Forest' followers, while the Tree-tops are StarClan believers. But neither of us have heard anything from our 'ancestors' since the day the original Clans were lost." Night sighed. "It's in my blood to hate Tree-tops, because my ancestors did." He shook his head, and then licked his chest fur.

Nalya's head tilted. "It's interesting to hear that story from the perspective of one of the descendants of the original Tree-tops and Earth-dwellers," she mewed. "It gave me a whole new way of looking at that story."

Night blinked. "You've heard our story before? Where?" His hostility had all but disappeared, but he was still wary.

"My father," she replied, wondering where to begin about her father. She hoped he wouldn't ask.

"Your father? Who was he?" Night asked, thinking about his own father, and then shaking the thoughts away angrily. His father was a traitor.

"He was a halfling. Half Tree-top, half Earth-dweller. So I guess you could call him a Tree-dweller or Earth-top." She purred in amusement at her amalgamation of the two titles. Her eyes then grew serious as she remembered the story her father had once told her.

"His mother was a Tree-top, and his father an Earth-dweller. Yet they somehow fell in love, despite the hatred. The Tree-tops were somewhat more accepting than the Earth-dwellers were about this. They invited him to join them, but he refused, as the Earth-dwellers had forbidden him from being with her, and threatened to kill them both if he left. Yet they remained in love. His mother eventually began to expect kits. The Earth-dwellers were furious when they found out who the father was, as it was the Earth-dweller she loved. The Tree-tops were sorrowful, as they knew it could only end in tragedy. And they were right."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "The Earth-dwellers began to form a plot to kill her. The day the kits were going to be born, she snuck out to find her mate. She was halfway to the border when the kits began to arrive. The Earth-dweller tom who was her mate found her and helped her. All five kits were safe and healthy. Then the other Earth-dwellers arrived. They began to attack, but the she-cat's sister had been watching and alerted the other Tree-tops. There was a massive battle, and the Earth-dweller tom and the Tree-top she-cat were both killed. The kits survived though, all five of them. Two toms and three she-cats. The two groups began to argue, but eventually agreed to divide up the kits and raise them in safety. Each would get a tom and a she-cat. The extra she-cat went with the Tree-tops, for the Tree-tops were more accepting But they hated the Earth-dwellers for the tragedy that they had caused due to their hatred. My father was the tom that went with the Tree-tops. He eventually left, not feeling like he belonged there. Apparently one of his sisters has taken a Tree-top mate and has a few healthy kits. The other sister that went with him has no mate and likes solitude. She is supposedly slightly insane due to her heritage." She sighed. "I don't know about the two kits who went with the Earth-dwellers, though." She then remained silent after finishing her story.

Night blinked. "I see," was all he said. "My own father was a Tree-top, my mother an Earth-dweller." He meowed. "My mother was always treated a bit different though, almost as if she wasn't completely..." then a thought occurred to Night, and he stopped, eyes growing very wide.

Nalya's head tilted curiously. "What is it?" she asked, curious and confused. Then she understood slightly. "Wait, do you think that your mother is..?" Her eyes were wide in wonder and curiosity, shining brightly.

"Maybe. It could be because she was a halfling herself," he meowed, throwing a meaningful glance at Nalya, "or because she took a Tree-top mate. Or both."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Did they know who her mate was?" Nalya asked. Her ear flicked in curiosity, her eyes still bright and gleaming with her desire to know.

"Just some cat from the Tree-tops," Night responded. "Nothing special."

"Hmm...," Nalya growled slightly, unsure of what to say in response. "Well, if you don't mind, I think that I'll be going now," she meowed after a moment, standing and turning to leap off of the branch to the ground.

Night blinked, shocked at himself. Had he really just had a conversation with this intruder like she was one of his friends? He shook himself, and then looked around, realizing, too late, that Nalya had already jumped off of the branch. He looked down just in time to watch her vanish into the undergrowth. He shook his head slowly and jumped down, first intending to follow her. Then he thought better of it, and turned away to go home.

Nalya smirked as she glanced back at the Earth-dweller who was leaving. She had cleverly avoided capture and being killed by conversing with the irritating tom. She was rather pleased with herself. Her tail flicked in contentment. She was free to go where she pleased once again.

And yet, she had the strange feeling that she would be meeting the Earth-dweller tom again soon. She shrugged; like it mattered. She was all alone again for now, which she liked. She then charged off into nowhere.

Three reviews or no more for you! ~Mormeril