It was warm, as it always seemed to be, inside the small two-leg den. Warm, and quiet, aside from the sounds of the streets below. A small, dark gray cat sat upon the windowsill, her dark blue eyes scanning the various two-legs and their odd creations below. Her tail tip twitched as she stared down, eyes narrowed and ears flat. Despite the loud noises that came up from those streets, she would much rather be out there than in here.

She had only been in this new den about a moon, yet she had already seen its entirety. The one she had been in as a young kit had been much bigger. The memories were hazy, but she knew it had had two levels, an odd hill leading from one to the other, which her mother had told her were called stairs. There had been many rooms, on both levels, and even an underground area. This new den, although it was many levels, was only a small area. It seemed that the den was split into many smaller dens, and this one only had about four rooms.

As her gaze scanned over the streets below, she caught sight of something, her ears perking up as it came into view. It was a small figure compared to that of the strange two-leg creatures and tall two-leg dens, though it was clear what it was. A cat. She tilted her head as she watched them, sitting up to try and get a better look at them as they slinked into an alley, their black and white pelt seeming to meld into the shadows. Her ears lowered in disappointment as they disappeared, having hoped to see something more interesting. Her mother had told her stories of the streets. Not many, and not often, but from the sounds of it they were exciting. Dangerous, but exciting. She knew she had to be out there.

Her tail flicked at the thought as she stood, stretching. Then, there was a sound from the entrance to the den, and she lowered herself into a half crouch as it opened. In came the ever excited two-leg kit, screeching as it usually did when it entered into the den, followed by its mother, who looked tired as usual. As the kit ran towards her, she leapt from her spot by the window and ran to a place the kit could not reach her, much to its disappointment. She looked after it, eyes narrowed. She had to get out of here. Soon.


A few days had passed since she had seen that cat outside, and she had been trying to think of a way out. The entrance to the den wasn't an option. Even if she were to make it past the two-legs, she wouldn't know where to go after that, so they would definitely catch her. The only thing she could think of was through the window, which seemed to lead out onto a set of stairs. She knew that these windows could be opened, she just needed to wait until it was.

Today was that day. The sun had only just risen, though it was hard to tell with all the other tall two-leg dens surrounding this one. The two-leg mother had opened the window to let out smoke that had filled the room after a loud beeping. While the two-leg was distracted, she made her way towards the window as carefully as she could, making sure to stay hidden as she went. When she was close enough, she leapt onto the window sill, turning to make sure that the two-leg was still busy, before leaping out onto the strange platform at the top of the stairs. There were small holes in it's cold, hard surface, looking down at the other levels and then finally the streets. Her ears perked up, the sounds far clearer and louder than they had been within the den. She flattened them to try and block out the noise, flinching at its intensity. The scents were strange and powerful, and she screwed up her nose.

Letting out a breath, she took a step towards the stairs, standing at their edge in hesitation. Then there was a shout from the window and her ears flew up in alarm. It was now or never. She shot one last side glance at the two-leg before beginning her descent, the two-leg calling after her. It felt strange going down these stairs, the small holes showing the frightening distance to the ground below, unlike the solid, wooden ones of her old den. A shiver went up her spine at the thought of falling, but she kept going, ignoring the sounds from behind her as the two-leg called out.

All her attention was focused on making her way to the bottom of the stairs. She blocked out the sounds of the city as best she could, though loud honks and shouts would startle her on occasion. It seemed to be taking forever to reach the ground, and she was starting to feel dizzy. She shook her head. No, she had to make it. She was almost there.

She paused, eyes wide as she glanced around. She was close to the ground now, but the stairs seemed to have cut off just before they connected with it. She made her way towards the edge of the platform, looking down to the ground below. It wasn't a long fall, but the landing would definitely hurt a bit. Not enough to cause injury, though. She tensed, readying herself for the leap. Taking in a deep breath, eyes fixed on the ground, focusing on where she wanted to land, she made the jump.

About a second passed before she hit the ground, wincing as she made contact, but she had landed just fine. Shaking her head, she cast her gaze back up towards the two-leg den, then let out a deep breath. Her escape had lasted only about a minute, but it had felt like a lifetime. She did it. She was out. A smile spread across her face, her ears perking up in excitement. 'I actually did it!' She thought, her tail lashing with pride.

She turned her attention to her new surroundings, and she suddenly felt very small. The two-leg dens towered around her, seeming to go on forever into the sky. The two-legs themselves gave no notice to the small cat as she stood there, some of them almost stepping on her as they went by, and she had to hop out of the way. She took some steps back, standing beside the wall to the two-leg den she had just left.

Now that she was out, she hadn't the slightest idea what to do. Perhaps she could look for that cat she had seen? No, that was days ago, they were likely long gone by now. As she crouched there beside the wall of the den, her ears perked. There was a sound coming from just around the corner, a sound much different from the rest. Voices. Cat voices.

Keeping low against the wall, she moved towards them, eyes wide with both curiosity and slight fear. These would be the first street cats she would meet, and she wasn't really sure what to expect.

Peeking around the corner, she crouched lower as she saw the cats inside. There were two of them, one white with longer fur and the other a pale gray, whose fur was shorter than the others but still longer than her own. They only appeared to be slightly older than her. The gray one was on top of a strange green box, which let off an awful scent, similar to the small boxes that had been in the two-leg kitchens. The white one was watching him from the ground.

"Frost, what are you doing up there? We know how to hunt, you don't need to do that." The white one said, her voice soft but quite clearly annoyed. "Besides, I would rather not eat two-leg scraps."

"Oh shut it, Ice. There's some good stuff in here, I'm sure of it." The gray one, Frost, replied, his voice a lot harsher than the she-cats. He looked up as he said it, his ears perking up as he noticed the cat watching them. "Hey, you!" He shouted, hopping down from the box and taking a few steps in her direction, clearly trying to intimidate her. The white one, Ice, turned around, a much softer look in her eyes than the other.

"Oh, hello there." She greeted, moving to stand beside the other and giving him a slight nudge with her shoulder, as though telling him to knock it off. He only glared at the white cat in response. The darker cat took a step back from the pair, clearly not sure what to do.

"Oh, it's ok, we aren't going to hurt you. My brother acts tough, but he's just trying to scare you. He doesn't mean any real harm." Ice said, giving her a kind smile. "My name's Ice, and this is my brother, Frost. What's your name?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

She relaxed a bit at that. These were the first cats she had met, and they seemed alright. Perhaps she could trust them. Besides, they were still young, just like her. She thought for a moment, not really sure what to respond with. The two-legs had given her a name, but she had no idea what it was. Her mind wandered back to her mother, trying to recall what it was she had called her. Finally, it came to her.

"My name is Echo." She said, her voice somewhat uncertain. Frost narrowed his eyes at her while Ice kept her same soft smile. She liked Ice, but Frost not so much. He was far too hostile, but she supposed he was only being cautious. He didn't know her, she didn't know him. 'You must not meet a lot of nice cats in the city.' She thought, relaxing more. "So, uh, are you two from around here?" She asked.

"Oh, well we live here now, but we didn't grow up here. We actually grew up in the nearby forest!" Ice replied, to which her brother let out a slight scoff. She ignored him as she continued. "Where are you from? You don't look or smell like the cats around here, or from the forest."

"Me? Well, I uhm..." She pawed at the ground, her gaze moving up the building until it landed on the window, and then back down to the pair. "I guess you could say I'm from here." She said, clearly not confident in her response.

"Don't tell me you're from one of the two-leg dens." Frost said, disgust evident in his voice. "You're not going to last a day out here, you don't even have the slightest idea what you're doing, do you? Do yourself a favor and go back to your cozy little two-leg den." Ice shot him a vicious look, smacking him across the ear hard with her paw. "Hey!" He said, turning to her. "I'm just stating a fact! I highly doubt she knows how to hunt, let alone fight. The chances of her lasting out here are slim to none."

"Just because she currently doesn't know what she's doing doesn't mean she won't. Besides, we can teach her how to survive down here. Right?" She said, turning to Echo, her kind smile back in place.

Echo looked from Ice to Frost and back again, a small smile crossing her face as she nodded. Frost scoffed again, turning back to the large green box. "You can teach her. I came here to do my own thing, not follow you around. You two have fun." He said, tail and ears flicking as he walked away. As he left, Ice let out a huff, turning back to Echo once again.

"Well, I guess we better get started then. Come on, follow me! I know a place that'll be perfect to train you." She said, beginning to head out of the alley, the opposite direction as her brother. Echo shot one last glance at Frost before following after Ice, the two of them keeping close to the walls as they ran down the street, two-legs once again paying no mind to the two small cats. She had no idea where she was taking her, but she trusted this cat, even if they had only met a few minutes ago.

The two weaved through the two-legs, crossing streets with slow moving, large, loud, gleaming creatures which seemed to house two-legs within them. Ice told her they were a way for the two-legs to travel, and that her mother had called them Monsters. They were to be avoided, especially in the wild where they were much faster and deadlier.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached their destination. It was quieter here, more open and green with trees and bushes, though there were strange rock formations where two-leg kits climbed and yelled and played with one another while their parents watched off to the side. There were a few two-legs with dogs, but they were far enough away where they wouldn't be a problem.

"This is the park! My brother and I have only been here a few days, but we've met quite a few other cats since we've been here. We passed through here when we first arrived and the few other cats that were around told us what it was! So, this is where we'll do your training! This way." She said, motioning with her head to follow. Echo wasn't sure what to think. She'd never seen anything like this before. The scents were far different from the rest of the city, though you could still smell it. The trees were much bigger, there were no large two-leg nests, and there was water towards the back. Taking a deep, awed breath, she followed after her new friend.