HAT: Random Pairing Generator... gotta love it, right? I've had this on my docs for... what feels like forever and I've edited it for the past few days and now... it's here for you guys! Well, I hope you enjoy this as well as a lot of my other... rather strange fanfictions... Don't judge me! *runs into bacon room*
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot and OCs.
Skimbleshanks is smitten. It's been a while since he's been smitten, but it's happened again for the first time in years. He suddenly realized one day that he had stronger feelings for the small she-cat than he originally thought. Her dark brown eyes with that hint of green when the sun hits them just right, her white, black, and orange calico striped fur, her amazing personality all drew him in, like she could do with any and all tomcats, and she's proven to be fourth on the list of queens that have the toms falling over her only to Bombalurina, Demeter, and Jennyanydots (though he's quick to make sure no tom acts upon their desires for his sister, but her actual mate, Lyon and even then he's hesitant, so technically she's third). He knows he shouldn't be, not at all, but feelings are something he can't help. No, he doesn't lust after her to the point he's doing unspeakable acts (A/N: Dear, Everlasting, this is getting so friggin' awkward... Why am I writing this while listening to gospel on youtube (yes, of my own free will, a lot of what I've heard is amazing!)?!), he's not perverted enough to act on it like-
Don't think of him, it'll only make you angry, the orange tom thinks, feeling the fur along his spine prick.
It's not like he isn't trying to kill it, he's been trying for what feels like forever. He's even still looking for companionship with queens outside of the junkyard and the one time he thought he was in love the queen was just using him to make her ex-tomfriend jealous. Another reason he's considering staying single for the rest of his life and the other involves a queen that left the junkyard and the earth long ago, but that's a story for another time (A/N: Time for some shameless advertising! To find out who it is you should read Scottish Siblings).
"Why do you get the big mouse?" the queen of his affections asks her brother, the Cockney accent getting high pitched with annoyance.
"Because I'm bigger and need it more," the tom replies with a similar accent.
"Yeah, right!" she snaps.
Skimble decides to intervene and splays himself out on the TSE-1 car and reveal himself. "If I may intervene, who caught said mouse?"
"I did!" the she-cat retorts.
"Now, Mungojerrie, you should let Rumpelteazer have her kill."
Mungojerrie gapes. "You always side with her! What if I caught it, huh?"
Skimble's whiskers twitch. "Then, by all means, have your kill. Whoever's lying will have to tell me now otherwise I won't speak to either of you for a while."
No one likes it when Skimbleshanks gives the quiet treatment. He's usually the one that's the first to welcome you back, when he's at the junkyard, and he's quite the conversationalist and story teller, but as soon as he switches off, the air's heavy, thick with tension that will make any and all the cats end up being quiet and a good portion of them stay quiet towards the one in trouble because Skimble doesn't do that unless the cat really, truly deserves it.
Rumpelteazer's ears flatten and she lowers her gaze. "It was me..."
Skimble reaches down and picks her up by the scruff with ease, his strong muscles able to pick up Tugger like he's a kit as well, but it would take a lot of work for him to pick up Bustopher Jones like he does this young queen (let's just say that it was a bet and leave it at that). "Now, Teazer, that's not very nice."
"I know," she mutters, lowering her eyes.
He sighs and sets her down, boxing her ear. "Don't do it again."
She nods and his heart throbs. He doesn't like punishing the kits and adolescents and young adults, especially Rumpelteazer, but since they want to act kittenish, they have to be treated as the kittens they've decided to act like. He watches the two of them share the large mouse and the small one with a sense of accomplishment, glad that they at least understand the concept of sharing. The both of them go off to probably steal something. The brown tailed tom's stomach churns at the thought, whether for tom or queen, he doesn't know, but he knows that one or both of them will be in trouble, but he knows something bad will happen. He glances at two figures, the both of them black, white, and brown and one with dark brown eyes while the other has light blue ones, the both of them seem tense as they watch the other set of twins walk away.
Keep an eye on them, the both of them say in his mind.
Right, he nods, slipping off to follow the both of them to Everlasting knows were. Whatever you two are doing I'll be sure to hide the both of you if it's more than the usual thievery!
After tracking them for about an hour he ends his search and finds the two of them fighting off a large group of (Indian) thugs (A/N: It's an inside joke between me and some family and friends), the larger of the two calicoes being wounded heavily, but one wouldn't be able to tell with the way that he fought with a fierceness. Still, the both of them are losing the energy to fight and he can see the fear in Rumpelteazer's eyes as she and her brother are getting backed up into a corner.
Fierce protectiveness swells through him and he rushes into the fray, taking down any cat in his way. Many end up unconscious and some end up dead, but either way they're incapacitated and are no longer able to pose as a threat to the two thieves. HE's torn through over half of them when he snaps back to his senses as he watches the others flee. Fleeting hauntings of the past come to mind long enough for him to almost break down. Almost.
"Jerrie! Teazer! Are you two alright?!" he demands as he kneels beside the two of them.
"F-fine," the young tom groans before leaning heavily against the wall, the adrenaline obviously leaving his system as he passes out in pain.
"Jerrie!' Rumpelteazer cries, surging forward to catch her brother, but the tabby catches him before the calico. "I-is he gonna be alright?"
"Hopefully," truthfully admits the Scottish tom as he gently picks up the calico tom. "Come on."
The calico queen gets up and he wishes he could hold the both of them and carry them, but he can't, not without a price. He closes his eyes and decides that it'll be worth the risk and feels the magic in his veins dance on his coat before it shifts over and makes a clone of himself. This clone has slightly lighter fur and one turquoise eye and one emerald, but other than that it looks exactly like him in every way possible, right down to the tip of the stripes.
"S-Skimble?"
He opens his glowing glass-green eyes and smiles comfortingly. "Don't worry, lass."
The clone picks her up and as he walks he's barraged by terrible memories, his mood depleting even more than before. He even feels that he's on the edge of depression. He shakes this from his mind and focuses on the unconscious tom in his arms and making sure he's still breathing. He's quiet glad that he can hear steady breathing, which means he has time, but that doesn't mean he can slow down without concequences.
When he and his clone enter the junkyard the younger generation gape in awe while the older generations stare in worry at him. He gives a reassuring smile before he bursts into his sister's den and sets the injured one on the bed. Jennyanydots and Jellylorum immediately set to work on him while Jenny orders Skimble to get rid of the clone and look over Rumpelteazer's wounds while her pale orange paws get to work. He takes the queen from his clone and gets rid of it quickly, trying not to tremble at the onslaught of terrible memories.
Don't think, he thinks as he sets her on the couch and grabs bandages, peroxide, and cotton swabs. He gently tends to her wounds while fighting off nightmares that want to remind him of anything that's gone wrong in the past. His paws are trembling by the time he gets to the last wound and he almost wants to cry. So many deaths caused because of him, so much pain in his heart that he doesn't know how he's still living and breathing.
A paw covers his and he looks up into sad dark brown eyes. "It's okay," she whispers, not even understanding what's going on within his mind.
There's no way she could understand how much this helps him. He then sets to work on wrapping her wounds with a semi-clear head, ears pricked to listen out for the Notorious Tom's condition and he murmurs it to her when he deems it necessary and he's glad he can be of some use. When he finishes he starts itching toward depression and decides to focus on Mungojerrie's condition and when he hears it worsening his breathing becomes uneven and the words are caught in his throat.
I should've gotten there faster, I shouldn't have hesitated, I shouldn't have let let them go, I should've-
"Skimble, what's going on?"
He realizes that he's grabbed her paw, but he doesn't know when he did it in his unstable state of mind.
He lets go and lets out a shaky breath before he speaks, "He's not in the best of conditions. We may have to take him to the humans."
The queen's eyes fill with tears and he looks away guiltily. It's his fault, if only-
Before he knows it she has her arms wrapped around his torso and her face buried in his chest. He has no other option than to hold her, and rock her gently. He tries, briefly, to imagine life without Mungojerrie and pain stabs his heart. No, he has to live. Life in the junkyard won't be the same without the rambunctious young tom. He calls for his sister and Jennyanydots comes out and blinks in surprise when Rumpelteazer's handed to her.
"What're you doing?" demands the tabby queen.
Skimble doesn't say a word and walks to where the calico male is and guilt stabs his heart. He could've been faster, he could've-
Stop! The Railway Cat thinks furiously as he takes the paw of the younger tom. "Ossa atque pellis confractum, SUO totum ease."
(A/N: I know this probably is inaccurate since it is Google Translate, but... *shrugs* I'm impatient sometimes *coughallthetimecough* and it means: "Heal the broken bones and skin, stitch them to be whole again.")
Slowly he sees his magic heal the wounds and he's nearly done when his arm's grabbed and he's yanked away. His eyes have emerald around the edges where the glass-green usually ends and he can feel himself gradually slipping away. He stares into familiar emerald eyes and and he calms enough for the emerald to fade from his own eyes, but not enough for him not to want to go back and finish healing Mungojerrie's wounds.
"Stop," Jellylorum orders.
"But-"
"Do you want to end up like Marcus?"
Skimbleshanks stares at his friend and shakes his head slowly before he's pulled into a hug. He hugs her back in a desperate need of getting himself back. He spent years, no, decades putting a wall between him and his emotions. Ever since he was a kit leading his sister to safety. He can't break down now, he can't let these emotions consume him and turn him into the result of his coming to the junkyard to stay with his sister.
"Jerrie'll be fine now, I promise," the silvery white queen assures. "Now go to your den and go to bed. Asparagus will check on you later."
He nods and walks out of the Gumbie Cat's den and quickly walks to his own den. He reminds himself that he doesn't matter, that everyone else does. If they see him break... he doesn't even know what will happen, but he has to be the strong one. When he enters his dark den he collapses onto the couch and curls into a ball. The use of magic for the first time in who knows how long has managed to enhance the negative emotions that've been building in him for decades.
After a while he hears the door open and close and he groans. "Go away, Rag, I'm fine." When Asparagus doesn't answer or leave Skimble rolls over and blinks in surprise at who's there. "Mys-"
"Skimble?"
He shakes his head and blinks rapidly. "T-Teazer. What're you doing here?"
"I was worried about you... you didn't seem the same when you used magic... and since when did you have magic?"
"Just go see Jerrie, I'm sure he needs you."
"No he doesn't. After talking to me Electra came in and now they need their time together."
He smiles. "Those two are going to be a cute couple of cats."
Her nose scrunches up in anger and the smile melts off his face. "Don't change the subject. What's wrong?"
Right then he notices her gape and knows that his mask is slipping off. "I... I don't want to talk about it."
"That's not an option."
The tom sighs and puts his head in his paws, elbows resting on knees. "I should've gotten there faster... if I'd... kept you here or moved faster or... done so many other things you and Jerrie wouldn't have been in danger and been hurt... it's all my fault."
A jolt runs through the brown tailed tom when he feels a warm paw brush the fur on his shoulder and looks up at the she-thief. "Listen... none of this was your fault. You couldn't have done anything more than what you've done already," she assures.
"You don't understand," he grunts, getting up and pacing. "So much could've been avoided... not just this time but ever since I was a kit. Terrible things happen around me and everyone I care about gets hurt no matter what. I could've done so many things different to save so many cats pain."
He doesn't even realize that tears of frustration have been running down his face until she forces him to stop pacing and wipes at his cheeks with her thumbs. "Shh, it's gonna be okay."
Her eyes are soft and caring and full of worry. That worry is why he doesn't let out his negative emotions. In the past he's never been able to do that with anyone younger than someone in his generation and even a few times he found comfort with Bustopher Jones when they were close friends. He knows he's smitten with this queen, but that never crossed his mind when talking to her. How did she manage to pry all of this out of him?
"How do you know what?"
There's a pause before she tilts her head slightly. "Because it will be... I guarantee you that joy comes in the morning."
He hugs her. "Thank you."
She kisses his cheek and hugs him back, lucky for him because he's wide eyed and blushing because of this. "No problem, Skimble."
He pulls away and sighs. Kill the emotions...
The negative emotions are died down a little, but he knows that it'll hit him full force later. Apparently she realized this and hugs him and sings softly. He closes his eyes and falls asleep in hopes of having a dreamless sleep.
Skimble: So this is what happens.
HAT: Yep! One-sided love!
Skimble: I wonder if they'll want to see what could happen... Like when you put me with the youngest cat in the junkyard!
HAT: *nervously giggles* Um... see, what had happened was-
Skimble: I don't want to hear it.
HAT: *pouts* At least Teazer's older.
Skimble: ... true, but I raised-
HAT: Okay, you know I hardly turn down a challenge from the random pairing generator... especially when it comes to you... though you and Deut I would've turned down in a heartbeat if it weren't for Brittny talking me into it.
Skimble: At least I know that you have your limits. Still...
HAT: Aaaanyway, would you please say it.
Skimble: Only if you promise not to put me with Gus, Grizabella, Deut again, Bustopher again, and Lyon.
HAT: ... the people want what the people want sometimes... I might try to redeem myself with the Deut one... I can't bring myself to put Gus with anyone... you and Bustopher might happen... and you and Lyon would be so cute together!
SKimble: *shakes head* NO!
HAT: Please say it... I'll let you into the meat black hole and you have first dibs on anything.
Skimble: *gapes before shaking head* Review... now let's go.
HAT: *grins* I knew that'd work. Let me know if I should continue! *opens up meat black hole and jumps in with Skimble*