Continuing on the family relationships started in The Beginning - here is Bustopher and Alonzo's story, told by Pouncival and some of the other cats. It will be a slow start I'm afraid, but hopefully it will become a multi-chapter fic with at least three chapters? :/ I guess we'll see...

DISCLAIMER! that's all :) (read between the lines:

I don't own cats :'(

-gottit?)

Chapter One: We're all of us proud

We're all of us proud; to be nodded or bowed to by Bustopher Jones in white spats...

Alonzo and Bustopher had a difficult relationship to say the least. As one of Alonzo's closest friends, I Pouncival will try and explain the unexplainable fragile but unbreakable bond between the two black-and-white cats.

I suppose I should start by telling you that I have already cheated and asked Jennyanydots to fill me in on some details, thus making it not all my own work. Yes- I am using words like thus now- I had a vocabulary course from Deuteronomy last summer and have become far more intellectual as a result. Anyway- My unmuddling begins with Jenny's insider knowledge of what Bustopher was like as a child.

Bustopher Jones, says Jenny, was always the baby of the family. His eldest brother Gus was 15 human years older than him, and even his closest brothers, the twins Deuteronomy and Growltiger, were 10 human years older. As such he tended to be babied a lot, and had standards relaxed for him; allowances made for his youth in comparison to his brothers. Growing up in a four-tom family, even as the youngest by miles, made him an incredibly competitive tom. Not only did he inherit the innate need to beat his siblings but, being so young, he felt he needed to prove himself to everybody at the same time. I remember...

At this point Jenny trailed off and it took me a moment to bring her back to earth, resulting in a very sudden rushed anecdote, here written out properly:

I was sitting on the ground in front of the TSE1, drawing in the dirt. I was, oh, a few weeks old by then? Crawling about and chatting away, in any case. Bustopher was two whole months older than me, and his brothers were very old- Gus was nearly an adult! So I was sitting and drawing along with Jelly; oh yes Jelly was born by then too. Couple of days after myself I believe. But where was I? Oh yes. Well I was sitting with Jell and drawing in the dirt, when Skimble ran up and- oh Skimble! Now how old was he?-

I now decided that I really had to hurry Jenny up as I had an important wrestling rematch with Plato starting in not too long.

-sorry dear. Well anyway, the Jones boys were running races and of course, Gus was winning by miles. Bustopher hadn't been allowed to join in as they had to let him win if he did- he was such a sore loser. Thought it reflected badly on his character or something equally silly. He was watching from the pipe and glowering at his siblings. I could see that he was itching to join in and desperate to beat them all. He knew as well as they did, however, that he only ever won if they slowed down for him, which although it was a victory, was a hollow one. He suddenly jumped up and starting walking slowly around the clearing, peering at junk piles and tapping his fangs thoughtfully. He was definitely planning something and it sound turned out that he was finding a way to win the race fairly. Or as fairly as he could while still winning. Without telling his brothers he joined in their next race, suddenly starting off with them as they all began to run around their path again. He stayed with them for a minute or so, then jumped onto a pile, up onto another and another, then jumped down onto the TSE1 bonnet and over their heads – somehow cutting off a lot of the corners of the junkyard (they had to go right to the edges of the piles in their course). He jumped over them and won his first race against them, resulting in three sour moods for the rest of the day and one jubilant little tom that wouldn't stop recollecting his triumph for well over a week. It was the first time I'd seen him properly cheat to win; plan it out and have no remorse afterwards.

Jenny's story is one of many examples of Bustopher's need to be the best. This pattern continued until well into his childhood, particularly affecting him where queens and looks were concerned. Jellylorum told me that he always had to be better than his brothers, and shortly after the race-running incident took to keeping his coat fastidiously black, and his white bib perfectly pristine. Gus, his oldest brother and the very young Jelly's father, used to make fun of him for it. Nothing mean- just comments about being more vain than most of the queens of the Junkyard. Bustopher took it personally and got his revenge by pushing Gus into a mud-puddle that autumn. Jelly smiled at the early memory.

He had taken his time- Gus had made the comment back in the spring.

Gus wasn't the only brother to accidentally receive retribution for doing Bustopher wrong; Growltiger had become a fine figure of a tom and was getting plenty of attention from the queens and one in particular- the gorgeous Griddlebone. Now, Bustopher held no illusions about being the most eligible tom in the yard- he was far too young- but Griddlebone had always been kind to him (as the youngest brother of Growltiger- but he hadn't realised that) and he had thought that she found him special. He justified his jealousy by telling himself that it was just because it was Growltiger- any other tom would have been fine- and he knew that Growltiger was going to run away from the Junkyard soon.

Bustopher once again was exceedingly patient in waiting for his revenge. He managed to find out when Growltiger was leaving, and that Griddlebone was going with him, and locked his brother into their shared den. He then ran off to find Griddlebone with a story about Growltiger having just left and oh, where was he? Griddlebone luckily didn't believe him entirely, and Growltiger managed to escape his den with Gus' help, and the lovers left the yard without further ado.

Bustopher wasn't happy.

His last bothersome sibling hadn't personally offended him (none of them had, really), but Deuteronomy was the protector and set to become the next leader; Gus had agreed with his father that Deuteronomy was a better choice than the cat now known as the theatre cat, and of course Growltiger had chosen to leave. Bustopher was offended not to have been considered (he had been, but he had been quickly discounted as too selfish and ineffectual to lead a tribe) and was always rebelling against his brother in his job as tribe protector- making noise at odd hours of the day, running around and knocking things over, convincing the tribe's other young members to pull pranks and disturb the smooth running of the tribe. Deuteronomy worked out that Bustopher was responsible for the sudden chaos in the junkyard and forced his little brother to help clear out the main clearing before the Jellicle ball- a humongous task. He resented being used for mundane and dirty chores, and managed to mess up the dances during the ball- just to show his brother.

He didn't plan that one too long in advance- by now Bustopher had other ideas on the go.

Right after the Jellicle ball, where his father had gone to the Heaviside layer and his brother had been made leader, Bustopher packed up his personal effects (including his many fur-brushes and his new shoes) and fled the junkyard- making his way to St. James' Street, London.

...for he's the St James' Street cat!