Not All is what it Seems
Author's Note: First of all, I'm pretty much addicted and obsessed with Cats, can't help it. For the record, I'm going to explain how I see things working for my story. First, I see Jellicle cats like in the play, in other words, they are anthropomorphic cats however they will also have a true cat form they can shift into. They cannot in my story, shift into full humans. Second, the mated pairs in my story might be different than most, I'm not apologizing, oh and one more thing, there is one moment of what some may consider "incest" between an Uncle and niece, just a warning. Third, Aine is pronounced "anya"
Also, this story is dedicated to RubyRedStorm, because her iPodChallenge story is epic, go check it out, besides, she's an epic girl to talk to.
{Chapter 1}
Aine, was a very peculiar cat, to start she was half Maine Coon and half Chartreux, she had a long sleek body mixed with black and silver blue. She also had mixed matched eyes, one green and one blue, as well as spots around her collarbone and paws, and a slight mane which she was very proud of. She was also a very intelligent cat, as most cats tend to be, and magical. The magical part of her came from being the daughter of a magician's cat, and a Jellicle cat.
Aine lived most of her life with her mother, Iris, at their retired magician owner's flat in London. She had only really known her father for some months, before her mother got sick and he left. This left her very confused, as she loved her parents dearly, her father would often sing and dance for her amusement and tell her stories about the Jellicle cat tribe, and when he was with them, he doted on her mother. Once when her father wasn't around, she had asked her mother why they didn't go to the Jellicle junkyard her father told her so much about. Her mother, a kind and beautiful Chartreux, smiled and told Aine that she had not wanted to leave their human alone as he needed her. Iris had also told her that Aine could go one day with her father if she wished, telling her it was important for her to be close to her father.
Before Aine could even ask her father if he would take her to the Junkyard someday, Iris got sick. Aine was just a few days over being a year old, she was still a queen-kit, and it was the last time she saw her father. He had comforted her before speaking with Iris, but when the two were done, Aine remembered her father looking so sad, broken almost as he tried not to cry in front of her.
"I can't take you with me now Aine, your momma needs you. No matter what my little princess, you remember everything I've told you about the Jellicles and if you ever need me, come find me in the junkyard." He had kissed her then, on the nose as he always did, rubbed his paw through her mane and turned, walking dejectedly out of the flat. His ears drooped, his tail dragged on the floor, and Aine hadn't seen him sense.
A year and a half had passed; her mother had died a month after that sad rainy day in March when she had last seen her father. Oddly, their owner, the retired magician also died not long after that; leaving Aine in the care of his grandson, a very nice musical human who cared about Aine deeply, and took her to live with him in a different part of London, near Victoria Grove. Her new owner was very loving and nice with her, something Aine appreciated as she tended to make him sneeze. He was also a musician, which meant he was often out of the house during the night and sometimes for extended periods. He had allowed Aine to come and go as she pleased; having a special "kitty door" (as he called it) installed that lead out to the balcony.
Aine now an adolescent queen had taken some time to get used to his schedule and soon found herself feeling lonely, especially since she had always had the company of her mother and their previous owner. Not to mention that after the last tour her current owner took her on, she was almost lost and he had decided against doing that again. She had started thinking of searching out the Jellicle junkyard and her father, but she wasn't sure which way it was as she only knew how to get to it from her old flat. These thoughts left her rather moody, and she had returned home earlier than usual to find her owner already gone. 'At least he always leaves the food and water bowls full for me.'
It was nearing midnight that Friday night, and Aine had been woken from her sleep by an almost eerie feeling of someone nearby. As she became alert, she could distinguish two someone's outside on the balcony. Curious, but not frightened, she shifted just right in her basket and watched discreetly as two, moderate sized cats climbed through her door. Judging from their silhouettes, Aine figured the larger was male, he came in first, and the smaller was female. She was at a position where her scent wasn't entirely distinguishable; her human enjoyed scented candles and things, and her basket happened to be under an end table with lit candles.
The female cat giggled, and was quickly hushed by her companion, this alone amused Aine though she remained where she was hidden in the shadows, curiously watching.
"Oi Mungo, look at 'ow shiny it is" The excited half whisper that came from the smaller cat, amused Aine further as she noted the heavy accent. Wait a minute, they talk like I do. These aren't just stray cats. Aine allowed her nose to twitch, taking in their scent as she watched them, neither had noticed her yet.
"Will ye keep qouite Rumpel…?" Mungo, seemed exasperated with the younger queen, and Aine assumed they were brother and sister as they had a similar scent. Rumpel, seemed annoyed at Mungo's statement and huffed at him, turning her back to him as she looked up at whatever had caught their fancy. Aine looked up and saw on the bookshelf one of her owner's necklaces, a small gold one.
"Right then, time to get…" Mungo's fur prickled and stood on end as his sentence trailed off. Rumpel who hadn't been paying him much mind, turned to him now, nose scrunched in confusion.
"'at's the matt…Mungo?" Rumpel eyes widened as they saw Aine through the shadows. She was standing an arm's length from them, looking almost bored, but the way that her tail flicked back and forth behind her said otherwise.
"Erm…we can explain…Miss…" Mungo took a step back, Aine noticed that he was ushering Rumpel behind him.
"Yeah, we really can!" Rumpel called though she looked at Mungo and whispered, "we can?" Mungo of course shushed her again, clearly agitated.
"So…as I was sayin' Miss, me sister and I…ye see…we were…just…" Aine could see Mungo's eyes searching everywhere for an excuse, trying very hard not to look her in the eye.
Aine, already annoyed with the two of them interrupting her sleep (despite the fact that she was mostly nocturnal anyway), and invading her home provided a single word.
"Leaving…" She pointed at the cat door they had used to get in, causing her mane to stand up more, giving her a larger appearance, the light from the candles behind her giving her an eerier appearance and the two decided to heed her word.
"Right! We were jest…leavin' Miss… 'onest mistake really…we don't steal from other Jellicles." Rumpel found her voice faster than Mungo, but her last statement caught Aine off guard. Mungo had already made it out of the door, and Rumpel was almost out.
"Wait!" It took just a second too long for Aine to get the word out and she found herself running after the very agile and quick duo. The duo, which seemed to be used to running from people, and cats chasing them, were difficult to keep up with, though Aine realized that Mungo, being larger was not as fast as his sister. She stuck to his scent as much as she could, but eventually lost sight of him down a dark alley.
Skidding to a halt at the end of the dead end alley, Aine panted, trying to get her bearings and her breath when she heard a devastating sound behind her, the low growl of a very large, very angry dog.
