This was meant to be posted for Hallowe'en, but erm as you can see it's posted a little late. Hope you like it!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything other than the OC.
In the Hanging Tree
She was found in the early hours of the morning, in the deep roots of an old oak tree. The sun had passed over the top of the trees, the light pink and orange colours lingered for a while longer and the blue of the sky was hidden behind white clouds. The early birds had risen long before the sun and where fluttering around her, a few nibbling at the bugs that must have crawled into her fur, others were tugging at the dark brown necklace of rope around her thin neck. My brother had been the one to find her that day, rushing over and pulling her onto his lap and gently patting her cheek – trying to revive her. He rushed back to the junkyard, hoping the Gumbie Cat could help in some way. Munkustrap always was over-protective of kittens.
He ran at full pelt through the clearing, the early rising cats looked round curiously as he ran by and gasped as they saw the young kitten hanging limp from his arms, the rope still around her neck. Darting past the straggling queen kittens near the den he burst through the wooden make-shift door, and came face to face with the ginger railway cat.
I looked up as we heard the door burst open; I and the old queen exchanged a look as we heard Skimbleshanks and my brother talking through the curtain that separated the small hospital room we were in from the adjoining room. A confused expression appeared on her face as silence fell between the two toms. She moved towards the curtain as it was pulled open by the ginger tabby, Jenny gasped as she saw Munkustrap enter with the kitten in his arms. I stood up quickly and regretted it as my ankle gave in under the sudden pressure.
"Sit over there Tugger," Jenny told me gently. I moved out of the way so Munk could set the queen down on the small counter. The Gumbie Cat brought over a strange humanoid object with two pieces that she slipped into her ears and a small round piece she placed on the queen's chest. "She's breathing." She whispered, quite amazed at this feat. I frowned as Munk moved closer to her.
He knelt down and studied her face, "Her eyes are moving slightly," he muttered to himself, placing a paw by her nose and nodded, brow creasing ever further as he did so. "This is very peculiar."
"How so?" I asked. The pair looked at me as if forgetting I had even been in the room.
"Well Tugger when I found her, I presumed she'd be dead. But now…" he trailed off, scratching behind his ear in irritation. He didn't like not knowing what was going on. There was a slight murmur from the young kitten and our attention was immediately back on her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal light grey irises which gazed around in a slight panic when she noticed three cats she didn't know.
"Don't worry dear, we found you in the woods by an old tree. We're going to make sure you get better." Jenny smiled down at her; she nodded and looked at Munk.
"I'm Munkustrap, the protector of the Jellicle Tribe." He smiled at her, she gave a small grin back and her eyes flicked to me. "This is my brother Tugger."
"Nice to meet you…?" I extended a paw to her, not knowing her name yet.
"Shivani." She said quietly, touching my paw slightly. The sudden feeling of cold ran through my claws, through my arm and into my chest, I felt like I was drowning in a pool of ice. I let go and felt warm again.
"You're very cold Shivani," I said, her eyes widened in fear and looked at Munkustrap.
"She has been outside Tugger, it's freezing out there!" he hissed at me. Jenny took me outside as I heard Munk say, "Don't worry, he's just a bit slow in manners."
A day had passed since the kitten had been found and Jenny, having found no serious reason to keep the kit, had deemed her fit to go outside again. She walked out into the clearing as the sun disappeared behind the buildings. Munkustrap walked in front and heads turned to face him, anxiously wondering what he would say.
"Cats, I know you were all quite surprised to hear news of the young queen's almost tragic incident," heads nodded, recalling the panic from the previous morning. "Well I'm pleased to introduce you to Shivani." Munk stepped back to reveal the young kitten. Her grey eyes flickered from each cat nervously, and shuffled her feet in the sandy ground. Her light grey coat blended in with the darkening junk piles as sunlight was lost; flecks of gold along her legs and chest were the only indication to the others that she hadn't ran away in fright. "She will be staying here until a member of her own tribe or a family member comes to collect her," a tiny expression of hurt showed on her pale features, but it went hardly noticed by the other Jellicles.
The tribe disbanded once they greeted the queen; however she refused to let any go near her. Munkustrap had brushed it off as nerves, but I had a feeling it was something more than that and it her freezing paws were part of it. I watched from the car boot as she hesitantly walked across the yard. Etcetera came up from behind a bin and upon spotting the queen dashed over to greet her.
"Hey! How are you?" she yelled as she raced over. The queen jumped and ran away towards the old pipe and hid inside. Etcetera tilted her head slightly and looked at Shivani. "What's wrong? Don't you want to play?" the queen shook her head.
"But everyone likes to play!" came a voice from inside the pipe. Shivani ran out as Jemima, Electra and Tumblebrutus jumped out.
"She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to," Jemima reasoned. "I think she should settle in first." She had the exact same attitude as Munkustrap, I had thought to myself.
"Yeah, okay." Etcetera agreed, "So where do you come…. From?" she asked the wind. The young queen had vanished. The kittens looked around for the queen but she was nowhere to be found.
"How can you just vanish?" Tumble asked the sky.
"I dunno," Electra shrugged. "Maybe one of the others saw her?" the kittens nodded and ran off to find Pouncival, Victoria and the others. I followed to make sure none got hurt whilst searching for the queen, who seemed to be even more elusive than Mistoffelees himself. The kittens had gathered after an intense search that had taken them way past their bed time.
"Urgh! We're never gonna find her!" Pouncival groaned and dropped to the ground in frustration. The group joined him huffing in the queen's refusal to show herself.
"I don't know why she is being so aloof," Victoria sniffed. "I mean, someone can't be that shy!" the kits nodded in agreement.
"She wouldn't even let me touch her!" Etcetera shrieked; the kits turned to her. "I tell you I don't think she's even real."
"What do you mean Etcy?" Jemima asked.
"Maybe…" she said looking round then lowering her voice for emphasis. "She like, a ghost!" the kits looked at each other for a moment; their faces were now plain scared and freaked out. There was a slight clang behind them and the unprepared kits nearly jumped out of the fur.
Behind them was Shivani.
"There you are!" Electra jumped up annoyed. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
The queen nodded, "Sorry." She whispered, her voice was sounded distant and far away. "Would you like to hear a secret?" the kittens nodded eagerly and gathered round her. "There's a tree near here, the old oak."
"The one Munk found you?" Pouncival asked.
The queen nodded, "Well follow me." She said mysteriously and began singing low; it freaked the young kits out but also seemed to intrigue them into following her.
Are you, are you
coming to the tree
where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
I had run after the kittens, wanting to know what the queen was up to. But as they rounded the corner towards the tree they simply vanished. I looked around the area near the tree, but the young kits were nowhere in sight. I looked everywhere for them, in their hide away places, the clearings and forest places they would know of, even the kitten den. But they had not been there; thoughts of what the queen had done to them flooded my mind. They obviously weren't safe, I knew that much, but where she could have taken them was another story.
I sat down thinking of any other place the young queen could have taken them, but the only destination I could think of, that she would know of, was the old oak tree. Why would she take them to the place that she nearly died? Unless…
I pelted down the twisting roads of junk that lined the junkyard and ignored the sun, which was beginning to rise in the east. Cats poked their heads out of their dens watching as I raced towards the clearing, to one den in particular. I banged on the makeshift door and stood impatiently waiting for it to open. As soon as the wood moved I barged in not listening to the irritated voice of the ginger tabby on the other side.
"Where is she?" I asked the railway cat. Skimble blinked at me in confusion, his brain slowly processed the question in his exhausted brain.
"Where's who Tugger?" He asked slowly.
"Shivani, where was she last night and where is she now?" I asked heatedly.
"She was out with the kittens last night; you saw them running around surely. And today she should be in Munkustrap's den where Old Deuteronomy… where are you…? Oh, never mind," he sighed as I turned tail as soon as learning where the queen was. Running once again through the clearing to my brother's den, Demeter opened the door and began yelling as I rushed through, alerting those further inside that I was there.
"Tugger! What are you doing here?" my brother asked I walked through the curtain and spotted Shivani, who stood by the wall looking calmly at me, which made me even more irritated towards her.
I threw her against the wall before any of the gathered could blink. "Where have you taken them?" I yelled at her face, which was now a mask of terror. I felt like I was freezing up, but ignored the numbing pain from the kit's frozen fur and growled at her.
"Rum Tum Tugger! What are you doing?" my father yelled. "Leave the young queen alone at once!"
"She's taken the kittens somewhere, I know it!" I yelled back, claws sliding into her skin. She made a slight moan of pain but there was no blood as I had expected. I was thrown off the smaller body by a grey and black tom; I looked up into the furious face of Munkustrap.
"The kittens are playing outside Tugger," Demeter said, all eyes turned to her. "Look for yourself." I moved slowly towards the door, keeping an eye on the silver kitten. I looked out quickly and double took as I spotted the little kittens playing by the junk piles. My mouth hung open in confusion.
"But they disappeared, I saw it. They vanished, right into thin air." I muttered to myself. My family looked to each other, each declaring silently that I was going mad.
"Tugger? How 'bout you go home and have a lie down, yeah? You seem a little tired," Munkustrap suggested, I nodded absently and apologized to everyone, Shivani halfheartedly, I still didn't trust her.
I wandered around the junkyard for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened last night. Was it a dream, a figment of his imagination, or did the kittens really vanish into thin air and the queen did nothing after all? No she must have done something, perhaps the kittens knew something.
"Rum Tum Tugger?" came two voices from behind him; he jumped out of his fur and turned to face the mystical twins Tantomile and Coricopat.
"What do you want?" I asked irritably.
"That tone won't get you anywhere," Cori retorted calmer, but with the same irritable tone as myself.
"Tugger, we must warn you not to get involved with this young queen, there is something…" Tantomile looked to her twin.
"Off about this Shivani." He finished and continued without her, "We have been feeling quite odd as soon as we spotted her."
"We fear she isn't quite who she says she is." Tantomile said. "Not that her name isn't Shivani of course, she may have another reason for not telling people about where she comes from…"
"How she came to be under the old oak…" Cori put in.
"And why she refuses to let anyone touch her," they finished off together.
"She let me touch her." I told them, the pair looked to each other then back.
"Yes, she has learnt from that mistake in letting you grab her paw on the day of meeting." Coricopat acknowledged.
"The reason she's so cold to the touch is possibly due to the fact, she may not be of our time." Tantomile added.
"You mean she is a ghost?" I asked the pair, hoping for a reason for why the kittens vanished.
"It's a possibility…" Cori told him. "But it could also mean…" both he and his twins ears flicked up. "Someone is coming," they warned before backing into the junk. I looked after them, having hoped for an answer before their sudden leave. I sighed and turned slowly, only to practically jump out of my fur again. Stood there staring at me, was Shivani, grey eyes piercing into my own. It freaked me out.
As if reading my thoughts she turned her gaze from me, "I'm sorry." She whispered before running off. What she was sorry for I had no idea.
I had taken Munkustrap's advice and had gone for a rest, somewhere quiet and slightly further away from the clearing than I normally wish to travel. I lay there in the silence of the space contemplating this situation with Shivani, what Tantomile and Coricopat had revealed to me and pondering just what could have happened to the kittens last night. Eventually my head began to hurt with the amount of concentration I was putting into this subject and decided to sleep.
I awoke in the later hours of the afternoon as the sun was setting over the buildings around the junkyard, the same time Shivani had disappeared.
"Wonder if she'll disappear like last night?" I mumbled to myself in thought. "I could follow her again, this time I won't lose them!"
I wandered into the clearing as the sun vanished completely from the sky. The elders were retiring to their dens; Alonzo was standing on the old tire taking the watch over from Admetus – who was now chatting to Asparagus Jr – the calico twins had returned from their daily thievery trip and were lying atop the car with Bombalurina and Mistoffelees. I spotted the kittens standing up as the sky darkened and running off into the trees, I frowned watching after them. I had considered going after them, but froze as I spotted the little gold speckled queen watching the cats – most flirting with Bomba - on top of the car.
I glared at her back until I heard my name being called. My attention snapped from the kitten towards the car, where Misto was beckoning me over. I wandered over to the group.
"Hey Tugger, where've you been all day?" Misto asked as I hopped onto the boot lid.
"Been a bit tired, trying to get a rest." I told him.
"Up all noight Tug? 'O was it this toime, eh?" Mungojerrie winked at me, Rumpleteazer hit him over the head.
"No one, I was… busy," I said glancing over at Shivani.
"Tugger, Munkus told us about this morning." Asparagus informed me, I turned to him quizzically. "I think you should lay off Shivani a bit. She's a bit distant yes but, as Munk rightfully says, it's just nerves. She'll come round." I shook my head, they wouldn't understand anyway.
"Just watch your backs yeah? I think she's up to something," I warned them
"Oh honestly Tug!" Bomba said tickling my chin flirtatiously. "A little kitten can't do anything too horrible. We're six very adult cats; we can take care of ourselves – even if you can't."
I frowned at her playfully, "What's that mean?"
"I think you should just relax somewhere Tug, and never mind about us. We'll be fine," Misto said calmly. "Besides staying up late doesn't do your mane too much good!" he joked pointing to the scuffed-up gold fur, dirty with mud and grime.
I reached over Admetus to swing at him, missed and fell forward onto the dirt below. The group laughed at him, but stopped abruptly. I looked up to see Shivani looking down at me, grey eyes looking at me quite frightened and, if I say, annoyed. I sat up never taking my eyes off hers, in case she tried something for my behavior earlier. I stood up and nodded goodbye to my friends and walked off, I could still feel the little queen's eyes on my back as I retreated.
I hid in a small pile of clothes, watching the little queen as she turned from watching me off, to the group I had left. She smiled up at them and they greeted her in quite a friendly way. She stood on the bumper of the boot to get closer to them. They chatted with each other, and Tugger noticed them staring at the queen in a very odd manner. As if transfixed. She moved off without warning, the group following closely behind her. As she passed by my hiding place I heard her singing again.
Are you, are you
coming to the tree
where the dead man called out for his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
I kept hidden until the last of my friends passed by. I was now fueled with anger, what could she possibly be doing with my friends and the kittens, and Bast knows who else. I shook off a pair of underpants from my foot and followed them, keeping closer than I did with the kittens so this time I could see where she took them. We were headed down the same path she had taken the young cats, towards the old oak.
I heard a creak behind me and feline instinct jerked my head round to find the source. Annoyed that I had been distracted by nothing but my own imagination, I turned to find Shivani and my friends had vanished.
I yelled out in frustration, "How could this keep happening? I look away for only two seconds and they've gone!" I once again searched frantically through the piles of junk; I decided to give up earlier than I had last time as it was quite obvious that Shivani, whatever she was, didn't want me to know. Possibly until it was too late. "What do you want? Huh?" I asked the air around me, thankfully all the other junkyard inhabitants were asleep in their beds, otherwise there would be a lot of teasing in the morning. "You've taken the kittens, you've taken my friends and my mate!" he yelled thinking of Bomba, tears slowly running down my face. "Why are you doing this?" I whimpered slumping into the cold oven and hiding my face in my paws.
"I'm sorry," came a voice. I looked up into the soft silvery eyes that stared down at me in pity. I snarled, I didn't want her pity, I wanted answers.
"What are you sorry for?" I asked standing up, I was twice as tall as her but she didn't flinch. "What have you done to the kittens? My friends? Bomba?" I swiped the air in front of her hoping to scare her off, hoping she would run and never return. She just stood there, staring at me. Silvery grey eyes looking deeply into my chocolate brown ones, they seemed to glow slightly and the outside rim of her iris turn a light shade of gold. Her head moved slightly to the left and then over to the right, I found that my head too was moving with her own. Her small body was now swaying to and fro in front of me, I was beginning to feel dizzy and tired, I wanted her to stop wanted to lie down and take my thoughts away from her and all the madness that had been happening from the past few days. I muttered out a few delusional words, before I could no longer think for myself, I was slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. Seeing lights pass before my eyes and then vanishing into darkness, but all the time Shivani stayed there in my head swaying back and forth. I closed my eyes tightly shutting out the world and the little queen and opened them again.
Everything was clear.
I could see the dim outlines of junk piles as they towered above me, there were no lights or dizziness anymore. My mind however was blank; I couldn't remember where I was, or what I was there for. All that I knew was that I wanted to follow Shivani. She tilted her head to the right curiously, then lead me away from the stove. Down the twisting roads and fork turns, I followed not realizing exactly where she was taking me. Through rough grass and muddy puddles, I followed not wanting to ask where I was going. Into the dark forest and over the overgrown roots of trees, I followed not knowing what lay around the corner and no longer caring. We both stopped a few meters away from an old oak tree; a ladder was placed on the ground leaning on one of the thick branches. I watched as the silvery queen made her way up with ease, as she climbed she sang.
Are you, are you
coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope side by side with me
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree
She beckoned me to follow her up the tree; I obliged not really knowing why I was following. Curiosity I guess. I pulled myself over the roots towards the ladder and began climbing up, listening to the queen above me humming cheerfully. I reached up a paw to grab the branch, but was grabbed instead by something freezing. I snapped out of the trance to see Shivani, her paw in mine grinning down at me playfully.
A sudden breeze blew across the tree and moved something behind her head, my gaze turned from her cheery face to the object behind her.
Swinging in the higher branches was a body, my niece Jemima hanging on a long brown rope by her thin delicate neck. My eyes widened as I looked over the other branches. Everyone I had seen vanish were there. Victoria, her neck hanging to the side cleanly snapped off her spine. The calico twins swinging side by side, and beside them were Asparagus and Admetus. Pouncival, Tumblebrutus and Electra had small chunks missing from their ropes, where they evidently must have scratched at them in an attempt at freedom. Mistoffelees turned in the breeze so he was staring at me, his usually happy blue eyes dead and dull. I teared up as I saw Bomba swaying in the branch just above me. I glared down at the little kitten wanting to rip her limb from limb. I felt something tighten around my neck, and looked down to see a dark rope. I stared up; eyes widened at the little kitten before me, she grinned innocently and whispered in my ear.
"Welcome to the hanging tree," I gasped as her lyrics suddenly made sense. However I had little time to dwell on this fact, as I was pushed from the ladder. I screamed at the top of my voice before a loud crack and I fell silent.
He woke up suddenly, dark eyes staring around blindly hopping out of bed and rushing to the door, wondering if what he had heard was real or in a dream. There was a moan behind him and turned to see his mate rubbing her eyes.
"What's wrong Munkus?" she asked concerned.
"I thought I heard something," he said, looking around cautiously.
"It must have been a dream love. Come back to bed," Demeter told him calmly, moving over to him and placing a light kiss on his cheek.
"I think I'd better check it out, all the same you know?" she nodded, understanding his need to protect others. "I'll be back as soon as possible, okay?"
"Of course, you go on I'll wait here." Demeter gave him a peck on the cheek before letting him run out the door. Munkustrap raced through the yard, gathering any cat he could find. Within minutes Alonzo, Skimble, Coricopat, Tantomile, Jenny, Jelly, Bustopher and Asparagus Senior were gathered in the clearing. Munkustrap pondered where the others had got to for a brief second before shaking it off and ordered them to search around a particular part of the yard.
"And remember, if anyone finds anything - call for me and everyone else will come running!" The group nodded and moved off quickly, wishing to get back to bed before sunrise. Munkustrap checked the clearing, also wishing to get home to Demeter before she started to worry about him. He stood on the tire frowning, sure that he had heard someone screaming and that it wasn't a dream. His ears pricked up as he heard his name being yelled from across the junkyard in the forest, what could have happened there? Without a backwards glance he raced off through the clearing, down the twisting paths meetina and nearly crashing into other Jellicles running in the same direction. He came to a stop before an old tree he didn't recognise at first. "What's happened Alonzo?" he asked the tom who had called him, when no response came he looked over at the tom who was pointing to the tree in front of him. Munkustrap looked up into the branches of the old oak tree and gasped as he saw the bodies of his friends. He flared up as he saw his daughter Jemima hanging by a rope, her fragile neck snapped and her features emotionless. He looked below her, and saw his brother swinging there. A sign had been placed around his neck, it read I told you so.
"Where is Shivani?" he yelled, knowing immediately who to blame. The cats looked around each other, none of them knowing where the queen could be. They heard a small giggle above them and looked up into the face of Shivani, who stood at the top of the tree – a rope dangling from her neck connected to the tree. She looked ready to jump. "Shivani, you come down this instant and explain all this!" he yelled up at her.
She turned and smiled at them, "They've joined me in the hanging tree!" she called gleefully as she jumped from the branch, everyone looked away as a bright light pierced through the tree and almost blinded them all, they looked back at the dull thumps that littered the ground. Munkustrap took the paw shielding his eyes away to see the bodies of the once hanged cats lying on the ground, he rushed over and found them breathing beneath him. He shook Tugger awake, he growled at me as if being woken from a peaceful slumber.
"What do you want?" he asked as his eyes focused on me.
"Tugger, you were dead!" he yelled at him as if it was obvious.
"What?" he scoffed, "I think I'd know if I was dead or not Munk, I think you need a lie down you don't look too good." He stood up and took the rope off his neck as if it were a daily task.
"But we all saw you, everyone of you, all hanging from the tree!" Jenny called out, worrying what the young kitten must have done.
"Yes what did she do to you?" Skimble asked anxiously.
"Who has done what to me?" he questioned.
"Shivani." Tugger looked at Munk as if he had gone mad, "You do remember her don't you?"
He shook his head, "Hey man, whoever you do on your own time…!"
"Tugger she was that kitten you absolutly detested," Tugger said nothing. "You said she was up to something with the kittens, you threw her against a wall, for Cat's sake!"
"Sorry Munkus I have no idea who you're talking about," he said leaning against the tree as the other cats below him woke up and ran off into the junkyard, like last night hadn't even happened. The search party looked at him in bewilerment, before turning and walking off.
Munk looked at him carefully, "You really don't remember anything?"
"Nothing bruv, I don't think I'd forget in a hurry!" he laughed, Munk sighed and walked away. Tugger watched as he slumped away before going around to the other side of the tree and sitting down beside a little queen, her silvery coat shining in the early morning sunlight. "So, as you were saying Shiva."
"Yeah, you get to come play in the tree every night!" she said as if it was the best thing in the world. "Won't that be fun Tugger? No one to bother us at night, and we can play forever!" she smiled curling up beside him as if he were a big brother.
"Why didn't you tell us you just wanted to play in the first place?" Tugger asked.
"I dunno," she shrugged. She smiled inwardly, now she wouldn't be alone anymore.
Are you, are you
coming to the tree
Where I've told you to run so we'd all be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
I will meet you at midnight in the hanging tree
Did you enjoy it, it was meant to end slightly freakier than that, but watevs...
If you didn't get it, they're all dead now, but they still live on as they normally would. That's why Shivani was so cold in the fist place. And yeah they come back to the tree every night, seeing as their immortal now...
Please review, thank you.