Hey! this is a sequel to RUMOUR OF TRUTH. This time, about Duendei as she grows up in a place where her colouration ties her to Macavity: the Mystery cat in the eyes of her tribe. That, combined with her shyness is not exactly a popularity beacon. But there are always those who can see past the ginger. Or are colour-blind...
CATS belongs to ALW and TSE.
Any jellicle cats or references belong to TSE and ALW.
Tumblebrutus belongs to TSE and maybe ALW.
I own Duendei and Jigyond, should he appear. I really do have no idea where this story is going. I'm leaving that up to Lavie. (The pennykettle dragon, not the fanfiction author... that would be me)
-and any passing references made at Artemis/Kirikat belong to AriaCloudrunner.
"Tanti! You promised!" Duendei pouted. She folded her arms across her chest and pouted at her adopted mother. Of course Duendei didn't know that Tantomile and Coricopat weren't her real parents, and was too young to think it strange that her parents were siblings. The only clue Tantomile had ever had the heart to give her was that Duendei was to call them by their real names. Never 'mum' and 'dad'.
"Oh, I know. I just worry, Beaue." Tantomile's sweet but stern voice was filled with apprehension.
"Du-en-dei" Duendei sounded out her name. When Tantomile was really worried, she often accidently called Duendei by her first name, which Duendei didn't particularly like. Noticing what her name-slip-up meant, Duendei darted forward into a surprise hug.
"I'll be okay, Tanti. I'm old enough now to go out by myself."
"You haven't even seen your first ball yet, young one. That's young enough."
Duendei flicked her minty eyes up to Tantomile's.
"Pleeease?" She said, her tail flicking excitedly at the mention of the ball.
"Alright." Tantomile sighed. "But stay IN the junkyard!"
"I will! Stop fretting! I'll probably go and look for Cetty or something. She can show me some good places to play!"
"I could show you some good places to play..." Tantomile said, trying desperately to work the hurt out of her voice. Duendei flattened her ears with guilt, by tried to smooth it over with a joke.
"FUN. Fun involves dirt. I'm not sure you know where to find dirt." Duendei teased.
"For goodness sake, Duendei! You're a white kit, and not to mention nearly a queen! Surely staining yourself brown is beginning to become embarrassing?" Tantomile exploded with motherly frustration. It wasn't difficult to tell that Tantomile and Duendei weren't related. There wasn't a speck of black in Duendei's vivid ginger and white coat, and the only tan on her was the brown that coated her paws like a sticky dust. But it was a different tan to Tantomile's stripes.
Nevertheless Tantomile had raised Duendei for all seven months of her short life, and had quickly some to think of her as her own daughter. Only the DNA was missing.
Duendei giggled and shook her head.
"You know this means a bath, right?" Tantomile said, now with a cheeky tint to her tone.
"I like water..." Duendei replied quietly, with wide innocent eyes. Tantomile shuddered, and waved Duendei off.
"Well, go on then. But be careful!"
Without another word, Duendei bounded from the house and followed the familiar route she and Coricopat usually took to see Cetty.
"Ceeettyyy!" Duendei sang out. "Where aaare you?" She strolled along the stony path, rolling from side to side like the saw the bigger queens do to entice the toms. She wondered if soon she would want to try it out on someone. Or sometom.
She rounded the last bend and saw Etcetera and Electra talking to a dainty white queen...
With a small gasp, Duendei dived into the nearest bunch of bushes, disappearing as she did so. Tantomile did not like it when she turned invisible, as she had been able to do since she was born. It disturbed her. Duendei did not yet know why, but refrained anyway. Except, when she was frightened. Or in this case, nervous and shocked.
She waited in the bushes, watching every graceful move that the white cat made, with awe. When she finally parted company with Etcetera and Electra, Duendei began to stalk sadly out of the bushes toward her friends.
"Duendei!" Cetty chided. "You have to stop hiding from Vic! She really wants to meet you!"
"I know... I just-" Duendei began, but Electra cut her off.
"How can you be terrified of a cat you admire so much!" She squealed.
"That's just it!" Duendei retorted, her words speeding up because of her nervousness that still hadn't worn off. "I'm terrified that I'll come out and meet her, and I'll do something stupid and mess up and she won't think I'm graceful!" Duendei didn't understand it herself, but she was nearly in tears.
"Oh Hun. Even when you fall smack on your butt you do it with grace." Etcetera swept Duendei into a friendly hug. Duendei had been desperately striving to be graceful since the first time she had seen Victoria dance. Her biggest want was for Victoria to approve of her grace and say that she was a good dancer. Duendei playfully squirmed out of the hug and thanked Cetty for her kind comment before nuzzling Electra hello.
"Well, actually kiddo, I gotta go now. I'm meeting Jemima." She said, winking at Cetty. Duendei took that to mean that Jemima was not at all who Electra was meeting, but perhaps some dashing tom instead.
"I'm just gonna walk her to the road. You stay here and then we'll figure out what mischief we can get up to." She grinned at Duendei, who sat down and grinned inanely back, her tail swishing behind her in anticipation.
Duendei peered around the small familiar garden while Cetty was gone, desperate to find something to pass the time. No sooner had she started toward a frolicking butterfly when a long brown shape swung out of a tree and barrelled into her, rolling her across the lawn in a tangle of fur and legs.
Duendei sprang out of the mess with a hiss and landed facing the young brown tom that had knocked her down.
When he saw her scowl, his grin disappeared and e blushed through the brown patch over his right eye.
"Err... sorry..." He mumbled. "I thought you were Cetty..."
She continued to stare at him, a scowl firmly on her face, but truthfully Duendei's eyes were scanning him over, taking in how strong he looked. Her earlier question was answered as she looked for an excuse to walk somewhere in order to enticingly roll her hips. She padded over to the lavender bushes in the corner of the yard, with a graceful sway that would surely impress this tom. She turned to pout at him.
"Well, I'm not!" She said defiantly, instantly feeling stupid. Well Duh. Of course she wasn't. That had been established.
"I know" He brushed it over smoothly, not taking his eyes off her, and walking over to her and the lavender. "I just saw the orange and white and thought..." He said, and shyly distracted himself by sniffing some lavender.
Duendei peered down at her coat. At the vivid ginger patches and stripes. Cetty's patterns were similar to her own, but there was still no black in Duendei's coat. Besides, Duendei's was an orangey- red, Cetty's gold. But it bled into the same tone soft white, and was edged by the same golden hue.
Duendei didn't know what to say after that, so she said the only thing she could think of.
"Well my name's Duendei." She said chirpily, batting her eyelids at the handsome tom. Or maybe he was a kit? He looked young enough.
"I'm Tumblebrutus." He said. "I haven't seen you before. How old are you?"
She puffed herself up, pushing her semi-developed chest out as far as it would go.
"Seven months. It will be my first ball this year!" She said, excitement creeping in again.
Tumblebrutus laughed, but there was no patronising edge to his laugh.
"You're gonna love it!" He said, grinning at her.
Duendei deflated a little. He was already a full tom?
"You've been to a ball?" She said, hiding her anxiety.
"Yeah, the last one was my first. My brother was the youngest tom there, but not by much. I was just barely in front." He said with a laugh.
Tumblebrutus's face twisted into a concentrated frown.
"But... If you're seven months, then you must have been born close to the last ball."
Duendei thought back to what Tantomile had said, and voiced it to Tumblebrutus.
"I was born just after the ball. It was only a few days after, I think." Duendei looked up to find that Tumblebrutus was watching her think with an intense expression. She felt colour rise to her cheeks, and turned to sniff the lavender. It always soothed her.
Tumblebrutus broke the silence.
"Hey, follow me. I know a fun place!" He said, scampering toward the back trail that led through the tall bushes in the garden and out under the fence.
"Wait!" Duendei cried. "I'm supposed to wait for Cetty!"
"Duendei? When are you going to learn to rebel child? Go on- go and have fun you young things you." Duendei spun to see Cetty slinking back onto the scene with an encouraging wink towards her.
She shot Cetty a 'don't be silly' look, and then darted off to catch up with Tumblebrutus.
"Where are we going?" She asked, once they were out and heading down an unused track by the creek.
"It's a surprise!" He said, mysteriously, leaning in close to her.
She spun her head away so he wouldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks again.
She followed, him excitedly down through the parkland, her hips swaying the entire way.