Mungojerrie padded down the alleyway towards the street. A cat wailed in the distance.
"Hmm," Mungojerrie thought, "I wonder who that is." He looked both ways and ran across the street. He heard a meow not far from a house. It sounded like it was coming from a car. He walked towards the car and peered under it.
"'Ello?" he said. A cat walked forward confidently. It was another tom. He was big and brown with a scar on his face. Mungojerrie recognized him from his days with Macavity.
"Hello Jerrie," said the cat.
"Um, 'ello Brutus," Mungojerrie replied. The larger cat looked down at him.
"The boss has been wondering where you are."
"Well I've been around," Mungojerrie said trying to think of a good explanation for leaving Macavity's group. Brutus raised an eyebrow.
"Around? Around where Jerrie? The boss is worried about you. You're still a kit you know," Brutus said with mock concern. Mungojerrie spat.
"I'm not a kit. I'm an adult!" he said defiantly. Brutus laughed.
"An adult?! Right then Mr. Adult you won't mind doing a job then would you?" Brutus went back under the car and came back out dragging something behind him. Mungojerrie looked at it curiously. It moved. Mungojerrie stepped back. Brutus pushed a small queen forward. She glared up at Mungojerrie. Brutus nodded at her and said,
"This here is I'm sorry sweetheart what's your name?"
"I didn't tell you my name," she said angrily. Mungojerrie looked at the small queen. She was quite lovely despite the dirt. She obviously had a fighting spirit if she stood up to Brutus. He cocked his head to one side.
"What are you looking at Ugly?" she said now directing her anger at Mungojerrie.
"Ugly? At least I'm clean!" he said. She hung her head. Brutus nudged her.
"This is a new queen for the boss. Since you're so grown up you won't mind taking her in for me will you?" Brutus said. Mungojerrie shook his head.
"Is that a no or a yes?" Brutus asked. Mungojerrie thought about it for a minute.
"I'll do it," he said finally. Brutus nodded and walked away leaving Mungojerrie with the queen. She looked up at him. He stared back.
"See ya!" she suddenly yelled and took off down the road. Mungojerrie ran after her.
"Wait!" he yelled after her.
"Don't count on it," she muttered under her breath. She was getting tired. She had already traveled very far that day. She started across the street. She looked to her right and froze as two bright lights came towards her. There was a loud blaring sound and something knocked into her. When she opened her eyes she was on the side of the road and the lights were gone. She stood up and looked around.
"You really should look both ways before crossing the street," a heavily accented voice said next to her. She looked at the speaker and saw Mungojerrie sitting trying to catch his breath. She began to walk away but something pulled her back.
"Who are you?" she asked. Mungojerrie looked up.
"You tell me your name I'll tell you mine," he said. The queen sat down and said,
"My name's Rumpleteaser and you?"
"Mungojerrie," he replied. She looked up at the sky for a second and thought about her situation.
"I'm obviously not suited for this environment," she thought, "This tom seems to know what he's doing. But I am not going to whoever this Macavity is! I don't belong to anyone." Mungojerrie poking her shook her out of her own thoughts.
"Well?" he asked.
"Well what?" Rumpleteaser asked.
"Would you like me to pretend you ran away or do you need any help?" he asked her. Rumpleteaser was surprised at this question.
"Aren't you supposed to take me to some Macavity?" she asked.
"Yes but I don't really want to do that," he answered, "You see I used to work for Macavity and that's not something I would ever want to put somebody else into. Especially a young queen like you." Rumpleteaser was slightly surprised at this answer.
"Well if you're not going to take me to Macavity then what will you do with me?" she asked. Mungojerrie shrugged.
"I dunno. Maybe I could take you back to my home tonight and then tomorrow introduce you to the Jellicles," he said. Rumpleteaser thought about it and then nodded.
"Very well," she said. Mungojerrie nodded and the two padded away down the side of the street. What neither of them noticed was a big brown cat, with a scar on his face, watch them walk away.
"Perfect," Brutus said, "This time little Jerrie's gonna get it good." he laughed and ran in the opposite direction of the two younger cats.
Mungojerrie woke up in his crate feeling warmer than usual. He opened his eyes slowly to look for the cause of this extra warmth. He looked beside him and saw Rumpleteaser curled up next to him. He sighed and put his head down.
"I can't get attached to this one," he thought to himself, "Macavity wants her which means I can't have her. If I even get slightly attached to her he'll hurt her." Rumpleteaser stirred.
"No," she muttered in her sleep, "No let me go. Don't put me out there! I don't like the dark. Please let me back in! It's raining!" she began to roll around. Mungojerrie stood up and looked at her sleeping. She moaned and settled again. Mungojerrie looked down at her for a while. She would be quite lovely if she was clean.
"I'll take her to the Jellicles today," he thought to himself, "They'll take care of her." He sat down and watched her for a few more minutes before closing his eyes.
Mungojerrie woke up when he fell over. He had been sleeping sitting up. He mentally hit himself for being clumsy. He heard a small giggle and looked at Rumpleteaser. She looked to be on the verge of tears from trying to keep herself from laughing out loud.
"Oh yeah it's real funny!" Mungojerrie said annoyed.
"Well I thought it was funny," Rumpleteaser said still giggling. Mungojerrie grinned.
"Wow," Rumpleteaser thought, "That's a pretty cute smile he's got!" Mungojerrie sat up and stretched. He flicked his tail as it fell outside of the crate and got wet.
"Oh no!" he said. Rumpleteaser cocked her head to one side.
"What?" she asked.
"It's raining!" Mungojerrie wailed.
"Well it's just a little rain," Rumpleteaser said, "We'll just stay here." Mungojerrie was worried about what would happen if they stayed there.
"Alright but we have to do something first," he said. He went to the back of the crate and began pulling at something.
"What's that?" Rumpleteaser asked.
"We have to cover the front of the crate. Come on then," he said pulling a blanket forward. Rumpleteaser grabbed part of it with her mouth and pushed the rest with her paw. Mungojerrie held part of the blanket over him and went outside. He jumped on top of the crate and draped his part of the blanket over the side. Rumpleteaser followed suit. The two cats crawled into the crate. Rumpleteaser began licking herself furiously.
"Did you get wet?" Mungojerrie asked. She nodded and kept cleaning herself. Mungojerrie walked forward and rubbed her shoulders with his paws.
"This'll help keep you warm," he said. Rumpleteaser kept cleaning herself. She went to lick her shoulder but got Mungojerrie paw instead.
"Oh," she said, "Sorry." he just shrugged. She leaned into him a little more.
"So tell me about yourself Mungojerrie," she said. He sat there for a moment before saying, "There's not much to tell. When I was little I was found by a big orange cat. He was nice to me for a while. Then as I got older he started asking me to do stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Stealing things mostly. But then he started sending me to do things that were worse. I had to help the older cats bring in some queens. They all looked really scared them queens did. I didn't know what was gonna happen to them but during the night I could sometimes hear screams. It was bad so one day I ran away and never went back," he finished. Rumpleteaser sighed.
"So that big Brutus fellow was takin' me in for the same thing?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's why I'm not doing it, it's a terrible thing. And Macavity would break you."
"Break me? Don't be so sure. I'm quite a fighter," she said making Mungojerrie laugh.
"So how about you? What's your story?" Mungojerrie asked.
"Well I was born on a farm and the master thought there were too many of us and since I was the smallest he didn't think anyone would want me. So he just put me out one night. I lived out in the country for a while with an old farm cat but he got old and passed away. He's up in the Heavyside Layer now though." Mungojerrie's ears pricked up at the mention of Heavyside.
"How do you know about that?"
"About what?"
"The Heavyside Layer," he said, "Where did you hear that?" She shrugged.
"I dunno. Doesn't everyone know about it?" she asked. Mungojerrie just thought.
"Is she a jellicle? She knows about heavyside. Doesn't that make her a jellicle?" A slight rumbling noise made Rumpleteaser jump.
"Was that thunder?" she asked.
"No," Mungojerrie replied, "That was my stomach." Rumpleteaser giggled again. Mungojerrie liked the sound of her giggle. It made him smile.
"We'll go out for food after it stops raining," Mungojerrie said. Rumpleteaser nodded yawning. She leaned against Mungojerrie and was soon asleep. He sighed smiling.
"She must be really tired," he thought to himself, "I wonder if she really is a jellicle cat." Mungojerrie smelled something terrible just then. He put a paw around Rumpleteaser just as the blanket was pulled from the front of the crate.
"Hello there little Jerrie," an orange tom said, "I've been worried about you for the longest time." Mungojerrie cringed when Macavity said his name.
"'Ello sir," he said.
"I haven't seen you in quite some time," Macavity said walking into the crate, "Is this where you've been staying? Who's this?" he asked gesturing towards the sleeping Rumpleteaser. Mungojerrie held her closer.
"This is Rumpleteaser. She's just a kit sir," he said hoping Macavity wouldn't do anything bad to her. Macavity walked closer and put a paw on Rumpleteaser's cheek.
"Well she's lovely," he said, "One might think that one of my boys might have found her and brought her to me. Guess not." He took his paw away from her face. He began to walk away but turned around again.
"Brutus told me about her Mungojerrie. I wasn't going to do anything about the fact that he gave you an assignment and it wasn't fulfilled but now," he looked down at Rumpleteaser, "I've seen her and just remember that. I will take her if you misbehave. The next time you have an assignment, I expect it to get done." With that last remark Macavity stalked away out of the crate and out of the neighborhood. Mungojerrie was worried about leaving Rumpleteaser alone but he knew he had to get food. He slowly let her down to the floor and stepped outside of the crate. He was lucky and found two mice in the alley right beside the crate. He swiftly caught them and took them back to the crate. Rumpleteaser was awake and had cleaned herself. Mungojerrie dropped the mice.
"Wow," he thought, "So that's what she looks like clean." Her fur had bright stripes of color and she had a beautiful face. She trotted forward and gestured at one of the mice.
"For me?" she asked. Mungojerrie nodded. She smiled and picked it up and went back to where she had been sitting. She ate quickly but daintily. When she had finished she laid down and began to lick her paws. Mungojerrie ate his mouse slowly and watched Rumpleteaser clean herself. He couldn't help his admittance of her beauty. It was something he couldn't ignore. He finished his mouse and rolled over onto his back. He stretched. Rumpleteaser watched him out of the corner of her eye. She had noticed immediately how attractive he was. She watched him stretch and saw his muscles moving. She sighed. He rolled onto his side and grinned at her.
"What?" she asked.
"I like mice," he said decidedly. She giggled. He smiled even bigger at this. She stood and walked over to him. He looked up at her. She leaned down and licked his nose. He looked shocked. She laid down next to him.
"Thank you for rescuing me," she said. He blinked a few times and then said,
"You're welcome." She snuggled in next to his side and he put his arm around her. She purred and Mungojerrie wrapped his tail around hers. The two of them soon fell asleep. But before he let sleep claim him Mungojerrie couldn't help but think about Macavity and what he had said. "I will take her if you misbehave... I expect it to get done." Mungojerrie sighed and closed his eyes.
When Rumpleteaser woke up she felt an arm around her and almost struggled until she remembered where she was. Then she settled back into Mungojerrie's arms. He smelled so good. She wondered if he cared about her or if she was just another queen. What she didn't know was that he was thinking the exact same things about her. She closed her eyes. Mungojerrie had been awake for a few minutes. He felt Rumpleteaser begin to struggle and was ready to let her go but then she stopped. He smiled to himself. He pulled her closer and purred. She purred too. Mungojerrie had forgotten only one thing during the entire day. Tonight was the night of the Jellicle Ball. He saw that it was starting to get dark outside and remembered.
"Oh no!" he said suddenly scaring Rumpleteaser.
"What?" she asked, "What's wrong?" Mungojerrie let her go and they both stood up.
"I forgot about the Jellicle Ball," he said, "I don't even have anyone to go with!" he was already thinking about asking Rumpleteaser but wasn't sure about whether or not she would want to go.
"Well what happens?" she asked. Mungojerrie explained every aspect of the Jellicle Ball leaving out only the part about the mating dance. Rumpleteaser nodded.
"Right then let's go!" she said trotting out of the crate.
"What do you mean let's go?" Mungojerrie asked following her.
"Well you're a tom and I'm a queen yes?" Rumpleteaser asked. Mungojerrie nodded.
"Right then you dance with me and I'll dance with you!" And with that she took off across the road and towards the Junkyard. Mungojerrie followed her shaking his head. She forgot to look both ways again. When he reached the Junkyard Rumpleteaser was sitting outside of one of the entrances.
"How did I know how to get here?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure it means you're a Jellicle Cat," Mungojerrie replied. They both entered the Junkyard and found Munkustrap standing right in front of them.
"Mungojerrie who is this?" he asked. Mungojerrie told Munkustrap about Rumpleteaser and how she had found her own way to the Junkyard.
"Well then. Welcome to the tribe Rumpleteaser. I suppose you'll be dancing with Mungojerrie tonight?" Munkustrap asked. Rumpleteaser smiled.
"Yes sir. Thank you sir," she said. Munkustrap walked away to sit with Demeter. Mungojerrie took Rumpleteaser and the two of them sat on top of the car. When Victoria started the Mating Dance Mungojerrie felt his ears go red. Rumpleteaser looked at him with dreamy eyes. He leaned down and kissed her. She smiled and kissed him back. She climbed down off of the car and joined the queens in their dancing. Then the toms came down and danced with their new mates. She smiled when she felt Mungojerrie's arms around her. She looked up at him and he smiled. At the end of the ball Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser walked back to the crate. Rumpleteaser walked in and sat down on the bed. Mungojerrie walked over to her and kissed her. She flopped over onto her side and purred. Mungojerrie purred too and licked her ear. He laid down next to her and put his arm around her. She rolled over so she was facing him. They kissed and purred. Rumpleteaser nuzzled up to Mungojerrie and put her head on his chest. He pulled her in close and the two fell asleep.
The End, or is it? Somewhere in the distance a voice laughed an evil laugh. Someone whispered Macavity but he was gone...