A/N: I've seen the Dutch Cats musical three weeks ago, and I've already ordered tickets for the Polish version which I'll see in October. Yeah, I'm definitely hooked on Cats.

Disclaimer: I'm a female, not a male, so how can I be either Andrew Lloyd Webber or Thomas Stearns Eliot? As for the Really Useful Group, don't even get me started on the impossibility of being multiple people in one.

Word count: 470 words

It was quiet. Silence reigned at this time of the day, when it was too hot to move even the tiniest muscle, when it was too hot to do anything but laze around under the summer sun. None of the cats were willing to more in this stifling heat.

None?

Oh, there was in fact one cat still moving around; not a cat, more of a kitten actually. A young female kitten, creamy white with light grey and tan stripes.

The kitten silently moved through the shadows as if she were a ghost. She took no heed of the other cats; they were not her intended target. Instead, she made her way around the junkyard to the wall at the far east side. Yes, there was her target; she could see him clearly now. Her lithe body shifted into a crouch, and she took a great leap…

"ETCETERAAAAA!!!"

Oops.

Looks like her target wasn't too happy with being disturbed.

"Heheh…" Etcetera giggled a bit. Pouncing on Quaxo's tail was so much fun. For her anyway; she could practically see the imaginary thunderclouds gathering around the small tux' head. Etcetera had always been quite curious about the young tom; he had simply shown up one day at the junkyard.

It wasn't that he was a stranger; everyone knew that Quaxo was Mistoffelees' brother. Not only had Misto said so himself, but Bustopher Jones, their uncle, had confirmed it. Of course, anyone who was a relative of one of the Jellicles was more than welcome to join as well; Quaxo had been accepted by the tribe as easily as Etcetera herself had been; and Etcetera was quite the troublemaker.

But still… before Quaxo had shown up, he'd never been mentioned at all by either Bustopher Jones or Mistoffelees. Even nowadays, they barely acknowledged his existence; only when someone asked a direct question concerning Quaxo, would one of the other two tux cats mention him. Etcetera might have been a hyper, squealing kitten, but she wasn't stupid by any means.

She had a very distinct feeling Quaxo was not accepted among his family. It was terrible, knowing that someone who was such a nice cat was treated by his family in such a way. Oh, Bustopher and Misto were pleasant cats to be around, not horrible or mean at all; but why did they act as if Quaxo didn't even exist half of the time?

Why did they shun him so?

Etcetera was determined to find out; she had talked about it with her friends, Jemima, Victoria and Electra. All four female kittens had agreed to investigate. But, first things first; Etcetera and her friends were going to show Quaxo that they accepted him for who he was. And in Etcetera's mind, this meant playing!

Too bad Quaxo had no sense of humor.

Posted: July 04, 2007

Next chapter: Mistoffelees

Just a short prologue to get things started. More will be explained in the next chapter. I will most certainly update faster if I get lots of reviews. So, are you feeling up to the (gasp) treacherous and difficult task of pushing the little blue review button?