Munkustrap's Story
Munkustrap wrestled himself free from his friend's, Rumpleteazer, grip. The two had been best friends since the young tabby could remember, but he felt like he didn't exactly belong in the alley where he lived. The older cat, the evil ginger, beat him up constantly. The ginger was Rumpleteazer's father so Munkustrap never said anything to her. Whenever she asked about his wounds he said he got into a scrap with a Jellicle. The ginger always told Munkus that he would grow up to be one of his fighters, and would help him to take the Jellicle throne. Munkustrap was still just a kitten...he didn't know what the Jellicle's did to the ginger so long ago that he always wanted to destroy their lives, but he knew he had no choice but to listen to his elder.
"Hey Munkus! Come on! Let's go hunt for mice!!" shouted Rumpleteazer running away in the opposite direction.
"Don't start without me Rumple!" laughed the young tabby running after her. The two walked toward the place where mice were plentiful...beside the old trashcans near the Jellicle Junkyard. A few minutes into their fun the ginger's main henchcat, Fenrir, approached the duo.
"Time for training tabby..." he spat at Munkustrap. Munkustrap sighed and stood up.
"Bye Rumple...I'll be back later." he said sullenly to his friend. Then him and Fenrir left, leaving Rumple sitting alone.
After hours of what the ginger called 'training' Munkustrap limped to his bed. Collapsing of exhaustion then he felt a tug on his ear.
"What?" he said angrily.
"Are you ok?" came Rumple's soft voice.
"Yea...I'm fine." he replied. He still had his back to her. He didn't want her to see his new gash going from his shoulder to his paw. True laying on the wound was painful, but he new he couldn't keep lying to Rumple. He heard Rumple walk away, and he knew he had hurt her feelings. Groaning he managed to lift himself up, and he decided to go for a walk. Confusion had found its way into his thoughts...the ginger treated the other kits with a type of compassion, but he treated Munkustrap like he was nothing. Munkustrap winced every few steps with pain from his injured leg. Stopping beside the River Thames he sat and began to try to clean up the bloody wound. Blood tasted awful...he finally gave up on the cleaning process and took a drink from the river.
"So that's why you seemed a bit irritable." came a voice from behind him. He jumped and almost fell into the Thames. He turned to see Rumple sitting behind him, and smirking a bit. He turned back faking interest in a lit up boat coming down the river.
"What are you doing here, Rumple?" he asked. He heard the calico queen walk up to him, and within minutes she was sitting beside him.
"I knew something was wrong...and if you weren't going to tell me I had to find out for myself." she replied.
"I didn't want you to know..." the tom told her. Rumple looked at her friend, and then at his leg.
"My dad got you good this time didn't he." she said. He looked at her confused, and then remembering his injured leg he realized he hadn't convinced her any of the times he told her about scrapping with Jellicles.
"I knew you were lying to me about your other wounds...I knew you didn't want to offend me if I knew the truth. So I played along." she told him.
"You're my friend Rumple...I didn't want you to lose your trust in me." he told her.
"You're my friend to Munkus...I don't want you to keep anything from me anymore. Just tell me the truth." she replied. He nodded and glanced up at the stars. Sighing he looked back at Rumple and said;
"We better get back...or we'll both get it." Rumple nodded and the duo began to walk down the twilit street.
--
Munkustrap, now a teenager, was one of the ginger's best fighters.
"Fenrir...I want you to fight Munkustrap. He needs to prove himself before we attack the Jellicles tomorrow night." the ginger ordered. The dark grey tom nodded and said;
"As you wish Macavity." Munkustrap rolled his eyes. Macavity, the ginger, was so self absorbed sometimes and Fenrir's kissing up didn't do much good. He took a quick look around, and noticed a large group of Majestics had gathered to watch the fight. Then he noticed his opponent take his place so Munkustrap mirrored him. The two glared at each other, and tensed up...ready to attack on cue.
"This will be a fight to the death toms!" shouted Macavity before Admiral could give the cue to start the fight.
"My favorite kind..." Munkus heard Fenrir growl. Munkustrap just kept his focus on the task at hand.
"Tom's ready?" asked Admiral.
"Always..." snarled Fenrir. Munkustrap just nodded at the tan tom.
"FIGHT!!" shouted Admiral. Fenrir was quick to lunge, but Munkustrap was quicker to dodge. He looked to see where his opponent was, and noticed Fenrir was climbing out of a pile of garbage that had toppled on top of him. Munkustrap took a defensive stance and prepared for another attack. He felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. He noticed Fenrir was finally free of his trap and was barreling toward him. Munkustrap wasn't able to dodge this time...he felt Fenrir's claws connect with his jaw, and the silver tabby was knocked out of way. Munkustrap was getting to his feet when Fenrir attacked again. This time the dark grey tom's claws sunk into his side, and Munkustrap collapsed once more. His side was throbbing, and he was panting. Rumple, who was watching the fight, watched her friend closely. 'Munkus...get up...he's distracted...now's your chance...' she said silently. Munkus watched Fenrir strut toward Macavity, obviously thinking he had won. Munkustrap silently got to his feet, and silently approached his rival. When he was within range Munkustrap attacked the older tom. Munkustrap leapt up onto Fenrir's back, and his claws sunk into the tom's stomach. Fenrir threw him off and he hit the ground harder than he wanted to. 'So much for grace...' Munkustrap thought. He was quickly back to his feet, and Fenrir was close enough to kill if he wanted. As Fenrir brought his claws up for the kill Munkus turned and the grey tom connected with the wound on his leg and re-opened the scar. Munkustrap cried out in pain as the old wound was opened once again. He looked to where Fenrir had gone and noticed his enemy had his back turned once again. His supporters began to cheer...not many supported the evil grey tom, but four Majestic's did. Munkustrap slowly got to his feet. He was feeling slightly dizzy due to the amount of blood he knew he was losing, but he fought through it and attacked Fenrir once more. Fenrir heard him approach, and as he turned Munkus's claws plunged into his chest. Fenrir let out a gasp, as Munkus pulled his claws away. The dark grey tom staggered back a few feet then collapsed...dead in front of Macavity.
"The winner!" shouted Admiral motioning to Munkustrap. A cheer erupted from the rest of the Majestics while the four who supported Fenrir looked angry. Munkustrap noticed everything was going fuzzy, and he finally collapsed. Everyone had gone to dispose of Fenrir's body.
"Munkus?" he heard a familiar voice ask. He stirred then opened his eyes weakly.
"Rumple...why aren't you with everyone else?" he asked.
"I patched up your wounds...he got you good, but you got him better." she replied smiling. He glanced at the spot where he had last seen Fenrir's body...a pool of blood shone in the summer sun.
"I actually killed him..." Munkustrap said looking away from the blood.
"Yea! When you collapsed and didn't get up after he stabbed you...I thought-I thought I had lost my best friend." she finished. He looked at her and nuzzled her lightly.
"Don't count me out...until you've used all your fingers." he told her. She smiled at him and then helped him to his feet. The two walked towards the old mattress that was in the alley.
"Munkustrap!" came a voice that made the duo shudder. They turned to see another of Macavity's henchcats, Fungus, walking toward them. When he was finally face-to-face with them he looked directly at Munkustrap.
"Macavity wants to talk to you..." Munkustrap nodded and then looked at Rumple.
"I'll be back..." she nodded looking a little more confused than what was normal for her.
Munkustrap entered Macavity's den. His eyes took a few moments to adjust to the harsh light, but he found the leader staring out the dirty window.
"You did very well Munkustrap." said the ginger.
"Thank you sir..." Munkustrap replied. The ginger turned around and glanced at the silver tabby. Munkustrap figured the ginger was sizing him up...
"We'll attack tomorrow night during the Jellicle Ball...you'll be my second in command seeing as you killed Fenrir." the ginger explained. Munkus didn't say anything he just watched the ginger pace in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity Macavity looked at Munkustrap one last time.
"Get some rest...we've got a busy day ahead of us." Munkustrap acknowledged the dismissal and went to join the rest of the group. As he exited the den he noticed the moon was already out.
"Congrats Munkus! Well Done! We knew you'd win!" came the chorus of congratulations from the others. He wondered how they disposed of Fenrir...then again he didn't exactly want to know. He found his way over to Rumpleteazer who was fast asleep on the mattress he had left her on. Shrugging he pulled a tattered blanket close by over her. Then he laid himself down on the broken dryer behind her and collapsed from exhaustion. He glanced up at the moon and then dozed off into a restless sleep.