Untitled
Written by: Altaica
(A/N: oookay…..Mungo and Rumple belong to RUG, ALW, and all the rest of those people. Adrasteia is of my own invention, Lord Firefyn belongs to Tuomas L, Tarfur belongs to Rumplepurr, and the storyline, while I wrote the entire thing and thought it up all by my little onesomes, is based on Rumblepurr's Jellicle Chronicles website. These type of stories are also slightly based on Anna-Karin Larsson's fanfictions.) (A note of explanation before you read: Adrasteia is the "ancestor" of my character, Altaica. I would suggest reading some of the Jellicle Chronicles first, since this "dream" is based off of some of Rumblepurr's writings, but it's your choice. I think that some things in this are easy enough to understand anyhoo
A Black and White Tabby Queen nocked an arrow and took aim carefully. The target, a Pollicle dummy hanging from a tree, was marked with several sets of red circles. The bulls-eyes were located at the heart, stomach, and right in between the "eyes".
She pulled back on the bow-string, touching the red feathers on the end of the arrow to her lips. She peered at the target a moment more before letting the arrow fly. The silver markings painted carefully on the arrow glinted in the sun as it arched toward the target, striking dead-center in the "head's" bulls-eye.
"Yes!" she cried, holding the bow aloft in victory. Her companion, a cheerfully patterned tabby, scowled.
The Queen, dressed in a green peasant's shirt and a short brown leather hunting skirt placed her paws on her hips. "Admit it, Mungo, the pupil has surpassed the teacher!"
Mungojerrie didn't speak, but Adrasteia did see a glint of a smile as he walked to his own target, pulled the arrow out of the "cheek" with a flourish. "One more go?"
Rumpleteazer, Mungojerrie's Mate and partner, was lounging in the grass nearby, lazily throwing practice daggers at a third target. "Really, Mungo, you're setting yourself up for another defeat."
"Oh yeah? If she's so good, why isn't she the one going on the Expedition?"
Adrasteia rolled her eyes as she retrieved her brightly-colored arrow from the Pollicle dummy. "Because, Mungo. Two Scouts are better than one."
Rumpleteazer caught a slight hitch in Adrasteia's voice and looked up, narrowing her eyes. Mungojerrie, intent on aiming the arrow, had his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth and didn't even hear his student, never mind her tone of voice.
Adrasteia had been the Tiger Twin's apprentice for many years. Rumpleteazer had actually given her the name that she used now. It meant "she who none can escape" and seemed proper for the Scout-in-training. Now, of course, Adrasteia had completed the regime and had lived up to her name. Her original name, Rumpleteazer thought, was Ailinne.
Mungojerrie loosed his arrow, and this time it flew true, smacking his target right in the "heart". He grinned happily. Let's see her beat THAT!
Adrasteia loosed her arrow, deliberately aiming low and wide. It struck the Pollicle dummy in the neck. It probably would have been just as effective on the real thing, as the Tabby Queen had put a little extra "punch" into the fly and the war bolt pierced clean through the dummy. However, it didn't count for this practice "game" that the two were playing at, and Mungojerrie grinned in triumph, holding his bow high. Rumpleteazer looked at Adrasteia and winked. The Tiger Queen knew that the younger Tabby had deliberately lost.
Mungojerrie and Adrasteia retrieved their arrows and Rumpleteazer her throwing daggers. The two Archers also looped discarded bandoliers of throwing daggers and stars around their torsos. They had taken them off to shoot more comfortably, and Adrasteia felt more secure with hers on. The Pollicle army was coming closer to the Keep with every day, and soon they would receive orders to report to the Citadel to fight. Of course, in Mungo and Rumple's case, it would be for the Expedition.
The three Scouts, the only ones that the somewhat remote Keep had, began the long walk up the hill toward the large stone building. Adrasteia lagged a little behind her two Teachers, checking her twin swords. The scabbards would need cleaning, she decided, before they reported to the Citadel.
She glanced up in time to see a Scholar in his long robes descending the hill toward them. Scholar Tarfur, of the Arts and Humanities, she thought. The only Scholar that didn't completely exasperate her. Tarfur had almost been chosen for the Expedition, but had been passed over in the final cut.
Reaching the three Scouts, Tarfur smiled, a difficult thing to do in the presence of three such Jellicles. His pale blue eyes twinkled jovially as he greeted the trio. "Lady Rumpleteazer, Adrasteia," he said in greeting. "Mungojerrie."
"Tarfur. Have you any news?" the Black and White Tabby Queen asked politely, continuing to follow her Teachers. The Scholar fell in step with her.
"The Longfur Keep fell yesterday to the Pollicle Army," he said seriously, and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer froze for a split second. The Longfur Keep was just south and east of them. Only one other Keep stood between the two, a relatively weak one, belonging to Lord and Lady Lightningstripe. The three Scouts exchanged a knowing look. Their orders would arrive sooner than expected.
"And of you, Scholar? Will you stay at the Keep when the Warriors and Scouts get their orders?" Rumpleteazer asked.
Tarfur shook his head. "I will go with you to the Citadel, to record the final history of the Jellicles."
"No offense, Scholar, but you're nuts!"
"Perhaps, Mungojerrie. However, I will do what needs to be done."
They had reached the Keep. Adrasteia watched the kittens play in the courtyard and sighed inwardly. She wished that she was young again, and didn't have to know what was to happen. That she didn't have to go to the Citadel, and surely die there.
Unconsciously, she squared her shoulders. It was her duty to go. She had been training more than half her life for this. She would be in command of the Scouts there, Rumpleteazer had told her some time ago. "After all," the Tiger Queen had said, grinning. "After me and Mungo, you're the best we've got."
Adrasteia had chuckled in reply. "AFTER you and Mungo?" Both Queens had laughed then.
But still, Adrasteia wished that whoever was in charge of the Expedition had decided to take three Scouts…
"Will you walk with me, Lady Adrasteia?"
"Huh?" The Tabby Queen shook out of her reverie. "Oh…sure, Tarfur."
The pair walked in silence to the top of one of the walls that surrounded the Keep. The Scholar Tarfur stopped against a tower wall to look out over the countryside. Knowing that the Tom would talk when he was ready to, Adrasteia stood against the same wall, fully aware of all that was going on around her, even if she didn't look it. The ability to do so was what made her a good Scout.
Finally, the Orange and Black Tom sighed. "All my life I've live here, and now a bunch of overgrown mongrels are forcing me from it. I'm going to feel strange, leaving…"
Adrasteia smiled. "I only came here for my Training, but I know how attached you are to the Keep. But the Expedition and the defense of the Citadel are more important….without the Expedition, the Jellicle Race would cease to exist. You know that better than I do."
"Yes…" Tarfur said, obviously deep in thought. Adrasteia rolled her eyes and moved to the low wall surrounding the outside of the walkway. She watched with interest as a courier, moving at a high speed, burst through the gates and into the Keep.
A few minutes later, a page was running along the walkway at top speed. "All Scouts and Warriors to the Citadel!" he cried as he passed, rounding the corner and continuing on.
"Oh, Rumpus!" Adrasteia swore, swinging herself onto a ladder. "Tarfur! The summons have come!" The orange and black male shook himself out of his thoughts and turned to look at her.
"What?"
"We have to get to the Citadel!"
***
Adrasteia searched through the camp for signs of the Scholar Tarfur. It had been a week since they had departed the Keep, and their humble band had more than trebled in size. Now, forty-nine Warriors rode with them, and fourteen more Scouts had joined herself, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer. Several more Scholars had joined Tarfur, and there were four Healers to join the ranks forming at the Citadel.
Three days ago they had heard the news: their Keep had been defeated by the Pollicle Army. There were no survivors.
Upon hearing the news, silent tears had fallen down Tarfur's face. Adrasteia and Rumpleteazer had done their best to comfort him. Even Mungojerrie had let out one simply enormous sniff. Adrasteia paused for a second, head bowed. She still couldn't really believe that the entire Keep was gone. It was only a few days ago that she was watching the kittens of the Keep play, wishing that she was young again.
She found Tarfur alone by his fire, staring bleakly into it. It was enough to make a Pollicle's heart break, she decided. One lonely Tom keeping a vigil for his dead family and friends, even in the face of his own death.
They would both die. She could feel it. Eventually, there would be no Jellicles left on the planet. But that only made the time left more precious.
In a split second, Adrasteia decided. Coming up silently from behind the orange and black male, she took a seat on the log beside him.
Tarfur smiled slightly. "Lady Adrasteia."
The Scout cocked her head to one side. "How'd you know it was me?"
"Lucky guess, I suppose."
"Oh." Leaning her elbows on her knees, Adrasteia looked intently at the fire. "You're quiet tonight."
"Just thinking."
"I know," Adrasteia said dryly. "You Scholars do entirely too much of it."
The two sat in silence for some time, the only noise coming from the others in the party and from the fire itself. Finally, the Tabby Queen sighed.
"I don't think I'm ready to do this…"
Tarfur looked up in surprise. "I cannot think of anyone with better training and skills to take this on, Lady Adrasteia. Not even Lady Rumpleteazer and Sir Mungojerrie."
Adrasteia looked hard at Tarfur for a moment. "Scholar, why did you come?"
"To record the last history of the Jellicle…" Adrasteia waved a paw, interrupting him.
"No. Why did you come?"
Tarfur hung his head slightly. "Because I didn't want to die. Because I didn't want to leave you alone."
The Tabby Queen seemed to ponder that for a moment. One black glove reached out and raised the Scholar's head. She leaned over and kissed him lightly. It was for just a moment, but the aftereffects left the Scholar's head spinning.
"What…what was that for?"
Adrasteia stood, smiling. "Because you looked as though you needed it. Because you came so as not to leave me alone. Because I'm really beginning to grow fond of you, Scholar Tarfur. Good night."
"Good…..good night, Lady Adrasteia," the Scholar said softly, watching her disappear into the shadows.
***
"Hey, Jerrie!"
"Something wrong, Teazer?"
"Look at who's riding with our favorite student!"
"You mean our only student, don't you, Teazer?" But still, the Tiger Tom strained to see above the heads of various Warriors, Healers, Scouts, and Scholars. When at last he spotted Adrasteia's black mane, leather bandoliers, and characteristic green peasant blouse, he blinked once or twice in surprise. Riding beside her in the traditional plain brown robes of a Scholar was none other than Tarfur. "Will you look at that? Ol' Tarfur is sweet on our little apprentice!"
"Don't be cheeky, Jerrie. I think that it's adorable."
"You would. Yeow! No hitting!"
***
The tired, ragged party reached the Citadel four days before the Last Battle began. The Warriors were instantly sorted in amongst the ranks, the Healers shipped off to their area to review how they would evacuate and treat the wounded. Scouts reported to Adrasteia, and the Scholars had been told to keep out of the way. She had seen Tarfur in passing, standing at the edges of the planning committees and keeping careful notes. She knew that he had been involved in the History of the Expedition from the start of the Council Meetings.
Juggling the Scout's review training and laying out the plans of battle with several of the Lords kept Adrasteia busy for the first two days. She became something of a friend to the Lord Firefyn, the commander of the "Last Ranks". It was his duty to guard the Citadel proper until the Expedition had departed. She knew that he could have been among those in the Expedition and had chosen instead to stay and fight. She felt unworthy in his presence, she who wished to have been included in the Expedition with everything in her.
There were over twelve hundred Scouts, some just beginning apprenticeship, and she had to assign them all and run weapons inspection on most. It was apparent that any Jellicle who could fight had flocked to the Citadel. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer helped out when they could, but they too were kept busy as more members of the Expedition arrived. On the eve of the third day, however, planning was cut short as the last of the Expedition arrived. The Sending would begin at dawn.
The three Scouts had embraced warmly before separating. "Don't forget me," Adrasteia had said. "And Mungo, I'm still the better archer."
"How could we forget?" Rumpleteazer had asked, giving the Tabby Scout one last, fond hug. "And he's always known about the archery."
"Take care of yourself, Adrasteia," Mungojerrie had said solemnly.
The thought of her two Teachers made Adrasteia glad, even in the face of the battle to come. Slipping down the hallway where she knew the Scholars were staying, Adrasteia almost smiled. She had not seen Tarfur properly for days, and it was as though she had cut a hole in her own heart. She knew now how it would be, and she needed to tell him.
She rapped quietly on a door. What luck! The Orange and Black Tom, looking exhausted, answered. "Lady Adrasteia? What are you doing here?"
The Tabby Queen looked around the Scholar and into the room. About a dozen Scholars were packed in like sardines, some refining notes, others merely enjoying a last glass of berry liqueur for their last evening. "Come with me," she said softly, walking back down the hall.
Behind her, she heard the door close, followed by the sound of footsteps. She continued to lead him on until she found herself outside, grass a carpet beneath her feet and the stars a ceiling above.
"Tarfur," she murmured softly, stroking his cheek fur with one paw. "I've been thinking, these past few days. Well, whenever I wasn't running around like a Jellicle possessed, that is," she said, a smile forming on her features. "The last battle will begin tomorrow. I know that I will be among those killed, Scholar. I can feel it, and I know that it is true."
"Adrasteia…."
"Tarfur, you're going to let me finish this! I believe that Charumcah gave me this feeling to take care of…unfinished business. Fact is, Tarfur, I think….I know….that I love you. I am yours, Tarfur, for eternity and a day."
"I've loved you since you walked through the gates of the Keep. I am yours, Adrasteia. Forever."
Leaning forward, the Tabby Queen kissed the Scholar warmly. She pulled away, tears in her eyes. "I will die tomorrow, but I will do so with the knowledge that we will meet again in the Heaviside, and in another life to come. Remember me, my love, but do not mourn. Continue recording the History of the Jellicles. Your pen is your sword and will be until your last breath."
A bell sounded from deeper within the camp. "I must go. Preparations are beginning as we speak. Do not forget me. Do not forget any of us."
And the Tabby Scout was gone, racing off into the darkness. Scholar Tarfur stood still for a long time before turning and slowly walking back to his quarters.
***
"SCOUTS! Form ranks!"
The dread day had come. Perhaps eve would be more appropriate, for the Pollicle Army struck sooner than expected, in the dark of night, spotlighted by the full moon. Adrasteia cast a glance at the Citadel, thought fleetingly of her two Teachers, her best friends. May the Everlasting Cat bless you and keep you, she prayed silently and briefly.
When she looked up again, all twelve hundred and fifty-five Scouts were before her. Apprentices and middle-aged Veterans, Toms and Queens, friends and strangers, Tabbies, Calicos, Siamese, and Persians, all stood before Adrasteia now. She raised her twin swords high, crossed above her head, for silence. She made sure that her voice carried to where the Warriors stood in full battle regime, to where the Healers massed in their robes, awaiting wounded, to where the Scholars stood at a safe distance, ready to record. She felt Tarfur's eyes on her and raised her head proudly.
"What will happen today has never happened before in History," she began, loudly and clearly. "Many will fall on our side, but more on theirs. Why? Because we are Jellicles! We will fight with honor and we will die with honor. Fight for your families, your friends, your Mates and Kittens. Fight for the strangers at the battle-stations beside you. Fight for every civilian and Warrior the Pollicles have killed! Fight for yourselves!"
"Behind you, in the Citadel proper, in twenty-five little circles, stand the hope of the Jellicle Tribe. But YOU, each and every one of you, from Warrior to Healer to Scout to Scholar, is the hope and life of the Jellicle Tribe! The ones chosen for the Expedition were said to be the best and brightest. In my eyes, you are all the best and the brightest, even if you are a bit slow, or not too great with a sword. 'How? Why?' you may ask."
"It is because you are all Jellicles! And remember—I will be proud of you to the last! Now, let's show these mutts a thing or two!"
A resounding cheer rose up inside the Citadel courtyard. In the distance, the howl of a Pollicle sounded. The eerie cry was taken up by hundreds of voices, enough to make the fur on Adrasteia's back stand up.
"Battle-stations! Hurry!" And with that, the Tabby Queen charged forward, ranks of Scouts and Warriors fanning out behind her.
As Adrasteia took her place in the center of the first wall, she glanced back. Hundreds of Jellicles still milled about in the Courtyard, Healers and Scholars and the reserve forces of Scouts and Warriors. Her eyes caught Tarfur's and held for several seconds. No words needed to be spoken, their faces said it all.
The Tabby Queen Scout looked in front of her as hundreds of Scouts fanned out into the woodlands surrounding the Citadel. They would wait there until the Pollicles struck and attack from all sides in pairs and triads. Adrasteia then looked up and down the Wall, to her left and to her right. Warriors and Scouts that were fleet with arrows knelt behind the battlements, preparing arrows and throwing daggers. Others loosed their swords to be sure that they ran free. She wasn't the only one who considered a suicide leap to the Pollicle ranks to kill as many by swift sword-blade as possible once arrows and other projectiles ran out.
She knelt behind the battlement, preparing her first arrow. The quiver on her back was full of her own signature red-fletched, silver-painted arrows coupled with arrows that Mungojerrie had given her the day before. The yellow feathers and gold embossed stamp on the shafts bespoke a Captain of the Scouts. She had accepted the gift solemnly, knowing that it was his way of being with her in the battle. Even if she was the better archer.
She selected one of his arrows to be the first to fly. "This is for you, buddy," she whispered, pulling the bow-string back and touching the feathers to her lips. She looked to her left and right once more, saw hundreds of arrows being prepared, saw mouths move in blessing and in whispered prayer. The Tom Scout just to the left of her waited for her signal as the heavy machinery approached.
"Goldfur! NOW!" she hissed.
The archer stood, arrow in place, and lit the end on fire! Taking careful aim, he shot it for one of the weaponry wagons that was fast approaching.
What an explosion! Adrasteia's shouted command was almost lost in the melee. "FIRE!"
Volleys of arrows shot from the top of the Wall at once. Adrasteia's arms moved in practiced motion. Pull the arrow from the quiver and above your head in a circle, brace your arms, pull the string back to your lips, let it fly! There was hardly any need to aim, for the Pollicle Army stretched as far and as thick as the eye could see.
Beside her, the first brave Scout, Goldfur, fell dead from a metal scrap hurled through the air with shocking strength. With an expert eye, she gauged where the scrap was thrown from, and for the first time took aim. She loosed one of her own arrows and smiled grimly when she heard it hit the target.
Scouts to either side of her were running out of arrows and resorting to daggers and throwing stars. Still the Pollicles came, despite horrifying losses from the front and seemingly from inside the Army itself! Most of the Scouts in the woods would survive the battle and flock to the Sanctuary, as was planned. Adrasteia loosed her last arrow, Mungojerrie's again, kissing the feathers in blessing before she let it fly. For the Keep.
She threw her bow aside. It was useless now. With practiced motions, she freed eight throwing stars at once—four for each paw. She methodically threw them without drawing blood on her own palms. When the Pollicles came about to collect their dead in the days after the battle, they would stare at the corpses killed by the Tabby Scout's throwing stars in confusion. Each star sank one point deeply into the skull of a Pollicle, dead center between the eyes. Each was obviously thrown by the same Scout, for they carried the emblem of Adrasteia's Keep in the center where the points met.
Daggers went next. Each dagger, blade emblazoned with the same emblem and with her name, struck throat or chest or head. When those ran out, Adrasteia pulled both of her swords. She saw the remaining Scouts do the same, Warriors pull their single blades. By now, the wall was beginning to crumble. As one, surviving Scouts turned and leapt from the battlements to the ground that held the Pollicle Army. Warriors retreated to beyond the second wall.
"What the hell are they doing?" mumbled a Warrior near the Lord Firefyn. The Lord slowly shook his head.
"I do not know, but Lady Adrasteia knows what to do. Everlasting Cat help them."
"They'll need it," the same Warrior murmured.
On the other side of the Citadel Courtyard, Tarfur stood with the Healer Starfoot. He saw Adrasteia leap from the wall and bowed his head sadly. He remembered her words, remembered her telling him not to mourn and to record the History of the Jellicles to the last. He raised his head and continued his notes.
***
Inside the actual Army, the surviving Scouts of the first Wall fought bravely, slaying dozens of Pollicles before falling under an enemy's blade. Adrasteia felt one of her twin swords wrenched from her grasp, saw the gleaming eyes of the Doberman before he knocked her down and raised the sword high.
She didn't scream in fear but threw her remaining blade upwards, shearing through the Doberman's midsection. The Pollicle's lower body fell backwards and his upper body forward. A scream escaped Adrasteia's mouth without her consent. She had been impaled by her own blade.
Her vision began to blur within moments. To her right, she saw a Pollicle dead, one of Mungojerrie's gifts sticking out of his shoulder. Another arrow, one of her own, was buried in his torso.
Adrasteia reached out and painfully wrenched the arrows from the dead Pollicle's body. Ignoring the dog blood mingling with her own, she crossed the arrows at the midpoint of their shafts and touched the cross to her lips.
She heard the Gate in the Second Wall crash inward. If a passing Pollicle had stopped and listened closely to the dying Scout, he or she would have noted the odd stiffness to her words. She was already losing control of her body.
"Ever..lasting….cat….Keep Lord Firefyn….under your paws….until the…Sending….is complete. Charumcah….keep….Tarfur alive….and do not….let him …mourn. Bless and keep…..Mungo….jerrie and Rumple…teazer….wherever they are." Bleary eyes stared at the stars above once more. She closed her dark blue eyes for the final time and allowed herself to lift up, despite the arrow in her middle.
The sensation of flying was wonderful! Adrasteia opened her eyes and rolled over onto her stomach, to view the battlefield beneath her. The burning in her stomach was gone, and she looked below herself in wonder. She spied Tarfur assisting Healers and the wounded to the Sanctuary Keep. She noted the Scouts and Warriors racing behind the Pollicle Ranks, intent on reaching the final Keep to protect and serve it to their last.
The Lord Firefyn was almost directly below her, slaying Pollicle after Pollicle. The Citadel exploded, and a shaft of brilliant white light shot heavenward, right past the floating Adrasteia. She thought that she saw a whisper of the faces of her beloved teachers speeding past into the distance before she could no longer see the Citadel and the horrors that the courtyard contained.
"I'll be waiting for you, Tarfur…."