THE PRESENT:
RECOLLECTION
In the hours of darkness that enfolded the city under a waning moon, one might have thought no life stirred in the junkyard tucked away within the confines of London's streets. To the humans which happened to pass by the clutter of unwanted belongings and broken furniture, the refuse heap provided sufficient lodgings for the stray cats whose owners had neglected them or for those who had been born into such an unpromising life. Contradictory to many beliefs, the junkyard was in fact more than this. It was more than a mere gathering place, as it was the central spot which had been annually used to host a special event which most humans considered 'a brothel for cats.'
It was beneath the diminishing moon which a small black cat sat, taking refuge in a tube-like tunnel that sheltered him from the chilly night air. Although he was some months past his kitten stage and not yet quite an adult, he was small for his age. He shuffled deeper into the tunnel, tucking his paws beneath his chest as he made himself more comfortable, then flicked his tail contentedly when he felt the warmth start to flow through his body from the pads of his paws. The little cat lifted his gaze to stare at the roof of the tunnel in which a small crack produced a continuous dripping of water. His amber-green gaze focused on the droplets which continued to spatter down, and as he stared, the dripping soon ceased. The whole tunnel filled with a soothing warmth which warmed the little cat's ears to his tail, and he comfortably settled down to sleep.
His thoughts wondered to the young boy whom he hadn't seen in months. It had been a while to say the least that he had last wound around his human friend's legs and felt the comforting scratch behind his ears. That too had been before they had seen him with his human friend. His eyes opened slightly as he remembered the expressions of bewildered shock which had quickly turned to anger and jealousy. Then they had closed in on his human friend. He remembered the cries of fury and the horrible shrieking that had followed. He had fled then, reluctant to leave his human companion behind, but he'd had little chance of being able to protect his human when one of them had made a grab for him as he had streaked away in the rain.
It was slightly surprising to realise that he remembered much of that ill-fated day. But he knew he remembered a lot of things, even if they didn't linger on the outskirts of his memory. He had to remember if he was to fully control his abilities. After all, he was no mere deserted cat.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of paws padding gently on the floor of the tunnel. His eyes opened fully, as he watched a small white kitten make her way over to him. Truthfully, she was no longer a kitten, as she had recently come of age, but to him she would always be a kitten. She lay down next to him, the heat radiating from her body a reassuring touch against his midnight black fur. Her wide blue eyes searched his for any hint of expression on his face, but when she found none, she asked him softly.
"Quaxo, what's wrong?"
He stirred in response to her question and his gaze dropped, but otherwise did not move. He stared directly into her searching kindly gaze, and he considered lying to her, but instead chose to confess truthfully.
"I was just thinking of our human. Before—well...back to before..."
"You still think of the little human?" Her eyes did not conceal her surprise at his response.
"I haven't thought of him since the day we properly joined the Jellicles. But the memory merely came to me now." His whiskers twitched as he looked directly into his sister's gaze again. "But it doesn't matter. Sleep, sister." He settled himself again as she snuggled up against his side, her head resting slightly on his paws. He watched her for a moment, then placed his head against hers as he waited for the ebbing feeling to take him into the confines of sleep.
He pondered why it bothered him so much now to think of the little human again. He had barely cast a thought to his human friend's health until now. Maybe the effects of magic previously in the early evening had drained him so much it had released the lock repressing his inner musings. Either way, it troubled him. As he resolved to go back to his human friend's home again tomorrow morning to see what had become of the boy, he wondered if the little human had thought of him more often in place of the desertion that he had repaid his human friend in return.