Author's Note: This just popped into my head today during school so I figured I'd give it a try. Hope you all enjoy~
Disclaimer: I do not own CATS and am making no profit from the writing of this fic. Enjoy~
The outskirts of the jellicle junkyard were usually quiet, save for morning and evening patrols. No jellicle wandered this close to the fence except those who came and went regularly, which were very few.
Rumpleteazer jabbed a finger into Mungojerrie's chest, "whatever jewelry ya 'ave is mine."
"Yeah, yeah I 'ear ya," Jerry grabbed his sister by the wrist before she could pull away, "but I wanna 'ave a look at what you've got, or else you won't get so much as an earring."
Teazer's tail lashed angrily, her eyes narrowed accusingly at her twin brother, "oh, alright!" she rolled her eyes, "Deal."
The twins snatched up both of their burlap sacks, dumping the stolen contents out at their feet.
Teazer picked up a magnificent ruby pendant on a short silver chain. The dying sunlight reflected off the gem's many facets, sparkling radiantly in her paws. Teazer was drawn to things that sparkle. She slipped the priceless necklace into her now empty sack while her brother was busy looking through her haul. It didn't take a lot to determine that the necklace was worth something, so she knew Jerrie would've put up a fight about her having it.
She turned back to Jerrie…and froze. Her twin, obviously seeing his little sister tense up out of the corner of his eye, glanced up from rummaging through their loot, "what is it?"
"Shh!" Normally Teazer was the one who had to be shushed, "Did ya 'ear that?"
Mungojerrie was on alert now, standing protectively beside her, "'ear what?"
"I thought I 'eard someone sneeze."
Teazer's paw found the pearl necklace wrapped around her throat. She twisted it around her fingers, a nervous habit she'd developed shortly after acquiring the necklace.
Jerrie flicked his tail, the tip gently touched his sister's shoulder, "No one's out 'ere. There's not supposed to be a patrol until later and no one comes out this far anyway."
Rumpleteazer, however, seemed unconvinced. The queen-kit kept her ears pricked, straining to catch any more noise that might be out of place.
Jerrie opened his mouth to protest her being paranoid but Teazer silenced him with a flick of her tail. The two were silent for what felt like minutes.
A deafening crash from behind them broke the silence. Teazer yelped and whirled around, Jerrie doing the same albeit a bit less jumpy.
A few feet from the twins, a queen-kit neither of them had ever seen before was standing in one of the trash piles.
She appeared to be around the same age as Rumpleteazer and the rest of the jellicle kittens. She was short and slender with long mousey brown fur and some assorted black markings on her head fur and shoulders. She had a cream-colored belly and chest and a white-tipped tail. Her staring eyes were ice blue.
She had accidentally knocked over a metal trash can as she emerged from the trash pile which had ultimately resulted in the crash.
Rumpleteazer regained composure and edged forward, "are you lost?"
The other queen was clearly not expecting the accent but eventually managed a friendly smile though her apparent confusion showed on her features, "Hello. I, well…yes actually."
Rumpleteazer cast a sideways glance at her twin brother, who just shrugged. It wasn't as if cats just wandered into the junkyard all the time, much less come across them of all the jellicles.
"So…where did you come from?" Teazer was less on edge now, assessing that the other kitten didn't appear to pose a threat.
The queen-kit appeared to give this some thought, then, "I don't know."
Jerrie took a step forward, "What's your name, then?"
She hesitated momentarily, "Renley."
"Nice to meet ya, Renley. I'm Mungojerrie, Jerrie for short. And this is my sister, Rumpleteazer."
"Teazer for short," Teazer smiled, extending her paw slightly.
Renley stared at them both and, slowly extracting herself from the piles of junk, she came toward them and shook Teazer's paw.
"Do you think you can help me?"
Teazer blinked, unsure of what she was being asked, "help you with what? Find your home?"
"Well, yes and no." The queen appeared to be under some minor stress which could possibly be causing her memory loss. Teazer was glad she sometimes paid attention to Jennyanydots's lecturing on health.
"Yes and no?" Jerrie prompted.
Renley stared at him for a moment as if startled, "I-I don't know why I came here. I can't remember anything…"
Teazer snorted, "Is that why you were wandering around in our junk piles?"
Jerrie elbowed his sister in the ribs. Now was clearly not a good time to be making jokes, "Is there anything you do remember?"
She seemed to be concentrating very hard. Renley scrunched her eyes closed and breathed in deep and finally sighed out in frustration, "No. I…All I remember was walking in here. I-I know this is going to sound stupid but I felt…drawn here. I don't know…"
Rumpleteazer grabbed onto her brother's arm and gently pulled him to the side. She hadn't been as concerned up until this point, but after questioning her, the queen-kit obviously had no other existing memories other than her name, "just give us a moment."
Renley smiled warmly at them and Teazer gave her a little wave. She then turned toward her brother when they were both out of earshot, "What do we do about 'er?"
Jerrie was shaking his head, "well clearly we can't leave 'er out here. She barley remembers 'er own name."
Teazer groaned, "we're going to have to tell Munkustrap."
"I know. Let's tell her we can help her if she comes with us and then we'll take her to his den."
Jerrie started to walk away and Teazer grabbed his arm again, "wait! We can't just waltz into the middle of the junkyard with 'er. We rarely go there anyway, let alone with another cat. We'll be surrounded. She's already disoriented enough. You go get Munkustrap and I'll stay 'ere with 'er."
"If you say so." Jerrie seemed to be on board and when the two returned, Renley was waiting on their answer.
"We can't help you," Jerrie started and, at the queen-kit's deflated expression, continued, "but we know someone here who can."
"Oh…alright," Renley mewed softly. The thought of meeting yet another new cat made her feel nervous.
"Jerrie's gonna go get 'im and then we'll be able to help you." Teazer offered the new queen-kit a comforting smile that Renley happily returned, despite her nerves which were starting to make her feel ill.
Rumpleteazer couldn't imagine what it must feel like to have no idea where you are or where you came from or any idea how to get back home. She watched her brother retreat into the piles of junk, heading for the clearing in the center where he'd surely find Munkustrap and, hopefully, not attract too many inquiring minds. Munkustrap was usually alone, except for his second-in-command Alonzo, who seemed to always be near to some extent.
Rumpleteazer offered for Renley to sit on the hood of an old rusty car she'd spotted to her left. The other queen-kit gratefully accepted, allowing Rumpleteazer to settle beside her. The two sat in silence while Teazer rolled this over in her mind. For a young kitten, Renley was surprisingly calm to be going through all of this. She knew Renley was far from calm, but panic hadn't set in yet which was good. She just hoped that Munkustrap could figure this one out. All she could do was hope…
AN: Please drop a review and let me know how I did, it would be much appreciated :) I haven't written in a while so I'm a bit rusty. Trying to get back into the swing of things.
