She lies on the metal beam, waiting. Not patiently. She has never been patient, and tonight she is even less than ever before.
Her tails swish silently from side to side as she looks down, eyeing the scene intensely. Cats, in all shapes and sizes, move about down there. Eating, sleeping, hissing like kittens at each other. Every few minutes a pitiful fight breaks out, only to stop instantly.
Cowards, the lot of them.
The room is not large enough to hold this many cats. Normally it wouldn't be a problem. A tribe should be capable of living together this closely, only, this is not a tribe. It is very far from.
She narrows her eyes slightly. There is not a single cat down there she would think of as tribe.
A horn sounds loudly, and it nearly makes her jump. She turns her head towards the wall on her right, where, on the other side humans were now finishing their day's work. Below her, the cats scatter at the sound, hiding. Barely a minute goes by before a door to the room opens, and several humans comes in carrying stacked boxes. Shoes.
They are placed along the walls, and then they leave, turning off lights and machines, and the entire house, the factory, falls silent.
Below her, cats show themselves again. They stretch and howl, and jump into the air, eager to roam the fabric in search of mice. Or the streets, in search of trouble.
She sits up, her claws showing. It time, she only has to wait… wait just a little more.
And finally he comes.
Macavity.
The room goes quiet instantly. The mangy, ginger cat makes his entrance silently, and so sudden one can only believe it to be magic. She knows it is.
She lies down flat on the beam, careful to hide herself in the darkness below the roof. But there is no need. No one below takes notice of her, or her absence.
Macavity gives his orders, and the cats scatter. He stands alone in the room, head swaying back and forth.
She pressed herself down harder and closes her eyes. Don't let him see, don't let him see…
Minutes pass before she finally dares to look, and sees the room is empty. Macavity is gone. Left just as silently as he came. She breathes heavily.
She makes her way down from her place on the beam, jumping from boxes to boxes. She runs as fast as she can, through opens doors and cracked windows, until she comes to his den. Macavity's den.
There's no one around and he doesn't hesitate. She enters.
The inside is full of pillows and blanket, and jewels and colorful glass shard. As always, she is momentarily stunned by it all. The beauty and the light, but she shakes herself out of it, and hurried to the nest.
Lying beneath a blanket, soundly asleep she finds her.
She doesn't have time to be gentle and rips the blanket away, which wakes the sleeping queen.
She sits up with a startled look on her golden and black face, her eyes looking around confused until she sees her.
"Bombalurina?" she asks, her voice heavy with sleep.
Bomba nods, "Yes, it's me. Come on!" she grabs her arms and pulls her along, out of the nest and to the dens edge.
"Wait, what? Sister, what's is going on?"
"We're getting out of here, now. Tonight!" Bomba says, glancing out of the den, but there is no one around. She feels her heartbeat speed up a little. Maybe luck is with them tonight. She steps forward to exit the den, only to be stopped. She turns around and looks at the other queen.
"Demeter?" she asks.
"I-I can't leave… he… he will be angry," Demeter whispers, eyes wide. Bomba swallows. They don't have times for this.
"It's now or never, Demeter," she says, tugging at her sister's arm, but the younger queen is unmoving.
Demeter is as if frozen, her entire body stiff, her face showing horror.
"Bomba, I-"
"Now or never!" interrupts Bomba, hissing slightly, "Please, Dem, don't make me leave you."
Demeter stares, eyes empty, "He will come after us."
"Not if we are far enough away. Please, Demeter," Bomba begs. She can't leave her sister, she can't, but…
Demeter finally moves, and shakes her head. "I can't… I-I can't…"
Realizing time is running out, Bomba hisses sharply and grabs Demeter by the shoulders, shaking her slightly.
"Wake up, Sister," she sneers, "Your eye has barely healed since his last rage, and you want to stay?"
Demeter looks down.
"I won't leave you, Dem, so please, for the both of us. Come with me," her eyes are nearly tearing up.
She fears she will say now again, refuse to leave all this. But against all odds, against how much she feared Macavity has broken her dear sister, the amazing happens. Demeter nods.
Bomba doesn't wait. She pulls her sister away, and they run. Away from the factory, away from the hateful cats. And most importantly, away from Macavity.
….
They run all night, barely stopping for a rest or to eat.
Bomb had feared that her sister would at some point give in to the fear and turn back, but is again surprised. Demeter only seems to gain strength the further away they go from the factory.
With each step, each leap, something changes in Demeter, and Bomba smiles at the light appearing in the usual empty eyes.
When they finally dare to stop for a small rest, Demeter glances up, chest moving rapidly to draw in breath.
"The moon," she breathes, and Bomba follows her gaze. High above them, full and shining more brightly than she had ever seen before, is the moon.
"It will guide us," Demeter says. Bomba looks at her sister, sees her trance like expression. "We must follow it."
Worry fills Bomba, but the light in her sister's eyes is still so delicate, so easily killed, and she doesn't dare refuse her. She nods and they grasp each other's paws, and run.
…
They follow the moon, large and bright, and it seems to give Demeter a newfound energy. The fear of meeting one of Macativy's cats is always there, but they push forward.
Through alleys and empty streets, guided by the moon. Bomba can't see the end of their journey, but Demeter is never wavering.
And when the night it's at its peak, and the moon is brighter than ever before, they have reached the edge of town. The houses are spares, and the streets more gravel than stones. The smell of the city – smog, dust and humans in the dozens – are nearly gone and replaced by… trash. Simple and true.
Before them lies a large junkyard, filled to the brim with everything the humans deem unnecessary, or easy to replace. Its large and surrounded by a tall wooden fence, and only seeming to have a single opening. Tracks after the human's vehicles are deeply made into the ground, but now, in the middle of the night, there is no sight of them.
Demeter stops before the entrance and looks up. The moon is directly above them.
They look at each other, and then enter the junkyard.
…
Bomba will never understand humans. As any cat with respect for herself, she values comfort and luxury. She loves and adores soft pillows, and warm blankets. She loves shiny collars and jewelry, and other knickknack found here and there. But as she walks through the junkyard, she can't help but sigh at what she sees.
Trash is not the only thing in the junkyard. Refrigerators, old cars, boxes with clothes and shoes. Small human toys, weird things and strange things. All throws away like it was useless, nothing.
She wonders if they should try to find somewhere to sleep. The night has been long and dawn can't be far away. She's about to suggest it to Demeter, but her sister has jumped up upon a large pile. Each of her moves are elegant and calculated, and she soon reaches the top. There she stops and after a moment, looks down at Bomba, gesturing for her to join her.
Bomba joins her, and is momentarily stunned by the sight. They can see out over almost the entire junkyard, and it is large. Much larger than she had ever imagined. Hills and mountains of discarded human things, forming small valleys and cliffs here and there, and she can already see herself jump from pile to pile, exploring.
She is so occupied with what her eyes see, that her ears nearly miss it. But it's there.
"Listen," she says and Demeter stand up right, ears turning to capture the sound.
Or song. Yes, she can hear song.
Bomba jumps down the pile and runs to the next. With some great leaps she is again high over ground, and the song is slightly higher. Demeter is right on her heels, silently agreeing that this must be investigated.
They run and jump and leap. The song grows stronger while the moon hangs over them, lighting the junkyard more than any sun ever could.
Finally, they stop, at the top of one of the highest piles, and is met with a magnificent sight.
The song, so strong and clear that they can hear every word, is coming from a small clearing in the junkyard. An almost open field, surrounded by piles and cars, and tires, closing in the ground like a stage. And everywhere, there are cats.
Kittens, queens and toms. All ages and color, and slung across every settable surface, or lying on the ground. They all watch as a handful of cats are doing almost acrobatics dancing, while singing on the tops of their lungs.
Jellicle cats, they sing, Come to the Jellicle Ball. The Jellicle moon has risen. Jellicles, come, come, come to the Jellicle Ball.
Bomba takes a step back, pulling Demeter with her.
Jellicles.
They look at each other, and Bomba can see her own thought reflected in Demeter's eyes.
These are the cats Macavity has hunted for so long. None of them has ever been allowed to join in those hunts. Demeter has always been Macavity's favorite, and has such never been allowed to leave the fabric. Bomba has never strayed far either, not willing to leave her sister alone for too long. Never before has either of them worries much about the Jellicles, except when Macavity failed in whatever scheme he had planned. His temper has always been worse on those days. But even then, they never worried or thought about the Jellicle cats.
To the sisters, they were merely Macavity's enemies.
And now, they stand so near them, and watch as they sing and dance.
The sisters looked at each other. What to do?
When on the run from Macavity and his cats, who else better to seek out than his enemies? But will the Jellicles even let them near them? After all they have been with Macavity since kittenhood. They have no reason to trust them, let alone letting them come near their tribe.
But what else choice do they have?
Before any of them can even come with an idea or suggestion, there is a rumple and a crash beneath them, and Demeter suddenly disappears from Bomba's side. She tried to grab her sister but it's too late.
Bomba can only watch as her sister slides down the pile, paws desperately trying to grab hold of something. But it's useless, and she soon comes to a stop, right in the middle of the gathered cats, who all stop their dance and look at her.