I do not own CATS. As much as I would like to, I don't.
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London. That was where Socrates' humans were moving to. Well, Socrates was too, but then again he didn't have a choice in the matter. The brown and black tabby just followed them wherever the tom human's job took him. Luckily, this was their first move, and it was to a bigger city where the human could have a better job. They pulled up into a large, white house in Victoria Grove. Socrates saw a few dogs, and a cat or two, but it was a mostly quiet area. Socrates' queen human scooped him up and placed him on the yard. He looked around. In Socrates' opinion, he would have a nice big territory where he could lie around, hunt birds and mice, and be his normal, playful self.
From the fence in the adjacent house's yard, he saw a white face pop up. A second later, the rest of the cat jumped onto the fence. It was a small, black tuxedo tom. Socrates decided he'd go over and introduce himself, seeing that the tom was about his age. "Hello there, I'm Socrates. My humans just moved here, who're you?" The tom jumped down from the fence. "I'm Mister Mistoffelees, the Original Conjuring Cat, but most people call me Misto." Socrates smiled. "Well Misto, I know I'm in London, but what's it like here?" Misto gestured for Socrates to follow him, and said cheerfully, "Well follow me, and you'll find out."
"Wow, London is so… big." said Socrates in awe of the many cars, people, shops, and restaurants. Mistoffelees looked around, and then crossed the street. Socrates quickly caught up with him. "So, where are we going next?" He asked. Misto pointed with his tail to an old, rusted gate. It looked like the gate opened into a junkyard. "There. It's the Jellicle junkyard." "The what?" Socrates asked. "Never mind, you'll see soon enough." Misto led Socrates into a huge junkyard. Suddenly, three cats confronted them. One was a spotted grey and white cat, another who was a huge Maine Coon, and the third a silver tabby, who seemed to be the leader. "Well Misto, who's this?" asked the big tabby. Mistoffelees pointed at each cat with his tail as he said their names. "Munkustrap, The Rum Tum Tugger, and Alonzo, this is Socrates. He and his humans moved into the house next to mine. Oh, and by the way Tugger, you should probably find Jerrie and Teazer." Tugger felt the back of his mane, growled, and dashed off to find them.
Munkustrap seemed pleased, and said, "Well Socrates, would you like to join the Jellicles?" Socrates asked for a tour of the junkyard first, and then he would decide. "Well, this is the main clearing, it's where we gather to talk, hang out, and hunt." Munkustrap led Socrates to the dens, passing some cats who started having a hushed conversation. "Each cat has a den in the junkyard. Some are made out of old pipes, ovens, and Tugger's is in that car over there." He gestured to an old, rusted out car with a license plate that read TSE 1. "Over by that tire is where Old Deuteronomy, our leader, will address us for a meeting or other special circumstance." Munkustrap stopped in front of the tire, and said, "Well, what do you think? Will you join?" Socrates thought for a moment, and said, "I'll join, but why is everybody but you and Misto jumpy around me?" Munkustrap leaned down and said in a flat voice. "They think you may be with Macavity. As such, we screen all newcomers." He straightened up, and called, "Coricopat, Tantomile, we have a newcomer!"
Two almost identical brown and black splotched cats came out of the shadows. Munkustrap nodded to them. "This is Coricopat, and his sister, Tantomile." The two twins nodded at Socrates and in unison said, "We will mentally examine you to determine if you are actually with Macavity or not." Socrates felt a strange probing sensation in his mind, which withdrew after a few minutes. Coricopat and Tantomile looked at Munkustrap and said again in unison, "He knows nothing of Macavity, but we determined that he is a conjurer." Munkustrap's eyes widened. Socrates was suddenly very nervous. "Uh, wh-what's a conjurer?" Misto lookd up, and said, "A conjurer is a cat with magical powers. Corico, Tanto, and I all are conjurers. They're teaching me how to develop my powers, and after you join, I guess they'll teach you!" Misto looked excited about that, and Socrates was still confused.
Suddenly, a loud smash was heard on the other side of the Junkyard. Munkustrap cursed under his breath. "Alonzo, Corico, Tant, come with me." They walked off in the direction of the noise. "What was that?" asked Socrates. Misto sighed and said, "It's Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer again. They are always causing mischief around here. They braided Tugger's mane earlier today and he didn't notice." Socrates felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see two orange, black, and white calicos. "'Ey, who's this, Misto?" The tom asked. Misto laughed and said, "This is Socrates he just moved into the house next to mine, and shouldn't you be running from Tugger?" The tom looked serious for a second, but then burst out in a huge grin. "No, that's why we made that little diversion, just so we could meet Socrates 'ere without any interruption." He looked at Socrates. "I'm Mungojerrie, and this is my twin sister Rumpelteazer, but most call us Jerrie and Teazer." Teazer giggled and said, "We're the pranksters of the tribe. Our pranks aren't harmful, but they sure get Tugger worked up. Say, Misto said you moved in next to him. We live around the corner from him." Socrates smiled and politely said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, but you should get going, I hear Munkus and Tugger coming." The twins looked at each other and ran off, laughing. Socrates turned to Misto. "Do they get caught?" He asked. Misto chuckled. "No, not often. C'mon, it's getting late. We should go home. Come back tomorrow and we'll see what Old Deuteronomy thinks about you joining."