The Fires of Inheritance
A Sequel to Last Redemption
By:Tyrunner
Chapter 1
Bombalurina quietly sat by a cardboard box that had once housed a pair of human shoes, but was now home to a gentle pile of soft cloths and rags, which served as padding for the red queen's little kitten, Jendangen. It had been 4 months since the evil tom Draconic overtook the tribe and ruled it tyrannically, that is, until Macavity returned and defeated him in an epic battle. Draconic was killed in that fight, and sadly, Mac was mortally wounded as well, and was sent up to the Heaviside Layer the following night. It had been hard for Bombi then, and it was still hard for her now, since Mackey had been her mate.
As she watched her son sleep, she reflected on how life had been for them before Draconic took control. It really all began that one day after the Jellicle Ball, when she went on her own, having a little walk around the block. She ended up running into the tom that had once had been her love, they ended up spending a night "catching up," and she ended up getting pregnant with her daughter, Sophline, as a result. Her secret was exposed, and she had to choose between Macavity or the tribe, and she chose him. Even now, she was unsure of why she made that choice, but she never regretted it. She managed to get Mac to change his ways and he became a loving family tom. (For more on this, read Forbidden Romance. Also read Last Redemption to get more background on certain things and cats throughout the story) It all changed when her sister Demeter fled from the overrun tribe, and managed to get Mackey to use his old Dark Magic skills to defeat Draconic, and free the tribe. He agreed, and now he was gone as an end result. Even though it was for the good of the tribe, it still hurt her terribly, because he was gone. She still sometimes cried herself to sleep, and many times still had nightmares. Thankfully now there was another tom caring for her.
As she sat there, not even bothering to wipe away a lone tear that ran down her face, she felt two gentle, but strong paws rest on her shoulders, accompanied by a voice that was itself gentle, but also saucy, "Are you okay?"
The red queen smiled gently and put one of her paws over one that was on her shoulder, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just still…getting those…emotions," she said, looking up at the Main Coon that was standing behind her. Rum Tum Tugger, with a look of concern, sat next to her. The two were now a couple, but they didn't yet consider themselves mates. Tugger understood how Bombi and Macavity felt about each other, and he knew that being anything more than a courting couple right now would make her feel disloyal to her old mate, and he respected that. They both knew they would become mates eventually, but it was still going to be awhile. Even so, Tugger didn't believe that the queen he cared about dearly was fine and he put his arm around her, which seemed to break away her emotion barrier, "It hurts, Tugger," she sobbed out, more tears flowing down her face, "I know it has been awhile, but I... I can't move on! Every time I try to get myself to move on…I see his face, and him dying. And I…I'm pulled right back to where I started."
Her words had Tugger saddened. It hurt him a lot to see her going through such hard times, "I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. I…I don't know what to say. It hurts me that you are hurting so much," his gentle words seemed to lift all the sadness from the red queen and she cuddled against him a little more. His other arm went around her, and resulted in the two to cling to each other or a long while. Bombi then tilted her head up and gave him a peck on the cheek. His head turned to face her, and they looked into each other's eyes. A shiver ran through Bombi and at the same time, a similar feeling went through Tugger. Slowly, their lips met and the two finally had their first true kiss.
As their lips parted, loud chattering started emanating from the junkyard, and it caused the couple to run outside. Everyone was grouped around the old trunk that was the infirmary, and Bombalurina could barely see Munkustrap, the Jellicle Leader, who was trying to keep everyone from getting in. She could also see her sister Demeter, Munku's mate, helping him. Together, the two kept everyone back, as the silver tabby shouted out, "We'll let you know more! Now, please! Everyone go back to your dens! You'll know more once we find out more, I promise, now please go!"
Slowly, the tribe dispersed, everyone chattering about whoever was in the infirmary. Bombi and Tugger worked their way through the crowd, and got to the couple that was standing guard at the entrance. Bombi had a look of confusion as she inquired her sister, "What's going on?"
The black and gold queen responded with a sober look in her eyes, "It's Rumpleteazer. She suffered a miscarriage," The words caused her heart to sink and her mouth dropped in a state of shock. From the infirmary, she could hear Jennyanydots yelling at Jellylorum.
"More rags! I need more rags!"
Jellylorum followed the shout with one of her own, "It's not working! I can't stop the bleeding!"
"Well keep trying!"
Bombalurina was clearly outwardly perplexed, "How could this have happened?"
"Apparently, according to Mungojerrie, she fell out of bed last night. He didn't think anything of it until just a few minutes ago; when he saw her laying on the floor on top a pile of blood, "Munkustrap answered with a somber tone.
"Where is he now?"
"He's in his den. He's clearly in shock. I had Alonzo and Cassandra go to stay with him for the rest of the day."
"Poor queen," Demi said with pity, "She was actually starting to look forward to her kitten coming."
"Wait, she was looking forward to the kitten coming?" Tugger asked, amazed, "All this time, I had heard that she wanted an abortion."
"Everyone knows that abortion among cats is extremely frowned upon," Bombalurina replied, "If she had done it, everyone would've given her heat for it."
"But still, even though Mungo convinced her out of it, she might've kept the idea alive," Tugger's words had everyone thinking. Could it have been possible that Rumpleteazer did want an abortion all along and finally got her wish? But if it was so, why would she go this far? No one could answer that. An hour passed before Jennyanydots was finally able to get the calico queen in a stable state, and everyone relaxed a little. Tugger and Bombi went back to the den the two, plus the red queen's family, were sharing. Because they weren't mates yet, the Main Coon and Bombi slept in separate beds, at her insistence. As she was about to fall asleep, she heard distinct crying coming from the other room in the box that was their home. She immediately knew who it was and went to the other room. There, sitting up, her arms wrapped around her knees, her face lying on them, sobbing, was Bombalurina's daughter, Sophline. Bombi knew how hard it was for her as well, since Mackey had been a wonderful father to her, and the two had a special bond. Quietly, the red queen sat next to the little queen, whose fur was a slightly darker red than her mother's, and gently put her arm around her daughter. The younger queen immediately leant into her mother's embrace and continued crying. No words were spoken momentarily, but finally Bombi spoke.
"It's ok, Soph. I know you miss Daddy a lot. I miss him too."
"I just…I wish he wasn't gone!" The little kitten sobbed, "Why did he have to get hurt and leave, Mommy? Why did he leave us?"
"It…it was his time to leave…I guess," The red queen said quietly, "You remember what I said about destiny and fate? Well…I suppose that that was his fate; to go up the Heaviside Layer."
"Yes…I suppose," Sophline said sadly. It didn't matter, it seemed, what Bombalurina said to her, it didn't ease the pain of loss. It still hurt, just the same. Bombi quietly gave her daughter another hug and a kiss on the head.
"Sophline, if you ever feel the need to talk to someone, don't hold it in, okay? Please talk to someone, all right?" This brought a nod from the kitten. Bombalurina gave her daughter one last kiss good night and tucked her in. As she went back to her and Tugger's room, she suddenly got this horrible feeling of impending doom, like something was terribly wrong. She glanced out through a small slit on the wall and she could see Jennyanydots outside the infirmary, leaning against the wall outside. She looked like she was crying. Bombi's heart sank instantly, as she had a terrible feeling that the worst had happened. She quickly roused Tugger and together, the two went to the old Gumbie cat. As they neared her, they could hear light sobbing. For a moment, Bombi couldn't speak. Finally, she got her courage and gently whispered, "Did…she…?"
Jenny nodded, "Yes…she got…complications, died just a few minutes ago," She whispered through her tears, "And just when I had stopped the damn bleeding too!" She suddenly shouted, which stunned both the Main Coon and the red queen. Neither of them had ever heard the queen swear before, and it was so unlike her to ever even think of letting out one profanity. The shock of that was overwhelmed though, thanks to the shock of Rumpleteazer now being…dead. It was completely shocking and it had all three cats terribly saddened. Jellylorum joined them and with no words, and to everyone's surprise, no tears, they all hugged each other for a long time. Jelly finally broke the silence by saying that she was going to go get Mungojerrie, so that he could be told. Bombi and Tugger went to Munkustrap and Demeter's home to tell them as well. As all four went back to the infirmary, they could hear Mungo crying loudly over the loss of his sister whom he had loved dearly. Other cats were also arriving and receiving the news, and many of them were also crying, mourning the loss of a queen who was always optimistic and able to lift anyone's spirits up in the worst of time, despite the fact that she would sometimes spring practical jokes on others. It was a terrible loss.
Her funeral was the next day. Since she couldn't get formally sent to the Heaviside Layer, the only other way to send a dead cat's soul up was to, sadly, burn the body. Everyone gathered at the middle of the Junkyard. Munkustrap was standing on the tire, everyone standing in front of him. Rumpleteazer's body, all cleaned up and primped by Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, lay in front of them, surrounded by many of her possessions, like her Woolworth pearl necklace, and the sack that she used to plunder from the human family she lived with on Victoria Grove. Mungojerrie even set next to her the winter vest he usually wore. A few cats spoke a few words about Teazer and what kind of a cat she was. At the end of the service, Munku stood tall and said the last words.
"Rumpleteazer was taken from us much quicker than anyone else had anticipated, but we must move on, knowing that she is now going to live as great a life as she did here with the Jellicle Tribe. She will be greatly missed, not just because of her good humor and her sometimes annoying antics, but also for the great care and support she had for every member of the tribe," With that, he gave a nod to Mistoffelees, who sullenly raised his paw at the calico queen's body. All of a sudden, a burst of fire shot out of his paw and onto Teazer's final resting place. Her body and all of the objects surrounding her immediately went ablaze, and everyone stood silent, most of them shedding tears, as Rumpleteazer slowly burned away. Mungojerrie stood next to Bombi, holding her paw as a hold for comfort. As he watched his sister, the last of his family, burn away, he could no longer hold back his tears. He burst out sobbing and fell to his knees, his face buried in his paws. Bombalurina knelt by the calico tom and gently put her arms around him, and he rested his head on her shoulder, crying onto her chest. On Mungo's other side, Skimbleshanks stood stoic, quietly shedding tears. He had been very saddened by Macavity's loss, since the ginger tom had practically been like a son to him when Mackey was in the tribe, and he had considered Mungojerrie the same thing.
Even Bombi shed some tears as well as she held the grieving tom, watching Rumpleteazer's body slowly get reduced to ashes. After two deaths, two losses in just a few months, the Jellicle world had seemed to become a world of death and sadness.
I just had to write this story out. I have been yearning to write a sequel about Macavity's son, Jendangen. I know this chapter isn't about him at all but the following chapters will. For those who are concerned, I am still writing Americanized Jellicles, but as of late, I have been getting writer's block on that story, so I am putting it on hiatus for now. I may also get my other romance fanfic out, A Rose Blooms For Two, which will star Victoria, Plato, and Mistoffelees. I am glad for all the reviews I have been getting on my stories, and I am glad there are people who like my writing, and I hope they enjoy this story as much as my other fanfics. Please R and R, so I can improve this story as it continues. Keep readin' and writin'!