Heal Me

By: Brittglamorra

Chapter 1: The Weak

"I mewled in distress. My youthful mind did not understand that my mother had left my side. My brother was pressed close to me, along with my sister. I had yet to open my eyes, but I knew their scents by heart. I had been born perhaps two weeks ago, and I had heard my mother say that my brother and sister had already opened their eyes. I could often feel my brother jostling against me, and speaking to me. But I did not hear properly for some reason. It was all distorted and faint…As though someone called for me from such a distance that the words were unintelligible. Anyways, as I felt my mother move away my eyes opened for the first time. I froze, my sounds cut off….Everything was blurry at first…but I blinked rapidly a few times and then things became clear…Unlike my hearing my vision was sharp…sharper than a kits should be at that age.

I looked around and for the first time spotted my sister and brother…and even though I was young, I understood something was very wrong, and my stomach twisted into knots…My brother was bigger than I, and dark brown with shaggy fur, and darker brown stripes. He was sound asleep…But my sister…She was small and white with ginger and black patches covering her pelt….When I say small, I mean she was half my size, and I was a small kit, and her ribs jutted out. Her skin looked so delicate that it seemed it could tear at the slightest movement. Her breathing was shallow and disjointed. I blinked in fear and looked around for my mother. I finally spotted her near the entrance of the den. She had her head bowed sadly, as she spoke softly to a ragged greyish-brown furred tom. His scent told me he was my father. They both looked distraught. I looked down at my sister and I knew they were speaking of her…I blinked, forgetting my own distress and curled up, pressed close to her, keeping her warm. I closed my eyes, blocking out everything around me…which wasn't hard when I could scarcely hear as it was…I drifted into an uneasy sleep…

Movement woke me later. I opened my eyes, only to see my mother lifting up the limp form of my sister.

"Mow?" I squeaked, sitting up rapidly. My mother gently set down my sister again and looked at me. She spoke, but I didn't hear very well. I blinked at her in confusion…After a moment she leaned close to me and spoke loudly in my ear. I heard her then.

"Its ok. I am taking your sister to my humans so the vet can take care of her." She meowed gently. I nodded my head, unsure what some of those words meant. "Keep your brother warm for me? Ok Jelly?" She asked. I blinked in confusion.

"Jelly?" I asked. She smiled.

"Yes little one. Your name is Jellylorum. Your brother is Asparagus Jr., and your sister is Nimphadora." She meowed quietly. I tilted my head to the side curiously.

"OK. Where we going mommy?" I asked. She stared down at me with round eyes.

"You are going to stay here with your brother…I have to take your sister to my humans…Your daddy will be here to watch you, she meowed, pointing to the greyish-brown tom. He had rugged fur, and he was slim, but well built. He was an older adult, but not elderly. My mother was clearly younger, but not by much. He was handsome, she was pretty. I wondered whatever could possibly be wrong with my sister.

I watched as my mother lifted the little scrap very carefully again, and padded out of the den. Her eyes were filled with worry…Frankly I was worried too…But regardless…I never saw my little sister again…

My brother and I grew quickly, and we grew big. Both our parents were small, but for some reason we grew bigger than they had been at our age. My hearing grew better, but I still could not hear a whisper, nor could I hear a cat from far away. Luckily most of my boisterous tribe mates were loud. We were still young, when there was a strange occurrence.

One day I had snuck out of the junkyard with my brother and we were creeping through the allies when I ran into another kitten as we darted around the corner. I fell back with a grunt, and looked up at the older kit, who stood, glaring down at us.

"I…I'm sorry." I meowed quickly. He blinked, his eyes softening from anger to curiosity.

"yer a couple er Jellicles." He meowed in a mild Scottish accent. "What er ya doin so fer from yer home?" He asked.

I blinked at the kit.

"Um...yeah, we are…We were just exploring." I meowed. His eyes lit up with amusement and he gave her a lopsided smile. I felt my stomach do something weird…

"Ha! That's funny! How bout I show yer two round the block?" He asked, letting down his guard and becoming friendly.

"I..I don't know…" Asparagus started, but I cut him off.

"Of course!" I purred happily. Asparagus glanced at me, his eyes narrowed in concern. I shrugged and followed the tom in front of me. He was Smokey grey with hints of brown shot through his fur. He had a white bib, and he had black paws, tail tip, and ear tips, as well as a unique shaped marking on his forehead. He also had a nasty looking scar over one eye, and I wondered how he got it. He glanced over his shoulder.

"I'm Aeron by the way." He meowed. I smiled. Aeron…I liked that name.

"I am Jellylorum and this is my brother Asparagus Jr." I meowed, flicking my tail towards my brother. Aeron halted and dipped his head teasingly.

"I bow before you Jr. and Jellybean." He purred. I giggled in amusement, liking the sound of the nickname.

Anyways, Aeron led us around more than just the block we had been exploring. He showed us the area surrounding all the Jellicle Junkyard. I smiled, thoroughly enjoying myself, and pleased that Asparagus was smiling now too, his eyes bright with wide eyed wonder, as his head turned this way and that, taking in everything. Finally we were near the gate. Aeron stopped outside.

"This is were we part ways." He meowed. I felt my heart plummet, and I stared at the ground, my brow furrowed and my eyes sad. He smiled, and brushed my chin with his tail, making me look up at him. I felt Asparagus stiffen beside me, but ignored it. Instead I was captured in the depths of dark vibrant blue eyes, my heart pounding in my throat.

"Its ok. I will come here every few days to pick you guys up and we can go play by the pond." He meowed. I nodded with wide doe eyes.

"Promise?" I asked. He nodded

"I promise." He replied. "Friends?" He added, glancing at both Asparagus and myself. Asparagus had relaxed again and smirked.

"Friends." He and I echoed in unison. Aeron smiled.

"Good. See you two sometime soon." He purred. I nodded, and smiled warmly at him before the older tom kit turned and trotted off into the shadows of the alley. Asparagus and I exchanged a glance before we slipped inside of the Junkyard fence. We could hear cats calling for us near the back of the Junkyard, so Asparagus and I darted in among the rubbish, and I whispered a plan in my brothers brown ear. He nodded with a smirk, and we slunk to the far corner of the yard where there was a deep stack of what had once been pillows…But most of the pillows had been removed, stitched and put in dens. So all that was left was a pile of feathers that would have buried several humans. We darted towards it then leaped high, vanishing into the feathers…We burrowed our way down into the feathers and cleared a small air pocket, so we did not inhale the fluffy white down. It took some time but eventually we heard the voices get closer and closer….I threw back my head, carefully sucked in a lungful of air, and wailed.

"Help! Get us out!" I wailed fearfully. I heard a loud yowl…It sounded like Grizabella, a young and pretty black queen, younger than her parents even. She had grey markings up her legs, her tail, and her face and head. But she was one of the prettiest queens in the tribe…Anyways.

"Hey! I found them!" She called out very loudly. I heard scuffling and yowling.

"Help!" Asparagus and I wailed over and over. We put on faces, and began sobbing a will…A trick I believed all young kits should possess. My brother and I certainly did. We cried, and scrabbled frantically at the feathers, as we heard the Jellicle's searching through them. I finally felt my paw hit something solid, and we came nose to nose with anther queen called Dellalora. I flung myself at her, and she pulled me and my brother out, dropping us and panting, checking us over with quick movements.

"I've got them!" She called in her sweet sing-song voice. I blinked at her and let the tears fall. Then my mother and father appeared, and raced up to us, and the rest of the tribe struggled from the feathers and came towards us, crowding around.

"What happened my sweets?" My mother, whom by now I knew was called Jenko, asked. I sobbed staring up at her.

"W…W…*sniff* We….were….*sniff* Playing and...and chasing those things…*sniff* and they ate us!" I cried. My mother curled around me, sympathy on her face.

"Its alright little ones. Your safe now." She murmured. I almost smiled, but kept up my act…My father, Gus was known as the Theater Cat. He was a well-known playwright, actor, and companion to human actors…Clearly my brother and I had inherited his acting ability, and we were winning right now. We should have got nominated for an Oscar!...Whatever in Everlasting's name that is…I shrugged away the thought and curled against my mother…And so began mine and my brothers escapade…

For weeks my brother and I visited with Aeron…each day we grew closer and he took us farther, and it became increasingly difficult to come up with logical stories as to why we had vanished. He was funny, and friendly but was no cat to mess with. Actually one day he chased off a pollicle that attacked the three of us. I felt strange emotions that I had never felt before and my heart jumped every time he was near. His rugged yet sweet scent calmed me when I was frightened, and his voice made my throat dry, and my head spin. Was I falling for him? Perhaps. Regaurdless…Soon our escapades involved Jenny and Brutus too. My best friend, Jennyanydots had been born only a few weeks after me, but her mother had died and her other three littermates besides Brutus had died. Tumblebrutus had been weak, but now he was strong and big. Both had been adopted by my mother. They both began adventuring with us, and excuses were harder to come by. But I didn't care. I loved the outside world, which seemed endless.

The four of us grew steadily into young teenagers. Deut and Dellalora had had kits, but so had Grizabella and she had left the Junkyard, leaving her lone kit Rum Tum Tugger to Deut and Dellalora. Their two kits, Munkustrap and Plato were very adorable! The reminded me of myself which scared me a little. And many other cats were either pregnant or had kits. Anyways. We continued our adventures. But one day Brutus met a beautiful young pirate teenager a but younger than himself called Jilli. He left with her that day to become a pirate and Jenny sobbed for days. The adults also found out about our ventures outside of the junkyard, but by then we were allowed out. That didn't change the fact that my mother was livid. She suspected our ventures were where we had vanished to so often as kits as well. Aeron and I grew closer. I refused to stay in the Junkyard…I wanted to leave home to explore the world, but Aeron was more bound to London then I had thought possible.

One day I went out to see him on my own, traveling towards his den in an old warehouse he had shown us. I entered and heard loud yowling. I could hear Aeron yowling, loud, fearful, and defiant. I could hear a deep male voice snarling as well…I crept silently towards the room that Aeron occupied, and hid in a crevice, that led into the room. I watched through fearful eyes at the scene before me. Aeron was facing a huge tomcat that was huge and brown with green eyes but with the same broad shaped head, and shoulders. This cat was his kin.

"You stupid kit! You think your tuff? That you can just leave behind all you are destined to be? You weak! And I have no room for weakness!" He spat. Aeron glared up at him.

"I'm not weak! You're weak! I did not kill my own mate! You killed my mother, and you honestly believed I would follow you! You coward! Get out of my home!" Aeron spat. The tom's eyes narrowed in rage. Clearly he did not like being called a coward, for that is when his cold green eyes had sparked fire. He threw himself across the room and smashed into Aeron. Aeron reared to meet him. For the longest time it seemed the battled. Aeron fought like a lion! His father was battered and bloody, but soon it became clear that he was clearly beating his kit into the ground. After another long stretch Aeron collapsed, his head smacking the floor hard. His eyes met mine, and I stared into his. Fear overwhelmed me, and grief…I loved him. His father's jaws were stretching down towards his throat, when with a ear-shattering screech I flew from my hiding place…I had never fought before and had never been trained as a guardian like most of the toms and very few she-cats. But my desperation and my fear lent power to my paws, and skill to my movements. I crashed into the large tom and sent him flying. I stood over Aeron who stared up at me, but unable to move. The tom leaped to his paws with a hiss and faced me.

"Now this cat is strong." He snarled. He leaped at me, his aim to kill and I ducked my head rolling to the side. I leaped up quick as anything and smashed into his flank again, forcing him to the ground and raking my claws across his face and shoulder before leaping up out of range. The tom rose, spitting in fury. "Why protect this weak excuse for a cat?!" He snarled, glaring at me.

"Enough talk!" I ordered. He sensed the change in me as soon as it occurred and a new light entered his eyes. I leaped and barreled into his chest. He gripped my shoulders but I slipped through his paws, and rolled onto my back, kicking up with my hind paws, and sending him flying into the wall. I leaped after him and we became locked in a writhing tussel. Finally he broke away and looked me up and down, panting. I stood between him and his son. He smiled then.

"Not bad she-cat. You know I could use you in my army." He said in a faint Spanish accent. Perhaps this was why Aeron's Scottish accent was weak, and strange sounding. I shook my head furiously.

"Not a chance." I snarled firmly. He blinked and tilted his head to the side.

"Hmm….Pity. Farewell little warrior." He meowed. He then turned and slunk out of the warehouse. I blinked, and turned towards Aeron. I rushed over and sniffed his bloodied pelt…Sometime during the fight he had passed out. I looked down at him and sighed. With whatever strength I had left I lifted him by his scruff and dragged him to his bed. I placed him in it and quickly went out and gathered what I would need to treat him. I didn't know how I knew what to use, but I did. I knew Jenny also had a natural talent in herbs and such as well, perhaps better than myself, but in this moment I had to move fast before he died. I found a piece of thin white fabric on someone's clothes line and stole it, darting back to the warehouse. My paws moved quickly, and my ears lay back as I ran, herbs and fabric in my jaws…

Finally I got there and moved up into his room again, hoping his father had not come back. But he was where I left him, his breathing shallow and uneven. I raced over to him and quickly began to lick the wounds clean, then I chewed herbs and pasted them to the open wounds. The worst wound was on his neck, and I gently cleaned it and pasted herbs on, then I bound it in the white fabric. After I had finished that I sighed, and lay beside him on the bed, refusing to leave until he woke. I began to sing so very softly. I remembered these beautiful words, this dark and glorious song from a play my father had taken me too. I had seen my father do great things…

"Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

Silently the senses abandon their defenses

Helpless to resist the notes I write

For I compose the music of the night

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor

Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender

Turn your face away from the garish light of day

Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light

And listen to the music of the night

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams

Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before

Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar

And you'll live as you've never lived before

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you

hear it, feel it, secretly posess you

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind

In this darkness which you know you cannot fight

The darkness of the music of the night

Let your mind start a journey to a strange new world

Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before

Let your soul take you where you long to be

Only then can you belong to me

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication

Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in

To the power of the music that I write

The power of the music of the night

You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night.." I sang softly. I blinked at him as his breathing the evened out and I fell asleep next to him.

Days passed, and I had stayed with him…He still had not woken…Until the day my life changed forever…I woke early one morning and went out to hunt. I caught a rabbit in one of the fields and brought it back. I had just cooked it over his small fireplace, and put it on a plate when I heard a soft moan…My heart leaped and I nearly dropped the plate of fried strips of rabbit meat. I rose quickly and padded over to the bed. He was there, his eyes fluttering open and focusing on me in confusion. He groaned and sat up, feeling the cloth around his neck…I set the food next to him, and he licked his lips involuntarily….But then the memories flooded back suddenly on him and anger and pain lit in his eyes. He went rigid, staring at me.

"A…Aeron?" I murmured with wide eyes. He looked at me carefully for a moment before looking away.

"Go away…Leave." He growled softly. I blinked, and unbearable hurt rushing to my heart..

"W…what?" I asked in a trembling voice. He stared at me with furious eyes that filled with such unimaginable pain.

"Get out!" He shouted. I backed up, tears coming to my eyes.

"You can't be serious?! I saved your life, and stayed here for days with you!" I spat in an agonized tone. He blinked at me for a moment before he looked away and quietly spoke.

"I wish you had of left me to die." He muttered…I suddenly felt such anger…

"I couldn't! I couldn't watch you die, because….because I love you!" I hissed. He blinked and flinched. He looked up at me.

"You have to go…He will come back for you." He muttered gruffly. I blinked and stared at him incredulously.

"He won't hurt me! I beat him!" I yowled. He snarled softly.

"He let you….Now get out." He said again quietly, refusing to meet my gaze. I blinked, the tears spilling, and a tremble in my voice.

"But…" He looked up and met my eyes. I could not read his emotions. His eyes were hard and guarded.

"I don't love you." He said very quietly. I stared at him for a long time…that really hurt….I let out a sob and turned fleeing the building. I never saw his first tear fall…but it did, and I never knew...I ran and ran all the way back to the junkyard. As soon as cats saw me they called out my name, but I flew past them without acknowledging them. I ran into my mother's den, and she said my name in surprise, before I vanished into my room, refusing to acknowledge her either. She never came to sow that I would. She knew me well enough to know that I would hate her for bothering me. I cried myself to sleep and slept the whole night. In the morning I woke to find my brother sitting on his bed. He was watching me.

"What did he do?" Asparagus asked in a low growl, his protective brotherness overcoming his normally peaceful personality. I blinked and shook my head, sitting up.

"Nothing…He got attacked and I saved him, but when he woke up yesterday he told me to leave…and….and he told me he didn't love me." I murmured. Asparagus sighed heavily. He moved and sat beside me, wrapping his paw around my shoulders. I smiled at him and buried my face in his fur, sobbing into it. He held me tight…One chapter of my life may have ended on a bad note, but after that day I refused to let it bother me, and decided instead to begin the next chapter on a good note. That day I went to Old Deuteronomy and requested to train as a Nurse for the Jellicle tribe. Jenny was right at my side, and together we started the rest of our lives…

Brit: Hi guys! So this is definitely not the end…Just part one of probably about three or four…So I hope you guys enjoyed it….I tried a lot of new things in here!

Pouncival: Clearly! You are jamming a lot of things into this story!

Brit: Hey! You're not even born yet! Get out of here Pounce!

Pouncival: Make me!

Brit: Why I ought'a! *runs after him*

Pouncival: Yikes! *runs away*

Brit: *catches him by the scruff and turns him towards you.* Say it!

Pouncival: Review…Please?

Brit: Good kitty. *Lets him go.* Enjoy everybody! *scratches Pounce's ears.*

Pouncival: brooowwrrrr….mmmuuurrrr….right there!