This story was originally posted on my former account, FurtherAway, however, I lost the email and password so I've had to re-write it and upload it again, sorry for the trouble.. but this was the only way to continue the story I was falling in love with.. Hope you understand.

Pirates were business men; in their own sort of way, and Tugger had found the captain of the ship he called home to be as such. The man was flirtatious, frivolous, much like himself, but found pride in his occupation and crew. The captain had found him in an old pirate's cove, where the booze was cheap and the women were easy, held up in a corner meowing for scraps. Tugger had lived off the leftover crusts people threw him and slept usually under a bed that creaked a little too much above him.

His captain had traded a fair bit of coin for the cat, and Tugger felt pride in knowing that a pirate had wanted him enough to make an honest deal with the innkeeper rather than just steal as most pirates did. It was almost like a formal adoption ceremony. He took comfort in the company of the man and found friendship with his crew. The ship was Tugger's home, and that was how he liked it. He would never find home anywhere else.

It was a stormy mid-summer day when change began. Tugger was gnawing on a mouse he'd caught munching through the provisions and took extra care to make sure the captain noticed his precious hunt. He'd done a good job. There was some sort of commotion happening when Tugger emerged from below deck, and he was upset when the man paid him (and his mouse) no attention, eyes trained on the distance as he shouted orders to the men. They were all scrambling about the deck like ants; each having a defined purpose, but all put together took on the form of chaos.

What had them scurrying around?

Out of curiosity, Tugger stuffed his head through one of the narrow rails along the sides of the ship, getting a view of whatever it was that had set everyone into motion.

In the water was a small dingy, the white shape of a woman sprawled out inside of it, her dress curling over the raft's sides. She was pale and thin, and from what Tugger could make out before the ropes caught hold of the little boat. It was still hard to make out the details. A small movement caught Tugger's eye as the pirate's grip on the dingy was secured. The girl was not alone.

The men heaved and hoed until the dingy hovered up along side the ship, the crew busily reaching over the rails to pull the girl out.

She was laid down over the deck as someone tried to revive her. Tugger, however, kept his interest inside the smaller boat, trained on the small motion jostling the material inside. He leapt his way up the rails and scaled them until he could peer down into it. There was a dirty, tangled mess of rope and nets, some cloth and a few rotted apple cores here and there. Lying beneath some of the rope and nets was something small, black, and jolting about desperately. Whatever it was, it looked stuck. Tugger let out a loud meow to get the attention of his captain, pleased when he was noticed this time, noise pointed to the boat.

The man's reaction to the moving bundle of rope however, was less than what Tugger had wanted. The captain reached down gingerly, pulling out a tiny kitten with one hand, seating it down in the palm of his other as he cradled it. "Good find." he smiled, stroking Tugger's head with praise, the intruding little kit tucked against his chest.

The kitten pawed at him hesitantly, and Tugger found that he had no real liking for the thing. The captain had returned to where the woman had suddenly regained consciousness, frightened out of her wits until the little black and white intruder was handed to her. She shielded it in her arms as she examined all of the men, eyes darting between all the grubby, greasy faces of the crew. Tugger watched her draw up into her knees, folding the fabric of her dress over her legs so that nothing was exposed.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Tugger moved forward slowly as the men backed up, following the captains orders to give her space. He padded up to the woman's feet, rubbing himself against her leg as a courteous gesture. His captain had better manners than to hurt her, and Tugger counted her as lucky for being pulled in by his captain and not some other, shady, cruel pirate. She could have found herself in a lot of trouble.

He purred when she returned his gesture, petting his head with shaky fingers right behind the ears, where he liked it. She was obviously a cat lover, which accounted for her kitten, who was staring at Tugger enquiringly- as if demanding to know why he was rubbing himself up against an owner that wasn't his own. He shot the kitten his trademark wink before finding his way back to the captain and offering him the same gesture, pressing against his legs. Hopefully the stranger would notice and acknowledge the man.

She did, with shy eyes.

"Are you alright miss?"

When no reply came from the pale girl, Tugger decided to repeat the question to the kitten, "Hey, she alright?"

The kitten stared at Tugger before nodding, "She's... She's fine. My mistress just needs rest."

The sophistication and voice of an older Tom surprised Tugger, who'd expected the kit to be less forthcoming, "You speak like a Tom." he pointed out.

"That's because I am." he replied.

"You're one hell of a tiny Tom then, I had you mistaken for a kitten!" he grinned, ignoring the conversations that begun amongst the humans.

The strange cat frowned, "My name is Mr. Mistofflees." he informed, raising his head a little with a belittling huff.

Tugger smiled devilishly, he always liked ruffing up the fancy type, "Rum Tum Tugger, but you can play it simple. Most call me Tugger."

"Mr. Tugger-"

"Tugger." he interrupted, "Just Tugger. Formalities don't sit well with me."

"Tug-"

Something shifted as the captain helped the woman to her feet, leaning her against his shoulder as she stumbled awkwardly to his cabin. Tugger followed eagerly, watching the curious Tom eye him from over his mistress's shoulder, meowing adorably. If he really was a Tom, then there should be a rule against how Queen-like a male could be. The deck creaked beneath their feet noisily as the four of them entered the captain's quarters. The woman sat herself down on the captain's bed to rest as Mistofflees jumped off her lap, looking over his shoulder like he regretted leaving her for even a minute.

"So," Tugger began, finally caught up, "What happened to you two?"

Mistofflees huffed, "My mistress is the daughter of the current governor. We were sailing to meet her fiancé, a member of the royal guard, when we were attacked."

"Attacked?" Tugger pressed, circling the mysterious Tom as he spoke, eyeing him up.

Mistofflees seemed to notice this and stared back at him accusingly, "Pirates."

Tugger chuckled, "Pirates?"

"Yes, we were attacked by pirates." Tugger had thought the Tom was referring to him, but was suddenly wondering if the cat even knew that he, that his captain, was one, "My mistress barely escaped with her life. With little supplies she starved, and out of fear, hardly slept." Mistofflees heaved out a breathy sigh, "I'm just thankful that you found us before she wasted away..."

"My captain is a good man. He'll see to it that she's well nursed."

Mistofflees nodded before letting himself plop down onto the wooden floor boards of the cabin, heaving out a weary sigh, "I don't suppose you have anything to eat?"

With a grin, Tugger pulled the black cat back onto his feet, "Follow me."

Tentatively, the Tom obeyed, giving his mistress one last glance before tailing him all the way to the storage hold, his rumbling stomach overtaking his priorities. The room was a mass of boxes, barrels and bags filled with different smells. Starches, cured meats, pickled goods, a startling lack of greens and... fish. Mistofflees thought he might be drooling with how his mouth watered.

The cat watched with fascination as Tugger jumped from box to box, working his way up until he landed on top of a hefty barrel, "Alright!" He cheerily announced, "the chef is in. What'ya like?"

With a tired smile, Mistofflees replied, "Fish!"

"Comin' up!" Tugger disappeared behind a few of the barrels momentarily before Mistofflees let out a surprised yelp, fish pouring over in a messy sop on the floor as a barrel was kicked over noisily. "Dinner is served."

With a grin, Mistofflees picked one out, guiltily wondering if Tugger would get into trouble for knocking over the fish barrel. His rumbling tummy stopped him from asking too many questions though. Tugger just grinned and helped himself to some as well, casually making his way back up to the captain's quarters, where he figured the Tom would want to stay. It was nice having another cat on board, someone he would be able to actually talk to. He loved his captain and all, but this Tom... he was fun.

Tugger could surely have some fun impressing this well-bred little cat.