Victoria came out of her mother's den with a plaster on her cheek covering the scratches. Immediately her three friends rallied around her. The four kittens went to a quiet place on a tile. Meanwhile some clouds obliterated the sun. They wanted to talk about today's incident without ruffle or excitement.

"So, how is he?" Jemima asked curiously

"Mom taped up his wounds and Jenny drenched him some liquid." Etcetera said.

"Right, Mom also said that he will surely survive." Victoria added.

The yellow striped kitten lay her head on her paws. "I wonder what happened to him."

Electra lay beside her "I already told Victoria. I think he got attacked by a dog."

"Seems logical according how his arms looked like."

"And why did he hit you, Vics?"

Victoria wrinkled her brows. "I was bending over him, when he woke up. Probably he thought I want to attack him."

Etcetera narrowed her eyes and viewed at the white kitten. "But you don't look dangerous. To be honest I never could imagine someone more harmless than you."

The black and orange kitten rolled her eyes and Victoria spouted off a protesting sound. But before any of them could say something Jemima responded ironically "When you lie badly injured on the ground and someone is bending over you, you would TOTALLY think: Oh hey cool. She looks nice."
Electra and Victoria laughed and even Etcetera giggled.

The four kittens asked many more questions: Who he is? What his name may be? How he got to the junkyard?
But to none they found an answer.

"We'll probably have to wait until he wakes up." Victoria ended the conversation.

Jemima muttered with a worried face "I wonder if he's allowed to stay."

"Sure, Munkustrap will let him stay."


Munkustrap sat in his den and consulted with Skimbleshanks, Alonzo and Jellylorum.

Jellylorum started the conversation "He'll wake up by tomorrow at the latest. The wounds looked worse than they really were. I rather think he passed out because of exhaustion."

The silver Tabby gave Jelly a nod. His expression was just as serious as his face. "Good. What do you think? Shall we accept him and let him be a part of the Jellicle-family?"

Alonzo rose to speak "I'm doubtful, Munkustrap. Neither we know who he is nor who or what hurt him. No one has seen him before around here."

"Alonzo I think you're too pessimistic and hasty. I think we should ask the twins to talk to him when he awakes. And afterwards we cast an eye at him so he can't do something stupid." Skimbleshanks tossed in.

Munkustrap moved his gaze to Jellylorum "What would you do?"

"I like Skimble's suggestion." She answered "Coricopat and Tantomile will find out if something is wrong with him."

Alonzos expression stayed wary, but he said nothing more.

"So that would be decided" Munkustrap concluded with a tired voice. "You can go…"

A knock on the door interrupted the silver tabby. Jennyanydots looked in. She moved her glance from one to the other.

"Shouldn't you be with the tom?"

Jenny turned her glimpse towards Jellylorum. "That's why I'm here." She said "He just woke up."

The five cats looked at each other.

Munkustrap was the first to raise his voice "Jelly, go with Jenny and check him once more. Alonzo, please tell the twins what's going on and send them to Jelly's den to question the tom. Skimbleshanks, you can go now."

After all cats were gone Munkustap sighed tiredly. His mate Demeter came and lay a hand on his cheek.

"Munk" She said fondly "Take a short rest at least. After all Coricopat und Tantomile are talking with him now."

He leaned into Demeter's warm hand, lay his onto her and tugged it softly away from his cheek. "I can't have a break until I now that this tom isn't dangerous for the Jellicles." He kissed his mate's hand and went out of their den.


The foreign tom sat disquietly in a dusky room. Two alike looking cats stood in front of him. A queen and a tom. The creepy thing was that both moved simultaneously. They even blinked at the same time. They had white and dark brown fur.

"So, you are Plato."

It wasn't a question.

"Err.. Sorry, but wherefrom you know what my name is?" the auburn and white tom asked confused.

"We know who you are" The tom started.

"And who you will be" The queen continued.

"We see it"

"In your wounds"

"In your body"

"In your eyes"

Plato shook his head disbelievingly. The two cats started to pace around him. He was petrified. Their glances seemed to go through him, not piercing, but pervasive.

"What happened to you? Why are you here?" The twins asked at the same time.

"I…" Plato hesitated "I was on my way. It was way after midnight. I turned into a backstreet and was face-to-face with a big dog. It instantly attacked me. First I tried to defend myself, but then I just fled." Plato couldn't decide in which pair of green eyes he should look. "I came to a fence, ran along it. Then I found a small whole where I wormed my way through it. I ran further, terrified that the dog still was after me. By and by I couldn't stand on my feet anymore and then everything turned black."
Plato concluded his story.

The twins bowed their heads.

"Where are you from?"

"And where do you want go?"

"Rather wild and free, forever alone in the streets of London?"

"Or defer tour rules and be accepted in our community?"

"Think."

"Decide."

"Either now."

"Or never."

Plato hunched his shoulders uneasily. They wanted a clear answer. He hadn't time to think. "I… Ehmm" He ruffled his headfur indecisively. "I think I stay here."

Coricopat and Tantomile nodded.

"You will hurt."

"And you will be hurt"

"But after you suffered"

"You will be happy"

Plato almost couldn't suppress an enervated moan and shrugged therefor "I went through both. You can't live life without hurt, thus it doesn't matter to me."

"Such says just a young tom"

"Who didn't find himself yet"

"But you can't search alone"

"You need someone to find it"

"Someone you will hurt"

"Boisterous, with a harsh tongue"

"Forgive will not everyone"

"But accepted you will always be"

With these words the mysterious twins left. Plato slumped down. Apparently he would lead a halfway regular life now, but the outlook given by the twins sounded everything but enjoyable. Nevertheless, now he couldn't make a retreat. Besides why should it happen like these two weird cats said? It could also take a whole other way. He wouldn't be concerned about it. Plato would lead his life just like he wanted.
A quiet rustling was heard. Plato lifted his eyes. One of the cats who had cared for him entered the room. She had crème-coloured fur with some darker stripes. She barely opened her mouth to speak Plato preempted her.

"Yeah, thank you for nursing me back to health, but can I finally go outside? I have to move around again."

Jellylorum again opened her mouth to speak, but then a silver tabby came into the room and began to speak.

"So your name is Plato. I'm Munkustrap. "The silver tom called Munkustrap continued "Coricopat and Tantomile told me you aren't a danger to our tribe."

"As far as that goes…"

"Please don't interrupt me Plato. Jellylorum here told me that your condition is sturdy. But please rest the remaining day. Tomorrow I will introduce you to the rest of the Jellicles. You are now a member of our big family."


A/N: I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but school uses up all my time. I hope you like the new chapter. So the new tom is Plato and he becomes part of the Jellicles ^-^
I have to say, I love to write Coricopat and Tantomile, maybe they will appear more often than I thought.