Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own CATS the musical or any of the characters found within this story, except for those you don't recognize.
Chapter Two
Demeter woke with tears on her cheeks.
She didn't cry anymore once she was awake; she had done enough of that in her sleep, reliving her kittenhood at night. She remembered a cold and aloof mother, and an overprotective scarlet sister. She remembered the terror of meeting the Ginger Cat for the first time, the relief of hearing he had gone away. And she remembered the queen that had cared for her when she most needed it; a beautiful brown queen named Grizabella.
At the thought of the name, she almost began to bawl again, but stopped herself. No. Demeter would not cry again. Her days as a petrified kitten were over; she was here now, with the weight of two kittens resting on her stomach and legs, and the arms of her Mate around her. She snuggled deeper into his arms, feeling his fur brushing against her back, and smiled faintly. She was far from her kittenhood now; things could not be more different.
"Demeter?" Munkustrap muttered groggily, opening his eyes a slit. She turned to face him, and immediately he took on a look of concern. "You were crying."
She felt her cheeks absentmindedly, forgetting the tears that had been there. She smiled again, but it wobbled a little as she remembered the reasons for them. But she refused to cry anymore.
"I'm fine," she whispered, trying not to wake the kittens. "Just thinking…about her."
There was no need to clarify who she was talking about. Grizabella was the only her that Demeter thought about with tears right now. The first morning had been the hardest; the second had not been much better. But she was getting better, slowly but surely, and perhaps soon she would be able to think of the Glamour Cat with joy.
As soon as the thought came to her, she banished it. Her time spent with Grizabella was not a happy one, despite the love she had for the old brown queen. It never had been, and now there would never be a chance for it. But she hoped to be able to think of her friend and caretaker without this overwhelming grief one day. She closed her eyes again, enjoying the closeness and warmth of her Mate for a moment. But it was not to last, because the mother of two young kittens didn't often get these moments of peace, and never for long.
"Mama? Mama!" The voice was male and young; Arion. Demeter sighed, freeing herself from Munkustrap's arms and sitting up reluctantly, gathering Arion up and smiling down at him.
"What is it, Arion? Are you hungry?"
"Hung'y!" Arion whined, grasping at his mother's fur desperately.
"Okay, sweetie. We'll go find you some food," Demeter soothed, then reached down to gently shake Meret awake.
"Hung'y!" Arion insisted, beginning to whimper as Meret yawned and opened her eyes. The three year old looked at her mother with wide eyes.
"What wrong, Mama?" she asked, blinking in a way that had Demeter feeling almost guilty about waking her.
"Are you hungry, Meret? Would you like to go find some food with your brother and I?"
"'Kay," Meret replied simply, still only halfway woken. She stood slowly, and Demeter rose to her own feet and grasped her paw, still holding Arion.
"Would you like to come, Munkustrap?" she asked then. Her Mate simply rolled over and grinned up at her.
"No, I think I'll sleep a little while longer," he said, teasing her a little with the thought of sleep. When she frowned, pressing her lips together, he added, "But I'll be getting up soon to go on patrol. So maybe I'll see you in the 'Yard."
Appeased, Demeter nodded, then left the den. Meret waved to her father as she left and yelled, "Bye Daddy!" Arion copied her immediately with a jumbled, "Buh Dada!"
Munkustrap rolled back over to wave at his kittens and his Mate, but they had already disappeared out of the entrance to the den. He yawned and flexed his claws, dragging them across the dirt floor exposed beneath the blankets that normally covered it. Then he rose gracefully, stepping out of the den and beginning his patrol.
As second in command of the Tribe, it technically wasn't his duty to do this. Patrolling the Junkyard was a job given to Alonzo, who was the third in command, but Munkustrap was often restless. He enjoyed patrolling around the Yard and visiting all of the Cats, especially the days after the Ball. Sometimes Alonzo joined him; but the patched tom was sleeping late today, apparently, because there was no sign of him as Munkustrap emerged.
The silver and black tabby tom strolled casually around the Yard, occasionally pausing to search for the source of a noise but finding nothing out of the ordinary. The Yard was quiet this morning, which was something he hadn't wanted; it gave him too much time to think about too many things.
The Tribe had always lived a peaceful life. There were rarely fights within the Tribe, and even more rarely were there problems from the outside. Pollicle dogs had learned long ago to leave the Tribe alone, and even if they resented the Cats with all their being, they were smart enough to see that the risk of injury against such a large tribe outweighed any benefits their defeat could have. Of course, there was Macavity; but the Ginger Cat had been quiet as of late. His stunt at the Jellicle Ball was hardly the worst he had ever done to the Tribe, and it only seemed like a half-hearted attempt. Perhaps he had given up?
Munkustrap shook his head to clear the thought. Macavity did not simply 'give up.' He would have to be more alert than ever.
As the day wore on, Cats began to emerge. Victoria and Plato were two of the first, still walking close to each other. Plato's arm drifted around Victoria's waist; the white cat did not respond. Plato pulled his Promised Mate closer to himself; Victoria still did nothing in return, but after a moment she smiled up at the brown and white. Munkustrap narrowed his eyes. Something was not right there.
Then the kittens ran by next in a colorful blur—and Munkustrap was sure he had seen some silver and black tabby colors in there, so apparently Demeter had let Meret run to play with the others. He smiled as they flew by, pursued by a frazzled-looking dark tabby.
"In charge of the kittens today, Electra?" he questioned, and gained himself a glare from the kitten-queen. "Do you need any help?"
"Etcetera is supposed to be helping," she growled, angry. "If you see her, will you tell her I'm going to kill her?"
"I'll send her your way," Munkustrap said instead of agreeing, not surprised by the tabby's threat. Electra didn't have the best temper on a good day, and attempting to control the kittens wasn't an easy task on your own. "Better catch up before they get away," he pointed out, and got himself another glare for his troubles before she ran off.
He sighed and shook his head, starting forward again before leaping backwards—Jemima and Veles had just darted past. Jemima came to a screeching halt a few feet away, and Veles only ran a few steps more before he realized she had stopped. The black and white kitten was smiling apologetically to Munkustrap.
"Sorry, Munk," she said sheepishly. "We weren't watching where we were going."
"Yeah, sorry, Munkustrap," Veles repeated after her, obviously looking to gain the older kitten's approval. She looked over at him fondly, and the orange tabby's grin nearly broke his face.
"Don't worry about it," Munkustrap said, watching Veles watch Jemima out of the corner of his eye while addressing the queen-kitten. "Just be more care—" And they were off again! The reason became apparent when another colorful blur ran by—Pouncival, laughing hysterically at something, with Asparagus and Tumblebrutus hot in pursuit. The three youngest were still laughing madly when they disappeared around a pile of junk, the two older toms furiously trailing them. Munkustrap stared for only a split second. This was just a normal day at the Yard.
His thoughts strayed back to his Mate—she had been crying again that morning. She hid her sorrow well during the day; many thought she was weak because she was so timid and shy much of the time, but they didn't realize how much she held in and hid. She mourned for Grizabella, but she didn't show the world. No one but he knew about it.
Sometimes he wanted to curse and rage at the Glamour Cat, but that would get him nowhere—and he had to be grateful to her, in any case. No matter what she had done in the past, and she had done such awful things. No matter how much sorrow she was causing Demeter now, it was not on purpose. The brown queen had had good intentions from the day she stole Demeter and Bombalurina away from Macavity to the day she went up to the Heaviside Layer.
And she had brought him Demeter.
Sixteen Years Ago
Ten-year-old Munkustrap loved to play at being the Leader, as he knew he would be someday. Oh, sure, his brother the Rum Tum Tugger was older, but the thirteen-year-old vested tom-kitten had already made it perfectly clear that he didn't want the responsibility. And his other brother…well…Macavity had left years ago without a second thought. He was twenty-two years old now, or so Munkustrap thought, and he hadn't been in the Tribe since he was eighteen. Mention of his name was rare in the Tribe now, other than the whispers of his horrible deeds.
He perched himself up on the big pile of cars—it was the perfect view of the entire Junkyard, which was something no other view could boast. Okay, so maybe his father Old Deuteronomy would get angry that he had climbed up there, but it was worth it.
Besides, no matter how angry his father ever was, he never stayed mad for too long or punished Munkustrap too harshly.
Because of this view, Munkustrap was the first to see the sleek, smooth-furred brown queen strut into the Junkyard as if she owned it. The silver tabby felt his fur raise in excitement—he'd show her who owned the Yard!
Tugger would probably go up to the queen and flirt with her instead. Alonzo would probably do the same—he was Munkustrap's friend, but always trying to impress Tugger. But Munkustrap would act like a real Leader.
"Halt!" he yelled, making his voice deeper than it really was, and the brown queen froze in surprise. "Who goes there?"
Below him, Grizabella chuckled inwardly. The voice sounded like it was a tom-kitten trying to sound like an adult, and like an authoritative one at that. She would play along; after all, it could only help her chances of getting into this Tribe. She made her eyes go wide and froze in place.
"W-who's there?" she stammered, acting like a nervous queen in the presence of an intimidating tom. She could almost feel the tom-kit's delight.
"Who are you?" Munkustrap asked in return, feeling proud and clever at the same time. Ha, he thought, I'll bet Tugger and Alonzo wouldn't have frightened her like that.
The queen looked around for him, but couldn't find the source of the voice, so she answered. "Grizabella, sir!" she yelled at no one, and Grizabella thought the 'sir' at the end was a nice touch. She would have this little tom-kitten wrapped around her paw at the end of this, and it wouldn't be a far step to the other kittens and their parents from there. "I've only just come in off the streets—I've come to ask for sanctuary! Please, let me speak to your Leader, sir!"
Munkustrap grinned to himself. She had called him 'sir'! He climbed carefully and silently down from the pile of cars, skirting around the edge of the pile and approaching her from behind.
"Here I am!" he cried, and the queen whirled around, one paw coming up to her chest in shock. Munkustrap laughed, but his eyes were shining and warm as he looked over the beautiful queen.
Yes, Grizabella thought, this kitten is already mine.
"My name is Munkustrap; the Leader is my father. I'll take you to him," he offered, all pretense and play-acting gone—for him, at least. Grizabella was inwardly thrilled that the kitten she had 'played' with was in such a high position.
"Oh, thank you, Munkustrap," Grizabella said, simply oozing gratitude. "I can't express how relieved I am to have a place to stay here…that is, if I can stay," she added at the end. Munkustrap looked aghast at the thought she might not.
"Of course you'll be able to stay!" he said with passion, "And I'll make sure my father lets you!"
"Oh, thank you, Munkustrap," Grizabella said again, smiling warmly. The kitten took her paw, thrilling at the touch, and began to lead her towards Old Deuteronomy's den.
The next night, Grizabella snuck out of her appointed den and out of the Junkyard. She moved with stealth, sticking to shadows as much as she could until she reached her destination. Once she was there, a black Cat awaited her.
"Grizabella," he greeted curtly, and with distaste.
"Henchcat," Grizabella replied; she never bothered to learn their names. She saw the black Cat's teeth grit with irritation and smirked at that.
"Do you have any information for us?" he asked in what was meant to be a toneless voice, but the brown queen could hear the anger in it. She shook her head mutely, wanting to bait the Cat.
"You have no information?" he asked, again striving to be toneless but failing miserably. This time, a hint of panic slipped through, along with multiplied anger. Again Grizabella shook her head in silence.
"Macavity wants information," the henchcat hissed, forgetting about his supposed emotionless attitude. "If he doesn't get it, someone will be punished."
"And who will that be?" Grizabella asked sweetly. "Not me, surely. Not his best spy, and the only Cat working for him unknown to the Tribe. Not me, his favorite little queen. Perhaps it will be you, the messenger bringing bad news?" Now there was definite panic in the henchcat's eyes. Macavity was not known for showing mercy.
Grizabella merely grinned. "So, we'll see about that information next week. Until then, I would stay out of Macavity's way, hmm?" She turned and sauntered off, giving an extra swing of her hips just to spite the black Cat. She knew it had worked when she heard him hiss with anger.
A/N: So here's the second chapter already! I think I'll keep updating twice a week for a while. Sound good? Does to me! Gotta let myself get ahead, or else the updated chapter will catch up with the written chapter, and that's never good...
If the story's a bit confusing now (the Grizabella parts, I mean), just wait a while. It'll all pull together, I swear.
And my computer's flipping out a little bit, so if I don't reply to a review...that's why. I've been trying. But it just doesn't work sometimes. But I appreciate every review I get.