Again, this is the all-new edited chapter 2.
Well, not again, because last time it was the all-new chapter one. But anyway...

Meow.
(That's cat for I don't own cats. Well, perhaps it's not. But hey, I bet you can't talk cat either!)

At ten weeks old, I was fully independent.

I could see as well as the adults, walk in the jellicle way, and had even started on some dance moves.

On the day exactly ten weeks since my birth, Daddy took me out. I saw things that made me smile, terrified me, and confused me to boot. For one- the world was so much bigger than just my home. I knew Daddy came from somewhere else, but I had no idea where.

He led me down streets, like corridors with no roofs, which I instantly preferred to indoors. We twisted and turned over cobblestones, even as I found myself remembering the route. Daddy explained that this was a Jellicle trait. He looked proud of me as he said it.

As I had done many times before, I snuggled into his glossy fur. He pulled a paw softly across my head, stroking me fondly. A breeze tickled the fur on my back. Instantly Daddy was alert, striding acroos to the shadows of an alcove. He urged me silently to stay there, hidden.

I watched in fear as a black-and-white cat slunk around a corner. He was slightly smaller than Daddy, but I could see his coiled muscles from where I stood. The cat didn't have a collar like everyone else I knew.

My fur rose as I bristled, ready for an attack.

Daddy didn't copy me, instead running full-tilt towards the stranger.

This is it, I had thought, Daddy's going to fight him.

But no- the run ended with joyful sounds. 'Alonzo! What on earth are you doing skulking around, smelling like Peke?'

'What do you think, Munkustrap? What with you being so busy with Demeter...' Here he chuckled.

Alonzo, his name was. And Daddy knew him, so he must be good. I decided to step out and reveal myself.

'Oh!' Alonzo seemed surprised to see me.

'Arti, I told you to stay.' He chided.

'But you know Alonzo, so he must be nice.'

Alonzo laughed again. 'Strange- the physical resemblance is uncanny, but that attitude... where'd she pick that up?'

'That's my daughter you're talking about...'

'I'd noticed. She looks a helluva lot like you... only good.' He flashed a chheky grin.

'My Daddy is so good!'

Somehow that prompted laughter from the two Toms. I didn't get it.

They dove into deep discussion about... something. I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying- something about the first kitten of the season.

Was that me?

What really caught my attention was the talk of a Cassandra. By the sounds of things Alonzo was fond of her- and quickly I realised they must be mates.

The no-longer-a-stranger cat spoke for a while about a couple of weeks until the new arrivals, which, again, I didn't understand.

Finally Daddy talked in a low voice about the mysterious 'stillborn', which was apparently Karket. So that was the cold thing... I was confused again, Especially when Alonzo seemed saddened by Daddy's news. Was it a bad thing?

Eventually they ran out of things to talk about and Alonzo headed in a strange direction, first giving me a pat. I liked the feel of his paw.

Daddy smiled down at me. 'Looks like you've made a friend already.'

After the first adventure with Daddy, I went more often- sometimes when it was beginning to get dark.

I liked these best. A cat is always happiest at night, but apparently I was too young for such expeditions at that time.

I met more cats, some Daddy was happy to see, others, like two smallish calico cats (who seemed near-identical) he tried to avoid.
I was once again perplexed by him as the two (who introduced themselves as Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer) seemed the nicest of cats- funny, sweet, and cheeky.

There was some coolness between Daddy and Mungojerrie that I didn't like, so I guess I became closer to Teazer. They accompanied us for a whole day as I really got to know them well. We parted late that evening as firm friends.

One such journey was more memorable than most.

After setting out from my home, avoiding the middle human (Rachel, I beleive), I sneaked silently over the back fence and out into the world.

This was the first time Daddy let me take the lead, so, using my new-found advantage, I turned off at the crookedest alleyway, drilling our path into my mind.

My concentration was interrupted by a thump directly in front of my nose.

Hissing, I backed up into Daddy, who placed a comforting paw over one ear.

'Morning Munkustrap!' The thumping cat spoke quickly while he stood to his full height- which, in all honesty, wasn't much.

'Tumblebrutus. There are less alarming ways to greet a cat, you know.'

Ah. So this was Tumblebrutus.

I scrutinised him for a quick moment, and realised with a start that I thought him very handsome. I had never thought about a Tom being handsome before, but now that I put my mind to it, Alonzo had been handsome, too. And even Mungojerrie, to a certain extent. What did it mean that I thought Toms handsome? Shaking my head slightly, I brought myself back to the moment.

Tumblebrutus had been addressing me. 'Sorry. What was that again?'

'I said, what's your name? You can call me Brutus.'

'Right. I'm Artemis. You can call me... Artemis. Oh, wait. Arti. You can call me Arti.'

Daddy nodded with a glint in his eye. Had he noticed my wandering eye?

I busied myself scratching my ear. I resolved to ask Bombalurina about what it meant that I noticed males in this light. I wrenched my attention back to the present.

'Where's your collar, Brutus?' Daddy was asking him.

'Chewed it off.'

'Again? You know without it you can be caught.'

'Re-lax, I'll be fine. I can lose a human easily. I won't get caught.'

'Just be careful. It's my job to look out for you, and I worry about what can happen in that place.'

I decided to take part in this conversation. 'What place, Daddy?'

He said he'd tell me later. Dissatisfied with his answer, I sulked.

Daddy picked up on my bad mood, so made his excuses to Brutus and bade him goodnight.

Brutus gave a jumpy little bow. 'See you 'round, Munkustrap. And you too, Arti.' he winked before slinking off into the lengthening shadows.

As I walked home, I found myself thinking about that wink.

I asked Bomba about the Handsome issue.

She said it was completely normal, and that I was growing up.
She also said that I'd have to watch myself, as I was becoming very pretty.

I asked my aunt what she meant.

She directed me to a mirror- the first I had seen.

Now, I'd seen a foggy reflection of myself in a water-bowl before, but nothing compared to the clarity of what lay before me.

I knew I was a silver tabby- but had never realised my exact markings.

The tips of my ears were jet-black, but the right paled the closer to my head it got.
A black patch marked the top left of my head, amidst the black points in my spikey grey fur.
My face was a pale colour- almost white, save for a patch coming down over my right eye, running alongside my nose.
On the opposite side of my face was another patch.
My pink nose stood in contrast with the blended shades.
The only other things to stand out were my eyes. Bright green, framed by black cleopatra lines, they truly did look like emeralds.
I sported three black stripes on either side of my face, heading to the edges.
My mouth was black.

Was that pretty?

What defined pretty, I wondered.

I knew mother was pretty.

Bombalurina was admired by every single Tom I'd met- so she must be pretty.

And Jemima, with her wide eyes and white face, just had to be pretty.

What was so speacial about me?

I looked down at the rest of my body.

I had a white bib, as the rest of my family did, except the edges were jagged, grey crept onto the white, mottling the total effect.
The bib came down past my belly, and was almost sliced in half by two grey lines framing my bust- just like the red stripes Bomba had.
It was a curious thing, I realised, that the traditional tabby stripes only marked the left side of my body.
My lower leg was shaded in different tones of grey, ending in a black foot.
My right leg sported a solid black patch on the hip, which turned to a brown patch across my knee.
This was the strangest thing about my markings- for a silver tabby to have a brown knee, leg and back paw was beyond curious.
My striped front paws playfully flicked my tail from behind me.
My tail was always my proudest point. Pure white from the moment it sprang from my back- right up until the very tip. The end of my tail was the blackest part of me.

I grinned at my reflection.

Even if I wasn't pretty, or was, I liked how I looked.

I strutted around, very proud of the way I could move. Maybe that's why Celeste picked me up and tied a blue silken ribbon around the base of my tail.

From then on, Blue was my favourite colour.

This chapter's song is "I Feel Pretty' from West Side Story (the one Maria sings)
I guess it's pretty obvious why...