Hey! I'm back with another chapter for you guys! Just letting you know that I will be posting every Monday (thereabouts) I do have to work and soon I'll be back in school so I may have to negotiate posting day but I will try my best to be as consistent as possible.

Spread the word if you like the fic! The more support I can get on this story the better :D Plus it's always fun to hear critiques and suggestions.


Years passed since the birth of the twins and Macavity had found pleasure in his role as big brother. If asked many Jellicles would admit that Macavity was rather fond of his brothers, albeit he was also very fond of giving them trouble. Especially the youngest, the leopard-spotted Rum Tum Tugger.

Tugger was a rather curious fellow from the start; he had a nasty habit of having an appetite for everything but what his parents set before him at mealtimes, he had a rather unusual fear of the dark, and he had such a strong disregard for authority it was almost a disorder. So strong that it often resulted in a frightening lack of willing kittensitters.

Which was usually resolved with the chore falling on Macavity... whom Tugger happened to listen to the least.

As for the other brother, Munkustrap, well he had to be careful with him; many would perceive his brotherly affections as cruel- though Macavity insists that he would do the same regardless of his brother's blindness. He accepts that maybe Munkustrap's inability to see makes it easier to lead him into muddy puddles or sneak up on him (which is becoming rather hard with Munkustrap's budding paranoia). So for the purposes of harassing and abusing his power as the older, smarter sibling, Munkustrap was the least favourite sibling of Macavity.

Unfortunately Munkustrap doesn't heed their truce and often teamed up with Tugger on his malicious quests to turn Macavity into a homicidal lunatic.

Like right now.

"Every time!" Macavity growls, flipping over the twins' pillows and blankets, shoving his nose into the many hideyholes and "secret" compartments (the old ones Deuteronomy found out when they still belonged to Macavity).

In a string of blue expletives Macavity darted out of the den and set his nose to the ground for a scent. Of course he would find their scents- countless trails pittering off in every imaginable direction, stale and lingering from the lack of rainfall. None of them fresh enough to stand out. But Macavity was certain the little cretins were out there.

Panting he cleared the small trails until he broke into the wide expanse of the main common area. His eyes immediately pinpointed the small cluster of kittens tumbling about with Asparagus and Skimbleshanks as sentry. They weren't yelling at him so his screaming mess machines for brothers hadn't been by here. With a huff Macavity turned to leave.

"Oh- Macavity! Macavity wait!"

Oh for Bastet's sake, not now. Sounds of teeth squeaking and grinding against each other filled his ears when he turned around to see his least favourite prophet trotting over. "What is it, Vahtise?"

"I..." he paused under Macavity's penetrating gaze and the ginger tom could have sworn he saw the tom tremble a little. "I need to cancel the twins' lesson for today; my mate is in labour."

That gave Macavity a start; since when did Vahtise have a mate? And a pregnant one at that! With new eyes Macavity glanced over him. His short stumpy stature, the greying black coat, that ever-present smug smirk on his angular hollow face... whomever had taken him as a mate surely could have done better-Wait, did he say he was cancelling?! "Great!" Macavity laughed and clapped his dusty paws together. Now he had an extra hour to find the little critters. "Just what I need."

Vahtise smiled sheepishly and drew a tentative breath, tossing a glance back over his shoulder with the nervousness of a tom facing his executioner. It made something inside the ginger tom giddy when the taunting upward curl of Vahtise's cool smile disappeared, especially since he was the only one who could make it so. "P-please send your father my condolences; I hope he won't be too upset-"

"Oh I don't know, I wouldn't count on his sympathy so readily," Macavity lied, "Deuteronomy's been somewhat unsure about you since... well... since you refused to teach me."

Vahtise grew wide eyed and absently chewed his lip. "It's just that I- there wasn't anything we could..."

"Hey, Vahtise! What are you still doing out here?" Both toms turned in time to see Coricopat trotting over with the biggest smile on his face. While the goofy grin was enough to deter Macavity from tearing into the soothsayer it hadn't the potency to quell Vahtise's nervous energy.

With a parting glance at Macavity the older tom ran to Coricopat's side where they shared a rather friendly hug. It was Coricopat who looked back, worry playing in the darks of his already pitch eyes.

To think we didn't have enough freaks around. It was probably best if he got to finding those brothers of his.

It would come as no surprise to anyone that Macavity would find Tugger in the smallest clearing surrounded by torn steel, sharp edges, and more than enough ways to permanently disfigure a reckless kitten like himself. Some may even say that it would also be unsurprising that he was presently wandering this death trap with the aid of a blindfold. "Marco!"

"Polo."

"Marco... MAAAAARCO!"

Behind him a small voice stifles a runaway chuckle. "P-polo."

Arms flailing, Rum Tum Tugger stumbles around until he's about where he think he should find that pesky- "Polo?"

"YOU MOVED!" wails Tugger, whipping to the right and storming towards the equally indignant "Nuh-uh!"

Self-preservation to the wind Tugger opted to sprint across the short distance to catch his elusive Polo. In total he was sprinting, blind, unsupervised, and loose in the equivalent of a rusty knife haven. "I got you, you pest-"

"TUGGER, NO!" A swift paw snatched him by the scruff and sent him crashing back onto a thin, bony body that should have been the last candidate for catching falling kittens. He landed on the ground loudly gagging on the sudden whoosh of air exiting his lungs.

On this back, Tugger reached up and yanked the scratchy burlap fabric from his eyes. "Macavity?" he rasped, still stunned.

Instantly Macavity was on his feet, bending low to sink his claws into Tugger's scruff and yank him to his feet and then off his feet to dangle eye-to-eye with his ginger furred brother. "What did I tell you about leaving the den?" he growled lowly, smoke practically billowing out of flared nostrils and eyes burning hotly into him. Macavity spotted the blindfold and ripped it from his grasp, crushing the strip of fabric in his paw. "And what is this?!"

Squirming, Tugger let out an irritated mewl his paws reaching up to pry himself free. "We were bored! C'mon, Mac, you're gonna mess up my mane."

Macavity dropped the kit back onto all fours and squinted through the glare of reflected light that made the small clearing impossibly hot. "How can you stand it out here?" he wondered aloud, using his paws to block the blurry beams of light. "Where's Munkustrap?"

From primping the overgrown fur of his scruffy shoulders- or what Tugger so proudly announced to be his mane- the blonde kitten shrugged and pointed his chin at the blindfold, mumbling "I dunno."

"You let him hide? In here?! And to think you're supposed to- Ugh, Munkustrap come out now."

"He said he wanted me to seek this time-"

"SHUSH OR I WILL SHUSH YOU!"

Moments pass by without a response. Just the sound of Tugger's tongue working the smudges of dirt from his leopard spotted arms. Macavity's paws itched, moments away from tearing the junkyard apart piece-by-piece. "...Polo."

Tugger sniggered. Macavity did not seem nearly as entertained. In fact, the moment Munkustrap's small voice echoed from the nearby lean-tos of scrap metal Macavity stomped over, tore the covering piece of particle board, and in one swift move yanked his brother's smelly hide out into the boiling clearing. Munkustrap emerged from the trash kicking and screaming against the hold on his scruff.

Macavity stared into those blank unseeing eyes, the effects of his murderous stare lost on this blind kitten. "Lemme go, you big boob!"

"No." Macavity tossed the silver tabby beneath his arm, making sure to give the silver headfur a hard tug to make up for the lost effort of his patented stare. "We're going home; Mom and Dad should be getting back before sundown."

"Sundown isn't for, like, another forever!" Macavity reached down and snapped Rum Tum Tugger too under his arm ensuring no means of escape for his two troublesome brothers. Tugger's protests were loud and relentless... as would be Macavity's migrane in a few minutes if he didn't get these two to shut their waggling chins.

Together the three screaming, crying, brooding sons of Deuteronomy stomped into the clearing- well Macavity did all the stomping, the other two were profiting from a free ride. "You know what, one day I'm gonna be bigger than you and I'm gonna push you over because you're so mean," Munkustrap threatened from under the right arm.

"And I'm gonna do something too but I'm not gonna tell you because then you won't know it's coming," Tugger growled, ramming his knee hard into Macavity's thigh from under the left arm. Munkustrap gasped and amended his previous promise with "Actually! Actually I'm not gonna do that but I'm gonna do something you don't know too!"

"I can't wait." They passed by a group of Jellicles crowding near a den dotting the perimeter of the main clearing, Macavity tried to ignore the curious gazes of the younger tribes members, the older ones had already grown accustomed to the wails and petulant demands of the twins and Macavity's ashamed expressions.

"Oh Macavity!" called the strident voice of another kitten named Bombalurina; a queen already too far ahead of her friends in the nursery to fit in. Come to think of it she wasn't all that much younger than he... "Have you heard the news?"

Macavity shuffled the tom kits under his arm; Munkustrap grunting and prying pathetically at his arms, Tugger grinning foolishly up at Bombalurina and trying to yank what would be the best parts of his mane from between his and Macavity's bodies. "We're finally getting rid of these two menaces?" he teased.

"No, not yet, but Vahtise and Tantomile are having a kitten!"

Oh yeah, that. "I did hear. Pretty crazy stuff."

"I know, right? Who would have thought that Tantomile would be a mother. Anyway I have to get back; Demeter and I want to see the kit the moment it's born."

Bombalurina spun with a sensual flair twice her age and sauntered off to sit with her friend Demeter. "By babe!" Tugger hollered.

Macavity bent down to give him a firm bite to the ear. "You stay away from her, she's trouble."

"Mom said she's going to grow up like her mother and rob cradles," Munkustrap chirped matter of factly.

"What? Bombalurina's mom doesn't rob candles you nut!" defended Tugger, his eyes never leaving the swaying scarlet backside- that is until Macavity put an end to the perversion with a firm clap over Tugger's buggy eyes. Munkustrap dropped to the ground with a sharp yelp.

"Run, Munk!" Tugger yelled and grabbed Macavity's only free paw.

Macavity tore his hand from Tugger's face and plucked Munkustrap by the scruff before the blind kit ran off and skewered himself. "No more running. We're going home."

It was early evening when their parents finally came back to the den, Grizabella first with the remnants of a smile on her lips and the smell of rabbit on her breath. The moment the curtain swung shut behind her she fell back into her seemingly chronic state of despair; face ashen and tail trailing limp behind her. "So I hear Tantomile had her litter today. That must have been exciting."

Macavity looked up from his meal at his mother's exhausted face as she picked a burr from her luxurious coat. He felt about as unexcited as she sounded. "I didn't really stick around," he replied hollowly.

Grizabella nodded and lapped away the last of the debris in silence. Long, awful minutes passed by between them and Macavity realized for the first time how quiet the world was when the twins weren't trying to tear it apart. But even the most dedicated tyrants had to sleep. "Did you feed your brothers?"

Macavity hmmed in the negative and buried his nose back into the side of his half-eaten mouse. In the corner of his eye he could see her mouth tighten as she drudged up the energy to berate him again on the importance of regularly feeding his rambunctious brothers. In all honesty Macavity truly believed they could do with less feeding; they were already getting too big to carry around by the scruff. As far as he was concerned if they weren't wiling to eat their own tails then he wasn't going to stuff an entire mouse down their gullets.

Suddenly Deuteronomy burst into the den, three fat mice dangling from his maw and a huge smile stretching from ear to ear. "Did you hear the news?"

"That the tribe's most demented got together and made a super freak?"

"Macavity-!"

"You were thinking it too, Mum!" Macavity spat, "We all know those two have been getting their paws dirty in... in... witchcraft. Everlasting knows whether that kitten isn't some sort of Satanic curse that'll eat out our eyes when we sleep. You yourself said we should have gotten rid of Tantomile a long time ago."

"Who's eating eyes?" It was Munkustrap who spoke softly from the bankets at the far end of the den, freshly awaken from his nap. Tugger slept soundly in the blankets beside him.

"No one," Deuteronomy grumbled, shooting a murderous glare at the others. "Why don't you come get something to eat? After we can go see Vahtise's new kitten."

Munkustrap rubbed the sleep from his eyes, padded over and picked up the smallest mouse to groggily pick at. "Is Tugger and Macavity coming too?"

"Nooo," Tugger whined in the blankets at the mention of his name. Macavity tried to look polite as he shook his head no; he'd jump in the pond head first than voluntarily be in the same room as Vahtise and his sordid kind. Munkustrap frowned but didn't push the issue further.

"Looks like it's just the two of us."

Macavity wasn't the least bit thrilled when Munkustrap polished his meal and bolted for his father's legs to trip him in the direction of the door, eager to see the new kitten. Was it a tom or a queen, he'd asked, what colour was it- could it be green? Would Mummy and Daddy love Munkustrap if he'd been born green? Macavity ground his teeth and fought the urge to pull his brother back. "Be careful," he bid just as the last of Deuteronomy slipped out the den.

All too quickly he was alone with his mother and brother. That migraine was returning. "I'm going out."

"Okay," Grizabella sighed. Relieved. "Be safe."

Not for your sake, and Macavity was gone.

He was at least thankful for the cloudless evening; the bright swirls of orange and poppy streaking across the horizon in a farewell to the sun. In the other direction the sky faded to rich blues and small ribbons of purple, lending their inky colour as backdrop to the tiny pinpricks of stars. Inside his den with his family Macavity felt truly alien; he was a kink in his family's knit- his mother could barely stand to look at him and he hadn't the slightest reason why.

But out here, with the stars and sun trading posts in the high heavens he knew his place.

And, like every evening, he stole away to be in it.

It was just after sunset when father and son leisurely strolled into the main clearing. Clouds had quickly moved in and obscured the waxing moon and threatened rain despite an otherwise beautiful night. "... and I swear it was as big as me, I could've got eated!"

Deuteronomy laughed at another of Munkustrap's stories; a tale of his first encounter with a squirrel on one of his walks with Vahtise- naturally with embellishment. "I'm sure it would have gobbled you right up! Tabbies are squirrels' favourite snacks!"

Munkustrap snorted and squeezed Deuteronomy's paw. "That's a lie! Macavity said they eat plant-stuff."

"I must be mistaken then-"

"Oh!" Munkustrap gasped. His face lit up with a toothy lopsided grin. "I can see you now."

No longer in need of guidance Deuteronomy let go of his son's paw and gave him a moment to blink away the last of his hazy eyes. The milky black of his eyes cleared up and the clouds gave way to reveal Grizabella's glowing green irises. He remembered her elation when Munkustrap first looked up at her, alert and seeing with those wide emeralds. She hated that none of her sons looked much like her so she was thankful to have that much. She was yet to be convinced that Rum Tum Tugger and Macavity had her theatrical flair and lust for drama..

Deuteronomy smiled deeply with a gentle stroke of his son's fur. It was decided that they could profit from a detour of the junkyard.

"I don't like that I can't see all the time," Munkustrap stated climbing deftly up a steep stack of milk crates and leaped onto a tall-backed chesterfield belly first.

It was a conversation they've had many times before on the nights Deuteronomy had the energy to take his kits out on a walk. "It's not for always," he reminded the silver tabby, "There'll be plenty to see when you go to the Heaviside Layer."

Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say as it made Munkustrap frown and stick out his bottom lip. "But I won't get to see you in the Heaviside Layer because you'll be reborn."

"How about I wait for you there? Then we can be reborn together."

Much better. Munkustrap grinned and returned to his fantastic feats, clawing up the back of the seat and balancing on the narrow lip of the sofa while keeping instep with Deuteronomy's kitten-friendly stride. "Okay... but I don't want to go right now."

"That sounds good to me."

With a bit of help Munkustrap landed safely on the ground and together they made their way to Vahtise's den- or perhaps Vahtise and Tantomile's den? Vahtise met them at the threshold with warm hugs and hysterically proud smiles. "Ah, I've been expecting you, though I wasn't sure when you'd be arriving- Tantomile Deuteronomy and Munkustrap are here- Please come in, do mind the mess." He jumped erratically around in search of pillows for the guests but soon found all had been occupied by Tantomile and the kitten, to which Deuteronomy insisted they'd rather stand.

"Hello Munkustrap, are you curious to see the kit?" Tantomile, who seemed terribly tranquil and beautiful sitting slumped in her nest with the newborn in her arms, beckoned the tom-kit over. Munkustrap nodded and none too subtly rushed to her side to peer expectantly in her arms. "Have you ever seen a newborn before?"

Munkustrap's eyes were wide and his jaw dangling when he'd discovered a small white face amongst the bundle of blankets. "Is that it?!" he exclaimed, mortified by its impossible tininess. "How big are its paws? Does it have teeth- how can it chew its food? Where's the tail-?"

"Munkustrap," Deuteronomy warned.

Tantomile chuckled and reached into the blankets to pull out a white socked paw. "It's alright, Deuteronomy, he's just curious."

"You're lucky Rum Tum Tugger's not here."

Just then the tomkit slapped his hands over his cheeks and gasped, "How does it use the litterbox! Those paws are too tiny, he won't make it in time!"

As Tantomile bravely faced the onslaught of questions Vahtise took the opportunity to pull Deuteronomy aside and snuck the two of them out of the den unnoticed.

"I didn't think you were expecting so soon," Deuteronomy murmured, careful to remain out of earshot.

Vahtise drew a tired paw across his face and nodded. "Yeah, he was definitely premature. Jennyanydots advises that we don't name him just yet in case he... he doesn't make it."

"That's probably for the best."

The black tom chuckled suddenly, lowly at first but he soon erupted in a bout of booming laughter. "He's going to be fine, Deuteronomy! The boy is going to be just fine- by George will he be!"

With an excited twirl Vahtise reached out and grabbed Deuteronomy by the shoulders. Their faces rested just inches apart. "He spoke to me, Deuteronomy."

"He... spoke to you."

"Yes! Just after the birth. There I was, holding my newborn son, and I could hear his voice- not a kitten voice but like a grown tom was speaking right into my ear. He told me his name and he told me not to worry that there were great things ahead for all of us. And he sounded just like me only-"

"What do you mean, great things?" Deuteronomy demanded dubiously. "What kind of great things?"

But Vahtise was lost somewhere in the clouds searching, as if for his infant son's image moulded in the sky. "He said he had a purpose here- he wouldn't say what but I trust it's nothing if not to exact the grace of the Everlasting Cat herself- I mean, what else could this possibly suggest?! Deuteronomy, I've read kittens in the past- Hell, I've read your own sons!- but they never spoke to me, it was all just images and ineffable knowledge. This was something far beyond that."

Deuteronomy took a step back, sliding from Vahtise's grasp which earned him a hurt look though the grin remained plastered across his friend's face. To avoid revealing the truth of his doubiousness Deuteronomy tipped his chin to the ground and licked his lips. "What... what did he say his name was?"

Starry eyed Vahtise laughed airily as he pushed his fingers through his matted headfur. Softly laughing he exclaimed "Mistoffelees!"