So, I made another chapter and it seems there will be another. I seriously need to stop. I'm boring myself just writing these! Lol.
But seriously now, thanks so much: I've had 103 hits! I'm so amazed! Thanks so much to Mistoffelees980 and especially Missufishy for the reviews! They really mean a lot to me!
Anyway, here is chapter three. Enjoy.
Disclaimer- Me. Tarzan. Don't own Cats.
Family
Chapter Three
There were cars everywhere it seemed. It was just a little past 5 o'clock and every member of the cities' work force was doing his best to make it home before the 5 o'clock traffic set in. Horns were honking left and right as road rage got the better of some people. With all of the chaos, nobody noticed a small white kitten sitting cautiously at the side of the road.
Victoria glanced sideways and took a small delicate step onto the street, followed by three more steps, each one just as carefully. She had barely advanced forward when suddenly, with a deafening woosh, a red car came flying towards her. She hissed and made a hasty retreat to the side of the road. She glared as a few more cars sped by, then decided that perhaps visiting her brother could wait until later, maybe even until tomorrow. However, just as she thought that, she noticed a slight lag in traffic and tried her luck one more time, this time with a different strategy; she raced out into the street, her heart pounding in her ears. There was an overwhelming blast from a horn, and Victoria paused a second as a large van bore down on her. Regaining her senses she leapt the last few feet onto the curb. The wind pulled forcefully at her fur, but she landed safely. She took cover beneath some bushes to catch her breath, watching the cars pass at frightening speeds.
'It's a good thing I love him so much!' she thought as she continued her journey.
After several more minutes Victoria found herself at the gates of a large, beautiful mansion. It was the first time she'd actually gone to Mistoffelees' home. She'd never really appreciated the fact that he made sure to visit her everyday; their houses were miles and miles away it seemed. She felt slightly guilty for giving him the cold shoulder for a week the last (and only) time he didn't show up. She slipped through the bars of the gate easily and made her way over to the garden, which (she noticed with a hint of jealousy) was larger than the garden at her home. She decided to play with some flowers for a bit before going to see Mistoffelees. After exhausting a hydrangea bush, a particular morning-glory caught her eye. She turned her full attention to it, preparing to pounce. As she watched it she noticed something different about it; right in the center it seemed to be glowing. She crept closer, still in 'pouncing position.' She leapt at it once, causing it to glow brighter. She pulled away nervously. She inched closer, sniffing it with her nose. She reached out a hand to bat at it. Suddenly it burst into small sparks, sending the white kitten flying three feet in the air as she let out a small yelp of alarm. She dove under a lilac bush as the sound of playful giggles filled the air. She came out from under the bush and glared as a small tuxedo tom rolled out onto the clearing, still giggling.
"That wasn't funny." Victoria said, her fur still standing on end.
"Oh but it was!" Mistoffelees said, batting at her playfully. Victoria pulled away from him and turned to leave.
"Jeez, here's me being all nice and deciding to visit you, but if you're just gonna play tricks on me then I'll just leave-"
"No! Wait, I'm sorry! Don't leave, I won't do it again!" Mistoffelees pounced on his sister. She returned the playful gesture and the two kittens rolled around the snapdragons until they were out of breath.
"How'd you know I was out here?" Victoria asked.
"I could sense you when you were just outside the gate then I just figured you'd go play in the garden first," her brother responded, absentmindedly batting at a nearby poppy. "You usually don't come out here, and I hate to think of you wandering through the streets all alone. Anything could've happened to you... Did you need something?"
"No, just wanted to visit. You told me where you lived, so I figured I had a good enough sense of direction. You visit me all the time, it's only fair to return the favor. Besides, I've never seen your home before. Uncle Bustopher picked out a good place, huh?"
"I suppose. I wish it were closer to you and the junkyard though." Mistoffelees said, tying the poppy to Victoria's collar. The two kittens sat quietly for a few minutes.
"Seriously though, did you want something?"
Victoria thought about it for a moment. It was only a few weeks since Mistoffelees told her that yes, indeed, they were siblings. It had made her really happy, but for some reason she also felt slightly more disturbed about their parentage.
"Did you hear about Demeter?" She asked.
"Well, yes. We were all there, remember?" Mistoffelees replied, frowning.
"It's been sort of awkward around her. I mean, she doesn't we're related, but I think she knows about you. She talks to me about it. She said you make her feel nervous and uneasy, that there's something familiar about you. She doesn't like it, but she says Munkustrap won't tell her anything." Victoria watched her brother, feeling slightly guilty as his eyes showed a hint of hurt and sadness. She knew that Mistoffelees' biggest fear was that he would turn out to be like him. "Have you ever, you know, seen... our father?"
The word hung in the air between them uncomfortably. They rarely talked about Macavity, and when they did it wasn't for very long. Mistoffelees sat quietly for a minute before finally breaking the silence.
"No, but I know he's been around. I could sense someone just outside the gates several times, but he's never come in."
"How do you know it was him?"
"I don't know. I just recognized something in the air. Sort of like how I recognized Uncle Bustopher Jones' aura; he told me I probably remembered it from when we were newborn kittens cause he'd visited us a few times. I remember everyone's aura; each one is unique, you know."
Victoria nodded, but in actuality she didn't know. She never really understood some of the things her brother talked about, especially when it was related to magic. She didn't exactly like the term 'magic,' it had a semi-negative connotation, like people would expect her brother to wave some wand around and produce things out of thin air. Well, he could produce things (she'd seen it once), but he didn't use a wand. Then maybe magical was the best way to describe her brother. Saying he was gifted sounded too ordinary for him.
"Anyway, it's no big deal. If Demeter doesn't like me that's her choice. It's not like I care about having friends."
"Yeah, I noticed that too. Why don't you play with others? Maybe if you tried to make friends you wouldn't be so lonely all the time."
"I'm not lonely!"
"Then why do you spend all your time alone? Even when you're in the junkyard you still sit alone and play with your dice!"
Mistoffelees frowned, looking down at his hands, which were clutching his favorite pair of dice.
"See? You spend all your time making these stupid things appear and disappear instead of making friends."
"I'm friends with Bustopher Jones and Munkustrap-"
"That's because they're our uncles! And I don't count because I'm your sister. Gimme those!" She snatched the dice from her brother's hands and threw them.
"Hey! Those were my favorite dice!"
"Oh, you'll probably magic them right back when I leave anyway! Just listen to me! I don't like seeing you play by yourself. Pouncival and Tumblebrutus are nice, why don't you play with them tomorrow?"
"I don't like them. They play the same boring games all the time, and when they aren't playing they talk about queens and there is nothing more boring than that!"
She sighed; her brother was probably the first and only cat to be completely disinterested with the opposite gender. Now that she thought about it, Tumblebrutus and Pouncival did enjoy mocking him, taking his dice (or cards, depending on what he was playing with), pouncing him when he was in one of his trances, and tripping him when he was dancing.
"Is that all you came here for?" asked Mistoffelees, his eyes glittering, tears threatening to roll down his cheeks.
"Stop being so sensitive! I didn't mean it in a mean way, I was just worried about you."
"Well I'm fine, and perfectly happy not playing with others."
"This years Jellicle Moon is coming up in about a week and no one will want to play or dance with you-"
"I don't need anyone to. I can dance by myself."
Victoria frowned. Of course it didn't matter if anyone wanted to dance, Mistoffelees wouldn't dance alone for long; his dancing was extremely infectious. She always found herself joining him, his solo dance becoming a pas-de-deux. With the two of them combining their dancing skills, the desire to dance would spread to any and all by-standers.
"Fine, I'm leaving then."
"Not by yourself. It's too dangerous."
Victoria pouted, but allowed her brother to accompany her on the voyage home. The streets were empty now, save for a few cars here and there.
"Well, here we are!" Mistoffelees said cheerfully when they arrived. "You shouldn't come out to my place alone, it's too dangerous."
"It's just as equally dangerous for you to be out alone."
Mistoffelees smiled and batted the poppy that still hung from his sister's collar.
"Red looks good on you," he said with a smile. Victoria rubbed her cheek against his and he turned to leave.
"Please think about what I said earlier." Mistoffelees stopped, but didn't look back. "You know, about making friends. Tumblebrutus and Pouncival do like to dance. Maybe you could start a conversation with that or something. Just put forth some effort, actually try to make friends. It makes me sad to see you alone all the time."
"I don't want to try. I don't want to talk to others or make friends." Mistoffelees turned to face his sister finally and Victoria was surprised to see a tear roll down his face. "I don't want to get close to anyone."
"Why?" Victoria asked, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm scared."
"Scared of what?"
Mistoffelees sat quietly for a moment, staring at the trees just outside the gates. Victoria thought he might have gone into one of his strange trances, when finally he looked back at her.
"Demeter can tell. She knows there's something not right about me. She might not know we're related, but she's made the connection between me and him, and it's really only a matter of time before she figures it all out. And when that happens..." his voice trailed off and another short silence came over them.
"You're not him you know," Victoria said, breaking the silence at last. She rested her forehead against his. "Even if everyone knew, you're still a member of the tribe. Munkustrap knows and he hasn't kicked us out or done anything."
"That's because he's our uncle."
"Yes, but Macavity is his brother and he's still a loved member of the tribe. He's pretty much the active leader when Old Deuteronmy isn't around. Just don't worry about it. I don't."
"You're a little different." Mistoffelees said, holding out his open hand out in front of him. "You can't do this." He flipped his hand face-down then over again, this time his favorite dice, the ones Victoria threw earlier, were in the middle of his hand. On any other occasion Victoria would have laughed with delight and asked to see more tricks, but now didn't seem like a good time.
"It just makes you unique. Makes you special."
"I don't like that word. Someone said it in a mean way once and it made me feel sad."
"Who?"
"I don't remember, I just feel sad when I hear that word."
Victoria frowned at the thought of someone mocking her brother. Sure he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't as blunt as some of the others. In fact he was probably sharper than most of the ones accusing him of being dull.
"It's getting really dark, I should probably get home soon."
"Has your family been wondering where you are?"
"They think I'm playing in the attic. But they have been calling me for a while, so I probably should get going." He said with a wink and a sly grin. Victoria smiled; her brother was a master puppeteer and ventriloquist. He could throw his voice anywhere it seemed. It even fooled Victoria sometimes.
After a few moments of goodbyes, Mistoffelees finally left, though he sat outside the gates of Victoria's home for a few minutes. He stared up at the trees again, the ones that had caught his attention earlier. He'd recognized the aura right away, and could feel it watching them. Mistoffelees glared at the trees for a moment, then felt the aura leave. He didn't like the thought of him being so close to his sister. He waited a few minutes more, then decided to head home.
...
Macavity watched the two kittens from his hiding place in the trees. He had thought it was the perfect hiding place, but he noticed the small tuxedo tom look up directly at him. He didn't think it was possible that the kitten knew he was there, but it made him a little uneasy anyway. The tom left finally, stopping outside the gate. The two cats stared at each other (though Macavity knew he couldn't be seen) until finally he decided to leave. With a flick of his tail, the Hidden Paw disappeared.
Weee! Macavity finally reappears in this! Does anyone else laugh when they see little kitties try to cross busy streets? I always do! It's like, they know it's dangerous but they just have to try their luck!
Anyway, please feel free to review!
