Shimmer suddenly found herself leaning on some invisible force, her paws up as if she was doing something to create it, like her sister would to create a force field. The princess became aware how everything glowed, and the fact that beyond her paws, there was a raging of fire, wind, and water. She also noticed that her mouth was moving, but no words came out. Finally, she put her arms down and stepped back. She looked at the rage, then took a breath. She knew what she had to do. "No! Don't do it, Shimmer!" The princess looked to her left, and saw Majestic there, straining on the invisible wall. Her sister's voice was muffled, as were all the other sounds happening. Looking up, she then realized that Mistoffelees, Tantomile, Coricopat, and surprisingly, Macavity, were positioned at intervals, all straining against the same force. All were almost out of steam, all straining to remain upright.

"I have to," she said, turning and staring straightforward. Her own voice was muffled, and sounded odd. "There's no other way! You all will die if I don't!"

"Please, Shimmer!" her sister choked out. She was straining to talk, the burden was starting to suck away the rest of her energy.

Shimmer continued to look ahead. "I must. It is my destiny." And then she barreled into the rage, running right through barrier, into a bright light...


The gold princess was jerked awake by her sister screaming her name. "Shimmer! Wake up! There's a fire!" The princess shot up, only to see Majestic standing in front of her, seeming extremely distraught, and harried. There was no barrier, or rage, no bright white light...

"What fire?" Shimmer asked quickly. "Where?"

"The east side of the junkyard! Hurry! We've got to get it out!"

Shimmer's aquamarine eyes widened. "Is everyone out of the east side?" she asked, dropping to four paws as she and Magic ran outside, only to see the sky lit red by the flames. Sparks were visible, even from their den in the west side.

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"What about Plato and Victoria? Pounce and Tumble? Admetus? Exotica?" Shimmer yelled over the wind that whipped through their headfur.

Majestic's eyes widened. "Oh my Cat, Xoti!" The sisters barreled forward with new speed. When they reached the flames, Majestic skidded to a halt and threw her paws out, conjuring water. Mistoffelees did the same, arriving moments afterward.

"I'm going and getting her!" Shimmer yelled.

Magic's face was one of outrage. "No, Shimmer! You'll get killed!"

"No I won't!" the princess yelled back. She threw her head into the air and yelled out in the language of the water. Moments afterward, there was a whipping string of water, encircling her, quickly thickening into bands, whipping in circles quickly. And before Magic could protest again, the princess dove into the flames. Most of the junkyard was there by now, and when Majestic let out a screech of urgency, Alonzo jumped forward and followed Shimmer, running after her.

"Shimmer!" he yelled. The princess turned around and saw him. Her lips moved, and suddenly he was surrounded by the same thick bands of water, protecting him from the flames. Junk started to fall from its piles. "Move!" he yelled, running towards the princess and shoving her forward. They ran towards Exotica's den, which was surrounded by the flames. Shimmer angrily started yelling in some language, and water slapped at the flames. Alonzo's eyes zoomed over the situation, when he noticed thick logs starting to teeter threateningly. The black and white tom let out a yell, and he jumped into Exotica's den, shoving Shimmer backwards. The junk choose that moment to fall, almost entirely covering the entrance to the den, locking him in and Shimmer out. Lonz whipped around, and saw the chocolate colored queen pressed into a corner, her brown eyes wide with fright. "Come on!" he shouted, grabbing her paw and pulling her towards the entrance. More junk had fallen, and they weaved their way through a new pile of junk, then burst out of it. The flames still went strong, and Shimmer was standing outside, her expression one of anger as she yelled in a foreign tongue, enveloped by water bands that continually whipped out and extinguished some of the flames. "Come on, Shimmer!" Alonzo yelled, grabbing the princess by the waist and yanking her along, running out of the flames and back to where the rest of the junkyard stood. The four older mystics held out their paws and were slowly walking forward as the flames died away from the water. Shimmer wiggled out of Alonzo's grasp and ran and joined them, her lips moving furiously as the water surrounding her whipped out and continually slapped out the flames.

The fire was put out a few minutes later, and all of the junkyard seemed to gasp for breath. Alonzo stood with his mate, Cassandra, as she held her sister, who cried into her shoulder. Munkustrap stood in front of the Jellicles. Mistoffelees and Majestic both seemed exhausted from the amount of magic they had just used. If Tantomile and Coricopat were worn, they showed no signs of it. Shimmer stood more to the side, staring at the burned part of the junkyard, her expression one of fury. She seemed to grumble under her breath, and if one listened closely, they would make out things like, 'Never gonna hurt my family'. Her older sister walked over to her.

"Never...do that...again!" she panted.

"Yes, Magic," Shimmer said, still scowling at the burned east side. "How did it happen?" she hissed after a few moments.

Majestic looked at her sister, her eyebrows raised. She had never, in all her life, seen the gold princess so ticked off. Sure, she got annoyed, but never mad. "Freak accident. Plato was out, and he saw a couple of the flames jump up. He yelled, and I guess Exotica didn't hear him."

Shimmer sighed, and her angry expression melted away into that of a tired one that didn't suit a kitten. She heaved herself up, and they both walked towards the other Jellicles that were murmuring amongst themselves. Munkustrap climbed on top of a discarded lawn chair. "Please, return to your dens. If we can get volunteers to house those whose homes were burned..." he went through things you would expect to hear after a fire. "I'm going to get Old Deuteronomy. We'll have a tribe gathering to discuss this tomorrow." Then he got off of the chair, shooing all of the cats off to their respective homes. Exotica went with Alonzo and Cassandra, Pounce and Tumble went with there mom, dad and cousin, Plato and Victoria went with Mistoffelees, and Etcetera and Electra lugged their brother to their den.

Magic and Shimmer heaved themselves back to their den.

"Hey Magic?" the princess said as she settled down on the pillow.

"Yes?" the black and purple queen said, her eyes already half closed.

"Are you sure those prophecies aren't true?"

"It's all a coincidence, Shimmer," Majestic assured her, dropping off to sleep. Shimmer sighed, then closed her eyes and forced her brain to quiet.


By early the next morning, a good number of the toms were already moving fallen junk to clear out the pathways again. Some of the queens then came through, sweeping away ashes and did as much as they could to make it look like it had before the fire had struck. As it began to resemble the junkyard again, they discovered that the only two dens that were destroyed were Admetus and Plato and Victoria's, so they made to look around, both finding a new home in the south part of the junkyard. By midday, it was as good as a tribe of cats could get it.

The Jellicles started to gather in the main clearing, knowing that Munkustrap was bringing Old Deuteronomy. Many huddled together with their friends, discussing the fire and how it could have happened. Majestic sat silently with her sister, rather grumpy from not getting enough sleep. Shimmer's eyes drooped, and she had dark spots underneath them, clearly stating that she didn't get enough sleep. Mistoffelees soon joined them, flopping down and leaning back on his paws. "Not enough sleep, huh?" he noted, glancing at the moody Magic and exhausted Shimmer. They both nodded, and Shimmer gave a huge yawn. Then she put her head in her paw, eyes drooping a little bit more. After a few moments of silence, they were joined by Tristam.

The tom gingerly sat down, careful not to mess up his bandages. "Insane, nature is, isn't it?" he commented. Misto and Magic nodded, but Shimmer didn't respond. Her aquamarine eyes, which were flat, rather than their usual sparkle, simply glanced over to the tom, the slid away as she gave a small sigh. The four sat in silence, all lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Mistoffelees's nose twitched. He perked up, and said, "Old Deuteronomy?"

"I believe it is Old Deuteronomy," The twins sang. Munkustrap walked into the clearing, leading his father as the Jellicles greeted him. Shimmer gave a small smile and hummed the rest of the song to herself, swaying back and forth slightly.

"Fellow, Jellicles," Old D said upon reaching the tire. "I hear that we have shocking news, of a fire last night. Not just that, but, just yesterday, there was an incident were the wind completely destroyed the medical den..." he went on, talking about these incidents and not to be alarmed. The talk lasted for about half an hour, before he bid his farewells, and was helped back to Vicarage Wall by Munkustrap. Majestic gave a tired sigh, then rubbed her face with her paws. Tension was still shared between her and her father, mainly because she was now seventeen and still had yet to get a mate. She turned to Misto.

"You have got to ask Jem soon," she said.

Mistoffelees's face formed confusion. "What in the world do you mean, ask Jem soon?"

Magic rolled her eyes. "Ask her to be your mate. Duh. The sooner we cross that bridge, the sooner my dad gets off of our cases." Old Deuteronomy was still insisting that she and Mistoffelees become mates. Misto's cheeks burned bright red. When the queen noticed this, she rolled her violet eyes again. "Puh-lease. It's oh-too-obvious that you like her, Misty."

The flush went from bright red to tomato red. "Don't call me that!" he hissed.

From her spot, Shimmer giggled. "I call Tristam Tristy," she muttered. Her eyes were half closed, and she spoke as if she wasn't quite aware of what she was saying.

Majestic gave a fond, tired smile. "Come on, you. Sleep calls."

Shimmer stuck her arms up. "Carry me," she requested.

Magic looked to the sky, then sighed. She got up, then stooped down and picked up her baby sister, who snuggled next to her.

"Thank you," the gold princess murmured, already almost asleep. Mistoffelees watched them, one eyebrow cocked and chuckling quietly to himself.


A few days later, Tristam walked out of his aunt's den. He shook his head. Jenny had already not wanted him to get his own den, and the recent fire only made her more stubborn. He walked along, moving through the 'yard, looking for possible dens, completely and totally ignoring his aunt. After about and hour of wandering aimlessly, he blew a hard breath through his nostrils. He pulled himself on top of an old washing machine, looking out at the noonday sun as it burned bright. His eyes wandered, until they fell upon Shimmer and Mistoffelees down at the lake, Shimmer appearing to be putting on a show for the Magical Mister Mistoffelees. The princess seemed to be dancing, and the water was swirling around her. Quick white gusts showed that wind was present as well. What caught the young tom's eye, however, was the fact that she now had a new element swirling around in the dance. Small flames where flying around, looking as harmless as a baby bird. Tristam was able to see a little bit before Shimmer stopped her dance, throwing her arms in the air, and the elements disappearing out of the air. Misto applauded her, and then the two walked down towards the lake, obviously going to catch some fish. Tristam's brow furrowed...if Shimmer could control fire...she wouldn't have been the one to start it, would she? No! Shimmer would never do that! She didn't even get mad a Puck for coming down on Majestic! he told himself firmly. Thinking about how the fire started, the realization came across his mind that Plato had been out walking, and he was the one to have alerted the Jellicles that it was there...he couldn't have been the one to start it, could he?


A/N:

Sorry for not responding to the reviews in the last chapter. I completely forgot about that. I was too distracted by Tom and Jerry. ;)

Aunt Jenna: Hmmm...yeah, I guess so.

r1y2r3e4s: Thank you.

raptoregg64: Well, how am I supposed to know? I'm just the writer! *Grins*

Olliv Lynn Sulam: Glad to see people excited about updates!

RedRubyStorm: Trust me. Been there, done that. We just got through a spell where we had to restart the router (the thingy that powers the internet) every time we got online. I honestly hate technology sometimes.