"…And then Alonzo told Pounce that if he woke him up by surprise one more time before sunrise, he's pluck off Pounce's tail and use it to tie his mouth shut!"

Electra listened to Etcetera's story interestedly. Jemima laughed as they walked along.

"Can't you just imagine Pounce all tied up by his own tail?"

"Someone talking about me?" Pouncival came up from behind.

"Hmm?" Etcetera asked innocently. The queens tried hard to keep straight faces. Pouncival padded along beside them.

Suddenly Electra gasped and dashed on ahead. Etcetera looked about for the cause of alarm, and, not seeing any toms, sat down confused.

"What is it?" called Jemima.

"Mouse!" Electra chased after a scurrying brown figure.

"Ooh," Etcetera squeaked, catching up with Electra. She wasn't entirely fond of mice herself, but the chase always made a good game of it.

Electra stopped and peered through a crevice in a pile of rubbish. The mouse was cornered, but the striped tortoiseshell couldn't get to it. Electra crouched low, tail twitching jerkily. Etcetera, Jemima and Pouncival sneaked up from the rear. Electra reached a paw through the junk and grabbed at the mouse, hoping to snag a claw on its fur. There was a flurry of muddy-brown fur and the mouse dashed out from behind the junk and scurried through the large pipe. Electra freed her paw and sped on through after it.

Pouncival, Jemima and Etcetera skidded to a halt, panting before the mouth of the tall pipe. They hesitated, each contemplating the muck lining on the bottom that would stick to their paws or what even lay through the other side in the damp alleyways near the sewers outside the Junkyard. Pouncival put forth a tentative paw.

Electra bounded on after the mouse, savouring the thrill from her sudden burst of energy. Her paws pattered in the shallow mud puddles of the alleys that coated the uneven pavement. She trailed her prey farther into the open, leaving the narrow streets and nearing a meadow with tall grass. A small part of her thoughts reminded her that this was near the forest, but she seldom explored this far from the Junkyard. The thought aroused her curiosity and she continued, fearless and excited. Wanting to divert the mouse from the tall grass where it would be lost to her, she turned sharply and rounded on it. The mouse seemed confused and skidded to a halt before choosing what direction to take. Electra grinned, knowing she was gaining on it. The mouse seemed even more hesitant to run away from her, but kept scurrying frantically. Electra briefly wondered what could have made this creature so stupid, but prepared to spring. In mid-run she tensed her back legs and bunched her muscles, crouching low. Her legs pushed her into the air and she pounced, catching the furry mouse between her front paws. An instant of satisfaction trickled through her, but glancing down a thrill of shock slammed against her. A pair of brown paws was pressed on top of her own. Electra looked up into two hazel-green eyes inches from her, and looked every bit as startled as she felt. Electra jumped and quickly shuffled back, looking about in her confusion, wondering where this cat had come from. The new cat had backed off in alarm as well, and the mouse scampered away. The cat frowned at it.

Electra surveyed the new cat warily. He was a tom with brown tabby stripes, faded just darker than the mouse that had escaped them both. He was taller than she, and quite lean. Electra imagined he ought to have eaten the mouse should either of them have caught it. As he frowned Electra wondered where had had come from, and where he lived. Suddenly she noticed that the tom was studying her with the same sort of mild curiosity, and she stared down at the ground, quite embarrassed.

"Were you going to get that?" He jerked his head in the direction the mouse ran off.

Electra frowned at him, puzzled. He stood up as if to pursue the mouse again, and glanced back at her. Electra blinked and bit her lip. The tom started away, hesitated, and sat back down looking slightly bewildered.

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. Finally he ventured the question that seemed to be eating away at him. "…Electra?"

Electra's eyes went wide and she looked about as if there ought to have been somecat to tell the tom this. She stared at him, confused.

"Look, wait right here, don't move, I'll be back in a mo'." The brown tabby shot off into the trees.

Electra sat, dazed and unmoving. Then she realized she was doing as the strange tom had told her and stood up indignantly. She remembered having left Etcetera, Jemima and Pouncival far behind. Perhaps they had followed her. She set out to rejoin them, but was forced to stop and catch her bearings. She knew if she could find her way back to the alleys she could be sure of the way home. She vaguely knew her way around the edge of the forest, but there seemed to be a hole in the map in her mind of the Junkyard and its surroundings, and she was unsure of how to get back to the streets. She traced the path she'd made in the grass that sagged from being tread on previously. Soon the grassy field disappeared into soft dirt and Electra followed the paw prints she'd beaten into the ground. But when the soft dirt gave way to hard, packed ground she sat down, stumped. Electra groaned, mentally kicking herself for getting lost. She waited hopefully for Jemima or Etcetera, or even Pouncival, but no cat came. Electra frowned, glancing back the way she'd come. Her curiosity got the better of her and she trudged back to sit down by the tall grass where she'd lost the mouse. No sooner had she arranged herself than she heard the thump of running paws and rustling brush. The brown tabby appeared again, breathing hard and looking alert. Electra blinked expectantly and the tom looked toward the brush where he'd come.

One by one, four cats stepped out from the same way the brown tabby had come. The first was a handsome, dark ginger and brown tom with v-shaped stripes on his forehead. Electra gasped.

"Kirandar?"

Kirandar looked up, surprised. He looked hard at Electra for a moment and recognition dawned in his face. Aidan, with bright blue eyes, still smaller than the rest, stepped out next and JaCoven followed, each looking astonished.

"Electra!" Novianna trotted forward, her face brightening excitedly. Electra smiled shyly as the calico queen rubbed up against Electra's side in a welcoming manner.

"Blimey, it's been a long time," Kirandar breathed. Electra nodded.

All the cats were looking about at each other awkwardly, remembering the games they used to play as kits. Novianna stared off as if she were daydreaming. Kirandar looked as if he were remembering something amusing. Aidan looked up at Electra with curiosity, and behind his blue eyes was a fire that burned with intensity. Electra's mouth played at a smile as she watched him thinking, looking like he was ready to explode with energy. JaCoven looked away, but from what Electra could see she appeared to be wrestling with her thoughts.

Electra realized that the brown tabby she'd run into was Caedmon. She peered at him from the corner of her eye, and quickly looked away when she found he was gazing at her strangely, as if there was something about her he didn't understand, but that intrigued him. Electra pushed about a lump of dirt with a paw to take her mind off of feeling uncomfortable and wished he'd look away. She was saved by the soft paw steps she heard distantly on the dirt. Jumping up she dashed over and, to her relief, found Etcetera, Jemima, and Pouncival finally caught up with her.

Etcetera panted excitedly. "Did you catch it?"

"Huh?" Electra remembered the mouse. "Oh. Er…"

"What took you so long?" Pouncival stepped forward, "we couldn't fond you for ages."

"Well, I met… I ran into… oh, just come here." Electra led them over to where the five cats stood.

Pouncival froze, shocked. The five other cats looked equally surprised. JaCoven glared coldly at him. Etcetera tiled her head to one side as if trying to understand. Uncertainty hung about them all like a chill mist on the air. Jemima took a tentative step forward.

"JaCoven?" Jemima stepped into the space between the two sides of cats, looking utterly vulnerable and exposed.

JaCoven turned her gaze upon the innocent queen. Some memory seemed to catch her off guard and softened the glint of her copper eyes. She looked at Jemima as if wishing for something very distant that she knew was lost forever, eager to be reunited with her friend.

Pouncival began breathing rapidly, fear echoing in his chest, but also carrying a defensive warning. JaCoven's eyes snapped to meet his. Her harsh glare cast a bitter hatred, but she seemed to stare through Pouncival as though her anger wasn't meant directly for him. The sleek sweep of her long ginger and white fur lay along her elegant figure like a sheet of ice and crystal. She was beautiful and cold and harsh and held fury behind her gaze with all stillness and terrible silence. Pouncival's breath ran ragged, but he tensed defensively and held his stance with as much ferocity.

Jemima remained still for an eternal moment, here eyes wide with questions that could not be said in words. Slowly she shrank back to sit by Etcetera. "Why?" was written on her face, but as though she somehow knew the answer, but didn't want to believe it.

Silence hung over the cats. Each seemed to know what the other was thinking, and there didn't seem to be a way to voice it. With each lost to their own thoughts, the tension began to die down. The breeze seemed gently to blow the previously ignited anger down to embers. Novianna broke the long silence gently.

"Cettie, is that you?"

Etcetera turned to Novianna in surprise, slightly confused.

"My, you've grown up! You were so tiny when we were all together last. You've grown into such a pretty young queen now." Novi smiled.

"She is quite the pretty little thing, isn't she?" Kirandar whispered to Novianna. He grinned and winked at Etcetera.

Etcy looked much more at ease with the situation, glancing at Kirandar periodically.

Electra felt bolder now that the tension had been skated over. "Do you still play games or have good romps like we all used to?" she asked with a laugh. She looked automatically to Aidan, who looked like the longer he sat still the more energy built up, ready to fizz over the moment he made a move.

Aidan smiled. "We all have a good romp now and again. Kiran and I like to go exploring best."

"And you like to get lost the best," Kirandar chuckled, giving his a playful shove.

"That's only because I'm too fast for you and sometimes when I get on ahead… I forget that you're the one who remembers the way home."

Pouncival tensed visibly at his last word, not taking his eyes off the ground. "We should be getting back," he said with quiet restraint. Jemima's ears fell, and she smiled politely to everyone before turning to leave. Etcetera seemed sorry to go, but followed Jemima like a lamb. Electra lingered for a moment, torn between the instinct to follow and the curiosity of so many unanswered questions. Pouncival's intense hostility seemed out of place, and made her feel sympathy for their old mates. Electra glanced back at them all before going, memories flickering in her mind's eye from their kittenhood days. Finally she turned and followed Etcetera home, thinking distantly.

The four Jellicles trotted back to the Junkyard through the front gates. Pouncival leaped up on top of the old car and sat down, shoulders hunched. Etcetera followed him, jumping up on the hood.

"How do they know my name?" she asked curiously.

Jemima sat down next to her. "We used to play games together as kits," she said quietly, "a long time ago. You were probably too young to remember properly." She smiled at her friend.

Etcetera thought hard. "I… I think I remember something."

Electra smiled, wondering if Cettie really remembered anything, or if she was just trying so hard she imagined it.

"Why did we stop playing together?" Etcetera look up.

"They're Henchcats." Pouncival said, emotionless. "They live in Macavity's tribe."

Etcetera frowned, deep in thought. "But… we used to get along. Why don't we play together anymore?"

Pouncival didn't look up. "Did you see JaCoven's eyes?"

Etcetera fell silent.

Electra sighed. "What changed so much?"

Jemima forced a smile. "I think we all have."