Yaaaaay, more than one update in a month! "What has caused such a glorious occaision?" Well I'll tell you! I have decided that writing and not posting is far more effective than keeping it on my 'notepad' program, though it does look nice there ;)
Sorry if this one is shorter than the others. This is actually a bit over what I prefer to have in a chapter so technically I have been getting lazy, but no more!
Ohhh! First chapter where I make the life defying switch to 3rd person! Ahhhhh, fear my risk taking and daring mind! :P
Enjoy!
Red eyes shone brightly in the dark warehouse. Cries for help and screams of anguish were the background music of his chambers, but he didn't care for these victims, as he took no pride in their pain and suffering this time. In fact, he found the noise quite irritating at the moment. As he sat there, he tapped his nails on the hard wooden surface of his desk, a crate that was used for storage when the warehouse was in operation.
A cruel smile twisted the magic cat's solemn features as he heard a loud rapping on the door. "Come in," he ordered. A short, slim Siamese cat slinked loudly into the room tracking mud, with every footfall an attempt to shatter the concrete floor.
"Sir," he saluted. Macavity quickly returned the greeting before getting down to business.
"Is it delivered?" He asked expectantly, and the short tom shifted slightly.
"I've sent one of our spies to make the drop off but we haven't heard back yet," he reported. Macavity clenched his jaw angrily. Was it too much to ask that someone does a simple task without making it out to be some kind of heroic expedition? Macavity stood up and strode across the small, poorly furnished room.
"I sent them hours before dawn. It doesn't take a whole day to carry a simple object from one location to another!" He fumed as he walked towards the henchcat. "If this plan doesn't go accordingly... I assure you, heads will roll!" He snapped, causing the henchcat to shudder at the thought.
"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, why does this have to be executed tonight? If it fails can't we just try it again?" He asked innocently. Macavity offered little forgiveness in the cat's ignorance.
"Do you not know what this day means to me?" He stalked over and sunk his claws into the Siamese's uniform. "This day last year I was at the beginning of my reign as Jellicle leader and that... magician had to ruin it for me. My own son!" He screamed. The frightened tom knew better than to speak out when the mystery cat was in such a state. "He will regret the day he stepped out of his place, the day he went against his father," he finished, letting go of the tom before padding over to behind his desk.
"Sir?" The Siamese squeaked after a dreadfully long period of silence without dismissal. Macavity turned to him calmly.
"I am not going to take any chances with him anymore, that's why this needs to go according to plan," he muttered to no one in particular.
"Why don't you just kill him yourself: personally?" To him, all this sneaking around was pointless and completely out of character for Macavity.
"If I kill him personally then how will I expect the other Jellicles to respect me when I reign? I mean sure there's the whole 'set an example' but I must think of the consequences, the drawbacks to making this a public display. If it looks like he died naturally then I won't be held responsible and no one will be the wiser!" He fiddled with a rabbit skull that he liked to use as a paperweight, curling his finger in the eye socket so it sat balanced on his hand. "Also, I want what's left as a trophy of sorts. If I fight him myself there may be nothing left," he finished on a slightly lighter but nonetheless morbid tone.
"What about the girl?" The henchcat inquired. Macavity's eye opened a fraction wider. He hadn't thought about his daughter.
"She won't be a problem. Leave her be," he nodded, waving the cat out the door in dismissal.
He quickly stumbled out of the room, glad to be out from under the mystery cat's glare. He stalked silently through the narrow hallways that led to the henchcats' quarters, It's sad, he thought to himself as he passed the mess hall. I much preferred Mistoffelees.
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"No! For the last time you're not going outside!" Jenny groaned as Pouncival and Tumblebrustus pleaded at her feet. It had been raining since the early hours of the morning and the kits were getting restless. For the past hour or so Tumble and Pounce had been at Jenny every few seconds begging to go outside.
"But pleeeeeeeease? It's not raining that hard," Pouncival tried again. Tumble thought it best to back up his friend by putting on his best 'kitten eyes'.
"If you ask me again so help me Cat!" She shrieked in exasperation. Jemima and Ectetera giggled at the tom kits and Jenny but Victoria found this display uninteresting and unamusing. She sighed deeply as she rested her head in her paws. No one took notice of the downcast queen. Skimbleshanks came into the main den area from the back room that was used to keep Mistoffelees.
"What's with all the ruckus?" He asked sternly, tossing a glance around the room.
"We want to go outside!" Pounce threw his front paws in the air dramatically. Skimbleshanks sighed as he shook his head, and Jenny gave him a knowing look as she arranged a nearby pile of blankets.
"You don't want to end up like Quaxo do you?" He glanced between the kittens. They gave him slightly confused looks. "Oh, yes. That kit's been outside in weather like this too much lately, you know how he gets. Now he has a terrible bug, and he even told me to keep all the kits inside the den until the weather clears up."
The kittens looked between each other in fear: how could that happen from just having fun outside? Skimbleshanks knew that bad weather was probably not the culprit for the sudden illness but he needed an excuse to get the youths off his mate's back. This excuse seemed to fit the bill, for they crawled off and went to play in the corner. The railway cat nodded to himself triumphantly. Sanity shall remain within the close quarters den for another hour or so.
Just then there was a light tapping on the exterior of the box: Munkustrap. Jenny let him in and immediately the kits crowded the tabby.
"Trappy!" They cheered as he waved to the kits.
"You needed to speak to me?" He turned to the adult cats. They both nodded, leading him to the back of the den that was separated by a hole in the back of the box. It lead to a small, closed off section in the pile of junk behind it. Mistoffelees, or Quaxo now, was sleeping in the middle of the small room.
Jenny pushed a small piece of wood over the hole to use as a barrier against the prying ears of the kittens, who were still humming over the visitation of the Jellicle leader himself. She nodded to the others once she was sure that they wouldn't be overheard.
"We need to talk to you about Quaxo's arrangements," Skimble started, turning to the silver tabby. "We just don't think there's enough room to harbour a sick cat in here," he admitted regretfully.
"It's not that we don't want to help, we just don't have enough room. With the kittens running around and the weather keeping them inside, they're a handful and are only getting worse," Jenny continued. "We wouldn't be able to give Quaxo much attention and he won't be getting much rest with five restless kits running around."
"Plus there's the issue of the kittens maybe getting what he has, which would be a disaster in and of itself," Skimble added in. Munkustrap nodded in agreement. Illness spread through the young ones likewildfire. No one needed that kind of pressure, especially if it's avoidable. He contemplated on where to put Quaxo until his situation improved, but everyone's den was at full capacity. All except his.
"I'll take him in. There's enough room in my den," he offered to the aging couple. They seemed a bit relieved that there would be less on their plate, but it soon turned to anxiety.
"What about Tugger?" Jenny asked, slightly guarded at the thought of the flirt being around the sick cat. "Isn't he still living with you in your den?"
About a month ago, Tugger's den had been destroyed by a rotting tree branch crushing it during a storm. It took the entire tribe hours to get a baffled Tugger out from under the rubble. Thankfully he'd been alone when it happened. Since then, Tugger has stayed with Munkustrap. There was more than enough room for the bachelor and he didn't mind Tugger because their schedules always kept them out of each other's way.
"I'm sure Tugger won't mind. Besides, he can watch Misto while I'm out for the day," Munkustrap explained to the couple.
"No, Jellylorum and I will watch him whenever we can. I doubt the Rum Tum Tugger has much experience in caring for cats in such a state," Jenny assured him.
She was right, the flirt didn't have much knowlege aside from don't eat something that a rat wouldn't eat and lie down if you have a headache. The territorial feline usually undermined and antagonized the Rum Tum Tugger on a daily basis and she wanted to make sure that another Tugger didn't appear in the future. One was enough.
"That's perfectly understandable. I'll go set up my den right away," he gave a quick glance at the tux tom sleeping on the floor before making his way towards his and Tugger's den.
Ugh, people are actually reading this story so I have to start writing more on it. I guess I don't mind though xD I wanted to keep the updates about a week apart so I might just do that until I'm really far ahead chapter wise. Anywho, you don't care about that...
More Jenny drama coming up! I love her in these two chapters :P She's cool!
RxR please and shpanks! (It's 'thanks' in loser ;D )