It's been a rough week, but surprisingly I managed to spit out another chapter. I don't want to make this into a blog, but I think this deserves mentioning. I had to put my Pollicle doggy to sleep on Saturday. Her name was Missy. She was a hound mix, around fourteen, and the sweetest little girl I ever knew. She had cancer and it all just got to be too much for her…my family couldn't bear to see her in so much pain, so we decided to help her along. Like I said, it's been hard to deal with but certain things have been getting me by, like this story. I can't thank you all enough for your reviews,for setting this story to your Alerts, and for Favoriting it. It meant a lot every time I opened my email this week and saw one of those three alerts. So thanks so much for keeping me going! This is turning into some type of therapy… ;)

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the musical is not my own, but belongs to the Everlasting Cats, T.S. Elliot and Andrew Loyd Webber.

Mild Swearing.

Chapter 6: Seek, And Ye Shall Find

Tugger watched the next day slip in, though it was hardly noticeable due to the clouds obscuring the sun. No birds sang; most had left for the winter, or else still slept sound in their nests. The Jellicle frowned. He wasn't used to being up with the dawn, and this one was especially such a dreary one. Still, he had gotten a peaceful night's sleep and found he could not will himself back to the lovely dreams he'd had. He picked himself up and stuck his nose in the air. Rain, he thought, perhaps later. For now, though, the skies would only be overcast. He took the time to stretch himself out, giving a great yawn before making his way out of his tree.

Humming to himself, trying to make light of the grey morning, the maine coon made his way to the pond that lay on the outskirts of the junkyard. He fancied himself a fish or two for breakfast, knowing that his fishing days were limited now that winter approached. How he hated the season, not even because it was cold, but for how much harder it made everything. No more fishing, the rodents would be harder to find since they burrowed themselves away, winter dens would have to be found again under the fresh rubble of the junkyard. It was too much work for Tugger. He had no idea how the other cats had gotten used to it.

"Tugger?"

After jumping nearly a foot off the ground, Tugger quickly turned around.

"Bast, Demeter," he chuckled, watching as the calico approached him. "I didn't even smell you."

"Well I smelled you about a mile away," she quipped. "When was the last time you cleaned yourself?"

"That's a bit personal, Deme." She forced a smile as she came to a stop in front of him. "You're never around these parts so early." Or alone, he thought.

"Has Munk said anything to you about being out so late?" she asked quietly. Her tail flicked nervously behind her.

"He…he's been doing work with the alley cats." He cocked his head to one side. "You know that."

"Yes, but he's always been back at a decent hour. He never came home last night."

"That's not like him," Tugger murmured.

"No, it's not."

"I'm sure he has a good reason, though."

"But he didn't say he would be gone for so long."

"Did he tell you anything?"

"Just that he was going out again. He left Alonzo in charge."

"It sounds urgent, but you know how he is. He keeps his cool no matter what."

"I'd like to think he'd tell me."

"He wouldn't want to worry you."

"And I'm not worried now?" Her eyes burned into his.

"Listen," he tried. "I'm sure he's fine. It was probably just a false lead or something." She didn't look convinced. "Come on, Demeter, we would know if something was wrong."

"I still want to find Coricopat and Tantomile."

"Okay," he nodded. "That's a good idea. I know where they've been sleeping lately." He leapt up onto a tall box and led her across the heaps of garbage.

"I knew you would help," he heard her say softly. He didn't know how to respond, instead shrugging his shoulders. Sticking his nose to the garbage, he ignored the rank smells that stung the back of his throat and instead focused on searching for the twins' scent. They were almost as hard to find as Mistoffelees's…he smiled weakly at the thought of the small tom.

"They shouldn't be far," he said, looking at her over his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" He hadn't noticed it before, but he was struck with how exhausted she looked as she trotted behind him.

"Fine," she insisted. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

"I can slow down if you want."

"Tugger, please? I'm really—"

"I have their scent anyway." It was true; he couldn't describe the smell any other way than mysterious, but instantly knew it was them. He followed it at a walking pace now, but soon stopped above a box embedded in a pile of garbage. He scratched at the closed cardboard lid, softly meowing to wake the cats. "I thought they were psychic," he murmured after a while, but soon the box rustled and he backed away as the lid popped up. A sleepy-eyed Coricopat looked out at them.

"Can I help you?" he growled.

"Possibly," Tugger said. "Pardon us for requesting use of your psychic abilities at such an early hour, but we wanted to know if you saw anything concerning Munkustrap's wellbeing."

"You mean if he's in danger?"

"Well," he thought, "not necessarily—"

"Yes," Demeter said impatiently.

"The only thing I know about Munkustrap today is that he's going to have an easy time falling asleep."

Tugger cocked his head to one side as Demeter sighed.

"So regardless if he's home or not, that means he's at least safe?"

"I would assume."

"You don't think Tantomile would know more, would you?" Tugger asked. Coricopat studied him with a blank, unnerving expression. "Erm, not to say—"

"She wouldn't," he said airily. "We share the same sights, feelings, and notions."

"Oh…"

"Well, thank you, Coricopat," Demeter said. "Sorry for waking you." She nudged Tugger and started to turn, but the maine coon had a sudden thought.

"Hey, what do you think my day's going to be like?" he asked.

"Tugger," Demeter warned.

"Well," Coricopat sighed, licking his paw wisely, "not that I take interest in your days, Tugger, but you may find it of interest to know that what you have been looking for will come to you."

"Today?"

"Yes," he said testily. "Now if you are finished with your questions, I still have some sleep to catch up on."

"Yeah, thanks buddy," Tugger grinned. "Oh, and send Tantie my love, okay?"

"Tugger!" Demeter hit Tugger's arm as Coricopat merely shook his head and lowered himself back into his box. Tugger chuckled as he walked over the box.

"Well, do you feel better?"

"I suppose," she sighed.

"Good, because I do."

"I still want to know where he is."

"So do I, Deme, but I'm sure he'll tell us when he gets back. Now I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"I guess I'm hungry too," she said.

"Care to join me for breakfast?" He looked over at her and saw that her expression gave away her inner debate. "Or I could walk you back to Bombi's den?"

"No, it's…I'll hunt with you."

"Fish."

"What?"

"You'll be fishing with me." She stared at him. "Me and Munk found this little pond some time ago," he explained. "You can't tell anyone, though. Really. I told Misto about it too, only I didn't tell him where it was but he could probably find—"

"Wait. You're babbling. Misto?"

"Yeah. Mistoffelees."

"I've heard the kittens call him that," she laughed.

"Well," he blushed, "I like it."

"No, I mean…" She smiled up at him.

"What?!"

"Nothing," she chuckled. "So besides you, Munk, and Misto I'm the only one who knows about it now?"

"Yes."

"But the point was to keep this a secret?"

"Well, yeah, just so the other cats don't get the idea to steal all our fish."

"Oh okay," she laughed. "So what if I decided to tell Bombi and she decided to tell someone else—"

"See, I know what you're thinking but you wouldn't dare tell her just in case that did happen."

"Oh really?" She put a hand on her hip, her eyes glittering. "You think you know me so well?"

"Yes," he finalized. "And I would also hope that you wouldn't tell Munk I told you just in case he wanted to surprise you by taking you there."

"You…hmph." His smile of triumph quickly changed to a grimace as she whacked his arm again.

"What the hell, Deme?" She stuck her tongue out at him. "So that's your only comeback?"

"Yup."

"Queens," he murmured, to which she smirked.

_________________

It was late in the morning when most of the cats decided to finally tear themselves away from the comfort of their dens in order to pursue a late breakfast. Tugger and Demeter sat on the hood of the old, blue car and watched them stick their noses out of nearby pipes as they searched for the rodents.

"You know, I feel like I really underestimated you Tugger," Demeter suddenly said. Tugger almost jumped again with surprise. "I mean, I still find you kittenish at times and hard to tolerate, but you really pull through for us." She smiled up at him.

"Erm..."

"I'm trying to say I'm sorry for being impatient with you sometimes."

"Oh look, Deme, that's what makes our relationship fun." He grinned. "Really. You're a sister to me and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Hey, there you are!" They looked up to find Bombalurina walking towards them. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Deme. What're you doing hanging around this chum?"

"Just talking, Bombi," Demeter smiled.

"Well, that's different." She licked the back of her paw before stretching her arms high over her head. "What do you say we go looking for some breakfast?"

"Okay. Something light for me, though. I'm not that hungry." Tugger caught her smirking at him before she gave him a gentle nuzzle. "See you later, Tug." She leapt down beside the red queen. Bombalurina looked between the two with mild surprise, shaking her head before walking off.

"What did I miss?" she murmured. Tugger chuckled as he waved.

"Catch you later, girls," he called, reclining back on the car and closing his eyes. He knew he'd get the queen to admit to liking him sooner or later. Still, a deeper pride burst in him that helped to bring up the dull mood he'd been in lately.

He lay there for a while, trying to think positive. He remembered what Coricopat had said; something he'd been looking for would finally come to him? Maybe it was that ball of yarn he misplaced! Or maybe some catnip…that stuff was hard to come by these days. Domestic cats had it easy, damnit, they just had everything handed to them like it was nothing. What he would give for some fresh catnip—

CRACK!

Tugger yowled in surprise as he nearly fell from his perch. He looked around, hissing and expecting to find Macavity. Instead, he found a wide-eyed Mistoffelees sitting across from him.

"I'm sorry!" the small tom blurted. As he made to stand, he somehow lost his balance and was on the ground in seconds looking quite shaken. Tugger quickly leapt down and landed next to him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, examining him.

"I don't think―ooh!" He lifted his paw and held it limply in front of him.

"Might be broken," Tugger assessed. "What the hell did you just do?!"

"I'm trying to control where I end up when I disappear. I came close…I was aiming for Deuteronomy's tire." He tried pointing with his hurt paw and winced.

"Okay." Tugger racked his brain, trying to shake his initial shock off so he could focus on helping the cat. "Jennyanydots is the only one who knows how to mend bones. Bast, what're we going to do if she kicks the bucket..." Mistoffelees watched with curiosity as Tugger contemplated. "Right, let me see if I can get someone to fetch her." He was about to run off when a pale tabby caught his eye.

"Ooh, hello Tugger!" Etcetera pranced over to them and smiled brightly. "I thought I smelled you! Do you want to hunt with me?"

"No. Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course! Oh, Mr. Mistoffelees?" She looked at him and saw the state he was in. "What happened?"

"I think he broke his paw. I need you to fetch Jenny." With a quick nod she was off again. Tugger looked back at Mistoffelees. "You need to lie down."

"There's an old mattress over there," he pointed out. Tugger nodded, satisfied with the looks of it. It wasn't that bad, only stained with something unidentifiable.

"Here, lean into me." Mistoffelees shifted his weight so that Tugger was able to support him as they walked over to it. The smaller cat trembled from the pain and his tiny pink tongue hung out as he panted. "Lay down," Tugger instructed. Mistoffelees complied but looked up at him with sad eyes.

"This is incredibly embarrassing."

"Come on, mate, it was just an accident." He thought for a moment as he looked down at him. The poor thing… "It's no wonder. You've been working yourself too much." The magic cat sighed.

"I'm just coming so close to being able to control it."

"Well, you don't want to ruin it by being too hard on yourself." Mistoffelees was silent for a minute, licking his paw and wincing. Tugger sat by his side and watched him intently.

"You know, you don't have to stay with me," Mistoffelees said after a while. "If you have better things to do, I mean."

"Like what? You're hurt. And I haven't seen you in ages," he added.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," he laughed. "Just tell me what you've been up to."

"Okay," he smiled. "I can make electricity."

"Sweet, so you could shoot it at stuff?"

"If I wanted to," he chuckled. "I would show you now, but…" He grimaced.

"It's okay. So what else can you do?"

"That took up most of my time, and disappearing and reappearing of course, but I've perfected some more side tricks the kittens will appreciate." He suddenly smiled. "And you."

"Hey, I've missed the one where you pulled the mouse out of the hat. That was my lunch for some time."

"Oh Tugger, how have you survived without me?" he laughed.

"It was boring, I'll tell you that."

"Well, I suppose you'll have me back for some time now." He indicated his paw, which he gave another careful lick.

"I'm sure you could use the rest," he said softly.

"Perhaps."

"But don't worry. Jennyanydots works miracles. You'll be better in no time." He watched him for a bit before a thought occurred to him. "Hey, if you ever need an assistant or anything I'd be glad to help." Mistoffelees looked back up at him.

"What?"

"Just, like, I don't know, someone to help you with your tricks." He shrugged. "Once you get better, I mean." Mistoffelees thought for a moment before his mouth curled into a smile.

"I'll let you know," he nodded.

Tugger smiled, but before he could respond, his ears perked up to the sound of footsteps. "Good, I think they're coming." He stood and turned to see Etcetera and the old Gumbie cat making their way towards them.

"Oh poor Mr. Mistoffelees did you hurt your pawsie?" The young tom looked up at Tugger with embarrassment, to which he only smiled and shook his head. "Let's see, then." Tugger backed away to give her room.

"How did it happen?" Etcetera asked as she sat by Tugger's side.

"He's trying to control where he pops up. He landed on the car and lost his balance."

"Aww," she simpered. "That's a short fall. No wonder he couldn't turn himself around."

"And he's exhausted."

"Oh, it's only a fracture dear one," Jenny suddenly said. Tugger glanced back over at her. "But no more magic tricks for a while."

"You can fix it, though?" Mistoffelees asked.

"Of course! Nothing a splint can't mend. Now hold still…" After a few minutes of wrapping his paw, Jenny finally stood up straight. "Now, then." Tugger quickly rounded her and stood by Mistoffelees's side. He looked down at his bandaged paw as the cat tried standing. After gingerly touching it to the ground he only winced a little as he stood before them on all fours again. He smiled up at the satisfied looking Gumbie.

"Thank you."

"Of course, love. All you need to do now is rest. Now Tugger," she said, turning to the bigger tom. "I want you to keep a close eye on him. I'm making him your responsibility." She gave him a reproachful look.

"I was planning on it anyway," he said unflinchingly.

"No getting distracted." She nearly set him off with her insinuation. How could she think he'd abandon Mistoffelees for anyone else, queen or not? "Do you hear me?"

"Of course, Jenny," he said. "I'll be sure to stare at him and make him feel as uncomfortable as I possibly can." He winked down at him, causing him to chuckle. Before she could retort he was already sitting protectively by the cat's side and looking up at her with as innocent an expression as he could muster. The Gumbie cat sighed. "Rest well, Mistoffelees," she said before turning. "Come on, Etcetera."

"Aww, but Jenny."

"It's time to eat with the other kittens."

"But I'm not a kitten anymore!"

"You still have one more year to go," she said calmly. The kitten blinked up at her. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Fine," she sighed, casting the two toms another look. "Feel better, Misto." Her eyes flicked to Tugger but she didn't say another word as she reluctantly followed Jennyanydots out of the clearing.

Tugger chuckled.

"What?"

"She called you Misto. Most of them do. I kind of like it." He smiled at the black and white cat. "I don't suppose you do?"

"It's okay, I guess. I don't mind."

"The 'Mysterious Misto'," Tugger mused. Mistoffelees chuckled. "The 'Mysterious Magical Misto'. 'Misto, the Mysterious Magician!' I dunno," he grinned as the cat giggled uncontrollably. "What, you don't like them?"

"They're dreadful."

"Hah! Well fine then, Mr. Picky, you come up with a better one."

"I'm perfectly fine with the one I have, thank you."

"You're a terrible bore, Mr. Misto."

"A cripple bore," he chuckled. "Give me a break."

"Why, but you already have one."

"Oh you're something else, aren't you?"

"I try," he smirked. Mistoffelees laughed as he did his best to curl up. Tugger smiled down at the little cat.

"Sorry if I fall asleep on you," he said, his eyelids heavy.

"Do you need anything?"

"No." After a moment of silence passed, Mistoffelees picked up his head and looked straight into the maine coon's eyes. "Thank you…again."

"Always, buddy." The cat smiled and laid his head down again, closing his eyes. It wasn't long before Tugger could hear his heavy breathing and note the stillness of his body that meant he had dozed off. He couldn't help but wonder if he was under some sort of enchantment as he felt a sort of peace overcome him as he watched the little cat sleep. A thought drifted into his head and he smiled, not even second guessing that Mistoffelees was what, rather who, Coricopat was referring to before. So he found what he was looking for…it was a pity it had to happen this way, but fate never usually played nice.

A/N: Poor Misto…but I'm certainly going to make it up to him ;)