Author's Note:This chapter is admittedly kind of long and drawn out, but it has a couple of cute interactions between various characters, and some fluffy stuff towards the end. (Least I feel like it's fluffy. Could be wrong I suppose). Hope you guys enjoy it!


Chapter Seven:

Victoria's POV

"How much farther is the junkyard?" Victoria asked as they rounded a corner.

Quaxo laughed, "We are nearly there."

Victoria nodded, but didn't say anything in response. She felt Quaxo's eyes on her. "Nervous?"

She nodded. "A little."

"Why?"

She hesitated before answering. "I just don't know what to expect. Except for you and Munkustrap, George is the only cat I've ever been around. And now I'm walking into an entire pack of them."

Suddenly Quaxo had stepped in front of her and she looked up, "Yes, there are a lot of cats there, but I promise that none of them will hurt you."

Victoria nodded but looked down. "What if they don't like me?"

Quaxo chuckled and she looked up as he spoke. "I wouldn't worry about that."

With that he turned and started walking again, and Victoria watched him curiously before following after him. What did he mean by that? Why shouldn't she be worried about it?

It wasn't long at all after that when Quaxo came to a stop in front of a drain pipe. He looked at Victoria. "Are you ready?"

She nodded and started to walk forward but he stopped her. "Wait, I need to explain something to you."

She tilted her head in question, but said nothing, waiting for him to continue. He took a deep breath, and sighed. "As you go through this pipe, you're going to change. I don't know how to explain it. You won't even notice it's happening until you reach the end and suddenly…you'll be different, and so will I. Just…trust me ok?"

Victoria hesitated, but after a few seconds nodded. "I can do that."

Quaxo smiled, and started through the drain pipe. "Let's go then."

She watched him walk through, and after a few seconds followed suit. As she entered the pipe, she saw that the exit was already clear. He was out already. She paused just inside the pipe, and looked down at her paws.

Only they weren't her paws anymore. They were hands now, with fingers, like a human's. Her eyes moved up the length of her arm, and down her body. When she looked up again Quaxo stood in front of her. He stood on two legs and smiled down at her. She watched him carefully, confused. He looked the same, but at the same time he didn't. It was so strange.

He smiled, and offered her his hand, "Victoria."

She smiled and took his hand, and he pulled her up until she stood with him on two feet. She looked him over, and then herself, and smiled at him. "Wow."

She looked around, there was a large open area, and she could see several cats doing various things. Some stood together talking, others seemed to be dancing. Several had turned to look at her.

He smiled, "What do you think?"

She smiled, "It's so strange, and wonderful."

"Welcome to the Jellicle Junkyard!" A grey and black tabby approached and bowed.

Victoria smiled, "Munkustrap."

The cat smiled, "Glad to see you survived the night."

She glanced at Quaxo, and watched as the guilt crossed his face again, she placed a hand on his arm. "It all came out alright in the end."

Quaxo smiled in appreciation, and then looked past her. She followed his gaze to see a rather large cat coming towards her. This one was black, similar to Quaxo, but instead of white had a spotted type of pattern on his arms and chest, and a fluff of mane around his neck. Victoria guessed he was a long haired cat when outside of the junkyard. This was the first new cat she was to meet, and she found herself instinctively stepping closer to Quaxo, who laughed, "Victoria, this is Rum Tum Tugger. Don't worry, he is all bark."

Tugger smirked, "You say that now, Misto."

Victoria glanced at Quaxo, "Misto?"

Quaxo sighed, "It's…complicated."

Victoria shrugged and allowed the conversation to move on. She knew he would explain later.

Rum Tum Tugger bowed low, but more dramatically than Munkustrap had, and chuckled as he spoke. "Glad you came. Misto here was about to lose his mind."

Quaxo rolled his eyes as Victoria lifted an eyebrow at him, "Thanks Tug. Thanks a lot."

Tugger smirked, "Anytime." He looked at Victoria, "Enjoy your stay."

And with that he sauntered off. Victoria smirked at Quaxo. "Losing your mind were you?"

Quaxo glanced at her and started to answer, but instead turned his attention to Munkustrap, changing the subject. "Did you tell Old Deuteronomy she was coming?"

The cat smirked. "Of course, I'll go tell him she's here. He'll need to meet her before she can officially be allowed to stay."

He turned and walked away, leaving Quaxo and Victoria alone momentarily. Victoria started to speak, about to ask again about Misto, or the fact that he'd been losing his mind. Both questions were buzzing around in her head but Quaxo put up a paw. "Later, I promise. I need to explain to you Old Deuteronomy"

She sighed and nodded. Well that was convenient.

"In many ways, Munkustrap is our leader. He is our protector and we all do as he asks, more because we respect him than because he as actual authority. Deuteronomy is the real head of the tribe. Munkustrap acts in his place sometimes, and if Deuteronomy is away, then Munkustrap is it, but Deuteronomy will determine whether or not you can stay."

Victoria was nervous now, "Do you think he will allow me?"

Quaxo smiled, and gently touched her face with his hand. "Yes. I do. I have no doubt."

Victoria rubbed her cheek against his hand, and smiled.

"Quaxo!"

The two cats looked up to see Munkustrap approaching once more, with a very elderly and very large looking cat coming just behind him. "Victoria, allow me to introduce Old Deuteronomy."

Deuteronomy bowed to her as well, not as low as Munkustrap or Rum Tum Tugger had, he was old and not as flexible anymore, but he was still courteous. "Welcome, Victoria. I have heard a lot about you."

Victoria glanced at Quaxo, who shrugged. He was about to say something when Deuteronomy spoke again, "No, not from Quaxo. I received the highest recommendation from your friend Munkustrap."

Victoria looked at Munkustrap and smiled, "I explained to him the gravity of your situation."

Deuteronomy nodded, "Indeed. Victoria, I hereby welcome you into the tribe of The Jellicle Cats, and if you wish to join, you certainly may."

Victoria smiled, and Quaxo took her hand. "Well? Would you like to stay?"

She smiled, and nodded, "I would very much like to stay."

Quaxo beamed, and Munkustrap smiled. Deuteronomy stepped forward, a smile on his face as well. "Then welcome. I'm sure Quaxo and Munkustrap will give you the tour, as well as finding you a suitable place to stay." He shot a comical glare at Quaxo, "I'm sure you'll explain all of our laws as well."

Quaxo nodded. "Of course."

With a nod Deuteronomy smiled. "Very well, but now I must take my leave. I am an old cat any my legs are tottery. Enjoy your stay Victoria, I will be seeing you around."

With that he turned and left, escorted by Munkustrap who assured him he would be back once he had Deuteronomy settled.

Victoria looked up at Quaxo. "The laws?"

Quaxo's POV

Quaxo sighed and shook his head. The past few minutes had no doubt left Victoria with plenty of questions. But the latest one he laughed at, "That was his way of reminding me to find you a place to stay that was separate from mine."

Her eyes widened at that, and he couldn't tell what she was thinking. "What is it?"

She looked down, "I just hadn't put much thought at all to where I would be staying."

He smiled, "Don't worry. We will find you somewhere suitable. There are certainly plenty of places around."

Victoria nodded. "Where do you sleep?"

Quaxo grinned, "Come. I'll show you."

He took her hand and led her through the junk yard. Many cats paused what they were doing to watch as they passed, and Quaxo worried how Victoria was doing with all the attention so he watched her reactions. She would generally just smile at them, before moving a step closer to him. She felt safe with him, even after he had hurt her. She really did trust him. He swelled with pride.

Finally he came to a new drain pipe, and paused. "This is mine."

She looked at him curiously, "The pipe?"

He laughed, "No, through the pipe."

He entered and waited for her to follow. Then together they went through the pipe. Inside, there was a spacious area that was clear of junk, although it mostly made up the walls and roof. There was a box off to one side that was certainly large enough for him to sleep in. It was filled with blankets and pillows. Along the other side there were old books and several random trinkets.

He watched her carefully, wanting to see her reaction, and was pleased when she smiled, "It's lovely."

"Well, now we will find you somewhere."

She nodded, and together they exited his den, and went through the drain pipe. Victoria was just climbing out when a red queen jumped down from where she'd been sitting above. Victoria jumped, clearly started, and moved behind Quaxo.

He sighed, "Hello Bombalurina. This is Victoria. Victoria, this is Bombalurina, or more commonly called, Bomba."

The red cat smiled, but it wasn't a very sweet or polite smile, and Quaxo knew Victoria would be nervous of this one. Bomba grinned. "Well, welcome." She spread her arms out dramatically, "I heard we had a new queen on the yard, and I had to come see for myself. I had to see if she was prettier than me after all."

Quaxo rolled his eyes, and she continued. "Oh, don't glare at me that way Quax. You know how I am, and don't worry Vicky." Quaxo almost felt Victoria flinch at the name, "I don't bite."

With that she strutted off, and Victoria cautiously watched her leave, no small amount of fear on her face. Quaxo sighed, and touched her shoulder. He would have to talk to Bomba about this. This would not do. "Don't worry about her. She's just a bit dramatic. She is Tugger's mate."

Victoria nodded. "I can see that."

Quaxo forced a smile to his face, trying to get her back to her mood before Bombalurina had come and ruined everything. "Now, where were we?"

Victoria smiled, his ploy had worked. "I need a den."

He nodded, "Quite right! Let me think."

He knew this junk yard like the back of his hand. Surely he could think of a good place for her. Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks made their home in the TSE 1. Tugger and Bomba stayed in the old truck behind that. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Come."

He took her hand and guided her around the corner, but she stopped walking before he was ready, and pulled him to stop beside her. "Quaxo, wait. What's this?"

He followed her gaze. It was a rather large pile of old, discarded car tires. He tilted his head and looked at her. "What are you thinking?"

She smiled, just a moment. She moved closer, and he noted as she did that she was already displaying the grace and swiftness of a Jellicle. Yes, she would do nicely here. She was examining the pile, and even climbed up on top of it. He grew nervous now. To his knowledge, no one has ever tested the steadiness of this pile of tires, well, Pouncival and Tumblebrutus probably had, they had tested just about anything that was more than ten feet off the ground, but they certainly didn't tell him about everything. "Victoria?"

She didn't reply, but just jumped a couple of times, testing to see if the pile would collapse. "Victoria…"

She was making him nervous. Why did she have to do that? After a moment she came down, and smiled. But she was moving too quickly and slipped off of one just above Quaxo. He moved quickly, and caught her as she fell, causing both of them to fall on the ground. He groaned, but of course thought of her first. "Victoria? Are you alright?"

She nodded, "Are you? I fell on you, are you ok? Did I hurt you?"

She started to get off of him but he grabbed his arms, holding her in place on top of him. She looked down at him, and an odd look came across her face. He wondered briefly what she was thinking. He tried to keep a stern look on his face, but it was difficult with the white pearl sitting on top of him. "Next time…will you let me do it?"

She smirked, "Did I worry you?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe."

She smiled, and leaned down, nuzzling his face. "I'm sorry. Yes, next time I will let you do it."

He sighed, her cheek connecting with his own had broken his resolve. "Good."

She started to climb off of him again, this time he let her, and watched as she looked the pile over again. She found a small gap, between two of the tires, and started to squeeze through, and he cleared his throat.

She smiled and stepped away. "Right, sorry."

He nodded and moved past her, slipping easily through the gap that he knew would be too small for majority of the males in the yard. With the exception of maybe Pouncival and Tumblebrutus who were both still young. There was a small tunnel, that wasn't necessarily straight as it was made of tires, and led to a large hollow cavern. He understood now why the roof was so stable, because the ceiling of this room was created by a large tire, even bigger round than the great tire that made the favorite sitting place of Deuteronomy and Munkustrap. The walls were made of tires stacked on top of each other, and he had to admit, it would be a good place to call home. They could fix it up. "Alright Victoria, come on in."

She crawled through, and he smiled as she approached. She had black on her side from where she had rubbed against a tire. He laughed and rubbed if off of her. "You'll have to be careful if you stay here. You'll get your white coat all dirty."

She nodded, "I can deal with that. What do you think of it?"

He glanced around once more, and then grinned. "It looks good to me. We just need to fix it up a bit."

She looked at him. "Fix it up? How?"

He smirked. "Shooting lightning isn't all I can do."

He snapped his fingers and good sized tire appeared in one corner. He snapped his fingers again and a pile of pillows and blankets appeared as well. "A bed, you can organize it how you like."

She smiled, "You just pulled them out of thin air?"

He smirked. "Not exactly, you can't just create specific things, well at least I can't. I can only move things from one place to another and even then, only if I know where they are originally and exactly where I want them to go."

Victoria nodded. "So where did these come from?"

Quaxo smiled, "The tire came from the top of the pile. I saw it earlier and kept it in mind. The pillows and blankets came from my den. Don't worry," he added when she made a face, "I have plenty."

She smiled, "Thank you."

He nodded. "Of course."

She looked at him for a moment, and then looked down at the floor. He wondered what she was thinking, and started to ask, but decided that he wasn't sure he wanted to know. A lot had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and he expected that she had a lot to think about. "Well, I'll leave you to get settled in."

She looked up at him, "You're leaving?"

He nodded, "For a bit. I need to take care of some things. I'll be back to get you later. You have to meet everyone. But I want you to have some time to nap, or think, or whatever you need to do. Don't worry," He added when she looked down. "I'll be back soon."

She nodded, and he touched the back of his hand to her cheek. They locked eyes just for a moment before he smiled, and walked out.

Victoria's POV

She watched as he disappeared through the tunnel of tires. She had to admit, this was a good den. She was proud of herself. She walked over to the tire and blankets and pillows that Quaxo had left her, and she started arranging them. Once she had them the way she wanted them she decided to test it, and lay down for a bit.

Yes, it was very comfortable, and she was satisfied. She closed her eyes, and it was only moments before she was sleeping.

She woke suddenly when the roof of her new home trembled. At first she thought she had been dreaming, but then it shook again. She looked up in confusion, and when it happened a third time, she got up and went out to investigate. Now there was a white cat with black and brown stripes, and he was jumping from tire to tire, apparently having a grand ol' time. Victoria looked up at him from the ground. "What are you doing?"

The young tom looked down at her and laughed, "Why, pouncing of course."

Victoria tilted her head. "Why?"

The cat grinned. "Because it's fun, you should try it."

Victoria hesitated. "I don't know…"

The tom looked down at her. "What's your name anyway? I haven't seen you 'round here before."

"Victoria."

"Well, nice to meet you Victoria. I'm Pouncival."

Pouncival, well that explained everything. She smiled and climbed up the mountain of tires. "I suppose I could pounce for a bit."

He grinned, and jumped from the tire he was sitting on to one several feet below, then jumped up one and up one and up one until he sat at the top again. "It's fun."

Victoria nodded, and mimicked his motions. She would jump from one tire, to the next, until she sat at the top. Then she would look around until she found one she felt safe jumping down to, and then she would start it all over again. After a few minutes she was laughing and really having a lot of fun.

"Victoria?"

She had just landed on one of the tires up top when she heard a familiar voice speaking to her. She smiled and looked down. "Quaxo."

Pouncival sighed. "Oh, Magical Mister Party Pooper."

Pouncival laughed and Quaxo glared at a joke at Victoria didn't understand. Quaxo looked up at her now though, and smiled. "Could you come down now?"

She nodded, and jumped.

Quaxo's POV

Quaxo's eyes widened as he watched Victoria fall through the air. At first he thought everything would be fine. She had been doing this multiple times for the past few minutes right? Right? But he watched in horror as the tire slid out from under her when she landed. She and the tire both went bouncing down the mountain. He flinched with every UMPH and OOH until she landed with a thud on the ground in front of him. "Victoria! Victoria, are you alright?"

She lay still and silent for a moment, and he felt his heart hammer in his chest, but then she blinked and looked up at him, and relief flooded through him once more. "Victoria, are you alright?"

She nodded and groaned as she twisted so she could sit up. He was beside her now, running his hands over her, checking her for anything that might be wrong. But no, she was intact. By the grace of the Everlasting Cat she had made it through alive, and without even a broken bone. Black dust and grime from the rubber tires had stained her coat though, and she almost looked like Alonzo. He sighed, "Victoria. You are going to be the death of me."

She laughed, "I'm going to be the death of you? I'm the one that fell down a pile of tires."

He nodded, "Yes, but I almost had a heart attack."

By then Pouncival had joined them on the ground, "That was a great fall! Are you ok?"

Quaxo watched as she nodded, then Pouncival laughed, "That was so awesome! You should have seen it from the top! You're so lucky you didn't get hurt more than you did! Next time we'll – "

Quaxo cut him off with a glare and Pouncival quickly stopped talking. "Right, well it was nice to meet you Victoria. See you later. I'll stop jumping on the tires now that I know you're staying under there."

She nodded in thanks and he bounced away. She laughed, "He's fun."

Quaxo rolled his eyes, but was smiling. "Next time, can you maybe not jump down so far?"

She laughed and nodded. "Next time? Ha. My dear there isn't going to be a next time. I may have laughed it off…but that was terrifying."

Quaxo resisted the urge to jump for joy at that, instead he simply said, "That's probably a wise decision."

It didn't escape his observation that she had called him "my dear." He liked it. He liked it a lot. But he needed to get back to why he had come over here in the first place. "So," He began, "Whenever we get a new member of the tribe, we always hold a small get together."

Her eyes widened, "Like, a party?"

Quaxo smiled, "You said it, not me."

She jumped excitedly. Pouncival, it seemed, had rubbed off on her. "Oh! I've never been to a party before. I wish I hadn't fallen and gotten all dirty."

Quaxo laughed, "Let's go to my den. We can get you cleaned up in there."

Victoria's POV

Once they were in Quaxo's den, he snapped his fingers and a bowl of water and a small towel appeared on a small box that she supposed was meant to be a table. She chuckled, "So where did these come from?"

Quaxo laughed as he wet the towel with the water. "Don't worry about it," He pointed to the box where he slept. "Could you lie down for me please?"

She nodded, and did as he asked. He brought the bowl and tire with him, and pulled another box over which he sat on, and began patting her gently with the towel.

She decided now would be a perfect time to ask all of her questions. "Quaxo?"

"Hmm?"

"Why does Rum Tum Tugger call you Misto?"

He smiled as he dabbed at a particularly black spot. "You remember the 'other me?' The one without the white paws?"

Her eyes darkened. Yes. She remembered alright. She honestly was kind of worried about what would happen when she saw him again. The last time she had he had been shooting lightning at her. No, not at her, she corrected herself. He had been aiming at George…

"Victoria?"

Hearing him call her brought her out of her reverie. "Yes, sorry. I remember."

He nodded, "I expected you would. Well, when I'm in that form, I go by Mister Mistoffelees."

She chuckled. "So Misto."

He smiled and nodded as he wet the towel again. "Misto. Tugger is one of the few that call me that when I'm myself."

"I like them both."

He glanced at her, "You mean the names?"

She nodded. "They both suit you."

He smiled, and leaned back on his seat. "Well this side is all done. Could you flip around so I can get the other?"

She nodded and did as she was told. Quaxo went to work on a large spot on her shoulder, and suddenly she flinched.

He jerked his hand back, "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No…that's where the scratches are. They aren't completely healed yet."

He sighed, "So I did hurt you."

Victoria lowered her head. "Well, maybe a little."

He nodded and started again, more gentle this time. "I'm sorry, I'll be more careful."

She lowered her head on one of the pillows as she felt him cleaning her. He was being careful, but the towel was still pulling at the slowly forming scar. She knew when he was done with it though, because he stopped, and when she looked back he was just looking at it. He lifted his hand to it and ran his fingers gently along the scratches, "Quaxo?"

He looked at her, and for a moment she could see something in his brown eyes, she wasn't sure what it was, but then it was gone. He said nothing and went back to cleaning her. He was almost done now.

She asked again "Quaxo?"

He paused in his cleaning and looked at her now. The look in his eyes was clouded, and she wasn't sure what he was thinking. She looked down. "Thank you for bringing me here. I don't know what I would have done…"

He put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, something tells me you would have been just fine."

She only nodded, and he went back to cleaning her, "Well, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I'm sorry I didn't meet you sooner."

She smiled, "Well, it was my own fault really."

He looked at her, "Why is that?"

"Well, because you have walked down my street numerous times. I've seen you. But I was afraid because I thought all cats were like George, so I hid."

He tilted his head, "So what was different about this time?"

She shrugged, "Well, I knew my humans were leaving soon, so I supposed you couldn't hurt me more than he would later."

He slowly nodded. "I'd never hurt you." And then he looked at the wall for a moment and added, "Well, not on purpose anyway."

She smiled, "I know."

She watched as some thought crossed his mind, and he smiled, "Well, thanks for deciding to come. I'm really glad you did. I was worried about you."

She smirked, and quoted Tugger. "Were you losing your mind?"

He chuckled, "Well I suppose you were going to ask me about that sooner or later."

She nodded expectantly, and he continued, "Truth is," He said as he wiped away the last black spot. "I would have eventually asked you to come here, even if you hadn't been stuck with George."

She looked at him now, curiosity filled her face. "You would have?"

Quaxo smirked. "Of course I would have. You belong here."

She didn't say anything more on it. She didn't know what else to say. He wanted her to be here, and that was all she cared about.

After another minute, he smiled and stood up. "There, you're all clean and beautiful again."

Victoria smiled, he had called her beautiful, and that may have been the best compliment anyone had ever given, simply because it came from him. "Thank you."

Quaxo smiled, "Now, are you ready to attend a party?"


Chapter Eight Preview:

There was an older cat that had just entered the clearing, and all the other cats were clearing away from her as if she was diseased. Victoria touched Quaxo's arm, "What's going on?"

Quaxo shook his head. "That is Grizzabella. She used to be Old Deuteronomy's mate, but she left the tribe a while back. No one really knows why, some say she wanted to see the world. Some say she wanted to pursue an acting career. There are multiple theories. But once you leave the tribe, you can never come back. She left, so she is an outcast. She abandoned us."

Victoria looked at the older cat who walked towards them now. For some reason, her heart broke for the cat. "Poor thing."

Quaxo looked down at her, "Victoria, she left the tribe. It was her choice. She has to live with the consequences."

Victoria nodded, and looked at the cat once more. Grizzabella's eyes seemed to be staring right into hers, and she stepped behind Quaxo. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a memory stirred, but something told her she didn't want to remember it, so she pushed it away.

The old cat moved closer to the two of them, Quaxo stood tall in front of Victoria, but Grizzabella wasn't looking at him, didn't even seem to notice him, instead she was looking at Victoria, and Victoria was feeling very uncomfortable. Victoria leaned against Quaxo and closed her eyes, willing the older cat to leave her alone.

But then the cat spoke, and to Victoria, it all made sense. "Tori."