Sometimes, it really sucked to an only kitten!
Being less than a month old, Meritas was the youngest by far; the next one up from him being his half sister Jemima, and at eighteen months, she was much too old to be playing silly little kitten games!
The humans had taken his brother and sister away, and with no additional kittens having been born to the tribe in almost two years, he had no choice but to play on his own.
He awoke early in the afternoon, with the sun in his eyes. His mummy was still asleep, so he climbed on her. "Mummy! Wake up! I want to see daddy!" He whined. Daddy would play with him!
"Go back to sleep, Mertie…" his mother said without opening her eyes.
This was the first time she'd slept in days, and she wasn't about to be disturbed! But as a compromise, she automatically rolled over and allowed him to nurse, before drowsiness overtook her and she fell back into a deep slumber.
But once he'd had his fill, the kitten was far from tired! He looked around the den, wondering what else to do.
He tried putting his jazz shoes on the wrong feet, thinking he would practice his pirouettes, like Dance Teacher Cassandra had sternly reminded him to- when he suddenly spied something fluttering in the window!
Forgetting the pirouettes, he climbed up to get a better look.
It was a butterfly! But it was on the outside!
He sighed disappointedly.
Then noticed the window was slightly ajar, the gap just big enough for a chubby little kitten to squeeze through!
Once on the outside, he had the Cabbage White in his sights. "I'm gonna get you!" He said to it.
He readied himself, wiggled his rear end and... pounced!
Missed!
In fact, he missed the window ledge entirely and toppled off, right into a pile of oily rags!
Meanwhile, the butterfly was flitting away across the yard, keeping tantalizingly close to the ground... "Wait!" He cried. "Let me get you!"
He scampered after it, chasing it all over the place!
It almost seemed to be mocking him! Periodically, it would land on something like a paint can. Meritas would get ready to pounce... and off it would fly again!
But after awhile, the butterfly seemed to tire of the game, and flew straight up, until Meritas could see it no more.
That was the moment he noticed he'd wondered quite far from home. Looking around, he realised he didn't know where he was!
Where was the Junkyard?
What was this black, dusty thing? And what were those big, noisy machines that thundered to and fro?
All of a sudden he felt lost and frightened! "Mummy?!" he cried. "Where are you?!"
A shadow suddenly fell across him!
He turned to look, but it wasn't his mother…!
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Blinking a few times, he rolled onto his side and immediately started coughing, spewing water onto a smooth deck. One that appeared to be moving.
Continuing to gulp lungfuls of air, he pulled himself up and peaked over the side. In the receding light, he could just make out a plethora of sinister shapes, with faces twisted into silent screams, floating in the blackness below the large, wooden raft upon which he found himself. He shivered. "What ARE those things?" he wondered out loud.
"Undead," came the gravelly reply. "Condemned to drift in the Lake of Lost Souls for all eternity. That's what happens when you're caught trying to cheat. Did they bite you?"
Munkustrap checked himself. "No, I don't think so…"
"Well obviously! Otherwise, you'd be in there too, forever hungry for the blood of mortals!"
Munkustrap looked apprehensively at the figure, who stood on the edge of the raft, dressed in a grey, woollen cloak and using a long pole to drag them through the water. Tied to a wooden stake next to him, was the lantern he must have seen earlier.
The stranger's voice sounded vaguely familiar, so, with his curiosity getting the better of him, Munkustrap edged towards him. "Who are you?" he asked.
The stranger lowered his hood, to reveal a slate coloured Maine Coon whose face was heavily deformed by scars. In fact, his skull looked as though it had been smashed to pieces and put back together again in a hurry! Munkustrap couldn't believe his eyes! "Poseidon?" He gasped.
"Aye! That's me," chuckled Poseidon, his shaggy fur waving in the soft, icy breeze. "And you must be Munkustrap? Well well! Last I saw you, you were this high!" He held his paw against his knee.
Although, Munkustrap noted, despite being fully grown, he still stood two inches shy ofthis giant's full height!
"I take it you are the same age I was when I died?" Poseidon continued. "S'a good job you're not a fat bugger like me, otherwise I'd have been unable to rescue you. As it was, I almost capsized the raft trying to drag your sorry arse out of there!"
"Hang on! If you're dead, then why are you here?" Munkustrap asked, feeling confused.
"Struck a deal with Death," Poseidon explained. "He caught me trying to cheat the system- by trying to get back. I'd be down there like the rest of them, but I gave him my last life so I could ferry folks on their way to the City of the Dead, or Dead Cit, as it's affectionately known, for the best part of forever!"
With great sorrow, he then said, "I'm afraid you'll have to pay me- or else I'll have no choice but to throw you back in there..."
Munkustrap looked up sharply! "What with?! I have no money!"
"One of your nine lives," came the reply.
Munkustrap thought for some time, weighing up his options, of which were weren't many. "OK," he said, finally. "I'll give you a life, once you get me safely to the other side. Deal?"
"You know how this works!" Laughed Poseidon. "I'm glad someone was listening to my stories. Now you know that some of them weren't just stories."
"The others were scared witless of your stories!" Munkustrap recalled. "But I always loved them. They inspired me to become a storyteller myself- though I could never hold a candle to you!"
"Is that so?" Poseidon chuckled. "Well then, how does a storyteller up in Lost Soul Lake?"
Munkustrap cast his eyes down. "I think I am dead," he said quietly. "It's strange though… because I don't feel dead! And besides, I thought death was supposed to be relaxing? It's been far from it!"
He looked around at the bleak landscape. At the dark, featureless lake, with its seemingly non-existent shoreline and tendrils of mist floating on the surface like ghostly phantoms. Even the sky was dank and grey! "What is this place?" He asked. "They always tell you how great the Heaviside layer is. But this is more like Hell!"
"This is Doomnation," Poseidon explained, gesturing at the surroundings. "Like all pass throughs, it's a bit of a shit hole. You get the good, the bad and just plain bitter ending up here."
He queried out of interest, "So? How did you die? Was it an honorable death?"
With an arm resting on his knee, Munkustrap looked out at the lake again. "I don't know," he said finally. "How about you? I heard you were mauled by a pollicle?"
"I don't remember how I died," Poseidon replied with an apathetic shrug. "I'm guessing it was a pollicle though, because it was the Pollicle tribe that used to terrorize us on a daily basis. One minute, I was fighting, the next… 'poof!' Dead as a doornail!"
"The humans cracked down on the stray dog situation in the end," Munkustrap informed him. "Rounded them all up, never to be seen again."
"Ah! That is music to my ears!" Poseidon exclaimed happily. "At least my death was not in vain! After all, it is the lot of the Protector to be the target of violence, so that others are not. I died saving lives, therefore, I died happy. I'm willing to bet you were doing the same."
"Yes… and I suspect my brother Macavity had something to do with it," Munkustrap said, thoughtfully.
"Ha! You two fell out, eh? I'm sorry to hear that, mate!" With a concerned frown, the Maine coon enquired, "So, what was it over? Power? Queens? Both I'm guessing?"
Munkustrap nodded and made a dry face that read, "Yeah! And the rest!"
"Shame," Poseidon mused. "You were like peas in a pod at one time. Mind you, I always thought there was something not quite right about that kitten. He was either destined for greatness, or notoriety."
"Oh, he's notorious alright!" Munkustrap said, rolling his eyes.
"Can't say I'm surprised. But if my memory serves me well, you weren't exactly a saint either, were you?!"
Munkustrap answered with an ironic laugh, "Now there's an understatement if ever I heard one!"
The Maine Coon smiled. "Glad to see you cleaned up your act. Can't have been easy?"
"Still isn't," Munkustrap admitted, looking down again. "Some days I really struggle. I certainly couldn't have done it without those I love."
"We all have blemishes," Poseidon stated wisely. "I bet even EC has her faults! Take me, for instance." He pointed to himself. "I was a grumpy bastard right the way through, and I made no apologies for it! I had a dangerous job to do. I had no time for friends! And when I died, not one bugger missed me! And screw the lot of them, I say! "
Munkustrap shook his head. "You're wrong. I always admired your grit. Your resilience. Even when you were giving me a clip round the ear!"
"Haha! Yeah!" Poseidon remembered. "You're the only one who did, mind! That bloody council! Never once saw them lift a whisker, yet they were always quick to complain about something! Kept dolling out the work- funny how nothing I did was ever good enough! And if I ever dared speak out about it, well! That was me in the shit!"
Munkustrap laughed. "You'll be glad to know not much has changed! Father misses you, though."
At that, Poseidon shook his head sadly. "Ah…! How is the Old Geezer? Still old?"
"Still old," said Munkustrap with a sigh. "Still wise. Still deeply sad. I expect his big heart must be breaking all over again, because of me."
He looked at Poseidon with sudden desperation in his eyes. "I have to get back," he said. "For his sake, at least. I cannot imagine what my death would do to him!"
Poseidon looked doubtful.
"Please!" Munkustrap pleaded. "Help me out! I'll do whatever it takes!"
Poseidon shook his head regretfully. "I've already done more than I should. But I know someone who might get you back. The Gatekeeper."
Munkustrap's eyes narrowed. "Go on."
"He guards the Elevator. If you reach it before daybreak, you may be able to return to London. But there are no guarantees."
"And if I don't make it in time?"
Poseidon whistled and pointed down at the water.
"See," he mused. "You can't be dead. Not completely. Or else, you wouldn't be here. You'd either be back on Earth, in the Heaviside Layer… or in Hell. This is kind of a waiting area for those who are not quite dead, but not quite alive either. Or lost souls, such as myself, who have become trapped."
"Can't you get out?" Asked Munkustrap.
"Not on my own..."
Then the scarred tom seemed to have an idea. "Tell you what…"
He reached down to the hilt of his katana, and drew a small dagger from the pouch below it. Both weapons were nestled in a lacquered wood saya, similar to the empty one Munkustrap realised he was still wearing. With no obvious use for it, he cast it aside.
"I'll give you my kogatana, seeing as you lost the katana I gave you," Poseidon said to him. "In return for saving your soul, you must promise to set me free."
"How?" Asked Munkustrap, as he accepted the gift and tucked it into his belt.
"Go to where I am buried," Poseidon instructed. "Dig me up, and burn my bones. Do you promise?"
Munkustrap nodded. "I promise, provided I can find your burial site. The old cemetery was recently destroyed by workmen, you see. Plus, I have no idea what state I'll be in when I get back."
"Don't let me down, or I'll haunt you!" Poseidon laughed.
He held a paw to his brow and peered through the gloom. "Aha! Here we are!" he announced.
From out of the mist, the dim outline of the shore came into view, and the slate Maine Coon held his spade like paw to Munkustrap's chest. "Now for your payment," he said.
Munkustrap looked down. The centre of his chest began to glow with a golden light. Then he felt a terrible pain!
He shut his eyes, grimaced and threw back his head, longing to scream, but the sheer agony snatched his breath away before a scream could materialise! "Aaaaah! Make it stoooop!" His mind begged. "Nooo moooore…! NOOO MOOORE...!"
With a look of grim wretchedness, Poseidon wrenched his paw back, taking with him a ball of burning light!
Meanwhile, Munkustrap fell to his knees, clutching his chest and cursing loudly! "Pollicle mother! That frigging HURT!"
"Sorry, Brother," Poseidon said bitterly, placing Munkustrap's life into a cloth bag, tying it up with a piece of rope and attaching it to his belt. "I had no choice."
"Yeah, well!" Munkustrap continued to complain. "You could have at least warnedme!"
"What did you expect?!" Poseidon snapped. "I just took one of your lives! Of course it was going to hurt!"
He took the Bengcoon's paw, hauled him to his feet and looked him seriously in the eye with his burnt amber ones. "Toughen up!" he told him, all light heartedness gone. "Because if you think its hard now, it's going to get a LOT WORSE! Now listen to me! And listen good! If you fail to follow my instructions, your soul will be lost forever!"
Munkustrap stayed quiet.
"Ok," Poseidon continued. "Follow the jetty. At the end, there'll be a Terra Horse waiting to take you to the City. When you get there, head to a place called The Pyre Inn. Ask for The Gatekeeper, tell him I sent you. The rest will be up to you!"
He placed a paw on his charge's shoulder and softened his tone. "Good luck," he said. "Watch out for the Pahlavis and the Direwolves. This place is heaving with them!"
Munkustrap nodded and turned to go.
"Oh! One last thing!" added Poseidon, his voice growing strangely echoey. "Don't drink the water...!"
Then, he vanished, leaving Munkustrap alone on the jetty. It was far out in the lake, the shore lost in so many folds of grey that he couldn't even make it out... but he could smell it!
So he ran towards it, occasionally having to leap across gaps where the planks of wood had rotted away!
Then he came to a gap that was too far for even him to jump!
Luckily, the posts were still there, sticking up out of the water like the ribs of some long dead sea creature, enabling him to hop across.
Then it happened!
The moment his foot touched it, he knew it was unstable!
His only hope was to stay upright as, with a dull creak, the post started to collapse!
He could see the water coming towards him, certain he would end up in the lake, into the jaws of doom!
But to his relief, the post fell towards the next one! Right before it disappeared into the murky depths, he casually leapt to safety, keeping his balance with the aid of his wildly swinging tail!
At long last, he felt hard, compacted earth beneath his feet! Looking around, he spied what he was looking for, tied to a rickety post. A black, skeletal horse, just as Poseidon had described.
It swished its scraggly tail as he approached, whinnying and stamping its hooves, looking at him warily with its glowing, red eyes.
Equally as apprehensive, Munkustrap moved closer and reached out his paw to stroke its bony nose, which only had a few remnants of leathery skin attached to it, exposing its piano key-like teeth.
Most things responded well to a bit of kindness, so Munkustrap spoke softly to it, "Shhhhhh, it's ok. I'm Munkustrap. Who are you?"
He noticed it had a nametag on its halter. "Firanz?" He read.
Upon hearing its name, the creature immediately grew calm, as though it hadn't heard its name uttered for a very long time, allowing Munkustrap to pat its neck, while taking the opportunity to give him a good sniff! "I need to get to the City, Firanz. Can you show me the way?" Munkustrap asked it.
Appearing to understand, Firanz tossed his head and turned his back towards him, indicating he should get on.
Munkustrap hesitated. He'd never ridden a horse before!
Seemingly eager to get going, Firanz neighed impatiently and pawed the ground!
"Ok ok!" snapped Munkustrap. "Just promise you won't buck me off!"
With that, he jumped up into the worn, leather saddle, guessing he had to place his feet in the metal stirrup thingies, while at the same time, taking care not to snag his claws on the creature's horribly exposed ribs!
He grabbed the reins, and Firanz reared up. With an excited neigh, he cantered off through the murk, the wind ruffling Munkustrap's fur. The Bengcoon had to admit, the experience was kind of exhilarating once you got the hang of it, quickly discovering you had to essentially stand on the stirrups in order to avoid being bounced around like an apple on a bouncy castle full of children!
Across strange, desert-like moorland they journeyed, climbing great tors topped with piles of granite stones, sticking out like jagged teeth. Some were like frozen sentinels, watching as they passed.
They descended deep valleys, splashing through streams and jumping across narrow gorges.
But after travelling for a while, the landscape began to change, morphing into a flat, featureless plane.
As they raced along, Munkustrap spied a dark shape out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, and immediately wished he hadn't!
The thing that had caught his attention was a strange, birdlike creature with batlike wings, a beak like a meat hook and gleaming eyes!
Even more disturbing was the sight of hundreds of them circling overhead! "Pahlavis!" he gasped.
One swooped towards them!
He saw its outstretched talons shooting towards him, like giant sickles!
He whipped the kogatana from his belt and pulled on the reins! Firanz swerved!
He lashed out, burying the knife in the Pahlavi's side!
The creature gave a horrible shriek and crumpled!
"Faster, Firanz!" He shouted, and stabbed at another creature, but missed!
The horse whinnied in terror and put on a burst of speed, but it was no match for the Pahlavi!
All of a sudden, something struck Munkustrap on the back of the neck! He was knocked from the saddle and hit the dusty ground, landing next to a pile of grisly skeletons!
He rolled back onto his feet, but it was too late! Firanz was galloping away into the distance, and showed no sign of stopping!
Cursing the brainless animal, Munkustrap brandished the dagger!
He ducked a set of stabbing claws, then leapt up to catch a 'bird' across its abdomen, sending it crashing to the ground!
But there were many more!
Suddenly, a devilish howl made his heart stop!
He looked round, and became aware of otherpairs of eyes! Snarling, hound-like creatures, their jaws salivating, were moving towards him out of the darkness!
With nowhere left to run, his chances of survival were looking pretty dismal!
Unless…
A desperate idea suddenly popped into his head. It probably wouldn't work, but surely it was better than standing there, waiting to get ripped apart?!
Daring to look away from the gnashing canines, he spied a Pahlavi swooping towards him!
With a series of blood freezing cries, the hounds also launched themselves, tearing across the ground!
He turned and threw the dagger! A dying yelp met his ears! Then, with a cry of exertion, he leapt upwards, grabbing a pawful of feathers!
He latched on, finding them to be surprisingly oily! So oily, as to be almost impossible to hang onto! A few fur raising moments passed as he scrambled frantically for purchase, digging his claws into the leathery skin while the 'bird' shrieked and struggled!
But there was no shaking the cat off!
Eventually, he pulled himself onto the creature's back, swung a leg over and clamped his knees onto its boney sides, just in front of its enormous, beating wings! He held on tightly to the folds of skin behind its bald head. "Oi, you!" He shouted. "Squawk, or something, if you can understand me!"
It let out a sorrowful shriek.
"Good! Now take me to The Pyre Inn. As quick as you like!"
Another squawk, and the Pahlavi did as it was told!
"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine!"
'Crash, bang! Crash, bang!' 'Paaaarp paaaarp paaaaaarp paaaaaaarp!' 'Crash, bang! Crash, bang!'
"What on Earth is going on?!"
"Whaddya think's going on?!" Mungojerry shouted over the din, pausing briefly in his vague rendition of Lost Song by Saor Patrol, using Munkustrap's most reviled instrument: Rum Tum Tugger's bagpipes! "If these don't wake him up, nothing will!"
With that, he carried on with the rest of the song, with Rumpleteazer merrily bashing her symbols, NOT in time to the 'music'-!
"STOP, STOP, STOP!" Yelled Jazzie, covering her sensitive ears with her paws. "Guys! You cannot wake him up like this! All that's going to happen, is you are going to DEAFEN HIM!"
At that moment, a very flustered Jennyanydots burst in! "What is this RACKET!" She demanded. "This is a hospital, not an amusement arcade!"
The noise had attracted every Jellicle in the vicinity, and they were all piling into the little room, gawping (although some were glaring!) at Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer. When faced with the wrath of Jennyanydots however, both cats cowed! "We're really sorry, Jenny!" sniffed Mungojerry. "We didn't mean no harm! We just wanted to help!"
Jennyanydots softened. "I know you miss him, dear," she said. "We all want him to wake up. But the best way you can help, is by BEING QUIET! Now take these instruments and put them back where you found them!" She pointed to the door.
"Yes, Jenny!"
They meekly skulked out of the Infirmary, dragging their tails and their instruments behind them!
"Am I going mad, or can I hear bagpipes?!"Munkustrap thought to himself.
He shook his head to try to clear it of the infernal noise, then looked down. Peering through the blanket of cloud, he could just make out the eerie outlines of buildings and silent roads far below.
"Looks like a city to me," he thought. "Now, all I have to do is find this-"
A strangled cry suddenly interrupted his train of thought. The Pahlavi's whole body shuddered!
"What's up with you?" Munkustrap grumbled, then saw, to his dismay, an arrow embedded in its gullet! "Crap!" He uttered, as it folded its wings, and promptly died!
He had no time to see who had shot the arrow, because he was plummeting towards the ground at a terrifying speed!
He stood on the creatures back, shut his eyes and braced himself for the impact... which came as an almighty 'CRASH!"
With a sound of splintering wood, he smashed through a thatched roof, a rotten plaster ceiling, and carried on downwards through two stories of flimsy, wooden flooring, finally to land with an, "Oof!" in the middle of a pile of straw, sending it flying in all directions!
It was lucky the bird like creature had cushioned his fall, otherwise he would have been seriously injured!
Feeling slightly dazed, he staggered to his feet, pausing to fish bits of straw out of his mouth!
Looking around, he noticed he was in some kind of saloon. It was crowded with cats, but what was odd, was that none of them had really paid any attention when he had crashed through the ceiling, as though that sort of thing happened a lot.
Shrugging, he instinctively located the bar, and made his way over, noticing a small group of cats seated in front of it, solemnly sipping small glasses of water.
Glad to have some company, Munkustrap attempted to make eye contact with a few of them, but they ignored him.
"Strange!" He thought.
He coughed politely, but that didn't get him anywhere! So he tried speaking to an old, grey Siamese instead. "Hey? Erm… excuse me?"
Despite his best efforts to engage the cats in conversation, not one of them spoke, or even looked up.
Thinking that this was most rude, Munkustrap was about to tell them so, when a glass of water was shoved in front of him.
Quickly shelving plans to teach the strangers a stern lesson in manners, he was struck by a sudden, raging thirst! He couldn't recall the last time he'd had a drink, but guessed it must have been a while ago, because his mouth felt like sun baked clay! So he reached out, and was about to knock back the water, when something caught his eye.
With the glass halfway to his lips, he looked down and saw a kitten staring up at him. "Hello?" he said tentatively.
"Hello," it replied in a tiny, almost mouse like voice.
Relieved to have someone to talk to at last, he gave her a kind smile and put the glass down. "What's your name?" He asked her.
"Sophia," she replied. "What's yours?"
"Munkustrap."
He reached down to touch paws with her, and then enquired, "So? What's a little thing like you doing here?" In sad hindsight, he guessed it wasn't a joyful reason.
"I have always been here," she said, returning the gesture. "I am waiting."
"What for?"
"To be released. What about you?"
"Well... I'm trying to get back to Kansas," he explained on a slightly sour note. "But it's been one Hell of a trip so far and I don't seem to be any closer to my destination." He looked around. "So? Why are all these cats here?"
"Same as you," she explained. "Waiting. Waiting to die. Or to live." She gestured to them. "They have drunk the water, so will be stuck here until their lives run out. Some have been here for so long that their minds have rotted away. Frank has been here the longest."
She pointed to a withered, old tabby sitting in the corner, nursing a glass of that strange water. "He has been here for almost thirty years. Death will come for him soon. Death comes for us all... in the end."
Suddenly, a cat ran towards them! It was the grey Siamese!
Howling with fear, he grabbed Munkustrap's chest fur, yanking on it! "Help me!" He begged. "PLEASE!"
At a loss, Munkustrap instinctively took hold of the individual's shaking paws, staring at pure terror in the rolling green eyes. "Help you?" he said. "How?!"
But the cat only screamed in panic, "Don't let him get me! DON'T LET HIM GET ME!"
"Let who get you-!?"
Looking back, the Siamese tore himself free and tried to run from something that no one else could see!
He continued to back away, whimpering, his eyes bulging, until he hit the wall and could go no further!
He fell to his knees. "No!" He cried. "NO! NOOO! NOOOOOO! PLEEEEASE...!"
He continued to scream and beg for mercy, even as his body disintegrated, and all that was left of him was a pile of ash!
No one, except Munkustrap, so much as batted an eyelid! Even Sophia seemed disinterested. "Looks like Tomas's time ran out," she sighed.
Deeply shaken, Munkustrap shoved the glass of untouched water aside, cursing himself for his stupidity! "I'm looking for the Gatekeeper," he said, turning to the kitten. "Do you think you could help me find him?"
"He's right here!" She replied knowingly. "Or should I say, she."
His eyes widened. "Wait. You're The Gatekeeper?"
"Oh, he's quick!" she remarked, rolling her eyes. "Yes. I'm the Gatekeeper!"
"Sooo, that means you can get me home?"
"Poseidon sent you, didn't he?" She sighed. "I thought as much. I can't just 'get you home.' I need something from you."
"Let me guess," he said with a note of irony. "A life?"
"Good guess!" She said, smirking. Then she looked serious again. "The trouble is. You've only got two left."
"That's all?!" Munkustrap exclaimed. "I mean, I know where some of them went, but… what about the others?"
"That's the downside of being brave," she said with a shrug. "Is this your first brush with death?"
"Probably not," he had to admit. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more surprising it was for him to have any lives left at all! He quickly made up his mind, "OK. It's a deal. "
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "You do realise what that means? If you are faced with death again, that will be it. You will not be able to return."
"I would give away a thousand lives if it meant I could see my family, just one more time!" he replied tersely.
She shrugged again. "Fair enough. It's your choice."
"I wasn't aware that I had one!" He growled under his breath.
"Come," she said, ignoring his somewhat taut manner. "Follow me. And hurry!"
"Why?"
She answered over her shoulder, "It is almost daybreak!"
Upon looking out of the nearest window, Munkustrap could indeed make out the first, sluggish rays of milky light, creeping over the horizon. "If the sun appears, Death will come for you!" she explained.
He followed the peaches and cream kitten towards the back of the saloon without another word, towards an ornate elevator which was set into the wall. The golden cage door slid open, and he stepped inside.
"Now, for your life," said Sophia.
This time Munkustrap knew what to expect, so shut his eyes and braced himself for the agony that was sure to come!
He cracked open an eye when none came. "Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?"
"For you to give me your life," she said, sounding exasperated.
"Wait. I have to physically give it to you?"
"Well done, Sherlock!" She replied, rolling her eyes again.
"Right..." He gave a reluctant sigh and glanced down at his chest, realising it was glowing again!
Feeling morbidly curious, rather than alarmed, he reached up to touch the golden orb.
To his astonishment, his fingers sank right into it, as though it was made of nothing more than sand! He could feel the pressure of his fingers, a most peculiar sensation, and not an altogether pleasant one, at that! Like someone had taken hold of his throat and was squeezing it from the inside. "I'm doing this for the ones I love," he thought. "I hope they appreciate it!"
He didn't feel anything at first. But that was until he tried to pull, and was met with resistance, as though it didn't want to come out! So he tugged harder!
That was when the extreme pain started, accompanied by that now familiar feeling of someone tearing out his heart... only this time, it was he who was inflicting the agony upon himself! His mind begged him to stop, but he ignored it! Instead, he took a deep breath and set his jaw. Then, pulled harder! His gritted teeth could not contain his agonised screams, as, with a final effort, the life suddenly became unstuck, and he managed to prize it from his chest, like a limpet from a rock!
Shaking and gasping for breath, he found himself, once again, on his knees, and handed over his last spare life with a trembling paw. "Here… take it…" he croaked, barely able to speak.
Sophia took the throbbing, golden globe from him like it was a little bird, and held it to her own heart, where it was immediately absorbed. Once it had all but disappeared, she smiled with a kittenish delight and hugged him. "Thank you!" She cried.
"What for?" he asked weakly.
"Your life will set me free," she told him. "I have been waiting for you, Munkustrap. I shall finally find eternal peace in the Heaviside Layer, where I hope to find my mummy."
"I'm glad it has gone to a good cause," he muttered, feeling glad, but was lacking the energy to show it.
She smiled cheerfully, not in the least bit affected by his lack of enthusiasm, or the fact that the room had suddenly grown cold.
Deathly cold, like a blast freezer!
Their breath escaped in great clouds! Sophia glanced behind her. The black hooded figure stalked towards them, it's movements jerky and stiff. With death in every step, it raised its scythe!
Speaking quickly, Sophia turned back to Munkustrap and pulled the gate shut, separating them. "Picture your family in your mind," she instructed. "Hold onto that thought and don't let go, not for one second, you got that!? Good luck... and goodbye!"
With her final words, Death walked straight through the gate as though it was made of nothing more than spider's web!
It gave a bone rattling hiss, like the sound of air escaping through a hole in some putrid corpse!
And this time, there was no escape!