There was a shriek as the little tom kitten plunged head first into the pile of rubbish.

"Honestly Pouncival you need to work on your balance,"

The tall ginger tom balanced on the open edge of the bin Pouncival had just fallen into.

"You pushed me,"

The little brown tom scowled up at the tom who smiled down at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Would I do that to you?"

The little tom snorted.

"Yes,"

The older tom shrugged, Pouncival was right he had pushed him in the bin. No Jellicle would get close to smell any lingering remnants of Macavity's scent on him when he smelt bad enough to make a Pollicle smell nice.

Macavity sighed, it would have been nice to have the kit stay with him for a bit. Maybe if things hadn't been as they were he could have raised Pouncival himself. But he knew Demeter would only use Pouncival against him and he wouldn't have anyone hurt more than necessary. Enough people had been hurt already.

"C'mon small stuff we need to go it's going to be dawn in an hour and we still have to go a bit further."

Pouncival sighed, Macavity still hadn't told him where they were going and what had seemed like an adventure at first had now lost its novelty as the reality of a cold night and a long trek across London had begun to sink in.

"Where are we going?"

He whined, pulling himself carefully out of the bin and balancing on the edge like his idol, Macavity.

"Somewhere you'll be safe,"

Pouncival frowned; he hated it when his guardian got all mysterious like he was doing now. Macavity jumped down from the bin and began to run towards the empty alley way, Pouncival sighed he had no choice but to follow him but he wanted to know what was going on. As they ran Macavity began to explain about the queen how had driven him from the tribe and why Pouncival must never reveal that he knew Macavity.

"Remember how I told you about the Jellicle Junk yard and the cats who live there?"

Macavity glanced at his protégé as they ran through the foggy streets of London hoping the little tom would remember and not require another explanation. Pouncival frowned then the penny dropped and he suddenly stopped running.

"Is that where we're going now?"

"Yes."

Macavity breathed a sigh of relief that Pouncival had remembered. He braced himself for the inevitable next question.

"What about that queen, Demeter?"

Macavity sighed; he knew Pouncival had been bound to ask at some point.

"She's a small queen, black and gold colouring. Be wary of her, she's very intelligent. She dislikes Tugger, my brother who you'll be living with a lot and she was influential in getting me exiled. She's mated to Munkustrap, the tribe protector and he is very protective of her. They have a daughter called Jemima, sings beautifully and looks a lot like her mother but with a red coat. She also sings a song about me every year at the Jellicle ball with another queen, Bombalurina, known as the scarlet queen by some. I have very little doubt that you'll meet her. That's basically all you need to know about her other than she's a scheming conniving bitch who will do anything to get her own way."

Macavity snapped the last line out, he couldn't help it. Talking about Demeter had always been painful for him and this time was no exception. Pouncival seemed to sense this and stopped talking. Macavity turned his face to the sky and sighed.

"C'mon squirt it'll be dawn soon."

The two toms continued running though Pouncival's mind was buzzing with questions he didn't dare ask. Why did Macavity hate Demeter so much? Why did Demeter dislike Tugger? Why had Macavity been exiled? What had Demeter had to do with it?

Macavity on the other hand was glad Pouncival was leaving him alone with his thoughts.
He wondered if Demeter had told the Jellicles that Jemima was his daughter. Macavity thought she was sick.
Demeter had told the whole tribe on the night of Macavity's exile that the kitten she was carrying was in fact Macavity's. Macavity had seen the hurt in his brothers face that night. How would he feel if he knew that Jemima was actually his daughter and his mate had been lying to him?

Macavity wondered if Munkustrap treated Jemima as his own daughter, if he would treat her any different if he knew the truth, if Demeter felt any guilt for getting him exiled and lying to her mate. He doubted it, this was after all Demeter. That cat felt no guilt and no remorse.

Soon they were at the Junkyard. Macavity desperately wanted to stay with Pouncival until Tugger showed up but knew that if anyone saw him with Pouncival then Pouncival would not be accepted. Macavity looked down at the little kitten curled up at his feet and prayed to whoever might be listening up there that Pouncival would be accepted into the Jellicles and Demeter would leave him alone. Macavity crouched down next to him.

"Pounce?"

The brown kitten lifted his head. Macavity could see the tiredness in his eyes and was glad they had reached the junkyard when they did.

"I'm gonna have to leave now, before anyone comes round here. Remember you were a housecat then you wandered away, got lost and ended up here, okay?"

Pouncival nodded and Macavity asked him one final question.

"Do you know how to get back to my home?"

Pouncival thought for a moment then shook his head. Macavity smiled.

"Good."

Macavity stood and walked away, he wanted to stay but knew it was too dangerous, the kit didn't smell like him, he wouldn't say anything about him and as long as no-one saw them together it would be fine.

"What if I need to go home?"

Macavity smiled at him.

"Tugger knows where to find me. He'll bring you back if it gets too dangerous to stay."

Pouncival sank back onto the ground and Macavity broke into a run to get away from the junkyard before any curious Jellicles could arrive.