Hey guys; sorry it took a while, but it's up now. And for those of you who might not understand, 'sommat' means 'something'. You'll know what I mean when you get to it.

Chapter 10

He breathed in her scent… magical. She shuddered as he ran his paws over her body… ecstasy. Then it was broken.

"Oof!" For the third time in as many days, the pair felt themselves being thrown against the wall, separating. "Yuck!" Mungojerrie exclaimed as a

wet tongue licked his face. "M-m-may'em?" he gasped. Rumpleteaser came back to her senses, grabbed her stuff and fled, crying back, "I's fer ya

own good" as she vanished from sight.

"Mayhem! Mischief! Where are you?" Mungojerrie heard human voices and shoved the two excitable pups off of him and away to their owners.

"Argh! There's 'umans comin'! Oi've gotta ge' outta 'ere!" He scrambled up and started frantically shoving his stuff underneath a huge bush. He

threw the cardboard box a few metres away and scraped his remaining belongings under a small shrub, muddying, tearing and dirtying some of

them. "Hey, James, look, it's that cat again! I wonder where her friend is?" cried the girl who Mungojerrie now knew as Kia. "Oh who cares, Kia?

C'mon, I want to go to Luke's place. Leave the poor cat alone." replied her brother, frustrated. "Let's go!" He grabbed her arm and dragged her

off. Mungojerrie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank th' Evahlastin' Cat!"

He now had a problem; his cardboard box was tattered and he needed a place to stay for the night. So he set off, trotting along as fast as his

paws could carry him. He rounded a corner and found himself in front of a Junkyard. "Well, maybe there's sommat in 'ere." He took a tentative

step forward and heard a low growling hiss. He jumped, fur standing on end, frantically searching the shadows. "R-rumpleteasah? Oi knows i's ya,

ya c'n come out now, an' s-stop s-scarin' me." "Rumpleteaser? Who's that? And more to the question, who are you?" It was a tom's voice, deep

but pleasant. "Oi-Oi-Oi'm M-m-mungojerrie. Who are ya? please don' 'urt me!" stammered the tabby tom. "Hurt you? Oh dear, did I give you that

impression? I'm sorry, do forgive me. I won't hurt you." Out of the shadows stepped a silver, black striped tabby. He stood taller than Mungojerrie

and was well-built, strong and muscled. His eyes were a brilliant green and were soft and warm, as well as curious. They were serious, but

dancing as well. His mouth was set in a slight frown, but seemed to have a smile playing along it at the same time. If Mungojerrie was a queen,

he probably would've said he was handsome. Majorly handsome. The silver tabby looked the tiger one over.

"Well, you look as if you've just had the fright of your life. Are you alright?" asked the strange cat, a look of concern crossing his face. Mungojerrie

replied, "Oi jus' 'ad ta leave me home cos some 'umans came, an' all me stuff's there, an' me bes' friend Rumpleteaser wen' on a one-week 'oliday

or sommat lioke tha'. She said 'hiatus' bu' anyway. An' Oi jus' ran all th' way 'ere cos Oi got nowhere ta stay fer th' nioght." "Well, well, well. You'll

have to stay here then. I'm Munkustrap by the way. I'm the tribe protector of the Jellicles. We're a tribe of cats. If you want, you and this

Rumpleteaser could join us, but you'd have to see our leader first." Mungojerrie thought this over quickly, then said, "We'd love ta join."

Munkustrap smiled. "Well, you can see Old Deuteronomy in the morning; err… you can sleep in my den for tonight then. Come on." Surprised by

this unexpected kind gesture, Mungojerrie stammered "Thank ya so much, sir." Munkustrap burst out laughing. "Sir? Just call me Munkustrap, or

Munkus, or Munku, or Straps, whatever you prefer. Now come on, you must be tired." "Oi actually am, sorta." The two toms settled down for the

night in Munkustrap's den, which was warm and inviting to Mungojerrie. "I'll introduce you to everyone in the morning. Night Jerrie." "Nioght

Munkus."

The next morning, the tiger tabby remembered the events of the day before. Rumpleteaser's strange behavior, his strange behavior, the pups'

adoption, the ruining of his house and the meeting of Munkustrap. "Are you awake, Mungojerrie?" asked Munkustrap. "Yeah Oi'm up." "Well then,

how about a tour of the Yard? Are you up to it?" "'Course!" The two cats stepped out of the box and were immediately pounced on. "Hi-YA! Got

'em! C'mon Tumble!" "Wha' th'…?!" Mungojerrie fought all his instincts to fight off the attackers, as something told him Munkustrap would not be

pleased if he hurt a fellow Jellicle. "Pouncival and Tumblebrutus! Get off us IMMEDIATELY!" Munkustrap roared. The two cats leapt off and the two

toms straightened up. "Err… Mungojerrie, you have just met Pouncival and Tumblebrutus, the two youngest of four kitten brothers. Pounce,

Tumble; Mungojerrie. He's going to be a Jellicle." The two tom kits looked the newcomer over and Mungojerrie looked back at them with as much

interest. They were two black, brown and white toms, only a few months away from real tomhood. Pouncival had a mischievous grin on his face,

his head cocked to the side and eyes dancing. He looked pretty cute. Given his size, Mungojerrie guessed he was slightly younger than

Tumblebrutus. Tumblebrutus was a little bigger, with a cheeky grin on his face but eyes showing worry. "Cool! Who's ya brothers?" Mungojerrie

asked. Pouncival piped up in a high voice, "Plato and Admetus. They are a little bit older but everyone says they're more mature," he pouted

slightly, then continued, "They should be around here somewhere. Say, you have a funny accent. What's it called?" Munkustrap frowned as

Mungojerrie laughed. "I's called Cockney. Oi was born wit' it but Oi guess it is a li'l funny. Mio friend Rumpleteasah has th' same voice, 'cept it's a

bit higher." Munkustrap breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed Mungojerrie wasn't offended by Pouncival's comment. "How about you get your

brothers?" he suggested. "Sure! PLATO! ADMETUS!" yelled the small tom. "Oh Pounce, why do always have to make so much noise?" complained

Tumblebrutus in a lower pitched voice. "I like noise!" came the cheeky reply.

"Yes Pouncie?" Two toms appeared. The biggest of them was white with some brown stripes along his side and red headfur. The second was a

browny-black mix. "Don't call me Pouncie." grumbled Pouncival. "Jerrie, this is Plato and Admetus." He indicated the bigger to be Plato and the

smaller, Admetus. Mungojerrie noticed that Plato had plenty of muscle and was very well-developed for a young tom. Admetus was built slightly

but fairly tall. "Hey, who's this?" Plato had a low voice. "This, Plato, is Mungojerrie. He's going to be joining our tribe with his friend Rumpleteaser,

who isn't here right now." Munkustrap explained. Plato smiled. "Well, hi then. C'mon, Pounce, Tumble, Jennyanydots was looking for you. See you

round Jerrie." Admetus waved as the four brothers walked off. "They're nioce." Mungojerrie commented. "I'm glad you think so; see, not many

other cats would take to them after they'd been pounced on by those two. They're highly excitable and always in trouble." grimaced the silver

tabby.

"Now, let's meet the others." BANG! A flash of light blinded them and a tuxedo cat tumbled into view. "Whoa!" Mungojerrie yelped. "Sorry." The

young tom stood up and brushed off, looking up at the two toms in front of him. "I misjudged my landing. Sorry if I startled you. I'm Mistoffelees,

Misto for short. I'm also a conjuring cat. Who are you?" he inquired politely, shaking Mungojerrie's paw. He was black with a white tie-shaped

patch down his chest. His face was entirely white and he smiled in a sincere way. "Oi'm Mungojerrie. Oi'm gonna become a Jellicle." "Nice to meet

you. I'm really sorry, but I promised my sister I'd show her and her friends magic tricks. Can't be late. See you!" And with a BANG! he was gone.

"Mannerly koinda bloke, isn't he? He don't look much more than a kit 'imself." "Oh, he's not. He's the same age as Tumble, about. Now, how about

you meet my second-in-command, Alonzo? LONZ!"

A black-and-white tom capered into view. "You called, Munkus?" He was black-and-white all over, with a black patch about his left eye and a black

patch with white spots by the edge of his mouth. Tall and well-built, he moved agilely over to Mungojerrie. "You new?" he asked, checking him

over. "Yep. Oi'm gonna become a Jellicle. Oi'm Mungojerrie." "Cool! Someone new to hang with! D'ya wanna come with me? I'll take him to

everyone else. How about it, Munk?" "Thanks but no. I'd rather do it myself. You wouldn't happen to know where the queens are would you?"

"Yeah. They're gossiping on TSE1. Well, I'm going for a walk. I'll meet you on the TSE1 later then, Jers?" "Sure." "K then. See ya."

An hour later, Mungojerrie had been introduced to: a slim brown queen known as Cassandra, her sister, the slightly darker Exotica, two motherly

queens called Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, a Railway Cat: Skimbleshanks, a fatherly cat called Asparagus, a flirty red queen known as

Bombalurina, her best friend, a black-and-gold queen Demeter and mystical twins Coricopat and Tantomile. "Now, I'll introduce you to the kits.

They are a little noisy, so be warned." Munkustrap introduced him to Etcetera, Electra, Victoria and Jemima. Etcetera and Electra were sisters;

Etcetera was noisy and squealy, Electra was quieter but funny. Victoria was purely white and Misto's sister, plus the best girl dancer in the Yard,

and Jemima was small but had a voice so beautiful it made Mungojerrie shiver. "So." The two toms climbed onto TSE1. "There's only one more

regular around the Junkyard that you haven't met. And that is…"

He was interrupted by a meow. A thin black tom with a leopard spotted chest and golden mane leapt onto a chair, sending the queen-kits into a

fit. He wore a silver belt on his waist and swung his hips in a manner that was, to say the least, extraordinary. And it worked on the queens.

Bombalurina rushed up to him and he kissed her, then pushed her aside as the kits swooned over him. Cassandra and Exotica crept a little closer.

Only Demeter and Tantomile stayed put. Munkustrap groaned. "That is my brother." "Say WHA?!" Mungojerrie couldn't believe that this flirty tom

was related to the serious Munkustrap. "Yes, it's true. He's my younger brother, and we are SO different it's not funny. He's the biggest flirt in the

Yard, but we're both Old Deuteronomy's sons." "Wow." was all Mungojerrie could manage. "Hey, here's Old Deuteronomy now." Munkustrap

commented lightly. Mungojerrie suddenly felt jittery. Would the Jellicle leader accept him?