Title: Conjuring Pain
Author: Ailendolin
Rating: T (PG-13) … just to be sure.
Disclaimer: I do not own Cats and do not make any money with this story. I only own the little plot bunny.
Summary: Everyone thinks to be able to conjure would be great, but Quaxo cannot confirm that. To him magic only means pain, loss and loneliness. It started ruining his life since he was a kitten. Will his broken spirit be mended when Tugger and Munk stumble upon him?
Word Count: 1501
Warning: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, but mainly Fluff – a lot of it.
Author's Notes: Hello! The new chapter is finally here, telling you a bit more about Tumble's background, something that I've wanted to do for quite a while now. Next chapter will then (probably) feature the meeting of the guard, unless my creativity decides it wants to write about something else first *smile* Thanks to everyone who reviewed, marked this story as one of their favourites or has put it on alert! I hope you enjoy the eleventh chapter just as much as the other ones!
Chapter 11: Until Now
Tugger was not waiting for them when they reached Munkustrap's new den, much to the kitten's disappointment. They looked questioningly at Munkustrap.
"Most likely he's still asleep," the tabby guessed. "He likes to sleep in."
"Sleeping's boring," Tumble declared. "Being awake is much more fun! You can do so many things!"
As if to demonstrate his point Tumble did a somersault on the ground which looked only slightly wobbly. He grinned and bowed when both Munkustrap and Quaxo applauded him.
"What else can you do?" Quaxo asked, eyes bright and curious.
"Well," Tumble said, scratching his head, "I can walk on just my front paws for a bit, do a back somersault on the ground and I'm trying to learn backflips and somersaults in the air."
"Can I try?" Quaxo asked, looking at Munkustrap with pleading eyes.
The tabby shook his head, smiling sadly. "Not yet, little one. Wait until your paws are healed so they will carry your weight. Then you can do as much acrobatics as you like."
Quaxo nodded and turned back towards Tumble who shrugged.
"I can teach you then, if you like," he offered. "Maybe together with Pounci?"
"Who is P-Pounci?" Quaxo asked, stumbling slightly over the new and unfamiliar name.
"My best friend," Tumble answered with a bright and proud grin. "He's dying to meet you, Quaxo!"
Munkustrap smiled to himself at those words. He could vividly imagine how eager Pouncival was to meet his charge. Jelly probably had her hands full with him right now.
"Is he nice?" Quaxo asked uncertainly.
"Oh yes!" Tumble assured. "A little crazy, just like me, but very nice and funny."
Munkustrap very nearly snorted at that. Crazy was one way of putting it, he thought. Together, Tumblebrutus and Pouncival were nothing but troublemakers, always on the lookout for something exiting to happen. And, if nothing exciting happened on its own, they would find a way to make something happen that almost always not only entertained them but the entire tribe as well. He had a feeling that exactly those two young tomcats would become Quaxo's best friends. May the Everlasting Cat help him.
"Would you like to meet him?" Munkustrap asked Quaxo.
The black-and-white kitten shrugged. "Maybe?"
Munkustrap laughed when Tumble nudged Quaxo encouragingly. "Well, I think we can arrange something. Maybe this afternoon, or tomorrow. It's time for you to meet more tribe members, anyway."
"And to find more friends," a new voice added. They turned around to see the Rum Tum Tugger sauntering towards them, lips turned up in a lazy grin. Tumble's face immediately lit up with hero worship while Quaxo smiled shyly at him.
Munkustrap only rolled his eyes in amusement. "Slept late, haven't we?" he mocked.
"At least I don't have twenty cuddly blankets in my den, brother," Tugger retorted with a wink.
"Yeah, how lucky for us," Munkustrap said. "Otherwise you'd probably sleep right through the day and your fans wouldn't have anything to worship."
Tugger stuck his tongue out at him. "You're just jealous."
"Oh yes, of course." Munkustrap smiled at his brother in an exasperated way and motioned for him to greet the kittens who were waiting for him to acknowledge them.
"And how are you two little rascals today?" Tugger asked Tumble and Quaxo. "Did anything exciting happen already?"
"We went to Jenny's," Quaxo said. "She has mice in her den who work for her."
Tugger exchanged an amused look with Munkustrap, knowing full well how his brothers felt about Jennyanydot's mice.
"Did you like them?" he asked Quaxo.
"They were funny," the kitten said, remembering how the mice had carried the bandages. "I've never seen trained mice before."
"That's most likely because no one's nut enough to train them," Tumble mumbled wryly.
Quaxo shrugged. "I think they're brilliant."
Tugger left the kittens to their discussion about mice in favour of sitting down next to Munkustrap at the entrance of the den. They watched Quaxo and Tumble for a while in silence before Tugger commented, "Pretty early visit you paid Jenny there."
Munkustrap sighed. "Quaxo had a nightmare tonight, and his paws started hurting again. When he woke up this morning I thought it best to get them checked out sooner rather than later. Any anyway," he added with a nod in Tumble's direction who was currently trying to imitate one of Jenny's mice and failing miserably which made Quaxo laugh, "young Tumble there was already wide awake when we arrived."
"Which means that Jenny was also wide awake," Tugger concluded.
"Exactly." They shared a grin before Munkustrap went on. "She re-bandaged Quaxo's paws and luckily couldn't find any new damage. Apparently they're healing nicely."
Tugger frowned. "Why did they start hurting again, then?"
"No idea."
The sun rose higher in the sky and soon without anyone really noticing it was midday. Tugger left to do some hunting in the shadows of the junkyard while Munkustrap reclined in the cool shade of his den, always a watchful eye on the two kittens who did not seem to be bothered by the warm sun.
Tumble and Quaxo were lying in the open, basking in the warmth of the day and resting after a morning of playing around. They were talking quietly to each other, with Tumble telling Quaxo of all the adventures he had had so far with Pouncival.
"Just a few weeks ago," Tumble was telling, "There was this heavy snowfall, right?"
Quaxo nodded. The falling snow was the first thing he had seen when he had opened his eyes for the first time.
"So, naturally," Tumble went on, "Pounci and I wanted to play in it. We sneaked out and had the time of our lives! Jenny and Jelly found us eventually and wanted to take us home. What's a young cat to do, do you think?"
Quaxo shook his head. "I don't know. What?"
"Why, throw snowballs at them, of course! Even the older cats, you know, like Plato and Skimble and Demeter, joined and we were having a big snowball fight until everyone was drenched." Tumble grinned. "That was fun! Even though Jenny wasn't too pleased with some of the cats falling ill a few days later."
Quaxo smiled at him before his face turned serious in thought and he asked, "Why do keep calling your mother Jenny? Why not 'mom'?"
Tumble went still for a moment. Then he said softly, "Because Jenny is not my mother, Quaxo."
"She isn't?" Quaxo asked, not quite understanding. Munkustrap, from his position in the cool shade, sat up and listened to the conversation with a slightly worried expression. He knew that this topic was a sensitive matter for Tumblebrutus and he wanted to be ready to intervene, if necessary.
It was not necessary, however, because Tumble nuzzled Quaxo briefly and then laid his head with a sigh gently on the other kitten's front paws. "My real mother was taken away," he said, almost too quietly for Munkustrap to hear. "By bad men. She told me to hide and I watched her being carried off into a car. It was snowing and I waited for hours for her to come back and when she didn't I went out looking for her and somehow along the way I found my way to the junkyard. I've been living here ever since."
Quaxo looked shocked and Munkustrap sighed sadly. Too many cats of the tribe had sad stories like that one to tell.
"I'm sorry," mumbled Quaxo. He rested his head on top of Tumble's in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"It's alright," Tumble said. "Jenny was the one who took me in, and we had a rocky start even though she's been really great about all of this the whole time. It's just … it's too early for me to call her mom. Maybe one day I will, I don't know, but right now I'm still missing my real mom."
Quaxo nodded in understanding. "Me too."
And with that, the matter was closed and they talked no more about it. Munkustrap relaxed slightly, glad that both kittens had found someone in the other who understood what they had been through. Jenny would be happy to hear that Tumble had finally told someone his story – not because he had to, but because he wanted to.
Munkustrap still remembered the day when Tumblebrutus had stumbled upon Alonzo standing guard at the outskirts of the junkyard not that many months ago, drenched and shivering badly in the cold. How he had been brought to Old Deuteronomy and was more or less forced to tell his story, not wanting to be turned away and hoping that someone would look for his mother. They had, of course, but she had been long gone when they had reached the alley she had been taken from. Since then, as far as Munkustrap and Jenny knew, Tumble had not spoken about the events of that day.
Until now, Munkustrap thought with a contented smile and closed his eyes.
TBC
