A/N: Well, I was going to upload this Friday night, since I had so many people review the last chapter, yet our internet decided to die. So, to make up for it, I decided to write two chapters, maybe three, since I've written the third chapter already, and upload them. I've changed the ages in the earlier chapters and I've changed the name that Quaxo uses to think of Victoria. Nothing much, just what I thought would be more natural. In this chapter, there's more brother-sister bonding and that's about all. Next chapter there'll be more action. So, enjoy this chapter.
"Hey, Xo. Tugger told me I might find you here," I heard Ria say. I had been moping in my den all afternoon, and I felt so pathetic that I didn't even turn to greet her. "Oh, Xo, I didn't mean to force you away. Why don't you hang around Tumble, or Pounce or even Plato? They were looking for you earlier." I felt her kneel down beside me and wrap her arms around me. I looked over at her pale face, wondering if I heard her correctly.
"Pouncival and Tumblebrutus want to hang out with me? I thought that they didn't like me since I 'couldn't take' the Great Rumpus Cat's stories," I said.
"No, they like you—I think. I think it was just that Tumble likes Jemima, and since he thinks you like Jemima that you were going to steal her from him. Jemima set him straight though," Ria said. I nodded slowly, contemplating on whether or not I should go look for them tomorrow or not.
"Okay then. I'll try to be friends with them. No promises though," I told her. She smiled and leaned her head against my shoulder.
"You'll be friends with them. I know it," she said. This was one of the times, I couldn't help but to think, that she seems to be older than I am. "Why are you here though, rather than with Alonzo?"
"I didn't want to be annoying, so I decided to get a den. How do you like it?" I asked her. She stood up and walked around the den, looking at the other small rooms and such.
"I like it, yet it seems a bit empty. Aren't you going to put anything in here?" Ria asked me.
"Yeah. I haven't gotten to that part yet, though. Jerrie's going to bring me some stuff also," I replied.
"Jerrie came?" Ria asked. "I bet he came when Teazer did. I can't believe that he didn't even say hi to me." I shrugged.
"He seemed preoccupied when I talked to him," I told her. "What was Teazer like? I didn't get to talk to her at all."
"Oh, my gosh, Xo," Ria said, sitting down in front of me. "She is exactly like Jerrie. Even down to her mannerisms. I couldn't believe it when I met her. I do have a question for you." I looked at her, cocking an eyebrow.
"Oh yes? What is this question of yours?" I asked her.
"Did you pick up Jerrie's accent again?" she said, smiling. I narrowed my eyes.
"Maybe," I said.
"You did? I wish I had heard that," Ria said, breaking out into a large smile. I don't know why, yet she always thought it was funny when I picked up Jerrie's accent. I smiled in return and gave her a hug.
"I also learned something new about Jerrie and Teazer. Skimbleshanks, that cat who hangs around Jennyanydots, the queen who helped us right when got here, is their dad. He lives on the railroad most of the time and he had an affair with a queen on the train. He got Jerrie and Teazer out of that, and he raised them on the train. When Jerrie could take care of himself, he ran away, where I think he joined up with Macavity, and he came back a few months later and took Teazer. Skimble didn't really care though," she said.
"That's too bad," I said. Ria nodded. She opened her mouth, paused and then looked down. "What is it Ria?" I asked her.
"Xo, do you know why Corico and Tanto keep following me? I noticed it last night, and they followed me here," she said. I took a deep breath and looked at her.
"They seem to think that you're a magic cat," I told her. She looked up at me with an amused look on her face.
"Magic? Yet you're the magic one, not me," she said.
"Well, they seem to think that your magic is more subtle and deals with emotions. And they think that over the course of the day the emotions that you absorb give you nightmares," I replied. She frowned and looked down at the floor.
"Will they keep following me?" she asked. There was a small note of worry in her voice. "I don't like them. They remind me of his cats."
"I'll ask them to stop. They might want to teach you about your magic, though. I'll try to get them to stop though. Do you want to stay here for the night where they can't get to you?" I asked her, half-hoping that she would. Unfortunately, she shook her head no.
"I told Jemima that I would stay with her. Her mom is with her humans and Munk has to be on watch tonight and she wasn't wanting to be alone. If I have nightmares though, I'll be sure to come straight here," she told me.
"Did you have any nightmare last night?" I asked her.
"No. It was the first time in months that I haven't," she replied with a small smile. I smiled in return, glad that the Twins had pulled through on one from.
"That's good. Maybe you won't have any more," I told her.
"I hope so," she said softly, as if she were afraid of jinxing it. She looked out across the quickly darkening sky. "Xo, can you walk me to Jemima's den? I don't really like walking around the junkyard at night." I nodded and we stepped out of the den. We walked over to the courtyard and I walked up to a den.
"Is this it?" I asked her.
"Yes. Jemima's family also lives with Bomba, so she'll be around also," Ria said. She gave me a quick hug, nuzzled me on my chest. She slipped into the den, and when I was sure she would be safe, I turned to walk back to my den. I didn't take more than two steps when I noticed two pairs of glowing yellow eyes.
"Yes? What do you want?" I called out. Two lithe black and white figures melted out of the shadows. Coricopat and Tantomile were standing there.
"We want to know why you are lying to us. Why, or better yet, how do you have shields around you mind?" they asked in unison. I looked around, debating on how well I could run away, if need be. They understood the junkyard's layout better than I did, yet I was most likely faster and lighter than them and I probably knew the city better. Of course though, I would be put in a bad light in Munkustrap's eyes and there goes my chances with Jemima and the tribe.
"I don't know why I have mental shields," I said.
"Fine then. How does Victoria have blocks around memories? Last night we saw those memories. How did she meet Macavity? We want answers!" they said.
"I don't know! I don't have answers for you!" I said.
"What do you mean? You talked about Macavity with her all the time. We want answers!" they continued in unison, their combined voices making an eerie cord.
"How did you know that? Have you been reading her mind like a book?" I asked them, stepping forward and unsheathing my claws. They responded in kind before answering my question.
"You were the one who asked us to watch her dreams. We saw that in her dreams and now we want answers," they said as their voices grew closer in frequency, creating an ear-wrenching cord that made me want to claw my ears out. I heard worse though, with Macavity, and so I was able to keep a hold on my composure.
"I asked you to tell me why she was having nightmares, not to read her mind and betray her secrets. Why can't she have privacy even there?" I asked them, taking another step forward.
"You should have thought of that before you asked us then," they replied.
"You should have practiced restraint!" I said. They screeched and launched themselves at me. I braced for their impact, yet a silver blur crashed into them and prevented them from hitting me. Munkustrap stood up and placed himself between the Twins and myself.
"What is the meaning of this, Coricopat, Tantomile?" Munkustrap asked them. His voice was low, even and deadly. I remained silent with my claws still unsheathed. It wasn't that I didn't trust Munkustrap to protect my, yet that I wouldn't put it past Coricopat to distract Munkustrap as Tantomile started cutting me down. "Quaxo, Why were Coricopat and Tantomile trying to attack you?" he asked when he received no answer from the other two. I took a deep breath to calm down before answering.
"They were asking questions that I felt that I didn't need to answer," I replied. Munkustrap nodded, and looked back at the twins.
"You don't need to be questioning Quaxo and Victoria on their past. We didn't question yours, so you shouldn't question his," Munkustrap said. Coricopat grimaced, nodded and walked off with Tantomile. Munkustrap looked back at me. "I'm sorry about them. They aren't usually like that," he told me. I shrugged.
"It's fine. I don't care about them asking me weird questions. It's just when they start targeting Victoria that I feel they crossed the line," I said softly. I looked around at the small crowd that had gathered before making my way back to my den for the night.
