*I don't own CATS or any of the characters!
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(Demeter's POV)
Bomba ran. I only hoped that she wouldn't look back. As soon as she was well on her way down the hall, I started my own sprint. There was, for that moment, no sign of Macavity. It was too easy. He shouldn't be letting us get away. I was wary as I ran, prepared for someone to jump out at me at any given moment.
I saw Bomba make it to the door and I let out a sigh of relief. At least Bomba was safe. At least she would get out. At least I wasn't a complete failure. I kept running, but then, I felt time slow down as I felt a claw pull at my leg, dragging me across the floor. I writhed on the floor, trying to wriggle out of the grasp of the claw holding onto me.
"Ah, you thought you were clever, didn't you?" Macavity snorted.
"Clever enough." I seethed. "Bomba got away. That's what's important. And I won't stop fighting-."
"No, I suppose not. But what good is fighting when you always lose?"
"I have to win sometime." I hissed at him, taking a swipe at him with my claws. Macavity dodged easily.
"And that, Demie, is what losers say."
I smiled at him weakly. "Life's not all about winning and losing."
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(Munkustrap's POV)
For as much as my feet ached, I continued to run. I barely stopped to say hello to anyone as I passed them by. There wasn't enough time.
"Munkustrap!" a broken voice called to me and I stopped, walking backwards a little to see who had spoken.
"Bomba?" I gaped, looking at my old friend in shock. "You're fine? Where's Demie?"
All Bomba could do was shake her head. "Well, I'm fine, yes. B-b-but Demie… I… I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she got out of the steel mill-."
"You escaped?"
"Demie planned my escape and I assume that Macavity has her now. Heavyside knows what he'll do to her when he finds her-."
"We'll stop him before he hurts her." I said calmly, but my nerves were a bundle of horror and anxiety.
"He may have already hurt her. He's ruthless, Munkustrap-."
"I know." I whispered, trying to soothe her. "Come on, we'll… we'll get her out of there-."
"I can't go back." She trembled, clinging to me. "Demie made me promise not to-."
"But-." I began to protest but Bombalurina merely shook her head. "Then I'll go on my own."
"But you could get hurt."
"Bomba, I have to find her." I said, looking into her eyes. "I won't forgive myself if I don't go to her."
"Munkustrap, you have to come back alive." She whispered. "You both do."
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(Demeter's POV)
Macavity took my chin in his paw and tilted my face up so that he could look at me properly. I closed my eyes, not willing to look into his eyes for a second. "Stubborn, stubborn Demeter." He chuckled, shaking his head. "If you'd have just chosen me over Munkustrap-."
"Never." I spat, hissing at him and he recoiled a little, laughing.
"Why? What makes him so much better than me?"
A soft tear trickled down my cheek and I turned away from him, yanking myself away from him. "Leave Munkustrap out of it."
"Crying for him now, are you?" he asked, laughing at me and I pushed him away from me with all of the strength that I could muster.
"Stay away from me."
Another mocking laugh escaped his lips as he walked out of the room, shaking his head. "We'll see how long you can stay strong. I'm willing to bet that it won't be long before you break down."
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(Munkustrap's POV)
I hurried through the streets, each step bringing me closer to Demie.
I'll be there.
As I neared the steel mill, the streets grew emptier, darker, sadder, more… hopeless. I passed by yards that once might have been filled with happy, eager children, laughing and calling to one another but had since lost their color. One especially sad house caught my eye, a paling yellow house with an old porch swing swinging creakily in the wind. The paint was chipping off of the house slowly, and a weeping willow tree leaned over it as if crying over the house. I stared at this sad, lonely house and imagined what it must have looked like long ago. I imagined what it must have meant to the people who lived there long ago. I wondered what caused the place to be left so sad, so empty.
Reluctantly, I left the house behind and continued on a little further towards what I knew to be the steel mill from the way in which it towered over every other building in the area. The place was the epitome of desolation and grief. I gritted my teeth and hurried up to it, desperate to find Demeter. She was in there somewhere. She had to be.
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(Demeter's POV)
With Macavity out of the room, I was able to relax a little. Breathe. Bombalurina was far away from the mill and it seemed that Macavity didn't care to run about looking for her. I hoped and prayed that she would make it back to the junkyard safely. I hoped that I'd get out of the wretched place that Macavity called his home and make it back home, safe. I hoped to see Bomba's face again and for us to run about the junkyard, happy. I promised myself that if I got back, I wouldn't let a single moment go to waste and that I'd live to the best of my ability.
Lost in my thoughts, I felt a smile tug at my lips and I rested my head against the wall, contented for that moment. And, for the first time in days, my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.