The skittish red-and-white female stood at the head of the group, her paws tucked into her chest. She tasted the air dramatically before turning to the others. "All clear." That was the only thing they heard from her until they got to the camp.
It had been midday by the time they left, and when they got there, the sun was hiding and the moon was wholly in the sky. The troop paused for a few moments to take a breath and decide what to do before meeting Macavity's troop again.
This was the point in the trip when all the cats would turn to Munkustrap for guidance. Skimble was the first to speak. "What shall we do?"
Munkustrap's gray eyes blinked back at them. "I doubt that Macavity will put this much effort into capturing Jemima if he was only going to let her go. Therefore, I believe it is our duty as Jellicles to ambush those who stand between us and her. Macavity may come out to defend his territory- or he may leave it to his lackeys. We can't tell. All we can do is our best to get Jemima back, like we did for Victoria."
Demeter sighed. "Macavity won't take this lightly. If we go after Jemima, he's guaranteed to beat us at our own game and get her back."
Plato scoffed. "Whatever happens afterwards doesn't matter. What matters is that we get to Jemima before she's hurt."
Skimble nodded. "I agree."
Munkustrap wasn't sure that the other Jellicles understood the implications of what they were about to do, but perhaps they were right. Maybe it didn't matter. What really mattered was Jemima's safety, and, as Jemima was one of their own, they would do anything to ensure that she was protected.
"I know a way that we can get to her without fighting."
Munkustrap nodded. "Go on."
"Macavity keeps his- special- prisoners in a hole in the ground outside his lair. He doesn't suspect any cat to be able to climb out, so he keeps it unguarded. If we can manage to sneak around the camp without being caught, we can get Jemima out of the hole and escape."
The black-and-white leader sat silently for a moment, considering this. "Seems like a suitable idea to me. What do the rest of you think?"
Skimble and Plato nodded. "A plan fit for a Jellicle."
Demeter nodded towards the bushes ahead, "Then follow my lead." Macavity's camp was in itself a hole in the ground, and Munkustrap knew that he and his Jellicles would have to tip-toe their way around the world's largest hole- without being seen, or worse- falling in.
Although Demeter had obviously done this before, she seemed as timid as ever. Her body laid almost entirely against the ground as she crawled forward, her once-clean tail dragging in the dirt as she hid herself from the moonlight and sunk into darkness. At one point, Munkustrap couldn't see her in front of him and stopped, fearing that she must've silently fallen to the bottom. He paused, causing Plato to step on his tail, which in turn made Skimble bump into Plato's back legs and nearly fall off the ledge himself.
It was only when Demeter turned with a deadly-fierce look in her eye that Munkustrap realized she was still in front of him. "If I had known you would all be so noisy, I would've come by myself." The snark was like a paw to the face for dear Munk, and for a moment, fear bubbled in his chest. He'd barely heard Deme speak in the first place, let alone reach to the level of snark that her sister, Bombalurina, was better known for. He nodded.
"Sorry, Deme, if it wasn't for his white fur I'd have hardly seen Munk," Plato piped from behind him. Munk rolled his eyes. At least Skimble was smart enough to keep his chomp shut when sneaking.
Deme turned. "I'll go a little slower this time," she said. "If your whiskers loose me, just grab onto my tail," she told him. He didn't respond.
After what felt like an eternity of balancing on the rocky ledge, Demeter guided the group to a dip in the ground where the two ends met and they could walk a little more solidly. "The prison is this way," she told them, her whiskers twitching.
They padded along the trail that extended through a line of trees and came to a halting stop at the hole...the Jellicle's luck held out after all, and even further down the trail there had been none of Macavity's lackeys to guard his gaping hole in the ground. Demeter made a dash for the hole, peering down to the inside- all she could see was a small, curled up shape- perhaps a little white on the muzzle...but the figure at the bottom of the hole wasn't breathing, and Demeter's mind raced as she realized that implication.
"She's not breathing," the Queen moaned. "Munkus, she's not breathing!" she cried, dragging the Tom closer to the hole. He peered down, hoping that she was wrong.
Below them, far far below them, a faint outline could be seen of Jemima. Her paws were covering her eyes, her legs, folded into her chest, her tail draped over them, unmoving and unnatural. But then he saw it- her chest was rising and falling, albeit slowly.
By the time he realized it, Deme had taken to pulling out the hair of her head, while the others tried to stop her without hurting her, or without being hurt themselves. Skimble wrapped an arm around the female's waist and she slumped over him, sighing miserably. Munkus moved swiftly around Skimble to where the Queen's head was, moving her paws from her already blood-soaked fur. "She's not dead, Deme. Her breathing's faint, but it's there."
Her eyes were rolled back in her head.
Munkus sat on his haunches, sighing. "What are we supposed to do now? She fainted...and now there's only three of us with no rope or sticks or anything to get Jemima out of the hole. She should've heard us or smelled us by now- she's not even responding."
Plato sat beside him in quiet contemplation. Skimble was still holding Demeter gently against him like a newborn kitten.
"I have to go down after her," Munkustrap said, preparing for a great leap. Skimble stopped him. "Ay. And what are you going to do when you get down there, Munkustrap?"
"I don't know. I can try climbing my way out, but I don't know if it will work."
"If Mistoffelees were here, he could levitate you out."
"Yes, but no one's seen 'em. I talked to Jenny just before we left, she said he and Jemima were both missing."
"Surely Macavity hasn't captured him, too?"
"No. It doesn't add up. We didn't smell any strange scents in the Junkyard...it was only Jemima and Misto. We assumed that he would've taken Jemima because he wants to get back at Demeter, but Misto? He's magical. There's no way Macavity would've taken him without a fight; we would've noticed something amiss."
"Oh, why didn't we think of it before?" Munkustrap asked. "He must've went home. He goes to his house to visit his family all the time, why would this have been any different?"
Plato shrugged. "There's only one way to be sure. I'll go see if Misto is at the Human place, you two stay here with Jemima and Deme."
Munkus nodded, but before he had time to say anything else, Plato had disappeared into the darkness.
Munkustrap turned to Skimble. "I'm not sure how much longer we can leave her down there by herself. I'm climbing in."
"Are you sure, Munk? It's not like you to just jump into things paws-first. You might get yourself hurt."
Munkustrap knew that Skimble was only showing concern for the Jellicle Second-In-Command. "I'll be fine, Skimble. I'll take it slowly, and if anything happens- if anything happens, make sure Jemima and Demeter are okay."
Skimble nodded, then reached out a paw to stop his young friend. Skimble gave the black-and-white tom's shoulder a respectful lick; a salute to the Second-In-Command of the best group of cats there ever was. "It's alright to want to make Old Deut proud, but you must be careful."
Munkustrap nodded, then leaped towards one of the ledges that lined the massive trench. He landed gracefully on it, yet winced as dust and rocks scattered down below. "I'm coming Jemima," he called out, although didn't sound as brave and Tugger-esque as the thin cat had hoped.
That was how he went on for the next few minutes, leaping from ledge to ledge, searching for pawholds when the ledges became too narrow and wondering if he should jump when there were no pawholds. At one point, the rock crumbled underneath his front paws and he screeched, waiting to land on the hard, cold bottom of the trench. Luckily, he had managed to pull himself back just in time to avoid a nasty landing.
He was almost at the point of mentally cursing himself when he heard a shy but steady voice call from above. "Munko, stop!"
He paused, looking up to see the most flamboyant looking cat he had ever seen. He beamed confidence as he stared down the hole at Munkus and Jemima.
It was Magical Mr. Mistoffelees, the Conjuring Cat.
"It will take some time, but I can manage to get both of you out if you just stay put!"
Munkus nodded, trying not to look down at the ground below him. "No problem..."
A screech cut him off, and Plato and Misto suddenly disappeared in a flurry of fur and claws. "Misto!?"
He could hear the usually-calm tomcat growling. "You hold them off while I tried to get these two out," and then a little louder, "Hang on, Munkus, and let the magic do it's work!"
Munkustrap tried to relax as he felt Mistoffelees' soft, glowing-white power surround him like a mist. It tickled his ears, nose, and whiskers, and made him feel light like a feather. He opened one eye- then shut it quickly, realizing that he was in midair. Although he tried to look like the strong, tall, Second-In-Command everyone thought he was, his tail fluffed up as Misto slowly lowered him to the ground.
Misto huffed. Munkustrap realized he was panting. "You're heavier than I thought you'd be."
However, he wasn't out of the clear yet. Right when he'd started to get comfortable, a very angry looking black cat launched itself at him, nearly pushing him back into the seemingly-endless hole. Luckily, his back paws stood firm and he grabbed the black cat with sharp claws, tossing him effortlessly into the hole.
"Munkus, he could crush Jemima!"
Munkus winced. He hadn't thought of that. "Get her out now, Misto," he said, all while swatting at a black-and-white patched cat. The attacker backed off, obviously not wanting to be thrown in his Master's deep, dark hole.
"I'm working on it!" the tuxedo cat yowled, his voice straining. Munkus thought he heard Misto grumble something under his breath, but he had no time to address it.
He launched himself into the flurry of fighting. They were badly outnumbered. Behind him, Skimble and Plato had placed themselves between the unconscious Deme and the enemy, spitting, hissing, and screeching at those that even thought they could touch the Queen. Munkus himself was caught up with a fiery-white tom with blazing yellow eyes. The long-furred monster sunk his teeth into the black-and-white cat's chest, ripping until Munkus was screaming in agony. He felt that no matter how hard he battered the cat with lighting-fast paws, the other male wouldn't let go. He would surely bleed to death, unless...
He rolled, reversing the situation. The fiery cat's grip loosened on his chest fur, allowing Munkustrap to batter him until he begged for mercy.
"C'mon fellows, let's get out of here!" Misto called. Jemima was already in his arms.
"Retreat, Jellicles, retreat!"
Skimble scooped up Deme. Plato followed.
The cats returned home, thankful that Macavity's lackeys were too weak to follow. As soon as Munkus walked into the Junkyard, Bombalurina was cursing his name. "How dare you take her with you. You knew she couldn't handle it!" she hissed, threatening to tackle the already-weak Munkustrap. Munkustrap had never been so thankful for his brother when Tugger finally intervened.
"Give it a rest, Bomba. Demeter decided to go of her own free will. Besides, if Jemima were my kit, I would've wanted to go after her, too."
The fox-red female merely huffed, stalking away from the fight.
Tugger's ears twitched. "She's just upset that Deme and Jemima were hurt."
"I know," Munkustrap said, sitting to lick his wounds.
As the night went on, Munkustrap curled under a pile of rubble and went to sleep. His wounds still hurt, but he was pleased to be back in his home in the Junkyard with all the members of his Jellicle family.
He winced, feeling something poke him under the arm. "Wha-"
Jemima's eyes sparkled with fear. "Can I sleep here with you? I'm afraid that Macavity will come again."
Munkustrap nodded. "Of course." He lifted his arm and let the little kitten crawl close to him. He sighed, realizing that he wouldn't wish Jemima's fear of her own father on any cat, no matter how evil. "Goodnight."