Altaica's Story-Part 9-Engle's Return
Autho's note:What to say, what to say? Well, Alta, ocenir, sarge, and engle ae mine, ruffles and truffles belong to L and Mell, the rest belong to RUG. More famous battle scenes ;). Hehhee, thanks!-Amber
"Alta! Alta!" came the call of a mind-voice in the early morning dew. Alta groaned and opened an eye.
"Sarge?" she asked, picturing the orange tabby as she'd last seen him. "What's up? Is it time?"
"Not exactly, Alta," he said in an odd tone.
"Then what, exactly?"
"Well.....Engle's coming to London."
"He's WHAT?" she screamed, aloud and in her mind, sitting straight up.
"He left about a week ago, Alta! He'll be there any day. He blocked my mental connection for as long as he could!" Sarge sounded panicky. Alta forced herself to take deep breaths and, when she was calmer, she replied.
"Gotcha. Thanks for the warning, Sarge."
"Anytime, Alta," he said, before she felt the familiar tug that meant he had closed the connection.
She sat for a moment, remembering the deep, melodic sound of his voice, quavering with the golden thread of a connection. In another life he would have been a singer, she thought to herself as she stood with a sigh. But this wasn't another life, and if Engle really was coming....
She whirled and slammed her fist down on the waist-high shelf. She didn't care if her hurt her, Bast knew that he'd done it enough. But he wasn't going to hurt these cats! Not if it was the last thing she did.
Fist still clenched and her jaw likewise, she walked out into the bright sunshine. Days like this were rare in London, and around her the others were lifting their faces to the sun, napping, and talking quietly. She groaned inwardly and found the silver tabby and patched tom near each other. Grabbing both of them by an ear, she dragged them towards the Old Ford, picking up Misto on the way.
"Um...Alta? Could I have my ear back now?" Ocenir asked as they neared thew giant hunk of metal.
"What? Oh, sure. Sorry," she said, releasing them, causing Munkustrap and Ocenir to rub their ears in pain and Misto to snicker with laughter. Alta leapt neatly into the auto, followed closely by the three toms.
"I take it hat there was some reason that you nearly wrenched their ears off?" Misto asked as he landed lightly on the seat.
"Unfortunately. I trust that you all remember Engle?"
Various growls and hisses accompanied this question. She nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, I just got a mind-tap from Sarge...he said that Engle left Boston on a ship for London a week ago and has been blocking his mental connection ever since. Today was the first day he could get through, which unfortunately means that Engle is nearing the coast of England."
Munkustrap sponged his fur up, looking remarkably like a silver poodle who had just been through the tumble cycle of a dryer. "Engle's coming HERE?" he half-shouted.
Ocenir was frozen, eyes glassed over, paws clenched. Alta cast a worried look at him and waved a paw in front of his face. "Earth to 'Cenir! Houston, we have a problem......"
Ocenir started and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Spaced out a little."
Misto snickered. "You could say that. Okay," he said, turning back to Alta and Munkus. "What we need is a plan."
"Don't bother." Her voice was flat again, and it almost sounded as if she had resigned herself to her fate. It sent chills down Misto's spine, Munkustrap's too. Ocenir seemed unaffected, he had heard her talk like this before and knew what she was up to.
"Alta! I didn't drag your sorry hide across the Atlantic so you can go feed yourself to the wolves!"
"But---"
"No buts! You're staying here, and that's that! Besides, I don't think Munkus and Misto would LET you go."
Both Munkustap and Mistoffelees were confused. "Let her do what?" Misto asked tentatively, wishing he hadn't.
Ocenir looked grim. "Go and...eh...meet Engle."
"WHAT?" Munkustrap screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. Alta flinched.
"Easy, Munkus.... volume control...."
"Are you insane?" Misto was shocked. She would actually DO that?
As if she was reading his thoughts (and she probably was), she said softly, "Yes, Misto, I'd do that. I know how to...eh...handle him, shall we say. You saw most of it. I would have been worse off if I didn't know which buttons to push. Besides which, it'll weaken him before he gets here, and he will. "Toys" don't come cheap back home."
What she was saying, sadly, made sense. Munkustrap bit his lip and sighed. "Very well. You have proven your point. However, Misto and Ocenir will be going with you."
Alta frowned. "You'll need Ocenir here, to plan for the defensive. He knows Engle. And Misto would probably be needed also....."
Munkustrap paused and nodded slowly. Both Ocenir and Misto's jaws practically scraped the seat.
"You can't let her go alone! She could be killed!" Misto howled.
"She WILL be killed if he gets his bloody paws on her!" Ocenir said, growling.
Munkustrap had no answer, knowing all too well that it was true. He merely bowed his head, making the two toms turn on Altaica.
She merely had a steely cold blue glance for them. "Sometimes, you know, that's all you live for," she said quietly.
"What is?" asked Ocenir, knowing full well. She had said the same thing to him months before.
"To die." She said simply, and she was gone.
Misto buried his face in his paws. Everlasting Cat! She'd better not die.
Ocenir looked sadly out of the hole in the windshield for a moment before turning to Munkustrap. "So...I suppose we'll be needing a defense of sorts....what she said is true."
"Which part?" asked Misto, his voice glum and slightly muffles by his paws.
"About it being difficult for Engle to find his toys...."
Munkustrap nodded gravely and they set to work, summoning the rest of the Tribe to a meeting by the Tire.
It was busy down by the Wharves, where various merchant ships came in. Feeling conspicuous in her short, well-cared-for fur, Alta set out among the docks, checking out the cargoes. She paused when she thought she saw a flicker of a black tail around a crate, but further inspection proved her false.
Shrugging, she set off again, pausing only to courteously greet any other cats that she ran into, whether she knew them or not. She felt one all-too-familiar presence suddenly, and she knew that he had found her.
She wheeled around and bolted, heading towards a park that wasn't too far from the Yard. She heard and felt the cat following her, and he soon drew even with her, leaping at her and knocking her to the ground.
"Always the idiot, Altaica," he spat as she hissed and tried to squirm out from underneath him.
"And you were just always the gentleman," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice like melted butter. "So kind and generous..."
He struck her across the face. "Don't push me, girl," he warned her, the blow stinging. "Today is not the day to push me too far."
She sneered. "I'll be the judge of that," she said, speaking with a false bravado.
He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She continued, "And since you always were the gentleman, it would be a good idea to get off of me now."
He laughed, chilling her blood. "I'll be the judge of that," he said, stroking her cheek. "After all, it's been far too long since I've had you around to play with. I may just enjoy myself right here..."
She drew back and spat at him, hissing, "Pig!"
He blinked as the spittle ran down his face. The shocked expression was gone a split second later, and Alta was soon wondering if she had imagined it as he dragged her to a slightly more secluded corner.
He was about to...have his fun when she brought a swift knee up, ramming him in the groin. He doubled back, groaning, and she soon had him facedown on the ground, both arms pinned behind his back.
"Now, you aren't the only one who's learned something," she hissed softly into his ear, wrenching his arms further across, nearly breaking his shoulder-blades.
Facedown on the ground with his mouth full of dirt, it was all Engle could do to cry out weakly. Suddenly, the pressure on his back wasn't there anymore, and Alta was making a break for it.
He pushed himself off the ground, cursing, and soon had Alta down again, not listening to her weak protests as he played his game. When he tackled her this time, he had slammed the side of her head into the hard edge of a cement brick, rendering her nearly unconscious. As it was, the blow to the ground had a sickening CRACK to it, and, judging by her shallow breathing, he had broken a rib or two. Which was just as well...she might actually die this time.
Her weak cries were loud enough; however, to attract attention if anyone happened to be in the area. A blow to the jaw shattered it and finally sent her into unconsciousness, shutting her up. Although, he mused as he did his stuff, it was more fun when she was awake.
Back at the Junkyard, Misto suddenly doubled over in pain. Munkustrap and Ocenir were by his side in moments, trying to understand the conjurer's raspy words.
"It's Altaica," he wheezed. "Mind-call...in park...." He moaned before straightening up on shaky legs. "Half a block from here.... she's getting it pretty badly."
Ocenir clamed a paw over his mouth and raced behind a junkpile. Munkustrap nodded as the obvious sound of someone being ill reached their ears. "Getting what pretty badly?" Munkustrap asked quietly.
Misto laughed, a laugh that wasn't a laugh. "Well, she was his toy, correct?" Munkustrap nodded. "Well...he's playing his game."
Munkus couldn't blame Ocenir for being sick. As it was, his own stomach was turning a little. Ocenir tottered back around the junkpile, his normally white facial fur turning slightly green.
Munkustrap turned and surveyed the battle plan that they had laid out. All of the cats were in their positions, the Queens near the back of the Yard, for the most part. He sighed and looked out over the fence, making up his mind as Misto doubled over again.
"The sight of the battle is being moved.... get most of the toms to the park, leave some here for the defensive," he instructed blandly. Soon a group of them were heading as swiftly as possible toward the park, leaving all of the Queens behind.
"May the Everlasting Cat watch over them," Bombalurina intoned gravely.
"And over her," Demeter added softly. Bomba had to agree.
Jellylorum and Jennyanydots had to physically restrain Ruffles and Truffles from going to get Altaica, finally locking them in a petcarrier.
By the time the group of toms made it to the park, Alta had regained consciousness and gotten Engle off of her somehow. She wasn't as lucky with him as she had been with Macavity. Several ribs had been broken yet again, and it looked as though her collarbone had been also. She had numerous slashed on her legs and arms, gashes in her side, and her face was a bloody mess from scratches and the broken jaw. However, she swung determinedly at Engle, hitting her mark several times.
As the group neared, they saw her scale a tree swiftly, grabbing onto a branch and swinging around. Engle, still charging at her, collided with her foot and lower leg and fell to the ground. Munkustrap half-cringed as he heard something break.
Alta dropped to the ground and began luring Engle to the entrance, her blood flowing freely. Her eyes were clouding over, and she looked ready to lapse into unconsciousness again, but she wasn't allowing herself to. When she got close enough, she fell, and Engle pounced.
That was when Munkustrap and Ocenir jumped in, Mistoffelees running forward to get Alta out of the way. He found her against the fence, her breathing shallow. She must have rolled away when Munkus and Ocenir came flying at the black tom. Her eyes were almost completely clouded over as she looked up at Misto, a lopsided grin decorating her face. When she spoke, her speech sounded slurred, as though she were drunk.
"I got him good, didn't I, Misto?" she asked.
He winced as he surveyed the bloody mess that lay before him. Her jaw had been caved in to the top of her mouth, and there was blood everywhere from injuries all over her body. Beckoning to Tugger, he lifted Alta carefully onto his back as she went limp, passing out finally from the loss of blood.
Misto and Tugger turned, and, carefully balancing the bloody queen, headed back to the Junkyard as swiftly as they could.
Munkustrap and Ocenir hadn't taken anything more than surface wounds. Engle was in pretty bad shape to begin with; Alta had gotten him good. There was little they needed to do, and the backups that had come just stood and watched the carnage.
The black tom lay, wheezing, on the ground, slumped over from the last attack. He could do nothing as Ocenir and Munkustrap walked up to him. Engle locked eyes with both of them, and, as calmly as they possibly could, the patched tom and the tabby tipped the half-dead cat into the pond.
Misto, Coricopat, and Tantomile all frowned almost perfectly in unison. They had never encountered anything quite so serious before. In the end, they each chose a section of the young Queen and set to work.
Misto had the face. It didn't look anything like the Alta he knew. He started cleaning off the blood, and after he did so, he whistled softly through his teeth. That cat had a mean uppercut, because Alta's jaw was imbedded in the roof of her mouth. One of her cheekbones was broken and most of her teeth had been knocked out. Patches of headfur were missing, and her face was riddles with scratches. Her eyes were swollen shut.
Coricopat was going through similar states of shock examining Alta's midsection and arms. Almost all of her ribs had been broken, her collarbone also. The liver and right lung was damaged, it appeared, and her heart had to struggle to pump whatever blood she had left in her. Scratched and gashed riddled her arms and torso, and her left elbow was shattered.
Tantomile wasn't faring any better. Alta had possibly suffered the most damage from her waist down, and Tanto sighed as she set to work, repairing miniscule internal organs before turning her attention to the scratches and other injuries on her legs.
The three were in the pipe for over two hours before Corico and Tanto came out, covered in blood, to flop down on the ground near the pipe. They looked completely exhausted, and it took some time for Tantomile to ease one eye open.
"Misto's staying with her for the first shift. She needs someone to act as a nurse constantly. The next few hours are crucial, and she needs as much quiet as she can get. Excuse us...we'll just be passed out over here," she said, lowering her head to rest on Coricopat's shoulder. The large tom had already fallen asleep, snoring softly.
Everyone went about their work gravely, and even Ruffles and Truffles in their petcarrier were silent. Munkustrap, Ocenir, Tugger, Bombalurina, and Demeter talked quietly amongst themselves, while the rest of the Junkyard drifted away. Someone stood and dragged the petcarrier over also, although the usually rambunctious (and that's putting it mildly) kits were silent. Every now and then, someone would turn and look towards the pipe.
Misto sighed and checked to make sure that the makeshift IV tubes weren't blocked. She had lost so much blood that they had to give her more, and he was nervous about the delicate tubes getting clogged. It was the fist time he had used something like that, having summoned it from nowhere, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.
He watched the uneven rise and fall of Alta's chest and checked to make sure that the bandaged on her wounds weren't soaked through. He had managed to knit the bones of her face, but the blood was one thing he couldn't stop. He closed his eyes and ran a quick scan over her body, making sure that the delicate stitches in the injured organs were fine. Satisfied, he sat back, and just watched.
Hours passed, and the moon rose. The seven outside didn't cease their vigil, Misto noticed, having glanced outside for brief moments. But now he was watching Altaica again, staring at her face. He thought that he had seen movement, but maybe he was mistaken.
There it was again. No, that wasn't it. There! There!
Alta's magnificent blue eyes were slowly opening, and he could tell that she was confused. He leaned down, kissed her on the cheek, and ran to the mouth of the pipe, nearly colliding with Coricopat and Tantomile as they came in for their shift. "She's awake!" he whispered reverently, squeezing their hands before running out to the waiting group.
Tugger opened a bleary eye as Misto ran over. "Something chasing you?" he murmured lazily. Bombalurina stirred from where he head rested in his lap. The others woke, also, and Ruffles and Truffles peered out of the petcarrier.
Misto sank to his knees in the middle of the group. "She's awake. She's going to be okay!"
The others sat, shocked for a moment, before piling onto the small tom. "HEY! YOU GUYS! AIR IS GOOD!" he cried, disappearing under the pile of cats. Munkus lifted the latch of the petcarrier and the kits jumped onto the pile, too.
After all, she was going to be okay.
Autho's note:What to say, what to say? Well, Alta, ocenir, sarge, and engle ae mine, ruffles and truffles belong to L and Mell, the rest belong to RUG. More famous battle scenes ;). Hehhee, thanks!-Amber
"Alta! Alta!" came the call of a mind-voice in the early morning dew. Alta groaned and opened an eye.
"Sarge?" she asked, picturing the orange tabby as she'd last seen him. "What's up? Is it time?"
"Not exactly, Alta," he said in an odd tone.
"Then what, exactly?"
"Well.....Engle's coming to London."
"He's WHAT?" she screamed, aloud and in her mind, sitting straight up.
"He left about a week ago, Alta! He'll be there any day. He blocked my mental connection for as long as he could!" Sarge sounded panicky. Alta forced herself to take deep breaths and, when she was calmer, she replied.
"Gotcha. Thanks for the warning, Sarge."
"Anytime, Alta," he said, before she felt the familiar tug that meant he had closed the connection.
She sat for a moment, remembering the deep, melodic sound of his voice, quavering with the golden thread of a connection. In another life he would have been a singer, she thought to herself as she stood with a sigh. But this wasn't another life, and if Engle really was coming....
She whirled and slammed her fist down on the waist-high shelf. She didn't care if her hurt her, Bast knew that he'd done it enough. But he wasn't going to hurt these cats! Not if it was the last thing she did.
Fist still clenched and her jaw likewise, she walked out into the bright sunshine. Days like this were rare in London, and around her the others were lifting their faces to the sun, napping, and talking quietly. She groaned inwardly and found the silver tabby and patched tom near each other. Grabbing both of them by an ear, she dragged them towards the Old Ford, picking up Misto on the way.
"Um...Alta? Could I have my ear back now?" Ocenir asked as they neared thew giant hunk of metal.
"What? Oh, sure. Sorry," she said, releasing them, causing Munkustrap and Ocenir to rub their ears in pain and Misto to snicker with laughter. Alta leapt neatly into the auto, followed closely by the three toms.
"I take it hat there was some reason that you nearly wrenched their ears off?" Misto asked as he landed lightly on the seat.
"Unfortunately. I trust that you all remember Engle?"
Various growls and hisses accompanied this question. She nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, I just got a mind-tap from Sarge...he said that Engle left Boston on a ship for London a week ago and has been blocking his mental connection ever since. Today was the first day he could get through, which unfortunately means that Engle is nearing the coast of England."
Munkustrap sponged his fur up, looking remarkably like a silver poodle who had just been through the tumble cycle of a dryer. "Engle's coming HERE?" he half-shouted.
Ocenir was frozen, eyes glassed over, paws clenched. Alta cast a worried look at him and waved a paw in front of his face. "Earth to 'Cenir! Houston, we have a problem......"
Ocenir started and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. Spaced out a little."
Misto snickered. "You could say that. Okay," he said, turning back to Alta and Munkus. "What we need is a plan."
"Don't bother." Her voice was flat again, and it almost sounded as if she had resigned herself to her fate. It sent chills down Misto's spine, Munkustrap's too. Ocenir seemed unaffected, he had heard her talk like this before and knew what she was up to.
"Alta! I didn't drag your sorry hide across the Atlantic so you can go feed yourself to the wolves!"
"But---"
"No buts! You're staying here, and that's that! Besides, I don't think Munkus and Misto would LET you go."
Both Munkustap and Mistoffelees were confused. "Let her do what?" Misto asked tentatively, wishing he hadn't.
Ocenir looked grim. "Go and...eh...meet Engle."
"WHAT?" Munkustrap screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. Alta flinched.
"Easy, Munkus.... volume control...."
"Are you insane?" Misto was shocked. She would actually DO that?
As if she was reading his thoughts (and she probably was), she said softly, "Yes, Misto, I'd do that. I know how to...eh...handle him, shall we say. You saw most of it. I would have been worse off if I didn't know which buttons to push. Besides which, it'll weaken him before he gets here, and he will. "Toys" don't come cheap back home."
What she was saying, sadly, made sense. Munkustrap bit his lip and sighed. "Very well. You have proven your point. However, Misto and Ocenir will be going with you."
Alta frowned. "You'll need Ocenir here, to plan for the defensive. He knows Engle. And Misto would probably be needed also....."
Munkustrap paused and nodded slowly. Both Ocenir and Misto's jaws practically scraped the seat.
"You can't let her go alone! She could be killed!" Misto howled.
"She WILL be killed if he gets his bloody paws on her!" Ocenir said, growling.
Munkustrap had no answer, knowing all too well that it was true. He merely bowed his head, making the two toms turn on Altaica.
She merely had a steely cold blue glance for them. "Sometimes, you know, that's all you live for," she said quietly.
"What is?" asked Ocenir, knowing full well. She had said the same thing to him months before.
"To die." She said simply, and she was gone.
Misto buried his face in his paws. Everlasting Cat! She'd better not die.
Ocenir looked sadly out of the hole in the windshield for a moment before turning to Munkustrap. "So...I suppose we'll be needing a defense of sorts....what she said is true."
"Which part?" asked Misto, his voice glum and slightly muffles by his paws.
"About it being difficult for Engle to find his toys...."
Munkustrap nodded gravely and they set to work, summoning the rest of the Tribe to a meeting by the Tire.
It was busy down by the Wharves, where various merchant ships came in. Feeling conspicuous in her short, well-cared-for fur, Alta set out among the docks, checking out the cargoes. She paused when she thought she saw a flicker of a black tail around a crate, but further inspection proved her false.
Shrugging, she set off again, pausing only to courteously greet any other cats that she ran into, whether she knew them or not. She felt one all-too-familiar presence suddenly, and she knew that he had found her.
She wheeled around and bolted, heading towards a park that wasn't too far from the Yard. She heard and felt the cat following her, and he soon drew even with her, leaping at her and knocking her to the ground.
"Always the idiot, Altaica," he spat as she hissed and tried to squirm out from underneath him.
"And you were just always the gentleman," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice like melted butter. "So kind and generous..."
He struck her across the face. "Don't push me, girl," he warned her, the blow stinging. "Today is not the day to push me too far."
She sneered. "I'll be the judge of that," she said, speaking with a false bravado.
He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She continued, "And since you always were the gentleman, it would be a good idea to get off of me now."
He laughed, chilling her blood. "I'll be the judge of that," he said, stroking her cheek. "After all, it's been far too long since I've had you around to play with. I may just enjoy myself right here..."
She drew back and spat at him, hissing, "Pig!"
He blinked as the spittle ran down his face. The shocked expression was gone a split second later, and Alta was soon wondering if she had imagined it as he dragged her to a slightly more secluded corner.
He was about to...have his fun when she brought a swift knee up, ramming him in the groin. He doubled back, groaning, and she soon had him facedown on the ground, both arms pinned behind his back.
"Now, you aren't the only one who's learned something," she hissed softly into his ear, wrenching his arms further across, nearly breaking his shoulder-blades.
Facedown on the ground with his mouth full of dirt, it was all Engle could do to cry out weakly. Suddenly, the pressure on his back wasn't there anymore, and Alta was making a break for it.
He pushed himself off the ground, cursing, and soon had Alta down again, not listening to her weak protests as he played his game. When he tackled her this time, he had slammed the side of her head into the hard edge of a cement brick, rendering her nearly unconscious. As it was, the blow to the ground had a sickening CRACK to it, and, judging by her shallow breathing, he had broken a rib or two. Which was just as well...she might actually die this time.
Her weak cries were loud enough; however, to attract attention if anyone happened to be in the area. A blow to the jaw shattered it and finally sent her into unconsciousness, shutting her up. Although, he mused as he did his stuff, it was more fun when she was awake.
Back at the Junkyard, Misto suddenly doubled over in pain. Munkustrap and Ocenir were by his side in moments, trying to understand the conjurer's raspy words.
"It's Altaica," he wheezed. "Mind-call...in park...." He moaned before straightening up on shaky legs. "Half a block from here.... she's getting it pretty badly."
Ocenir clamed a paw over his mouth and raced behind a junkpile. Munkustrap nodded as the obvious sound of someone being ill reached their ears. "Getting what pretty badly?" Munkustrap asked quietly.
Misto laughed, a laugh that wasn't a laugh. "Well, she was his toy, correct?" Munkustrap nodded. "Well...he's playing his game."
Munkus couldn't blame Ocenir for being sick. As it was, his own stomach was turning a little. Ocenir tottered back around the junkpile, his normally white facial fur turning slightly green.
Munkustrap turned and surveyed the battle plan that they had laid out. All of the cats were in their positions, the Queens near the back of the Yard, for the most part. He sighed and looked out over the fence, making up his mind as Misto doubled over again.
"The sight of the battle is being moved.... get most of the toms to the park, leave some here for the defensive," he instructed blandly. Soon a group of them were heading as swiftly as possible toward the park, leaving all of the Queens behind.
"May the Everlasting Cat watch over them," Bombalurina intoned gravely.
"And over her," Demeter added softly. Bomba had to agree.
Jellylorum and Jennyanydots had to physically restrain Ruffles and Truffles from going to get Altaica, finally locking them in a petcarrier.
By the time the group of toms made it to the park, Alta had regained consciousness and gotten Engle off of her somehow. She wasn't as lucky with him as she had been with Macavity. Several ribs had been broken yet again, and it looked as though her collarbone had been also. She had numerous slashed on her legs and arms, gashes in her side, and her face was a bloody mess from scratches and the broken jaw. However, she swung determinedly at Engle, hitting her mark several times.
As the group neared, they saw her scale a tree swiftly, grabbing onto a branch and swinging around. Engle, still charging at her, collided with her foot and lower leg and fell to the ground. Munkustrap half-cringed as he heard something break.
Alta dropped to the ground and began luring Engle to the entrance, her blood flowing freely. Her eyes were clouding over, and she looked ready to lapse into unconsciousness again, but she wasn't allowing herself to. When she got close enough, she fell, and Engle pounced.
That was when Munkustrap and Ocenir jumped in, Mistoffelees running forward to get Alta out of the way. He found her against the fence, her breathing shallow. She must have rolled away when Munkus and Ocenir came flying at the black tom. Her eyes were almost completely clouded over as she looked up at Misto, a lopsided grin decorating her face. When she spoke, her speech sounded slurred, as though she were drunk.
"I got him good, didn't I, Misto?" she asked.
He winced as he surveyed the bloody mess that lay before him. Her jaw had been caved in to the top of her mouth, and there was blood everywhere from injuries all over her body. Beckoning to Tugger, he lifted Alta carefully onto his back as she went limp, passing out finally from the loss of blood.
Misto and Tugger turned, and, carefully balancing the bloody queen, headed back to the Junkyard as swiftly as they could.
Munkustrap and Ocenir hadn't taken anything more than surface wounds. Engle was in pretty bad shape to begin with; Alta had gotten him good. There was little they needed to do, and the backups that had come just stood and watched the carnage.
The black tom lay, wheezing, on the ground, slumped over from the last attack. He could do nothing as Ocenir and Munkustrap walked up to him. Engle locked eyes with both of them, and, as calmly as they possibly could, the patched tom and the tabby tipped the half-dead cat into the pond.
Misto, Coricopat, and Tantomile all frowned almost perfectly in unison. They had never encountered anything quite so serious before. In the end, they each chose a section of the young Queen and set to work.
Misto had the face. It didn't look anything like the Alta he knew. He started cleaning off the blood, and after he did so, he whistled softly through his teeth. That cat had a mean uppercut, because Alta's jaw was imbedded in the roof of her mouth. One of her cheekbones was broken and most of her teeth had been knocked out. Patches of headfur were missing, and her face was riddles with scratches. Her eyes were swollen shut.
Coricopat was going through similar states of shock examining Alta's midsection and arms. Almost all of her ribs had been broken, her collarbone also. The liver and right lung was damaged, it appeared, and her heart had to struggle to pump whatever blood she had left in her. Scratched and gashed riddled her arms and torso, and her left elbow was shattered.
Tantomile wasn't faring any better. Alta had possibly suffered the most damage from her waist down, and Tanto sighed as she set to work, repairing miniscule internal organs before turning her attention to the scratches and other injuries on her legs.
The three were in the pipe for over two hours before Corico and Tanto came out, covered in blood, to flop down on the ground near the pipe. They looked completely exhausted, and it took some time for Tantomile to ease one eye open.
"Misto's staying with her for the first shift. She needs someone to act as a nurse constantly. The next few hours are crucial, and she needs as much quiet as she can get. Excuse us...we'll just be passed out over here," she said, lowering her head to rest on Coricopat's shoulder. The large tom had already fallen asleep, snoring softly.
Everyone went about their work gravely, and even Ruffles and Truffles in their petcarrier were silent. Munkustrap, Ocenir, Tugger, Bombalurina, and Demeter talked quietly amongst themselves, while the rest of the Junkyard drifted away. Someone stood and dragged the petcarrier over also, although the usually rambunctious (and that's putting it mildly) kits were silent. Every now and then, someone would turn and look towards the pipe.
Misto sighed and checked to make sure that the makeshift IV tubes weren't blocked. She had lost so much blood that they had to give her more, and he was nervous about the delicate tubes getting clogged. It was the fist time he had used something like that, having summoned it from nowhere, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.
He watched the uneven rise and fall of Alta's chest and checked to make sure that the bandaged on her wounds weren't soaked through. He had managed to knit the bones of her face, but the blood was one thing he couldn't stop. He closed his eyes and ran a quick scan over her body, making sure that the delicate stitches in the injured organs were fine. Satisfied, he sat back, and just watched.
Hours passed, and the moon rose. The seven outside didn't cease their vigil, Misto noticed, having glanced outside for brief moments. But now he was watching Altaica again, staring at her face. He thought that he had seen movement, but maybe he was mistaken.
There it was again. No, that wasn't it. There! There!
Alta's magnificent blue eyes were slowly opening, and he could tell that she was confused. He leaned down, kissed her on the cheek, and ran to the mouth of the pipe, nearly colliding with Coricopat and Tantomile as they came in for their shift. "She's awake!" he whispered reverently, squeezing their hands before running out to the waiting group.
Tugger opened a bleary eye as Misto ran over. "Something chasing you?" he murmured lazily. Bombalurina stirred from where he head rested in his lap. The others woke, also, and Ruffles and Truffles peered out of the petcarrier.
Misto sank to his knees in the middle of the group. "She's awake. She's going to be okay!"
The others sat, shocked for a moment, before piling onto the small tom. "HEY! YOU GUYS! AIR IS GOOD!" he cried, disappearing under the pile of cats. Munkus lifted the latch of the petcarrier and the kits jumped onto the pile, too.
After all, she was going to be okay.