Chapter Three
An unknown amount of time having passed, Bomba found herself somehow awake. It was not yet fully day, but not night any longer either. She worriedly searched the near vicinity for some sign of her sister. She found nothing.
Please Bastet, don't let him hurt her, don't let him hurt her! She prayed to the Cat Goddess as she ran to find Munkustrap. She knew he would help. If not for her, for Demi.
He found her almost before she saw him. "What is it?" he asked from the shadows. She could faintly tell he'd been asleep until moments before.
One word explained it all: "Macavity." Munku understood well. After all, Macavity was his older brother. He had probably sensed the Mystery Cat's presence and knew that it was only a matter of time before he struck.
"What did he do? Did he hurt you or someone else…?" Bomba shook her head, her green eyes showed the trouble that she felt.
"A while ago... I don't know what time... he appeared and attack us... that is, me and Demi... she and I argued for a moment.... I wanted her to leave and save herself before he hurt her... she refused. She didn't want to leave me with that monster... The rest is so vague... I know for certain he attacked me and she tried to stop him, but he ended up knocking her unconscious on the ground... then I don't remember anything else..."
It was strange, but somehow Lonzo knew something bad had happened to his sisters. Cassie was still asleep in his arms, and he tried not to wake her as he set her down gently on the ground. She sighed and curled into a ball, but didn't wake.
The black, gold and white tom set off to locate his sisters. Hopefully both of them, that is. The Junkyard was still all around, and he found Bomba talking to Munkustrap a short while later.
"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the trouble expressions they both wore. He also noticed the absence of his other sister. "And where's Demi?"
"Demi... she's gone," Bomba explained, tears welling in her deep green eyes.
"Macavity kitnapped her," Munku added. Lonzo growled at the mere mention of the Jellicles' enemy. He felt his fur bristle with anger.
"We have to get her back," he decided. "Before he hurts her." Munku nodded, but his expression was still stern and concerned. Lonzo knew why. He was the only one besides Munku who knew that the silver tom was secretly in love with Demi.
Bomba wiped a tear from her eye. "If you go to find her, I'm coming with you." Her voice showed her determination. She desperately wanted to help them, and Lonzo knew she felt guilty, but why, he did not understand. It was not her fault.
"You may come if you like," Munku said, obviously trying to make her feel better. It was something he was always good at; Lonzo guessed he'd inherited it from his grandfather. It may have also been merely because Bomba was strong for her age and a good fighter, even in her youth.
Whatever the reason, it was decided amongst them that Bomba would accompany the toms to find her sister.
They were set to depart, but waited to inform Jennyanydots of the situation at hand, so that someone might be able to come after them, should they be unable to return. The queen who had acted as mother to both Lonzo and Bomba was hesitant to let them go alone.
"You should take someone... an adult, that is... with you," she insisted. Munku frowned a bit.
"She thinks we're not responsible enough to handle this on our own," he commented, deliberately just loud enough for Jenny to overhear, as well as for Lonzo and Bomba to hear it.
"It's not that..." Jenny protested weakly. "I just don't want any of you to come back injured." The excuse made sense, but Lonzo wondered if Munku would be too hard-headed (as he could be on occasion) to take the elder queen's advice.
As it turned out, he was not, and allowed Jenny to suggest that they take Skimbleshanks with them to Macavity's lair. Skimble was getting toward middle age, but he was an excellent fighter. He came soon after Jenny summoned him.
"What is it?" he asked sternly, as was his common habit. "Out with it, all of ye." His green eyes sparkled with wonder, but it ceased when he began to realize that it was far more serious than he had originally thought.
"Demeter's been kitnapped," Lonzo was the first to speak. "By Macavity." The expression on Skimble's face showed that he was as worried as they.
"Well, then, what are we waitin' for?" the marmalade tabby asked, rather loudly. "Let's get goin'!" He was off with out much adieu, waiting for only a moment. With a glance at the others, Lonzo followed him quickly, with both Munku and Bomba at his heels.
Demeter awoke, when, she could not be entirely sure. She had no idea where she was, and found it difficult to remember what had happened. Sitting up, she shook her head to clear it, but found that it did not help the aching within her head. She lay back down with a low moan. Her head was spinning, and much of her was numb. "Uuugh," she murmured, and felt a paw on her shoulder. She lacked the strength to ask who it was, although she had a gut feeling that it was Macavity.
"I see you're awake," the baritone voice of the Mystery Cat drifted through Demeter's head, echoing over and over. She groaned again. A grin spread over his lips, and his paw caressed her face. She used an exhausting bit of her strength to jerk herself away.
"Leave me alone," she barely spoke. Her voice was so quiet that it was very hard to hear, even for herself. Macavity smirked at her. She closed her eyes as the world began to spin again. Tears of pain clouded her crystal blue-green eyes as a headache overwhelmed her. "What are you doing to me?" she amazed herself that she was able to summon the strength to make the demand.
Macavity's grin was taunting her. He knew as well as she that she wasn't yet strong enough or far enough out of unconsciousness to keep him from whatever foul plan he was enacting. Another wave of pain roared through her head, almost causing her to scream in pain.
A laugh came from Macavity's throat, taunting her just as his smile had been. "Why are you doing this to me?" she begged. His wicked smile returned to his face.
"Why, Demi, do you think I would tell you?" He was mocking her, and for some reason wanted her to get mad. Did he want a reason to hurt her? She couldn't tell. She was too weak to argue, but it wasn't as if she would want to anyway.
Questions were suddenly plaguing her mind. She was so inconspicuous... how did he even know her name? What did he want from her? What did she have to give him? Although she did not know it, she did have something he would find her useful for: Munkustrap's undying love.
The Mystery Cat looked up suddenly. He sensed someone approaching. "Cugara!" he barked in that raspy voice of his. At the call, a rather small, thin, scraggly silver queen appeared in the doorway. If she had had the strength, Demeter would have wondered who she was. "I believe we have some guests," Macavity continued. "Take care of them."
With a sly smile and a curt nod of her head, the queen departed. She stopped in her assigned quarters briefly before she left. She buckled a thick leather belt (it had actually been a bracelet that had once belong to a punk goth human) around her thin waist, and slipped a weighty sword (that was actually a thin knife) in the sheath that was at her side. She flicked her tail impatiently, and wrapped it around the sheath of her sword. Being a mercenary could be great fun, but Macavity didn't pay enough for her taste. He wanted her to kill on a measly payment of free board? She would have to demand more, but first, she had a job to do...
The four Jellicles found themselves nearing Macavity's territory. "I don't like this," Bomba whispered nervously. "It's too quiet here." Munku nodded. Indeed, it was seemingly too quiet. Normally, whenever they took so much as a step onto Macavity's territory, he was there in an instant to stop them. He must have a bigger plan for us, Munku decided. However, he did not voice his thoughts on the matter. Doubtless the others thought much the same.
Alonzo noticed that his friend was suddenly lost in thought. "What are you thinking about?" he inquired, his voice somewhat hushed, even in the still of the morning.
Munku shook his head. "To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure," he admitted. "But this is unlike Macavity - letting us get this close to his lair without making a single move to stop us. And kidnapping a queen who matters little to the tribe, except to us. What is he trying to pull this time?"
Lonzo didn't know what to answer. He hadn't really thought too deeply into the situation. As usual, Munku had. "I don't know," he replied at last. "I honestly don't know." And Munku had known he wouldn't have had an answer; none of them did. Not that it was in the least a simple answer, indeed; it was a mixture of jealousy and hatred on Macavity's part.
"Shh," Skimble hushed them both only a moment after Lonzo finished. "We're gettin' closer, so we'd better be quiet."
"No need," came a strong female voice from the shadows nearby, although no one could be seen in the darkness. "I will see to it that you go no further." The voice was vaguely familiar to both Munku and Lonzo, but neither could directly place it.
A ridiculously small, silver tabby queen stepped forward. Her head was lowered, and when she raised it to stare defiantly at them, her violet-blue eyes sparkled with a flame that the Jellicles had never seen before. A heavy sword was slipped into a sheath bound to her waist by a leather belt. She was a warrior cat of the streets.
A growl rose in Munku's throat. Skimble was already taking a defensive pose, but both Munku and Lonzo doubted that he could handle the warrior-queen on his own. They knew that warrior-cats were fearsome opponents when taken one-on-one. The only way to have a chance at defeating them was to attack them and outnumber them.
Bombalurina hissed, the fire of her anger sending tongues of inner flame flaring behind her bright emerald-green eyes. The queen only laughed, taunting Bomba, trying to entice her into fighting; a style Munku recognized quickly.
"Cugara," he breathed almost inaudibly. It all made sense to himself and to Lonzo with that one uttering. Cugara was Munku's half-sister. She had left the Jellicles during a time of war, when Munku's older brother Macavity also abandoned the tribe. The very fact that she had violet-blue eyes so like Munku's, and the same fur colouration and pattern should have been more than enough to explain her identity to them.
The queen cast a grin at Munku and Lonzo. "So you know who I am, dear brother," she sneered. "No matter. I've long wanted to kill you anyway."
Munku growled. "Are you so confident, so sure that I will not kill you first, Cugara?" His message was silent, but easily detected by Lonzo. He would counter Cugara's attacks as long as he could, but they were to find Demeter and rescue her from Macavity.
Munkustrap growled deeply, wondering vaguely if Cugara would get the message that what he was doing was far more important to him than money would ever be to her. If she got his message, she didn't seem to care one bit; not that she ever cared much about what he thought about anything.
"Ooh," she began, more mockingly than usual, "I think my dearest brother is getting angry with me." She paused momentarily to note his reaction. Antagonizing others was one of Cugara's strongest points. "Too bad I let the others escape..." she continued melodramatically. "I guess they'll rescue the poor damsel in distress... at least I have you as an excuse for not following them and killing them."
Then it hit him. She had gotten his point, and her way with Macavity and his money. She got her money and a place to stay for free (at least for a while), and Demeter would be saved. He would just have to fight Cugara to keep her busy so she wouldn't get bored and change her mind on the decision. He lunged at her, claws extended, and she jumped out of the way with one of her usual loud giggles (she reminded him a lot of Rumpelteazer when she fought him).
"That's the spirit!" she cheered loudly, and pulled her broad-sword (which she had named "Calypso", although why any one would want to name a sword was a matter beyond Munku) so that it was pointing at him. She in turn pounced at him, with the sword aimed at his chest, and he dodged also, but struck out at her, catching her off guard and knocking the sword away. She frowned and growled at the same time, but all the same refused to give up. Seconds later, she dived after her sword, and caught it in her paw mid-roll.
In an instant, she was back on her rear paws, with the sword pointed threateningly at her brother. She was grinning, as always when she was fighting. Cugara lived to fight. She didn't care about money as much as she loved fighting, and she probably never would. Munku narrowed his eyes, and his brow furrowed involuntarily. Cugara smirked at him.
Munku flexed his claws, planning his next move against his sister. Cugara eyed him carefully, trying to guess his next move; something she was very good at. However, Munku was very good at hiding his next move. The fight came to a halt, at least for a moment.
With sudden ferocity that Munku had almost forgotten Cugara was capable of, the small, silver queen pounced at him, hitting his shoulder with all her weight, knocking him to the ground. Munku hissed at her, and shoved her off, jumping back onto his feet the instant she was off of him.
The thought of their fight being pointless drifted through Munku's head, and he forced the thought away, remind himself that he was fighting for Demi's freedom from Macavity's grasp. This remembrance gave him renewed strength against Cugara, and she was delighted. She still managed to dodge every blow he threw at her. In all their fighting, Cugara only landed one blow on Munku, a slice across his chest from her sword.
"Don't let your thoughts wander," Cugara hissed, as she almost pinned Munku against a nearby warehouse wall. Munku brought his legs up and kicked his sister off of him.
"I don't think you should worry yourself about that," Munku sneered back.
Meanwhile... Demeter tried quite hard to sit up, but found once more that she couldn't move her body at all. "Why are you doing this?" she mumbled vaguely at the watchful ginger tom who was her captor. Macavity smirked at her vindictively.
"I already told you that I'm not going to tell you anything," he replied mysteriously, somewhat contradicting himself. "You'll find out when you're stupid Jellicle friends arrive to save you." So she had been right; he was only using her as bait for someone else... most likely Munkustrap or Alonzo.
"But... why me?" she asked. "You could have taken Bomba. Everyone would have missed her. No one will miss me." Macavity's eyes narrowed, and he said nothing for a moment, as though he were debating what to say to her without revealing too much to her.
"That is where you are wrong," he said at last, leaning uncomfortably close to her. She didn't like feeling his warm breath against her cheek. She closed her eyes in disgust, and turned her face away from him. He reached his paw to her face, and turned her slightly to face him so that she could see into his amber-gold eyes, then kissed her.
"Don't touch me!" Demi demanded, but it sounded very weak.
"I'll do as I please..." he sneered, grinning and showing off his fangs, and she passed out from fright. The last thing she heard was an evil laugh from the Mystery Cat.