Animal Instincts, Chapter 5

Chapter 5:Old Deutoronomy


Rubena's eyes fluttered open. It was morning - she had actually managed to sleep through the night. The tigress yawned and turned over to one side, which immediately caused her bruised and battered body to protest loudly. Ignoring the stiffness and soreness which had resulted from her recent ordeal, Rubena really looked around the den which accommodated her for the first time. However, before she could do a lot of looking, her eyes met with those of an unfamiliar, and obviously very old cat.

The corners of the visitor's eyes crinkled in a warm and friendly smile.

"You have slept for a long time, my child," the elderly visitor informed her.

Rubena still tried to blink away the sleep in her eyes. Then she looked up at the stranger in confusion.

"Yeah, you can say that again," she said slowly and carefully while looking the other cat over. "But why are you calling me `your child'? I do not believe we have met."

Another warm smile spread over the old cat's face .

"It is simply a figure of speech, young one," he explained in an amused voice. "I hear you have been given the choice to join my tribe."

Rubena's eyes widened in surprise.

"Does that mean you're the Jellicle leader? Old Butoronomy?"

The Jellicle leader chuckled.

"Indeed, I am the Jellicle leader, though I usually go by the name of Deutoronomy."

The younger cat's embarrassment was evident.

"Um," she started, trying not to babble in confusion. "I heard of something called `The Challenge'. Could you explain this to me?"

The ancient Jellicle leader leaned back comfortably.

"Does this mean that you want to undergo The Challenge and become a Jellicle?"

Rubena hesitated and fidgeted for a moment before answering.

"Well, uh, I intended to," she mumbled.

A smile tugged at the Jellicle leader's wrinkled mouth.

"All right then. The Challenge is simple enough. A task is set for you specifically to test any particular talent you might have - be it speed and agility, brute strength or any kind of magical power... you name it. You also get to choose which one of your talents should be tested. However, the task itself is selected by us elders."

A brief silence followed.

"You need not decide which of your talents should be tested immediately," he informed her, stood up with a groan, and left the den.

Rubena let this new information go through her head. This didn't seem so bad...

Suddenly, Jellylorum came bustling in, interrupting Rubena's thoughts. The healer cat beamed at her patient - apparently she had heard the news from Old Deutoronomy.

"And how are we feeling today?" Jelly wheedled, obviously in the best of moods. Not waiting for any reply, she started to unwrap Rubena's bandages and to study her wounds. This gave the tigress an opportunity to get a better idea of how badlyh she was really injured - in the end, she wished she hadn't known. Still, she was feeling extremely restless...

"Uh, excuse me...?"

Jelly looked up from re-bandaging her patient.

"Um, how long do I actually have to stay in here...?"

Jelly shrugged.

"Theoretically you could try to get up now - your legs didn't take much damage, thank Heaviside. Be warned though, you did pull a muscle in your right thigh, and I believe you have received a slight concussion. You definitely shouldn't try to move around much without someone to support you."

Rubena tried to sit up as carefully as possible - it took a surprising amount of effort. Still, with Jellylorum's support, she managed to stand up, though her right thigh couldn't take much weight. After a few shaky steps, she had reached the entrance of the den and glimpsed the first bit of sunlight in three days. Noticing the mild weather, Jelly left the tigress to sit at the exact same spot next to the spring where Alyzria had been only three days ago.

The tiger-cat leaned against the wall behind her, letting the sun shine on her face. She tried to ignore the fact that her new bandages were itching.

After a few minutes, a group of Jellicles purposely strode towards the den - Rubena recognised one of the as Alyzria, and the other three seemed familiar: One of them, a slim, but curvy female with reddish tabby fur looked at her intently. The other two, a male and a female, looked just as interested.

Alyzria covered the last bit of distance in a slow jog. She beamed at the tigress.

"You're looking a lot better," she observed.

Rubena grinned.

"I aughta be, it's been three days. And anyway, I'm still a mess. It's gonna be a looong time 'till I'm back in peak condition."

During this short conversation, the other three cats were eyeing Rubena a little critically - so this cat was going to join the Jellicle tribe. The black female came towards her with an uncertain smile.

"We heard from Old Deutoronomy that you will face The Challenge", she blurted out.

"I do intend to. I don't know what I've got to do yet, though."

Alyzria grinned.

"It's not so bad. I had to face The Challenge a few years ago - my task was to wreak some havok on a family of humans. I've got a little bit of control over the weather, so I made it rain through their leaky roof in the middle of the night. When they woke up and got out of bed, they found themselves with wet feet."

The others chuckled at the memory of the incident. None of them had known a human to swear so loudly!

"What about fire magic?" Rubena asked hopefully.

The four Jellicles looked at her in surprise. So, this cat did have some magic. Alyzria was the first to start talking again.

"Well, if it's going to be used for mischief, you could send a firebolt through a window and disintegrate a human's fancy dinner or whatever."

She grinned again.

"Don't worry, they'll find something interesting for you to do."