Alyzria, Rubena and Mistoffelees sat on a pile of old car tyres and waited for the sun to set. Even though the spectacular display of colours didn't really mix with the scenery of the junkyard, they still enjoyed it.
After the last rays of blood-red sunlight had disappeared behind the vicarage wall, the first few bats began to flutter about and attend to their night's business, which seemed to include briefly landing on Misto's head and yanking out bits of fur, much to the black cat's irritation.
Suddenly, Mistoffelees sniffed the air curiously.
"Someone's got bat breath," he commented.
His suspicious stare landed on Rubena. The tell-tale bit of leathery wing was hanging from her mouth.
"What makes you say that?" she asked through her mouthful of bat in as innocent a manner as possible.
Alyzria fought to keep herself from laughing out loud at Misto's disgusted look as Rubena casually swallowed the bat wing.
"Excellent texture, Misto, you should try it," Rubena said with an evil grin.
The magic cat's face turned a pale, but definite, green. Rubena was already reaching out into the air for any other unsuspecting nocturnal pilot.
"The day I eat bats is the day you can dance," Mistoffelees said through clenched teeth, trying to force his unhappy stomach into holding down his lunch.
Rubena looked at him in bewilderment.
"You know, bats really are a rare delicacy."
Mistoffelees chose that moment to take his leave.
"I shall see you all in the morning," he said primly and stood up.
As Misto walked away, Rubena called after him cheekily.
"Do you like bat juice?"
That question earned her a glare from the jet black cat.
Alyzria chuckled. She could tell that Rubena and Mistoffelees liked each other and would probably be the best of friends once they got over their bickering ways. Then she remembered something.
"Do you intend to do any training with those swords you've got?"
Rubena was startled. She had actually forgotten about them in the last few days. It had been so peaceful...
"I guess so," she conceded. "I really am starting to get out of shape.
She eyed the new scar which ran down her torso ruefully. Alyzria's curiosity was piqued.
"Could you show me some moves?"
Rubena cocked her head and studied the Siamese intently. So this was the direction those questions were headed into! Well, there wasn't really any harm in it, quite on the contrary...
"If you really want to..."
The happy grin on Alyzria's face told her more that any verbal answer could have done.
The next morning, Alyzria found herself roused by a very business-like Rubena.
"You wanna learn, you've gotta get up early."
Alyzria grumbled and rubbed her eyes. She rarely slept in - her biological clock stopped her from doing so. It was only the late night which had caught her off-guard. Rubena had already left the den, scimitars in hand. Alyzria quickly got up and followed her. She just briefly stooped down to grab something which had been lying next to her basket.
She found Rubena a little way away from the den, doing various stretching exercises and occasionally wincing as long unused muscles complained. Alyzia decided to just follow, since the exercises were fairly basic and she was familiar with most of them. Once they had finished, Rubena briefly clenched and unclenched her fists, causing her knuckles to crack like firecrackers on New Year's eve.
"What's that?"
Rubena pointed at a small item next to Alyzria's feet. The Siamese handed it to her - it turned out to be a sheathed dagger. The tigress unsheathed it and noted the intricate design carved into the slightly curved blade. The hilt was embedded with small bits of Lapis Lazuli - the mark of the Siamese, Rubena realised. The tigress cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her friend.
"Old Deutoronomy gave it to me a long time ago," Alyzria explained. "He just said that it belonged to me."
Rubena shrugged and handed it back. She briefly wondered what the Jellicle leader knew which she didn't, but pushed that thought to the back of her mind.
"Do you know how to use it?" she asked the Siamese.
Alyzria shook her head.
"That's the reason I thought you could help," she admitted.
"Well, that's easy enough," the tigress said.
She immediately started to take the Siamese through various stabbing motions.
Two hours later, a tired and sweating Alyzria watched Rubena go through various routines using her scimitars which grew more intricate as she went along. By now, most Jellicles were well and truly awake.
Tantomile and Coricopat sat down next to Alyzria, waiting for the tigress to finish. By the time she did, Rubena had exhausted herself and was gasping for breath. I'll never learn to go easy when I'm out of shape, she berated herself as she walked towards the trio.
"Remind me not to make you mad," Coricopat commented.
Rubena took a handful of water from an old nearby fountain and poured it all over her head. The effect it had on her usually owl-like hair was rather strange, causing Alyzria and Tantomile to giggle.
"You do not have to worry about making me angry when I'm in this condition," Rubena told the black, white and silver tabby.
"How long have you been at it?" Tantomile asked her.
"Uh..." Rubena looked stumped. She gave Alyzria a questioning look.
The Siamese grinned. She never would have lost track of time in that sort of training.
"It's been over two hours," she informed her tired friend. "Did it occur to you that exhausting yourself like that is a bad idea?"
A slightly embarrassed grin appeared on the tigress's lips.
"Don't think that I haven't kicked myself about it."
The twins chuckled. It appeared that the new member of their tribe had slightly hair-brained tendencies. Or maybe she just enjoyed exhausting herself. She had done so twice in a row already.
"We ran into Mistoffelees last night," said Coricopat. "Apparently he doesn't approve of your eating habits." A twinkle in his eyes betrayed his amusement.
"I don't see what your problem with bats is," Rubena sniffed. "They're just rats with wings and no tails."
Tantomile couldn't hide her grin.
"I hear their brains have a unique flavour," she teased.
"See, your sister knows what she's talking about," Rubena told Coricopat indignantly.
Tantomile's twin chuckled his amusement. Mistoffelees certainly didn't share Rubena's views.
"Well, I'm getting something to eat," Alyzria said. "I probably won't find any bats at this time of the day, but I'll see what I can do."
She winked at Rubena and strolled off.
"I think I'll find some sort of vaguely organic material to sustain us until lunchtime, myself," Tantomile decided and also walked off, leaving her twin alone with the fatigued tigress.
"What's so unique about bat brains?" Coricopat asked curiously. He had heard of sheep brains being a popular ingredient in the meals of wealthy humans, but never of anything which remotely resembled a bat.
Rubena immediately explained about the way their hearing was structured, claiming to be able to taste a bat's ability of echolocation. By the time Tantomile returned, their conversation had moved onto subjects such as the influence genes had on the colour of a cat's fur.
Tantomile, who got a brief explanation about the bat brain, rolled her eyes in exasperation. Her twin was quite vulnerable to detailed explanations about obscure things.
"Maybe you should explain all this to Misto," she suggested.
Rubena grinned wickedly.
"I've got a better idea: I'm going to learn how to dance properly."
The twins looked at her in confusion.
"He said that the day he eats bats is the day I can dance," she explained shrewdly.
At that, the twins broke into laughter. They certainly didn't want to miss that event.
"We'll teach you what we know," Coricopat promised. "Misto might smell a rat and refuse his services as a dance instuctor."
That decided, the twins took the tigress through their basic dance routines, barely able to contain their glee.
