Burnt Out Ends
(A/N: While some of the backstory occurs before the Jellicle Ball, most of this fic is based after it. It's mainly a Munku/OC fic, so you Munku/Demi fans will be a bit dissapointed. This is my first attempt at fanfiction for these particular characters, so feedback will be greatly appreciated.)
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Cats. I do, however, own all the original characters that appear in this fic. All 7 of them. Steal them and angry, rabid, purple space weasels will eat your brain.
Prologue:
Exotica slowly crawled out of the soggy cardboard box she'd been using as shelter for the last few weeks. Her once-glossy chocolate brown coat was dull and matted in the cold mist of morning.
"Why did I ever leave the Junkyard? I could have had the kittens there and left them in safe hands. I want to see the world! I want to go and see and do! How can I ever be free with that brood clinging to me?" she thought miserably, twitching her ears at the faint sounds of mewling coming from the box. The faint touch of a paw on her face startled her out of her reverie.
Exotica's oldest kitten, Aurora, sat silently before her. At eleven weeks old, she was fast becoming a beautiful queen. Her coat was an odd mix of siamese and tabby, with deep brown points on her paws, ears and tail, and striking stripes of silver and black crisscrossing her creamy body. Her eyes had long since changed from the sparkling blue she had been born with to a deep, endless green. As the oldest, Aurora was far more serious, preferring quiet contemplation to rough housing with her 5 brothers and sisters. Although she had a will of iron that often tried Exotica's patience, she also had a gentle, compassionate heart and a fierce sense of loyalty...all of which eased Exotica's mind a bit when she thought about abandoning her kittens.
"Mother?" Aurora's delicate, velvety voice queeried.
"Yes, dear?" Exotica replied, avoiding the keen eyes of her daughter.
"Can you tell me about Father?" Exotica's swift intake of breath immediately cut off Aurora's question.
"...He was a very, very bad cat. He did many awful things in his life...to many different unfortunate cats. Little Adrianus looks just like him, although he thankfully didn't inherit his father's bad temperment. None of you kits have, and I thank the Everlasting Cat for that!" Exotica explained slowly, trying to get the image of the father of her kits out of her mind. Aurora nodded slowly, absorbing this new information.
"Do you love us, Mother?" she asked, her brow creasing with thought. Exotica hesitated for only a moment, but it was enough.
"Of course I do!" she said, even as her daughter veiled her eyes and turned away from her.
"AURORA! Roque is picking on me again! Make him stop!" came an angry shriek from the box. Aurora's mouth quirked in a tiny smile as she swiftly returned to her siblings to resolve the issue. It was at that very moment, with the shrieking of her kittens ringing in her ears, that Exotica's will shattered. The sound of her paws running off into the distance was quickly absorbed by the morning fog, and she never saw the angry green eyes blazing at her retreating form.