Thank you all the reviewers! You bring sunshine to my life.

Teazer: Thanks a lot for your helpful review. Yes, I know the ending was not the best part, but – hey – it's only chapter 1. The ending of this one has a little more energy, I hope.

Roman de la Croix: Of course I'll continue! This was only the appetizer, I have at least 3 more chapters in mind. As a few hints of what's to come... we'll see Demeter again in chapter 3 (be patient), together with the introduction of somebody that will turn the Jellicles' life upside down for a while.

Author's note: Let's go now with some made-up characters. I'm not delving too deep into their personalities, as they're just in a supporting role in this fic. I SWEAR there is a connection between the stuff you are going to read and chapter 1... it all will be revealed soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Cats, they belong to ALW, TSE and RUG. I own Rothiger, Syren, Kant, Danfred, Baline and Belanor (you should see the vet's bills...).

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CHAPTER 2 – MEET THE FAMILY

Syren was not having a good day. She had been upset for the whole morning, arguing with her brother and telling off her best friend Belanor for worrying about her mood. It was not their fault, but she couldn't help feeling gloomy sometimes.

Early that morning, she had caught her mother looking at her melancholically. Again. "No wonder", she thought, "but I didn't ask to look like her estranged sister, did I?" The young queen sat above a pile of junk, playing with a ball of dust. The sun painted golden highlights on her copper-coloured fur, striped with black calico marks. The marks that resembled the queen exiled before Syren's birth, her name never pronounced openly in the junkyard.

"Hey, sis!" The queen couldn't help smiling at the sight of her brother. Rothiger couldn't be more different from her: all the strength and self-confidence he inherited from his parents, along with his flirtatious way of being, all mixed up to form the rightful Rum Tum Tugger's heir. He was even beginning to grow a mane (a red one!) Syren, instead, was shy and quiet, with a sweet voice she never raised above the rest. "Roth, I want to be alone for a while", she said.

"Aren't you going to wish the twins a happy birthday? They are a year old today: last month when it was our birthday they gave us a party, remember?" One year was the technical border between kittenhood and adult life. The queen stood up slowly; "Let's go. The twins do deserve a bit of attention, although I am not the most cheerful company today". Rothiger gave his sister a quick hug and walked with her towards the middle of the junkyard. There already stood two young cats: Kant, the son of Victoria and Plato, a tall cream-coloured tom, always with a merry expression on his face. Then there was Danfred, a newly arrived relative to Old Deuteronomy that used to live with some humans that had just moved; he was the same age than Rothiger and Syren, and his fur was grey from head to toe, which in the dark gave him the appearance of an unreal shadow. Rothiger suspected he had a secret crush on his sister.

A pair of twin queens walked out from their parents' den. They were physically identical, reddish-brown calicos like their mother Jemima. Baline was the eldest, the one who always spoke first, the most resolute and talkative; on the contrary, her sister Belanor, "the observer" as she was called sometimes, had a permanent dreamy look in her blue eyes.

"Happy birthday!" yelled everyone.

The twins smiled back and greeted their friends. "So, how's your mom doing with the new baby?" asked Syren. "Fine", they answered at the same time. "he is just a pretty ball of black fur by now" continued Baline, "but soon we'll have him bouncing and playing around."

"Is he magical too?" asked Danfred politely. He had been with the Jellicles only for a couple of months, and he wasn't quite used to magic as the rest of them.

"Well, we're not completely sure, but he's got daddy's fur pattern, so I'm sure we will find out soon". "He's just opened his eyes for the first time this morning", added Belanor, "so tonight there will be a meeting here so that everybody can see him and know his name".

Rothiger was beginning to get bored: "Hey, let's go hunt a couple of rats. Now the baby twins are grown-up at last, maybe they will be able to hunt something", he laughed as he darted away with Baline running after him. "I'll get you for this, you brat!" shouted the queen.

The rest of them jumped after them, laughing as they ran.

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That night, the bunch of young cats returned to the meeting place. Some of the adults were there already: Jenny and Skimble, Jellylorum, Electra with Tumblebrutus, Coricopat and Tantomile, looking more and more alike as time went by, Tugger and Bombalurina ("She always looks a little sad at the meetings", thought Syren). Gus wasn't there any more, having gone to Heaviside Layer in the last Ball. Alonzo entered the clearing embracing his very pregnant mate Rumpleteazer, who would have her kittens in a few days.

Cassandra and Admetus were not there for this meeting either: their humans were spending some months abroad and they wouldn't come back until midsummer.

A tall handsome tom entered and grinned happily to the young ones. The gentle Belanor smiled back. "Who could imagine Pouncival was in a time the smallest cat in the tribe?" she thought. Now the greyish tom was third in command - temporarily replacing Alonzo, who was busy taking care of Teazer. Next to Pouncival was Etcetera. Their story was curious: after the mating of Bomba and Tugger they had sought the company of each other for mutual consolation, and one day they realized that their kittenhood infatuation had been replaced for a deep love between them.

Then came the happy parents: Mistoffelees stared at Jemima and their baby kitten in frank adoration; everybody greeted them as the black kitten looked around laughing joyfully.

Mungojerrie stepped into the clearing, alone. He hugged his sister and nodded the rest of them. Then he walked towards Jemima and handed her a small black collar dotted with a single white star. "A present for your little one" he said bowing low in front of the delighted kitten. Jemima smiled sweetly at him: "Jerrie, it's the most beautiful collar I've ever seen. Thank you so much", she said kindly. "And just for this time we won't ask where did you get it", added Mistoffelees with a wink. Mungojerrie was the only adult tom who didn't have a mate yet. He was like an uncle to all the kittens, but he didn't seem to show any interest in settling down with a queen.

Last of all appeared Munkustrap. Jenny and Skimble couldn't help looking at him with pity. He was like a son to them, and he hadn't been the same for more than a year, his blue eyes always veiled by a shadow of sadness. He was still proud and stern as ever, but now he never smiled and barely spoke. And he was alone, too: last Ball he held a mating dance with Cassandra - a parody of love, thought Jenny - but after a couple of weeks the burmese queen realized he would never really love her and fell into Admetus' arms. Maybe that was the reason why the new couple was spending sometime away, having to adjust to the new situation. "They will be happy together", the Gumbie Cat said for herself. "Just need to be on their own for a while". But that left the protector of the tribe on his own to ponder on his solitary life.

Coricopat and Tantomile lifted their heads in perfect synchrony. "Old Deuteronomy" they whispered. "He's coming".

The Jellicle leader was now really old, his grey fur looking a little more worn, but his kind smile was the same as ever. "Jellicle cats have a meeting tonight", he begun, "to introduce a new member to our tribe". He climbed to the big tyre with the help of Munkustrap, who stood at his side, and extended his paws towards Jemima. "May I hold the baby kitten?"

Jemima put her son on Old Deuteronomy's arms, and exchanged a few words in low voice with the old cat. "Thank you", he said as he lifted the black ball of fur in front of the meeting. "He is indeed going to be a magical cat. So, the name of this cat, as it has been chosen by his parents, is Merrick". As he heard his new name the kitten laughed, playing with the old leader's fur. "Merrick!" said Baline delighted. "Well, with a name like that he'll surely be a great magician like dad." Belanor nodded, smiling. "Yes, it's a nice name, isn't it?."

"Now let's go with some dance to give little Merrick the welcome he deserves", said Tugger as he held Bombalurina's hand and improvised a couple of dance steps in the middle of the clearing. The rest of them slowly joined the dance, all but Rumpleteazer, who at this point was feeling a somewhat tired. She sat down at a corner of the junkyard beside the oven, dreaming of her soon-to-be-born kittens, and not being aware of a menacing shadow coming near her...

A loud cry pierced the night. All the cats looked at the place where Teazer had been a second before... where a tall ginger cat stood now. He gave them an evil look and, laughing, darted away.

The deepest expression of pure anger could be seen on Munkustrap's face. He jumped from his place, followed by Pouncival, Alonzo, Tugger and the rest of the adult toms. They reached to see two black rats that were carrying away an unconscious Rumpleteazer. "After them!" shouted the silver tabby. They pursued their enemies along the street to a nearby square... where at least 20 evil-looking rats were waiting for them, leaded by the Napoleon of Crime himself. They started to fight as more rats appeared from the most unexpected places; the Jellicles were outnumbered but they wouldn't give up easily. After a while, at last, the rats scattered, leaving Rumpleteazer on the ground as they ran. Alonzo ran to her: she seemed to be all right.

"It hasn't been that hard", said Tugger. Several of the toms had suffered damages, but none of them was seriously injured. "However," answered Alonzo thoughtfully, "rats are basically coward, but maybe it's been too easy this time". Then Munkustrap noticed something... Macavity wasn't there. "It was a trap! Back to the junkyard, now!" he screamed as they hurried away to the clearing...

...to find exactly what they feared. There stood Macavity, in the middle of the clearing, holding little Merrick by his brand new collar. "I guess somebody forgot inviting me to your party. How could you do this to me, Munk, knowing how pleased I would be with meeting the new magical member of the community?" Munkustrap advanced slowly towards him: "Let the kitten go, Macavity, and face somebody of your size".

"And losing the chance to raise my own magician? You must be kidding... Besides, I think the kitten is beginning to like me, don't you think?" Merrick didn't look a bit scared; he was actually playing with a lock of the ginger fur. "See? He's becoming fond of Uncle Mac. Now, Mistoffelees, conjure up a couple of cages or I'm afraid this new friendship will soon come to an end in a painful way..."

About a dozen henchrats appeared again and locked up all the Jellicles in the two big cages Mistoffelees had been forced to produce. They did not fight the rats this time, for the sake of Misto's little kitten. All they could do was exchange worried glances. Some of the queens were caressing their mates' wounds. The young ones sat together at a corner of the cage, feeling hopeless and miserable; the twins tried with no results to comfort Jemima, who cried noiselessly, as a dreadful feeling overcame them all.

The chilling silence was suddenly broken... by a laughter that came from behind the old Ford. Macavity turned in that direction, but he couldn't see anybody. He looked around to check if any of the Jellicles was missing, but they were all in sight.

"Who's there?" he roared...

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Who's there?

I couldn't help ending the chapter like this... a present for suspense lovers. Hey, don't look at me like that! Chapter 3 is already written and WILL BE UP IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS. Ready for a little more action?