An update? From me? Holy cow! That was unexpected!
"Hey Lonz? Could you take over for awhile? I just remembered I had promised Pouncival I would teach him to hunt mice when I got back," Munkustrap said, looking over his shoulder to see if Alonzo was listening to him.
"Yeah, sure," Alonzo agreed through a yawn. His eyes were closed and he was fiddling with a daisy. "It sure is warm today."
Munkustrap nodded. "Yeah, it is. Well, thanks. I won't take long." He walked away from the splotched tom, searching for Pounce. "Pouncival! Where are you?" Pounce came bounding up to Munkustrap from the direction of the oven.
"Yes, Sir! Pouncival at your service, Sir! What can I do for you today, Sir?" Pounce asked, saluting. Munkustrap chuckled quietly. This kitten was quite the character.
"I was just wondering if you wanted me to teach you how to hunt now? I did promise you I would, after all."
"Uh," Pouncival looked around the area uncertainly. Munkustrap raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. "Sure." Munku smiled. Time to bond with his little tom.
"Come on then." Pouncival happily trotted after his father figure. "Right this way. Stay quiet now, or you'll scare them away," Munkustrap said, leading Pounce down a narrow path between junk. The faint sounds of squeaking reached both of their ears, and Pouncival grinned. "There's some, just over there," Munku whispered, pointing at a small gathering of mice around something nasty or other. "Watch; you have to take them by surprise, or you'll never catch one. Extend your claws like so and…pounce!" Pouncival giggled at the use of his name. Munkustrap landed right on his target, capturing one of the mice between his claws. "And now you've got yourself a meal. Think you can do it, or do you want me to show you again?" Pouncival shook his head.
"I can do it. You stay here though. I have to go way over there to get one," Pounce said, running off to the right. Munkustrap sat down, beginning to chew on the mouse he had just caught. He wondered how long this might take, and why Pouncival had to leave to catch a mouse. A few minutes later, though, and Pounce returned, a mouse hanging from his mouth.
"Good job! You caught one," Munkustrap praised, patting Pouncival's shoulder. Pounce dropped the mouse at his paws so he could talk.
"Yep! I even didn't kill it all the way so you could see I didn't find an already dead one." This was proven as the mouse twitched on the ground. Munkustrap scrunched his nose slightly.
"Yes, I see," Munku said, pushing the mouse away from him a bit more, feeling sort of disgusted. "Well, good job! I left Alonzo in charge, and I feel like I should be getting back. He's not always the best Cat to leave alone." Giving Pouncival another pat, Munkustrap turned away, feeling rather important. He had done well with Pouncival.
"Oh, Munku. You're back," Alonzo said as the still smiling tom rejoined him on the top of the stack of crates. Munkustrap nodded. "I just thought you were taking the rest of the day off. You can, you know." Munkustrap tilted his head.
"Really?" He took a moment to consider this, but decided Alonzo could handle it. Just to be safe though…. "I'll send someone else up to come help you alright? Thanks, Lonz." On his way back to his box, he kept on the lookout for anybody that might be able to go up and help Alonzo. After not seeing anybody, he shrugged. If something went wrong, Alonzo would alert them. He always did. As he stepped into the doorway, he heard Demeter saying, "Oh, you caught a mouse."
"Yes, mommy, I did. Tugger taught me how, remember?"
"Oh yes. How could I forget?" Munkustrap's jaw dropped slightly, but he quickly shut it. He went away for two weeks and his idiot of a brother had completely taken over his fathering job!
"Um, hi guys," he said, walking into the door. He tried not to let his disappointment show and put his smile back on his face. This was something he had learned how to do awhile ago and was certain none of his true emotions were showing on his face.
"Hi Munkus," Demeter purred as Pouncival yelled, "Bye Munku!" As Pounce streaked out the door under Munkustrap's legs, Demeter came over to him.
"Tugger taught him to hunt?" Munkustrap asked Demeter, motioning towards the mouse still lying on the floor. He let the smile fade off of his face.
"Um, yes. Why?" Demeter asked, running her fingers through the fur on his shoulder. She kept her eyes off of his face, looking instead at his collar.
"I was supposed to teach him how. I thought I did today." Munkustrap sighed. "Apparently Tugger just has to be better than me at everything, including raising my kits." Demeter shook her head. Brotherly jealousy.
"Oh, Munkus, calm down. You know that's not true at all. Pounce just happened to come across Tugger when he was in a generous mood," Demeter explained. Now it was Munkustrap's turn to shake his head.
"Yeah, sure. That's it. I guess I'll see what my little has for me today. If he didn't already tell Tugger." Demeter rolled her eyes at her mate's as he walked out of the door. "I saw that," he warned. She giggled and turned away. After walking around the junkyard, Munkustrap finally spotted Pouncival playing some weird kitten game with Etcetera and Mistoffelees.
"Sorry for interrupting the fun," Munku said, stepping into the triangle the kits were forming. "I need to speak with Pouncival though."
"Aww, Munkustrap! The game doesn't work with only two kits. What kind of shape can you form with only two kits? None!" Misto complained. Munkustrap smiled at him. The kittens were so much fun. It made his job of kitten caretaker much more fun.
"Don't worry, Misto. It's okay. I only need him for a minute," Munku promised.
"Oh, okay then. Bye Pounce." The two remaining kits waved to Pounce as he followed Munkustrap a short distance away.
"I was wondering if you still wanted to be my special little helper," Munkustrap questioned. Pouncival nodded his head enthusiastically. "Alright then," Munku said with a smile. "What kinds of problems are you and the other kittens having?"
"Well, we don't really have enough toys. We get bored some-" Pouncival was cut off by the Rum Tum Tugger walking by and saying "Hey Bro" to Munkustrap. Pounce's mouth fell open and his head followed Tugger as he walked away. Munku sighed. Why did Tugger have to ruin everything?
"I'll see what I can do about the toys, Pounce. You better get back to Misto and Etcetera though," Munkustrap suggested. Pounce nodded, finally able to unglue his eyes from the Tugger. Turning around to walk off to a place where he could think, Munkustrap bumped into Alonzo.
"Um, Munkustrap? Macavity was just here."
Mwahaha. An evil cliffhanger to leave you on. But I finally updated, so that's something to be happy about! –smile-