AN: Just a quick little note: Some phrases or terms might be a little weird, as I live in Canada (it's a whole other language, eh?), and I'm not sure if anywhere else uses them. 'Gone off' means to kind of space out, have your head in the clouds, ect. It's often been used to describe me.
The kitten's head was spinning. What had happened? There was that tabby, he didn't catch his name. He had bowed to him, and called him something. He was the leader of something, and had returned from somewhere. It was all very confusing.
He suddenly became aware of voices over his head.
"Are you sure it's him?" questioned a tom. "I mean, it looks exactly like him, but he's just so… tiny."
"I think he's adorable," cooed a queen.
"You do know that that's your father, Jenny?" said another tom, slightly familiar. "And yes, I'm sure it's him. You'd be tiny too if you had been reborn."
"I don't know," said the first tom. "How can we be sure? I mean, we don't want to jump the gun and end up with the wrong kitten."
"Look he's waking up!" observed the queen.
The kitten opened his eyes. The silver tabby from before, a large tom with a magnificent mane, and a kindly-looking orange-coloured female were all leaning over him.
"Look at his eyes!" exclaimed the tabby. "Look at his eyes, and tell me that's not Old Deuteronomy!"
"By the Everlasting Cat," whispered the tom with the mane. "It is him. Welcome back, Old Deuteronomy!"
The queen nuzzled him fondly. "I've missed you, Father."
"F-Father?" he stammered. "Wait a minute, who are you cats? What am I doing here?" He looked around, and discovered he was inside of an old car.
"I'm Munkustrap, sir," said the tabby, frowning. "This is the Rum Tum Tugger, and your daughter, Jennyanydots. Don't you remember anything?"
He shook his head slowly. "What should I be remembering?"
"Um, maybe your entire life, excuse me, lives," said the Rum Tum Tugger. "You're Old Deuteronomy, you've lived a long time, you're a cat who has lived many lives in succession. Any of this ringing a bell?"
He continued to shake his head. "My name is… Deuteronomy? Why am I called old? I'm just a kitten."
"You sent yourself to the Heaviside Layer, and you were reborn," said Munkustrap, worry in his voice. "You must have lost your memories somewhere along the line. What do you know?"
"I was born on the street and my mother abandoned me and my brother," he said, his voice shaking slightly. "I remember my brother didn't look a thing like me, and neither did my mother. My brother was caught by the humans, but I escaped. I wandered around, eating out of dumpsters for a few weeks, and then you found me."
"Oh, poor little thing! To think you had to live like that! Why, I remember when I was still young, you raised me even after Mother…" Jennyanydots stopped. "Oh, never mind. I sound like I'm crazy don't I?"
He nodded slowly.
The Rum Tum Tugger sighed. "Alright, here's the rundown. Your name is Old Deuteronomy, and you are the leader of the Jellicle tribe. Once a year on the Jellicle Moon, you select a cat to go to the Heaviside Layer to be reborn into a new life. The time before last, you chose yourself, so you were reborn as a kitten, even though you're probably several hundred years old, give or take a decade."
The kitten blinked. "Whoa."
"You don't remember anything?" prompted Munkustrap. "Nothing? Search your mind, and see if you have any memories of anything we just described."
He screwed his eyes shut, and racked his brain. After half a minute, he finally said "I remember a pain in my right hind leg. Is that anything?"
"That's the leg you limped on," said Munk, nodding. "You had cancer in it. The vet removed it, but it was everywhere in your body. You would have died if you hadn't gone to the Heaviside Layer."
"Cancer?" he questioned. "Vet? What's all that?"
"Never mind," he said quickly, not wanting to take the time to explain it. "Maybe we should show you around the junkyard, and see if anything triggers any of your memories. Can you stand?"
He nodded, and rose to his four paws quickly. He followed the three cats out of the car, and he squinted at the bright sun, which was just beginning to set. It felt good on his face, however.
"Hey, Munk!" shouted a calico-like tom, bounding up with a nearly identical queen beside him. "Who's the fleabag?"
"That is no fleabag, Mungojerrie," said Munkustrap stiffly.
"Come on, now, Jerrie! He's so tiny and cute!" insisted the queen. "What's your name, kit?"
"Er," was all he could manage.
"Er? That's a funny name!" chuckled Mungojerrie. He grabbed the kitten by the scruff of the neck, lifting him high up. He gently tossed him to the queen, causing the tiny thing to giggle with joy.
"Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer!" hollered the tabby. "Put him down! Now!"
Rumpel tossed him back to Mungo. "Quit being such a stuffed shirt, Munk. He likes it!"
The tom placed him on the ground. "Leave it to Munk to spoil all the fun. Honestly, sometimes I think that… Oh Everlasting Cat, it's him!" The pair saw it at the exact same time, and dropped into identical bows.
"We're honestly sorry, Old Deuteronomy," Mungojerrie stammered. "If we'd known it was you… If you'd have said something… We're really sorry!"
"It was fun," replied the kitten, looking at them strangely. "And why does everyone keep bowing at me? I'm not a king or anything."
Rumpelteazer looked up. "You practically are a king! You're our leader!"
"I still don't understand what all this leader stuff is about!" he protested. "One moment I'm picking food out of the garbage in an alley, and the next I'm being bowed to!"
"He doesn't remember anything from his past lives," supplied Munkustrap. "He doesn't remember the Jellicles, the junkyard, not even his name."
"Yeah, what is my name again?" asked the kitten. "Deutonmy?"
"Deuteronomy," corrected the tabby.
"You don't even remember me?" asked Teazer, sounding hurt. "Your favourite- if only- granddaughter?"
"I have a granddaughter?" he practically shouted. "I'm a few months old, and I've got a full family! Am I going crazy?"
The second-in-command sighed. "This must all be very confusing for you, so let's take it slow. We'll all reintroduce ourselves, and see if you remember anything. My name is Munkustrap. You found me when I was a kitten, and brought me to the junkyard you raised me to be your second, as your only true heirs were more interested in stealing than leading."
"Munku… Munkust…" he stuttered. "Er, can I jut call you Munk?"
"Why not?" he said, sighing.
The Gumbie Cat stepped forward. "I'm your only child, Jennyanydots. My mate is Skimbleshanks, and Rumpelteazer and Mungojerrie are my kittens. I was named after my mother's mother."
"Jenny, got it," he said nodding.
Munkustrap flicked an ear in annoyance, although no one else noticed. Old Deuteronomy had never shortened their names before, and always called them by their full Jellicle names. It just sounded odd.
"Granddad, I'm Rumpelteazer, your precious eldest grand-kitten," said the calico queen, despite the fact that four sets of eyes were simultaneously rolling. "I wasn't much for leading the Jellicles, so Munk here took all the training. If my name's too long, just call me Teazer. I basically like stealing from humans."
"Why do you like to steal?" he asked, cocking his head questioningly.
She shrugged. "I don't know, it's something to do."
"It's something we're good at," added the youngest tom. "Mungojerrie, also known as Jerrie. I was born not even a minute after Teazer, so I don't see how she got the title as eldest. We both live in Victoria Grove, and you were always telling us to calm down."
"I am, as you know, the Rum Tum Tugger," said the large cat, having been silent recently. "I'm the stud of the tribe, and all of the queens go crazy for me. If you need any advice in the female area, feel free to ask me."
"Don't ask him anything," whispered Jennyanydots in the kitten's ear. "He's a complete idiot."
Deuteronomy giggled, making the proud tom frown.
The silver tabby also frowned. Giggling. He was giggling. This was not like Old Deuteronomy at all. He had been completely wiped of his memories, and with the loss of them gained a kittenish attitude. This wasn't the serious, although kind, Jellicle leader. Even though it was. It was confusing.
"We're going to have to find somewhere for him to stay," said Munkustrap finally. "He's too young to stay in the junkyard, not to mention he's a target for Macavity and his thugs. Jenny, can he stay with you and your humans?"
The orange Gumbie shook her head. "I'm sorry, but my humans won't let any more cats in the house. They were kind enough to let Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer stay, and they have the humans at their wit's end."
"Tugger, I almost hate to ask…"
"After what I'm like, do you think my humans want more?" snorted the Rum Tum Tugger. "No way, they'd throw him out on his furry little…"
Jenny swatted him over the head. "Little ears!" she hissed.
Munkustrap sighed. "He'll have to stay with me, then. My humans have two kittens of their own, the little monsters will be glad to have another cat to torture. We'll introduce him to the tribe tomorrow, so spread the word of a meeting tomorrow night."
The three other Jellicles nodded.
"Come on, Old Deuteronomy. I'll lead you to my house," the sliver tabby said, starting off towards the road.
The grey trotted behind him obediently, his deep brown eyes following the movement of the older cat's swishing tail. He concluded that he liked the idea of being a Jellicle. So far, anyway.