It was the day of the Spirit's Ball. Munkustrap had been woken at six o'clock in the morning by Deuteronomy's sobbing as yet another nightmare tortured him. He felt so bad for the little kit, but there was nothing he could do. Maybe I should see the twins once this ball is out of the way, he sighed to himself. In the meantime, all he could do was shake him awake and try to calm him. Not that he needed much calming now, he had almost grown used to the nightmares. Almost.
By the time the human kittens were out the door, Deuteronomy had succeeded in winding a ball of yarn around every piece of furniture on the living room. After that, the human queen threw them both out of the house for the day.
The junkyard was mostly calm, cats were resting themselves so they would have energy for the Ball. Mungojerrie and Juana were lying together giggling like kits, Jennyanydots was talking with Jellylorum about her mice, and Skimbleshanks hadn't gotten back from a train trip yet. Bustopher Jones wasn't there, hadn't been there, and according to word of mouth, didn't plan on being there any time soon.
This relieved Munkustrap a great deal. The Spirit's Ball would be that much more stressful if the Saint James's Street Cat was around just asking for trouble. Not to mention the fact that Deuteronomy would be terrified and would cling to him like Velcro.
A blanket of silence fell over the junkyard at around noon. Everyone rested themselves, preparing for the long night ahead. Even the kittens seemed to understand that they needed to conserve energy, for they either slept alongside their parents (or guardian, in Deuteronomy's case), or they just sat there in a half-trace, not really awake but not really asleep, either.
Mungojerrie had woken up, although he wasn't quite sure why, and he was just about to settle down next to his mate again when he turned to see two faces peering at him. He nearly had a heart attack.
"I've told you two not to sneak up on cats like that!" he hissed, gently rising so as not wanting to wake his mate. "You're going to kill someone one of these days!"
"We're sorry," the mystical twins said in perfect unison. "We thought you saw us."
"Why aren't you sleeping like everyone else?" he questioned, eyeing them.
"We were just checking up on some things," Coricopat replied.
"Things you wouldn't understand," Tantomile added.
"Well, bugger off and go annoy somebody else," the tom grumbled, laying back down.
"We just wanted to congratulate you," the twins said, in unison again.
"For what?"
They gave identical sly smiles.
"He must not know yet," Tantomile reasoned.
"He must not," agreed her twin.
"What are you two sideshow freaks talking about?" Mungojerrie demanded.
"You'll see," the said at the same time, turning to go.
The tom shook his head angrily. Those two annoyed him so much when they got like that…
"We know," they both said, walking away.
"Stay out of my bloody head!" he hollered. What he got for his troubles was a slew of shushing from his fellow Jellicles, and a cuff over the head from his mate.
The twins crept over to where the tiny Jellicle leader was curled up near Alonzo in the front seat of an old car. Munkustrap had gone out patrolling, and had left the black and white tom to guard him. Both were dead to the world. The grey kitten was trembling, however.
Both striped cats put a paw on Deuteronomy's forehead. In a flash, his dreams overtook them almost to the point of overwhelming shock. They pulled back, panting slightly.
"How can such a young one stand such a thing?" Tantomile questioned, gazing sadly at the small kit.
"He can stand it because he is not a young one," answered Coricopat. "But even for one as ancient and wise as Old Deuteronomy… It must be hard for him."
"You saw the blood?" the queen asked, although she knew the answer. Their minds were linked, what she had seen, he had seen, and vice versa.
He nodded slowly. "It is the same nightmare that troubled him in his former life. Only this is more… crude. Broken. And stronger. It is definitely strong."
"We cannot do anything for him." Tantomile said. It was a statement, not a question.
"No, sister, we cannot."
"Nor can we prevent what will come to pass tonight, whatever it may be."
"No. I only wish I knew just what will happen. But I suppose we are allowed to see only certain things at certain times for certain reasons."
"I only wish we knew if he would live or die tonight."
Coricopat sighed. "What is to be will be. Come, let us rest our bodies so that we will be prepared for the Spirit's Ball, and whatever happens."
Sometime after the pair had left, Alonzo awoke, hearing a mumbling coming from beside him. He looked over to see Deuteronomy, shaking like a leaf and muttered the word "blood" over and over again like a chant.
The black and white tom nudged the Jellicle leader with his nose. "Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy?"
The grey kitten opened his eyes blearily. "Alonzo? What is it?"
"Are you alright, sir? You look half sick, and you were talking in your sleep," the tom explained, frowning a bit.
"Oh, I was just having The Dream," he sighed. "It happens a lot. All I see is three bodies, and blood everywhere, and him…" The kit gave a small shudder. "Thanks for waking me. I'm going back to sleep." He settled back into the slightly ripped seat, and quickly went back to his nap.
Alonzo sighed. Munkustrap had warned him about the nightmares, but the way the little kitten had been shaking and twitching… He sighed again, laying his head down. But he couldn't seem to get to sleep. He was glad when the Jellicle Protector came back from his rounds.
"Everything's normal," the silver tabby said, sounding thankful. "Did Deuteronomy wake up at all?"
"He was having on of those nightmares, so I woke him up. He went right back to sleep, though. Like it was nothing."
"He's gotten used to them by now," Munkustrap sighed. "Well, as used to as one can get to something like that. I'm going to see Coricopat and Tantomile about it when I've got the time. Then again, they'll probably just get all occult on me and say 'This is the way of the higher powers and it is not left to us to shift them' or something like that."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," sympathized Alonzo. "I simply asked them if they knew what gender the kittens in Cassandra's litter were going to be. They got the unison thing going, and said that such things were not known to cats for right reasons. They could have just told me they didn't know, they didn't have to get snippy at me."
"Those two are odd, plain and simple. Useful, but odd."
"Tell me about it. I'm going to go back and sleep by Cass and Grizabella." He gave one last look to the Jellicle leader, and trotted off.
The silver tabby curled up beside the grey kitten, and gave his still form a small nuzzle before drifting into an undisturbed sleep.
"Well, I'm not the kind of girl who gives up just like that! Oh no!" Amber Tom sang to herself as she fed the last of the overnight animals at the clinic. In the last cage was a small beagle puppy, still half sedated and certainly not very aware of its surroundings. "The tide is high by I'm holding on! I'm gonna be your…"
"I wish you wouldn't sing like that," her mother sighed, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "I think it spooks the animals. Hell, it spooks me."
"Everyone's a critic," she muttered, switching off the radio. "So, pretty much another boring week. No real surgeries, no emergencies, and no serious bites." With the last statement, she rubbed a rather prominent scar between her index finger and thumb.
"You deserved that bite," Dr. Tom smiled. "The owner warned you that cat didn't take easily to strange people. You scared the hell out of him with that bloody music up full blast just after the drugs wore off of him. And would you rather a week with animals with gaping wounds pouring in by the truckload?"
"Nah, that's not what I mean. I'm just… you know. Uneasy," she sighed, washing her hands in the nearby sink. "Something's going to happen. I can feel it in my bones."
"You're too young to feel things in your bones," the veterinarian grinned, tapping her lightly on the head with her clipboard before setting it on the counter. "A few months into fifteen and you think you know everything."
"That cat… the one who bit me… What was his name again? It was from Pirates of the Caribbean, I remember that…"
"That stupid movie you made me watch where all of the boys had long hair?"
"It wasn't stupid! Oh, damn, what was it? Jack? William? Turner? I don't know, something weird."
"I can't think of which one you're thinking of," her mother admitted. "I was away when that little incident happened, remember? I come home and see you with the first aid kit out, bleeding and swearing."
"You know, that ancient tomcat. It was, like, nearly two years ago. The one with those creepy deep brown eyes. Oh, you know! Huge Maine Coon-ish type, grey based… The one with the weird owner."
"Ah, that one… And she was not weird."
"She was weird!" Amber insisted, locking up a cabinet. "She sat in the waiting room during the entire surgery, her nose buried in a book, trying to pretend like she wasn't crying."
"People get emotional over their pets, Amber. Some more than others."
"She's a freak, Mum. I know her from school, but she transferred last year. She had no friends. Not one. All she did was read. A group of kids threw rocks at her one time."
The woman looked up sharply. "Please tell me you weren't in that group."
"No! Absolutely not! I mean, she's weird, but it's no reason to bleed her. I actually chased them off for her. Do you think she so much as looked at me for a thank you? Nope, she turned and high-tailed it home. You never see her out anywhere. If you ask me, she sounds like a prude."
"She's not a prude,", the vet sighed. "She's probably just…. confined."
"Prude."
Dr. Tom sighed again. "Do you even know what her name is?"
"Nah, can't remember. Caitlin, Catherine, something along those lines. I never talked to her. I don't think anyone really talks to her. Whatever happened to that cat anyway? I know we didn't put it down."
"The owner called us, said he wandered out one night and never came back. He'd be dead by now for sure, even without the cancer."
"That sucks. But hey, that's the way it goes, it's the circle of life, it moves us all, and so on and so forth."
"You know," her mother sighed. "If you plan on being a veterinarian, you've really got to work on the comforting part of it. You can't just tell a person that their pet kicked the bucket and walk away."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I've got time to work on it, okay?"
She sighed again. "So, are you going to file all of the paperwork for today, or are you busy?"
"I'm completely booked. There's a copy of Douglas Adam's Last Chance to See up in my room with my name written all over it."
When Munkustrap awoke, Deuteronomy wasn't there. He didn't panic. He had since learned that overreacting got him nowhere. Besides, there wasn't a place in the junkyard where he wasn't safe, not with every Jellicle in the city there.
He looked towards a corner of the centre area. Gus and Chelonian were horsing around Admetus, the oldest kitten of Jellylorum and Asparagus Jr. He was both Gus's brother and grandson. Rebirth was both a wonderful and extremely odd thing.
"It's not the experience of one life only, but of many generations," said a voice that made him jump.
"Everlasting Cat, Mistoffelees, don't do that! You're as bad as the twins!"
"Sorry," he said, not looking all that remorseful. "Thought I'd return Deuteronomy before the Ball starts." The kitten was by his paws, looking up at the Jellicle Protector.
"What did you mean by 'many generations'?" questioned Munkustrap.
He shrugged. "I'm just quoting from Moments of Happiness. It seemed appropriate."
"Did you understand that song?"
"Nope. Not a syllable. Personally, I think it was a load of confusing bunk."
"Better be careful," grinned the tabby. "The writer's standing right beside you."
"What?" asked Deuteronomy, frowning. "Who? What's Moments of Happiness?"
"It's the song you wrote," reported the Rum Tum Tugger, bounding up. "And a boring one at that. I'm sure it had some internal message or something, but it went right over my head."
"It wasn't boring," sighed Munkustrap. "The moments of happiness, we have the experience but miss the meaning. Approach to the meaning restores the experience in a different form."
"I wrote that?!"
"Yes."
"Munkustrap… you did mention that my human gave me painkillers for a while, didn't you? I'm just wondering if… you know…"
The Rum Tum Tugger burst out laughing, while Mistoffelees had to hide a smile at Munkustrap's expression.
"No, that song was written years, lives, before you ever had humans, let alone were on medication. There is a meaning to Moments of Happiness, you know. It's not just a pointless song."
"Then what is the meaning?" Deuteronomy asked, smirking up at him with a challenging look.
"Well… I don't know it personally…"
"Then how do you know there is one?"
"Because you wouldn't have sang it if it was just pointless babble."
"Maybe I was just yanking your chain."
"He's got a point there, Munk," grinned the Tugger.
"It is a possibility," admitted Mistoffelees.
The tabby scowled, muttered something inaudible, and stalked off, the grey kitten bouncing after him.
Macavity paced in his chamber, debating whether or not he should do what he had promised the tuxedo cat. He had given his word, of course, but the word of the Hidden Paw was as worthless as gravel. On one paw, Old Deuteronomy would be killed and Munkustrap would suffer. On the other, he'd be lowering himself to a cat for hire.
Suddenly a brilliant idea struck him, and the corners of his mouth lifted into what could justify as a smile. Why not have his fish and eat it, too? Show Bustopher Jones that he was no one's servant, and still keep his little brother on the edge. And if Old Deuteronomy died in the process, all the better for him.
With that settled, he drifted off for a while, preparing himself for the chaos he was going to create.
"Why are we doing this, Father?" the barely-tom asked. "What did the Jellicle leader do?"
"Many things he shouldn't have," growled the older cat. "But he's crossed the line now. He's changing things that shouldn't be changed. He needs to be stopped."
"It's because… he wants to let demons live, isn't it?"
"Not only that, but we were banished for doing our duty to the felines of the world. If this goes on…" He shook his head. "Deuteronomy and his family must die at all costs."
There was a sobbing from the corner, and Cronus spun to face it.
"Shut up, wench! There are other queens I could use, so I wouldn't be pushing my limits if I were you!"
The light coloured queen sniffed, pushing a steel-grey tabby kitten away from her. "You'll never kill Old Deuteronomy! Orion will strike you down where you stand!"
The large tom snorted, and roughly shoved the kit back towards its wet nurse. "That washed-up pansy? All he can do is swat flies! Your job is not to contradict me, your job is to nurse that kitten!" He struck her across the face, before storming out of the warehouse, his oldest son following closely.