OMG, finally updated! 4 some reason I couldn't log in for ages. Was anyone else having that problem or is it just my stuffy computor? We have really bad internet connection so it wouldn't surprise me. Anyway this chapter has swearing in it so again I reccomend the 13+ rating. Enjoy!

Jemima wasn't happy. Her ears were pinned back, her eyes were narrowed and her tail was flicking back and forth behind her as she lay on her stomach. Quaxo however, didn't seem to notice. He was staring into the distance with a strange look in his eye while rambling on enthusiastically.

"And she can even do illusions, just like me! Isn't that weird?"

"Yes, Quaxo. It is weird," she said dully and sighed. The only minute she got to spend with Quaxo alone and they were talking about someone else. That someone else happened to be Exotica. Jemima fought down a growl of annoyance at the mere thought of the name. The pretty young queen had been at the junkyard for a week now and was still the main topic of every conversation. In fact, Jemima thought that if she heard that name one more time she would scream. But Quaxo was still going.

"It feels good to have another magic cat in the junkyard, you know? I mean, I know the twins are kind of magical, but they're just plain creepy. In fact, I don't think anyone understands me like Ex..."

"Do you think it's kind of weird that Munkustrap accepted her into the tribe, just like that, without even asking Old Deuteronomy first?" Jemima said abruptly.

Quaxo looked rather tacken aback at the interuption, but quickly got over it. "Well, it's not like he would of sent her away or anything, that would just be cruel. Besides, Old D isn't here."

"But he's always saying how we shouldn't trust strangers! And this queen shows up out of nowhere and just like that-" she clicked her fingers, "-she's part of the tribe!" Jemima went on, insistent to get her point across.

"Well it's not like anyone could turn away a queen that beautiful anyway," Quaxo said as if that ended the conversation. Then he looked up as Electra approached. "Hi El! Have you seen Victoria? She has my jug. You know, the one I do tricks with? Exotica said she'd show me some of her magic with it."

Electra smiled at the young conjurer. "Yeah, she's with Etcy. They're over by the pipe."

"Thanks." And with that he scampered off in search of the white queen.

Electra sat down beside Jemima and studied the younger queen for a moment. "You know, I reckon you've let about 1000 bugs in your mouth in the last thirty or so seconds."

Jemima, who had been gaping like a goldfish after Quaxo's retreating back, closed her mouth and looked at her friend incredulously. "D-did you just hear what he said?" she stammered. Without waiting for an answer she went on. "He said she was beautiful!"

Electra raised an eyebrow. "Yeah - well so has just about every other tom in the junkyard," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but Quaxo!"

"What's so wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that it's not like him. He's queen-shy!"

Electra gave her a funny look. "Are you jealous?"

Jemima was completely taken aback. "Wha- jealous? What do you mean?"

The tortoiseshell kitten rolled her eyes. "Well we all know that you've had a crush on him for ages. It's pretty obvious."

Jemima was growing steadily redder by the second. "I..., I..."

Her friend smiled. "Everyone knows - except maybe him."

"You mean he doesn't know?"

Electra laughed at the look of relief on Jemima's face. "No, he's too much of a typical tom. And he's too wrapped up with Exotica at the moment."

Seeing that this statement didn't exactly cheer her friend up, Electra sighed. "Look, Jemmi, I know he's excited about her, but it's just because he's always been the odd one out with his magic and all. Exotica helps to make him feel like he fits in. And really, she's not that bad, she's actually really nice. You should talk to her, it might stop the jealousy."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Yeah, whatever. Look, I gotta go. Mum wanted some help in the Hospital. You should try talking to Exotica, Jem."

Jemima sighed. "Whatever. See ya." she watched Electra's retreating back dully, thinking about what her friend had just said.

She didn't want to go see Exotica but she was the only one who hadn't so far and the rest of the junkyard would start to think she was jealous if she kept her cold attitude up. Sighing in a resignated kind of way, Jemima picked herself up and trotted off in search of the pretty brown queen.

Exotica, for once, was all alone and not surrounded by the usual group of 'friends'. She was sitting in a rather secluded part of the junkyard with her back turned to Jemima, who cleared her throat to indicate her presence. Exotica didn't seem to notice, however and kept her gaze fixed the other way.

Jemima thought that maybe Exotica was sleeping in sitting position, as magical cats were apparantly prone to do. (Not that she'd been spying on Quaxo while he was sleeping or anything.) So she got up and approached the cat quietly, walking around her until she was facing Exotica's face. She took one look at her and gave a yelp of surprise.

Exotica's eyes were open, but rolled back so they were facing upwards. Her body was completely still, as though it was made out of stone, and her fur seemed to have lost some of it's shine.

Getting over her initial shock, Jemima wondered what on earth was going on. Exotica's breathing was fine, so maybe she was just sleeping with her eyes open. Just to make sure, Jemima squinted slightly, leaning foward to wave a paw tentatively in Exotica's face. Without warning, the brown queen's paw jerked upwards, making Jemima leap backwards several feet. But she still hadn't woken up. Jemima watched rather fearfully from a good ten feet away as Exotica started swiping the paw deliberately through the air, slasing at some invisible opponent. Suddenly, she dropped it, closed her eyes and slumped to the ground.

Thoroughly freaked out, Jemima waited for a few minutes before cautiously approaching Exotica again. Sniffing cautiously at her limp form, the kitten wondered (somewhat hopefully) if she was dead. Just then her eyes snapped open and looked right into Jemima's deep blue ones. Both queens gave a yelp of surprise and jumped up. Rather enbarrased, Jemima started to explain herself.

"Um, sorry about that. I just came over and..."

"Sillabub, what in Everlating Cat's name are you doing here, you little Pollicle Spawn!"

Jemima was thoroughly bewildered and rather shocked at the seemingly perfect queen's swearing. "S-Sillabub? I'm not Sillabub."

Exotica's expression was one of immense suspicion as she looked Jemima up and down with narrowed eyes, making the younger queen feel very uncomfortable. After a very long stretch of silence, she finally relaxed her tensed muscles, her gaze turning into one of slight surprise and a little curiousity.

"No, you're not are you?" she said slowly, still staring hard at her.

Jemima shook her head slowly, favouring Exotica with a very strange look. "No-o. I'm Jemima. Who's Sillabub?"

The brown queen, who was looking a lot more composed now, plastered the familiar expression of friendliness back onto her face, though it looked a little forced. "Right. I'm sorry Jenna. You just reminded me of someone I - used to know." She looked very sad again, indicating that this Sillabub wasn't somone she wanted to talk about. She then put a brave sort of face on and changed the subject. "I don't think I've seen you yet. Do you live at the junkyard too?"

"My name's Jemima, not Jenna and yes I do live here," she said, replying to the obvious.

"Of course, sorry. I have problems remembering strange names."

Jemima frowned slightly. Her name wasn't that strange, at least not compared to things like Bombalurina and Munkustrap, which Exotica seemed to have no trouble with.

There was a rather stretched silence in which Jemima contemplated how to tell the other queen that she'd just come out of some sort of trance and nearly died.

"Well, I suppose we'd better get back to the junkyard. They might be missing us," Exotica finally said with an airy little laugh and gracefully stood up.

"Uh, yeah I guess, but..." The sun suddenly came out from behind the clouds, casting a beam over Exotica's throat, making it sparkle.

"Hang on - isn't that Victoria's diamond collar?"

Exotica touched her neck with one paw, the smile never leaving her face. "Yes, she gave it to me. It's very pretty, don't you think?"

Jemima gaped again. "She - she gave it to you?"

"Yes, as a friendship gift. Victoria's such a nice kitten," she went on pleasantly.

"I don't believe you."

Exotica didn't look offended, just mildly curious. "Why not, Jemima?"

Because she never gave me anything and we've been best friends for years. "Because the Victoria I know just doesn't give her favourite diamond collars away."

"Well, you mustn't know her very well, then," the brown queen answered sweetly. Then she gave Jemima a sympathetic look. "Look, I know how it feels to think you've lost your best friend. It feels like she's betrayed you to go off with this prettier, smarter queen and you're left all alone in the world. But the truth is, she may not have been your best friend in the first place! I mean, she is older than you and was probably just humouring you. But it will turn out all right in the end. You'll see!" She wrapped her arm around Jemima's shoulders and gave them a tight squeeze. "Okay?"

Jemima nodded sadly, hardly listening to the words Exotica was speaking, only the soothing, almost mesmerising voice.

"Good. Now I suggest we go back. She turned around and headed back. Jemima started to follow, hanging her head slightly, when the sunlight glinted again, this time lighting up a little gold bell that was attatched to the collar. It was very familiar...

"Hey, wait!"

Exotica turned around again. "Is something wrong?"

"That bell on your collar! It's Quaxo's!"

She looked at the bell in question. "Ah, yes. He also gave me a gift. He's so generous, isn't he?"

"But - I gave him that bell, last Christmas," she said, tears coming to her eyes again.

Exotica took on that soothing tone again "Oh, well it's the same instance as Victoria, honey. I know you probably think you really like him and everything, but he just likes me more. He's just not the right tom for you. But you'll find the right tom one day, you'll see!"

But this time, Jemima didn't let herself to be led astray by Exotica's soothing tone. She heard only the words. And those words made her very angry.

"How dare you," she hissed.

Exotica regarded her with a innoccently puzzled look. "I'm sorry, what was that, honey?"

Jemima covered her ears. "Don't call me that! And stop with the voice!"

"What voice?"

"That voice! It's driving me insane! In fact-" a look of realisation dawned on her face. "-it's driving everyone insane! That's how you've gotten everyone to like you! Why they've let you into the tribe unconditionally, why they've given you all these presents, isn't it? Because I know for a fact that Quaxo and Vicki wouldn't have given away their most precious possesions without their mind being completely corrupted! And that's what you've done, isn't it? You've used magic to put the whole tribe in a trance and gotten them to like you!" she was screaming at the top of her lungs right now and most of the tribe had started to appear to see what all the fuss was about. Munkustrap had heard enough after a few lines.

"That's quite enough of that, Jemima! Now stop shouting before..."

But Jemima wasn't listening. She kept up her screaming at Exotica, unaware of her shocked audience. "What's your plan? Do you work for Macavity? Or are you just another equally evil cat?"

Exotica was starting to look rather angry herself now. "You're crazy! I can't help it if the Jellicles like me more than you!"

Those words put Jemima into a fit of rage such as she had never known. With a loud hiss, she launched herself at the older, obviously stronger queen without a second's thought. As soon as her paws collided with Exotica's body, however, she knew it was hopeless and she probably wouldn't affect the brown queen at all. To her immense surprise, Exotica gave a scream of pain as they made contact and both rolled over.

Jemima landed on the other side of her, slightly dazed at the impact of the fall and rather shocked at her own impulse. Recovering enough to get up, she turned around to face Exotica, only to find her side bleeding heavily and her paw resting at a funny angle. She also happened to be unconcious.

Jemima just stared at her limp form in shock, thinking, "Huh!" before the tribe rushed to Exotica's side. Jenny was the first to approach and gasped at the state she was in.

"Everlasting Cat, what have you done?" The rest of them took one look at Exotica then turned to the queenkit, anger, shock and disbelief clear on their faces. Munkustrap's face resembled a stone wall. "Jemima-" he began.

"I didn't do that, it's impossible! My claws weren't even unsheathed!" she cried.

He ignored her. "Jemima, I know you've been jealous of Exotica for ages, but you've now carried it too far. Go to your den and I'll deal with you later."

Jemima couldn't believe what was happening. "Y-you don't understand! She's evil, she's corrupting you. I couldn't do all that, I'm not strong enough! She's pretending!" she cried desperately.

She looked around at the faces of her fellow Jellicles, willing them to believe her. The adults were looking very worried, shocked that quiet little Jemima could get like this. Her mother, Demeter, seemed on the verge of tears herself. Coricopat and Tantomile were as nonchalant as usual. Her friends, the kits of the tribe, were looking almost scared of her, especially Victoria. But it was Quaxo's face that brought tears to her eyes. He was kneeling beside Exotica and looking at Jemima with the utmost loathing in his soft brown eyes.

"You think I'm crazy," she whispered.

"To. Your. Den." Munkustrap repeated.

Jemima looked at them all once more, gave a strangled sob and fled, the tears running down her face like twin streams. Everyone waited until she was out of sight before tending to Exotica. Except two. Coricopat an Tantomile's eyes followed her back from their perch atop of a large pile of junk as she wound her way through the mounds of rubbish all the way back to her den which she shared with Munkustrap and Demeter. Then, instead of staying to help their fellow Jellicles, the Mystic twins slunk away unnoticed into the shadows.

It was raining in the Empire. Sheets of water poured down mercilessly on London's forgotten streets, forcing its inhabitants to retreat to their homes for the night to wait it out.

Sillabub watched the steady onslaught of rain from her position at the entrance of her home and sighed gloomily. It had been a week since that last fateful meeting with Macavity and it was all she'd thought about in that time.

She sighed and rolled over, trying to clear her head. She didn't know why she was getting so worked up about the whole affair, in fact Silla knew that most female queens in the Empire would die to lose their innoccence to none other than the Napolean of Crime. It wasn't even so strange that he was her father, as it was perfectly common for cats to mate with their parents.

She supposed it was because that deep in her mind she'd always thought of herself as above the cats she lived with; more important. Foolish kitten, she told herself. You're just as low as every other cat here. Just a sick, skinny slut who is doomed to spend the rest of her life in fear and service of the most evil cat to walk the earth.

Silla dug her claws into a rat she'd caught previously, trying to vent her anger on its already mutilated body. She lifted her arm and hurled it across the street with a hard flick of her paw, where it collided into an old trash can with a loud bang and slid to the ground.

Lishren wouldn't have cared about him being her father, she probably would have been overjoyed. In fact, Silla would probablyhave to stay out her way if she found out; the brown queen was not the most desirable roommate when she got jealous.

Not for the first time Silla wondered where Macavity had sent Lishren. Most of the jobs given to her only took about two days at the most, but she'd been gone for over a week now. Silla wondered with half-hearted hopefulness if she'd died, but doubted if Macavity had sent her if the job was fatal. She definitely wouldn't have run away, she was too eager to get on Macavity's good side to completely abandon the oh-so-important mission.

Silla sighed again and slumped back down as thunder rumbled across the sky. There was no point in being angry, it just cost her energy. Putting her frustration aside with difficulty, Sillabub turned to the other thing on her mind.

She'd never really thought about her mother before, always assuming she was the unimportant child of an unimportant queen. But the way Macavity had referred to her made her think differently. When her father had moved towards her last week, it wasn't because he'd wanted her especially, or her voice. He'd been looking for something, and Silla would bet her tail that that something was her mother.

She rolled onto her back, her mind suddenly filled with questions. What did her mother look like? Had she looked like Silla? Had she loved Macavity? Was she still alive? Why had Macavity wanted her so much? All things she couldn't answer and probably never would. Silla rolled over on to her back and stared up at the roof of the box, trying to clear her head. Just then a shadow fell across her body. She tilted her head back to see what it was and came face to face with Fanika. Before she could ask where the brown queen had been, Silla was in the air and headed towards the same trash can that she'd thrown the rat against.

Dazed from the impact of the collision, she struggled upwards and shook her head to clear the stars. Once completely concious, she turned back to Fanika and cringed from the anger on the older queen's face. She opened her mouth to ask what the hell had gotten into her, but it was unneccesary.

"How dare you, you little bitch! How could you, how could you, how could you!"

Sillabub thought it probably wasn't smart to approach Fanika so stayed where she was. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong!" As if you didn't bloody well know!"

Silla blinked.

Fanika growled and started pacing beside the entrance to their home, oblivious to the rain. "I have been trying to provide for this family for years. I hunt for you, I give you a home, I keep other cats from you. And then I hear you go and do this!"

"What exactly is this ?"

"Macavity, of course, you little wench, you sneaky little slut!"

"Oh, that." Silla grimaced.

"Yes, that! I cannot believe you, you little pollicle, you know he's mine! And now he's not going to look at me ever again!"

"But he made the first move, I didn't go to him!"

"But you didn't resist, did you? You didn't try to get away!"

Sillabub shut up, realising it was true.

"You're just like your mother, you know! Demeter was always the snotty little..."

"My mother! My mother's name was Demeter?"

Fanika hit the kitten across the face, making sure her claws raked against Silla's cheek. "Shut up! I don't want to hear that name ever again! I don't want to see you ever again! Get out of my sight, get out and never come back!" she made to attack her again but Sillabub dodged her and sprinted off into the storm, not looking back.

Reviewers:

Mystitat: Yes, Macavity is Sillabub's father, to make it interesting. As for the sue-ness, plz. don't kill me for this, but I'm actually trying to make Exotica intoa sue - of sorts. Future chapters will explain why (I hope this one did kinda) but just remember that she's definitely not the heroine of the story, which most suesusually are.

Desert thief: The story, as I said in chapter one, is set before, during and after the Jellicle ball, my own version of what happened. Pleeeeeeease do chapter five soon, I'll b checking my email for it every day!

Nabooru: Thanx for pointing out my mistakes in chapter two, and the misspelling of Jellylorum's name, I'll remember that. Also, it is neccesary to mention Lishren as she plays an important part in this and future chapters. Her sue-ness is also important to the story as you'll find out later.