A/N: There's a couple of strong words in this chapter, just a warning. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, I felt they were needed to help portray the character. This was going to be the last chapter, but I got too many new ideas...
"Let's play a game!" Luka called to the other kittens.
"Ok!" Vesta agreed, and Rosita and Sybil stopped what they were doing and came over.
"This is a new game." Luka instructed. "Jemima told me. It's called Squished Sardines."
"Yum!" Sybil said, licking her lips. Luka sighed.
"You don't get to eat any. It's like hide-and-seek, except only one cat hides and the rest count. Then, when the seekers find the hider, they hide there too. The last one to be squished into the hiding place is the loser, then they get to hide next time."
"Cool!" Rosita said, poking her tongue out at Sybil, who was looking mournful.
"Yeah. Um…paws in for who hides first." Luka said, and they all held their paws in obediently while Luka did Catch the Pollicle. Sybil ended up as the Pollicle, and ran off to find a good hiding place while the others counted to fifty.
Sybil ran down the waterside for a short way, then turned off into a side street. One of the rules for hide-and-seek, or similar games, was that using noses to track wasn't allowed. Sybil didn't really trust the others to stick to that rule, so she made sure to leave a confusing trail, leaping from stacks of timber to metal pipes to fences. After she had run for nearly a minute, and reached the edge of the other gang's territory, she found a great place, a large pile of concrete water pipes on a loading dock she could just squeeze her small frame into.
"It'll take them forever to find me here," She thought to herself gleefully, and settled down to making bets with herself which kitten would come first.
When the kittens finished counting, Luka and Rosita shot off at once, in opposite directions. Vesta, being more strategic, thought for a short while where Sybil was likely to go.
"There's nowhere good to hide that way, just leads to the roads," she thought. "She'll have gone to somewhere she can easily confuse her scent, and she's likely not to care about territory, knowing her. I'll try in the direction of the loading docks." With that, Vesta trotted off down the waterfront and into a side alley. Soon she caught a tiny whiff of Sybil's scent, and although she dutifully stuck to the rules and didn't pick it up, she knew she was on the right track.
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Rosita was having more trouble. She'd gone in completely the wrong direction and had come out onto the quieter roads.
"Oh, pollicle shit," she cursed. "I bet she's miles away from here. Now I'm sure to be last." Rosita didn't really mind, though her language was strong. She'd picked the swearing up from her time on the streets, and though Jemima had warned her about using it in front of the younger kittens, it was a hard habit to break. With a long-suffering sigh, she turned to head back to the warehouse and try again, when she caught a scent. Turning again curiously, she saw three cats round the corner of the street and move towards her. Tensing her little body in case she needed to escape quickly, she camouflaged herself in the shadows and watched them approach.
Two queens and a tom, and none of them looked violent. Rosita decided she wouldn't talk to them – her sense of self-preservation hadn't gone – but they must have seen her, for the silver and black queen approached.
"Hello, I'm Tantomile." She said, smiling at her. She sounded nice, and Rosita smiled back hesitantly.
"I'm Rosita," she said.
"That's a pretty name. Do you live near here?" Tantomile asked.
"Yeah, I've got a home now. I used to live on the streets, but then they found me and now I've got brothers and sisters." Rosita said proudly.
"That's wonderful! You're very lucky." Tantomile said. "I wonder, since you live here, have you noticed two cats, a tom and a queen, around recently? The tom is black and white patched, and the queen black with red and white hints."
Rosita looked puzzled. "Well yeah, but they're not like, lost, or anything. Alonzo found me and took me to live with them."
Tantomile nodded. "Yes, we're looking for Alonzo and Jemima. Perhaps you could take us to them?" Rosita looked suspicious.
"You aren't gonna take them away? Or attack us or something? Cos they're my family now, and I'm never letting any more evil bastards get my family again. Oops." She blushed under her fur as Tantomile raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised at the pretty kitten's colourful language.
"Well, you don't need to worry. We're friends of theirs and we just want to talk to them." Tantomile reassured her. Rosita looked into her eyes and decided that she was telling the truth.
"Okay then." She agreed. "Follow me. It's not that far from here." She sighed, realising she must have lost the game by now, and began to lead the three cats to the warehouse.
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Vesta looked into the concrete pipe, and grinned mischievously at Sybil.
"Aha! Found you!" She exclaimed, and squeezed in beside her.
"I won my bet! I bet that you'd find me first, and you did!" Sybil told her, happy to have someone to talk to as she'd been getting bored.
"Who'd you bet with?" Vesta asked curiously.
"With myself. I think Luka will find us next, then Rosita."
"Probably," Vesta agreed. "Rosita went in the complete opposite direction."
Suddenly, the two kittens heard a loud rumbling noise.
"What's that?" Vesta jumped, but before she had time to get out of the tube, it began to move.
"What's happening?" Sybil wailed, trying to push Vesta out of the way.
"Don't push!" Vesta held on. "I'll fall! The pipe is flying!" She looked out at the ground, already too far away to jump.
"What do you mean? Pipes can't fly!" Sybil gasped, but after turning around and looking out the other end, she had to agree that this one was.
"What are we gonna do?" She cried. "This thing might go anywhere!"
"We'll just have to hope it goes to the ground soon!" Vesta called back, trying not to let her voice tremble. She was the oldest here – she had to be strong. She pretended she was Jemima, and called back to Sybil, "don't worry. I'm sure it won't go far, and then we'll just run back home."
It was Luka who spotted them. Finding her way to the loading dock, she'd been startled when the crane began to rumble and move. However, she was used to the noises of a port and continued to search for Sybil. Looking up, she watched the crane lift a concrete drainage pipe and swing it onto a waiting barge – then gasped in horror, as Vesta's terrified face looked out the end.
"Vesta!" Luka called, but her voice was drowned out by the noisy engine. Luka knew there was no time to lose – the barge was nearly full, and might move off as soon as the pipes were loaded. She turned and raced back to the warehouse as fast as her legs would carry her. Alonzo would know what to do, she was sure. He'd save them.
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"Ta-da!" Rosita pointed to the warehouse. "Now, you gotta wait here and don't come in till I check that Alonzo and Jemima really know you." She disappeared through a low window. Coricopat and Tantomile looked at each other.
"Strange kitten," Coricopat commented.
"I expect Alonzo and Jemima picked her up because she was a stray – at that age, most kittens would soon starve. That's why she's so protective of the ones who saved her…and uses such slang." Tantomile mused. Coricopat nodded.
"She certainly seems to care about them."
Rosita appeared out of the window, followed by Alonzo. Jemima wasn't there, she was out searching for strays with Michel. Alonzo walked up to Coricopat, Tantomile and Cassandra, his tail stiff and perpendicular. His face was blank, but Cassandra hid behind Coricopat at the sight of him.
"Hello. Why are you here?" His tone was polite. Tantomile smiled at him.
"We're glad to see you, Alonzo," she said. "Munkustrap asked us to find you, and we were happy to comply. The Junkyard has missed your presence sorely."
"We've brought Cassandra to confess," Coricopat said somewhat mysteriously. Alonzo was startled.
"Confess? Like, to a priest?"
"It was me!" Cassandra interrupted, unable to bear the suspense any longer. As she blurted out her tale, anger and hurt began to creep across his face. When she'd finished, it took all his strength of will not to hiss, but a distraction came racing into the group.
"ALONZO!" Luka nearly screamed, flinging herself onto his legs. Alonzo managed not to stagger.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly, searching for the danger with his eyes as the little tortoiseshell clung to him.
"It's Vesta and Rosita! They're going to be shipped away! You have to save them!" Luka panted, ignoring the three strangers in her panic. Alonzo gulped. His first emergency, and one of his fears – the kittens were in danger.
"Quick, show me where. Explain on the way." He said urgently. "Follow me!" He said to Coricopat and Tantomile, and began following Luka down the dockside.