Chapter 25 - Broken

Earlier…

Bombalurina was lying in the sun, but her fur hardly shimmered as it used to. It was as dull as her demeanor had been these past few weeks, after she had given up hope of finding her sister and accepted that she was gone. The Rum Tum Tugger was by her side, silently accompanying her, trying to be her friend, doing everything against his usual conduct. But he was starting to take on the red queen's depression, and even his appearance was beginning to suffer from the disappearance of the black and gold queen. He had tried to cheer her up, make her think of other things, and tried to make her eat her meals. But it seemed all he could do was sit there and watch her pick at foods, as her form was slowly wasting away to nothing.

He understood how she felt. Though he often tried to treat the other toms with an air of indifference, and strutted around as though he hadn't a care in the world, he was still an older brother. Watching his younger brothers fight as a kitten seemed so normal. But now this "normal fighting" had turned into an all out war, and casualties were had. Looking back on it, letting all the fights go, not being responsible enough to try and keep his younger siblings in line, and not even growing up to be like his youngest brother (a protector), made him feel worthless.

And if his brother one day just disappeared, he wouldn't know what to do.

He would never admit it, of course, but that's how things were. Whether it's said or not, protecting their siblings is supposed to be the job of the eldest. The youngest is looked after by them, so they don't get in trouble. Something to protect…and the queen lying near him in a slowly starving state had lost that something. Demeter was everything to Bombalurina, and now she was gone. (Both were gone, it seemed…)

"It was not a mouse!" Tugger looked back to see Alonzo and Mistoffelees walking over, care free of the worries that kept the red queen in her dazed and distant state. "It was a rat! A RAT! So it hurt when he bit me!"

"That's your excuse for losing your dinner?" Mistoffelees grinned. "Your prey bit you? I saw the thing! It was a field mouse." Mistoffelees quickly went quiet when he saw the two cats that were lying in the dawning sun. Alonzo looked over and instantly grew serious.

The harlequin cat nervously took the first step towards the sullen queen. "Hey, Bom-bom," he said. (Everlasting Cat knows why he shortened her name to that...) "Want to come with me to catch a rat? I kind of lost him."

"It was a mouse," Mistoffelees corrected. Tugger looked hopefully to the queen, but she stared off into space, only the glimmer in her eyes from the unshed tears showing any sign of sentience. At this, the tuxedoed cat came over to Tugger, whispering to him, "Has she eaten anything lately?"

"I haven't seen her eat in days," Tugger said bitterly. He couldn't bring himself to leave the queen alone in this state, so he wouldn't very well enjoy a meal in front of a cat that was starving itself.

Mistoffelees disappeared for a few moments before returning with a chicken drumstick that seemed to have come out of thin air. "Where did that come from?" Alonzo asked, but the tuxedo ignored the question.

"Here, Bomba," he said, smiling gently. "You need your strength." But the queen sneered at the smell of the food and turned away. Mistoffelees gave Tugger a look of 'you're teaching her your bad habits,' but Tugger ignored him. Things went quiet for the while, as the three toms looked helplessly to their tribemate. They were finally brought back to reality when Skimbleshanks entered the yard.

He was looking behind him, a confused look on his face, before turning back to see the four cats in front of him. He considered this for a moment, then nodded his head as though coming to a conclusion. "Did one of you call me?"

"No," Tugger said somewhat grumpily. "What? Did you think we would just lounge around saying, 'Skimble, where is Skimble?' We have better things to do, you know." The Maine Coon realized how harsh he came off. But he was hungry, frustrated, and almost at his wits end about what to do with Bombalurina.

"I just thought I heard someone calling my name earlier," Skimbleshanks said, letting Tugger's remark go. "Then again, I think I heard someone calling Alonzo and Mistoffelees." He was a little too agitated to thoroughly consider this, (though Mistoffelees was a little shocked at his name having been called from someone outside the junkyard.)

Bombalurina shrugged her shoulders, her first response in a while. She twitched her ears and closed her eyes. Tugger sighed as he watched the queen start to drift off into another fitful sleep. He hated to see her go through this.

Suddenly, the queen shot up and looked over at Skimbleshanks. She didn't seem to care that the four toms were looking at her in shock. Then she jumped up to her feet and raced up to a pile of junk that gave her a good vantage point. Her ears were at full attention, and Tugger hadn't seen her so lively since she was actively searching for Demeter.

"Oh," Skimbleshanks whispered pitifully. "I didn't mean to get her hopes up. I wasn't even thinking it might be her…" Alonzo placed a paw on Skimbleshanks' shoulder, to let him know it was okay. But Tugger wanted to pull out his head fur over it. He managed to keep his cool appearance, though. It took a lot to remind him that the brown and orange cat was not at fault here. It was a ginger cat who was the problem…

"Demeter!" Bombalurina called. All the toms sank down. Tugger could almost hear everyone's heart break. "Demeter!" Tugger pushed passed the other toms to go and help Bombalurina down, planning on taking her back to her den or something…something other than this spectacle she was portraying.

But then she gasped. Spinning around, she pointed at the Maine Coon, a frantic look on her face. "You have to go get Munkustrap!" She then bolted down the pile of junk and raced to leave the junkyard, towards the sound of whatever it was she heard.

"Stop!" Skimbleshanks protested, as they all ran after her. "Where are you going?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bombalurina asked as she spun around and addressed the Maine Coon. "GO GET MUNKU! The rest of you, come with me, NOW!" While four toms could easily over-power a queen, they wouldn't dare try and stop Bombalurina. And so, the three toms raced after her as Tugger staggered for a moment, wondering what was going on.

He then turned and ran in the direction he knew he would find the silver tabby.

Night had fallen, and Munkustrap slowly crept out of the hospital car, limping quite a bit. He saw Tugger waiting outside (as with the sudden overpopulation in the hospital car, a healthy tom would just get in the way.) The tabby made his way over to Tugger, but not before peeling the Gumby Cat, who was beckoning him back inside, off his arm. He pulled away from her forcefully, and she sighed quite audibly, but let the tom go.

"How are they?" Tugger jumped down from the tire he had been sitting on and met his brother half way. He didn't try to hide the concern on his face.

"Bomba will be fine," Munkustrap reassured him. "Skimbleshanks filled me in on what happened. He said she was so angry when she saw Macavity, she head-butted him in the stomach." The cat shook his head at the thought. "Which is why she was so dazed when we got to her."

Tugger nodded, and surely would have grinned were the situation not what it was. "And the others?"

"Skimbleshanks is fine. He really didn't fight much…not after Mistoffelees took over. He told me he had to pull Macavity off of Bombalurina, and that's how he got his injuries."

"Now I have to apologize to him for being rude," Tugger mumbled under his breath, sneering at the thought. "Heh, Misto fighting. Can you imagine that kitten fighting?"

Munkustrap gave Tugger a stern look, then assured him, "He wasn't good at it." He shook his head again. "It took me a while to get there. If Alonzo wasn't there, he could have died. We're lucky Alonzo took the brunt of it."

Tugger took in a deep breath. "Our tribe is a lot stronger than it looks." He then got a far off look in his eyes, which pleased Munkustrap to have a bit of silence for once. But maybe silence wasn't good. It just meant he would have to think. And thinking is something he would want to avoid at the moment. Thankfully, Tugger continued. "I don't know how you do it everyday, Munk. They all looked pretty bad when you brought them back. Well…except for Alonzo. He always looks that beaten up."

Munkustrap tried to smile at that, but couldn't find the will. But the Maine Coon seemed to understand. "How is she?" he asked with an uncharacteristically serious tone.

He looked away from his brother to answer this. "She's sleeping…He would have killed her. If I could have…I would have killed Macavity." His paws were curled so tightly, if his nails were retracted, they would have surely dug into his own paws.

"Why didn't you?" Tugger asked, obviously having wondered about that himself.

"She told me to stop," the tabby replied. His memory was vague, but he distinctly remembered hearing Demeter's pleading, sobbing voice. "I don't know. She was acting weird when she finally came out. Jenny says it's shock." Munkustrap thought he would go insane if he kept thinking about that little gold queen. She was safe, that was what mattered at the moment. So, he changed the subject. "We should go get Old Deuteronomy. His friends have been helping us search. And I don't think he's safe with Macavity out there, be he injured or not."

"I'll go get him, Munk," Tugger said, spinning on his heels to leave. "You have to protect the tribe."

"What? No, it's too dangerous for you out there!" Munkustrap scolded. "You're not even a fighter. You're probably less of a fighter than Mistoffelees!" Tugger twitched his ear at hearing this and was glaring at his brother, but Munkustrap paid no mind. He was still trying to block out the look of fear on his long lost Demeter's face. The fact that she looked so different…The screams of terror and fear…And the very prominent, 'I hate you.'

Just then, Alonzo came out, holding his side where Jenny had thoroughly dressed it. "Bastard cut me deep," he said, somewhat melodramatically. At this statement, Tugger and Munkustrap looked at each other. Alonzo quickly said, "Now that you two are bastards! 'Cause, you know, you're brothers and all." The death glare from the other toms made Alonzo go quiet.

It was Tugger that broke the silence. "Someone has to go and get Old D…someone who can defend himself."

"I'll go," Munkustrap said sternly. He needed to do something.

"No, you should stay," Alonzo agreed with the Maine Coon. "I'll go."

"You're more hurt than Munk," Tugger exclaimed.

"I may be more hurt than him, but if something happens to the tribe, at least he'll be here to protect it," Alonzo said.

"No, no," Munkustrap insisted. "You stay with the tribe. I'll go to find Deuteronomy. I know how to fight Macavity. And if he comes here, you'll have the tribe to back you up. He was hurt as well."

But Alonzo became more adamant about his position. "If you already fought him so much, then he will think twice before coming to the tribe. And why would he come after me, anyway?"

"He would come after Old Deuteronomy," Munkustrap reminded him. "And if you need to defend him, I would have a better chance of fighting him off."

"Then why don't we both go?" Alonzo asked. "If our concern is now for Deuteronomy and not the tribe?"

"We're concerned about both. No one can defend the tribe if we BOTH go to see Old Deuteronomy!"

"Why can't I defend the tribe?" Tugger asked indignantly.

"Because you suck," Alonzo and Munku said at the same time. Tugger glared at the two.

"At fighting," Munkustrap corrected. But the Maine Coon hardly felt any better. That's when Jenny came out and shushed them all. The three toms looked at each other, before smiling apologetically to the Gumby cat and falling silent. She shuffled back inside, and left the three to (hopefully) not talk so loudly while she was treating patients.

"We'll go," said two voices at once. The three toms peered around, startled. Tantomile and Coricopat walked forward, both with only a hint of concern on their faces.

"You two can't defend yourselves," Alonzo said, fur on end. (He hardly ever talked to the two, and frankly, they freaked him out.)

"But we can sense danger," Coricopat said. "And two sets of ears are better than one." The three looked at each other. It seemed like a good solution, so Munkustrap nodded.

"Be careful when you bring him," the tabby said as the three toms followed the twins to the entrance of the junkyard. "He's old. Make sure you're not followed. We don't want Macavity after him. And most importantly…" But before he could finish his important point, the twins stopped and looked forward. Following their gaze, the three Jellicles could see two cats slowly walking into the junkyard.

Munkustrap stood at attention and hissed lowly. Alonzo seemed prepared for battle, though he did groan slightly and put a paw on his side. Tugger seemed to think preparing to fight somehow involved fixing his head fur… But the mystical twins simply sat, and the silver tabby could see they hardly seemed worried.

As the two orange tabbies came into view and finally entered the junkyard, Munkustrap could see that one was very hurt, and had his wounds treated with very…very…very rough nursing techniques. (Well, at least he wasn't bleeding to death.) The queen looked up with a worried expression on her face. They looked almost exactly alike, aside from their gender. And the queen seemed very concerned with her…twin's…current state. She was struggling to hold him up and, being small as she was, looked as though she were about to collapse.

"Who are you?" Munkustrap hissed. "You…" He sniffed the air around them. "That scent…it's…"

"Macavity!" Alonzo said, ready to charge the two, but Munkustrap held him back.

"And Demeter," the silver tom said, puzzled.

"We're 'er friends," the queen said brightly, looking as though she would be hopping up and down were she not weighed down by the weight of her brother. "I'm Rumpleteazah and this is Mungojerrie. We 'elped 'er get away from Macavity."

"How do we know that?" Tugger asked, more impressed than angry.

"'ow do you think this 'appened to my brothah?" Rumpleteazer asked defiantly. (Mungojerrie took this cue to wave weakly.)

"Prove it," Alonzo said just as defiantly.

"Well," Rumpleteazer began, "One of you must be that one guy she kept talking about. What was his name again Mungo?" She looked up to her brother with wide eyes and ears drooped in exhaustion.

"Mistah Flap?" Mungojerrie asked. "Lint Trap?" he shrugged.

"Mumpislap!" Rumpleteazer said, her paw bolting in the air triumphantly. The four cats looked at Munkustrap, who seemed to have a dark cloud forming over him.

"You mean Munkustrap?" he asked.

"Yeah, you must be 'im," the little queen said. She looked like she was going to say more on the subject, but between balancing Mungojerrie and trying to stay upright herself, she abandoned that idea and went on with trying to prove who they were. "And…and…uh…she said that a queen would be able to help my brother. LennyFennyMots?"

"Pennyfo'yourThoughts?"

"Jenny. Any. Dots." Tugger emphasized. But Munkustrap looked down at the mystical twins for approval. They nodded to him, which was all he needed to know. Silently, he went over to the two and took the full weight of the injured tom on him, while Rumpleteazer staggered slightly. Tugger and Alonzo watched with some amazement. With that one small act, Munkustrap had accepted them into the tribe. "Munk…"

"He needs help," Munkustrap said simply. He could really smell Demeter's scent on them, though he tried hard not to wonder why more on the tom than the queen. (Not that he didn't handle him with the least amount of care as he could with this thought.) As he walked the nearly feinted tom and his sister, he asked in a hushed voice, "Was she scared?"

Rumpleteazer looked over from her brother before looking to Munkustrap. She seemed to be battling two different urges: one to protect her brother and one of frustration to the tom asking her the question. "She cried every night. She didn't think anyone would save 'er." Munkustrap's heart felt like it had ripped in two. There was a lot of contempt in the one named Rumpleteazer's voice when she said what she said. He knew she had a lot she wanted to yell at him if they all weren't so tired.

He would have saved her, if he knew where to find her. He would have done anything to get her back safely. Not once had he ever wanted a hair harmed on her head. And yet here she was now, barely alive. And even the ones who had supposedly helped her seemed on the verge of death.

As Mungojerrie was brought into the little "hospital" and placed down, he gave Jenny simple instructions to give him quick treatment. While this happened, Rumpleteazer snuck over to Demeter's bed. She gasped in horror at the new wounds and bruises covering the gold and black queen. She spun around, anger and confusion apparent on her face. Munkustrap shook his head sadly, and shrugged with exhaustion and regret. The little tabby queen withheld her attack on the emotion ridden tom and swooped to the side of her brother, nuzzling his paw as he finally was able to get some much needed rest and care.

Munkustrap sat next to Demeter's bed, staring at the beaten queen in front of him. She lay fast asleep, but was hardly relaxed. It seemed at any moment she would spring up, back arched, ready to strike. Oddly enough, she didn't look as fragile as she did before her entire ordeal. Sure, her body had taken quite a bludgeoning, but she definitely had changed. His 'something to protect' had to protect herself, and it may have changed her for the worse.

He wanted to take her in his arms and console her, tell her she would never be hurt again. Everything would be better now that he was here, and he would never let anything happen to her again. But it shouldn't have happened to begin with. It seemed he couldn't do anything. He couldn't protect a damn thing. He did it all wrong, and Demeter paid for his actions.

Gently, he put his paw to her unscratched cheek and stroked it as lightly as he could. He had to fight the urge to grab her and hold her. She would freak out, and there is no telling how she would react waking up here. So he laid his head sadly on the edge of her little makeshift bed, so close he could almost touch her, but she would never know. He didn't want to do anything to further harm the broken queen.

A/N: Blah, I was hoping to update yesterday...anyway...

TigerLily: YUP! the ending it planned out, and...well,it might be subject to change, but probably not incredibly. I have the rough idea of how i want it to end. ((grin)) Fear of unhappy endings? I gotta keep that in mind.
Demo: Sweetness and Violence aren't two words you hear put together in a sentence often O.o
Enkeli-kitsu: Heh, be sure to tell me before if you wanna publish it on your website. And a novel? Heh, it's long enough to be one, ironically. Maybe someday I can get a conglomeration of my stories published, like Wicked or Phantom. I can dream!
Satin: I was wondering if you abandoned my story, lol. But that's ok, we all have lives. Yes, the kitten was Jemima. As for the Munku question, that WILL be answered, don't worry. I feel bad though, when you ask me questions and I answer with "you'll see", but don't stop asking questions, cause it lets me know what's unclear! And thanks for reviewing again!