Chapter 4
While Macavity had been battling the Dark Magic, Demeter was sitting in silence at the table. Bombi had started putting dinner on, which was some cans of caviar and salmon paste. Little Sophline could hardly contain her excitement as she waited for her mother to sit down. The red queen finally sat down, Jendangen in her arms. She pulled scooped up a small spoonful of paste and raised it to her son's lips. The little kitten sniffed lightly at it, then gave it a slight lick, then another, and then his little paws grabbed the spoon and he licked more of it up. Bombi smiled ever wider as she gave her son another spoonful, all the while soothingly talking to him. Demi couldn't quite make out the words, even though her ears were very keen, but her sister's voice was nonetheless a soothing balm for her nerves.
"You know Bombalurina; you always have had a mother's voice. That nice, gentle, yet firm voice. Always made me wish I had it.
The red queen grinned a bit and looked at the gold and black queen with a twinkle of pride in her eyes, "I always thank the Everlasting Cat for it."
Sophine spoke up, "She always sings for me at night before I go to sleep. Daddy says that if angels had ever given away their voices, they definitely gave them to Mommy." Bombi grinned evermore wider as she scooped another spoonful of the delicious salmon paste for her son to eat. Even though there was loads of food on the table, and even though she was famished, Demeter couldn't eat. She was still in too much shock over what had happened earlier in the day, seeing one of her own tribe members get murdered and another being forced to lick up the blood that resulted from it. Even though the room was warm, she was holding herself like it was freezing. Sophline didn't seem to pay attention to it.
"Aunt Demeter, do you think I may be able to visit the junkyard? I would really like to meet Uncle Munkustrap and Catalina and everyone else you have been talking about!"
This had Demi freeze up and she glanced at her sister, who now had a sober look on her face. Thankfully, Bombalurina answered, "We may be able to, but I'll have to talk to your father about it."
As if on cue, Macavity walked in with a straight face, and he quietly sat down at his spot on the table, eating in silence. All the while, he only gave his family and Demeter occasional glances. The gold and black queen refused to meet his eyes, as the incident at the ball a few years back and the evil, hypnotizing glare he gave her when he was exiled, were still haunting her. Afterwards, he once again went outside, noticing that a storm was on its way. Inside, Demeter helped Bombi clean up the table and put the kittens to bed.
Jendangen went to sleep almost instantly, which had his mother sighing and rolling her eyes. She knew that this meant late night wake-ups. She then put Sophline to bed, who asked once again for a song. The red queen smiled and decided that she would sing one that she had heard not so long ago by a human choir.
Sleep, my child for the red bee hums,
The silent twilight falls.
The banshee from the grey rock comes,
To wrap the world in thrall.
Ay-Vann, oh, my child, my joy.
My love, my heart's desire.
The cricket sings you a lullaby,
Beside the dying fire.
Dusk is drawn and the green man's thorn,
Is wreathed in rings of fog.
Sheevra sails his boat till morn,
Upon the starry bog.
Ay-Vann, oh the pale half-moon
Has wrapped the cusp in dew,
And weeps to hear this sad sleep tune.
I sing my love to you.
With those last words, she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, and gave her a goodnight, before turning to go check on her mate. As she turned she saw Demeter standing there, gazing at her.
"That song was beautiful, Bombi," Demi had a look of astonishment. Her sister's face went flush.
"I think so too. I believe it's an Irish lullaby, called, 'Garden Mother's Lullaby.'"
Demi nodded and watched her go and do a few housekeeping duties. Bombi could feel her sister's eyes on her, and finally turned towards her and questioned it.
"Something on your mind?"
Demeter nodded, "I just can't get over…I mean, I just can't believe you let me into your home like that. Especially after what I said to you when you left the tribe." (For more on what happened, read Forbidden Romance Chap. 6)
"Demi, I never took you seriously," she said with a light chuckle, "Consider it a bad habit."
"Yes, but still. You were always the one that looked after me, especially after our parents died and we were kicked out of the tribe. I don't know how you could do it, being that strong and optimistic. And look how I paid you back for it, by first helping the one cat you loved get exiled, then scorning you when you left, saying we will never be considered sisters again!"
"Demeter!" Bombi had a look of shock on her face and she walked up to her sister, putting her paws on her shoulders, "You had every right to say that to me. I made a mistake and paid for it, but I don't regret it, and I don't think about it. I am only interested in one thing now, the future. The past is what it is: The past. As for Macavity being exiled, that was really his doing, not yours, but like I said, it's in the past." With that, she gave her sister a pat on the cheek and a gentle smile, "Come, I'll make a bed for you."
The anticipated storm arrived, bringing strong, blowing winds, great streaks of lightning, and heavy rain downpours. Bombi set up a bed near a steam pipe which gave out heat, so that her sister didn't have to worry about going cold during the night. Bombalurina went to sleep, even though she didn't know where her mate was. He finally came in, his fur surprisingly dry, even though it was storming hard outside. He went to the section of the shack curtained off, where he and his mate slept. She was lying there in silence, snoring peacefully. He felt the presence of someone awake and turned his head. He saw Demeter sitting up, wide awake, holding herself, as if she was dead cold, even though she was next to a warm pipe.
"Are you all right? You should try to sleep."
"I'm not tired," The gold and black queen was speaking in quiet whispers.
"I don't think you will be able to stay awake tomorrow, especially what I have in mind."
Demeter backed against the wall, a look of fear in her eyes, "What are you going to do?"
The ginger tom chuckled, "Don't worry; I'm not going to do anything to you. I was just thinking of how I was going to take care of Draconic."
"What, you're actually going to fight him?"
Mac nodded, "I have no other choice really. I wanted to talk to you because for one, I need you to distract Draconic enough so that he doesn't see me get into the area of the junkyard, after that leave it to me."
"And what are you exactly planning for me to do?"
"You are going to have to return to the tribe."
Demeter's face went pale, "Are you crazy! I can't go back! Heaviside knows what he could do to me! And after what he did to Plato, I don't even want to know!"
"Don't worry; he won't do anything to you, trust me."
"How can I trust you? You first scared me to death when you left the tribe, and then you tried to kidnap me! What makes you think that I would want to trust you?" The gold and black queen was on the defense, backed up against the wall. Macavity's next words amazed her.
"Because I am willing to forgive and forget, if you want."
This had Demeter shock still, with wide eyes, "What are you talking about?"
Mac walked up to her and knelt, his eyes level with her own. She was afraid of looking at his eyes, but once she did, she could see a gentleness that she had never seen in the ginger tom before, "I am willing to forgive you for recommending my exile, if you are willing to forgive my vengeance against you and the tribe for what you did to me. Are you willing to forgive me?"
This had Demeter thinking. Was she willing to forgive? If she did, was she going to get blind trust in him? But if she didn't, he could have her leave and not even help the tribe, which could be destroyed.
"Y-yes…I will forgive you."
The ginger tom let out a wide grin and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Not a hard pat, but very gentle, almost like a feathery touch. It caused Demeter to look at her brother-in-law in a whole new light.
"We should get some sleep, it's going to be a very long day tomorrow," With that, Macavity went to his bed, closing the curtain behind him. Demi was meanwhile still in amazement over what had just transpired. Just by saying that she forgave him, he did the same in the blink of an eye, and in that short moment, all of her fear of him disappeared. She had not felt that feeling of total contentness since before she had that horrifying dream of Macavity raping her. Ever since that dream occurred so long ago, she always was scared of him, fearful of him. It had all disappeared with one pat on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Mackey went to the bed, where Bombi was already starting to sleep. With a smirk, he snuggled up against her and gave her rump a slight squeeze. She woke up gently and gave a smile when she turned, looked behind her, and saw her mate behind her. She let out a light sigh as she snuggled up right against her and put his arms gently around her waist.
"I heard you and Demeter talking. What was that all about?"
"Eh, we forgave old times," Macavity said gently.
"Yeah, I sort of did the same for her earlier," A long silence passed, before she spoke again, "So what are we going to do about her? Surely we can't send her back to the tribe."
"I have it already taken care of," her mate said with an air of confidence, "I think this may be my only chance to redeem myself for all that I had done before, and we could become tribe members again!"
"So, you are going to fight him for it?" A simple question got a simple nod, and all that Bombi could do was smile, as the couple had a long kiss. Slowly, they shifted positions until Mackey was on top of her. The two kept their lips locked, and their paws gently stroked each other. After a long moment, he stopped and lifted up slightly, so he could look into her eyes, his own with a sober look in them.
"Mackey, what's wrong?"
"I…I'm scared about what could happen from this fight," he gently rolled off of her and lied down on his back, looking up at the ceiling. The red queen sat up, looking down on him, just listening, "What if I die? I couldn't stand to leave you behind to raise the kittens by yourself. And if something were to happen to you," He sat up and buried his face in his paws, "I would die. I could never forgive myself," Bombalurina sat in stunned silence as her mate gently sobbed. She gently put her paw on his head and slowly pushed him back onto the bed. She then lightly stroked his arm with one paw, and his forehead with the other.
"Mackey, nothing will happen to us. I can feel it. We won't lose each other."
Macavity sat up again and gazed into her eyes, which were full of gentleness, and love for him. He couldn't help but give her another long, passionate kiss, and pulled her into his arms. That night, the pair made love like never before. It was a mix of the hard, wild way they had done early in their life together, and the gentle way they did nowadays. It was a night he and she never forgot.
The clock was now ticking on Draconic's reign of terror on the Jellicle Tribe. It was going to end tomorrow, one way or another.
Well there is the next chapter. I will have the next one out in about the same timeframe it took this one. I will be going down to Milwaukee for the weekend, so I probably won't start on the next chapter until Monday.
Bombalurinasara: Nice job so far on In the Eyes of the Moonlight. Keep it up!
Note: The song that was written in this chapter was a song that the choir I am in, in school, sang a few months ago. I had been humming it all day, and I had no choice but to put it in! I have already changed my list of what stories I'm planning to do next. I have already started writing Future Reforms, a StarFox fanfic, and I am planning another CATS fanfic where several members of the tribe accidentally stow away to America. Plus, a Madagascar fanfic called, "The Madagascar Penguins go Cross Country." The plot is basically the title you see there.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Peace!
