Bombalurina pouted. That sick little grin she had worn so proudly hours ago was now nothing more then a diluted memory; a sick little fantasy she had created. Seemingly dead inside, she glared at the fires raging flames. The bright oranges, yellows and reds, all danced unmercifully. They were all brilliant, all beautiful, and all poorly condemned to a few single logs; swaying this way and that, fighting to be free and to consume everything in their paths, yet unable to. They tried so hard to escape (so, so, so sickeningly hard) but they were trapped, just like she was. Her head tilted as she watched the flaring sparks travel upward; she would not let them out of her sight. She refused to; just like she refused to let herself feel and think. The flames merged together, creating a consuming, deadly bond, which would never be broken. Her pupils dilated as she sat watching them disappear through the chimneystack into the dark night air. Free
Bombalurina unknowingly shuddered at the thought of what she had just committed a few hours ago, what she had just become. She stared wickedly at the bowl of cream that she now clutched in her paws. She had traded the unknown items that the tom had given her for her services, for food. It was a weird system; not at all how wild cats lived. In the tavern you would trade any object of use, for food, shelter or anything that you so desired. That was the only way you could survive here. No hunting, no scrounging, just trading and selling. Selling dead animals, stolen human items, random services, and in Bombalurina's case, selling herself. She could still feel the presence of the tom on her even though he was long gone, and that wasn't what disturbed her. It was the looks she got afterwards from everyone, that irked her. It was like she had joined some sort of exclusive club, which only members of the tavern knew about. They acted like she knew some great secret, a secret that everyone wanted to know, but was forbidden from even inquiring about. The system, would always be a mystery to her it seemed. How these cats worked and lived, she just wouldn't understand. She guessed she could blame her years as a Jellicle on that one.
Her version of work in the tavern was quite unusual to her. Of course she was aware what creatures do in the line of prostitution, but this odd system, this trading to get what you want, was just not what she was used to. In the tavern they (the clients) came to the rooms, got what they paid for, left the item and left without another word. No one inquired anything else from her; they only wanted and asked for the object the client left (no matter what it was) and then she was free to do as she pleased. She had access to all the food and shelter she wanted. It was a different way of life, no strings attached or commitments made, like the one she lived so long ago, but so very different. Here it was every cat for themselves, yet you never betrayed a fellow member. You could leave whenever you desired to, because the tavern didn't need you, you needed it. It was either get it, or get lost.
A different presence beside Bombalurina caused the red queen to stir out of her Jellicle like contemplation.
"It wasn't that hard, was't Bombalurina?" Marlenea asked with a toothy grin. Bombalurina turned over on her side, obviously not interested. "Come on honey, don't be that way. Y'got food, didn't you? Your sons got a safe place to live where he won't be judged. Ain't that what y'wanted?"
"Yes, it is. I just didn't think that it would be so, so… Hard." Bombalurina struggled to get the words out through clenched teeth. She had tried hard to not let her emotions come through thus far, and here she was after it was over, acting like a baby. She would not blow this, she couldn't afford to. Grow up, you overgrown housekitten.
Marlenea gave an understanding, sad little smile, and wrapped an arm around Bombalurina's shoulder. Whether it was from exhaustion or loneliness she wasn't sure, but Bombalurina accepted the offered support and let all her feelings come out in front of someone for the first time in ages. It was difficult. Everything was just so damn difficult! Ever since she had found out that she had gotten pregnant all those months ago, she had been completely alone; no one was ever there for her, not even Demeter. No one saw the tears that fell at night or the loneliness in her eyes each day when she woke up. She hadn't let them see for fear of them finding out the truth. She couldn't let them find out she wasn't as strong as she pretended to be, or that she wasn't as confident in herself anymore, like she used to be. In the end, no matter how much she denied it to others and herself, he just wanted someone to be there for her; to let her know that everything was alright, and here of all places, someone was. She'd be a fool not to accept it.
"It'sa'kay, sweetie, it'sa'kay. I know what you're going through. Bast do I know," Marlenea soothed as she nuzzled the brave scarlet's head, " Don't you go around saying this to no one, but when I first came here I was just as scared, and felt just as alone as you do right now. I thought that everyone in the world was out to get me too, but realized that it ain't true. The world ain't all that bad, y'know." Bombalurina looked up at the multi-coloured queen, not understanding.
"I know, it's 'crazy' for someone like me to' ave ever felt like that but ain't it the truth. All'f us feel it at one point or another. You long for someone's arms to hold you at night, or have someone there in the morning, if only to argue with. Arguing's better then ta'silence we get afterwards. Anything's better then silence. You want someone to love you, screw up an' all, not just your body," Marlenea sighed, stroking the wisps of red fur on Bombalurina's forehead.
"Why did you come here?" Bombalurina managed to choked out.
"My family kicked me out when I was a kit. I grew up on scraps and stuff, whatever I could get my claws on, but it proved too hard. I found this real top of the line tom, the kind that any queen would want to settle down with an' I got the best of everything. He said he wouldn't trade the world for me, so when I was older I became his mate, only to find out that he weren't what he seemed. E' ran a trade business for queens," The calico shuddered at the memory she was reliving, "I ran away one night when he was asleep. I left everything I had and came here. It was hard at first, but the nurses took great care of me and I found a home here. It was unlike any other place I'd ever seen before," Bombalurina perked up and looked into the queens golden eyes. So it was true, what one persons trash is, is another person heaven.
"Marlenea, I-I'm so sorry," Bombalurina said as she returned the embrace to the fluffy queen.
"Now don'cha go wasting your emotions on me. I don't need no sympathy! I'gotten over it, n'so'ill you," Marlenea grinned her response, then noticed the collar that hung around the red queens neck. "So sweetie, who gave ya that piece of belonging?" Bombalurina rolled her eyes in response.
"A tom."
"I see. Lemme guess, he's related to Tristram somehow?" Marlenea stated pointedly. In all honestly, she was somewhat amused. Bombalurina still wore that old thing?
" How'd you guess?" Bombalurina replied sarcastically. The last thing that she had wanted to talk about at the moment was Tugger and her family. Marlenea took a good look at the collar and smiled. For someone to of given her that they must of cared for her, no matter how old it was. It was vintage in a way. Pretty, but not showy.
"Y'love him, don't ya?" she stated, looking at Bombalurina sympathetically, who just sighed and looked at the ground.
"At one point in time Marlenea, I suppose I did. It seems so long ago now. I doubt that I even knew what love was."
As the months past, life continued on as usual for the Jellicle Tribe. No one at the Junkyard had heard or seen anything of Bombalurina, about Bombalurina, or something remotely related to Bombalurina, and rarely brought up the topic. Tugger had searched for the red queen for weeks but there was no sign of her anywhere, and Demeter never acknowledged the fact that her sister had actually been forced to leave; the upcoming ball however was bringing back old memories and it was hurting the tribe in ways no one cared to admit. It would be the third ball since Grizabella had ascended to the Heavyside, and the first ball for most of the cats that Bombalurina wouldn't be apart of.
Demeter's life ever since her sister had left had been organized chaos. She was hurt so deeply that she couldn't register all of her emotions and she barely spoke anymore. At first she had felt so betrayed by Bombalurina, then after the queen had left, felt like she had betrayed Bombalurina. She was the crimson queens sister, she should have said something in her defense! She had been so blind though, so shocked. And it had all happened so fast! She honestly didn't expect Bombalurina to leave, and even when she did leave, she thought she'd be back within a few days, if at most a few weeks. Her sister was stubborn and never let anyone tell her what to do, not even a Leader of the tribe! She wasn't suppose to be gone for months like this. Of course Demeter had been mad when she had found out the kitten was Tuggers, but what could Bombalurina have expected? It was a shock! She didn't mean for anything like this to happen her sister and nephew. And god damn it she had loved that little kitten like he was her own! She still did. Maybe that's why she couldn't believe what she had just heard from her mate. She wouldn't believe it! She wanted to believe the best about her lost family, not this! Her sister could not be living as a tavern wench, it just wasn't possible! They could not have driven her that far off the edge.
"How do you know that he's not lying! I know my sister, and that's not like her at all!" Demeter shouted at Munkustrap, who had just been informed on Bombalurina's location from a supposed 'alley cat'. Munkustrap had taken position as Jellicle leader after his father, Old Deuteronomy, had been killed in a Pollicle fight during the winter months of Bombalurina's banishment, and he relied on the honesty and bravery of his followers to aid him.
"Demeter, I know that it's hard to believe, but I don't think we should rule out the possibility. Sometimes, situations get so bad that cats do whatever they need to do in order to survive. Your sister is no exception," the silver tabby tried to reason. He did not want to offend his mate, but what else could he do? Demeter needed to face the truth at one point, if she was ever going to begin to heal.
"This," Demeter hissed at Tugger as he attentively approached, "This whole situation is your entire fault! If you hadn't of chased her out, none of this would have happened!" She pointed an accusing claw at the tom before hissing once and running off toward her den.
Munkustrap sighed, debating whether or not to go after her, and took a seat beside his brother, "Tugger, you know she doesn't fully understand what's going on. It's been hard for her these last few months, especially now because of the ball. It's been hard on all of us. I'm sorry; I just don't know what to do with her. If father were here, he'd know what to say to make this better."
" No Stripes," Tugger interrupted dejectedly, "she's right. About everything."
"Mom. Mom. Mom. WAKE UP!" Bombalurina opened her eyes to see the face of her young son peering up at her. He was still a toddler in cat standards, but she guessed living in an institution such as this, forced him to grow up much faster then he should have.
"Good morning, how did you sleep?" Bombalurina asked as she licked the top of her sons' head and lifted him beginning to walk down to the nursery.
"Good! Aunty Marlenea showed me stuff," Tristram mumbled while playing with a piece of fur on his mothers' shoulders.
"Oh? What did she show you?"
"Stuff," Bombalurina smiled to herself. He was so lively that he reminded her of when Demeter was little. As she turned a corner into the main building, a tiny tug on her tail forced her to turn around. A kitten with big green eyes looked up at her grinning.
"Can Trist come play? All of us are waiting down by the pond!" The kitten said rather sheepishly under Bombalurina's gaze. He was older than Tristram as many of the kittens were, but they all were still very fond of the younger cat.
"Please mommy!" Tristrams big blue eyes sparkled with delight as he pleaded with her. He seemed to get insanely excited about the stupidest things she had noticed amused.
"As long as you don't go far and stay away from new cats," Bombalurina said as she put the young kitten, who reached the height of her knee, down on the ground, "Then you can go."
"We won't!" Tristram screamed before running after the older kitten.
"Look who's all spunky today," Malinxa commented coming up behind the red queen.
"Oh, I know. It's weird how fast they grow. I'm glad he's getting old enough to go places by himself, but I'm just a little bit sad he couldn't stay small forever." Bombalurina said as she walked away with the other fiery queen.
As evening fell Bombalurina gently rocked her son to sleep in her paws. His big blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight that was peeking through the window of the small room they owned at the tavern.
"The moon is big," Tristram said as he looked out the window. "Why?"
"It's the Jellicle moon," Bombalurina said smiling, "The Jellicle ball will be taking place soon." Tristram had always known about his history, Bombalurina would tell him stories about the tribe and all the scrapes she would get herself into. She never kept anything from him, there was no need to.
"Mommy, is the ball fun?" Bombalurina cringed. She wanted to tell him that someday he would be able to see for himself and make up his own mind, but that was highly unlikely. She wanted to tell him that he would experience the music and the dancing, the rush of adrenaline you get when you're intoxicated by the midnight dance, but she couldn't. It broke her heart.
"Come on love, it's time for you to get some sleep." Bombalurina lay her son down on the ragged material made bed, pulling up the excess covers around him. Smiling at the peaceful scene, she softly began to sing to him. The notes that she emitted created familiar song that both he, and she, (no matter how painful it was) loved to hear.
''Jellicle Cats come out tonight
Jellicle Cats come one come all
The Jellicle moon is shining bright
Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.''
FIVE CAT YEARS LATER.
"Mom, can me and Scarlet go for a walk? She said that she wanted to see if there was any new cats in the nursery?" Tristram asked as he and the ginger queen smiled at his mother.
" 'Can Scarlet and I go for a walk', and 'see if there were any new cats.' Speak properly Tristram, I know you know how to. And yes, as long as you don't get chased from the kitchen across the street again," Bombalurina smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"Bombalurina, sweetie, you worry honestly way too much," Scarlet said as she led the kitten away. Bombalurina sighed and walked around a large staircase as she watched the two walk away together. It had been a late night, but a good night. She had made enough business that would provide at least two weeks worth of food, from three toms that had paid quite a high amount for her services. A pearl necklace was one of the many items traded. She hadn't expected Tristram to accept their way of life so easily, but it was like he knew all along that it had to be done. He was still a young kitten, about seven (as humans would say), and of course there were those times when he would throw a fit when he couldn't get something his way, which would make Bombalurina want to rip her claws out, but other then that, they were okay. They would survive, and knowing this made Bombalurina the happiest queen on the planet.
"I bet you couldn't climb over that fence!" Tristram said to a young black tom kitten as he walked out onto the pavement. Scarlet had disappeared after some tom had approached her for some reason.
"Oh yeah? And you could? Are you still sore at me from a few days ago?" Tristrams ears flattened. "Oh come on Trist! The tom got his tokens back and we didn't get caught!" Clay whined as he walked to meet him.
"You mean you didn't get in trouble! Marlenea said if she ever found out that I did something like that again, she would tell my mom and I wouldn't be able to leave my room for a week!"
"How about we even the deal? We both go over the fence, and go for a little walk," Clay said nudging the younger kitten. They shared a look and took off running toward the fence. Soon they were up and over it, landing on the other side with a 'thud'. "Come on, Trist. I heard about this great place not too far from here!" the black kitten said as they bounded down the alley road. They soon arrived at this pond surrounded by old tins and garbage cans.
"This is your great place?" Tristram asked, gesturing around him, not amused.
"No, this is my great place," an unsettling raspy voice said as a large dog emerged from a garbage can. The two kittens backed away slowly, too frightened to bristle their fur or make any move to defend themselves. The dog bared its teeth, ready to lunge at the two helpless cats. "Do you know what happens to cats who stumble into my territory?" the dog barked wheezing, "They don't get back out!" He snapped his powerful jaws as he leapt at the kittens, who took off like a shot.
The street was huge and had absolutely no hiding places. Tristram couldn't tell if Clay was in front of him, behind him, or with him at all.
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," the dog was getting menacingly closer. Tristram had to move now; the sheet that he was hiding under didn't provide much protection. Closing his eyes he darted out of his hiding place and onto a two-lane highway. As a car slammed on its breaks, the kitten dodged another larger one, making it across the street; unfortunately, flanked by the large canine. Tristram sharply turned a corner and by some miracle ran through an opening in a wire fence that was too small for the dog to get through. As the dog edged closer, a loud hiss, followed by another one (and another one) stopped the beast in its tracks. Cats came out of every corner and surrounded the dog; baring claws and teeth, arching their backs, ready to attack the mutt.
"You get your hide out of here," a large female hissed, "You know better then to come into Jellicle territory."
As the dog backed away slowly and ran back down the alley, the six cats that were present turned to Tristram, realizing exactly who he was.
"Bombalurina! Thank Bast! Quick- something's happened to Tristram!" Marlenea was out of breaths. "Clay was found dead in an alleyway across town! Tristrams scent, along with a dogs, is also there!" Marlenea shouted at the red queen who was eating the remains of a mouse.
Bombalurina instantly shot up and ran out of the tavern in the direction that Marlenea had said the alley way was in. Smelling her son's scent on the street, her heart stopped. He couldn't be dead. As she franticly ran around trying to pick up which way his scent led, she was pointed in the direction of a Junkyard. And of course, it wasn't one she didn't recognize. She knew it like she knew the back of her hand.
Her son was in the Jellicle Junkyard.
"I-I didn't mean for it to happen! He said that it was a really great place, so I went with him!" Tristram sobbed as Jellylorum and Jennyanydots nursed him. "I didn't mean for it to happen!"
"Shh love, it's not your fault," Jellylorum said as she nuzzled the frightened kitten.
"What do we do now? What happens from here?" Mistoffelees yelled at Munkustrap, stunned. After years of having to try and piece back the life the tribe had known without Bombalurina, he had to rethink the whole thing, as now the world as he knew it, was shattered.
"I don't know." Munkustrap sighed, looking over to the young kitten in Jellylorums arms with pity mixed with bafflement. Demeter approached cautiously, not wanting to scare the kitten away. Munkustrap didn't know what he should do. There wasn't a guide left for him that would tell him how to deal with these situations. Did he keep the kitten here at the Junkyard and return him to his mother later, or should he send him back now? Or did they keep him? Was Bombalurina even alive? As Munkustrap went to get up, a curious voice made him stop.
"Stripes, what's all the commotion about?" Tugger asked as he sauntered over toward the silver tabby, who just pointed dumbly over to the group of queens hovering around the tiny kitten. "New kitten? Is that all?" Tugger asked carelessly, only to get an unrecognizable look from the silver tabby.
"No," Munkustrap gaped, " He's defiantly not new."
A loud high-pitched voice caused the cats all to look up, startled by the kittens sudden outburst.
"Mom!" Tristram screamed as he leapt into Bombalurina's welcoming arms.
"Tristram, what are you doing here? I was so worried about you!" she purred, clasping her son tightly and nuzzled his head. Hearts skipped beats as the Junkyard cats watched the two tavern cats embrace.
Tugger approached silently and kneeled down a few meters away, awed. Tristram opened his eyes, spying the Maine Coon.
"Mom, who's he?" Bombalurina turned around cautiously. She had known this day would come, but she didn't expect it to be so soon. She wasn't ready! Her eyes flashed when they met his; the bane of her existence. With a hiss in her throat and venom lacing her mouth, Bombalurina let go of her son.
"Meet the Rum Tum Tugger, your father."
