Author's Note: This is probably going to be one of the longest things I've written in a while, and I'm going to be constantly expirimenting with the way I write it. I managed to get through the chapter without giving away which character I was talking about. I've got another story in the works and I'm debating whether or not I should work it together with this one (they do mesh quite well, actually). I'll be thinking about that as I write the next chapter. Anyway, enough of me, and on with the story!

The notes floated about like sweet chaos, blanketing the junkyard and hypnotizing the inhabitants. They knew they had an audience; they always did, but this wasn't for them, those people. The Jellicles were never quite sure where the music would float in from, but it was like clockwork. Every Jellicle moon, the melodies of the Jellicle ball would explode into the junkyard with a power that most of the cats couldn't even begin to imagine on other days. I'd felt an attraction to these notes the first time I'd heard them, and though I was too shy to join the Jellicles in their dancing, I came back every year to bask in their intoxicating melody.

There were other cats that waited in the wings, hoping to be accepted into the tribe. Mostly, they came and went; there weren't many who felt comfortable around that kind of power. There was something about the Jellicles that made the outside cats nervous; it left them in awe. Someitmes, though, there were a few that joined. I'd been to the ball a few years in a row now, always hanging in the wings and keeping away from the other cats. It wasn't hard for me to stay in the shadows like it was for some of the other outsiders. They, like the Jellicles, were usually bright whites and other odd colors that shone brightly under the light of the moon. For me, it was just a matter of staying in the shadows and keeping myself tucked away so that I wouldn't be noticed. I'd never been one to welcome attention, the clumsy cat that I was.

I did, after a year or so, receive some familiar glances. A kitten I had come to know as Etcetera had perched herself above me and pawed at my ears a few times, trying to get me to interact. Maybe then, I think she thought, I would be more willing to join the tribe. It had made me smile, but soon an older queen had shooed her away from me. Another time, two young toms that looked to me to be brothers (I would later find out that they were not) had made an event of chasing my tail after I'd found myself actually dancing with a few of the cats. Their playful swatting had broken me free of the trance that I'd watched so many other cats fall into; it was a comfortable feeling, a wonderful feeling, and all of the times I'd seen them fall in, they hadn't fallen out. The years after that I saw these cats that had been so hypnotized; they were now dancing as members of the tribe. I wanted that feeling.

It was this night, the last ball that I had planned on attending before moving on to a new tribe- giving up on maybe, maybe gathering the courage to leap into the ranks, that something extraordinarily odd had happened. I had been acknowledged.

It was a cat I'd seen many times before that had done it, and he'd always had somewhat of a prominent position in the tribe. It was at the beginining of the ball, before the arrival of their great leader, Old Deuteronomy. The arrival of each cat was announced by a single line, and the song grew longer each year. I'd noticed that the more prominent cats in the tribe tended to sing first, and his position was ever unchanging and towards the beginning of the ritual tune.

"Are you cock of the walk?"

It wasn't a particularly long line, but one I knew well, and I sheepishly avoided a glance cast in my direction from the familiar tom. I'd been watching him from the shadows for a good amount of time at the last ball- he was a rather amusing cat, I'd found. I'd had a hard time keeping from being noticed at the last ball with my constant giggling at his ever-hilarious actions. It was after this that he did something that seemed to confuse some of the other cats, and they watched him with nervousness as he hopped down from his perch and ignored the entrances of two very annoyed looking Jellicles. I noted with some amusement that Jellicles were generally proud creatures, and did not take this kindly. I did receive some odd looks when I was taken by one paw and practically thrown into the dance. I'd seen the dance before, so it came somewhat easily, but the mastery of their particular anthem wasn't what was making me nervous. Even with an assuring glance or two from the one who'd just propelled me into their world (rather unwillingly, I might add), I was still on edge. What if I were to make a fool of myself? What of that older queen, was she going to appear and shoo me away like she had the kitten from before? I didn't much like the feeling.

"Don't worry about it," the tom from before told me during a short rest.

And I didn't.

It wasn't until later that night in the ball when I'd been summoned to the top of the tire. I knew how it worked, I would be asked if I planned on joining the Jellicle tribe, and introduced to the other cats. I'd seen it a few times before. Then, I'd be told, I would be questioned the following day, but enough with the politics- on with the ball! I'd seen it enough to know what was coming. I'd never understood why the cats looked so nervous up there on that mass of junk before. I had always viewed Old Deuteronomy from the shadows as a very/very, old cat, and it escaped me how he could still be leader at that age. Now, standing in his presence, I knew that he was a very feeble cat, indeed (not that I'd be able to even push over a cat of his size), but still I was intimidated by him unlike I had been by any other cat. The Jellicles were truly baffling creatures.

Old Deuteronomy greeted me warmly at the top of that tire; I knew he'd seen me at the ball those years before. I suppose he was glad that someone had finally dragged me into the tribe like he knew they eventually would. He, as well as the second in command whose name I never truly could catch, looked at me with amused expressions as a rather stiffened up version of myself was presented to him.

"I've seen you at the ball before," he said, and his words echoed rather loudly. I'd heard him present other cats before, but only now did it seem so unbearably loud that I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. This wouldn't be too hard, considering I /was/ mostly black, and the junkyard was a very shadowy place...

I shifted nervously as I snapped from my thoughts. I could feel the stares of the other cats at my back, but off to a side I caught a reassuring look from the black and white tom that had put me in this position, along with a smile or two from the kitten I knew as Etcetera. Sensing that I wasn't going to answer any time soon, the old leader continued, "and it seems that you've finally decided to join us, yes?"

"Yes," it came out a lot shakier than I would've liked, but this only seemed to amuse these two at the top of the tire, as well as some older cats.

"First, though, I think a proper introduction is in order," he spun me around and I let out a very undignified squeak as I was twirled to face the Jellicle tribe. The large, shaggy paw now resting on my shoulder as Deuteronomy held up his other arm as if to present me felt extremely heavy, and at that point there was nothing I would've rather done than to run away from these cats, if only I were able to lift off this tremendous weight from my shoulder. When had I started sweating so much? "Well," he continued, "I must, of course, ask you; what to call you? What is your name, young queen?"

"Q-q-quaxo."

Author's Note: Okay, okay, before you get on me about what I said in my Author's Note in the prologue, need I remind you that Quaxo is a character, and in some countries (most notably Asian ones, I think), Quaxo is not only a separate character from Mistoffolees, but also played by a female. ;3 Ahaha. Now I'm gonna go run off and be all proud of myself for 'finding a loophole'. -is a loser-