1. Such Silence

The tension in the Junkyard was becoming unbearable, stifling almost.

"I'm telling you Munk, something's not right. Tux and me are closer than you think" Tugger sighed, coming to stand with Munk on the old tyre. A dead silence fell upon the Junkyard, . The two brothers froze, their hairs standing on end. The sound of a car screeching past pierced the silence and Tugger's heart skipped a beat.

"Don't even think it" Munk said softly, but he knew it was no use. They were both thinking it. As the sound of the car died away, once more everything stopped. Tugger had never heard such silence.

Finally a sound cut through the stillness, the sound of footsteps. Munk and Tugger just knew it was him, from the relief they felt it had to be. But something inside Tugger told him to worry. When Griddlebone and Cronac (the very cats Quaxo had gone to rescue) stepped in to the centre of the Junkyard, Tugger felt his heart wrench. Griddlebone's cheeks were stained with tears as she limped over to the two toms.

"I'm so sorry……he was just trying to save me" she sobbed, falling at their feet. Munk and Tugger looked at each other, and Skimble jumped down from his place by the old wireless. The brothers didn't know how long he had been standing there, maybe he was there to protect the interests of his daughter, wanting to be the first to know if her heart was going to be broken.

"Tell me it's not the wee laddy" Skimble said in a low whisper. The three toms looked at one another, then over at Cronac who looked away so as to avoid their eyes. Tugger didn't need words. He could feel it, he'd felt it before it happened and he could almost sense the sapping energy of his wounded friend. He leapt down before anyone could stop him or tell him it was for the best if he stayed. He wanted to be with his Tux, he had promised him he would protect him and he needed to be there now before it was too late. He had leapt so swiftly from the tyre, it took the others a while to react and he tore through the Junkyard and down the streets too fast for them to catch him up.

When he saw him, for a moment, the world stopped. He looked so small, so still against the cold hard ground. All alone in the middle of the road, he lay without movement. His blue eyes still sparkled faintly in the moonlight, his tiny black frame looked so fragile. His fur glimmered in the starlight, as if pieces of the sky has broken away and the fallen stars had settled like snowflakes amongst the deep midnight of the magician's fur. Tugger was so captured, so startled, by the sight that for a moment he forget to move. He felt tears 

sting the backs of his eyes, a choke of air was caught in his throat waiting to break his voice and betray him.

He bolted to his friend's side, falling to the ground beside him. Misto himself was a fallen star. The dim light left in his eyes pierced through Tugger, seeing everything, understanding all the things Tugger wanted to say but couldn't quite muster. The little tom raised his head from the ground slightly to look Tugger in the eye. A brief smile crossed his lips and then he let his head drop once more. Tugger knew he was watching the life ebb out of him, but there was nothing he could do to save the tux now. His Tux.

"I promised I would keep you safe" Tugger whispered at last, his breath catching slightly. Misto smiled softly again.

"You did Tugs. Still by my side, even now" the tux said gently, his eyes shining a little brighter suddenly.

"But Tux…"

"Shh Tugger, don't you try and prevent this and don't you cry. And when I'm gone, let your memory guide you. Remember everything Tugger, everything from the very first day we met and when the memories bring you smiles then you must make them stronger because the power of the memories may just make your smile remain."

"Don't leave me" Tugger said so quietly it was barely audible, but Misto heard. He squeezed Tugger's hand.

"Look, a new day is beginning. It's time for me to go now, I don't belong here anymore" Mistoffelees murmured, his eyes closed, the last of his life ebbed away and the cold silence fell back in to place as if it had never gone.

"Oh well, I never was there ever a cat so clever as Magical Mr.Mistoffelees. My Magical Mr.Mistoffelees" he said in an undertone in to the night. It was over and Tugger couldn't stay strong any longer, and he let his head fall as he cried in to Mistoffelees' fur.

As Skimble and Munkustrap stood on the corner, watching Tugger cradle the kit in his arms their hearts broke for the second time that night.
"It's not one lad we lost tonight, it's two…dunnae get me wrong, I hate his antics. But they make people smile…there will'nae be many of those no more. Smiles, that is" Skimble muttered, turning his eyes away. Munkustrap let out a heavy sigh.
"How am I going to tell Alonzo...how am I going to tell any of his brothers?"


"I'd give you all my strength but I'm afraid I'm going to need it to deal with the wee boy" Skimble replied. They moved away from the edge of the pavement now, going back towards the Junkyard and letting Tugger be alone with his Tux a few moments longer.

Munkustrap had to inform the tribe, a job Skimble wouldn't wish on anyone. But Skimble had to fetch a cloth, cover the body and bring it home. And that was a job Munkustrap despised more than anything. As they solemnly made their way through the junkpiles, neither one could comprehend what had just happened. Quaxo was barely more than a kit, Mistoffelees had stopped Macavity. How could this cat, this Jellicle, be stopped by a single car? A car that he threw himself in front of in order to save the lady Griddlebone who he had been rescuing from the captivity of Macavity's angry henchcats, their anger prompted by the news that she and Cronac had assisted Quaxo in an escape from Macavity's lair which later led to Macavity's defeat. Skimble had always said the kit's kindness would be the death of him. He had never wanted it to be true though.

Skimble pulled the red silk cloth out from under the purple mattress that lay inside the old car. This cloth'd had many uses in its time, it had been Quaxo's since he had first come to the Junkyard, he had often used it in his tricks. It was only fitting that this was the cloth he was laid in. Rolling the cloth up, Skimble bid Munkustrap a silent goodbye, then turned back the way he had come.
"Be strong Skimble" he whispered to himself.

--

Munkustrap saw Alonzo sitting awake amidst his sleeping brothers just outside of the main Junkyard. Quaxo had told him not to wait, but since when had orders stopped Alonzo? The patched tom looked content in the moonlight, surrounded by the family he had done so well to protect this long. Until now.
"Lonz I..."

Alonzo looked across and Munk saw his brown eyes fill with sudden fear. He shook his head.
"No...please no" Alonzo said softly, tears beginning to creep in. Munk came closer, sitting down slowly. He was still in shock himself. It was Carbucketty who sensed something first, and he sat up, his head a scruff of fur. He narrowed his eyes, looking from Munkustrap to Alonzo.
"He's gone isn't he" were CB's simple words. Neither of the older toms replied, they just stared silently in to middle distance. But Carbucketty didn't need words to explain to him because he could see their grief plainly, he could practically taste it, it hung so thick in the 

air. Admetus and Bill Bailey stirred now, looking up groggily at Munk.
"We don't have a fifth brother any more, do we," Admetus whispered, his shining blue eyes filling with tears which he refused to shed. Bill's warm brown eyes were also full of tears and CB's blue eyes had been betraying him for some time now. CB had been the closest to Quaxo of all the brothers and the two had so often made their brotherly friendship grow stronger through their mutual love of dance. Not one of the brothers moved, they all just waited as if eventually time would get bored and rewind itself back.

--

Skimble put a kind paw on Tugger's shoulder.
"Leave him be now laddy, there's nothing our tears can do to save him and you know that" he said quietly. Tugger cursed under his breath, stepping back. Skimble gave him a sympathetic smile then unfurled the cloth. Tugger kicked a stone across the road and wandered off in to the night. Skimble couldn't help but wonder if he would ever been seen in the Junkyard again. He knelt down by the tom's side.
"Sorry lad" he said, then he placed the cloth over him and slowly pulled it up over his face. Then he picked the kit up in his arms and started to carry him back to the Junkyard.