Macavity and Tugger soon found themselves at the alleyway that Kira, Munkustrap's evil biological mother, resided in. Macavity turned to Tugger, stopping him from entering the alley. They could both hear movement and terrible singing coming from within the alley.
"I need you to stay here," Macavity told Tugger, "I'll give you a signal when I want you to enter, in order to surprise her and get her to react to you," he continued when he saw Tugger about to protest. Tugger grudgingly nodded, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. Macavity smirked at his kitten-ish behaviour before he wiped all expression from his face, keeping it neutral, as he entered the alley.
He soon found who he was looking for. He knew it was her the moment his golden eyes laid upon the brown and grey Queen as she sat on a box, brushing at her fur with her claws, as she sang terribly to herself. Macavity's fur began bristling, tail swishing angrily, a growl developing in the base of his throat as he walked towards her.
All of his heightened senses were screaming at him, telling him she was a cat not to be trusted, she was evil and manipulative.
Pushing back all of his instincts, and wants, to attack this disgusting excuse of a Queen, Macavity walked over to her.
"Kira, I presume?" he asked, voice even. Kira looked up, dark brown eyes widening in shock as she found herself looking at the leader of the Hidden Paws. She leapt to her feet, smiling coyly.
"Macavity, I've heard so much about you!" she purred, offering her paw. Macavity ignored it, golden eyes examining her.
The years had certainly not agreed with her, with deep lines and wrinkles lining her face, her wrists thin, her fingers almost scarily skeletal, aged silver fur prominent amongst her coarse brown and grey fur.
Macavity glanced away from her, slowly walking around the dirty alley, eyeing off the junk and dark grey brick walls.
"I was hoping you could help me with something," Macavity spoke slowly. Kira nodded eagerly.
"Oh, anything!" Macavity turned his head to glance to where Tugger was hiding, barely able to hide his look of disgust from her as he heard her eager, coy reply.
"I'm looking for someone, someone very dear to me, who was kidnapped," Macavity continued, looking back at her, "and I hear you might have an idea of who has taken him."
Kira blinked, confused.
"I-I'm not sure," she mumbled.
"Maybe his name will help," Macavity replied smoothly. "His name is Munkustrap." Kira's head whipped up at that, her dark brown eyes narrowing.
"I don't know that name," she growled shortly, turning back to sit on the wooden crate once more. "You must have me mistaken with someone else."
Macavity scowled. "Don't toy with me, Kira, I know that you know exactly who I'm talking about,"
She glanced at him. "Oh, and how do I know him?"
"He's your son! The one you sold into slavery!" Macavity snarled, unable to keep it in. Kira shook her head.
"You have me mistaken with someone else, I don't have a son," she sniffed, going back to brushing her fur. Macavity glared at her, the urge to hurt and maim her getting to the point of almost overwhelming him.
"Well, then I guess my source must be wrong," Macavity spoke up, turning his head to look towards where Tugger was hiding. Tugger took this as his cue and strolled towards his brother.
Kira glanced up as she heard footsteps and snarled as she caught sight of Tugger.
"You!" she snarled dangerously.
"You liar!" Tugger snarled back at her as Macavity stepped aside. "You did this to Munkustrap, you know where he is!"
"I don't care about that brat!" Kira yelled. "He's getting what he deserves, he deserves to be back in slavery!"
"So you lied to me…" Macavity purred, voice cutting through the snarls Tugger and Kira were sending to one another. Kira blinked, realising what she had said.
"N-No, I wasn't," she stammered. Macavity tutted, shaking his head, as he slowly walked towards her.
"You see, Kira, Tugger here is my younger brother," Macavity explained slowly, sounding very much like a predator taunting his prey. "That makes Munkustrap, your poor son, my adopted baby brother, who I am very fond of," Macavity continued, "I watched him grow into a wonderful brother, one who was always there for me and I made him a promise, after a past master tried to take him from us," he hissed, "I promised him that I would always bring him home if one of his past masters, or anyone for that matter, took him away from us. I would bring him back home to the Jellicles, where he belongs!" Kira rolled her eyes.
"He belongs nowhere except in a cage!" Kira snapped at him. "He's worthless!" Macavity threw out his arm, stopping Tugger from leaping onto the Queen.
"You're making me very angry, Kira," Macavity responded, his voice scarily even. "Do not make this worse for yourself, tell me where I can find my baby brother." Kira shook her head, laughing.
That was the last straw for Macavity.
He lunged at her, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there.
"Tugger, grab her arms!" Macavity yelled at him. "I need to concentrate on this!" Tugger did as he asked, kneeling beside her head and pinning her paws to the ground.
Kira laughed maniacally. "I don't even know where he is!" she giggled, "You'll never find him, they're going to break him, I made sure to get the slave trader who would break him!"
Macavity snarled, golden eyes flashing, as he leaned over her, grabbing her chin and forcing him to look at her.
"I'm not going to kill you," he whispered, voice even with a hateful edge to it, "I'm going to make you wish I did." Kira went a bit quiet then, her eyes widening, as she realised the dangerous situation she was in.
Macavity made a show of one of his sharp claws slipping out from his paw. His golden eyes landed on Tugger.
"She's going to scream, don't let her go, I need to make this mark for the curse to work," he told him, voice firm. Tugger nodded, though his heart raced in his chest.
He knew she deserved this curse, but he wasn't looking forward to hearing her scream.
He winced as her scream suddenly pierced the air as Macavity carved a mark onto her chest as he muttered in a strange tongue, a dark purple aura pulsating around him.
Macavity finished carving the mark and instead used his paws to hold down her shoulders, stopping her attempts to buck him off, as he continued to chant.
Minutes later, he stopped, the curse complete.
Macavity nodded to Tugger as he stood up and away from Kira, Tugger mirroring his actions. Kira whimpered as she sat up, paw on the scarred mark on her chest as she attempted to look at it, moving around the blood stained fur around it. The mark had already healed into an ugly, ragged scar, one that she had no chance of hiding.
"W-What did you do to me?" Kira whimpered, looking up at Macavity as Tugger went to stand by his side.
Macavity sneered at her. "I made your worst nightmare come true," he hissed, "all cats, Pollicles, and humans will see you for who you are, they will loathe you the moment they catch sight of you. You will be chased, you will be hurt, as that is what everyone will do when they see you." Tugger blinked, surprised but satisfied at this punishment for the heartless Queen. Kira whimpered on the ground.
"You will never be loved again, never be helped again, instead you will be hurt; you'll be spat on, cursed and hunted but they will never kill you, they will hurt you to the point of being on the brink of death, but they won't kill you; I wouldn't want them to put you out of your misery and they will feel the same."
"I-I'll kill myself!" Kira croaked, causing Macavity to chuckle darkly.
"Oh no you won't," he laughed cruelly, "you're too much of a coward for that, besides I cursed you so would be unable to end your miserable life,"
"No!" Kira choked, "Macavity, have mercy!" Macavity shook his head.
"You had no thoughts of mercy when you organised for Munkus to be stolen from his family and sold into slavery again, you won't even tell us where he is, though Macavity has given you plenty of chances," Tugger spoke up hatefully. "Why should Macavity grant you mercy when you're not even capable of it?" Macavity nodded in agreement.
"Come, Tugger, I believe we've wasted enough time on this miserable worm," Macavity told his brother, who nodded in agreement. "Her punishment has been dealt, she's useless to us now. We have to find Munkustrap."
Tugger and Macavity walked away, leaving Kira wailing on the ground as she realised just what her heartless actions had led to.
They were almost back at the yard when Tugger noticed Macavity was swaying slightly, his pallor pale under his bright orange fur.
"You all right, Mac?" Tugger asked, slightly worried. Macavity gave a slight nod.
"Cursing someone like that takes a lot of energy," Macavity murmured, "I just need to rest for a little while to regain my strength," Tugger nodded.
They stopped out the front of the gates.
"Now that we know that Kira has sold Munkustrap into slavery again, I need to chase up new leads," Macavity explained, "I know a cat that has contacts when it comes to the slave network, I need to speak to him as soon as I can." Tugger gave another nod before hesitating.
"You sure you don't want to sit and eat something first, Mac?" he asked hesitantly. "We don't want ya to pass out on the way there, can't lose you too." Macavity's face softened at his younger brother's concern.
They didn't always get along, but it was nice to know his brother still cared despite everything that had happened between them.
Macavity shook his head.
"I'll be fine, Tugger, I've got Hidden Paws everywhere," Macavity reassured him. "You go tell Quaxo that everything is alright so he stops freaking out and I'll contact you when I get news," he said softly, smiling. "If you hear anything, come to the lair, if I'm not there one of my hench-cats will know how to contact me." Tugger nodded, sighing sadly.
"We'll get him back, Tugs," Macavity murmured. "Munkustrap is strong and he knows we'll be searching day and night to find him, he won't give up on us." Macavity patted his shoulder before walking off, looking a little stronger.
"I hope you're right," Tugger sighed before he turned and walked into the yard.
He couldn't help but give a small smile when he caught sight of Mistoffelees pacing in front of the oven, with Cori and Alonzo seemingly trying to calm the young Tuxedo down as he was glittering quite madly.
Tugger smiled as he strolled over to them. "Easy, Tux, you'll find yourself in a hole if you keep pacing like that," he teased. Misto spun around at the sound of his voice.
"Tugger!" he cried out in relief, leaping forward and hugging his uncle tightly. Tugger wrapped his arms around his nephew, hugging him back just as tightly.
"It's all right, Misto," he murmured reassuringly to his nephew, "everything is all right." Misto pulled back, trembling slightly. He had been so worried about Tugger, he had been gone for so long. He didn't want to lose another uncle.
There was a familiar booming voice calling across the clearing, "Tugger, are you okay?" Tugger turned to face his dad, giving a nod. Deuteronomy sighed, relieved, as he pulled his son into a tight hug, which Tugger gladly reciprocated.
"Is Macavity okay?" Deuteronomy asked moments later. Tugger nodded as he pulled out of the hug.
"Yeah, he's a bit shaky and weak, but he's okay," Tugger said slowly, unsure of how to word it.
"Shaky and weak?" Coricopat questioned, interested, "Did he cast a curse?"
"A curse?!" Asparagus yelped from where he was standing behind Deuteronomy. "He cursed someone?!"
"Munkustrap's biological mother," answered Tugger, annoyed, "and before you ask she's still alive,"
"What curse did he put on her?" Coricopat asked, intrigued, as he leaned forward. Asparagus turned on him.
"How are you supporting this?" he asked, outraged. Cori turned his green-gold eyes onto him.
"One, because she's still alive," listed Cori, "two, because she deserved it for taking Munkustrap away from us,"
"How do you know she did?" Skimble asked gently from beside Asparagus.
Surprisingly, it was Deuteronomy who answered. "Macavity would not waste energy on a curse if he didn't believe it necessary,"
The others stared at him in shock.
"And she admitted it," added Tugger.
"What was the curse?" Cori asked again, impatient.
Tugger gave a small chuckle, "Keep ya tail on, Thing 2," he joked, causing Cori to bat at him. "Mac said it was her worst nightmare come true." Tugger started to explain, "He carved a symbol into her chest, and the wound scarred straight away, and he was chanting in some weird language, he was glowing purple too," Cori was leaning forward, ears pricked up in intrigue.
"When it was done, he said that every cat, Pollicle and human that came across her would instantly hate her and aim to hurt her, knowing inside that she was a terrible cat that had done terrible things," Tugger took in a breath. "He said that others would hurt her, curse her, cast her aside or refuse to help her, so there would go her dreams of dancing or anyone helping her because they felt sorry for her,"
"Would others kill her because of the hate?" Misto asked quietly, purple-green eyes wide. Tugger shook his head.
"No, Macavity made it so others would stop before she'd get to the point of dying, that she didn't deserve the freedom that death would give and others would feel that too," Tugger glanced up at Cori's whistle, seeing a look of awe on his face.
Deuteronomy noticed it too. "Do you know this curse, Cori?" Deuteronomy asked him. Cori gave a nod.
"I've read about it," he replied, "It's called 'Bastest's Curse' named so because it was written that it was a curse that the Great Bastest themselves placed on a terrible cat, one who relished in other's pain and suffering, leading the cat to suffer the pain and torment he made others feel." Cori shook his head in amazement. "I've never heard of another cat actually managing to cast the curse though! Maybe Macavity found the missing part to it?" Cori trailed off, seemingly rambling to himself now.
"Where is Macavity now?" Misto asked as he glanced at Cori, shaking his head at his friend's behaviour.
"Going to chase up a new lead now that we know that Kira sold Munkustrap to slavers again." Tugger explained. "Apparently he knows someone with connections within the slave network."
Deuteronomy nodded thoughtfully.
"We'll just have to hope that Macavity's friend can help us," he murmured quietly, the others nodding silently in hopeful agreement.
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Eep, sorry it's taken me so long! I've been busy with work and Christmas and anxiety, and I've had a bit of writer's block on this one…
Hopefully you forgive me!
Hopefully the next chapter isn't too far away!
Thanks to those who reviewed!
Please read and review!
Love,
HGP