Seven reviews for chapter one... here's chapter two!

Title: The Protector (2/14)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death
Summary: When some Jellicles are cat-napped, Munkustrap has to descend back into Monnik territory, back into his old life, and must confront his biggest fear - the truth escaping.

Roleplays:

If you're not into RPing, feel free to skip this part.

Ourjellicle (o u r j e l l i c l e s . p r o b o a r d s 5 1 . c o m ). is a normal Cats RP set after the Jellicle Ball. Currently, Macavity has taken over the junkyard, but the Jellicles escaped safely. They're enlisting the help of a crew of pirates, though, to reclaim their yard… but that decision may cause more pain than pleasure.

One of These Nights (w w w . s 8 . c r e a t e p h p b b . c o m / o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t / I n d e x . p h p ? m f o r u m (equal sign) o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t) is an AU RP where the Jellicles are human members of a band (named Jellicle). Tugger (taken) is the lead singer, with Bombalurina (taken), Alonzo, and Plato (taken) as other members, and the rest of the Jellicles helping out as friends, stage hands, special effects, etc. Munkustrap (taken by me) is the manager of the band, and his father, Deuteronomy, is a huge music mogul. Macavity (taken) leads the rival band, the Depraved. Most of the characters are still available, though. If you're interested, come on by!

Cats does not belong to me. Simbol does. He's shpiffy.

The Protector

Simbol and Deuteronomy were stretched out on the tire, watching as Admetus and Munkustrap sparred with each other. The two cats were fairly evenly matched… but, if anything, Munkustrap was the better duelist. Simbol was pleased with how far he had come from the impertinent little kitten who wanted to join the guardians two years ago. Or, at least, he would be pleased, if he wasn't distracted by Coricopat and Tantomile. The dark twins had shown up early that evening and hadn't left his side since, lying down beside him and nuzzling him, purring quietly. They didn't say anything, just watched him with their big, orange eyes, and licked his cheeks and paws.

Tumblebrutus thought this was all horribly funny, and he would curl up with his dad too, tucking his tiny body in between Simbol's large paws. Simbol didn't mind his son curling up with him.

Right now, though, Tumble was dancing around in front of the older cats, mimicking Munkustrap and Admetus' moves. "Bam! Woo! Smack! Take that!" He fell on his tail more often than not, which was so amusing it distracted even the combatants – not that either really minded. There was nothing serious about their sparring, just some extra practice.

"Dad! Daaaaad!" Alonzo came tearing into the junkyard, panting and sobbing. The young guardian's front paws were stained with blood.

As Alonzo came running up, the Jellicles snapped to attention. Munkustrap and Admetus jumped aside to let the younger cat run between them, quickly coming up behind him to hear what was so horrible and why his paws were red. Simbol rose to his feet, shaking off Coricopat and Tantomile, and Tumble cowered back against Simbol's front legs, staring wide-eyed at his upset older brother. Deuteronomy sat up as well, frowning in concern.

"Alonzo? What happened?"

Alonzo pointed in the direction he had come from, gasping out his words. "Grandpa… and Father… and Monniks! And Cattivo and Plato… and they're dying! Grandpa and Father are dying! And Cattivo and Plato… the Monniks have Cattivo and Plato! They want you!"

"Where, Alonzo?" Simbol asked, his voice firm, the tone of the Jellicle Protector.

Alonzo visibly relaxed as Simbol took charge, turning over control to the more powerful cat. "The theater. They're in the theater," he whispered, sinking to his knees and covering his face.

"Admetus. Get Jelly… and Jenny if she's in the yard. Meet us at the theater, as quick as you can." Admetus nodded and darted off to do as his father said. "Munkustrap, Alonzo, you two will come with me."

"And me!" Tumble squeaked, rolling to his feet. "Me too, me too! I'm a guardian too!"

"No, Tumble. You stay here." Simbol pressed his paw down on Tumble's hindquarters, forcing the kitten to sit.

"Nooo!" Tumble wailed, shaking his head fiercely. "No, no, no, no, no! I wanna come! I'm a guardian too! I'm a guardian too!"

"Yes, you are," Coricopat murmured, rising to his feet and padding forward to nuzzle the kitten. Tumble was so surprised that an adult had actually agreed with him that he fell silent.

"And that's why you must stay here," Tantomile purred, nuzzling Tumble from his other side. "While your dad goes off with those guardians, we need someone to stay here and protect the yard."

Tumble beamed between the twins, pleased to be given such an important job, and Simbol looked gratefully at the pair. 'Thank you,' he mouthed to them, before he nodded to Deuteronomy and took off running toward the theater, Munkustrap on his heels.

After reaching the theater, Alonzo collapsed on the stage to catch his breath. Munkustrap prowled around, investigating the broken windows the Monniks had entered through, while Simbol examined the still forms of Skimble and Gus. "They aren't dead yet," he said after a moment. "But they aren't doing too well, either." He began cleaning their wounds.

Munkustrap circled back, continuing to be alert for any strange movements. "They're gone. Three Monniks," Ruusu, Surripus, and one-eyed Hedrunkus, if I'm not mistaking their scents. "Plato and Cattivo were alive when they went through the window. Do you want me to track them?"

Simbol shook his head, gesturing over to Skimble. "Look after him. We stay here until Jellylorum shows up."

"I'm sorry," Alonzo whispered, curled up miserably by the edge of the stage. "I should have done something."

"What do you mean?" Munkustrap asked, before he lowered his head to lick at the gash across Skimble's stomach.

"I hid," Alonzo said, closing his eyes. "I… I froze. And then I hid. And I just let the Monniks fight." He put his paws over his face. "Some guardian I am…"

Munkustrap and Simbol exchanged a look before Munkustrap spoke up. "Alonzo… this was your first battle, right? Your first real fight? It's okay." He smiled faintly. "My first battle was horrible. I froze up, so my brother had to fight off the Pollicle that snuck up on us. We were just kittens at the time. Then, I realized that I wasn't helping, so I ran in front of him to try and help, just as he was trying to pounce. He crashed into me, and I fell into the Pollicle… I think it was laughing too hard to fight when my mother showed up." Actually, the milk-mothers had all charged the Pollicle together, scaring it away, and there had been some other kittens involved too, but Munkustrap and Macavity hadn't learned how to work as a team just yet. "You might not have done anything, but you didn't make things worse, either. If anything, you did the right thing. By hiding, you were able to come back and get the rest of us. Otherwise, you might have ended up like Skimble or Gus, or kidnapped like Plato and Cattivo… and then Skimble and Gus would have died here, and we wouldn't have known anything."

Alonzo perked up a little bit at that. "I guess… I didn't do that bad… after all…"

Simbol was watching Munkustrap as he cleaned Gus' wounds, and Munkustrap busied himself with Skimble's injuries again. That was the first time he had talked about his past in front of the non-Monnik Jellicles.

"Dad!" Admetus rushed into the theater, with Jellylorum and Jennyanydots right on his tail. "Dad, I brought them both…" He vaulted up onto the stage, the two queens just a tail-length behind. "Are Father and Grandpa…"

"They're alive," Simbol said, backing away from Gus so Jellylorum could bend over him. The young queen was Jenny's student, learning much about the ways of medicine from the older queen.

She was also Gus' mate, despite the age difference.

Jenny nudged Munkustrap aside and gathered Skimble into her arms. Simbol gave her cheek a nuzzle as he passed her, but he gave her no other distraction as he gathered Munkustrap and his sons together. "I will go after Cattivo and Plato."

"Which of us do you want to come with you?" Munkustrap asked, pressing his paws together.

"None of you," Simbol said quietly, bowing his head. "It's a trap."

Munkustrap nodded slowly, frowning. "Yeees… which is why you shouldn't go alone."

"Which is why I shouldn't put the rest of you in danger," Simbol countered. He shook his head. "No. I need you and Admetus to return to the junkyard, Munkustrap. Take Alonzo with you. We cannot leave the yard undefended. They might be hoping for that."

Munkustrap opened his mouth to protest, but Admetus stepped on his paw. "We need to protect Father and Grandpa, as well as Deuteronomy and the yard, right?" Simbol nodded. "What do we do if you don't come back?"

Munkustrap and Alonzo looked over at Simbol as well. Munkustrap bit his lip as Simbol ducked his head again. "If you haven't heard from me in… in forty-eight hours… then tell Deuteronomy of my demise. He knows who I've chosen as my successor."

Munkustrap leapt to his feet. "No! If we haven't heard from you in a day, we'll come after-"

"You'll do no such thing." Simbol rose to his feet, standing taller than Munkustrap. He glared down at the younger cat, using the full force of his personality to back Munkustrap up. "I will go in after my sons. You will stay in the yard. I will free them, or I will die. You are forbidden from performing any sort of rescue attempt. That is an order, Munkustrap. Do I make myself clear?"

Munkustrap cowered and nodded, staring at his paws. Alonzo and Admetus looked away, twisting their tails.

Simbol held his glare for several more heartbeats before he nodded and began to walk toward the broken window. Munkustrap hesitated, lifting one paw, before he darted forward. "Sir, wait!" The older cat paused, looking back at Munkustrap. "Sir…" He looked up at Simbol, biting his lip, all kinds of advice and suggestions stumbling over each other in his mind. Finally, he just bowed his head. "Be careful," he whispered. "Come back."

"Don't worry," Simbol said, reaching out to tilt Munkustrap's chin up with a paw. "I know what I'm doing. I've been invading the Monniks long before you were born." He stroked Munkustrap's ears before turning and jumping out the window.

Munkustrap stepped back, staring up at the window. That was the most… affectionate, Simbol had ever been with him. It worried him. He turned to look back at Admetus and Alonzo. Admetus gestured toward the injured toms. "We should probably bring them home."

Munkustrap nodded. "Alonzo… you help me with Skimble. Admetus, you can manage Gus on your own, right?" Gus was the smaller of the two. Admetus should be able to carry him without much difficulty.

Chapter three will be up soon.

Thanks to everyone who reviews. I love hearing from my readers, and try to respond to every review I get.

Thanks also to everyone who's been favoriting me - it's harder to reply to those, but I appreciate them all the same.