I do not own CATS. As much as I would like to, I don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jellicles!" Old Deuteronomy's voice boomed out. "We now accept a new member into the tribe." He motioned for Socrates to come forward. "Socrates has expressed his interest in joining us, and Munkustrap and I have seen fit to allow him to join." Deuteronomy looked at Socrates. "I trust Munkustrap has reviewed the laws of our tribe with you?"s Socrates nodded. "Well, then I guess we officially have a new member of the Jellicles!"
After Socrates's acceptance ceremony, he took the time to walk around the junkyard and meet everybody. By the end of the day Socrates had a good opinion of everyone. The elder cats were like aunts, uncle or parents to the younger cats, the toms Munkus's age were serious about making sure the tribe ran smoothly, most of the queens including the kittens were obsessed with Tugger. He flirted around them but seemed most interested in Bombalurina, who gladly returned the attention. The tom kittens were not all that interested in the queen kittens, but they were content to play-fight the whole day and practice hunting. One or two of the queen kittens were interested in himself and Misto, probably because of the fact that they were conjurers, although Socrates had no previous indication of his powers. Socrates sighed and thought to himself, "What am I going to do when I discover my powers? How long will it be before I learn to control them?"
Munkustrap saw Socrates sigh and went over to him. "Hey, Socrates!" He called. "If you're staying here, you need a den. There are still some open ones, but you need to know where the best ones are. Follow me." Munkustrap walked off in the direction of the TSE 1. "This is Tugger's den. There are some unused one next to it, but you won't want to take them. Tugger has a habit of doing things that nobody wants to be near on a regular basis." After abandoning a few dens by a large junk pile because they were somewhat unstable, Socrates decided on an old storage container near Misto's pipe and Jerrie and Teazer's oven. Munkus smiled. "Well, now that you have a den, you're free to fill it with any bedding you like. I have to go check on Alonzo, so I'll see you tomorrow!" Munkus left, and Socrates started to look around for some old blankets or mattresses for his den. By nightfall, he had an old mattress, a blanket, and a wind up clock. He settled down in his new den and went to sleep.
When he woke up, it was 9:00 AM and his first thought was to go to the kitchen and get some milk from his humans, but he realized that he was still in the Junkyard. He walked out of his den and started home. When he got there, he went in the cat-flap and mewed for his humans. The queen human look extremely relieved that he was back and picked him up and gave him a great big hug. Socrates almost couldn't breathe. "Put me down!" He mewed. She put him down after what seemed like an eternity, and opened one of his tuna cat food cans. He ate it happily, and gave his human a look that said, "I will come and go as I please, but I will never get lost." She seemed to understand and said, "Well Socrates, you can go wherever you want, but be back at some time. That way we won't be worried sick when you leave." Socrates nodded and walked out the door.
When he got back to the junkyard, almost everybody was awake except for Tugger, who had been with Bombi the night before. Alonzo was trying, without success to hit on Cassandra. Misto was hanging back, trying to smother his laughter. "Hey Misto." Socrates said. Misto snickered, then tried to answer. "Mmph- Hey Socrates." Socrates looked confused. "Why is Alonzo so funny?" Misto stifled another laugh. "He uses the stupidest pickup lines." Alonzo tried another line. "Hey Cassandra, you better use an ashtray, cause you're SMOKIN'!" Misto couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Alonzo heard and shot Misto a dirty look. Cassandra looked disgusted and walked away with Victoria and Exotica. Meanwhile, Tugger just walked out of his den, and called Alonzo toward him.
Socrates watched Cassandra leave, and then turned back to Misto, who was composing himself. "Misto, how did you discover you were magic?" Misto took another second to stop laughing. "Well, about a month ago, I accidentally shot a lightning bolt out of my paw. It hit a piece of junk and exploded. I got so freaked out that I wouldn't raise my paws for two days. I think developing your powers is related to puberty or something like that." Socrates looked concerned. "Did you hit anyone?" he asked. "No, but it took me a week to learn to control it. Here, watch." Misto raised his paw, and a bolt of lighting shot out with a loud CRACK, and exploded. Socrates's eyes widened. "Whoa, I wonder if I can do that." He raised his paw, concentrated…and nothing happened. Misto shrugged. "Give it a week." He suggested. Socrates was about to lower his paw when a lightning bolt shot out with a loud CRACK as Misto's had, but shot toward Tugger, who was tutoring Alonzo on "The Fine Art of Getting Queens". The bolt zipped over his head and carved a furrow in his mane. Tugger shot bolt-upright (hehe) and looked shocked (hehe again). He felt his mane, and then started to chase Socrates and Misto over the whole Junkyard. They managed to get to Socrates's den, and locked the door. Then they went out the hidden back entrance and crept around to the back of the junkyard where Jerrie and Teazer were watching the spectacle.
Jerrie and Teazer were rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. "Misto, nice job! We never thought you would do that to 'im!" Misto shrugged. "It wasn't me, it was Socrates." Teazer looked surprised. "You-you're a conjurer?" she asked. Socrates smiled. "Yeah, and that wasn't on purpose. That was an accident." Jerrie clapped him on the back. "Any cat who can do that to Tugger is worthy of joining our weekly Tugger raids. Socrates politely turned them down, saying that he would just interfere with their masterfully executed raids. Jerrie looked disappointed. "Suit yourself, Soc." As the twins left, Jemima, Electra, and an obviously unhappy Etcetera came up to Misto and Socrates.
Etcetera sat down and shot Socrates a death stare. Socrates cringed. "Hey kittens. Why is Etcy giving me that look?" Jemima and Electra giggled. "It's because you shocked Tugger's mane. He's really mad." Etcetera glared at Socrates again. "You hurt my Tuggy!" Socrates started laughing. "It's not funny!" Etcetera growled. "Sorry, but it was a complete accident. That was the first time I used magic, and I wasn't trying to. If I was trying to shock Tugger, I would have hit him. I wasn't, so please don't be mad at me." Etcetera thought about it, and said, "I'll forgive you if you fix Tugger's mane." Socrates looked at Misto. "Don't worry, I'll help." Misto said. They left to find Tugger.
Tugger was in his den, sulking. Misto poked his head into the den. "Tugger?" he asked. "Socrates wants to apologize now that you're not trying to kill him." Socrates stepped in. "Tugger, I'm sorry, it was an accident. That was the first time I used magic, and I wasn't expecting it. I can fix your mane with Misto's help, so will you let us?" Tugger gingerly touched the back of his mane where it had been scorched. "Yeah. Do it quick, though. I think I hear my fanclub." Misto laughed. "Yeah, Etcy was pissed at us and wouldn't forgive us unless we fixed your mane." Tugger laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like her." Misto pointed to where Socrates should stand. "Okay, you stand there. Gather your power in your paws, and think of Tugger's mane in all it's unscorched glory." They concentrated for a bit, then Misto said, "Now, release the power." More lightning shot out and enveloped Tugger's head. When it dissipated, his mane was back to it's normal, unscorched self. Tugger felt it again, and looked relieved. "Thanks. Last time something happened, it took a week for it to grow back. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fanclub to report to." He left the den, and soon screams of joy came from the kittens who were happy that Tugger's mane was back to normal.