A/N: I'm finally continuing. If anyone still reads, thank you!
To my kind, lovely reveiwers, I hope you are still reading.
To Xx_Bombi_xX: Not a oneshot anymore. Thanks though!
To halloweenbaby: The queen is a surprise...sort of. It's for later.
To Misto4ever: Continuage. Maybe it's Demeter, maybe not. Nothing is definite.
Note: Sort of a transitioning chapter.
The next morning Munkustrap took a head count only to discover that there were two kittens missing. One was Pouncival, who was probably up to no good pranks. The other was Etcetera who was probably with Pouncival learning how to be foolish and mischievous at the same time. Munkustrap was literally foaming at the mouth. Any vain or foolish attempt to calm him down was lost in the space.
Alonzo stepped up and told Munkustrap in a calm voice, "I'll go find the two little brats."
"Take Victoria with you just in case Etcetera decides to be difficult", Munkustrap snarled. Etcetera was going through one of the rebellious phases and only her friends knew how to calm her down. Alonzo tried to look casual as he said, "Victoria twisted her paw this morning when a certain tom pounced on her."
"Which one?" Munkustrap demanded all ready to fire his mouth off at that tom. Alonzo shrugged and tried to sound convincing, "Does it really matter, Munkustrap? I mean, seriously it was only-"
"Who?" He merely repeated.
"Mungojerrie", Alonzo whispered and Munkustrap started to leave, no doubt to find Mungojerrie and give him a piece of his mind. Alonzo stopped him quickly and asked, "Should I go by myself then?"
"Take Electra, wait, no."
"Munkustrap?"
"Take what's her name", Munkustrap struggled to find the name. Sometimes Alonzo thought that Munkustrap truly was losing his mind, but then the sparks of his brilliance would shine through the muddled confusion. Alonzo knew that whenever Munkustrap had forgotten a specific Jellicle's name, it was best to leave him alone until he remembered. There was one time that Mungojerrie had made the mistake of correcting him. Munkustrap had snarled low in his throat and mentally marked Mungojerrie as an enemy. Whenever there were rewards to be handed out, Mungojerrie, unsurprisingly, was last to receive the gift. Like the big trout Admetus had landed once. Mungojerrie got part of the tail which was completely inedible.
"Jemima", Munkustrap exclaimed as he remembered the name of the queen. Alonzo nodded and left to find Jemima while Munkustrap scratched his head trying to remember which tom he had been itching to reprimand and attack. When his mind came up as blank as a wiped off slate, he shrugged and forgot about the whole ordeal.
Alonzo and Jemima left to find Etcetera and Pouncival. While walking, Alonzo realized how much Jemima had changed since the day Grizabella had died. She had gradually became quieter until words were so sparse that her voice came out hoarse whenever she spoke. Alonzo attempted to make conversation with the queen.
"So where might they be hiding?"
Jemima's only answer was a shrug. Alonzo thought, Come to think of it, she hasn't chased Tugger in a long time. There was something definitely wrong with her, Alonzo decided.
"Are you alright?"
She looked surprised and asked in her hoarse voice, "What?"
"Are you alright?" Alonzo repeated patiently. Jemima spaced out for a moment before asking, "Why?"
"Why do I ask?" Alonzo said. "Well, you seem distracted."
She merely shrugged and began to walk at a faster pace. It clearly meant that she didn't want to talk about that anymore and Alonzo immediately understood. They both continued to search for the evasive Pouncival and hyper Etcetera to no avail. Finally as the sky began to darken, Alonzo sat down and sighed heavily. "This is going to take forever."
Jemima sat down a little bit away from him and began to groom her paw. The thoughtless gesture offended Alonzo a bit. It was as if she didn't care if they were found or not. He opened his mouth and hissed, "Do you know where they might be?"
"Alleys", she said hoarsely yet again. Alonzo nodded and they continued to search for the missing ones.
Munkustrap was getting some sleep after the long day, but his sleep was disturbed by a nightmare. The queen who had watched the moon was haunting him in his sleep. In the dream he had finally seen her face, or what he thought was her face. Her face was twisted into a grotesque form with a twitching eye. It was hideous to look at her, but her phantom appearance tortured Munkustrap. He felt that this queen was someone he knew, but his mind wandered. The scene of his nightmare quickly changed to when he saw a Pollicle attack Old Deuteronomy. He awoke screaming bloody murder. Demeter entered hurriedly and asked him what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Munkustrap screamed with bloodshot eyes. "I'll tell you what's wrong."
"Shhh!" Demeter attempted to quiet him.
"That bloody phantom queen", Munkustrap screamed again. Plato ripped the curtain covering the entrance of the den and jumped into the room ready to attack. When it became clear that the only threat was Munkustrap and his flailing limbs, Plato exchanged a look with Demeter. They nodded in unison and jumped onto Munkustrap's back until he fell into submission.
As Alonzo and Jemima walked through the alleys there was utter silence around them. Suddenly Alonzo tensed quickly and in a flash he pounced towards a pile of tires. There was a squeal of pain that definitely was not from Alonzo. Jemima rushed over to see Alonzo holding Pouncival by the ear.
"Let go of me", Pouncival shrieked in a very undignified manner. Etcetera attempted to leave but Jemima jumped directly into her path. Etcetera pouted and squealed, "I thought you were my friend!"
"We've spent 5 friggen hours searching for you two. If she wasn't your friend she would have clawed you into bloody ribbons by now", Alonzo answered in a tired tone. Etcetera maintained her pout as Jemima signaled her to follow them back to the Junkyard. Pouncival wasn't as cooperative as Etcetera, so Alonzo dragged him along.
"What were you guys doing anyway?" Alonzo asked nonchalantly which was quite odd for him. Usually he was straightforward and got directly to the point no matter how embarrassing it was for the others. Pouncival pouted, which was usually Etcetera's way of getting out of things, but it worked well enough in this case. Alonzo rolled his eyes up to the sky but said no more of the matter.
Demeter became increasingly worried about Munkustrap. He was falling into some sort of craziness that she couldn't stop. The tender, loving tom she had grown to love had begun to change into a weary, anxious dictator. The absolute worst part of it, Demeter realized, was her helplessness against his madness.
If no one intervened to help the black and white tabby, after Old Deuteronomy, everything would go wrong. Horribly wrong.
A/N: Well, kind of giving it away, but in the next chapter everything is going to, "...go wrong. Horribly wrong."
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