She was late.
She was never late. She was early or right on time, but since their birth she had been late a grand total of three times! And in every single case she had been in trouble.
The black and white cat was pacing up and down outside their den, trying to stifle the wave of panic that was steadily rising in the back of his mind.
C'mon don't be so pessimistic! She said she wanted to talk to Tugger yesterday night. Maybe things had been a little rough and she has gone into the city to clear her head off.
But he perfectly knew that, if that had indeed been the case, she would have at least made a mental contact to tell him she was fine. The small magician mentally berated himself for the umpteenth time. If he had paid more attention the night before, if he didn't want to perfect his ballet with Victoria he could have been home sooner and maybe, just maybe, he could have discovered she hadn't come home sooner.
Ok Mistoffelees think! Yesterday she said she couldn't lead Tugger on anymore and that she wanted some time alone with him to clear things off. So…if I'm lucky she should be still there and if not at least Tugger might shed some light to her whereabouts.
Relieved that he had at least some plan the tuxedo all but run to the outskirts of the Yard, where he could find the Maine coon's den. When he reached it he stood awkwardly outside, checking with the sun and knowing perfectly well he was about to roughly wake the resident playboy, who never started his day before noon. But his sister was missing and he wasn't about to back down because he was thinking about propriety.
Gently he knocked on the door. No answer. He tried harder and harder till he was literally pounding on the makeshift door on the den. And yet no answer.
Torn between worried and pissed Quaxo decided that the situation allowed him to barge into his best friend's den. If he had been wrong he could always apologize later.
With more care he really thought necessary, but he was about to barge into Tugger's den so caution was more than needed, he opened the door and entered. The den was stuffy and unbelievably dark. Even with his keen eye sight the tux had to stop for a minute to adjust his vision. When he was finally able to make out at least the silhouettes of what was around him he began moving toward the bedding on which, obvious by the smell, Tugger was sleeping on.
Once he had reached he couldn't contain a grimace and a silent eye roll at the mess that was the maned tom. The stench was unbearable: definitely alcohol and even possibly catnip. Apparently the post-break up had been a little rough.
The young cat was about to leave and come back later, when the older tom would have been at least awake, if not coherent to help him when, on the last whiff, something had him freeze on the spot. Underneath the overpowering stench of booze, there was a metallic smell the magician hadn't smelled in a long time and hoped never to come across again.
Quaxo, while moving his hands in the air and creating a light globe, fervently hoped he was wrong. When a white-ish light started floating around Tugger's bedding his heart sank with the realization that he hadn't been wrong.
"You bastard! What have you done to him? Where is he now?"
The Rum Tum Tugger had never cared for anybody since his brother's betrayal and his mother's death. Everybody the little Rum loved was destined to go away and leave sooner rather than later and the Maine coon had decided that he didn't do love or affection, but just meaningless flirts and shallow partnerships.
That had worked pretty well until he had found Quaxo and Lenny. Those two cats, who actually never worshipped the ground he walked onto, shattered all the schemes in which Tugger lived. They didn't treat him like everybody else, and they didn't have any qualms on inculcating into his thick skull some shame and manners. He had never understood why but he had let the both of them into his heart the first time he had met them.
With Quaxo things had a definite rocky start, but then had proceeded smoothly from there. In a sense the magician was his complete opposite: he was shy and vague. He was definitely proper and uptight, maybe a little too much for the whore that was Tugger. But their friendship had grown and the leopard-spotted tom had been happier that he had been in much time.
Lenny had been a different matter. He had sensed that the black tom shielded himself, much like he had been doing for his entire adult-life. Lenny had been a mystery, a puzzle that Tugger wanted to solve. At first things had been cautious: both of them were assessing the other. Then the Maine coon discovered that the black lean cat was more similar to him than he had previously imagined and so the friendship had begun.
A friendship that had developed into something more after the Pollicle attack. While Lenny had been fighting between life and death, Tugger had realized that his feelings for the smaller feline ran deeper than a simple friendship: he had started to regard Lenny as his soul mate and he had pursued him.
Sure Tugger was a Tom as well as Lenny, but he was the Curious Cat so he hadn't given much thought to it. He never factored the future in the equation and that mistake had come biting his rear later on. While he had been very happy with Lenny something had been nagging him: Lenny wasn't exactly queenish in his style, heck he was probably manlier than him and everybody knew that the Rum Tum Tugger didn't care for a cuddle. But the truth was that Tugger cared for a cuddle, he simply didn't want to ask for it, so the fact that Lenny cared about cuddling even less than him had been honestly disconcerting.
Much to his dismay the Maine coon had also found out that he desperately wanted kittens and that was definitely out of the question. He had tried to propose to Lenny breading with the same female in order to have a litter with both their markings but the black cat had been somewhat disgusted by the mere thought.
And with that the Curious Cat lost most of his interest in his partner and that, they both knew, was a really bad thing. They both had tried to make things work, because Tugger knew, deep down, that while he had lost interest he still loved Lenny with all his heart.
And that had been the reason his world had com crushing down on him the night before, when Lenny had suggested they went back to being just friends.
He perfectly remembered his heart cracking into two and he knew he had lost it. He had never wanted to hurt his smaller companion but he had slashed him with his claws on his face. When the black cat had escaped in the night, hurt and sobbing, part of him had wanted to run to him or after him, but his pride had taken control and he had spent the rest of the night drowning his sorrow and guilt in alcohol and catnip.
He had finally managed to slip into a restless sleep when a sound that was suspiciously like a roar, followed by a searing pain in his gut, had him wide awake and bolting from the bed.
"What the hell?"
"You idiot! You bastard! What have you done to him? Tell me NOW!"
"Quaxo? What are you talking about? Where is who?"
That had done it. The black and white cat, already blinded by rage gave into fury and literally slammed the Maine coon with a lightning bolt and then catapulted him outside his den, in the middle of the Junkyard.
"Where is who you ask? Why don't you think a little more Tugger? Since you tried to kill him you really should know who I am talking about!"
"Quaxo! Tugger! What in the name of the Everlasting Cat is going on here?"
Munkunstrap had heard the commotion and, after having secured his mate and daughter, had run out with Alonzo to try and figure out the source of the mess.
When they two protectors reached the clearing the couldn't, wouldn't believe their eyes. Quaxo, fur glittering and paws cackling with power, was standing on top of Tugger. The Maine coon had obviously had a rough night judging by his disheveled appearance.
Upon hearing Munkus' voice the magic cat stopped his furious attack and tried to reign in his powers. He wanted answers and definitely some blood, but it had to be Tugger's, not some innocent Jellicle's.
Inhaling a steadying breath he answered the Silver protector.
"Lenny hadn't come home last night, nor this morning. I grew worried but I knew he wanted to talk to Tugger so I went there to ask him if he had seen him if he knew where he could have been. I found him in bed, wasted, so I decided to come back later. But then I smelled something I recognized immediately and that I never wanted to smell again. Lenny's blood. I created a light and prayed the Everlasting Cat I was wrong but there were blood stains on his bed and his right paw's claws are bloody and upon further sniffing I can confirm that it's my brother's blood. The rest is here and now."
Munkunstrap could only gape at the magic cat in a fashion he hoped didn't resemble an utter idiot.
"Tu-tugger is this…true?"
No verbal answer was given but the guilt that poured out of the disheveled tom in front of him was answer enough to the question.
That couldn't be right. The grey tabby knew that his brother was a bit of a wild card but this..this wasn't in him.
"What happened Tugger? Why did you hit Lenny?"
Again no answer.
"If I may, I have the answer to your question Munkunstrap."
The one that had spoken up had been none other than Quaxo himself. He nodded his assent and mentally prepared himself to the Apocalypse that was sure to come.
"Yesterday afternoon my brother told me he wanted to talk to Tugger about their relationship. He said he wanted to cease any romantic involvement with him because he didn't want to lead him on. He was keenly aware of the fact he couldn't be the partner Tugger wanted and needed, so he wanted to set him free and stand by him just as a friend. I encouraged him in this path, knowing full well that leading someone on wasn't something good and I praised him for his thoughtfulness. I'm guessing something happened and the results are here."
The entire Tribe fell silent after this. They had seen the two toms together and the most observant of them had noticed the strain on the relationship that lately had been taking his toll on the two cats. They didn't understand what it was but they knew it was there. If Lenny had seen it and decided to free Tugger from what had obviously become a prison the elders of the Tribe knew they couldn't fault him. Jenny sighed looking at Jelly: they probably should have praised him.
"Rum, this still doesn't explain why you have his blood on your claws…"
"I…got…mad. I thought he had…toyed with me…like everybody else. So I reacted and slashed him in the face. I swear I never meant to unsheathe my claws! I didn't want to hurt him. I just needed an outlet…PLEASE YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!"
Quaxo looked at the broken and sobbing coon at his feet and knew he was telling the truth. He had been pissed but that was understandable. He never meant to hurt him, but that didn't explain why his brother was still missing.
He was taken out of his thought but the yelling that Munkus was aiming at his younger brother. He was still beyond pissed that the asinine idiot had dared hit his precious sibling, but he knew that the worst punishment was Lenny's disappearance.
"Let it go Munk! He is already broken, your yelling won't solve the situation. Right now we need to find my brother. I don't have a good feeling about his well-being and I really need your help in finding him."
Tugger's heart completely broke at that statement. In all his ordeal he had managed to forget the fact that the black cat was still missing. Now the thought came back full force and threatened to drown him in guilt.
"Last night he ran towards the forest…"
A sharp nod and a worried expression was the only answer he received from Quaxo, before the small tux exchanged a glance with Munkunstrap and bolted towards the forest.
"Get up and get clean Tugger! I don't have time to deal with you now, but we'll discuss your punishment later brother. You have really disappointed me…"
And with that the Silver protector moved away barking orders to create rescue teams to track down Lenny. Heart in pieces Tugger crawled back in his den and curled himself on the bed sobbing.
Groaning she started to focus on her surroundings. Judging from the revolting smell she definitely wasn't in the forest anymore. Probably a sewer.
The pain in her wrists alerted her of the fact she was cuffed and hanging, probably from the ceiling. Her body was sore and bloody and…definitely smaller than it had been the night before!
With horror she realized she had shape-shifted back into her original form.
"Welcome back to the land of the living…Helena!"
