Hello my lovelies!
It has been exactly 5 months and 21 days since I last updated....which was last year *gasp*
I know you've all been neglected! I'm terribly sorry. It's been a very hectic few months, and now that I have a spare day on my holidays, I have dedicated it to getting back into the swing of things. This chapter may suck to the 10th degree, but I really have been out of the CATS loop for a while, and here is my first attempt to re-enter it.
So, while you guys have been drowning in lack-of-update flooding, what's been up with me? Well...it's a Friday. Tomorrow I have an interview at Australia Zoo for my work experience (Which I have been waiting eagerly for) and next Wednesday I'm seeing the matinee of the musical Chicago (another great) with my Nanna. I still have to try get tickets for CATS which is coming to Brisbane, for my friend and I. Not to mention that a few weeks ago I split my head open and knocked myself out in biology (EMBARRASSING) and I've sorta screwed up some disks in my lower spine after an accident late last year...wait. I won't go into that. You guys wouldn't want to know haha.
Most of my writing time for the past few months has been to do with the re-working of 'Forever; The Fight Was Forged', an original fictional series co-authored by some friends and I. I'm sorry to say that co-written pieces have come before my own, like YSDMW, because there are other people depending on me. If it isn't too much to ask, I'd love for you guys to head over to my fiction press account on my profile page and check it out, just to see how hard a lot of us have worked on re-writing it. We even have a website! [Even though you may be bitter....please visit us. Check my profile for all the links!]
Argh! Enough talking, you guys probably hate me for abandoning you right? You understand...*puppy dog eyes* Don't you? Cest La Vie. Such is a busy fanfic-ers life. Anyways, what's up with you guys? I missed PM-ing for chats with you guys.
So, on with the show! I'm a little out of wack, as I've explained, so be kind in your reviews. I also had a slight technical difficulty.....some chapters I wrote ages ago were lost when my computer was wiped, and I'm using my Mum's laptop till it's fixed...so, I guess this'll have to do. Here goes nothing...
My Pseudonym Was Taken.
aka Maddy.
•••••
Lounging ominously on the mattress pile within the shadowy depths of the abandoned factory, The Napoleon of Crime flickered his eyes carefully over the shaky frame of the newer henchcat. This piece of information completely changed everything. The frail looking Siamese cat standing before the notorious villain nodded hurriedly, trembling in the single shaft of sunlight penetrating through the broken skylight. A wispy breeze funnelled through the building, half destroyed in the wake of a fire long ago; the columns sentinels that bore the weight of the thousands of cobwebs weaving a mural against the ceiling. The air dank and musty, the concrete floor cold and dirty, the warehouse was long forgotten by human hands and left as a playground for the feline minions of the great Macavity.
"Old Deuteronomy...dead?" The fiery red paws that struck fear into the city's dingy alleyways, that commanded the underworld from his luxurious post, that left kittens clutching their tails in fear after their mother's relayed the chronicle of his crimes. Flexing his talon-like claws in the musty abandoned, his fur menacingly unkempt as always, Macavity leapt off of the makeshift throne without a parting courtesy to the many followers that hid themselves around the warehouse floor space. Like the words whispered in the gutters, and stories spoken about the street, Macavity found himself chuckle in his dark, guttural growl, and in his own trademark way, he slunk away into the shadows.
"This is perfect..." Macavity began his own siliquae in a husky undertone, expertly winding around neglected office furniture, through barren coffee rooms, and over the lonely linen wares till he was creeping closer to the remains of a small display case. A comforting scent wafted towards him with each silent step, a soothing calm washing over the usually harsh tom in the quiet. Easing the little hinges, pushing the small chunk of wood gently, Macavity smirked as his gaze fell upon the peaceful, plush ball curled upon the cushions inside.
Bombalurina barely stirred as Macavity padded into the tiny cupboard space, manoeuvring until he could feel her warm, tender breathes on the outer shell of his ear. The door smoothly replaced itself shut as Macavity slowly lay his lean orange frame beside Bombalurina's own. Staring at her serene expression, her fur smoothed gently over her relaxed face, her whiskers twitching with the subtle respirations in her sleep.
As he always did when in her presence, Macavity fought against letting the shy, quiet and brooding kitten of his past take over. Even in her deep sleep, she was charming; innocent. In the dingy remains of the crumbling factory, away from the fearful eyes of society, away from the guilt, the pain, the mistakes of the past, from the insufferable jellicles; Macavity was at peace. Alone, unguarded and vulnerable, Macavity let the humble bliss blind him from the evils of the rest of the world. Tentatively, the ginger fiend found his front paw sliding towards Bombalurina's still one. With a caring others would call weakness, Macavity covered her smallish, deep red paw with his own, watching for a reaction in her slumber. Her tail twitched lightly, her ear flitting subconsciously in search of sound, a small whimper uttered as she shifted slightly closer to him in search of warmth.
A warm fluttering coursed through his body as she settled against his chest, tucking her cold pink nose into his fur. Macavity was stiff, not used to such close contact with another, but found he slowly melted into the soft bedding, hoping she wouldn't be awoken by the pounding against his ribcage. He continued focusing his aqua orbs on her still features, staring at her in muted awe. It was then, the cogs of his brilliant, if somewhat wicked mind began to turn.
Old Deuteronomy was dead. Though, Macavity's emotions were far from those of a grief stricken son.
If he is dead...the Jellicles will be lost. They'll be weakened...without direction, and those brothers... Macavity let his famous, mocking smirk twist on his lips at the thought of his once-siblings. Munkustrap...he acts as though he's strong, though he'll be so busy tending to everyone else he'll soon be consumed by his own fears. Alonzo...he has no guts. He'll simply be the stupid young one that gets in the way. He'll be lost too...and the Rum Tum Tugger... The smirk quickly became a snarl, Macavity's gaze intensifying as he stared upon Bombalurina's face in the darkness. He'll be out of the picture for a while. The henchcats will be watching him closely...and when he tries to overthrow me I'll finally exact my vengeance. For once, I will get what I want...
With a guilty glance towards his paw clasping over Bomba's own, he sighed. He had part of what he wanted, but surely she would want something too.
"We're going home...I promise. Things will be perfect..." Macavity clutched her paw tighter, shifting a bit so they were even closer than before. He let her paw rest on his chest as he took his own and smoothed over some of her head fur revelling in the simple action.
It was here, in his private heaven, his sanctuary that he would share with no one; Macavity began to formulate the final plan that would bring his promise to fruition.
•••••
Mrrrrr.
"Simba! Stop it!" Renee scolded the injured tom for his growl, her meticulously manicured hand barely dodging the vicious swipe from the Rum Tum Tugger's paw. "You can't go outside!" Tugger felt her swift hands sliding underneath his stomach and he was quickly hoisted him high off the ground, and replaced on the tauntingly pink bed by the corner of the kitchen. To think, freedom was merely a few metres from where the bed sat, past the kitchen island and the frame of the hallway that opened to the lounge room.
"Renee!" Tugger hissed as she tried to pat him, "Leave me alone! You've humiliated me enough!" The tom cat shuffled around in the fluffy pink-zebra patterned pet accessory bed. His hope was beginning to falter. Heaviside...it had been days...Weeks...Probably months (Okay, the exaggeration might be due to the medication) since he'd last seen another Jellicle, and the memory of the actual fight was fading.
The injuries however, were not. The Rum Tum Tugger had endured stitches, injections, and the hideous cone for what seemed like forever. It was only a matter of time before he would escape from Renee, right the wrongs committed against him in the junkyard, and reclaim whatever was left of him and Bombi.
If only I could get this bloody co-
..and the cone was gone.
"See...cone off!" Renee giggled as Tugger spun around to face her in shock to see her waving the frosted plastic in the air, "The vet said you're almost all better and you don't need it..." although, Renee managed to ruin even good news with her baby voice as she cooed over him, "But pwomise you won't scwatch?" Renee puckered her lips and smashed them onto the snout of the misbehaving Main Coon. She gave the tom one last horrific 'kiss' and as suddenly as she had lifted the burden of the cone from the tom, she had alighted to her feet again, leaving him staring at her heels. "Hmm...looks like there's a storm coming." Renee cocked her head like an intrigued puppy, eyeing the kitchen window as she plucked her keys from the bench side bowl, "I'll be home later, 'kay?" She blew him another kiss, which was far better than actually getting one, disappearing down the adjoining hallway. Tugger paused, listening for the click of the front door, the whine of her car as she snuffed the clutch before speeding off down the road.
Freedom!
Without the curse of the cone dragging awkwardly across the wood, Tugger found he could walk almost normally, with minimal pain, to the back door. Smugly, he raised a paw to the
Locked.
Mrrrrrrr.
The Tugger however, wouldn't stay a minute longer. It was time to venture into the rest of...Renee's house. Today was the day he would escape, and today was the day Mungojerrie would get what was coming to him.
•••••
Skimbleshanks stood strong as Jennyanydots crumbled against him in another sporadic fit of crying. She wasn't taking Deuteronomy's death well, although no one was. Demeter sent him a sorry glance as the Scottish railway cat patted his mate's back soothingly. Demeter looked over to Munkustrap was talking with Alonzo, his eyes though determined, looked just as tired and weary.
Munkustrap had tried to call a meeting to calmly break the noise to the tribe himself, although news spreads fast. Half the neighbourhood already knew of the late Jellicle's passing by the time he and Alonzo had returned to the junkyard. Admetus' death had shocked them all, but this one after that was too soon. The already divided Jellicles were confused, and even though Munkustrap tried to console them, it was what he feared most. The tribe was falling apart, and without his father to guide them, to show them, Good Rumpus Cat to teach him, it appeared that they had lost faith in...everything.
•••••
"Did you feel that?" Coricopat, who came to a halt, questioned to his twin sister Tantomile as they were furrowing through the alley garbage bins in an uninhabited, dusk settled alley. Nightclubs of the district muffled loud beats within the brick walls, long lines of grungy teens wound around parking metres and bus stops as the dreary, stormy sky began to spit down large dollops of chilling water to the murky city streets.
"You know I did." Tantomile answered, her own voice taking on a foreboding quality as the twins locked amber eyes, her pizza box left un-licked of its savoury meat chunks glued to the lid with cheese. With a wavering tone of trepidation about them both, they remained in a stoic silence, listening to and feeling the very wind that howled with gossip and mystery. They could both feel the rush of power, the surge of change within the gusts, which oozed with the tingling of airborne magic.
"The moon is high tonight..." Coricopat observed from his peak on the dumpster lid, jumping down to join Tantomile.
"A warning?" Tantomile said it grimly, as more of a statement then of a question. Her brother didn't bother to respond, instead his tail prickled in the wake of another spark. The twins knowingly left their trash cans behind, swiftly ignoring honking cars and their fist-shaking drivers as they expertly sprung from roof to roof, scaling fences, fire escapes merely platforms to quicken their journey back to the Jellicles, where they needed to seek the council of Munkustrap.
What they could feel was urgent, and it refused to be ignored.
Hope that wasn't too dissappointing....But I am slowly returning to CATS mode....(slowly). If anyone wants to check out what took me away from YSDMW (flame if you want) please check out my profile for the link to Forever, on my fictionpress account.
PS - Check my profile for the 'Your Smile Drives Me Wild' poll. What do you think will happen in chapter 3? or rather....WHO would you like to see focused on in chapter 3?
Renee wants YOU to join the reviewer army (which is steadily growing)...
...or she'll curse YOU with wrath of the cone!