A thunder rolled somewhere in the distant part of the gray sky. The sign that the rain was now very near.

Etcetera had already walked quite far away from where the others were. She could see from the distance all the cats hurrying into their dens.

It's only rain, you guys. Just rain. It's not going to melt you or anything.

She secretly laughed within herself at how desperate some of them looked as they were trying to make it into their dens before even just a single drop of rain came down.

She inhaled the cool air and let it flow into her lungs. The smell of the dirt, the smell of the rotting junk, the smell of the old pieces of furniture and tire… all so familiar to her…

She was slowly walking by a mountain of tires when she realized that one of her paws was not touching the soft, filthy dirt, but rather… something hard.

Just an old piece of wood or something, I guess. But still curious, she looked down.

She gasped when she saw the image of a cat on the object. A cat… buried in the dirt?

I'll… I'll save you! I'll save you, whoever you are, buried in the dirt!

She rapidly swept away the dirt that seemed to be on the cat's face. She gasped again when she realized that the face was… her own self?

She did not see her own face for quite a while recently, the last time being when she looked in a stream and saw her reflection. (Aha! So the face I see right now is only a reflection, not a real cat buried in the ground! Whew!) She could recognize her white hair with some dark-brown here and there, her whiskers, her black nose… It was her reflection on the object, only a reflection… but… how…?

An object, a flat, shiny object that shows the reflection of my face… Hmm. Interesting.

"I'll tell you what it is," said a male voice in front of her.

Oh, Munk, you caught me out here… She slowly raised up her head, expecting to see the protector cat.

Unfortunately, the cat in front of her did not have silver stripes. Instead, he had fiery red fur, marked with countless painful-looking cuts and bloodstains. This could only mean…

"M… m… m… Mac… Maca…." Etcetera couldn't even manage to finish saying his damned name; she was trembling like the leaves that the wind blew on; she could feel her breakfast almost coming up from her stomach, through her esophagus…

"Ha. My name really is inscrutable, isn't it?" the fiendish cat grinned evilly.

"Mac…. Macavity…! Munk! Munk! Where are you!" she screamed, looking around desperately.

"Oh, Munkustrap is too far away to hear you, isn't he?" Macavity said. "It's just you and me who are here."

"Mac… Macavity… I'll… I"ll do whatever you want me to do… Just… just leave me alone…" Etcetera barely said.

"Oh, you think I'm gonna kill you, kitten?"

"Well… y-yeah…"

"No. I'm fine. I can go without seeing blood for… one day."

"Uh… t-thanks…" Etcetera recognized the irony of what she just said, but she couldn't dare laugh.

"So, Etcetera…"

"H-How do you know my name…?"

"Oh, Etcetera! You think I'm an idiot, don't you? You think I don't even know the names of my enemies!"

"I mean… Wait. I… I… n-never said that you're an idiot…"

"So you agree that I'm smart?" Macavity said with a sinister smile.

"I mean… yeah… why not…" What? What did I just say?

"Good. Anyway… you seemed curious at what this object is, below our paws."

"Yeah…" Etcetera murmured.

"You don't even know what it's called, do you?" Macavity asked.

Etcetera simply shook her head, intentionally not making eye contact with the Napoleon of Crime.

"Ha! You ignorant idiot! And you thought I was stupid, didn't you?" Macavity laughed.

"I never said that…!" Etcetera wanted to rip up that fiend in front of him for insulting her so cruelly, but she knew that the only result would be her lying dead on the ground, having been ripped into countless pieces. She therefore didn't dare say anything more.

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that you're an idiot. I mean, everyone knows it. So, do you want to know what this thing is?"

Etcetera quietly nodded, suppressing the anger within her that boiled like magma.

"Alright. I'll tell you what it is. This shiny thing is called… a mirror," Macavity enunciated.

"A mir…rah? A mirrah?" Etcetera asked, confused and humiliated at the same time in front of the cat.

"A mirror, you idiot. What are you, deaf?"

Etcetera shook her head. One more insult, and I'm gonna scratch, no, bite you.

"This thing is used to see how you look! Look! Don't you see the reflection of your face in this?"

She nodded.

"You look at the reflection of yourself in this mirror and see if you're pretty or ugly. Right now, I see that you're rather ugly. When you realize, you'll know," said Macavity, shrugging.

"Hey! You're not any better!"

"Oh, I don't need to be. But you need to be pretty, so that you can attract toms."

She gasped at his words. Can this cat… read my mind or something…?

"I know you want toms to like you, Etcetera. But they won't come if you're ugly and fat! Therefore, everyday, see how you look with this mirror, and you'll know if toms will think if you're pretty."

"So… I can have this mirror…?" Etcetera asked almost inaudibly.

"Yes. Here. I'll get it out of the ground for you." He grabbed one of the edges of the object and pulled it out. Half of it was covered with dirt, but he swept it off with his paws. Etcetera could notice the plain, brown frame that protected the edges of the mirror. "It's a surprise there are no cracks on it. Mirrors break easily," said Macavity.

He then handed it to the kitten without any effort. The kitten however, had a difficult time handling it; the mirror was far larger than her body, and she almost lost her balance. She decided to put it on the ground and drag it.

"Uh… thanks, Macavity…" she whispered. Saying 'thanks' to a cat I hate!

Macavity gave her a dark smile that sent freezing chills running through her veins. Half-frozen, she watched the fiend run off at the speed of lightning.

What in the world just happened…?

She dragged the object through the piles of junk, across small fields of dirt. She was exhausted by the labor, but she knew that it was worth it for the valuable object.

I'm sure none of my friends know what this is. They'll be shocked to see their own faces on it! Such thoughts made her somewhat proud about her new treasure and her knowledge of it.

By the time she reached her den, the first raindrops were reaching the ground. She playfully reached out her tongue, trying to taste the rain. It didn't taste like anything specific, but it was something that the grown-ups told kittens not to do, which made it even more fun.

She dragged the mirror into her den with haste, lest it may be damaged by the rain (or so she believed). She sighed and looked at the newest addition to her den with satisfaction. She then let it lean on a wall at a stable angle and looked into it.

I guess that's how I look. Wait. Now that I look closely… I actually don't look that bad…! I actually look kinda cute… Hmm. I hope toms think so, too…

She then slid the mirror between two piles of junk that dominated a great portion of the den. No one who came into the den would be able to notice it.

Only she would know, at least for now.

I really appreciate all comments and criticisms, so please take a minute or two to tell me what you think so far. :)