Author's note: Hi, me again, don't worry I'll get on with the story in a moment, just have to say thanks to a few great people.

MistoTeaze: You said to post soon, and here it is, lol, thank you so much for reviewing *huggles*

Olivia: Although I am a big fan of Tugger/Munkus (awwww sooo cute hehe) it isn't gonna happen in this fic, stay tuned though, I may have plans for Tugger pretty soon, hehe. Thankies for the great review, it had me grinning from ear to ear all day.

Jemi Gr: Yes, loving Munkustrap very much I am. Argh, speaking strangely is catching! Thanks for the review *huggles*

Right ok now we go back to the story. In this part I delve a little into Tugger and Munk's relationship and hopefully next chapter we should have an encounter with Macavity. Part of this chapter is a flashback, so I'd like to warn everyone that the sections I write in italics will be flashbacks. Enjoy.

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Deuteronomy watched his son and his Lutador leave, and sighed, shaking his head. The guardian realised that more than ever before, he had to speak to Munkustrap. The Lutador wasn't dealing well with Gaia's death, but what was disturbing was that he was doing a great job of hiding it. Deuteronomy knew that Munkustrap's pride would prevent him from ever opening up to anyone unless forced, still Deuteronomy didn't want to force him, not just yet anyway.

The Guardian took his thoughts away from his charge; there was someone else who had to be taken care of right now. He entered the living room and smiled sadly at the unconscious figure on the sofa.

"The visions are getting worse aren't they, Cassandra?" Deuteronomy spoke although he already knew the answer. Cassandra had only just managed to tell him the meaning of the vision before slipping into unconsciousness, where she had remained up to now.

Deuteronomy had gone through all this before with other seers, but this time he had believed the ending would have been different. The young girl was so vibrant, full of life that once or twice he had doubted the curse could take her down too. The fate of these Jellicles was a cruel one; every seer was destined to go mad. Whether it was through the pain and the confusion of the visions, or just fate he did not know. He just wished there was some way to help the girl.

Cassandra was predictably fighting against the madness, and slowly getting weaker and weaker. Eventually something had to give, and it would come down to a choice between her sanity and her life.

Deuteronomy gently stroked her forehead,

"You rest, I'll be here when you wake up," he settled down on a nearby chair and opened his book of prophecies. A certain part of the text had come to his attention recently, and despite not being familiar with the strange language this passage of the book had been written in, he just knew that this particular part would be important for them. Deuteronomy liked to think of it as gut instinct, but maybe there was something bigger going on, something that was drawing him to this book. He cleaned his glasses, inwardly scolding his imagination for leading him on such flights of fantasy and began to translate the prophecy.

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(Munkustrap's POV)

I led the way out of the house, with a scowling Tugger following behind. Second thoughts were now beginning to creep into my head, but I pushed them away. I had made my decision and must stick by it.

"Macavity's dangerous you know," Tugger warned me.

"No, really? I never noticed," I spat, the sarcasm dripping from my voice. I couldn't believe that he was telling me, of all people, about what Macavity was capable of.

"Munk, you know what I'm on about. You're hurt, is now really the best time for you to face him?"

"Deuteronomy patched me up."

"That's not what I meant," Tugger sighed and looked to be choosing his words carefully so as not to cause a scene, "After what happened nobody would blame you if you didn't go on this little trip. Why don't you just get home and get some sleep?" Tugger's voice was softer than I'd heard for a while and he placed his paws on my shoulders in a comforting way, like old times. Resenting the feeling of being cared for, I shrugged him off and stepped away,

"The Rum Tum Tugger worried about my state of mind, I must be dreaming," I rolled my eyes and began to walk off.

"Dammit Munk, why don't you listen to reason for once?" Tugger was obviously getting a little annoyed at my behaviour.

I laughed, "So you're the voice of reason, now I know I'm dreaming."

"Fine then! Be a prat, and go to your 'heroic' death, I won't stop you."

"Five months, sixteen days Tugger."

"What?"

"The time 'til my 30th birthday, and you know what?"

"Enlighten me,"

"No Lutador has ever lived to see their 30th birthday."

"Is that what this is all about? You think just because the others never made it this far that you won't either? Well that's just dumb, although I'm beginning to think of you whenever I say that."

I took a step away from him, barely containing an annoyed hiss,

"Let's get something straight Tugger, I'm gonna go and rescue those queens, and then I want you to stay the hell away from me, got that, or do you want me to write it down for you?"

"We used to be friends Munk," Tugger reminded me.

"Well maybe it's time we went our separate ways!"

Tugger for once, didn't retaliate, just glared coldly, before he pushed past me and headed off in the direction of the junkyard.

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"You shouldn't have followed us Tug," the silver toms eyes were fixed to a spot on the floor, unwilling or unable to look at his friend.

"Yeah well you know me, I'm always on the wrong side of every door," Tugger's joking smile faded, "I…is it like that every time? The patrolling I mean."

The response came immediately, almost a little too quickly for either toms liking.

"No," Munkustrap paused, his paws nervously touching his bottom lip, "Well, not often."

Tugger tried to catch his friends gaze, but to succeed he would have had to lie on the floor under Munk's nose, and this didn't seem like the kind of situation to do that.

Sensing more questions were to follow, Munkustrap made haste to turn the conversation elsewhere,

"Your Dad's gonna do some more research on that Macavity guy, see if there's um any weaknesses he has that we didn't know about before."

Tugger shook his head, hoping he wasn't the only one who saw that the Guardian and Lutador were clutching at straws. That "Macavity guy" was a vampire so ancient that he predated any vampire that a Lutador had come across previously. That "Macavity guy" was also going for the world record in Lutador slaying. He'd killed Ariela, Mars, Nuada, all of whom were previous charges of Deuteronomy, plus countless others before that, and now the monster had come for the next Lutador in Deuteronomy's care, Munkustrap.

It was a sick feeling, a ceaseless churning in Tugger's stomach, filling him with dread now that he had seen what his friend was up against. As much as he wanted to deny it, the niggling little thought that kept occurring to Tugger was right. Munkustrap wouldn't survive the ordeal. All the others didn't, why would he? Tugger looked up to find that Munk had tired with gazing at the floor,

"Tug," Munk managed a weak smile as he searched for the right words, "I...I don't think I can do this, I mean, I'm going to die aren't I?"

Tugger stayed silent, unwilling to agree but unable to do otherwise.

An ironic and bitter laugh escaped from Munk's lips, abruptly coming to an end. When his eyes met Tugger's again he had let his defences drop,

"I don't want to die," he whispered in a voice that sounded much younger than his 17 years.

Tugger remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"What do you think it's like? Will that just be it, game over?" Munkustrap didn't wait for a response, didn't expect one, "I make death, everyday, and one day it'll be me, not just some demon, lying there, dead," he had trouble saying the last word, not wanting to admit this out loud.

"Everything dies," Tugger's voice was slightly hoarse from his earlier silence, his words which had meant to sound strangely comforting, to put things in perspective, sounded instead cold and uncaring.

"Everything dies," Munk repeated blankly, "But not everything is going to die young. Not everything will die fighting to the death with vampires and demons and all these other things that shouldn't even exist! You don't understand any of this, it isn't you who has to die, why should you even pretend to care?"

Munk lowered his head into his paws, as if holding it up was taking up too much energy.

"I'm sorry Tug, you didn't deserve that," he sighed only lifting his head once he had finished speaking.

The tabby carefully observed his friend, but the maned tom remained quiet, contemplating what had just happened. Munk's voice, unsure and wavering, managed to pull him out of his silence.

"Friends?"

"Brothers more like," Tugger reassured him, his smile returning.

"For life?"

"Forever."

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Author's note: I just can't stay away can I, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Please review and let me know.

And now for a bit of blatant publicity, I have an msn group, Fanfiction Writer's Anonymous. I'd really love it if you could check it out and maybe join,

The address is http://groups.msn.com/fanfictionwritersanonymous