"Wait, I'm concerned. Who helped him with this?"
"I told you, he did it by himself. He didn't tell anyone because he wanted it to be a surprise for Etcetera."
"So he's still hiding? For how long?"
"For as long as it takes him to grow out his chest fur, I guess."
Munkustrap sighed as Demeter told him the story that seemed to be spreading like wildfire. "But he knows it's just a song, right?"
"I hope so," Demeter muttered.
They sat there together in silence for a couple minutes, thinking over the current yap of the 'yard ((like talk of the town, but yap of the 'yard! Get it? It's funny because ... oh, never mind ... )). Then Demeter looked up, catching a glimpse of the junkyard gate. "Munkustrap," she muttered, rubbing his shoulder to get his attention, "Do you see that?"
"What is it?" he asked as he glanced up. Then, "Oh, my."
Alonzo came in first, leading the way, but also looking severely weirded-out. Then came Victoria and Mistoffelees, each holding the paw of ... well, all Munkustrap could tell was that it was primarily pink.
"What. Is. That?" Demeter managed to mumble.
"I don't know," Munkustrap replied, getting to his feet ... erm, paws. "But whatever it is, I think it wants to join the tribe."
Demeter got up as well, but asked, "How do you know?"
He looked back at her, his expression pleading. "Isn't that always what they want?"
"Hey, here comes Munkustrap!" Victoria announced to Celebintart. "He's really nice. He's the tribe's leader!"
"More like an under-leader, really," Mistoffelees corrected from Celebintart's left. "Our real leader is Old Deuteronomy."
"Munkustrap..." Celebintart muttered, tasting the new name. "He looks so ... lithe."
Mistoffelees turned sharply to stare. Alonzo just kept walking, as though if he never saw the pink thing, he could pretend it wasn't really there...
Munkustrap strode confidently toward the junkyard gate, reeking of "important." As he passed Alonzo, he queried, "Who is that new cat?" Alonzo just kept walking in a daze. Ookey dokey, Munkus internally rationalized.
He then came along the threesome. "My name is Munkustrap," he announced, again showing off his "important." "This is the Jellicle Junkyard. What have you come here for?" he questioned.
The pink ... thing, for lack of a better word, for Munkus still couldn't tell whether it was male or female (it was actually very pretty, but surprisingly muscular), opened its mouth to speak, but Victoria piped up first. "He wants to join the tribe!" she called.
"Does he?" Munkus asked, turning to the pink and periwinkle tabby/Persian. "And what's his name?" he asked also.
Taking his paw away from Victoria (but still holding on to Misto's), he brought it to his face, as if to hide a blush. He blinked his kaleidoscope eyes a couple times and said ever so shyly, "My name is Celebintart."
"Oh," Munkustrap muttered softly as his eyes widened and he was momentarily stricken speechless.
"Munkustrap?" Victoria whispered, attempting to bring him back to the junkyard.
"Hmm?" he muttered back absent-mindedly. His mind was clearly elsewhere ... it was pink ...
Victoria looked back and forth from Celebintart to Munkustrap. "Munkustrap," she went on, "Celebintart wants to join the tribe. Can he?"
Straps still stared for a moment, but managed to mutter, "Yeah ... sure ... sure," his eyes still wide in shock.
"You hear that! You can stay!" Victoria cried. Grabbing Celebintart by the paw again, she called, "C'mon, let's go introduce you to everybody!" With that, she ran off, dragging Celebintart behind her, and also thusly Mistoffelees behind him.
The first small gathering of cats Victoria and company encountered consisted of Etcetera chasing Tugger around a small clearing (with the Tugger running for his life), with Jennyaydots, Skimbleshanks, and Electra looking on. As they approached, Misto could hear Jenny saying to Electra, "Now see? Tugger is sensible. He doesn't go desecrating his fur to impress Etcetera."
"But Tugger doesn't even really like 'Cettie!" Electra protested.
"Hey!" Victoria called, "Guess who just joined the tribe!" She pointed to Celebintart and screamed, "Ta-da!"
Jennyanydots raised her eyebrows.
Electra and Etcetera cried, "He's pink!"
Tugger and Skimble just stared.
Seeing that Celebintart wasn't moving, Victoria nudged him and whispered, "C'mon! Go introduce yourself!"
Celebintart looked at her in surprise, but at seeing the enthusiastic look on her face, he nodded and said, "Ok."
But instead of saying "hi" to Etcetera and Electra (who were running over to greet the new pink tom) as Victoria expected, Celebintart strode right past them, went to Tugger, and said shyly, circling one toe in the dust, "Hi. I'm Celebintart."
(He's skinny for a tom, Misto thought to himself. Short, too. He only comes up to Tugger's chest.)
Tugger smiled in that cool, collected way he had, a little surprised, but willing to go with the flow. "Uh, hey! I'm the Rum Tum Tugger! Nice to meet 'ya!"
Jennyanydots' eyebrows came together with almost an audible click.
By this time, Electra and Etcetera, unfazed by all of this ('cuz what did they know?) had caught up to the pink tabby. "Hi, I'm Etcetera!" the cream-colored tabby screamed in that strident way she had.
"And I'm Electra!" the other kitten called likewise. "Is your fur pink like that all on its own!"
Celebintart nodded politely and sweetly, then turned back to Tugger. "Does your mane grow long like that all on its own?" he asked, under – and Tugger couldn't believe this – heavy eyelashes.
"He sure takes encouragement well, doesn't he?" Misto said teasingly to Victoria.
She swatted at him and muttered, "Shut up."
"Cassandra!" Alonzo howled as he plowed into the little den he shared with her.
Cassandra, who had been pleasantly napping, shot wide awake as her mate came crashing into the den. "What! What is it!" she cried, completely alarmed.
For an answer, Alonzo merely climbed into her arms and whispered, "Hold me," curling into fetal position like a kitten.
Cassandra, now more confused than alarmed, obligingly held him. He was shaking, and his eyes were wide with terror. "Alonzo, what is it?" she asked, concerned.
Alonzo simply shuddered and muttered, "Just ... hold me ..."
By now, Jenny and Skimble had joined Tugger, Cettie, and 'Lectra in welcoming the newest tribe member. Victoria and Misto still stood a few yards away.
"So what did the humans do next?" Electra was saying.
Celebintart was almost to the point of tears as he recounted his twagic past. "It was so terrible!" he cried, tears forming in those kaleidoscope eyes. "The humans came back home, and I thought they were bringing me back my favorite dinner, tuna salad on a fresh bed of whiskas, but instead, they came back with a Pollicle! It was so terrible! They gave it my bed and when it tried to go out my kitty door, it broke it! It was so terrible! And it kept growling at me, too! So the humans thought I didn't like him, so they threw me out! It was so terrible!"
"This is so terrible..." Skimble mumbled to Jenny.
"Ssh you!" she hushed, giving him an elbow in the ribs. To be polite, she raised her voice and asked, "Then what happened?"
"It was so terrible!" Celebintart cried afresh. "The humans threw me in the streets! I've never been a street cat before! I didn't know what to do! I walked around the street for a while, looking for something to eat! There were lots of places with humans and food in them, but none of them would let me in, despite my exquisitely beautiful fur! It was so terrible! One of the places even had a great big cat eating at a table, but they still wouldn't let me in! It was so terrible! I finally got so hungry I actually ate a mouse! Can you believe it! It was so terrible! I actually ate something that was crawling on the ground! It was so terrible! But then I was all dirty, and there were no humans around to give me a bubble bath! It was so terrible! So then I ..."
For the sake of the readers, about ten minutes' worth of terrible drivel has been abbreviated. You can thank me later.
"...And then Misto found me!" Celebintart finally announced.
Misto, a little surprised when all attention was immediately called to him, tried his best to look innocent, but Victoria came to his rescue ... sort of: "Hey, I found him, too!"
"And that's how I found the junkyard!" Celebintart concluded, very proud indeed.
Everyone could only stand there for a couple minutes, trying to digest an earful of "terrible" information.
Finally, Victoria, tired of silence, piped up with, "Hey, Celebintart! We better get going if you want to meet everyone in the junkyard!"
Celebintart turned to her, shock evident on his face. "You mean there are more cats around here!" he questioned, unable to believe it.
"Oh, I can safely say there are more cats around here," Misto muttered. It was the understatement of the century.
Bombalurina was feeling ... deliciously sly today. Unfortunately, she was unable to locate any particularly elligible toms to share that slyness with. Talking about toms with Demeter would have to do.
Smiling wickedly as she located Demeter napping on an old mattress, Bombalurina crept silently toward her friend. When she was close enough to whisper in her ear, she poked her hard and screamed, "HI DEMI!"
They must have heard Demeter's screech in the next country.
"What was that for!" Demeter yelled at Bombalurina. "I was asleep and you knew that!"
Bombalurina dismissed the blame with a flip of her paw. "Don't worry about it. I'm feeling ... sly today." She repositioned herself so as to be more comfortable on the mattress, then said, "So is anything particularly juicy going on? Especially concerning toms?"
Demeter's face assumed a thrilled look, and she opened her mouth to speak excitedly, but Bomba stopped her before she could: "And before you tell me that silly story about Admetus and the spraypaint, let me warn you that I've heard it three times today."
Demeter then closed her mouth, disappointed that she could not keep up in the gossip department compared to her more popular friend. But then she remembered the events of earlier that morning. "Actually, there's a new tom in the tribe. He just joined today."
Bomba squealed. "Ooh! That is news! So do tell! What's he like? What's his name?"
"Actually," Demi started, grimacing, "I don't exactly remember his name, only that it somehow reminded me of going to a Valentines party with very sour candy. He's bright pink, though!"
The gears turning in Bomba's head at that moment were almost visible. Going to a party ... celebrating ... sour candy ... tart ... really bright pink ...
"Everlasting Cat! Noooo!" Bomba suddenly howled, jumping to her feet.
This hysterical display caused Demeter to rise in alarm, too. "What? What is it!"
"Celebintart! Celebintart joined the tribe!" Bomba could only scream, clutching at her headfur, almost to the point of yanking it out.
"Who's Celebintart?" Demi questioned, unable to comprehend her friend's outburst.
"He's my cousin! I thought I'd gotten rid of him!" Bomba cried, pacing on the mattress.
Demeter stood there for a few seconds, trying to understand, and finally said, "Wait, he's your cousin? You look nothing alike!"
"Well, we sort of do," Bomba sort of explained. "I'm red, he's pink; it's a long story. And hopefully, I won't have time to explain it to you. I'm leaving." And with that, she started to take off.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Demi questioned as she tried to follow Bomba. "What for?"
"Because as long as Celebintart is here, I won't be. I'm taking a vacation," Bomba replied, grim-faced.
Demeter was still utterly confused. "But where will you go?"
"Across town, across the country, across the border, I don't care! I just have to get away from him!" And with that, Bombalurina took off at full speed for the junkyard gate, leaving a very confused Demeter scratching her head.