Title: Ritzkin (2/6)
Rating: PG
Warnings: Macavity is a mean kitty. His father isn't much better.
Disclaimer: I completely forgot to mention in Part 1 that I DON'T OWN CATS! I'm sorry to anyone I offended cries

A HUUUUUGE thank you goes to everyone who's read this, reviewed this, or favorited this in some way. Sorry for the delay in putting up a new chapter - wasn't letting me update, for some reason.

Ritzkin - Part 2

It was funny, how age changed the way you looked at things, Tugger mused to himself, sitting in his human's window. Now that he was almost a year old, three whole months since his encounter with the Terror Twins, he could reflect back on his experience with wisdom. Macavity and Ritzkin really weren't all that terrifying. Sure, they were nasty, but they were just putting on an act, swaggering around like him and Rump- er, Skollus did. They didn't mean nothing by it.

Out in the yard, Skollus chased his tail, yowling whenever he managed to catch it in his sharp claws or teeth. Tugger rolled his eyes. Skollus hadn't grown any more intelligent with age. He went by a different name now, Rumpus Cat. Exotica, Cassandra's younger housemate had started calling him that after he made a ruckus one night. When Cassandra mentioned it, Tugger began calling him Rumpus as well. It made Cassandra smile at him, so he made sure to call Skollus 'Rumpus' whenever she was around. Even the older cats were beginning to pick up on it now.

Tugger picked his way along the windowsill to squeeze out through the hole he had chewed in the screen. He jumped down easily, pleased that there was no more twingeing in his paw. It turned out that Pollicle had gotten him worse than anyone originally thought, and the humans had taken him to the veterinarian, who had tied up his paw too tight for him to bend it for a whole month. Tugger hadn't minded too much, though, since the bandage gave him a lot of attention with the young queens, who all wanted to fuss over him. He hadn't minded Bombalurina licking his ears, or Cassandra helping him though the junkyard, often putting on exaggerated grimaces to bring them cooing. Carsina had tried to fuss over him, but he kept hiding from her. He regretted that now, a bit.

Not too long ago, some of the humans had moved out of their house, and they took Carsina with them. Tugger had found himself missing his mother more than he had thought, but Old Deuteronomy often came by to visit his youngest sons, comforting them in their mother's absence.

"Where ya going? Where ya going?" Rumpus tackled Tugger, his tail flicking in youthful enthusiasm.

Tugger shoved Rumpus off him. "I'm just taking a walk. You don't gotta come."

"I wanna!"

"Nope, sorry." Tugger jumped onto the low wall surrounding their house and flicked his fluffy tail at his short-haired brother. "I'm going solo."

"Aww!"

Tugger sauntered off, ignoring his brother's wail of despair. Rumpus would find something to distract him in a few seconds. He wouldn't even remember Tugger had left him behind when Tugger returned. Besides, Bombalurina wanted to show him her favorite pigeon-hunting ground… just him and Bomba… Tugger grinned, fluffing his mane as he walked. She really liked his long fur, it was almost exotic in their little tribe. Aside from him and Deuteronomy, there weren't really any true long-hairs in their tribe. A couple of the cats had very very short fur, like Cassandra and Exotica, but the majority of the tribe members were ordinary short-hairs. Coricopat and Tantomile were exceptions to that rule, with their fur being some sort of mix of short and ultra-short. They were just oddballs in general, Tugger had decided long ago.

Bomba was almost three years old, and the red queen knew much about the ways of the world. She had implied several times to Tugger that she knew just why his stomach went all funny and heat rushed between his legs whenever he saw the tribe's young queens, and that in and of itself made him curious and want to go pigeon-hunting with her. See, he had never told her how he felt around her, or any of the other girls, so how did she know?

That, and whenever he was around Bomba, his stomach felt all funny and heat rushed between his legs, but it felt really good.

Bombalurina was waiting for Tugger on a dumpster by a Chinese restaurant, and when she smirked like that at him… He fluffed his ruff again and hopped up beside her, grinning back.

A looong while later, Tugger and Bomba stretched out on the roof, a smug look on Bombalurina's face and a broad smile on Tugger's. She had done more than just explain those feelings to him, she had shown him what they meant. Several times. And she had shown him her favorite pigeon-hunting place on top of that! Sated in several ways, Tugger yawned and flopped onto his back. "I can see Scabees land from here." The Scabees were one of the rival cat tribes in the area, a bunch of snotty purebreds who mostly kept to their big old manor houses on the hills. They were pains in the tail, though, and when enough of them got together, no one was safe. Bustopher Jones used to be a Scabees, it was said, but he had asked to join the Jellicle tribe because the best food could be found in Jellicle land. Deuteronomy had let him in without any question, and Bustopher made his way easily between the two tribes now. Tugger had only seen Bustopher once before, and his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head – Bustopher was bigger around than Deuteronomy with all his muscle and fur!

"You can see the Monnik land too," Bombalurina said, lazily lifting a paw to point toward the river and the docks. "Did you hear what happened last night over there?"

Tugger rolled over again, ears perking up. He was always keen to hear a bit of news about the Monniks. "No, what happened?"

Bomba washed her outstretched paw, checking it over several times, before deigning to answer. "A Pollicle was killed, a big one."

"By the Monniks?" Tugger wondered if the Terror Twins had done it. They had eaten their family as infants, after all.

"Word on the street is that it was definitely a cat kill." Bomba gave a delicate shiver, her eyes glowing excitedly. "Can you imagine? Cats who can bring down the big Pollicles…"

"I wonder if Macavity and Ritzkin did it," Tugger mused, mostly to himself.

"You should ask them!" Bombalurina turned her big eyes to the younger cat. "You've hung out with them before, right?"

"Eh…" Tugger had figured no one would believe him if he said that the Terror Twins had tried to eat him, so there wouldn't be any harm in stretching the story a hair. "Yeah. Yeah, we're real good friends."

"Ask them." Bomba wriggled a little closer to Tugger, nuzzling his cheek. "Go on, ask them! Do it for me? I want to know what happened…" she purred.

Tugger knew that Bomba liked to flirt with danger. She would often take strolls along the border of the Jellicle and Monnik lands, sometimes even venturing into their territory to join the Monnik cats in games of cards. She claimed to have a friend among the Monniks herself, a kitten named Demeter. Unlike Tugger, though, her claimed friend was low on the pecking order. Macavity and Ritzkin were some of the most infamous Monniks, second only to Leviticus himself (or so it was said). Demeter probably wouldn't know what had happened, but surely the Terror Twins would know. The only problem was, Tugger didn't actually know the twins. "Uh…" Bomba chose that moment to give Tugger a kiss, and his stomach did that weird loopy thing again. "Okay, sure. I'll go ask them."

"Ask them now?"

Tugger grinned and winked at Bomba, rising to his feet. "Yeah, I'll ask them now! You want to know, I'll get you the info!" He'd do anything for the seductive queen, at that moment. When Bomba smiled, he almost slipped off the roof. Luckily for his pride, he made a graceful recovery and caught himself. "I'll be back in a few hours." Flashing her a smile over his shoulder, he jumped off the roof and headed for Monnik land.

Ten feet into Monnik territory, Tugger began to feel like he had made a huge mistake in coming here. The Terror Twins were not his friends, as he claimed, and they would sooner eat him than fill him in on what was going on. He almost turned back, but he stopped himself, glaring at the ground beneath his feet. "Stop it, you coward," he mumbled. "You said you'd do this, so by the Everlasting Cat, you will!"

"You're invoking the Everlasting Cat? Do you have any idea how Jellicle that is?"

Tugger leapt and whirled at the voice, his claws out and fangs bared. A splash of dirty silver appeared, pouring off a ledge. Tugger's golden eyes widened as he recognized the lean tabby slinking toward him. Ritzkin.

"You look familiar," Ritzkin said, circling around Tugger. "Have we threatened you before? Not likely, since you're still standing."

Tugger narrowed his eyes, dropping into a protective crouch. He didn't let his eyes leave Ritzkin's thin body, but he strained his ears to pick up the signs of another life. Ritzkin had said 'we,' did that mean Macavity was nearby? "Yeah, actually, you two did once. Your brother wanted to eat me."

Ritzkin stopped his circling, sitting opposite Tugger and curling his tail around his paws. He cocked his head to the side as if thinking. "Wait a minute… are you that Jellicle kitten?"

"I'm the Rum Tum Tugger." He wasn't even a year old yet, but Tugger had already slept with a queen and knew that by stressing the 'the,' he sounded more important. He was important. He lifted his head and looked down his nose at Ritzkin, noticing for the first time that he was actually bigger than the tabby. That might have something to do with the amount of fur he had, but that also might have to do with the fact that Ritzkin looked half-starved.

To his surprise, Ritzkin laughed, and it wasn't the cruel sound he had always imagined. It sounded almost like Rumpus' laughter. "I do remember you! Macavity wanted to eat you, and he was so excited about it that he didn't notice when the other one ran away."

Tugger's ears went up, and he took a step back in surprise. All this time, he thought he had been so clever, sneaking Rumpus past the warring brothers, when Ritzkin had known all along? "Why didn't you say anything?"

Ritzkin shrugged, his silver fur rippling over his shoulders. "I didn't want to eat you. I draw the line at cats. I didn't want to watch Macavity eat you either."

Despite his better judgment, Tugger was relaxing. Ritzkin didn't seem evil at all. He wasn't threatening Tugger, and he was actually talking with him, like a friend would. Tugger perked up at that. There weren't any toms his own age in the Jellicle tribe, unless you counted Rumpus, and Tugger didn't. Jellylorum and Jennyanydots were both expecting kittens any day now, but those would be babies, and they wouldn't be any fun. Coricopat was a couple years older than him, and he was always more interested in talking silently with his sister than playing with Tugger, and then there were the queens. You didn't play with queens the same way you played with kittens. Tugger knew that. "Is Macavity here too?" he asked, looking around.

Ritzkin shook his head, shifting his weight slightly. "Macavity's down at the docks. I'm on guard duty."

"You're doing a real good job guarding," Tugger said with a grin. "I almost didn't get in."

"I stopped you from getting anywhere important, didn't I?" Ritzkin retorted. "And if you try to get past me, I'll eat your tail."

"I thought you drew the line at eating cats!"

"Yeah, well, there are always exceptions." Ritzkin grinned at Tugger, and Tugger couldn't help but return the smile. "So, what brings a Jellicle into Monnik territory?"

"I, uh…" Tugger rubbed a paw over his ears. "I was looking for you, actually."

Ritzkin's ears perked up, and he looked interested. "Looking for me? Why?"

"I had a question," Tugger replied. "See, one of my friends heard about the Pollicle on the docks and she wanted to know who killed it… so I offered to come ask."

"Why would you do something like that?" Ritzkin asked, his ears going back, eyes narrowing in mistrust.

Tugger swallowed, remembering how dangerous Ritzkin was supposed to be. "Because I remembered you hadn't wanted to eat me and I thought you still wouldn't want to eat me so maybe you'd actually answer the question and I could help her and neither of us would have to get eaten." He didn't breathe even after he finished his long sentence, waiting for Ritzkin's response, ready to take to his heels if need be.

After a long pause, Ritzkin relaxed minutely. "You trusted me?"

"Yeah," Tugger said, flicking his tail awkwardly. "I guess I did."

Ritzkin frowned. "I don't think I've ever been trusted before."

"You're being trusted now, aren't you?" Tugger asked, confused. "To be a guard?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Nah. We've got nothing important out this far. It's just punish-" he cut off abruptly.

"Punishment?" Tugger finished for him. "You're being punished?"

Ritzkin shifted his weight again before nodding, not meeting Tugger's gaze anymore. "Yeah. I kinda… messed up last night. Macavity and I attacked the Pollicle. It was Macavity's idea. I was supposed to distract it while he prepared…" Ritzkin shuffled his paws. "Well, I was supposed to distract it, lure it closer to the water. Except I didn't do a good job, and it went after one of the kittens."

Ritzkin looked so morose right then that Tugger moved closer to him and nudged his shoulder as if Ritzkin had been a fellow Jellicle. "Chin up, it wasn't your fault. You're just a kitten yourself, right?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Yeah… but still, I should have been able to do something! Macavity managed to get the Pollicle down, and I tore out its throat, but still… that kitten got hurt because I didn't do my job. Nobody else was supposed to get hurt!"

Tugger licked Ritzkin's shoulder and nearly gagged at the sooty taste of Ritzkin's fur. No wonder he looked so grimy – his fur tasted like he had rolled in a fireplace! "It's okay, Ritzy."

Ritzkin stared at Tugger in surprise, thoughts of the injured kitten gone from his face. "What did you call me?"

"Ritzy," Tugger answered with a bit of a giggle. "I think it suits you!"

Ritzkin made a face, taking a step back from Tugger. "If you're gonna call me Ritzy, then I'm gonna call you… Rumsy!"

"Ritzy-mitzy!" Tugger called, bumping his shoulder against Ritzkin's.

"Dumbsy-Rumsy!" Ritzkin countered, pouncing on Tugger.

"Mitzy!"

"Dumbsy!"

The two kittens rolled over and over, wrestling in the way young toms do, snapping at tails and paws without actually biting hard. Tugger kept laughing as Ritzkin would try to tackle him, only to wind up with a mouthful of Tugger's long fur. This went on for a few minutes, until Ritzkin gave a grunt of pain as Tugger pinned him with some force. Tugger immediately backed off, looking at his new friend with some alarm. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to… did I scratch you?"

Ritzkin quickly rolled off his back, grimacing slightly as he rose to his feet again. "No, you didn't hurt me."

"You sounded hurt," Tugger said. "You look hurt."

Ritzkin closed his eyes and shook his head. "But not from you." He lifted his right paw slightly and set it down again. "I fell on my shoulder last night, and it's still kinda sore. That's all."

Last night in the Pollicle fight? Tugger wanted to question Ritzkin more, but the closed-off look Ritzkin was giving him kept Tugger's mouth shut, so he changed the topic. "Hey, are you hungry? I know a great place to get some food. There's this little pub not too far from here that has great leftovers."

Ritzkin perked up for a minute, but he pulled back again. "In Jellicle land?"

"Yeah," Tugger said. "But hey, don't worry about it! You'll be with me. I'm the Rum Tum Tugger. No one will get mad at you if you're with me."

"You don't think too highly of yourself, do you?" Ritzkin asked sarcastically, but he couldn't help smiling at Tugger's grin. "All right, let's go find this pub of yours."

Tugger led Ritzkin back into Jellicle territory. As they passed the border, Ritzkin dropped into a crouch, slinking along almost on his belly. His ears were pressed back flat against his skull, and his claws were out. Tugger looked back at him and sighed. "Could you be more obvious about being a Monnik?"

Ritzkin glared at Tugger. "I'm in enemy territory, alone, and you want me to be unprepared for an attack?"

"You're not alone. I'm with you. And we're not going to be attacked by Jellicles. I told you, you're with me."

Ritzkin shook his head. "Don't you understand what 'enemy territory' means? I'm Leviticus' son in Deuteronomy's land. If any other Jellicle finds me, I'm as good as dead."

Tugger scoffed at that. "Oh, come on! I'm Deuteronomy's son, and I was in Leviticus' land. You don't see me dead, do you?"

"Only because I was…" Ritzkin paused and ever so slightly relaxed. "Because I was with you."

"See? You're safe, just like I was safe. Now come on." Tugger trotted off down the street. Ritzkin slunk after him, still low to the ground, but he didn't look quite as threatened anymore.

The trash cans outside the White Hart pub had the best soggy chips and partially-eaten chicken out of any Jellicle haunt, but they were very close to Monnik territory. As such, most Jellicles avoided them unless they were going as a full pack. When Tugger brought Ritzkin there, the cans were empty of other cats. "You wait out here. I'll bring us something good to eat." He leapt up onto the edge of the can closest to the pub door, sniffing intently.

Ritzkin wedged himself between a pair of cans, keeping alert for any enemies. Though Jellicles were the biggest threat here, there was also danger from Pollicles and humans. He was grateful that he didn't have to make the leap to the trash cans, as his shoulder was still aching.

Tugger returned in a few minutes with his long coat sticking in odd directions and half a chicken sandwich held triumphantly between his jaws. Ritzkin's stomach growled, and Tugger set the chicken in front of him. "Let's eat!"

The two young toms made short work of the sandwich and a few soggy chips they found. After their meal, they began grooming themselves, smoothing out the fur that had gotten mussed from their dumpster diving and cleaning off their paws and faces.

"Rumsy?"

Tugger looked over at Ritzkin, his tongue sticking out slightly, one paw raised. Ritzkin shuffled his own paws, now noticeably less sooty.

"Thanks. For lunch."

Tugger grinned and fluffed his mane, which was slowly beginning to thicken with his age. "No problem! This is my favorite place to eat, but most cats don't like to come here with me. I like eating with friends!"

Ritzkin smiled back, rising to his feet. "I should get back before anyone misses me."

"Aww, you can't stay and play?"

Ritzkin shook his head. "Not today. I'm being punished, remember? Maybe in a couple days."

"We can play again?" Tugger had hoped Ritzkin would be able to play, but he hadn't thought it would actually be possible, what with the difference in their tribes and families and lands.

"I think… I think we can." Ritzkin rolled a pebble between his paws as he thought. "You know the place where the river bends at the border of our lands? There's that human bridge with the rocks under it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it. We can meet there?"

Ritzkin nodded. "Maybe, if you can play, you can be there at high-sun, and if I can play, I'll be there at high-sun, and if we're both there, then we can play!"

Tugger danced a few steps in excitement. "That'll be fun! I can show you the rat run, and the climbing tree, and the laundry chute…"

Ritzkin did a dance of his own, catching Tugger's enthusiasm. "And I can show you the docks and teach you how to roof-jump and ledge-walk…"

"We can race the Rumpus!"

"And spy on the queens!"

The two young toms finished their happy dances at the same time: Ritzkin with a high leap and Tugger with a backflip. Gigging, they reached out and touched paws. "See you later, then?" Ritzkin asked.

Tugger nodded. "Yeah, high-sun. And you'll teach me how to jump that high?"

Ritzkin grinned, twitching his whiskers. "Yeah, I guess I could… if you teach me that flip!" He waved. "See you later!"

Tugger waved and waved until that dirty grey tail disappeared around the corner. Ritzkin was his friend now! He had a lot to tell Bomba!