A/N: Hey all! I ACTUALLY HAVE READERS NOW! YES! lol.
I welcome criticism. Actually, I would love to have some. Be brutal but nice at the same time. Lol. Please, any tips or ideas would be brilliant and I will love you forever. Lol. I will try my very best to make this angsty, intense, and some fluffy/hurt/comfort at the end... Tell me anything you see and you think I could improve on.
Wow... I just watched The Dark Knight last night... Go see it. It was amazing! Heath Ledger playing the Joker was phenomenal... The character felt very real, very psychotic, very dark... But brilliant.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Cats. But I don't. If I did, I'd be filthy rich and have my very own Misto - and since neither of those are true, I definitely don't own cats... ;)
Chapter 3
Munkustrap
I asked Alonzo to cover gate duty tonight for me, so I was free to enjoy my second night with Demeter. I was grateful for it, I had wanted so long to have a mate - to have her. I never thought the protector could, but I was proven wrong - as much as I hated to admit it. I was allowed to love, to truly feel alive. I smiled, enjoying the balmy night and looked up at the moon, the thing that connected all of the Jellicles.
"I have a lovely cat in mind..." I sang under my breath, only to be interrupted by a piercing scream. It wasn't Etcetera's usual Tugger scream, it was something else, something much more terror filled. A sinister low chuckle followed it and I broke out into a run. 'Macavity,' I thought. After a moment I recognized the voice as Demeter's and truly started to fear what might have happened.
"Demeter?!" I called out, running to the center of the junkyard. She wasn't there, only a few confused Jellicles. I was too much in a hurry to say anything to them, and instead bounded off in the other direction - toward our nest.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," I quickly said when I ran into someone, tackling them to the ground like a football player. It was Bomba, and she looked as panicked as I felt. She knew who screamed as well. "When did you see her last?" I asked quickly, starting to panic as I scannedmy eyes over some approaching Jellicles, realizing that none were Demeter.
"A few minutes ago - she was going to your nest," she said, obviously a bit upset. "Munkustrap, I found this on your doorway," Bombalurina held a paper up to me and I took it in my paws.
"Macavity - Wanted for Everything," I read allowed and swore. "He wanted me to know it was him," I said under my breath, feeling my air passages close up.
I was the Protector of the Jellicle tribe, the protector of her... My brain went into overload.
"Someone get Deuteronomy," I heard her say before I took off towards mine and Demeter's nest. I didn't care what my father decided - I was going after her. And I would go alone.
: : :
Mistoffelees
I approached the center of the junkyard with caution. I could feel everyone's emotions running extremely high, emotions that ranged from longing sadness to bitter anger. Old Deuteronomy sat on the tire above all of us. When he saw me come he patted the space beside him and I approached. "Are all of the Jellicle Cats here?" he asked me and I looked around us. At first I didn't see Munkustrap, but soon realized that he was indeed here - just not where he usually was. He was sitting down in the corner, a potato sack slung over his shoulder. I noticed Demeter was missing, and turned back to look at our leader.
"Demeter is missing, sir," I said, trying to sense her among the rest of the tribe.
"Thank you, Mr Mistoffelees," he said softly, kindly smiling down at me before standing up and turning to address the rest of the Jellicle Tribe.
"I do not know how many of you know this, but one of our kind was just catnapped by Macavity - Demeter to be specific. We're meeting right now to get any details we can," he said, "Now, does anyone have any information?"
"Oi know whea you c'n foind 'em," called a feminine voice from the audience, the cockney accent showing that it was, indeed, Rumpleteazer.
Old Deuteronomy nodded and motioned for her to stand. She did so, with Mungojerrie in tow, and made her way over. "Anyone else?" he called out.
Bombalurina stepped forward. "She was with me in my nest," she said to him softly, obviously angry that she was missing, "We were talking and she left to go back to hers and Munkustrap's nest. That's when she disappeared." Munkustrap didn't move at the mention of his name and I became a bit worried about him. Bomba moved to stand next to Rumpleteazer and she offered her a smile.
I turned to look up at the old leader. "I sensed earlier this morning that his mind was at work, because he set off the alarms a few times before trying to catnap Demeter. But I figured that, since he didn't do it last night, that there was nothing to worry about," I said, somewhat guiltily and he patted my back.
Seeing that no one else stood forward, the old cat turned to the ones who had spoken. "Then those who are standing, if all are willing, will be assigned to saving Demeter," he said rather formally and the rest of the Jellicles started chatting rather quickly, obviously not pleased with the turn of events.
"Quiet, quiet," Munkustrap called, walking over to the group. He wasn't very loud, but the fact that he hadn't spoken at all that night until that moment had caught everyone's attention.
He looked out at everyone, then at the small group, then at his father. "I'm going alone," he said seriously, in a tone that no Jellicle wanted to meddle with... Except, perhaps, one Jellicle who was sassy enough to do so.
Bombalurina stepped towards him from beside Rumpleteazer. "No, you're not," she said, with enough attitude to make him cringe, "If you think you're the only one here who cares for Demeter, you are sadly mistaken."
Wanting to assist Bomba, or perhaps save his brother, or, most likely, wanting to be part of the limelight, the Rum Tum Tugger stepped forward. Resting a hand on her shoulder for some support, some may think, or just to touch her, others may think, he looked up first at Munk and then at their father. "She's right," he said indignantly and Bomba shouldered off his hand, still a bit upset about when he dropped her the night before.
Munkustrap rolled his eyes. "If I remember correctly, you and Demeter didn't exactly get along very well," he pointed out a bit harshly.
"Doesn't mean I don't want to save her - we all do."
Seeing as Munkustrap was close to blows and Tugger was too oblivious to realize this, Old Deuteronomy stepped in. "Enough. Tugger, you full well know this entire tribe can not go after Demeter," some of the audience mumbled in agreement until the some of the elders started shushing them and the leader turned to address the rest of the tribe, "Be wise in your decision - who do you decide should go? Who actually wants to? You should all remember that this will most likely be very dangerous - we are talking about Macavity," he pointed out and went back to sit on his tire.
All was silent for a few moments until a certain white kitten stepped up. "I'm the fastest cat out of all my elders," Victoria pointed out softly with a nod and went to stand with the small group that had been forming.
"No!" Someone cried out and after a second I realized it was me. I looked around myself for some sort of explanation, "You - you're a kitten. The future of the tribe..."
"I don't know if you remember, Mr Mistoffelees, but I'm now an adult," she threw this in my face and my back straightened. Her shy exterior was now gone - most likely by my stupid comment earlier. When Victoria said my full name, it was like a slap in the face - she had never called me that before, never that I could recall.
I turned to Deuteronomy who nodded. "She is, indeed, an adult - therefore it is her choice," he said calmly and, although my face visibly paled, I stayed silent. Some kittens raised their hands, but the rest of the tribe paid them no heed.
Munkustrap looked at all of them. The daylight was burning as it was - with a pang he realized it was twilight. "If this little powwow is done, I'd like to get going," he said rather harshly, causing many to frown at him. I didn't blame him, though, and I didn't think the others did either. His mate was just kidnapped - it was understandable.
"You won't be leaving tonight, Munkustrap," his father said, looking down at him from his place on the large tire.
"I don't care if they don't, but I will be," he said, a rather serious expression on his face. His father shook his head and turned to face the rest of the tribe. "Consider this meeting over, I have some matters to attend to with my son," he turned to the remaining 6 of us, "and I expect to see you all here at the crack of dawn."
Gaaah... I wanted to write more, guys, truly... But it's 12:09, and I have an early Fringe rehearsal tomorrow...
Hopefully the next chappie will have some good Old Deuteronomy humor... I like him, I think he has a funny side. A subtle, kind, funny side, and I hope to explore that tomorrow!
Ooohoohoo... Cliffy... Well, kinda. There will be three confrontations in the next chapter. Yayz...
