Ghost of You
Chapter 1 ~ Live and Let Die
Sometimes Pan' just liked to watch them.
They were gorgeous, each and every one of them a marvel to look at. The way they chucked their heads back and sang was something to be envied; the way they kicked their legs and danced without worry was something to be treasured.
She admired them and longed to join in their songs and dance their dances but something always stopped her. Was it fear of not being accepted? Or simply fear of making a fool of herself? She just didn't know.
Whatever was stopping her, she resented it. However, to just watch them was a wonder and like any other day, she perched herself on a tree just beyond the gates and just watched.
There was something going on, though. The usual cheery atmosphere was replaced with a tense and almost fiery one. She blinked confusedly and let her eyes swivel around the area.
The strong and protective grey tabby approached the gold cat that Pan' had assumed was his mate and whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened and he nodded solemnly before standing on the giant tire that almost towered over the centre of the junkyard. The area went silent and Pan' almost fell off the branch because she leant forward in anticipation.
He swallowed before saying in a shaky voice, "He's gone. The wounds are too great. He's gone."
There was a mixture of noises emanating from the junkyard. There were some gasps, some sobs and some words of disbelief. Pan's brow furrowed, she looked at the silver cat, hoping he'd carry on so she'd know what was happening. He didn't have to though, a well built black and white spotted tom stood up with tears streaming down his face.
"We're just going to let him get away with this? Old Deuteronomy is gone, what do you plan to do?"
There was an uproar but the silver tom raised his voice though it was still unstable,
"Of course we're not going to let him get away with this. My Father was a great man and I can assure you all I will not let his death will not be in vain. Macavity's days of torturing us all are over."
Pan' sighed slightly, all he needed to say was the mad tom's name and she would have understood completely. Her Father was an accomplice of Macavity's and she had been inside the warehouse before her Mother insisted on cutting off all contact between them. Horrible things happened there and like any other child she was naïve, unsure of what was happening, she just knew she didn't like it. When she looked back on her visits she realized her Mother sheltered her from the sick things going on in there. Not only that, but many rumors circled around London streets about the things he would do and all Pan' now knew of him was that she wouldn't like to cross his path.
A ginger tabby with a friendly Scottish accent approached the other tabby and put an arm around him in a fatherly manner.
"Munkustrap, you're promising a lot here. What do you plan to do?"
Munkustrap turned to the rest of the tribe; "I want every fit and able tom that is prepared to fight to come see me in my den right now. We're going to attack. This is war."
More mutters, the golden queen that Munkustrap had previously been talking to approached him,
"Munku…You can't possibly be actually considering going to war with Macavity? He'll kill you too and whoever you take along!"
Pan' nodded furiously though she knew they couldn't see her, with her brow furrowed and her lip twitching slightly, she continued to eavesdrop.
"Demeter, I can't let him get away with this… He needs to be stopped, no matter how many people it takes. He killed his own Father, Deme! If that's not insanity I don't know what is."
Pan' didn't seem to have control of herself, she climbed down the tree and slinked through the gates before approaching the outer edge of the group gathered around the tire.
"I'm sorry to intrude," she said her voice feigning confidence that she didn't really have, "But she's right, you can't do it."
The cats all turned around and blinked at her, she was conscious of the attention and the fact that she stood out like a sore thumb but continued direct eye contact with Munkustrap.
"Macavity is a mad man but a very powerful one. Do you know how many guards he has? How much training the guards get?" When he didn't respond she simply said, "A lot, that's how much."
Munkustrap shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but the spotted tom that had spoken up earlier cut him off,
"Excuse me, but who are you exactly?"
She smiled slightly and rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, "Pandora, friends call me Pan."
He nodded, his brow furrowed and his jaw clenched, "And what makes you think you can come into this junkyard and commandeer the whole situation?"
Pandora mentally cursed at herself, she had spent ages watching these cats and admiring them, but she decided that the best time to approach them was in a middle of a crisis. She almost laughed at her own stupidity.
"I wasn't trying to commandeer anything," she said gently, "And I feel for you all, I seriously do… People say he was a brilliant cat…But, if you go to war with Macavity you're going to lose more brilliant cats."
Her comments caused a divide, some were nodding along with her and some were shaking their heads and muttering things like 'the cheek of it!'
Munkustrap held his paws in the air and there was a silence, he cocked his head to the side and approached her.
"And…Pandora, is it? How do you know these things? Have you previously worked for Macavity? And if so, how can we trust you?"
Pandora felt a weight on her shoulders, a ginger queen had her arm draped around her and an identical tom stood next to Munkustrap.
"If you can trust us, you can trust her. We never saw her at the warehouse when we worked for him."
Pandora looked at the two, the queen stood next to her grinned, "I reckon it's Prince's daughter, 'Jer. He was always bleating on about a Pandora and she looks the spit of him."
Pandora nodded gently, the two ginger cats slinked together and examined her for a while before Munkustrap sighed.
"Listen, I'm not going to force anyone to join us but I'm the leader now and it's what I think is best for the tribe." He looked around, "I'll be waiting in my den if any tom would like to participate."
Pausing, he turned to look at the black and white spotted cat,
"Alonzo…?"
Alonzo nodded as Munkustrap walked off, "You heard him, queen's aren't permitted to join any toms that would like to come, follow me now."
Only the frail cat she knew as Gus and the unable one that she recognized as Bustopher Jones stayed behind though they watched the others with longing etched in every feature of their face.
The ginger tom, Mungojerrie, looked at his twin and hesitated before squeezing her shoulder and running off to follow the other toms.
The uneasiness and the tension in the atmosphere dramatically increased.