Chapter six is here at last. :3 I'm lacking on reviews, but that's okay. I'm sure most people hate OCs. xD Of course, now I'm going to find an OC story with, like, half a million reviews. Whatever. I just like to write, but reviews are very encouraging.

The disclaimer's in Jamaica today.

By the way, I'd like to thank everybody who's added my story to their favorites. I love you guys and hope you keep reading. x3

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That night, my sleep was fitful and uneasy. I kept waking up, seeing images of green eyes, chased through the darkness by them as their sharp gaze burned the fur on my back, running, running...it was like I couldn't go fast enough. They were always right there, right behind me.

As sharp black claws reached out of the darkness after me during one of the longer periods of sleep, I awoke with a screech that would wake the dead, sitting bolt upright, covered in sweat. My heart pounded against my chest and my head throbbed, followed by my ribs causing me sharp pain after I sat up so quickly. I flopped back down on the pillow, and Jellylorum, right on cue, skittered in, awoken by my screaming, her face looking a little panicked. "Luvarium?" she called, hurrying over. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-no," I reassured her. She looked so worried, and over me, at that. An outcast. A loner. I didn't even belong to the tribe. Not technically. At least, that's what I kept repeating to myself in my head, hoping it would stay true.

But there was that little fragment of me that was beginning to deny it, and that scared me. I wasn't one for commitment. What would I do if I had to live here?

It would never work.

I'd have to move on.

Eventually.

"I just...had a bad dream," I reported, not willing to call it a nightmare, even though it had chilled me through to the bone. Jellylorum looked unconvinced, but nodded.

"Tell me if you need anything. It'll be time to get up soon, so you just go back to bed and..."

"Right," I interjected. "I'll wake up on time. You'll see." I offered a faux-smile that the older queen seemed to buy for once, smiling back at me before exiting.

Okay, so, I thought to myself as I lay back down on the mound of old clothes, Pros of leaving. No more Tugger. No more Tugger fanclub. But no more Electra. She could be annoying and everything, but I had to admit I was fond of the brown tabby.

I chased that thought away and kept listing. No more Jellylorum, no more Pouncival and Mistoffelees drama... But Jellylorum was actually pretty nice when she wasn't being fussy and bossy, and Pounce and Misto were my friends now.

You don't have any friends here, I tried to tell myself. You've only known them for...

A week. Maybe. That was a long time. Long enough to make friends.

No, I had to stop thinking that way, I barely knew these cats.

No more Munkustrap. Wait a sec, what was wrong with him? No more rules. But the world was dangerous without some rules.

I'm a rebel, I don't like rules, I told myself. Okay, so I'd found one reasonable thing. No more curfew. No more grown-ups worrying over you like a kitten. No more drama. No more drama. No more drama.

I repeated that last one over and over again in my head. All alone, there wouldn't be any drama. No crushes, no jealousy, no nothing.

But then again...that would be kind of lonely, wouldn't it? Which turned my mind to the cons of leaving.

You're still injured, you'd never get far. I'd heal. You'd be leaving behind all your friends. No more free food. No more cozy bed. And there was always the threat of danger for a queen by herself in the streets of London.

What was I saying? I could handle myself. But still, the list dragged on.

No more company. No more Electra or Pouncival or Mistoffelees or any of your other new friends. Okay, I admitted to myself I actually had friends.

Maybe if you stay, Misto can help you get your memory back.

And what would I do with that, anyway? I was already living a lie. What would the truth do to help that?

Still, that was a tempting offer.

And you've been wanting to get to know that queen Rumpleteazer. Oh, yeah. Her and Mungojerrie, her brother or her best friend or whatever. They seemed my sort, but in all the hysteria I'd had in my life during the brief periods I was out of this damn bed, I'd barely seen them.

But I'd survive without getting to know the tiger-striped duo, wouldn't I? Of course I would.

I was going to point out more things to myself, but I fell asleep again before I got the chance.

--

I had a second dream, a short one; not of the eyes chasing me again, but of familiar faces swimming before me. Electra, Pouncival, Mistoffelees, Jemima, Etcetera, Victoria, Jellylorum...even Alonzo and Munkustrap. They were calling to me, telling me not to leave, trying to grab at me and pull me back as I attempted to walk away. The heartbroken eyes of my closer friends made my chest swell with sorrow.

Why was I even leaving? Why was I abandoning them? Why?

But even as I began to think of turning back, the sad faces began to morph. Anger touched their features; just a little bit at first, then a blind rage, contorting the countenances of those whom I had come to know. Even Mistoffelees glared at me in hate, (which I had previously thought impossible for the kind, if shy young tom) and soon, they had drawn up all around me in a circle, baring moonlit fangs, eyes glowing an unnatural red, a color I had subconsciously come to associate with bad things. That and green.

"Liar," they hissed. "Fiend, pretender. Leave! Leave! Leave!" And once again I was being chased, racing away from those who were once my friends.

My eyes sprung open, but my awakening was a little less dramatic this time, not involving screaming or jumping up, which I'm sure my healing ribs greatly appreciated. I rolled over and looked out the sloppy window cut in the side of the den and fitted with a broken piece of glass, watching the sun rising in the east, staining the sky rosy reds and bright golds, turning the clouds purple. I was up early. Or late. I couldn't really tell either way, considering I wasn't used to the erratic schedule of the Jellicles. I yawned, shifting a little; I felt better today, especially in my ankle, which I was now pretty sure I just sprained, considering it hardly hurt at all anymore. Looking in the broken piece of mirror on the wall, I noticed the wounds on my face were healing, though the deepest slashes looked like they were going to leave scars; the fur had barely grown back at all. The only problem now was my ribs. I just had to go and fall, didn't I? Good job, Your Royal Clumsiness.

Despite myself, I was eager to return to the den with Electra, Jemima, Etcetera, and Victoria. I was sick of this place, sick of the too-warm mattress of clothing on the coffee table, sick of being checked up on by Jellylorum every two seconds. I was sick of it. I wanted out.

Out. Out. It seemed I always had to get out of something. Couldn't I just stay put for once?

Without thinking, I slid out of bed, proud to know that I could put weight on my foot. I was a little unsteady, so I grabbed for my crutches, leaning up against the wall, and slung my arms over them, using them to hobble out of the den and into the open.

Cats were starting to appear all around, yawning and stretching in the dawn light. I spotted the TSE1 popping open to reveal a yawning Skimbleshanks and Jennyanydots, the Railway Cat with one arm around his plump mate. I shuddered slightly with an unknown jealousy as a previously untouched thought blasted a hole in my mind. I wanted to be cuddled like that. I wanted to be loved.

Wait a second, what the hell was I saying?! I shook my head briskly to clear that nasty thought, locking it away in the back of my mind. But it raged on, like a caged beast. Love? What did I know about love?

Exactly. I knew absolutely nothing.

Love was a stupid emotion everybody felt but didn't really need. A cat could survive without love. Right? Of course.

As I shuffled past the car hood, I caught the older couple giving me a smile.

"Good morning, dear," Jenny said. "I didn't know Jelly was letting you out so soon." Her expression was pleasant and a little sleepy.

"She's not," I replied mischievously, grinning, trying to ignore the jealousy that this gumbie cat was loved while I was not.

"G'mornin', lass!" greeted Skimble in his thick Scottish accent. I waved in response and ambled on by, making my way towards the den where my queen friends were most likely still asleep.

As I reached said den, I looked inside, scanning the room with my greenish blue eyes. Jemima was up, combing her fur in front of a mirror, surprisingly unbroken. She looked up as I entered and smiled.

"Hey, Luva. Snuck past old Jellylorum?" I nodded, and her smile grew. "Everybody else still isn't up." Her smile briefly faded, and she looked back at her brush. There was a long silence, an awkward one I longed to break – I hated silences like this – but couldn't bring myself to. "Uh..." Jemima's voice was unsure, and she looked at me with her pretty brown eyes. "Lu, can I talk to you?"

I was a little surprised. "Um. Sure," I replied, hobbling over to the bed and taking a seat beside her, pulling my crutches up next to me. "Whaddya need?"

"Well, you see, it's kinda..." She paused and sighed. I'd never seen the usually-mellow queen so distraught. "It's...Mistoffelees...I..."

I felt an unexpected jerk in my chest, short-lived. "You like him," I finished for her, fixing her under my gaze.

"Yeah," she admitted, looking down. "And...I just thought...you're turning into a real friend for him, I think. You can talk to him...I can't."

"Why not?" I queried. "He's really nice, it's not like he'd make fun of you." That sudden twinge again.

"I know," she said, he voice low and exasperated, "but I don't know what I'd say. What if I made a total fool of myself in front of him?"

"Which is why you want me to talk to him for you," I concluded again, and she looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Would you? Please?" It was hard to say no to those eyes, but something in my head urged me not to. I pushed that away in disdain and smiled at her.

"Sure I will, Jemi." I put an arm around her shoulder. "But I'm going to talk to him about talking to you, and he's a little shy himself. Just ask her." I jerked my head towards Victoria. "So you've gotta promise to try talking to him by yourself, okay? Strike up a conversation. What do you like to do?"

"Um. I like to sing. And..." She paused, a little embarrassed. "...sometimes I write poetry."

I nodded. "I bet he likes poetry. He seems like the type. Anyway, he's really interested in magic. What do you think of that?"

"Well, I think it's a kind of interesting thing, but don't tell everybody else I said that. They'd think I'm weird." She looked down again.

"Don't worry about them, okay? If they're really your friends, they'll accept you for who you are." I nodded in the same sage manner as Electra had a while ago. "Something tells me they'll still like you, 'kay?"

"Y...yeah." Jemima sighed in relief. "But you will talk to him, right? Today?"

"Of course!" I grinned, and my voice turned mischievous. "In fact, how about you and me go talk to him right now?"

"Sure – wait, you and me?"

"That's right! Come on, brush up, get ready!" My smile was practically splitting my face in half.

"But, wait, Luva, you said you'd talk to him for me!" There was fear and panic in her eyes.

"I didn't say I wouldn't bring you along." I grabbed her paw and pulled her off the bed. "C'mon. We're gonna wake everyone else up talking this loud." I stopped a moment as I got on my crutches. "Wait, is he even up this early?"

"He gets up early," Jemima reported, and I nodded, not asking how she knew that.

"And if he's not, we'll wake him up," I said decisively, and, pulling Jemima after me, exited the den as fast as I could manage on crutches, my calico companion mumbling behind me, sweating nervously. "Don't worry, Jem, you'll be fine."

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What'll happen? :3 Will Luva really tell Misto, or will Jemima? Is this going to end up a MistoxJemima fanfic? You're gonna have to wait until chapter seven for that. ;D

This is the longest chapter yet! Over 2,000 words! And also, I know I fail at playing Jemima. Dx