Chapter 8: All You Have to Do Is Surrender
When the dogs cheering finally quieted, Magnus ordered them to round up the rest of the Jellicles and put them in the largest den in the junkyard. A group of five stayed with the beaten cats while the others spread out, picking up the injured Jellicles and putting them with the rest. Two Pollicles disappeared into Jenny's den and after a moment, she, Jellylorum and the kittens were hustled outside, Jenny carrying Jemima in her arms. Once the cats were all together, another dog hurried to the largest den and went inside; they could hear him rummaging around trying to make it a bit bigger so it would hold everyone. He came out a few minutes later and nodded that it was ready. The tribe was forced inside except for Munkustrap who was taken to another den that Magnus had claimed would be his own. Two Pollicles stood on either side of the doorway as guards.
For the rest of the day, the Jellicles sat listening to the dogs celebrating; barking, laughing and howling loudly then watched as they caught glimpses of them choosing dens for themselves. They grimaced at the thought of the dogs in their dens; they would never get the smell out. But the main thing on everyone's mind right then was Misto's betrayal.
"How in Bast's name could he do this to us?" Plato demanded as he held Victoria tightly while Jenny set her broken leg. The white queen cried out in pain but Jenny was able to fashion a splint from a couple pieces of wood she had found lying around; the dog must've broken something when he was widening the den. She wrapped it up with a couple of strips of cloth from the blankets on the bed. Finding some catnip, she gave it to her to ease the pain.
"I don't know," Jenny said quietly.
"I knew that idiot couldn't be trusted," Plato said bitterly.
"Yeah, you're only saying that cause you know he has a thing for Victoria," Tugger snapped.
"Like you do for any queen you see?" Plato retorted.
"I can't figure out why Misto would want to join a bunch of dogs," Bombalurina said before Tugger could form a remark, "If he was going to turn on us, you'd think he'd join another tribe of cats."
"Who cares why," Plato snarled wincing slightly as the lump on his head ached, "The fact is he's a damn traitor and you know it!"
"Don't talk to her like that," Tugger warned getting to his feet. Plato laid Victoria down and got in the Maine Coon's face though he was still a bit wobbly from being knocked out.
"Mistoffelees was not in control of himself," Coricopat blurted out stopping any further hostility between the two. The tribe turned to the mystic twins, waiting while Cori took a steadying breath obviously fighting through the pain of his injuries.
"We noticed during the fight that Misto's magic was not…" he clenched his jaw, the pain of his injuries overcoming him again. Tantomile put her paw on her twin's side calming him down.
"…was not in sync," she finished for him.
"Not in sync?" Alonzo asked, "What does that mean?"
"Magnus is controlling his body like a puppet," Tantomile said, "And Misto's conscience is trapped inside his own head."
"He's been hypnotized?" Bombalurina asked, "I thought dogs didn't have any magic."
"They don't," Tantomile said, "Magnus must've forced a magical cat to teach him how to hypnotize someone."
The tribe fell silent then; the sounds of the celebration had quieted outside and they didn't want to risk the guards outside the doorway hearing them. Demeter sat staring out the door at the den across from the one they were in; that was where she had watched those Mastiffs drag Munkustrap with Magnus leading the way. She bit her lip nervously; what in Heaviside where they doing to him in there? A few minutes later, the Mastiffs dragged her mate outside again throwing him to the ground. Magnus came out a moment later and he did not look pleased. At a nod from the Wolfhound, the larger of the two Mastiffs brutally kicked Munk in the stomach as he tried to get to his feet ripping a cry of pain from him. Then the smaller of the two picked him up and punched the silver tabby in the face sending him crashing to the ground at Magnus's feet.
"All this could've been avoided Munkustrap," Magnus said as Munk tried again to get up, "This doesn't have to happen. All you have to do is surrender to us and the pain will stop. Who knows? I might even have a change of heart and allow you to live the rest of your life in peace."
Munkustrap lifted his head glaring at the Wolfhound and spat on him. No sooner had he done so then both of the Mastiffs attacked him and Munk's cries of pain rang through the yard. Demeter was horrified. She got to her feet and made a bolt for the doorway; she had to help him but Bombalurina caught her before she could get outside.
"Let go of me," Demeter yelled tears running down her face as she struggled against her friend, "I have to help him! They'll kill him!"
"Deme, there's nothing you can do," Bomba said keeping her voice calm though she was getting choked up as well, "You'd be dead before you got near them."
Demeter struggled a bit more then gave up, collapsing to her knees as the Mastiffs finally stopped their brutal attack. Munkustrap lay unmoving on the ground but she could still see the rise and fall of his back. One of the guards peered in and smirked at her as Bomba turned her friend away from the awful sight and hugged her tightly, Demeter's entire body shuddering with sobs. Bomba hissed defiantly at the dog as he turned away laughing and Munkustrap was hauled to his feet. His ear twitched; he could hear Demeter sobbing but he soon fell limp as the Mastiffs dragged him back inside Magnus's den.
Two hours later the tribe heard the sound of paws padding toward the den and Mistoffelees appeared in the doorway. The two guards turned to flank him as he entered. He looked at the angry glares he was getting from the tribe and inside it was killing him. I don't blame you guys for hating me. If we get out of this alive, I'm leaving. I can't forgive myself for this and I don't expect you guys to either.
"Bring her," he heard his voice say as his gaze fell on Demeter. The black and gold queen looked like she wanted to kill him, her eyes red from crying but burning with hatred. The dogs came forward, grabbing her and when Bombalurina tried to stop them they just shoved her away. Tugger growled and tried to go after them but he was too injured to do much and one dog easily knocked him back down. Misto turned and headed out the doorway with the dogs behind him. They walked across to Magnus's den and waited for the Wolfhound to come out. When he did, he smiled at Demeter; a smile that made her shudder and told the two dogs to let her go.
"Your mate is stronger than I expected," he said making it sound like a compliment though she knew he was just taunting her, "He must care for this tribe a great deal."
Demeter said nothing. "It's too bad that his stubbornness overrides his common sense," the Wolfhound continued shaking his head, "If he would just surrender, I'm willing to allow him, you and your daughter to live."
"He won't," Demeter snapped, "And neither will we."
"Such a shame," Magnus said mocking sympathy, "But I suppose I cannot expect anything less from inferiors." With a wave of his paw, the dogs grabbed her again and took her back to the den.
"Such a shame," Magnus said again then turned to Mistoffelees, "The executions will begin tomorrow night…and…you shall be my executioner." With another wave of his paw he dismissed the hypnotized tux who turned and headed off to his pipe his mind screaming in horror at what he was going to be forced to do the following night. He couldn't kill his friends, he couldn't! He had to break this spell somehow; despite his solemn vow to leave the yard forever if they all survived this, he would not let Magnus force him to kill his friends. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the collapsed pile where Wisp was buried and prayed to the Everlasting Cat that the silver tom had managed to protect himself.
Later that night, the two Pollicles that were guarding the Jellicle prisoners were relieved by two fresh guards and they went out on patrol. Magnus had said that even though the Jellicles were captured, they were crafty enough to be able to slip out without anyone seeing or hearing them. There had to be at least two dogs patrolling the yard at all times in case one of them escaped. The two had split up; one heading off to the north end and working his way around to the east, the other went south and ended up at the west. Once there they crossed the center of the yard and reversed their directions.
"I think I'm going to like this place," one dog said as he met up with the other in the center of the yard.
"Yeah," the other agreed, "It's a little cramped in some of those dens but we can always fix them."
Just then they heard a clink. Turning quickly they looked toward the collapsed pile.
"What was that?" the first dog asked.
"Dunno," answered the second. They cautiously made their way over to the pile being as quiet as they could in case a Jellicle had gotten loose. They walked around the pile and sniffed the surrounding area but there was nothing.
"Must've been something falling off," the first dog said, "I don't see anything."
"Yeah," the second dog said then he suddenly let out a slight yelp as his foot gave way beneath him. He got up quickly and noticed it was a loose tin can that he had tripped over.
"Here's the problem," he said, "This must've come off. I just tripped over it."
He tossed the can back on top of the pile then the two headed off back on their patrol. Neither of the dogs had thought to look closer at the pile itself; if they had they've would've seen the silver paw that slowly slid back inside.
That was a little better; get some more air in here. Wisp's entire body was aching from his fights with the dogs but at least he was getting better. In all the time he'd had his powers, he'd never thought about trying to heal himself. In truth, he didn't know how to start. Was he supposed to just touch a wound and it would instantly heal or what? He'd tried that earlier on but found it didn't work. He then tried focusing the thought of his body healing in his mind and was surprised to find the pain of his injuries fading a bit. He kept concentrating on the thought and slowly, the pain was stopping. All that he needed was to get a bit more air; the small makeshift den he'd created when the pile collapsed was just big enough for him to lie on his side. Knocking out that tin can above his head had taken care of the air problem but he froze when he'd heard the Pollicles outside looking around. Thankfully they hadn't seen him and he'd been able to relax slightly. Almost, he thought as he felt the pain receding even more, almost there.