HAT: Yay for a slightly longer than average chapter! Enjoy yourselves!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot... *pouts* Sadly... though owning the OCs is an added bonus!
"Breakfast!"
Glass-green eyes open despite their heaviness. His mind, though commanding his body to get up, doesn't get a response. His body is just unwilling to cooperate and get up and go get something that it wants. After a battle of the mind and body, his mind wins and he pushes himself out of bed and trudges into the dining room area. Immediately Tantomile has an arm around his shoulders, guiding him to the table to sit down.
Since when was she almost my height? Skimbleshanks briefly wonders, eyeing her.
"It wasn't real," she gently reminds.
He winces. "Right..."
"We caught you a rat."
He smiles. "Thank you."
As he eats Tantomile curls up on the couch and Coricopat bustles around the back room. When Skimble is finished he, briefly, wonders what he's to do. He knows of things to do around the junkyard, but he's either physically incapable, or he hasn't bonded with cats enough. Luckily for him he does not ponder long.
"You'll be spending the day with Bombalurina," Coricopat mutters as he walks out, his light blue eyes on a crumpled up piece of paper as he unravels it. "Tomorrow we'll start trying to see what we an do about those barriers on your mind."
The brown tailed tom nods. "Alright. Is she picking me up or am I going over there?"
"Actually she doesn't live where you remember. That's Etcetera's den," the male mystic informs. "She should be here in twenty-two seconds."
Lo and behold, twenty-two seconds later Coricopat opens the door and there stands the scarlet queen.
I'll never get over that, Skimble decides as he walks over to the door.
"Hello, Bomba," Coricopat says with a smile. "We expect him back at dinner."
He almost feels like an adolescent being taken on a date and this causes him to blush lightly.
"Don't worry, he'll be back in time for dinner," Bombalurina promises, leaning forward and gently taking the young tom's paw. "Come on, I'll be taking you around the junkyard to meet the cats... again I suppose."
He nods and walks out, throwing a glance over his shoulder. "O-okay..."
As she leads him with his paw clamped in her grasp, he follows with his head bowed and eyes on the ground and blush covering his face. He feels like a kit being lead by his mother, which, to say the least, is embarrassing with this being only his third day. It doesn't help that the previous day she'd protected him from Munkustrap either.
After a little while of this she stops and he glances up at two young toms that he's quite familiar with, but at the same time not at all.
"Hey, toms," Bombalurina greets.
"Hey, Bomba," the two reply, their amber and dark blue eyes on the unknown visitor.
"This is Rum Tum Tugger and Tumblebrutus. Toms, this is Skimbleshanks."
"Nice to meet you," Tugger says with a charismatic grin and holding out a gloved paw.
Skimble brushes the back of his paw with Tugger's and repeats with Tumblebrutus. "Same here..."
Bombalurina's dark brown eyes linger on Skimble's face for a moment before turning to the other two toms. "Sorry, he's a bit shy and doesn't really know anyone."
Yes, thank you for reminding me, the green eyed tom thinks bitterly as he feels his knees tremble before they give. Luckily for him Tugger has an arm around his waist to keep him from falling.
"Are you alright?" the Maine Coon asks. Skimble nods, finding this display of weakness to be a major blow to his pride. "You'd better take it easy."
With a nod the orange tabby takes a deep breath and straightens himself out. "Thank you, but I should be fine."
"Oh... you're one of those," Tumblebrutus mutters.
"One of what?" Skimble demands.
"Those stubborn cats that are determined to do everything on their own," answers the white and light brown tom.
"Forgive me, but I don't really know anyone here," Skimble reminds as he plops onto a box to sit on only to find it collapse under him.
"Oh, Everlasting, are you alright?!" the crimson queen asks, rushing forward to find him laughing.
He's unable to sit up, he's laughing so hard. "A-a-ah'm awright, lass," he assures as his laughter dies down. "A wee tumble ne'er hurt a cat."
Her eyebrows come together. "What?"
"He's alright," an Irish accented voice says before a gray and black calico tom comes into Skimble's vision and holds out a paw. "Hello, I'm Lyon the Railway Cat. Pleasure to meet you."
Skimble takes the paw and allows himself to be hauled up. "Skimbleshanks, pleasure to meet you. I didn't think an Irish cat would be here."
"I'd never expect a Scottish cat to come here, but we're both surprised. You came here two days ago, right?" When he gets a nod in reply, Lyon nods. "Aye. 's a pile o' work to ge' used ta this place, bu' ye'll be fine."
"Aye," Skimble replies with a nod. "Ah'll keep tha' in mind."
(A/N: ... this is my attempt at accents... let me know if I should just stop forever.)
Lyon gives Skimble's shoulder a pat and walks away with a smile. When glass-green eyes turn back to the others he finds them blinking at him. He figures they didn't understand a word of what was said because they talked with thick accents (well, they could've been thicker, but they wouldn't have been able to understand each other if they'd done that).
"So it seems that you and Lyon will be getting along just fine," Bombalurina murmurs with surprise.
"Just because I'm Scottish and he's Irish doesn't mean we'll hate each other... and if I hadn't known an Irish tom, I'd never had understood him with his weird accent," mutters the Scottish tom as he lies back to bask in the rising sun's weak rays.
"Oh, you're going to be an interesting tom to have around," Tugger chuckles.
"Hopefully you mean that in a good way."
Tumblebrutus smiles. "Of course... hey, Tugger, I think Plato's waiting for us."
"Oh, yeah. We'll see you later..."
"Skimble, just call me Skimble."
"Skimble," Tugger mutters with a nod.
After lying on the stable box for a minute he feels someone press against his side and glances over to see Bombalurina, who looks at him with pity filled eyes. He looks down at his side and grimaces at the fact that his ribs can still be seen.
You'll put on some weight, don't worry... just don't become Bustopher Jones, he thinks as he closes his eyes again.
The silence doesn't last long.
"You know... I was rather... disturbed when you told me about my past," Bombalurina murmurs.
Skimble winces. "I'm sorry. It's just that..." he pauses to sigh and gather his thoughts before continuing. "He's filled my head with some facts, some lies, I've learned... and now I don't even know how I am... who I was. The only thing that's for sure is that my name is Skimbleshanks. That's... scary."
She takes his paw. "I said I'd help you, and I will... I just need to figure out how."
He observes her for a moment before he decides how she can do as she's promised. "Just... be there. I need some stability in my life and just having Coricopat and Tantomile isn't going to help. Aside from them and Deuteronomy, you're the only one that knows."
She nods in understanding. They sit there like that for a while before he feels the need to move and do... something. He can't fathom anything to do, but he just needs to do something otherwise he feels that he'll go insane. Three days and now here he sits, doing nothing, not even pondering his third name! With that thought in mind he chuckles without humor and watches clouds drift by lazily. Perhaps his life would be easier if he were a cloud.
"What is it?"
He shakes his head. "Nothing, just... thinking... is there anything to do?"
"Not really, unless you want to meet other cats."
He nearly turns it down when he remembers that feeling he got seeing Demeter. "Yes... could I meet your sister?"
Her dark brown eyes search his glass-green ones momentarily before she nods. "Alright, let's go."
"Thank you," he breathes, following after her.
He blushes again when she takes his wrist like a mother would for her kit. He doesn't know what it is about him that causes her to treat him like this, but it has to be something. When they slow he looks up at the black and gold queen and observes her face for anything to trigger something.
"Deme, this is Skimbleshanks, Skimble, this is my sister Demeter."
Demeter's eyebrows come together slightly and there's recognition in her eyes, but it's only faint. "Have we met before?"
He chuckles lightly. "I was hoping you'd tell me that. If we do, I don't, exactly, remember."
Yeah, make light of the fact that your entire life is a lie and that this isn't the worst experience of your entire life, some sarcastic part of him snaps at him.
His eyebrows furrow at that. He doesn't recall being that sarcastic, but he pushes that aside as he grasps onto a memory that was never there.
"Let go of me!"
"Shut up! Skimbleshanks lifts his head and sees a young black and gold queen with frightened blue eyes as she's shoved roughly into a cell in front of him by Macavity. Suddenly the ginger fiend turns towards him and then stalks forward. "So you're awake, huh? Well, that wound last long."
The last thing he sees are frightened blue eyes as claws dig into his side painfully slow and he passes out from pain being added to his previous pain and exhaustion.
He realizes that he's sitting down and he finds that the sisters are hovering over him.
"Are you alright?" Demeter asks.
"I don't know," he murmurs.
HAT: I've come to the conclusion that Skimbleshanks is an adolescent/young adult even in the film.
Mistoffelees: What makes you say that?
HAT: Well, haven't you noticed how he's as energetic and playful as the other kits? Sure, he's responsible, but he's just like the others. He's playful, chipper, and is surrounded by who we call the kits/adolescents/young adults when they're doing something fun? "Jellicles jump like a jumping jack" is when he's with Tumble and Pounce, showing off, and at the beginning of his song he takes a nap. We all know that teenagers will nap at a moment's notice (trust me, I know... I will) and during the Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles, you and Skimble decided to mess with Munkustrap and Munkus sent him off like he probably would've sent off any of the other younger cats. There's just so much that's convincing me that he could be an adolescent. Watch him through the entire film (shush up) and you'll spot some things that says "maybe he's not an older adult..."
Mistoffelees: *rolls eyes* Alright-y then. Now that we know HAT's a nut job-
HAT: If anyone's the nut job, it's Tugger and is bagpipes.
Mistoffelees: *pauses* You do have a point.
HAT: Aaaanyway...
Mistoffelees: Please review.