Chapter 2: Oh, Everlasting Cat!

"No way!" Some cat yowled.

"He's got to be joking again!" another exclaimed, "Can't you ever be serious!"

Tugger folded an ear over and angled his tail in an attempt to look more serious; he didn't think about what other cats would say of his proposition. He just knew that he had a nagging feeling that this kitten belonged with him. And, as usual, he didn't think things through before speaking.

"Barely two years old and he expects to raise a kitten by himself?!" Jenny meowed in disbelief.

"Now, Munkustrap was younger that that when he was made Jellicle Protector, and you didn't object to that." Skimble reminded her.

"That…that was different." Jenny replied huffily.

Tugger didn't see what the big deal was; it's not as if he was completely incompetent. He could take care of one little kitten by himself!

Old Deuteronomy looked at his youngest son intently; this was one cat he hadn't even considered at all. Strange. But it seemed that the kitten had already formed a bond with the young mane coon; this could be just the thing to-

Tugger could see that his father was deep in thought; he sighed and looked longingly at the young tom kit nestled in his mane. Of course, I always want what I can't have. He thought sadly.

"I have made my decision." Old D meowed above all the chatter,

bringing Tugger out of his mental reverie and causing the entire group of cats to fall silent. Even the kittens across the clearing were quiet. And Old Deuteronomy, just before noon, though a silence you feel you can cut with a knife, announced which cat he thought should be the young kit's guardian.

"He shall live with the Rum Tum Tugger." Old D announced.

Tugger released a breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Really." He breathed, in complete jubilee.

But his moment of glee was immediately shut down by an outcry from some angry onlookers.

"Tugger!" Most cried in disbelief.

"That cat doesn't know his whiskers from his tail!" Admetus called from the back.

"Do you always tell fathers that their sons are bumbling idiots?" Old Deuteronomy meowed, amusement glimmering in his eyes and a smile on his face.

Admetus flattened his ears and ducked behind Skimble, who gave him a half-hearted cuff around the ears.

Tugger's fur prickled, and had to steady his tail to keep it from lashing; how dare they!

Quaxo really wished they would all stop yowling; he was tired and hungry, and his ears were beginning to hurt from all the noise. He pressed closer still into the Tugger's fur.

"All of you quit this griping." Came a voice from the back of the crowd.

Tugger turned his head to see ole' Gus the theater cat sitting calmly and casting a disapproving glare at the noisy spectators.

"Give Tugger a chance." Gus meowed, nodding to Tugger.

"Then we all agree?" Old D asked.

After a bit of grumbling, all the cats eventually agreed and began to walk away from the group. Some of them gave Tugger a kind smile and words of encouragement, while others simply glared at him- daring him to mess this one up.

Quaxo had begun to drift off to sleep, nestled comfortably in the Tugger's mane; Tugger looked down at him fondly (even though they only first saw each other, like, ten minutes ago.)

"So Tug, what are you going to do with him?"

Tugger jumped, waking the half-asleep kitten, and turned to see Bombi sitting next to him.

"What do you mean?" Tugger meowed, defensively.

"Your den is hardly kitten-proof." Bombi reminded him.

Bast! That was another thing Tugger hadn't thought of. What to do?

"I…I'll take him to my human nest." Tugger decided.

Quaxo yawned and looked sleepily up at Tugger, he glanced around the clearing; very few cats were milling around too close.

"Where'd everyone go?" Quaxo asked.

"Home." Tugger answered him.

"Oh." Quaxo meowed softly.

"How would you like to come home with me?" Tugger meowed.

"I can come home with you?!" Quaxo exclaimed, tiredness escaping him as excitement jumped in.

Tugger grinned broadly, "It's not that far away."

xXxXxXx

Tugger let out a sigh of relief as he nudged the kitten though his cat flap; Where in Heaviside did all that energy come from! He was practically asleep before we left!

The little tux had practically pranced all the way there, and he just had to stop and look at everything; Tugger sure hoped he could keep up with the little furball.

Quaxo was filled with awe as the Tugger tipped him through a little swinging door; on the other side was a huge room. Something shiny in the corner caught his attention; Quaxo dashed off to examine in better.

Tugger stepped though his cat flap after the little tom; Maybe he'll take a nap soon, kittens need plenty of sleep, right? At least that's what Jelly always said. Tugger looked down, but the kit wasn't there. What the?

Where did he go?! Tugger thought frantically. He looked this way and that and let out a sigh of relief as he finally spotted the little furball over near the-

"Don't touch that!" Tugger yowled, as he ran towards the kit.

Quaxo jumped back in surprise as the Tugger yowled at him; he flattened his ears and looked up as the Tugger came to a skidding halt next to him. The Tugger didn't look angry, but Quaxo wasn't sure.

"That's a mousetrap." Tugger explained breathlessly, "It's very dangerous."

"It doesn't look dangerous." Quaxo mewed; it was just wood and shiny.

"Well, it is. You can get your paw caught in it and it really hurts." Tugger explained.

"That sound's stupid. Who'd get their paw stuck in that." Quaxo meowed, stretching his paws forwards.

"No!" Tugger exclaimed knocking the kittens paws out of the way. SNAP!

"Yow!" Tugger exclaimed; he had stuck his own paw directly on the mousetrap and it had shut with a hard snap. Tugger waved his paw wildly, trying to get the mousetrap off; he hadn't been caught in one of those since he was a kitten.

Quaxo bristled in fear; the shiny moved really fast and made a loud snap sound. And now the Tugger was dancing around waving his paw and yowling. Quaxo heard a swish as a big door opened and a very tall up-walker came in. Living on the streets had taught Quaxo to be weary of up-walkers; he ran and hid under a big lopsided blue bush.

Tugger gasped in surprise as he was lifted off the floor. He yowled in protest as one of his human pets took the mousetrap off his paw; it really hurt. Then the stupid human started rubbing his sore paw, he wasn't gentle either. Tugger jumped down from the humans arms, and nearly fell on his face when his paw went out from under him.

Tugger licked it and decided it wasn't broken, this time, but would probably be bruised and hurt like fire for a few days. The human left and took the mousetrap with him; good riddance!

Quaxo timidly crawled out from under the weird bush; his tail was down and he didn't dare approach the Tugger.

Tugger noticed the kit as he came out from under the sofa,

"Come here." Tugger mewed sternly.

Quaxo obediently padded over to the Tugger, but he kept his ears flattened and his tail down.

"You see, I told you it was dangerous." Tugger chided; he sighed, there was no way he could bring himself to be angry with the kit. Hadn't he been just the same at that age? Tugger twitched an ear as the little kits stomach growled in hunger.

Quaxo hunched low to the ground as his stomach growled, he still couldn't tell if the Tugger was angry with him or not.

"Let's get something to eat." Tugger meowed, "The kitchens this way."

Quaxo didn't know what a kitchen was; he followed Tugger into another room with a hard yellow and white ground. It smells funny in here.

Tugger padded over to his food bowl; Oh, Everlasting Cat! How will he eat that? The kibble's too big for his little kitten teeth. And where in Heaviside will he sleep? Ok, well he can have my basket, I hardly ever use it anyways. But he… he, I don't even know his name! What in Heaviside did I get myself into?!

xXxXxXx

Poor Tugger xD