Chapter 33 – Past the Jellicle Moon
There was a lot of confusion after the ball. The cats were milling about, heads in the clouds over the nights occurrences and surprises. While some continued in a post-Ball euphoria, others were disillusioned by morning. Many of the cats found place to rest, others went to their dens. Those that stayed were caught up in avid conversations.
Jennyanydots was licking the wounds of the two kittens, Electra and Etcetera. Apparently, they had been scratched in the face by Macavity. "This is why they say curiosity killed the cat! Its kittens like you! Wandering up to a cat that was trying to kit-nap someone…! Now hold still!"
"Ah!" Electra mumbled, trying to pull away. Etcetera already had her cuts tended too. All the same, she didn't look too happy. Alonzo was walking by, but upon catching sight of the frowning calico kitten, he took to more inconspicuous movements.
"What were you trying to do, anyway? Kittens like you can't fight a cat like that!"
Alonzo snuck past the fussy Jennyanydots over to Demeter, who had just been cornered by a talkative Bombalurina. "Everlasting Cat, what a night! You would think that the Ball would be just a party or something. But then you have cat fights, Heaviside callings, kit-nappings, and evil toms popping up out of nowhere…!" She stopped when Demeter caught her gaze. Bombalurina put her paw on her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay, by the way?" Demeter nodded.
"I'm glad we drove him away," she continued. "He should have never come here to begin with! Trying to hurt Old Deuteronomy!" The two queens looked over to Alonzo, who was half trying to listen in on the conversation, half trying to join it. "What is it?" said the red queen with a sour look on her face.
"I just wanted to make sure Demeter was okay." He frowned back to Bombalurina. Then he turned to the gold queen, who smiled at him.
"Thank you for helping Munkustrap last night," she said to him, making Bombalurina somber up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, perfectly," he said, trying to straighten up in front of the two queens. He looked over to the Bombalurina as though he expected her to say something to him. She rolled her eyes, and looked at her nails, making sure they were perfectly clean. Alonzo glared at the red queen. "I'm going to go find Cassie, now," he said with a sigh, before waving to Demeter.
"He's entertaining," Bombalurina said to her sister. "Trying to impress me."
"I think he was waiting for a thank you," Demeter corrected, making her sister give the gold queen a warning look. "Or…he was trying to impress you!" Afraid of further damaging her sister's currently fragile ego, Demeter pointed in a direction and informed her, "I'm going to find Munkustrap."
"Oh," Bombalurina said, looking sadly to her sister. Confused, Demeter was about to ask her what was wrong, but Bombalurina turned and walked to a different part of the area, disappearing around the corner. Figuring she needed to be alone, Demeter let her sister go and began to walk off to find a certain tom.
Another black and white cat caught her attention before she could get anywhere. Mistoffelees was sitting in an old pipe; his eyes half open, half closed. Every so often, his eyes would close completely, and he would begin to tilt to the side. When it seemed like he were about to crash to the ground, his eyes would shoot open momentarily so he could regain his balance. But he seemed to be fighting a losing battle. Demeter went up to the tom. "I think you should go to sleep," she warned him.
"I'm fine!" said the little tom, trying his hardest to focus on the queen in front of him. "I just…used up a lot of energy…is all." He took a long, deep breath, held it in for a second, then let it all out, closing his eyes. Again, he began to tilt to the side, but this time he didn't right himself in time. Before Demeter could react, he smacked his head on the side of the pipe.
"Ow!" he said, getting up, seeming very much awake now.
"Aw," Demeter cooed, feeling sorry for the tom. "Just go to sleep!"
"I'm fine," he said, yawning widely. He then rubbed his eyes. "Did you hear them, Demeter? They're calling me magical now," he said, with a smile forming across his face. He didn't seem to keen on taking her advice at the time…
"Listen to her and go to bed!" Victoria came walking up, abandoning a tired Plato, who looked like he had just lost a fight (verbal, not physical), and was walking off with an air of annoyance. "You're such a kitten, Misto!"
"I said I'm fine!" Mistoffelees argued. Victoria sat next to him, and the two began a small argument. Demeter took that as her cue to leave. She returned to trying to find her silver tabby.
It wasn't long before she ran into a tall Maine Coon, who seemed a little dazed by the night's proceedings. He looked down at Demeter, before muttering a listless, "Hey, there," and patting her on the shoulder. Feeling patronized, the gold queen gave a glare that would put even Macavity in his place. But the Rum Tum Tugger had long built an immunity to any piercing, malicious stares. "Have you seen Bombalurina?"
"Why, so you can embarrass her again?" Demeter asked harshly; glad to have a moment to scold him without interruption of a Ball or fallen glamour cat. "That was awful the way you treated her during the ball. Have you no shame?"
"Everlasting Cat, do I have to hear it from you too?" Tugger put a paw over his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "I already got that from every other cat in the tribe! Well…except Etcetera. She was pretty happy about the whole thing...but she's a kitten, so I guess she can't be called a cat, per se…"
"I shouldn't even be talking to you," Demeter said wearily, waving her paws in the air in an attempt to dismiss the whole conflict. "I don't know how you're related to your brother…"
"Which one?" he asked hotly. Demeter's shocked look caused the tom to look away, trying hard not to show remorse for having said those words. Glad that he had enough respect for her to nearly cower at having said something inappropriate, she decided it was best to let the subject go. "Look, do you know where your sister is, or not? I need to talk to her."
Demeter sighed. "You'd want to catch her before she goes to sleep." Tugger looked as though he were reluctant to go. "She's not going to forgive you if you let it go overnight," she warned. "She went somewhere over there. Apologize to her right away, if that's what you want to do. Otherwise, I wouldn't go anywhere near her right now."
Tugger looked as though he wanted to say something, but gave up before he even began. Without another word, he took a deep breath and made his way to where the gold cat indicated her sister to be.
Demeter was about to continue looking for Munkustrap, when curiosity overwhelmed her. Would Bombalurina forgive Tugger this time? She knew she shouldn't be so nosy about it, but if she just happened to run into them while trying to find another tom, and overhear a bit of their conversation…well, there wasn't really any need for it, as Bombalurina would probably tell her most of what happened either way.
Or would she? It was a well known fact Demeter wasn't too fond of Tugger and Bombalurina possibly getting together. Her sister might just let the details of this confrontation take back seat to the mediocre details of the gold queen's life. She had never really purposely eavesdropped on someone, but this might have been a good time to start.
So Demeter began walking in the direction that Tugger had gone, again passing Mistoffelees. He had completely passed out by now, leaning against Victoria. The little white cat sighed, mouthing to Demeter that her leg was asleep, as the tom snored loudly, before whispering "Presto" in his sleep. His paws twitched to whatever he was reliving in his dreams. The white queen rolled her eyes, and gave up on finding a way to get up without waking the tom.
After passing those two, the gold and black queen ended up back where she started: near the old tire. There were a few cats still milling about, including Tumblebrutus, who was complaining about being hungry because of Old Deuteronomy's closing statements. And that's where Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were. "Oh! It hurts SO MUCH!" cried the tiger striped tom, as he lay on his back, dramatically bringing his paw to his forehead.
"What happened!" Demeter asked, kneeling to Mungojerrie's side. (Much more must have occurred than she thought…)
"Jerrie raced up to 'elp Alonzo with…you know…Macavity…when 'e got swiped in the face." Rumpleteazer laughed to herself. "'e went down like a light!"
Mungojerrie shot up, revealing the small scratch on his nose. "Well, I didn' see YOU comin' to anyone's rescue, now did I?"
"I was lickin' Munku-tapp's wounds, thank you very much!" Rumpleteazer said, looking quite proud. Then she looked up at Demeter and frowned. "But I guess it doesn't mean much if 'e's unconscious, eh?"
"You've been through worse, Mungojerrie," Demeter. He frowned at the hidden accusation in the queen's comment. "I think you'll survive."
Demeter got up to leave, but Rumpleteazer pulled on her tail, making her stop. "Are you okay, though?" the two looked up at the queen with some concern. "Do you need us to take you to your den?"
Demeter shook her head. "I will be fine. From now on." She got up, without anything inhibiting her from leaving, and was about to be on her way.
"That was great 'ow you unmasked Macavity!" Mungojerrie exclaimed.
"We've nevah been more proud!" The two began to cheer for the blushing queen. Demeter was going to rush off, when the two abruptly went quiet and looked off to two much louder cats.
"—arrogant, pompous, jerk that you are!" Bombalurina came around the corner, trailed by the Rum Tum Tugger. The few cats that were left in the area went quiet and became fixated at the scene. "Why do you keep following me? I don't want anything to do with you!" Bombalurina continued her deliberately long strides, with Tugger doing his best to look cool while chasing her.
"Would you just listen to me! I'm trying to tell you something!" He would have made a good Pollicle with the way he barked out that statement. But Bombalurina continued.
"Oh, yeah? NOW you want to talk? After what you did? What makes you think I'll listen to you now!" The red queen pulled the kittenish act of putting her paws over her ears.
"BOMBA, JUST STOP FOR ONE MINUTE!" he yelled. Bombalurina picked up her pace, and Tugger followed with the persistence of the curious cat he was heralded to be. The two disappeared around a corner, and there was silence among the cats in the area.
"Well…" Mungojerrie said, breaking the silence. "If she won't 'ave 'im, I wouldn't mind bein' 'er mate!"
"She's too old for you," Rumpleteazer said dismissively. "An' if she won't give Tugger the time of day, she would think even less of you!"
Demeter was staring at where her sister had disappeared, unsure of whether the Maine Coon was really wanting to apologize to her by now or just following her for the sake of annoying her. "She'll forgive him, I think," Demeter said, shaking her head. "She usually does. And if he's so adamant about talking to her…" she didn't finish her statement. Really, she never imagined what it would be having her sister mated to the Rum Tum Tugger. The thought alone would be enough to give her a headache…
"They have too much history," Demeter said with a frown. She then turned to Rumpleteazer. "And what do you mean she's too old for him? She's about as old as Munkustrap!"
"'e's too old for 'im, too!" Rumpleteazer protested. She then started giggling at her own unintentional joke, causing Mungojerrie to stare at his sister like she was insane.
"But I'm a little older than you two!" Demeter said, meaning to compare her age to Munkustrap's.
"You wanna be my mate!" Mungojerrie asked, surprised.
"NO!" Rumpleteazer said. "You need someone younger than you!"
"I wasn't offering to be his mate!" Demeter said, blushing furiously. She turned away from an equally embarrassed Mungojerrie, who had momentarily considered the possibility of being mated to a high strung queen. And Rumpleteazer laughed at the sudden awkwardness between the two.
Her unrestrained laughter carried through the area, to the ears of most of the cats in the junkyard. Even to the ears of one cat who was watching his three former tribe mates sadly. The ginger coated tom had made his way to an area where he could overlook the entire junkyard without being caught. Away from his lackeys, he was too weak to be angry with the night's events. He was now staring, fixated on the three out in the open area.
They looked happy - a feeling he was becoming less and less familiar with. Of course, nearly electrocuting himself for the sake of a flashy exit forced him to stop for a moment. Stopping caused him to think, a task easier performed away from the draining aura of his tribe. Back where he once belonged, though completely out of place, he longed to stay there. He saw them give Grizabella a new life. He would never be given that. He was too far gone, and knew that rebirth was not an option for him.
He would regain his energy and make his way back to his tribe. And when he returned, he would probably become more violent than before, trying to lose himself in the pain and the mind-numbing insanity that came with his self-inflicted placement in life. And he would suffer each time he had nothing to do, because he would only be able to think about the cat that looked so happy with her tribe. Dragging her down with him would seem like the right choice at those points in time. But at that moment, all he could do was accept that he never had a chance for that kind of happiness. He destroyed all those chances long ago…
Macavity picked himself up, teetering slightly. Closing his eyes, he regained his composure, and found the path that would make it seem like he was never there. This place wasn't for him, he reasoned. As he left the junkyard, he comforted himself with the thought that the Jellicle life wasn't suited for him, anyway.
After having made sure that Old Deuteronomy arrived safely to his den, Munkustrap was happy for the chance to rest. At that moment, all he wanted to do was sleep. He dragged himself into his den and collapsed onto the soft cushions that made up his bed, before jumping back up, groaning at the pain. The throbbing gash on his side stopped him from trying that again.
So he turned three times on the cushion, before gently lowering himself into a supposedly comfortable position. That didn't work, either. He was still lying on a wound. Try and try again, there seemed to be wounds in all the wrong places, stopping him from finding that fabled 'comfort spot'.
And what was worse, the scratches were itchy! But he couldn't very well scratch them; he would make it worse! So he opted to lick his wounds. However, this was more difficult than it should have been, because he had to try his best to not further his injuries. Determined to take care of the scratches on his back first, he sat himself down and devised a plan on how to go about it. He then teetered on his right side, while trying to curl his spine so he could lick the wounds on his back. His free paw absentmindedly scratched at the more itchy wounds. It was an interesting sight to see…
…as confirmed by the giggle at the entrance. Munkustrap toppled over and ended up on his back, looking over to the entry to his den to see the upside down image of an amused Demeter. He picked himself up quickly, blushing furiously. "How long have you been there!"
"Do you need help?" Demeter mused, smiling at him. She walked in, not waiting for a reply, nuzzling him gently. "You're so funny sometimes, Munku."
"Um…thank you?" he asked, smiling nervously. He purred as Demeter licked his cheek. Then he was knocked down onto the cushion while the gold queen took to cleaning the wounds on Munkustrap's back. "Ow," he winced, looking back at her.
"Toms," Demeter said, shaking her head. "You can fight with other cats and take a few scratches, but the second you feel an ounce of pain…" She smiled to the tom who looked a little offended. "They're not deep. You'll be fine, you kitten."
"Hey…" Munkustrap was about to pout, but thought it unwise to fuel the 'kitten' accusation, and instead just winced at the pain. "Well, you could be a little gentler!" he said finally.
Demeter rolled her eyes, but did clean more tenderly after that. "Munkustrap?"
"Hmm?" asked the cat, who was considering whether it would be rude to fall asleep.
"Thank you," she said. "And I'm sorry you're always getting hurt because of me. You're always trying to protect, and I only ever hurt you in return…"
"It really didn't hurt that much," Munkustrap replied, thinking she was talking about the pain of her licking his wounds.
"Toms always say that," Demeter stated. "Always saying they're fine."
"First we're all kittens, then we're always saying 'we're fine'?" Munkustrap asked.
There was a moment of silence. "Toms always manage to do both," Demeter finished.
Munkustrap laughed for a moment at her attempt to save face. Then he got up and pushed the doting queen away for a moment so that he could look her in the eyes. "You don't have to apologize. Demeter, I would do anything for you."
"And…the tribe."
"Mostly you," Munkustrap assured her. Demeter slowly smiled, realizing he meant it. She then scooted close to him and laid her head gently against him, closing her eyes and purring. Munkustrap put an arm around her. "Are you tired?" he asked, trying hard not to yawn and reveal the threat of sleep about to overtake him.
"Exhausted," Demeter muttered.
"Go to sleep, then," he told her.
"I'm okay," she said, getting up and trying to shake the sleep out of her. "I…you need…you're injured and…"
"I'm fine," he said to her. He was really too tired for this to turn into a stand-off of who was more 'fine' or 'okay' than the other. "I'm tired, too."
"Should I go back to my den?" she asked, frowning. With her being so tired, that small walk must have seemed like an expedition.
"You're right where you should be," Munkustrap said. Demeter looked confused, but the silver tabby pulled her down on the cushion, and then lied down beside her, holding her tightly so she wouldn't try to get up and go back to her den just to be 'polite'. After a few moments, Demeter relaxed and resumed purring, quickly giving into sleep.
But now Munkustrap's mind was reeling. There were butterflies in his stomach as he thought of what he needed to do now. It wouldn't be quite as he once planned it. It would take to long to wait for another full moon. And he would have to wait until he was mostly healed from his fight last night. Maybe the moonlight wouldn't be just right, or there would be clouds in the sky. But he could still take her to the park, and hope for the music to play. Angels don't necessarily have to come down from on high to sing to them, (but he hardly expected that to begin with…) Now he was just being silly, but his tired mind was running too quickly to make sense. There was only one thought to comfort him then.
Perfect. When he asked Demeter to be his mate, no matter what the circumstances, it would be perfect.
He hoped his heart wasn't beating too hard, hinting to the queen that his thoughts were making him nervous. But she could hardly care at the moment. She was too busy dreaming. There were no nightmares to haunt her while she was curled up next to the one she loved. She was no longer cold, helpless, abandoned, or forgotten. She was safe dreaming of the enchantment of the ball, and how her life now made sense under the light of the Jellicle Moon.
-Fin-
Final Authors Note: (the story ended up THERE if you don't want to read it. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!)
Just three confession I want to make. 1) I always meant to change the title. 2) I always meant to change the rating. 3) When I started writing this, I didn't really think much of Demeter. I just thought she would be easiest to write about. Now I love the little queen. Now, this story on WORD was 211 pages long, and contained 101,192 words including chapter titles.
Satin: I have no idea if you got my PM, so I'll restate the gist of it. I've always wanted a standing ovation ((gets teary eyed)) And I have many stories in the works, one about Alonzo, one about Victoria (the seem most likely to be writte at the moment)...But we'll see what happens.
Demo: Aw, thanks. I had to try and write it beautifully. It was already beautiful to begin with, I didn't want to destroy it.
Sarabi: I hope I did the ending justice. I've never finished a story before, but I have always been bad at writing conclusions to essays, lol! So this ending caused me much stress and a couple of rewrites...And I really wanted to end it on a full moon since it started on a new moon.
TigerLily: I always seem to confuse you... lol. And I will write more, though nothing can top the feeling of everyone reviewing my first chapter story! I'm excited it's over too. Not sad, though. It's a milestone for me!
Chimalmaht: ((pats you on the head)) I'm glad you got your inet back too! Lol.
Bombalurinasara: That was alot for you to read from start to finish! I checked...it's one of the longest Cats stories to date (about third longest, if some haven't been deleted or moved). I'm too verbose... But thanks for your review!
Thank all of you for reading and reviewing! It made me so happy to make people laugh and to entertain them as well, that it's definitely something I'll do again. Someday, I'll revise this story, the parts I never really referred back to, the grammar that needs to be fixed. But first, of course, I'll write the other stories that are trying to be written. Thanks again, and ending the really long authors note!