Been a while since I uploaded an actual story, eh? Alright, alright, you don't have to look that shocked...
Three points - 1) This isn't even a quarter finished, so forgive me if I don't update too often 2) I've got literally about ten stories I'm working on at the minute, so they might add to update delays and 3) my grandad is coming up to stay soon and he stays in the computer room so I probably won't have very much computer time. So... yeah... don't expect regular updates or anything... Aside from that, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Do I look like Andrew Lloyd Webber or TS Eliot to you?
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"Jennyanydots," a voice called from outside the kitten-box. "We need your help."
"What it is, dear?" the Gumbie cat asked, poking her head out of the box.
An adolescent Munkustrap was standing outside, practically hopping from paw to paw in his eagerness to do something to help, while his father, Old Deuteronomy, was next to him, a sombre expression on his face and a tiny kitten in his arms. Jennyanydots ushered them inside as soon as she caught sight of the small bundle of fur; Deuteronomy set the kitten down on one of the blankets, and the tiny tux immediately curled up into a tight ball, shivering violently.
"We found him in one of the alleyways," Deuteronomy told the queen as she bustled about getting another blanket for the kitten. "His mother was killed by Pollicles."
"The poor dear… his eyes aren't even open yet," Jennyanydots sighed as she wrapped the kitten up. "I'll look after him until he's old enough – he can grow up with the other three."
Thank you, Jenny," the old leader smiled gratefully, before leading his son out of the box.
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A week later, and the kittens' eyes began to open. Jellicle tradition said that that was the time they would receive their names, either from the leader himself or one of his heirs; in this case, either Deuteronomy or Munkustrap.
The first of the kittens to gain their name was the little brown and white patched kitten. Munkustrap was, of course, accompanying Deuteronomy in an attempt to understand how things such as naming kittens worked in the tribe, and was surprised to discover how simple it was.
"You must clear your mind of all thoughts not relating to the kitten, and the name will come to you," Deuteronomy explained. "For example, this little one's name," he paused for a moment and gazed at the small feline. "Is Plato."
Over the next few days, two of the remaining three acquired both their sight and their names – Alonzo and Rum Tum Tugger. Deuteronomy still had lots to teach Munkustrap; for example, that a lot of time was taken up by just talking to tribe members, making sure he knew them and understood any concerns they may have.
It was during one such visit that they got a pleasant surprise. Jennyanydots had been expressing her worries to Deuteronomy that the kittens wouldn't have enough blankets during winter, but Munkustrap found it hard to give her his full attention – he just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. He glanced around the den and found the source of the feeling; a pair of bright blue eyes was watching him curiously. Looking at the cat they belonged to, his own emerald eyes widened slightly in surprise; the little tuxedo kitten, the only kitten still in need of a name, had opened his eyes.
The kitten yawned once before clambering over blankets and other kittens, then stumbling across the bare cardboard towards the silver tabby. Munkustrap watched him with his paws crossed – would the little cat make it all the way without falling? He got ready to dart over if he did, but the kitten remained on his paws, although sometimes losing track of all four of them and tripping over one. When he reached him, Munkustrap lightly tickled him behind his ears in reward for his troubles, before the kitten yawned again and leant against the silver tabby, one paw twining around Munkustrap's fur as he watched the two older cats with wide-eyed curiosity.
Having never seen a cat before, he didn't know what to make of them, especially since they both looked so strange. However, after comparing them to the silver tabby, he saw that they all looked roughly the same – they were all covered in this strange stuff that felt nice and soft (at least, this one's felt soft – he didn't dare get close enough to the other two to see if theirs was) and all three had those pointy things on their heads that twitched occasionally and sometimes even turned so that they were almost facing the opposite way! The pointy things on the top of his own head (what were they, anyway?) didn't feel very pointy, they just felt all crumpled and crinkly, and really quite warm.
Munkustrap shifted his weight slightly so that he was more comfortable. The kitten obviously felt him move, because he tried to wrap his arms around Munkustrap's middle to stop him from going anywhere – however, he was so small that he couldn't even reach halfway around. The silver tabby looked down at him and smiled slightly, lightly stroking the kitten's back to reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere.
"What do you think?" Deuteronomy asked, his voice breaking into the comfortable quiet between the tabby and the small tux.
"Hmm?" Munkustrap looked up.
"Oh…" Jennyanydots gasped as she noticed the kitten's open eyes, whatever she was telling Deuteronomy completely forgotten. The kitten started when he realised both of the other two were staring at him, and his grip on Munkustrap tightened somewhat; the silver tabby smiled at him reassuringly and briefly tickled him behind his ears before looking back up at Deuteronomy.
"It seems you have quite the way with kittens," Deuteronomy remarked, smiling slightly.
"Are you going to name him, then?" Munkustrap asked.
"Actually, I thought I'd let you do that. After all, he does see, quite attached to you already," the old leader said, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes as he indicated the tiny paws gripping bundles of silver fur.
Munkustrap looked down at the kitten; the kitten looked up at Munkustrap. As he looked at the tiny ball of fur, he felt a sudden understanding of who the kitten was.
"Mistoffelees?" he asked softly.
"What was that?" Deuteronomy asked.
"I think his name is Mistoffelees," Munkustrap said uncertainly.
"You think?"
"No… I know it."
"Know what?"
"This kitten's name is Mistoffelees."
"Very good," Deuteronomy smiled. "Now if you can detach yourself, I seem to recall Skimbleshanks wanted to talk about something, so we should get going."
"Actually... if it's okay with you, I'd like to stay here with the kittens."
Deuteronomy glanced over to Jennyanydots in a silent request for confirmation that it would indeed be okay for Munkustrap to stay. She caught his eye and nodded.
"That would be lovely, dear," the Gumbie cat smiled. "With all their eyes open now, I have a feeling they'll become quite a pawful."
Jennyanydots was right – over the next few weeks, the kittens all became more active. They were only kept in line by the combined efforts of Jennyanydots and Munkustrap, who wore themselves ragged trying to keep track of four rowdy kittens with a knack for sneaking away. The two older Jellicles had sussed that they had a system for who was to try and escape next; this time it was Rum Tum Tugger's turn.
The black and leopard kitten was sitting slightly away from his wrestling 'brothers', and was holding a staring contest with both of the older cats, who were taking turns to watch him and the other kittens.
"Wait…" Jennyanydots said suddenly. "Where's Mistoffelees?"
Munkustrap made the mistake of looking away from the lone kitten. He glanced over to see that the little tux wasn't where he should have been – he wasn't playing with the other two. Looking back to where Tugger should have been, he jumped. Sitting in his place was a little tuxedo kitten with his head tilted to the side, a look of complete innocence tinged with polite curiosity on his white features.
"Heaviside," Munkustrap groaned. "I'll be back in a minute."
After a quick glance around the den to make sure Tugger wasn't just hiding, the silver tabby bolted outside.
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Tugger ran as fast as he could across the clearing, giggling like mad.
"Tugger!" Munkustrap shouted.
The kitten chanced a glance behind and saw the silver tabby gaining on him. There was only one thing left to do. He dived between several cats' legs, giggling even more when he heard Munkustrap call apologies back to them as he rushed past. Just a bit further… So far Plato had gotten the furthest; he had managed to get to the far side of the tyre. Tugger was determined to beat him and at least get to the old ford. Just a bit more… Bit more… There!
Strong paws scooped the kitten up and held him tight. Tugger gave up and let himself be carried back to the box, amusing himself by imagining the look on Plato's face when he found out his record had been beaten.
The remaining trio had gathered together in a corner of the box and were whispering to each other when Munkustrap and Tugger returned. As soon as the runaway kitten was released from the silver tabby's grasp, he bounded over to his 'brothers' and all four began whispering excitedly. They remained like that for at least an hour, until Munkustrap's wonderings about what they could be discussing formed a rational question in his mind.
"It's Mistoffelees' turn next, isn't it?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," Jennyanydots sighed as she remembered the tuxedo kitten's last escape attempt; he had chosen to annoy Munkustrap rather than get as far as he could, and as a result the silver tabby had spent a full five minutes running around in circles after Mistoffelees. This was going to be a long day…
After about an hour of the kittens talking, they separated out, but instead of moving right away from one another, they all sat in line. Jennyanydots watched Tugger and Plato while Munkustrap watched Mistoffelees and Alonzo.
"This is ridiculous," the Gumbie cat sighed. "We shouldn't have to sit staring at a group of kittens as if our lives depended on it."
Tugger nodded in agreement and stood up, striding over to the side of the box. However, he only got halfway before giving a yelp of pain and bringing one of his front paws up to his chest. Munkustrap quickly glanced at him before snapping his gaze back to the others. Too late. He spun around and sprinted out of the box the instant he saw nothing in the space between Plato and Alonzo that Mistoffelees had just been occupying.
The kitten was already halfway across the clearing when the silver tabby burst out of the box. He charged after the tux, but this kitten was much faster than the others and made it to the junk on the opposite side of the clearing before Munkustrap had even cleared the tyre. He cursed under his breath as Mistoffelees nimbly climbed a few bits of junk before sitting down, balanced rather precariously on the leg of a chair that was on its side.
"Come down from there," Munkustrap said when he reached the junk. There was no need to raise his voice for the kitten to hear – he was only just out of paw's reach.
"Why?" Mistoffelees asked innocently.
"Because."
"Why 'because'?"
"Just because."
"Okay, why 'just because'?"
"Don't start."
"Start what?"
"Being awkward."
"Why am I being awkward?"
"Ask yourself."
"But I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."
Munkustrap sighed as he quashed his fantasies of killing the kitten.
"Look, just come down, will you?" he asked. "Please?"
"Lad, he's a kitten," Skimbleshanks intoned wisely from across the clearing. "He'll not listen to… okay, maybe he will…"
Munkustrap turned back to Mistoffelees and nearly jumped a foot in the air when he saw the little kitten sitting on the ground next to him.
"So are we going back, then?" the tux asked cheerfully.
Munkustrap nodded and Mistoffelees skipped back across the clearing and into the box.
"Those kittens'll be the death of you, my lad," Skimbleshanks said.
"You only just worked that out?" Munkustrap replied dryly, smiling slightly even as he shook his head to himself and returned to the box.
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Later on that evening, after Jennyanydots had out the kittens to bed, she left the box to catch up with her friend, Jellylorum. There was an understanding that as long as someone was watching the box for anyone going in or coming out, the kittens could be left alone while they slept. But two kittens weren't asleep.
"Stoff, could you stop moving round?" an annoyed kitten muttered, trying not to wake the other two.
"Sorry, Tug," the fidgeting tux whispered back. "I can't sleep."
"Neither can I, 'cause of you. So why can't you?"
"I don't know. I keep getting this feeling like I'm s'posed to be awake."
"Weird," Tugger yawned.
"Tug?" Mistoffelees whispered.
"What?"
"Can you stay up with me?"
"With you moving round like that, I've got no choice."
Mistoffelees smiled sheepishly as Tugger rolled his eyes and resigned himself to staying awake with the tux. A noise outside made the kittens snap their eyes shut and pretend to be asleep as two cats entered the box.
"They're all still here," Jennyanydots' voice said. "That makes a change."
"Jenny," a voice that sounded like Munkustrap's began. "You remember earlier, when they were trying to escape?"
"I'm not that old," the Gumbie cat chided good-naturedly. "I can still remember today's events."
"Sorry."
"Never mind. What about then?"
"You know when Mistoffelees disappeared and turned up where Tugger was? How did he do it?"
"Hid, I suppose."
"But where? The only place to hide is under the blankets, and we'd have seen him then. And when it was his turn, he just vanished from the box."
"If I'm not mistaken, you looked away."
"For less than a second. And he ended up sitting on that chair leg on the other side of the clearing."
"He's a kitten, they're adventurous."
"He's barely nine weeks old and was balancing on a round chair leg that's only just as wide as his paws. Name another kitten that could do that."
"I'm sure there's a perfectly plausible explanation for it," the Gumbie cat said as she turned and left the box.
"I'm telling you, Jenny, there's something not right with a kitten that can get out of this box and halfway across the clearing in less than half a second," Munkustrap replied as he followed her out.
Tugger opened his eyes just in time to see Mistoffelees curl up into a tight ball. He scooted closer and rested his head on the tux's shoulder in a lame attempt to make him feel better.
"I'm all wrong, Tug," Mistoffelees whispered. "That's what Straps just said. I'm all wrong…"
"You're not, Stoff, it's him that's wrong," Tugger replied. "Just ask Lonz or Plato, they'll tell you."
"But Straps is right about everything!"
Tugger could think of nothing to say to that.
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Aww... Poor ickle Misto...