Title: Stealing a Goddess (1/6)
Rating: K+
Notes: A little time has passed since "The Guardians," and Munkustrap is much more comfortable among the Jellicles now. Things seem to be looking up for him. This is set during "Power to be Strong."

I do not own Cats!

"One, two, three, four! Again! One, two, three, four! Again!" Munkustrap prowled along the ranks of his "soldiers," running them through basic blocking drills. Off to his left, Tugger reclined on half a sofa, flicking his fluffy tail as he watched.

"Again!"

Munkustrap's "soldiers" were the younger cats of the tribe. Plato, Cattivo, and Alonzo, three brothers, were his youngest members, all kittens still. Rumpus Cat was participating as well, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. There were queens involved too, queens who didn't want to be full guardians, but who did want to learn how to defend themselves (and future kittens). Bombalurina, Cassandra, and Exotica all participated. Munkustrap half-suspected they showed up because Tugger was always there, even if he didn't always participate, but he didn't really mind, because they were good students.

"Rest."

These "soldiers" of Munkustrap's were all the cats who were either too young to join the Jellicle guardians (as was the case with the brothers), or simply not interested (as was the case with everyone else). Rumpus Cat possibly wanted to join the guardians, but he didn't do a good job following orders. In Simbol's ranks, where discipline was stressed, that was a problem. Among Munkustrap's "soldiers," though, the discipline wasn't as important as the learning of the methods.

Tugger had absolutely no desire to become a guardian. He resented anyone trying to order him around and rather enjoyed thumbing his nose at the old Protector of the tribe. He didn't understand why anyone would want to be a guardian, except out of a desire to learn how to fight. Tugger had actually started the "soldiers" when he asked Munkustrap to show him some of the stuff he was learning under Simbol. Rumpus joined their lessons a few days later, and then Bomba found out, and then the kittens, and Cassandra and Exotica…

Tugger didn't participate in the group lessons very much anymore, but he and Munkustrap still worked together individually. Because of that, Munkustrap would let him just watch the lessons.

"Great job. I think you all have that move mastered," the silver tabby said, returning to the front of the group and smiling at his pupils.

Tugger rose to his feet and stretched, yawning and flashing his claws. Munkustrap flicked an ear in his direction, and then glanced to his right. Simbol was sitting on a high pile of rubbish, barely noticeable against the fake fur of a human toy. He would sometimes appear, watching over these lessons with an unreadable expression on his face. Munkustrap didn't know if the Protector approved of what he did, but he didn't really care. He was helping these cats, his friends, and he was helping himself at the same time. By teaching them what he knew, he was able to more firmly cement the lessons in his own mind and body. Munkustrap knew he was at a disadvantage, being the youngest and smallest member of the guardians. Simbol seemed to be extra harsh on him, and he was always looking the other way when older guardians harassed Munkustrap. Admetus, one of Simbol's sons, was the worst offender. He never seemed to have forgiven Munkustrap for being admitted into the ranks of the guardians, even though Munkustrap had lost the battle to prove himself worthy.

Tugger flicked his tail in Simbol's direction and smirked. Munkustrap looked over to watch his larger friend jump off the sofa and saunter over to him. "Sooo… Straps… what's up?"

That was the entirety of the warning Munkustrap got before Tugger leapt, claws and fangs outstretched. He ducked and spun, getting out of the way of Tugger's attack, before twisting around to swipe at Tugger with his claws out, a huge grin pulling his lips back from his own fangs. Dimly, he knew that his students were watching the two friends spar with varying degrees of awe on their faces. Tugger did this sometimes, just jumped him for apparently no reason, but Munkustrap knew it was one of Tugger's ways of showing off, both to the queens that he was constantly impressing, and to Simbol, who thought him a lazy good-for-nothing.

Munkustrap enjoyed these sparring matches with Tugger. While Tugger didn't have as much combat training as Munkustrap did, he was larger and stronger. He was also wickedly clever, and would often string together moves and techniques in ways that Munkustrap had never thought of before, and would have to scramble to defend himself against, which helped him when he was working under Simbol.

The two finished their sparring with Munkustrap on top, barely. Both young toms were panting heavily and beaming at each other, Munkustrap's front paws over Tugger's throat. "Mercy?"

Tugger nodded as best he could. "Mercy. You win, Straps."

The gathered cats clapped and cheered, and Plato, Cattivo, and Alonzo rushed forward, clamoring to be the first to beg Tugger to teach them that kick, or Munkustrap to show them how he managed to flip Tugger. The queens sauntered up, purring and preening, and Munkustrap and Tugger exchanged grins.

Tugger wasn't the only one who liked showing off for the queens.

As the others gathered around them, Munkustrap glanced up to the discarded toy, but Simbol was gone. He frowned, his ears drooping a little. He wanted Simbol to see how much of a good fighter he was, how he worked hard to make the older tom proud. He couldn't do that if Simbol always left before he won.