Rumpelteazer laid on her back on the roof of one of the abandoned cars. She stretched herself out in order to get the most warmth on her body. The little tiger kitten technically wasn’t a kitten anymore, since she had her coming of age Jellicle Ball. But she still acted like a kitten every now and then; after all, old habits are hard to break. She was still considered a kitten by some of the older Jellicle cats in the Tribe. It wasn’t anything cruel; they just refused to think that all the kittens were growing up. There were once three; but Rumpel had danced the mating dance with her kitten-hood friend, officially making him a Tom. So now all that was left was the new born kitten. Rumpel felt the sun’s heat lessen on her as a shadow fell in its place.
“Damn clouds,” Rumpelteazer grumbled as she opened her eyes slightly to see a Tom over her instead. She opened them a bit wider and saw that it was a silver and black tabby; the second-in-command of the Jellicle Tribe.
“Do I look like a cloud to you?” Munkustrap asked, trying to be serious but failing miserably.
“Maybe if you were a bit fluffier.” Rumpel smiled as she began to push his fur in the opposite way, making him look fluffy. “So what brings you here Munk?”
“I needed to talk to you about something” He said as he sat down beside her.
“Well if you wanted to talk to me then you came to the right spot” She told him with a giggle. “You know I’m always willing to lend you an ear.”
“Well, I was talking with Old Deuteronomy about the future” Munkustrap started. “You know, about when I would be the Leader and have to take over the Tribe. He was going through all the different task I’ll need to do and one of them was to provided myself with an heir. He said that he was getting worried, when he was my age he was already on his second mate.”
“That stud,” Rumpel commented making Munkustrap laugh whole-heartedly.
“He’s the regular Rum Tum Tugger.” Munkustrap agreed before continuing. “So I started to think about it; you know providing an heir. I figured that it shouldn’t be that hard; after all there are eighteen cats in the Tribe. Then I remembered that only seven of them are Queens.” He said as he extracted seven claws and began ticking them off. “And I began to look at them; there’s Jennyanydots and Jellylorum and they’re, well, a bit too old for me. Besides they’re already mated. Tantomile is always with her brother Coricopat, and she just joined the Tribe. I didn’t want to scare her by asking her. Cassandra’s already mated to Alonzo and her daughter Exotica was just born. Bombalurina isn’t exactly the motherly type... So that just left one Queen...” Munkustrap said as he held up one claw. Rumpelteazer nodded as she looked at him.
“Wait,” She said as she clued in. “are you talking about me?”
“Rumpel,” Munkustrap sighed, looking guilty. “I never really loved you more then a friend, and you know that. But I was wondering if you could do me a favor. More then me, it’ll be for Old Deuteronomy too. It’ll put his worries to rest. And for the future Jellicle Tribe, they’ll need a leader after all. Just think of this as a personal favor.”
“No pressure, eh. I feel the same way about never really loving you as more then a friend. I don’t know just yet... I’ll come find you in an hour or so. I need to go and think about okay” She said as she stood up. He quietly nodded to her as she jumped off the car. She began to wander around, her mind contemplating the ordeal.
“Anything wrong” a voice beside her asked. She looked beside her and saw Quaxo sitting beside her. “You walked up here about five minutes ago looking like you were about to cry. You kept nodding you head and then shaking it.”
“I... I was just thinking” Rumpel said, fully unaware on how she got here. She was thinking that she should look for him, they were through pretty much everything together and she needed his opinion.
“About what” Quaxo asked helpfully. Rumpelteazer sighed and began to tell him what has happened; probably faster then she should have, but Quaxo heard her ramble enough that it wasn’t any problem to make out fast paced speech. She sighed rather loudly, as if she just had the weight of the world lifted off of her back.
“So what do you think I should do” She asked as she chewed her bottom lip.
“What were you going to do before you told me everything” He asked as he gave her a searching look.
“I don’t know. I probably would have done it” Rumpel said honestly as she bit her lip harder.
“Then go tell Munkustrap that” Quaxo told her as he gave her a small lick on the cheek.
“Alright Quackers,” She said while giggling. “Thank for listening.”
“No problem Rump Roast” He said while laughing. They had the most ludicrous nicknames for each other. “Just be sure to save a dance for me at every Jellicle Ball for as long as we shall live.”
“Sure thing” she replied as she licked his cheek and trotted off to find the tabby. She began wandering aimlessly around the Yard while she was trying to find him. She looked at Bombalurina flirting helplessly with Rum Tum Tugger who didn’t seem to notice that she was there. She eventually found him sitting in an old armchair, watching the Tribe. She climbed in it with him and rested her head on his back. “As your mate, could I tell Cassandra to shut up?”
“What,” Munkustrap asked, taken by surprise.
“It would feel so good to do that. You know, she starts to annoy me and all I’ll have to do is tell her to be quiet and, boom, she will be.”
“As nice as it would be, I don’t think that you’ll have that type of power.” Munkustrap said with a slight smile. “So does this mean that you accepted my request?”
“I’m just doing you a favor,” she cleared. “And yes, I suppose that I do accept."
Rumpelteazer was curled up next to Munkustrap a few months later; trying to keep their brown and white patchwork son warm. Old Deuteronomy had been pleased beyond words to hear that he was a Grandfather. He lovingly named the little kitten Pouncival and predicted that he’d be like Rumpelteazer as a kitten but become more like Munkustrap as he aged. He became good friends with Tumblebrutus, Cassandra and Alonzo’s second kitten; and the other kittens that have come to the junkyard. Rumpelteazer felt his son roll over towards her for heat as Munkustrap went to patrol the Junkyard. She licked the kit’s head lovingly as he began to purr louder then a cat of his size should be able to.
Munkustrap walked around the junkyard, everything seemed to be fine. There wasn’t a sign of a break in during the night and there was no scent of Pekes or Pollicles. And he wasn’t tense; no sign of a storm. Although it was getting colder; a sign that winter wasn’t all that far away. Feeling chilly, he decided to go back into the crate that he shared with Rumpelteazer. He could hear his heir purring from outside of the box and laughed. His son sounded like a car. He walked inside and looked at the two occupants. His son was snuggled up against his mother. His feeling towards her didn’t change; he still loved her as a friend, nothing more. Although he did begin to realize that she was rather beautiful.
“Morning” Rumpel said as she opened her eyes. “How’s the Yard?”
“Cold,” he said as he pressed his nose against her forehead.
“It’s like ice” She squealed as she pushed him away.
“Well, winter is coming” he said as he curled into the blankets that lined the floor. “It should snow any day now.”
“I’ll have to get more blankets and rags then.” Rumpel mused. “You know so the other cats don’t get cold. Especially the kittens. I don’t remember there ever being so many little ones around.”
“Neither do I” the tabby sighed. “They’re going to be overwhelmed after the snow melts and they get to go to the Jellicle Ball”
“They’re going to be overwhelmed when they see snow.” Rumpelteazer clarified. “What with snow angels, snowmen, snowballs, forts; we’ll have to take them sledding. And we have to make sure that we don’t loose Victoria; she’ll blend right in with the snow. And we’ll need to teach them not to eat the snow when it’s yellow.”
“That’s quite a bit” Munkustrap yawned. “But that yellow snow part is rather important.”
“Yeah, we don’t want another incident. I should probably grad some more medicine for Jennyanydots too. If those kittens aren’t careful they’ll get a cold.”
“Or a fever” Munkustrap said reminded her of when she and Quaxo got fevers after sleeping in a bed they made out of snow.
“Yeah,” She said as she stood up and nudged her son towards him. “I’m going to get a head start on the blankets and medicine. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
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“Pouncival, you get back here” Rumpelteazer cried as she chased her son around the yard. “You need a bath.”
“No, never” he cried as he ran around a junk pile and away from her. He came back around the corner and clutched on to her.
“Baby what’s wrong” She asked as she began to stroke his head, trying to calm him. She slowly walked around the corner and saw a Tom standing in the entrance way of the Junkyard. The tiger Queen approached the Tom, who was also a tiger, and extended her paw towards him. He did the same, while looking curiously at the scared kit that had his face pressed into her fur.
“Hello” the Tom said politely. “My name is Mungojerrie.”
“Hello Mungojerrie. I’m Rumpelteazer and this is my son, Pouncival” She said as the kit peeked out at him.
“I’m sorry for the scare; I didn’t mean to startle him.” Mungojerrie apologized. “Is this the Jellicle Tribe?”
“Yes it is, why do you ask?” Rumpel asked as she looked at the handsome tom.
“I am seeking help” He said. “May I speak with your leader?”
“I’m afraid that he’s not here at the moment, but if you like I can get you our second-in-command.” She offered.
“That would be greatly appreciated” Mungojerrie nodded as Rumpelteazer and Pouncival disappeared around the bend. A tall silver tabby soon came in to view, looking at him with a kind face. He extended his paw the same way Rumpelteazer did and smiled.
“I am Munkustrap, you are Mungojerrie; are you not” he asked.
“Yes sir, I am. I’ve come seeking help” Mungo told him as a cold breeze passes through.
“Very well, come inside and out of the cold and tell me why you need help.” Munkustrap said as he led him inside his box.
“I’m an agent of Macavity, an undercover one though; as well as several Toms. We would smuggle out his prisoners and the Queens he captured and bring them to Humans so they’ll be safe. But our numbers are low; he found some of us out and he punished them gravely. It ended up scarring some of our troop and they refuse to help us anymore.” Mungojerrie said as Rumpelteazer came in with two shot glasses filled with warm milk. She placed one in front of each Tom before sitting down between them. “Thank you Miss. There’s this one Queen there that we’re trying to get out. She’s under high security and he’s done about every horrible thing to her. She’s rather sick and she refused to eat for the past few days. Me and my men were trying to find some Toms to help up free her, but we have yet to succeed. I was hopping that you, or some Toms from you tribe, would be willing to help out.”
“I will be willing to help you Mungojerrie” Munkustrap said as a smile plastered itself on the visitor’s face. “And I’m sure that some of the Toms from the tribe will be willing to help you as well. When will we be needed?”
“We want to get her out as soon as possible,” Mungojerrie said, his smile fading.
“How’s tomorrow morning then?” Munkustrap asked as Mungo nodded. “I’ll go ask around. Rumpel, will you go show Mungojerrie a spot where he can sleep tonight and let Jennyanydots know that we’ll need her to have some beds ready for tomorrow?”
“Of course” Rumpelteazer nodded as he left. She waited until Mungojerrie finished his milk before escorting him out. Some of the kittens ran by them, others hid behind them while trying to avoid being caught by each other. She led him into a box on the other side of the yard, above a wrecked car. “I know it’s not much but here it is.”
“It looks like somebody already lives here” Mungo commented as the looked at the pile of blankets and the small boxes filled with junk.
“I used to live here before I moved in with Munkustrap” she said as she bit her lip. “I guess I never got around to cleaning it out.”
“This is gorgeous” Mungo said as he picked up a pearl bracelet and examined it. “Where did you get it?”
“That was the first thing I ever stole.” She said with pride. “Now I’m stealing more practical things; like medicine, blankets, and food.”
“Did you ever wear them?” He asked as he continued to play with them.
“I never had a reason to. I was saving them for a special occasion but I didn’t think of wearing it when it was one; like my coming of age Ball, or my Mating ceremony.” She blushed.
“Well today can be your special occasion. You met me” Mungo explained as he slipped them on over her head. He grabbed her under her chin and examined how they looked on her. “It’s beautiful... simply beautiful. You’re... simply...beautiful...” Mungo breathed as he lowered himself and kissed Rumpelteazer on the lips. He heard a purr escape her throat as she kissed him back. There was a knock on the outside of the door as the two tigers quickly pulled apart. Munkustrap walked in as Rumpel busied herself with making the bed.
“I found two more Toms who agreed to help us Mungo. We’ll wait for you at the entranceway tomorrow morning.” Munkustrap informed the Tom. “If you need anything don’t be afraid to ask. Have a good night sleep.”
“You too” Mungo said as Munkustrap walked out.
“I should probably be going...” Rumpelteazer said as she made her way towards the door.
“Alright, Good night Teazer” Mungo said sadly.
“Good night Jerrie,” She whispered back before she left him in the box.
‘Stupid’ Jerrie thought to himself. ‘You actually find a group of cats willing to help you and how do you thank them? By making a move on their soon to be leader’s mate. Bravo Jerrie! Way to go....’ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You purred?” Quaxo asked confused as he talked to Rumpelteazer in his pipe.
“It’s not like I wanted to Quaxo, it... just kind of happened.” She confessed, feeling rather guilty.
“Did you ever purr with Munkustrap?”
“Yes, not when he kissed me though. I don’t know why I did for him though, I just met him...” She said as her voice trailed off.
“Do you like him,” Quaxo asked while looking at his distressed friend.
“I don’t know.” She sighed as she ran a paw through her head fur. “Sure he’s handsome and that kiss was amazing but... what about Munkustrap and Pouncival? I can’t just dump them because I met a Tom who makes me purr just by kissing me.... Can I?”
“I don’t think so...” Quaxo said as he bit his lip and Rumpelteazer buried her face in the dirt. “Just sleep on it for now. We’ll talk more about it while we’re helping Jennyanydots and Jellylorum. Alright Rump Roast,”
“Alright Quakers” She said shakily as she licked his cheek and he did the same to her.
“What I’m not good enough to make you purr?” He asked jokingly as she smiled slightly before she backed up out of the pipe and went home.
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Mungojerrie slinked out of his temporary box and walked to the entrance of the Junkyard; where he was supposed to meet the group that was going to help him. The ground was hard and everything was covered in frost. The entrance came in to view as well as Munkustrap, Rumpelteazer, two other Toms and two more Queens who seemed to be saying good-bye to them.
“Good morning Mungojerrie,” Munkustrap greeted when he saw him coming. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes thank you and yourself” Mungo asked, trying to rid himself of the guilt that he had since Rumpelteazer left last night.
“No worse then any other night.” He said with a shrug. “These are the two Toms who agreed to help us; Alonzo” a black and white patch worked cat, “and The Rum Tum Tugger,” a main coon cat with a mane.
“Thank you” Mungojerrie said humbly. “My men and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
“Where are your men anyways?” A tall red Queen asked as she looked over Tugger’s shoulder.
“Back at Macavity’s Lair, most likely waiting for us.”
“Then we shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer” Munkustrap said as the others nodded. Rumpelteazer licked the tabby on his cheek, whishing him luck as the other two Queens wished their Toms luck. The three Jellicles left as Mungo looked at Rumpelteazer; she slowly extended her paw to him, whishing him luck. She called out for them to be careful, as they began to follow Mungo towards Macavity’s Lair.
“It’s not too far away” Mungojerrie told them. “A few blocks north of here.”
“How are you going to get us in there unnoticed?” Alonzo asked as they walked behind him.
“The same way we got everybody else out and the way we’re going to get her out; the tunnel.” Mungo said as he led them into the park. They approached a tree with some bare bushes around it and pushed the branches aside to reveal a fair sized hole. They easily walked in to it and followed the path.
“If you were able to get everybody else out without our help,” Tugger started. “Why do you need it now?”
“We lost some of our guards.” Mungojerrie said. “They would allow us to walk by and get them out. Macavity has his own guards watching her. He feeds them three times more then he does to us so they’re much stronger. We don’t quite have the strength to take them down...” They came to a stop as Mungojerrie knocked on the ceiling. After a few seconds of waiting the ceiling opened up and they climbed out.
“You got them,” a black Tom said as he helped them out. “Thank you for coming.”
“It’s our pleasure.” Munkustrap said as an orange tabby helped him on to the floor.
“We already put the sleeping tablets in their food but it’s not doing much, just making them a little drowsy and distorted.” The tabby said.
“It’s a start. Guys, this is Munkustrap, Alonzo, and Rum Tum Tugger.” Mungojerrie said as he introduced them. “Jellicles, this is Umbrae, Styx, Riley and Vole.” He stopped for a moment as he took a deep breath and quietly went over the plan. “Shall we be going then?”
The Toms nodded as Mungojerrie led them in to the darkened hallway. They all seemed to be deserted; all the other agents were still asleep. Mungo held up his hand, signaling that they were there; and walked out.
“Intruders” Mungojerrie said as he looked down the hallway.
“Where,” replied a gruff voice through a yawn.
“Down the hall,” he replied urgently. Heavy footsteps were heard and the Jellicles crouched, getting ready to attack. Two large toms turned the corner and the group seven toms attacked them. Mungojerrie ran down the Hall and appeared a few minutes later with something in his arms. “Retreat” He commanded as they followed him back to the room where the tunnel ended. Munkustrap looked around and saw that the four that they were helping were pretty banged up. Not that he, Tugger and Alonzo were sitting pretty; they had several scratches over their body.
“How is she” Riley asked as he slumped against a wall.
“She didn’t recognize me at first” Jerrie said as he looked at the Queen in his arms. “She got in a few good blows before she passed out.”
Munkustrap got a good look at the Queen. She had gold and black fur that was matted and stained. She was thin and she seemed to be shivering. He supposed that when she’s all cleaned up that she would be rather pretty. “What’s her name?”
“Demeter,” Jerrie said sadly as he looked down upon her. “Brought here was she was just a kitten.”
“She’s not looking good,” Alonzo commented. “Let’s get her Jennyanydots; quick.”
The others nodded as they laid her on Mungojerrie’s back. The agents bided them farewell as they helped them back into the tunnel and closed if off. The four Toms quickly made their way through the tunnel and ran back to the Junkyard. Munkustrap took the lead as he led them to their nurse’s fridge. He opened the door and allowed Mungojerrie to walk in. He heard the noticeable gasps from Jellylorum and Jennyanydots. He looked inside just in time to see them carrying her off. Quaxo, Rumpelteazer, Coricopat, and Tantomile were there as well; ready to clean the four Tom’s injuries. Munkustrap sat on one of the makeshift beds and winced in pain as Rumpelteazer cleaned one of his worse cuts.
“Wuss” she muttered jokingly. He laughed slightly as she continued to work on him. He looked over and saw the face that Tugger was making as Quaxo was cleaning one of his cuts on his face. Rumpel was soon done and carefully wrapped them before she began to help Coricopat with Mungojerrie. Munkustrap rested against the pillow and took the medicine that was laid out for him and was soon asleep.
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Munkustrap stretched himself of the roof of the car as he watched over the kittens. Demeter stopped by his bed earlier that week to thank him for helping them rescue her; and he was right. She was beautiful. But he couldn’t be with her. He was trying to avoid her as best as he could but it was getting harder now that she and Mungojerrie were accepted into the Tribe.
He watched as they joyously tried to catch the falling snow on their tongues. Pouncival was jumping around with his friends. That was one of the reasons he couldn’t be with her. It wouldn’t be right to abandon him; or Rumpelteazer for that matter. He remembered how skeptical she was when he had asked her to be his mate. What was he to do now say ‘Thanks for the son. Have a good time’?
“Something wrong love?” He rolled over and saw Rumpelteazer looking down at him. She sat down so she was eye level with him. “I know something’s wrong. You’re not usually this quiet.”
Munkustrap remained quiet as his eyes drifted across the yard to where Demeter was talking with Bombalurina.
“You like her don’t you,” Rumpelteazer asked quietly. It came out more as a statement then a question though. “Munkustrap go talk to her. Ask her out.”
“I can’t do that Rumpel,” Munkustrap said, shocked at what she was telling him to do. “I’m mated... to you.”
“Munk, we were friends for at least a year before we became mates. I know what you like. Demeter is what you like. I’m not.” She confessed. “We were great friends. Why can’t we just go back to that?”
“I don’t know...” Munkustrap muttered. “Pouncival probably, I mean how would he take it when he finds out that he’s going to have two different families?”
“That’s true. But if he’s going to be the next second-in-command he needs to learn that life’s not fair. After all; Old Deuteronomy had multiple mates, and so did the Leader before that. And so will you and so will he.” Rumpel said with a slight laugh in her voice. “Besides, he’ll be pretty happy when he finds out that he’ll be getting twice as many presents on his birthday...”
“I suppose, he does love presents...” Munkustrap said as he began to feel like his old self.
“Remember when I did that favor for you, I’m calling it in. I want you to do a favor for me; go over to Demeter and begin talking. Ask her out on a date. Later the two of us will explain everything to Pouncival and we’ll get it finalized with Old Deuteronomy. Okay?” Rumpel asked as she looked at him with shinning eyes.
“What about you,” Munkustrap asked as a flake landed on his nose. “I don’t see any upside for you in the favor.”
“Trust me,” Rumpelteazer said as she bit her bottom lip and allowed her eyes to wander to where Mungojerrie was sitting. “There’s definitely an upside for me.”
Munkustrap laughed as he licked her cheek. “Thanks love” he smiled before he hopped down and walked across the opening, Tugger just walked by and Bombalurina went after him. He sat himself down in front of the lone Golden Queen and smiled. “Hello Demeter; how are you today?”