Mungojerrie looked around the trunk of the Forever Green Tree. Teazer slunk her almost identical self up behind him. Mungo turned to look seriously into her glowing golden eyes.

“Teaz, I mean it, don’t get too close. You know I can handle it from here,” Mungo held her gaze, trying to make it clear to stay put. Oh, Heaviside, please make her listen. Teazer cocked her head in question. Seeing her mates seriousness, Teazer nodded. Mungo let out a sigh of relief. He took Teazer’s half of the diamonds. Giving her a brief nod, Mungo slunk away.

Mungo crept behind bushes and under the protective covering of dead braches. Teazer watched with anxiety, like she always did when Mungo went to deliver anything to Macavity. Macavity lived in a barrel many, many feet away from where Teazer crouched. There were so many things that could go wrong. The local hawk. The path. The monsters. Many cats, including Mungo’s mother, had been snatched up by the huge bird. The path was where monsters raced each other, screaming and snorting. Black paws led them everywhere, and sometimes, when their mean yellow eyes closed, they stumbled off the path. Teazer cringed as memories of horrible screams and the murders commited by the monsters came to mind. That was why Teazer hadn’t wanted to go with Mungo to deliver anything. In the beginning. Now, it was different.

Teazer knew she was afraid of the hawk, with good reason, but she hadn’t seen it in a while. She knew she was quick enough to dodge around the monsters. They mostly stayed in one section of the path, and usually went in one direction. She also knew she would fell better if she could go with Mungo, to be another one to watch for danger, to make sure he’d be safe. It was no fun watching and not being allowed to say anything.

Teazer gripped the flaky bark of the Tree as Mungo approached the Roaring Path. Once, and if, he passed the path, all the dangers would be behind him. Mungo crouched at the edge of the path, flicking his ears and watching the monsters intently. Suddenly, he raced across the black surface of the path. A break in the race of colored beings was the safest time to run, as Mungo obviously knew. In a couple of seconds, he was across. Teazer let out a sigh as he raced to the Huge Brown Barrel. He hurdled himself into it, into Macavity’s lair.

When Mungo disappeared from sight, Teazer’s panicked view faded, opening her sight. It took a few milliseconds for her eyes to copy the pictures and send it to her brain, but when they did, Teazer froze and lowered herself to the ground.

Biting her lip and scanning the open grass for cover, the same phrase was playing over and over in her mind, reprimanding her. Damn it, I did it again…damn it, I did it again…Her ears were working double time. There was no way Teazer would let her guard down this time, not after the near death experience of last time. Like orange and white satellite dishes, Teazer’s ears slowly swiveled, picking everything up. Her claws pulled her closer to the ground. Still scanning, Teazer processed every sound. Grass, cricket, june bug, queen ant, hawk, dead leaves… HAWK! Fear flowed freely through her veins automatically. Teazer didn’t hesitate. Keeping herself low to the ground and, bristling her fur, Teazer streaked through the grass. Fighting wouldn’t work this time.

She ran towards the pile of dead branches, her tail whipping around behind her. It was amazing how fast the hawk caught up. Luckily, by the time the hawk was diving, Teaz was somersaulting under the branches. She immediately turned and flattened her ears to her head. Just as she’d expected, the hawk was reaching in with its talons. Teaz howled and hissed. Slashing and biting, she drove off the hawk. Cursing in a high-pitched slurred language, the hawk flew off to go terrorize some other innocent beast.

“Yeah, well, screw you too!” Teazer responded to the few offending words that she recognized. A loud screech floated from the clouds. Angered at the Hawkarian insult, Teazer screamed,

“No, you’re the bitch!” even though she was sure the bird was male. Sniffing indignantly, she turned up her nose and walked tauntingly back to the Forever Green Tree. Come and get me! Teazer sneered to herself, too afraid to actually yell it.

After the adrenaline had a chance to evanescence, Teazer could think. Once again, without knowing it, Teazer had followed Mungo. It was like her paws had minds of their own. After reprimanding her paws, Teazer started to clean herself (begrudgingly, since her paws were needed, and right about now she was mad at them). Thoughts of Mungo yelling at her kept popping into her head. He always saw her when she went past the tree. When had he not? Ok, almost always. Bust still, that wasn’t the point. For once Teazer hoped Mungo hadn’t noticed her. Definitely a first. Teazer started to bite her lip, a sure sign of anxiety among the Rumpelteazer breeds.

She was so intent on worrying, she didn’t see Mungo appear in front of her. She jumped back in surprise, barely suppressing a startled mew. Mungo didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were glowing and he pushed their pay up to Teazer. A large rooster, possibly larger than last weeks salmon, was stretched out limply. Happy with the earnings, Teazer purred deeply and rubbed her head against Mungo’s. That was something she’d never tire of. Up to her death, she might lose interest in thieving, in pearls, or even (Heaviside forbid!) in laughter. But never would Mungo be an issue. Ever.

On the way home, the cats had to go through a crowded alleyway. How else do thievish cats get home? Most of the cats there were thieves and bounty hunters, among other morbid things. They all lay lower in social status than Mungo and Teazer, so the groups rarely shared words. It wasn’t like last generation, when the classes could talk decently to each other. Teazer was humming and doing an odd, attention grabbing dance frolic thing. Pausing a second to rub against Mungo affectionately. She was startled from her strange little world when a deep warning growl was emitted from somewhere inside Mungo’s vocal chords. Instantly, her humming ceased. Teazer kept walking, but was staring at Mungo in confusion. He nodded slightly toward the glaring groups of rogues around them. Hurt and absolutely baffled, Teazer trudged through the disgusting alleyway, silent.

Mungo’s heart sank with Teazer’s head. He knew he had hurt her, but what else could he do? Hurt her or kill her? Gee, what a hard decision. Right now, he couldn’t let her slip. So, the best way was to keep her from knowing. He himself couldn’t slip. He’d have to find a way to get Teazer to trust him without telling her why. If only… if only she knew he was hurting her for love. She would understand. If anything ever happened to Teaz, he’d be a soul-less cat; dead to the world and living in memories.