The Beginning

Disclaimer: I own nothing of or related to CATS or Inuyasha. They properly belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber, T. S. Elliot, and Rumiko Takahashi.

Crimson eyes, the pupils slit and narrow, stared in worry at a young woman, slumped against an ancient wooden well. Black hair hung limply into her face, and her dark blue eyes gazed at nothing, lacking all the luster her feline friend knew her for.

The warrior nekomata, Kirara, pawed gently at the miko she had travelled with for a year. Miles away, they're friends lay in the ground, where she had buried them. Everything they worked so hard for was over—gone. Their enemy, sadistic fool that he was, was dead, taking many lives with him. Now, they were all that's left, and Kagome was fading quickly.

Kirara mewed, bumping her head against Kagome's legs. She couldn't die. Neither of them could. They had to survive the aftermath together, or none of it would be worth it.

But Kagome didn't respond, even when Kirara jumped in her lap. In desperation, she scratched her human friend's face with a single claw. Blood oozed out of the cut, and Kirara yowled, but Kagome didn't even twitch. The sorrow in Kirara's heart at the death of her mistress grew heavier with each slowing breath Kagome took.

The full moon's light fell over them, and Kirara suddenly tensed. Her fur stood on end, both her tails poofing in warning. A deep, comforting voice chuckled, the sound ringing to only feline ears, and Kirara paused. "Now, now, my friend, I mean no harm."

Despite the feeling of stillness that flooded the clearing, Kirara didn't ease her tension. Her growl grew in volume, and her own voice overlapped it. "Show yourself then, if you mean no harm, Coward. Prove that you do not bear ill will to us."

The intruder on the clearing laughed. "Now, I'm afraid it's not yet time for that. Fear not, friend, for I have a wish for both you and your mistress. There will be no need for you to be separated."

Kirara jumped away and transformed into her larger form. "We have no want of wishes here, or perhaps you do not know of our pain." She would not let anyone call for a wish—not with the pure and completed Shikon no Tama hanging "innocently" around Kagome's neck. "You don't know—the pain, blood, death—you know none of it!"

The old voice paused, his earlier humor fading. "I could erase it—begin for both of you new lives. Lives as the Jellicle Cats I am creating. You would never have to see such things agai—"

Kirara felt the flames at her feet growing brighter, hotter, more deadly, and she floated inches off the ground in anger. How dare he? "No. We will not be reborn—we will not forget. Our friends, their sacrifices, our blood and tears. We will not lose it all and waste everything!"

A sigh rustled the leaves and grass. "I am sorry to hear that, and especially sorry that I have already begun."

Kirara's eyes widened, pupils narrowed even more. "What?" She whirled around to see Kagome in the same dead-to-the-world position as before, but with a strange deep green glow around her that the nekomata had never seen before. "No!"

Rushing toward her last companion, Kirara knew instinctively that this was all a feline magic, but it was unfamiliar to her in every way, and she couldn't stop it. "Kagome-sama!" She watched as the glow brightened, her eyes darting around frantically for something—anything—to stop it.

"There's nothing for it, I'm afraid," said the voice Kirara now hated. "Nothing can stop this."

She ignored him, her eyes widening as they focused on the only thing left. "Gomen nazai, Kagome-sama." She used the miko's shirt in place of a scruff and easily picked her off the ground. The bastard voice was questioning, worried, but it only came as white noise in Kirara's ears. "I—I will find you. Please forgive me."

Kirara dropped Kagome inside the well, watching as its blue glow overtook the dark green surrounding her friend before she vanished from sigh. "Kami watch over you."

~)*(~

"Macavity!" A young, excited voice called. "Mister Macavity! We found something!" Red eyes, half-open from sunken-in eye sockets, blinked only once, and a head of untidy dark ginger hair swayed up from where it rested on matching paws.

"Mungojerrie. Rumpleteazer." His voice was deep, deadly, but the female calico didn't seem to notice as she pounced up to his perch. "What is it?"

Mungojerrie grinned from behind his partner, his eyes glittering. "We found a new Jellicle Cat, sir."

Macavity raised his head more, his brow furrowing in thought. "A 'new' Jellicle? Ol'Deuteronomy stopped making new cats almost two centuries ago." He rose to his feet, his tall frame towering over his two subordinates. "Show me."

A malicious smirk crossed his lips the moment Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were turned away. If they spoke the truth—which they'd better, lest they anger him—he could take another disciple to annoy his father and brothers. Lord knew Deuteronomy didn't have the ability to hate anyone, let alone his own son, no matter how many laws he'd broken, but Macavity could annoy him. Greatly.

Let's see how he reacts to his newest being taken in by me.

AN: So, this is just an idea that's been rolling around in my head for the longest time, and I'm going to do my best to keep it from being a "crack" fic/crossover. Dunno what will come of it, but it'll only be a drabble series. Maybe it will be updated more than my other stuff, which I'm working on in an on-again-off-again sort of fashion. Sorry to everyone who want other updates, but I'm in college with lots of English classes, which means lots of reading and essay-writing. We'll see what I can update and when, but I make no promises. I hope you enjoy this.