Title: The Protector (1/14)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death
Summary: When some Jellicles are cat-napped, Munkustrap has to descend back into Monnik territory, back into his old life, and must confront his biggest fear - the truth escaping.
You should be reading the Ritzkin Arc in order, to understand everything that's going on.
A note about Jenny's kittens.
Jennyanydots has two mates, Simbol and Skimbleshanks. Both toms love her very much, and they are content with sharing her. However, as the toms look similar – Skimble is a yellow tabby, and Simbol is white with yellow patches, it's hard to tell who the father of Jenny's kittens is. As such, Simbol is called "Dad" (or Daddy) by the kittens, and Skimble is "Father" (or Poppa). While neither tom makes a big deal over the parentage of Admetus (the oldest), Alonzo, Cattivo, and Plato (from the middle litter), or the newest member of the Jellicles, kitten Tumblebrutus, they are both secretly sure that all five are Simbol's sons. Admetus, Alonzo, Plato, and Tumblebrutus are all patched, like Simbol, though different colors, and Cattivo is practically a clone of the Protector, with his gold patches. All the kittens, though, simply shrug and say they have one mother and two fathers – it's easier than trying to figure out dynamics. Simbol and Skimble share sons, and love all of them dearly. (Jenny's queenkits are kept at home and sent out to adopt their own humans. Only her tomkits join their fathers in the Jellicle junkyard.)
Roleplays:
If you're not into RPing, feel free to skip this part, but I get paid for these ads! (they give me reviews for my stories on their sites too!)
Ourjellicle (o u r j e l l i c l e s . p r o b o a r d s 5 1 . c o m ). is a normal Cats RP set after the Jellicle Ball. Currently, Macavity has taken over the junkyard, but the Jellicles escaped safely. They're enlisting the help of a crew of pirates, though, to reclaim their yard… but that decision may cause more pain than pleasure.
One of These Nights (w w w . s 8 . c r e a t e p h p b b . c o m / o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t / I n d e x . p h p ? m f o r u m (equal sign) o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t) is an AU RP where the Jellicles are human members of a band (named Jellicle). Tugger (taken) is the lead singer, with Bombalurina (taken), Alonzo, and Plato (taken) as other members, and the rest of the Jellicles helping out as friends, stage hands, special effects, etc. Munkustrap (taken by me) is the manager of the band, and his father, Deuteronomy, is a huge music mogul. Macavity (taken) leads the rival band, the Depraved. Most of the characters are still available, though. If you're interested, come on by!
Eminems6 - this one's for you! Here's your giftfic (and damn, if it isn't HUGE!)
I DON'T OWN CATS!
The Protector
"Bravo, bravo, bravo!" Asparagus clapped his paws together, perched delicately in a chair in the audience of his theater. "Wonderful job, toms! You three harmonize excellently!"
Up on the stage of the theater (closed for the night), the three brothers, Plato, Alonzo, and Cattivo all ducked their heads and licked their paws in pleased embarrassment, trying to hide their wide grins. Gus liked their song!
The brothers weren't on patrol tonight, so they had gone off to visit their grandfather. Gus always had the best stories, and he highly encouraged all the Jellicles to sing and dance and perform plays. He was always encouraging, making the brothers feel like they actually could sing well… unlike Admetus, their older brother, who just laughed and said they sounded like a dying Pollicle, or Tumblebrutus, their baby brother, who would cock his head to the side in the most adorable fashion and watch them, open-mouthed, before he'd spring up and try to sing with them, ruining their songs with his off-key kitten voice.
"Psh, of course they harmonize magnifecently." Sprawled on a seat next to Gus, Skimbleshanks was reclining lazily, watching the brothers with unconcealed pride. "Jenny's their mother."
Again, the brothers were stricken by both pride and embarrassment, and they came rushing down to nuzzle the older cats and thank them for their praise. They realized the two older toms were probably biased, as Gus was their grandfather on Simbol's side, and Skimble was their father, but at the same time, the praise of these two, the theater cat and the widely-traveled railway cat, meant more than almost any other.
"Is this the arrangement the three of you are going to sing at the next Jellicle Ball?" Gus asked, nuzzling his grandsons in turn, starting with Plato, the oldest, and ending with a pat to Alonzo, the youngest's, ears. "You three are going to sing at the next Jellicle Ball, aren't you?"
The brothers looked at each other and shrugged. "Admetus says we sing like a dying Pollicle," Cattivo said hesitantly.
Skimble rolled his eyes. "Well, next time he says that, tell him that he must have spiders in his ears. You three sound great."
"Indeed," Gus said, with a nod. "Why, I remember when Admetus himself…" He trailed off with a frown, looking over at the wings of the stage, his ears alert and whiskers quivering. The younger toms all perked up as well, staring in the same direction, straining to sense what was wrong. "Excuse me, boys. I'll be right back, just need to check on something…" The red tabby jumped off his chair and crept toward the wings, his belly low to the ground, a sign that he was hunting something.
Skimble looked at his sons, Jellicle guardians, all of them, and nodded toward Gus. The four of them would follow him as back-up, just in case.
"Come on out of there. I can hear you." Gus leapt onto the stage and bristled in the direction of a window.
A moment later, one of the largest cats the brothers had ever seen stepped out of the shadows. He was black from nose to tail-tip, and he only had one golden eye. He rolled onto his side, spreading his paws, a sign of his surrender. "I'm not here to hurt anyone – I'm just a bit lost."
Gus growled low in his throat, flexing his claws. "Bah. You reek of the Monniks. Get ye back. Return to the place from whence you came."
Skimble smacked his forehead lightly with his paw. "He's getting all theatrical on us," he muttered.
"Grandpa, look out!" Plato saw the danger before any of the others, the other two black cats who had been circling around Gus, sticking close to the shadows. He leapt onto the stage as the other cats jumped forward, snarling.
Gus turned to smack one of the big black cats aside, and the one-eyed tom jumped to his feet and charged the theater cat. Plato got in between them, though, hissing as he swiped at the cat's remaining eye.
"C'mon, 'Lonz!" Cattivo vaulted onto the stage after his brother, arrowing toward a second black cat, with Skimble right behind him.
Alonzo was frozen in the seats, staring at the battle with wide green eyes. He had never actually been in a real fight before, unless you counted the giant rats that sometimes made a mess of things, or that one time a Pollicle had gotten into the junkyard, and Simbol and the rest of the guardians chased it out. He had never seen a catfight before, though, and he was scared.
He was even more scared when Gus went down, one of the big cats on top of him. Skimble howled and tackled that cat, which turned its attention to him.
Plato and Cattivo were tussling with the one-eyed cat, and the third black cat ganged up on Skimble. Alonzo whimpered as he watched the third cat leap onto Skimble's back, jaws sinking into the back of Skimble's neck. As Skimble cried out in pain, stumbling back, the second cat jumped forward, striking at Skimble's now-unprotected belly. Skimble went down quickly, his yellow fur turning red.
Alonzo wiggled back until he was hidden under one of the chairs. He covered his eyes and cursed himself for being such a coward – his family needed him! Why was he hiding?
"Stop!" One of the Monniks must have spoken – Alonzo didn't recognize that voice. "Wait a minute – look at that runt." He heard Cattivo hiss, but the sounds of fighting had stopped, save for growling and grumbling from his brothers. "Who does he look like?"
Another Monnik chuckled, and Cattivo made an angry squeak. "Like Simbol." There was the sound of a cat spitting after the name. Alonzo uncovered his eyes and dared to peek out.
The two-eyed cats were each holding one of his brothers, pinning them to the floor. Plato and Cattivo looked a bit beat up, but neither were the bloody mess that Skimble and Gus were. The older toms were unmoving, and none of the Monniks were paying any attention to them. Were they dead? Alonzo gulped, his paws trembling. While he hid like a queenkit, his father and grandpa were killed, and his brothers captured.
"Exactly," the one-eyed tom said, pacing in front of the other two. "You! Kitten! Who's your father?" Cattivo, the cat being questioned, hissed at the one-eyed tom, earning himself a sharp cuff on the nose. "I'm not going to ask you a second time. Tell me who your father is, or I'll gut this other one." He held his claws close to Plato's stomach, and Plato hissed nervously, trying to push away, but he was held in place by his captor.
"Simbol," Cattivo muttered, glancing over at where Skimble lay.
The one-eyed tom gestured toward Plato. "And is this your brother?" Cattivo nodded mutely, hanging his head. The tom grinned malevolently. "Excellent. Come on, boys. We're bringing this pair back to the boss. We have the kittens of the Protector – the Jellicles are as good as ours!"
Alonzo cowered under the chair as his brothers were shoved toward the window. He should go help them… but what good was he going to be? Plato and Cattivo were stronger than he was, and they both got captured. Skimble and Gus were both bigger and stronger than all three of the brothers, and they were dead (or dying)! What could he possibly do? Alonzo curled up under the chair, covering his eyes again, trembling in despair. He was such a coward.
Many thanks to the seven reviewers for Musings - you made this show up as quickly as it did!