Prologue
Lights flashed. She could hear them singing. She could hear them talking. She walked into the Jellicle Ball. All the Cats stopped dancing and singing when they saw her. She was a tall cat, for a girl, she was black and orange, and white striped. She was very beautiful. Her name was Quadrothena. Quadrothena looked around, and waited for the Cats to say something to her. They didn't. She grew uncomfortable under their eyes. Then, when she was about to leave, a very big, and shaggy, and important looking Cat walked over to her. He looked very warm, and kind. He spoke, "Welcome to the Jellicle Ball. I am the leader, Dueteronomy. And my dear, who might you be?"
He held out his hand to her. She took his hand, and looked around nervously at the other Cats. "I'm Quadroth..."
Suddenly there was a sound behind them, and two identical Cats, both black and orange and white striped came tumbling in. They stopped, and noticed everyone was quiet. The larger of the two started to say, "Hey, what's goin' on 'ere?"
Then he looked over and saw Old Dueteronomy and this new Cat, his mouthed dropped, "Thena? Is that you? Look Rumpleteazer! Its her!" Mungojerrie ran over to Quadrothena, picked her up and started swinging her around. "I thought you'd never come back!"
Then Rumpleteazer joined in, running over to them, and bouncing along, "Oh, Thena! Oh!!!"
"What is going on here? Who is she?" A black cat with sparkling coat said.
"Mistoffelees, Dueteronomy, everyone. This is Rumpleteazer's and my sister, Quadrothena." Mungojerrie said.
Every Jellicle Cat gasped. Then, they all started talking at once. Someone said, "Why have we never seen her before?" Another, "Why she looks just like Rumpleteazer, and Mungo! We should have guessed."
Then Old Dueteronomy held up his hand, and they all went quiet. "Why don't we let her tell us why she went away, then came back?"
He looked at her, waiting. She cleared her throat, and looked at Mungojerrie. He was nodding his head as if telling her to 'go on'. "Okay, I'll tell you....."
Part 1
A woman cat was sitting in a box in a cold alley in the dead of winter. She was trying to feed her three kittens. It was too cold, though, and she was struggling. The oldest of the three looked up at her mom, "Mama? Are you ok? You look kinda sick. We can stop eating now. Mungo! Rumple! That's enough!"
The mom cat looked down at Quadrothena, "Thank you Thena, I'll just rest for a bit, then I'll be okay."
"Hey Thena! Why'd you stop us from eatin'?"
Mungojerrie hit her on the head with his paw. "Yeah, I was hungry!" Rumpleteazer jumped on top of her sister.
Thena batted them away, then jumped on both of them, "She's sick, lets leave her alone for a while."
"Well, okay...now I have time to scratch you both up right good!"
Mungojerrie ran out from under Thena, and jumped on the two girl kitties heads, "Ha! Now I've got you!"
"Like mice you do!"
Rumple swatted at him, and failed, falling on her tail. The other two cats fell over laughing, and then after a long time of playing, all fell asleep in a pile. Rumpleteazer opened her eyes. She was cold and hungry. She looked around, she could see the shadows of her sister and brother cuddled up next to each other. She looked around to find her mom. She saw her shadow, and walked over to it. "Mama? Mom, are you awake?" She jabbed her mom in her stomach with her paw softly, and said again, "Mama? I'm hungry, can I eat again now?" She looked at the big cats face. She wasn't moving. She didn't hear the usual steady breathing out of the big black nose. "Mama!" She yelled, and jumped on top of her, shaking her. "Thena, Mungo! Wake up!"
The sleeping cats woke up in a huff. Thena sleepily rose up and padded over to her sister and mom, "What?" Then she saw her Moms face, and how drawn it was, she ran up to them, "Whats happened?"
"Hey, why does she look like that?" Mungojerrie was now with the rest of them.
"Do you think she's..."
"Could she be...."
"Mama..."
They all realized it at the same time, their mom had died. From the cold, from being sick, from being old and tired. All three kitties snuggled up close to each other, and their mom, and cried themselves into a sad, mournful sleep. A while later when they all woke up, they had to decide on what to do. "Why don't we try to find that cat that always is walking by us?" Rumple suggested.
"We can't do that! Mom was always telling us not to look at him." Mungo said.
"I think we should just leave, and look for help." Thena licked her paw.
"That's not a bad idea." Rumple nodded.
"What do we do with Mama? We can't just leave her here, she looks so cold, and sad." Mungojerrie frowned.
"Well, we can't take her with us. How would we? She's too heavy for us to drag, and it would attract attention to things that want to hurt us." Said Thena.
"She's right. Lets get our things, and go." Rumple looked at Mungo.
"Okay." He said, "Lets go."
They rolled up the old blanket they always slept on. Then they each kissed the big black nose they would never see again, and set off, walking down the dark, cold, alley.
Part 2
Macavity sat licking his paws after eating the bird he just killed. Suddenly, he looked up, perking his ears up. He had heard something. It was a faint sound, but he was sure of what it was now...talking. Not regular gibberish that the tall people speak, but cat talk. He looked around. Then he saw what he heard, coming around the corner, three little kitties, all identical. "I know them." He thought. "They are the little brats that belong to that woman cat!" Well, she's going to pay for that now. He gave an evil laugh.
"M-m-acavity? Would you like somemore food?" Said a scrawny cat with barely any hair, and many scratches on his face.
"Ah, Ziltramser. Just the cat I was looking for, I have a job for you."
Macavity flexed his claws, and looked at the scared cat. "Y-y-you do?" Ziltramser looked at Macavity's claw. "What do you want me to do?''
"Do you see those kittens over there?" He pointed in their direction. "I want you to bring them to me."
"Of course Macavity. How?" He asked shakily.
"I want you to pretend to want to eat them, then I will come along, and save them." Macavity looked down at him with dark eyes. "Do you think you can handle that?" He tilted his head.
"Yes, sir, I can do that. Right now?"
"Well, I don't have all day, and, well, neither do you..." He stretched his claw again.
"I see sir." He frowned. "Right away, sir.''
He leaped down from the trashcan they were sitting on, and walked over to the kittens. "Hey, guys, stop." Mungojerrie looked up. "Do you hear that?" He looked around.
"I don't hear anything." Rumpleteazer said.
"I do, it sounds like talking." Quadrothena listened.
"Yeah, talking." He listened harder. "It just stopped."
"How weird. Oh well, lets keep going."
Thena and Rumple continued. Then, reluctantly, Mungo followed. All of a sudden, a scrawny looking, mangled cat with no teeth jumped out from nowhere. "Hsssssssss..." The scary cat growled. "Thena, Rumple, get behind me, I'll take care of 'im."
Mungo jumped in front of the girl kitties. "No Jerrie, you'll just get hurt, lets just run." Rumple whispered.
"Oh no...there is no where to run. What do we do?" Thena said.
The mangled cat continued to move forward, pressing on them, so that he was almost touching them. "Okay, now you two listen to me! I am the oldest and I am in charge. Jerrie, I want you to take Rumple and run away while I distract him. All right?"
Thena looked at him. "No! I'm not going to leave you here! If we go, what will happen to you?" Mungo furrowed his brow.
"Don't worry about me, I'll find a way to get out. And if I don't, you two will still be alive. Its better one of us, then all of us. So go now, and no more arguing."
She motioned for them to go. "I will not just leave you here!'' Mungo said again. "You are just wasting time, please."
Thena looked into Mungojerrie's eyes with a desperate, silent plea. "Fine. But you'd better get out, or we're gonna come back lookin' for ya."
Mungo licked her head, (And so did Rumpleteazer.) Grabbed Rumple, and ran. Thena stepped out in front of the hissing cat, and hissed herself. And growled. The bad cat was caught off guard by this, so he did not chase after the others. Then, out of no where, a new cat appeared. This one had long hair that was sticking up, and he was tall and thin. She saw that his coat was dusty, and his whiskers were uncombed. Then, he spoke, "Not a smart thing to have done. I was going to save all three of you, but now, since you went against my plan, I'm not going to let you go..." Then Thena leaped at him.
Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer were listening not far away. "They are fighting! I can hear them hissing at eachother." Mungo said.
"How could she possibly fight that tall cat, with so much hair? He looked so scary, and what did he mean...we went against his plan?" Rumple wondered.
"Teazer..shhhh, I want to hear who wins." He said in a scared voice. "He'd better not hurt her."
They listened and heard scratching, and biting, and hissing, and growling. Then, they heard a sound that they would never forget. The sound of their sister being slashed, then, the last scream they heard out of her, a scream of anguish, and pain, so loud, every cat in the area heard, "Mungoooooooooo!!"
Then, silence. Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer turned away, and bowed their heads, and walked away. Once again, they cried, for another love lost.
"Find those other brats!" Macavity panted hard at Ziltramser.
"Yes sir."
But by that time, they were gone. Part 3 When Quadrothena woke up, she was in a closed room with a soft floor. She didn't know where she was, she tried to get up, but a stabbing pain in her side stopped her. So, she meowed instead, quot;Rumpleteazer?! Mungojerrie?!"
"Oh, poor little kitty. Don't make noise, you'll just hurt yourself." A tall animal with no fur said.
Even though Thena didn't understand what she was saying, the tone of her voice sounded comforting. "Here, you must be famished, drink this."
The woman set down a bowl of milk for the injured kitten. Thena turned her head, and lapped hungrily. The woman pet Thena on her head, "You are safe now. And I'll take good care of you. You look like your name is Tiger, because of your colors, so I'll call you that." Its a good thing Thena didn't understand that, she would not have liked it.
After a few months, Thena was back in good health, and lived with the woman who saved her, in her house. Thena wondered why the woman called her this weird name, Tiger. Oh well. She was so lonely. She wanted to be back with Mungo and Rumple. Not that she didn't like the lady, it just wasn't her home. And she would have left, but she didn't know how to get out. And the lady put an itchy thing around her neck, and no matter how much she tried, just could not bite off. Then one day, the lady left the door open, and Thena carefully walked up to it, looked out, and thought, I wonder if I left, would I find Rumple and Jerrie? Or would that hairy cat that almost killed me be waiting? Well, Thena, there is only one way to find out...She then walked out the door, having no idea or thought as to what was to happen to her next.
Part 4
Thena padded down an alley that she randomly picked. Boy, I wish I had something to eat, I'm so hungry. Just as she thought that, a mouse ran past her she chased it, and caught is with ease. As she sat down to eat the mouse, a shadow came over her, she looked up, and tried hard not to scream. "You thought you could get away, didn't you little kitty?" Macavity said. "Well, you got away, but I'm afraid your little friends did not..." His voice trailed off, and the he looked at her.
"You mean...you....killed them?" She said, her anger rising, and her fear leaving.
"I'm afraid so. But don't worry, I won't hurt you...if you come with me, that is." Macavity licked his paw.
Now, unfortunately Thena was a cat with a very, very bad temper, and even though Macavity scared her, she was not just going to let him kill her brother and sister, and get away with it. So, she jumped out at him, while screaming, "Of course I will not go with you! You mean cat!"
She caught him off guard, so at first, she got in a few hits, but he quickly regained control, and pinned her down on the floor, "I don't think you understand! The more you fight me, the more I want you!"
Thena stopped fighting back, and said, "What do you mean, why do you want me?"
"I want you to work for me. I want you to be my cat, and do what I say." Macavity replied.
Thena laughed, "What makes you think I would ever work for you? How can you think that I would ever do anything for you but kill you, after you killed my sister and brother?"
"Don't laugh at me, cat." Macavity tightened his grip on her paws, "You will come with me, you have no choice."
"Oh, yeah?" Thena said, building up her courage, "How are you going to make me?" She cocked her head to the side.
"Young kitten, there are ways." Macavity quickly hit her on her head with his paw. "You'll learn..." He said to the unconscience Thena, "...that you should never question me."
"Get up!" Thena was being shoved in her side. "Did you hear me? I said get up!"
"What, who are you, whats happening?" Thena tried to get up, but she could not, her head ached, and her legs would not obey.
"Shut up cat! I didn't tell you that you could speak!" The mean cat shrieked.
"I am Ziltramser, and you must listen to me! I am the all power....." He was cut off.
"Ziltramser? What are you saying to her? You are the all power...full? But you are not, I am." Macavity licked his paw.
"Yes master...I-I just wanted her to k-know that she was our p-prisoner..." he mumbled.
Thena would have laughed, if she had the strength, at how the cat was so humbled by Macavity. "Oh, but she is not our prisoner, she is mine!"
"Well, I know s-s-sir, I'm sorry, I'll go now if you want, she's awake." Ziltramser stuttered. Then he walked away.
"Well, my little kitty. How do you feel?" Macavity bent down to see her face.
Thena felt terribly sick, and she couldn't move, "I feel just fine thank you."
"Now, do don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Macavity said, "You look awful, and you aren't moving. So that just tells me that the milk I gave you is working." He laughed to himself.
"What milk?" Thena asked.
"While you were out, I gave you milk. Now this is no ordinary, everyday milk. It has a special mixture in it that will eventually make you completely under my control, and will only do what I say...watch..." Macavity stared hard at her.
He was concentrating on her legs. Slowly, Thena's legs straightened out, and made her sit up. "What are you doing to me?"
"I'm controlling you..." Macavity was still concentrating on her.
Thena was not going to let him move her! She was way too strong for that, so she concentrated too, on not letting him move her. "I'm not going to let to control me!"
Macavity saw that Thena was moving herself, against Macavity's will. "What's this? My, you are strong. Too strong for your own good! This will not do." He walked over to Thena and pushed her down on the ground. She was not yet strong enough to fight back. "Let me think of what I'm going to do with you..."
Thena lay on the ground, unable to move, and was getting angrier than she had ever been before, and she couldn't keep it in any longer, "What makes you think you have the right to decide what to do with me?! Why did you ruin my life? Why did you kill my brother and sister, and take from me everything I
have to live for? What makes you think you can control me?! Who are you?! Why are you in my life?!" Thena screamed, and realized that while she had been yelling, she had risen to her feet, and was standing in front of Macavity, standing tall, I might add.
"I know he won't catch her...but at least I'll be rid of him." Macavity said
to himself, then ran after him.
"Easily." He laughed.
"Is this how Macavity killed my brother and sister? Cornered them into a wall where they couldn't protect themselves? " She accused.
"Macavity did not kill your kin." He replied.
Thena thought for a moment, "Then it was you?! Well, you have no hope of excepting alive." She hissed.
"I didn't kill them either, they are not dead." He stopped. Thena gasped. Ziltramser continued, "After he slashed you, and thought you were dead, he ordered me after them. I could not find them. But when I returned, I could not tell Macavity that I failed to do as he asked, he would kill me. So I told him what he wanted to hear, to save my life."
"I swear, if I find out you are lying to me I'll.....why are you telling me this?" Quadrothena asked.
"I want to help you." He said.
"Help me? Sure, that's a laugh."
"No, I really do. I see how strong you are. I don't want you to waist it. You will just fight him, and he eventually will kill you. Now, you have a reason to get away...to find your brother and sister." He bowed his head, "I've been afraid of him for too long. I don't want that anymore."
Thena looked at him, and wondered whether or not to believe him. Something in his eye's told her he was telling the truth. "All right. I believe you. I am going to leave now, but if you try to stop me
I will kill you."
She started to walk away, but stopped when she heard Macavity. "Well, well, well. I should have guessed. My own Ziltramser betraying me...too bad." He walked to Ziltramser.
Thena looked at him, he was suprised Macavity was there, "Sir, I-I'm sorry, I-I'm...I'm not going to be afraid of you anymore!" He stood tall.
"I knew that someday you were going to get a will of your own. Pity." Macavity pulled up his paw, and thrust his claws into Ziltramser.
Ziltramser's eyes opened wide,"Nooooooo!" He screamed in pain.
"Stoooooooooop!" Thena yelled.
Macavity was laughing. And pulled his claws from the mangled cat. Ziltramser doubled over, and fell to the floor. He looked up at Thena, and with his last ounce of strength, mouthed the word, "Go."
She ran.
Part 5
Thena knew that Macavity would not leave her alone, until she killed him. So she walked back to where Macavity's lair was, and looked around. She didn't see him. "I knew you'd come back." A voice came out of no where.
"I came back to kill you." She said with a hint of amusement in her voice, and looked around.
"Sure, you did."
"You think I'm lying?" Thena began to get angry.
"You know, I knew I wanted you, from the first time I saw you." Macavity said.
She was suprised, "What are you talking about? What do you mean?"
"I was walking down the street, and saw your mother, feeding you. I saw all three of you. You're sister was too happy looking, and your brother was too anxious. But you were perfect. I told your mother that if she didn't give you to me, I would kill her. She didn't give in, that must be where you get that
strength. I don't like people to say no to me, so I had Ziltramser go and take all the rats from the area you lived. She couldn't go too far looking for food, because she had three kittens to attend to. My plan worked of course. But I did not anticipate you. So, I was beat. You know, we could still get along, you and I. If you just give in." He jumped down from the trashcan he was sitting on, and landed right in front of her. He looked at her beautiful face, "I want to have you."
He gently stroked her cheek. Thena did not move, but stared deep into Macavity's black eyes. There was
something more there, that she had overlooked before. It was love. He loved her. "How could someone like you love me?" She boldly asked.
He looked at her for a long time, then he said, "A very good question, Thena. But, I have no answer."
She noticed it was the first time he said her name. Now she was really stuck with a dilemma. Being a kind hearted cat, she did not want to kill Macavity anymore, because he had feelings for her. But she knew she would never be able to love him back, or even like him. He killed her mother just to have her. He
would have killed Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. "Macavity, if you love me, you will let me go."
"Oh, yes, of course."
The two cats crouched down, and slowly circled eachother. Quadrothena jumped on his back, he swirled around and threw her off, but she jumped back on, and knocked him over, they rolled around until Macavity gained his strength and pined her down to the floor. "Now, one last chance, you can stay with me, and live, or I can kill you right now." He flexed his claws at her.
"I'd rather die! I could never love you! Not in a million years!" She hissed
at him.
Something about what she said got to Macavity, and he didn't move, just stared deeply into her eyes. He stayed like that, for a long while. Then he got up, off of her. "You'd better run." He turned and walked away.
Thena remained on the ground, breathing hard, and wondering what had just happened. She got up and started to walk away. She stopped, and turned around. She heard something, very faint. She listened hard. Then she knew what it was, and it brought tears to her eyes. It was Macavity, alone in the alley, crying.
Quadrothena walked down alleys and streets for a very long time. Eating out or trashcans, begging for food from passers by. She often thought about Macavity, but never saw him again. Then one lucky night, she came across a junkyard, and heard a sound she hadn't heard in a very long time, it was the sounds of cats talking, but they were happy.
Epilogue
"....Then I walked in, and you all know the rest." Thena looked at all the cats faces in front of her, hanging on her every word.
Mungojerrie put his arm around her and whispered in her ear, "I'm so sorry....that you had to go through that...and from now on, I promise that I can protect you..."
All the cats were speechless. "Well, Quadrothena. I hope that you will join us, and dance and sing in the Jellicle Ball." Old Deuteronomy said.
"Oh, I'd love to!"
All the cats jumped up and went over to her, petting her, and licking her. "Now, lets get started!"
All the cats cheered. Later on in the ball, a new song was added to the ball, and you could here
three cats singing, very loudly in the most English accent, "Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer and Quadrothena....we're a notorious bunch of cats...."
~The End~
