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Alonzo whimpered in pain. Fombulabri bounded over to help. She cowered back when she saw it. The huge gash in his leg was bleeding profusely. Despite the horrible carnage, Alonzo quietly sobbed. She regained her thoughts and crawled over to him. She gently put the tattered rag she had on his wound. He recoiled in pain, but relaxed when she put her paw on his shoulder.
'Lonnie, what happened?' She could see tears surfacing in his green eyes, but he was trying hard to stop them. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
'It was, I think, Macavity. He came here looking for someone.' As he finished, Cassandra and Etcetera ran up. Cassandra covered him with kisses. Etcetera did the same, but kind of like a daughter would.
'Misto!' Fombulabri jumped up when the magical feline joined them. 'You can help him.' He nodded. He leaned next Alonzo's leg. When nothing happened, Misto cried in dismay. Cassandra with the wounded's head buried in her fur, looked at him in confusion.
'I, I don't know. I think it was magical, so I can't heal him.' He turned to Bri. She shuddered.
'What?' The rest followed his gaze. 'We don't know if I am magical.'
'It's worth a try.' Alonzo managed to speak before he passed out cold from the pain. Cassandra held up his head tenderly, and looked at Bri. Fombulabri could read love and fear in her eyes, so finally she nodded.
'Fine, I'll try. For Alonzo's sake.' She repeated Misto's actions, and placed her paws over his leg. Slowly, but surely, the wound started to lessen it's size and shrink as a golden light filtered from, well, no where. They all watched in amazement, except for Misto. When it sealed and there wasn't even a trace of a scar, Bri pulled her paws back close to her. She did it. She actually did it. Misto put his paw on her shoulder. She turned and hugged him tightly. Cassie helped Alonzo up when he opened his eyes. He turned to his healer.
'Bri.' She let go of Mistoffelees. 'You, you're really magical.' He hugged her. Cassandra dropped her paws and looked at them. *Why does he always do that? Why can't he love me?* She felt tears surfacing, but pushed them aside. Alonzo and Fombulabri vroke apart and he held her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes.
'Thank you.' He sighed. Cassie snuck away, since nobody noticed her. She was looking back at them as she walked and didn't see Tugger. Cassandra almost bumped into The Rum Tum Tugger, but he grabbed her shoulders first.
'Watch it there, Cass. Where are you heading off to?'
'Sorry, Tug..' She interupted herself, kissing him deaply. He was surprised at first, but soaked it up, kissing her in return. She stopped and whispered in his ear.
'C'mon.' She clasped his paw and led him back to the Junkyard.
Etcetera jumped up from rubbing against Alonzo's legs.
'Lonnie? Where'd Cassie go?' He stopped looking at Bri and searched for the Siamese. He looked at Misto, who just shrugged.
'I didn't see her leave.'
'She went bacl to the Junkyard with Tugger,' Munkustrap, who was with Tugger when Cassie attacked him with kisses, joined the group. Alonzo sighed. Then he looked up at Munk suddenly and ran up to him.
'Bri's magical!'
'Didn't we already know that?' Alonzo shook his head.
'No, we thought, but she healed me!' He pointed at his led. Munkustrap looked at his leg, then to Misto, then to Bri, she looked at the ground and blushed.
'I'm just going to assume there was something there,' he said. He stalked over to Bri and put his paw on her shoulder.
'So, now we have two magical Jellicles.' He smiled at her, which made her more comfortable.
'Actually, quite magical. She healed Alonzo's cut when I couldn't.' Again, Fombulabri blushed. Alonzo smiled at Bri and followed in Cassandra's direction. Etcetera bounded after him. Fombulabri sighed.
'So, is there anything I need to leard about being magical?' she asked Misto.
'Well, you need to know what to and not to use it for, and how to control it. That's about it.' She nodded, then tilted her head.
'Is that all the magic I have? Or can I have more?'
'I don't know. Possibly,' the Conjurere mused.
'It's different for every magical cat.' Munkustrap chimed in. Bri glanced up. It was getting dark.
'Let's go home.' Misto nodded arm around her and they strode back to the Jellicle Junkyard - Munk leading. But as soon as his arm touched her, she saw strange lights flashing in her head. She doubled-over, holding her head. In her mind, she saw figures running past, blurry. *What is this?* She thought, actually screaming it aloud. The images became clearer..
She saw herself, a terrified expression on her face. She screamed when she saw the cream and black coloured cat stalking toward her with a broken bottle in his paw and an evil grin on his face. She was relieved when Misto jumped on the attackers back to save her. Mistoffelees clawed and sctratched him, but he easily threw him off. The attacker turned to Bri, smiled and returned to Misto, who was dizzy from hitting his head. The cat grabbed Misto from behind, smiled at Bri again, and, to her horror, he slit Mistoffelees' throat with the bottle. Blue light ascended from his eyes, into the cat.
She screamed and opened her eyes. She was back in the Junkyard. Misto and Munkustrap were trying to console her. When she saw Misto's familiar face, she reached out and hugged him.
'Oh, Misto! It was horrible!' She sobbed as she held him close.
'Bri, what? What happened?'
'I, I don't know! I saw...something...in my head. This cat killed you! But it didn't really happen, thank Heaviside, because you're here, and,' she sqeezed him closer. 'Oh, it was just aweful!' Mistoffelees hugged her back, then held her before him.
'I think you do have another power.'
'Clairvoyance.' Munk interupted.
'Clairvoyance?' She repeated.
'Yea, it's the power to have premonitions - visions of the future and sometimes past.' Munkustrap put his arm around her carefully. 'Come, maybe Old Deuteronomy can clear this up.' Misto followed them back to the main area of the Junkyard, trying desperately not to touch her.
When they ascended into the main area, they were surprised to not see Clue, Leaf and Trance leaping about. The triplet tabbies were practically newborns, younger than Etcetera and Jemima, yet they were as lively as Pouncival. They looked up to him and everyone loved them. But, to prove there suspicions, Clue ounded upon the, with a grin on his face. He rolled across the floor, obviously expecting Leaf and Trance to follow him. Munkustrap waved him away.
'Not now, Clue. Have you seen Deuteronomy?' Clue just shook his head, obviously trying not to smile. Mistoffelees and Fombulabri both noticed and turned to see Trance, ready to pounce on them.
'Trance! Not now!' Misto glared at her. Trance regained balance and stopped herself from falling upon them.
'Sorry Mustyflees.' She, along with her siblings, having an australian accent and being as young as they were, could not yet pronounce his name correctly.
'Oh! Oh! Old Deuta'onomy's ova' tha!' Clue pointed towards the broken stove which the leader was coming from.
Munk, Bri and Misto immediatly walked over to him. Deuteronomy almost fell over when the five hugged him(including the baby kittens), but caught himself.
'What is it?' He asked, dazed. His eyes followed clue, who was zigzagging in and out of his legs.
'Bri...had a vision. Tell him.' Misto urged. Bri reluctantly stepped forward.
'I, uh, saw Misto being killed, and, I don't know. Blue light exited from him into the attacker.' She tried unsucsessfully to stop the tears from returning to her eyes. Deut sat down.
'The blue light..' He waited for her to acknowledge him, 'was his magic. What did this cat look like?' Fombulabri didn't answer at first, she just looked at Misto. Misto returned her gaze and gave her a weak smile.
'He was cream coloured with black stripes. He kinda fits the description of Macavity.' Clue and Trance stopped prancing about and huddled together. Bri tilted her head at them. They just huddled closer and shivered. The old Jellicle leader nodded.
'Cream and black. Ba...'
'...cchus,' Misto finished his sentance. Again, Old Deuternomy nodded.
Bombalurina crept out from around a different heap, trailing Leaf behind her. She glanced back, trying to lose the kitten. She was relieved when Leaf sighted her siblings. She lept over to them, breaking them out of their fear-trance. The three began batting and pawing at each other like kittens again. Everyone watched, mindlessly forgetting their recent discussion. They laughed and relaxed in the fun. Bombalurina settled next to Munkustrap, and tried to get comfortable, but he inched away. She leaned over and pulled him close to her. Demeter appeared and when Munkustrap saw her, he pushed Bomby away. Demy found them and sat between them. She was about to mention what she saw, when there was a loud crash. and the lights pulsed uncontrollably. They all jumped and scattered. Misto tried to run and hide, but Bri grabbed his arm.
'Misto.' She whispered his name as if it was the last time she could. He looked into her green eyes, leaned in and kissed her. She was surprised, but for the first time, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him in return. When they parted, she just held on to him, not wanting to let go.
'I won't let you die. Ever,' she whispered, tears streaming down her face. When they let go of one another, they realized that they were the only ones out in the open. She grabbed his paw and raced back to her den, out of where her vision had taken place.
Munkustrap re-entered the area after making sure that the kittens and Demeter were safely inside. He looked around wearily, which proved it's worth, when a strange cat tumbled from behind a trash can behind him. He saw the cat out of the corner of his eye and turned to face his foe. His anger faded when he noticed cords wrapped around the young Tom's legs, whipping at everything. He was obviously frightened, because he was running all over the place, struggling with the cord. Munkustrap put his paws up.
'It's all right, calm down.' But the cat kept batting at the cord furiously, trying to run away from it. His efforts proved useless. The more he fought, the more the cord entangled itself around him. Bri and Tandilana, who were watching curiously on the side, crawled out to help. Tammy reached out to stop him, but the cord slashed her paw. Fombulabri put her paw over Tammy's and healed it. Tammy, already having been told about her magic, thanked Bri and stood next to Munkustrap.
Fombulabri stood ready. When the Tom whipped the cord around again, she snatched it. She inched toward him, still holding the cord. When she reached him, she pulled the cord off slowly. He finally relaxed, but was panting breathlessly. She finished.
'There.' She looked into his eyes.
'Thanks,' he managed. She turned her gaze back to his leg, consentrating on healing the gashes. Tandilana walked to him.
'Are you all right?' She smiled cutely at him. He nodded. They leaned towards each other, looking as if to kiss.
'Daddy?' They recoiled and saw Sillus tugging at Munkustrap's leg. He leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead.
'What is it, sweetie?'
'Mommy wants to talk to you.'
'OK.' He nodded. The faded red kitten bounded off to their den. Munk nodded at Bri, Tammy and the new Tom.
'Make sure he's OK and who he is.' And he followed Sillus. Bri finished healing the mysterious Tom.
'Alright, so you're healed.' He looked at his led, flustered.
'You're magical?'
'Yes. So, who are you?'
'Oh! My name is Mungolees.'
'I'm Fombulabri.' She thrusted her paw at him and he shook it.
'And I'm Tandilana.' He nodded.
'Nice to meet you.'
'So, what happened? What was that loud crash? And how did you get that cord...'
'Whoa!! One question at a time, please!' He laughed at her impatience. 'I saw this place, but some Pollicles chased me. I think I knocked over something. Whats does that cord do?'
'Oh. OK.' Tandilana and Bri approved his story with a nod. 'The cords kind of light up our Junkyard,' Fombulabri answered.
'Oops.' Mungolees blushed. Munkustrap re-entered with Jemima and Sillus.
'We are going to let the new Tom...'
'Mungolees,' Tandilana corrected him. Munk nodded.
'We're going to let him stay, but not permanently.'
'Thank you.' Mungolees said. They nodded to one another.
'Come, I'll give you a temporary den. My Munkustrap.' Mungolees followed him into the back. Sillus turned to Jemima and punched her.
'Ow! What was that for?'
'You're it!' Sillus zipped away from her sister. Jemima rolled her eyes. The four kittens began to play. Sillus was running from Tandilana at one point, and ran into Mistoffelees, who was looking for Bri. Sillus fell flat on her back.
'Surry, Mustyflees!' Misto winked at her and helped her up. Sillus pecked him on the cheek and continued to run from Tammy. The kittens continued to play, except for Fombulabri. She walked over towards Misto and their lips met, resting on each other. They were interupted by Blaizerette running out screaming.
'What is it, Blaize?'
'There's a stranfge, weird looking thing back there, lurking around our den!' She grabbed Bri's hand. Bri and Misto looked at each other and followed her.
They all slinked silently, watching for an odd creature. Misto suddenly jumped back against Bri. She also jumped. They stood, frozen in their place. A pair of golden eyes floated towards them. Blaizerette turned and she did the same. Slowly, a figure appeared around the eyes. When the form was complete, a silver and blue cat stood face to face with Quaxo. Bri put her arm around him as if to protect him.
'Who are you?' Misto asked, not removing his eyes from those of the chesire.
'Indoclees. I'm here for her.' He pointed at Bri. 'Now step aside.' Quaxo grimaced.
'Abri? What for?' Blaize also stepped forward to protect her sister.
'My master has requested it.'
'Master?' Misto asked. Indoclees grinned.
'I believe you've heard of him. Bacchus.' He smiled more, expecting the look that did come across the tuxedo cats face. His eyes filled with fury and his miscles tightened. Fombulabri, noticing this change, looked at him. She had never seen such hatred.
'Misto, who's...'
'He can't have her, and that bastard better stay away!' Indoclees smiled. His body faded again and his eyes slowly floated away.
'We'll see,' He hissed in a whisper and dissapeared from view. Mistoffelees turned to apologize to Bri and Blaize, but they were gone. He heard sobs and followed the sound to the inside of a garbage can. Blaize was comforting Bri who shook violently, tears streaming down her frightened face.
'Oh, Abri. I'm so sorry Bacchus is after. He's truly evi...'
'No, Quax, it's not that.' She whiped a tear away. 'I have never seen so much hate or cruelty, least of all from you. It wasn't you. I didn't recognize you.' He reached out to hug her, but she pulled away. 'No, Quaxo. I thought I knew you. I guess I didn't.' She stood up, pushing him out of her way, towards her and Blaizerette's den.
'Abri! Wait! You don't know what happened!' He called after her. She stopped, but did not turn around. She sniffed.
'I'm listening.'
'Bacchus kidnapped me and my sister, Colandra from our true parents. To this day, I don't know who they are.' He paused to swallow.' He killed Colandra.' Bri turned around, and ran to him.
'Oh, Quaxo! I'm so sorry!' She hugged him tightly and kissed him apologetically. They shared one final long kiss and she clung to his chest.
'Don't let them take me, please.' He returned the hug.
'Don't worry, Abri. I won't'
