“Just stay close by my side, all right? I’ll try to figure out something,” Skeet found himself muttering lowly, pulling Anaakii back with him, towards the far wall.

Who knew what the Pollicle had in mind. It was true that although most Pollicles would give any cat a decent scare and chase them up a tree, but usually, they would grow weary of their game, for that was all it really was for them, and leave. Maybe it didn’t even know that the two cats were standing there, trembling with fear and apprehension.

Skeet shook his head. That was foolish. The moment he started underestimating the animal, he knew, was the moment that any hopes of survival would cease. He licked his lips, then moved in front of the queen, who glanced nervously at him as if to ask what his intentions were.

Once the Pollicle turned into full sight, Skeet’s fur bristled, more out of instinct than aggression. His body went tense and rigid with fear and uncertainty as they watched the much larger animal move forward, his large, brown eyes focused on them, but none too intelligently. He could feel Anaakii shifting her weight from foot to foot behind him and lowered himself closer to the ground a bit more.

The Pollicle stopped. Both of the young felines froze, staring at him in stunned silence.

“What have I here?” a low growl inquired, sending chills up and down Skeet’s spine. He took another step backwards, nearly stepping on Anaakii’s feet. “A couple of lost cats, is that what I have found?”

Skeet shook his head, not sure what to do or say. He jerked his head to the side in surprise as Anaakii took a step forward, out of his protective covering, a hiss rising from her lips.

“Leave us alone. You can’t hurt us. The warehouse is just only over there and you’ll be killed if either of us are hurt,” she hissed.

“Anaakii, stop,” Skeet whispered, grabbing onto her arm. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Could be, little cat.” The Pollicle eyed the riled queen, trying to size up what, if any, challenge the smaller creature could offer. Apparently deciding that it wasn’t worth the hesitation, the Pollicle growled again, this time coming much closer. Anaakii seemed to brace herself against any attack, while Skeet grasped her arm more firmly, trying desperately to pull her back. “Could be your queen is just plain stupid as well.”

Anaakii hissed again, but jumped back in terror as the Pollicle snapped warningly in her direction. She allowed herself to be wrenched against Skeet, who returned the dog’s gaze with uncertainty.

“Let us leave in peace,” he managed to murmur, his voice barely above a whisper.

The much larger animal paused a moment, then seemed almost to smile at Anaakii. “Did your queen say that the warehouse would protect you? That would make you important, wouldn’t you say, if they would go to such lengths to aid you?”

Skeet swallowed. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m not worth much at all.”

“Nonsense.” The dog leaned forward, suddenly grabbing onto Skeet’s upper arm and yanking him forward. The tom cried out, more in surprise than anything else. “Judging by the way you look, I’d say your one of Macavity’s brats, huh?” Another pause. Skeet felt as though the Pollicle were doing this merely to torture him. “You wouldn’t happen to be Skeet, now would you?”

“I…no,” he murmured, shaking his head. He could tell that the dog didn’t believe him, but stated it again: “I’m not.”

Anaakii let out a shriek of terror as the Pollicle backhanded Skeet roughly, sending the tom sprawling to the ground. The tom tried to gasp in the breath that had been knocked out of him, raising his eyes to his attacker in fright.

“What do you want with me?” he asked breathlessly. He got onto his hands and knees, watching the dog warily. The Pollicle bent down to his eye level, a cruel smile on his face.

“That’s easy. I’m supposed to kill you,” he said simply.

Skeet’s eyes widened in terror, but he couldn’t move. He felt numb. “Why?” he heard himself ask weakly, his voice shaking.

Snarling, the dog struck him again. Skeet was thrown to the side from the blow, skidding on his knees, then collapsing back to the ground.

“Because I get paid to do these kinds of things. And, if you’d like to learn a little secret, you’re in the way.”

Anaakii hissed suddenly, hurrying to Skeet’s side. The Pollicle didn’t react as she touched Skeet’s head, trying to see if he were hurt badly, then turning back to the dog and growling lowly.

“Get the hell away from us.”

Skeet raised his head, staring from her to the Pollicle. He climbed back onto his knees, raising himself so that he was crouched behind her. He was more frightened then hurt and wasn’t sure what he should do.

The Pollicle laughed lowly then, surprising both felines by striking Anaakii harshly, sending her flying back away from Skeet. The tom tensed as she crashed into the ground, slamming her head against it. She bit her lip, sending blood running down her chin. The gray queen shakily pushed herself up onto her elbow, trembling with shock.

“Anaakii!” Skeet cried out, then turned his attention from the dog to the queen. She touched her lip, saw the blood, and began to whimper. He realized suddenly that she had probably never seen any kind of abuse in her life and probably very little blood as well. Even the gentlest of Jellicle kittens had seen blood before, even if it was only from a scrap from playing amongst the garbage.

Anaakii reached a paw out to him, utter terror filling her eyes. He spun away from her at the last second, to see the dog’s paw grab hold to him and wrench him to his feet. He let out a cry of pain as the dog dug his claws into his arm, drawing blood. His eyes widened as the dog brought his head down close to Skeet’s.

“Now, tell me, little cat, how exactly should I kill you? If you’d like to put up a fuss, I could chase you through the streets and then kill you. Or, I can just do it now, get it over with fast, then move onto the queen.”

“Why Anaakii?” he asked in a soft voice.

“She’s seen too much.”

Startling himself, Skeet hissed angrily, wrenching himself away from the Pollicle. The dog’s eyes widened in surprise, then he growled, reaching out to grab the tom. Skeet slashed at him, succeeding in raking his claws across the Pollicle’s face. The larger animal cried out, jerking back involuntarily.

“Stupid thing to do,” the dog growled, suddenly regaining relative composure.

Anaakii watched in stunned horror as Skeet nimbly ducked away from the Pollicle, his face grim and focused, although it seemed as though he wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing. She touched her paw to her chest, curling it into a fist. She edged backwards in fright, her mouth dropping open.

Skeet managed to escape from immediately in front of the dog, crying out in pain as he felt something rake down his back. A sharp, flooding pain ran up his spine, he staggered once, but managed to dodge another blow. He skidded to the right suddenly, managing to dodge the larger animal. He shot a quick glance at Anaakii, then ran to her.

The queen let out a yelp of pain as he grabbed onto her wrist and roughly jerked her off the ground. She staggered, threatening to fall, but found herself urged along, almost as though he were carrying her. Then, her feet found their way back to the ground and she was running as fast as her body would allow her to. She shot a look behind her, letting out a frightened scream as the Pollicle lunged after them, enraged.

The young cats fled quickly into the alley, ducking and dodging through the dark shadows and garbage with the kind of skill that only those with their lives in danger can muster. Suddenly, Anaakii felt herself pitch forward, sprawling onto the ground and feeling something land next to and over her.

Then, everything went dark.

~*~

Pacer turned a corner in the warehouse, his head down. He hesitated a second, then looked up. His eyes caught sight of Raptor, who didn’t seem to have noticed him yet, and he was torn between feeling proud or ashamed. He had done what Raptor had asked him to and, at this point, Skeet should be long since dead. He had been careful to find a Pollicle would ensure the job well done.

Tossing his head back, the young tom cleared his throat, causing Raptor to turn, his face curious. Upon seeing the younger tom, Raptor beckoned him to come closer.

“Have you done what I asked you to do?”

Pacer nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. “Of course I did. I hired a Pollicle to do the dirty business, though.” His smile faltered. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Raptor nodded. “That’s fine. Probably better that way, actually. Not to insult you, but we’d have a whole new set of problems if you had failed.” He stretched his arms up to the ceiling of the warehouse. “How did it go?”

“I don’t know yet. The Pollicle hasn’t returned.”

“Fine.” Raptor cast him a sideways glance, then looked away again quickly. “Pacer, I have something I need to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Have you noticed anything strange going on lately?”

Pacer was startled by the question. “I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking me.”

“That is, do you think anyone knows yet? I hate to sound paranoid, but has anyone given you reason to think they might know?”

Pacer’s eyes narrowed, suspicious. “I don’t think so. Why are you worried about it?”

Raptor shook his head, his dark eyes focused not on the younger tom, but a point a distance away. “People are starting to look at me funny. I realize it hasn’t been very long, but I’m still thinking that perhaps we should hurry. Maybe waiting is not such a good plan after all. I’m worried that word will get to Macavity.”

“Do you think we should act sooner?” Pacer asked, looking concerned.

Raptor nodded slowly. “Soon as possible. As soon as you get word from the dog, we’ll act. I’ve already gathered more followers and they seem to be willing to attack at my command.”

Pacer shivered a little at the almost hunted look on Raptor’s face. He walked forward a bit, placing a paw on his friend’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Raptor shook him off, snarling. “Of course I am.” He eyed Pacer with something akin to suspicion. “Go now. Leave me. I have to prepare for later. We’ll act in two nights.”

~*~

Shaking her head in a daze, Anaakii managed to force herself awake. She struggled to push herself upright, feeling dizzy. After a moment, she drew in a short breath, looking desperately for Skeet.

Her eyes landed on the tom crouched a little ways off, his eyes wide and searching the now abandoned alley fearfully. Anaakii managed to her hands and knees, crawling over to him. Skeet glanced at her, smiled weakly, then went back to staring at the alley.

“Where is he?” Anaakii asked weakly.

Skeet turned his head back to her. “Gone.”

She started to ask where he had gone, then noticed the blood on the young tom’s coat. Surely, that all couldn’t be his or he wouldn’t be alive still. Anaakii meet his eyes, then shook her head.

“You killed him, didn’t you?”

Skeet swallowed. “You don’t understand. I shoved you in here, then kept running. It was me he was after, so I figured I might as well try and save you if I could. I kept running, but he kept following. I finally reached the street and I ran into it. I turned around to look and see if he were following and the car came.” He shook his head. “I tried to move out it’s way, but I froze. The car swerved and hit him instead. I just stood there. Then, I managed to run back here.”

Anaakii touched his shoulder gently. “You saved my life.”

“I… I didn’t think about it,” he admitted softly. He lowered his eyes from hers, looking down at his paws. “I didn’t want to kill him. I never wanted anyone to die.”

“Shh,” Anaakii soothed.

She watched him for a moment. He seemed to be very upset about the fact that he had unintentionally killed the animal out to kill him. Something was amiss, she could tell. She scanned him with her eyes, gasping as she noticed the wound on his back.

“Skeet, you’re hurt.”

He winced and drew away a little as she leaned forward to gently touch the nasty looking wound on his back. “It’s nothing.”

“Nonsense,” she murmured. “It doesn’t look too deep, but it’s long. Oh, Skeet.”

She turned back to face him, her eyes worried. He glanced up at her, then away again. She suddenly found herself reaching and touching his face with her paw. Skeet’s head jerked up, his eyes trained on her, questioning. She leaned forward, closing her eyes and pressing her mouth to his softly.

Skeet jerked away suddenly, panting and wide eyed. Anaakii’s eyes widened as she noticed he was trembling as he tried to put some distance between them in the little space. She shook her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… please don’t do that…” he whispered softly, eyeing her fearfully.

“Do what?”

“Don’t touch me. Like that.” He shivered. “I can’t…”

Anaakii’s mouth turned down in a frown. “But, Skeet… I thought that you… you could just say that you don’t want to, you know. I’d understand. Don’t say you can’t.”

He whimpered involuntarily, mental images flashing through his mind. No, he screamed mentally. Shut that out, damn it! It’s nothing good and it’s not to thought of anymore! It’s done, it’s over!

“You don’t understand,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “I can’t. I just… can’t.”

Her face softened. “Why not?”

Suddenly, Skeet buried his face into his hands, shaking with grief and shame. Anaakii decided not to try and embrace his trembling figure.

“It was so long ago, Anaakii, but it’s still there. I can’t do that… it hurts too much. You don’t understand.”

“How can I understand if you won’t tell me?”

Skeet’s face jerked up from his paws, eyes burning into hers. Anaakii felt her mouth dry.

“My half-brother, Anaakii. During the Rebellion.” He touched his thigh absently, bringing Anaakii’s attention to several clear scars that could be seen under his fur. She raised his eyes questioningly to his. “It was awful… he tried to kill my father, tried to kill all of us. He threatened to the whole time.” He shook his head, his eyes unfocused. “I tried to stop him, but I wasn’t big enough. I guess he figured that if he could break us, then he might not have to kill his own siblings.”

“What did he do, Skeet?” she asked, a fuzzy idea in her idea, but she wasn’t sure she wanted herself to think that.

“He… he raped me…” Skeet answered, his voice barely audible. Anaakii’s breath was sucked in quickly. “It hurt so much and I wasn’t even sure what was going on. Nobody would explain what exactly had happened to me afterwards, after we were safe again, but I figured it out eventually.” His mouth curled into a bitter smile. “So did everyone else.” He looked at her. “I’ve learned to deal with it. Sorta.”

Anaakii couldn’t help but to touch his face softly. He didn’t flinch away this time, but his eyes betrayed his nervousness.

“Bast, Skeet. I’m so sorry. I…” Lost for words, she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, drawing him close to her in an embrace. He went rigid, but she looked up at him. “I’m not going to hurt you, Skeet. I promise.”

“I…”

He didn’t push her away as she meet his mouth with her own. He merely sat there, unresponsive for a moment, then returned her kiss hesitantly. After a moment, he pulled away, but to speak.

“Anaakii? You will promise that it won’t hurt?”

She paused. “I don’t know for sure. I’ve never…” She reddened. “You know. But, I’ll promise you that I won’t do anything to hurt you.”

He closed his eyes as she embraced him again, kissing him. It turned more passionate and Skeet found himself pulling her closer to his body, by wrapping an arm around her waist. He tensed a bit as she put her arms around his neck, feeling almost trapped for a second, then relaxed as she stroked the back of his head.

“Anaakii,” he breathed, sounding almost frightened.

“It will be all right,” she promised softly.

~*~

Pippen paced nervously, staring out the window. He seemed hardly aware of the other tom who had walked into the room. Turning his eyes towards the door, out of instinct, he jumped as he noticed.

“Dad? What are you doing in here?”

Macavity watched him silently, then walked to the window. “Watching for Skeet?”

“I’m worried,” Pippen replied blatantly. “It’s not like him to be out so late. I haven’t seen him all day and it’s getting late.” He dared a glance at his father. “You don’t think anything’s happened to him, do you?”

Macavity’s eyes flashed towards him, then back to look out the window. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think that, but…” He lowered his voice. “Something’s happening around here that I don’t like. I don’t know what exactly, but there’s something in the air.”

Pippen swallowed. He felt it, too. What could it mean? What could possibly be happening? He shrugged, then turned fully to his father.

“Father?” Macavity looked at him, not showing any expression. “What should I do? For Skeet, I mean? I saw him last night. He had another dream.”

Macavity winced. “I thought those had stopped.”

Pippen sighed. “No. It’s just that he’s been scared to death to say anything about them since… since Mom died.”

Macavity caught the almost frightened look on his son’s face when he mentioned his mother’s death. Surely, he thought his own father had something to do with it, but, despite his denial, Pippen still seemed to think that he had something to do with Griddlebone’s death. Fact of the matter was, she had done it herself.

Macavity had decided to not say anything concerning her affair, perhaps driving her to it. It was known that she was shamed and guilty, depressed as well. She seemed to have lost any spirit since the white tom that Pippen had known as Uncle Orion had fled the warehouse. Maybe it was due to the ever growing iciness between her and her mate, or perhaps it was because she had lost the one person who could relate to her, but Griddlebone had fell into a depression, not eating or sleeping much. When she was found dead one morning, they all had mourned, but suspicious eyes had been turned on Macavity ever after that.

Looking away, Macavity spoke: “I don’t know what to tell you. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I know,” Pippen murmured, before looking back out the window. He drew in a short breath, pressing his paws to the cold glass pane. “God! Is that Skeet?”

Macavity spun to the window, eyes narrowing. “What the hell happened to him? Why is he limping?” His eyes widened a little. He glanced at Pippen. “Go out there and bring him in here. I’ll send someone to tend to him.”

Pippen turned towards his father as the powerful Mystery Cat began to walk from the room. “Where are you going?”

Macavity stared at him mildly, successfully hiding what he suspected in his mind. “There’s something I have to do.”

“But, Dad…”

Pippen scowled as his father walked away with saying anything else to him. Then, he turned to the window, noticed someone walking close by Skeet’s side. He frowned, turning sharply to leave the room and go to his brother.