I glanced at Orion nervously, but he gave me a cocky grin instead of looking even remotely concerned. He stood on his tiptoes and peered over the cardboard box we were hiding behind. He ducked back down and gave me a huge grin.

“Coast’s clear,” he whispered.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Old D’s sound asleep and none of the other adults are even outside tonight.”

I scowled at the sky. “That’s because it’s so nasty outside. Nobody in their right mind is outside tonight. Maybe we should do this when it’s nice outside.”

He shook his head quickly. “No. If we do that, you’ll find a way to back out.”

“Me? Back out? No. I’m not trying to back out.”

Orion raised an eyebrow. “Oh, please, Mac. I don’t think you’re scared, but I do know that you really don’t want to do this.”

“That’s not it,” I murmured.

“Then what is it?”

“Damn it, Ry,” I hissed. “Would you just drop it already? I said I’d do this with you and I am, so just shut up already!”

He licked his lips and turned away, pretending to still be making sure everything was safe. I could see that he was angry with me and didn’t want to blow up and start a fight with me. I wasn’t sure precisely why he was refusing to say that he was mad, normally he would just tackle me to the ground and punch any bit of fur that was available, but I guessed it was a combination of not wanting to get caught out past curfew, not wanting to get into a fight right before our “mission,” and maybe just a twinge of fear that I would go totally berserk like I did with Alonzo. I sighed and looked down at the ground, waiting for him to calm himself down. Finally, he got back down from his perch on the edge of the box and nodded.

“Let’s go then. If we don’t do it now, we’re gonna get caught.”

“Fine,” I replied shortly.

We snuck forward. For once, I was glad that I had darker fur. Orion stuck out like a sore thumb in the dark of the night. I was worried that someone would see his coat in the moonlight and catch us.

“What are you guys doing?”

We spun around guiltily, thinking it was an adult coming to scold and punish us. I ran my paws through the fur on the top of head, in a bad habit I’d acquired when I was nervous or frightened. It made the fur on my head stand straight on end instead of resting neatly against my body like poor Aunt Jenny tried to force it to do.

Instead, a very sleepy looking Tugger stood behind us. He was trying to rub the sleep from his eyes while stifling a yawn. I had to admire his valiant efforts not to look like a little kitten, but they really weren’t working.

“Where are you going?” he asked, finally blinking himself awake. He glanced between the two of us and must’ve noticed how stiffly we were standing or how my fur was now standing out all around my head from being nervously combed through by my paws. Knowing me better than most of the other cats in the junkyard, Tugger’s face went from merely curious to slightly anxious.

“Nowhere, Tug. Go back to bed,” Orion replied, glancing at me nervously. I caught his eye and knew the exact same thing was running through both of our minds. What would happen if Tugger decided to call out for an adult? What happened if my little brother decided to tattle on us and the whole thing blew up right in our faces? I swallowed nervously before facing my brother again. I tried to force a smile, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to be fooled by it.

“What are you doing?” Tugger asked again, his voice becoming a little strained and his body showing tell tale signs of being ready to bolt for help. “You’re not leaving the junkyard this late at night, are you? You know that even if you don’t get caught, you might get hurt.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I took a step towards him and reached out a paw. He eyed me warily for a moment before reaching out his own to touch mine. He looked back up at me, eyes searching mine desperately for a way to get me to stay without getting himself into trouble with us. The guilt I felt when I met his eyes was almost enough to turn to Orion and tell him that this whole thing was off and that I was going back to bed. Instead, I pulled away from my little brother to stand back next to my best friend.

“Go back to bed,” I told him. He shook his head slightly. “Yes, Tugger. Do it right now or else… well, I’m going to…”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in disbelief. I wanted to shake my head, laugh, and tell him that this was all just a joke, but Orion nudged my side ever so slightly and I narrowed my eyes instead.

“I guess so,” I said softly. “Get inside.”

Tugger’s mouth opened in disbelief and snapped shut again. I didn’t blame him. Tugger was my favorite little brother (even though, admittedly, I only had two) and although we had our typical little spats every so often, we had never actually had any kind of major fights like I had with Munkustrap. As far as brothers went, we were probably the closest two in the junkyard. I loved my little brother unconditionally and it probably stung to hear me say that I was sinking so low as to threaten him. I glanced away from his hurt gaze.

“Macavity, are you going somewhere where you shouldn’t be going?” he asked. Now I could clearly hear the fear in his voice. “Please don’t do anything you shouldn’t be doing. You aren’t going down to the docks, are you?”

“No,” I answered simply.

Tugger glanced around, looking as though he was searching feverishly for help. After a couple scans of the junkyard, he looked back at me and let his shoulders slump down in defeat.

“I’m not going to be able to stop you even if I really want to, am I?” he asked quietly. I shook my head.

“No, Tugger.”

He swallowed roughly and looked down at the ground. I could tell he was struggling not to cry. Despite the fact that we all liked to parade around as big, strong toms, we were still just kittens. I knew that he would hate me if I made him cry, so I reached out again and bumped my paw playfully against his chin. Tugger didn’t move, so I tried it a second time. This time, he swatted me away, finally looking back up. I could see that he had managed to get his tears back under control again.

I smiled at him. “Don’t worry, Tugger. I’ll be back before morning. Nobody will even know that we left.” He shrugged, looking very unconvinced. “I promise that you won’t get into any trouble.”

“I don’t care about that.” He looked away again, back up at the big tire where our grandfather usually kept careful watch over the junkyard. I could almost hear him wishing that he would come out right this minute and put a stop to all of this. Tugger swallowed again and looked back at me. “What am I supposed to say when the adults asked where you went?”

“Tugger…” His expression went from distressed to stubborn in a heartbeat. I shrugged. “I don’t care. They won’t care where I went and, like I said, we’ll be back before anyone even notices that we’re gone.”

Tugger nodded once more and turned on his heel. I almost reached out again to comfort him, but Orion’s paw closed around my wrist and gave a slight tug. I could tell that he was becoming anxious to leave. I tugged back and Orion stood still as we watched Tugger slip back into his den, turn around in a couple circles, and slump down onto his bedding. We could all see one another clearly, even with Tugger down in his bed.

My brother and I kept eye contact with one another for a few more moments before he closed his eyes and turned his head so that he wasn’t facing directly towards me anymore. His head sagged down onto his bedding and I finally turned to Orion.

“Come on,” I said softly.

I glanced one more time at Tugger, feeling supremely guilty about what had just happened. Still, how was I to know that was the last time we would saw each other as kittens?

I was shivering. Orion was shivering. I wanted to go back to the junkyard and I bet he did, too, but neither of us wanted to admit it. It seemed to be the unspoken law that whoever said that they wanted to go home first was the coward and, despite our friendship, this was one thing that I’d never let Orion win.

“You cold?”

“No. You?”

“Nope.”

“Sure about that?”

“Just as sure as you are.”

“Good.”

Orion was tracing little circles into the dirt with his fore claw. I focused my eyes carefully on what he was drawing before realizing that he wasn’t actually drawing anything in particular. He was probably just trying to figure out some way to keep his mind off of how cold he was.

Even though I was usually jealous of how bright and unique Orion’s white coat was I had to admit that tonight I was definitely not. Unlike the unruly mane of fur that I had, Orion’s fur was neat and tidy, despite most of the trials he put it through. This was mostly due to the fact that because his fur was so thinly spaced over his body and looked limp whenever it grew too long, Aunt Jenny and Aunt Jelly always made sure to keep it trimmed short. Even if his fur had been grown out long, like mine was, it wouldn’t have offered him much protection against the wind tonight.

I looked away from Orion’s drawings in the dirt and stared up at the dimly lit warehouse.

This is so stupid, I thought. I’m not going to sit here freezing my tail off or let Orion freeze to death just because we’ve come this far just to sit and stare up at this stupid building.

“Let’s go explore the warehouse,” I suggested. Orion’s head jerked up, eyes widening in surprise. I could tell in that first instant that he was frightened. I admired how quickly his look of fear turned into a look of concern. A look of concern for me, of course.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. It’ll be warmer than sitting here and looking at you.”

“I’ll bet,” he snickered. “But, I’m so pretty, how could you not be warmed through and through by just looking at me?” He made kissing noises and I swatted at him. He rolled back, giggling. I shook my head as he smudged his drawing and streaked his coat with dirt.

“You’re an idiot, you do know that, right?”

“Well, you hang out with me, so wouldn’t that make you kind of an idiot, too?” He put his paws on his hips, trying to look as serious as he could manage.

“Oh, shut up,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

“Ah ha! It’s true,” he laughed and stood up. Giving me a punch on the arm as he passed me, he trotted away towards the building.

I almost had to run to catch up with him. Aunt Jenny said that with my bone structure, I’d probably end up being one of the tallest Jellicles in the junkyard by the time I grew up. Of course, that didn’t help the fact that I was still shorter and much slimmer than Orion. Being the gracious tom that he was, he used every single opportunity to point that out, even if it was only by walking with a greater stride than mine so that I had to hurry to keep up with him.

We started to creep towards the back entrance of the old building when the front door was flung open. The sudden bright light hurt my eyes and I raised my arm to shield them against it. I could feel Orion back up against me, obviously thrown off by this unexpected, new development. I couldn’t tell if the shivering I felt when his body touched mine was due to the wind or the unwelcoming glares of the cats staring at us.

“Boss,” the silhouetted tom shouted back into the warehouse. “There’re some kittens out here!”

Orion stared back up at him, dumbfounded. I clamped my paw around his upper arm and tugged him roughly backwards. He stumbled back, stepping on my paws as he did, and cast a horrified look at me. This was definitely not what he had planned on. I didn’t need to say anything to him as I pulled him back. We both knew that our little exploratory expedition had suddenly become a rescue mission with us being the ones needing rescuing.

I stopped dead in my tracks, though, when I saw him storm out in the wind and rain. Growltiger.

“It’s that worthless kitten, Macavity,” he growled angrily.

Before I could move, he strode forward, reached down over the top of me, and yanked me forward by the fur on the back of my neck. My body knocked Orion down onto the damp ground as Growltiger hauled me forwards then up so that he could look me right in the eye. I felt my body go rigid in fear.

“Looks like you decided to make it easy on me and just come here on your own, huh?” he snarled. “What’s with the other kit?”

He nodded to Orion, who stared up at me in abject terror. The moment two toms grabbed hold of his arms and jerked him roughly to his feet, I felt adrenaline rush through my veins and jump start my body into gear again. I lashed out viciously, frustrated that my arms and legs weren’t long enough to do much harm.

“Let him go! He’s not the one you want!” I growled.

Growltiger stared at me mildly for a second then flung me to the ground. My head thumped solidly against the ground and I bit into my tongue. I should’ve cried out in pain, but with the threat to my friend, I hardly noticed the blood leaking out of my mouth.

“No,” he said, grabbing my scruff again and dragging me to my feet. I dragged my claws into the ground to make it harder for him to pick me up again. “You’re right. I have no use for your friend, but he’s here and I can’t let him go running off and tattling to the Jellicles, now can I?”

I glared mutely at him, flexing my claws in what I hoped was a menacing way.

“After I kill you, I’ll have to kill him, too. No witnesses. Surely you understand that.” I struggled to punch him, but he pretty effortlessly held me back at a safe distance. He waited until I had stopped before going on. “Or should I kill him first? Make you watch your friend die?”

“Let him go!”

Growltiger laughed. “All right. You don’t have to shout.” He nodded back to the other toms. “Let him go.”

“Boss?”

One of the toms holding onto Orion’s arms looked as though his boss had gone completely mad. I couldn’t blame him. I wondered what the pirate tom was up to. I glanced at Orion and gave him what I hoped was a comforting look.

“Into the sea. Drop him over the side of the dock.”

Orion’s mouth dropped open and his eyes search mine frantically. He barely fought against the toms as they hoisted him up and began to carry him over to the dock. I tried briefly to fight my way towards him and when he saw me, he sprang back to life. Without any words, he began to kick and lash at the toms who were dragging him towards the edge of the dock. They had a little more trouble now that he was fighting them, but not enough that Orion could get away. I spun back towards Growltiger, knowing that the only hope I had left was to beg and plead for Orion’s life.

“Don’t!” I screamed. He tilted his head in mock sympathy and nodded as though he was trying to hear my case and help me. I felt tears spring to my eyes. “Don’t kill him. Please. He hasn’t done anything to you and he won’t. I promise. I’ll make him promise not to tell anyone where we went. I swear. Just let him go. You can do whatever you want to me, just don’t hurt him.”

“Tough luck, kid,” Growltiger laughed. I wrenched back around to look at my friend and Orion was suddenly pitched forward into the dark water below.

I screamed in disbelief as his face disappeared from view in one instant. I struggled towards him again and felt myself snapped back. This time, instead of trying to use any kind of civilized form of bargaining, I lashed out with everything in my body. I felt my arms and legs extend themselves beyond what I was aware they could do and almost laughed in satisfaction when I felt one of my paws connect solidly with flesh. I could feel my claws rake into it and started to aim again at the same spot, only before I could, something heavy and hard slammed against the side of my head as Growltiger let out a yowl of pain.

My body was thrown down to the ground once more and I felt a heavy paw come to land down on the middle of my chest. Squinting upwards, I could see him glowering down at me, claws glinting in the backlight of the warehouse.

“Growltiger, what are you doing?”

The big tom turned his head to look back at the warehouse, his expression looking almost guilty. I felt my jaw drop at the sight of the beautiful, white furred queen.

We had pretty queens back at the junkyard but none that were as beautiful as her. She wasn’t very old either. More than a few years older than I was, but still pretty young. Standing with her paws crossed over her full chest, her tail twitching in faint annoyance, and her large, beautiful eyes fiery, she almost made me forget to breathe. Growltiger quickly took on an annoyed look himself.

“Griddlebone! Go back inside. This isn’t business for a queen!” he snapped. She gave him a haughty look, tossing her mounds of thick white fur off of her forehead. I felt my breath quicken a little more and my heart was fairly thudding in my chest. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of these sudden, completely inappropriate feelings. I had just witnessed the death of my best friend, was facing my own death, and all I could think about was how good looking some queen was?

“Are you going to go and kill that kitten, Growltiger? Well, I’ve seen you do it before. Don’t worry about me, dear.”

Angry with her now, not to mention me, he grabbed the back of my neck hard enough to draw blood. The queen winced momentarily then glared angrily at him. I had the feeling that I was suddenly no longer simply a personal nuisance to Growltiger, but now also a pawn to be used against the pretty queen he obviously had some kind of relationship with. Once more, a kind of bizarre anger flared in me. Not even my own death was about me.

Suddenly, I felt myself being spun around and closed my eyes to keep from becoming dizzy. I didn’t know why. I knew what was awaiting me, so what was the point in keeping from a little dizziness?

I struggled to keep my footing as Growltiger hauled me forward. He stopped suddenly at the edge of the dock and spun me back around to face the queen. I met her eyes and she blushed a little. That, needless to say, surprised me. I wasn’t sure if she were embarrassed from the fact that she realized that she was using me to help punish her mate or from the fact that she saw me giving her a last, hard look, trying to memorize her every curve. It wouldn’t hurt to have something good to focus on while the water filled my lungs.

“Take a good look, Grid,” he said. “It’s the last you’re going to get.”

For a moment, nobody dared to move. The pretty queen drew in a breath and narrowed her eyes again. I knew what that meant. She seemed to have gotten over her guilt. Then the world whirled in a blur of foggy colors.

I felt a choked cry escape from my throat as I plunged off the edge of the dock. For an instant, I felt frozen in air and didn’t think that I would actually fall. I could fly away if I chose to. Then, cold air rushed around me and I crashed into the black water below.

The shock of the icy water took my breath away. I plunged down into it, watching as the black water rushed around my face and eyes. I didn’t move for a few moments, too shocked and cold to be able to. Thousands of needles felt like they were piercing through my fur and into my skin. Then, frantically, I flailed my arms and kicked my legs, trying to push myself up out of the water.

When I finally managed to break the surface, I took a gasping breath then sunk back under the water. I forgot myself and tried to scream. The icy water flooded into my mouth and into my lungs and stomach. The needles flooded through my body, stabbing into my stomach and throat. It burned enough to make me try to scream again.

Suddenly, I felt a paw grab onto the fur on the top of my head and I was jerked upwards. I gasped frantically and kicked for all I was worth to stay out the water as best I could. The paw released my fur and before I could sink, I felt an arm wrap around my middle and drag me backwards. I almost panicked, thinking some horrible water creature was about to drag me under for a quick meal.

Something closed over my mouth before I could scream again and I slumped back against it. What was the point in fighting?

“Macavity?” a voice breathed at the point where I could just barely hear my name. I sagged a little more before stiffening. I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes widened in surprise. My mouth was released.

“Orion?” I choked out as I stared at his damp face. He smiled grimly.

“Hold onto this,” he said, thrusting me towards one of the thick beams under the dock. “And don’t say anything.”

I wrapped my arms around the thick pole as best I could and listened. The toms on the dock were roaring with laughter at their triumph over a couple of kittens. I seethed angrily, but gritted my teeth and resorted to glaring at the boards above me. After a little while, their voices grew silent and I heard them tramp back into the warehouse. A moment later, the bright lights blinked out and the two of us were left alone in the moonlight.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them from tossing you over the edge of the dock. I tried to help, but…” My voice trailed off. I swallowed. “Ry?”

He didn’t move. His arms were weakly clutching at the pole and he was awfully low in the water. His eyelids were half shut and I could barely see his breath in the pale light. I moved my body closer to his, pressing up alongside him.

“Orion! Answer me!” I said a little louder, giving him a firm shake. He gave a startled jerk, as though he had dozed off with his eyes still open. His eyes turned slowly towards my face and seemed to move as though they were locked in slow motion. His eyes were too blue against his pale skin surrounding them.

“I’m so cold,” he said through chattering teeth. He panted a little and shut his eyes fully. “I... I can’t feel my legs... and my arms are so cold...”

I circled my arm around him so that I was holding onto the pole on either side of him. Wrapped around him, my own body began to shake from the force of his shivering. I alternated paws as I rubbed frantically at his arms. I tried to keep myself pressed against him as much as possible, but the current of the water kept forcing us apart. I tucked my head down against the nape of his neck.

“I can’t hold on anymore,” he whispered. “My paws won’t work.”

“We’ll just swim over to the shore,” I said desperately. “We’ll get over there and we’ll find someplace to warm you up. You’ll be fine, Orion. You just have to hang in there for a little while longer, all right? I just have to figure out which shore is closer.” I blinked my eyes. “They keep moving on me.”

“Neither of us can swim,” he reminded me. I fell silent. His body was slowly beginning to shiver less and less.

“Is this how we’re going to die?” he asked me after a long while.

I whimpered. “No, don’t say that.”

“Is it?”

“I don’t know.”

An hour passed then two. Soon the dark of night began to melt away as the first rays of morning sunlight cracked through it.

Orion had gone silent long before. I had turned him around in the water so that I could make sure that he was breathing. Once his breath became too shallow to show in the frigid night air, I kept pressing my cheek to his mouth to make sure that there was still breath coming from his body. Soon, my body had grown so cold and numb that movement was limited. I kept my cheek close to his mouth at all times now, my eyes shut and my mind barely registering when Orion did breathe. If he still did.

Sound distorted in my eyes, I heard loud, demonic pounding on the dock above me. My eyes cracked open and I struggled to look up.

“Dad! Look!”

A second thudding thundered above us. I could feel the vibrations deeps in my bones. “What, Nick?” A pause. “Oh, Jesus. Quick, Nick, go get something to fish ‘em out.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. Something. And hurry.”

A couple of minutes passed, maybe more and maybe less. Suddenly, I felt something scoop me from underneath. Orion’s rigid body crashed into mine as we were ensnared in the net. We were pulled out of the water and back up onto the dock.

Something thick was wrapped around my body. Noticing that Orion was being wrapped in one of those things that the humans called a coat, that’s what I figured was happening to me. Two strong human hands lifted me and I felt my own fur being rubbed dry.

“What were they doing in the water?”

“I dunno. Lucky we came along when we did, huh, Nick?”

The younger human voice didn’t answer. It pressed a finger against Orion’s mouth and held it there for a long time. Finally, it drew away from his face.

“Well, this one’s still alive. Barely. How about yours, Dad?”

I felt a human hand itch under my chin. I had never felt the touch of a human before and immediately felt terror rush through me. After everything we had been through, we were going to die at the hands of some humans? I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Come on, little guy,” the human coaxed and itched at my chest and down onto my belly. I felt my breath catch in my throat and did the only thing I could think to do. I lashed out with everything I had, which wasn’t very much. I heard the deep rumbling laughter of the human holding onto me.

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

Suddenly, I felt air rush around me and knew I was high up in the air again. I tensed and prepared to be flung down again. I wanted to hiss and scratch, but all I could manage was a weak mew of protest. At that moment, my body was rushed in another direction and felt myself being pressed tight against something hard, solid, and warm. I cracked my eyes open when I heard the steady thumping of a heartbeat. I was being cradled against the human’s chest like an infant.

I blinked, very much startled. All of the adults at the junkyard had told nothing but horror stories about these human creatures. I didn’t think they would even be capable hugging or showing any love towards us. I decided to ignore Aunt Jenny’s warnings and slumped against the human and shut my eyes, too tired to care anymore if the human was intending on hurting or healing me.

“Let’s get them home to your mother and sister.”

The younger human laughed. “This’ll be a challenge for Allie if ever I saw one.”

“Quick, though. While the little white one is still alive.”

Orion, I thought before I fell into a deep sleep.


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