It had been three days since she had been unofficially welcomed into the world of Jellicle cats. According to her new mate, something she was still having trouble wrapping her mind around, the Tribe would officially welcome the mango colored female into their midst at the monthly Celebration of the Full Moon. So, officially, she did not even have a name yet. She supposed she was luckier than the small kittens who had no concept of who they were. After all, she still could cling desperately to her human identity until the Tribe was ready, in five days time, to name the kittens born in the month before and to name her, since she had joined them just in time to not have to wait for another full month for a name, an identity, so that she could feel more safe and more secure with what she had become for love.
After the first evening of cuddling up against her new love, the person that she had left her family and friends for, was forced to leave her side. According to Jellicle rules she was not allowed to sleep or lay with her lover until they had danced the Mating Dance together. The Jellicle Ball, when the Dance would take place, was nearly three months away. She nearly groaned aloud at the thought of being so alone in this strange, new place.
She poked her head out of the tiny little living space that had been built and thrown together for the stray single female passing through. There was another den built just like it, only slightly bigger, on the other side of the junkyard, designed for a male. She wanted badly to begin looking around and come out of her tiny den. She felt cramped and uneasy in there.
Not that she was going to have much luck exploring. It was raining and not just the sprinkling rain that most of the Jellicle cats seemed to tolerate while going to one place or another. No, this was heavy, like buckets of rain being flung down from the heavens above. Sighing, she slumped back down in the doorway, with it tiny overhang, and rested her head on her white paws. It seemed as though everything was working against her and forcing her to stay quiet and unseen.
She glanced over at what she knew was the unmated females dormitory. According to her lover, she would have to stay there once she was named and until she was officially mated to him. He already stayed in the unmated male dormitory, though she knew that some of the older males struck out on their own before becoming mated. A couple of the older females as well. Maybe she would be allowed to live with the older females. She didn’t really want to live with a group of teenaged girls, one of whom, her lover had confessed, was positively fuming about the fact someone had won his heart first, something she had thought was hers.
Michael. She sighed heavily. Where was he? She needed so badly to talk with him, but knew that nobody would venture out into this dreary, rainy day. Mostly because the Jellicle cats slept throughout the day and came to life at nighttime. She was still on human hours and was struggling hard to adapt. If she could only talk to him, everything might be better. She’d feel better and safer, at the very least, to be cradled in his arms once more. Instead, she felt banished to this tiny den, so far away from him, her parents, everything that she knew and was trapped in a brand new, completely strange place.
She whimpered quietly, her chin shaking as she struggled to hold back her tears, and looked down at her paws. Had she done the right thing? Or had she just been a stupid and rash little girl who let her emotions get the best of her? Her poor parents were probably sick with worry by now.
She began to cry.
Normally, Bombalurina wasn’t the type of queen who butted into anyone’s private business. In fact, she was giving Demeter and Munkustrap the afternoon to themselves and was staying in the older queens’ dormitory. Cassandra was resting already, her eyelids drooping down slowly to cover her rich, chocolate eyes. Tantomile was also in the den, trying to braid scraps of fabric together to make a thick rope that could be used to hold together dens. Her hands were constantly at work with something, Bombalurina had noticed a while ago. It was as though sitting still was an impossible feat for the younger queen. Jasmine, a queen that had recently been accepted into the Tribe and was approximately the same age as Bombalurina, was stitching together a baby blanket, though Bombalurina knew she was not pregnant. Most of the females did work on kitten-related items like blankets, small pillows, and clothing since the Tribe constantly was welcoming new kittens into their midst.
Up until she had been mated with Quaxo, Exotica had also lived in the queens’ dormitory. She had always rubbed Bombalurina the wrong way and the flame-red queen was glad that she was gone and mated.
It was quiet in the dormitory. Bombalurina, like all the other Jellicles, napped frequently during the day, but woke up every so often, just long enough to do a bit of work or to take a relaxing walk about the junkyard circle, which the Jellicle cats had cleared long before her time. Instead, all she could do was sew or go out and drown in the rain. She slumped back against her pillows and sighed.
Very faintly, then, came the sounds of another queen crying. Bombalurina looked over to Tantomile, who had stopped moving and was focused, too, on the sound. Jasmine stopped what she was doing as well and set her sewing on the pillow beside her.
“Who’s crying?” she asked aloud, addressing everyone who was listening. Tantomile cocked her head and then shook it slowly.
“It’s that little queen kitten that Mistoffelees brought from the human world,” she said softly. Her voice was velvety soft and perfect for this rainy day. “She’s been crying so much since she got here.”
Jasmine frowned. “Does she not want to be here?”
Tantomile shook her head. “Nothing like that. She’s lonely, especially without the only other person that she actually knows here.”
“Sometimes, I think you might just be a psychic,” Jasmine laughed.
“No, I’m just highly perceptive.”
Bombalurina clapped her hands together. “We should do something.”
Cassandra cracked one eye back open. “Not in that weather.”
“Oh, come on, girls,” Bombalurina pleaded. “Most of us came to the junkyard, not knowing anybody. You all know what it’s like not to have a friend here.”
“Maybe once the rain stops,” Tantomile said quietly.
Bombalurina shook her head and shook a dirty look at each of the other queens. “Well, I’m going over there and I am going to try to comfort her.” She stood. “You all can stay here, all warm and toasty, while I will actually try and help the poor little thing.”
Bombalurina brushed pasted Jasmine on her way out of the den and the other queens stared after her in silence. Tantomile had the grace to look ashamed.
“Once the rain lets up,” she repeated aloud and Jasmine nodded. Only Cassandra looked entirely indifferent to the weeping of the young queen next door.
“She’ll be fine.”
“Hey, girl,” Bombalurina called from just outside the door. “Mind if I come in?”
There was some scrambling around for a minute before a small voice replied, “Sure.”
Bombalurina stepped into the tiny den and picked up the first scrap of fabric she could find and began to rub the rain from her sodden fur. The little queen crept forward slowly, as though she were afraid that Bombalurina would attack, and watched the scarlet queen with wide eyes. Bombalurina smiled gently, coaxing a faint smile from the younger Jellicle.
“I heard you crying,” Bombalurina said softly, her voice velvety and gentle. The other queen looked down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that anyone could hear me,” she whispered. Bombalurina rubbed at the fur on her head furiously for a moment before discarding the now soaking bit of fabric. She was still damp, but damp she could deal with.
“Hey, honey, don’t be sorry,” she told the younger queen. She sunk down on the sheets and blankets and patted the space next to her. The orange and white cat sat down timidly next to her. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
The little queen looked up. “I don’t have one yet.”
Bombalurina nodded. “OK, not your Jellicle name, but you must’ve had a human name, right?”
The little queen looked like she was blushing with embarrassment underneath the white fur on her face. “Well, yeah. My name is Megan. Or, it was.” She glanced at Bombalurina. “I’m so confused.”
Bombalurina slung an arm around Megan. “It’s all right, honey. You have every reason to be confused.” Before she could continue Megan burst into tears again, her body shaking.
For a few minutes, Megan sobbed and Bombalurina wrapped her into a tighter, closer hug as the little queen shook with anguished tears. The scarlet queen rubbed gently the fur on top of Megan’s head and made cooing, nonsense words. Finally, Megan’s sobs abated and she sat still in Bombalurina’s arms.
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered. Bombalurina pulled the little queen away from her so that she could hold her at arms’ length.
“What do you possibly have to be sorry for?” she asked gently. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Megan shrugged. “I’m sorry that I bothered you.”
Bombalurina laughed and Megan gave her a reluctant smile in return. “Honey, trust me. If you had bothered me, you would know it.” She stroked Megan’s arms tenderly. “I know that you miss him.”
“I feel like I’m going crazy without him,” Megan replied, her voice shaking.
“I know what you mean,” Bombalurina said quickly, before Megan could start crying again.
“You do?” she asked.
Bombalurina nodded. “Yeah. When Munkustrap and Demeter went missing with Mistoffelees, I felt like I was completely alone.”
“Are they close friends, then?” Megan asked and Bombalurina shook her head and smiled.
“Not quite.” She sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, thinking about how she could explain the complicated relationship between the three Jellicles. “See, I mated with Munkustrap when I first came to the Tribe. I was carrying another kitten at the time, but he didn’t care. So, we waited until I gave birth to my kitten and became officially mated.”
“Who’s your kitten?” Megan asked innocently. Bombalurina shook her head.
“I can’t tell you,” she said. “See, I gave her away. I let someone else adopt her so that she wouldn’t have to know who her true father was. But, let’s drop the whole kitten thing, all right?” Megan nodded. “It was a long time ago and I’d rather not drag the whole thing up again, you know?”
“What about you and Munkustrap?” Megan asked, trying to draw the older queen back on topic. Bombalurina smiled.
“Well, like I said, we were mated faster than most Jellicles in the junkyard. It was wonderful to be with him, but there was something missing.”
“What?”
“Demeter.”
“Wait, I thought that you two were sisters.” Bombalurina nodded.
“Yes, but when Demeter danced her Mating Dance, Munkustrap was there to take her.”
Megan shook her head in disbelief. “Didn’t that make you mad?”
“Surprisingly, no. She was like that last piece of the puzzle and as soon as she mated with Munkustrap, we formed an official triad relationship with one another.” She laughed at the shocked expression on the little queen’s face. “It’s not common to form a triad because most Jellicles are complete in pairs, but sometimes a complete relationship isn’t formed until a third member is welcomed.”
“What about…” Megan paused and once more looked like she was blushing under her fur. “You know… the sex part of things. I mean, she’s your sister.”
Bombalurina laughed. “Let’s just say that Demeter and me keep Munkustrap pretty busy and he keeps us busy enough that there’s no hanky panky going on between me and my baby sister. Not that there would be anyways.” She hugged Megan close again. “But, you can see how horrible it was to watch them disappear right in front of my eyes, my mate and my baby sister.” The older queen shivered with the memory. “I thought that I would never see them again. You can’t imagine how painful it was, especially knowing that I was carrying Munkustrap’s kitten.” She gestured to her rounded belly. “I thought that I would have another kitten without a father and that was the worst part of all.”
“I guess I’m being a baby, then, to whine and cry over Michael when he’s right across the clearing,” Megan replied, her voice filled with shame. The older queen squeezed her comfortingly.
“No, you’re not.” She kissed Megan’s forehead. “Like I said, you have every right to feel the way you’re feeling. I’m certainly not trying to make you feel guilty or anything like that.” Megan smiled.
“Thanks,” she said softly. She looked down at her white furred hands. “I didn’t think anyone would want to come near me.”
“Well, don’t worry about that,” Bombalurina assured her. “I’ll stay with you until the rain stops and you’ll see how many Jellicles want to help you once the rain clears up.”
Megan looked relieved. “You’re going to stay in here with me?”
“Only if you want me to.”
“Yes, of course I do!” Megan said swiftly. “I don’t want to be alone anymore. I can’t stand it. I feel like I’m going crazy when I’m alone.”
Bombalurina took her chin and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
The scarlet queen was surprised when the little queen crawled into her lap and wrapped her arms around Bombalurina’s middle, at least as much as she could with Bombalurina’s rounded belly. Megan nuzzled up under her chin for a moment before she found a comfortable position. Bombalurina drew a close by sheet around the two Jellicles and tried her best not to sigh.
Had they done the right thing by bringing back such a young human girl into the world of the Jellicles? She tightened her hug around Megan and looked down. The little queen was already asleep, undoubtedly exhausted from all of her tears. Bombalurina kissed the top of her head gently.
She’d stay as long as she was wanted, she suddenly realized. She had just formed a close bond to the little queen and knew that it had suddenly landed on her to nurture and protect Megan until it was time for Mistoffelees to step in and take her place.
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