Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Apr 25, 2007 10:44:01 GMT -5
((Characters: Alonzo, Aprilli, Belle, Burelle, Cassandra, Electra, Mali, Munkustrap, Selina, Tumble
Thread Summary: Burelle wakes up to a dead kitten. Pussine, overwhelmed by grief, starved herself to death. To get through her own grief, Burelle detaches herself from her kitten and passes Pussine off to Munkustrap to be buried. Alonzo offers to help, and the toms go off.
Munkustrap and Alonzo talk about protecting the tribe (and Alonzo assures Munkustrap that he did not fail them.
Meanwhile, Aprilli and Mali continue to be sick. Selina is also sick, and Tumble brings Belle a dead rat.
Alonzo and Munkustrap talk a little more, and Munkustrap sets out to find Deuteronomy. Cassandra goes to the piano to check in on Pussine. Cassandra is given the tomkits to babysit.))
Burelle woke up the next day feeling numb all over. It wasn't cold-numb, and it wasn't sick-numb. It was more like grief-numb. Grief-numb in a way that had become familiar to Burelle over the years. She closed her eyes again, whispering, "Don't love any of them," the advice she had been given before she became a mother for the first time. When she opened them, the scene was no different.
Pussine, curled against her chest, wasn't moving. Her little black body was still and cool, warmed only where she was touching her mother.
Burelle pushed herself up, looking down at the kitten, and she sighed. She had hoped that here, among the Jellicles, her kittens would be safe - and they were! - but she had hoped that meant they wouldn't die. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like the world had other ideas.
After nuzzling each of her surviving four children (Aprilli and Mali had both survived another day), Burelle picked up Pussine and carried her over to where Ritzkin lay, curled up around Bombalurina. He lifted his head as she approached, looking sleepily up at her, but his eyes focused on the little black body. "Is she...?"
Burelle nodded and offered her daughter to her son. "Could you take care of her?" Ritzkin had been the one who buried Pussine's brother. He'd know where to bury Pussine. "And could you fetch Deuteronomy? Two of the others have caught a cold. I don't want it getting worse." There was a deadness to her voice, an effect of the numbness Burelle was feeling. Ritzkin must have noticed it, because he gave her an odd look as he took Pussine from her paws.
"Are you all right? Do you want me to fetch Jelly to look after the other kittens while you-"
"No." Burelle shook her head. "Those four still need me. This one doesn't." With a respectful nod to Ritzkin, she turned and returned to her living kittens.
Munkustrap looked down at the body of the black kitten and swallowed thickly, stroking her tiny head. Another kitten gone, another sibling dead. Why wasn't Burelle crying? She just lost her youngest daughter...
Thread Summary: Burelle wakes up to a dead kitten. Pussine, overwhelmed by grief, starved herself to death. To get through her own grief, Burelle detaches herself from her kitten and passes Pussine off to Munkustrap to be buried. Alonzo offers to help, and the toms go off.
Munkustrap and Alonzo talk about protecting the tribe (and Alonzo assures Munkustrap that he did not fail them.
Meanwhile, Aprilli and Mali continue to be sick. Selina is also sick, and Tumble brings Belle a dead rat.
Alonzo and Munkustrap talk a little more, and Munkustrap sets out to find Deuteronomy. Cassandra goes to the piano to check in on Pussine. Cassandra is given the tomkits to babysit.))
Burelle woke up the next day feeling numb all over. It wasn't cold-numb, and it wasn't sick-numb. It was more like grief-numb. Grief-numb in a way that had become familiar to Burelle over the years. She closed her eyes again, whispering, "Don't love any of them," the advice she had been given before she became a mother for the first time. When she opened them, the scene was no different.
Pussine, curled against her chest, wasn't moving. Her little black body was still and cool, warmed only where she was touching her mother.
Burelle pushed herself up, looking down at the kitten, and she sighed. She had hoped that here, among the Jellicles, her kittens would be safe - and they were! - but she had hoped that meant they wouldn't die. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like the world had other ideas.
After nuzzling each of her surviving four children (Aprilli and Mali had both survived another day), Burelle picked up Pussine and carried her over to where Ritzkin lay, curled up around Bombalurina. He lifted his head as she approached, looking sleepily up at her, but his eyes focused on the little black body. "Is she...?"
Burelle nodded and offered her daughter to her son. "Could you take care of her?" Ritzkin had been the one who buried Pussine's brother. He'd know where to bury Pussine. "And could you fetch Deuteronomy? Two of the others have caught a cold. I don't want it getting worse." There was a deadness to her voice, an effect of the numbness Burelle was feeling. Ritzkin must have noticed it, because he gave her an odd look as he took Pussine from her paws.
"Are you all right? Do you want me to fetch Jelly to look after the other kittens while you-"
"No." Burelle shook her head. "Those four still need me. This one doesn't." With a respectful nod to Ritzkin, she turned and returned to her living kittens.
Munkustrap looked down at the body of the black kitten and swallowed thickly, stroking her tiny head. Another kitten gone, another sibling dead. Why wasn't Burelle crying? She just lost her youngest daughter...