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Post by Shannon on Jun 16, 2007 0:02:13 GMT -5
"No, I..." Bomba's protests fell silent as she drifted off to sleep.
Diavolo licked his paws, trying to ease the pain of his blisters. He glared over at Flattpot. However, he was glaring at the slave master's back. He was in no way bold enough to glare right at the pirate. Actually, it wasn't the fact he wasn't bold. More like... he wanted to survive and see his daughter. Not like he liked how her life was.
Jemima looked over at Grumbuskin. "Hey! There's the piarte captain!" she whispered to her sister. "Wanna come with me to say hi? I wanna see his ship!"
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 0:14:47 GMT -5
Munkustrap smiled as Bomba fell asleep. He would have preferred spending more time with her awake, but she needed her sleep.
It seemed like this was to be the fate of their relationship, one of them always too busy, too tired, or too hurt. While Munkustrap could be content with it now... how long until he started to long for a mate he actually could spend time with? How long until Bomba wanted a mate she saw? He closed his eyes and nuzzled her forehead. They'd make this work. Somehow.
Flattpot was prowling up and down the ranks of the rowers, running his whip maliciously through his paws. "Now, remember the deal," he told them. "You fight, you kill at least one Monnik, and you survive to report back to us, and we let you go, free as a bird. You run away, though, or you refuse to fight..." He grinned, showing his fangs to the slaves. "We'll know. We'll find you. And you'll be wishing a Monnik killed you." Grumbuskin had helped him move all the rowers to a strategic location near the junkyard. They were now waiting for his signal to attack, to flood the yard with two scores of cats with very little left to live for. It really was a perfect strategy, Flattpot thought.
"I wanna stay with Tugger," Etcetera said, shaking her head. "He's way cooler than the pirate captain!" Though, she had to admit, the pirate captain WAS pretty cool!
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Post by Shannon on Jun 16, 2007 0:21:52 GMT -5
Diavolo laughed dryly in his mind. He had been through this before. He had killed four cats to try for him and his daughter's freedom.
It hadn't worked.
He felt sorry for the newest rowers. He could see them eagerly talking to each other, big smiles on their faces. They couldn't wait to be free.
About half of them would die.
This was one of the reasons Diavolo hated the pirates.
Jemima stuck out her tongue. "Fine," she snapped.
Sowly, carefully, she snuck towards Grumbuskin. However, when she was about a foot away, she ran back to her sister, giggling. She was very embarrassed.
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 0:28:27 GMT -5
Flattpot continued to prowl around, keeping the slaves under control and occasionally exciting them with a few words of encouragement. The simple fact that he was praising their strength rather than whipping them was enough to make some of the slaves ready to fight.
As he passed one of the older slaves, Flattpot chucked him under the chin with the handle of his whip. "Gonna try for your freedom, old tom, or your daughter's?"
Jemima liked Grubumskin better than she liked Tugger? One less cat to compete with! Not that there was any competition. Tugger did love her best, after all, Etcetera thought to herself.
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Post by Shannon on Jun 16, 2007 0:40:13 GMT -5
Is that a serious question? Diavolo thought darkly. "Both," he answered simply. There was no way in hell he was leaving without Mirabelle, even if he had to carry her off kicking and screaming.
Jemima didn't want to be around icky Etcy, even if she was with awesome Tugger. So, instead of going to hang out with Tugger and Etcy (normally her two most favorite people), Jemima decided to watch the kittens with Bomba.
Then Jemmy noticed Bomba was with Munkustrap! Then who was watching the babies?!
Jemima raced to the closet, in full mommy-mode. She opened the door to see a black and gold calico tickling Alicia.
"Who are you?" she asked, glaring.
Mira looked up to see a very angry queenkit. "I... Well, I'm Mirabelle. Who are you?"
"Jemima," Jemmy answered. "Why are you with the babies?"
"Bombalurina asked me to watch them."
"Oh." If Bomba trusted her, Jemima decided she could, too. "Okay." She paused. She could smell sea salt and fish coming from Mirabelle. "Are you a pirate?" she asked, her eyes wide.
Mirabelle smiled. "Yes indeed," she said proudly.
"Wow!" Jemima sat down by the door, her eyes fixed on the cat. "What's the ship like?"
"It's huge," Mira told her, "and cool. It's called the Lionfish. It has a lot of rooms. The captain's room is huge and very richly decorated. Every night, the rocking of the ship puts me to sleep. It has huge sails. Let's see... Oh, it has a steering wheel. It's really big. Rats live in the bottom, so we have food. And, hmm... we mostly eat fish." She paused. That was actually about it.
"Wow," Jemima whispered. "That's so cool! I wish I was a pirate!"
"Maybe you will be someday," Mirabelle said with a smile.
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 0:42:54 GMT -5
"You'll need to kill three Monniks then," Flattpot said. "One for you, one for your daughter, and an extra one because she's not here helping us." He took a few steps away, and then turned to grin back at Diavolo. "Oh, in case you were wondering - she's still amazing in bed. Thinks we're all her heros." He winked at the old tom before putting an arm around a young rower, asking him if he'd ever been in a battle before.
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Post by Shannon on Jun 16, 2007 0:45:38 GMT -5
Diavolo hissed, not caring Flattpot was about a foot away. He wanted to strike out and kill the pirate, but he was too afraid of what they'd do to Mirabelle. His daughter... fucking those asses! Those... horrible excuses for cats! The Pollicles! The...
He continued to call the pirates every different insult he could think of. He even made some up.
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Post by Sonja [Alonzo] on Jun 16, 2007 13:42:54 GMT -5
Djau looked up as Curculio placed the bird in front of them. "Thank you." He said gratefully, smiling. Neither of the twins had a particular talent for hunting. Djau took a bite of the seagull, savouring the feeling of the food hitting his stomach. He then gently tore off a bit and placed it in front of Curculio, hoping it would be easier for him to eat.
Aneski lay curled at his side, sleeping soundly. She hadn't been asleep when Djau and Curculio had been, and she was catching up on her snooze time now...
Victoria made her away along the alley, frowning slightly. It was dark and a bit scary, but it was a shortcut to the Station. She was going to visit Skimbleshanks, her father - she hadn't seen him in ages, and she figured now was as good a time as any to check in. If he'd seen any of the Jellicles lately he would know it had been a long while since she was last seen at the junkyard, and would probably be worried...the young queen had just felt more like staying home. Honestly, growing up was a weird thing. She felt ages away from her old friends, and still too young for the older Jellicles. Also, she was sick of being ignored by Plato. If she wasn't there, he couldn't possibly ignore her. Maybe he'd even wonder where she'd gone...
Sighing, she padded into the Station. Lifting her tiny pink nose, she froze in her tracks. Jellicles? Lots of Jellicles?
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 13:48:14 GMT -5
Curculio was wiping at his muzzle with his paws and then sucking the blood off them. He did try to keep himself as clean as possible for a few weeks after he had a bath, but it got harder and harder every day. Still, he didn't look ghoulish right now, and he didn't want to. After the battle... He sighed.
Looking up as Djau tore off a piece, he smiled and leaned down to eat. After finishing the bit with only a little difficulty (no tongue did make it hard to swallow), he nodded toward Aneski and kissed his paw. Did Djau know about that Jellicle tom she was eyeing?
Tumble spotted Victoria entering the junkyard and grinned, bounding over to her. They had been kittens together for a year, so even though she had been an icky little queen, he had still played with her. And now that she was an adult... well, she wasn't an icky little queen to him anymore! He had matured past that stage... "Hey Vicky! I haven't seen you in a while!" He nuzzled her cheek in a friendly way, greeting the younger queen.
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Post by Sonja [Alonzo] on Jun 16, 2007 14:00:22 GMT -5
Djau's eyes fluttered toward his sister. Of course he knew she'd been talking to the tom last night. "I'm not too worried." He told Curculio. "She's smart. She knows what would happen; nothing will come out of it."
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 14:03:05 GMT -5
Curculio kissed his paw toward Djau and cocked his head to the side. "Mrowr?" Did Djau like any of the Jellicles?
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Post by Sonja [Alonzo] on Jun 16, 2007 14:05:45 GMT -5
"Me?" Djau asked skeptically, almost snorting. "No. I've barely spoken to any of the Jellicles." He tore off another piece for Curculio, and then bit off a bit more for himself.
Victoria smiled at Tumble, eyes full of wonder. Had everyone decided today was the day they would visit their friendly railway tom? She nuzzled back, eyes still sweeping the Station. She could spot all sorts of cats... even ones whom she didn't recognize as Jellicles. Had she been away that long?
"Tumble." She greeted cheerfully, quietly. "It's good to see you. But...what are you all...doing here?" Victoria tipped her head to side slightly, whiskers twitching.
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Post by Shannon on Jun 16, 2007 14:10:00 GMT -5
Jemima looked over at Victoria. She hadn't seen Vicky in ages!
"Vicky!" she called, running over. She hugged her friend tightly. "I haven't seen you in forever! There are pirates here! Tugger's back! I have a feather in my fur!" She showed the white queen the blue feather taped to her ear. "Bomba has kittens now! Four of them! i want kittens someday! Where have you been?" She hugged Victoria again. Vicky had been her 'bestiest friend' up until the Ball. Jemima had decided to become better friends with her own sisters. And icky Pounce.
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Post by Munkustrap Etc. on Jun 16, 2007 14:13:28 GMT -5
Curculio couldn't help but smile at that, ducking his head to eat more of the gull. Aneski was too smart to let that Jellicle get hurt, and Djau... Djau didn't like any of them.
"Oh, that. Um... well... have you been to the junkyard?" Tumble asked. "No, probably not. The Monniks took over. They swarmed in and almost killed Munkustrap, but he got the rest of the Jellicles out, and Alonzo and the rest of the guardians, we were all out already, looking for food. So we're staying here until we can get the junkyard back." He waved his paw toward the pirates' side of the station. "And these are some seacats who are going to help us. They're going to attack the yard today... look! That's their captain, Grumbuskin!" He pointed to the huge silver tabby who was talking with some of the crew.
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Post by Sonja [Alonzo] on Jun 16, 2007 14:16:53 GMT -5
Victoria hugged Jemima back, wanting to burst out laughing at her friend's tyrade. As she listened to Tumble, some of what Jemima had said began to make sense. A Monnik invasion...she shuddered, glad she had not been there. Her eyes widened as she saw Grumbuskin, "He's going to help us? He looks more like he'd rather crush us!" She said in a hushed voice, looking at Tumble in awe. Pausing, she turned back to Jemima. "As for me, I've been at home..." She shrugged delicately.
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