The Aristocats Collection

Chapter 26

One fateful day, Toula and I were adventuring outside when we met a gang of cats! They were named Midnight, Jane, Sunkist, Sunshine Meow, Pumpkin, Smoky, Mittens Junior, Sasha, Mittens, Stormy, Snowflake, Socks, Sven, Salem, and Tiger. The leader of them was Smoky, a tall, black cat. Mittens was his mate, so she was the deputy of the pack. Mittens Junior (Which I will now call MJ) was the kitten of them. That makes him the rank of Superior Cat, which means that he is the child of the leaders of the pack and will take over when the leaders die. Snowflake and Sunshine Meow were the Second Power Kittens, the children of the Superior Cat.The Medic cats, the cats who heal others, were Socks and Pumpkin. Stormy, Sasha and Sven were the hunters--gathering food for their pack. Jane, Tiger and Sunkist were patrollers--cats who patrol the territory for dangers. Finally, Midnight was the omega, a very mean one at that--the lowest and scruffiest of the pack. "We have come to invade your territory. It is ours now, house cat!" Smoky hissed. I gulped.
    "House cat, did you not hear him? It is our territory now--we have claimed it." Mittens growled, threatening. Toula shook her head. "No. You are not claiming it. You don't want to see my pack, do you?" Toula smirked. "How dare you insult me like that! Such a small, female cat leading a pack? I've never heard of such a lie!" Smoky laughed. Toula shook her head. "Alley cats, Bonfamille cats! Come on out!"
    All of the Bonfamille household cats and Toula's alley cats wandered over to us. All together, there were about forty of us. "Hey, wild cat." Toula laughed, emphasizing on the world wild. "Ya still wanna pick a fight?"
    Smoky narrowed his eyes. "How dare you, you--you're not a cat. You are stupid. A house pet, with no defense. That is a mere insult to me that believe that such a weakling can even attempt to fight me."
"Attack!"
    Toula dashed to the side, leaping on Smoky from the side. She bit into his back. Smoky yelped and whipped around to get her off. But Toula was too quick.
    I ran after the cat named MJ. He hissed at me, growling and spitting. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to." I smirked. "But I'm gonna fight you."
    MJ growled as I got closer. "Don't get any more near, or I shall unleash my power!" he exclaimed. "Try me. What is that power you speak of?" I laughed. Boy, I was mean. I pounced "No, ow! Hey! No!" MJ growled. "I surrender!" MJ fell to the ground in front of me. "Come on, I'm sorry." he heaved. "I hate fighting. I don't want me and my sisters and brothers to die!"
    I wrinkled my nose. "How can I trust you? You could just be using me!" A large calico female came down on me, scratching her claws into my neck. I threw her off with a pinch.
"I promise! Just please! It was my Dad's idea to join us ALL in!" MJ shivered, standing knee-deep in mud. "I never wanted this life anyway. Please! I can bring my brother, my wife, and my two children. No one else, I promise." MJ sighed, shaking. "And who would that be? gather them at once!" I proclaimed, trying to be as tough as I could. MJ nodded. I fluffed my hang down hair. "Slither on out of the battle. Stay low, and hope that not one gets massively hurt." I whispered. MJ and his small family followed as we slunk out of the battle.
    "Here were are." I explained, pointing to the mansion. "I live here. You will have to live outside, though, because Clemence the maid will spot you. I can bring you a blanket or two." I said. Then I pointed to a dirt hole under the house that a fox had dug long ago. "You can live in there."
    I guess I should introduce MJ's family. His brother is named Sven, who was a hunter in the pack. His wife is Sasha, who was a hunter. And then we had his children, the Second Power kittens, Snowflake and Sunshine Meow (who likes to be called SM, copying off her father). Snowflake was gentle and quiet, while SM was loud and daring.
    I went inside and pulled a wool blanket off the couch. I dragged it outside and stuffed it down in the den. "Good, that's nice. You can now live here." I smiled. Each filed in, hearts full of hope.
    I looked over to where the battle had raged. The commotion had stopped. Duke and Smoky were conversing. I swear Smoky quickly took a look over at the den and smirked. But then they went back to talking.
    A voice came from behind. "I'm sorry, Marie." All I felt was a sharp pain in my neck before everything went black.
   
"Marie?"
"Marie, wake up!"
"Marie!"
    I coughed, spit flying out. I opened my eyes. "T-t-Thomas?" I stuttered, shivering. He nodded. "Wh-wh-what happened?"
    Everything came back to me in a flood of memories so hard my head hurt. Somehow the thought of Mama became tangled in it. I gulped, furiously attempting to shake out that one remembrance.
    I stroked my face. It was wet and warm. Blood. I tenderly pulled a piece of hanging flesh off my neck. It was very small, cat bite marks almost. That could have been it.
    The voice--MJ. He had tricked me. "Luckily, you were the worst of the injuries." Thomas explained. "No one else was seriously hurt."
    I gulped, the blood starting to dry on my face. I gathered the strength the stand up. Then I noticed something. The fur around my neck felt strange. What was happening?
"My collar!"
    My ten thousand dollar diamond, pearl, and gold collar was gone. Vanished. I remembered having it on when I blacked out. Someone had taken it. Someone like MJ.
    MJ, MJ, MJ. That name played over and over in my mind. Thomas breathed heavily. "We need to get that collar back. If you don't have it, you're not classified in the Federation Internationale Feline cat registry because the tag is gone. Without that, you can't breed, be in cat shows, you can't even own a collar!" he heaved.
    Okay, he may have been exaggerating a bit.  But there are a lot of restrictions without that tag! That collar also has a tag with my vaccination status. I can't even go out of the house without that! I can't be around any other cat outside of my household. Oh, I needed to find that collar!
    Something flew across my back. I turned around. A small piece of paper lay on the ground, rustling in the wind. With O'Malley watching over my shoulder, I read the note.

Dear Marie,
I am incredibly sorry. I had to do what
had to be done, sadly--I'll put it like
that. I must maintain loyal to my pack,
you see. I understand that I hurt you. I
also understand that without your
collar, there are so many things you
can't do. But I thank you. Thanks
for helping me. Once I sell this collar,
me and my family can buy our
way to a nice life. What can a
cat do with money, you ask? Ha,
more than you think. I know you
didn't have a choice when you ''gave''
up your collar...but hey, let's
pretend you did. 😼
Mittens Jr.

    "That rat!"  shook my head mercilessly. "That mean rat!"
    I gulped. Was MJ really gonna sell my collar? And he said that a cat could do more with money than I thought. What could that be? I heard a twig crack. I turned. There was MJ, holding the collar ever so lightly in his teeth.  "Oh my gosh." he said through gritted teeth. I dashed toward him. "Give my collar back!" I shouted, grabbing MJ's tail as he tried to run. "Give it back, now!"
    MJ pulled away from me with a blast of force. "How can you be so selfish?" he cried. "I need that collar to sell!" I stared at him, grabbing his tail once more. "But my owner bought it! And now she's dead!"
    An awkward moment of silence lay between both of us for about twenty seconds. MJ dropped the collar to the ground. "I never realized that." he gulped. "I'm sorry, I know how that feels. It must be your way of remembering her. I am sorry to the very bottom of my heart."
    I wiped my eyes, my cloudy, tear-filled eyes. "Th-thank y-y-you." I stuttered, daintily picking up the collar and slipping it over my head. MJ had a look of forgiveness on his face. And then the weird thing happened.
    He jumped towards me, hugging me. His head hung over my shoulder, just embracing me tight. I pulled my arms around him. A complete hug. We stood there for the longest minute of my life, and then MJ pulled away and ran into the woods.
    Thomas blinked twice. "That was..." he whispered. "At the same time, the most rushed and the slowest moment of my life." He wiped sweat off his face. I nodded. And then I cracked a joke.
"I wonder if Adam would have been mad?"
    We both laughed sitting on the hill. The sunset embossed against the red horizon danced, and we both watched. Just watched.