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Summary: Daughter of Macavity? Gee, I'd run away too...
PART ONE-The Birth
Macavity ran through the underbrush of the nearby park, dodging the
occasional squirrel and rabbit, only stopping once to snarl at a dirty
pollicle who thought it would be fun to play catch-the-running-kitty.
Breaking clear of the park, and running all-out to the abandoned
warehouse where he made his headquarters, he was almost passing up the
messenger who was sent to him to tell him the news.
His queen was having kittens, and they were almost here.
He barreled all-out throughout the hole in the boarding of the door,
where he almost ran into a group of rats huddled around a prone queen.
Throwing them out of the way, her made it up to his mate, and kneeled
before her. Her face was stricken and pain-wracked. Her breathing was
fast and labored. She smiled at him gently and sadly, and her body
relaxed and her eyes rolled back into her head. She was dead.~*~
It took a while for Macavity to get over his queen's death. He took as
best care of the four kittens as he could, knowing that these wretched
things were the death of his only love.
There were four, three boys and one girl. One boy was named Joqnai, who
was the spitting image of his mother. He was blindingly white with a
black chest and black feet. One was Gromeni. He was ginger, like his
father, but his feet were white, and so was the tip of his tail.
Crankquotz, the biggest, was different from his siblings. He was all
black. The girl was named Xandria, after her mother. She looked
exactly like Macavity. The only thing about her was her eyes. One was
blue and the other, green. And she is who this story is about.
Her brothers never really accepted her, being the only female in a
litter of males. She was not especially pretty, nor was she ugly. She
was large to begin with, but she never grew any. So by the time she was
six months, she was already the size of a full-grown tom. She spent her
childhood in the shadow of her littermates.
While they learned to pick locks, and levitate, she was with the other
queens learning how to change litterboxes and fix salmon paste. But,
when she wasn't learning how to clean a newborn kitten or skin a rat,
she would sneak off and watch her brothers become masters at crime, just
like their father. She'd learn the tricks, and practice them at night,
under the only eyes of the owl who watched her window to make sure she
didn't escape. He never told.
And she became quite good at her profession. Finally, at the age of
one-and-a-half, she decided to leave. She borrowed a stolen tape
recorder from her father's bedroom, and recorded this message:"Dear Father,
You have always been kind to me, doing the best you could in bringing
me up like a real queen should. You've done an excellent job, as far as
I'm concerned, especially after my mother died like that. But I have a
confession to make. (At this point she began to cry) When I wasn't
learning, I watched you and Joqnai, Gromeni, and Crankquotz. I learned
the tricks you taught them. And I feel that these walls are cramping
me, suffocating me, and I cannot get enough air. That is why I am
leaving. You have every right to hate me. But if I stay here much
longer I feel I may die. I love you more than you can ever imagine,papa."
After doing this, she waited until she had some time off, then gave the
tape to one of her father's cronies whom she had bribed to pass it on to
him. She then grabbed her few belongings, tied them in a kerchief, and
knotted it around her tail. As she ran from the warehouse at top speed,
she looked back only once to see her father in the doorway.
"Xandria!" He called. She stopped and turned fully, "You're right. I
do have every right to hate you. And you'd better run as far as you can
get. Now you are a threat to me and my operations. And once I find
you, I'll kill you."And he disappeared inside the house.~*~
And so Xandria roamed, for several years. She made her living off of
stolen goods, and a few scraps of food here and there from pitying
humans. She'd been in too many fights to count. With one pollicle, or
another stray, or yet another underestimating rat. This is how she came
to get the scar under her blue eye, running from the lower rim of her
eye to just under her chin. The one battle that was to change her life,
though was not with a rat or a stray or a pollicle or even a peke. It
was with a Jellicle.~*~
She had been wandering for about 6 months, and finally stumbled upon a
large junkyard. It was seemingly deserted, so she went in. Having a
strange liking for high-up places, she nestled into a poofy ginger ball
of fur atop a rocking chair that stood on a pile of junk above an old,
blue Ford. She was rudely woken by a penetrating yowl. "MACAVITY!!!"
All of the sudden, scores of small, well-groomed cats came pouring out
of various nooks and crannies of the seemingly uninhabited junkyard.
One of them, a gray striped tabby, a bit larger then her called to her.
"Macavity," he yelled, "come down here and fight me like a real tom,
you coward! You shan't have Old Deuteronomy this time!" he cried
Xandria, scared out of her wits by the sudden influx of cats, leaped
from the rocker and landed in front of the tom. With a snarl, he leaped
on her, and began tearing viciously at her mane of hair.
Yowling, she fought back as best she could, but could not keep him off
of her. With a final yelp, he landed on her, paws on her shoulder,
pinning her to the floor. Raising one high into the air, to finish her
off, she watched him with wide eyes. Suddenly, the cat gasped, and
backed off. She shakily got up.
"What's the matter with you Munkustrap?" a black and white tom, about
her age called, "Why didn't you finish him?" The group of cats stepped
back from the shakily standing pair. Xandria, from her near-death
encounter, and the gray cat, Munkustrap, they had called him, shaking
from astonishment.
"T-That's not Macavity." He wheezed. "Macavity doesn't have one blue
eye and one green eye."
Xandria looked from one cat to another, their astonished eyes growing
wider and wider. Then she fainted from blood loss and exertion.~*~
PART TWO- Meetings
Xandria opened one eye, and surveyed her surroundings. She was on the
inside of a car, with sunlight filtering in from all the windows,
hurting her eyes. She would learn later that this was the makeshift
infirmary where the Jellicles treated wounded cats. She looked up at
the backlit figure of a queen, clucking and fussing over her like amother hen.
After a few tries to get her sore jaw moving, she said, "Please, miss.
Could you move to where I can see you better." The queen nodded andmoved.
Xandria could now see the face of an elderly orange cat, smiling sadly
at her. "You'll have to forgive Munkustrap," she said, "He's so uptight
about Macavity taking his father that he's ready to fight at the drop ofa hat."
She placed a cool paw on Xandria's forehead. "Poor thing, you must be
starving. Here, have this." She brought a tin can to Xandria's mouth,
and tipped it. A warm, chocolatey liquid filled her mouth, and Xandria
drank until she was full.
"That's better, isn't it?" the cat asked, smiling at her as if she were
her mother...
"Mother," Xandria thought, "No, not mother...father. FATHER!" then
all of the sudden the memory of last night came to mind...the silver
tabby had thought she was her father. It came to her so fast, she wasreeling.
After several tries to regain her composure, she cleared her throat and
asked, "Please, miss. Could you tell me your name?"
"Why yes, how silly of me!" the cat exclaimed, "I'm Jennyanydots. What,
may I ask, is your name?"
"Xandria," she answered, as if it was one of the most normal things in
the world to have a human name.
"Xandria..." Jennyanydots gasped, "I knew a cat named that once...poorthing."
Xandria attempted to prop herself upright on her paws. "Really?" she
asked. "I was named after mymother." Her face fell. "She's dead."
Jennyanydots face turned sad, "So is the Xandria I once knew. I heard
she died giving childbirth."
Xandria's eye snapped wider, and her breathing came fast, "That's her!"
she cried, "That's my mother! You said you knew her. How? How did you
know her?" her voice rose an octave, and her eyes flashed.
"Well..." said Jennyanydots, "I don't think it's my place to tell you."
Xandria's face fell. "It's a sad story, hers is. I'll take you to Old
Deuteronomy, our leader, and he'll tell you." Xandria sighed, and after
some effort, she finally manage to get up.
"You poor dear," clucked Jenny, "Here, let me help." Using Jenny as a
crutch, she managed to get to the side of the car, and Jenny then helped
her to get down. She looked around the junkyard, at the variety of cats
doing a variety of things. They all stopped what they were doing, and
stared. It was indeed a sight, the matronly cat helping a Macavity
look-alike walk. The cat that first caught her attention was the silver
tabby, the one she had fought last night. He came up to her.
"I-I'm sorry." He stammered, looking very ashamed, "you know, about last
night. You just look so much like Macavity, and I had no way of
knowing-" Xandria cut him off.
"That's okay," she said, "It was dark, you couldn't see. It's not you
fault I look like my father."
Jenny almost dropped her, when Xandria realized her mistake. "your
FATHER?" she asked incredulously. Xandria nodded miserably. "Couldn't
you tell?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.
"Well, I suspected that you may have been related, but I hadn't really
had time to think about that sort of thing." Jenny looked hurt.
"It's okay," Xandria said again, "I'm not like my father."
Munkustrap was silent for a while, then stalked off.
"What was that all about?" a puzzled Xandria asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." Jenny said, "He's so uptight around Macavity, he's
probably uncomfortable around cats that have a lot to do with him. You
should see the way he treats Mungojerry."
"WHO???" Xandria yelled, and Jenny started."Mungojerrie,"
"You're kidding. He's here?""Why, yes. He's a Jellicle like us."
"Boy, wouldn't my dad get into a fit if he found that out!"
Jenny rolled her eyes, "Well, let's just hope no one tells him. That'd
put poor Jerrie's life on the line. All nine of them."
While they were talking, a tall black and white tom slunk up beside
them. She recognized him as the same cat who had told Munkustrap to
kill her last night. "So, this is the cat who challenged mighty
Munkustrap!" he laughed, a smile playing on his lips.
"Name's Xandria," she said, puzzled that the cat had forgotten what he
had said the night before. She decided to forgive and forget, and stuck
out a paw, "daughter of a mighty criminal, extreme look-alike, total
idiot, and a reject to boot."
"Alonzo," replied the tom, and took it, "Third in command, incredibly
funny, handsome, and all-around nice guy."
"Nice to meet you," replied Xandria with a laugh.
"So, what brings you here?" asked Alonzo curiously.
"I just sort of...stumbled in." She muttered.
"You look a lot like this guy I know.""Macavity?" she asked sullenly.
"How'd you know?" he asked, surprised."He's her dad," Jenny hissed.
Alonzo was taken aback at Jenny's protective attitude, "Well, then..."
he said speechless.
"I'm not like him," Xandria glared at Alonzo. His mind went into warp
drive, surprised at the cat's total one-eighty.
"May I ask," Alonzo said, attempting to change the subject, "Where are
the two of you ladies going?"
"We're going to see Old Deuteronomy," said Jenny. "Xandria wants to
know about her mother. It's not my place to tell such a story, so I
figured we'd go see if Old Deuteronomy would tell it."
Alonzo nodded, and they were off.
At last they reached the Vicarage, and climbed up onto the wall where
Old D. Was watching the gardener intently. He looked up to see them,
and his eyes widened a bit at the sight of Xandria.
Before he could get a reaction, Alonzo said, "It's ok, it's not him.
It's his daughter, Xandria." Deut relaxed a bit, but still seemed a bittense.
"Xandria, eh?" asked the old cat, "I knew someone named Xandria once..."
A far-off look came into his eyes.
"Xandria was her mother," Jenny came in, and putting a hand on the
queen's shoulder.
Deut relaxed all the way now, and beamed at her. "Any relation of
Xandria's is welcome here."
"We were hoping you could tell her about her mother," Jenny said, and
Xandria nodded eagerly. The older cat sighed, and said, "If you wish."
And began...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Xandria was an incredible queen," began Old Deuteronomy, "She could
make the most cold-hearted laugh, the most stingy give, and the most
ugly beautiful. She was, in fact, a Jellicle of the rarest kind. She
was magical, like Mistofellees.
She was Gus's youngest daughter, and a beauty. She was all white, with
a black chest and paws.""Joqnai," murmured Xandria."Pardon?" asked the others.
"Nothing," she said, embarrassed.
Old D. Went on. "She was always smiling, and could melt the iciest
heart. She loved to make people laugh with her magic tricks and funny
jokes. She was a friend to all the cats she met. She always lent a
sympathetic ear to those in need, and if you wanted advice, she could
give you the best anywhere.
As she got older, she was like a second mother to many of the kittens,
mainly because she herself was unable to have kittens."
This statement got several questioning looks from his audience, he went
on, "She was brought up by humans," he explained, "the vet diagnosed her
with a disease that's rare in cats, where if you cut yourself just a
little bit, you bleed to death. Hemo, hemo-something-or-other. So
clearly, having a baby would certainly kill her."
The other cats nodded, and Old Deuteronomy went on, "She had many beaus,
but she couldn't be tied down. She'd see a tom for a maximum of 5 days,
and then be off again like a shot. That's why we were so shocked when
she announced her engagement to Macavity.
We never knew what made her settle, or why she chose Macavity out of all
the other fine toms waiting to court her at the drop of a hat. Back
then, Macavity was not what he is today, but we could tell he was
trouble in the making. Like Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer times ten and
then some. So we could not see why someone as kind and gentle as Xandria
would want to deal with someone like Macavity. But that's beside the
point; I'm not going into personal attacks here.
She wanted to have kittens of her own very badly, but knew that if she
did, she'd die. So she didn't.
Years later, Macavity was now as he is today. He lied, cheated, and
stole, and did many other unspeakable things. But our beloved Xandria
was with him through thick and thin, although she refused to take part
in illegal activities.
Macavity soon had several queens at his disposal, but still, Xandria was
his favorite. We don't know why she stayed with him after all this
time, but some suspect that he had had some sort of mind control powerover her.
Either way, one day, Xandria discovered she was pregnant. This scared
her thoroughly, because she had known since she was a child that she
would most likely die if she ever had kittens.
She was in terrible pain for two months, and then she gave birth to you
and some others. Then she died. That was the last I've heard."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Old Deuteronomy suddenly looked older and frailer. Tears were streaming
down Xandria's face, and Alonzo looked about ready to do the same
thing. Only Jenny remained steadfast, her face blank and unmoving.
"W-Well, I think we'd better be going now," Alonzo stuttered, taking
Xandria by the paw. "It's been fun, see ya later, buh-bye!" He yelled
over his shoulder as he dragged her off. Once they were out of view,
Xandria snatched her paw away and arched her back.
"What was that for?" she hissed angrily, "You have no idea how long I've
waited to hear about my mother!" she turned her back, and began to walk
off, but then realized that she had no idea where she was going.
She sighed, "Oh well," she said, "As long as we're here, you might as
well introduce me to the other cats."Alonzo was taken aback, but he agreed.
"Shall we?" he asked, sticking out his paw.
"Sure." She said, ignoring the paw, and walking ahead of him. Alonzo
looked rather annoyed, but ran ahead of her to make sure she didn't getlost.~*~
"...And this is Jellylorum," said Alonzo gesturing towards a matronly
figure on top of a rocking chair, doing needlepoint. She noticed
Alonzo, and almost fell off her chair when she saw Xandria. Alonzo gave
her a reassuring nod, and Jellylorum looked confused, but relaxed a bit.
They continued walking until they came upon a group of females crowded
around something that was obviously very intriguing.
"What's over there?" she asked.
"Oh, that's the Rum Tum Tugger," said Alonzo with some obvious distaste.
"Can I meet this cat?" she asked, eyes still fixed on the group of
kittens, straining to be able to see what was behind them. Alonzo
sighed in exasperation.
"Sure, but don't get any ideas. He gives new meaning to the phrase
'Love 'em and leave 'em.'"
Xandria ignored his comment, but strode forward with some purpose toward
the mass of kittens. Looking for a way in, she squeezed through the
circle, until she was face-to-face with this cat. She saw him and
gasped at his extreme handsomeness. The Rum Tum Tugger did too, but for
a different reason.
A snarl crossed his face, and he got into fighting stance. Xandria was
startled, but she did the same. Suddenly, a loud shout come from behindher.
"NO!" Alonzo cried, trying his best to get past the squealing kittens,
"Stop! You two! Stop it now!" The Tugger tensed. "That's not
Macavity!" Alonzo said breathlessly, standing beside Xandria, "It's his
daughter. She ran away, and she's been through a lot, so lay off! And
Xandria, it's okay, you can relax. Tugger couldn't hurt a flea."
Tugger looked offended, but stayed silent. With a confused look on her
face, Xandria stared from Tugger to Alonzo and then said, "I'm sorry.
He frightened me. I guess I shouldn't have cooperated with him."
Tugger straightened up.
"That's okay," he said, "Jeez, you DO look like Macavity. Sorry about
that." He forced a smile.
"Alright, that's enough of that, let's get moving, lots of cats to see,
so much to do, good-BYE, Tugger!"
Alonzo pushed Xandria along, who wanted to stay with the Tugger.
The Tugger waved, and then said under his breath, "I thought she'd neverleave."
~*~Now Xandria bounced around with new enthusiasm. "Wow, what a neat guy,"
she gushed, "He was SO NICE. Do you think he likes me?" she askedeagerly.
Alonzo didn't answer, just looked at her strangely.
They walked a little more until they came across two cats who looked
exactly alike."Coricopat, Tantomile, I'd like you to meet-" Alonzo began,
"Xandria" They finished in unison. They each offered a paw, and Xandria
shook both at the same time.
"They're our mystical twins," Alonzo explained as they walked on.
"Ah-Skimbleshanks!" He exclaimed, as an orange tabby walked up to them.
"Ay, so this is the lassie whose been causin' us soo much trouble." The
elder cat teased. Xandria took and immediate liking to this cat, he
just had that air about him that made you just want to be his friend.
She grinned at him, and he grinned back.
"May I accompany you to wherever you may be going?" he asked.
"I'm just introducing her to the cats around here. We took her to Old
D. And from the way he acted to her, I wouldn't be surprised if he made
her into a Jellicle, if all goes well." He smiled.
"How about we take her to see Bombalurina and Demeter?" asked Skimble.
"They love a new girlfriend, and they may be able to do something about
this-" he used his tail to bat around Xandria's mane.
"Well-" began Alonzo, "Okay. But be careful, we may have to pry Demeter
off the ceiling
again..." Xandria looked puzzled, and Skimble looked sly. Alonzo just
looked worried.They entered a large washing machine, and noticed the beautiful
furnishings. The floor had been carpeted with an old carpet square, and
there were several odds and ends that just made the place look homey.
"Bom! Demeter!" called Alonzo, "Come on, I have someone I want you to
meet!" Suddenly, a beaded curtain Xandria had not noticed before
parted, and out stepped two incredibly beautiful queens. The shorter of
the two took one look at this new cat, and proceeded to fix her claws
into the ceiling. The taller one, presumably Bombalurina, gasped at her
sister and tried to pull her down.
"You can't have me!" declared Demeter, "Not this time!" She dug her
claws into the ceiling further, and Bom just glared.
"Twit!" she yelled, "That's not Macavity. That's the cat that we saw
last night!"
"Really?" Demeter asked, and then detached herself from the ceiling, "If
that's not him, we're going to have to do something about her
appearance, or we may have a real problem on our hands."
The two sisters looked at each other, "MAKE-OVER!" they squealed, and
dragged Xandria back into the area that had been concealed by the beadedcurtain.
"We'll just leave you guys alone for now!" Alonzo called as the queens
dragged Xandria off, "We'll take a look at you tonight at dinner and see
how things go. Bye!" and with that, the two toms exited.~*~
"Okay, now let's see," Bom said, studying Xandria, "Let's do something
about your mane, first. Real scary, ain't it?" she held up a clump of
tangled fur for Demeter to see.
"Yep," said Demeter, pulling out a strange object from somewhere on a
table behind where Xandria sat in front of a small mirror.
"What's THAT?" alarmed, Xandria gawked at what looked like a torture
object. Demeter and Bom rolled their eyes at each other.
"It's a brush," said Bom, handing it to Xandria so she could inspect it,
"It makes your fur look shiny, soft, and less tangled." She took back
the brush, and began working it through her mane.
"Uh-oh," Bom breathed, staring at the clump of fur that had come out of
Xandria's mane.