Cats: And The Dance Goes On.

Chapter One; A Star is Born, and another is Found

The night was young, the half moon bright, clouds slowly drifting over it's surface. The stars twinkled on their inky black blanket, providing another soft source of light for the few cats still awake.
Most cats had fallen asleep early on in the evening, however, a mere few hours ago, one of the queens had gone into labour.
This queen was none other than the motherly Jennyanydots. Despite being one of the older queens, her and her mate, the cat of the Railway train himself, were still trying to have kittens. They loved their twins, the thieving Mungojerrie and mischievous Rumpleteazer, dearly, however, they felt that perhaps having younger siblings would help them to become more mature.

After some long, and painful hours, the mewling cries of a newborn kitten ricocheted off the walls of the new parent's den. Jellylorum, who had taken up the role of a saintly nurse, handed the kit to her mother carefully.
Jenny cradled her newborn daughter in a loving embrace, giving her the doting eyes of a mother that was sure to spoil her in years to come.
The kitten had two brown stripes going along her cheek, much like her father, with a black mark starting on the right side of her lip, and going up, and just over her closed eye. The now calm kitten slowly opened her eyes, and they were a piercing sapphire blue, a heavy contrast to her ginger and brown fur, which framed the cerulean orbs.

Skimbleshanks moved round to his mate's side, giving his daughter the same look as her mother, a loving gaze, that would never falter, and never break.
He gently caressed the cheek of the newborn, pursing his lips in thought. "I may have a Jellicle name for this radiant ball of fluff." He chuckled lightly. He wasn't wrong. The kit had a fiery mane of hair around her head, much like that of Bombalurina, in a way. It seemed that it may cause trouble, if not controlled at an early stage.
"Do tell." Jenny replied, looking up at her partner, her eyes gleaming with glee.
"I was thinking... Graciette?" He suggested, and Jenny nodded happily. "A beautiful name, for a darling daughter." She agreed, kissing her daughter's forehead gently, as the newly named Graciette drifted off to sleep.

A mere year on from that delightful delivery, after a very special Jellicle ball, Graciette was thriving. She took after her father in almost every way, apart from her temper. That much she did get from Jenny.
Currently, Graciette and Skimbleshanks sat up by the discarded rocking chair, watching the junkyard carefully. They were not guards or scouts, it was simply just how the pair spent time together when Skimble was not on the night mail, and Gracie wasn't in the pub, helping the gentlemen with their games.
There was much eagerness and anticipation in the junkyard below them, the queens swapping gossip, the toms evaluating the situation, the kittens playing through everything, as per the norm.

The topic of the evening was this;
A new human had moved into the empty house not too far from the junkyard, and this human just so happened to own a cat. Apparently the mischievous elder children of Skimble and Jenny had forgotten to mention this little tidbit of information a few weeks prior to that evening, and so, the elder Jellicles such as Jellylorum and Asparagus, had estimated that the new cat, Queen or Tom, would be allowed to leave the humble abode, and explore the outside world.

The queens wished to greet the newcomer with open arms, welcome them to the junkyard, and perhaps even to the tribe, whereas the toms were not as eager. The newcomer could be on par with the villainous outcast, Macavity, for all they knew. Whilst this made some of the queens, such as Demeter and Bombalurina, more suspicious, it did not change the view of Tantomile, and her twin Coricopat. The two of them sensed something spiritually Herculean, and they supposed it was the newcomer.

Munkustrap, the grey tabby protector and Storyteller of the tribe, formulated a plan of action. He would take Alonzo, Mistoffelees, Asparagus, Jennyanydots, and Jellylorum to go and greet the newcomer. They would leave the twins at the junkyard for now, as they simply wanted to scout the personality of the potential tribe member.
The idea was pitched to each individual member of the tribe, besides the kittens, and everyone agreed, and so, the group set off to meet the new cat on the block.

The trip to the house wasn't too far, though it took a little longer than expected, due to the group being mostly older cats.
They soon came to the old, almost derelict house, and drew to a halt, waiting.
As both expected and predicted, a grey cat jumped up onto the wall of the garden, stretching out, and laying down in the moonlight, enjoying its new freedom.

Misto smiled gently, sensing the same thing the twins did. He also seemed to guess an interest in poetry.
"My sincerest apologies for interrupting your evening, but may we know your name?" He called out to her, and that got her attention.
She slowly and gracefully moved round to face the group, and, still laying on the wall, placed one hand over the other, appearing quite regal. Misto smiled at that small victory.
"Please, oh beauty of the night." Alonzo had cottoned on to Misto's plan, and decided to try and help him.
The grey queen let out a slight chuckle.

"Oh, please,  do not flatter me with such compliments, speak to me as you would any other queen you know."
Indeed, there was a mysticality to her voice, and a hint of wisdom too.
Munkustrap stepped forward, smiling gently. "It is a pleasure to see a new face around here. May I ask your name?"
"My normal name, or my Jellicle name?" She replied, raising an eyebrow at them, a slight smirk playing on her lips. This made Munkustrap smile even more. "Your Jellicle name, if you please."
The queen hopped down off of the wall, landing on her feet, evenly and precisely. "My name is Ariadne." She told him with a soft smile. "And what is yours?"
"I am Munkustrap, protector of the Jellicle tribe of the junkyard. This is Alonzo, Mistoffelees, Asparagus, Jennyanydots, and Jellylorum." He gestured to each of the cats in turn as he spoke their names. "We were wondering if you would care to join us?" He offered kindly, in response to which, Ariadne nodded. "I would love to." She replied, smiling gently. "Lead the way."
As she said her second line, Mister Mistoffelees offered her his hand, which she carefully took, as she was escorted back to the junkyard.

There, she was introduced to every Jellicle in turn. The ones she made a clear and immediate bond with were the Mystic twins, Mistoffelees, and quite a few of the older cats. She was definitely wise beyond her years.

With all of the excitement of the night over, and the dawn on their tails, the cats began to settle down. Some went to their junkyard dens, whilst others went home to their owners. Wherever they went, it was to rest, and prepare themselves for another night with the rest of the Jellicles.