Shades of Fire By: BubbleBeanBritt
~If you've seen this before, I've put it on my Fanfiction dot net account as well. Fear not.~
Part 1: Taken
The night it happened was dark and cloudy, not a touch of moon nor starlight penetrating the ever-thick shadows...Something moved though...Unseen, unheard, unscented...
A young red tabby tom cat woke up in his den, his pale yellowish-green eyes darting around, unsure of why he was awake, as he heard nothing...But then there was the softest sound...like fur rustled ever so softly in the gentlest breeze. He looked towards the corner and saw glowing ice-blue eyes. They grew as their owner suddenly surged towards him and everything went black for the tom...
He didn't know how long it had been, but he woke up in a dark cell that stank of blood and fear. He looked around, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light...There was a scent clinging to his fur...One that was scarcely detected yet unmistakable...It was Macavity's scent. The mingled smells of whiskey, countless cats, blood, and something rugged and alluring...something that drew queens into his bed at night and Hench-cats to his forces. Asparagus shakily rose to his paws, and felt his head which spun rapidly, and throbbed. There was a large bump, but it felt as though it had been tended to...He sighed, despising the tom all the more but remaining calm...Then a terrifying thought entered his head...Who else had Macavity taken? He shakily walked over to the cell door, and peered through the small set of bars...He could hear cats moaning, and crying, and whispering in other cells...He shivered and took in a breath.
"Macavity!" He shouted calmly. It took several long moments but the prisoners all fell silent, as a shadow with icy eyes sauntered lazily down the stairs and down the corridor of cells. Asparagus watched him approach and blinked when the tom halted inches from his own face, the only thing separating them the bars of the cell window.
"What is it that you want?" Macavity asked quietly, but with a dangerous edge.
"How many of us have you taken?" Asparagus asked calmly, seeming uncaring about the toms distance, nor his tone. Macavity tilted his head curiously.
"Not many. Just Tugger, Pouncival, Electra, and Cassandra." He growled.
"You took a couple of kittens?" Asparagus asked, with a sigh. Macavity just gave a nod. "Will you release them?" Asparagus asked.
"I will not." Macavity replied in an equally calm tone.
"Hmm...That may create a problem. Pouncival is very small and nervous as it is and Electra is barely weaned. What is it you seek with kittens?" Asparagus asked.
"That is my own business." He paused then added. "I have a question for you tom." Asparagus tilted his head curiously.
"What is it?" Asparagus asked.
"Where is Mistoffelees?" He asked, his eyes sparking curiously. Asparagus blinked.
"I will not tell you. Why should I answer your questions when you will not answer mine?" Asparagus asked reasonably. Macavity's eyes narrowed.
"You have more guts than most tom. I am trying to get to one of the Jellicle's if you must know. He recently wronged me and I will punish him for it." Macavity said, watching the other through narrowed eyes. Asparagus rolled his eyes.
"Misto and Victoria went on a trip with Skimble and a friend of Skimble's called Lyon, to Ireland. Macavity nodded his head.
"Whatever. Then at least the little pipsqueak cannot ruin my plan this time." Macavity growled. He turned and began to walk away when Asparagus daringly stretched out a paw through the bars and tapped the ginger fiends shoulder. Macavity looked slightly surprised and he slowly turned back, arching one eyebrow questioningly.
"My name is not tom. It is Asparagus." Asparagus told him. Macavity snorted.
"I know. But your name doesn't matter here." He growled, before he stalked away. Asparagus drew in his paw and turned, curling up in the corner on the hard, cold cement. Luckily cats found any surface comfortable enough to sleep on, and he did, drifting into a dark, dreamless sleep.
Two days passed before Asparagus began to hear the wails of pain from Tugger and Cassandra...But he never heard pain from the kittens. They just cried out in fear and longing to go home. Asparagus hated the sounds, and wanted to kill Macavity, but he always held his quiet and calm attitude no matter what taunts Macavity threw at him to break him. It was four days later when he heard his door unlock. He blinked, sitting down and observing Macavity enter his cell before the tall tom closed the door behind him. He stalked forwards, his claws sliding out. Asparagus tilted his head slightly.
"Are you really going to torture me?" He asked in an almost bored tone. He knew the tom could get to the other by making them scream and leaving them in pain. Macavity raised one eyebrow looking momentarily confused before he blinked it away and glared daggers.
"Yeah. Pretty much." He snarled. He launched himself forwards and crashed into Asparagus who did not fight back nor utter the slightest peep apart from the odd gasp when he was punch in the stomach. Macavity raked his claws over the toms body over and over and bit his muzzle hard, and punched him, and threw him against the walls...His efforts became more and more desperate when still all the tom did was lay limp as he beat him senseless. Then as Macavity tired they became feeble and confusion lit in Macavity's eyes. Finally he stepped back, panting, blood dripping from his paws. Asparagus blinked up at him, pain in his eyes, and an unknown sadness. Macavity stared down at the battered and bloody tom.
"What....?" He broke off staring down at one of the cats he had grown up with. Asparagus stared back evenly.
"Look at your paws and remember how you used to be. Now please leave." Asparagus meowed very quietly. Macavity blinked down at him anger briefly flashing in his eyes before it was replaced with doubt and confusion. Then he did look at his paws. His eyes flashed with something close to panic but it was so brief at the time Asparagus wondered if he had imagined it. Then Macavity turned and silently slipped from the room, closing the door behind him. Asparagus licked the blood gingerly from his tender wounds then curled up and fell asleep, exhaustion and pain overtaking him. His dreams were empty as they had been since he was very young.
Macavity did not return for days but every second day Asparagus found a mouse or something else to eat laying by the door when he woke. Macavity did come again though, many days later, and without a word, and a stony and guarded look on his face he reopened Asparagus's wounds, and gave him new. Again no sound was uttered from the tom, and he simply stared questioningly up at Macavity. The ginger tom said nothing but there was fire in his eyes when he stormed out of the room in fury. Asparagus licked his wounds and fell asleep...This went on for a month...Asparagus never gave in, but it killed him to hear the fearful wails of the kits and the agonized screams of Tugger and Cassandra.
One night Asparagus woke up to fearful whimpering and sobbing. He stood and padded to his cell door, peering down the hall. He could see a shadow staring at a different door and he could hear Electra's sobs from inside, and Pouncival's shaky voice trying to comfort his little sister. Asparagus blinked as Macavity separated from the shadows and peered into the cell. His eyes were filled with mixed emotions, mostly sympathy and guilt. With a heavy sigh the tom quietly opened the door and slipped inside. Asparagus nervously listened. He could hear Electra squeaking fearfully and Pouncival's feeble hisses. Then he heard Macavity's surprisingly soft and gentle voice.
"Its ok kits...I won't hurt you. I don't hurt kits. Do you wanna go see someone?" he asked gently. Asparagus listened to a long pause then the tiny squeak of Pouncival.
"Yes....pp...pu....please." He stammered fearfully. He heard gentle rustling movement then he saw the tom carrying the two fear-scented kits towards...his cell? He slunk silently back into the shadows and curled up pretending to be asleep. Then his cell door creaked, and he opened his eyes again to see Macavity setting the two kits inside the door. His pale yellowish-green eyes met the fiends icy blue eyes for a long moment but Macavity said nothing, and his eyes were unreadable. Then he drew back and watched as Electra raced towards Asparagus who sat up and opened his arms as she leaped at him. He winced as she hit his wounds, but he did not care. The thin bedraggled tom simply clutched her close to him. He dipped his head once to Macavity in thanks and watched Pounce, who hesitated by the door. The tiny tom-kit looked up at Macavity and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Th...thank you..." He mewled. Macavity looked down at the kit, surprise flashing in his eyes, before Pounce raced over to Asparagus and pressed close to him as well. Asparagus looked up into Macavity's confused and questioning stare. He tilted his head to the side as Mac spoke quietly.
"I will be releasing Tugger and Cassandra tomorrow to go back to the tribe, but you must stay and so must the kits." He growled lowly. Asparagus blinked, but simply dipped his head, believing it useless to even try to answer.
After that day there were no more screams. He never heard the voices of either of the two other adult Jellicle's again, and he was not beaten again either. He could see Macavity's resolve faltering. He and the kits were fed more food than any of the said cats were receiving previously and Asparagus was putting on weight again, though he noticed both the kits had been in healthy weight, and unharmed when they had first returned to him. One day Mac even had a Hench-cat throw in some straw and a blanket for the kits, though there was enough room for Asparagus to curl up on it with them as well. Eventually the russet-red tom lost track of the days, and it all just seemed the same to him. Wake up, eat, tell stories to the kits, sleep, repeat. Another month had to have passed by and one day Mac came into the cell.
He looked disgruntled and he picked up the kittens who immediately squealed in fear. Asparagus slowly stood, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Macavity was surprised. He knew the normally docile tom would fight for those little scraps.
"Be quiet." Macavity told the kits, who immediately fell silent. He looked up at Asparagus. "I am taking them back to the junkyard. But you're staying here." Macavity growled. Asparagus nodded once, sitting down again. He watched as the fiery ginger and red tom walked out of the cell, closing the door behind him.
Macavity returned a few days later to test a theory. He wondered if now that Asparagus had no one to protect, the tom would cry out, or fight back, or do anything but remain creepily calm and quiet. Macavity beat him like he had never beat a Jellicle. Asparagus made not a single sound...Macavity stood over him panting again, blood all over his fur and he glared down.
"Why won't you scream?! He demanded furiously. Asparagus looked up at him with eyes that were surprisingly clear for a tom who had just been beaten as badly as he had.
"What is the point of that?" He answered with a question. He rested his head on his paws and watched Macavity. Macavity did not understand and left the battered, but not broken tom behind again...
The Hidden Paw did not harm Asparagus again, and instead avoided the tom.
Months passed by in a blur and Asparagus had begun longing furiously to go home. His heart ached and his mind was so empty...Macavity had not come to his cell since that night and Asparagus was confused.
One night he heard movement, and walked to his cell door to see Macavity slinking out of a cell and closing it behind him.
"Mac." Asparagus whispered. Mac? Since when did he address the murderous tom by his former nick-name? He blinked as the cold blue eyes snapped in his direction, mingled confusion and surprise in them. As well as reluctance...But he did pad over, his ears tilting back a little.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly.
"Why won't you let me go home? You have done nothing with me for a long time...I have been in this cell at least four months...I am tired of sitting around and doing nothing." Asparagus meowed. Macavity blinked.
"You can't go home. You must stay...Until..." the tall lanky tom paused, unsure of why he was keeping the tom anymore...He had gotten what he wanted long ago.
"Until?" Asparagus questioned. Macavity growled.
"Until I say so." He replied bitterly. Asparagus tilted his head.
"Do you remember when we were kits? We were playing in the park and you asked me why I preferred playing there rather than the junkyard? I told you I liked the wide open spaces. I liked that there were no high piles of junk that cast shadows on the beautiful sun. I loved the sun and I still do. You said you did too...You told me it reminded you of your mother...You loved your mother so why are you hiding in the shadows?" Asparagus asked softly. He blinked as Macavity jerked open the door and came in. He grabbed a pawful of Asparagus's chest fur and put his face close to the other cats, fire burning in his eyes.
"How dare you bring her up?! It's my fault she is dead, so you think I want to be reminded of her?! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH ASPARAGUS! I forgot and you keep making me remember!" Macavity slammed Asparagus into the wall and began punching the paler red tom relentlessly. Asparagus just took it silently, though tears did enter his eyes. Macavity's hits grew feeble as Asparagus just stared into his eyes. Then he stopped...Asparagus was slightly surprised that there was a trace of tears in the tall tom's eyes. Macavity dropped him and stumbled to the other side of the cell sinking down to the floor with his back to the door, and panting shakily while he glared at Asparagus, who was picking himself up and whipping the blood from his face.
Shockingly the small tom felt something stir in him as he watched the large and fierce cat struggle not to cry...And Asparagus remembered the day Dellalora died.
His mother had died that day too... He looked up at the younger tom whom had been his closest friend when they were young, and he blinked in sadness.
"I don't think you ever forgot." He rasped. "And I lost my mother that day too...I understand...But taking out all your anger and grief on others is not ok...Do you think she'd want you to be doing this? Do you ever think you will stop seeing blood on your paws? I know you do...I know what its like...You won't Mac." Asparagus murmured. He paused for a very long time before he shook his head sadly and looked at his paws then Mac who was staring at him with wide and pain-filled eyes. Asparagus sighed. "You could have come back a long time ago you know? But now perhaps you are too far gone." Asparagus sighed. He turned his back on Macavity and curled into a tight ball resting his head on his paws.
"Wh..what...?" Macavity stammered. Asparagus sighed again and closed his eyes.
"What ever happened to the Macavity I used to know?" He muttered. There was a long silence before he heard his door creak and he looked over his shoulder, only to find what was expected. Macavity's wasn't there.
That night, for the first time in years, since he was but a kit, Asparagus the Prodigy cat dreamt. But it was not really a dream...It was more of a memory.
Asparagus tumbled over and over, laughing with his best friend. His red fur shone sleek in the sunlight and his eyes glowed happily as he wrestled with his companion who shared a darker and fierier shade of his red fur. The smaller kit's blue eyes glowed warmly and the two rolled about, playfully batting at one another. Finally they broke apart trotting towards a towering oak tree and resting in the shade. They lay down and rolled onto their backs, watching the clouds through the leaves.
"Hey Aspy?" The smaller one murmured.
"Yeah?" Asparagus replied.
"Are we always gonna be best friends?" He asked. Asparagus rolled over and stared into the wide and unsure eyes of the kitten. Finally he nodded.
"We will. Forever." Asparagus promised. The smaller kit purred and wriggled closer to him. The two began pointing out clouds, when Asparagus looked at the other kit.
"Mac?" he meowed. The little kit looked at him curiously.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Is there....errrmmm...a queen you like at the junkyard?" He asked awkwardly, blushing a little under his fur. Macavity blushed too and looked away.
"Well...I don't know...Likia and Deme are ok I suppose...But I don't really like them...like that." He meowed in response. Then he looked at the other kit. "How about you?" He asked. Asparagus blinked, embarrassment rushing through him.
"No...err...I don't like queens..." he meowed. Mac rolled over and blinked at his friend.
"You mean you like toms?" Mac asked. Asparagus blushed and rolled away from his small friend.
"Maybe...I don't know...I just...." He sighed and glared at his paws. "It's stupid. You must think I am mental now." He muttered. Macavity rolled to his paws and padded close to his friend, pressing against his side again.
"It's ok. I don't think it's stupid...but you have always been mental." Mac teased.
"Hey!" Asparagus snorted. He leaped at his friend and bowled him over, and the two rolled across the grass, laughing.
Asparagus snapped awake panting. His ears flicked this way and that, and he gradually calmed himself again. He blinked, lowering his ears in sadness...What had happened to the old Macavity? And why did he hurt him so when they had been so close? For now, unfortunately for Asparagus, these questions would remain unanswered.