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THE JELLICLE CHRONICLES - LOST STORIES
THE DARK TWINS - PART ONE
By Dennis C. Callin (Rumblepurr)
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This story occurs somewhere in Year 15 - actual time unknown...
The night could have been anywhere, but the time would have to be under the stars and a full moon. The wind would have to whistle through bare limbs of trees, and rattle in the last vestiges of their dried and withered leaves. Somewhere, that same wind would have to find an opening where its passage creates a moaning sound - like the haunting spirit crying for its spent life. No rain - no, the Land would not need heaven’s tears at this point… The moaning of the wind would be enough…
“Chronicler?”
Rumblepurr looked up from his desk. Sitting on his desk was a loose-leaf notebook, and he was inscribing some notes into it while he had the chance. His fountain pen was poised above the page when he looked up. A black Tom stood just inside the doorway to his lair, a slightly amused expression curling his lips.
“Good evening to you, Nightchaser. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I see you have been talking with my parents,” the dark Warlock said, his head nodding at the notebook.
“How did you arrive at that determination…?”
“The opening paragraph you have written. If I were to guess, that is my mother speaking to you. Being female, she has a much deeper affinity for the Land. Father seems to bespeak the Air better than she does…”
“Perhaps the ability arises from their gender, my dear sir…” Rumblepurr said, wiping the nib of his pen on a towel, and then laying the pen down. “Your mother is of the birthing gender, and thus works best with that which is fertile. The Earth is filled with seeds and growing things, and is often referred to as the 'Earth Mother.’ All else would lie in your father’s realm. Are you truly able to read upside down?”
“No,” Nightchaser chuckled. “I can cast the same type of spell that Mistoffelees can where one needs to read what is unreadable. By doing so, I can turn the entire page to a point I can read it. I’m sorry if I intrude.”
Rumblepurr smiled. “I need no apology from you, Nightchaser. You have aided me often in the past. How can I be of help to you now?”
“The history of my parents… I am curious as to what they told you.”
“They have not so informed you?”
“Yes, they have, but maybe not the same way they explained it to you. Would you please? I can even make it so that your story is inscribed in the book while you read…”
The white tiger Tom looked at the page beneath his left paw, and then at his pen. “Well… I suppose that would be acceptable. After all, I have to transcribe the notes at any rate, and this would merely facilitate its transfer… Very well. Would you take a seat and be comfortable? I was just about to make some tea for Alta and myself…”
“Add one teabag for me as well…”
“I use a tea ball, sir… I prefer loose tea because of the tactile sensation of the diced leaves and the aromatic sensation of pouring the tea from the pouch…”
“And the aroma from the brewing and the taste of tea itself,” Nightchaser chuckled again. “The rumor that you are indeed sensuous is plain to see in this…”
“Queen Bomba being the instigator of this rumor, I take it?”
“Spot on,” Nightchaser laughed lightly. “I can heat the water, if you like?”
“I would appreciate it. That way, the tea will stay warmer longer…”
Nightchaser pointed at the teapot, and suddenly steam emanated from the spout. At that same moment, the heavy towel was pushed to one side and a beautiful black-white Tabby Queen came through, one hand on a pommel of one of her twin swords. She saw her Tom first, and the tired look dissolved into a gentle smile. At her entrance, Nightchaser turned, and her smile widened a little more.
“Good evening, Alta…”
“Chaser? You realize you just spoiled the activity I had planned, don’t ya?”
“I’m sure it can wait for a little longer,” he replied with a wide grin.
“Nightchaser would like to listen to my account of an interview with his parents,” Rumblepurr said, coming around the desk. Carefully, because of the weaponry she carried, he embraced her, and gave her (and received) a warm kiss. “If he does not mind, you can listen as well. Shall we all get comfortable?”
Picking up his notes and the notebook, Rumblepurr gave them to Altaica. As she went into the cubicle that was their sleep quarters, he went to the “kitchen” and began to prepare three cups of tea. Taking a small bottle from bricked area, he added a dollop of cream to each cup, and then poured the tea. Being a gentletom, Rumblepurr handed over the teacup on a saucer that he had found from a child’s tea set. Before bringing over his own cup and saucer, he placed the tea cozy close at hand, and then set the sugar bowl next to it. Nightchaser promptly placed a heaping teaspoon in his. Altaica took off her weapons belt, and placed it over a hook near at hand.
“His folks, eh?” Altaica said, a smile still gracing her lips. She took a sip and nodded. Tonight was a green tea blend that was supposed to calm her. As Rumblepurr sat down in front of her, she waited until he placed his notes just so before she pulled him back against her. “This ought to be worth the wait. Read fast, though, tiger. I don’t want to wait all evening.”
“I shall attempt to be brief, my dearest… I shall begin once again, and Nightchaser can add to the book where the story left off… The night could have been anywhere, but the time…”
The night breeze was apropos for the time known as Samhain. The Ancient People knew that this time of the year was special. The harvest time had come, and the ground lay fallow once again. Days became shorter and the chilling nights were beginning to descend upon the world again. On this night, the Gate to the Spirit World would be opened and the Dead would come to be with their kin…
In an old house in the Town, a dark tabby Queen was struggling to birth her kittens. The Humans who lived in the house had no idea who occupied their basement. During a particularly violent time the Humans still remembered, a badger had dug his den next to the foundation of the old house, and went undetected until the hostilities passed them by finally. Although the entry hole had been filled in, the den remained. In the basement, the bricks had shifted, and a hole opened between the badger’s den and the pantry. This hole was just enough for a cat to pass in and out without much notice. And so, the basement always seemed free of vermin… And because of this, the Humans never questioned their good fortune, and they left whatever lived there alone…
In the den behind the pantry, a party of Jellicles was trying to help the Queen in her labor. Without a Healer, the outcome of the birthing was fearfully becoming apparent… the Queen might lose both the kittens and her own life… However, the Queen who was dying was calm despite the pain she suffered…
“Corienna, please! You must hang on. Patches will come soon!”
The Dark tabby Queen grimaced as a contraction took her. “I… I cannot…”
She knew she did not have long to live. Although the others had gone out to find the Healer that wandered the area, she proved to be elusive. At one point, Corienna had doubled up, and fainted with the pain.
The Tom, a calico with mostly black fur, again squeezed her paws to distract her. “She’ll be here! I know she will! Hang on for my sake, dearest!”
“I am sorry, Padrig… The night is coming to its time… When the door opens, I am afraid I must seek it…”
“Mother,” a young Princess admonished quietly. “Don’t be so morose. You’re not going to die and leave me and Papa alone!”
“Jorinda, please… Our kind knows when the Silver Lady will have her Messenger visit us. I would not be surprised if he is not standing outside our door… Padrig? I don’t have much time… I fear the first of the kits will be my death, so I now ask what may be a very cruel act upon me. For all the love you had and ever will have for me, I ask you to take the other kit from my body, even if you must cut me in two…”
“Dearest, no! I could never desecrate you in that manner!”
“Padrig! Listen to me! You will have two sons by me tonight! The first comes to you willingly, but you must rescue the second if he to live. When my soul departs from my body, you will not have much time. He will follow me if you do not take him…”
Corienna panted as another contraction, more forceful than the others that it made her almost double in on herself. When she managed to stretch out again, she gripped his paw tightly.
“Honor me later… Promise me… you will rescue… our second son… The Land demands him of me, so do not let him follow me!”
“But… Beloved…”
“No, Padrig… I must have this of you…”
Heavy teardrops fell on their joined paws. “I… I would rather you lived… I would rather fight the ride you will take, or take it in your place…”
“I know, my love… You have always been so… But this is one time I must journey on my own… If I can… I will wait for you… Now promise me! Before I cannot… speak…”
“Aye… I will do as you asked… but I will suffer for it…”
“Jorinda?”
“Yes, Mum…?”
“Take care of your father… and your brothers… I will visit you on this night until we are joined as a family once more…”
“I will, mum…”
“The night’s planes are aligning… and the door is ready… Kiss me once more, my Beloved, as I give you my last…”
Laboriously, she turned enough so that their mouths pressed hard together. As his hand came down upon her breast, and cupped her, her body arched. The daughter, the only one to be at hand, watched as her first brother began his journey from his mother’s body… The head pushed through the vaginal opening, and then his shoulders came next. Free of the widest part of the small Tom’s body, the rest of her brother landed in the cloth that awaited him. Gasping with the release of the birth canal, the mother groaned, and then collapsed.
She sighed…
As her Mate continued the kiss, her last breath was inhaled into his…
And she relaxed into death…
“Father!”
Padrig did not want to release her. Instead, he blew the breath he felt enter him back into her body. The breath did not stay, and wafted free…
“No…”
“Father! You promised her!”
Daughter and Father looked into each other’s eyes, and she saw fear…
“She asked me to perform an abomination! To rip life from her is like taking the new growth from the seed before it’s ready!”
“Father, listen to me! Mum was Wicce! The Land knows her, and would not have even allowed her this if that were so! Do what you promised her, or the Land will abandon you!”
“Maybe I should let it… I let the Dark Cat take her!!!”
“It was her time! You promised her!!!”
The eyes of the daughter blazed with sulfur-yellow light, and he had to look away. But, the effect of the rebuke was enough. Looking down into the relaxed face of his Mate, he could hardly see her. Once more, now soothed from the pain she had borne the last quarter moon, her beauty had returned. How could he mar her body…? Even if it meant he saved another life inside her? He loved her…!
The basement door to the outside rattled as if someone tried the latch and it was locked. Padrig stared at it for a horrid moment as he realized what that door signified… The Spirit Door was about to open.
“Silver Lady! I do not want to do what I am about to do! Caretaker! Hold off the door until I am done… Forgive me, my darling… But you made me promise, and I cannot break it.”
Taking the sharp birth knife, he poised its blade tip above the bulge of her abdomen. His paw shook slightly as he debated where to strike… And then marveled…
As if the moon sent in a slender beam, a spot of silver appeared on his Queen’s belly. Before his eyes, he saw the point move in a semi-circle across her abdomen. Shutting his eyes briefly, he nodded. Opening his eyes, he placed the tip of the knife at the far end of the silver line. Gritting his teeth, he sliced the razor sharp blade across the Queen’s belly. Blood welled in the wound, but the heart had stopped, so there was nothing more… Deepening the cut, he soon found his way through the womb, and then took the second kitten from her body...
“Bless him, Silver Lady, this kitten that my Beloved ordered me to take! Let him be as the bulb one removed from the soil to be placed elsewhere. He is yours to bless or curse!”
For a moment, the kitten lay limp in his paws. For another moment, Padrig thought his second son would remain still…
And then the tiny body convulsed, expelling the liquid from its lungs. Free of it, the lungs refilled, and the next breath was a kitten’s wail!
“Gracious sakes!” a voice breathed outside the pantry. Moments later, a middle-aged calico Queen squeezed herself into the hole, and into the den. “I heard the cry…”
The Queen stopped at the tableau before her. Two Tom kittens, if her hearing had not failed her, lay squalling for milk in the daughter’s paws. The father of the two kittens turned solemnly as she came near.
“Patches?”
“I came as soon as I could,” she said softly.
Her reason for being late was cut short as the basement door blew open… A chill wind came through that door, and moaned throughout the room, and into the den beyond. Dampness breathed on them, and the door slammed against the wall. Just as violently, the door swung back, and banged shut… The wind, however, continued to rattle at its casing, as if to protest that it had not finished sweeping the dust from the room.
“Mercy!”
“No, Patches,” Padrig sobbed. “Mercy was far from me tonight… Corienna is dead, and I had to desecrate her… I’m doomed…”
“Let me see… Stand back… Child? Take your father aside, please…”
As Jorinda coaxed her father back, the Healer came near to the body of the Queen. The smell of blood and death was beginning to fill the den once more, and she did not have to test the body for any residue of life. The Healer knew… The Dark Cat had come already, and may have even been the one who had barged in and then out again…
Her examination was thorough, and she was grim when she stood.
“Padrig? Your Lady died when the first appeared. I am not sure that even if I were here, I could not have saved her. The blood vessel behind her womb could not stand the strain of the birth, and burst… She… bled to death within heartbeats of his entry into this world… Now listen to me… If you had not given her a Caesarian, your second son would not have survived. Without his mother to aide him, he would not have sought the same path his brother had taken. He would have followed his mother instead. The Land blesses you instead of cursing you. You did what you had to do. However… come with me… Child? Bring your brothers with you…”
Moving automatically, Padrig followed the Healer as she went out into the basement room, and then climbed the stairway to the door. Although his mind wondered about the door and how it could be opened, he stared dumbly at the portal as it slowly drew open at the approach of the Healer. Outside, rain was falling. The clouds that had skittered across the heavens at moonrise now obscured the silver sphere. The reason for the moist smell in the den was now explained.
“Child? Give the older twin to your Father… Padrig? The Silver Lady awaits you.”
“Wha…?”
Blindly through his tears, he looked up into the sky. Although the rain continued to lightly come down, the clouds parted for a moment… The full moon showed through. Staring down now at his infant first son, he understood… Raising the kitten to the moon, he managed to make it through the dedication…
“Silver Lady, Sister of the Land… Accept this, my first son… His name is Bluesmoke, because of his fur colors. Bless him, my Lady, and allow him to serve thee and the Land…”
As he held the kitten up, the silver-blue light of the moon seemed to send a bright ray to illuminate the tiny form. Although he had seen this happen with Jorinda, the blessing still filled him with awe.
As his daughter gave him the second of the two Tom kittens, and received the first back, Padrig wondered… and then cast his doubts aside…
“Silver Lady, Sister of the Land. Accept this, my second son, whom I name… Coricopat. In so naming, he is of his mother and of me… Bless him, my Lady, for the sake of his Mother, whom I pray you take to the Eternal Cat. Let him take my place and serve the Land… and Thee.”
Once more, the silver-blue beam darted forth, but this time, the light enveloped the infant kitten. Since his paws held the kitten, the aura surrounded them, and he screamed in pain.
~ Rest in Peace, my servant, ~ he heard a soft voice whisper in his mind. ~ I have heard your plea, and know of your Queen’s dedication. The Land knows of this pain and the sacrifice of the Mother. Therefore, the power that was of the Mother and the Power that is in you will be his… I must do so because of what you have done, but no more. You shall live until you are called, Padrig, no sooner... Your son, Cori-co-pat, will know the Waters since it rained when he was born. Let this be the tears that are shed, for mere mortal tears can never wash this sorrow away from here… I will take care of the Mother… M’Sahlaam… ~
Patches came to Padrig as the glow dissipated, and left him kneeling in the mud. As she took the kitten away from him, she gasped. From the wrists to the fingertips, his paws were burned black. (And as long as he lived, the fur that grew back was also black from then on…)
“Padrig? These kittens need milk and I know you don’t have it here. Come with me…”
“But… My Beloved…”
Compassionately, Patches nuzzled the grief-stricken Tom. “You heard the Silver Lady yourself, Padrig. Corienna has been taken care of… Let the living now take care of the living. Jorinda? Help your father…”
Rumblepurr looked up from his narrative, and then looked over at the page in the notebook. As Nightchaser had said, the words he had spoken were now on the page… and in his own handwriting. The words appeared the same - as if he had wielded the pen himself…
“Fascinating…”
“An old trick,” Nightchaser said in a whisper.
“But interesting nevertheless… Your father was very emotional when he told this story to me. I remember at the time that I thought it strange that he knew so much about his own birth. And then, he told me that his father, Padrig, told the details to him before he died…”
“There is one thing I don’t understand, tiger,” Altaica said, as she stroked her Mate’s chest. “Why is it Cori-co-pat, and not Cori-co-pad?”
Rumblepurr nodded, which made him aware that Altaica had placed his head against her breasts once more. He smiled faintly. “My dear? Padrig is Welsh for Patrick… ergo…”
“…Cori-co-pat.” Altaica finished with a resigned sigh. “I should’ve guessed…”
“To finish Coricopat’s narrative, Patches, our wandering Healer, took the family to a place more central to their needs - namely, the Junkyard where we are currently residing. At the time, however, this lot was one of several farms in the area. A few Jellicles lived here, and one Queen, who had just birthed her kitten, agreed to take them in, and feed the two brothers.”
“But we don’t have any record of a Jorinda or Padrig or even Bluesmoke, tiger. What happened to them?”
“Padrig wanted to be buried with his Mate,” Rumblepurr said quietly. “According to Coricopat, his father, sister and twin went back to the old house, and never returned. He does not know where they went after that, and why they never came for him. However, that does bring me to the second narrative, namely that of Nightchaser’s mother, Tantomile.”
“Before we start that, one question,” Nightchaser interrupted. “Did what my father say about his Dedication get recorded precisely how it happened?”
Rumblepurr sat up, clearly appalled, and almost offended, and immediately Nightchaser put up his hands to placate the Writer Cat...
“I apologize, I did not mean it to sound that way… However, it is important that I know that what you had said was what precisely happened.”
Not clearly mollified, Rumblepurr took his place once more in Altaica’s arms and against her breasts. “You have my word on it… Now may I ask why that is required?”
“That would explain the power my father has,” Nightchaser said quietly. “His birth would be considered unnatural by most of their order. To be taken from his mother’s womb should have robbed him of any affinity to the Land. But, because he was blessed by the Silver Lady in such a manner, he has not only his mother’s ability, but his father’s as well…”
“Which is why Padrig’s paws were burned…” Rumblepurr nodded. “His power was forced from him and given to your father…”
“That is what I suspect is true. The reason why this was important to know is that the Wicca - the male witch cat - is not as powerful normally as the Wicce - or female witch cat. The Wicca can command the Air and the Water Elementals to a certain degree, but their power is not as great as the Wicce. They rule the Water and Earth Elementals, and are very strong… By receiving the power of both parents, my father is almost equal to my mother… maybe even more powerful than my mother…”
Altaica shook her head. “I don’t get it…”
“That would possibly account for their twin-like behavior…” Rumblepurr said, massaging the chin stripes on his chin.
“Perhaps Mother herself can illuminate the reason,” Nightchaser motioned back to the notebook. “Let’s see what she had to say…”
Rumblepurr consulted his notes and found his place…
As the moon rose into the clouds, the farmhouse was playing to children around the countryside. At Samhain, the farmers and their families took turns holding the celebration for everyone. Before the sun was barely past the mid-day, the outer families would arrive with food both prepared and ready to be prepared. Pies, breads, meats, vegetables of all sort, and fruits as well as nuts were set on the large table in the dining room. Often times, the main table was never enough, and so the children would be seated at smaller places in the sitting room and even out on the porch. The wives of the farmers would begin the baking and roasting as soon as the sun began to touch the horizon. As the moon began to peek over the trees to the east, the feast was on! And the bounty of the table! If anyone came away from the table hungry at all, then they had not tried to get as much as they could…
In the barn, another feast was taking place, and of a different manner. If the Humans came from other farmhouses, then they would have been surprised at the other families that came from their barns. If they had seen them running across the fields, the Humans would have seen families of cats! In reality, these cats were truly Jellicles… Fortunately for the homebound Jellicles, their Humans had been chosen for the Samhain feast.
“Pshaw!” said an elderly gray tabby Queen to one of the relatives who had voiced that fact. “T’weren’t nuttin’ fortchunate aboot it! Twas fate, ye know!”
The Grandmamma promptly spat into the corner at a bothersome bug. The small family in the one bare stable chortled merrily as they prepared almost identical repasts for the guests who would be here soon. As they bustled about in their rustic 'kitchen,’ an event was taking place up in the loft. Hidden by hay bales and tarpaulins, a young mated pair was about to have their first kitten. The Tom, a dark silver male, nervously kept going from his Mate’s side to the edge of the loft so he could look down as those gathered below and back again.
“Why be so worried, my darling?” Tanglepaws said as she sat back in her pillow. “Our kind have been birthing kittens at all times of the day and all phases of the moon…”
“But it is Samhain, Beloved! The Spirit World comes close tonight…”
“And rain comes with it,” the blue-black tabby Queen chuckled. “Dearest! Please! Both Rain, moon and Samhain are natural, as natural as the birthing I am about to go through… However, if it will help calm you, see if Dustcloud is with the ones from Thistledowns.”
The brown-black Queen that Tanglepaws had mentioned was the area’s Healer. She was given her name because she looked like a mobile poof of dust that sparkled in a sunbeam. That, and she tended to sneeze periodically - as if the dust tickled her nose.
“But I don’t wish to leave your side…”
“Dearest,” the young mother-to-be giggled as she stroked her distended abdomen. “Until you find a purpose for your nervous pacing, you will not be happy - at my side or away from it. The little one within me is patient right now. She seems to be awaiting something…”
“Something?”
Tanglepaws nodded as the male shuddered. “My All… You knew what I was when you courted me, and won my heart.”
“I know, I know… I still can’t understand…”
“To be Wicce is very natural, my love… I allow myself to be close to the Land and to feel its powers and currents. Last Spring, I rejoiced in the renewal of the Land in all its growing season. I was fertile then, and you joined with me one night after I had meditated on the yielding Earth and the wombs of my sex. I desired you as well, and that is how our kitten was conceived.”
Her eyes closed and she shuddered. Her expression, however, was one of rapture, and she stroked the dome of her pregnancy.
“She knows something… During the Summer, the Land ripens and the seeds sown in the spring hasten towards their birth. I could feel her growing inside me. I even felt her soul enter her and call me 'Mother’… And now, my dearest one, the Autumn prepares for the delivery of its wealth. The seeds have ripened with their fruits, and the harvest comes. Prepare me, Beloved. Find Dustcloud and bring her to me. The Time is approaching when the Humans prepare the bonfires and the Door opens.”
“The Door?” The Tom cast dark looks through the open loft doors, and saw the full moon, pale and buttery, rising through the trees of the creek bordering one of the fields. Clouds nearly obscured it, but it peeked out for him and then disappeared. “Tangle? I truly don’t understand. I don’t have the powers you have. How could the kitten I gave you be like you…? For that matter… why’d you accept me…?”
“My All? Embrace me…”
The Tom reluctantly came back to her now, and eased down beside her. Tenderly, he placed his arms about her and drew her to him. As he did, her arms went around him, and she pressed her breasts and belly against him. Before he knew it, his paw was on the soft fur of her abdomen. Beneath the skin, and the thick wall of the womb, a kick of a tiny foot touched his palm. Her mouth then pressed hotly against his throat.
“You are Life, my Beloved,” she whispered huskily into his mane. “The Land reveres all of its creatures. You need not be Wicca to woo me and complete me. I saw the openness of your heart, and your desire to love with all of your being. How could I not want that? And your seed is nearing its harvest even now… Go get Dustcloud, my dear one… She would want to be my midwife, and I dare not disappoint her.”
Sharing a brief but warm kiss, the Tom eased reluctantly away from the warm Queen, and then bounded for the stairs that climbed into the loft. As he came down to the floor level, he found that half the countryside had already found the gathering. Easing between small groups, he finally found the dusty brown Healer with his Grandmother.
“Dustcloud? Thank the Silver Lady I found you…”
The brown Queen turned, and then smiled.
“Graythistle? I take it that Tanglepaws is ready to deliver?”
“Oy just tolds 'er aboots yer kitt, lad,” the old tortie Queen said when the Tom looked somewhat startled.
“Ah… Yes, she’s asking for you. Please, she’s up in the loft…”
Before the Healer could take a step, the old Queen touched her elbow. “We be ehxpectin’ company soon. Ye go bring dissun inta da wahrld, 'Ealer. Oy’ll sees ya laiter…”
As Graythistle drew the Healer away, Dustcloud kept looking over her shoulder as the old Queen ambled off into the yard outside. The breezes outside were beginning to stir, and a storm front was coming in, she could tell. Rain would be falling soon.
“What was that all about?” Graythistle asked as they began to ascend the stairs.
“Your Granny seemed to believe your kitten is going to be special and will attract others of her kind, is all…”
“Others?” The Tom shuddered.
“Aye. Your Mate is of the Land, is she not?”
“Yes… yes, she is…”
“Why be afraid of her? She said she is yours, I’ll warrant…”
“Yes…” He stopped and faced her. “Why did you ask that?”
Dustcloud smiled and shook her head. “Graythistle… You need not worry about your Mate or your place in her life. From my dealings with the Wiccan, you could have no one who would love you more. Does she call you her 'All’?”
“Yes, she does. Why?”
Chuckling, Dustcloud motioned him to keep climbing. “You are literally that, you foolish Tom! She loves you with every fiber of her being. Come… I must be there.”
As they continued up to the landing in the loft, the patter of raindrops began to be heard upon the rooftop. The rain was here at last, and he was glad he had this dry, old barn to live in. Guiding the Healer to the hay bales, he ducked into the crevice, and came to his Mate. Tanglepaws smiled warmly as he entered and then let the smile broaden as Dustcloud came in.
“My dear child,” the Healer said as she stooped down to kiss the Queen on the cheek. “Your Mate told me that I am required to perform my job here…”
“I didn’t tell her that…” Graythistle protested, and was shushed by a stern glance from Dustcloud.
“Well? Come, come… Let’s get to this,” Dustcloud then chuckled, and then positioned herself between the Queen’s thighs.
With her typical patience, Dustcloud coaxed Tanglepaws through the birthing, which did indeed turn out to be very routine. The mother did cry out a bit when the movements of the kitten’s passage started. The most startling event was a gust of wind coming through the open loft door. One half of the shutters came crashing into its casing, causing not only the small party in the loft to jump, but also quieted many down below.
“Wind and rain,” the Healer groused. “What a nasty way to celebrate Samhain…”
“Shame on you,” Tanglepaws chided with a giggle between her gasps. “The Elements are just greeting them…”
“Them?” Both Dustcloud and Graythistle glanced at each other before the impending birth drew the Healer back to the business at hand.
As the kitten slid free of Tanglepaws’ body, the barn shook gently. Graythistle looked around, his eyes a bit wide. “That wasn’t the wind!”
Tanglepaws grimaced slightly as her body began to relax, and the strain of the birth began to be felt. “The Elements include the Earth upon which this barn sits, my love. You cannot let Air and Water celebrate their births and not allow the Earth to join in…”
As Dustcloud gathered the kitten to Tanglepaws’ breast, Graythistle leaned in to both look at the small, dark calico kitten that he had sired, and to carefully ask his Mate…
“Their births…? What do you mean?”
“Be patient, my All… Everything will be answered soon.” She then looked past him. “Ah… The Silver Lady appears…”
Looking out through the loft doors, the clouds had parted to reveal the silver-white face of the risen moon. Although the little Princess kitten squalled slightly when she was taken from her mother’s breast, she quieted as Tanglepaws lifted her up to face the night’s orb.
“Silver Lady! I greet you with the firstborn of my body, and the ripened fruit of my All. I would ask thy blessing upon her, and give her to you in dedication to the Land. Receive Tantomile into thy service, dear Lady…”
Dustclould sat back for a moment, and nodded patiently at the words of the Dedication. Graythistle did not understand any of it, and was aghast when a moonbeam seemed to solidify around the kitten. A nimbus of silver-blue formed around the calm body of his daughter, who seemed to regally accept being held up, blind and still damp from her birthing, and subjected to something supernatural.
And then, he heard something that puzzled and frightened him even more…
~ Be at peace, my daughter, ~ came a sweet feminine voice that spoke inside the stillness of his mind. ~ This new daughter will be strong, and strengthened even more when the Other comes to her. Prepare for him. He will arrive shortly… ~
The moonbeam and the aura faded quickly, and left Graythistle wondering if he had imagined it. In the silence afterward, as Tanglepaws brought her daughter back to her breast, he still wondered how this extraordinary Queen could desire to be his…
“You still marvel at those things she and I take for granted?” Dustcloud asked quietly.
“Yes… Who is this 'Other’ the voice talked about?”
“We shall both know within the hour or so, I imagine,” the Healer smiled as she looked down at mother and kitten.
“You heard that voice, too?”
“Quite clearly. That was the Silver Lady. You might understand it more if I said the Earth Mother or the Spirit of the Land - it’s all one in a way… Our dear Tanglepaws knows her best as the image of the moon because it is a feminine clock in our nature.”
“She’s real?”
“You heard her voice, didn’t you?” Dustcloud held up her paws. “Never mind, my dear. Toms rarely understand this, and you are not dedicated to the Land. If you were, you would more likely hear the Caretaker since he is male. For now, know that your daughter is born, and your Mate is safe and sound. What I would like for you to do is go downstairs and look for a family coming in late. I believe they are bringing in a young one as well…”
The cryptic remark caused Graythistle’s head to cock to one side, but the Healer had gone to helping clean up the afterbirth. Seeing that nothing else was forthcoming, he gave his Mate a gentle kiss, touched his daughter with a hesitant paw, marveling once more at the events of this night, and then slipped once more down the stairs. He wanted to ask his Grandmother something, but she was in the middle of a set of older relatives. She did notice him, though, and made sure he saw her smile and nod as though she knew of his mission. Accepting a small bowl of fruit, cheese and meat, he went to the door and waited there.
The fruit consisted of a slice of apple, which was both sweet and tart, and several berries. As he expected, the cheese was mellow and complimented the fruit. As he savored the cooked meat, he wondered once more who this 'Other’ would be… And then, why was his new daughter connected with them…?
The rain came and went, seemingly in waves as the clouds moved slowly overhead. During a brief shower, he saw three figures - Jellicles from their shapes - moving towards the barn. A Tom carrying something in his arms, and then there was a young Queen and a Princess also carrying something from the looks of her… He made himself visible in the doorway, and shouted to them to come to the door. Soon the three were inside, and he could see what the Tom and the young Princess were carrying… newborn kittens…
Was one of these two the 'Other’ he was to expect?
** Dearheart… Bring them to me after seeing to their needs ** the gentle voice of his Mate seemed to whisper in his ear. Graythistle looked around him, but Tanglepaws was nowhere in sight. Shrugging his shoulders, he clearly could not puzzle over anything else right now.
“I’m Graythistle,” he told the small 'family’ as he directed them to some towels. “Welcome to our festival.”
“I’m Patches, a roving Healer. This is Padrig, his daughter, Jorinda and his new sons, Coricopat and Bluesmoke. We were told to seek out a new mother, and I was guided to this place. Is there such a Queen here?”
Graythistle was stunned - so much so that he stumbled back and promptly found himself sitting on his tail on the floor. The one called Patches was kneeling next to him heartbeats later with her paws on his chest and neck. Warmth spread throughout his body as she looked steadily into his eyes.
“I take it from your reaction that it is a 'yes’ to my question.”
“H-h-how did you know?”
“As I said, I was guided to come here. Padrig here was Wicca, and his Mate was Wicce. When you deal with them, you do a lot of things that sound farfetched, but are right in the long run. Other than having a lot thrown at you tonight, you’re fine… Where is she, Graythistle?”
“She’s up in the loft… I’ll… take you to her.”
“Is she your Mate?”
“Yes, Healer… How…?”
“In this case, I guessed. Jorinda? Guide your father…”
Graythistle looked at the Tom closely for the first time. The one called Padrig looked worse than he suspected he did. The Tom’s face was haggard; his ears were down and expressing sorrow and defeat; and he moved like an automaton. In his arms, the kitten seemed to be sleeping and oblivious to the world around him.
Shuddering again, Graythistle led the small family and the Healer up to where his Mate and his kitten waited with Dustcloud. As the came into the small enclosure in the hay, the Queen on her pillow smiled.
“I’m Tanglepaws. Please give the little ones to me. I imagine they are hungry.”
Woodenly, the Tom looked up, saw the paw reaching out to him, and then down at his son. Mechanically, he allowed Patches to transfer the kitten to the Queen. As the new Healer helped, the Queen maneuvered Coricopat onto her other breast. With the exception of Tanglepaws and Padrig, the others gave a gasp of wonder. Side-by-side now, the two newborns appeared like they could have been twins… Seeing that the little Princess had fallen asleep, Dustcloud exchanged Bluesmoke with her.
“Why I’ll be…” Patches said finally. “If I wasn’t sure of seeing the little Tom birthed in the house across the fields, and carried here, I’d swear you birthed him with your daughter, Wicce. She could be his sister…”
“Many will believe that also,” Tanglepaws answered cryptically, holding both newborn brothers to her breasts. Both male kittens suckled eagerly, and her smile made her face radiant. “I understand the Silver Lady now… He is the Other…”
“Wh…? What was that?” Padrig croaked.
“The Silver Lady told me to expect your son, Padrig. Both your son and my daughter were born at the same time in the rain… They are both blessed by the water elementals, and will be strong with the Land…”
“Then they are yours,” Padrig said wearily.
“Father, no!” the daughter, Jorinda, protested immediately.
“Hear me out… I cannot raise them without their mother. They need what they are receiving now. And because she knows of the Silver Lady, then she can teach them as well. I am no longer able to hear the Silver Lady, much less the Caretaker… She gave what I had to him… They stay here when we leave…”
“But, Father…?”
“No. My word is final…”
Patches reached out, and touched Padrig at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. In three heartbeats, he slumped, clearly unconscious. With a tenderness that was almost motherly, the Healer laid him back against a hay bale and covered him with a blanket.
“What troubles him, Healer?” Tanglepaws asked quietly.
“He lost his Mate in his birthing, Wicce. In the process of the son’s Dedication, the father also lost his claim to the Land. He gave it to his son, and the Silver Lady sanctioned it. I witnessed it with my own eyes…”
Tanglepaws gasped. “His paws…?”
Nodding, Patches stood. “Burned by the power transfer… I healed the skin, but the fur will need to grow out on its own. You can care for the son and his brother?”
“As if they were my own…”
“And your daughter?”
“She is fated to be with Coricopat, Healer. Although they appear as Twins, they are not so… He completes her and she him…”
“You…? You are invoking a bonding at this age?” Dustcloud asked incredulously.
Graythistle was looking from female to female, clearly not comprehending any of the talk. “Wait! What are you talking about?”
Her voice strong and almost commanding, Tanglepaws looked him straight in the eyes. “Trust me in this, my Heart. You will see this as they grow. Healer? I am sorry this came to pass, but I will raise his son in the service of the Land. He will be powerful and a true servant to both the Caretaker and the Silver Lady. The other, Bluesmoke, will be less than his brother…”
Patches nodded sadly. “As you will, Wicce… I am afraid Padrig would not have it any other way now. He will be mourning his Mate too hard for quite some time. In fact… I would not be surprised if he will want to leave as soon as he awakens. Do you have any other mothers with nursing kittens?”
“I am sure another one can be found below,” Tanglepaws nodded.
“In that case,” Dustcloud nodded, making up her mind, “then Bluesmoke will go with that mother. You cannot train all three of them… These two will be enough for you, Tangle. Let me go and find one who will take him after tonight. Patches? I will notify you of the mother and where she lives so that his family can find him if they wish.”
The calico Healer bowed as Dustcloud left…
Rumblepurr looked up from his narrative, and then glanced at the book. The final stroke of his magical pen had completed with a bit of flourish, and so he regarded Nightchaser with a trace of irritation. The Black Wizard grinned.
“A small affectation,” he chuckled.
“Indeed…”
Altaica chuckled and squeezed him slightly. “You mean to say that the Dark Twins were raised practically as brother and sister?”
“It would seem so,” Nightchaser shrugged. “That would explain the deep relationship they have…”
“And somewhat why they appear as twins,” Rumblepurr added. His statement perked Nightchaser’s ears, and brought Altaica around his shoulder to look directly at him.
“Tiger? Explain that one…”
“Both of Nightchaser’s parents were born within a couple of miles of each other at the same exact time. In certain occult ideologies, that would make them almost physically identical. Scientifically, that theory would be difficult to prove at best, but…”
“The Land…” Nightchaser nodded. “Rumble? The Land acknowledged them at the same time - from conception to birth. Twins and yet not… Small wonder they are as strong in the ways of the Land. They compliment each other. He is hers and she is his… closer than I ever thought possible. Thank you, Chronicler. I shall bother you no longer this evening…”
“I hardly consider you a bother, Nightchaser…”
“In this case, he’s right, tiger,” Altaica said, cutting him off. “We have other matters to attend to… right… lover?”
Rumblepurr’s left eyebrow rose slightly, and then he nodded. “Perhaps we can explore this revelation later, Nightchaser. I suddenly find myself fatigued…”
“By the time I see my parents, you will be, Chronicler,” Nightchaser chuckled. “Alta? I wish you a pleasant evening…”
“After you’re gone, I intend to… Say goodnight, Chaser.”
“Goodnight, Chaser.”
The Black Wizard grinned, and disappeared in a shower of white sparkles.
Altaica leaned over slightly, pressing her breasts against Rumblepurr’s head, and began unbuttoning his vest. He turned just enough to look up at her.
“You truly are stimulated, my dear?”
“Do I usually do this when I’m not?”
Reaching up and around her neck, he unbuckled her collar. As it came undone in his paws, she turned her head and deeply kissed him… Heartbeats later, his collar lay entwined with hers, and his vest lay folded in a niche of the bricks that made up some shelving.
Later, still shivering from the exertion of their lovemaking, Altaica lay with her body spooning Rumblepurr’s. Her head rested on his shoulder, and her tail was loosed twisted in his. Her fingers idly played with the fur in the center of his chest.
“Rumble?”
“Yes?”
“Do you realize how totally weird that whole bit was?”
“I take it you are referring to the interview?”
“No, I was talking about that move I made on you about two-thirds of the way through our lovemaking…”
“Altaica…”
“Rumble, come on… To be declared bonded practically after they were born? That’s even strange when you’re thinking about someone who’s already as strange as it is.”
“In their way of Life, my dear, the determination of a soulmate is very simplistic for them to detect. Obviously, Tanglepaws knew this from her Dedication vision, and expected a newborn son to be brought to her…”
“That Padrig guy brought in TWO kitts, my darling. How’d she know which one was going to be…? Wait…! I know that without going any further. She saw that Cori had the same colors as Tanto, right?”
“Logically correct, Altaica.”
“One of these days, I swear you’ll answer me with a simple yes or no, and I’ll fall over dead of a heart attack!”
“Then I shall endeavor to continue to answer with an elaborate affirmative and negative, so as to prevent such a fate from occurring.”
“Ohhhhhh!” Altaica growled, and grabbed his cheek fur with both hands so she could kiss him hard and long. Releasing him, she stared down into his eyes. “You enjoy doing this to me, don’t you!”
“I must say that anticipating your reactive frustration to this line of jovial pursuit is very entertaining, my dearest…”
Altaica sat up abruptly, reached behind her, and came back with a sock pillow, which she slammed across his chest. His eyes narrowed.
“How dare you strike me when I was unarmed!”
“Grab a pillow, then, dahrling…” she grinned mischievously back at him.
Bringing his chin up, Rumblepurr reached behind him…
“A little more to the left, tiger…”
Not taking his eyes off of her, he finally snagged the second sock pillow. “What are the rules to this combat?”
“In a pillow fight, there are no rules, tiger! Defend yourself…”
Outside, Benoni and Amanda were just about to knock on the panel when the sounds of a scuffle sounded within the den. His knuckles paused just short of the wood, and he canted an ear to the crack between the blanket door and the crate.
“What’s going on?” Amanda asked, clearly concerned. “It sounds like…”
“A pitched battle,” Benoni finished. “That’s so unlike mum and dad…”
“Should we, uh…?”
Then, Altaica’s laughter rang out clearly behind Rumblepurr’s growl. Benoni grinned.
“No… I say we… uh… go back home…”
“But…”
“Trust me, Mandy. Nothing’s going on but two adults acting like kittens again.”
Amanda stared at the covered doorway as Rumblepurr’s “Hah!” was cut short and Altaica’s laughter rang out again.
“Dear, come on…”
“But…”
“I’ll tell you back at our place… Come on, or my mother will come out here and take us both on…”
“But your dad…!”
“I’d tell you to See, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. Come on…”
“But…”
Benoni came up behind Amanda, and the sound of his open palm connecting with her bottom interrupted a game of Ball. Her scream of agonized protest caused Caesar to lose his concentration, and the ball pounced off his head.
The charcoal tabby was already heading toward the Garden section of the Yard by the time Amanda recovered and started after him.
“WHEN I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU…!!!”
On the tire, Electra shook her head. “I don’t know which one of them is more of an idiot. Benni or Mandy…”
“Come on, Leccy,” Pouncival snickered. “That was a love tap, and you know it…”
“You mean like this?” She leaned over, and cuffed an ear.
“Hey!”
“That was a love tap, Pounce,” the rust-colored Queen said in mock sweetness, and then stood up. “HEY! SAGA! That type of tackle is illegal!”
Tumblebrutus shook his head now. “And this from a Queen who used every dirty trick in the book and then some…” He stopped as Electra leaned over him.
“You want a love tap, too, Beloved?”
“No, dear…”
***** Finis *****
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