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Three more kittens have been kidnapped, Moriolap, Ratterclack and Sazoimun, but the Jellicles have also successfully captured one of the catnappers and one cat was successfully saved before he could be taken to.. wherever the rest of the cats are being kept. The rescued cat never made it to the lair of the cats and cannot reveal more information than that it is somewhere in the park found downtown.

With some of the tribe youth gone missing now and more information available to them, Vaertun has called the search parties back to the Junkyard. With helpful cats keeping an eye on the caught catnapper, he waits for those brave cats still wishing to help to return to the Junkyard.

{To participate.. you only need to join in the RP. You may have cats join in later in the game, but now is when they should start arriving or be waiting around for direction.}

Vaertun sat a top a tire near the center of the Junkyard, keeping an eye on things but also watching for the familiar faces. Part of him worried that more would be missing, any kitten was too many. But one pushed from a tree and carried off.. it was alarming. His attention was caught by the young kitten that wandered in, and he stood up, worried but reassuring himself by remembering they were in the Junkyard, the safest place to go if you were a Jellicle. He hoped that would be enough to keep him safe.

His attention was caught by the distressed mother when she ran up, announcing the disappearance of two of her kittens as well. He breathed deeply, offering a sympathetic look to the poor mother.

"We're doing our best, we'll find them," he offered, thinking better than the mention directly to her that they had one of the cats responsible for the catnappings with them in the Junkyard. As cats began to gather, he tried to organize his thoughts.

*



Among the cats wandering into the Junkyard came a spotted cat with wide brown eyes, she looked concerned and took a place by herself near in the midst of the group. Her eyes went to the poor mother who'd lost some kittens, her ears turned as she listened to the worried words from the group. By all accounts, she seemed eager to help.

*

Vaertun stood, nodding his welcome to cats as they joined in the group. There were many of them, he was glad to have their help.

"I'm sorry to call you all here under such sad circumstances," he called out, addressing all of the cats present, "We now have confirmation that the missing cats were catnapped, there are evil cats, those not welcome to our tribe, operating from the park. We have found one cat but now three- three of our own, three kittens have been taken as well."

He did not look at Inatarni when he continued, but he was alert to any reaction.

"We have captured one of the catnappers, thanks to Gambidoro-" he nodded to the gumbie cat gratefully, "And Raiteign-" he did not see the other cat around, but continued, "We haven't gotten any information from him yet, but we are hopeful. We need to work together, all of us, no more small groups.."

Inatarni chewed her lip and rubbed her forepaws together, but she knew Vaertun could promise nothing more. So, she nodded and took a step back to be with the crowd, nodding to the brown female with darker brown markings in thanks for her kind thoughts.

But! Three kittens missing? Oh how cruel could the world be? Who else was the unlucky parent? The black cat craned her neck around, trying to see if there was anyone else as maternally worried as she. The news of a captured catnapper went right over her head for the moment.



Antallian licked his mate's ears and kept a hard eye on the crowd. It sounded as if Vaertun was getting ready to lead them into battle. He only hoped it would be enough to stop the evil cats and get their kittens back.



Messilika's eyes narrowed. A Gumbie had managed to capture one of these catnappers? She couldn't think much of this group if they were so easily caught. But...perhaps once this massive group moved out, there would be an opportunity for a pair of enterprising and devious cats...



The park, hmm? And why would this group of cats choose that as their base of operations? Certainly it had advantages...but there were also disadvantages as well. Mittorien wished briefly that he had taken the time to explore the place months ago, that he and his mate might have an easier time infiltrating in the near future.



Satinnfes swallowed uneasily and began a cursory cleaning to calm his nerves. Kittens had been captured by these evil cats. No wonder Mom and Dad had wanted them to stay home. But...one of the enemy had been captured! They should question him and find out where Satin's brothers were! He almost voiced the suggestion himself, but then remembered that his parents were there...and he wasn't supposed to be.



Effiltenik's eyes narrowed as Vaertun talked about the cats who were not at all part of the Jellicles. She could think of a pair right away who fit that description and who wouldn't have any qualms at all about catnapping kittens. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised to find her parents here, trying to be sneaky. Eff began scanning the crowd of cats, looking for a stunningly brown and startlingly white pelt.

"No kittens," Vaertun said sternly, looking at Vulf with a very serious look. He could see the kitten didn't understand, wasn't worried, but he would never put another kitten purposefully in danger. He was distracted, though, when Inatarni gestured to a feline sitting in the midst of the group.

"Me?" she asked, surprised by the sudden attention upon her, it wasn't evident just how accusatory the remark was meant to be but it certainly didn't come off as a simple question, "I'd be careful who you accuse, I know a cat who matches you who's caused her share of trouble." Her ears turned when one of the others confirmed the likeness, her head soon turning to look at who spoke this time.

The dark female and striped male also turned, keeping their eyes on the ones who spoke. The male was distracted momentarily by the nearing kitten, a grin crossing his face as he realized.. it was another one of the bony cats. About the same age, matching colors, it had to be another brother. His eyes wandered around the group, everybody was distracted, perhaps he could get away.. two already, now a third, right under the noses of his parents. He couldn't resist!

Until he felt more eyes on him, the gumbie noticed him. The troublesome gumbie who'd gotten his pal. Still, the tom was nearer the edge and between most of the group and the kitten he so wanted to snatch.. he would have to be careful but it could still be done!

Inatarni went rigid with shock and outrage. "How...how dare you! I no longer have anything to do with that wretched creature who bore me!" The black cat was hissing and spitting, red eyes narrowed on the spotted female.


"Calm down, Ina!" Antallian tried to lick his mate calmer, but she only shrugged him off. So, he began trying to at least force her to lie down, so that maybe she wouldn't attack the stranger. "Fighting among ourselves isn't going to solve anything, you know that, right?"


Hmmm. Perhaps the time had come to act. But, why reveal herself when it seemed there were others in the crowd to act for her? They seemed eager to make war upon themselves...but.

But there was still the dark cat beside her. Messilika fixed her neighbor with a look and added a questioning headtilt towards the shouting to gauge the other.


A nasty smile curled around Mitorrien's lips. "How do we know that, Eskeleta's Daughter? Do you really think we can trust you, given your parentage?"

Almost before his shouted words faded away, the white tom was slipping sideways through the crowd, off to another place to sit, where he might cause even more trouble and sow more dissension.


The young cat was shaking nervously now as he listened to the accusations fly, most especially the ones about his mother. What was going on? He knew his mother didn't talk much about his grandmother, but that didn't mean she was evil...did it?

The cat opened his mouth to defend his mother when he remembered once more - he wasn't supposed to be here. Oh...damnit. Now what could he do?


Effiltenik started as she heard a very familiar male voice. Eyes narrowed she scanned the crowd further as she cried out to the rest. "That's it! Not everyone here is a Jellicle! We should look for a white tom with two big black spots and a black tail also!"

Aeryomant trotted up behind his parents. He sat with them quietly, listening with concern on his face. He wouldn't have come tonight at all, but he felt it was important that he do something. But he would not travel alone, not with all this insanity going on. It was interesting to see how many cats had shown up - few he knew by name OR sight. He began to purr to calm himself. This was one of worst things he'd ever heard of. He lowered his eyes in sadness.

Vaertun knew enough about the family, he knew not to trust the white tom and he tried to keep an open mind and heart for those unfortunate creatures born to the ones who could not be trusted. He trusted Inatarni. For now, he had some trust in Effiltenik. Were she truly on the side of her father, she would certainly not be called out by him that way. She might call him out for some devious reasons, but a daughter on the side of the Jellicles was more valuable than a daughter on your own side in the midst of the Jellicles.

"Don't listen to him," he warned, "We can't trust what he says."

The spotted female backed away as the attention turned entirely away from her. She glanced to those cats advancing on the white male, and back to where the brown female was also now standing. Then she looked around the whole area before slowly inching back from the group, turning to walk around the outside of the group.

The striped male moved in on the white tom who was laughing at the rest of them, still trying to blend in with the group. The dark female had nothing better to do than keep her eyes on the rest of the group, she didn't particularly like the even perspective Xatakwa took, reasoning out nearer to the truth than the rest of them. She saw the spotted female start to move, made a face and turned around herself. She weaved around the red-nosed feline near her and moved along from the outside of the group as well.

Mitorrien couldn't have stopped laughing if he tried as the Jellicles surrounded him and advanced even closer. It was too sweet. He had no doubts that he could - and would! - escape their custody, but for now he would buy time for his mate and attention from the rest of the non-Jellicles in the crowd. A good day's work, and all thanks to his misguided daughter.


The dark cat and some of the other somewhat suspicious looking cats were now moving towards the outside of the group. Messilika made up her mind and followed her former neighbor. If her hunch was correct, the female would eventually lead her to some allies against the Jellicles. And that...would bring her dreams of destroying the Jellicle tribe one step closer to reality.


Satinnfes wasn't even sure what was going on anymore and he too rose and headed for the knot of cats weaving around the white tom. All he knew was that there was safety in numbers, especially for young cats (he refused to call himself a kitten), and most of the cats were now over there.


Antallian was having some success getting Inatarni to calm down, mostly because the crowd was now attacking the white tom (both physically and verbally), when he saw familiar boney markings in gold on white on a tail as it disappeared into the crowd.

Oh...please no. The white cat screwed his eyes shut and hoped he hadn't seen what he'd just seen.


Inatarni panted, winded for the moment, as she watched the cats around her move, trying to pick out which one (or ones) might have stolen her babies away. She would get them back. Even if it was the last thing she did. Even if it meant becoming her mother's daughter once again. The black cat winced away from the thought, but it didn't change the fact that she, as a mother, would do whatever was necessary to get her precious kittens back.

It was probably a good thing Antallian didn't know her well enough to know what she was thinking. She knew he would be disappointed in her.


Now it was Effiltenik's turn to freeze in shock. Vaertun wasn't calling anything out about her, at least, but she was fairly certain the leader recognized her as Mitorrien's daughter. Which meant that he likely wouldn't trust her completely.

Shoulders slumped in depression, Eff lay down where she was, praying that all the insanity that she'd unknowingly helped create stopped soon...and without her being kept in the same place as her father. The search for her mother was forgotten.

Vulf's cry might have gone unnoticed, but the concerned Jellicle leader was quick to realize the kitten was still about and active in the investigation. Nevertheless, Vaertun turned to see what he was pointing out, seeing just the stand made by the striped female before very suddenly he was on the ground.



Very suddenly upon the tire, the familiar pair of spotted cats successfully made their ambush. With all the Jellicles so concerned with what was going on on one side of the Junkyard, the other side was mostly left to any who might take advantage of it. It was all too easy! The white and spotted tom stood on the old striped Jellicle, holding his head down against the tire with ease while the tan tom stood smirking down at the Jellicles.

The striped male was well aware of the fact he was being followed but even he was distracted when suddenly there were more cats on the high part of Junkyard, holding down the silly leader. He stopped, bracing himself but looking back for the reaction in the group.

The spotted female ignored Purrattica, looking up at the spectacle on the tire with a giddy laugh.

Inatarni was blind to the growing commtion behind her, focused only on her victim. She knew something was happening behind her as the striped tom stopped to look. That was her chance! The black female put on another burst of speed and launched herself at the enemy cat, claws and fangs outstretched to do the most damage possible.


Antallian was watching his mate speed away with a lost look on his face when he heard the ruckus behind him. Turning swiftly, he gasped to see Vaertun on the ground at the mercy of the two spotted cats someone had warned about earlier.

"No!" he whispered in disbelief.


Mitorrien was still laughing, though he was beginning to wheeze as well from laughing so hard that he needed more air, and of course from being somewhat squashed under other cats. He had no idea what was going on, but it was all part of the joke anyway.


Satinnfes managed to push through the crowd and the first thing he saw...was Vaertun's face on the ground, and a strange spotted tom standing on the Jellicle leader. The young cat was frozen once more with shock and hoped that the spotted cats wouldn't notice him because he really didn't want to try and fight his way through the crowd again.


Effiltenik raised her tearstained face to see the most horrific sight imaginable - a pair of unknown cats holding Vaertun captive. "No, stop!" she called out. "They've got Vaertun! They've got the Jellicle leader!"


Messilika watched the spotted cats and the dark female from the shadows and smiled her approval. She doubted this little arrangement would last long...but it held a great deal of promise. Perhaps she should consider revealing herself...no. She was certain the Jellicles outnumbered those who were not in their tribe at this moment, and Mitorrien had already been taken. There would be no outbursts from her this day, unless if it was absolutely necessary.

Aeryomant heard the cries of triumph from above him and saw Vaertun tackled by a pair of cats. His mind began to race - those no-good cats were attacking the Jellicle leader! And with no one else paying attention they may really hurt him!

Looking around for any sort of object he could use, he realized he was sitting upon a VERY unstable tire. Sure he was rounder than your average adolescent kitten - but really, that might make all the difference in the world.

Jumping up to a higher tire in the pile, Aeryomant calculated his leap for a moment, then jumped as hard as he could on the edge of the loose tire he had been on moments before. There was a horrible squeak as the tire pile shivered, and then the tire came loose with a pop. Naturally, Aeryomant was going along for the ride, which he hadn't really thought through.

All he could do was hope that the tire would hit the spotted cats and leave Vaertun unscathed.

With someone before her, the spotted female knew she'd been discovered as soon as she heard the one who stood up for her and then to her call out for help. That was not where her concern was, though. Neither was it with Messilika and her .. offer to join forces, perhaps. No, now that there was some space between her and the cats surrounding her she moved quickly. She leaped away, clambering for the pile where the tan tom had been run over.

The white tom and the Jellicle leader landed at the bottom of the pile of junk, taking a fair amount with them, which was a hindrance to the white tom, especially when more came flying his way. Unfortunately, the fall did not put much distance between him and Vaertun. He was about to get up, aiming to shove his way to the currently motionless old tom when a cat came flying at him. She effectively freed him from the junk but left him with another problem, the cat on top of him.

The striped tom fought furiously with the dark female before finally giving her a good shove and freeing himself, but not without leaving a fair chunk or two of fur with the female. He got to his feet, very distracted from what was going on with his side of the fight.

"Good kids, your sons," he commented, clearly taunting her, "Not too bright, though. Off on their own, picking fights with those that they ought not to pick fights with! And then after those two dark ones get 'napped, the pale one shows his face here." He didn't know if she realized Satinnfes was here, but he was glad to point out that he had noticed.

Hmm...perhaps not quite yet. Messilika was careful to move stealthily towards another hiding place, in case the spotted female decided to leave her to the mercy of the Jellicles. Well, it would be mercy, but it would delay her plans futher. Idly, she wondered if the spotted female was mated to one of those toms.


Inatarni spat out the mouthful of fur she'd gotten and hissed at her enemy again. She began circling until he started talking about her sons. Pupils constricted to pinpricks, the black cat launched herself at the striped tom once more, not even paying attention to the meaning of the words coming out of his mouth. Those were her children and he was throwing their disapperance in her face!

The black female was quickly lose all touch with reality and her world narrowed to herself and her enemy. Somewhere deep inside, a feral kitten reared her head and lashed out. Inatarni's attacks grew more savage and her tricks became dirtier as the fight went on.


Antallian shook his head again to clear it and looked around. There was still chaos in the direction where Vaertun and the spotted tom had tumbled, something was going on with a spotted female...and there was next to nobody by the laughing white tom. Relieved to find something he could do, the white and gold male went over and sat squarely on the non-Jellicle. This way he could go nowhere at all.


Mitorrien's laughter faded into wheezes as a large tom sat right on top of him. He thought about getting mad, but that would serve little purpose at the moment. Instead, he held his paw where he could see it and the other male couldn't and flexed his claws to make certain of their usability.


Satinnfes wasn't thinking much more than his mother at this point, and he threw himself at the white spotted tom who'd attacked Vaertun, almost totally unaware of the cat on top of the tom. He didn't know for certain what he could do...but he had to do something!


Effiltenik was so overwhelmed...she had no idea what was going on anymore. Tears streaming, the brown cat ran for the Junkyard entrance, hoping to simply get out of the chaos the meeting had dissolved into.

The white tom was so close to the fallen Jellicle leader but it wasn't working out in his favor. There was too much attention on him, too many cats crowding the way. Nobody made any direct movements towards him so he took advantage of the opening and launched himself for Vaertun, landing and this time digging his claws in. Vaertun was half buried, not having had time to get himself dug out, he struggled to push himself out and up but the white tom was large and positioned well enough. But his movement gave clear sign that the fall had not harmed him seriously.

The tan tom hissed viciously at Purrattica, not liking the attention she was trying to draw to them. He stood his ground, trying to keep himself between anybody who might approach and the spotted female behind him. Meanwhile, the spotted female, seemingly reassured of the tan tom's well-being, took a look around, taking a quick survey of just what was going on now. Such a delightful mess!

The striped tom was working hard to keep up with the dark female attacking him but his motivation was considerably lower than hers. He was only out for amusement, for whatever trouble they might cause for the Jellicles, to do as he was instructed.. this queen was fighting for her kittens, was a mother suffering a loss. A temporary loss, but he certainly wasn't going to let that information slip!

He kicked out and used his head to try to push her fang away from his neck, even though it put his eyes and nose in a dangerous spot. Though his breath was heavy and slow from the effort, he managed a manic laugh.

"Beating me won't get your kittens back," he taunted. Passion, motivation, fury.. they made for good tools in a fight but were quick to blind you from the big picture and to keep you steady and sharp enough to realize weaknesses- both of your enemy and the ones you left open to them.

Half of Inatarni's attacks were no longer because she wanted her kittens back. The other half were just her desire to rip him to shreds and otherwise destroy him. Even killing, if that would satisfy her rage. The black cat really didn't care anymore...


Mitorrien took advantage of the pain he had caused to get to his feet and survey the situation. The gathering had largely dissolved into a few dedicated spots of fighting - there was likely little he could do to gather information that Messilika wasn't already doing, and he had been IDed to the Jellicles as a whole. It was the white tom's turn to exit Junkyard right.


Antallian was too slow on the uptake to stop Mitorrien and he looked around desperately for something he could help with. His eye fell on a familiar white tail with a gold bone pattern near the white tom attacking Vaertun. Antallian bulled his way through the crowd of cats and expertly grabbed his son by the scruff of his neck.


Satinnfes was gathering himself to leap on the white tom when suddenly something grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. The young cat yowled and tried to scratch, but it did no good, he was caught fast. "You dirty catnapper, I'll shred ya for this!" he yelled. He managed to crane his neck around and - oh - saw a very familiar face looking at him less than happily.

The young cat stopped fighting and adopted a sulky attitude. "I was doing just fine until you grabbed me," he pouted.


Messilika continued watching, noting as her mate made his escape. So, it would be up to her to stick around until the end, if only to see what went down. She returned her attention to the Jellicle leader's fight...was the white tom trying to kill Vaertun?

And if so...who would then be the new leader? A very interesting question indeed.

The white tom was quite surrounded, having little chance of defending himself against so many cats. He howled in pain as he felt some fur near his tail rip out and the cold feeling of blood dampening the exposed skin and near fur. With two cats, Cres and Gambi, upon him, he only had one hope-- and that was to lie still. He became motionless, though tense, and turned his face into the junk as he hoped to end the assault upon him.

Vaertun was shaky but he pushed himself into an upright position. The fall wasn't good for him, he certainly would be walking with a limp for a while. The call from the spotted female was what finally forced him into conscious action once again. Purrattica was right, the spotted queen was the leader here and it was her call that made it an absolute certainty. His vision was blurry and he wouldn't be any good, but he turned to those near him, hoping to get their attention.

"N-no!" he cried, "Get her, stop her!" The evil cats upon them now had no kittens for the Jellicles to take, and they would not take them if they did.. they had to use something else, turn the same ploy back on them. Aim for the leader, just as they had targeted him.

The dark female was oblivious to what else was going on, her goal was to keep the striped cat busy so the two spotted cats who were otherwise being left alone could get away. She dug her claws in and tried to keep them moving. She ignored the pain she felt, trying to return it.

The spotted female was already on her way out, stopping once she was at the bottom of the pile only to look back over her shoulder to check on the spotted tom she'd left behind. He wasted no time now that the dark female had caused a distraction and slid down the pile to go with the spotted female. They saw Regallegro heading their way but one cat was better than many, so they kept moving.

The striped male could feel Inatarni dig deeper, hold tighter, but he had to get away. He tried the same thing that had subdued Ratterclack and Moriolap, and that was to roll over. It was far from easy, of course, but it was something. He rolled them along, gritting his teeth through the pain as he attempted to pull himself free, dragging her claws through his skin with every bit of success he managed.

As the spotted queen went, so did Messilika, though the solid cat was much stealthier than the spotted. Then again, the red-nosed female had a lot more to lose by being seen in the Junkyard than the other cat.

When the spotted cat glanced back, Messilika had to wonder if one of the other non-Jellicles that had shown up tonight was her mate. If so, they clearly didn't have the same kind of partnership she and Mit had, she thought with a sniff.


Antallian kept a steady eye on the proceedings, but saw nothing that he could truly help with...without getting in the way. He sighed. Ina always had told him he was useless in a fight.


Satin was sulking when he realized that the bad cats were trying to run away! And some were succeeding, but Mom was keeping one of them here! "Go Mom!" he cried out. "You can do it!"


Inatarni was deaf and blind to everything but her battle. The striped tom was clever, she admitted, as he rolled over and over again, but he was a fool to think she would be so easily pried loose. The black cat kept her claws fixed in the striped cat and hissed at him. He'd have to try a lot harder to get out of her grasp.