The Theater That Remained Unseen [ORP]

[Atraielees]

It had been almost a week since Milly had first found the old abandoned theater. After escaping the high class pet shop (a feat she owes to her claws, teeth, and a lazy employee) she found herself roaming the New York City streets for two days. Milly really surprised herself with her ability to survive, having been in captivity all her life. She made it. However, a week of living off scraps from the back ally dumpster, and being for the most part all alone, Milly was not sure if she was going to stay in the old theater or keep moving. The thing that kept her there was the feeling of importance the building seemed to have. No humans ever entered it, in fact it seemed as if they had no interest in it ad forgot it was there moments after they saw it. It reminded Milly of a place one of the pet shop cats had told her about. A construction site that never seemed to be on any human's list of things to finish. It was the meeting place of their tribe...Jillibls...Jellicles...something like that. Milly thought he was out of his mind. A purebred persian whose owners sold him to the shop in a moment of economic stress. He thought he was part of some magical coalition or something. What's weird was he told her she was one of them...a Jellicle or whatever. Still, she could not shake the feeling that there was something to this place. Like something big was about to happen. So she stayed, sleeping up top the appropriately named catwalk, and waiting.

[Pippin]

Maverick made his way stealthily through the rafters of the old theater, a favorite hiding space of his when he wanted some time to himself or to spy on the other kits that had made this place their home. It was an odd sort of thing to think of this place as home, but since he had run away from his own, from what had happened there, it was as close a thing to it as he had found yet. Besides, even if he did feel that he didn’t quite fit in here, it was a warm place with other cats around, and he felt a safe place if need be in a pinch. There was something curious about the place, almost like a tangible energy, though that sounded silly even to him. Everyone else would probably think him crazy if he brought it up.

The small, charcoal tabby turned the corner towards the catwalk, shifting his thoughts to what he might find to occupy his time for the afternoon. The older cats in the theater had told him he was too young and inexperienced to go out hunting or to help with other ‘important’ matters (though Maverick had to mentally stick his tongue out at this. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.), and he hadn’t really made friends with any of the kittens his age yet. As such, he was left with a whole lot of nothing to do this afternoon. He scrunched up his nose in distaste for the whole situation as he hopped up onto the catwalk rail. Up ahead, he noticed what appeared to be a young queen (though older than himself) sleeping on the catwalk proper. ‘Bingo’ he thought to himself, his expression melting into a rather mischievous grin as he suddenly found something to peak his interest. Crouching low, he did his best to stay quiet as he approached the unsuspecting female, his bright blue eyes fixed on a spot somewhere around the middle of her back. When he had reached a suitable proximity, he tensed up and pounced, landing squarely beside the queen with his paws outstretched towards her back with a cry of “Aha! Gotcha!”.

[Atraielees]

Something had landed on Milly in her slumber. She screeched and jumped up. Luckily she did not fall but she instinctively got into attack position. She hissed and bared her teeth, then she noticed it was only a cat, younger than her and male.
She did not exit attack position but said, "What the hell man??!!?"
Slowly she relaxed and sat down.
"I haven't seen anyone else here before, wasn't exactly expecting company."
Milly glared at the little guy.

[Pippin]

Though Maverick had fully expected and anticipated that she would be frightened or surprised by his sneak attack, he was not expecting the screech that emanated from the previously sleeping queen. His eyes went wide and he scrambled backward, startled himself, nearly tripping over his own tail in the process. He shrunk back slightly at her rather offensive posture, hoping that he had not just made a serious mistake that might negatively affect his future health. “Geez, sorry,” he said as she began to relax, his voice quiet, “It was just a joke.”

[Atraielees]

"Yeah, well be careful next time, I almost tore your head off."
Milly relaxed even more and began to groom herself, almost ignoring the tom. Finally she spoke again.
"So what's your name kid? I go by 'Milly' a lame human given name, but whatever." she said, feigning indifference.
Milly got to her feet again and started to pace the catwalk.
"This place, it's kinda weird, isn't it? I keep waiting for something to happen, ya know."

[Pippin]

Maverick nodded silently, thinking the same thing in regards to his head. He, too, relaxed as he saw that the older queen was over his fright and any agitation it had caused. Circling around her side, he made his way over to the edge of the catwalk and peered down at the tiny seats and floorboards in the auditorium proper below. "My name's Maverick," he said, staring at something in the distance he was not quite able to make out, "My parents gave it to me. Don't know what it means," he said off-handedly. Giving up on whatever it was, he turned back to the now pacing queen. She had thought so too? Maybe he wasn't going crazy. "You noticed it too, huh," he said casually, as though it were rather commonplace. In truth, the prospect of something strange and new excited him, but he wasn't sure he should show that to Milly just yet. "I keep getting this weird tingly feeling down my spine whenever I come up here alone."

[Atraielees]

Milly grunted and smiled to herself. She was brought back to the pet shop and that fluffy white stupid ball of fur who was her roommate.
"I heard of this thing, Jell..Jallic...Jellicle...something weird like that. I knew this guy who said he once belonged to a tribe of cats that called themselves that...they were magic or something. Said each year they dance and one cat gets to be re-incarnated. Crazy if ya ask me, purebred, messed up in the head. The strange thing is, I kinda want to believe him."
Milly shook off the chill she just got and jumped off the catwalk, landing on a lower rafter and then jumping from that to the stage. She stretched out and looked at the seats staring at her, trying to make sense of the odd feeling she was getting.

[Pippin]

Maverick raised an eyebrow and scrunched up his nose as she tried to describe the name of the tribe. He had certainly never heard of it, or them, or whatever it was, before. He followed Milly down as she made her way towards the stage, taking slightly longer (and a few more steps) to reach it due to his smaller size. "I've never heard of magic cats before," he said, coming up beside her once he had landed on the stage, "even if they are Jelly-cats or whatever you called them." The tiny auditorium was much bigger from down here, he noted. The dim walls stretched upwards towards what was once an ornate ceiling, now obscured in dust and shadow. It was almost a bit frightening. "It would be kind of cool, though, wouldn't it? I mean, if we could do magic and stuff."

[Atraielees]

TAVEN

After a few days of getting to know the city, Taven and his adopted sister Boots were feeling OK. They missed the sun and the beach of California but New York was not as bad as they (or at least Taven) had initially thought. Taven and Boots, each day, snuck out of their human's new apartment an into the city. They split up to cover more distance, searching for Jellicles.

One afternoon, Taven was drawn to an abandoned theater. He did not have any doubt that presence from the Heavyside was lingering there. Once he started exploring though, there was no trace of a tribe, just a couple of feline scents. Jellicles though. He remembered the location and after a week he returned.

That day was overcast and the theater was warmer than the outside. Taven was more than happy to be visiting the theater. He jumped and flipped excitedly about the lobby. When he entered the house he saw two cats on the stage, talking.
'The Jellicles!' he thought to himself. He decided to go greet them.
He bounced right up to them, effortlessly leaping up onto the stage, and greeted them.
He bowed and said, "Oh cats." Trying hard to conceal his excitement and be a proper Jellicle like his parents taught him.

[Pippin]

As he continued to scan the theater, Maverick thought he saw something move against the blackness of the far wall. It was hard to be sure though, and he crept forward a few paces to try to see better. There was a strange smell now, too, not just the old must and dust of the theater, but a fresh scent. Was there another cat? He was about to approach the stage's edge, when the very cat he had been smelling leapt onto the stage before him, and he backpeddled a couple steps to avoid being landed on. Perhaps the theater was not so empty as he first thought. He regarded the new tom with curiosity as he bowed. Maverick had never seen such a behavior before. "Uh, hi." He said, looking Taven over. "Do you live here too?"

[Atraielees]

Taven scrunched up his face in confusion. This cat did not seem familiar with the traditional Jellicle greeting. He ignored it, and since he did not see any food around to complete the gesture, he continued, "My name is Taven. My adopted sister and I just arrived from California and are looking for a Jellicle tribe to join." He looked around the old theater.
"The Heaviside connection here is very strong, that how I found it." he said proudly.

Milly sniffed this new stranger, he was odd and smelled odd.
"Jellicle, thats what I heard from that crazy purebred..."

[sk8tergal76]

Vikidaldia yawned and silently made her way to the theater she had made her home a little bit ago. She had been wandering around almost all day just trying to find someone to talk to. She had been alone and craving cat company for a while now. Viki was almost to the theater when she heard talking. She stiffened and slowly walked closer so she could hear what they were saying. It sounded just like cats introducing themselves to each other. She relaxed and walked closer, but still out of sight. She was about to sneak around when she felt a tickle in her nose. Before she could stop, a tremendous sneeze flew out of her mouth. Oops.

[Pippin]

"Heavi-what?" Maverick asked, still unenlightened as to what the other cat was talking about. California, he'd heard of that, but here this cat was talking about the Jelli-cats and was acting awfully strangely. Was everyone around here like this?

Before he could ask, however, Viki's sneeze sounded from behind him, and once again he gave a startled leap into the air. He scowled as he landed, not liking being suprised like that. He whirled to try to see who it was. "Who's there?" he asked, his tone slightly accusatory despite its nervousness.

[Atraielees]

"Seriously...." Milly said in an exaggerated tone, "There are too many cats here."

Taven looked over to where the sneeze came from. Another Jellicle, he thought. He had always prided himself in having a great sense for these things. He smiled, the cat looked just as friendly as everyone else.

"I'm sorry, but do you all not know you're Jellicles? Is this not a tribe?"

[sk8tergal76]

Viki blushed and walked out of her hiding place. She looked at Maverick apologetically. "Sorry. It's just me, Vikidaldia. I didn't mean to frighten you. Who are you?"

She turned to Taven. "A Jellicle? What's that? And what's this hogwash about us being one?"