#cats-prilday18

[afairytalestray]

Day 18 of @storyweaverofgondor‘s Cats-pril - magic! I based this off of my pre-canon hc series #7. I wanted to look at what my fave Jemibub can do :) Also on Ao3 here.

..

“Demeter?”

Munkustrap about jumped out of his skin and fell off the tyre at the sudden quiet voice from beside him. Everlasting, how was Misto so silent? Demeter snorted as he tried to recompose himself. It was fine for her, she was used to him. There was an understanding between those two that he didn’t have – a level of trust built from surviving and escaping from Macavity together. Demeter had settled back into the Junkyard, but it was harder for Misto, who hadn’t had a real home before Macavity had gotten his claws into him. Misto was an exercise in patience; he was very nervous around other Cats after his experiences with Macavity, and it would take him time to trust the Jellicles.

“Sorry,” Misto whispered, looking worried as Munkustrap pulled himself back together.

“It’s ok, Misto, I just didn’t see you there is all!” he said, making sure his tone was light.

“It’s really fine,” Demeter smiled, rubbing her and Misto’s shoulders together, drawing a small smile from him. Munkustrap felt himself smile too, their friendship was a comfort and he was glad they had each other. “What’s up?”

Misto paused for a moment, his eyes flicking between Munk and Demeter, before deeming it safe enough to speak. Even that was a victory in itself – Munkustrap made it his business to get to know every member of his tribe, but at the moment, the only Cats Misto was really comfortable talking to were Demeter, Bombalurina, and Tugger.

“It’s Jemima.”

Munkustrap felt a brief spike of panic, but forced himself not to react in case he put Misto off. Demeter frowned slightly.

“Is she ok?” she asked, carefully controlling her voice to be slightly concerned but not accusing. She was masterful at this.

“Yes,” Misto nodded, and Munk felt his heartbeat calm. “It’s just…” he trailed off, his eyes flicking to Munkustrap again. Munk made himself smile and Misto took a deep breath. “She has magic.”

Whatever Munk had thought he was going to say, that wasn’t it. He felt a splurge of knee-jerk panic, and worked furiously to keep his face and body language neutral. He knew, intrinsically, that magic was not evil. It could be used for good, when in the paws of the right Cat. He had just never seen it. His and his tribe’s one and only experience with magic had been Macavity, which had been horrible. He knew that Misto also had magic though, although he only knew because Demeter had told him. Because of Macavity, Misto hadn’t wanted the other Jellicles to know. Demeter had told Munk of how Macavity had forcibly drained Misto of his magic and used it to hurt others, and Misto didn’t want the Jellicles to think he was similar to Macavity. It had been painful to hear, and Munk’s heart had gone out to the young Tom. No wonder he was nervous, Munk wouldn’t be in a rush to tell anyone that either.

“What kind of magic?” Demeter asked. If she was worried, she was hiding it entirely.

“Nonmaterial,” Misto answered. “She won’t be able to do physical magic like me, like conjuring lights or creating barriers or lightning-”

Everlasting, was that what he could do? Munkustrap could see how Macavity would be desperate to get his paws on him.

“-but her power is likely dynamic, and will grow naturally over time. She’s very emotionally intelligent, so I think she will develop empathic abilities.”

He fell silent and Munk took a moment to acknowledge that this was the most he had ever heard Misto speak.

“Is it dangerous for her? Will she need training?” Demeter asked, and Munk was glad that she seemed to understand all this much better than he did.

“No,” Misto shook his head. “Nonmaterial magic can’t be worked on, you have it or you don’t. It won’t affect her physically, she should maybe just make sure she doesn’t get her own emotions confused with another Cat’s, that could be overwhelming.”

“Does Jemi know?” Munk asked. The thought that she wouldn’t feel safe telling them hurt, but he could only imagine how scary that would be. Did she think they might turn on her? To his relief, Misto shook his head again.

“No, I only do because Magical Cats can sense other Magical Cats, even when they’re too young to be aware of it. She’ll work it out naturally when she’s ready to know, it’s scary to be told before that. But I thought… I thought you should know. He’s more interested in physical magic, but if Macavity senses her then he might try and take her,” he finished quickly.

Oh, that was why he was telling them. He was trying to protect her, to stop what happened to him from happening to her. Munkustrap felt his heart swell. Misto was clearly scared to tell them this, but still had for Jemi’s sake. How a Cat could go through what he had and still be good was a mystery to Munk. But before he could say anything, Demeter reached over and hugged Misto. She whispered something Munk couldn’t make out, and Misto nodded, hopped down from the tyre, and disappeared into the Junkyard in a flash.

“He’s still a bit scared of you,” Demeter explained, a half smile on her face.

“I can only hope it’s not because I’m Macavity’s brother,” Munkustrap said, but Demeter shook her head.

“It’s not,” she said, placing a reassuring paw on top of his own. “He’s just not used to the Cat in charge actually being nice.”

Munk winced in sympathy.

“I’m glad he told us,” he said. “I could tell it was difficult. But if it helps us protect her, then I’m grateful. I’ll be even more careful if I sense Macavity lurking about.” 

“I’m glad it won’t cause her any pain,” Demeter nodded. “I think the physical stuff can have some nasty side effects. I hope she won’t be afraid to tell us when she realises,” she said, echoing Munk’s previous concerns.

“Maybe we can have a brainstorm about reassuring the tribe that magic isn’t dangerous by itself? That might help Misto too.”

“We could talk to your dad? He has a connection to the Everlasting Cat, he’ll probably be able to talk about it better than us.”

“Yeah,” Munk said, “he’s better at stuff like that. I just want our Jemibub to be happy.”

“Me too,” Demeter sighed. “Hopefully she’ll never have to feel alone. She’ll have us, she’ll have another Magical Cat, all we can do is make sure she knows we love her no matter what.”

“I think we annoy her with how much we tell her we love her,” Munk chuckled, making Demeter smile.

“There are far worse problems to be had.”

[gwalch-mei]

Day 18 Magic

shhhh dont interrupt their levitation spell