December Moon <pt 2>.......AerisVampire

It was on one of the many occasions that Aunt Jag and Aunt Pans had taken us out for ice cream, he recalled. Jackie and I were poking and prodding, Mik and Ty were all over each other, Kit and Arie were dancing, and Clove and Milo were gossiping and planning something new. Everything was as it always had been But something seemed to be wrong. Eury was on her toes, tense, clinging like death to Ramrod's arm. You could see it in her eyes that she sensed something. And Colette was a bit disturbed too. So I poked her, and asked what was wrong.

"I don't quite know," she told me. "But something's going to happen."

I thought maybe they were all planning something; Milo and Clove were talking lower than normal. Oh yeah. Something was up.

And then I looked over at Tant. He was holding Piper like a vice, and I could tell she was having trouble breathing, not like she didn't normally, but then I saw it. I really saw Tant's face . . . His eyes were all squinted, cheeks and mouth drawn up in pain. And beads of sweat formed bullets in the creases of his distorted brow, and dripped from his temples. All this, and he was the calmest kit in the litter. It scared me at first, 'cause I knew he never saught attention like Dad, or ever-exaggerated anything like Clove and Milo. Tantalus, the level-headed conjurer, was hurting. And I knew it had to be some psychic-type thing, because only the psychic kittens were acting strangely. I dedcided not to ask, probably because I thought he'd flip out on me.

I went back to Jackie, but I didn't tell her what I'd noticed. We were almost to the ice cream parlor when Milo bumped into Tant as Maxie chased Milo through our little crowd. I could never forget the way they looked at each other, a shared glance of sheer horror. That fraction of a moment seemed like years in my head. I didn't understand then, but once we reached the ice cream parlor, it would all come together.

The rest of the trip was rather plain, and Tant pretty much strayed away from the rest of us, leaving Piper in Corinth's care. That look just haunted me, though - twisted, terrified . . . It was as if his very intelligence had been threatened. Tanty never held life in high regard, come to think of it. He was always the "sacrifice me if you need to" type of guy, ready to give up anything for anyone - anything but his sacred mind. He had every right to want to save it. My brother was very smart. There was tension between Tant and the two mischeif-makers the rest of the day. Well, up until the incident.

All the kits got their ice cream before he did. All the kits sat down. But not Clove and Milo. They'd snuck behind the counter and were trying to find the marascino cherries when their order didn't come with enough atop that great mound of sugar they shared. And it happened that Tant was still at the register when they snuck back there. He was standing next to Aunt Jag.

Suddenly, Clove jumped from the counter with the jar of cherries, and Milo came with a carving knife.

"Oy, Milo-slovich!" Clove chirped, opening the jar. He pulled out a pawful of sticky cherries. "Catch!" He giggled and hurled the blob at his brother's head. Milo shrieked and caught one cherry in his mouth, the rest splattering in his face like a cream pie. They laughed, I remember, their last laugh for a very long time.

Teasingly, Milo brought his knife-wielding-paw forward, as if to throw it.

I know he didn't mean to do it . . .

Clove had moved, and left Tant exposed to the blow. I saw it all . . . He was talking to Aunt Jag like an adult and I thought he looked calmer. That is, until the moment just before the knife embedded itself in his side, puncturing his internal organs. I saw that espression on his face, the one I saw when he held Piper so tight. And as the split second joined with itself, his face melted into a look of shock and sadness. Eury screamed instinctively, even before she saw her brother blooded and fallen on the floor.

Milo and Clove exchanged identical mortified glances, and at the same moment they ran to Tant's side, Clove holding him tight around the neck, Milo sobbing his eyes out. Tant didn't speak, didn't cry. He just breathed, with those huge green eyes, wide like the December moon.

"Oi'm so sorry, Tan'!" Milo yelled through his paws as he covered his tears "Oi dinni' mean ter throw th' knoife! Oi'm sorry! OI'M SORRY!"

Tantalus took a deep breath and looked over at Milo with a forgiving smile. "I know," he said weakly. Piper crept silently to her brothe and laid her head in his lap. "I'm sorry, Pipes," he managed. "I should have known sooner." Tant petted behind her ear, his lips unwavering from that saintly smile.

And I just sat there with Jackie crying at my side, all the other kits panicking, Mik trying to keep them under control. That was all I could do . . . Jag and Pans were trying to conjure something to heal him, but in their hysterics, neither could be too precise. I. . . I . . . I had to cry. My brother was dying.

I ran to him, pushed Clove and Milo aside, and sat next to Piper, holding her paw as I hoped he would be alright.

"Don't die, Tant," I whimpered. "Hold on, don't die, don't die, don't leave me, don't die!" I repeated myself like a broken record, as if talk would save the world. But he just smiled, even as Piper squeezed his wrist with all her strength. As he died, I saw her grow thinner, her skin tighten and cling to her thin and brittle bones.

"Don't die, don't die . . ."

Aunt Jag was kneeling before us, frantic to do something. Her paw trembled as she reached for the knife, but recoiled, and she mumbled something under her breath. . . something to save Tant, no doubt. I don't suppose Clove and Milo hadn't realized until then the fatality of Milo's knife; the young black tom made a sound as if his genitals had just been ripped from his body with bare hands when he saw what he'd done. And then we saw he and his partner in crime do the unthinkable. They dropped to their knees . . . and they prayed.

I held Tant in my arms, and he held me in his. That was the first time his touch was a kind one, and I could tell he really cared about me.

"Tantalus," I whispered. "Can you hear me above the screams? Can you listen to me, just for a moment?"

He had closed his eyes and sunk into a slouch. My brother was dying. He'd never slouch otherwise. Piper nuzzled him furiously as his breathing grew shallow, and his pulse dropped, and I heard her purr low, from deep within her chest. He was speaking to her silently, just like he always did. I don't know why, but I began to get angry. I held him tighter, and yelled into his ear..

"Goddangit, Tantalus!" I hollered, sending Piper into a shock. "You had better not leave us! Don't you die, darnit!"

I almost began to shake him, you know, like people do when they're 'snapping someone out of it.' But he just went limp in my arms, and I stopped screaming when he reached out to her again, and placed his fingers to her lips. I held my breath as he surrendered his, and Tantalus' dead weight dropped down on me.

Ice cream melted, and we just wept.

Thank you!! AerisVampire

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