Work Text:
It was known, in the Junkyard, that falling asleep in the large pipe next to the tyre caused strange dreams of alternate realities. Most Cats who had napped there, accidentally or on purpose, could recall, in vivid details, what they dreamt of. It was almost like they were transported to some eerily similar world, although their bodies never physically left the Junkyard. They would become an alternate version of themselves, sometimes with a radically different appearance, and interact with the other dream-versions of the Jellicle tribe. Sometimes, the dreams were just a bit odd, like the time George had dreamed that they all lived on a rooftop instead of the Junkyard. But others were quite upsetting: Bomba had been shaken for days after she had dreamed she was an agent of Macavity. Everyone reported that their experiences were so lifelike that waking up and coming back to reality was a bit disconcerting.
Munkustrap himself had doubted it at first. He was sceptical, especially after Tugger had gone around telling everyone that he had been a circus strongman, and Misto a contortionist, but his curiosity had won out in the end. That night, when everyone was in bed, he had snuck out to the pipe in question, crawled inside, and curled up. At first he had thought he was mad, waiting for something to happen. But then he fell asleep.
The only word he could use to describe the experience was bizarre. As the others had said, the dream was disturbingly lifelike. He had been an Aircat of some sort, perhaps a pilot, trying to lead his tribe when there was some sort of war going on. Demeter and Bombalurina had been Glamour Cats, Coricopat and Tantomile were evacuated Kittens, along with Jemima, and Alonzo looked to be some kind of scout. The sheer surprise of seeing Skimbleshanks pedalling a human bicycle shocked him back into awakeness, and he bolted from the pipe as fast as his paws could carry him.
Lesson learned. From that day on, Munkustrap was extremely cautious of that pipe. He would need to ask Misto, or maybe the psychic twins to have a look at it, to make sure it was nothing sinister. Misto liked lying there after all, perhaps it had some sort of magic about it? Tugger raised an eyebrow about his change of heart, but thankfully didn’t say anything as he warily shifted any and all sleepy-looking Cats away from it. Until he knew what was going on, he would not take any chances with his tribe’s safety.