Padding quietly into the depths of the forest, War’s mind was whirling with confusion. If the others ever found out that he had thrown the mud ball at Civil, he would probably be banned from the Tribe. War knew the Tribal Laws better than anyone, save Munkustrap and Arabesque. Disrespect towards another Jellicle was a minor offense, but purposely trying to harm another Jellicle? Sighing in disgust, he threw himself down on the ground.

“Arie tried to save my life, and because of my foolishness, she got hurt...” he said softly, to himself. “So... It was only right that I got back at Civil for her. She wasn’t in any condition to do so herself- I saw her limping!” After a few more minutes of reassuring himself of his position, War slowly picked himself up out of the moist soil, and brushed off his coat. ‘Worrying about this won’t do me any good now,’ he thought, ‘No one knew it was me because I was too far away.’

But the image of Arie’s grim smile came back to him. Swallowing hard, he realized that Arie knew he had thrown the ball of mud at Civil.

Arabesque’s day only got worse after her incident with Civil. Arie had tried to help put up the strings of lights which would encircle the Clearing for the Jellicle Ball. After jumping up into a tree and winding the lights around a branch, she hopped back down, forgetting her weak left arm. Not being able to support herself when she landed, she fell to the ground with a groan. Her energy spent, Munku had to carry her back into their treehouse, where she remained for the rest of the day.

Laying in bed, she was forced to listen to Momma Griz’s admonishings about her injured arm. As Momma continued to talk, Arie’s mind drifted farther and farther away... ‘Where had War gone? And why did he stick his neck out for her?’ Silencing her thoughts, Arie told herself that she’d think about these perplexing things sometime else, sometime when she wasn’t in so much pain- Her arm was throbbing!

As was the custom, the Jellicles snuggled into their beds at mid-day. They were to sleep for an entire day, conserving their energy for the festivities of the Jellicle Ball the following night.

Normally, Arie would have had no trouble falling asleep, but she could tell Munku was deeply concerned about how the Ball would go. Arie’s being injured hadn’t helped him, and now that Civil had been attacked by someone from the woods, he was on pins and needles! He tossed and turned in his bed at all hours, often throwing concerned glances at Arie when she groaned from the pain in her arm.

Finally, after a day of troubled sleep, Munkustrap awoke Arie and carried her out into the Clearing. It was time for the Jellicle Cats to come to the Jellicle Ball...