Chapter 1:

Today was going to be my first day off in a long time, but unfortunately for me, crime doesn't just stop when I need some down time. I had been on my way to get groceries for my sister and I, when I saw them. Two thugs rattling someone for change, and the boy who looked to be the victim had been wearing my schools uniform.

I quickly ran up into the nearest tree, pulling off my uniform coat and putting on my jacket and mask. After a few moments in the tree, I realized that it would be best to just scare off the boy's attackers, and not beat those two into the ground like usual. I hastily morphed into a massive lioness and hopped down from my perch, right between the victim and the attackers.

I snarled at the two thugs, barring my fangs at them to make them back away. The two men screamed like children as then ran from me, and once they were out of sight, I de-morphed back into my usual form to check on the boy I protected. I couldn't make out much of him through my mask, but he had straw-like black hair and appeared to be terrified, probably of me.

"I'm the Disciple. Tell me, are you hurt? Did they take anything from you?" I asked routinely, avoiding the use of cat-puns.

"N-no!" The boy shrieked. "I mean, n-nah, I could have handled those pompous douchebags, obviously. Also, no, they didn't take anything." He said more calmly, even though his voice was gruff and… vaguely familiar.

"Good. If you need help again, call me here." I said, handing him a card. "And if your phone's dead, be sure to just scream really, really loudly." I smiled, even though the boy couldn't see it.

"Thanks, I guess." He said offhandedly.

I nodded curtly before hopping up the side of the building and onto the roof, changing back into my uniform before jumping off the roof and landing in a nearby bush with a loud crack. I groaned at the impact, as a cat I may always land on my feet, but as a regular high school girl? Almost never. In fact, most people knew me as the clumsy girl, the one who couldn't even be trusted to walk with scissors, let alone run with them. I didn't mind though, it was easier to hide my identity that way. At least my wounds healed faster.

I had been born with the power to turn into any kind of cat I wanted, my mom always told me to keep it a secret, even from Meulin, my sister. Ever since she died, I stayed true to my promise she made me make; to never, no matter how dire the situation, tell anyone about my gift. She told me that one in every two million people is born with a gift, and I was lucky to get one, even if I didn't think so. I mean, the chances that I would ever run into someone like me was even worse than one in a million odds, so I always felt like I didn't belong, no matter how many friends I made.

Looking up again, I realized that I was finally at the store. Smiling, I walked in, skipping my way over to where the milk was, not paying attention to where I was going. I noticed how big of a mistake that was when I crashed into someone and fell right on top of them.

"AH! I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" I squealed, pulling myself off of the boy I ran into and offering him a hand. When he looked up, I recognized him as my classmate and long-time crush, Karkat Vantas. My face flushed a violent red at the realization.

Karkat swatted my hand away and picked himself up, brushing off his pants. He sighed, "Nepeta, of course it was fucking you. How many times do people have to tell you to watch where the fuck you're going?!" He growled.

I stepped back a little and laced my hands together. "Sorry, Karkitty, I'll be more careful." I said quietly, not quite meeting his eye.

"Whatever." He muttered under his breath. "Oh, by the way, you know those fucking ridiculous comic strips you do for the school newspaper?" He asked, and I looked up sharply, Karkat never spoke to me about my comics, he always thought they were dumb.

I nodded at him. "The one's about the Disciple?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't notice me wince.

"Yeah, is she, you know, real?" He asked, scratching his cheek.

"W-what makes you ask?" I said nervously, hoping I could avoid answering.

"Because I swear I just ran into some fucking lion girl who looked like the character, she even had our uniform skirt too." He explained.

This was not good, on a scale of things that were amazing, this was definitely so low on the scale it didn't even exist. I had hoped using my alternate persona as a character for the schools weekly comics would make it seem less believable to others. Not only that, but now that Karkat was the one I had saved- not to mention he noticed that his "savior" was in our schools uniform green skirt- I was freaking out inside.

"Nepeta are you okay? You look a little pale." Karkat said, regaining my attention.

"I-I'm fine! I've just been feline a little sick lately, that's all." I lied. "But uh, to answer your question, yes I think she's furry real, well she's real to me, but in reality…" I laughed nervously. "I made her up." I lied again.

"Uh-huh." Karkat said, eyeing me as if I were a building that might collapse. "Any way I need to pay for my shit, so see you tomorrow." He said, walking over to the cash before I could respond.

I hope he didn't see right through me. I thought to myself.

Hey I hope you guys like this now fic I'm working on, I also wanna thank you so much for reading the first chapter! Please feel free to leave me suggestions for this story, or even things that you think would be interesting. Also I don't mind if you have corrections you think I should make, in face, please let me know and I'd be happy to see if I can do something about them.

~Chris