Chapter 2:

When I got home I put my bag by the door and began to put the groceries away when Meulin walked into the kitchen.

"Why are you home so late?" She signed to me with a worried expression.

"I had to get groceries, remember?" I signed back. "It took me a while to find the chocolate milk you like."

Meulin squealed in joy as she pushed past me to get into the fridge, pulling out the brand new carton of chocolate milk and running back up to her room, screaming "Thank you." A little too loudly.

I laughed to myself, she was always so happy over little things; it made me glad to have her as a sister. She even took care of me when our mom died, despite her inability to hear. I was only twelve when Meulin lost her hearing. She had come home crying because her headphones weren't working anymore, no matter how loudly she played her music, only to find out that it wasn't her headphones that were broken. She had actually shattered her ear drums listening to a song her long-time boyfriend, Kurloz, had written her. She had weak ears to begin with, and since we don't have money for a trans-plant, she might never be able to hear again.

I hummed a tune to myself as I began cooking dinner. I imagined myself in a recording studio as I chopped vegetables, and pretended I was on stage at my own concert while I grilled the salmon. I loved to pretend I was famous while I cooked, but I knew I looked ridiculous, and never did it in front of anyone but Meulin; not even my best friend Equius had seen me do it before.

I stopped my tune when I heard my 'work' phone go off with a harmony of meows.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, this is the fucker you saved in the alley today." The boy, Karkat, said.

"Oh, are you in need of assistance?" I said, trying to sound business-y.

"Well, no, not really, but can you meet me somewhere, I want to talk to you."

"Not really?" I asked. "If it were an emergency, then I would gladly meet you." I explained, even though I would have actually really loved to see Karkat again today.

"Actually, now that you mention it, it's a really big fucking emergency!" He said hastily. "Yeah, my brother is missing, it's a huge fucking mess here because none of us can find the dick squatting shit mouth and my sisters are flipping their shit."

"Kanaya and Porrim are not the type to 'flip their shit.'" I said without thinking, silently screaming for him not to have heard me.

"How do you know my sister's names?" He said suspiciously.

"I make a point to know about the people I save, and the people who live in my town, Mr. Vantas." I said, hoping it would be a good enough cover. "That; and I have caller I.D." I added.

"Well just, fucking meet me at Skaia High then, I'll be waiting there." And with that, he hung up.

I sighed, thanking whatever god that was watching over me for saving my sorry behind. I quickly ran upstairs and signed to Meulin that she had to cook the rest of tonight's meal because I had to help Equius with his English homework. She nodded and smiled at me.

I ran back downstairs and tore off my uniform jacket, putting on my olive green coat over my black crop top, and pulling on my black fingerless leather gloves. I swiftly pocketed some of my finger daggers and pulled my white cat mask over my face, dashing over to the high school.

When I got there, Karkat was sitting under the school sign, fiddling with his phone. He hadn't noticed my arrival yet, even though I stood right in front of him. I could still barely make out his features through my mask.

"Vantas." I said, acting angry. "This better be important, I don't like being dragged out to play tag." I added, crossing my arms for effect. I hated being so rude, especially to him, but it couldn't be helped.

Karkat jumped at his name. "It's very fucking important. I told you, my shit nozzle of a brother didn't come home." He said.

"You better not be lying just so you can get another look at me." I said menacingly. God I hated this. I sighed. "Fine, I'll help. Do you have anything of your brothers with you?" I asked.

"No, why the fuck would I?"

"Fine, then I guess you'll have to get something of his so I can sniff him out."

"But my house is so fucking far!" He groaned.

I shrugged, I really wanted to help him, but how was I supposed to if I didn't have Kankri's scent to sniff him out? "I'll take you on tiger back, but only because it's dark out, and you have to promise not to pull my fur." I bargained.

Karkat nodded as I shifted into a snow tiger. I turned my head back to face him, motioning for him to get on with my head. Hesitantly, Karkat climbed up onto my back; I felt like purring. I gave a soft huff to get his attention, and when I did, he looked at me with fearful eyes. I couldn't help but snicker softly.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me you fucking ass-wad! I've never ridden on a tiger, excuse me for being frightened." Karkat huffed. "Just go straight, I'll tell you when to turn." He added.

I nodded and began a slow jog straight ahead. I felt Karkat sink lower and wrap his arms around me for safety, and I had never been more content. Sure he was rude about how he called for me, but that was just who he was. He was worried about his brother, even if he didn't want anyone else to know that. I think that that was the reason I had fallen so hard for him; he was a really good person behind the front he put up, and not many people seemed to realize that behind his everlasting dictionary of curse words. In my eyes, I just didn't see why people couldn't like him.

"Take a left; it's the sixth house on the right with the obnoxiously red front door." Karkat said, voice muffled by my fur.

I stopped a few houses away and sat in the bushes while Karkat went in to get something of Kankri's. I noticed that Karkat's house was actually really close to mine; in fact, it was right down the street.

A few minutes later, Karkat came bounding out of the house with a red turtle neck in hand. He walked over to my place in the bushes and placed it in front of me. I quickly changed into a cheetah, knowing that, as a tiger, my sense of smell would be incredibly poor, compared to a cheetah's, which had a phenomenal sense of smell. I leaned down and sniffed the fabric and shot back up, sniffing around for Kankri's scent. When I caught it I motioned for Karkat to follow.

Kankri smelled like hand sanitizer, which- though the scent had always burned my nose- was good, since it was so distinct compared to Karkat, who smelled like cherries and hair dye. The scent led me well past the school and down Dancestor drive, which I felt seemed sort-of odd. When I realized that Kankri was inside the first house I stopped and changed back, starling Karkat.

"Sorry." I said quickly. "Your brother's in there, do you know this house?" I asked.

"Yes." Karkat groaned. "This is that douche-shit Cronus' house."

Cronus, I knew him, he was Eridan's brother. I was wondering why Kankri might be here, when I heard a soft moan coming from the house, which I knew Karkat wouldn't hear. I started to laugh; Karkat had dragged me out to find his brother, who was hooking up with a guy I could have sworn everyone disliked.

"W-why are you laughing! What the fuck happened?" Karkat near shouted at me.

I stopped laughing and wiped the tears out from under my mask, making sure not to lift it too much. "I'll explain on the way back, c'mon." I said.

"So, you're telling me, my ass-wad brother, who has a chastity vow mind you, was hooking up with Cronus Ampora? The one and only pompous crotch jockey of my school?" Karkat asked, still not believing me.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. And by the way, just because he vowed to not have sex doesn't mean he won't do other things." I said, wiggling a finger at him. "Anyways I need to get back, so, no more crying wolf, okay?"

"Wait." Karkat said quickly. I turned to face him. "Tell me your name."

I sighed. "That would defeat the whole 'disguise' thing, my name to you, and anyone else, is the Disciple. If that won't do, just call me T.D."

"Alright, see you, T.D"

"See you Karkit-" I stopped. "Karkat." I corrected, that was close.

I ran down the side walk past Karkat's house, hopping a fence so no one would see me go through my front door. I guess the finger daggers I brought were useless, but I had fun anyways. Luckily Meulin was up in her room, blaring a movie that she couldn't hear. I hid my mask and jacket back into my backpack, and then heated up my dinner.

Thanks for reading again guys! I hope you like this chapter, please review, I'd love to hear all your opinions on this new chapter.

~Chris