I was awake, but my body didn't seem to know that. I couldn't see or hear anything. I couldn't tell where I was, or hell, if I was anywhere at all. It felt as if I was floating in the air, like I was in a nowhere that was everywhere.
I know that sounds confusing but that's what it was, confusing. I probably couldn't have told you who I was let alone understand the question being asked.
Luckily, this very weird feeling left as quickly as it arrived. When my vision returned, I was greeted by three pairs of eyes. I let out a surprised "murrow" before trilling happily. It was nice to see that my partner and two of my greatest allies were here with me in this odd new camp we had just traveled to.
It was apparently similar to the camps cats put together in the far away land my partner was from. That definitely explained why Luz wanted to stay here. Well, that and the nests, which were made of this very weird bouncy stone, were very warm and comfy.
Though, my companies' eyes quickly drove away that small feeling of happiness. They were as wide as the full moon! Wide eyes meant one of two things to a feline like me. They could've wanted to play which I didn't think was likely because none of them were in a hunter's crouch. So, it must have meant that they sensed danger.
My ears twitched, and I sniffed the air. There was nothing dangerous around that I could sense. I was pretty sure we were all safe. Though, many enemy cats were camped in the nearby area, especially that flea ridden Boscha. Maybe the fact that they were living so close had everyone on edge.
My campmates must have been reassured by how calm I was acting because both Willow and Gus blinked their eyes shut and looked away from me. Another happy trill escaped from me. A big blink meant "I trust you", among many other considerate things. They were still stiff and twitchy, but they understood that I wouldn't let any harm come to them.
But my partner, Luz, had not calmed down. She still stared at me, frozen in terror. So, I decided to approach her and give her a test nuzzle. It was on her shoulder, in a place that, if she retaliated, I would be able to skitter away.
I let out a meow that told her, "There's no danger, focus on me". To my frustration, she still didn't relax.
"Pay attention to me, Luz" I meowed a little louder. My partner slowly brought up her paw. I touched my nose to her outstretched toe. It was the polite thing to do though it was odd that she didn't want to touch noses instead.
Luz let out a meow that I strangely couldn't understand. Though, that may have been because it was only a quiet whisper. "I just booped Amity's snoot".
She scrunched her beautiful brown eyes in what I thought was an attempt at a blink. She was also showing her teeth but not in a mean way. She wasn't growling or arching up her back or anything. It was weird but she wasn't scared anymore, which made my heart flutter like a bird.
In response I let out a half meow half purr saying, "Hey, Luz".
"She's so adorable! Why was Amity so worried?". Luz meowed something louder, but I didn't understand that either. It sounded happy, though.
That made sense. Luz was a very happy cat. She always wanted to play and snuggle up against me while we napped together. I always started to purr at the very thought of her. She made me feel all warm inside.
Then I heard Willow meow something back in the strange new language Luz was using. "Because, Luz, if she gets too scared or too excited, she'll attack. That poison doesn't just make her think she's a cat, it also makes her much more violent". I couldn't stop myself from trotting over to my ally. I wanted to know what she was meowing about.
Unlike Luz, Willow stayed calm when I went up to her. As I rubbed my side against her, she meowed again. I understood what she was trying to convey even though I didn't understand what she was saying. "Hi, Amity. Come to say hello, huh?".
She was being loving and gentle, just like always. Though, she could also be very strong when she needed to. When Luz challenged the bully, Willow took charge in leading Luz and I into battle against Boscha.
We didn't technically win, we had to retreat when Boscha broke my leg, but our fighting skills had earned us respect from her closest followers and proved just how powerful we all really were.
That was the day Boshca lost my loyalty, and I left her colony for good. After so many years of her being so hostile, I had finally had enough of her.
I let out a trill. "Hi, Willow". Willow put her paw on the top of my head and began to rub it. I purred more and gently kneaded the air. "Thank you. That feels nice".
I sunk into the moment, enjoying the time I was spending with my ally. The only sound that filled the room was my many purred "thank yous".
"I don't think Amity's gonna hurt us, guys. Look at how happy she is". That was Luz. From where she was in our camp, I'd say she was meowing at Gus. Gus was sitting in the nest beside her, and Willow didn't seem to be paying attention.
"Have you met your girlfriend, Luz?". Gus also knew how to speak in the strange meows too. Go figure. And, I didn't know why, but I strangely felt annoyed by Gus's meow. I felt like he was insulting me somehow even if he didn't exactly sound unfriendly.
Luz's eyes lit up with confidence.
"I have met my Girlfriend. And I know that my girlfriend would never hurt the people she loves" I didn't know why but Luz's meow strangely made me feel all giddy (and slightly more annoyed at Gus).
I gently wiggled away from Willow and began to trot up to my other friend. Unlike me or Willow, Gus was a very enthusiastic cat. He would always find something weird and show it off to us like it was a prized mouse he had caught. And he was also very sly and clever. He was the runt yet kept up to the rest of us with all of his tricks and ideas.
I trilled to Gus welcomingly, shoving away the little bit of irritation I felt earlier. And in response he… tensed up just like Luz? What was the matter with my campmates? Was I missing something? Did Gus also sense some hidden danger?
That's when I heard it. "Get off of me Skara! I swear to Titan!". I couldn't understand what the yowls meant (why was everyone meowing things I couldn't understand) but I did recognize who they were coming from.
Boscha. She was on our territory, and I wasn't gonna stand for that.
There was a loud series of banging at the entrance of our camp along with another yowl. "Blight, Human, Willow, open the door!". That ratworm! She was trying to break in!
Before the others could move, I ran up to the entrance and moved the large pile of wood blocking it. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have let them come into camp, but this was Boscha. If I didn't stop her now, she'd just come back to terrorize us another time.
Boscha shot into our camp at high speed, right up to Luz and Gus, and started to frantically yowl at the both of them. "Somethings wrong with Skara! She ate some weird sandwich and now she's attacking people! I think she's been poisoned!".
Boscha seemed pretty scared. Good. She should have been. No one messes with my family without receiving some new scars.
I didn't hesitate, no growling or anything. I just leapt on top of Boscha and sunk my teeth into her back. My fangs grabbed a chunk of her skin that I quickly tore off. I didn't sit and wait a second afterwards. I hooked the side of her face with my dull black claws, making sure to hit one of her three blue eyes.
While she reeled back, I bit into her exposed shoulder. My weight slammed her into the ground which I took advantage of. I rolled onto my side, pulling my enemy with me into a violent tumble. She finally began to throw punches, but it was too late. I already had a good hold of her.
I felt something tug at my back as I pinned my challenger down. It better not have been one of Boscha's lackeys. I'd tear them to shreds too, despite me being their former campmate. But, when I turned around to dig my claws into their faces, I was met with the worried green eyes of Willow. Luz and Gus were next to her mewling in concern.
I hissed at them non-threateningly. "Get back. If we attack her all at once in this small of a space, we'll just hurt each other".
Willow did not move. She instead started meowing and trilling at me. "It's ok, Amity. You're ok. Go calm down and rest". It was a bit calming but there were pressing matters at hand!
It took some struggling, but I was able to squirm out of Willow's grasp. By that time, Boscha had gotten behind Willow. And Gus and Luz weren't doing anything about it!
I let out a growl at my campmates. "Do something, one of you!". None of them moved. Guess I was gonna have to handle it.
I leapt onto the elevated springy nest and shot past Willow. I flew off of the edge of it and straight into Boscha, my growls soon being muffled by the part of Boscah's arm I was biting into.
I used my paws to try to pin her down, but she got a nice shot on my left cheek. I lost my balance and toppled over. Boscha's foot slammed into my side, rolling me over onto my back. My enemy used that as an opportunity to get as far away from me, without leaving camp, as she could.
I was in so much pain but not just because of the lucky shot Boscha got in. My campmates, my family, were now standing in front of our enemy.
A horrible realization smothered me. It felt as if all the cats in the area had leapt on top of me all at once and started to tear the fur off my back. My friends, my partner…They were trying to protect her! They were trying to protect her from me!
What were they doing! I wasn't the bad guy here, Boscha was! Why couldn't they see that!
Luz slowly walked up to me and reached her paw out to me. I swatted it away and hissed! "Why are you protecting her? She's brought us nothing but trouble and you're protecting her!". My partner jumped backwards and stared at me with her hurt filled eyes.
It was painful to see her so upset but it shouldn't have been. She and my allies were making it clear that they cared less about me than I thought. Boscha just hurt me and they were staring at me like I was the monster?
I was trying to help them! Boscha had constantly treated them like they were a mouse she was toying with, yet they were protecting Boscha like a well-earned meal.
And me? Even after everything I had done to try to change, to be good, for them, they were treating me like I was the danger! Like the cat I used to be!
…Oh… Right. I used to be the hostile cat and… maybe I still was, sometimes at least? Either way, with the way I treated my campmates in the past, I couldn't really act like everything was ok just because I left Boscha's colony, could I?
Great Titan, of course things weren't that easy. I had already proven time and time again that I could be dangerous, that I could be a threat. It would be stupid to think that my new allies didn't see me as something to fear.
Luz, Willow, and Gus were always passive and patient. And how did I act? I constantly hissed and growled and shunned all three of them whenever we would cross paths. Hell, I even almost got my partner killed not so long ago!
A few moon cycles back, Luz had covered herself in mud and snuck around the biggest place to meet on our territory. It was where all of our allies in the area came to socialize, and the older cats shared their survival tips with us younger ones.
When I wasn't sharing a smaller camp with my parents and older siblings, Boshca, her clique, and I hung out there. And, unfortunately, Willow did too. Boscha treated her like a plaything and, admittedly, I didn't treat her much better. Being friendly to her meant being disloyal to Boscha after all.
That's when Willow had decided she'd had enough. She allied with Luz, who was not a part of any of the colonies that shared our territory. And, though it was risky for her knew friend (if anyone found out Luz was intruding, she would be attacked and maybe killed), they both devised a plan that would prove to everyone that she was stronger than they thought she was.
Unlike everyone else, I didn't fall for Willow and Luz's tricks and decided to find an ally of my own to help deal with the both of them. I captured and cornered the mud-covered imposter for another cat named Bump. He wanted to slice her to shreds with his dangerously jagged claws while I made sure Willow and Gus didn't rush in and stop him! All because I wanted Willow to be punished for her mischief, which all started with me hurting her!
Gus ended up slipping past me. He distracted Bump with an attack while Willow helped my future partner escape. That day Willow started gaining the respect she wanted, and I had finally crossed the line from being mean to being totally vicious.
I should've been ashamed of myself. The current situation wasn't much different. Boscha wasn't acting like a threat. She was actually acting quite diplomatic, which was definitely a welcomed surprise. But me? I was acting like the very monster I thought Boscha was.
Hurting someone, even if that someone was a brute like Boscha, who showed the exact opposite of a sign of ill will was what a savage bloodthirsty enemy cat would do.
Had my friends and partner seen me as danger all along? Maybe they didn't trust me as much as I thought, and it was just a matter of time until I screwed up and lost their trust altogether.
Maybe, I'd always be a spiteful feral beast, no matter how nice I tried to be.
I let out one more devastated hiss while trying to hide my rising shame. "I'll just go, then".
Before anyone could respond, I turned around and pelted out of the entrance to our camp, right into the middle of a giant battle… How did I not notice the gia-
Someone slammed into my side, and I instinctually twisted to face them. As I hit the ground, I wrapped my arms around my new enemy's neck. I clung on for dear life while I tried to find somewhere to bite at, anywhere that would hurt enough to make them rear back.
My opponent's attacks were awfully painful. Their sharp fangs dug deep into the side of my upper arm. They violently thrashed their head side to side causing the teeth to yank and tear at my flesh. All the while I was being held down by almost all of my foes' weight. My exposed belly had their long-manicured nails pressed deeply into it.
Raw shock and panic caused my mind to completely freeze. What little bit I was doing a moment before was replaced by my body going completely stiff. Everything was just a blur of frightened furry. I couldn't begin to process all the things I was seeing or hearing all at once!
The weight of my enemy was shoved off of on top of me causing me to fall flat onto my side in relief. I was still in a daze (there were still too many loud sounds and aching pains) but the current danger was thankfully gone.
Whatever had attacked my opponent grabbed me yanked me off the ground, and we instantly started to run. I couldn't see them all that well considering we were rushing frantically through the commotion, but I saw purple, a bit of brown, and a fuzzy tuft of darker brown on their head. Wait. Luz!
But Luz was angry at me, wasn't she? I acted like such a terror, and I even swung at her! Why was she helping me?
There was time to think about that later. For now, I focused on wherever Luz was dragging me to.
We weaved through bunches and bunches of mini battles, avoiding the many claws that reached out to grab us. The both of us were as quick as lightning and had arrived at an odd clearing in flash. Luz let go of me before running into a nook in the wall. When she returned, she had something weird in her paws. She shook it up while she gave me a meow. "Sorry, Amity, but you need to be un-catiffied".
She then blinked until her eyes were squeezed shut. Really, now wasn't the time to be all lovey-dovey! Yet, she was stubbornly staring at me, waiting for a response. So, I decided to blink back, squeezing my eyes shut as tight as she did.
That's when I heard a weird hiss and felt a spray of mist hit my face. I let out a startled row. "What the–".
The smell. It was pleasant but way too strong! It stunted every sense I had, making me squirm around. It made my mind numb for a moment.
Where was... What was going on? Why was I now in the lobby? Wasn't I just in my hotel room?
I tried to think back to the last thing I remembered. One moment I had been checking the dinner we ordered for poison when I inhaled some Savagescent… Oh, great Titan!
"Luz!" I cried in worry. "What happened? Are you okay? What about Willow and Gus?". I was expecting Luz to say that someone was badly hurt but instead she let out a loud, "yes!" while jumping high into the air.
"It worked! Boscha was right!".
Boscha? How was Boscha involved? Luz must have seen how confused I was because she quickly answered my silent question.
"Boscha ended up running into our room after Skara attacked her. And then you attacked her because you don't like her, like, at all. Then we tried to get you to stop, and you got really sad because we were taking Boscha's side. You ran off and that's when Boscha told us the only way to change you back you was to confuse your sense of smell. It worked and now here we are!". She held up the can she had in her hand excitedly. It had flowers painted all around it and had the word "Febreze" spread across it.
As I was processing what Luz just said, she ran to what I assumed was a janitor's closet and came out with more cans. She tossed one at me then began to race back towards our room.
"Com'on! We've got a lot of work to do!" she yelled. I was already racing behind her. Her rushing off into danger and me following her closely so she didn't get killed seemed like it happened on a daily basis.
At the end of the hallway were Willow and Gus. They perked up when they saw Luz, running towards her like they hadn't seen her in years. By the time Luz grabbed two cans to hand to them, Willow and Gus had already sprung in front of her.
"Hey. Is Amity good?" Gus questioned while he examined his "Febreze".
"I've been better" I gingerly joked while I winced at the situation. Both of my friends gave me an excited grin.
"Good to have you back!" Willow chirped before her, Luz, and Gus turned around and shot into the large battle at hand. It seemed I wasn't the only one poisoned! It looked like more than half of my classmates had been reduced to a savage version of themselves.
I shook my head and surged into the first skirmish I saw. A demon with a crescent moon as a head was furiously snapping her large adult fangs at another infected student with a mane of purple hair and demon horns.
I tackled the demon on top and, with my free hand, held her down to the floor by her neck. I could feel her opponent grasping onto my back with her nails, but I completely ignored the pain. I was way too focused on the task at hand.
One struggle and a few spritzes later, and the demon was back to normal. The other infected witch tried to lunge into her as she was stumbling to her feet, but I knocked her down with a powerful backhand into the chest.
"Everyone! Get into a room, now!" I shouted, trying my hardest to sound commanding. "Keep the doors locked! And only unlock it for someone who speaks in coherent sentences".
My booming voice rang through the hallway. Everyone who wasn't caught in another student's grasp did as I instructed. Some of them even yanked whoever they could grab into the nearest room.
When the student I knocked down to the ground recovered, I didn't even give her a chance to attack. I shot forward and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. I held the can as close to her nose while I squeezed the button on the top of it as hard as I could. She let out an enraged holler and squirmed vigorously out of my grip. I knew how the witch felt. When I was sprayed, the flowery smelling stuff made my nose and lungs sting.
But it wasn't as painful as the wounds everyone was giving each other. I apparently knew that from experience. A new wound on my side burned like a candle. It was almost too painful to ignore but my determination to have things return back to semi-normal gave me something else to feel other than pain.
It took about a good half an hour to spray everyone back to normal. The closer I got to the center of the hallway the more demons and witches attacked me at once. Surprisingly that actually made things easier. It was harder to recover from being knocked down by a witch being thrown from a chaotic pile.
I didn't mind the tons of gashes I was receiving, despite how deep some of them were. My adrenaline kept my muscles rigid which helped me stay as immovable as a stone.
Well, most of the time I could stand the attacks. A group of construction track students somehow got a hold of my ribs and tried to tear me in half. If it weren't for my frustrated flailing in pain, I'd probably have more than a few deep bruises.
And all the horns! If I never had to take a bunch of horn stabs to the face again, I would die a happy witch!
The last infected student was pinned to the ground by Luz, who gave him a half glare half smile. "Wake up and smell the flowers, witch!" she yelled before spraying the witch in the face. He let out a roar before his senses returned to him.
The air was still for a moment. After the hectic battle, there was nothing but silence.
The silence was soon shattered by our celebration. Simultaneously, we all let out a triumphant cheer and raced into a group hug. It was over. Finally!
I was the first to break out of the hug, quite forcefully actually, when my side began to hurt. I pressed it delicately then hissed in response.
"When did this happen?" I grunted, my sore still throbbing.
"That's for the new scar on my back, Blight" a voice growled from behind me. Boscha. Should have known. She had always been a huge pain in my side.
As usual, I just rolled my eyes and let her go from our room to her's. I wasn't about to start trouble with Boscha after unknowingly getting into a big fight with her an hour prior. I much preferred to let the both of us go off and lick our wounds, especially since my wounds really hurt and made me feel Titanawfully tired.
Luz walked up to me and patted me on the back, saying, "We'll explain everything. But, first, let's head back to our room and rest".
She softly smiled at me while I soaked in the relief and comfort I felt. Getting to hang out and relax with the people I cared about was just what I needed after that wild end of my day and I truly felt that Luz, Willow, and Gus felt the same.