Unfeeling

Maybe you have met me, maybe you have not. If you met me, it only tells me two things. Either you have offended someone who now wants you dead, or you hate someone so much to the extent that you would hire an assassin to kill that person.

An assassin like me. People come to Mist, on the daily basis, all of them with one common goal in mind. Getting someone else assassinated. And Mist happens to be the perfect place for them to hire a professional to do the job.

I probably should explain. My name is Kitty Pryde, short for Katherine Pryde. Also known as Shadow cat in the underworld and in Mist. Maybe you would have guessed it, but I'll just say it anyway. I'm an assassin, a professional one at that, trained to be one of the top in my field at Mist.

When I was 6, a group of assassins broke into my house. Hired to assassinate my parents and to take me away with them, they certainly tried their very best to accomplish their mission. One of them held me down while the others fought with my parents, finally killing them. All that time, I sat frozen in the arms of the one who held me down.

My parents were assassins too, retired ones. I didn't know about that till their last moments. They told me, whispering menacingly into my ear as I watched them struggle to draw breath. It wasn't until a few years had passed that I realized. Once you became an assassin, there was no turning back. You either assassinated or be assassinated. My parents just made the wrong choice to be assassinated.

I was only six; I should be having the happy childhood many other children were enjoying. But no, I had to watch my parents die as my happy childhood memory. Then the Mist people came, I didn't know that then. The naïve child I was, I thought they were here to help. They gave me a choice: go to the orphanage and risk being captured my parent's killers or go with them to Mist. I wanted revenge, I wanted to kill those who took my parent's away from me, so I chose to go with them.

Mist was the first class assassination school. It was in everyway exactly like any other boarding school, except for the fact that it taught people to assassinate, spy and fight. I started 'school' immediately the next day. Although I was the youngest there, I learnt with a passion, a passion to kill, a passion that gave me the potential to be the very best. There was one very unique teacher, she taught magic to a selected few who had the potential to harness that power. I was one of them. Those extra lessons made me special from the other students, it made me more powerful than them, it made others fear me.

After one year there, I became the model student, cold-hearted, unfeeling and powerful. No one rivaled my position in school except one girl. No one knew her name, just like no one knew mine. We only knew her as Rouge. The reason why she rivaled me was not in terms of her abilities to assassinate, but her mutation.

Yes, little miss gothic Rouge was a mutant. Her powers were the reason why she rivaled me. She could kill with just a touch. All she had to do was to touch the victims skin and hold on till she drained their life force from them. There would be no way the forensic team could detect the reason behind the death.

Oh yeah, you must be thinking that her mutation was great, but let me tell you, you are so wrong. Remembered that I said that she rivaled my position, not claimed my position? Well, her powers had a draw back. Unless she managed to control her mutation, she couldn't touch anyone else without knocking them out into a permanent coma or killing them.

Wonderful isn't it. She couldn't touch anyone, so she couldn't learn how to fight from anyone also unless she wore clothes that covered every bit of exposed skin. In other words, it was impossible. So poor Rouge only learned the theory of everything, but never tried the real thing.

No feelings, that were the first rule I learnt, and will always remember. Feelings were seen as a weakness, and an assassin could not afford to be weak. At mist, those who could feel were deemed weak by the others. But sometimes, these feelings made them better. Sometimes, feelings like love allowed them to work better than ever with a partner. I never once thought of even considering love before. I was already void of emotions by then, so I could not feel what love felt like. And it was because I couldn't remember that lead me never to fell any emotion ever again.

When I was 13, I mutation surfaced. It was then that I learnt that my parent's murderers had already known that I would be a mutant and what my powers would be. It was because of my mutation that they wanted me. For with my mutations, I was unstoppable, noting could ever get in my way.

I got my first job at a tender age of 14. The victim never stood a chance. He was dead before he hit the floor. The mistresses quickly realized my potential and I was pushed even harder. Training more intense than ever, I became the very best. Now, whenever people come to Mist, the first thing they always ask is "Is Shadow cat available?"

Even if I was, not many could afford to pay me to do the job. My fees were sky high, but people didn't care, they just paid me. Sometimes, they couldn't afford the payment, but they paid it any way. They only wanted the best; they only wanted to be sure that the mission would not fail. So they came to look for me, the assassin who had yet to fail a job.

Shadow cat, pride of Mist.

The wind blew gently, kicking up swirling particles of sand. A soft light slowly filled the sleepy town as the first rays of sunlight reached the ground. The streets were empty save for a few punks loitering on the dingy street corners. A couple of cars drove past and the drivers shook their heads at the runaway teens.

From her position on the roof of a shop, Kitty could see almost all that was happening in the town. She crouched low on the tiled roof and waited. She could not leave this town till she was certain her tell tale sign in a certain dead business man's house was found. Besides, she had to collect her pay from a certain currently very happy client.

The sunlight streamed through the cracks of her eyes as she squinted at the increasing numbers of pedestrians on the pavement. She briefly considered casting a spell to shade her eyes, but quickly decided against it. It was a waste of her energy and power. Kitty glanced at her watch. She was getting slightly irritated. What was taking them so long?

Tap. Tap. Thud. Kitty's sharp ears picked up the sound of someone or something trying to move as silently as possible (but obviously failing), across the roofs of the buildings nearby. Her blue eyes narrowed and her senses heightened as she prepared herself for whatever that was coming. But, she never moved an inch. To the person that was currently leaping across rooftops, it would seem that she was oblivious to his arrival.

He paused for a second before reaching into a small pouch that was tied around his waist to draw out a small envelope. Hurriedly, he tied a stone to the envelope and threw it into the air. He didn't bother to worry if it hit the ground. She would catch it, any assassin should be able to, much lest the best. True to her word, her hand flew up casually to catch the envelope as though the stone that was tied to it was weightless.

He turned around and was about to go when an icy voice stopped him. The girl had spoken, and her voice was definitely living up to the rumors. It was just as cold and just as unfeeling as everyone had suspected.

"Tell your master that Shadow cat sends her regards and give him this message. Watch your back, you'll never know who is around the next corner…" He flinched at the warning and gave a curt nod. The sound of feet tapping and thudding followed in his wake as he disappeared into the dawn.

Kitty gave a slight smile and turned back to her waiting. She gave that warning to everyone she had worked for. It was always good to scare them once in a while. The sound of sirens jerked her out of her reverie. Her smile widened for a fraction as she allowed herself some time to gloat. Finally, she stood up, and with a swish of her cloak, she vanished.

Outside an old rundown theater, she reappeared. Her normally pale face was paler than normal. The trip had taken a lot out of her. But then again, she had no choice. The distance was simply too long. A transporting spell had to be used. Kitty leaned against a fallen pillar and drew a deep breath before turning to face her home for the past 10 years.

A mist shrouded a small man made island. A broken and rotting wooden bridge was the only way to pass over to it. The water surrounding the island was a dark grey, with bits of trash floating around. One look at it, no one could ever suspect that I was the most notorius assassin school in the world. Only the best were allowed to leave the doors of Mist, and that meant everyone who survived the 4 year training.

Kitty reached closed her eyes and simply walked over the rickety old bridge, even though it seemed to break apart under her feet. The truth was, that Mist was being covered by magic, therefore creating a magical illusion of a misted and rundown place. Kitty was among one of those who came to strengthen the magic illusion every year.

As the mist parted before her, she stepped onto what looked like quicksand. looking up, she spotted a spider's web hanging dangerously above her head. A large black spider crawled towards her and opened its mouth. Cocking her head slightly, she took in the spiders appearance before sticking her finger into its mouth. There was a metallic buzz and the spider moved back, signifying that she was now able to go in. A set of iron gates swung open as Kitty stepped in.

The sight that greeted her was so unlike the one outside, one would think that she was in a different place. Lush green patches sprawled across the ground, fountains sprayed water into the air, and a large mansion designed to look Victorian loomed before her. Such was the beauty of Mist despite it being a assassin's school.

People of different races and age walked about the grounds, talking to each other in hushed tones. Once they spotted her, the whispers died down. One by one, they bowed low to her as she walked past them.

The princess of Mist was home.