Author's note: If you would be interested in seeing a 'prequel' of sorts telling how Toralei ended up in Bloodgood's care, let me know.
Pyralis watched as Kat worked on the ring, magic swirling around her hands while her tail twitched impatiently. Kat seemed a lot more relaxed in this form, though they had to wonder if there was something more to her keeping herself hidden than just a fear of being forced back.
"So what's the plan besides starting a Phoenix induced fire in the catacombs?" they asked, leaning against a wall, while trying to ignore the fact that something was watching them from the darkness.
"Simple...I'll train her. There is nothing more insulting to the royal line than a low class or outcast gaining power." Kat answered simply, her tone void of any emoiton at all though the way that her ears flicked down briefly alerted Pyralis of how uncomfortable she was.
"How? Training her would mean being the jackass of all assholes and using your feline abilities. How can you gain someone's trust to help them when you have to be a complete bitch to them?" Pyralis questioned, earning a sigh.
"Simple, Kat is the bitch...but a werecat can be a teacher." She stated as she finished the ring which she then dunked into ice water to cool before adding "Check this out!"
Putting it on nothing happened, her form only changed into that of her 'human' appearance however then she grinned and shouted the word "Nox!" before a magical aura took hold of her and before Pyralis's eyes the girl turned into a werecat once again, however this one had an eerie appearance.
It's fur was pure black with no other coloration while it's eyes were now a stark, bloody red.
"I think I'll call this form Shadow Nox." Kat's voice was deeper and more wild that Pyralis could have imagined, though it was still feminine.
"No offense but you look creepy and not in a good way. Red eyes, Kat? Really?"
Kat or rather 'shadow' just smirked "Hey I need to separate Shadow from Kate and Katina. Just like Kate looks nothing like Katina, Shadow can't look like either. Toralei is a runt, not an idiot. As a matter a fact, I want to know how strong she is. I mean she used her power to cancel out Nekolus!"
Pyralis rolled their eyes at that.
"Uh-huh. Well while you go play shadow the super beast I'm going to go call my dad and see if he won't fly down here sometime this week. I think I'll finish up this year at school here. I mean I have to get use to other monster's sometime right?"
grinning a bit 'shadow' nudged them "Alright, I think that I will get use to this place too. I'm going to go explore." she stated before turning back to normal.
Toralei sighed as she glanced up at the full moon, feeling the primal feeling wash over her though she was in no mood to run and join Purrsephone and Meowlody on their 'hunt' tonight. No, her mind was locked on what Nekolus had said.
Was it true that it was her fault that their older sister had been lost?
Had she really meant for it to happen?
Was she a murderer?
She didn't bother wipe away the moister that she felt seeping into her fur. She didn't care about how she looked right now, not when no one was around. There was no need for her to worry about appearances when no one was around to judge.
No, I can't be. I was just a kitten. We were playing...I can't control waters or the weather! I didn't do anything to make the bridge collapse. It wasn't my fault! She thought, though she couldn't help the guilt that lay in the pit of her stomach like a ball of iron.
"Who am I kidding? If I wasn't at fault my parents wouldn't have exiled me."
She could still remember the pain that had left her in, how she had struggled to walk for days afterward and had been naive enough to think that any seemingly friendly face had good intentions. She had grown up quickly to survive, having only herself to rely on.
I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Bloodgood hadn't found us when she did. Heck, I don't even know what I would have done if Purrsephone and Meowlody hadn't befriended me. I'd probably be in a ditch somewhere or in some kind of normie freak show!
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear anyone approach until a sudden voice asked
"You okay Toralei?"
The werecat let out a yowl of surprise before sighing and glancing toward the speaker, which ended up being Spectra.
"Oh hey, yeah I'm fine. I guess you got one heck of a story for your blog huh?" she replied, earning a sigh and a shake of the head.
"No. I know how embarrassing it would be for you if something like that leaked out. But for as long as I knew you I never thought that you'd be capable of something like that. I mean, you told me what to write for my post when I asked you about being exiled but we never really got into it in detail."
The ghost said, her chains rattling slightly as she spoke, earning an irritated sigh from the ginger-furred girl.
"I was seven or eight when my sister died in a flash flood. A storm literally came out of nowhere and the rushing waters of the river washed out the river beneath us. She pushed me out of the way. That wasn't only the last night I saw my sister but it was the last night I had a family."
Toralei stopped, trying not to show too much emotion although she did see Spectra as a friend.
"Look, I don't want to talk about it so just leave me alone okay?"