Chapter 14: Strange Emotions

"So you are called the demon."

"Yes..."

"Why is that."

"Because I kill for fun."

"No."

No? Okay. Here's the deal here. The black and white she-cat, Nightpaw, told me to go to the medicine cat den so we could talk. thought it would be one of those normal conversations that you would have with completely normal cats, but I was wrong. It seems I've been wrong a lot lately. Anyway, Nightpaw is completely messed up. She speaks in this weird monotone voice. Her eyes are emotionless all the time, and she doesn't let on that she has any emotions period. So no I'm trying to understand if she's asking a question or making a statement. And she's also telling me that I don't kill for fun.

"Here's why." Nightpaw explained, "There's a prophecy. About you."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." I shook my head, "A prophecy? Like, those things that are like oh you're going to save the entire world? Sorry, but no."

She smirked at that. Smirked! And didn't even try to hide it! "Well too bad!" She exclaimed, "Sometimes you have to deal with your problems!"

"So you do have emotions..." I muttered. Her eyes widened and she immediately closed herself up again, "Oh, did I hit a soft spot?" I taunted, "Does the little kitty need her mother?"

"No..." She whimpered.

"Sure looks like it." I smirked, and she froze. She gave off a strong fear scent. One that rivaled any cat I'd scared in my entire life. I've gone up against hundreds of rogues. Saying her fear scent was the strongest, that was seriously impressive. But besides that, her eyes were as wide as they could go. Her ears were dead flat against her head. Her breathing was deathly uneven. I've heard that kind of breathing many times before. A lot of the cats I've attacked breathed like that before they died. Nightpaw, was going to die right here. If I made one more move. Because she was that scared. That scared of feeling. That scared of being teased. I couldn't completely understand it, but I understood enough to know that if I did anything but back away, she would break.

"P-p-please." Nightpaw cried, "P-please g-g-get a-a-w-way"

I obliged. I backed away and sat down. I stared at her. Just stared. Not murderously or anything like that. Just curiously. I'd never seen any cat act like her. Maybe it was just a personality trait of hers and hers alone, but I couldn't completely believe that.

After a few quiet moments of just sitting there, Nightpaw looking at the floor, and me staring at her, she finally spoke, "Y-you a-are not g-going to tease me further?"

I raised my head a little, just enough to get her a bit panicked again. I made sure the look in my eyes would give her nightmares, "I might be called a demon. But that doesn't mean I like hurting other cats. It's just a stupid curse, okay?" Nightpaw gulped and nodded, "Good. I'm glad we got that out of the way. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to scare the other apprentices into giving me their nests."

"What?" Nightpaw's eyes widened in fear again.

I smiled, "Relax, Frosty, I might not like hurting cat, but I love pranks. I'll give their nests back by morning."

"Frosty?" I heard Nightpaw whisper to herself before I was completely out of earshot.

My smile grew broader. It'll take a while for her to get used to me, but I was a part of the Clan now. She's gonna have to deal with me sooner or later. I might not get any wounds, but I do know how to heal them. Mental stuff, that might be a little harder, but I'm sure I can learn that too.

I made my way to the apprentices' den. There was only one cat there. A she-cat, with gray fur and white markings. Bright green eyes.

"Hi newbie!" She exclaimed, "How are you doing after you publicly killed one of your new Clanmates because of anger?"

At first, I thought she was just trying to tease me or something like that. Make me not want to be here anymore. Then I registered the way she spoke. She said it with too much glee. Like she really wanted to know how I was doing after I publicly killed one of my new Clanmates because of anger.

"Um..." I shifted my eyes around the den, "Good, I guess."

She smiled and crossed the den to get a closer look at me. I'm guessing. Because she put her muzzle right in front of my face. Okay, maybe not to get a closer look, because right after she put her muzzle in my face, she licked my nose.

"What the in the freaking hell are you doing?!" I screamed. The she-cat backed away from me, still smiling, "I'm serious! What was that for?"

"I'm Nettlepaw." She said blankly. A smile still showed on her face. I didn't know if it was from amusement, or if she was really just genuinely happy all the freaking time.

"Yeah, well you still haven't answered my question." I shoved my nose in the dirt just outside the apprentices' den. I could see the stares from cats walking by. I didn't care right then. Some strange cat had just licked my nose and I didn't like it. Shoving my face in dirt was the only way to get rid of the strange cat cooties so I didn't have to touch it myself. Yes, I couldn't breath, but I didn't really care.

Nettlepaw walked over so I could see her. She tilted her head, "You're pretty funny for someone who's supposed to be a demon."

I lifted my head from the dirt, but I could still feel her dry tongue on my nose. Very uncomfortable, "That's not the answer to my question."

She giggled. Giggled like Sunwind did. But Nettlepaw wasn't high. I could tell. This was her personality. Like what you twolegs call 'high school girls' or something. I don't understand that kind of stuff.

"You're cute when you're mad." Nettlepaw continued to mew nonsense. What did 'cute' mean? I know I'd heard it before, but I couldn't place the meaning. Then she licked my nose again.

I yowled and panicked and shoved my face back in the dirt. This was not fun. Why did this strange she-cat do the things that she did? I could feel the vibrations of laughter coming from cats around the clearing. Some were watching this epidemic of licking noses. I hated it. But I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't want to kill another cat when everyone was getting ready to sleep. This was weirder than anything I'd ever experienced. But I would have to deal with it. For the rest of my life. Maybe I should just be cool with it now, get over the fact that this strange Nettlepaw who's happy and excited about everything is going to lick my nose all the time.

"Oh!" Nettlepaw shoved her nose in the ground next to me, "fh nher o or ushon ih..."

I pulled my head out of the dirt and growled, "Can you please not talk with dirt in your mouth? You're already obnoxious enough."

Everyone watching held their breath. With what they had seen earlier, I bet they were just waiting for my to kill her.

Nettlepaw's smile grew as she took her muzzle out of the ground, "I was saying, the answer to your question, is that I wanted to."

I deadpanned. Because she wanted to? That was the weirdest excuse I'd ever heard. No one licks a demon on the nose just because you want to. Especially not when you just saw that demon kill one of your Clanmates in a deadly blood bath. So I just turned around, took all of the bedding, and curled up on top of it. Nettlepaw watched me with wide eyes. I glared at her.

"You're cute when you're mad." She said again.

I just rolled my eyes, and fell asleep. Not even bothering to acknowledge the fact that Nettlepaw curled up beside me. Which is weird. Hopefully I have dreams about killing cats. Hopefully I wake up finding Nettlepaw stabbed in the back because of my killing cats dreams. Hopefully, I can belong here.