A dull ache started in the back of my head, slowly progressing into sharp, cutting blades that ran down my temple, crossing over my left shoulder and weaving through my ribs. Sleep lulled me in, but the unbearable pain forced me awake. Like a game of tug of war that pain was winning.

I scrunched up my face to feel my nerves awaken. Their pricking sensation spread across my body, causing me to shudder only to growl from the pain of my wounds moving.

Spears of light pierced my eyes as my eyelid shields parted. It took some time and blinking before I could make out the world around me.

A blurry purple figure I recognized as Kightlen sat before me. Their indigo eyes speckled by midnight blue bore into mine. Beside them sat Kight with the same expression of concern- but their long snout was moving as if they were talking.

My ears rang like a metal spoon clinking against a glass cup -the noise impossible to hear over, but slowly fading away. As it faded, my hearing became clearer. "-iends came. Can you get up Misha?"

Hearing the "get up Misha" loud and clear, I attempted to stand. Sluggishly, my feet slid beneath me and tried to lift my body. However, I only succeeded in stumbling forwards into Kightlen.

The touch of their fur felt like cool liquid to the skin on my face. I noticed the feeling of my coat plastered to my body; it was heavier than usual. Black pterodactyl goop stuck to my paws and fur like a second skin.

"Misha!" I felt another presence to the side opposite of Kight. Pulling away from Kightlen, I stumbled back and turned towards the distressed, brown-winged calico.

My senses back to normal -besides my sense of pain which had gone berserk-, I cleared my throat before uttering the single word, "Ouch."

Behind me, the snarky voice of a certain pufferfish replied, "Oh look, she can speak. Let's hand her over to the doctors and be on with our day."

Athena's lemon-yellow eyes flickered between concern and anger and she hissed a short but serious command, "Kelpie, not the time. Shut up and stand back."

Kelpie didn't respond, but I highly doubted she stood back. There was a reason Kelpie had to be forced into a team rather than joining one like most. But my mind couldn't spare the space to think about the disobedient girl.

There were too many images flooding my mind as they had before. Images of a masked man.

"Misha," Kightlen's voice pulled me out of my near mental breakdown. "Don't forget the present."

Pudding! My mind instantly realized, but Apollo, who stood somewhere behind me, cut me to it, "Your sister's safe and sound. So are your friends."

"Friends?" I asked, my throat scratchy and dry from shouting earlier.

The overly enthusiastic voice of one of my new acquaintances answered me, "Hey, you guys all good? Seems to be the case. While I'm here, have you seen the white-spotted cat with an ego the size of- oh gosh."

Her eyes must have landed on me. Do I look that bad? Between the coat of black everywhere but my face -which someone must have been wiped off- and my slumped form, I must have looked like a zombie. Oh right, my shoulder's bleeding as well.

"Please tell me there's some sort of hero ambulance here." The black and white cat, Ninja, drifted down to stand between the coyotes, Kightlen and Kight. Her bubble-gum pink cape wrapped around her white paws.

Athena narrowed her eyes at the newcomer, but I cleared up the confusion. "Ninja's new," I explained in one breath. The stinging in my chest dissuade me from adding anything else.

Luckily, it was enough of an explanation for the time being. Athena nodded her head slowly and spoke to Kight, "Go get a medic. They'll know the right course of action."

Before Kight could race off, I gasped, "No doctor -don't want to stay forever." 

Both medics and doctors were under the Healer class, but medics -who trained to provide first aid in the heat of battle- didn't take a lifetime to heal a broken leg. They slapped on a band-aid and said 'get over it'.

Emotionlessly, Kight turned away and left. If I hadn't known them since I was a kitten, I would have been unsettled by their lack of acknowledgment. But, I knew Kight felt compelled to not act amused when the situation called for concern.

"Hey, I think your sister is coming, but should we tell the yellow-spotted cat what happened? Ilene, I think it was," asked Ninja. Her eyes glanced between me and Athena, unsure of who to actually ask.

"If you have a means of communication with her, go for it," replied Athena. She knew Ilene only as an acquaintance, but she was aware of her being my best friend.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ninja replied, "This watch thing should get her attention. Not sure how to work it, though."

"Let me see," replied Athena. Ninja reached her white paw towards the calico for her to inspect it. Within a couple of seconds, Athena pushed a sequence of buttons with the tip of her claw creating a quiet click.

An anticipation-filled pause followed before a pleasant voice rang through, "Ninja?"

"Yep!" spoke Ninja, a little too loud. "It's me, but I'm not the one you'll want to talk to. Misha looks like one of the birds ate her then puked her back up. She's here right now."

"That's the best way you could tell her my current state?" I spat quietly, not caring a bit about how much it hurt my chest. Ninja shrugged again and slid off the watch, placing it before me.

"Misha's there? Wait, what exactly happened. Is she okay? I told the idiot not to die!"

"Does it sound like I'm dead to you?" I asked, coughing a little afterward. Probably didn't help my point.

"Do you want the truth?" She sounded very doubtful, and I couldn't blame her.

"I'm good, thanks," I replied, trying not to cough that time. "You're not being as blunt as normal. Taking pity on me?"

"I'll take pity on you when you lose the ego."

A.k.a, she'll never take pity on me. Because apparently, that's all I am now. All talk and no bite.

Would you shut-up, voice? Your obnoxiousness gives me a headache.

I am you.

"Misha, you good?" Ilene's concerned voice spoke through the watch.

Around me, the others gazed on with concern, their eyes catching every reaction I made. I twitched under Kightlen's pitiful stare. She probably knew everything about me with one glance. I couldn't stand her sympathy.

I couldn't stand being understood.

I don't think I'm alright. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy cause somebody woke me up super early in the morning," I replied, putting an emphasis on "somebody".

"It was seven-thirty," deadpanned Ilene.

"Exactly."

I had the sinking suspicion Ilene was suppressing an eye-roll, but considering I'd be lucky to get through a conversation without her judging me, the thought didn't bother me. What did bother me, however, was explaining what I had seen to her.

Not a chance, she'd freak on me. That, or she wouldn't believe me and think I was playing some sick joke on her.

What sort of best friend would do that? After all we've been through together? It's getting hard to tell who's the one lacking trust.

Lacking trust? The only thing I'm lacking trust in is Ilene's capabilities to handle this. We barely went through that together. She lost her power and her mother. My loss couldn't even compare to hers, yet I'm still a mess over it. How could I tell her?

To her face for a start.

Geez, voice. Thanks for the help. As if I wasn't already planning that, I thought sarcastically. What would I say?

The truth.

Trying my best not to express my disbelief to Athena and the others watching, I replied, Oh, hey Ilene! You know the masked dude who killed your mother? Yeah, he's back and initiating war on S.H.H.A. Too bad he stole your power since it would really come in handy.

You'd rather leave her behind just the same as Daisy?

"Misha, if you're still there, has everything been taken care of? Is the camp intact?" asked Ilene, startling me enough that Athena's expression leaked confusion.

In a hurry, I stammered, "Yep, as far as I know. Will look into it. Talk to you later, bye." The watch clicked off from me pounding my paw on one of the tiny buttons.

I'd never leave Ilene behind. She's part of my team.

What's the difference between leaving her behind and leaving her out?

Multiple sets of paws padding on the mossy floorboards distracted me from replying. Kight had returned, and beside him came a dark grey-haired man I had met before but didn't remember the name of.

He rushed to my side, his thin lips tightly pressed together. Narrowing his pale pink eyes -the color indicating that he most likely wasn't a cat semi-human-, he rubbed the black goop off my shoulder to examine the damage. I was unable to tell if the disapproving look in his cold eyes meant my condition was bad or if the man in his early thirties (anywhere between 45 to 60 human years old) was trying to figure out what a child like me did to rip my shoulder open.

After a moment of examination, the medic announced, "Wash it off and wrap a bandage around the cut to keep it from bleeding. Your ribs will heal with time, but don't be stupid and injure them further."

"Ribs?" Ninja asked, confused as if I hadn't been struggling to breathe. What did she think? I got black goop stuck in my lungs?

"It's more common to break ribs during chest compressions than people think," explained the medic. "Not that people think very often."

Gosh, do all medics have the same lack of faith in semi-humanity? Considering my experiences, that was most likely the case. Even so, I thanked him for his time and asked his name. Although mom wouldn't hear about it, I didn't want Pudding adding me being rude to the fake story of how I broke my ribs and shredded my shoulder.

"Fen," he answered as he handed Athena some bandages from the light sack he hauled over his shoulder. Fen zipped his bag closed, swung it over his shoulder, and turned away. Typical of a medic, his farewell was, "Hope I never see you again, but I'm not holding my breath."

"Bye," called Apollo -the only one to acknowledge the man leaving.

Ninja slipped the watch back on her paw as I wobbled to the edge of the walkway. Wash it off, he said. It'll be easy, he said. I'll just leave before you go drown yourself again. Thank goodness the annoying voice in my head didn't comment on my rant.

Leaning over the edge of the boardwalk, I stretched my right paw to the lake in an attempt to fetch water. Athena, noticing my stupid actions, carefully pulled me back and said, "How about we get you some water and a towel so you can wash off in human form. Then we'll get you back to the main base."

"I hate human form," I grumbled, but it had no effect on Athena's decision. The calico already knew a majority of my hate for human form was due to laziness.

Mom bought me human clothing, but it was just a pain taking them out of the closet, pulling them on, and remembering to leave them places they wouldn't get stolen or forgotten when I shifted back to cat form. Whoever invented shifting didn't think the process through as well as they should've.

After ordering Apollo and Kelpie to retrieve water and Kight to retrieve a towel and clothes, Athena pushed me around the corner and into a small shack tucked between two willow trees with Kightlen following close behind. The cramped, one-room building barely had enough space for a filing cabinet and table. However, the inside was up kept, unlike the vine-covered outside, and dry enough to be comfortable.

I could feel Kightlen's stare on the back of my head. Although not commenting was top on my mind, I couldn't help but flick my gaze towards them and say a little too harshly, "What?"

Athena almost chastised me for snapping at her friend, but looking between us, she understood that she had been left out of something between me and the coyote spirit. Sometimes I wondered if all spirits poked their noses where they didn't belong or if it was just Kight's. Honestly, I thought curiosity would be more of a cat thing.

In an echo of Kight's soft voice, Kightlen responded, "You should ask yourself that question."

Suppressing a growl of frustration, I replied in a forced light tone, "That's a dangerous question to ask a cat like me."

"It's a question you need to know the answer to."

Why can't they just drop it? I know you're not telepathic, but come on, read my spirit. I don't know what in the whole wide world you're talking about.

Don't lie to yourself.

"Okay, enlighten me. What does my spirit say?" Immediately, I regretted asking the question. Of course, Kightlen would reply with something I didn't want. Why did I always get myself in trouble?

"How can I know what you are if you don't yourself?" asked Kightlen. It was a legit question that I really should have thought over more, but at the time, I wasn't having it. If only I had listened.

I know what I am. I'm the reason Boss and Daisy are dead. I'm the reason Jade and Mouse are gone. I'm the reason I can't have a real conversation with my best friend without hurting feelings. Because I messed up over and over and over again.

I'm Maxima's first mistake.

Maxima doesn't make mistakes, idiot. Boss may be disappointed in me, but not because I've failed yet. She's disappointed because I haven't moved on. How can I be a leader when I'm stuck having pity parties in my head?

Would you leave me alone, voice? You're not me. The only similarity we share is always being wrong.

It seems I've lost track of who's 'the voice'.

"Fighting with yourself will achieve nothing," commented Kightlen as if they actually did have telepathy and was eavesdropping on my conversation. "Your soul is already drained enough. If you harm it more, it may never heal."

My soul can't be harmed. Unlike you, mine stays nice and safe inside me, I thought confidently despite knowing in the back of my mind it wasn't the truth. 

When my next thought came, I couldn't tell if it was me thinking or the intrusive voice. Physical things can harm my physical body and mental things can harm my mental body... my soul.

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What's up?

Hasn't been too long since I posted the last chapter, but it's not like many people are keeping up with the updates anyway... well, if you've made it this far, thanks a ton! It means a whole ton to me.

Anyhow, here's another question. If you were a superhero, what color would your super suit be?

Mine would be a black or dark brown cloak.

Thanks again for reading! Don't forget to vote and/or comment.

(Oh, and for the record, the cat in the title picture is Misha. I took a picture of her and drew over it.)