I sighed.

It wasn't an angry sigh, or a sad one. Just one of resignation.

Go into cat form he said.

I was lying on the side of the wagon, napping peacefully.

Until that girl woke me up.

"Oi! Cat Bastard! Get up!"

Can't I get a moment of peace?

I slowly turned around, and saw the girl looking at me. That familiar hands-on-hips pose prevalent in her posture.

It was nighttime, and the wagon had been traveling all day. Throughout every stop the girl would constantly wake me up, and try to get me to leave.

I grinned a little at this. Outsmarting her in these cases had been quite entertaining.

"Cat Bastard! I know you're grinning at me! Get the hell off of the wagon, or I'll skin you and make some nice catskin boots!"

Does she have to shout every time she speaks?

I hopped off, hissing under my breath. Even though I had changed form, I still had a wound on my paw, so walking was a little difficult. I also had a long cut on my belly, but luckily no one had seen it, nor questioned why a cat would have such a huge wound that was obviously made with a blade.

"Come on Cat Bastard, what are you waiting for? Is your leg asleep, bitch?"

And where did she learn all of these profanities? Did she sail with marines or something?

I sighed again. I was doing that a lot after meeting this girl, but this one wasn't because of her. It was Jordan's fault.

”Go into cat form” he says. “get in front of the wagon” he says. I shivered at the thought of the next part of his message..

“Become a pet” he says.

F****** hell!

Kat's POV

I was getting pissed off.

Not only did this cat ignore me most of the time, but when it paid attention to me I could always feel it smirking behind it's whiskers.

Although I had noticed it limping a few times.

It followed me to the acolytes camp, and when I took a seat a little away from the fire. It then sat down beside me and began licking its left paw.

The camp was in a large clearing beside the road, and was lain out like this. The tents were positioned in a crescent shape. The outside was pointed towards the trees, and the campfire in the center of them. We were sitting down opposite the tents and trees, on the side opposite of the fire away from most of the others. They didn't say anything, but it was understood that me and the other acolytes would be more comfortable with a little space in between us.

Now that the Cat Bastard was sitting, I could see a line of missing fur from it's right hind leg to its left fore leg. It was too clean to have been made with claws, and that straight line wasn't from a branch. It was obviously some kind of blade wound.

The cat noticed me looking, and lazily lied down, concealing it's chest from my view.

Fine. If it doesn't want my help, I won't help it.

Still, her heritage made it hard for her to ignore a wounded animal.

She sighed, then turned toward it.

"Okay, Cat Bastard. If you're going to accompany me to the magic academy, I'll have to set some ground rules. Got that?"

It looked at me curiously, then tilted it's head. I took that as a signal to go on.

"First, if I tell you to do something, You will do it. Got that?"

It kept its head tilted, but I think I saw a slight dip and rise of it's head.

I nodded as well.

"Second, you will not embarrass me in any way."

It made another affirmative nod.

"Thirdly, I can't just keep calling you Cat Bastard. It'll damage my reputation as a pure maiden."

It raised it's eyebrow.

How the hell does a cat even do that.

I thought for a little bit, then after awhile finally told it my name ideas.

"Fluffykins."

I just looked at me, and it's already risen eyebrow seemed to go even higher.

"Okay, no good."

I thought for a little bit longer this time, then said.

"Cutiepie."

It shook it's head vigorously.

"Then what the hell kind of name do you want!?"

I became conscious of the other acolytes looking at me and whispering behind their hands.

I forced a smile, and waved trying to convince them that I had not lost my marbles.

The cat audibly snickered.

I turned toward it.

"Okay fine! Cat Bastard it is!"

It just looked at me, then swished its tail.

Other people might think it was just a cat swishing its tail, but I took it as a challenge.

I thought long and hard, as well as deep into the night.

Finally, I came up with the best cat name I had ever thought of.

"Okay Cat Bastard, I think you'll like this name."

It looked at me questioningly, still swishing its tail tauntingly.

"Chub chub meowton!"

...

It flinched.

Then it backed away slowly, trying to make as much room between me and him.

I smiled.

"There's no escape for you now, meowton."

That was when it sprinted up a tree, and sat on a branch hissing at me.

It kept doing that all night.

---

I rose and stretched, feeling the cramps of having slept on the ground.

For some reason, I had felt much warmer and more comfortable than usual.

That was when I discovered the cat lying on my chest.

I immediately threw it off, then created a ball of fire in my hand.

It looked groggy, but not groggy enough to be hit by my clumsily thrown fireballs.

After I had exhausted my mana, I sat there panting. Then it snickered.

"Cat Bastard!"

Looks like his name really will be Cat Bastard. I'll just have to tell anyone who asks that my brother named him. Though, I don't have a brother.

I had an interesting morning, but after the cat finally evaded my searches for it. I sat down on my futon and had a breakfast of bread and salted fish. It wasn't a feast, but it filled the stomach. Halfway through, the Cat Bastard strolled up to me and ate a brightly colored bird beside me. I think I growled at him a little bit.

The thing is, he kept spitting it out. The other strange thing is, he was only eating the feathers and bones.

Why is he...

Then it dawned on me.

He was boning and feathering it. After it had completely separated the meat from the rest of the bird, it nudged the now-filleted bird carcass toward me. Picked up a bone and padded away, like it was a dog.

I looked at the carcass, then at the Cat Bastard, and finally gave up.

I roasted it, then saved half in case he came back. He never did.

When the wagon started he showed up out of nowhere, and avoided my gaze.

I smiled a little bit.

Looks like even bastards can be nice.

---

Shadowpelt’s POV

Nothing mentionable happened on the ride, just occasional bouts of cursing and hands-on-hips. Though, I noticed they were much less often than before. almost like they were a formality.

Before I had gotten on the wagon, I told egain to go back to the forest. He'd look after it in my place, and explore the cave I had found. I was leaving it in good hands. I told him that if he ever needed to contact me for help, he could try asking Jordan, or send someone up this road to the magic academy.

The wagon driver perked up, and so did the acolytes. As we rounded a bend in the road. That was when we all saw a huge, marble building. It was absolutely massive, and dominated the hill it rested on. With pillars and arches supporting it filled with designs and pictures accentuated with numerous towers of all shapes and designs. Some reached up to the clouds, others were only a story higher than the rest of the building. Some had lighting coming out, others had birds of all kinds flying around outside. Climate didn't seem to matter, as some towers were frozen solid, or even made of ice, while others were nearly magma.

As the wagon approached, we could see a mirade of different people coming from all around, in carriages or with escorts, carrying cargo or simply walking. The most interesting people were riding beasts. There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason.

As the wagon approached, one of the beast riders came over and started chatting with the wagon driver. Almost like it was the most normal thing in the world to chat with your friend while riding on a giant green slug-thing.

After getting through what looked to be a circus consisting of even more outrageous animals, we made it to the front steps.

A looming arch supported by pillars, with two massive stone doors in between, at the top of three wide steps. If it weren't for the rest of the building, I'd think it was a government office.

The girl and the other acolytes got off of the wagon, and made their way up the three steps. The look of awe was perfectly mirrored on all of their faces, except for the girls. Though she didn't swear when I jumped on her shoulder, which was a miracle unto itself.

When we reached the top of the steps, an old man appeared out of thin air.

He turned a couple times, finally coming to a stop. He was missing several teeth, and had a grey pointed hat on, while having on a half-polka dot and half-blue-with-star coat. They did not go well together. If I had to compare him to someone from my first life I'd have to say he resembled the crazy hermit at the top of the mountain. He would always offer to make me potions to make me fly, but after I sniffed them I saw that his 'potions' were dirty water with purple food coloring and an intoxicating flower indigenous to that particular mountain range. As far as I know, he could still be up there.

I don't think even my master knew he was up there. Nevertheless, I'd seen that crazy geezer snap a cougar's neck, even while intoxicated. One time, I'd heard him muttering about 'having to pretend to be dead, so my disciple will not have to kill me.' Now that I thought about it, my master had always said his master had overdosed on some kind of drug, and had a heart attack. Perhaps the hermit hadn't been crazy after all?

Returning to the present, the geezer in front of me and the other acolytes gave us a toothless grin, then greeted us. His voice was high and reedy, like he had aged so much he has become a child again.

"Welcome children! To my academy of learning, may you all have a pleasant stay!"

He used his arms in wide motions, making me afraid he was going to lose his balance and fall down the stairs.

He looked at the acolytes one at a time. There were nine females, and ten males, excluding the girl.

"Now, it looks like you're all here, and none of you were killed on the way."

He said this like it was a wonderful thing.

He kept looking closely, finally resting his eyes on the girl. She raised her chin, but for some reason made sure her hair covered her ears.

He noticed her gesture, then his eyes seemed to glint in understanding.

Then he looked at me, and all traces of kindness left the old mans face.

"Quite the rare pet you have, miss Kat. And quite fitting, if I might say."

He chuckled a little at this, but it sounded forced to me.

"Would you mind if I held him?"

She looked surprised, but handed me over.

He muttered something that I couldn't catch before taking me.

"...Strange, I can't see this one's name.. I wonder why..."

I took a seat on his two hands, and even though his arms were thin as sticks they still felt like stone beneath me.

He leaned in, looking into my eyes closely, and suddenly I felt a pressure.

It wasn't on my body, but rather my mind. It felt like something was trying to split open my head with an axe.

I concentrated, then felt something strange.

This thing trying to crack my head, it feels like... mana.

So, I gathered my own, and formed a shield. I then pushed my mana into the place where the attack was coming from.

The pressure disappeared for a moment, only to be replaced with a dozen more.

I fenced with this unknown force, blocking its advances while trying to conserve mana.

While blocking the attacks, my mana was depleting at an alarming rate. I managed to find out that by shaping it, and even compressing it, my mana could use it much more effectively. Still, I couldn't keep this up indefinitely. Eventually, I would be overcome.

While thinking this over, I kept refining my technique. my master had always said, “if something is unknown, then find it, and learn it.”

These attacks, and even defending, were unknown to me.

So I would find them, and learn them.

My mana was getting low. The attacks hadn't faltered one bit, but had rather accelerated, and become more fierce.

And then, I didn't defend.

Two dozen aches split my head, and I felt something try to get in through the cracks. it felt triumphant, and I could almost hear trumpets of victory.

That was when I copied the shape that the mana which had been attacking me had taken, and assaulted the thing that was distracted with it's gloating.

It reeled back, shields of iron immediately came up, and repelled me so quickly it was like I had never been there.

But I had been there, and I knew something.

Images flashed through my mind, and I was a young man. I was practicing my air magic, and discovered something that would make me the most famous wizard in the entire continent...

I blinked, and suddenly I could see the geezers smiling face.

He whispered to me,

"Impressive, impressive, quite the mind you have, and your mana is no laughing matter either. I must be getting rusty, to be taken in with such an obvious bluff."

I swished my tail, simply indicating he had no way of knowing a beginner would make a bluff.

He chuckled, then nodded.

I was surprised he had understood my signal, but then again we were both quite insane.

As the saying goes, broken minds think alike.

He continued.

"Well, you passed my test. You can learn magic." He had on a sad smile.

"Even if you were to do something horrible with what you learn here, it wouldn't hold a candle to what I have done. Besides." he looked sincere. "everyone should have the chance to learn, what they do with their knowledge after is up to them."

I nodded, then licked his hand in gratitude.

Then his face got dark.

"But, let me warn you. I've seen some of your memories, and I know you are not afraid to hurt people. But if you hurt any of my students when it isn't self-defense, I'll personally kill you."

"And in that case, I won't hold back."

I nodded solemnly. I would avoid hurting his students, unless it was self-defense.

He sighed, like all old men do, who know they have lived too long, and it's almost time for them to rest.

"I guess I can leave the rest up to fate..."

"Um,' the geezer looked behind me, and saw all of the acolytes were looking at him with weird expressions. Kat asked him,

"You must really like cats, huh?"

He was completely still for a second, then chuckled.

"Yes, yes. Cats are one of my favorite animals." he said as he placed me back on Kat's shoulder. "They are intelligent, and witty, as well as clever like myself." He turned away, making strange gestures with his hands, making the doors open. "Did you know? some cats can even use magic." the doors opened slowly, and a cloud of dust fell from them. "I' the headmaster, by the way my name is Bob Joyins, but you can call me headmaster."

He motioned them past him, while grinning. all of the acolytes didn't look too sure about this whack-job being the headmaster, but they filed past all the same.

Kat was the last to go in, and said this as she walked past him.

"Can this cat use magic?"

He looked at me, then winked, and shook his head. He motioned with his fingers, so I could somehow understand. Just remember our deal.

As she was leaving, he shouted over the sound of the doors closing,

"Hey! What is your cats name?"

She looked over her shoulder, then hesitated, and said,

"Cat Bastard! My brother named him!"

The old geezer smiled, then laughed so hard he fell down the stairs. There was an audible crash, right before the doors closed.

Kat shook her head. Then asked herself, "wait, I didn't tell him my name." she kept walking, following the usher that led her and the other acolytes to their dorms.

"Then if he knew mine, why didn't he know Cat Bastards?"

Joyins' POV

I couldn't stop laughing.

"Ha ha! Cat Bastard!"

Miss Joslyn floated down to me, then waved an admonishing finger.

"You shouldn't swear."

I kept laughing, but finally got up. I twisted my back, hearing it pop with every movement.

"Ah, I needed a good laugh. Being cooped up in a tower makes a man need three things."

She looked at me, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would those things be?"

I smiled.

"A good beer, a good laugh, and." he looked at her suggestively.

She just turned around, and made a disgusted sound.

"You're a rotten old geezer, you know that?"

I cackled.

But suddenly she got serious.

"Still, are you sure about allowing that beast into our school?"

I nodded. "He will keep his promise, unless he has good reason not to."

She sighed. "But what about when he leaves the school?"

I stopped smiling.

"Then, may all the gods help us."

She looked scared. It wasn't usual for me to get this serious.

"Wish the world luck, Joslyn."

I looked toward the horizon, but my eyes saw through it, and saw rather what was to come.

"Gods know we'll need it."