Unlikely Friends: Volume Two

Chapter Fourteen

Before

The small cat girl lifted her head from Pando's chest and peeked behind her. The men were gone, not a single trace they ever even existed. She looked back up at her winged savior and purred, rubbing her whiskered face against his chest. "What are you doing?" Pando shouted, abruptly shoving the girl away from him.  "Stay away!" he said, his red eyes narrowing with anger as he glared down at her. The small feline-like girl landed with a soft thud on the ground, startled by his sudden outburst. He didn't bother apologizing or offering her his hand to help her up. Instead, he turned around and began walking away, retracting his large wings as he went.

"Wait!" the girl jumped to her feet, quickly catching up to him. She circled around him, sniffing and observing his facial features. Her eyes widened in surprise. "You're a demon?" she gasped. She had never seen one of these creatures before. She assumed they were usually found at the ends of the world or deep underground. Her mother always preached that demons were evil but this winged hero saved her. "And... my friend?" she finished weakly, unsure if he would accept such a statement.

"No," Pando responded, continuing his journey down the empty street.

"No to which one?" the small girl skirted in front of him, admiring his scarred face as she walked backwards. He was beautiful in a terrifying way. Pando frowned, pushing her aside and speeding up. "To both," he called over his shoulder as she stood idly, lost in thought. She didn't understand the pull this stranger had on her. The further he got away the more her skin mysteriously started to itch

The girl twitched her whiskers at the sensation and easily caught up with Pando again. "You look like a demon," she persisted, "and you saved me." Pando rolled his eyes as he replied, "and I'm starting to regret that decision now." She whimpered, pouting at her hero but continued on nonetheless as some force pulled her close to his side. "Is there like a demon code that I'm indebted to you for saving my life?" the cat girl wondered aloud as she tried to find an explanation to her annoying itch. Pando scoffed at her question, his eyes scanning the streets for any threats as he strode towards his temporary home.

The boy had grown tired of running and set up camp in a small, empty house. It had been abandoned and thoroughly ransacked but it sheltered him well enough.  Besides that, he had no reason to leave it. His new appearance and powers had left him nearly untouchable. He had considered deleting the dusty mess and shattered windows from existence but decided against it, not wanting to draw attention to a lone well maintained house. He did, however, remove the corpses sprawled on neighboring lawns and throughout the street. He started by simply bringing them back to life, pitying the poor fallen souls but that had immediately backfired. Each person he brought back from the dead obnoxiously followed him around like a lost puppy. Now he opted by blinking the dead bodies out of existence so he could live in solutide.

Clearly he didn't learn his lesson and it wasn't just the former dead people who stalked him in the streets. Apparently saving living people had the same effect. He looked at the orange haired girl blabbering away, deciding to grant her his attention. "What are you even talking about?" Pando interrupted the girl and she smiled at him, inching closer while purring. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin and swallowed, acutely aware of her proximity. "I was talking about how demons differed from religion to religion," she happily answered.

"I told you I'm not a demon," Pando sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Are you sure?" the small girl questioned innocently, "it's okay if you can't tell me." The boy rolled his eyes, her neverending persistence becoming increasingly grating."What's your name then?" she asked, momentarily changing the subject. Pando didn't dignify her with a response, not wanting to give the girl another reason to think they were friends. She stared at him as they walked, waiting for a reply. Pando could feel the girl's eyes on his face and swallowed nervously.

"You can't tell me because you're a demon," the girl knowingly nodded, satisfied with her own conclusions. "What?" Pando questioned, pausing in the street and looking at the girl in utter confusion. The girl stopped as well with a thoughtful look on her face, studying him. She tapped a claw to her chin as she pondered, taking a moment to soak in every detail. "What are you doing?" Pando raised an eyebrow, wondering if saving people had a negative effect on their sanity. "Just thinking," the cat girl replied staring directly at him. After a few seconds of silence, she clapped her hands and jumped excitedly.

"You look like an Xavier," the girl decided. "What?" Pando questioned yet again, growing even more confused. Why was he wasting his time with this deranged cat? "I'm trying to guess your name," the girl explained, rolling her eyes, "since you know...demon." She looked him up and down as she said the last word.

Pando grinded his teeth and continued his walk home, the girl following quickly behind. "Was I close?" she insisted on her guessing game.

"I'm not a demon," Pando grumbled over his shoulder, "I'm a mutant. Just like you." The girl sped up, looking at the boy curiously. She began walking backwards in front of him again and protested. "I'm not a mutant," she denied stubbornly, "I'm a cat."Pando smirked, wondering if this was the girl's way of comforting herself. She must not have accepted the reality that she was just another mutated freak too. "Sure," Pando scoffed, resulting in the girl pouting her lips and jumping towards Pando in defiance. The boy stepped back, expecting a decent impact but only a small thump landed on his chest. He looked down, expecting the girl to be the one hanging from his shirt by her claws.

Instead a tiny orange kitten stared up at him.