Mnzetius paced the edges of the lake, his breath coming out raggedly from his mouth. His staff lay on the ground nearby. Blood stained the jewel at the top, still fresh from his encounter. Anger boiled inside of him, still collecting and gathering. The wizard threw his arms up in outrage, "Can you believe that he charged me two nights for just sleeping in?!!?" he roared to himself. "How dare he!" he said, grabbing his staff off the ground.

The other night, Mnzetius rented a room at an inn, also getting several drinks. The next morning, he had slept in quite some time, and the inn keeper had charged the necromancer for two nights. But being a confused fellow, Mnzetius had gone in an outrage and killed the man. The wizard knew he had done something wrong, but wasn't about to admit that he had done something abnormal. That was something a normal person would do, or at least that's what Mnzetius thought. People got angry when they were cheated.

The necromancer was undoubtedly insane, and had quite a twisted mind. But he grew up in a society were there indeed was a 'normal'. Mnzetius was unable to feel happy, love, excitement, but based his false emotions based off what seemed normal. He would observe people interact, undergo transactions, and other simple things that led into strong emotions and based his reactions of these people. But often, his more negative emotions (which he always has plenty of) explode into an exaggerated outrage. His hate, anger, and even lust were all fueled by the negative memories of his past.

And this particular innkeeper had made Mnzetius quite angry, which resulting in a vicious fight. But rather than go on a worthless rampage, the necromancer had enough self control to seethe at the placid Lake Aelin, startling enough. Perhaps Mnzetius was copying this behaviour as well, or maybe even discovered a way of control on his own.

The necromancer plopped on a rock nearby the ocean, taking a large, deep breath, and then let out a sigh that echoed through the forest around the edges of the Aelin. He inhaled again, the overwhelming scent of salt permeating his nostrils. "What a fool," muttered Mnzetius, still on the topic of the innkeeper. "How dare he cheat me!" repeated the angered man. "I am not to be messed with!" he whispered, clenching his hand into a fist. It seemed as though his anger was becoming tangible, making the area around him filled with negative emotions. Any intruder would immediately recognize the anger boiling in him. But not just any anger, but rather the type of anger that would trouble an average citizen.

CLANK!

He glanced over to his side, noticing that his staff fell to the ground. His eyes drifted to the jewel at the top, staring intently at the blood. His breath became ragged with excitement as he relived the murder. He quickly shook his head, bending down to the lake with cupped hands. He drew water out of the lake, rinsing his face. "Its over. He's dead," said Mnzetius as if he was consulting a troubled child. "Its OK," he repeated a final time.

(I apologize for the poor quality of the post. I've fallen out of Hattie's style.)

“Woah!” squealed Hattie, her sparkling black eyes squinting against the bright sunlight; she’d, after hours and hours of stagnant fishwatching, finally caught a glimpse of the rainbow fish sought. Or…was it? The orange feline leaned dangerously over the lapping water for a better view - the glare was blinding her - but just as abruptly as it appeared, the trout vanished, leaving behind nothing but a loud splash as it retreated into the safety of the lake. Convincing herself that what she’d just seen was the fictional fish she’d been waiting for, Hattie gave a little purr of delight and wished that one of her friends, like Rasky or Fudgy, were here to share the sight with her.

It was then that a question posed itself to Hattie’s consciousness; how come there could be magical rainbow fish but not magical rainbow cats? It took a second for it to hit her - wait, Hattie was a magical cat! All she needed to be was rainbow! Looking down t her own fur, Hattie pulled the mana, channeling it through throbbing veins of happy energy, around her to form an illusory coat of rainbow fur. Eagerly, she advanced towards the lake once more, to inspect her new look in the water.

“I…Look…So…Awesome!” Hattie mewed with delight, in the process of turning around to admire herself from a different angle when a blast of cold, pure unpleasantness slammed into her and the druid cat almost lost her balance. She wasn’t physically pushed, of course, but her mind took the full brunt of the manifesting darkness. Staggering, the cat took a half-step into the cool lake water, before regaining her balance and righting herself.

“What the…?” she breathed, apprehensive at this disturbance in her sanctuary. But as usual, curiosity and concern won over and the cat began to race through the trees, still wearing the imaginary rainbow fur. She exited the small copse of trees abruptly, and skidded to a stop at the sight of…a…person dude thing. From a single glance, Hattie discerned that the person was emancipated, and clearly upset. Before she could either organize her mouth or close her mouth, Hattie blurted her thoughts out.

“How come you’re so skinny? Do you not eat enough? Are you on a diet?”

Mnzetius seethed in rage, muttering constantly underneath his breath. Dark curses and swear words were repeated continuously as he allowed his rage to pulsate through his body. It seemed as if his negative emotions were fueled by an endless source, and would take quite some time to cool off. Already, a bit of his emotions were becoming mingled with his mana, causing a slight strain of the curse spell to leak out into the environment around him (probably the cause of the depression around him, although misery is very contagious, even without magical help).

He jumped up suddenly at a strange sound. It was speech, very clear and crisp, and the statement formed by the words was quite rude as well. “How come you’re so skinny? Do you not eat enough? Are you on a diet?” said the voice behind him. Mnzetius shot around, his angry eyes scanning the environment for the person who spoke those words. But only a cat was nearby. But, by the ending motion of its 'lips', Mnzetius was able to distinguish that it was indeed the cat who spoke. The necromancer was overcome by the awe of the cats ability to speak, and its overall cuteness.

Mnzetius always had a desire to keep a pet, but animals had a natural dislike to him. Whether it was his frequent arcane studies or perhaps just the negative energy constantly surrounding him was unclear, but it was definite that most animals disliked him. Except this one clearly sentient animal. Perhaps its ability to think and comprehend also cost the creature's sense of unnatural presence, or hindered it somehow, making the animal unaware of the undead presence living within Mnzetius' right leg and left arm. Or perhaps the animal's friendliness overcame its bestial instinct and had an overwhelming curiosity.

While mulling this small, trivial fact over, Mnzetius was suddenly overcome by a memory. It was a phrase that had been repeated over and over to young children. 'Curiosity killed the cat!' echoed in his mind. If this cat was sentient, why wouldn't it take more precaution when approaching a human? Maybe perhaps this one particular cat had a distinct personality, similar to that of his ancestors; curious. Maybe each cat was exactly the same to a person, each with a different personality. Already, pictures of strong brutish cats and sly tongued merchant cats began to form comically in his mind. He chuckled slightly, brightening his mood. Already, his anger began to dissipate. The mere sight of the darling animal and the off topic thoughts began to soothe him.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Mnzetius somewhat childishly, bringing his hand to his mouth. "Why, your a talking cat!" he stated, rising off his cold rock. "You ought to be careful!" scolded Mnzetius playfully, "Some wizards might want to test on such a cute morsel like yourself!" he joked, "My name is Mnzetius, and what might be yours?" asked the delighted wizard, bending down to look the tiny creature in the eye, just as if he were speaking to a person.

Hattie blinked for a second or two, the strange human’s words going in through one ear and out the other; she was savoring the happiness that pulsed out from the mage before her, now that she’d make her usual flamboyant entrance. The feline giggled softly- she must look really cute with rainbow fur! Hattie craned her neck back to examine herself, but then realized that he’d stopped talking?

“Huh, what? Wha? Munzetus? Menshious?” she babbled, “Oh - My name’s Hattie!”

The cat opened her mouth to speak again, but in an incredible feat of memory, she remembered that Men-something had ignored her question. Was he self-conscious about his weight, or what?

“Don’t worry about it! You look fine…” encouraged Hattie, before she frowned slightly as she reevaluated the scrawny mage before her. “Actually…You could use a haircut. And get new clothes - who wants to be all raggy and dark and black and stuff? Rainbow clothes are cool! Like purple and strawberries! I think strawberries taste really good, don’t you? Kinda like…Kinda like blueberries, but a little more sour. But everything tastes the same once it’s smothered in chocolate! Wait, what are we talking about again?”

Having thoroughly confused herself, the cat druid hesitated and then stopped talking altogether. As if to damper the awkward silence, however, the cat suddenly began sniffing at the air, wrinkling first with confusion, then recognition, and repulsion. It took Hattie no more than a second to see the bloodied cane.

“Is that…Blood? Did you cut yourself? There’s lotsa thorns here. A lot of butterflies here too. There was this really cool yellow and purple one I saw like, an hour ago. It was really pretty! Really big too! As big as…As big as…A flower! Like that one over there. That’s a really cool color, and - oh, um, sorry.”

She gazed expectantly at him.

Mnzetius could only giggle and laugh at the constantly changing sentences the wonderful rainbow cat was throwing at him. Hattie seemed to have quite the personality. The same kind of personality a curious four year old would have, except he was much more adorable, and tolerable. Then, in a look of confusion, the cat began to point imperfections in Mnzetius' body. Mnzetius was then confused himself.

"And get new clothes - who wants to be all raggy and dark and black and stuff? Rainbow clothes are cool!" That was the sentence that caused him a bit of mental distress. He thought everyone understood that black robes were the simple attire of a necromancer, wielder of dark energies. Rainbow clothes were to bright to symbolize the work of a death mage. Black seemed to be the universal color of death in nearly every culture the wandering mage had seen. Perhaps this sentient kitten was unaware of dark magic, but Mnzetius wasn't certainly about to stop this tiny creature's rant.

Mnzetius' heart stopped immediately after the cat's mouth shaped the words "is that blood"Getting caught for his abhorred crime was the worst thing that could happen. Although necromancy wasn't necessarily the most respectable art, he had established himself well in the community as a lawful citizen and had always tried his hardest to control what little of a temper he had. But that was difficult to do when it seemed so many people wished to trick and scheme him. Sometimes, his fuse was cut short and on a bad day he could just explode and easily destroy a town. (Easily meaning on a moral standpoint, not necessarily on a power view. Although it is quite possible that perhaps on one of these outrages, he could try [and fail] an attempt to destroy an entire village.)

"Hattie, you sweet little kitten," said Mnzetius gently, "No need to bother yourself on trivial matters," he said, his words disappearing into a thin mutter as he reached the end of his sentence, as if he was trying to retreat away from the question. He quickly avoided the subject any longer by referring to the pointless side comment of the quickly distracted kitten. "Why a butterfly that big! I could never imagine such a thing!" he said in mock disbelief, covering his mouth with his hand.

"You seem to be quite a magical cat," he complimented Hattie, "but by the looks of your beautiful coat, your not magical only in the sense that you can speak. Do you know any spells?" asked the curious mage. Who knew the extent of animals and magic. Perhaps their closer relation to nature made their natural magic stronger, or perhaps merely their down to earth realization and politeness made them favored to light gods, giving them divine gifts of spells. Or perhaps this was just one smart kitty cat. Mnzetius was very curious on the level of magic this creature was capable of. And what better way to learn magic than to have it performed directly in front of your eyes.