The darkness beneath Kwazulu Rock was oppressive, humid, and blank. For Kato, it offered no respite from the endless, cold black, which smothered his eyes when he opened them. He always kept them closed now, because it didn't matter whether or not he opened them. But he could still smell, and that counted for quite a bit. From the right he noticed the rather pungent odor of a mongoose, who had probably not noticed him yet. That seemed very unlikely, as it seemed like Kato had been down here forever, even though it had most certainly only been four or five days. Already it had nearly driven him mad. This was worse than any tunnel he had ever dug. Despite being a meerkat, Kato hated it when the darkness got like this. There was no comforting feel of the dirt beneath his paws, or the reassuring scent of his fellows. There was simply him and the walls down here. Him and that mongoose. Kato had tried to say something to him (or at least Kato supposed it was a him), but he had gotten no answer.
So he had curled up on the cold floor to wait. There was a little rivulet of water running along the rear of his prison, but to a creature his size it may as well have been a stream. Water was the only thing that kept his belly truly full. Occasionally small insects of the like he had never seen before would crawl in, and he would be upon them in an instant, gobbling them down with relish. Other than that he was given nothing. Perhaps the mongoose had been on the verge of dying, like he soon would be, and that was why Kato hadn't gotten an answer. He was sharing this prison with a carcass. He wasn't desperate yet, but he knew he'd be longing for the meat off that corpse sooner or later.
Justice in Kwazulu had a habit of taking its time.
Kato wasn't sure whether he deserved that justice. He had been brought here on charges of murder and heresy against the Circle, but he couldn't quite remember committing either crime. One thing he did remember was the blood. Whose it was, he didn't know, and couldn't tell. Things were too complicated for any introspection. He wasn't sure he could prove his innocence at this point. Everyone up top thought he was insane, and even he was beginning to think so. He had seen the bodies. Only a mad beast could do what he had supposedly done. Absently, he rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling the mark there that had been burned into him at the end of his conviction.
"Well, well, well," came a rough, soft voice from the direction of the mongoose, interrupting Kato's thoughts as a lion interrupts the breath of a gazelle with its fangs. It took a moment for Kato to realize it was actually the mongoose himself speaking. Kato, taking whatever pride he could at the moment, thought himself terribly clever for guessing correctly the mongoose was a he.
"A puny little dirt scrubber," said the mongoose. Kato felt indignant. Mongooses were only so far removed from meerkats, after all, but anyone could be nasty if they wanted to.
"I suppose they're running out of impressive law breakers up there," said the mongoose. "Otherwise they'd never bother with a little gnat of a thing like you. What was it, meerkat? Did one of the precious princes fall into one of your holes? Slip a scorpion into one of the fresh kills?"
Kato didn't answer. He curled his tail tighter around himself and tried to shut out the mocking voice. Suddenly he wished to be alone again.
"I don't suppose they'll even try to make a show of you. It's not as if anyone would want to attend the execution of a pint-sized offender like yourself. They probably wouldn't even care if you escaped. So worthless. It's a wonder you're even down here. It must have been something really terrible."
Kato sighed, but not loud enough for the mongoose to hear.
"I bet it was murder. One of the lionesses called you heretic when they tossed you down here. Even the ancestors have abandoned you, heretic! They've probably all forgotten about you on the outside! Your colony will be glad to see a shameful reminder like you die, heretic! I hope your mother watches when they rip your head from your body! That's right, heretic! You're going to die. Nobody ever escapes Abasi's sick version of justice! And they call us heretics! Ha ha ha!"
Kato opened his eyes, feeling weary.
"You must have been down here for a long time, huh?" he said. The mongoose seemed to not hear him, or was pretending he didn't.
"You're going to die. Nice and slow. I wonder if they'll blame your family for your heresy. Got a female friend back home?"
"No."
"I'd love to see the look on her face when they kill her too for your heresy."
"I said I didn't have a-"
"Shut up! I'm not done! I know what you're doing! You're still hoping! You're still alive! Stop it, you hear me? There's no place for hope here. It's death! That's all that awaits you! I'm insulting you because there's nothing better to do, so indulge me, meerkat. You're dead meat. Both of us."
It was quiet for a while after that. Another day, perhaps. Kato was woken up by a centipede crawling across his face. A lucky catch. He ate it quickly, his stomach aching the whole way. He was about to curl back up on the floor and go to sleep again when the mongoose piped up once more.
"I hear something. Sounds like lions. Ooo, I bet they've come to kill you at last, meerkat! They're coming. Coming for you."
Kato didn't answer. Suddenly, the dullness that had been present in his chest evaporated, replaced by the tight feeling of fear. After so long of just waiting and sleeping, the desire to not die was incredibly strong. Almost painful. Kato sat up, trying to gulp, but his throat was too tight to allow anything through. Was this really how it was going to end? After everything he had been through? Just a swipe of a lion's paw and then he'd be seated with his ancestors, or consigned to a shameful eternity of darkness? He strained to hear more than pawsteps. They weren't talking about him.
"Hurry, your majesty. We probably only have a few minutes at best."
That was the stern, resounding voice of Abasi. The captain of the King's Claws. Overseer of justice, and settler of all disputes. Nobody really knew why another male had been accepted as part of the pride, especially when Abasi had, from what Kato heard, come as a youngster to the monarchy. But he and the king had grown up as brothers. For the sake of propriety Abasi was destined to never take the throne under any circumstance, anyway.
"I need to rest." That was a voice Kato had never heard before. It was soft, and warm. Tired. He wondered what was going on. Was it the king? Abasi had said "your majesty" to someone.
"There is no time for that, sire!" The third voice was that of a lioness. It sounded slick, snappy, like a snake curling up for the strike. Kato didn't know her either. Then the second voice was the king, from what he had heard!
The pawsteps ended outside of his 'cell.' Kato's heart beat quickened to a feverish pace. They were here to kill him, and then move on to whatever business they were attending to. He was going to die in the dark. As he likely deserved.
"Get this stone out of the way!"
Abasi must have done the pushing. Only a lion as powerful as he could even budge the great stone that held Kato in his cell. He felt himself taking several involuntary steps back, his instincts forcing him to try and draw out his last moments on Earth. Through the gloom that his eyes had long become accustomed to, he saw the mighty, powerful, dark furred form of Abasi the Arbiter filling out the entrance, blocking any hope of escape. He took three long steps forward, and Kato squeaked out what he knew would be his last breath. Abasi halted, then looked down at the meerkat, as though it was the first time he had noticed him.
"What…" he began, "What is this prisoner doing here? You aren't supposed to be here! Who are you!"
Suddenly the once shocked and stilled form of Abasi was threatening again. Kato pressed himself against the opposite wall, not daring to say a word.
"Abasi, peace! Let me see," commanded that gentle voice from behind. Kato looked upwards, over Abasi's broad shoulders. From behind stepped a frail, thin lion of sharp contrast to his brawny companion. His mane was as dark as any youngster in their prime, but his face was weathered and cracked by years of strain. His body was shaky, and his gait unsure. It was a wonder he was walking in a straight line. Kato shook his head slowly. No… no, this was not the king. No king would let himself be as unpresentable as this.
But the eyes were what caught him up the most. They were old, drooping, full of time and despair and compassion and any number of things that both terrified and ennobled the tiny meerkat that stood before these visions of power and nobility, of pain and exhaustion. The old one spoke.
"You… you are the one my shaman revealed in his drawings," he said slowly, appearing to be disbelieving at first. His haggard eyes dropped for but a moment then rose again. Kato noticed they were surprisingly bright in the middle of this gloom.
"I have dreamed of your face ever since the shaman showed it to me," continued the old lion. His voice reminded Kato of his old colony's storytellers. "The stars themselves have whispered in my ears… to think that we would meet here, of all places, of all times. Then my deepest fears are affirmed."
Kato finally seemed to realize he wasn't dead or bleeding fast to it on the floor from a swipe of Abasi's giant paw.
"Wh… who are you?" he asked in a whisper that could barely be called a voice. Had he begun to forget how to speak in such a claustrophobic place as this?
"I am Tafari, second born to Taharka. I am your king, young one, although, not for much longer," said the old lion. Kato's heart skipped a beat, and he broke into a cold sweat. The king himself was here! To do what? To order his execution? To stop by for a chat? They seemed to be running from something. Kato's mind flooded with a thousand questions, one for each bead of sweat that poured down his fur.
Before the king could explain, the lioness stepped forward. Kato could see her tawny fur slick with blood, but whether or not it was hers was unclear. Her snout was sharp and ready, just like her entire disposition. Her whiskers hardly drooped at all, and she stalked right over Kato, pressing against the wall the meerkat stood against.
"Do not speak like that, sire! There is still time! Abasi, help me!" The two felines gave a great shove… and the pile of rocks and stones gave way to an even darker passageway beyond. The dust and debris of ages past swept into the chamber.
In wonder, Kato stepped back, until he bumped into the foreleg of the king himself. He looked up to see if he had committed some unpardonable offense. Things were happening too fast. But Tafari had hardly noticed. In fact, when he glanced down at Kato, there seemed to be the slightest flicker of a sad smile on his weathered muzzle. But perhaps it was just the angle Kato was watching from, or the bad light. It disappeared in a moment.
"Stay out of the way, heretic," said Abasi, glaring at Kato like he was the next in line for a hunt. "Speak a word out of turn and I'll squash you like the bug you are."
Kato followed the lions out. He didn't have any other choice. This was freedom… or at least a chance to it. His thoughts went fleetingly to the mongoose that had insulted him earlier. Should he be freed too? Or was his offense justly being punished? He heard a ghost of a snigger on the stale air, which startled him so that he darted in amongst the comforting strength of the lions' legs.
"The rest of my family… all of them," said the king, mournfully, but levelly, "they are dead, are they not?"
There was a silence.
"Perhaps, sire," said the lioness. "We don't know for sure… but…"
"No," interrupted Tafari, as though he wanted it to be true that his dear ones were gone, "they are given up to the stars… the arrival of the small one has proven this."
Kato felt a twinge of embarrassment and terror all at once.
"Sire…" began Abasi, but whatever he was going to say was not going to be enough. It was quiet again. The tunnel went on, never lightening. It went left and right once each, but otherwise remained fairly level. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that everyone else was there.
"Stop," said Abasi at last, in a whisper. "There is trouble ahead."
"Stay here, sire. And you, prisoner," said the lioness. They stalked forward, swallowed by the darkness. Kato listened with bated breath. He wanted to ask Tafari what was going on. Why was he here and not dead? Why had the king come through his prison? What were they running from? Who was dead? What was happening? But all that came out was his nervous breathing. Tafari spoke to him in a mumble.
"Death has come upon us, young one," he said. "We are being stalked. Be grateful for your life. It may not go on much longer. My family is dead, and their killers stalk these halls."
Kato could only squeeze out a disturbed whimper. Voice had left him in these terrible passages. The king's solid presence was the only thing that kept him from bolting back the way he came. Absently he stumbled backwards until he was literally grasping the fur of the king's foreleg for support.
The sudden roar made him jump as it echoed off the narrow stone walls. Tafari stood his ground. There were sounds of a mighty scuffle, and a lion roared in pain. There were snarls and hisses and bone-crushing thuds. Kato pressed himself into the king's fur, finding what comfort he could. He didn't know why, but he was scared. Even after all the monstrosities he had faced, and the crimes he had committed, the king made him feel safer than his own confidence, and he wanted more of it. If it bothered Tafari, it didn't show.
Kato was no stranger to death. One saw it all the time in a meerkat colony… especially the one he had lived in. He had personally slain things that crawled from his darkest nightmares to murder him and his comrades. But that was in the line of duty. Here… here it felt like he was a kit again, alone and helpless, on the verge of something terrible, a giant precipice that nobody could ever climb from again. And he was being pushed inexorably towards the edge.
Finally, it was over, and Abasi's commanding voice rang out.
"Come," he said simply. They came. Kato smelled blood. Leopard blood.
"What is going on?" he finally managed to breathe out as he identified the corpses around them. They were all leopards. The lioness sat licking her wounded paw.
"Assassins," said Abasi simply. "Come for the king. But they did not expect him to be guarded by his most powerful subjects." Kato knew that didn't include him.
"Why would they want to kill the king?" he asked, feeling more comfortable as he realized it was truly safe among these stalwart defenders of the realm.
"It's simple," said Tafari. "To kill a snake the quickest, you must cut off the head. The rest comes swiftly and easily."
"Stop talking like that, your majesty!" said the lioness, sounding a little frustrated now. "We are the King's Claws, and we will be cursed a thousand times over before Cetshwayo's foul minions get hold of you!"
"Peace, Kinah," said the king. "There are things that happen that cannot be stopped from happening. We may roar as loud and long as we wish, but the sun will still rise and set as it has always done."
"Regardless," began Kinah, living up to her namesake, but Abasi halted further talk.
"We are wasting time. Come. I do not think it is much further."
Kato heard an unearthly scream behind them, at the back of his mind. It was quiet at first, just a small sob that made the meerkat jump, which gradually grew in volume and intensity until it was as though all the birds and hounds of the world were crying out in mourning. It sent a shiver up his spine, but the others didn't seem to notice the horrid noise. It was not a fearful screech, but an angry one… a pitiable one. Full of regret and rage and lunacy, desolate and yet peaceful in its absolute oblivion. It seemed as though the darkness itself that surrounded them had made the racket.
An unnatural noise to be sure. It made him speed up.
It was much closer the next time he heard it. Still he was the only one to look back.. Somehow... it sounded familiar.
A dead end.
Kato found it odd that they would die because of a wrong turn. Neither Abasi nor Kinah had anticipated it, seeming very shocked indeed when the passage stopped short. A great boulder stood in front of what apparently was supposed to be
"Blood and ancestors!" said Abasi. "They can't have known this place was here. Why is it blocked off?"
He seemed far more stressed now than the others. Kinah and Tafari watched him round on little Kato.
"You!" he said accusingly. "Heretic! I should have known you'd have been put down here to give them information! Your placement here was no mistake!"
"Abasi," began the king, but the lion of justice would not be swayed.
"Sire, how are we to know that he isn't working with them? He wasn't even supposed to be in that chamber!"
"His point does have merit, sire," said Kinah. Kato, who was forced to do little else but go with the flow of this extraordinary day, watched the king. Just seeing the bent, old lion somehow made him feel safe.
"Put up your claws, my loyal guardians," said Tafari. "He is not to be harmed… I see it in his eyes. We can trust him."
Abasi seemed to be instantly culled by his lord's command. He turned away to search for another escape route.
"As you wish, sire."
Kinah and he began sniffing and poking about in the utter dark to try and find a way out. Tafari turned to Kato, who was still paralyzed by so many questions.
"You have questions," he said. "Speak them while we have time."
Kato was hesitant, but stepped forward nonetheless. The king had not killed him yet, and he had no other choice but to trust him.
"My… my lord," he said, figuring that the proper thing to say, "what… what is going on? Why am I here? I mean… I know why I'm here, I… I've done things…"
"Your past matters not," said the king. "A truly repentant heart is not tainted by bygones."
"But, sire!" protested Kato. "The things I've done… what they say I did… what I saw… it was monstrous."
"You do not have the face of a monster. Your past is not what you will be remembered for… but it will invariably dictate what you will become."
Kato looked to the ground. He could still remember the smell… that awful stench of death that filled his nostrils… made him feel powerful. Alive.
"Sire… what's happening?"
"I am being hunted so that our enemy, the Scourge of the South, may have his wish, and that is my kingdom. My shaman has seen into the depths of the future, and beheld my doom. Stay your tongue… there is no surprise to be found in a place like this. I too have been shown my fate by the ancestors themselves… the stars gave me pictures, words."
"You know how you will die?" asked Kato in wonderment.
"Yes. It is a gift given to only a chosen few through all the ages. I am one of the luckier ones… or perhaps, not so lucky. I am being pushed inexorably forward to my predestined pathway. I am blessed in that I will know the exact purpose behind my death, as consolation for the mystery of life that was stolen from me… not that an old one such as myself is mystified by anything. It is a misunderstood blessing to be able to stand firm, look the face of your fate in the eye… and then fall prey to it as you know you must."
"And what of me?" Kato interrupted quietly.
"I do not know. My foresight sees not beyond my own doomed doorway. I only know that my death will propel you forward into your own destiny. We must press onward, together… a voice summons us both, in a tongue strident and bitter as the desert sun."
Kato's eyes narrowed. Had the king heard the screams too…?
"Sire!" said Abasi, and for the first time Kato heard him be happy. "We've found it. A small fissure… it is a tight fit, but air is coming through. Another way to the outside!"
After pushing through, Kinah and Abasi leading the way, there came at length a pinpoint of light, a spark of the sun that made hope spring into the hearts of the guardians, but not their charges. Kato felt the corridors close in on the small party. Feelings of doom crept up upon him, worming their way up his back, and into his mind. The shadows, contrasted with the light, seemed dark and foreboding as ever.
As they clambered out of the skinny passage, they saw that there was one last wall that blocked their path, a slope of collapsed debris and stone leading up to a gap in the rocks that Kato figured he would be able to slip through. There were no more twists and turns, no more side passages or run-offs. There was only the way out… and the way their hunters would inevitably come from. The cavern they stood in was surprisingly large and unusual; unnatural curves and ledges marked the peripheries of the spherical chamber.
"Don't even think about making a break for it, heretic," growled Abasi. "You haven't done anything to prove yourself yet."
"How are we going to clear this obstruction?" wondered Kinah aloud. "So close…"
"We will just have to remove it piece by piece," answered Abasi. Kinah stared at him, aghast.
"Are you mad? That would take hours! We probably don't even have seconds left!"
"There are no more options, and no other routes," said Tafari, ending the debate. "We must put our strength to this task and push on through."
But before they could start to work, Abasi's head shot up in alarm.
Huffs and screeches and growls were heard in the tunnel behind them.
"They're here!" said Abasi, and Kato noticed that the stern lion's tone held a faint tinge of fear. There was one loud, throaty bellow, and a crash. Something had removed the boulder that had impeded them earlier... and others were rushing to the attack.
"We are trapped!" stated Kinah rather obviously. She stamped the ground with an uninjured paw, growling.
"Grraaah! Is this how it is to end? We've come this far! We can't be slaughtered like this now!"
"We must do our duty," snapped Abasi. "The tunnel will negate their numbers… let us hope there are not too many, or that they are too large. Come! The fate of the kingdom is with us now!"
As one, the brave cats leaped back into the dark. Kato heard the terrible clash. From the sound of it, Abasi and Kinah were fighting like lunatics to keep the unknown enemy at bay. After what appeared to be an eternity, Kato felt the king's eyes on him, and looked up to meet that sad, haunted gaze.
"Listen to me," he said, barely audible above the din of battle, but Kato snapped to attention nonetheless.
"There isn't much time. You have no reason to stay. You must go. You must escape these lands."
Kato blinked in confusion and alarm. What was Tafari saying? Leave the lands entirely? This was his home! His colony… but his colony wouldn't accept him, would they? But where was he to go? What was he to do? He asked this of the king in no uncertain terms.
"Go north," replied the king. "Find the lion without a roar. With him you may find hope. And then… I do not know."
"Sire…" started Kato again. "How can I do this? I'm… I'm just a meerkat! I don't even know what's going on right now! I'm supposed to be rotting in the bowels of this place for heresy! I-!"
"This is my last command to you as your king!" bellowed Tafari. "You are hereby exiled until you can perform this task for me!"
Kato went silent, and his small body filled with shock. Exiled? The king had just exiled him, quickly as that? He stepped back, staring at the implacable lion, not heeding the furious melee in the tunnel next to them.
So wrapped up was he in his own thoughts, he never saw the gorilla bound up out of the dark until it was too late. All he saw was a blur of black fur, coupled with a might roar. Even then it took him many moments to register what was happening, as the giant primate's hands wrapped around the king's frail skull, twisting viciously. As the king's neck was broken by the monstrous strength of the gorilla, the assassin roared in triumph and brought the king's body over his shoulder, hurtling his old head down onto the stone, pressing all of his power into the blow.
There was a hideous crunch and a snap, and Kato found himself the next target. He instinctively but ineffectually raised his paws as the killing blow swept down towards him.
It never came. Kato looked up and saw Abasi digging his claws into the primate's back, tearing into the tough muscle and sinew with vengeful jaws. The gorilla howled in pain and reached behind him, catching Abasi's foreleg and swinging him into the wall with one great heave. Abasi recovered and lunged, claws outstretched. The gorilla brought up one powerful fist and sent the great lion sprawling with one sledgehammer blow before leaping on the executioner. There was a small scuffle as they rolled over each other. Abasi's jaws caught around the gorilla's neck. The beast seemed unphased, lurching backwards and crushing Abasi's head against the wall. He went down, covered in blood and barely breathing. Kato hadn't moved at all, staring in utter shock at the titanic confrontation. The gorilla glanced back at him, baleful hatred filling its eyes...
Eyes that were blood red with rage. He turned back to Abasi and looped his arms under the lion, bringing him up onto his shoulders. Abasi offered no resistance as the gorilla strained with all its might to stand upright, victoriously holding the broken body up like a trophy, before doing the same as he had done with the king, and powering downwards. Abasi went head first.
Kato could literally see the once proud lion's head flatten as it struck the stone with a wet thud. The lion's eyes glazed over in death.
The gorilla seemed too wrapped up in its victory to notice Kinah leap up from behind and wrap her teeth around his throat. The primate was at her mercy, and she showed none, digging her canines in until the gorilla's neck was flattened with the power of her onslaught. He beat uselessly against the lioness on top of him as his life drained from him.
Suddenly, he was dead too. Kinah dropped the carcass and looked over at Kato. Then she saw the king. She went pale under her fur as she went to check over him, knowing it was useless.
"No... stars forgive me... we were too late... there were too many... no... please... ancestors above...!"
She turned back to Kato, mournful in body and spirit. She slumped down on her rump, looking at the ground, eyes squeezed shut.
"We failed... I failed. The king is dead and so are all who could support his line... it is over... Cetshwayo has won..."
Kato, unsure what else to say over the lioness's murmurings, spoke up quietly. His voice was exceptionally loud in the deafening silence.
"The king told me to find someone else."
Kinah suddenly scoffed, and Kato felt offended, but she went on.
"The king trusted you... with a last mission, eh? I don't know why... but I must trust his judgement, even in death." She looked up, obviously straining to keep her feelings for her beloved king in check. Her eyes were wet.
"Very well. Then we must each play our parts, as he would say. The king is dead. Long live... the king."
Kato bowed his head in silence.
"Go," said Kinah after an eternity.
"What?"
"You heard me. I said go. Quickly. More will be coming, and I don't know if they will be merciful now that they have overturned the throne." She stepped forward, and to Kato's utter surprise, placed her snout upon his small head.
"You have the blessings of our dead kingdom, and of our empty throne," she said quietly, and chuckled. "It isn't much, I know. But the king believed in you. I loved the king, more than anything else, and never saw his judgment falter. So I will believe in you as well. Besides..." She looked up the small incline of rock. Sunlight had begun to filter in a tiny gap.
"There's only one of us here able to fit through that," she said with a wry smile.
"Looks like fate," muttered Kato.
"You gotta wonder," said Kinah. "But hurry. You are bound by the king's word, now. His death doesn't invalidate it. I bind you with my word, as well. Promise me you will do all in your power, as a subject of this kingdom, to do as the king said." Kato stared up at the lioness, surprised at the intensity of her gaze. It seemed as if she would kill him if he refused.
"I promise," he said with a nod, and meant it. Kinah smiled. It was a very nice smile.
"Then the kingdom lives on through you, now. Hurry. I will watch over the king, until... my time comes as well." She went over and sat down next to Tafari and began her vigil. Kato clambered up the rocks, and peered through the small hole. Even he would have trouble getting through. Before he went, he turned back to see Kinah staring at him.
"Take care," he said.
"Stay alive," she replied. And then Kato was gone.
Outside, he heard the sounds of battle and the cries of victory from the mysterious Cetshwayo's forces. He ran, reflecting on his newfound freedom. Ha... that was a joke. He had been freed from prison to be enslaved by the king's promise. Already regret and bitterness for being forced into this so quickly and indifferently was beginning to surface, but on he plowed, driven as much by fear as anything else. That fear turned to anger as he reached the borders much later. Anger at those who had accused him falsely and left him at Abasi's mercy. Anger at Abasi for being so stuck up, even though he was dead. Anger at the mark on the back of his neck that said so many things he was not. Tafari for telling him his destiny was to run away like a terrified kit to do something near impossible. Anger at Kinah for being so kind to him on the verge of his journey. And anger at himself, but he didn't really know what for.
Anger drove him from the king, from home, from his family, and on into the unknown world beyond the calm river. Away from it all, he ran.
My name is Kato. I am an exile.
Maniacal laughter pursued him the whole way, but it was too far off for him to hear it follow his every step...
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A/N: Whew! Been wanting to write this for a while! Now don't ya'll worry. Born With A Smile is still on my to do list, but I just had to get this out! I know it's a significant departure from my other story, but that's half the fun! Gotta test my limits and all that, and I kinda like the style that this was written in. Simple, concise, yet descriptive in many ways. I hope. Please R and R! I'm not sure if this is any good, so I need you all to help me with that!
I also hope you enjoy further updates, as Kato comes to grips with his supposed 'destiny' and the story introduces a new perspective... next time on RedSquirrel's Machinations!1