Whispers of a distant land: Prologue
Four years. It had been four years. Haru was now 21, and studying art at the university, where she was known as quite the non-sociable person, or as a loner, even though her artwork was always amazing. She was currently having lunch with Hiromi, her very best friend, who went to the same university as Haru, but studied to become a teacher, and was thinking that today was really a fine day.
"…and then Tsuge just punched him!" said Hiromi in a hush.
"No way!" exclaimed Haru. "And all that because that guy insulted you! Wow, I wish I had a boyfriend to do something like that for me!"
"Well, you could, if only you dared to look at all those poor boys ogling after you! But nooo, you just shrug them off."
Haru chuckled. It was true that she could have gotten a boyfriend anytime she wanted, since she was quite beautiful, and, ever since her adventure with the cats and Baron, she had that sort of aura around her that just seemed to lure boys to her like flies to honey. Baron. He was the reason she never looked more than once at the boys. Every time one of them caught her interest a bit, she compared him to the aristocratic and elegant cat, and soon after dismissed him. If they only knew that she was comparing them to a cat… Hiromi's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Say, you're not still in love with Mochita, are you?" she asked, peering at the dreamy eyes of her friend.
Haru jumped. "Heavens, no!" she cried. "I got over him years ago!"
"Ah, good. I was afraid you still had a crush on him."
"Hiromi!"
"What? You never know. You're such a dreamer, I'm sure not even your own mother knows what is going on in your head!"
Both girls giggled. If at all, Haru's mother didn't know what was going on in her head. She was a textile designer, and the patterns that she came up with were fantastic, even though she could never explain how she came up with them.
"Having fun girls?" asked a playful voice.
"Tsuge!" smiled Hiromi. "You're out of the infirmary already?"
"Hai!" Tsuge said as he leaned down to kiss his girlfriend on the brow. "They couldn't keep me away from you any longer."
Hiromi giggled, leaning happily on Tsuge's shoulder. Haru smiled at her friends. They were so obviously in love. She idly wondered when Tsuge was going to propose to her.
"So, what is the news around?" asked Tsuge as he helped himself to a home-made rice ball from Hiromi's lunchbox.
"You mean, aside from you fighting with Kawami and managing to break his nose as well as yours? Oh, nothing," replied Haru.
Tsuge chuckled. "Nothing eh? Well, it sound like, for once, the 'Girls' rumors' are behind the 'Boys' News'!" he declared with a knowing smirk at his nickname for the two types of rumors going around school.
"Oi! Tsuge! Tell us what you know!" Hiromi smirked as she playfully whacked him. Tsuge smiled coyly.
"Well, it's not sure at all, but I heard Hiirisagawa say that…"
Unfortunately (or fortunately, considering how bad a storyteller Tsuge was), the bell rang just then, and the three had to hurry up back to class, Tsuge and Hiromi going their way since their subjects (Sports and Teaching respectively) had a lecture in common in fourth period. Haru waved at her friends then hurried to her classroom. It was a painting studio, and she had that project that she really wanted to finish. It depicted an orange cat in a white suit. Haru smiled. It really was a fine day.
Back at the cat kingdom, someone was waiting for an audience with Natori, one of King Lune's advisors. It was a rather strange creature. It had cat ears and whiskers, and a generally cat look-alike head in shape, but its face had monkey features, and the rest of its body was definitely that of a monkey. Add to that that the creature was coal black with white stripes like a tigers, and it was no wonder the quite stern advisor Natori gasped upon seeing him.
The grey cat quickly disciplined himself though, not wanting to insult their guest. After all, one must not judge a mouse by its color, and the creature did send a pretty good record in ambassadorship in different countries, as well as an impressive multi-linguistic background. "Mr. Fento?" the cat asked as he stepped forward. The creature lifted it head at hearing his name, and again Natori was thankful for the years he had spent schooling his expressions under the precedent King's rule (who had been lightly crazy, and threw anyone who displeased him out the window at the time), for the creature's face was terrifying, and one had a hard time picturing him in a diplomatic career.
Nonetheless, the creature bowed respectfully, saying in a honey-combed voice: "Advisor Natori, it is a pleasure to meet you."
The cat nodded, and motioned for Fento to follow him into his office, where they both sat on each side of a large oak desk, probably the only fancy thing in Natori's office, seeing as the rest was only records and bookshelves, all in the same dark oak wood as the desk.
"Well, Mr. Fento, I believe you've sent your application for the post of ambassador of the cat kingdom towards the other kingdoms and empires."
"That is perfectly correct, advisor" the creature said, and although he had been perfectly correct in both demeanor and speech, Natori couldn't help but have the impression that, somehow, Fento was mocking him for stating the obvious.
"Yes, your records are amazing, I must say, and I would very much like to employ you for the King", and at that Fento smiled slightly. "However" - and the creature's smile seemed to falter a bit - "the fact that you are not exactly a cat may be a problem."
"Oh, I understand that perfectly, advisor" agreed Mr. Fento.
"Really?"
"Yes. Why! It would be quite odd for the Cat's Kingdom's ambassador not to be a cat, wouldn't it? Don't worry; I'm quite aware of that fact. However, don't you think that my skills alone would be enough for me to be qualified?"
Natori didn't answer. He seemed to have suddenly become quite fascinated with the little pocket watch Fento had casually taken out and consulted during his brief speech. Fento smiled as he pushed the approval papers for his employment towards the seemingly hypnotized advisor.
"Now, don't you think that, by employing me, you would do the whole Kingdom a favor? After all, nothing could please the king more than having a competent ambassador, don't you think?"
"Sure, sure" answered Natori as he dreamily signed the papers.
"Thank you, advisor, you won't regret it. Now, if you don't mind, I really must get going. I have an appointment that I cannot miss, and will be back by tomorrow to meet the king. It was a pleasure doing business with you."
The monkey-like creature bowed and exited the room, a dark grin on his face. He had what he wanted.
It would be several minutes before Natori came back to his senses, and even then he could not really remember clearly what had happened or been said. It only knew that Mr. Fento had given him very good reasons to employ him, and that the creature was now the official ambassador of the Kingdom of Cats.