A/N: Well, that finale was a thing. And here we are!

I was fine for a few days and then my cough came back with a vengeance, blech...

That said, I had to write this particular fragment down before it became a full story, which it very nearly did, and still might be...

With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.

And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.

Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.

This is a rough draft. Time and feedback will determine if this becomes a story.

In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!

As a side note, this is before the gang landed in Ever After.

"I keep my promises. Well, then. Shall we?"

~A Traveler.

At the Edge

"Aren't you going to say something?"

"..."

"This journey will go much faster if you we fill it with conversation."

"..."

"Can you talk?"

Blue eyes snapped into scarlet. "You're making me angry, cat."

"Aha! He speaks! I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I'm sure you can, its just, I've never seen anyone or anything quite like you. What did you say you were again?"

...human."

A stranger had come to the Ever After. He was particularly strange as strangers went. The Curious Cat certainly found him so. After all, this was the first human he'd ever seen. Blue eyes, blond hair, whiskered cheeks, a battered and bruised body wrapped up in the tattered rags of an orange-black jumpsuit...he was an enigma, through and through. Although he'd spoken little since they'd met, each word wrung from him was a prize. For you see, as they traveled together, he was beginning to piece together the puzzle that was this "human."

The man had been blasted into to the Ever After by some sort of explosion. He'd arrived broken, back bowed by guilt, missing his right arm, and a bit of himself besides. With but a bit of prodding he told his story and with it the source of his grief. He'd fought and killed his best friend. Deliberately or accidentally, he couldn't be certain, only that he had.

Lost his right arm for it, too.

Truly he was such a sad sight; one couldn't help but take pity on him. He certainly had when they'd first met. This long-haired blond already had the beginnings of stubble forming on his jawline; which suggested he had been where months, yet he acted as if everything in this acre were new to him.

Had he truly sat in one place for so long? Curiouser and curiouser...

Maybe he'd stu

He'd spoken precious little since they met, and the Cat had come to see that his traveling companion was wounded in another sense. A malady of the mind, as it were. Poor thing. It made him want to take him to the Tree all the more. This human was broken. So terribly twisted up inside by what he'd done, what he'd failed to do, that it was eating him alive.

But they'd made a promise, he and this human. A pact that bound them. He trusted him to keep it, if nothing else:

"There's a way out? Good. Show me the way, and I'll take you with me when I leave."

Lovely! It was a good deal. Simple, yet complex, as most deals were.

Leaving implied traveling, which meant he needed a guide.

The Cat was all too happy to serve as such; his role here was a fulfilling one, but after a time it grew terribly boring doing the same thing over and over again. But the outside world! He knew next to nothing of this land called "Remnant" and was eager to see it. He could endure the sullen anger of his guest for the sake of that goal. What he could not tolerate however, was this infernal silence. Because he! Had! questions! So very many questions! He couldn't contain himself and began badgering the blond as he led him across the field.

"Are all humans like you?"

"No."

"Are there more of you where you're from?"

"Yes."

"You must be quite strong to survive such a wound. Are you?"

"Yes."

"No more one-word answers!" he swatted his leg with a paw. "If I'm going to lead you to the tree, and you are making that VERY difficult, then the least you can do is humor me."

...fine." here at last, a tiny bit of light finally came back to those dull, tired blue eyes. "What do you want to know?"

Good. He might be able to save this young man yet. "You're name would be a good start."

The man complied with a reluctant, gravelly grnt. "...Naruto."

"Well, then, Naruto! Allow me to ask my first question.

Sitting on his paws, the Cat regarded him.

"Who are you?"

A/N: Again, this is a fragment. Time will tell if its made a proper story.

Curious Cat gets his happy ending, someone who actually keeps his word. and ALL HELL is about to break loose...with a twist.

Aaaand there we go. Hope you enjoyed it.

Soooo? Should this be a story? Once again! This is an AU.

Hope someone, somewhere, enjoyed this. I just don't know anymore these days. Its terribly hard to tell...

So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly? Let me know what you think!

Have some previews. They'll come to life if this ever becomes a story.

Hope you enjoy 'e~!

(Previews!)

Time passes quickly here.

"I noticed. My hairs too damn long and I'm growing a beard.

Indeed. I daresay if you wore armor, it would have been rusted by now...

Someone else fell into the Ever After soon thereafter.

"My, my!" a paw poked and prodded the prone, burnt body. "You humans are just cropping up all over the place, aren't you? You're the third one this month after Naruto. Wherever did you come from-yeow!" those words became a yelp as a hand grabbed his tail. "Ouch! That's actually quite painful! Would you mind releasing me?!" They did not; in fact they tightened their grip and dragged him closer. "Naruto! Help, help! I think she's going to eat me!"

This close, he got a glimpse at the battered, burnt girl. Who was she? So many questions.

She was barely breathing, the poor thing. And those burns! "Where...am I...?"

The Cat blanched. Oh, dear. She couldn't die here. Dying would be so very boring. "Naruto! Quickly, please!"

"Don't rush me, ya damn cat, I'm coming...this one better not attack me...

"Who am I?"

"I...don't know?" The girl palmed her face, her voice growing higher, eyes wider with each passing moment. "I don't know. I don't know! WHO AM I?! Why can't I remember anything?!

Naruto knelt beside her. She latched onto him.

And bawled like a baby.

"Why is there a cat sitting on your shoulders?"

Naruto tilted his head. "Why isn't there one on yours?"

He growled at the Jabberwalker as it grappled with him. "You think you can eat me, bitch? I'll eat you! KURAMA!"

It screamed. "No!

"Yes."

"Its not death, its rebirth. The tree could help you. Restore you. Fix what's broken inside. You could have your arm back. You could be whole again. Leave your pain behind."

Naruto laid a hand on the bark..."will I still be me?"

The Cat frowned. "I supposed that depends."

Naruto tilted his head toward him. "On?"

"On what you define as...well, you."

R&R~!