Advent Of A Gunslinger

In Klugetown…

At his little home near the edge of town, Mio was at a loss for what to do next. The silver lining of the situation was that he knew that Rongu had no idea where he lived, but he knew that that wouldn’t last for very long. Despite this, he couldn’t help but pace back and forth across his living room floor as he pondered.

“Dammit. Everything is falling apart like a house of cards in a wind storm. At this point, I need to cut my losses and get out of here as soon as possible.”

To be more specific, his house was located near the entrance to Klugetown itself. A single-story log-cabin style building third in a row down an alleyway in between the much larger buildings. Perfectly hidden away in plain sight where almost no one could pick out the fact that he lived there.

Or could they…?

Tap-tap-tap.

There was suddenly a gentle knock on his front door. The tom reacted with a silent hiss, his ears flicking in the direction of the noise. He immediately dropped low to the ground, on all fours as he crept up to the door silently akin to a leopard stalking its prey.

“Gah...who is this? It can’t be him. He doesn’t even have my address. Unless…” He sniffed the air, but couldn’t exactly get a read on who it was. With his cards readily primed between his fingertips, he decided to wait it out…

And eventually, he would get an answer from a familiar female voice from beyond the door…

“Hello? Does an abyssinian live here? I was asking the neighbors and they said a cat-man is the one who owns this property.”

On his side of the door, Mio’s heart skipped a beat as he glared at the door intently. “...Is that...could that be her? If so, how? Why? Why hasn’t she left already?”

The tom didn’t want to take any chances though. Just to be safe, he looked through the tiny peephole on the door. Someone wearing a hood that covered her face and body was standing there. It was virtually impossible to tell who it was just by looking. Even if the voice was familiar, there was no guarantee that this individual was who Mio thought they were.

“Suspicious,” he thought to himself, and quickly came up with a way to question that person on the other side of the door without alerting her of who he was. He cleared his throat, and altered his voice a little to be unnaturally deeper than usual. “...Uh, maybe?” he asked in his fake voice, “Who’s askin’?”

“...I need help,” said the hooded female, “He’s after me, and I don’t have anywhere else to go.” She pushed the hood back ever so slightly to expose a bit of her face. “...It’s me.”

With one more peep through the door’s looking glass, that gave Mio all of the proof he needed as to who it was. He put his cards away, and quickly opened the door. “...Mrs--?”

She cut him off as she entered, removing the hood to expose the rest of her head. “Not anymore,” she spat with a small growl, “He and I are through. Ten years of my life down the drain, spent on a lie…”

Mio shut the door, and sighed as he spoke normally. “...I’m sorry to hear that. But I have to ask, what made you come to me? And how did you find out about where I live in the first place?”

“I...asked around,” she explained with a regretful frown on her face, “I realize now that it looked very weird to be asking about an abyssinian wearing a blue suit and red half-rim glasses. But those are your most standout features. And as far as why I wanted to see you...I can’t go anywhere else. He knows all of our neighbors and would more than likely have checked with them first. But I can’t exactly just trust anyone else around here either…”

Indeed. Spitha was stuck between a rock and an eternally hard place. The main problem was that she didn’t know what to do or how to process what had happened the day before. Whether or not she should leave and abandon Klugetown and her past life entirely was something that she couldn’t come to a mental conclusion on--not on her own anyway.

Mio would suggest something along those lines in fact. “...Aren’t you free to leave? Why not return home to the dragon lands?”

But sadly, she couldn’t allow herself to do that for one major reason. “...No. I’m not. That sick, twisted, so-called husband of mine moved us here five years ago, claiming he wanted to set up a restaurant-soup kitchen for the sake of charity, and said he wanted to make Klugetown a better place....” She folded her arms and shut her eyes with a small huff. “...Turns out that it was a complete farce. There is no charity. It’s just a front for some mining operation using pony slavery...can you believe it?”

The tom’s tail flicked as he balled his fists, trembling ever so slightly. “...He...yes. I can.”

Spitha took a step towards him with a concerned gaze as she recalled the fact that Mio and Rongu worked together. “...That’s right. You worked under him, yes? Were you...involved in any way?”

“To be honest? No, I was not involved in the slavery directly. However…” he paused, and sat down on his couch in the living room, “I feel as if...I’m partially responsible. I wish I could have done something different. Something to give those ponies a chance to get their lives back. You see…” he looked up at her, “I’ve been genuinely trying to make Klugetown into something different. But there is no saving it. This place is like a castle with no king or queen…” A playing card appeared in one of his hands like magic. A certain card with a cat in the iconic jester costume. “...Just Jokers. Fools. Everywhere. All over the place. There is no semblance of order and everything will fall apart if there is no foundation to be had. But...if I can just take that gamble and play a different hand…”

Was it possible? Could this tom really be after what her husband feigned about this entire time? “...Is he...does he really mean what he says?” Spitha sat down on the couch next to him, and decided to press him for more answers. “...I see what you’re after now. Though that begs the question: Why is someone like you working with these guys in the first place?”

“...That is a very long story.”

The dragon woman leaned closer, unafraid of lending him an ear for as long as he needed. “I’ve got time. The main reason why I didn’t just up and leave yet is because I want to actually try to make this place better for the folks living in it. Nobody else will...so I want to hear what you have to say on the subject.”

Since he had nothing to lose at this point, Mio decided to oblige. “Well, I’ve been working with them because I’ve essentially had no choice. I grew up on the streets of Tabbytown in Abyssinia. A small suburban town not too far from the capital of Panthera. There…” he turned his head, and broke eye contact while adjusting his glasses, “I saw...things that would make a child afraid of the rest of the world. Murder, rape...you name it.”

Spitha tilted her head, and put a claw on his shoulder. “Oh my...but I thought Abyssinia was a beautiful place run perfectly by the king and queen. Just as the Dragon Lands are controlled by a central power...right?”

Mio shrugged her arm off, and continued. “...That kingdom is too vast and large for the royal family’s own good. Post-civil war between Siam and Catskills, they annexed both territories and have managed them ever since. But because of the fact that they had to expend more resources to govern those areas…”

“...It became more difficult to keep up with the rest of the land they already owned?” Spitha mused.

To which Mio responded with a nod. “Precisely. Good guess. For a time, Sia--er, Tabbytown was lawless and suffered from a lack of, well, everything. My parents had died shortly after I was born so I don’t remember them. Then I went through the foster system and well--I hated it. I was always being punched, kicked, beat on...and the families who I got put with never really tried to help me feel welcome….”

“You poor thing…I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that,” the dragon mumbled, “And to think that Klugetown is also a part of the kingdom as well. Their management skills appear to be next to nonexistent…”

“I know the terminology is quite trite by now,” Mio went on as he scratched behind one of his ears, “But the world can really be an unfair place sometimes. But I’m not going to let that stop me from achieving my goal…”

Spitha fell silent and contemplated what she had just been told. Could Mio be the key to actually finding a way to repair Klugetown? Despite everything, deep down, she was still a bit on edge. “...He worked with him in some capacity. But that doesn’t make him just as bad, does it?”

Meanwhile…

About one block away, Rongu was questioning a certain porcupine resident…

“You sure she went that way?” said the dragon.

“I’m positive! I could smell her scales from here!”

“...Odd, but if true...this could prove beneficial. Thank you very much, good sir.”

The dragon tossed some gemstones to the ground for the porcupine, and made his way towards the alley...