The Merchant and the Toad King

Once upon a time...

~

He was a merchant by trade, and so was inclined to wander. This, he knew, was merely a story; it didn't matter what brought him here or what had led up to this moment. The fact was that he was here, and that there must be some reason for it, or else he wouldn't have wandered this way.

So the merchant cheerfully made his way down the road. There was a city ahead, and where there was a city, there were customers. And where there were customers, there were credits to be had. Beneath a smiling paper mask, he whistled. True, he had no say in where he was going, but there was hardly any sense being morose about it.

"My ears, I suspect, have caught some sort of melody. I must say, it has been an inordinate amount of time since I have heard such an optimistic sound, particularly in a place inhabited only by the despondent."

The merchant looked around as he heard the voice, but there was no one around him. His gaze abruptly shot down as he felt something brush his legs, and he tilted his head in amusement as he saw the white cat.

"Was it you who said that, my friend?" he asked, leaning down to scratch its ears. Its head pushed against his hand with a purr, revealing a mouth stretched out into a hideous grin. The merchant didn't mind; he had seen worse in his travels.

"Indeed," the cat replied, moving to rub the merchant's leg again. "While I am, for all intents and purposes, your average feline, I do have the occasional tendency to voice my thoughts." He sat and absently washed an ear with a chuckle. "I have been told I have an inclination to loquaciousness, though."

The merchant, well-traveled though he was, had never seen a talking cat. So that was a bit exciting, wasn't it? Perhaps this story would be a fun one. He smiled beneath his mask and set his pack on the ground, digging inside.

"I think I might have something for you." He dug for a few moments more, then pulled out a tin can. "Aha! Here we are." He opened the top, then set the can down. "A bit of food for you. I've always been fond of cats, so consider this a gift."

The cat's purring grew louder, and he eagerly dug into the food. The merchant sat back on his heels as the cat ate, chancing the occasional stroke of his soft fur; the cat did not object to the attention. Eventually, food finished, the cat sat back and took a few moments to groom himself before looking to the merchant.

"Well, my masked friend, it seems we are at a crucial junction. You have shown me kindness, and now it is time for recompense on my part."

Aha. He knew what kind of story this was. "You're sending me on my quest, then," the merchant said.

"I see my new friend is of an intuitive nature."

"Naturally. We're in a story. We do each other a good turn here, and now the strange creature—no offense—gives me the direction to either ruin or fortune."

The cat's tail flicked, though more out of curiosity than annoyance. "Well-spotted, merchant." He stretched, then walked back over to sit beside the merchant. "In that case, allow me to enlighten you as to what you will be encountering posthaste."

~

...lived an evil king. His face was so repulsive that he was nicknamed the Toad King.

~

"The city you see before us is gripped by a vicious monarch. This king has stepped beyond his role, enforcing an iron reign so vindictive and paranoid that any who dare question him is executed with exceptional swiftness. None may leave, few may enter, and the denizens of this miserable husk of a kingdom live in constant fear.