He didn't pull away from the gentle touches, nor did he fight when Seishu pulled the pillow away from his face. The tune made him look up at Seishu and the gentle and light kisses made him smile. It was cute, like all of those cute couples he would see around the realm or even in the human realm. And then Seishu kissed him and Enasi didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Some how, Seishu managed to be so comforting. Normally, he thought Seishu's meaning of comfort was the love bites and the playful fighting he got from his minions, however he thought it over and remembered all of the tender kisses and hugs he gave to his own minions. *I hope they're okay. . . I shouldn't bother him about his minions. I'm the reason he had to leave so soon.* His smile faded some and he looked at Seishu as he spoke. The Dream Guardian had to admit, he was a bit surprised to hear Seishu apologizing rather than talking to him. Enasi felt like telling him otherwise and stopping him, but something told him to stay quiet. Instead of telling him things he should do, Seishu was telling him that he had to fix it on his own. That was new and very unlike him. For fleeting moments, Enasi thought something was wrong. Maybe he had been complaining too much for his counterpart. . . Had Seishu given up on him? That thought, even though it was a very least likely thought, made his heart sink. Even if it just fleeting moments. . . Enasi nodded slow and offered his own smile. "I'll. . . I'll keep you in mind- um, *that* in mind." He laughed lightly at the minor mistake before adding with a light blush. "Well, you too, but you know what I meant. And I won't push him away. . . I promise." He gave a reassuring nod, and watched Seishu walk away. He wondered why Seishu decided to go, but he didn't question. He simply accepted it and thought over what his counterpart said. Normally there was more to it. . . And even a fight occasionally, but not this time. Enasi sighed deeply and laid his headvback, staring at the ceiling. "Now, how to fix it, how to fix it. . ." Enasi hummed a soft melody to a forgotten song and closed his eyes. He heard the footsteps and wing flutters of his little minions, but continued humming. After a few moments however he paused and opened his eyes. He expected them to have already jumped on the bed, but the lack of movement made him stop. He looked at their wide, curious eyes and lightly patted the bed. Towards the gesture, the three of them hopped onto the bed. Rasha climbed up and took a seat right on Enasi's lap in his cat form. Rue followed suit, cuddling up to one side. Inui on the other hand moved a bit slower, more cautious of his own energy than the others seemed to be. Enasi simply smiled however and pulled him closer to him with the others. "Are you okay Lord Enasi?" Rue looked up with bright hopeful eyes. Inui expressed his own concerns through his facial expressions and Rasha purred as he was petted. Enasi gazed at each of them before smiling softly. "I will be." He hugged each of them, giving them light pecks on the cheek before sighing. "I do apologize for making you worry so much. I've just been a tad-" "You don't have to apologize Lord Enasi!" "We know you mean well." "We just want you to get better." The guardian laughed softly and grinned. "You three are so adorable! But, thank you." He nodded and gave a content sigh. They didn't know why he was thanking them, but they simply nodded and stayed by his side. For awhile, it was a peaceful quiet, save for Enasi's hums of different songs. The guardian wondered about a lot of things and contemplated others. As much as he wanted to snap his fingers and fix things, he knew it would take some time. He just hoped it wouldn't take too much time. After some time, time he didn't realize had passed, he realized Inui and Rasha had fallen asleep against him. Rue had gently poked Enasi's cheek to see if he had fallen asleep, causing him to slowly open his eyes. "Are you tired? Should I get Seishu to rest too?" He sat up, prepared to help his guardian any way he could. "No thank you Rue. I'm still awake. Just enjoying the quiet." "Does. . .that hurt? Should Crios check on you now?" "It only hurts if I move the wrong way, so I think I'm fine. I'm sure Crios will be here soon enough to come check on me. So, in the mean time you can just sit here with me." Rue nodded and laid back again, falling silent. Enasi smiled softly, but after a few moments, spoke in a soft and gentle voice so he didn't wake the other to. "Even though it ended pretty rocky. . . What was the Nightmare Realm like for you?" Rue closed his eyes in remembrance. He thought over how dark it was and all of the wildlife that tried to attack him. Then there were the minions he saw. . . With a smile, Rue spoke. "In its own way, the Nightmare Realm is a beautiful place. I'd love to see it again sometime, just without the potential death of course." He laughed softly, only to get another hug from Enasi. "Maybe one day." -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Cho had walked past a little bit around the time Inui and Rasha had dozed off. He peeked in, only to see if he was needed and then went off to go back to work. Starla had left sometime early, already in the garden. It didn't take long for her to find Finn lying on the ground, gently persuading the flowers to bloom. "How is everything here?" Finn sat up slowly and stretched. "Hm, better than a few minutes ago. . . Some are actually blooming now, but a lot of them are being rather stubborn." He leaned against his legs and eyed a few closed lavender colored flowers, still waiting for them to cooperate.

Seishu hobbles away from the mass of positive energy, the one negative trickle following the guy he likes like a little puppy into the arms of what was once his master’s sworn enemy. 'Not that I ever really stuck to that. I mean, I would get pissed, curse his name,and kill his troops indiscriminately, but that's different. That was business. A business that soon will be in the past. . .Hopefully' The Nightmare Guardian does not doubt for an instant that the plan can work, however he's still very much on the fence on whether or not it will. He sighs deeply, looking this way and that. 'The halls are lovely, but they're just so. . .Bright' In stark contrast of his own deep blue stone walls, the off white of the marble lining these hallways catch ever little sliver of light and bounces it around until the guardian finds it all nearly blinding. It is not a relaxing walk, not by a long shot, but he really feels he needs to take it. Something about moving, wandering, not laying around like a lump, allows him to think better. Despite the pain still radiating through his leg and shoulder, growing more and more intense as he shambles on and he wonders vaguely if he should just start back towards his room. However after having this thought he catches the scent of fresh air. For some insane reason he can not understand he feels the urge to go outside. He knows it will be bright, he knows it will kill his eyes and make his wounds burn, but the outdoors just seems to be the place to be. So, following his nose, he sets off. ~*~*~*~*~ “So,” Finn asks, “any idea why this is so hard right now?” He glances up at his sister. “Normally, when Lord Enasi is upset, the flowers still bloom, just, more slowly. They normally don't need to be coaxed for over an hour. . .” Starla shrugs before laying down next to her brother, her hand at flowers a little more experienced. As the two of them talk to the flower however a thought comes to her. “This could be. . . .Getting used to the new energy?” Finn looks at her sideways. “Well, think about it.” She continues, laying on her side. “We all noticed that Lord Enasi is giving off a new energy, and that the garden is ties to Lord Enasi. Since the whole place did not wilt, I would say that the flowers are just learning to transition to this new energy. Like when we moved the shrubs from the nursery into the garden. They take a while to take root and begin to bloom.” He runs her fingers over a closed blossom, watching it beginning to unfurl very slowly. “They have new food, and need to adjust. . .” “Just like the rest of us. . . .” Finn adds, nodding in agreement. He can see no fault in her logic and after a moment takes heart in the idea. “You know, if flowers can adjust, then so can we.” Starla looks back with a smile and a nod. Glad that that problem is now solved in his head the brother returns his attention to the task at hand. 'Yeah, if flowers can do it, then we can too. . . .' ~*~*~*~*~ Harper begins the slow walk towards Crios' office, wanting to stay true to his word to Seishu. He shakes his head with a smile. 'never thought that would be a desire to cross my heart' He sighs softly, letting his eyes wander, his body relax. After all the tension, and even with the still prevalent complications in his life, the general feels himself calming now that Lord Enasi is laying down comfortably, Seishu will soon be intercepted by someone else so he doesn't have to deal with him right now, and potentially, all the wars are over. Yes, for General Harper, today is a good day. ~*~*~*~*~ They watch the abomination, the embodiment of all the foul change that has been happening around their pristine realm, the creature most foul, as it walks absentmindedly along the hallway. Now is their time to act. Lord Enasi is laid up and can not stop them. He will see the good of their actions once the realm has been cleansed. Once this evil is removed they will be able to set things right, to get everything back to normal. They will get their guardian back. They won't have to suffer any longer. Across the way, somewhere near the the monster, a dream minion opens a bottle of his special perfume. It wafts through the area, nearly scentless, and with one effect. A wicked smile crosses the lips of the dream minion in charge of this endeavor. 'Perfect' she thinks, watching Seishu turn towards the nearest doorway to the outside. The palace itself has few doors but there are still arches separating one room from another. All the rooms with beds have doors of course. 'We just need to get you out, under the sun, then we can remove you from here' she hisses in her mind, her soft brown eyes hiding her malice for the guardian poorly. ~*~*~*~*~ Seishu doesn't really care what's driving him right now. He's just happy to be be moving about without someone worrying about him. 'Well, I'm sure plenty of people are worrying, but just not openly and right behind me' he muses, his eyes narrowing as he walks out into the sunlight. Holding his hand up over his brow to block some of the glare he lets out a sigh. He still looks a bloody mess he's sure, and to that he is glad that no one is around to see him. 'Last thing I need is them thinking I've killed someone' Letting out a sigh he takes a few steps, looking out across the open field before him, recalling how he'd flown over it a few days ago. 'Despite the brightness now pounding into my temples like a jackhammer, it is quite lovely' He only has a few moments to think this however when at last he feels his head clear up and some delightfully wicked feelings of to his left catch his attention. It's too late however and an instant later he feels a pain in his back. 'Oh goodie' is all he has time to think before he feels searing pain race through his system. He can't even cry out however as the drugs do their job and knock him flat. In short order the guardian is wrapped up in a cloth and a group of dream minion have him through a portal to the human realm. The female minion watches with delight. 'He's recovered a lot. None of us could kill him as he is now. But in a week? Being constantly fed positive energy? He'll be ripe for killing by then. . . .' Her smiles fades to the inside as she straightens her lab coat and heads back to the medical wing, her lunch break over.

It hadn't been long before both Enasi and Rue had dozed off in their comfortable silence. Rue tried his hardest to stay awake, but he ended up falling asleep. Enasi had laughed lightly, watching the young dream struggle to stay awake only for him to pass out. As for Enasi, he debated if he wanted to spend time in the darkness of his mind. However with his lack of energy and the drugs he was injected with from before he couldn't help but get comfortable and fall asleep as well. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Things were finally coming to a relaxing pace and settling down. Even the bits of negative energy from his guardian had died down. ’Maybe I won’t get gray fur before I’m old. He gave a soft, short laugh to himself, letting his ears droop down a little. Things were falling back the way they should’ve been, almost as if nothing happened. . . Almost. With a soft sigh, Harper patted down the tufts of fur on top of his head and used his other hand to knock on the door. There was a sound from the other side of the door and the large rabbit pushed it open to see Crios scribbling away on sheets of paper. “You should really try taking a break sometimes. I'm sure Cho would be more than willing to take you away again." He chuckled, referring to when Crios and the chef last left together to be alone. This caused the writing to stop rather abruptly, and for the fox doctor to clear his throat. “What do you want Cotton?” Now, it was Crios who had the smirk. He knew just how much Harper despised the nickname, which was the perfect reason to use it. The calm air Harper brought did feel nice, he had to admit. And with even Harper being calm, that had to be a sign of something well. Crios shifted the paper to the side, knowing it was just busy work for himself. He had the best staff in the realm and everything was up to date. Only minor things really needed his attention, and that could wait. “Oh, just,” Harper paused, counting down a few seconds in his head. ’Times up Night.’ “Just that you have a wandering patient. He wouldn’t listen to me, but he shouldn’t be too far from his room.” This made Crios’ ears twitch. Obviously, it wasn’t Lord Enasi who was to be worried about. If that was the case, Harper would have already escorted him back to his room, or at least stayed by his side. Of course it was Seishu who had to strain his injuries and make his job just a bit more challenging almost every day. “But don’t worry, Lord Enasi is still in his room.” Harper chuckled again and watched as the fox doctor sighed. Well, at least the paper work could wait. “Of course he wandered off. Of course he did.” Crios shook his head and grabbed his travel first aid. Both males walked out of the office and Harper pointed him in the direction Seishu hobbled off to. While Crios hurried to find him, Harper walked into Enasi’s room to check on the guardian. He softened a little to see Enasi asleep with Inui and Rue on either side of him and Rasha on top of him. He looked comfortable, however Harper gave a soft sigh, unsure of how peaceful he was. With him sleeping without his counterpart, it was still a bit unsettling to know of the dark void he was succumbed to. The rabbit decided not to dwell on it too much and walked out of the room in order to take a stroll. He hadn’t done so in a long while, so he decided to take the opportunity. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Crios followed the path Harper directed him to. After a few turns, he became rather confused as to why he had not caught up with Seishu. The doctor was positive that even he couldn’t and wouldn’t have just flown off without telling someone. Instinctively, whether it was a doctor’s intuition, or just Crios having been around Seishu for so long. . . Something wasn’t right. He could feel it. The doctor turned, heading to find Harper once more, this time with an urgency in his step. ’So much for the moment of peace. . .’ To quicken this process, as he made his way down the halls, he called to Harper, knowing that those large and fine tuned ears would be able to hear him. ~*~*~*~*~*~ “How are you two?” The rabbit guard had wandered absentmindedly until he was standing in the garden with the plant siblings. He watched them tend to their garden, watering and digging small holes for new seeds. Even though they could use their powers for the task, sometimes, doing things the traditional way was more fun. “We’re fine. Just helping our plants adapt.” Finn said with a smile. Starla nodded in agreement as she planted a row of new flowers. Before Harper could question what he meant, Finn continued. “Our garden had gotten a little. . . out of touch- as if they didn’t recognize Lord Enasi when he had arrived. At first, I thought it was due to the excess of negative energy around, but Starla and I realized that it was in fact that new energy he is giving off. Thankfully, they are starting to accept it as well.” He looked at Harper and smiled again, giving a nod. Meanwhile, Starla was in her own little world. Of course that wasn’t until she looked behind her, giving a questionable glance. “Hm. . . Weird. It was probably just the travellers.” Finn had noticed the sudden surge of positive energy appear and disappear. Normally that happened when the Realm Jumpers were heading into the Human Realm. So, he paid no mind to it. Before Harper could say anything, his ears lifted at the sound of the doctor calling him. Hearing that it sounded urgent, Harper turned to the siblings. “Crios needs me. I’m going.” With that, Harper shot off to meet the doctor. The siblings looked at each other, hearing the urgency in the rabbit’s voice and decided to take a break from their own menial tasks to follow behind him. ~*~*~*~*~*~ “Seishu’s gone. He’s no where in sight. I checked around and followed the faint negative energy trail. But he’s gone.” The fox doctor had started speaking immediately as Harper approached. There was no time to waste. And if it wasn’t as bad as Crios made it out to be, then everything could quickly relax once Seishu was found.

Stirring slightly Inui's eyes slide open. Something has changed. A hollow feeling gnawing at his insides Forces his eyes open wider, sitting up slowly, his head rotating this way and that. His sleep addled brain clears quickly and like a cat shocked awake by a sudden noise he is soon tense and alert, his claws and canines growing. His head continues to rotate, unsure of just what woke him up. Rue stirs moments later, the small waves of negative coming off of the Nightmare Minion making him ache slightly. Without even opening his eyes he reaches across Enasi and pats Inui on the hand and makes a shushing noise. “It's okay Inui, just calm down, I'm sure it was a ba-”

His voice stalls as he feels the claws extended deep into the comforter. The little fairy's eyes snap up and his sits up quickly, his brows jumping high as he sees how tense and alert his friend is. “What's wrong Inui?” he whispers softly, his own head beginning to rotate about, trying to find the source of his disquiet. Inui simply shakes his head, not knowing what's wrong, but knowing it's bad. Rasha stays sleeping, quite used to people talking around him while he sleeps as he often sleeps in public, stretched out over a fence or a overhang.

~*~*~*~*~

Slipping quickly back into the infirmary Fuan sets to work, her normal nervous state easily covering up her excitement over what she's just done. She notes the absence of her boss but thinks nothing of it. After all, their lord is hurt. The fact that he leaves Lord Enasi's side in his current state at all is further proof that the foul creature's influence has tainted even the best of them. Even those she's always looked up to and aspired to be. Not only to corrupt her role model, but to actually convince their beloved leader to imprison their own over and act that would be rejoiced not two weeks ago. No, Crios out taking care of their leader is good, it makes her smile as she goes about her rounds. Each wound she treats a small victory, and every patient she discharges another life that can return to the wonderful routine of life in the Dream Realm.

~*~*~*~*~

Feeling his stomach tighten, and mentally cursing Seishu for all the trouble he causes, Harper quickly comes up with a search pattern for the four of them, his large ears picking up the sound of Starla and Finn approaching. 'This may not be that bad. He may have just decided to do his best to ditch Crios and is hiding really, really well. . . .I have no idea how he would hide that very distinctive energy in this realm, but I know it's possible' He lets out a sigh as the siblings come to a skidding halt next to the doctor and himself. “Seishu is either in really good hiding, or something bad has happened. We need to search, and quickly. The Powers only know how long it will be until Lord Enasi awakens and wants to see Night again, and I want to be able to at least tell him why he can't if he really is missing.”

Finn and Starla exchange worried glances before turning back to their commanding officer and nodding, serious expressions on their faces. Crios begin trying to think of all the places Seishu may have gone but after a moment he snaps out of his thoughts as Harper explains his search pattern. Because he and the rodent are the fastest, they have the greater portion of the search grid, Finn and Starla getting the less open and more complex areas that need to be searched closely. As soon as everyone knows where they are going the group breaks, Harper gone in an instant, the siblings sapping hands before heading off in different directions, and, after a few calming breaths, Crios darting off in a blaze of blue fire, slim trail of blue flame left in his wake, going out quickly on the stone.

~*~*~*~*~

With a soft sigh Kaila very carefully steps away from his sleeping brother, barely visible beneath the mountain of children piled on top of him. It too the second in command half a day to figure out why the little ones are now so attached to the white clad man. 'After what Master Seishu did a touch of him lingers on my brother's soul, and the little ones, so sensitive to it, can feel it inside of him' He smiles one of his rare smiles at the sleeping figure before carefully sneaking off to get a little actual work done. It's been less than a day since the group from the Dream Realm left, Master Seishu among them, leaving so suddenly and abruptly that the children cried long and hard over not being able to see him again before he left.

It had taken a lot of work to calm them down, but Jentou had been good for them and with his help they seemed almost back to normal by the time they piled up for sleep. The smile slips from his lips as he looks away from the sleep pile, the multitudes of Nightmares and Minions milling about in need of direction and strength. Kaila's eyes flash and as soon as he's far enough away from Jentou he begins moving through the camp at a very brisk pace, being strong, giving direction, lending aid, and keeping order. He needs to be what Master Seishu would be were he here, though he knows he can not actually replace their Master, he will do his best to fill the position while their leader is away.

There was so much moving and soft sounds going on around him. However, the Dream Guardian stayed asleep, only stirring for a brief moment to adjust to the lack of the others around him. Rue and Inui looked over at the guardian, quieting down as to not disturb him. Inui’s tense feelings had not subsided, so he carefully scooted off the bed to avoid disturbing Enasi. Rue had quickly and carefully followed in order to assess the situation. Meanwhile, with the sudden lack of warm bodies cuddled up to him, Enasi nuzzled into a pillow and laid on his side. It didn’t bother his wound, so he didn’t wake. To adapt to the sudden movement, Rasha cuddled up at Enasi’s stomach, only to be pulled up closer to the guardian’s chest. The cat purred in his sleep and nuzzled closer to the guardian.

“I. . .I don’t know. But something isn’t right. I can’t tell what it is. . .You’re right, it could’ve been a bad dream.” Inui rubbed his arm and looked at the ground.

Rue frowned at the thought and shook his head. “I don’t believe it was.” Shaking his head again, he looked around the room. “You wouldn’t be this upset if it was nothing.” Rue was going through the possibilities in his mind, trying to figure out what could be the cause. As he did, he held on to Inui’s hands, attempting to calm him enough to put his claws away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harper raced towards the place where the last portal from the Nightmare Realm had been caused. His ears were on high alert and he focused for any trace of negative energy. ’How can it be so difficult to find him! He literally sticks out like a sore thumb!’ Harper huffed and continued his search. His next idea was to check where they first found Seishu. Even though it had been some time ago, maybe Night had decided to reminisce on the day he and Enasi found him on the brink of death. Unfortunately, his luck failed, but that didn’t stop him from running along and continuing his search. Eventually, when his search did come to an end, he would end up in TB’s field. If all else failed, the large turtle could have been some assistance. To his disappointment, the quick search to find Seishu and remain calm was slowly diminishing.

The possibilities of Seishu getting hurt once again and in their realm lingered in not only his mind, but everyone searching. They had to find him and fast. There was also the horror of having Enasi panicking and trying to go looking for him. He was injured too, and Harper was not planning on letting him hurt himself more. He continued searching throughout the outer most parts of the realm. Fortunately, there was a lot of open space that didn't require him to be so meticulous in his search.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Starla had been assigned to try the forest. It was closer to the castle, where Finn was searching. With her finely tuned abilities Starla tried to tap into the flora around her and see if they had caught any sense of negative energy nearby. Most gave her nothing. Others gave her short paths and dead ends. “Augh! Night where are you!?” With all her stubbornness, Starla kept looking. They were going to find the guardian and they were going to drag his sorry butt back to his hospital bed. And then she would suggest Crios strapping him down so he couldn’t escape. That sounded like a good idea. Hopefully the others had more luck. . .

~*~*~*~*~

Each door was opened. Each room was checked. And there were a lot of them! Finn didn't stop though. The minions and dreams wondered what the young man was looking for, but he always whisked away before they could ask. He was in complete focus as he raced through the castle. When he finally did stop, it was because Cho beamed at the sight of him. "Oh! You've come to visit? How thought- What's wrong dear?" Cho's smile became one of curiosity as Finn dragged him out the kitchen and whispered.

"You haven't seen Seishu have you? He's gone missing." Finn quickly silenced a gasp and continued. "There's a search party out, but so far nothing." Having similar feelings as Harper and Crios he gave Cho a serious look. "Also, Lord Enasi and the trio don't know. If Lord Enasi finds out, he'll be panicking. Could you keep an eye on him please? He's asleep now. I have to go finish my search." With a small salute from the chef, Finn was rushing off again.

"Keep our dear guardian happy~ That's what I'll do~ Keep our dear guardian happy~ Because he deserves it too~" He hummed a little made up tune and walked into the kitchen. If he was going to keep Lord Enasi from being upset, he needed a small snack for a distraction. He couldn't possibly lie to his dear guardian, but he could easily distract him. It wasn’t all that hard too. He thought of possible conversations like him and Crios, or a new recipe to try- the possibilities were endless and if need be, he'd bring them all up. Cho did debate on whether or not to tell the trio about it. He didn't want them panicking, but the extra sets of eyes searching would have been a good idea.

~*~*~*~*~

Crios had taken a short break to catch his breath. Racing through the inner parts of the realm was more tiring than he made it out to be. He may have been in shape, but he was still a doctor- his stamina was a bit limited. Taking a deep breath and an irritated sigh, he went towards the last place he knew Seishu would be in. The town. Not only was it too full of dreams and minions, but it was draw immediate attention and people would panic. Seishu may have been stubborn, but he wasn't stupid enough to do something like that. And by the looks of the tranquility of the town, Seishu was no where in sight. But, Crios walked through- for the sake of checking thoroughly.

In upset confusion Inui bites his lip, as he's always done, however this time he jumps slightly in pain as one of his fangs pierces the soft flesh of his lip. He lets out a soft whine, the pain not helping his situation. Rue looks around to him quickly and gives him a sympathetic head shake. “Silly Inui.” he murmurs, very gently pulling Inui to the door. The Nightmare Minion pouts slightly at being call silly but doesn't let the fairy see as he turns back around to look at the dark haired youth. In a soft voice Rue says, “You should go to the infirmary and see if there's anything they can give you for your panic and to treat that. It's bleeding quite a, ew!”

Inui freezes mid movement, his tongue having darted out to lap up the blood dripping from his lip. His tongue quickly darts back in in shame but Rue is already apologizing. “Sorry, sorry, I'm sure it's normal. I've heard some humans do that too.” The understanding Dream Minion smiles brightly at Inui and makes a shooing motion. Inui hesitates, not wanting to go alone. Sensing this Rue gives him a pained look. “Sorry, but I promised Mister Seishu I would stay with Lord Enasi. You need to go get treated though, I'm sure you can handle five minute on your own.” Rue smiles confidently, squeezing the red eyed one's hands encouragingly.

Finally, with a nod, Inui opens the door quietly and heads out to the infirmary. As a delivery boy he has a rough understanding of where it is even though he's never been there before. His still clawed hands fidget as he walks, his worries growing with every step. Not only the uneasy feeling from before, but now the fact that he is traveling, openly, as a Nightmare Minion, through the halls of the Dream Realm Palace. It's quite unnerving. 'No one really liked me before, but at least then they didn't hate me because they thought I was one of them, but now, I'm clearly not. Not only am I not, but I look ready for a fight and I can't seem to shake the feeling that something is. . . .Wrong. . . .'

Letting out a sift sigh he makes it to the infirmary without incident. Fuan is just finishing her usual checks when she feels him arrive, panicking for a moment thinking that somehow, incredibly, that foul creature has managed to return and is here to lay waste to her and the rest. However she manages to keep her composure as she turns around and lets out a sigh as she spots only the little whelp. He face is as sweet as ever as she walks over, smiling at him welcomingly. Her face does not betray the disgust she holds for the youth before her. Just the thought that such foulness has been tainting her beautiful realm for so many years is enough to turn her stomach.

“How may I help you young man? Oh, you have a little cut there!” She cringes as he licks his lip but covers it up with a sympathetic look. Quickly she fetches what she needs to treat the wound. A large part of her is tempted to pretend she forgot he's not a dream and inject him with some positive energy but thinks better of it, not wanting to draw attention to herself just yet. 'When it's all done, I will take all the credit. I am not ashamed of what I have done, I just don't want it all ruined by the brainwashing they've all undergone. Besides, I can almost forgive this one here. He can not help what he was born to, unlike that Rue. . .' Out of all those who surrounded Seishu and looked after him, Rue is the one she loathes most, almost more than Seishu himself. Not that she'd ever admit it, even after it's all over. Dream denizens are forgiving after all. . .

~*~*~*~*~

At last he arrives in the Turtle Bus's clearing, the large creature opening one giant eye, blinking it slowly as he stares down at the panting giant rodent. Harper is only partially out of breath, the rest of his labored breathing coming from the slowly rising panic deep inside him. He knows he has to remain calm, but even knowing that does not stop the feelings from bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Looking up into that great eye he takes a moment to catch his breath before offering a half bow and addressing the giant figure. “Pardon the intrusion on your much deserved rest sir, however I am in a bit of a hurry.” The large creature simply blinks in response, prompting Harper to continue. “There's been a little bit of a mishap, and I'm not sure if there is anything you can do, however I. . .”

His voice trails off as the dream lifts his head, sniffing the air softly with his giant nostrils. After a moment it looks back at the white furred beast and shakes it's head slowly. “He's not here any more.” Harper's blood runs cold.

“Are. . .Are you sure?” His throat closes up as he tries to speak, his low burning panic flaring up suddenly. TB nods in his normal slow fashion and Harper reaches up, clasping his head in his paws. “This, this can't. . .” TB lets out a puff of air, knocking the much smaller furball on to his backside, making his shout and look up. The shelled beast simply blinks one last time before settling it's head back down and going promptly to sleep. Harper stares for a moment before smiling gently. 'He's right, freaking out won't do anyone any good. . .' Standing slowly he rotates his head and ears this way and that until he pinpoints Crios and with a slight bow to the TB he takes off. They need to regroup and discuss the situation.

~*~*~*~*~

Slowing in the forest for just a moment to leave a message for Starla to head back to the palace Harper skids to a halt just outside of town, not wanting to spook anyone by racing through like a madman. Using his ears an nose he quickly locates the doctor, looking between to close set buildings that have a long series of bars staggered between the spaces for certain dreams to swing and climb on. With a meaningful look he motions towards the edge of town and without a word Crios follows. The foxy doctor can tell that something is horribly wrong even as Harper offers smiles and nods to various denizens. 'I know that look. He's in a blind panic, putting a face on for the crowd. I swear, if Seishu is dead somewhere I'm going to revive him just so I can kill him with my bare hands for dying after all my hard work!'

As soon as they are out of earshot of the townsfolk Crios tries to ask what's wrong but Harper shakes his head and breaks into a run towards the palace. Still a bit tired Crios lets out a groan but does not hesitate to follow as quickly as he can.

Having gotten the message through the leaves Starla has already made her way back to the palace and located her brother. The two of them are waiting in the entrance hall as the two man beast hybrids arrive, matching looks of concern on their faces. Harper motions them over to a smaller room off the main hall before he speaks up. Looking around at them all very seriously he takes a deep steadying breath before murmuring, “Seishu isn't here any more. TB has confirmed it.” No one questions this statement. Crios falls on to a convenient sofa in shock, trying to process the idea of Seishu somehow being gone from this realm. Meanwhile the siblings look to one another in shock before Finn covers his eyes with his hand and Starla lets out a frustrated, panicked huff.

After a few moments of everyone falling into shock and promptly try to pull themselves together, Starla ran fingers through her hair, somehow managing to avoid every flower that resided in it. “So. . . what do we do?” She had a straight, serious face. If anything, they couldn’t just sit there in shock. She and everyone else knew it too. Her eyes landed on Crios, then Harper. The rabbit man couldn’t help the cold chill that ran down his spine. He was the second in command. Enasi was incapacitated at the moment, which meant he was the one that had to take charge. It was something he never dreamed of doing. Before he could overreact, Harper heaved a sigh. He was a strategist. He was a soldier. He could figure something out.

Crios and Flynn watched Harper. Both spotted the surprised and mild terror in the rabbit’s eyes before he calmed. Harper leaned against the wall in thought. No one spoke, not wanting to interrupt his contemplation. It felt like minutes had gone pass as they waited, each trying to come up with their own ideas as well. “There’s no way around this.” Harper finally broke the intense silence. “I’ve gone through every possible plan I could think of, twice. There’s no other way around it and you,” He looked at Crios with a serious expression. “probably won’t like it.” Harper stood straight, looking down the hallway. “It’s not far from a long shot, but Lord Enasi is the only one that can truly feel Night’s presence. It’s one of those guardian things. So,” Even Harper isn’t fond of what he planned to say, but it had to be done. “We have to tell him. He can tap into this realm’s energy to pinpoint where he is. I’m sure there are plenty of things he could probably do that are beyond us.”

Crios interjected immediately. “You do realize how much of a panic that will put him in?! We cannot afford for him to not only be in a panic, but exert himself so much in the state he’s in!” As a doctor, he could not allow his patient- the Guardian of this realm- be injured anymore than he had been. And as someone who worried about the guardian in general, he didn’t want to put Enasi in that kind of stress- not after the Nightmare Realm. . . Not after he nearly died. “Didn’t you say TB said he wasn’t here? That turtle is the oldest creature here, and now all of a sudden you don’t believe him?!” His voice had grown into a hushed, exasperated tone as if Enasi would hear them.

Flynn had similar thoughts, although there was no other solution in mind. “Maybe...Maybe Seishu went home? Maybe he or someone opened the portal to the Nightmare Realm for him?”

Harper’s head shook. The idea did come across his mind, but there was a problem with it. “Only a Nightmare can make a portal to to the Nightmare Realm and Inui wasn’t with Seishu. Enasi might, but he was way too loopy and injured. We would have detected any other nightmares around here. Night couldn’t have done it himself either. When the two got back, he could barely stand. If I’m not mistaken, he recently just got the energy to actually get out of bed. Right Crios?” When he didn’t get a response,he asked again. Crios, merely sighed and nodded. The fox knew the truth, however it still didn’t sway his opinion. He couldn't just dump something like that on their guardian. Not with his injuries and not after they had convinced him to stop stressing himself so much. At this point, Crios was going to stress himself out before that could be considered, so he took a deep breath and sighed. There had to be another way…
~~~~~~~

Cho appeared in his guardian’s room with Rue giving a look of happy surprise. He placed a finger to his lips in order to indicate the sleeping two. Cho nodded calmly and gave a curious look when he realized one of the trio had been missing. “Where’s Inui?” His voice was soft and curious.

“He’ll be back. He had to go get a small cut fixed up.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was still dark. Still empty. Enasi, for once didn’t mind. It was a time to regather his thoughts and revel on the day. But. . .he realized with Seishu, he did mostly that. The Nightmare Guardian was always one to knock some sense into him- even when he didn’t think he needed it.

I should thank him. . . He’s sacrificed so much. . .

There was no need to remind himself of all the sad things that had gone on with Seishu. It was amazing how well he handled them. From being stuck in his counterpart’s realm, Rue getting into trouble- twice, the many emotional rollercoaster they went through, and so so much more- Seishu was still standing. He admired him. Seishu’s strong will, loving devotion, the way his eyes lit up when he saw his minions for the first time. . .It was hard to tell if Enasi sighed or not, but the gesture was there.

I wonder how I could ever repay him for something like that. . .

Keeping him alive just didn’t seem like enough. It was something important that had to be done, but it there was little sentiment in it. The proof of that had been with those rowdy doctors that were now imprisoned. It reminded him to go check on them. He should let them go and return home. The faint tinge of sorrow pressed in his heart. They wouldn’t be happy with him. He knew it. But they didn’t understand. He had to punish them someway.

An all too familiar pull made him turn his head in that direction. He was waking up. And when he did, Enasi yawned gently before kissing the cheek of Rasha who at sometime took advantage of sleeping with his guardian and turned to his human form. A soft purr found its way out of Rasha before he stretched and lazily opened one eye. He didn’t want to get up, much too comfortable at his guardian’s side. Enasi however had opened his eyes and smiled at both Rue and Cho who were having small talk. “How are you Cho? Rue? How long have I been asleep?” The last question was obviously pointed at Rue.

“You must have been really tired Lord Enasi. You’ve been asleep for more than an hour.” Rue giggled and made his way to the bed in order to hug him. “I’m fine. Everyone else I believe is going about their schedules.” He gave an affirmative nod.
Cho on the other hand mulled over that response, positive that the others were in frantic search of Seishu. However, he couldn’t entertain that thought. He didn’t need his guardian worrying as he always did. “I too am quite alright Lord Enasi, thank you.” There was a brief silence, save for Rasha’s gentle purring as Enasi gently soothed and petted his hair as he slept. “I did have an inquiry. About a few dishes.” He tapped his chin. “Ah, well I did bring you a small snack. I didn’t exactly abide to the soup rule, but I made sure they were soft foods.”

Enasi chuckled lightly and listened to Cho. “I’m not too hungry right now, but sure I can do a taste test. Rue, Inui, and Rasha- hm, where is Inui?” Normally the little bundle of wavering negative energy was nearby.

“Oh, he just went to get a small cut cleaned. He should be back soon. And can I help taste test Cho?” His eyes lit up, hoping the chef brought desserts to try.

At first he doesn't notice it. So used to being around little Spike or around Master Seishu himself, Inui is used to the new feeling of being able to absorb negative energy. That being said, it has always been unusual to get it from any other source, especially when no one is in pain or afraid, and as far as he can see everyone is smiling or peaceful around him. He carefully looks over himself when he first feels it, earning a questioning look from the doctor trying to treat him, but eventually he figures out it's not coming from himself. Slowly his eyes come up to focus on her, his expression unreadable. She swiftly goes back to work, the cut requiring very little attention, however under his close scrutiny she can feel a slow wave of panic washing over her.

'Why is he staring? I mean, there's nothing else to look at when I'm up close like this, but. . .This feels. . . Could he know? Does this nasty little wretch somehow sense something?! No, no, he can't. I'm just being paranoid. I need to relax least I slip up. . . .' She keeps her breathing even, her years of the meek, calm, easily startled nurse mask makes keeping her calm front rather easy.

Despite her efforts however, Inui can tell something is wrong. At first he blames himself, after all he is a Nightmare Minion, and she's always been so shy. . .'But, no, this isn't fear. . . She's. . .She's angry about something. . . .' His eyes narrow slightly as she finishes up, smiling at him warmly. 'I wonder why she's mad. . . .I know a lot of the dream denizens have never been happy with me, but. . . .Is she angry because she has to treat me? I. . . Rue told me some of the doctors resented taking care of Master Seishu and attacked him. . . She wouldn't. . . .' He swallows hard, returning her smile and quickly bowing his way out of the room. He doesn't know what's wrong with her but the sooner he gets away the better, the faint licks of his negative energy beginning to escape his little body.

~*~*~*~*~

Smiling happily the chef nods. “Of course you can!” he chimes brightly, slowly unloading his cart on to the mattress. The smell of the food as he lifts off the covers of the dishes rouses Rasha from his comfortable sleep and with slow grace he disentangle himself from the sheets and stretches out lengthwise atop the covers, his head now pointing towards the foot of the bed. He purrs happily at the sight of the snacks and gives Cho his brightest most adorable begging eyes he can muster in human form. Cho laughs happily as he spots the look and nods, grabbing a small stack of plates from the cart and handing them out to the three taste testers. A part of him really wants to tell Enasi what's going on, but at the same time he knows it's for the best that he doesn't know quite yet. Not when there is still a chance this is all a misunderstanding and he may be found just goofing off in some corner of the realm.

~*~*~*~*~

The argument continues for several minutes, the primary combatants Harper and Crios with Flynn chiming in every now and again. Starla however, remains silent. She watches the exchange with indifference and at fist one would think that she's simply waiting for the fight to end. However after a good ten minutes of the word volley getting exactly nowhere a distinct expression of exasperation appears on her face, growing more and more apparent as each second passes until at last she stomps a foot on the ground hard and rises to her feet, glaring at both competitors.

Harper and Crios both look to her, startled and more than a little confused. The sound had caught their attention, but the look is not something one would expect on a subordinate, even if the easygoing Dream Realm. Flynn shrinks back, not wanting to attract her ire. With a firm scowl split evenly between them Starla lets out a huff, crossing her arms. “This is why the realms are not democracies.” They both continue to stare, more confused than ever. She shakes her head, disappointed. “Both realms are completely occupied by followers. Trying to come to a consensus is stupid, it's never gonna work.” Giving a sharp look to Crios she turns her attention to Harper. “You are the second in command, like that Kaila guy. When Seishu vanished, he took over, he gives all the orders, and he keeps order. He listens to his underlings, but he has the last say.” Her harsh tone softens slightly as she goes on. “That's what we need now General.” Her gaze drops, a bit surprised at herself.

“Okay, here’s the first dish!” Cho figured, if he could at least keep his mind on the current activity, he wouldn’t feel the need to tell Enasi. Even though all the small dishes had been made before, he made sure to pick the recipes that hadn’t been made in awhile. So, he still got an honest opinion from them and Enasi wouldn’t question why he was asking them to try regular dishes.The chef went about explaining the dish, it being a simple appetizer for guests. He hands the plate to Enasi who takes a small bite.

“Mmm, this is tastes very good. It’s sweet, I like it.” He smiled and fed some to Rue and Rasha who were eager to try it as well. “You know Cho, you’re food, all of it is spectacular. I don’t think you really even need to do taste testing. However, I do understand being thorough.”

Cho smiled and nodded. “Why thank you Lord Enasi. It’s a pleasure to hear that coming from you, but you’re absolutely right. I always need to be absolutely sure.” He beamed when Rue and Rasha gave hums of satisfaction from their portions as well. “So, that dish can be remade. Wonderful.” Thankfully, these portions were small enough to prevent them from being extremely full after the fifth plate. This should have been easy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Harper, there’s something loose in that rabbit brain of yours. We could at least check again!”

“We don’t have time for that! This realm is huge, who knows where Seishu could be. We can’t wait until the last minute. The longer we prolong this the worse it will get- for both guardians!” Crios knew Harper was right. He knew it. But the doctor in him was screaming to keep Lord Enasi from being harmed. Everything that could go wrong, might go wrong if the news was spilt, but did they really have a choice?

Both of them pause at the sudden noise and look from Starla. Harper’s whiskers twitched, and Crios’ tail did the same as the two listened to the plant girl. Near her, Flynn just hoped the two higher ups wouldn’t do get too upset with Starla. He knew his sister meant the best, however sometimes she went about things the wrong way...Both had never removed their eyes off Starla as she hounded them with disappointment and frustration in her tone. Only when Starla’s gaze fell did they break eye contact. After a moment of silence, both heaved a simultaneous sigh. Crios’ arms crossed across his chest, and Harper shifted the weight on his feet.

“She’s right.” Crios’ admitted. He had forgotten time and time again that technically, Harper was above him. The fox doctor looked down for a moment before continuing. “You are the general and second in command. It wasn’t my place to argue.” He nodded, giving a mock bow, and looked up at Harper. “What are your orders?”

Harper blinked for a moment, letting the facts sink in. He was second in command, however Enasi was so perfect with everything, there was no reason for him to worry about that position. He always focused on his job as a general. Even Crios’ apology and submission seemed all too strange. Harper cleared his throat and straightened up. His gaze turned to Starla and she immediately tried to find some other place to look. However, she did catch the nod of thanks before he turned to Crios and nodded. “I do understand the consequences of it Crios. I really do. And I’d hate that outcome as much as you, but I will be telling him. He has a right to know.” Crios merely nodded. “However, it is wise to make sure your kit is ready. . .Just in case of course.”

“It’s already in the room.” He responded quietly before Harper turned and headed to Enasi’s ward. The siblings looked at one another, quietly following behind them both. This was going to be. . .something.

The second in command walked quickly, his whiskers twitching every now and then. Crios’ focused on what to administer to Enasi, whether it was before or after the news. Definitely after, and only if necessary. “If I may,” Crios started, only continuing when he noticed Harper’s ears twitched, tuning to him. “before you do tell him, let me check over his injuries. . ?” Harper gave a nod, not bothering to turn and look at him. He would have preferred the doctor check him over first.

~~~~

“I’m telling you Cho, I simply cannot pick a favorite. The two are both really, really good.”

“Hmm, I like the first one!” Rue said after tasting the cakes. “Oh wait, but I like the second one two. . . Lord Enasi is right, it is hard to choose.” This lead the four into a small fit of laughter, until Enasi rested a hand over his stomach.

“It’s okay, I’m just a bit sore. Nothing wrong.” As his sentence ended, his gaze turned to the approaching group of positive energy. “Oh, I guess their tasks are done for the day. That’s nice. They deserve a break from their hard work. At first, the other three weren’t quite sure what their guardian was talking about until the group got closer and eventually opened the door. “Helloo~!” He waved. Cho smiled and Rue and Rasha waved as well, however the the younger two were curious as to what was taking Inui so long to get back.

Harper bowed and Crios shuffled past and sat at Enasi’s side, surprisingly calm. Being the guardian he was, he could easily sense the hidden tension that was building. “Oh? Is there something wrong?” He looked at each of them, though Flynn and Starla merely bowed and shuffled to a seat.

“How are you feeling Lord Enasi?”

“Perfectly fine-” He chuckled when Rue gave a stern expression. “I was a little sore earlier, but that’s because I was laughing.” Crios gave a smile, only to look a bit surprised when Enasi turned and cupped his face lightly. Those mismatched eyes stared for a brief moment before he gave a look of concern. “There’s something wrong. I can see it in your eyes Crios.” He gently patted one of his fox ears in comfort. Whatever it was, he hoped he could help. Patiently waiting, he watched Crios look over at his supplies for a brief moment before turning his gaze to Harper. The guardian did the same. It was harder to see, but Enasi could spot the turmoil clouding behind his firm gaze. “What’s bothering you?”

harper’s ears lowered some but he took a deep breath. “We’ve searched the entire realm, even consulted TB. . .but Seishu is missing. We’ve already figured that he couldn’t have created a portal back home. His energy is too weakened. Besides Inui, there is no trace of any Nightmare Minions around. He wanted to stretch his legs. I gave him ten minutes. . . And in those ten minutes I took my eyes off of him, but he was gone.” Harper bowed again. “I truly apologize Lord Enasi, I should have kept a better eye on him and I know how detrimental it would be if he got hurt.” When he stood straight, he steeled himself for Enasi’s reaction.

The Dream Guardian had sat up a little more; Rasha helping adjust his pillow. He took a sip of the water Cho had given him before and then paid close attention. It seemed that when he brought it up, the unpleasantries seemed to roll off of them. ’They should really get Seishu. . . He could really feed off of this energy’ To his surprise, this meeting was about the Nightmare Guardian. Slowly, his eyes widened in shock and it seemed like the guardian froze for a moment. However, to everyone else’s surprise, he didn’t panic.

“Lord Enasi. . . How are you feeling?” Crios prepared to administer the shot if need be.

Enasi rested a hand on Crios’ arm. “I’ll be better when we find Seishu.” Enasi bit his lip and moved in order to have his feet hang off the bed. Before Crios could say anything, he raised his hand to silence him. “If I have learned anything from that insane Guardian, it’s that either I’m going to have to stop freaking out and complaining or Seishu will yell at me until I fix the problem. I figure I might as well try something that doesn’t get me yelled at.” He sighed and ran fingers through his burgundy hair. “And, if I sit idly by while you all go searching, I’m going to sit here and panic. Which is counterproductive.” Enasi was definitely suppressing an instinctive trait, but he took a deep breath and focused on the more important task. “How long has he been gone? And where was the last time you saw him?” ’Seishu you’re reaching the number one reason why I panic so much. . .’

Unlike Enasi, Rue begins panicking quite badly. On the inside at least. His wings twitch in agitation, wanting desperately to start up and take off to look for himself for the Nightmare Guardian. He can't be gone, he just can't. That's not possible right? He would never leave here, leave Lord Enasi to suffer through his wound alone. Without even saying goodbye? No, it's just not possible. . .With that being said, he knows it must be true, even if ever fiber of his being knows it simply can not be. His wings twitch, humming to life every so often but stilling swiftly after. As badly as he wants to leave. . .He can't. He made a promise. . . .

~*~*~*~*~

Inui walks slowly back towards the Dream Guardian's room, his feet dragging a little as he feels a faintly nice feeling drifting through the halls towards him. He knows that it means someone is upset, but since both guardians are here, not to mention all of his new friends, he feels it's okay to not feel bad about absorbing a little more. He'll ask Master Seishu to take it off of him later if it becomes too much. 'I mean, I already got some from that doctor. . .I still wish I knew why she. . Anyways, I got some from her, and I feel a little better after it. I'm. . . I'm a nightmare minion, it's. . . It's okay for me to enjoy other people's bad feelings' Taking a deep breath he nods to himself, taking his time, and wondering who all these sad people are, or if it's just one really sad person.

~*~*~*~*~

Harper can feel waves of pride flowing through him as his lord resists the urge to freak out and act rashly. He worries a little when Enasi moves, but relaxes when asked something he can answer with certainty. Standing at attention he nods. “I saw him off exactly one hour and forty-eight minutes ago. I saw him last heading off in the general direction of the west hall from here.” Then he adds, “His pace was slow but steady so I think his wounds weren't bothering him too much, and he seemed in relatively high spirits.” His eyes fall slightly, ears drooping. “I shouldn't have let him go. . . .It's the whole reason we set up so many guards for him, and I failed him. . .And you my lord. . .”

From across the Crios too drops his head. He knows he couldn't have really done anything, but he can't help feeling responsible for his patients, even if there was nothing he could do. A part of him wants to curse that damnable Night but at the same time he knows that sometime people just need to breath.

The little fairy hardly hears any of this, his promise to Seishu the only thing keeping him from racing off, and he feels that if he shifts his focus, he will break it. Rasha shifts slowly to the end of the bed where the little guy is sitting clenching the comforter in his small fists. His own panic is in full swing but seeing the little guy sitting there alone convinces him that he can't let it out. It's not what Seishu would do, or his little carbon copy, Kaila. Yeah, Kaila, he's a good man. He knows how to act in a crisis. He can help by being at least half as good as his idol and the man who's already mastered Seishu way of dealing with problems. Gently he wraps his arms around Rue's back, stilling his wings, and pulling him in close to try and help him relax.

Enasi sat still, staring at the Yang symbol on his hand. It was still there, meaning Seishu was still alive. That gave him enough hope. Seishu had been through a lot and Enasi had faith he would keep fighting. When Harper had finished, he gave a nod towards the information given, and then smiled. “You two don’t need to apologize anymore. You’ve worked hard to keep him alive. In fact,” He paused as he slid out of bed. When he leaned forward, Crios quickly caught him and wrapped an arm around his waist in order to keep him steady. “I should be thanking the two of you. All of you really. You’ve stayed since the beginning, even when you hated Seishu’s guts. You’ve done more than what you’ve been trained for. Besides, we’ll find him.” He steadied and walked forward, ignoring the uncomfortable pulls on his stomach. “I’ll need all of you to help. Including you Rue.” As he passed through the door, he gestured for everyone to follow him.

Crios helped him walk towards the west hall, hesitating to let go when Enasi moved away from him. The guardian stared at the floor as he took slow steps, as if following footprints that weren’t there. Harper’s ears were alert, listening for anything abnormal. The siblings had followed the group outside and began examining the flowers that had faint traces of negative energy dissolving off of them. Cho, Rue, and Rasha stayed behind them, watching what the guardian planned to do. Rue had calmed a little, still holding on to Rasha. Enasi stopped walking and he looked around. Of course, he saw nothing that could aid them, he was positive of their skills and didn't doubt that they searched everywhere. "Crios, I'm sure when we find him, you'll need your supplies. . . I don’t think we should bring him back here." Enasi frowned a little as the gears in his head turned. "It's way too dangerous here. I know he can't go back home yet, but he's been attacked way too many times here. And well, he can't get better any faster with all of our energy surrounding him." As much as he disliked the idea, he decided it may have been for the best. "It may be a good idea for him to lay low in the human realm for some time. At least enough to heal. . ." His brain was still working out the kinks of the idea, but he did pause in order to look around once more.

He remembered the first time he had done this when Seishu was in the realm. He ended up hurting both Seishu and Rue, so doing this again, he'd end up hurting another one of his minions if Seishu was close to one, and he didn’t know how bad Seishu was injured now. "Alright. . . Keep your energy focused. There will more than likely be a short spike of negative energy after this." He took a deep breath and sighed. His eyes closed as a large wave of energy spread across the realm. 'Where are you Seishu? I need a sign, anything please.'

There was a faint hint of negative energy still around, but it was much too faint for it to have been still in the realm. TB hadn’t been wrong, not that Enasi doubted the wise turtle’s judgement, however he wanted to be sure for his sake. “He’s not here, it disappears far off that way. But I can be sure that he’s not in the Nightmare Realm. There must’ve been a portal out, maybe to the human realm. Not that that’s any better. . .” He sighed and ran fingers through his hair. Taking him to the human realm didn’t seem to be the best option, especially if he was already there. Being in the Dream Realm seemed to be his only hope of protection. “Harper, remind me that we need to implement a new teaching. Things minions don’t know about-” When the wave of energy slowly began to die down, he realized the sudden spark of negative energy that lashed out behind him. Enasi whipped around, turning to spot Inui on the ground in pain.

"Inui!" Being so preoccupied with finding Seishu, he had completely disregarded the Nightmare minion that was learning how to handle his new energy. Enasi hurried over as fast as he could with Harper nearby to catch him. He sputtered multiple apologies as Crios moved in to aid to Inui.

His pace quickens as he feels them all now moving away from the room he was aiming for. If they are on the move, something must be up. Something must have changed. Inui feels hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they are all going out for some fun or entertainment, but even he knows that that is Rue levels of naïve and keep his hope tempered. 'I gotta remember to not let my mind go in the other direction either' he reminds himself. Master Seishu warned him that negative energy can consume nightmare minions and out here walking the halls on his own letting that happen could be very, very detrimental. Not only to him, but to anyone nearby. He makes his way towards them all, catching up slowly as he gets into a part of the palace he doesn't recognize, but eventually he winds up on the lawn, all of them gathered a little ways away from the doorway.

~*~*~*~*~

Eyes open, ever so slightly. Wave after wave of pain races through his system making it impossible to think. He was just there, in that empty place between the waking world, but the shooting agony pounding through his veins rips him away from there. Something gets pulled from his skin and he feels someone move away. His lips pull back into a snarl. He's angry, but nothing seems to come of it. His energy is gone, sapped from him, but still he feels a bit of strength in him. He's still a guardian, it will take a lot more than this pain to bring this beast down. At the snarl however something strikes his face and once more he welcomes the painless nothing, his heart longing for it to be filled with the beauty of his love, but knowing it is a fruitless wish. His love is far, far away. He simply. . . .can't be here. . . .

~*~*~*~*~

Walking down the steps to join everyone he smiles, holding up a hand as he prepares to call out to them. Then suddenly he's on his knees, the breath knocked from his body with the pain of something ripping through his body. Curling around his middle he begins crying desperately, unable to catch his breath, the pain making him shake and fall on to his side. Then at last he's able to take a breath and he cries out in agony, a lash of his energy striking out blindly. He cries hard, trying to make the pain stop. He's never felt anything like this before.

At the sound of the cry Rue snaps out of his funk and is at Inui's side in an instant. Luckily no one was close enough to feel the lash directly but as Rue closes in he uses all his skills to repress his energy and instead pours everything he has into his fear and sadness. They'd forgotten. They'd all forgotten that Inui was here, that now that he was full nightmare minion, he would no longer be shielded from Lord Enasi's energy. Harper looks a little sick, as does Crios. Once more, they have failed. Yes, Seishu is gone, but how can they forgive themselves for being so callous as to disregard dear little Inui? They allow these feeling to flow, for they are true, and all they can offer the poor little thing. Flynn reaches out to hold Starla, his hands shaking. She stands firm, providing comfort for her taller sibling. They regret what happened, and both pity what has happened, but they do not feel they can trust themselves to get close to him right now. They both fear hurting him further.

Rasha too stays back. As a dream he's composed of positive energy and even as sad and as upset as he is in this moment he's not sure that simply approaching the little guy wouldn't wound him. Crios reaches out and gets a face full of negative energy, audibly coughing on the stuff he has to pull back. Rue, sobbing loudly, moves in and with his oddly high tolerance of negative energy at the point gently wraps around Inui from behind and holds him tight, whispering apology after apology, trying desperately to get Inui to calm down so the doctor can treat him. After only a few seconds of this Rue feels quite ill, but he doesn't stop trying.

The guilt radiated of the guardian. How cold he be so careless? He was supposed to protect his own! Inui may not have been a dream minion, but he had lived in the realm long enough to be considered family just like the rest of them. This was completely unacceptable! Enasi paused, glancing back at the trail he had spotted. Harper noticed and rested a hand on Enasi’s shoulder. “I’ll take a some of the group and follow after the trail you’ve made. You’re in no condition to travel just yet. We can take care of it for you.” He wasn’t leaving room for debate. There was no time for it. Seishu’s life was on the line and that meant Enasi’s was too. They both weren’t at their best, making both realms vulnerable for attacks. “Rue, Flynn, Starla, you’ll be helping me.” Rue was about to protest, but Harper put his paw up. “I need your speed. Crios can take care of Inui. Rasha can stay too. You have a more important job.”

Crios looked at the group and then at Rue. “Since I’m not going along, you’ll need something to calm Seishu down and stop the pain.” He would have gotten up, but he couldn’t leave Inui writhing in pain like this. Before he could send Rue to find his kit, Enasi hurried over, lowering his energy. “Lord Enasi-”

“It’s okay, I got him.” Enasi picked up Inui, his negative energy still lashing out. It wasn’t pleasant, but neither was hearing Inui’s cries of pain. “You go and get the stuff for Seishu, I’ll take him to the room.” It wasn’t the greatest idea, pressing Inui to his chest so close, but Enasi held him tight so he wouldn’t’ hurt anyone around them. Crios frowned at the sight, but hurried off with Rue to grab the necessary items.

“Lord Enasi-” Harper paused, letting his ears lower some. “Be careful please.” Enasi gave a reassuring smile and started walking to Seishu’s room.

“And you come back with Seishu.” Rasha traveled behind his guardian and Inui carefully while they walked. He was tempted to move closer, but every lash of energy made him instinctively raise his own, which wouldn’t be good for Inui. Enasi tried soothing the nightmare minion, shushing him like a child. The guilt was still emanating off the guardian, and he hoped it helped in the slightest bit. His hand gently rested on Inui’s cheek, but to his surprise, Inui’s instinctive reaction was to bite him, and bite hard. Enasi sucked in a breath and pulled his hand away quickly.

“Lord Enasi are you okay?!” The guardian nodded, looking at the small trickle of blood that appeared.

“I’ll be fine.”

Crios and Rue had raced past them to the others, carrying a kit of supplies with them. Flynn was intrusted with the sash holding the needles. Crios gave important instructions that they all carefully listened to, just in case the other forgot.

~~~
Enasi had placed Inui in Seishu’s bed, hoping he would find comfort in familiarity. He did calm down a lot more than before, but it was evident he was still in pain. Crios would be on his way soon. Enasi just had to wait for him. Rasha watched as Enasi took up his old rolling chair to sit beside Inui. “You look a little sick Lord Enasi.”

Enasi hummed a response before lifting his head and smiling softly. “I look how I feel then.” His head lowered on his arms again, resting on the back of the chair. As the silence grew, Enasi closed his eyes and hummed the lullaby Seishu sang many times before. He reached out, holding Inui’s hand gingerly. Rasha had turned into his cat form, lying at the edge of the bed and waiting quietly. When Crios did return, he appealed to Enasi and aided to Inui first. Just like with Seishu, he had to inject Inui with something to calm him and ease the pain. Thankfully, it worked wonders on him too.

“Are you sure you want to sit here? You should probably rest.” Crios spoke as he examined Enasi. He checked his eyes and his heart beat, then checked the stomach wound, along with a few other things. “You don’t feel like puking do you?”

Enasi shuddered at the thought but shook his head. “My queasiness subsided, I promise. I’m just going to sit here until Inui wakes up. Someone has to tell him the news.” He looked a little more serious when he spoke, but soon sighed afterwards. “And I want to apologize. Inui is my responsibility and I should have taken better care of him. It’s my fault he’s in here, so the least I can do is stay by his side.”

Kaila doesn't even notice his own growling until the nightmare he's talking to flinches away when he reaches out to hand her back the bundle of food she'd given him to eat. He'd wanted to politely refuse but as she flinches away he realizes the reason behind his lack of appetite. He's upset, very upset. For some reason, some part of him is on edge and he can't get it to calm down. Carefully Tiski slips in and takes the bundle from him, handing it to the girl and turning to her squad leader. She views him with a concerned critical eyes and he shockingly drops his normally strong steady gaze to his feet. This redoubles her worry and she slips in close, pulling his face up so she can look at it.

She finches as he snaps his teeth at her but a moment later a flicker of shame runs across his features and he shakes his head, pulling her hands away. She knows better than to try again. Instead, she simply stands there, waiting silently for him to speak up if he's willing. After a long moment - the hustle and bustle of the camp around them seeming to fade away slightly as the nearby nightmares and minions move off carefully to give them room and still get their work done – Kaila speaks up, his voice steady and sure. “I'm going tot he human realm to try and get in contact with someone from the dream realm.” She blinks at this statement but remains silent. This is just how it works among the people in charge of the Nightmare Realm. Boss says, underlings do not question.

With a half sigh he goes on. “I've been irritated for over an hour now, and I can't help but feel it has something to do with Master Seishu. When he took me as his second he told me that we shared something, a bond, and I've always felt that maybe, perhaps, I never actually received that bond. That it'd never taken, and I simply pretended it did. But now, I can just. . . .Even when Master Seishu was stabbed, I was convinced that I knew he was alive on faith, nothing more, but now. . . This feeling. . . .” His eyes follow Tiski's hand as it comes up to settle on his shoulder. His eyes trail all the way up and end on hers, taking in her worried smile.

In a very soft voice, knowing it's not he place but feeling like doing it anyways, she murmurs, “Go.” The gravity of this unprecedented even – an underling giving a clear and direct order to their boss – is overshadowed greatly by the gravity of what Kaila's feeling. So instead of a reprimand he gives her a light, grateful scowl and nods. Turning on his heel he taps her hand, leaving her in charge and without a word heads out of the camp. To make a portal to the human realm.

~*~*~*~*~

He can feel it, something painful on his cheek, but, so tasty! His fangs flash and soon that sweet flavor is on his lips, burning likely at the positive content of the tasty stuff. He hisses, but swallows what he can, feeling somehow better after the taste. Now there's something soft beneath him, something cool, but the smell, that smell! He nuzzle in close to the smell, the feeling of it all, the comfort. It all makes him feels calmer, better, despite the pain still wreaking havoc on his insides. His skin no longer burns, all the pain is no longer pressing down on him from all sides. No, the residual energy around him, it's gentle, and warm, and he loves it.

The pain touches him again, his hand this time, and he flashes his fangs at the touch but doesn't pull away. Something about it's familiar. Something about him comforts him, despite th hurt, and after a short while and a small prick of pain he feels his body relaxing. Yes, this feels much better. He can think again, feel something besides pain again. . .

Inui's eyes open slowly and he lets out a soft whine and he look blearily around the room. Lord Enasi is there, Rasha is there somewhere around his feet, and Doc Crios is. . . .'Is that a needle? I don't like needles. . .' His eyes close again, staying that way as others move around him. He can hear them talking, but the words do not make sense at first. Then he hears something. . .Something about an apology to him. Without thinking he murmurs softly, “That's okay Mister Enasi. . .” His voice is a cute imitation of Rue, tempered by his pain and now slightly stoned state. Rasha lets out a happy wriggle, a mewling coming from his throat as Inui makes it obvious he's likely not permanently damaged.

~*~*~*~*~

Barely a hundred paces past the outer guard perimeter Kaila stops, sighing. Hanging his head he shakes it and calls softly, “You can't come.” From behind a tree Jentou appears, looking rather pouty, but firm.

“Master Seishu set you as my anchor. I can't leave you. And. . .And. . . .You are upset my brother, what's wrong?” His voice is firm but soft, the last part sounding very much like a loving older brother worried about his younger sibling. Even as twins, Jentou took his role very seriously since they were tots. Swooping in he pulls his brother into a warm, smothering hug, burying his face in the crook of Kaila's neck and nuzzling cutely. He will not be denied.

After several seconds of this the violet haired mail lets out a long sigh. He knows his brother is right. Unless ordered by Master Seishu, Jentou is to stay by his brother's side. Returning the embrace with a pat on the back Kaila presses his face into the same spot on Jentou's neck just long enough to whisper what's going on. The white clad figure bristles openly, his eyes flashing brightly at the thought of anything befalling Master Seishu. The pain it would cause his dearest brother unbearable to even think about. Without a word he takes hold of Kaila's hand, kisses the back, then motions for him to lead the way.

With a sharp nod Kaila complies, taking them deep, deep into the woods before opening a portal. They do not need any scouts catching on to them now. The swirling mass around them dies quickly and they end up on the streets of a large city. Kaila's logic: more people, more dream minions, more chances to try and talk to one of them, better chance of one actually willing to bring a message back to his counterpart. The grip on his hand tightens and the dark clad male looks to his pale robed brother. Jentou smiles, nuzzling close to Kaila reassuringly and with another sigh Kaila accepts the affection and begins the search.

~*~*~*~*~

Once the others are out of sight Harper takes a moment to lament quietly to himself. Flynn and Starla speak quietly to one another, the plants around them that had begin to wither at Enasi's hurt perking up ever so slightly as the siblings recover bit by bit. The rabbit man however moves several paces away, leaning against the building with his head down, his face obscured by his large drooping ears. His first real test as a second and he's failing miserably. 'I've got to start pulling it together before they lose faith in my altogether. It's just not going to work like this. Me waffling about, running to Lord Enasi over every little thing. . . .Forgetting such important things. Lord Enasi has an excuse he's wounded and in love with Night, and it's not the other ones' job to track these things, it's mine. . .'

Sighing he watches as the fox and the fairy return through the gap between his ears, his lamenting creating dark invisible waves around him that make the doctor scowl but ignore him for now. Rue flutters about worriedly, but with a set expression on his face. He will not let Lord Enasi down, even though he knows doing so will require him to beg for Mister Seishu's forgiveness later. He doesn't want to leave his lord's side but given what's happening he's pretty sure he'll get away with little more than some glaring and light swats.

When at last he's done with the instructions for Flynn Crios rounds on the shadow ridden rabbit and snaps, “Oi! You! Come here!” Quite different here in the Dream Realm, the fact that his underling just gave him an order doesn't phase Harper in the slightest, but the fact that he's being snapped at, does. He twitches, pushing off the wall slowly and walking over with heavy even steps. Without warning, once Harper is in range, Crios pulls out a very bright needle and plunges it directly into the unhappy bunny's chest, depressing the plunger in an instant. Though technically Harper is faster, and could have stopped him, the suddenness of it throws Harper off and he barely has time to cry out in shock before he feels a burning heat radiating out from the injection point.

Flynn and Starla lay hands on Crios, for a moment worried he's gone mad, but Rue buzzes them back with his wings, trusting that Crios is doing the right thing. The sibling and Rue glare at one another, Crios ignoring them and keeping an eye on the now curled up beastman and he hugs his chest, his full body tucked in so tight he is actually settled between his own legs, his feet still firmly planted on the ground. After a few seconds of this however Harper's ears snap straight up and he barks, “Stop fighting!” Rue and the plant siblings immediately back away from one another, the fighters snapping to attention and Rue landing, his wings stilling and folding in tight.

All eyes are on Harper as slowly he unfurls. When at least he's standing up straight they all look to his eyes, glowing gently, and Crios nods. “I had a feeling.” Taking out a smaller needle, still shining bright like the one he gave Harper, he administers a full sized dose to Flynn and Starla, and a very small dose to Rue. When he turns back the the Dream Realm's second he sees the demand for explanation in Harper's eyes and bows slightly. “We've all been around Night for so long that we were all tainted. Lord Enasi kept it in check, but like with the flowers in the garden, the transition from pure positive to what our lord gives off now has been throwing those closest to the two of them out of whack.”

Motioning towards Rue he goes on. “Rue here has adapted the most readily. I noticed when he was able to walk right through the cloud surrounding Inui, even though it made him obviously unwell. So, when we went to fetch the stuff for Night I had an idea.” He pulls a third syringe from inside his coat. It's glowing with the identical bright blue-white liquid. “After extracting a bit of blood from Rue I mixed it carefully with some of the positive energy shots we normally carry and they turned this color.” He hands one to Harper who looks closely at it, for the first time noticing the black smoke like wisp flitting through the liquid the size of a thread of spider silk. He looks back up as Crios goes on.

“After what happened with Inui I felt it myself, a despair that was honest, but out of place. We should have begun recovering within minutes but the feelings persisted. So, I thought, much like needing to coax the flowers to accept the new energy, we ourselves need to be adapted. So took a bit more blood and made these syringes.” He bows again. “Forgive me for the suddenness, but in your state, and being a dream, I did not see you agreeing without a very long, drawn out argument, and we do not have time. I needed you in your right mind quickly, and again, because you were a dream, you needed more than the others, and a rather radical location.”

Standing back up he looks to Harper, waiting for his verdict. For his part the general takes in every word, mulling them over and looking for holes or lies, even as he endeavors to believe the doctor. His mind is sharp, his depression for mere minutes ago is completely gone, and he feels like himself again. . . .But a little different. He can feel it, the small change, the little difference. He feels stronger than he has in days, and Crios' explanation makes sense as the source. Even with the touches of dark, of negative, now flowing through his veins he can feel the thrum of confidence and power he has when preparing for battle. It's how he should be feeling right now. Not sorry for himself, not like he's a failure. He should be revved up and rarin' to fetch Seishu back so both of their realms can recover and return balance to all three realms.

Before he has the chance to respond a minion comes racing out of the palace and stops just short of the group. Leaving Crios' judgment for now Harper approaches the minion and bids her speak. The small angelic looking minion, pale as a ghost from fright, bites her lips and is shaking slightly. When Harper draws close the bows, hugging her own chest and rubbing her arms like she's cold. Looking up into the general's eyes she speaks softly. “I was, I was in a dream, about some large insects, and then they got all scary, and I, there was this Nightmare Minion, and, and another standing back a ways, and they, they said they were peaceful and just wanted to, to leave a message for “Harper”.” She shivers again. “They, they used your name, so I thought, maybe they, don't know. . . .”

Gently Rue slides up next to the minion and gives her a warm snuggly hug, the act seeming to calm her down enough to at least Swallow hard and get out the rest of her story. “I thought that maybe they were somehow not all that bad, or rebels or something, so I stayed and got the message.” Sniffing she takes a steadying breath before being finally able to deliver the message. “He said, “Something is wrong with my master, I can feel it.” Then, then they left, and I came here as fast as I could. . .” The last part grows steadily quieter as she realizes there's really no need to tell them about her running away like a frightened child into the comforting arms of her home realm.

Harper's brows knit together, recalling for the first time in a long time that only the palace staff know the details of Seishu's whereabouts. With a soft sigh he thanks her and after getting her to tell him where on earth she'd been dismisses her, scowling at his own incompetence. As she races off, likely to her home for some cuddles, Harper turns to the foxy doctor and delivers his judgment. “I do not begrudge you your actions, but I am also not pleased that you acted without a regard to the fact that the injection you gave me could have kept me from going on this rescue mission.” Crios hangs his head, accepting the rebuke silently. He looks up however as Harper goes on. “We will be heading to that city to meet up with the minions. I'm guessing it's Kaila.”

Rue can't help but speaking up out of curiosity. “How do you know? I mean, why do you say that? It could be Ran or Lan, right? It said there was two after all. . . .” He shies away as Harper looks at him with an intense gaze he is still having trouble controlling at the moment. The injection has him on high alert and raring to go.

“To put it simply.” the general replies firmly, “When Enasi was hurt in the nightmare realm, somehow I knew it. I. . . .Felt it. I think the phrasing suggest that it was Seishu's second that was speaking, and the fact that I was asked for, not you.” Rue cocks his head at this. Harper explains. “The others know you better, like you better, or would have asked for Lord Enasi, go right to the top. I feel that. . . Asking for me is a kind of respectful courtesy. . .” He shakes his head a little, trying to find the right words. Then at last he says softly, “I would have done the same thing.” Rue nod sin understanding, clasping his hands behind his back to wait for Harper to finish what he was saying before.

With a nod Harper goes on, once more addressing Crios directly. His tone becomes quieter, but more intense. Crios' eyes go a little wide at the sudden change and his ears twist forward so he can listen closely. “What she was saying before, about “rebels or something”. The way she seemed so unsure, so off about her whole understanding of it all, it occurred to me that the only ones around here with the power, knowledge, and overall drive to kidnap Night are. . .” He falters a bit, not wanting to accuse anyone, but his resolve returns a moment later and he concludes, “Are those that spend most of their time here in the palace.” The others in the group look struck dumb by the thought, Starla going so far as to smack herself in the head. She can't believe that they didn't make the connection sooner.

“That makes so much sense!” she exclaims, shaking her head. “The only ones who would know when it was safe to take him would have to have followed him inside without being spotted, and would have to know that they would be clear to portal out of here without being seen, despite it being all out in the open and such! Gah! Were' idiots!”

Harper shakes his head. “No, we're dream denizens. It's natural for us to to avoid blaming one another for things and thinking badly of one another.” His words are soft and make the group feel a little better. Rue however is still kicking himself. He's seen an attack from the palace staff on Seishu first hand. He should have figured it out immediately. His attention returns to Harper however as he finally delivers his parting orders. “Crios, I want you to take up residence in Lord Enasi's room. You'll be the only one who can keep him there should he come to the same conclusion and try to find the remaining culprits – if there are any still here – on his own.”

Crios swallows. “You want me to not tell him of this theory?” He support the idea, even after Enasi proved he can act rationally, but he needs to know for sure what the rabbit man is asking.

Harper nods. “Yes. Keep him in that bed. Keep him resting. The realm needs him, and he has a blind spot when it comes to that damnable Nightmare Guardian.” Crios nods in return, sighing gently. His eyes remain on Harper however as he adds on to his instructions. “I want Rasha scouring the palace, top to bottom. No asking questions, no engaging anyone. Just spying and observation. As a dream he should be able to learn to sense the negative energies that come for such deviousness, and after you give him a shot of that stuff it'll be even more clear to him who's guilty.” He looks a little pained at his next words, but he plows on softly. “Inui too. When he's better. He's a nightmare minion. Negative is his life. He should be able to sense his native energy. But, not til he's well.” Handing back the syringe from before Harper pulls himself up to his full height, looking at the three who will be joining him with cool sharp eyes. All three come to the ready and with a nod Harper opens a portal to the city his counterpart is waiting for them in and as if on cue the four leap through, vanishing from their home and into the world that holds their once sworn enemy prisoner.

Crios stared at his guardian for a few moments before nodding silently. Harper’s orders echoed in his head for a few moments before he actually spoke. “Alright, but once Inui is well, I need you in bed resting.” He echoed Harper’s words. “The realm needs you. And with Seishu injured, it’s much too dangerous for you to be out as well.” His voice was soft, hoping Enasi would just comply with it.

Enasi saw sincerity and concern in Crios’ eyes. The doctor knew just how important this mission was to him and didn’t try to order him to stay. What Crios said was a hard truth as well. With Seishu injured and missing, both realms were in a dangerous state. It may have been peaceful on the outside, but on the inside the chaos and the panic was starting to boil over. Enasi had to be there for his realm in order to keep the peace. Enasi gave a gentle smile to the fox doctor. “It’s a deal.” Crios bowed in thanks. Both perked up at the sound of Inui’s soft voice. Rasha was the first to inch closer, crawling low as if he was about to pounce on him. His energy was lowered as he continued to shuffle closer and closer to Inui.. Enasi squeezed his hand gently before letting it go. He gave a small pout and shook his head. “No, it’s not okay Inui. I should have been way more careful. I was careless and didn’t think of your new state.” He gave a sheepish smile and rested his chin on the back of the chair. “I guess I may still be thinking that you’re a dream minion. . . Which of course, isn’t the case and I promise to be more careful next time.”

Crios stood quietly off near his supplies, watching the interaction. He knew Inui would need a bit more time to recover and Rasha and Enasi were bound to stick by him until he was healed up. There didn’t look like much chance of splitting them up. Not yet at least.

Inui had a weak smile, lightly patting Enasi’s hand as if telling him it was okay and he was forgiven. However his smile turned to a more confused look when Enasi sighed and moved his hand away. In the process, Enasi scooped up Rasha and put him on his lap. The cat mewed in confusion, but sat in place. Crios knew what was about to happen, but he stayed in place to watch.

“The reason I had to use my energy like that is because,” Enasi sighed and looked at Inui with a straight face. “Seishu’s missing. He’s been missing for. . .two hours or so and somehow there doesn’t seem to be a trace of him anywhere. Everyone else is out searching for him now. We will find him though. I’m sure of it.” It was best to end on a positive note, and it was also best to not dawdle on the subject too long. He had to be quick and to the point in order to lessen the shock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Rue stay close to me. Flynn, Starla, fan out to search. Try to stay hidden. We aren’t here looking for trouble. We find Seishu and we go.” Flynn and Starla nodded, not hesitating to rush off in their search. “We’re going to see Kaila.” Harper didn’t bother to wait for Rue to process what he said. Time was of the essence and each of them knew it. Harper’s ears stood straight, twitching ever so slightly as he tried honing in on where his counterpart was. Once he caught the lone trail of negative energy Harper took off towards it. Rue’s wings buzzed behind him having no problem keeping up. When Harper slowed down, he noticed they ran into an empty, and quiet neighborhood. Of course, the people were all fast asleep. No nightmares or dreams were around, and yet it still wasn’t too obvious. Harper skidded to a halt, kicking up a bit of dust in the process. He also grabbed Rue’s leg to stop him. The fairy really needed to work on his braking skill. . .

Rue stood behind Harper, looking around for any signs of Kaila. His caution changed into a bright smile as Kaila walked from behind one of the buildings with Jentou in tow. “Hi Kai-” Harper’s paw went in front of Rue causing him to fall silent. His wings folded a little tighter and he was once more standing behind Harper. The rabbit man stood silently, eyeing both nightmare minions that approached.

It was obvious what Harper wanted to know. Kaila stepped forward, gesturing to Jentou. “This is my brother, Jentou. You don’t need to worry about where he lies in allegiance. Obviously, he wouldn’t be with me if that wasn’t the case.” Harper said nothing, not needing to. Instead, he let Kaila continue. The Nightmare second stepped closer, closing the rather large space between them. “I’m glad one of your minions was. . .brave enough to follow through with the message.” He chose his words carefully, not wanting to insult the dreams. Jentou was silently watching. He had never been close to one of the dream creatures without ill intent in mind. As they moved closer, he couldn’t help but bristle some. By the way his brother and the dream looked at each other, they had to be equals in some sense. Kaila’s reassuring touch made him relax ever so slightly. Now it was their turn to wait for a response. There silent communication was a bit confusing to Rue, but he stood like an obedient child.

“Unfortunately, you are correct.” Harper stayed calm as the brothers flared for a moment, Jentou a little longer. The rabbit continued on. “It seems that someone of our kind still bears ill will to the Nightmare Guardian and doesn’t understand the jeopardy of harming him.” The last part was hard for him to say. He knew it wouldn’t sound pleasant. He placed a paw on Rue’s shoulder, moving him a little more behind him. “He’s been kidnapped and we believe whoever took him brought him here. There’s no trace of negative energy anywhere.”

Jentou’s eyes went wide with disbelief before he hissed in anger. “How incredibly irresponsible! How could you lose our guardian!? You must have been trying to get rid of him!” Jentou’s negative energy started to raise, which was why Harper moved Rue. The fairy cowered a little, but Harper gave a neutral gaze. Kaila couldn’t help his own glowering expression, however it ceased quickly. He knew better than that. This was not the time to point fingers and argue, especially if his guardian was in danger. He could understand it. The hatred the dream or minion had for Seishu. It wasn’t as if it was a new feeling and because they were dreams, Kaila guessed they may have even believed it was out of some righteousness to help their realm. . . Or something of the sort. Minions and Nightmares weren’t going to take too kindly to the new changes either. . . Well, not all of them. He knew, if Enasi was in the same position, his own minions would have probably done the same if they were given the opportunity. He placed a hand on his brother, silencing him. “But Kaila-!” The firm stare made him quiet down. His energy didn’t cease though.

“Yes, I’ll take responsibility for what happened, but don’t think I’m stupid enough to not know the consequences of injuring your guardian.” There is a tinge of annoyance in Harper’s voice, but he keeps calm for the most part. “We don’t have time to argue this through. We need to find him. I have Flynn and Starla already out searching.” Harper turned away, ignoring Jentou’s anger. “Come on Rue.”

“We need to find him and take him home Kaila! He’s not safe there. It’s too bright! They’ll hurt him!” Jentou’s anger turned into whines. The idea of him not being able to help his own guardian making him uneasy. His efforts to persuade his brother went on deaf ears when Kaila turned him down.

“He is safer there. More than he would be at home.” It pained him to say such a thing, but even he knew the truth. Gen wouldn’t rest until Seishu was killed if he had found out they were hiding him there. In the Dream Realm, he was assured that few people knew of Seishu’s stay there. Him being kidnapped didn’t really help that thought. . .”The farther away he is from Gen in his state, the better. He may heal slower, but what matters is that he’s healing.” It was hard to stick up for the Dream Realm in a predicament like this, but he did so, and he knew he would stick by that until a better option came along. “Come. The dream is right. We must hurry.”

'Missing? How. . .how could he be missing? It's not possible, right? This. . . .This is a joke, right!?' Panic begins to well up inside the nightmare minion and tears spring to his eyes as his breath begins leaving him in short, ragged bursts. “No. . . .” The sound of his voice is one of the saddest most pathetic things the dream has ever heard and from his spot on Enasi's lap he reaches around the edge of the chair with one paw, as if trying to reach out and comfort the small minion. However it only take a moment for him to pull the paw back in shock and duck behind the back of the chair in pain.

Crios had been prepared for this however and fighting the urge to vomit he gives Inui another shot and the cloud around the small minion begins to dissipate. The pain isn't any less, but Inui is unable to panic, he simply can't. His body just won't let him. So instead, he simply cries. Rasha peeks over the chair and mewls pathetically, reaching out with one paw towards the minion, pawing air needfully in his desire to make Inui feel all better. The doctor watches the gesture sadly, looking to Enasi to see if he thinks it's safe now.

~*~*~*~*~

It's hard to miss the sudden surge of positive energy entering the area, but rather than going after it Kaila simply continues stroking his brother's hair soothingly, the blond's head resting comfortably on the spot where his shoulder meets his collar bone. They sit side by side on a parked car, Jentou working on staying calm after the encounter with the dream minion, he fleeing body making him rather sick as he thinks how displeased Master Seishu would be if he saw and thought they'd hurt it. They'd been careful, kept all their energy bottled up, best they could, but it still ran like it's backside was on fire.

However the minions, two of them, approach swiftly and all too soon for the elder brother he's forced to stop cuddling and to get to his feet. Kaila's head rotates a little like a radar dish and without a word the two of them set off around a house, emerging almost directly on to the street, this neighborhood not big on yards. Kaila is slow, deliberate, and Jentou does his best to not look intimidating.

~*~

The chastising by his little brother seems to put Jentou in his place and with a last fuming huff he settles, looking to the ground as he tries to get himself under control. Harper watches and accepts the situation as “safe enough” for now and stops trying to hide Rue. The little fairy buzzes off the ground and hovers around the rabbit man for a few seconds before drifting over to Kaila. He still feels so grateful for what the man had done for his guardian that despite the tense exchange he still feels happy to see him. However, as Seishu's first friend in the Dream Realm, he feels likewise the shame of having lost the man.

Settling to his feet in front of the violet haired male Rue glances at Jentou – the latter having tensed slightly when the fairy had approached – before kneeling down silently and taking Kaila's hand, pressing the back of said hand to his forehead in promise. Kaila watches the dream minion, a part of him feeling almost touched that the minion had adopted a Nightmare Realm custom, but on the surface his expression doesn't change. When Rue looks up the golden eyed male nods, the flicker of a smile on his lips for an instant. The expression is foreign, but if the fairy is going to got out of his way for him, it's the least he can do in return.

Rue smiles brightly, returning to Harper's side, hovering quietly as he can, the buzz from his wings unavoidable. Harper wants to ask what just happened, having watched it from beginning to end with a stiff spine and sharp look, but right now, it's not important. 'He would make a great emissary I think, or a messenger, once this is all over. . .' The general muses before going back to hunting in his own way.

Kaila senses that the dream is doing more than just standing there and waits, his patience despite his internal turmoil endless as it's always been. Jentou however was never patient before his rewiring and in an agitated state he finds it a little more difficult than usual to reach the peace his Master had instilled in him. Once he finds it however he looks over at Harper curiously, opening his eyes slowly under the light of the street lamp overhead. He looks as calm and blissful as ever. He feels two other positive forces coming, but, that doesn't bother him. Not really.

Moments later Finn and Starla appear, having doing all of the houses in the area before returning to Harper to give their report. They eye the nightmare second and his companion but do not address them however, instead reporting that Seishu isn't in the area. At the end of the report Harper lets out a sigh and looks over at Kaila. The two walk a little ways away and converse quietly. Rue takes care of introductions and the plant siblings give respectful nods while Jentou waves back vaguely with a smile, his focus mostly on his brother who is entirely too far away as far as he's concerned.

When he comes back Kaila quickly summons a portal and vanishes through it. The remaining three minions look at Harper in confusion, and he explains quietly. “They've gone off to grab a couple more minions. We're going to travel in twos, you two, Rue and me, Kaila and his brother, and whatever pair he's going to grab.”

Rue pipes up, “Probably Lan and Ran.” before falling silent, looking a little scared that he spoke up out of turn.

Harper looks at him, nodding. 'He knows more about the other side than we do, so I do not doubt that his guess is more spot on than any we could make' He goes on as if he wasn't interrupted. “This will make our sides even, and will hopefully keep us safe.” He lets out a faint sigh, glancing down for a moment before looking back up. “Let's face it, the planet's huge. Rue and I are the fastest and even we would take weeks searching it from top to bottom. Instead though, we're going to do it continent by continent, traveling together to each place then spreading out from the middle.” He glances at the spot where Kaila and his brother vanished then looks back at his “team”.

We're going to focus on places large enough, with a high enough population to support a good number of dreams and dram minions since I don't see many of them returning home very often. They will need the local dreams of many minds to stay strong enough to control Seishu, even in his weakened state. So, population a thousand and above, the more the better since it will be easier to hide their activities the more they have to feed off of and hide under.” Harper bites his lip. The idea of them hiding behind the good feelings around them coming from Kaila had irked him. He's not sure if it's more because the nightmare minions have noticed the tactic, or that he seemed to look down on one of the basic tactics taught all earth bound minions.

Just as he's finishing up explaining the route they will take the dark portal appears again and Kaila returns, Jentou close behind, and following after two minions who look clearly related. They also look clearly upset, but no resentful gazes dart in the dream denizens' direction. Kaila gives the men a look and quickly they do as they've been taught, burying and refocusing their feelings. They have a job to do. No time to be upset.

Harper nods at the group and Kaila returns the gesture, raising a hand to those standing behind him. With a sound almost like rippling cloth mixed with someone snapping a towel, four sets of wings appear. Finn and Starla let out faint gasps, the sight actually stunning to see in the perfect synchronization that the nightmare minions managed effortlessly. Not for the last time Harper wonders if all nightmare denizens have wings, but he does not bring it up. Rue smiles, his eyes jumping from the two dark blue sets of bird like wings with yellow tips to each feather, over to Kaila's lovely black bat wings, and at last settling on Jentou's identical bat wings save for the color. He's never seen a purer white in his life. The two seconds stare at one another a moment longer, then with a silent command from Kaila, and a verbal one from Harper, the group breaks, the sudden movement tossing up a huge cloud of dust and dirt from the oil stained asphalt that even a blind human would be able to see, even if they can't see the source of it.

"Ssh, I know. . . Trust me, I know." Enasi gently pushed Rasha back, keeping him at a safe distance until Crios drugged the nightmare minion. The sadness pouring out of Inui could have broken Enasi's heart, but the Dream Guardian steeled himself. Once he was sure Inui was safe to be around, he placed Rasha on the bed first. The small cat didn't hesitate to scurry and cuddle up to Inui, trying desperately to ease some of his pain. Enasi, much slower, slid into the bed with the two of them. He made sure Inui got most of Seishu's pillows as a sort of comfort for him. The faint traces of negative energy had still been there. Enasi near the foot of the bed, facing them. "It's okay. Relax. They'll find him. Just focus on getting your strength back." Enasi's voice was silk smooth, calm and collected. His hands ran through Inui's hair, caressing him with love and care as he tried to keep him calm. Normally, this sort of thing worked for his dream minions, mainly because it was a ‘motherly’ tactic he had always done in order to calm them. For the nightmare minion, it managed to quiet his tears until he was quietly sniffiling. “We’ll get him back. We’ll do whatever it takes.”

Enasi sighed and sat back, watching as Rasha and Inui laid together. He rubbed over the bite he received on his hand and then looked over at Crios. It was a look the fox doctor knew too well- not just from his guardian, but many of his patients. “No. I can’t allow you to get up. Not yet. You’re still injured.” He knew that wouldn’t convince Enasi too much, so he added. “Not now, but later. I’ll check you over to see if you can at least walk around, but for now you’re strictly on bed rest.” Enasi simply sighed and nodded. Crios had to keep his word to Harper. Enasi had to stay in bed no matter what. Hopefully that bought him some time.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the Nightmare Realm, Kaila held his calm facade as to not arouse suspicions or trouble. The last thing he needed was an uproar. Gin was enough of a problem, but the nightmares finding out about the incident now would cause chaos. Jentou stayed quiet, clinging to his brother as usual, watching everyone go about their day.

There was no time to waste. Kaila’s air of urgency made other minions and nightmares move out of his way as he walked through the camp, not bothering to stop him to talk. Even the smaller ones scurried away. In the midst of camp, he found Lan, Ran, and Tyar standing together.

“You sure that was all of them?”

Tyar gave a nod, turning to one of its many forms, this one being the girl with the large gun. “There were two, but I diverted their trail in the opposite direction. I’m sure.” Tyar looked up at Kaila and gave a small bow. Lan and Ran did the same. Before Kaila could ask, Tyar spoke up. “Two of Gin’s...followers were found headed in this direction, a few miles off. I changed their course...So things are safe.”

Kaila nodded but gestured towards the camp. “Make sure everyone is ready for any emergency procedures. We can’t be too sure.” Tyar nodded and hurried off to follow orders, once more back into the shapeless creature it normally was. “You two. Come with me.” The brothers didn’t question Kaila. They simply fell in step behind the nightmare second and walked towards the far edge of camp, away from the others. “I need another set of eyes helping our search in the Human Realm.”

“Search for?” Both asked in unison.

“Lord Seishu. He’s missing and the dreams tracked him as far as the Human Realm.” Kaila was blunt, leaving nothing to the imagination. “We need to hurry and find him.” Both Lan and Ran stared in shock, unsure of how to react. They were at a loss for words, following Kaila and Jentou through the portal he created. “I understand it’s not something to just take it lightly. But remember, time is of the essence.” Both of them composed themselves and nodded. They figured they could ask questions later, after Seishu was safe.

On the way there, Kaila explained the plan to the two. Seeing the dreams, no one had time to converse, only nods were exchanged before the nightmares’ wings sprouted. “Move out.” That was all that was heard, from Harper before everyone split up.

Starla and Finn rushed off, hurrying to a more heavily populated forest. “What have you seen...Tell us please.” Finn mumbled as he brushed his hand against the trunk of a tall oak tree. Starla followed their paths, finding different negative energy focal points. “A lot of these are just regular nightmares. They’re not strong enough to be his.” Finn frowned a little, but kept up his search.

“We can’t be so sure. Remember he is weakened. Instead of looking for negative energy out in the open...try looking for positive energy covering negative ones.” She commented as she looked down a certain path. It was still odd blaming one of their own for something so foul. It left a bad taste in her mouth. The siblings nodded to each other continuing their intensive search.

~~~~

“There’s a lot of positive energy that way Kaila.” Jentou slowed down some, turning in the direction he gestured to. Kaila stopped and flew downwards, pulling Jentou with him. “Remember, we aren’t here for trouble. We’ll get a closer look just to be sure if Lord Seishu is there or not.” Jentou nodded, both of their wings disappearing as they lowered their energies. Quietly, the two moved closer, using the shadows of the buildings as their cover. “I don’t sense anything-” He was silenced as the nightmare second peeked around the corner. To his dismay, Kaila witnessed nothing important- just a small group of dreams sharing a moment of happiness. Seishu wasn’t there. Of course not.

Kaila merely sighed and turned around. Not much later, the brothers were flying high and scanning the areas for anything they could use to find their guardian- any clues. It made things even more complicated when they had to hide from their own kind, not being able to trust them. Getting dangerously close to dreams wasn’t easy either. Kaila couldn’t just go up and ask if they had seen his guardian- he couldn’t go up to them without the tension of a fight breaking out for that matter.

~~~~~~

Rue and Harper ended up somewhere much colder. Fortunately, as fast as the duo were moving, the cold didn’t bother them. Snow rose up to Harper’s ankles but that didn’t slow down his pace in the slightest. Rue had to adjust to the wind change, but he was practically a professional when it came to flying- that didn’t stop him either.

“Do you sense anything?” Harper asked. With Rue being so close to the Nightmare Guardian, he assumed he would have been much more in tune with Seishu than he would. Rue was much too focused on his path, trying not to run into any sudden objects in the cold air, so he shook his head instead of replying. Harper sighed. “Me neither…”

He had the feeling that this would be a long night. . . But he wouldn’t stop. Harper was just as devoted as Kaila was, of course for different reasons. However, the two groups put their differences aside for a similar cause.

Gently he closes the door to the Nightmare Guardian's room and with a slow turn he makes his way towards his wing of the palace. The medical wing. His little slice of this world granted him as not only his place of work but also his home. That little place where he spends his days saving lives and helping the next generation grow and learn to keep not only their own lives, but their patients as well. He knows that every time one of his workers vanishes from sight, off to go to the human realm to aid their side in a skirmish, or when it's time for the big battle, that he may never see them again, and that always saddens and terrifies the fox tailed minion. Every time he prays that they will come back to him.

But despite all this worry, all this care, all this fear he's had over the years for his people, for the ones under his care and tutelage, he feels no shame in thinking that, right now? He has never been so worried for a patient in his life, and this one isn't even his. This patient has caused more deaths to his comrades and those of his realm than any other of his kind, and Crios, the man charged with keeping all those people alive, is now in knots over the man who's spent much of his life known as the greatest butcher of their time. He doesn't know that the one from before is worse, the Guardian before him murdering with a smile and a song in her heart, but that doesn't matter now.

His tired body makes it's way slowly to his office, this small reprieve where his own Guardian is being a good boy and not running off and injuring himself again his only moment to simply sit, and breath, something he hasn't had time for in days. Passing through the patient area he gives the present medics a small nod and a hollow smile, wanting them to keep up their spirits despite his own fatigued appearance. A certain set of eyes follow him closer than the others, a sparkle behind them that goes unseen by the exhausted boss man and with a sigh, he slips into his small room, closing the door behind him. 'I just need a minute. Just a few minutes, to breath, and, and. . .'

His back comes to rest against the door, his tail wrapping around his waist almost like it's trying to hold him, and with a light groan he slides down the length of the wood at his back and comes to rest at it's base. He's taken his own shot, he's no longer overly frantic and tainted, but through his own over working of himself and the constant bombardment of stress and worry above and beyond over the past few weeks finally hits him and with a shuddering breath he begins to cry softly. The tears fall silently down his cheeks, neither hurt nor sad, simply the cathartic release of just a bit of all that has happened to him that has piled on to his soul since before the Nightmare Guardian arrived. His breathing is slow, and if not on orders from Harper he would be perfectly content to just pass out, right here, right now, but as it is, he can't, so instead he just breaths, hoping it will be enough to make it through the trials to come.

~*~*~*~*~

He's blind, he can't see anything, but he knows he's not sleeping as his entire body feels like it's on fire. There is no feeling in his sleep nothing, and no pain his he and Enasi's place. No, he's awake, but he can't see, only feel. Tight manacles, they cut into his wrists, keeping his arms tight behind his back, one atop the other. His feet are bound, likewise in metal, and on his face he can feel something hard and tight pressing over his eyes, adding to the pain of everything else that is happening. He lets out a faint hiss, it's that feeling again, something piercing his skin, burning his insides with whatever it is. The pain is blinding and even without the device covering his eyes he knows, he knows this pain would be enough to darken his eyes. Enough to take the world from him. . .

He longs for release, for anything, for some sort of change to signal that something new will happen. Blows fall every once in a while, and he's sure there's some sort of frustration coming from those around him. The flavor almost feels like disappointment, as if he's not responding the way they want him to, and in the furthest recesses of his mind he feels a very faint satisfaction that he's able to keep them from what they desire. He has no fear of death, nor does he long for it. He can endure, he does this for a living, causing pain and fear and sorrow, no one will every make this master of the craft crack, especially not with such foolish and simplistic attempts. He's fine. He will wait. His will escape, and they, will pay.

~*~*~*~*~

And hour passes and still no Crios. Rasha, while glad that Inui seems to be falling asleep at last, worries that he will not be able to keep his lord from leaving once it happens. He knows Enasi must stay, and he has to go, to help find those responsible, but he doesn't know what to do. Curling over and over Inui's chest, trying to keep him awake for just a little longer, he glances at his Guardian from behind his tail ever so often to make sure he doesn't catch on to what the little dream is doing. 'Being atop Inui is making me a little sick, his body leaking negative energy like a sieve, but. . . .But I need Crios back. I need him to keep Enasi here so I can go. I have to hunt, I have to look! Master cotton tail is relying on me, expecting me to actually do something productive, and, and it's for my idol! I. . .I can't let him down!' He keeps his panic under control, despite the fact that it keeps growing, and continues to gently keep the nightmare minion awake while keeping an eye on his Guardian.

Enasi watched Rasha fidget around. It was like he had ants in his pants- well if he was wearing them of course. He noticed he kept climbing on Inui as well as the kid dozed. “Rasha. . .” Enasi started, carefully picking him up. The guardian held the cat eye level and gave a look of sympathy. “Rasha I understand you’re upset, but you have to relax. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.” Rasha stared for a long moment, realizing Lord Enasi had misinterpreted his mild panic. “And Inui is tired, you have to stop moving about like that, okay?” His voice was soft and caring, trying to keep him calm for the wrong and simultaneously the right reason.

Inui yawned gently and patted the guardian’s arm. “No, no, it’s alright. I’m fine.” By the way he had been yawning, Inui could have fell asleep at any moment. His head was gently petted by Enasi after the guardian sat Rasha back on the bed.

“I- Forgive me Lord Enasi. I just. . .” How could he explain that he wanted to leave, and he wanted for him to stay? Where was Crios!? His ears flattened when Enasi gave him a puzzled look. “Lord Enasi-”

He was silenced and what he thought would be his guardian figuring out his secrets, turned out to be the exact opposite. “How about you go outside and get some fresh air? You’re doing no good sitting and pacing around. Okay?” He gave him a gentle kiss on the head and dispelled the stray negative energy in him. He watched Rasha perk up some and hop off the bed towards the door. The sudden abrupt stop made Enasi give another confused look. “What’s wrong dear?”

“You have- are you going to stay in the room?” Rasha shuffled on his paws for a moment, trying to come up with a good reason for his question.

Enasi simply chuckled and laid back in the bed, pulling Inui from his sleeping sitting position to lay with him. “Confined to my room am I?” He didn’t expect an answer, instead he ran fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry dear. I’m going to stick by Inui. He’s exhausted and I don’t think he’d be happy if he woke up alone.” Inui hummed softly, indicating he was somewhat awake and responding to his name- though really he was just cuddling up to Enasi and falling into a deeper sleep. “I promise Rasha, I’m not going to get up now. I’ll wait for Crios.” He absentmindedly began to pet Inui’s hair.

Rasha bowed even though the guardian couldn’t see it, and gave a small ‘thank you’ before leaving out and closing the door behind him. Enasi had no idea what he planned to do, but he was sure Harper or Crios- or both wanted him in his room. It wasn’t what he wanted to do, but he decided to listen. Just this once. He feared giving them more of a panic attack if he were to get up and leave anyway.

With a long worried sigh, Enasi stared at the ceiling. “Seishu, where are you?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crios’ ears twitched and he snapped awake. ’I was only supposed to be here for a few minutes!’ He wasn’t too surprised he had began to doze off, he was just more frustrated that he allowed himself to. He was supposed to be watching his injured guardian! He ran fingers through his hair and hopped up. “Don’t panic, just get yourself together.” The fox doctor breathed a heavy sigh before seeing if he needed to grab anything from his office.

As he left, his tail twitched anxiously. He could only hope his guardian had stayed in the room like he asked. As he got close, he sighed in relief as he felt the familiar energy of his guardian. It was contained, probably because Inui was with him, but nonetheless, Lord Enasi had stayed put.

“I- sorry sir I didn’t mean to keep you waiting for so long- where’s Rasha?”

Enasi stretched his arms over his head causing Inui to cuddle closer. “Not a clue. He seemed rather antsy so I sent him off to get some fresh air. He’s been gone for quite awhile. Probably dozed off. But he surely hoped that I’d stay here.”

Crios gave a small nod and sat in a chair, sliding it over to Inui’s side of the bed. “How has he been doing?”

“Sleeping still, so pretty stable. I’ve kept my energy low- low enough not to hurt him don’t worry.” Enasi gently patted his stomach. “I’m feeling much better. I promise. It’s a million times better than when I got hit first.” He shuddered at the thought. “Much, much better.” Crios nodded silently, but of course decided to check on him nonetheless.

~~~~~~

Rasha had hurried out of Enasi’s room and instead of leaving the palace he snuck around instead. Crios gave him the orders to find positive energy that he’d be attracted to. Deviousness. That feeling of pride after a prank? At first, Rasha didn’t know whether to be insulted or not, but he continued on. There had to have been something or someone that caught his attention. He couldn’t stay out of sight completely at times, but he followed orders- not engaging with anyone and staying on high alert.