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The time read 6 AM. Hunter slowly opened his eyes and groaned. It was a long day yesterday, having to stay out and capture criminals and wild witches well into the early morning hours. He was utterly exhausted and wanted so desperately to go back to sleep, but alas, his rough training regime as the Golden Guard prevented him from waking up any later than 6 in the morning. So Hunter, with the energy of a slitherbeast after finishing a large feast, got up out of bed and dressed himself in the Golden Guard uniform. At least it was his day off, his first day off in 52 weeks.
As Hunter finished dressing, he looked towards his desk and realized something was missing. “No. No, no, no, no, no, no! Where is it!” He looked in his drawers. He looked under his bed. He lifted the small nest on his desk to look under it. Nothing. “Oh this is bad. This is VERY BAD!”
Hunter began to panic. His most prized possession was gone, nowhere to be found. After a few minutes he calmed himself. “No use panicking, Hunter. Just stay calm. Everything will be fine.” Hunter tidied up his room and walked out the door.
Hunter searched in every storage room he could find, hoping to find what he was looking for, and pleading it wasn’t where he thought it was.
There were a couple close encounters with Kikimora, who seemed desperate to catch him in the act of…doing something bad, and Darius, who couldn’t seem to care less.
“Back off! This is official Golden Guard business!”
Darius simply raised his hands, said “Ok, whatever the little Prince desires,” and walked away. “Just a few more hours and you can go home,” Darius mumbled to himself.
After a few more searches, dread dawned on Hunter. He would have to go to the Emperor’s Quarters. He shuttered at the thought but saw no other way. He snuck into the Throne Room, noticed Belos wasn’t there, and entered his room.
Hunter saw a box sitting near the end of the bed and approached it, opening it slowly and saw…
“FLAPJACK!!!”
Flapjack chirped and flew out of the box, landing in Hunter’s cupped hands. “What are you doing in there?! You know what Belos does to palismen.”
Flapjack chirped in response. “You…were trying to find what I was looking for?” Flapjack chirped happily. Hunter smiled back and stroked Flapjack’s head. “Thanks buddy.”
The two heard commotion outside the room. Flapjack turned into his wooden form and Hunter hid him in his cloak. Hunter quickly turned around at attention and saw Belos walk in.
“What are you doing in here, Hunter?”
“My apologies, Emperor Belos. I was just searching for…”
“Oh, that thing I saw in your room. I merely confiscated it because I thought it would be too distracting.”
“I can assure you that it hasn’t and will not be a distraction.” Hunter’s face remained static, but inside he was screaming, filled with fear.
Belos let out a sigh, “Very well. If you can continue your duties as the Golden Guard without distraction, then you can have it back.” Hunter got excited before Belos added, “But next time you go snooping around my quarters without permission, I won’t be so forgiving.” Hunter gulped.
“Thank you, Lord Belos.”
Belos smiled. “Good day, Hunter.”
Hunter quickly turned around so Belos couldn’t see the fear on his face. Hunter began hyperventilating. Flapjack flew out and perched on the box, trying to comfort Hunter. “That was close. Too close.” Flapjack rubbed his wing on Hunter’s hand. “Now, lets get this thing and get out.” Hunter rummaged through the box until he found what he was looking for, tucked it into his cloak, and walked back to his room.
Once he locked the door, Hunter took out his prized possession. He marveled at its design: it’s large wedge shape with black interior, the two white panels that surrounded it, the round base it stood on, the many weird holes on the back, and the strange but cool looking P and S on the top corner. He pulled out the necessary wires and plugged them into his crystal ball. It took many nights of figuring out how to hook this thing up to a crystal ball before Hunter figured it out, but when he did figure it out, it was the most fun he ever had. Hunter opened a drawer and pulled out a white and black remote to power up the machine. He hit the button in the middle and the machine came to life, the opening screen appearing on the crystal ball.
Hunter let out a sigh of relief. “Alright, now that that is taken care of, what do you want to play?” Flapjack brought his wing up in a thinking pose, then chirped his answer. Hunter laughed. “OK! Ratchet and Clank it is!” Hunter booted up the game and enjoyed the rest of his day off with Flapjack, having forgotten the near disaster today could have turned into.