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It had been a fairly slow day.
After the excitement of moving in villagers to a new village Katherine didn’t have a whole lot to do. Building plans had to be postponed due to a lack of resources, she had already decided on what her activity would be at the festival, and all kill orders for monsters had been completed. So her parents thought she earned a break and told her she was relieved of her duties. So long as she remained near the castle of course.
They claimed it was for her safety. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from telling them about her normal adventures. If they found out about her night time activities she wouldn’t be allowed outside till next year.
However the castle was incredibly boring. It was too silent. Most servants ignored her and the ones who didn’t were way too busy to talk to Katherine. Laying out in the sun was fun for all of about an hour. Talking to the villagers became stale after she realized they were extremely cautious when talking to her.
So now she sat near the river bank, occasionally sticking her hand in to let a fish graze against her.
She’s beginning to think she should just leave and go talk to someone. Fwip always has something weird and entertaining going on. It’s not like they would ever actually know. They never find out. But the thing that stops her is that recently they’ve been extra protective ever since the Bard moved close by.
If the princess hadn’t put up such a huge fight two guards would currently be stationed right next to her.
It just wasn’t fair. Katherine’s an adult. Why do her parents still have such a big say on what she does or doesn’t do?
Out of slight anger she stood up and threw a rock in the river bank, nearly hitting one of the many ducks who was attempting to grab a fish. It quacked at her angrily and she winced. That wasn’t what she intended to happen.
“Katherine!” A voice screamed from the forest. It made her lose balance and she nearly toppled over into the water. Lucky with her quick reflexes she steaded herself with the edge of the dirt.
She breathed through her nose in annoyance. She looked up to ready to lecture them only to find Sausage running towards her. Katherine furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. “Sausage?”
Finally the man skidded in front of her, nearly falling over in the process. Luckily Katherine grabbed him before that could happen. He bent over, slightly more dramatic than necessary and took huge gulps of air.
“Are you okay?” Katherine asked, feeling more than confused on what to do. Sausage nodded and continued to heave in front of her.
“Just give me a minute.” Sausage wheezed. “I- have been- all over trying- to get to you.”
“Maybe you should sit down.” Katherine suggested, lowering herself down and gesturing for Sausage to do the same. She looked over only to see some villagers looking at the pair in confusion. She waved a hand hoping they would stop staring. The princess could only imagine what would happen if her parents were to find out about this. After a moment Sausage sat down, staring at the other woman intensely.
“Have you seen Shelby?” Sausage blurted out, wringing his hands out. His eyes whipped around wildly like he was expecting the witch to pop out of the bushes.
Katherine blinked. “Uh… no why?” The last time she saw her was a few weeks ago. She couldn’t imagine Sausage would come all this way just to ask where Shelby is. They have communicators for a reason.
“I can’t find her anywhere.” Sausage stressed, getting up to start pacing. Katherine sighed, she had told him to sit down for a reason. “We had plans for the day but when I came to grab her she wasn’t there. So I talked to her frog and he said she hadn’t been at home for hours so I asked where she was and he said Pix’s. I went there and he said she was there but not anymore and I just don’t know where to look so I need your help because I figured you would be great at tracking people down right?”
The princess could already feel worry pooling in the bottom of her stomach but she pushed it down. Shelby's fine. This is a big continent; she's probably somewhere else. “Have you tried using your com?” Katherine asked. Sausage is probably overreacting. He tends to do that a lot. Briefly she could visualize what happened the last time Hermes, his son, simply went to the bathroom and Sausage didn’t realize that. Him and Joel nearly raged war on everyone.
“Have I-” Sausage stopped abruptly and pulled out his com. He sent off a quick message and looked back up, worry still on his face. “Can you please look for her anyway?”
“Shelby is fine-”
“You don’t know that!” Sausage protested, as his chest heaved with anger. He let out a gasp, both of them seeming to be surprised by his outburst. “Sorry- It’s just she never canceled plans and if she does, she always lets me know. I’m also worried because she’s been acting weird.”
That caught Katherines attention. “Weird how?”
“I don’t know, she’s been skittish and she’s been saying weird things. Shelby also looks like she’s constantly tense like she’s worried someone will attack her at any second.” Sausage confessed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m worried something happened to her. Can you please just look into this? I have ten diamonds to give you if you’ll do this.”
Katherine gripped her dress slightly. She didn’t want to worry but what if something did happen to her? Katherine couldn’t live with herself if something happened to Shelby and she did nothing to stop it. “I’ll do it. No payment needed, just promise me if you see her you’ll tell me immediately.”
“Oh thank you!” Sausage said, gathering the princesses in his arms and twirling her around. “You’re the best Katherine!”
Katherine laughed and gently hugged him back. “Of course I’ll help you, you’re my friend and so is Shelby.”
With one last squeeze he dropped her and started to walk off with a grateful grin on his face. “Bye Katherine! Thank you again!”
“Of course!” Katherine shouted before turning away and whispering, “I’m so lucky it’s been a slow day.”
The first thing she did was use her com; she sent various amounts of messages ranging from- ‘Hey are you okay?’ to ‘Sausage is panicking let me know where you are’. Unfortunately Shelby never responded.
So for obvious reasons Katherine started to grow anxious. It’s not like she was fully expecting a response but it still made her breath constrict with every passing second.
At first the princess waited a few hours for any messages to come through. She didn’t want to start a manhunt if Shelby accidentally got lost mining or something along those lines.
However as the day dragged on her nerves got worse. Despite her trying to think logically she couldn’t help but let her mind wonder. She could invision Shelby being burtally murdered or kidnapped or tortured. With every thought her body felt more and more on fire.
The fiery ache spread through her legs urging her to move. Uncomfortable worry and apprehension chewed through her stomach and spread to her chest. Eventually it became too much to bear and she decided she couldn’t wait anymore.
It was nearing sunset so Katherine was at an advantage. With the cover of night her parents wouldn’t know she left and neither would anyone else. So with haste she put on her elytra and flew to the Evermore.
The journey felt long and tedious. She had to remind herself to not use too many rockets because the more she wastes the less ground she can cover. The princess is clearly off her game when she spots the soft glow of buildings and decides to dive.
She doesn’t land. Instead she trips on her feet and rolls onto hard rock.
She inhales sharply and slowly gets up, freezing slightly when she sees a zombie run through the clearing. Right at her.
Katherine stumbles as she pulls out her sword, barely managing to block the zombies claws. Her feet shake slightly as she slashes at the zombie. Quickly she plunged at the undead, hissing when its hand scratched her bare skin. With a sharp glare, she pushes the sword even further, reviling in the way it screeches in pain before crumpling to the floor and slowly dissolves.
With a small grumble she examines the cut. It wasn’t deep at all and from what she could see it most likely wouldn’t get infected. So she rotates her arm a few times before looking around for any signs of life.
Although there was none.
The princess inhaled slowly before approaching a small wooden hut to her left.
It creaked as she opened it, making Katherine wince. Upon peering inside she was met with… a tree? Katherine wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking at.
It was half her size and looked like a mossy log. Except it had arms and legs as well as a face.
“Um, hi?” Katherine awkwardly said, not entirely sure what she should do. The tree didn’t respond, instead it continued to stare at the woman. “Can you hear me?”
It nodded, making Katherine grin. “Have you seen Shelby?”
It shook its head, making Katherine frown and leave immediately. The princess can’t waste time. She has to find Shelby. She already knew there was a very slim chance of Shelby being here but it still made her upset. The princess sighed and walked over to the witch's house.
It might be smart to make a game plan.
Katherine ended up spending entirely way too much time on it. She spent so much time in fact that by the time she was done she could see the sun starting to peak above the horizons.
Her first objective was to go to Pix, get some information from him and if he has any she’ll follow his lead. But if he doesn’t then Katherine will have to travel across the entire continent looking for Shelby. For some reason she doesn’t seem to mind the prospect of looking around an entire vast land for one person.
Because It’s Shelby.
Sweat, kind, selfless, Shelby. The only person who was nice to her when she first got here, the only person who didn’t shy away because Katherine’s kingdom was cursed. The witch never asked for payment from Katherine. Even when the princess would ask for something big, like curing her kingdom.
She was consistent with check ins. Nearly everyday or week Katherine would look at her communicator and see a message from Shelby checking in on her. Obviously Katherine is going to do everything in her power to find the witch.
Because they’re friends and that's what friends do.
Katherine blinked back tears as she realized she was getting too emotional. Shelby’s fine, there is no reason to be this worried.
So she inhaled and pulled out her communicator to send off yet another message.
6:41- ‘Please respond’
6:41- ‘I need to know if you’re okay’
She gripped the communicator harder than necessary when she could see that all her messages only said, ‘delivered’. Quickly, Katherine switched to a private thread with Sausage asking if he’s heard anything yet before finally letting her hand drop and gazing over a few fairies who had followed her here.
Katherine couldn’t quite remember when they got here. She nearly thought they had been with her the whole time before remembering she got to the Evermore alone. Although if they’re here she could have them do something useful.
She turns her direction to the fairy on her left. “I need you to go south. Search everywhere for Shelby. Report anything you find.” With the next two she directed the same thing, only she asked them to go north and east. Katherine would cover the west.
She had only one fairy left who she directed to stay put unless Shelby came back.
And with that she took off in the direction of Pix’s home.
It wasn’t long before the princess spotted the archaeologist and she quickly got his attention.
“Katherine, what can I do for you?” Pix asked kindly, putting down his pickaxe.
“I was told Shelby might be here.” Katherine wasted no time. She wanted to hurry and find her friend.
Pix raised an eyebrow. “Funny, Sausage came here saying the same thing.”
The princess sighed and massaged her head. “I know, he told me.” Upon seeing the man's confusion she was quick to elaborate. “We can’t get ahold of Shelby so I’m now searching for her. As far as I know you’re the last to talk to her. Did she say where she was going or what she was doing? When was the last time you saw her?”
“I saw her two days ago.” Pix shrugged, worry starting to pull on his features. “She said her magic was pulling her to my museum so I gave her a tour. I had to leave early though and so allowed Shelby to look around on her own. When I came back she was gone.”
“Did she say at all where she would be headed afterwards?” Katherine asked, a spike of hope cutting through her words.
The man sighs and shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”
Katherine proceeds to deflate. “Great, so now I'm back to square one.”
“Sorry again.” Pix grimaced. “If you need any help let me know, but I'm sure Shelbys fine. Maybe she just went back home, to the witch academy for a bit. You never know.”
Katherine couldn’t muster up anything more and so she simply nodded and flew away. Her thoughts ran in a million different directions.
Shelby’s gone and no one has any clue where she is. Her communicator hasn’t buzzed meaning the witch still hasn’t seen it. Which is bad. It’s so bad. Katherine had to often remind herself that the day is still young. She’ll find the other woman soon enough.
But she still couldn’t help the deep seeded panic that overtook her body with every second she couldn’t find Shelby. It’s dumb Shelby is fine, she’s just lost or got distracted or something sensible like that.
So why did it feel like Katherine can’t breathe? Why does it feel like her heart is breaking thinking about Shelby not responding to her? Why does her eyes burn and salty liquid drip down her face? Why can’t she focus on the positives?
It doesn’t make sense because Shelbys fine.
She is, Katherine is definitely sure of it.
“Joey, I need you to take this seriously.” Katherine glared at the pirate.
“Who says I’m not?” Joey asked innocently as if he wasn’t just giving Katherine a million different answers.
“Have you seen Shelby?” The princesses' teeth grinded in annoyance.
“Who?” Joey smirked.
“JOEY!” Katherine snapped, pulling out her sword and pointing it directly at the man's heart. “Enough, have you seen her or not?”
At that Joey frowned. “Why do you care so much?”
“She’s my friend.” Katherine narrowed her eyes, pressing the sword closer to the mans chest. “And she’s yours as well. Don’t you care that she’s gone missing?!”
“Not really.” The pirate shrugged, looking like he had anything better to do. Which he really didn’t. What could be more important than finding Shelby? Absolutely nothing.
Katherine lowered her sword slightly out of shock. Sure Joey is an annoying jerk but he’s not cruel. He’s never been cruel. “Why not?”
“Because she’s trying to steal you away from me!” Joey stomped his foot like a little who was told they can’t have a certain toy. “Also she’s not my friend, she’s my enemy.”
“First of all Shelby isn’t trying to steal me away because I’m not yours.” Katherine emphasized her point by shoving her sword towards his chest with every word. “Second of all she doesn’t like me like that and thirdly it doesn’t matter ‘cause she could be in serious danger!”
“She literally does though-”
“Stop it” Katherine demanded her patience running out. “I don’t have time for this! I will never talk to you again if you don’t tell me where Shelby is.”
That seemed to get the pirates attention. So with an over exaggerated groan he said: “Fine, no I haven’t. Are you happy?”
The princess chose to ignore him. Instead she threw her sword over her back and began to tighten her elytra. Her heart hurt and her mind was foggy as she began to fly away. Distantly she could hear Joey say something but Katherine could care less.
Joey was the last kingdom she searched and it felt like all hope inside of her was being crushed to absolute dust. It just doesn’t make sense. Where the hell is she?!
She sighed as she looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark out. She should make a fire and place her bed down- and why the hell is a fairy speeding at her?!
But that’s when she realized. It’s the same fairy that she made stay at Shelbys. So if they left their post then that means-
Abruptly she changed course. Right towards the witch.
Shelby better be there or she swears to god she’ll find every magic out there to get to the witch and then beat her ass for making her worry.
Katherine squeezed her arms together.
Please be home Shelby.
Please…