Chapter Text
Hunter was missing.
“He was gone when we woke up that morning.” the Captain explained, the scouts behind him shifting nervously. “We couldn't find him anywhere. He's presumed dead.”
Basil looked nervously over at Thorne, studying his boyfriend's ears for his reaction, as he couldn’t see the expression under the golden mask. They were still.
“I want Tholomule to lead a search party. If you didn't find a body, there’s no proof that he's dead.” The Golden Guard thundered. “Nobody from this company- I want fresh faces, full energy to put into the search. Don’t just search the last place he was seen, take the whole damn forest. It’s winter and the right arm is expecting a snow storm in the first place. We’re not stopping the search until he’s found, dead or alive. Got it?”
~~~
”Is that..?” Eda asked as she approached.
Luz gasped and ran over to the body’s side, kneeling in the snow. “Hunter! He’s hurt!”
“He is a soldier, kiddo.”
“No, he’s- he’s still alive!” She whined. “We have to help him!”
”Luz, you know I love you, but that ‘pardon’ is barely real. What do you think it’s going to look like when the Silver Sentry goes missing and he’s found in my house?!” Eda scolded. “His royal ass will probably have plenty of search parties out for him.”
Luz stuck out her lip and gave her biggest puppy eyes. “But it’s going to storm soon!” She pouted.
”That’s not going to work on me.” Eda huffed.
Luz nudged King with her foot. “King, com'on, help me out!”
“He called me a rat!” King crossed his arms.
”I’ll give you five snails.”
King narrowed his eyes.
”I’ll give you ten snails.”
The demon gave Luz an exaggerated yawn.
“Okay, okay, twenty snails and I’ll let you have the CB.”
”That’s more like it!” King snapped, before turning to Eda and making his eyes big. “Pweeeeeease?”
Eda groaned. “Fine. You’re carrying him though.”
Luz hopped up and down for a moment before leaning over and lifting the unconscious prince into her arms. “He is… strangely light.”
“Okay, well, come on. You were right about the storm.”
~~~
“Thorne, look at me, look at me-”
“He's gone!” Thorne sobbed. “He's in danger and he's gone!”
“We don't know that. He's a smart, smart kid, Rosegold.”
“It's winter and it’s about to storm in the arm and I-”
“Breathe, Thorne, breathe. You can't think straight if you're panicking. He's going to be fine. We’ll find him.” Basil soothed, holding his boyfriend as close as he could.
“But he's-”
“We already put out missing posters with a very large reward, and we have scouts combing the forest. He'll be okay.” Basil sighed. “You said it yourself, if we haven't found a body, then we have nothing to say he's gone forever.”
Thorne choked out another sob. “He’s missing, my baby is missing!” He wailed. “They- they found his mask and blood but they-“
“He probably managed to fly away-“
“But where did he go?! It’s about to snow, any blood or footprints will be covered up!” Thorne screamed. “This is my fault…”
“No, no, it’s not,” Basil sighed, standing back up and moving to grip Thorne’s arms. “Dammit, Thorne, breathe! You’re not helping yourself like this! There was no body, no blood trail, no anything, which means he’s not there, and if he’s not there, than that means he’s somewhere outside the forest.”
Thorne hiccuped, nodding slightly while wiping his face of tears. “I still have that meeting… do you have a concealment stone I could borrow? To make me look less… like I’ve been crying for the past five hours?”
“Oh, uh… maybe?” Basil drew a golden circle in the air, pulling at the back of his mind to see if he had stored one in a pocket dimension. A gem fell into his palm. “Oh, I guess I do.”
Thorne thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, clipping it to a place on his belt that would be covered by his cape, making him look way less upset. “Wish me luck,” he muttered before clearing his throat. A concealment stone couldn’t fix his rough voice.
Belos wasn’t around for the meeting, thank the Titan- but as normal, Kikimora was there to record any important information. Thorne raised an eyebrow at her.
She seemed a lot more nervous today.
~~~
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Eda growled to herself, tying off another stitch. “Damn it, Owl Lady, you’ve gotten so soft you’re letting your kids bring injured war criminals into your house!”
Nevertheless, she continued to close up the nasty claw wound on the Silver Sentry’s gut.
Stripping off her gloves as she finished, Eda threw them into a nearby trash can. “I swear on the Titan, if you lead your big bro to my door, Blondie…” She hissed, rubbing her eyes.
The Silver Sentry said nothing. He was still unconscious. Eda didn’t care.
”You think maybe you could spare me the brattiness this time?” She scoffed. “Maybe tell your homicidal brother that I helped you and do not need to be jailed?”
Nothing.
”I shouldn’t be doing this. I bet they would have found you by now,”
Nothing.
Eda groaned, finally leaving the room. She closed the door behind her, a hand hovering over the doorknob. She considered locking it from the outside, just in case the Emperor’s lapdog woke up violent.
Against her better judgment, she didn’t.