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 [i]our[/i] 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.”