"Boruto! You open this door right NOW!" Sarada's voice rang in Boruto's ears and the pounding of her fist on the door made his head throb. His body trembled from being awoken so suddenly. He shook his head clear, stretched then looked at he door. It was trembling but remained sturdy against Sarada's fists, which Boruto was grateful for.
"What's her problem?" He muttered to Mitsuki as he climbed out of bed. It took a moment to unlock the door with his sleep fogged mind and fumbling hands. Eventually, the door creaked open and Boruto stared bleary-eyed into the furious face of Sarada.
"What is it?" Boruto asked around a wide yawn.
"Where's Mitsuki?" She demanded. The question confused him instantly.
"What do you mean 'where's Mitsuki'? He's right here." Boruto said, turning back and waving into the room towards the bed. It took a second for the sight of the empty room to sink in. Even after it did, it didn't feel real. "Mitsuki?" He called. Boruto looked all around the tiny room even though he could see every corner. This was a joke right? Maybe he had gone downstairs for something.
Boruto shouldered his way past Sarada and half walked/half ran down the hallway. He thought he heard her call after him but he ignored her. He took the rickety stairs two at a time and jumped the last four.
"Mitsuki?!" He called into the tavern, drawing all eyes to himself. He ignored them all and scanned the room, looking only for the golden eyes he adored. His chest clenched tighter and his heart pounded loudly in his ears as he realized they were missing. A hand on his shoulder made him cry out in surprise. The hand dragged him roughly back up the stairs and away from the curious stares of the tavern patrons.
"Will you shut up!" Sarada hissed angrily as she roughly pinned him against the stairway wall and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Mitsuki's gone! I wanted to know if you knew why he left or where he's gone." The second half of Sarada's statement didn't reach his mind. Only the words 'Mitsuki's gone' echoed over and over in his ears, making his core grow cold. Everything else fell away and Boruto felt like he was falling very fast. Mitsuki couldn't be gone. He couldn't be. He'd never leave like this! Boruto's emotions spiraled out of control, rushing to fill the void cold shock had created. He wrenched Sarada's hand off his face.
"How do you know he's gone?! He would never leave me like this!" He shouted in her face as both anger and denial took the forefront. Sarada flinched slightly but overall she weathered his outburst with a look of deep pity. That pissed him off more. There was need for her to pity him because Mitsuki wasn't gone.
With one hand, she held him in place as if she was afraid he would bolt again. With her other hand, she reached up to her own shoulder. Her movement looked foreign to Boruto, as if he was watching a dream. She held her hand back out to him and in it was curled a small white snake. The little creature flicked its tongue placidly. It looked up at him with tiny golden eyes that were so similar to Mitsuki's, they made his heart suffer a crippling crack.
"He... he left this with me. It gave me a message." Sarada said sadly, "I assumed he left one for you too." Pain and hurt tore into Boruto's breaking heart. He was just about to shout that of course he hadn't, when he felt movement on his right arm. His first instinct was to flail but he froze when he actually looked at his right arm. His sleeve was slashed cleanly up to the elbow, exposing the marks of the advancing curse. He knew it had not been like that when he went to sleep. Out of the split material a small snake, perfectly identical to Sarada's, smoothly glided into the lamplight. It curled and slithered up his arm and settled on his shoulder. The little golden-eyed albino snake lifted its head and bumped Boruto's jaw affectionately, then it moved along his neck and settled next to his left ear.
"Boruto..." Mitsuki's soft voice startled him.
"Mitsuki?" Boruto asked, hope starting to push away the despair that had been crushing his heart.
"Boruto... I'm sorry. Please understand... I do this... for you."
"But why Mitsuki?!" Boruto cried, "What are you doing? Where did you go?!" Boruto asked desperately. The soft message repeated in his ear, confirming that it was a recording and nothing else. Nothing felt real. It was getting hard to breath and the world was starting to spin.
"What did it say?" Sarada asked cautiously.
"He said... it said that he was sorry. That he did this... for me." Boruto choked out the bitter words. This felt like a bad dream. In fact, this was a bad dream. Any second now, he was going to wake up and Mitsuki would be there, just like always.
"Did it say what he was doing?" Sarada pressed as gently as she could. Boruto shook his head. He was having trouble thinking. The only coherent thought in his head was Why? which repeated itself over and over. Was he not good enough? Had he misread something? Was Mitsuki angry with him? The cruel questions bombarded his mind but he had no answers for any of them.
"Was he acting strangely last night?" Sarada continued to press. Anger rose within him hot and fast.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" He snapped, making Sarada flinch again. Deep down, he knew that she was just trying to help and that it was wrong to take it all out on her. None of this was her fault but his heart was falling apart and his sorrow was changing quickly to anger. He had to do something. Actions were comforting to him and exploding was all he felt he could do as the noose of despair tightened around him.
"I mean did he do anything last night to suggest he might take off?!" Sarada roared back. Successfully shouted down, Boruto searched his memories for something, anything that could explain Mitsuki's sudden departure.
"He was tense last night. He said he thought we were being followed." The words tumbled too quickly out of his mouth. Sarada nodded thoughtfully. "We have to go after him." Boruto said, "Wherever he's gone, we can't let him go alone!" Sarada looked away and let him go, crossing her arms across her chest as she took a half-step back. Her white snake slithered smoothly up to her shoulder in rhythm with her movements.
"What? You think we shouldn't?!" Boruto roared. He couldn't believe her. He knew Sarada had always been iffy about Mitsuki but he had thought she had finally grown to accept the Serpent Prince. Hell, they had even started to act like friends from the way they had tag-teamed nannying him at Grandma's. After all that, she was just going to let him go?
"I told you to keep your voice down, idiot!" She said in a deeply exasperated voice as she half rolled her eyes. "He left me a message too, remember? He asked me to look after you until he returns so I believe that it is safe to assume he intends to return soon. I'm thinking that we can wait here until he gets back." Boruto ignored the snide parts of Sarada's speech and tried to process what she was saying.
"He said he's coming back?" He asked, hope taking the edge off his anger.
"He told me to watch over you until he returns so, yeah, he's going to come back." Sarada repeated. Boruto felt relief wash over him. Mitsuki hadn't left him for good. But, Boruto couldn't understand why he had decided to go out on his own like this.
"But why? Why would he leave me behind?" Boruto voiced his confusion.
"I would assume he either believed it was too dangerous or it might have had something to do with your curse spreading again." She said, gesturing to the marks showing prominently against his skin under the remains of his sleeve. Instinctively, he moved to hide it but gave up when he realized it was a stupid idea. "Really, Boruto, how long were you planning on hiding that? You know he's more worried about you than anyone." Sarada chided.
"That's exactly why I tried to hide it." Boruto retorted, "He's stressed enough as it is. I didn't want to worry him more. Besides, it hasn't traveled that far. We still have time to lift it." Something about what he said made Sarada's eyes go wide.
"Boruto, was there anything else missing other than Mitsuki?" She asked hurriedly. What the hell does that matter? Boruto thought, feeling his anger rise to the surface again. How could she think of things at a time like this?
"I don't know, Sarada, I was busy looking for Mitsuki." He said scathingly.
"You idiot!" Sarada snapped, her burning black eyes locking with his, "What about the key and the necklace? Do you still have those?" Boruto rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket. His fingers closed around the air key then he pulled it out and presented it to her. It glittered and and shone richly in his palm, the pearl luminous even in the lamplight.
"Okay, good. Now put it away before someone sees it." She said hastily as she shielded it from prying eyes with her hands, "And the necklace...?" Boruto brought his thumb to his neck and went to hook it under the chain of the necklace but it slipped when he found his neck was bare. Both hands flew to his chest feeling for the crystal but it was gone.
"I don't have the stone." Boruto gasped. Together, they sprinted back up the stairs to his room. In less than a minute, they had torn the tiny room apart and confirmed that the crystal necklace was indeed missing.
"Well, that confirms it." Sarada said as she looked around the room with her fists on her hips, "He took the necklace but not the map or the key we already have. And you said your sleeve wasn't like that when you went to bed, right?" Boruto nodded impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah we already know all that." He muttered in frustration.
"Well, obviously he must have seen the new marks on your arm and decided to go after the key himself." The raw emotions were surging through Boruto's body again, making it hard to think.
"Why would he do that?" He blurted out the first coherent question that came to mind.
"Because he's trying to protect you! Idiot!" Sarada yelled as she threw her hands in the air and turned away, animating her frustration with his ineptitude.
"So, we are just supposed to sit and wait for him to return?!" Boruto knew his voice was rising again but he didn't care, "Sarada, you remember how dangerous the last guardian was! The three of us together couldn't take it down! If it weren't for whatever the FUCK this really is, I don't think we could have!" Boruto shouted, shaking his arm for emphasis. "And we are supposed to expect Mitsuki to take down something like that by himself? YOU can stay here but I'm going after him. He's always calling me his Sun. Well, he is my Moon. I am going to get him back and nothing is going to stand in my way!"
With that, Boruto gathered his things and slung them onto his back. He stormed through the door and down the hallway with Sarada trailing after.
"Boruto! Wait! We don't even know where he's gone" Sarada yelled after him.
"We have the map, don't we? If he hurry, that will get us close enough!" He yelled back over his shoulder without slowing his steps.
"Damn it..." Sarada swore under her breath. She ran to her room and grabbed her own belongings before hurrying to catch up with Boruto.
He hardly slowed his pace as he descended the stairs back to the tavern. Many turned to stare as he marched but he ignored them all. He burst through the main doors, not bothering with his hood. The small part of his mind not consumed with finding Mitsuki was startled. He was certain it was morning but the sky above Dorchas was no brighter. It was still the same swirling inky black and the lamps still glowed brightly. He paused and glanced around, trying to decide which direction would be best for finding a boat.
"Boruto! Wait!" Sarada called again from behind him but he ignored her. He picked a direction that looked like it could eventually lead to a dock and struck off. Curious eyes continued to follow him as he walked through the streets with determined purpose. He thought he kept hearing Sarada hiss his name after she caught up and walked by his elbow but he continued to defiantly ignore her.
Left, then right, right again, left... He marched through the orange glow of the lamps on street after rickety street until Boruto finally saw something that resembled a dock. It was a long and crooked pier that stretched like a narrow finger out into the darkness of the swamps. Nets hung from its posts and small huts stood looking out into the darkness with spools of rope slung on the walls and rooftops. A staircase descended to a low dock about halfway down the pier on the left side. Boruto walked to it and descended the stairs. An old man dressed in what looked to be damp rain gear was tending to a large fishing boat tied alongside the dock.
"You there! How much to rent your boat?" Boruto demanded, forgoing all pleasantries. The man glanced up at him without pausing his work. When he looked again, he froze and dropped a square object he had been moving from the boat deck to the dock. He stood up slowly as he continued to stare openly and his mouth fell open to reveal several missing teeth. Boruto had no patience for this.
"Hey! I asked you how much to rent your boat!" Boruto stated impatiently. The old man continued to stare. Then, the image of the fisherman disappeared as something leapt onto his back from behind and fabric slid messily over his hair and half his face.
"Boruto, you moron. Keep your damn head covered!" Sarada rasped in his ear as she practically climbed down from his shoulder. Evidently, she had jumped on his back and had forced his hood over his head. She raised her voice and addressed the fisherman next, "Yes, we are looking to hire a boat to take us into the swamps and to buy any equipment we may need."