The Snatcher was positively ROILING in fury.
What had started as a simple mission to retrieve his young charge, for an offer to make up her latest restrictions by group-scaring a wandering mafia man, had quickly turned into something that elicited panic and alarm.
"Did you check the bog?!" The king of the forest seethed in fury through clenched teeth.
"Nothing there.. Just the Hands." One subconite noted.
"The Ruins? The plains?"
"Nope- only fire spirits, and they haven't seen her, either." Another minion chimed in.
Voices all over— and not one of them offered any information that was of help to their search of the Snatcher's human ward.
Cashmere was gone. Whether she'd disappeared while unsupervised or just drifted away when not in anyone's line of sight, nobody knew. But this situation was rapidly snowballing into stress piled on top of MORE stress. What was the Snatcher to do, when he could not even leave his forest without extensive planning and group rehearsals?
"She's not in the cemetery… We've looked everywhere," MoonJumper sighed from his perch atop the fence surrounding said area. "She isn't here, and I can't even feel her pulse in the forest anymore like I used to. She must have slipped past us, somehow…"
"But how is that possible?!" The spectral ruler retorted, and launched into doing what he did best— berating his peers. "The others, I can understand her bypassing, but YOU? Inexcusable! You can FEEL her when she's here, Moonboy, how were you not able to see any of this coming? How could you fail to detect her moving away towards the edge?!"
"Because I couldn't sense her going anywhere!" Moonjumper protested. Which didn't make any sense in this context, considering how his abilities worked. Cashmere was spiritually connected to both him and the Snatcher in ways that were forbidden to so much as think of. But when he began thinking back, retracing his steps, he was quick to realize that what he'd said made complete sense.
"And… She wasn't. That's the weird thing about all of this, dear Brother. There's no way I would have felt her at the Forest's Edge if she hadn't actually gotten up and walked there herself, or she and the others were playing around there. There was no need to worry about her running away, so I didn't zero in on her exactly. She just– faded, somehow. Snuffed out like a light! But it was around here somewhere, of that I am certain."
Facepalm. There was a considerable beat in the space between their conversation. But Snatcher couldn't rule his verdicts out completely. His "brother"'s sense of direction, as well as his affinity for tracking, were unmatched. Without parallel. This was why he'd assigned him to keep tabs on her position in the first place. Nor did he have any reason to lie, seeing as both he and Subcon's ruler were in the same boat here.
If Moonjumper recounted such a tale of a vanishing human, then by some unknown law of physics that nobody had yet discovered, somehow it had to be true.
"Okay," the Snatcher finally conceded, drifting over to the head of the party to overlook his expansive turf. "Tell me again, how did this play out?"
Moonjumper nodded, and recounted his perspective of recent events.
"When all of this happened originally, she was just… Standing over there one minute, the next, she was gone. I know it's bizarre, but… It's almost as if she just blipped right off our map. Vanished into thin air. But how is it possible?"
This was an answer that the Snatcher could not provide. For once in his incredibly momentous afterlife, the fallen prince did not know where or how to begin. Preparations could not be brainstormed or made due to his lack of experience in this field.
Sure, he'd… Sometimes told the kid to 'get lost!' or some other remark intended to push her away, but he'd never actually MEANT for her to leave his presence. Was this how she really felt about her fearless guardian? Did Cashmere truly think it best if she upped and left, without even so much as a note or telling anybody where she was going?
The possibility of her hating him enough to run away would have made him sick if he could still retained a human stomach.
"I.. I lost the kid," the words came out rattled, and without the typical oomph behind them. "I actually LOST the kid."
It was confusing. While he hovered there, shocked, his own underlings knew not a bit of their own words of hope and encouragement could pull him out of this. All of them knew the true extent of what Cashmere meant to him; there was no recovering from this.
Or so they'd thought.
"Look, Brother… I know you despair now, but think of what you have at your disposal." Moonjumper began. "Myself, and a forest chock FULL of eyes to see where you cannot, or explore places that you're unable to reach. You have your family here with you, and we're not going to leave your side until we find her. Or, uh, if you want us to."
Numerous minions agreed vocally, while others nodded their heads in an act of allegiance to their king.
And even though it wasn't the most grandiose gesture he was used to from his mortal life, the shadow felt a swell of hope twang there in his cold, dead heart.
"There is one place we haven't checked..." he eventually spoke up.
Silence. Short gasps filled the air, and with a heavy tilt of his head, Snatcher pointed one lanky arm in a direction that none of them wished to go.
"Across the bridge."
Of course nobody wanted to go there, to freeze their undead butts off, or to go poking around for potentially creditable clues in Vanessa's domain. It was a double-homicide waiting to happen. NOBODY wanted to risk that, lest she have found some way to eliminate them permanently.
Least of all the Snatcher, yet there he was, leading the pack. He, Moonjumper, and four of his underlings were making the frigid journey into the desolate wasteland, and they didn't know WHAT to expect. All throughout the maze of ice crystals they wound, under ledges, and through tunnels…. But still no sign of Cashmere.
"I think this is a pretty decent hint that she isn't here." Fabio - one of the four minions - declared. Snatcher raised a ghostly brow, silently asking why.
"Well… Aren't humans fragile? Wouldn't she have died as a baby in this cold if you hadn't found her? Why are we checking the Forbidden Zone if Cashmere wouldn't be able to stay here for a long period of time?"
"Because there's more to this area than the ice and subzero temperatures," Snatcher murmured as they neared the exit into her courtyard. "And that's the part that worries me most."
Everyone was in agreement about exploring the front, seeing as none of them wanted to step onto her front lawn. Sentries posted by the opening also reiterated to the search party that no, Cashmere hadn't come by there. The only thing left to do from there was check the border— the thick, unmelting wall of ice that turned Vanessa's manor into a frozen fortress, and foe the most part, successfully warded off any who thought about trespassing.
Along each curved section of the wall they turned and twisted and explored, searching for something. Risking the unseen eyes of headless statues, and living suits of armor patrolling the grounds. Searching for signs. A hole, an ice pick, or even footprints. Any indication that a human girl had thought to run around here or made an attempt to get inside.
To their astonishment, there was none. Vanessa's domain was sealed tightly as ever, leaving the group back at Square One and, once again, looking to their brave leader for guidance.
Were Snatcher's flames any darker of a blue as they made a hasty retreat, one might think they'd be capable of burning Vanessa's ice to the ground completely.
"Where IS that girl," he snarled lowly to the others. "Cavorting about, enjoying everything she so desperately wanted?"
None of his allies felt safe answering that question while blue flames licked at his indigo form, writhing like fervent snakes.
"All I can say is that she'd better enjoy it while she can. Because I'll be grounding her tiny butt to Kingdom Come if she doesn't show the hell up."
Ooooooh, she in troouble👀👀👀
Tee, hee. It's kind of basic I feel like, but sometimes the action and other events need to balance out so that readers aren't overwhelmed. Here we have Dadcher worrying about his Nipperkin and hoping desperately that he can find her soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Seeya next week!
