#3 - Dusk

Hymn for the Missing

Segment Notes: Inspired initially by the band Red's incredible song Hymn for the Missing, and later further inspired by 5Ds Month's prompt for August 6th, Over the Horizon. This may be a full fic later, but for now it's a little ficlet.

Radley stood at the Southern entrance to Satisfaction Town, staring forlornly into the distance as his hair blew around his face. Every day he did the same thing, and every day it turned out the same way. No matter how much he longed to see blue hair against the horizon and a dark coat billowing out against the setting sun, he never did.

Three weeks. . . . Three unbearable, Hellish weeks since Kalin had gone missing.

It had been supposed to be just a normal patrol for Satisfaction Town's sheriff and mayor. He had been riding around the perimeter of the town and up into the mountains, making sure everything was safe, and he had never come home. Radley had been asleep, recovering from a long night of taking care of town problems, and had awakened to a short note and no sign of Kalin anywhere.

He and the Bunch had been over every square inch of the area multiple times. Yusei and Antinomy had come out to help, worried and horrified, and even Jack and Crow had come away from their plans to join the search. They had found tire tracks where Kalin had likely ridden, and later on, his motorcycle, but nothing else. No one could imagine what had happened unless Kalin had fallen through a portal that had mysteriously opened, and who knew where such a portal would even lead?

Radley had run himself ragged trying to use his pendant to open portals left and right until he had collapsed from the effort and Billy had taken the pendant away from him in alarm. Since then, everyone had taken turns opening portals, but to no avail. The number of dimensions was infinite, and the chances of finding which one Kalin possibly could have fallen into were very slim.

Radley heaved a sigh as the last rays of sun began to fade. During the weeks Kalin had dueled for him against Malcolm, he had always appeared around now, framed by the setting sun and playing his mournful harmonica. But now, no matter how Radley helplessly waited, he never came.

Where are you? Will I ever find you? Are you even still alive?

The Bunch was doubly grieving. They were sad enough without Kalin, but with Kalin gone, they felt they had really lost Radley too. He tried, but he just wasn't all there anymore. Part of him was always with Kalin, wherever that was. And all of the Bunch knew that if Kalin never came back, that part of Radley's heart would always be lost and wandering, aching and searching for his missing soulmate. Some of the Bunch were starting to lose hope, but others refused to give up.

"Of course Kalin's alive!" Scotch insisted. "He wouldn't leave us! He'll fight his way to us! And then Radley will be alive again too!"

Radley slumped against the post holding up the town sign. Of course Scotch was right that Kalin would never give up trying to come back to them . . . if he was alive. Did Radley even believe that anymore? And if he had ended up in another dimension, which one? Would he ever get home? Radley had heard of people lost in other dimensions for almost 20 years. It was a miracle they had been found at last.

He clenched a fist. It was too soon to give up hope, especially if science-fiction was part of the equation.

But . . . what if it wasn't? Kalin's footprints had seemed to stop soon after the motorcycle had been found, but that didn't necessarily mean a portal had opened and swallowed him. Maybe they hadn't looked hard enough and his body was somewhere in that canyon. Radley had forced himself to go back and look several times, just in case Kalin was alive and badly injured, but he had found nothing.

It was so lonely back at the house now. Radley kept music playing sometimes because the silence was so loud, but other times he didn't feel like it. The Bunch had been taking turns staying with him, knowing how he hated being alone and how he would hate it even more now. He was thankful for all of them, but of course they couldn't fill the hole left by Kalin's disappearance. No one could.

Sometimes he fantasized that Kalin had come back to him. He often thought he heard Kalin's voice on the wind. The past night had been chilly with the oncoming autumn and a mysterious mist had covered the ground. Radley had gone out riding and then had stopped to just walk for a while. After a while it had again sounded like Kalin calling to him on the late summer wind and a gossamer wisp of his image had appeared to walk with Radley. But when Radley had turned to really look at him and desperately reach for him, he had vanished.

Had it been in his mind? Had it been Kalin's spirit? Was it confirmation that he was dead?

He wrapped one arm around the post. "Oh Kalin. . . . Where are you?" he whispered. "Will you ever come home to me?"

A familiar and mournful sound carried to him on the wind and he went stiff, staring ahead at the oncoming dusk. A harmonica? Was it in his mind again, like last night? Or . . . could it possibly be . . .

The sound came again, and it wasn't just any tune; now Radley recognized Carry On, My Wayward Son, the song he felt best described himself. He pushed away from the post and ran under the sign towards the music. "Kalin?!" he called.

Now he saw a figure coming towards him out of the fading light of day, just as he had longed for so much. The blue hair was gently blowing in the breeze, as was the black coat. He was still playing his harmonica, but when he caught sight of Radley he stopped and started running too.

They caught each other as dusk fully fell over them and they clutched tightly, neither wanting to let go.

"Where were you?!" Radley exclaimed. "I was so afraid you were dead. . . ."

"I don't know where I was," Kalin admitted. "Another world . . . another time or place. . . . My phone wouldn't work and it took so long to find a way back. . . ." His voice caught in his throat. "I wasn't sure I could ever come home. . . . I wondered if you'd even want me back. . . ."

"Why wouldn't I?!" Radley cried in disbelief.

"I wondered if life would be better without me . . . or if you'd think I walked out on you. . . . But then I knew you'd never think that."

"Of course I wouldn't think that!" Radley pulled back to look at his friend. "And life was horrible without you! Now that I know what it is to have you around, I can't get by without you!"

Kalin smiled. "I feel the same. I missed you so much . . . and the Bunch . . . and Yusei and everyone else. . . ."

"We all missed you so much too," Radley said softly. "But now you're finally home."

They held each other close as the light completely disappeared over the horizon. They never noticed. The light in their hearts burned brightly.