Mitsuhide quickly and quietly made his way back through the woods, wary of leaving any foot prints or alerting anyone to his presence, if they knew where he was then they could just as easily track down Zen.
He'd barely been able to stand listening to his young friend as he shut and locked the door, trapping the Prince in the cellars confines.
It was all for Zen, he had to keep reminding himself that all of this was necessary in keeping the Prince safe.
The castle soon came into view, it had grown dark mere minutes ago, Mitsuhide debated if he should head back in the morning, it'd be far safer.
"There he is!" Echoed a cluster of familiar voices in regards to himself
The protector is pulled from his thoughts at the sight of one Shirayuki, Obi and Kiki gradually approaching him "Is something wrong?"
The group all share different looks, the red haired maiden wore distraught and fear, Kiki annoyance and Obi casted suspicion.
"Mitsuhide, have you seen Zen?" Speaks up Shirayuki, her fisted hands shaking at her sides "We can't find him anywhere and I'm really worried!"
Kiki now steps forward, hand placed delicately upon Shirayuki's shoulder "No ones seen Zen since he got into the carriage with you."
"The carriage" Speaks Obi, arms crossed over his chest "Didn't arrive where it was supposed to, we found it hidden away in the bushes about an hour ago."
Shirayuki shakily walks forwards, eyes filled to the brim with tears "Everyone believes that you had something to do with it, Mitsuhide! They all think you hurt Zen."
"I'd never hurt him!" Yells Mitsuhide "The castle wasn't safe for him, Shirayuki."
Obi draws his arrows, while Kiki grasps her belted sword "You all actually think I'd hurt him? Zen is my best friend!"
"Then what did you do?" Questions Obi, gaze never leaving Mitsuhide's "You're coming from the forest late at night, there's dried mud on your boots, dust and I believe I see a few cob webs? Master was last seen with you and now he's vanished."
Mitsuhide's eyes widen, he'd thought he'd brushed all that off "There's no need to panic, Zen is perfectly safe, I made sure of it."
"How exactly did you do that?" Asks Kiki, the woman now shaking from pure rage "I visited the dungeon storage room and noticed something was missing, a pair of manacles I believe?"
Shirayuki shakes her head in disbelief "Stop it! This is Mitsuhide, he'd never do anything like that to Zen, it must have been a mistake, you made a miscalculation."
Kiki shakes her head "I wish it was, I really do, but I know for a fact those chains were there earlier today and now they, as well as the Prince are missing."
"This could be considered treason." Speaks Obi "Kidnapping the second Prince is punishable by-"
"There's that word again! It's not kidnapping if I'm doing my job, I'm here to protect Zen!"
"Then why take him? Why grab the chains used to bind criminals?" Expresses Kiki "Answer me, Mitsuhide!"
"I ... I knew Zen wouldn't agree with my relocating of him, I had to ensure the Prince was safe and secure-"
"You mean make sure Zen couldn't escape, right?" States Obi "If you're really protecting him then tell us where he is."
Mitsuhide shakes his head, he wanted to confide in them all, but he just couldn't trust the Prince's safety being in someone else's hands "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I only returned to grab provisions necessary for Zen."
Mitsuhide went to push past the group, when a light grip of his arm makes him halt.
Shirayuki stood clutching his shirt, tears rushing from her eyes only instead of that dead defeated look, there was nothing but scorn and betrayal.
"Mitsuhide, how could you do such a thing? Chaining and imprisoning Zen? It's despicable! You call yourself his friend and loyal protector, yet you locked him up, took him away from everything, his home, his brother, friends and me!"
Mitsuhide has to take a step back at hearing those words, he honestly hadn't thought of it like that, he'd only been doing this to protect Zen.
Shirayuki produces a small flask from her satchel "I've spent all day working on the cure for you, I get that your not yourself ... But still! You betrayed us, worst of all you betrayed Zen, you're going to take us to wherever you're holding him right now!"
"You said you were grabbing provisions." Speaks up Kiki the woman discreetly pushing the redhead behind her "Is Zen hurt?"
Shirayuki's tears stopped, fingernails beginning to dig into the man's forearm. "Did you hurt him when he didn't agree to go with you?"
Mitsuhide gulps "He accidentally hit his head, it's just a bump."
Obi's glare intensity heightens as the two with weapons take a few steps closer "Accidental or not, Master is hurt and under your so called protection."
"I can't control everything Zen does! I took what bit of control he had away, he's tied and chained, bound by ropes at the knees and ankles so he couldn't hurt himself, how was I supposed to foresee him smacking his head?"
"You shouldn't have taken the Prince to begin with." Declares Kiki, weapon poised and ready to strike "Lead us to Zen."
Mitsuhide once again shakes his head "The castle isn't safe, Zen could have gotten hurt far worse here than where he is currently."
"That's a lie!" States Shirayuki "Zen is always safe here because he's got us! We all protect him from harm, all of us keep an extra sharp eye out when it comes to his safety and well being."
For the third time that day Mitsuhide began to check out, head and eyes downcast and seemingly clouded over.
Shirayuki went to tentatively approach, but is held back by Kiki and Obi "I'm an herbalist, I can treat him."
"It's probably a reaction from what happened earlier." States Obi, hands waving in front of the frozen man's face.
"Well, just give him the damn antidote already!" States Kiki "Once we get the old Mitsuhide back, he'll take us to Zen."
Shirayuki nods, uncapping the bottle "Obi, pull his head back and keep his mouth open."
"Drink up" The ex-assassin does as he's told, allowing the herbalist to tip the bottles contents directly into Mitsuhide's mouth, hands helping guide the medication down his throat.
All grows silent as the trio wait for the medication to kick in. Mitsuhide smiles as he takes hold of Shirayuki's hands "They're so pretty"
The red heads eyes widen, mouth dropping open and body seemingly jumping "What? No!"
"I don't mean it strangely, it's just, these are the hands that also took Zen's."
"I miss him very much" Shirayuki looks down at her hands, wishing Zen were right by her "Mitsuhide, please take us to him."
"You taking his hand made me realize Zen trusted you, it makes me truly happy." Continued the man as if the girl hadn't spoken
"That's great and all, but it's getting late and we've still got a missing Master to find." Pipes in Obi, hand covering his yawning mouth
"Obi's right, no more messing around" agrees Kiki "Where is Zen?"
"Wha?" Mitsuhide's eyes dropped drowsily, body falling, but he could hear words being spoken around him, more accurately a name ... Zen, Prince Zen.
"No! Mitsuhide wake up, where's Zen? Tell us where he is!" Screams Shirayuki, the cure wasn't supposed to work this fast.
Obi guides The now sleeping Mitsuhide into Kiki's arms "Take him back to the castle, I'll find Zen."
Kiki holds Mitsuhide's left arm across her shoulder "I'll be back with more help."
Obi turns towards Shirayuki, he already knew any attempt to make the girl go back would be a bust "You coming, red?"
Shirayuki continues shaking her head, but proceeds to walk all the while thoughts spinning, why had the antidote worked so quickly? It didn't make any sense "Somethings not right, the antidote shouldn't have gone into affect for at least a night."
The girl takes a sniff from the bottle, body tensing, face grimacing "It smells bitter! This should smell sweet"
Obi cocks his head to the side "You think someone tampered with it?"
Shirayuki tightens her hold on the bottle "I don't know, none of what's happened makes sense, hypnotized or not, Mitsuhide wouldn't have done this to Zen."
"So, you think someone broke into the castle and messed with both concoctions? Isn't that a bit much?"
"It's a stretch and I'd have to study the other bottles contents, but I can't help feeling someone wanted this exact scenario to happen, that they-"
"Planned the disappearance and kidnapping of the second Prince of Clarines?" Interrupted Obi, the man now studying the ground and trees for clues.
Shirayuki wordlessly nods, green eyes roaming for any sign of Zen "How far out do you think Mitsuhide took him?"
"Hard to say, they were both gone for hours, for all we know Mitsuhide walked for miles." Answers Obi
"As for your other thought, Shirayuki." Declares Obi as his head rises to face a large tree "I think you're right."
Shirayuki's eyes hardened, heart pounding "What did you find?"
"It's what I didn't find, no animal tracks, fallen leaves, anything that should be here in the middle of a forest." Answers Obi "There's marks on this tree, someone's been climbing."
"We gotta find Zen!" Yells a now frantic Shirayuki "Zen! Zen, can you hear me?"
Obi shakes his head, but follows the girl none the less, even Shirayuki had to know that if the perpetrators had already picked up camp, that it was most likely too late.
Guys I have been trying to update this story forever, the app wasn't playing nice. I'm lucky I still have this story considering it was saved on my phone and somehow got taken off.