After getting themselves refreshed and recouped, Storm and Sniper once again set off for the King and Queen's castle. Greeted to guards rudely prodding at them with needles and, upon receiving the negative, allowed them inside. Sealing the doors shut behind them, prompting a flinch from the brothers; Storm nearly dropping his stacks of research.
"Woah now- give us a warning before you do-" his voice froze upon seeing them slide a giant iron bar between the door's handles. His voice silenced furthermore once he saw the state of the castle before them. Stained glass windows sealed away by silk curtains, paintings and pictures draped over with cloth. The hallways plunged into darkness, abandoned by the looks of them, only the glow in the dark paint remain. Galaxies stretching across the ceilings, and dust flying through the air.
"...That..." he blinked, ears flat
"OoOo, are Daydream and Nightfall redecorating?!" Sniper excitedly asked, bounding after the guards who quickly ushered them ahead to the throne room. Their armor clanking desperately against their flesh. The stench of fear ever present.
"Auh...I hope so..." he gulped, following after them at a snail's pace, tail and head hung low. Not even the plants wanted to stick around for the 'redecorating'.
Entering the throne room, they were greeted to a desolate room, stray beams of light piercing through the cracks in the curtains covering their achievements cemented in stained glass. Blankets covering portraits and symbols. Daydream was pacing, mumbling to herself, scrambling to read over chicken scratch on a clip board while her husband sat tall and mighty in his throne. The exhaustion on their faces worrying.
"The Paws brothers, your graces" a guard spoke, prompting both of them to bow before their rulers
Daydream flinched, sunny eyes shooting wide
"OH! Storm, Sniper!" she exclaimed, turning towards them, her clipboard sent flying and crashing somewhere unseen.
"Thank goodness you're back, we were starting to worry about you two!" she approached them, laughing with a snort. Her pupils shrinking for a moment.
In the background, Nightfall arose from his throne, padding over to a side door and saying something before walking over to his wife.
"Now, have you managed to get a lead on the kitsune? Have you got it bound in invisible rope?" she asked eagerly, scanning over and around the two with a hopeful, almost insane look on her face.
Meanwhile, Dr. Casserole rolled out a large cart cloaked in cloth, standing stationary beside the king.
"Uhh...sorry, but no, we didn't. I'm sorry if we disappointed you..." Storm frowned, looking down at the ground in shame. Sniper looking aside, ears flat.
Daydream was taken aback by his words, a sympathetic look growing on her face
"oh- no, no, no, don't you even suggest that, Storm. There isn't ever a moment that I am not proud of you both." She sat, shaking the ground. A warm smile on her face, beating down on them like her rays of sunshine.
Nightfall nodded in agreement.
"It is a hard task to capture a kitsune, let alone on this powerful, so believe me when I say that anything helps. And I see that you have quite the extensive research in your grasp...do you mind telling us about it?" she raised a brow
Storm and Sniper smiled, their tails wagging
"yeah, of course!" Storm opened a journal, the entries decorated in stickers and glitter and little doodles. "Y'see, we made this bunker to hide out in during the day, and I'd go down and be a decoy with some fried tofu while Sniper took watch to set off a trap." He explained, pointing at doodles and paragraphs
"very innovative...but I can already see how this would go horribly wrong" Daydream chuckled
"yeaah...we learned that real fast" Storm grumbled, glaring away and flattening his ears.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath The Surface
HumorAfter Storm and his friends see an alert on the tv, they head to Daydream and Nightfall's castle, and they find that their friends are not what they appear, and have to head out to find something beyond what they'd ever have guessed they would do th...
