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Return of the Great Cat and Mouse Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

The Vilhelm Case Part 1


Leaning forward to peek from behind Toto's back, Baron stared down at Hound and Watson as they rode their old automobile.

"I would think that of all these years of progression that you would finally give up that old thing. Haven't you ever thought of changing your means of transportation?" Baron called down to Hound.

Hound looked up at them with a glance and smiled.

"I've grown very fond of old Betsy here. . . I couldn't replace her. . . she’s done so much for us that it would seem like betrayal if we just replaced her."

Watson nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, indeed. After all, Hound has put too much work into her over the years, she's basically indestructible, it would be a waste replacing her." he chuckled.

Baron chuckled too.

"Poor thing, having to deal with your criminal chases, off road driving, and hill jumps. It's incredible that she’s still running."

Toto then turned to smirk at Baron.

"Sounds pretty similar to the stuff I have to put up with."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't call you indestructible. . . In fact, we should get a indestructible hunk of junk like that for ourselves, then I wouldn't have to hang from your claws anymore. . ." Muta snorted as he hung from Toto's talons.

"You’re not so indestructible yourself, fatso." Toto rolled his eyes.

"I'm more sturdy than you can ever be, worm breath!" Muta shot back.

"You two. . . must you always use every conversation just so you can insult each other?" Baron sighed.

Hound and Watson both sweat dropped and stared straight ahead, instantaneously relieved smiles appeared on their faces.

"Here at last." Watson said.

The Cat Bureau peered forward to see a large standing palace, which was all painted in a soft blue, and had multiple turrets of bone shaped towers surrounding it.

"Certainly a dog palace. . ." Toto chuckled.

Muta frowned.

"Well it’s about time we made it. This canyon is bigger than I thought; it took forever to get here. Hopefully this is as far as the Dog Kingdom goes. . ."

"I'm afraid not my friend. . . it goes on for at least 62 more miles." Hound said.

"Well just my luck. . . more room for dogs. . ." Muta groaned.

As they headed for the gates beyond the palace, they paused at hearing a greeting.

"Hello!"

The group turned to see a blue furred Australian Cattle dog standing a few feet away from them, wearing a long orange cloak, waving at them.

"Oh thank goodness you're here, Sherlock! Please, follow me! We can't enter through the front gates due to certain circumstances, we'll have to enter through the west." he said turning and walking in a fast pace around the palace.

The group stayed in castle’s path, before turning to follow the anxious looking dog.

"Are you the one who called me?" Hound asked maneuvering his automobile in order to ride alongside the blue dog, while the Cat Bureau flew just above them.

"Yes, I'm Archibald. I'm in need of some help badly. . . oh, I hope you'll be able to sort all of this out." he said, as they finally got closer to the back of the palace.

"We will do our best to help, Archibald." Hound said calmly as they went on.

Once they made it to the back of the palace, Archibald walked in the direction of a small covered area, with lots of mechanical parts and tools lying around.

"You can leave your automobile here and anything else, please come this way. No one will be able to hear us in here." Archibald said as he headed towards a nearby door to enter the palace.

Everyone wore a puzzled look as they watch Archibald open the door and motioned them to quickly follow him.

After Hound and Watson parked the automobile and Baron dismounted off of Toto, they all followed Archibald into the palace.

"Please take a seat, we have a lot to discuss." he said already pulling out a chair to sit.

"Agreed." Hound said nodding while taking a seat as well.

"You probably know Dr. Watson here." Hound said gesturing to Watson.

"And these three here are friends of mine that came to ask of some assistance from the King or Queen. Meet Baron, Toto, and Muta." Hound said.

"Pleasure." Baron bowed, while Toto nodded his head. Muta only grunted.

Archibald stared at the group for a few moments, before he looked away from them.

"Unfortunately. . . I'm afraid the King and his Queen won't be able to help you." he said.

Baron titled his head.

"Why ever not?"

"Well, you see. . . the King and Queen are. . .well. . . deceased." Archibald said a bit hesitantly.

The room went quiet, till Watson stood up shocked.

"What?! They're dead?!" Watson asked in disbelief.

Hound stood up from his seat.

"How? Just a couple of days ago all of the Dog Kingdom saw them give out their announcement of the ending of the Offering Festival, happy and healthy." Hound said with raised eyebrows.

Archibald nodded solemnly.

"Yes, well they were very much alive then. . . however now they have passed."

"However so?" Watson asked.

"You see. . . the King, Queen, and their young prince went off to leave the palace for some unexpected business, but their carriage they were riding in had an accident and the King and Queen ended up perishing." Archibald said.

"Eh? What happened to the Prince you said that came with them?" Muta asked.

"Well that’s why I called for your help. You see, we have found the King and Queen, but we have yet to find the Prince. . . He's missing." Archibald frowned.

"Missing?" Toto repeated.

"Yes, we believe he is still alive somewhere. We've looked everywhere near the accident, but we found no sign of Prince Vilhelm. We also are looking around the grounds nearby the trail they took, and still we can't find him. You see, where the carriage has crashed, it is very distant and Prince Vilhelm doesn't know his way back home from that far. He's probably lost somewhere in the outlands beyond the Dog Kingdom. . ." Archibald said folding his paws in front of his face, his eyes showing distress.

"Why hasn't the information about the King and Queen's death been released yet?" Watson asked.

"We are keeping the information classified right now to avoid chaos and panic within the kingdom. We don't want everyone to lose their heads over the loss of the King and the Queen and the fact that young Vilhelm will have to be given the crown, might not bring comfort to the citizens. Only myself and a handful of members of the palace know of the deaths and the missing Prince. As far as everyone else is concerned, the royal family is still gone on business." Archibald sighed before looking up at Hound.

"Sherlock, I'm asking for your assistance on searching for the Prince. Since we are among the few people who know anything about this, we need outside help to search for him."
Hound nodded.

"Yes, Watson and I will assist you on this matter." Hound then looked to the Cat Bureau.

"I'm sorry that you couldn't get the help you wanted about that stone, Baron."

"It's quite alright, perhaps we-." Baron tried to say but was interrupted by Archibald.

"Perhaps, instead of the King or Queen, I could help. I'm just the Prince's royal tutor, but maybe I could help you. . ."

Baron smiled and pulled out Haru's journal and flipped to a page about the Opal of the Hund and handed it to Archibald.

"We are looking for a stone that has- well. . . been passed down from generation to generation of the royal Dog family." Baron said purposely not mentioning to the tutor that the stone holds power.

Archibald frowned down at the journal and shook his head.

"I've never heard of an Opal of the Hund before, but I'm sure if the King or Queen were here they would know, them being the supposed keepers of the stone." Archibald said, but his eyes lit up.

"But. . . perhaps. . . Prince Vilhelm knows of it. After all he is royalty himself and sadly the last in the kingdom. He's still young, but I'm pretty sure his parents have educated him on many aspects concerning the royal family including the Opal." Archibald said with a paw on his chin.

"Perhaps he's right. You have a shot of asking the Prince about the stone when we find him." Watson said careful to hide the implied 'if we find him alive' tone in his voice.

"This could work, it wouldn't hurt to ask. After all, we have nowhere else to look to find more info on the stone, and besides. . ." Baron said looking up to the group.

"It sounds like this Prince is in need of some help, Hound. . . Muta, Toto, and I will assist you with this case." Baron said.

Hound smirked.

"Excellent, help would be most appreciated." Hound said and then turned to Archibald.

"But first, we are going to be needing to search the scene of the accident, before we go looking for the Prince."

Archibald nodded.

"Understood. We need to leave in this direction again to avoid any attention though."

Everyone nodded and followed Archibald out the door.

"And I assume nothing has been changed or removed on the scene of the accident, besides the King and Queen." Hound asked in confirmation.

Archibald nodded again.

"Yes, we figured that you might want it to be left alone to look at, so we did."

"Archibald?"

Everyone turned to look at the new voice to see a small twitchy dog, who was a peached colored  Chihuahua, who also like Archibald, wore a long cloak but only in a pinkish tone.

"Oh Kunz. . . don't worry everyone, this is Kunz the King and Queen's Royal Advisor, he knows of what’s going on so you don't have to worry about him." Archibald sighed in relief knowing no one who shouldn't be listening, wasn't.

"Oh S-Sherlock came! Hello, as you've been told, I'm Kunz. I'm happy you’re going to be helping our dilemma of f-finding Prince Vilhelm." Kunz shuddered, reaching out a shaky paw for Hound to shake.

"Pleasure." Hound said taking Kunz’s paw.

"These are friends of mine who will be helping Watson and I during our investigation, Baron, Muta, and Toto." Hound introduced for the second time today.

Kunz smiled and waved his shaking paw at them.

"Hello. G-Good! We'll be needing more h-h-help." he said.

"Kunz, we are planning to leave to the scene of the accident, right now, would you like to come with us?" Archibald asked.

"I would, b-but I think I should stay and look around the palace grounds f-f-for the Prince and wait for any other in-information." Kunz said frowning his eye twitching.

"Hmm true. . ." Archibald said.

Baron turned to Toto.

"Toto, why don't you stay behind with Kunz and assist him. He could use your help flying around the area and even to come to seek us out if needed."

"Sure." Toto said looking at the Chihuahua 's size, not doubting he would have any trouble flying him around.

"Maybe I should stay as well and assist them. You, Baron, Archibald, and Muta will be fine without me." Watson said to Hound.

"Yes, probably would be best if you stayed and helped Toto and Kunz." Hound nodded.

Muta groaned.

"Couldn't I just stay behind also and help the royal chefs clean out their food supply." Muta asked sarcastically.

Baron frowned at Muta.

"We're going Muta." he said firmly.

Archibald then clapped his paws together.

"Okay then, if we have found anything or anything to report, we will all meet back here at this exact spot, agreed."  Archibald asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, come you three, let’s find a carriage." Archibald said to Baron, Hound, and Muta.

"I hate all the old stuff here. .." Muta murmured to Baron, who ignored his comment.

"C-come along you two, we should being searching s-soon." Kunz said walking in a fast pace towards the side of the palace.

Watson and Toto nodded their heads goodbye to the others and followed the twitchy Kunz away.

"That Kunz fellow, is he alright?" Baron asked Archibald.

Archibald laughed.

"Yeah he's alright. He's always been a twitchy, shaky, and stuttering dog. Everyone thinks it’s because of his breed’s nature, but I think it’s just because he’s slightly awkward." Archibald said smiling and walked towards the side of the palace.

"So where exactly are we going?" Muta sighed, putting his arms behind his head.

"We're taking the trail toward the grasslands beyond the kingdom. The same trail the King and Queen took. You'll have to excuse the trail. It's rough traveling." Archibald said.

Hound and Baron froze, then looked at each other with a bit of knowing eyes.

'Interesting. . .'

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

"Here we are!" sang Freida as she twirled in a circle and extended her arms out to present the Dog Palace to the group.

"So this is where we will find the King and Queen?" Dawson asked.

Freida nodded gleefully.

"Oh yes! Their majesties usually are found here unless they have urgent business and leave. But even if they aren't around, I'm sure you'll find what you need." she said swaying side by side.

Haru smiled up at Freida.

"Thanks again for bringing us here."

"No problem at all! I would like to take you inside, but I'm on duty for work and my boss will kill me if I leave my post for very long!" Freida beamed abnormally.

Crisp sweat dropped.

"Umm, something tells me that isn't your only problem, chick. . ." he said eyeing her strangely.

Basil looked on at the large palace in front of them.

"Come along everyone. We have much to do." Basil said already stepping forward.

"Thanks again." Haru bowed to Freida.

"Oh! No problem." Freida said bowing back awkwardly and turning to run off merrily.

As the group got closer to the main gate, Haru awed in wonder at how large it was for her size.

"Wow, what a large gate." she breathed.

Dawson chuckled.

"Yes, considering you're not your human size anymore, everything must look strange to you as a mouse."

"Not to mention you're an immortal and that may have an effect on you. Tell me, do you actually feel. . . different being immortal?" Basil asked eyeing Haru.

Haru shook her head.

"Not really. I do, feel a bit strange inside, but it doesn't seem to effect anything about me besides that. . ."

Crisp frowned.

"I've never heard a conversation like this before in my life. . . I just want you to know that you're the strangest individuals I've ever known, and I've known a lot."

Haru giggled nervously at Crisp, but her eyes then widened in realization.

"Which reminds me. . . It has been a bit of time since we last saw Ratigan and his crew. Do you think that maybe, he possibly already has the stone? I mean, we did take a detour before getting to this point."

Basil shook his head.

"I doubt it. . . the sky isn't red with flames and everyone isn't wearing shirts with 'I heart Ratigan' all over them yet. . . so I'd say we are safe for now." Basil said sarcastically.

Dawson shivered.

"Ugh, Basil don't say such things. . ."

Finally the group reached the front of the gate.

Basil smirked and casually walked between the gate bars.

"Obviously this gate is used to keep out dogs and other large creatures, but it isn’t to keep out mice and small birds like us." Basil said his nose high in the air in arrogance.

Dawson and Haru chuckled, while Crisp just snorted and along with everyone else, walked between the bars.

"Easy enough. . ." Basil smiled and walk further into the palace grounds.

They all began to notice that the more they walked on, the more dogs they began to see walking about doing their own business.

"Should we perhaps ask someone to help us?" Dawson asked tilting his head slightly.

"We should." Crisp stated.

Haru cupped her hands around her mouth and called:

"Hello! Excuse me?"

But all the dogs just passed by, not noticing Haru and the gang just below them.

"Hmm, can't hear us. . . Crisp, we are going have to fly at eye level to get their attention-."

Before Basil could finish his sentence, two female Beagles wearing maid outfits, passed by them.

"It's been a couple of days. . . their highnesses have still not arrived home." one of the maids said.

The other one nodded frowning.

"Yes, I would think they would be back now from that business trip, but they haven't. Kind of strange. . . usually their trips don't last this long."

Basil's eyes widen, as he watched the maids walk off.

"Did you hear that? The King and Queen aren't here." Haru said.

"So you're saying we came all this way for nothing?!" Crisp said outraged.

"Calm yourself Crisp, I'm sure we could still find something here, without their help." Dawson assured.

"Indeed, surely the King and Queen have an advisor or someone else, taking care of things while they are gone. Come, we should go and search for them." Basil said beginning to run towards the main entrance of palace.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

The group of four silently looked down at the scene below them.

At the bottom of the steep hill was a rocky river, which had a strong current, pushing away anything weightless down the river. In the middle of the river was a round broken carriage to its side and it swayed slightly against the raging current, but laid firmly in place.

Archibald sighed and walked carefully down the hill, followed by everyone else.

"Tragic. . .just tragic." Archibald sighed solemnly.

"Indeed. The King and Queen, were very upstanding rulers and dogs. It's a shame. . ." Hound said reaching the side of the river.

Baron stared out at the carriage, in the middle of the river.

"Fortunately the current isn't too strong today. . . we should be able to go across just fine." Archibald said.

Muta eyed the running water with a bit of nervousness in his eyes.

"You guys go ahead, I'll stay here and. . . watch for. . . stuff. . ." Muta said backing away slowly and sitting in the grass, his arms folded.

Not arguing with him, Baron, Hound, and Archibald stepped into the river, none caring about getting wet and walked steadily towards the carriage.

"Now. . . does anyone know, what caused the accident exactly?" Hound asked as they reached the carriage.

Archibald shook his head.

"So far we could only assume that, the rough road finally taken its toll on the carriage and it's wheels finally gave way."

Baron touched the wet hard oak of the carriage through his glove.

"This carriage is of excellent quality. I don't see it's wheels falling off due to a lot of travel on rough roads." Baron said examining the carriage carefully.

"I agree, Baron. . . Quite strange." Hound said frowning.

Archibald tilted his head.

"Really? I don't find it strange. . . but we don't have to worry so much on that, we must find a clue to where the Prince is." Archibald persisted.

Baron stared at the carriage’s features. The carriage itself, looked in one piece, it was one of its wheels that was barely hanging on to the carriage, like the others.
Archibald opened the carriage’s door, with a bit of struggle, from the water's current, and looked inside.

"I must admit that for a business trip. . . the King and Queen did not attempt to bring anything with them but themselves. They should have at least brought a couple of documents, other personal effects, or even their crowns! Did I mention none of them had their crowns on when we found them?" Archibald pointed out.

"No you didn't, but now that you point that out, it is odd of the King and Queen not to wear their formal attire on a business trip." Hound said.

"Perhaps it wasn't the King and Queen's intention to go on a business trip. Perhaps they were going somewhere else. . ." Baron said.

Archibald frowned.

"Somewhere else? Like where?" Archibald questioned.

"Maybe they got sick of the palace life and they just wanted a vacation." Muta called out, from the hill, he sat on.

"Impossible! They couldn't at this time! After all, the Offering Festival had just recently ended, and they had a lot to do before they considered a vacation." Archibald pointed out.

"What exactly is the Offering Festival?" Baron asked.

"It's a festival the Dog Kingdom has that goes on for a week, where we basically help others all around, whether you're a dog, cat, bird, boar, or even human; all of the Dog Kingdom participates to help those who are in need. Ah, I remember this one year where we gave a bird family a new nest, after theirs was destroyed, or that time when this one family of dogs saved a boar from a group of hunters. But the one that impressed me the most was when a group of dogs braved into the human territory and left food and blankets for the homeless; just placed them near their feet and ran off, before the humans could question what was happening." Hound said, smiling fondly.
Archibald smiled also.

"Oh yeah I recall that one. I remember the King and Queen rewarding them for efforts later that year."

Baron's eyes widen.

"That’s quite impressive. But more amazing that you're kingdom does this."

"Yeah, well, we didn't until our King and Queen took the throne, they created the festival. They were truly very caring souls. . ." Archibald smiled sadly.

"Oh Vilhelm. . . I hope he's alright. . ."  Archibald sighed looking solemnly into the carriage.

"Don't worry we will find him. It is probable he's still alive, or he would have been found a long time ago in this area. He probably wandered off after the accident scared and confused and tried to get back home, only to get lost on the way." Hound said.

"I hope your right. . . but if it’s true, poor Vilhelm must be traumatized right now. We must hurry and find him." Archibald said looking away from the carriage and toward the direction of the road.

"Yes I understand, but I want to look some more here, to dispel anymore suspicion I have. . ." Hound said continuing to look.

Archibald frowned.

"Suspicion?" Archibald repeated.

Not answering Archibald's question, Hound and Baron continued to examine the carriage.

Baron studied the broken wheel intently, till his eyes widen.

"Hound. . . come look at this." Baron said.

Hound came around the carriage and next to Baron.

"Doesn't this bearing look a bit odd?" Baron said.

Hound nodded slowly and reached into his pocket and pulled out his magnifying glass and studied the bearing.

"You're right Baron. This is indeed odd. . . in fact. . . it’s almost suspicious. . ." Hound nodded.

Archibald came towards them.

"What is it?"

Baron pointed to the spot.

"You see this? This is where the bearing is supposed to hold, but its wood is worn and curved here, unlike the other wheel bearings." Baron said.

"I see, but why is this so important?" Archibald asked.

Hound looked away from his magnifying glass and to Archibald.

"It's curved here. . . unlike the others. Which means that someone used a ratchet wrench, specifically a 1/2 inch." Hound said.

Archibald eyes widen.

"What. . .?"

Baron continued.

"It has been loosened, but since the curve from the ratchet isn't so deep, it means that the bearing on the wheel, has been untwisted only a few times."

"S-so your saying. . ." Archibald stuttered.

Hound nodded.

"Someone undid the bearing on the wheel. Not a lot, but just enough for the wheel to come undone after some time on a bumpy road. Archibald. . . the King and Queen's death was no accident. . . it was intentional."

"Intentional? That can't be! Everyone in the kingdom adores the King and Queen." Archibald argued.

"Obviously not everyone. . ." Muta muttered from where he sat on the hill.

"You said that only a few people know of the death of the King and Queen right? That means that we have a possible traitor among them." Hound said.

"This could also mean that if the Prince is still alive, he could be in danger. Someone obviously wanted to get rid of the royal family, so they took this moment when the three of them we're traveling alone to get rid of them. But for some reason we can't find Prince Vilhelm. . . which means he survived the accident and is wandering around as we speak or is possibly with the traitor right now, alive or dead." Baron said saying his last inference gravely.

OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO

"This room looks important." Haru said looking up at the large door in front of them.

Crisp rolled his eyes.

"No duh. It's just painted gold for no other reason unlike the other doors." Crisp said sarcastically.

"Perhaps we can find someone to help us in here?" Dawson said.

"Only one way to find out." Basil said.

The four of them pushed the door and it opened a crack, enough for them to slip inside.

They looked around and saw a beautifully furnished room, decorated in a symbol, which the group could only assume is the Dog Kingdom's sign.

"It looks like a perfect room for a king." Haru awed.

"Must be in the King's room. . ." Crisp said.

"Let’s look around, if this is truly the King or Queen's room, the Opal of the Hund may be here or at least something else here could help us find it. It is assumed that they would keep important items like the Opal close to them." Basil said.

"Yes, it’s our best option right now, since the King and Queen are gone on a business trip and we can't find anyone that looks like they could help us, we might have to find it ourselves." Dawson said.

Haru frowned.

'You would think we would find someone like a royal advisor or something by now. . .' she thought as she and the others split to look around.

Haru walked to a table set up by the window and stared up at it.

'Maybe there is something worth looking at up there?' Haru thought.

Haru walked to one of the legs of the table, which had curves and bumps in it’s design, began to climb it with a bit of struggle.

Basil, who turned away from what he was doing, saw Haru and cried.

"Haru! What the-! Get down at once! You could fall for heaven’s sake!" Basil called running up to the bottom of the leg to look up at her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! I'm nearly there! Besides this table isn't too high, if I fall it wouldn't hurt me." Haru insisted.

Crisp and Dawson who were watching from a distance, sweat dropped.

"Does that girl always have knack for putting herself into sticky situations. . .?" Crisp questioned.

"I haven't known her for long, but it’s safe to assume, yes." Dawson smiled chuckling nervously, as they watched Haru and Basil, as Haru lost her grip on the leg and fell right on top of Basil crushing him.

"Oops! Sorry Basil." Haru giggled a little then jumped off of him.

Basil grumbled and stood up to dust himself off.

"Let’s just take the easy way up, by flying on Crisp." Basil smiled bitterly at the embarrassed Haru.

Taking Basil's advice, they all flew up to the top of the table and looked around.

The table was neat and organized; it had a pile of papers stacked on one side of the table, with an ink pen lying next to it. On the other side of the table were books standing on their sides all alphabetically organized.

"Hmm. . . so far nothing sticks out-."

Before Basil could finish, his ear twitched.

"Quick, behind those books! Someone’s coming!" Basil said grabbing Haru's hand and ran towards the books.

"What? Why hide, we aren't doing anything wrong. In fact, we could use the help." Haru asked stumbling, as she tried to keep up with Basil, while Dawson and Crisp trailed behind them.

"Yeah, we know we aren't doing anything wrong, but if someone catches us in the royal bedroom without them knowing who we are, we might not be let off the hook with just a slap on the wrist." Crisp said.

Finally the group made it towards the books and rushed behind them.

After some time, they heard the door open.

"H-here’s the Prince's r-room." said Kunz leading Watson and Toto in.

"Thank you, now is there anything in particular here that would connect with the Prince?" Watson asked Kunz.

"How s-so?" Kunz asked.

"Well, you said that he doesn't know his way home right? Is there anything here that would trigger the Prince to go somewhere else besides home?" Watson asked.

Kunz frowned.

"N-not that I know of. . . Prince Vilhelm d-does have a few books of p-p-places outside of the Dog Kingdom. But they are so f-f-far that the Prince himself would know b-better then to v-venture to find them. I don't see w-why this is necessary." Kunz said.

"Prince Vilhelm is just a child and a child can be very unpredictable, so the more we know of Vilhelm, the more it could help us to find him." Watson said.
Toto nodded.

"I agree. Especially if the Prince just experienced the death of his parents, he would be lost and terrified, and what better place to go than somewhere familiar in his situation?" Toto said.
Haru's eyes widen.

'That voice. . .' Haru thought moving slowly to peak behind the books, only to be pulled back by Basil.

"Haru, stay behind the books. We can't risk them to see us." Basil said in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah, but that voice that just talked now, sounds familiar to me. Let me just take a quick peak." Haru insisted, struggling in Basil's arms.

"No, Haru! Be still!" Basil hissed in her ear firmly holding her to him.

"Let me go Basil! I have to see!" Haru yelled in a whisper, as she struggled against Basil.

Dawson blinked.

"Did they just say death of the Prince's parents? Does that mean that the King and Queen are dead?" Dawson asked.

They all froze.

"Now that you mention it, they did say that." Crisp said frowning.

"Y-y-es that may be the case, b-but perhaps we c-could just fly around to find him?" Kunz said.

"Well since there isn't something here that could help us, then let’s do so." Toto said heading for the door.

Watson then turned to look at Toto.

"You and Kunz can go fly around and look for the Prince; I'll stay behind and wait for Hound and the others." Watson said.

The two nodded.

"Then let’s get ready to leave." Toto said looking towards Kunz who gave a twitchy nod.

The three then left out the door and closed it behind them, signaling Basil, Haru, Dawson, and Crisp the okay to come out.

"I can't believe the King and Queen are dead. . ." Dawson said.

"So now what?" Crisp asked everyone.

Basil frowned.

"It looks like we won't be getting any help from the royals, but I'm curious. . . they spoke as if the Prince of this kingdom was missing. . ."

Haru's eyes lit up.

"The Prince is a royal. He might know where the stone is."

"Yes, but that royal sounds like he's missing." Crisp reminded.

"And it looks like they are looking for him right now." Dawson said.

Basil smirked.

"We should do our own looking." Basil said then went up to the books and scanned their titles on the book's stems.

"What?" Crisp asked looking at Basil as if he were insane.

"What do you mean?" Haru asked coming up next to him.

"If this Prince is truly missing, we should also look for him. It won't hurt. After all, where else would we begin to search about the Opal of the Hund besides asking a royal like the Prince?" Basil said still looking.

"But Basil, we don't know much of what’s going on here. For all we know, this could all be just a misunderstanding." Dawson said.

Basil ignoring Dawson, continued to scan the books.

Dawson, sighed knowing Basil wasn't going to be persuaded otherwise.

"Well, if we are going to look for the Prince, what are you doing?" Dawson asked.

"Like those fellows said earlier, we could find something. . . anything that could help us connect with the Prince's location." Basil said.

"But they said- . . . oh never mind. . ." Dawson said.

Basil looked to the side of the room, then turned to Crisp.

"Crisp, could you look over there at the bookshelf for anything that stands out."

"Sure. . ." Crisp said reluctantly and flew off the table and towards the bookshelf.

Basil than went back to reading the book stems, followed by Dawson.

Haru stood away staring at the door.

'That voice. . .' Haru thought in wonder staring at the door intently.

'That voice sounded a lot like Toto. . .'

Haru continued to stare at the door intently, before turning away and smiling to herself.

‘Nah. . . can’t be. . .’
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MaddySwan5926's avatar
OMG,OMG,OMG!!!!!! :D I cant wait for the next chapter!!! This is getting so good!!!