❀ The Hunt Is On

fanfiction written by Snow

Warnings: Sage-panic, missing item chaos, bad puns, unicorns
Summary: Sage wakes up to find Korin missing. When he tells Rowen, the hunt is on!

The Hunt is On

The sunlight touched his eyelids, birds chirping drew his hearing to the window. Sage rolled over, the light in the room seemed brighter than normal. Across the room, Rowen's bed lay undisturbed. Perfect dark blue sheets stared back at him. The curtains danced in the breeze, silence sat on Sage's chest as his back touched his plain green sheets. The ceiling offered less conversation than he might have thought and he drew a deep breath to push the fatigue from his limbs and mind. I wonder what the guys have planned for the day? I can't take another incident like that gun show. I just don't get them sometimes. The sigh pushed from his lungs as his feet touched the slippers next to his bed. I thought I left these somewhere. Someone must have brought them back.

His hands reached towards the silent ceiling as he stood. A loud yawn broke through the bird's singing and the winds giggles. Sage pushed his shoulders together and then turned to make his bed. The nightstand stood empty, his alarm clock gone, the lamp gone, his hands started to shake as he opened the drawer.

"Korin," he said as he slammed the drawer shut and raced out of the room.

The steady thud of his running feet disturbed Rowen from his seat near the window at the end of the hall. At first he decided he would say nothing, but as Sage passed by him as quickly as he had appeared an odd panic filled his soul.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Korin is missing," Sage said without looking back. His voice trailed behind him as he jumped down the staircase.

"What do you mean Korin is missing," Rowen said behind him.

"I mean Korin is gone," Sage said as he tried to explain that he had opened the drawer on the nightstand and how many things in the room were missing but the only one he cared about was Korin. "The lamp and clock were gone too, but those can be replaced."

"Yeah, I took the lamp and the clock. Ryo needed a lamp and the clock won't stop beeping even when you hit the power button. I'm surprised it didn't wake you up, actually," Rowen said. "It went off for an eternity."

As the other three ronin joined, Rowen filled them in on Sage's predicament. Ryo's arms crossed as he forced a breath into his lungs. Cye's face mirrored Sage's inner turmoil and Kento clenched his fists.

"Is it the dynasty," Ryo said after a long minute.

"I hope not," Sage said as a shrug slipped out of his shoulders. "I don't imagine that they would have a lot of use for Korin."

"It could be part of a larger plan though," Kento said as his arms crossed too. "Let's split up and search, Sage might be the most likely to find it, but we should be able to help. Rowen, you go with Sage, just in case."

"Even if they did attack, Sage is a skilled fighter without his armor," Rowen said. "It's more effective if we all split up and look. We have different insights and methods. Plus we'll over more ground if we don't have to babysit each other."

"I'm just worried that if it is the dynasty that we're putting Sage at a disadvantage," Kento said with a sigh. "I get your point, but a friend's life is worth more than covering more ground."

"I understand your point," Rowen said with a deeper sigh. "I'm saying that Sage is more than capable enough of fighting if he's attacked."

Sage listened to them with half interest; White Blaze and Yulie were playing outside. Yulie had something in his hands, something soft and white that he made fly through the sky. Sage' breath stopped and he stepped forward. He opened the back door and ran outside. The other ronin followed him.

"Hi Sage," Yulie said with a laugh. "Look at this great toy White Blaze found, it's cute."

The small white unicorn danced about the air at Yulie's commands. It neighed with Yulie's voice and spoke with it too. It granted wishes and dreamed of a world without battles and the dynasty.

"Where did you find this," Sage asked as his hands wrapped around the white plush fur.

"White Blaze found it in our drawer," Yulie said as he relinquished his grip of the stuffed animal. "I told you that he found it."

"What's with the unicorn," Kento said.

"What unicorn," Rowen said with an echo as he took the item from Sage.

"Korin," the warrior of Halo said with a tone of correction.

Rowen moved the stuffed animal to look at Sage and had it nod. He tilted his head and then pointed at the creature.

"Korin," the blue haired boy said. "As in a unicorn, not your armor."

"I never said my armor was missing," Sage said.

"Well you didn't correct us, either," Kento said with a grumble under his breath.

"It's a unicorn named Korin," Cye said trying to dispel the anger that seemed to bubble through his friends.

"My sister gave it to me when I was a child," Sage said. "To keep me safe from the dark." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. His stomach turned. "She was trying to help me."

"So it's like a good luck charm," Ryo said. When Sage nodded, he smiled, "I'm glad we found it then."

"Even if you had us freaked out that you lost your armor," Kento said.

"I never said it was missing," Sage said again.

Their argument stopped when they heard laughter stumbling out of Rowen's lips. After a moment he sighed and took a deep and relieved breath.

"Better a misunderstanding over a Unikorin than his armor missing," Strata said. "I can live with that."

"Unikorin," the other four warriors said with some hesitation.

"Sure," Rowen nodded. "It's a unicorn named Korin. It's a Unikorin."

Sage tried to respond but instead of an explanation as to why Rowen was wrong he simply drew a deep breath and pushed serenity back into his body. He could live with that. Perhaps calling it Unikorin would prevent misunderstandings in the future. With the plush in his hands once more, he took it inside and put it on the nightstand. From his bedroom window he watched as Cye tried to calm Kento down. Rowen climbed into the nearest tree and opened his book. Yulie and Ryo started to race the length of the lake with White Blaze in first place. Sage shook his head and went over to his bed. Maybe I should join them.

End