http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=24750805

Worry

Chaonis was beginning to worry. It had been almost a day since he last heard from Navi, and that was unheard of ever since the last time they were forced to be apart. Sometimes she texted, or they at least met up during patrol. If she did not show up at the community center, he usually ended up running into her or finding her because they followed the same paths. He made sure not to be too far away from her, as long as he was able.

Maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe everything was fine.

But he was not going to take any chances.

First stop was the library: Tony would still be at work. Chaonis powered down when he got there, entering the library with an odd sense of awkwardness. Like being here was strange for him. In a way, it was: he did not go to the library on his free time, or for any other reason but to bother his dad for the sake of it or get some money. Or he was powered up, and meeting his dad, or someone used to the library as a place to start, for patrols.

Today, he was just Nate, looking for actual help.

Tony was at the front desk when Nate came in, but saw the look on his son’s face and stood, moving toward his office behind the desk. They could talk in there without anyone really bothering them, and he had a door for added protection. Nate followed him in, leaning back on the door once it was closed.

“I can’t find Navi.”

Tony paused, the words sinking in slowly.

“You don’t think Painite is at it again, do you? How long has it been?”

“About a day, but she’s not around. She’s not answering me, and she’s not in any of our usual places or the patrol routes. I haven’t heard from her at all for hours, and that’s not like her. Not since… the last time. I don’t want anything like that to happen again. I want to find her. Right now.”

“Nathan…” Tony took a breath, calming himself because he was sure that they needed at least one level head, and it was probably not going to be his son at the moment. Not that he could be blamed for it. Chaonis had become very passionate about protecting the people he cared about, and Tony could not think of anyone he cared about more than Navi. She was his everything, and Tony deeply understood the need to protect her from all evils in the world. If it Kyndall missing, even for a few hours, after all, Tony would tear down the city to find her.

Still, he had to try to keep things just shy of panic.

“I’m sure she’s not in trouble. There’s no reason to immediately think… ah. But if you want, I’ll come with you, and will search around the city for her tonight, during the times you usually patrol or meet with her, okay?”

“I’ll come too!”

The third voice was startling, and both Tony and Nate looked in surprise at the small cat sitting on Tony’s desk. He had not been there before, though Tony noticed the scattered papers and pens on his desk and wondered how he had not noticed the clearly difficult path Hadaya had taken to get there. How long he had been there was a mystery. Maybe the cat was just in the right place at the right time, napping on the comfortable sofa? It was something to ask about later, anyway, once the trouble was passed.

“She’s my guardian angel: I have to take care of her, too. I can help you find her!”

The Mauvian sounded absolutely certain, his little face set in a very resolved and stubborn way, but in the back of his mind he heard echoes of doubt in his own voice. He had never been a very… useful… little critter, and though he often had the best intentions, he very often helped things go wrong. It was not his fault, and definitely not what he set out to do. It was just… very bad luck.

Not tonight, though. Tonight he was going to do what he had to do, to pay back a debt and make sure someone he owed a lot to was okay. Anyway, she was the first really friendly face he had run into, and he was very glad to have met her. The last thing he wanted now was for something bad to happen to her.

Nate looked from Tony to Hadaya, then sighed and nodded his head.

“Okay. I guess. The library is almost closed, right?”

Tony nodded, and Nate looked down at Hadaya.

“Alright, you come with me, then, and Dad, you follow after. I’m going to go and keep looking now, and see if I find anything.” He meant he was going to be looking for both Navi or Painite: if the Negaverse General was behind this disappearance as well, then Chaonis would make sure her plans were cut off before they could even start.

Hadaya bounced down from the desk, landing hard on his front paws and wincing, but skittering over to Nate’s legs and giving them a quick rub before the duo were off. Tony did not really have much of a chance to say anything, but he was hardly going to protest the plan.He would be fine on his own, and at least Nate had someone with him that could potentially keep him out of getting into more danger than necessary.

Tony could not help but worry, though, about Navi and what could happen. He tried to convince his son that they were just being overprotective, but the chances of Painite or anyone else actually attacking Navi again were probably pretty high. She was, after all, almost always with Chaonis. If someone saw her, or realized how sympathetic to the white moon she was… if Painite spread news of everything she had learned when kidnapping Navi the last time… it would leave her a constant target.

It was very difficult for the librarian to focus on his work, but he started the closing duties, to get them out of the way and expedite the process.