Chapter 17: Prior Invasion

Kyofi had similar reaction to Vanos' disappearance as Mosor. She told her not to concern herself too much.

Secretly, she told Ahmond, that afternoon, "He ran away. Come on, we're finding your brother and we're dragging him back."

Ahmond wagged her tail and said, "Great. I've always felt like hunting my fellow wolf for sport!" Kyofi grinned at her.

"Good kid," Kyofi said. "There's a chance for you yet." They headed out the door. Later that night, she'd be kidnapped along with Mosor. The gradual of series events occurred within

only these next couple hours.

Kyofi said, "Now what to do?"

Ahmond thought about it. "We could always beat him up, that would cheer us up." Kyofi laughed, and shook her head.

"No, I mean, we need a lead. Your brother doesn't abuse alcohol, that means we can't check bars. If I was mad, I'd go over to Margar's, and eat cupcakes. You feel like cupcakes, Kid?" She nodded. "'Course you do, when I was your age, I had the appetite of two wolves. I know, because I ate their lunches, and they didn't like that. Maybe it was three wolves?"

The ranting and rambling stopped after they entered the cupcake shop. Kyofi asked the basic questions. Such as, "Do you have anything other than sprinkles?", or "Do you serve coffee too?", or, the most essential question when conducting an investigation on a disappearance, "Have you considered orange cupcakes?".

After eating, they walked out the sweet smelling bakery. Ahmond paused, and said, "We never did ask about Vanos."

Kyofi said, "Good thinking, this gives us an excuse to eat even more, and loiter." Ahmond blinked, and Kyofi went back inside, forgetting to ask again.

Roughly three rounds of cupcakes, and Ahmond said, "I've gained at least twice my body weight! Kyofi, ask him if he's seen Vanos!"

Kyofi said, "Right, that's why we're here, got it." She coughed. "Margar, have you seen a yellow coyote wolf drakkik? Kinda looks like someone who thinks they're hot, but not hot, you know what I mean? He's kinda short."

Ahmond said, "Everybody's short or small to you, Kyofi." Kyofi whacked her upside the head, and Margar thought.

"No, I haven't seen anybody fitting that description."

"Can we get your cupcake recipe?" Kyofi asked. Ahmond bit her tail, and Kyofi said, "We run an ice cream shop, we could make major green, you know, Kid."

Margar said, "I'd kick you out, but you pay me a small fortune each time you enter. You could quite literally set the building on fire and I'll say see you next Tuesday."

Ahmond paused and burst out laughing. Kyofi dragged her off, while Margar tried to figure it out. "See you next Tuesday? What's the problem with saying see you next Tuesday?"

That aside over, the two wolves had yet to uncover any leads. Ahmond said, "Alright, how about my turn, Kyofi? Maybe it's best we talk to his actual friends?"

Kyofi said, "I'm his best friend, obviously. I know anything he does and know what he doesn't. For instance, I know he's definitely not atop that mountain you can look over at the city with. Because it takes him a month to return to a place after having a fight."

Ahmond said, "Sounds specific, but okay."

"He also wouldn't be at that tree for a long time too. Having fought with Mynt and the Tree of Knowledge makes him hesitant to return. If I had to peg it out, I'd say, he's probably at a rival ice cream shop."

Ahmond said, "He wouldn't." Her eyes narrowed. "He definitely wouldn't, you're only thinking of food again!"

"Mosor's busting her brain to figure it out, I don't see why we have to, too," Kyofi said with a shrug. But Ahmond growled.

"How about I find my brother by my own, my own way!" she said. She could handle herself, as she was old enough too. There's a reason she was Dependability and not Kyofi.

***

Maybe Lilu could help out. That thought process ended with her meeting up with the scary, imposing guard again. What was his name anyway? Karv or something.

It had to be Karv. It couldn't be something sweet or nice, it had to be "let's pick out the most murderous sounding name" name. He glanced down at her as she encroached on the palace ground.

Growling, he said, "State your name and business." A lot of people said you couldn't growl out a sentence, and they had never talked to a gravelly voiced hyena. She checked how many witnesses stood nearby.

"I'm Ahmond, I was wondering if Lilu could come out and play? Also, have you seen a yellow coyote wolf Drakkik? Vanos?"

Karv asked, "Is he missing?"

"I think," Ahmond said. "He's been gone for a day now, and Mosor's thinking he got kidnapped, and if you know his whereabouts, that be nice to know."

Karv said, "I'll tell you what, Kid. How about I get out Lilu, and you two put missing poster reports? Then you can stop wasting my time with some wolf who is in an entirely different city-state, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Ahmond said, and waited for him to go back inside while she muttered to herself. "Stupid fat guard."

Karv peered his head out. "Did I hear something?"

Ahmond squeaked, and shook her head. How often she risked death this month? Like, a thousand and a half times.

Lilu strode out, head held high. She stared up and down on Ahmond. "You required my assistance?" Ahmond blinked. "You need help?"

"No, I got that," Ahmond said. "That simply sounds pretentious. You're, like, little older than I am, get over it." Lilu growled but waited for her to continue talking. "Anyway, my older brother Vanos is missing."

Lilu's eyes widened. "He's MISSING!?"

Ahmond said, "Yes. That is what I said." She took that harder than the Ice Cream Pack ever did. "Think you can find him?"

"Alright, here's our next move," Lilu said as she sat down. "This will be easy." She began making hieroglyphics in the sand. "Basically, we're going to find your brother by searching each city state, got it? I'll find any guard I can to scatter and burst out. We've got a lot of sway in this kingdom."

Ahmond said, "This is honestly rather gracious of you. Why do you care this much?" Lilu was a friend, but not a good friend.

Lilu said, "Because your brother is smoking hot, Ahmond. I mean, I'd have him as my future husband later on." Without missing a beat, Ahmond gagged. What was Lilu talking about?

"He's not that good looking, and watch it! That's my brother you're talking about," Ahmond said. "He and you can't even get together. He already has two slots of Drakkik blood filled in. You can find someone else to go with."

"Rosod thinks the same thing," Lilu said. "All of us think he's hot."

"Since when was Vanos hot?" Ahmond asked. "My dorky brother is stubborn, crass, and can't keep his nose out of someone's tail for longer than a second. He is far from charming."

Rosod walked up in the street. "I saw you two, and was wondering what's going on."

Lilu said, "Vanos has gone missing. You believe that? She lost her own brother, probably intentionally." Lilu pointed at Ahmond.

Ahmond said, "I am not jealous of my older brother and he is not hot, and he never was hot. You two better stop talking."

"I've got it. My mom has connections," Rosod said. "We're going to set up posters everywhere for everybody to search for Vanos. We've got to find him."

On Ahmond's word, searching would begin. Rosod asked her, "What are any key or identifying details you can tell us?" Rosod took out a notepad from her vest.

"Alright, he likes to go to karaoke on Sundays," Ahmond said. "He likes eating at rival shops, but will never admit to it. Ramen is his weakness. You writing that down?"

Rosod wrote down various locations underneath a section titled, "Future places to date Vanos." She nodded.

Ahmond said, "If we split up, and check all of Sunnyvilla we're bound to find him before dark. My older cousin, Kyofi, will be searching any food shop. All the food shops, I think."

"We've got it all under control," Lilu said. "We already told you that we're taking all measures needed, and then some, Ahmond."

"Then some what?" Ahmond asked. Lilu grit her teeth, and stared up in the air. She sensed Lilu thought she was being stupid again. "Never mind."

Lilu followed Ahmond. Rosod stayed behind, writing down other ideas. What should she wear to the wedding, whose her main competition.

"Ahmond, how close are you to your brother?" Rosod asked. "Like, would you say he'd prioritize you over finding anyone for himself?"

"Yes, he's my brother." Ahmond said. "By the way, stop asking me question because you need to get to my brother. Vanos is his own person."

"Got it," Rosod said, and Ahmond heard the pen still scratching. Ahmond shook her head. With friends like these, maybe she needed better friends.

They checked out any shops or any recreational centers Vanos was likely to be part of. Ahmond even suggested the skating rink because Vanos said at one point he could have been a skater. He couldn't, he would have died easily. Bringing that to mind, Mosor had actually nice long, slender legs for it. Mosor was also the fastest and most dexterous in the family.

Ahmond thought that Mosor was hottest. "She's got all of it. She's kind, she's caring, she's lithe framed." Ahmond talked to herself.

Rosod asked her, "Who are you talking about?"

Ahmond blushed bright sunflower shades. Admitting her thought processes labeled her a freak. She shook her head. Rosod shrugged, and said, "Suit yourself, only trying to help out."

Ahmond muttered, "That was a close one, maybe I should stop talking to myself when I'm near others, that makes it easy for them to listen in."

"You're still talking," Lilu said.

Ahmond muttered, "I need to learn to contain that habit. It's getting bad." Lilu opened her mouth, thought again, closed it. "Got to be aware of it."

Rosod said, "Hold on, I'm hearing something. It's almost like we're being watched." She held an arm out, as she saw something Rhed, hiding in an alley.

"Probs not more than someone shooting drugs," Lilu said. "You don't know these streets like I do." None of them recognized Rhed. Rhed grinned and ran out at them.

"Crackhead on the loose!" Ahmond said and the three ran opposite direction. They encountered a purple wall, name being Blhu.

"I'm afraid children, this is where we end. With us talking about how you old something that belongs to us." He saw they hadn't any item on their person. "Regardless of whether or not you have it, we need to take you out of the competition."

Rhed walked a circle around them. "Kids, your run ends now. You and your sister are all going down. This could have been fun. We could have talked it out. Like your dumb yellow wolf guy, all of you have to go down."

"Vanos?" Ahmond asked. Rhed shrugged. The two adults approached them, and none of them could get away.

*

Kyofi growled at the attacker. "I don't know who you are but you need to stop!" She bared her teeth as the cloaked figure threw the table over.

The ice cream shop resembled a ransacked building. Tables upturned, and scared customers running indicated a place now destroyed. Kyofi couldn't protect the building and herself.

She jumped on top of the counter. She came down on a frog splash on the figure and ripped off his cloak.

A Boh picked her up and stared at her. Arber. He slammed her down onto a table, smashing it into pieces.

Kyofi took a breath in. Her spine and the skin nearby bruised in pain. She grabbed at a shard of wood, only for Arber to step on her hand.

He picked her up again, and this time, threw her into a window. The glass shattered and she fell on the pavement outside.

Arber came out the door. He didn't need a glassy wounding. Instead, he got to Kyofi, and Kyofi charged him. She headbutted him and knocked him to the ground.

She got into a side mount. He struggled to get up. She rolled him over onto his back, and pounded her paw down onto the backs of his ribs.

He got into a pushup position and she sat on his back. Her punches curved to reach his face, forcing him to cover up with his hands. Kyofi slipped her head underneath him and carried him on her shoulders. She lifted him up and slammed him on the ground.

The sheer burst of energy required brief rest. Kyofi crawled back to the side of the shop. Arber himself stayed on his back, taking heaving breaths. Kyofi's arms and shoulders felt sore from the running and punching of Arber.

Arber got to a knee. Kyofi growled, charged him. He revealed a gem and conjured a cloud of mist, swallowing Kyofi.

She gave all directions a glance, then saw a silhouetted boh. He charged her, and she got on two legs before receiving him.

Both locked their bodies against each other, holding each other into a clinch. He tried pushed her down between his legs to trap it. She pushed her shoulder into his gut to repel him back. He wrapped his arms and got a lock on her waist. To prevent being lifted or suplexed, she dropped her leg, stuck her rear out, and pushed harder.

Arber raised a fist and struck down on Kyofi's head and neck. The boh made progress on wounding Kyofi, but Kyofi couldn't budge for a second. Until her strength weakened, only for a second, and he slapped on the waist lock. He lifted her up and smashed her down on the ground again.

Sweating, Kyofi tried to take in more air. The moisture threatened to choke her, and the boh Arber got rope and tied her down against her will.