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Chapter XXVII Missing

"Hello? Things okay Ian?" he asked the wolf on the other end. Ian quickly spoke, but too fast for him to understand, "Slow down Ian!"

"Right, sorry, we need you over now! Xander has gone missing!" he stated, causing Lucas to drop his phone in shock, "Hello? You still there Lucas?...Lucas?" The fox boy just sat there for about a minute reeling in shock. Xander was missing? A sense of dread filled his stomach at the implementations. 'What if that bull Derrick got to him? I need to find him before Derrick hurts him...' he was broken from his thoughts when he heard loud shouting from his phone.

"Lucas? Lucas if you don't answer me right this minute I swear to Zeus I'll..." Ian let out before Lucas quickly grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Sorry, I dropped the phone... what do you mean Xander's went missing? Are you sure?" he asked the wolf, ignoring the strange looks everybody was giving him, he had more pressing issues at the moment. He heard mumbling on the other side of the phone as if Ian was speaking to somebody but he couldn't make out what Ian was saying. Eventually, Ian returned his focus back onto Lucas.

"Yeah, we looked everywhere around the house and none of us can sense him. Dad and Agent Wilson are looking around town for him at the moment." Lucas just nodded as he got back on his feet.

"Right, I'll be over in a jiffy," he said before hanging up. Once he was done the fox turned towards the group. All of them besides his father (who was still on the ground groaning in pain from the telekinetic beating Lucas had given him earlier) were looking at him oddly. Feelings mildly embarrassed he quickly rushed to explain himself. "Sorry, that was Ian, my friend Xander went missing, I need to go and help in the search."

Erin's reaction was immediate, "What do you mean, he's missing!" She cried out, arms flailing wildly, "We got to find him! What if Derrick got him! He could be dead for all we know!" Sensing her panic Lucas quickly laid his paws on her shoulders in before whispering into her ear to calm down. She gave him an incredulous look at that, but Lucas held firm and kept his paws planted onto her shoulders. Once Lucas was sure she was calm enough he let her go and stepped back several paces preparing himself for the inevitable outburst.

"I'm going to find him, but I need you stay here..." As he predicted, Erin immediately went off on a tangent.

"What!? No, I'm coming to! He's my friend too!" She shouted out. "I can't just sit here and wait while everybody else is searching for him! I refuse!"

Lucas just weathered the verbal tirade, it wasn't often that Erin got this way but he knew well enough not to argue with her or she'd rip his balls off and he was quite fond of them thank you. She did slow down eventually giving Lucas an opening one which he quickly pounced on. "You done?" he asked her politely.

When she nodded he quickly spoke up in an effort to keep her calm. "I want you to stay because we don't know where Xander is or who has him. If things get hairy I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire. If something happened to you I'd never forgive myself. Please Erin, please promise me you'll stay here... I can't lose you."

"But you let me fight the Cabal, why is this different?" she asked weakly.

He sighed at that, she did have a point, but he wasn't going to budge on this, last time they got lucky. If something happened to him at least she'd be okay. Hell, she'd probably be better off without him weighing her down...

"I know, and that was the stupidest thing I've ever done. We got lucky that time Erin, if I had known just how dangerous it would be I'd have never have let you tag along in the first place. I'm sorry Erin but I want you here, safe and sound." Erin looked like she was going to get into another tirade, before she saw he wasn't going to budge on the issue, and her anger just deflated and she looked away pouting. Noticing this Lucas just sighed in exasperation at her antics. "I'm sorry Erin, but I'm not going to put your life in danger again."

She just shook her own head and continued to pout for several moments before she spoke. "Just be careful Luc, please don't put yourself at unnecessary risk, I've already lost mom, I don't want to lose you as well."

Lucas' heart broke at that, he had almost forgotten their mom's death for a moment... but he needed to find Xander. He stood silently for about a minute trying to think up what to say. Eventually something did pop into his head, "I'll be careful, I promise, just trust me and I'll bring him back," he replied solemnly, before turning towards the tall grizzly agent. "Keep an eye on her will you Agent Wallace?" he asked the much older man. Agent Wallace just gave him a weird look before Agent Parker gave him a nod. Once he had the approval of his superior the grizzly quickly saluted the fox.

"Will do Master Lucas, do you need a ride? It's probably dangerous to be going through the forest alone, I do not want to risk losing you as well. Master Ian would be furious with me..." Lucas just shrugged him off, he was going to teleport to Ian's. He'd had manage to get the hang of it after his fight with Noctis.

"I'll be good, I'm going to teleport over there, no use wasting time getting stuck in traffic," he stated calmly. Speaking of which... 'Hey Noctis?' he mentally asked.

After a few seconds a deeper cooler 'voice' replied.

'Yes? What do you want?' the 'voice' asked him calmly.

'Um, I'm curious. How does the teleporting thing work? I was kinda running on instinct during our fight...' he stated sheepishly.

The rough 'voice' just let a light chuckle at Lucas' embarrassment obviously relishing in the emotions. 'It is quite simple child. All you need to do is place an image of your destination in your mind and focus on it. Then you must gather the shadows around yourself and let them absorb you. You will find yourself where you wanted to be. But be warned, if you lose sight of your destination for even a moment you will be lost in the shadows for all eternity.'

Lucas shivered at those words and a sense of dread began to creep into his belly. He was seriously reconsidering teleporting to Ian's. _'Um, maybe I should take Agent Wallace up on his offer...'_he thought to himself nervously.

He could have sworn he heard Noctis let out a sigh before he commented on Lucas' sudden cowardice, 'You will be fine, I believe you can do this child. I have faith in you.'

Lucas blushed faintly at Noctis' praise and smiled, 'Thanks Nocte, I needed that...'

'Nocte? I thought you named me Noctis? I do not understand? Why do you refer to me as Nocte when my name is Noctis?'

Lucas chuckled at that, fully aware of the fact the others probably thought he had gone crazy again. But he ignored the dubious looks the others were giving him and explained himself to the confused entity, 'It's a nickname, um... a special name someone gives you. For example Erin calls me Luc, which is a shortened version of my name. Nocte is short for Noctis... hope that helps.' He stated mentally.

'It does, thank you... the languages you mortals use is confusing... so many words for the same object.'

Lucas let out another chuckle at that before focusing on the task at hand. Doing what Noctis instructed he made a mental picture of Ian's room, trying to ignore the warm fluttering feeling in his stomach he got from thinking of the place, he did not need to get distracted now. Once he had the image firmly cemented in his brain he called on the shadows to surround him and almost immediately he found himself in what looked like a corridor of darkness with a single spot of light shining from the far end of the corridor. He let himself gawk for a moment and right then the light began to flicker. Regaining his focus Lucas quickly started to run towards the light. After what felt like an eternity he finally reached the portal and jumped through only to crash onto a very startled looking Ian. With a loud crash they plummeted towards the floor both stunned for several moments.

Almost on cue Greg crashed through the door, knocking it off its hinges and looking like he was ready to fight. However once he saw the cause of the commotion he relaxed and look towards the fox confused. "Lucas? When did you get here?" he asked the fox, while he lifted him off of his master and setting him on Ian's computer chair.

Lucas just blushed lightly as he began to explain himself to the perturbed look feline. "Um, just now actually, I teleported here from home... I didn't expect Ian to be standing where I planned on arriving though. But anyway, what's up? Any word on Xander?" Greg just shook his head in frustration which made Lucas frown. Surely Mage's had some kind of spell to find lost people right? For God's sake they could put an entire force of nature under their thumb! You'd think locating spells would be easy for them?

"No we haven't, Jordan and Agent Wilson are driving around the city looking for him... so far they've had no luck. Wait, you said you teleported here? Without a portal? You can do that?"

"Err, yeah, Noctis showed me how... it's tricky to explain but basically I can place an image of where I want and use the darkness to transport me to where I want to go," he explained calmly, "And can't you just a tracking spell or something?" he then asked.

Surprisingly it was Ian who spoke up having recovered from the shock of Lucas falling on him, "It's not that simple, living beings are too complex for a tracking spell to work. Besides I have a feeling whoever took Xander is somehow suppressing his magic, or else Dad would've found him by now... and Noctis is the wolf-like creature that dragged you to the Dark Plain right?" Lucas simply gave a nod of assent to Ian's inquiry and then the wolf turned towards Greg looking mildly irritated, "Was it really necessary to knock my door down? Dad's going to flip!" Greg could only lay his head down as Ian chewed him out. Lucas kinda felt sorry for the tiger, he was usually the responsible one. Seeing him being chewed out by Ian was odd to say the least.

This continued for several moments and Lucas was beginning to consider the possibility of intervening, before he was offered a distraction in the form of a confused looking Richard. He had just stuck his head through the door about a second ago. Not missing a beat the young wolf immediately started asking questions. "What the bloody hell is going on here? I was speaking with Dad before all the crashing happened." After that he turned his attention towards Lucas, "Hey Lucas, when did you get here? Any idea what's going on?"

Lucas simply nodded and explained the situation to the wolf. Once Lucas was sure he had covered anything, he finished and Richard spoke up once again. "Wait, you can teleport without a portal? Awesome! How do you do it?"

Thankfully, Lucas was saved from answering the question by Ian who seemed like he had finished chewing Greg out and decided to turn his attention to his brother. "Any luck?" he asked him. Lucas also turned his attention towards him, silently hoping that the adults had found him. Sadly, that went crashing down when Richard shook his head.

"No luck, none at all... they've looked everywhere for him... what if he's..." Richard didn't get to even finish his sentence before someone interrupted him.

"Who cares what happened to the runt? He probably ran away and got whacked, I here Hunters enjoy taking out filthy half-breeds like him. His whore of a mother should've just kept her legs closed and spared us one of her spawn." The voice was Jonah who had been listening to the commotion silently.

Lucas felt his blood boil at the dingo's heartless remarks, but he was beaten to the punch by Ian who slammed his fist into the other canine's muzzle. Jonah didn't even flinch at the strike instead he just gave Ian a twisted smile. "That all you got Master Ian? Let me show you a real punch..." he said, before he lit his fist aflame and slammed it into Ian's chest, sending him flying into the wall on the other side of the room.

Ian hit the wall with a large amount of force causing him to let out a pained yelp while was stunned by the force of the impact. "You'll pay for that Jonah!" Greg hollered as he charged towards dingo one of his fists covered in an earthen glove. He tried to punch the dingo out, but Jonah was able to dodge the strike. Greg, unwilling to give up tried again but got the same result. This continued for several minutes before Jonah got bored.

"You're no fun Stripes..." he said with a yawn before he sent out a large burst of flame, sending the tiger flying from the room and into the basement area landing, before landing with a nasty sounding crash. Richard was to try sending a large torrent of water at the fire-dingo. Jonah struck back with his flames causing the water to evaporate. Richard however refused to give up and quickly reverted the steam back into water and continued his assault. The two just kept on exchanging blows. When Richard sent a water-whip at Jonah the dingo just used his flames to evaporate the water before it reached him. When Jonah sent a fireball towards Richard the wolf snuffed them out with his water.

This lasted for nearly ten minutes, and it looked like Richard was begging to tire swiftly judging by his slower movements, while Jonah continued at full power fling several fire blasts at the wolf filling the room with an oppressive amount of steam in the process. Richard was then caught off-guard when Jonah sent a massive spire of flame at him. The flaming spire was just about to break his guard before Lucas stepped into the fray. "Enough!" he shouted, as he felt a familiar power rise through him. Jonah's flames instantly sizzled out while Richard's water fell to the ground with a mighty splash catching them both by surprise.

"What did you do you little freak?" Jonah snarled out, as he turned towards Lucas with an almost maddened look in his bright golden eyes.

Lucas didn't budge however and stayed silent. Normally he'd probably be shitting his pants, after all the dingo had handily overpowered the other three and he still didn't know enough magic to defend himself properly, but the magic he felt running through his veins made him feel confident he could handle himself. This new found confidence only seemed to rile the dingo up even more judging by the growling and snarling coming from him. "Answer me you little freak!" he hollered out, as he was about to attack the fox.

Lucas was quicker to react however, before Jonah could even muster a flame, Lucas sent him flying into the wall behind using his telekinesis. Jonah let out a rough grunt at that but he managed to stay focused and gave him a taunting smirk. "That all you got foxie? I expected more from you." Lucas just growled and slammed him harder against the same wall but once again he didn't even flinch.

"Don't you dare talk shit about him in front of me! You know nothing of what he's been through!" Lucas snarled out at the dingo, "He's done nothing to deserve your bile!"

The damned dingo just chuckled at that, as if completely unbothered by the situation. When he spoke it was still in the same sarcastic tone Lucas had begun to associate with Jonah. "It's a free country mate, so I believe I can say whatever I want. I don't care what the half-breed has been through. I don't care for sob-stories. He's a snivelling little weakling who can't do anything for himself. I loathe people like that... he probably got tired of mooching and left. He can go die in a gutter for all I care!" Those callous words only hastened Lucas rage as he slammed Jonah against the wall even harder forcing an even louder grunt from the dingo.

Richard, who had been watching the two quickly started to worry if Jonah would get injured internally, those kinds of injuries where hell to fix, even with skilled healers. Monet could probably heal those injuries in a jiff like she did with Lucas, but even then the internal organs were fragile complex little things. "Um, Lucas, you might want to settle down... you might seriously hurt him." He spoke placidly in hopes of calming the fox down but all he got was a mildly distressing purple eyed glare causing him to back away slowly. "Uh, okay... do what you want..." Thankfully, Lucas just ignored him and turned his focus back on Jonah.

"Listen here and listen good, because I hate repeating myself," the fox stated coldly, catching even himself off-guard. What was he doing? Holding someone up in the air with telekinesis... was he really threatening someone? The feeling of having power over someone was incredible however, almost addicting... he could practically smell fear rolling from the dingo. While he hid it well physically, he couldn't hide it from Lifer and it smelled so sweet. "You are going to help us find Xander whether you like it or not. Also, you're going to sign up and enroll in school. I'm sure that might help you some."

"And if I refuse? Because you can't force me to actually do anything," Jonah snorted out defiantly, only to get the pressure around his neck increased cutting off his air-supply.

"Then I'll kill you right here and now. I should do that for attacking my friends, but I think you can help us," Lucas stated coolly. He couldn't believe he was actually threatening to kill someone! But if it meant keeping his friends safe he'd do it... his paws were already sullied with blood anyway, why stay them now? 'Yes, I'm already a monster but I can at least protect my friends... that has to count for something right?' he was broken from his thoughts when Jonah let out a small chuckle.

"You don't have the balls..." Jonah shot out snidely.

"I killed an entire squadron of Cabal Agents a few days ago. Do you really want to test me?" he asked back icily, scaring even himself. Jonah looked like was going to throw some sarcastic retort his way before the dingo realized just how serious Lucas was.

"Alright, I'll do what you ask! Geeze you're uptight, it's a wonder that the wolf actually managed to fit his cock up you..."

Lucas flushed brilliantly at that... he was suddenly very glad Erin wasn't here because she'd probably laughing her tail off right about now. Embarrassment aside, he was actually surprised that the dingo agreed so easily... he honestly thought he'd have to force the dingo to agree.

"As much as I loathe to do what people tell me it's just not worth getting killed over, I've still got things to do, people to find, and maybe school could help," the dingo said, "Now, if you may, can you PLEASE let me down!?"

Lucas gave the dingo a sheepish look before doing as Jonah asked him, letting him back on his paws gently. After he did so he turned his attention back towards Ian, who looked like he was beginning to come around. He was rubbing the back of his head and mumbling to himself. Lucas was quick to rush to his side.

"You okay? No concussion or anything?" he asked the wolf worryingly. The wolf just gave him a smile and shrugged Lucas' worries away.

"I'm okay babe. We Mages are a tough bunch we are! But bloody hell, that guy has a good arm..." he mumbled mostly to himself, "Might have cracked a rib or two, but I'm sure Greg can fix it up. He might not be as good as Monet, but he's good enough to heal a few injuries," he said before he got himself up and began two stretch himself out, "Best check on him... probably get him some aspirin... he has got to have a nasty headache." He then murmured before giving Lucas a quick kiss. "Love you..." before he left leaving him Jonah and Richard alone. The wolf just looked around nervously before he quickly dismissed himself.

"Um, I better go help Ian out with Greg..." he said as he quickly ran out of the room in a panicked manner.

Lucas himself was just about to leave before Jonah spoke up again. "So, how are you going to find him? The others already tried everything... unless you can do something they can't?"

A flash of inspiration flooded his brain, 'Of course!' he thought to himself. 'Maybe I can try and find him with the visions? I've had them before, so maybe I can trigger them at will?' After resolving himself to try that he quickly turned to Jonah. "That's a great idea! Thanks Jonah, I'll go tell the others!" the fox said, before he too went running out of the room leaving a confused looking Jonah behind.

"He did catch that I was being sarcastic? I swear, there is something wrong with that kit..." the dingo said to himself as he rubbed his throat. "Kid's pretty strong however, it's been awhile since I've so completely overpowered... not since I was little," he continued, before he created another ball of flame in his paws, only this time the flames were an inky black instead of the normal reddish-orange. "Besides he's fighting the Cabal as well, I still owe them a thrashing for what they did to me." He was grinning a savage smile, "Maybe they can help me find who I'm looking for..." The dingo just sighed as he extinguished the fire and took out the familiar picture, "I miss you so much Chase. I wish you were here to guide me because I have no clue what to do," he said, before walking out to join the others.

****

"You've got to be kidding me..." Jonah said, as he laid back on the couch he was sharing with Richard. The others looked mildly wary of the dingo, obviously not willing to let their guard down after the thrashing he gave them earlier. He seemed to not be bothered much from what Lucas saw, he still made his usual sarcastic quips against all of them but the fox nearly ignored him.

"I'm not, I swear, I think I can find him using the visions I see... I've had visions of him before. I think if I try and focus those visions I can maybe see how he vanished and go-from there!" He stated pleadingly, however Jonah remained unconvinced.

"That sounds too much like what a seer does. You're a Mage, Mage's can't be seers. So, I think you're full of shit," Jonah retorted icily, causing Lucas' fur to bristle up. He did not like being accused of being a liar, not at all. So he just growled at the dingo ears pinned back in anger while Jonah just sat in his seat with the same infuriating smirk he always wore. Just as he was about to wipe that smirk off of Jonah's face, Ian spoke up in an attempt to handle the situation before things got out of hand.

"Lay off Jonah, he's telling the truth strange as it sounds," the young wolf interjected, "He really does have these visions... he actually knew who Xander was before they even met."

Lucas gave the wolf a tiny smile in thanks for standing up for him, a smile that was returned just as brightly. However Jonah still remained unconvinced as he stretched out from his seat in an almost cat-like manner.

"I'm still not buying it, those visions sound like seer-sight, and that is exclusive to Mundanes. If he actually has some form of seer-sight, he wouldn't be a Mage." He then looked Lucas dead in the eye causing a small shiver to go down the fox's swine. "If you actually do have seer-sight prove it. Where is the half-breed...?"

Lucas just gave the dingo a mildly sheepish look at that. Honestly, he wasn't even sure he could trigger vision at will... the others had no rhyme or reason to them. He was just about to admit he didn't know how to work them properly before he heard a faint voice in his head... A voice that was certainly not Nocte's.

'Just focus on what you want to see, the past is the easiest thing to tap into.' The voice said catching Lucas by surprise.

'Who are you? What do you mean the past is the easiest to tap into? Why are you in my head?' The voice just gave a small chuckle at that annoying Lucas greatly. He could feel everyone gazing at him expectantly which made him feel antsy. 'Aren't you going to answer me?'

'Where's the fun in just telling you who I am? As for your question, it is simple, the past is events that have already happened so viewing them is easier. Now try and focus on your friend.'

Lucas grumbled lightly, annoyed that the voice didn't answer but did as he was told. He closed his eyes and tried focusing in on Xander's whereabouts. Almost immediately he felt his body stiffen as he found his consciousness plummeting into a strange light...

****

He found himself standing in Ian's backyard. Confused, he looked around for a few seconds before he noticed Xander was sitting on the patio in one of the comfy looking chairs facing the covered pool. He was looking toward the sky with a melancholy look on his muzzle seemingly deep in thought. Lucas was just about to contact him before he remembered that this was merely a vision of which he was a casual observer. The other fox stayed silent for several more minutes before he let out a sigh.

"I still can't believe it," he said mostly to himself, "I'm actually freed from Derrick's hold... I'm in a good school, I've got awesome friends who respect me and I'm free. I should be happy... why do I feel like I'm missing something?" he mused. "Maybe I should ask Mr Jordan if he could tell me more about the Fey? I'm half-Fey after all right? Wonder what kind of Fey my dad was? Greg did say there were different kinds..."

"He was an Elf, quite a strong one at that," A melodious, but still masculine voice answered catching Xander and Lucas off-guard. The voice had come out of nowhere... Xander quickly turned around to face the intruder and was surprised at what he saw. The figure was a strange sight, he lack the typical traits Fur's had such as fur, scales or feathers his flesh was bare, pale and smooth. He had noticeably pointed ears, but unlike Xander's own they sat on the side of his head.

"Wh-who the hell are you?" Xander demanded while he got himself in a fighting stance. "If you are here to take me back to Derrick, I will fight back." He stated coolly.

Lucas just frowned, the Elf looked oddly familiar... but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before. The Elf just chuckled lightly before he spoke in a soft gentle tone.

"I come in peace young one, I mean you no harm..." Xander gave him a sceptical look, not lowering his guard. He stayed silent for several moments but Lucas could tell the boy was curious about the Elf. After several more moments of silence Xander finally cracked.

"Who are you? Hell, what are you? You don't look like a Fur."

"I'm not a Fur, I am an Elf, a member of the Fey. I am called Lysander...and you are Xander Patrick Rose correct?" The fox nodded at that before he asked.

"Did you know him? My father I mean? What was he like?"

The elf Lysander frowned slightly and sighed as he took a seat on one of the benches as if the question was hard for him to answer. "Yes, I knew him quite well...he was a good man and so very young. I warned him when I found out he was having a relationship with your mother, but he did not listen... she was three months along with you when they were found out."

Xander just nodded sadly, it seemed like his dad was a good guy and Lucas could feel his pain about never getting the chance to know his father. "Did he love her? My dad, did he love my mother?" Xander asked.

The elf just gave a small shrug at that. "I cannot say child, he never spoke much about her, though I can understand his reasoning I'm sure he cared for her but if he truly loved her is a mystery." The older Elf said, before getting up. "Now, I want you to follow me, we can talk more somewhere else," he said holding his graceful looking hand out.

Xander fidgeted a bit at that, looking mildly uncomfortable as he looked around the backyard wondering where everybody was.

"The elder wolf had something to attend to in the city, so he and the raccoon agent are not here, and your friends are all downstairs at the moment. So please, come with me... I insist." Lucas felt a strange magic prickle across his fur as the man spoke. It made him feel put off, but Xander immediately caved into the man's wish.

"As you wish," he said in an empty sounding voice, his eyes look glazed over as Xander numbly followed the elf into the woods vanishing into the treeline. Just as Lucas lost sight of Xander, he found himself back in the darkness. Confused he looked around for several moments before the voice spoke up again.

'That is all we can see... the elf has blocked our sight now, so we cannot follow them into the woods. I am sorry I cannot help you more.' Lucas just shrugged the voices apology off. He at least had an idea who had Xander, but he was left with several more questions. Why did he want Xander? Where did they go? Was Xander okay? But another more pressing thought came to mind...

'What was that? That magic? It made me feel as if I was being compelled to obey him... it was creepy,' he said while still shaking off the icky feeling that remained from the elf's magic, the sheer wrongness not wanting to go away. (5439)

'Charm magic, that's what he used. It allows the Charmer to compel the victim to do what the Charmer wishes them to do. It's a controversial subject, it's illegal to use on other Mages, and several countries have banned outright unless as a last resort. The fey are well known for their skill in charms.'

'That's horrible,' Lucas murmured to himself, somewhat relieved that the effects of the charm magic began to fade. 'But what does he want with Xander? And why does he look so familiar?'

'I do not know, but I must end this conversation... I only have enough power to speak with you in short bursts... goodbye Lucas.' The voice said before Lucas was completely consumed by the darkness.

****

"He won't wake up..."

"He's in a trance, when a seer uses their powers they enter a trance like state which is almost impossible to break them out of, he'll wake up in time. But I guess he does have seer-sight... but how? Mage's are supposed to he be blocked off from that path."

"You seem quite knowledgeable about Seers Jonah. Why is that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know Stripes?" Voices rang from all around Lucas' head. He was back in his own body again it seemed and his mind was beginning to clear up some as he was stuck in the ocean between consciousness and unconsciousness. He let out a tiny groan and he began to struggle to bring himself back to full awareness.

"Shush! He's waking up!" Came what sounded like Ian's voice hovering somewhere his above him. With that knowledge he forced his eyes open, wincing from the bright light of the room. He was laying on his back on the floor in the basement, his head on Ian's lap. Naturally he was the first to speak, "Hey, glad you're awake, you gave us a scare."

"What happened?" he asked, voice like sandpaper. Almost immediately he saw Richard move some water from a glass and transferred it in front of his muzzle.

"Drink," he ordered gently. Lucas did that and drank the water as Richard explained what happened, "You passed out we tried waking you up but nothing we did worked, Ian was about to go into a right fit until Jonah deduced you entered into some kind of trance... did you see anything?" Lucas just shook his head, it still felt fuzzy after waking up but just as his mind began to clear the memory of the vision he said popped up front and centre of his mind.

"An elf took him! Said he knew his father! He charmed Xander into following him into the woods... I think he might be blocking me from seeing any further then that though," Lucas exclaimed as he sat up.

The others just gave him a confused look at that. "What would an elf want with Xander? The Fey typically ignore Changelings... so it's odd how some random elf took an interest in him." Richard stated as he leaned back into the couch. "But it makes sense why we can't sense him, the Fey are masters of warding magic."

Lucas nodded at that before turning towards Ian who looked like he was in deep thought "Something on your mind?" he asked the wolf, who gave him a nod but stayed silent for several moments as he tried to organize his thoughts together.

"Yeah, they might still be in the woods, problem is though is while not as particularly huge as far as forests go, it still covers a large amount of area. Plus they could be anywhere." Ian looked frustrated at that, "Plus that damned elf is blocking his magic so we wouldn't be able to sense 'em if we got close." He did have a point... they could search the entire forest and they'd have no clue if they were close to them... if only there was another way they could track those two...?

An idea came to him almost immediately... they could use Nocte! Surely being a being from the dark plains, he would be resistant to Fey magic right? "I think I have an idea on how to get around that! Do you guys have anything that would have Xander's scent on it?" The others gave him a puzzled look at his request and then looked towards the others. Eventually, after several minutes of silent discussion it was Greg who answered him.

"I might have something in my room, I'll go check." Before he got out of his seat and scuttled into his room and once he closed the door Richard gave him a funny sort of look before asking...

"Why do you need something with Xander's scent? You're not honestly going to try and sniff him out are you?"

Lucas just shook his head and stretched a bit before he answered the younger wolf. Ian had sat him on his lap a few minutes ago and he could feel the wolf's maleness rub between Ian's jeans and Lucas' clothed backside. 'Now's not the time to get distracted! I can think about Ian's dick when we aren't worrying about Xander!' He mentally rebuked himself before getting back to the matter at paw.

"Not me, but I think Noctis might be able to... Who knows, Fey magic might work differently on him."

"That might actually work, he's from the Dark Plain correct? So it probably would affect him differently! Good idea Lucas!" Ian said as he nibbled on the fox's ear causing Lucas' body to heat up in very distracting ways. Thankfully Jonah came to his rescue.

"Hey lover-boy, now's not the time for nooky!"

Embarrassed, Ian let Lucas slide of his lap and looked down to the ground avoiding everybody's eyes.

Greg came back moments later holding one of Xander's blankets. "Good thing I decided not to do the wash, these should still have scent on them," he said, as he handed them back to Lucas, "Now, what are you planning?"

Lucas gave him a teasing smile before, "You'll see!" Before focusing internally. 'Hey Noctis, can you come out? I need you for something.' Almost immediately something large and black crept out from the shadows obscuring one corner. The others winced away, caught by surprise as Noctis arrived and the creature look oddly satisfied by their reaction. "Guys, this is Nocte! Nocte, this is the guys... but can you sniff this? My friend is missing and I'm wondering if you can find him."

The wolf took the offered item and placed it at his nose. 'Your friend smells of a Fey and Fur a changeling?' Lucas nodded and he continued. 'I indeed smell something... the boy is in the woods... I sense he is not alone however... they are in an open field towards the middle of the forest guarded by Dryad trees... is that enough?' Lucas nodded gratefully for that.

"Yes it is thanks," he said verbally to the wolf, who nodded before fading into shadows. He then turned towards the others. "He's in a field near some Dryad trees let's go!" he said, before getting up and running upstairs before anyone could stop him. "I'm coming Xander, hang in there!"