THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHAD AND ASHEI

Author's Notes:

Finally added a chapter (some day in March 2008, can't remember when lol!). I'm reigniting my passion in this story by playing through Zelda again. Yes, some of this story is draftish, and a bit cheesy. I'll try and polish it up when its finished, but in the meanwhile, in my usual manner, I'll post things the moment I write them and hope that I get good reviews.

Spoiler warnings though. Since its about Shad and Ashei who you meet later on, it'll spoil some main plot elements in the game. The other characters are in it too though, including Link, Auru, Rusl, and Ooccoo, along with some apperances from Telma, Midna, and Epona. But the story is mainly focused around my two favorite members of the Resistance, Shad and Ashei. There's a deep spoiler in Chapter One, so read ahead with caution.

WARNINGS: Violence. Nothing else. You can trust me to keep all my stories rated for only violence, I never even suggest that a character is, um, romantically involved other than a kiss. I also don't make the characters swear or get drunk or anything, but they may drink some mugs mead or two just as long as they don't get drunk on it.

Its kind of inspired by Back of the Bar by tikitikirevenge.

CHAPTER ONE

Shad stared off into the overcast sky as he sat on a hill in the grassy plains of Hyrule Feild, his fingers interlocked and placed under his chin, his elbows buried on his knees.

It had been four days since he heard Link defeated Ganondorf, and said his last goodbye to Midna, who vanished into the Twilight Portal after breaking the Mirror, never to be seen again. Shad never knew about Midna until he heard about her just a few days ago. It made him sad for Link, to give up such a close friend like that. Link had later returned to Ordon after leaving Zelda in the palace.

Once Zelda had approached the Resistance, the group Shad was a part of, and gave them medals of honor for their bravery in assisting Link, but Shad had refused his medal. He didn't do anything to help Link, all he did was run into the palace after the others, who took care of things before he could even muster the courage to help. Though Zelda had insisted, Shad had refused and left. Though he didn't feel good about it, he knew he wouldn't feel good if he took the medal, either.

He sighed through closed lips, studying the clouds, watching as the small splotches of blue sky became devoured by the monsters as they teemed in and crowded over the light, blotting it out and causing Hyrule to turn into a dim, depressing landscape. Even the monsters down below who ignored Shad seemed effected by the sudden change of weather.

Shad stood up, then decided it was time to leave. It was going to rain soon.

He was only a few yards away from the grey-stoned city gates of the Castle Town. He dared not travel away from Hyrule Castle, for he knew the monsters would eat him alive if he strayed too far from the protection of the walls.

As he walked, he felt rain begin to land lightly on his shoulders (which were protected by the dark blue cotton jacket he had chosen to wear that morning), and moisten his short orange hair. He looked up, a few drops pelting his glasses, blurring his vision. He took them off, wiped them clean with the base of his shirt, then entered through the inner gates of the city.

The streets were almost empty, everyone was leaving to find cover from the approaching storm. Shad examined the fountain in the center of the stone-paved roads, watching as the rain caused dimples in the water.

"HEY!" Someone screamed from behind Shad, causing him to yelp. He spun around hurriedly, only to come face-to-face with Ashei, one of his comrads. She had black hair, and a bit of makeup around her eyes. She wore silver and black armor, which she never left home without. Danger could come any second, and she, being a brave and powerful young woman, was always itching to get her sword wet. Born and raised in the treacherous mountains, she was always ready for adventure and prepared, much unlike Shad, who loved to stay at home and read.

But, deep down, Shad longed for adventures but only specific to exploring a mysterious place known as the Sky City.

"I scared you, yeah?" Ashei asked with small grin.

Shad nodded, his face slightly pale from the shock.

"What are you doing out here? Rusl, Auru and I have been waiting for you back at the bar, we have some matters to discuss."

"I was just... watching the sky..." Shad replied, looking down with a grimace.

"If you dream about the Sky Beings so much," Ashei replied, her voice softening, "then maybe you should search for it again. I'm sure Link would know some about it, but he hasn't told me anything about it."

"He hasn't told me anything, either." Shad replied quietly as the rain fell harder, causing the ground to resound with its music. "Let's get out of this rain, shall we? I'm getting soaked."

"Sure, come on." Ashei motioned for him, and the two ran down a few streets and into an alleyway.

Down a few flights of stairs, hidden in the corner behind two buildings, was the door to Telma's Bar, a lively tavern that was normally the center of attention among soldiers and swordsmen. It was also the location of a secret group known as the Resistance, a gang of people dedicated to bringing the Light back to Hyrule. Shad knew that even if Link had now defeated Ganondorf, the Resistance was still needed as protection in Hyrule for any other monsters who dared to venture into it. But, now that the Twilight monsters have been dispatched, they were needed less, and their time was spent elsewhere.

Ashei opened the door, held it for Shad who was lagging behind, and closed it behind them. They were immediatly greeted by Telma, a dark-skinned woman with a loving heart for others. "You two are soaked!" She exclaimed. "Do you need a change of clothes?"

"Nah." Ashei said, flipping her hand as she spoke.

Shad shook his head. "I'll dry off."

Telma smiled and proceeded to polish a mug as her persian cat, Louise, walked over to Shad and meowed softly. Shad ignored it, knowing that it only wanted him to buy it some meat, for he made the mistake of doing so when he first became part of the Resistance.

He only joined the group to provide them his knowledge, but he was no warrior. He resented battle, being pacifistic in nature, and he was also ill-equipped and undertrained as a swordsman, or any other type of warrior.

Shad found his place in a seat at a small, round table. Rusl was seated across from him, Auru to his left, and Ashei took her place near Shad's left as well.

"Took you long enough," Auru muttered, casting a glance at Shad, though his eyes were glimmering with gladness. "I'm guessing you've been studying the sky again."

Auru was the oldest of the group, elderly, with grey hair and a small beard and mustache. He was also going bald, and had deep wrinkles. Though Auru was nowadays getting too old to be such the warrior he once was, he was always able to offer the group his advice, which one could only gain through experience in a long life, something Shad didn't have. Shad was only in his late teens, nineteen to be exact. It was a coensidence that Ashei had just turned twenty herself.

"This is what's going on," Rusl began to explain. He normally wore a leather and chainmail helmet, but he had it off at the moment, finding it not needed now. He had blonde hair, a white headband around his brow, and a mustache. Rusl was usually in a good mood, and he always had a smile on his face, finding the good things out of life. But, when his family was in danger, he would change to a very protective father and husband, and he would without doubt sacrifice himself for his family and friends. Shad admired this about Rusl.

"I'm going back to Ordon with my family for a while, so I'm temporarily leaving the Resistance, but I'll return when I am needed. My children are being brought back to Ordon from Kakariko, so I'm making a stop at Kakariko Village to offer my thanks to Renado."

"And I," Auru began slowly, "am retiring. You can come and visit me at Lake Hylia anytime you want... but I'm afraid I cannot be in the Resistance anymore."

Shad frowned. He knew it would come soon, but he wasn't prepared for the information at the moment. He would miss working with Auru and Rusl dearly, but this would give him another excuse to leave temporarily as well. He wanted so badly to continue his father's research about the Sky Beings, and he had come so close when he was taking a break from the Resistance to examine the statue Renado had in his basement a few weeks ago, only to be ushered away by Link for some unknown cause. He had learned more about it afterwards, though, and was thankful Link helped him even see the Cannon that the statue was guarding.

"What about you, Ashei?" Rusl asked. "We haven't heard where you were headed."

"I haven't decided." Ashei replied, leaning against the wall. "I was thinking about returning to the mountains for a while, but what is there to do there? I've already explored ever cave, every nook, every detour that exists there. There's so much more to see away from it, I just haven't thought of where I'm going."

"Shad?" Auru turned to Shad, who was deep in thought.

"I guess I'm going to study more about the Sky Beings..." Shad said quietly. "I really feel it is my duty to discover more about them... and my father would be proud shoud I actually find it."

"It would be a very dangerous task, you understand?" Auru said. "Link told me about it, but he asked me not to tell you how he got there. He said he wanted you to have the honor of finding it out for yourself, and so that he wouldn't take your credit for discovering it."

Shad gasped. Link... he was so kind! He could've been granted the honor of discovering the Sky Beings, but instead he was letting Shad take all of his glory!? Now Shad felt almost ashamed.

"I can't-" He began, but Auru cut him off.

"Link thought you might say that, but he told me that its more then enough being the Legendary Hero. He wanted you to have part in being legendary as well."

Shad blushed. "That is... I mean, this is incredible..."

"Well, I'm leaving tomorrow." Rusl said, "so I bid you farewell."

Rusl took a mug from the table, sipped from it, then stood up to leave to his hotel, and gather his belongings.

"Honey, you take care now! Come back anytime you feel like it!" Telma called.

"Well, I guess I better pack up too." Auru stood up and limped away, taking his staff which was left at the doorway before exiting.

"You too, Auru!" Telma told him as he left. She smiled warmly, glad for them that they were going to what they loved most. She knew that wouldn't be the last time she'd see them, considering she owned the best tavern in Hyrule.

"I've decided," Ashei spoke after a long silence, "that I am going to accompany you, Shad. We have so much to explore together, yeah? I've wanted to see the Sky Beings myself, after hearing you talk about it."

Shad blushed. "I, uh... sure... I mean, yeah. That sounds nice."

Ashei chuckled. "Well, I'm heading out. It gets boring with less people, yeah? See you around, Shad. If you feel like it, meet me here tomorrow."

Shad watched her leave, then stared at Rusl's empty mug from across the table, finding it the most intresting object to look at as he thought. He had a lot of journey ahead of him, and exploring with Ashei, he concluded, would make things a bit funner, and less dangerous.

But how dangerous could it possibly be? Auru told him it would be dangerous... but would he die trying?

It was misty outside, and the air was filled with the scent of dirt mixed with rainwater and ozone, the ground saturated with the liquid. The storm had lasted for three days, but the worst of it was yesterday.

Shad rubbed his eyes and yawned, glad that the rain had stopped that morning. Last night was horrendous, and Shad could not sleep through the thunder which sang through the night, so he read instead. It was a book he had already read, but he liked re-reading old tales to catch up on them. There wasn't a book in his room in the Castle Town inn that he hadn't read in his lifetime.

Shad found it surprizing that he had beat Ashei to the bar. Telma was just opening it up that morning, and she was just setting up for the day when she saw Shad enter.

"Shad! You're up early," she said. "My, you look awful! What happened?"

"I didn't get any sleep," Shad said quietly, "but I'll be fine."

"Maybe you just need a bit of mead to get your day started," Telma said. "You won't have to pay for this one."

Without waiting for Shad's reply, she filled him a mug from one of the many barrels hidden under the bartable, but only halfway, because knowing Shad, he resented liquor, only drinking it on occasions.

"Thank you." Shad told her as she slid him the mug across the bartable. He made his way to the back, which was dimly lit by the orange glow of a lantern hanging overhead. He placed his mug onto the table, and stared into the frothy, black void for a few minutes. He took a slight sip and grimaced at the taste, but it did send him a jolt to his brain, waking him up a bit. (Telma normally told him that a taste for mead was an aquired one, she assured him he would like it more when he got older.)

Suddenly, the door to the bar burst open, and in stumbled Ashei, who was walking awkwardly, weighted with a large backpack.

"Good news!" She announced. "Rusl and Auru both made it to their destinations safely, and Rusl was just in time to look at his new baby girl, born two days earlier. Auru also gave me something while I was making sure he was alright at his house."

"Its too bad he didn't get to be with her during the birth..." Telma said. "My husband was in a battle when I had my son. He's off now, exploring the world. I haven't seen him in years."

"You have a son?" Shad asked, looking up from the mug.

Both Telma and Ashei laughed. "This whole time you didn't know? Where have you been, Shad, curled up in a book?" Ashei chuckled.

Shad looked back down and blushed noticably, his slanted ears turning red. "I, uh... sorry... I never knew."

"That's alright, hon." Telma said, stifling a chuckle. "A lot of people don't know."

Shad paused, then asked, "Who's your husband? I've never seen him?"

A morbid silence crept into the room, making Shad feel slightly uncomfortable.

"He was killed, Shad." Ashei spoke for Telma. "That's why she's intrested in Renado right now. She wants a new husband."

Telma said nothing, and called for Louise. The white Persian cat hopped onto the counter and purred as she stroked it. Shad looked away, horribly embarrassed, even more than before.

Ashei walked to the table, and sat in the chair across from Shad.

"Since we're going to be leaving soon, I think its time we went over plans for this journey." Ashei reached into her pocket, and took out an old, browned map, which was crumpled a bit.

Shad was rather curious as to what was inside Ashei's large backpack, but he didn't ask her. It might have something to do with their undertaking, and he didn't want to think much about it.

"Its the only spare map I had, but I thought we could use it to mark where we're headed, yeah?" Ashei said, then hesitated, thinking. She perked up suddenly, saying, "oh, and this is what Auru gave me. He said Link left it with him, and he wanted to see if you could figure out what it did."

Ashei took off her backpack and reached inside it. She then pulled out a long wodden rod, with a wing-like end. Strange inscriptions were etched on its surphace, and it fit nicely in Ashei's hand.

She laid it on the table and slid it over to Shad, who took it eagerly and examined it.

Shad gasped as he ran his fingers over the engravings, marveling at its beauty. This was what he needed- the key to the statues!

"As you may know..." he began, his voice filled with intrest, "...I have been studying the Sky Beings and the language they use... apparently, the language is written on this staff... I belive this may be the Dominion Rod!"

Ashei didn't seem so surprized, then she asked, "...what's that?"

"Its a tool used to command the Sky Beings' statues! I may be able to figure out what exactly it does by trying it on the statues found throughout Hyrule!"

Ashei had never seen Shad so excited before. He normally was moping, dreading future events, hiding from the world. She assumed life hasn't treated him fairly in the past, and she always wondered why he was in the Resistance. She never asked him, and he never told anyone. They joined at around the same time, and it took some time getting used to Shad, for Ashei was so much diffrent than him.

"Now, I've memorized the locations of each of these statues, so the first thing we're going to do is move them all with this rod..." Shad hesitated, then added in a morbid tone, "...if it works, that is..."

"Why don't you test it right now?"

Without replying, Shad stood up from his chair, pusing hit back as he stood, and aimed it at the empty wall. His grip tightend on the staff, and he concentrated. Just as his knuckles began to turn white from grasping it, a strange green orb appeared within the wing-like shape at the end of the rod. Shad grinned broadly, then fung the staff forward. The green orb shot out of the rod, bounced off the wall, then returned to the rod. Shad released his grip, and the orb dissappeared, contained within the rod.

"That was amazing!" Ashei exclaimed. Telma, who had been watching, was also speechless. "How did you do that?!"

Shad had no reply for her question. He didn't really know how it worked, it just... did.

"So are you convienced that its the Dominion Rod?" Telma asked from across the room.

"Yes... in fact... Yes I am..." Shad breathed, cautiously putting the staff back down, as if he was afraid to break it. "Without doubt." He finished quietly, watching the Dominion Rod as if it would do something else without Shad's input.

"Alright, so we've got our first locations marked, yeah? What do you plan to do after that?"

"Well, I don't know, but Link's definatly assisted by giving me this rod, thus I now have another lead on this mystery... I shall praise him for all eternity! I won't neglet to send him a letter after this incident." Shad replied.

"So when do you want to depart?"

"As soon as you're ready..." Shad said.

"I thought you might say that, so I thought ahead of time and already packed us a lot of supplies. You're going to need to bring anything else you want, but I've got the necessities covered."

Shad glanced over the table, over Ashei's shoulder, and examined the large backpack, but he couldn't find any indication that she had brought sleeping bags.

"No sleeping bags?" He asked.

"Uh, no, why?"

"We're just going to sleep on the ground?"

"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?" Ashei cocked her head.

"Ashei, you were raised in the mountains! I was raised in a bookstore! I can't sleep on the ground, and have myself be covered with skulltulas when I wake!"

Ashei giggled. "If you want to be an adventurer, you have to learn to live without those things. But if you're as wimpy as you make yourself seem, you can bring your own."

Shad stood up and began walking torwards the door. He said over his shoulder, "I'll be back here as soon as I can, I'm going to pack." He left before she could see his blush of embarrassment. She was right about his being wimpy, but what could he do about it? He wasn't used to being an adventurer, and he wasn't looking forward to Ashei teaching him how. He didn't trust her methods of teaching.

It was afternoon when the two departed after eating a small lunch. Ashei ordered a roated Cucco, but Shad went with a standard salad. He wasn't a big fan of meat, though he wasn't neccissarily vegetarian. Ashei didn't know how he could stand eating a salad over Cucco meat.

On the road, Ashei had her hands full with dispatching the occasional buzzard and orcish warrior they encountered, with Shad running for cover when they were approached, even if Ashei had given him a spare dagger for defence.

They followed a dirt-paved road, headed southwest, where Shad had marked the first statue. They were headed to a small site of ruins near the castle, and Shad suspected it to be heavily guarded as it usually was. He was only able to study the statue there from a distance, under a bush, to avoid drawing attention to himself. But, with Ashei, he knew that she wouldn't take such precautions in approaching an enemy. It was a strait on attack for her.

It was longer from Hyrule Castle than it seemed on the map, and Shad was already getting exhausted, but Ashei showed no sign of it, even with all her armor.

"So we're going at this on foot?" Shad asked.

"There wasn't room for horses in the mountains, so I never got used to them." Ashei explained. "Besides, going on foot shouldn't take that long, yeah?"

"We've been on the road for two hours, and my feet are killing me..." Shad complained quietly. "Can we take a break, please?"

"Sure, if you're a wimp." Ashei told him.

Shad kept his mouth shut and kept walking. Ashei was amused at his efforts to show her how strong he could be, but she could see the exaust on his face.

"We've only been walking for a few hours. You don't get out much, do you?" Ashei said, pausing breifly to look at Shad, who was lagging behind her.

"Not particularily, no..."

"It shows." Ashei huffed and turned back around. "Alright, we'll rest here."

Shad dropped to the ground and took off his shoes to examine any damage. There was a blister on his big toe, but other than that, they were undamaged. He took a canteen from his equipment sack and drank some water from it. Ashei just watched him, she didn't sit down or drink at all.

"Done yet?" She asked him. He nodded, putting his shoes back on, and regained his footing.

They had soon entered the site of the ruins, which was heavily guarded by two axe-weilding Bulblins, an orcish race of evil creatures.

"I'll take these losers. You worry about the statue." Ashei told Shad, then jumped down a flight of destroyed stairs, drawing her sword from its sheath on her belt. As she combatted the creatures, Shad readied his Dominion Rod, aiming it with precision at the statue. However, just as he was about to shoot the energy torwards it, something hit the back of his head hard, and he fell forwards in shock.

Too surprized to regain his footing in time, something slashed him across the chest, sending him shouting with the sudden pain.

"Shad!" Ashei looked up from the battle. She had defeated a Bolblin, and was coming close to sawing the other one to shards when she noticed Shad's danger. He was being attacked by two buzzards, who were picking a fight with him when he wasn't ready.

"The dagger!" She cried. "I can't come, I'm defending myself!"

Shad fumbled on his belt for the dagger, recieved two more slashes from the creatures, then wrenched the dagger out of the sheath with a cry. He managed to cut one of the creatures across the knee, leaving a bleeding gash. The creature screeched, blood dripping off its talon and onto Shad's shirt. He tried his best to ignore it, but it had a putrid smell, causing him to gag. The injured buzzard flew away indistaste.

Shad readied himself, jabbing the dagger at the other buzzard, barely nicking it across the side. He had to attack it three times more before it gave up and left. When the danger was over, Ashei ran to Shad, noticing the blood that stained his shirt.

"Is that yours?"

"The darker bit is from that bird... but the one across my lower chest is mine..."

"Here," Ashei pulled bandages from her sack. "It'll stop your bleeding..."

He allowed her to lift his shirt up to the injury to bandage him, but she hesitated before doing so, staring at his ribcage. He was strangely underfed, and Ashei had never realized how thin he was until now. "Someone aught to feed you a little something other than leaves..." she muttered, wrapping the white bandage around Shad's middle. He grimaced at the tightness, it almost hurt him.

"Why are you so thin?" She asked Shad.

"Oh, I just am... its not unhealthy, really... I am just a thin person, I guess..."

"I find that hard to believe." Ashei turned and walked away to examine the statue while Shad stared at the blood on his shirt with clenched teeth.

He tried his best to wipe the buzzard's blood from his tunic, trying his best not to gag at it. His face flushed from the color as he thought about it.

"You really need to tough it up. You look like you're getting sick or something." Ashei said. "Its just blood, you've got it in you too."

"I know..." Shad moaned, "though it ruined this shirt... I've packed extras..."

"Your shirt's fine, Shad. It shows you defeated a buzzard, and maybe they will fear you more if you wear it around them."

"But it isn't presentable-"

"We're in the wild, Shad!" Ashei interrupted. "No one is going to worry about if you're presentable or not."

Shad grimaced, knowing her point was right. He turned and glanced at the statue, now unguaraded. The statue was atop a tall pillar, standing proudly over all other things in the ruins. It resembled an owl similar to the one he found in Renado's basement earlier.

Renado was a shy but kindhearted man, and he had taken care of the Ordon children while the monsters still teemed in the land. They were back home now, and Renado was probably continuing his work as a shaman. When Shad heard about a statue of the Sky Beings in his basement, he couldn't help but to take a day off to investigate it.

Shad readied his staff, then flung it at the owl with great haste. As it did earlier, a green orb shot from the top, but this time, when it collided with the owl, the orb stayed within it, and green etched lines began to move through the owl, and its eyes glowed green.

"What's it doing, Shad?!" Ashei asked.

"Its quite safe, really... Watch this..." Shad's hands were trembling with excitement as he walked backwards, and the owl followed from its perch. It then fell down from the pillar, landing safely on the ground. Shad released his grip on the staff, then hurried over to the owl.

"It should've revealed an area," Shad explained, "which contains the next peice to the puzzle."

He jumped slightly off the ground and grasped the top of the owl statue, intending to climb up it, but he fell back down and landed hard on the ground with a grunt.

"Here, let me get it. I'm more capable than you are." Ashei said with a chuckle, and Shad didn't want to argue with her.

She bounded onto the statue with inhuman grace and gasped with amazement.

"Shad, you have to see this!" She leaned over the edge of the owl statue, holding out her hand. Shad hesistated, adjusted his glasses, then took her hand and allowed her to pull him up.

They both sat atop the owl statue top, gazing with wide eyes and open mouths at the sight. There was a small depression where the statue used to be standing, and it was filled with flowing green energy. Inside it, a small book was tucked safely away.

Shad approached the area, and since the owl's head was level with the pillar it used to be standing on, he could approach it witout trouble. Shad gingerly picked up the book, and opened it, flipping through the pages.

"There's a lot missing, and- oh, what's this?"

Something fell out of the book and onto the ground below. Shad scrambled off the pillar, landing gently on his feet, then knealt to pick it up: it was a piece of paper.

"It is a letter... its signed by Link..." Shad announched after examining the paper. "It reads: 'Dear Shad, I am assuming this is the first statue you've visited, if not I'm sorry for any confusion. Though I've already collected these books and we've already used them on the statue in Renado's house, and I know you've tried the word on all the other statues, I've tried my hardest to reset everything I've done, but I must tell you the cannon we uncovered is still where I left it because I found it impossible to move it back. So, I tried my hardest to set you up on a little hunt. I don't want to be much part of your expedition, so I hope you can figure out the mystery I've set before you, as I've tiried to the best of my ability to make it seem clearly that you've done it all yourself, and as well it should be. Good luck, signed, Link'."

Shad hesitated. "So Link has been to the City in the Sky...I still can't believe he's letting me take his glory..."

"So he's setting us up on a little hunt for something?" "I think he's included some extra information in these documents sice I have already examined them myself when he found them earlier. I think that information will be what we need to know to get to the City in the Sky! Oh, I'm so excited! We're getting so close!"

Ashei smiled, then looked off to the horison. "Hey, the sun is setting." She said. "Its about time we set up camp, and these ruins are a good spot. I'll build us a fire, so I'm going to need to find some wood. Stay here, and yell if there's any trouble."

She didn't wait for Shad's reply, then left the ruins site, to find some wood for a fire. With her gone, Shad felt uncomfortable being alone. He was suddenly glad she volunteered to travel with him, he never knew how dangerous it could be. He had traveled through Hyrule before, but the monsters were taking to guarding the statues more seriously for some reason.

When Ashei returned, she was carrying a load of logs and sticks. She laid them in the center of the ruins site, and since the ground there was paved with stone, she didn't have to worry about grass catching fire. She built a firecircle out of stones which were lying about, then placed the wood inside. Shad watched with intrest as Ashei assembled a campfire, and took two spark-rocks from her sack.

"Normally I'd light a fire from scratch, but with you around, I decided to bring spark-rocks to speed things up a bit." She explained as she striked the rocks together. Sparks shot from the rocks and into the logs, and they immediatly caught fire and began to burn. Ashei nurtured the tiny fire for a second with her breath, then when it was large enough, she let it burn on its own, and it grew larger. She fed it more sticks, then took a bag of preserved meats from her backpack. She took a longer, straiter stick, and stuck some meat onto a sharpened edge, carefully placing it over the fire.

"I hope it turns out right. I usually like mine overdone. What's your prefrence?" She asked Shad as she turned the stick to get the meat done on all sides.

"Oh, I don't know. The only meats I've ever eaten were cooked in a closed space, an oven... I've never had some over a campfire... but I would like mine done well, but not burnt..."

"Then I guess you're going to have to settle for a bit overdone, because that's how I like it, and if I did all the work around here I should enjoy my dinner more than you, yeah?" Ashei said with a smile.

As they waited for the meat to cook, Shad took a book from his backpack, and began reading, using the light of the fire for the sun had set by now. When the meat was done, Ashei gave Shad his portion on a seperate stick. As she said, it was a bit overdone, burnt on some sides. Shad carefully ate around it. "So, Shad..." Ashei began after swallowing a bite, "What brought you into the Restistance, anyway?"

Shad gulped, then said, "I... I wanted to offer my help for Hyrule..."

"Oh, come on, there's got to be a deeper reason than that!" Ashei urged.

Shad looked down, then placed the remainder of his meat in the fire. He was done with it. He turned around, taking his sleeping bag off his backpack (for it was strapped to it), and positioned it as far away from Ashei as possible without being out of range from the heat of the fire.

"You barely ate anything!" She said.

"I'm not quite hungry..." Shad mumbled, entering his sleeping bag and turning around, his back facing her.

Ashei frowned. Was it something I said?

END OF CHAPTER ONE

(to be continued)