Yo! I said this chapter would be up Saturday, but I got it done ahead of schedule. You better be thankful I work my ass off on this story! I'm just kidding, but this does take a lot of time and effort to write, so I hope you all enjoy! Consider this chapter getting up early like an early Christmas gift! And if you don't celebrate Christmas then it's just a gift. Enjoy!
The Legend Of Zelda
The Endless Horizon
Chapter 2: The Cyan Forest
I'm in a rowboat with Mako, Nudge, and Senzo, while the other rowboat houses Tetra, Gonzo, Niko, and Zuko. As we make our way towards the island, it becomes easier to see. Most of the island seems to be a dense forest, made up of tall cyan trees. Upon closer inspection, the bark of the trees appears a shiny golden color. My survey of the island is cut short as Tetra speaks.
"All right so here's the plan," She stands up so her voice is projected better, "Once we land on the island, I want Link, Senzo, Niko, Nudge, and myself to explore the island, while the rest of you return to the ship. On the ship, you are to search for someplace to dock, it doesn't have to be a harbor, any cove or gulf will do fine. Once you do that, you come and meet us on the island. Take this so you can find us."
She pulls out two small golden stones with small strings wrapped around them.
"These are joint stones. The closer they get, the brighter they will glow. Any further questions?"
"None here." Mako replies.
"All good." Senzo says.
"Great. Let's get a move on." Tetra states.
She hands one of the stones to Gonzo and she slips the other one around her neck, like a necklace. By the time her speech is over and she gets settled again, we land on the coast of the island. Now there is a much better view of the forest, and there are visible red fruits of some kind growing from the trees. The grass is also the same cyan color as the leaves, and both the grass and the leaves emit an odd purple dust. As we unload everything out of the rowboats, Gonzo and his group load back into the rowboats to return them to the ship.
"See you in a little while Tetra!" Mako and Zuko wave goodbye.
"See ya boss!" Gonzo shouts as their rowboats start drifting away towards the ship. After saying their farewells, the crew now on the island turns towards the mystical forest.
"You ready?" I ask everyone, but specifically Tetra.
"Yeah! Let's do this!" Niko shouts. Senzo and Nudge just chuckle to themselves. Tetra cracks a soft smile as well. I can't help but crack one either. After double checking our equipment, we head into the strange forest. The purple dust falling from the trees really intrigues me, so I take an empty bottle out of my backpack and store some inside. Might be useful later if I can figure out what to do with it. The bark on the trees isn't actually made of gold, it just appears that color. What a shame. The powder doesn't seem to stick to the grass as it falls, it just seeps right into the soil. Maybe this is what causes that mysterious cyan color? I dismiss my thoughts and notice that the group has travelled ahead of me while I was studying the soil.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Tetra turns and jokes at me, earning herself a chuckle from Nudge. As I catch up, Niko points out a weird red butterfly, so we catch that in a bottle as well and put some grass and sticks inside. Niko and I examine it, noticing it has an odd black floral pattern almost stamped onto its wings, perfectly symmetrical as well. Niko continues to examine it while I pull out my grappling hook from my bag. There's still one thing I never got a closer look at.
"Whatcha doin, Link?" Tetra asks me.
"Grabbing a fruit." I swing the grapple up and grab a branch on one of the trees, and proceed to climb the rope up to the top. Once I reach my desired height, I pick a few of the neon red fruits and toss them down to Senzo and Nudge, who stuff them into their bags. After climbing down, the group presses on again, until suddenly Tetra stops.
"What's wrong?" Niko stops examining the butterfly for a moment to see what's happening.
"I just saw something fly by," Tetra explains, "You didn't see it?"
"Nope." Senzo, Nudge, and I all say simultaneously.
"Maybe I was just imagining it..."
Suddenly, a bright orange light flies by from our right and takes off towards the left.
"There!" I shout, and proceed to take off running after the light.
"Wait, Link!" Niko shouts as the group begins to run steadily behind me as well. The light makes many twists and turns through the dense forest. Is it running from us? Or is it looking for something? My question answered itself as our group rounds a corner and sees the light hovering still in the sky. Just below it is a green Chu-Chu, with another identical orange light inside. I draw my sword and lunge at the Chu-Chu, but it manages to dodge my first slash. I jump back to distance myself, and then leap at the Chu-Chu again, successfully landing two slashes on it. The Chu-Chu collapses to the ground, and disappears in a puff of smoke, simultaneously freeing the captive light. The two odd lights float up next to each other. They're a fiery orange color, and seem to be emitting a weak fiery aura as well.
"Thank you for freeing me!" The one on the left speaks.
Niko falls back flat on his butt, startled. "W-What? You can talk?"
"Well, of course silly!" The other one confirms, before both light orbs sprout bright orange wings from themselves.
"We're fairies after all!" The one on the right squeaks.
"You're fairies?" Senzo asks.
"Yep! Fire fairies."
"We're from Magu-Magu island east of here." The one on the left explains.
"So then what are you doing here?" Tetra questions.
"We're... not sure actually. We just woke up here about 10 minutes ago. We were just wandering around looking for some kind of clue and then Yoko here got captured by a weird slimy monster!" The left one exclaims.
"You mean that Chu-Chu I defeated?" I ask.
"Yes," The one on the right, Yoko, confirms. "Thanks again for freeing me!"
"It was nothing." I say.
"Anyways, If you said you don't know why you're here, how do you know Magu-Magu island is east of here?" Nudge inquires.
"Us fairies can sense where our fairy fountain is! Nifty natural tracking device!" Yoko explains.
"Huh. Never knew that." Nudge expresses.
"You're Yoko right? What's your name?" Niko asks the one on the left.
"I'm Mari. It's nice to meet your acquaintances! Your names are?"
"Link."
"Tetra."
"Nudge."
"Senzo."
"And Niko!"
"Hehe. Well it's nice to meet all of you!" Yoko greets.
"So, since you know where your home is, are you guys gunna take off?" Senzo asks.
"Actually, the thing is... fairies can't stay airborne forever. It would be impossible to try and cross the ocean to the next island by flight alone." Mari explains.
"I see." Senzo mutters.
"Well, guess that means you'll have to travel with us, right?" I say.
"Really? You'd take us home? Thank you so much!" Yoko flies up and down giddily.
Tetra gives me a disapproving glare, but I just ignore it. I know Tetra doesn't really jump at the 'happy' types of people, but they're poor helpless fairies. I would feel bad if I didn't help them.
"Yeah. We'll take you guys home. You said you lived somewhere called Magu-Magu island?" I ask them.
"Yes, its a really neat island! You guys might like it there!" Mari explains.
"That's right! You can meet all our brothers and sisters and... and..." Yoko begins to trail off.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I worriedly ask.
"We have brothers and sisters but, I just thought that..." Yoko trails off again, but picks back up, "what if they got scattered as well?"
"Oh no! What happened to poor Boko? You know he's not okay on his own!" Mari suddenly changes to a worried expression.
"Oh Boko..." Yoko worriedly sighs his name, leaving me no other choice at this point.
"We'll help you guys. We'll find Boko and get you guys home." I ensure.
"Really? You'd do that?" Mari asks, surprised by my kindness.
"Of course. I can't refuse someone in need. Plus, you guys lost your memory. I would hate to be in your position. So I'll help you out. No, We'll help you out. Right guys?" I turn to look at the group of pirates along with Tetra. They all give a simultaneous thumbs up. Tetra just sighs, and then nods her head in agreement.
"Yeah, we'll help you out." She confirms for us.
"Oooohhhhh thank you thank you thank you!" Yoko screams excitedly and flies up to nuzzle my face. Upon this, I'm met with a burning sensation.
"Ow, ow! Hot!" I yell, pulling myself away from Yoko.
"Oh, sorry! I forgot that our bodies are hot. Y'know, because we're fire fairies." Yoko apologizes.
I laugh to myself at her ignorance. "It's fine. Now, do you have any leads as to where your brothers and sisters could be?"
"Well... there is something weird where we woke up. Not even sure if it applies to us though. Could just be part of the island." Mari answers.
"Well, lets go check it out just to be safe." Nudge responds.
"Okay!" Mari responds, and so our group starts to follow Mari and Yoko north on the island.
Meanwhile, with the other pirate group...
(Third Person)
"Hey, Zuko! See anything from up there yet?" Gonzo tells from the steering wheel of the ship. Zuko is hanging off the top of the mast just above the crows nest.
"Nothing yet. I'm sure we'll find somewhere to dock eventually though..."
"Oh! L-Look over there!" Mako alerts the other two. He's pointing at a small cove from the bowsprit of the ship.
"Perfect! Head over there Gonzo!" Zuko shouts, noticing the small cave.
"I'm on it!" Gonzo shouts as he spins the wheel of the ship, heading towards the opening in the mountainside.
"Alright, all the sails are furled. We can head off now." Zuko shouts as he leaps down from one of the masts, catching a dangling rope to break his fall.
"Yeah. Let's head out." Gonzo confirms, as Mako takes out the joint stone from earlier.
"It s-seems that they're p-pretty far away. T-The light is d-dim." They all look at the mystic stone, and notice the golden light is receding as well.
"They're getting farther away. Come on, let's catch up to them!" Zuko orders as they begin to jog through the cavern to look for an exit. The cavern is pretty large, and there are many holes in the ceiling of the cavern, with large red crystals acting like sunroofs for the holes. This provides the cavern with a calm red glow. However, the group notices one light shining down that isn't red. It's normal. Beneath it lies a crater surrounded by strange purple crystals. And an odd orange light.
"What's that?" Gonzo points out to the group. They stop looking for an exit and examine the weird crystals.
"What are these crystals?" Zuko asks himself.
"I t-think it's... ice. B-But what is it d-doing here?" Mako answers.
"Maybe the crater has something to do with it...?" Gonzo wonders aloud. They then notice the orange light in the center, encased in a purple ice fragment.
"I wonder what's that thing?" Zuko says, pointing towards the bright ball.
"Let's find out!" Gonzo exclaims, as he winds up a kick and smashes the top of the crystal to pieces, revealing the bright light in the center. It wiggles around a bit, before sprouting wings and leaping straight out of the shattered crystal.
"Where... where am I?"
The group just stares at the light stunned. It flies down to Gonzo.
"Do you know where I am?" It asks him.
"Uhh... no. To be honest, we don't know where we are either. We've only just landed on this island."
"Oh I see... that's too bad." The light says. It seems to be thinking of something, and then returns it's attention to Gonzo.
"Oh how silly of me! I didn't introduce myself! I'm Boko! A fire fairy! Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Gonzo. And this is Mako and Zuko." He points to the other two respectively.
"Well, it was really nice of you to free me, and I'd love to stay and chat, but I should be going! I know my sisters are around here somewhere... I can sense them."
"Your s-sisters?" Mako questions.
"Yes! Other fire fairies like me. I don't remember much... I think I've lost my memory. Or just pieces of it. But I can sense them here, so I have to find them! They're my little sisters, so I have to protect them at any cost!" Boko shouts.
"Well, we're looking for our friends as well, why don't you tag along with us for the time being?" Zuko suggests.
"What? Why should I go with you?" Boko asks startled.
"Well four people is better than one. Also, it's easier to not get lost in a group." Zuko explains.
"Well, that does seem better than traveling alone." Boko gives in.
"So you're in?" Gonzo asks.
"Sure. I'm in!" Boko agrees.
"Alright then! Let's look for an exit now!" Gonzo orders. The group takes off once more into the cave, this time plus one. However, they don't seem to notice the hooded figure stalking them...
Back with Link and Tetra's group...
(First Person)
"You said this is where you guys woke up?" Tetra asks.
"Uh-huh! We just woke up here." Yoko says.
"Very peculiar..." Senzo mutters to himself.
The group and I stand before two small craters, maybe about a foot in diameter. Both seem to be surrounded by strange purple crystals.
"These crystals are made of ice." Niko informs us, examining the crystals.
"That's kinda weird. Two fire fairies woke up surrounded by strange ice. And with no memories to boot." Tetra repeats to herself, I assume to keep the information fresh in her mind.
"You don't remember anything else?" Nudge asks the fairies, who both respond by shaking side to side.
"No. We've told you everything we can remember." Mari states.
"Damn..." He says to himself. Nudge may seem like a brute on the outside, but he's actually really caring. He's really determined to get these fairies home. I can just tell.
"Hey Tetra! The stone is finally glowing brighter!" Niko says, drawing all of our attentions to the stone around Tetra's neck. It was still kinda dim, but it was getting brighter ever so slowly.
"You're right." I say.
"What's that stone?" Mari asks.
"It's called a joint stone. There's two of them, and the closer they get the brighter they'll glow." I explain.
"Neat!" Yoko exclaims. Just then, a beam of ice comes flying out of the forest, and freezes Yoko mid-air, causing her to be encased in a block of ice. She falls to the ground with a 'thunk'.
"Yoko!" Mari worriedly exclaims. She rushes over to her sister, accompanied by Niko, while Tetra, Nudge, Senzo, and I all draw our weapons and assume battle stances.
"That was an ice beam! It must be a Wizzrobe!" I inform, and everyone's stances tighten. We stand alert, looking for any sign of movement in the woods. Another ice beam shoots out from behind a tree, but I manage to dodge it in time. I rush behind the tree where the enemy should be, but see him vanish just as I get there. Then, I hear the sound of another ice beam behind me, as Senzo dodges it and takes a shot at the monster with his shotgun. It teleports away to dodge the attack, but appears right in Tetra's line of sight, where she manages to land a combo of hits on it, before it teleports away again. We all are on high alert now, as we don't want this thing to catch us off guard. I then notice the ground where our combatant has shot ice beams. The ice was purple like the other ice we saw, if wasn't a normal light blue color. This means this monster is probably responsible for the craters. He appears in the sky above us, but I'm already one step ahead of him. I've fought Wizzrobes before. I throw my boomerang into the sky, and land a direct hit on the beast, successfully stunning him.
"Nudge! Senzo! Boost!" I shout, and run towards the two. They drop their weapons and position their hands like springs, and launch me into the air once I step into their grips. I fly right up next to the Wizzrobe, and perform a mid-air spin attack, destroying the Wizzrobe in a puff of magic smoke. I catch my fall on a tree branch, and then drop to the ground, sheathing my sword upon landing. Everyone else gathers their weapons and returns them to their former positions. I then notice something falling from where I defeated the Wizzrobe. It floats like a feather or piece of paper. I catch it as it falls down, and note that it is indeed a piece of paper. A purple piece of paper with a word written across it in fancy lettering:
"DYNA"
To Be Continued...
I hope you enjoyed that chapter, because chapter three will be up soon. On another note, whenever I first published chapter one of this story, I honestly didn't expect to get any reviews. I thought I would have to publish at least 5 chapters before I got even one review. But I was wrong. I got 2 reviews, 2 follows, and 2 favorites in less than a week. For this being my first story and all, that really touched my heart to know that people enjoyed my story. So thank all of you for that. Also, special thanks to The Delta 42, who is going to draw the sword and shield that Link has from the first chapter! I don't believe they've made the artwork at the time I'm uploading this chapter, but go check out their Deviantart, because it will probably be up soon! Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!
-Musashi