Chapter two is finally up! School started and so did cross country so I've been really busy. Plus, it's confusing so I need to have my friend com upload it for me XD Anyway…Enjoy! I don't own any SSB characters!
Chapter 2: Our Journey Begins
Marth chocked on his food. "What?"
"Was I unclear with that statement?" Link lifted his eyebrow.
Ike put his egg sandwich down and wiped the sticky yellow yolk off the sides off his mouth.
"Link, I know you want your siblings back. You have tried everything and it hasn't worked." He paused trying to think of something to say. "Not saying that all hopes are down the drain, but…" He stared at his plate for a moment. Finally he sighed and sunk back into the booth.
The four boys were so deep in their own separate thoughts that the return of the waitress startled them.
"Is that it for today?" They looked around at each other's plates.
"Y-yes, that'll be all." Marth smiled.
"I'll be right back." Once again she went back to the kitchen.
"Well, whether you're in or not I'm leaving." Link finally said.
"Leaving? Where you goin'?" Roy sounded surprised.
"To find my brother. I already told you this." Link replied.
"You can't just leave and expect to find him walkin' down the street or playin' in a tree!" Roy raised his voice a little.
"No, but I'll find him somehow…I'll venture through anything to find him." Link said determined.
"You're going to hate hearing this but-"Ike was cut off. Link knew what he was going to say. He angrily threw a red rupee on the table, got up and stormed out of the diner.
"Shit." Ike muttered under his breath.
"Nice going Ike. Way to be a true supportive friend." Marth rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Do you always have to butt in Marth?"
"Link just left because of you! Not to mention leaving twenty rupees!" Marth said frustrated.
Roy barged in before the other two could say a word. "Arguing is going to get us nowhere. We'll pay and go find Link. He's bound to be with Epona or something."
Marth opened his mouth but shut it and sighed. He too felt like storming out but stayed.
The waitress came rushing back with a small white piece of paper. Ike grabbed it and looked it over. He then reached into his brown leather pocket and pulled out a red rupee.
"Keep the change." Without another word he got up and tied the damp cloak around his neck. The other two followed in silence.
"Uh, have a nice…uh…wet day!" She exclaimed watching the three cloaked boys rush out into the wet atmosphere.
"Humph…I wonder where that blond haired boy went…" She shrugged and started clearing the table.
Link walked down a mud path. The rain had been steady for the past few days and everything around him was wet. He looked down to find his boots caked with mud and grass. His long black cape trailed behind him as he walked through a shortcut back to his home.
"How come they don't understand? It's like they have no faith in me or my brother at all…well, Ike that is." Link whispered to himself quietly. It was quite startling considering everything around him was quiet except for the rain that hit the leaves of the trees towering over him.
He was looking at the ground in front of him and didn't realize how far he had gotten until he reached a part of the path that forked off into three sections.
"Hm, Left Lake, right ranch, straight home." That was the way he remembered which way to go when he came to this point as a child. He walked on thinking of his little brother. Was he okay? Where could he possibly be? Am I able to reach him? Will I ever find him? Is he even…alive? When that thought came across his mind he stopped dead in his tracks. Is he even alive? He shook his head. The thought struck him cold.
"Yes," he blinked slowly, "Yes he is alive." He reassured himself. He walked on. By now he adjusted to the uncomfortable wet feeling. He looked at his wrinkled fingers and wiggled his cold toes. It wasn't warm outside. Fall was around the corner. He smiled. Fall was his favorite season.
At last, he reached his home. He climbed up the latter eager to get inside. When he walked in he took a deep breath. His home wasn't much but it sufficed. It consisted of two bedrooms each containing a bed, dresser with drawers, a nightstand, a window, a lamp holder, and weights. His two siblings shared one room while he had the other. The kitchen was located to the right of the entrance. A sink, counter, cooler, table and chairs completed the room. It was a tree house…not a mansion, but he still loved it.
Snapping back to reality, Link started to take off his mud packed boots. Once he set them aside he took off his cloak and hung it on the coat rack. It was dripping dirty water. He thought of cleaning it but was too distracted with his own thoughts. So the teen left it and climbed another latter to his room. He looked out the window. Nothing but dark clouds and wet trees. He sighed.
"What to do now…"
The three boys walked along the wet stoned path, the one they had walked on just before breakfast. The rain was at a steady heavy drizzle. The clouds were still dark, like they had been the past few days.
"You ever get the feeling that people think we're gangsters or bad people walking down the street with theses dark cloaks on?" Roy questioned his friends.
"I've thought that a few times myself." Marth smiled.
"Probably." Ike shrugged answering Roy's question.
"I forgot how to get to the Ranch…where do we turn?" Marth asked.
"We'll turn right in about 10 minutes." Ike replied.
"Will you carry me?" Marth chuckled.
"Of course I can Marthy." Ike said sarcastically.
"Really?" Roy asked.
"No." Ike stopped smiling and was back to his normal serious face. He never really looked soft and cuddly like the others.
The boys were quiet the rest of the way to the ranch. Once they were there they realized the horses were still out in their paddocks.
"Huh? The barn keeper never keeps the horses out when it rains." The red haired boy observed.
The barn keeper did this not because of the weather but because when the paddocks got muddy it caused their hooves to get infected with fungus. It was called thrush.
"Yeah, I wonder if he's sick or something. Let's go knock on the door and see if he's alright." Marth said. He almost forgot why they had gone there in the first place.
"But aren't we here to see if Link and Epona are around?" Ike reminded him.
"Oh yeah, well why don't you go look for them and I'll go see if Indgo is alright."
"Good plan." Ike agreed.
"I'll go play with the cuckoos!" Roy's face lightened up.
*Sigh* "Alright…but don't annoy them like last time…we don't want to have to rub ointment all over you again…that was…-" Marth cut himself off and shivered. The last encounter Roy had with the cuckoos wasn't good. They had attacked him and Link, Marth, and Ike had to rub anti-sting ointment all over him. All over him….
Ike turned and started to make his was to the main ring which was located in the back of the yard. The other two also turned and went their separate ways. As he walked down the center isle he looked at all of the horses. Most of the, were brown, occasionally chestnut. Each had individual markings. Some had white on their legs and face while others had none. It was easy to spot Epona. She was a 16.3 hand sorrel mare with four white socks and a white stripe down her gentle face. Her mane was white while her tail was white and black. She was bulky and muscular. He was thinking of how strong she was…when she got crazy and had lots of energy there was no stopping her. You would ride for hours on end waiting for her to calm down just enough to jump off. Now that he rode her or anything…
When he reached the back ring, it appeared to be empty. He took a few steps in, his feet sinking in the deep mud. He looked around some more. Empty. He turned around and started to make his way back to the Marth and Roy. He noticed some tension growing between the horses. Before, they were standing with their ears to the side and a bored expression on their faces. Now their ears were perked up and heads held high. There nostrils were flaring with fright. What was there to be afraid of? The horses could sense more than Ike so he started walking cautiously and made his way up to the house when he caught glimpse of Marth sprinting towards him. Then Roy looked and dashed over as well.
"What's wrong?" Ike said in a low voice.
"Indgo…" Marth huffed. "I walked in and he was on the floor."
"Was he sleeping?" Ike raised an eye brow.
"He was…dead."Marth said with a tint of worry in his voice.
"Dead? How do you know?" Roy said holding a cuckoo.
"Because there was a pool of blood surrounding him and a hole in his stomach. The hole was from a sword." Marth looked Ike in the eye.
"Let's go check the barn." Ike started jogging towards the barn. He quietly opened the damp, wooden, double doors. They creaked slightly. He looked around and proceeded inside. There were no horses. No goats. Nothing. They cautiously walked to the back of the barn and saw a barn handle sitting up against the corner of a stall. His head was lying on his shoulder and there too, was a hole in his stomach with a pool of blood around him. The boys' eyes widened and they dashed back outside.
"What's going on here?" Roy questioned.
"If I knew…I don't think we would be in this position, Roy." Ike said coldly.
"We need to find Link now. He might be home. We have to hurry." Marth said in a panicking voice.
"It will take a while to get there on foot." Roy shook his head.
"Well, let's use our resources." Ike lifted an eye brow and grinned. He turned and faced the back of the property where the horses stood. They were twitching their ears.
"Ike, you're not thinking of stealing them, are you?" Marth asked.
"I wouldn't call it stealing…more like…borrowing." Ike corrected him and smirked.
"And our journey begins." Roy whispered.