I told you I was going to update, and I did.
Long waiting periods are probably going to be the norm; Long stories will not be. Don't be surprised if your story doesn't turn out as long as others'.
Rules are updated. You can ask for as many O.C.s as you want, within reason (four or five is getting excessive.) However, the less people that I have to focus on, the more attention to detail I can give them. Consider that when choosing who you want me to write about.
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"Snowbound"
with Cloud, Maylene, and Shadow
created by the Twilight's Shad0w
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"Cripes, it's cold!"
Link pushed against the icy headwinds as he made his way through the mountains. He had to bring his knees up to his chest just to make steps through the several feet of snow surrounding the area. The sky was a musty purple, if one could see the sky through the infinite number of flakes tumbling down in a crystal cascade. His leather boots would be decent to keep out the wet, if his leggings and stockings didn't soak down to his ankles. His feet were numb, but each step felt like needles digging into whatever flesh was there.
Link paused and looked up. All he could see was white, and more white- with hints of white here and there. No hints of where he might be as far as the eye could see, which was not far. It had been like this for days, walking blindly forward and making camp when it appeared to be night. It wasn't a pleasure trip to be hiking through the mountains during a cold snap. On account of the unusually cold weather that had come down from the northern mountains, the princess had requested that he trek there and find an anomaly that could forebear evil. She had received a premonition, but could not precisely decipher what terror was to come in their future. No one even thought to question her premonitions; they were never wrong.
Thus, his journey.
"Midna, where-," Link began to ask his old partner their location. But that adventure had ended some time ago. It was nearly a year since the Twilight Princess had ended their journey together, left everything they had created together and the bonds they had erected, and with a single tear shattered their only means of connection between their worlds. He still occasionally called for her assistance, just like old times. Unlike old times, no one was there in his shadows to respond.
He wrapped his cloak around him tighter, and pulled his cap and hood over him further to block out the intrusive ice. It was going to be a while longer before anything became apparent around him.
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Days passed. There were more trees about now. While the sky had brightened to a yellowish morning color, it was still extraordinarily cold. Link was beginning to seriously question the possibility of gangrene, considering how wet and cold his feet had been for so long, when suddenly something appeared in the distance.
Link stopped still and peered carefully at the large silhouette in the distance. It was a large, fat figure, billowing smoke, but not moving. He carefully moved closer forward, and as he did so, the figure gained more shape into a small but cozy and very welcome building.
"YES! Finally," Link whooped, and moved more quickly towards the building.
It turned out to be a general store- perfect for restocking and getting warm without having to plead with what would otherwise be residents. He stepped inside, and a wash of warmth enveloped him so quickly he nearly lost his footing. Indeed, the sudden transition from freezing to heat almost caused him pain. He could feel his muscles tingle and ache, but hungrily sought out the nearby fire anyway. There was a small sitting area next to the fire, surrounded by products to sell and the clerk's counter positioned nearby. Metal tubing ran from the fireplace around and under the clerk's counter as a sort of make-do heater.
"Excuse me, but which part of Snowpeak are we in?" Link asked the clerk. "I don't recognize this area well."
The clerk shot him a confused stare. "Snowpeak?"
"We….we are in Snowpeak, aren't we?"
"Nuh uh, we'rur in Crystallia, that we'rur."
"…Ah. I see." So he had overshot his journey and crossed the border. This would explain why the journey was so long, but Link was still shocked nonetheless. Ignoring some disgruntled looks from the manager, he sat down in a threadbare armchair by the fire and gingerly pulled his boots and soaked stockings off and dried his feet next to the fire. They tingled fiercely, but they seemed to be otherwise healthy and still attached to his legs.
"Hey, yeh goin' tuh buy somethin'?" the clerk asked impatiently.
"Yes, I'll make a purchase in a second," Link responded. "I just need to get back to walking first." The clerk snorted and tapped his fingers against the counter, but did not retaliate.
Link sleepily watched other customers. For such a secluded little shop, there were a surprising number of people there checking supplies, purchasing food, and otherwise just standing around. Presumably, they were there for the same reason Link was- that was, to come out of the snow globe that was the world and warm up in one of the few indoor locations available.
The minutes mounted quickly. Link found himself beginning to doze off, hanging halfway into the mental beyond while still halfway present next to a solidly flickering fire.
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"THIEF!"
Link's eyes snapped open just in time to see a rush of black and tan bolt out the front door. By reaction he grabbed his equipment and ran out afterwards. Out against the white snow, it was easy to see where the person was headed, but he was moving so quickly that it was difficult to keep up in the snow. The tracks he made barely made an indentation by comparison to Link's huge boot tracks.
Still, Link kept pace. The person dodged through trees every other turn, but Link was hot on his trail. Right, left, right, forward, left, right, this person was relentless and fast!
Finally, there was a clearing that forced the person to head straight onward. Still running, Link pulled an arrow and fired it into a tree near the person's head. This startled the person into stopping, giving the split second enough for Link to tackle him into the ground.
Goods were scattered everywhere- trinkets, food items, little sugary treats, but nothing of true value or importance. As Link pulled the person's arms behind him, he realized that the arms and wrists were too small to be that of a man's. Come to think of it, the entire body was small and feminine, albeit strong. The head of black hair was pushed into the snow and was producing muffled bouts of profanity, but now it was clear that the voice it contained belonged to a female!
"You're a girl?" Link managed to croak before something extraordinarily powerful knocked him sideways off of her. He landed harshly with a loud thump and clatter, and gripped his side painfully where he landed. He looked up quickly past the stars floating in front of his eyes and found a statuesque boy standing in front of the girl, who was now picking herself up off the ground and brushing herself off, spitting out dirt and snow and cursing. He had dark brown hair, grey eyes sharpened in the moment, and was wrapped in a brown cloak. He also brandished a clearly powerful sword.
Link grabbed his own sword, prepared to defend himself and fight this newcomer, when a red-tinted fairy flew up close to Link's face and inspected him. Link jerked back and had to let his eyes adjust to the sudden orb of light.
The fairy approved. "He is a good person, Cloud. Do not hurt him!"
The boy scowled, but sheathed his sword. "Well and now, Shadow." He turned to the girl, who was trying to pick up the stolen goods out of eyesight.
It took Link a second to gather everything that just happened, but it resulted in his outrage. "What are you doing?" he exploded.
"I will not have my ward treated in such a manner," was the cold-steel response.
"Your ward-?" Link choked.
"Excuse me, I'm not your ward," the girl retaliated, brushing the snow off her tan leggings, "I joined you of my own free will. Besides, I'm almost as old as you are." She began to shiver- being pressed into the snow had made her clothing cold and wet. The boy, Cloud, took his cloak off and wrapped it around her, although he had little himself to keep warm otherwise- a sleeveless black tunic, leggings and boots.
"She will not be treated as a common thief," Cloud continued.
"She sure is acting like one! Look, she stole all those items from the general store!" Link retorted.
The boy paused. "THAT I don't have trouble believing." He looked at the girl suspiciously. "Maylene, is this true?"
From under the hood, a sheepish smile gave silent answer. Shadow gave a little tinkling giggle that said that this situation had occurred before.
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The four of them were soon sitting at a round wooden table in a tavern, each had a glass of milk chateau in front of them. This tavern was one quite a ways away from the general store. Although Link had insisted that Maylene return the items, they were nonetheless regarded in the manner that at best could be regarded as "cold." Thus, there would be no more items purchased or stolen there, which included hot beverages. Thankfully, Cloud- the young man who had defended Maylene earlier- was able to spot a small town not so far away, by using a rare talent that he possessed.
"Can everyone from Crystalia fly?" Link asked.
"I should hope not! I would have not a purpose at all," puffed the fairy, Shadow.
"Worry not, you're a fantastic little guardian," Cloud soothed her with a smile. He responded to Link's question, "Not everyone can; It's a strange power that I've come to possess ever since a visit to the Great Fairy of the Royal Grounds Spring. It comes in handy sometimes, although I prefer to stay grounded. Helps me keep my head," he finished with a smirk. Link responded with a chuckle as well.
"If that's the case, you're going to need to dig a hole," Maylene quipped. Link laughed at this, a little harder than he meant to. Shadow burst out with a laugh that sounded like bells being thrown down a staircase.
Cloud narrowed his eyes. "You're no one to talk. We need to get your kleptomania under control." He grinned when Maylene smacked her palm onto the table.
"I DON'T have kleptomania!" she exclaimed.
"What do you call repetitive theft then?" Cloud retorted.
"A cheap pasttime," she responded matter-of-factly. "Besides, it was only that one shop."
"Just like every shop is only one shop. After awhile, they add up."
"How do you propose we were going to restock our supplies? We've been traveling awhile, Cloud. They've started to dwindle."
"I was going to propose that we PAY for our items. That seems to be a typical course of action."
"About that," Maylene scowled, "by 'supplies,' I was talking about money reserves as well. Our rupee pouch would float away in a light summer breeze. Thank goodness the wind is howling."
"Honestly, she does have a point, Cloud," Shadow said seriously, "We are beginning to run low on our financial means." Cloud frowned, but did not respond.
"Are you travelers as well?" Link intercepted the conversation.
"Actually," Cloud responded, "We're on a quest."
"A quest? What for?"
Cloud turned a hardened eye towards Link. "We're going to save our country."
"Yes," Shadow answered soberly, "Crystalia is facing extreme duress."
Link jolted. "Duress?"
"Right. It's been throwing the balance of our nature out of order. It's not normally this cold here."
Maylene added, "The woods about this time should be experiencing warmer weather. We're out of the mountainous area and closer to the foothills outside of the fields."
That would explain why the snow had been so heavy on his journey, Link thought. But why had it extended down from the northern country and so deep into Hyrule?
Cloud leaned forward, and beckoned the other two to do so as well. "This is actually confidential information, although there are rumors about. What I'm about to tell you cannot be spread about. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand," Link assured him.
Cloud paused and looked about the room, before he continued. "This 'duress' is actually the act of evil forces at work. Sir Dictor means to take the kingdom of Crystalia for himself for power and profit.
It is not new information that he has malicious intentions for some time, but he has never had the power to bring his plans to fruition. However…somehow he has managed to gather the forces necessary to stage an overthrow," Cloud paused. "It is necessary to take further steps to prevent this from happening. Or, in this instance….continuing."
"Continuing? This has already happened?" Link questioned.
At this, Cloud was silent. Shadow answered for him, "He was on a mission of delivery when he found the castle attacked. I wasn't there," she whispered, "…but from what he told me, it was awful."
"I wouldn't want to have been there myself," Maylene agreed. "Not when the place was swarming with monsters."
Link choked on his chateau. "Monsters?"
Cloud looked at him. "You don't suppose they would have had so much trouble with an invasion of humans, do you?"
"That place is armed to the teeth!" Maylene exclaimed. "Besides, everyone favors the royal family far over Sir Dictor. It's the sort of preference akin to preferring a lifetime of rupees over a slow and painful death."
"Sir Dictor would never be able to assemble an army with the loyal people of Crystalia." Shadow added.
"That's why he employed the dark creatures to overturn the guardian forces," Cloud concluded.
Link felt a knot tighten in his stomach. "You said that he hadn't done this before, because he did not have the power to do so?"
"Yes. We believe that he has an aid….someone is giving him power." Link's stomach turned to ice as realization crept over him. "I'm not sure for what purpose, as there would not be much to gain from putting Dictor into power, but-"
"Ganondorf."
"Cloud jolted. "What?"
"Link stared Cloud dead in the eye. "Ganondorf, the dark lord. Only he would be able to manipulate the evil creatures of the world to work to the will of a mortal man. No monster would willingly do work for him otherwise."
Cloud sat up. "But why? What purpose would he have in doing this?"
"He means to use Dictor as a pawn. Allowing him to fulfill this need to attain power, reaching the pinnacle, and then tearing it away and disposing him. Ganon is not above puppetry or betrayal."
"How do you know this?"
"He's done this before. Except," Link thought aloud, "he would not do this simply to repeat his tactics completely. He has a plan, something new. And it has something to do with the connection between Hyrule and Crystalia."
"Then that means…"
"This means," Link said, with sudden realization, "that the immense snowstorms covering both countries is not a coincidence. Princess Zelda's premonition occurring as the Crystalian royal family is attacked, that was not a coincidence. And our meeting was not an accident- somehow, the fact that we are sitting here right now, face to face over chateau as strangers and discussing the exact same monstrosity that has not even occurred yet…..this was supposed to happen." Link looked at Cloud. "This was planned."
The four of them were silent, shocked still. The air was pregnant with the cold fact of knowledge. Then Maylene spoke up.
"I don't know if this was a setup or not, borne of evil or good," she said, "But we all bear the intention of good. Whatever has brought us together matters not; What keeps us together means everything now."
Link smiled at her, agreeing full heartedly. Cloud stared at her, shocked that she had said something so profound. Shadow perked up her drooping wings.
"She's right," Cloud said. "We intend to fight this force; Am I wrong in thinking that you are as well?"
"Never less wrong," Link said emphatically, "My purpose is to fight evil; If evil is upon us, then I will be there to yield it."
Cloud stood up. "Then join us, Link. The time has come for battle, and in a barren world allies become your brethren." He put his hand towards Link. "Brothers at arms are we."
Link looked to the hand and all it represented- the war brewing on the horizon, the battles to come, and the allies that he would come to depend on. Although he had only met this young man within the hour, he knew that they bore a connection into the fate of both their kingdoms- if not the sanctity of the world itself.
He placed his hand in Cloud's. "Indeed," he agreed, "Brothers at arms are we."
