Disclaimer: |(-_-)|
A/N: Oh my Farore. I cannot thank my beta enough-XD or should I call her my girlfriend? Kaylee Tam is the best beta ever. This chapter-which is still an epic fail-would be SO horrendous, it's not even funny. I'll be 100% honest, I hate this chapter. Every author has a chapter they hate and this is one of them. I didn't enjoy writing it at all. There were so many grammatical mistakes due to me not paying attention and then I just couldn't grasp what to write. Let's just say this: there's a reason why you're getting a double chapter update. Not my best but not my worst. Hopefully it's not so bad to you guys! I apologize!!!!!
"Why did we stop?" Lois clutched onto Tovia, her nerves long shot.
The oranges, yellows, and pinks came together to form a gorgeous twilight sky, but black squares floated through the picturesque view like dust. Tovia and Lois had no idea what they were doing in this unnatural field. Screeches from monsters, moans from tortured souls, screams from helpless victims, and even the snapping from a Deku Baba pierced the twisted scene from leagues away.
Tovia noticed Link walk cautiously toward an object lying on the ground, and followed. "I think it's a wooden sword," he helped.
Midna smirked, her fang glittering in the light. "See, isn't a wolf useful? Sniff that sword and keep it fresh in your memory. Then you can find those little brats you were talking about."
Link glanced up at her, confused.
"What, you thought I wasn't paying attention? It was either that or I go to sleep."
He ignored her giggle and sniffed the wooden sword, feeling ridiculous in front of Tovia and Lois.
The girl still clutched onto his shoulder, apologizing profusely to Link. "I'm sorry, Link, I'm just terribly afraid of wolves," she admitted, her voice shaking slightly.
The city boy grinned. "You know, we'll probably be at Link's home a lot more often than ours; they get wolves all the time. Right, Link?"
The wolf looked up at him, giving him a dry look that spoke without words. 'Are you kidding me?'
They went back on their mission to get to Kakariko, only stopping on the way to kill any savage, poisonous, twilight-infected plants in their path.
As the two sixteen-year-olds chased after the imp and wolf, a series of odd-looking poles suddenly fell from the sky and embedded point-down in the earth to form a circle around them. Magic walls appeared, connecting each one; they were caged in like swine.
The dry, iron smell of blood drifted to their noses and Link growled, tensing up. Midna clutched onto him and muttered tips to him.
"Stay on your feet at all times," she ordered. "Focus only on the Shadow Beasts and nothing more."
Three of the obsidian beasts dropped down from the sky and, when they hit the ground, a shriek came from behind Tovia.
"Lois!"
The blonde had a Deku Baba's vine wrapped around her right ankle, and it began to drag her towards its dripping, sharp teeth. Her pitchfork lay mere inches away from her fingertips.
He went to cut it away with his dagger when claws sunk into his right shoulder. The scent of blood became increasingly stronger and it flowed out of him like wine. He let out a garbled moan of pain and tried to push the beast off of him.
Suddenly an electric bristling filled the air, which became crisp and full of energy. Link leapt at all three of the Shadow Beasts in succession, killing them all in one fell swoop.
Tovia clutched his shoulder as the Shadow Beasts died off, Midna laying on top of the wolf. She patted him tiredly. "Good... job, Link," she panted.
Lois wiped off the green blood from the plant, looking quite disgusted. "Damn Deku Babas."
Tovia walked next to Link and Midna, Lois grabbing out a cloth and cleaning herself.
"What's this?!" Midna shouted angrily, glaring at where the bridge should have been. "The bridge is gone! Ugh. What a pain! Ah well, let's look for it." She turned to Tovia, only glancing at his injured shoulder. "You! Get your map out!"
Tovia handed it to her, grunting as he did so, while Lois grabbed out another cloth and began soaking up the blood on his shoulder.
She put her hand out, an inked quill popping into existence in her palm. Without a word, she drew a small swirl on the map. Once she was done, she nodded to herself in satisfaction and turned to the confused Hylians. She tapped on a part of the map, getting Link's attention. "This is where we are. Whenever we destroy those creatures from the darkness, a portal opens that look like this." She tapped on the portal she had just drawn.
"It looks like a swirl," Lois commented dryly.
Midna glared at her. "You hear me? It's called a portal. You'd better remember that! And in those woods we came through…" she tapped her chin. A grin spread over her face as she exclaimed, "Yes! It's got to be around there…we'll use that portal to take us there and bring it back."
"Stay here, I presume?" Tovia asked sarcastically.
"Stay here." she confirmed before twisting her body up into the air and disappearing in black squares with Link.
Lois dabbed at his wound, smiling at him. "Thanks for trying to save me."
"Thanks for cleaning my wound."
"Hmmm… you've got some dirt under your eyes." She licked her finger and went to rub it off.
He flinched. "That's gross, Lois!" he exclaimed.
She giggled as she rubbed under his eyes. "Hm, it won't come off right now. When we get to Kakariko, you take a bath, okay?"
"Sure, sure." he tiredly waved his hand aside.
Suddenly, the ground shook and out of the portal came a bridge, gently landing in place. Black squares landed perfectly on the ground, forming a figure that soon turned into Link.
"Where's Mid-" The imp landed hard on Link's back. "…na?"
"See, just as I thought!" Midna let out a giggle. "So, isn't the power of twilight amazing? Tell me if you need the power again. It should help us find what we're looking for. Alright, let's keep going."
Wordlessly, they went back down the path to Kakariko, until finally stopping at a bloody gate.
Behind the gate were two of the humanoid creatures with clubs that Lois and Tovia had seen on their way out of Castle Town.
"What are they doing here?" Lois grumbled.
"I thought only Castle Town had gotten attacked." Tovia glared at the creature beyond the gate.
They paced back and forth, not seeming to notice them at all.
"This is a pretty elaborate gate. What are they trying to keep in…?" Midna muttered.
"Or out?"
"You could dig." The imp pointed to a patch of dirt, "But what about these two?"
Tovia shrugged. "I could always unlock it." With those words, the gate pushed open. "No point in digging." He tossed the dagger at one of the creatures, killing it instantly. He gaped at what he had done. "Did you three see that? I… Holy shit, I just hit that thing with no problem!"
Lois wiped her bloody pitchfork on the sparse grass after killing the second one. She then patted him on the back, making him flinch due to the pain in his shoulder. "Good job, Tovs."
The two bowed to Link. "After you, our good sir!"
--
"Get off of her!"
"Behind you," Lois shouted, wishing she could point to show Tovia where the second Shadow Beast was.
"What happened to Link?" Tovia shouted as he fought it off with his dagger.
She tried to reach for her pitchfork, carrying the conversation on despite the fact that she had a Shadow Beast on top of her, trying to kill her. "They were with us just seconds ago!"
"We're right here!" Midna's voice drifted back to the fight. "The damn gate came down and we got stuck outside. You two are on your own."
"Go ahead without us. We'll catch up." Lois tried waving her hand as she kicked at the creature.
"Son of a b-," another Shadow Beast leapt on Tovia's back, bringing him down to his knees.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lois spotted the struggling Tovia and mustered up the strength to push the beast off of her. She stood up quickly, grabbed her pitchfork, and stabbed one of the Shadow Beasts.
One down; two more to go. The other two made a move towards them.
"How do we take these assholes out?" Lois panted.
A bright light flashed and the two monsters were gone, leaving Tovia on the ground.
"Did you…like the….fireworks?" Tovia panted with a smirk.
"You moron! We could have taken them on!" she shouted, propping him up and leaning him on her shoulder.
The creaking of a door sounded from the house not too far from them and a head stuck out of it. "Hurry, get in!" a girl's voice called to them.
Tovia and Lois exchanged a glance, then hurried into the house. The wooden door closed shut behind the three.
The house was small and unlit torches mounted every wall. A man with long hair and spiritual clothes, no doubt a shaman, held four children.
One was a brown-haired, blue-eyed child that was shaking, and another (perhaps his younger brother) with a purple bow in his hair was looking quite bored. The other two children were wearing clothes much like the first two. A young brunette girl had tears running down her face, and the other, a blonde boy, quietly stared at his feet. Crouched by the window was a man with a welding mask over his face, peering out warily at the scene beyond. Judging by the way everyone huddled on the opposite side of the room from him, this man was not very well-liked.
"Sit down, young ones," the shaman said. "You are both in no state to be standing, and need medical attention."
Tovia and Lois awkwardly sat down next to the children, a black haired girl stepping from behind them. She looked much like the shaman; perhaps this was his daughter.
Lois grimaced. "I don't think I need it as much as my friend does."
"Hm," Tovia looked up from his feet. "What about me?"
"You need medical attention, moron!" she hissed at him. "Have you seen your shoulder? How much of a beating have you gotten?"
"I could treat you, if you two would trust me." The shaman stood up, giving the children a smile.
"You should. That shoulder is bleeding an awful lot and if it isn't treated soon, you might bleed to death or get an infection," the man by the window said. "Although, Renado probably can't do much to help you…"
"Barnes," an angered look crossed Renado's features.
"Could you help him?" Lois became worried as she looked at Tovia.
"Lois, you're overreacting. I'm fine," he protested, then looked over his body and grimaced. "Actually... I might need medical attention."
The shaman walked over to a table with a small chest. He moved the chest over and opened it, revealing a small needle, some thread, and a bottle of alcohol.
He gestured for Tovia to take a seat away from the children. "It's very dangerous to be wandering Hyrule alone without adult supervision, young ones. Where are your parents?"
"We were traveling with friends," Lois told him. "We got lost, though."
"She means split up," Tovia corrected.
Renado brought the threaded needle up and pierced Tovia's skin.
A sharp gasp came from the boy and he gritted his teeth in pain as Renado continued to sew up his shoulder. Lois smiled sadly, giving him her hand to squeeze.
"How old are your friends?"
"About as old as us," she murmured.
"It's still just as dangerous." Renado shook his head.
Tovia continued to grit his teeth. "Castle Town is in worse shape in this. There wasn't any big point in staying in one place when-" he inhaled more air, "-when everywhere else is just as dangerous."
"How old are you two?"
"Sixteen."
Silently, he continued his work until it was finished. He rubbed an alcohol-drenched rag on the stitch. "Hopefully you can bathe in the spring soon. That should heal it up fast. Until then, I'm afraid this will have to do."
"Thank you, si-"
A crash came from above, and the children screamed in terror. Lois jumped in fright and grabbed a hold of the children, pulling them close to her. Renado held his daughter to his chest as Barnes pressed himself up against the wall. Tovia still sat in his chair, staring straight at the wolf and imp.
"What was that?" Renado looked up to the ceiling.
Tovia hid his smirk as best as he could. "It was probably the wind..."
"Shh." Midna had her finger pressed to her lips.
"I want to go home!" the brunette cried.
"Don't worry, Beth. I'm sure Link will save us." The blonde smiled up at her.
She sniffled, wiping her nose. "Do you really think so, Colin?"
"I wouldn't waste your breath. He probably got kidnapped with Ilia." The older boy shook his head.
"They could be dead for all we know," Barnes added. "I may not know who this Link kid is, but, I doubt he could kill those beasts!"
Beth broke into more sobs.
"Hey, Renado, don't you have a secret basement or something we could hide in? Just incase it wasn't 'just the wind'," Barnes pressed, grabbing an unlit torch and lighting it with a welding tool from his belt.
"I would not do that," Renado's daughter smiled a bit. "When father instructed me to secure the cellar, I saw insects like the beast outside."
He dropped the stick hastily.
"Maybe we can be of service!" Lois leapt up, grabbing the torch as she tried not to brush up against Link. "I'm sure Tovia and I can handle ourselves down there. Once we're done, we can all stay down there until help comes to rescue us."
"What are you doing?" Tovia leaned next to her ear.
"Trying to help those two." she hissed. "I bet a floating torch would scare everyone and by the way Midna's eyeing it right now, they need to get down there. Besides, I don't want to chance it up here."
"I cannot allow this. You need to rest, child." Renado protested.
Lois cursed quietly to herself. "I… I'll make sure he watches himself! Don't worry. We can handle a few bugs."
Tovia grabbed the torch from her and began lighting the rest. "She's right; we can take care of it. Just stay up here. If anything happens, find shelter."
The floor rumbled as the last torch was lit, revealing a staircase that lead down. Each pair nodded to each other, giving the other the sign that they were ready. They headed down into the basement.
--
"So you two are looking for bugs?" Lois tried to grasp everything she had been told in the course of just five minutes.
"No, we are looking for light tears that are inside Twili Parasites," Midna corrected for the sixth time.
"Yes, but, you said they look like bugs."
"But they aren't bugs!"
The two continued as Tovia and Link searched for the critters.
"I can't find anything." Tovia frowned. "But...I sense something over by that pile of dirt...it feels like electricity."
Link bolted over to the pile of dirt and began digging, his senses allowing him to see the parasite. Soon, he had killed three, and Midna capped a light blue essence in each of the empty containers of a vine shaped contraption.
"Thank you. We shall now be on our way." She saluted them as she rested herself back on Link's back. Before the two could say goodbye, they had gone up the beams and out of the house.
"Are you two alright down there?" Renado's voice echoed through the cellar from the room above.
"We're fine! Everyone can come down now," Lois called back. She glanced at her best friend. "Hey, Tovs, you okay? You look out of it." She waved her hand in front of his face.
He held his head, feeling a sharp pain running through it. Slowly, he looked up at Lois. Her lips were painted a dark bloody red and black eyeshadow adorned her eyes. Her hair was curled and down to her bare cream colored shoulders. His hand outstretched and brushed the stray hair away. His hand brushed up against her fa....That wasn't his hand.
"Tovia, get your fucking hand off my face." her voice ordered, bringing him back to reality.
"I… I…" he embarrassedly looked away. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"Mad at you…? Why would I be mad at…? Were you just fantasizing me NUDE?!" She smacked him hard across the face, stomping off to comfort the children.
Tovia clutched his left cheek, feeling his face burn more from embarrassment than the pain.
A/N: Thank you Kay! X3
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