Chapter 7: Bound To A Fairy
"What were you two doing last night anyway?" Sakura sat on Zeke's head, clutching his hair to keep from falling off. She had been pestering them all morning about the previous night's activities, wanting to know what had transpired. Maiya had done a good job explaining that she and Zeke were just training in the dark in case they were ever put into a situation where they would have to fight with limited light, but the fairy was unconvinced.
When asked, Zeke would just grunt and quietly tell Sakura to ask Maiya. He was confused and hardly trusted his voice to really explain anything. The girl riding next to him seemed to be pretty good at coming up with a story so he left it up to her to continue. In his mind, he was reliving every second that had transpired the night before, trying with all of his brainpower to see something that he may have missed.
"Sakura, we told you already and this is the last time I'm going to say it," Maiya growled. "We were practicing in low light so we can be ready in case we ever get into that kind of a situation."
"It did not look like you were practicing," the fairy murmured from a top Zeke's head. "We fairies may be ignorant to the world that we have yet to explore, however we are born with incredible knowledge about the beings that fill the world. I definitely think that you two were mating."
"How could we have been?" Maiya asked. "We were wearing clothes. Tell her, Zeke. We don't have the slightest attraction for each other."
Zeke hoped that he would disappear so that he could get away without having to answer, but he knew that the longer he hesitated that he would arouse suspicion in not only Sakura, but Maiya as well. Biting his cheek, a habit he had for punishing himself whenever he had to lie, he said, "I prefer girls that are a bit shorter and can't wield a sword with such deadly precision that I could lose parts of me if I made her angry."
"See? We are just fierce rivals when it comes to sparring." Maiya's demeanor became like stone, leaving no cracks or weaknesses for Sakura to argue through. "So just lay off before we have to stick you in a jar and leave you there."
Sakura was no more pleased by this threat than Zeke was, feeling the fairy's anger inside of his own mind. Without another word, the ball of light, that was quickly becoming red, shot off ahead of them to fume.
"You probably shouldn't have said that," Zeke said quietly, feeling sympathy for his small companion. "You should know that when she's upset that I feel it too."
Maiya gave him a curious glance and smiled. "Is that true? You can feel her emotions?" When he nodded his confirmation, she stared at him in awe. "Not very many people have that ability."
"What ability?"
"The ability to feel a fairy's emotions. It means that you have great magical potential and it's almost always a good omen. You're quite fortunate because you share a special link with Sakura that allows you to communicate with your minds."
He looked at her doubtfully, but it did, however, explain how the fairy had been talking to him without him voicing his thoughts the day he and Maiya sparred on the training grounds. Feeling rather sheepish, he thought to himself a consoling image that he hoped would find its way to the infuriated fairy. Much to his surprise, he felt an odd rise of cheer appear out of nowhere.
I know not where that came from, but I feel a little better already. Maybe I will return to those two in a little bit if I can settle down just a bit more.
Zeke must have reflected his astonishment on his face for Maiya seemed to beam. "You heard her didn't you?" Unable to find words, he merely nodded and looked ahead of them to see if he could find the fairy waiting for them. "Tell her that she can come back whenever she's ready, okay?"
"Why? She's already decided that she'll do just that when she's cooled off," he replied, realizing how ridiculous it would sound to someone unfamiliar with the circumstances. He found it more than just a little unbelievable himself, but he had heard her voice just as clearly as if she was standing on his shoulder and talking right into his ear.
"Well, if that's how she feels about it, then we shouldn't interfere. Besides, until you speak to her about this connection, you may scare her if your voice appears in her head and you're not standing nearby." Maiya rolled her shoulders to loosen the tightening muscles and scowled. "I never liked riding horses. Too hard on your muscles if you ask me."
"I'm fairing pretty well."
"Well then you must have been built to withstand the up and down motion of a walking horse. Where as I," and she gestured towards herself with her hand, "am not quite suited for this. I feel quite uncomfortable sitting astride this beast. Despite my insecurities, I am forced to acknowledge that these four legged creatures are much faster than myself and I will set aside my discomfort for the better of mankind."
Zeke regarded her with a bland gaze and he felt his nose twitch, an involuntary tic that appeared whenever he found himself annoyed. "You sound like one of those fat scholars that work in the Archives."
"What do you expect? I spent nearly four years in the confines of that horrid hall. If it didn't pay so well I would have left sooner." The look of distaste upon the girl's face was enough to convince Zeke that her experiences were far from glamorous.
Silence fell between them, allowing Zeke to word his next sentence without interruption. "Maiya, why did you…you know…"
Maiya kept her gaze forward, appearing to have not heard him. When he opened his mouth to repeat himself, she shot him a fierce look that stopped the words in his mouth. "I gave my reason last night."
"Not a very good one if you ask me," he mumbled quietly so she could not hear him. Feeling that he had to know exactly why, he prepared himself to send another question at her, placing his hand on the pommel of his sword in case she got hostile. As he was opening his mouth again, a different question fell from his lips, leaving him rather shocked. "I heard Sakura in my head when I was sparring with you. Is it possible she already knows of the connection between us?"
Maiya shrugged, welcoming the change of topic. "Perhaps, but I doubt it. The connection only occurs rarely, so it would be uncommon knowledge for her to know about anyway. Chances are that when she met you that day, you were projecting your thoughts openly and she just happened to hear them. Without taking time to realize you hadn't moved your lips, she too projected her thoughts, failing to do it vocally as well. I don't think that she would recognize it for what it is unless it occurred more often."
"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura asked, returning just then to catch the last few words of Maiya's explanation. "Unless what occurred more often?"
Zeke watched the fairy float over to him and land on his shoulder, sitting down and leaning backwards against his neck. "Sakura, tell me if you can hear what I'm thinking."
Sakura laughed for the first time. It was strong due to her amusement, yet it was a soft sound that was pleasant in every aspect, sending visions of warm sunlight and serene ponds. "Zeke, you are silly. There is no way I could hear your thou…" Sakura became still, the rest of her words fading into non-existence. She looked up at Zeke, wide-eyed and pointed an accusing finger at him. "How are you doing that?" she squeaked.
I'm not entirely sure, but you got to admit, it could be pretty handy. He had sent his fairy an image of her sitting on his shoulder with an accompaniment of words. It was enough to convince her of Maiya's claim, and Zeke felt somewhat pleased.
Wondering if it worked both ways, Sakura asked Zeke, with her mind, what had happened the previous night. Zeke was unprepared for this, and could not hold back the images that appeared in his mind, open for the fairy to see. Before he could close off the connection with Sakura, the memory rushed out of him, flashing in his mind's eye.
"You okay, Zeke?" Maiya asked, looking over at him. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm fine. Where are we according to the map?"
With one smooth motion, Maiya whipped out the map and unrolled it so she could view it. "Well, if my calculations are correct, we are right here." She pointed at a spot next to the forest and motioned for Zeke to lean over to get a better look. "At the pace we're going, it'll take about two weeks to get to the castle. I don't understand why we had to settle in an area so far away from the original castle. From there, you could reach the port town in the south in a day, Lon Lon Ranch in half a day, and Death Mountain in two. I really hope that the queen decides to make use of the old castle now that the flood is over."
Zeke was displeased by how long it would take for them to finish their mission, but he realized that there was little that could be done and accepted that they would arrive at the castle when the lay of the land let them. Still, he wondered if straying from the forest would shorten the amount of time it would take. "Perhaps we should find another way?"
"No. We could get lost on in the field. We're better off sticking to the forest."
The prince slouched in his saddle and started to mumble about how inconvenient it was that they had to take the longest route imaginable to get to the old castle. Do not let it bother you, Zeke. There is much fun to be had on the way there.
Zeke scowled at the fairy. "Stay out of my head, would you?"
After a quick spar, Zeke and Maiya sat down to partake of the evening meal. Sakura was occupied with a chunk of bread that the prince had given her, and he and Maiya were similarly engaged. The silence was welcome, for everyone seemed to have something on their mind that tied up too much of their attention to have something else distract them.
When she had finished eating, Sakura flew over to Zeke's blankets and made herself a small cubbyhole that she used to sleep in. Zeke stared over at the slight disturbance in his blankets and smirked, knowing that he would have to disturb the shimmering ball of light when he decided to turn in for the night.
"Hey Maiya, what kind of creatures do think might be inhabiting the castle when we get there?"
"I don't think I know what you mean."
Zeke shrugged and continued in a way that made him seem bored and uninterested in his own words. "It's not too hard to grasp. I merely asked you what kind of creatures you think might have migrated into the castle. Maybe Lizalfos or something like that. I'll bet there are some redeads there too. I would love to fight either one of them. Just think about the ballads they would compose about us. Zeke and Maiya, redead slayers." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pointed at imaginary beings before them. "I can see it now. We'll be walking down the streets of the castle and all the people will bow down before us, both out of awe and fear for we are the most daring warriors of our time."
Maiya pushed him away and rolled her eyes, yet smiled all the same. "Well if we run into any redeads, I'll leave them all to you."
"You're not afraid of them are you?" The prince eyed her tauntingly, positive that he had found something to use against the girl.
"No, but I don't know if I would want to fight one is all. That shriek of theirs is unnerving to say the least." She drew her sword and started to polish the blade. "They paralyze you, and then they proceed to suck out your soul. Not my thing, prince."
Zeke started to laugh, but then he froze up, spinning around to look at the trees. "Did you just hear something?"
Maiya stopped polishing her blade and looked around, frowning. "No, did you?"
He stood up and grabbed his sword, slowly approaching the forest. "I think I did…it sounded like a woman screaming. Stay here, I'll go check it out."
The girl jumped to her feet and told Zeke to sit down. "I'll admit that you're becoming a good fighter, but if someone out there needs help, then I should probably be the one to administer it." She walked into the trees and went as far as she could without losing sight of their campfire, but she found nothing of interest in the forest. Stepping back into the light of the fire she said, "I didn't see anything in the forest. Whatever you heard in there either fled or doesn't exist." Looking around, she saw that Zeke was no longer sitting by the fire like he had been when she went into the forest.
"Zeke? Where are you?" When the prince failed to answer her, she began to get angry. "Zeke, this isn't funny. Get out here now!"
"Maiya, Zeke says that he is in a little bit of trouble," Sakura said, fighting her way out of the blanket she was in. "You should probably rush to his aid before he gets hurt."
"You don't sound too worried about him. You sure he didn't ask you to say that so I would fall for a trap?"
The fairy stared at the human for a long moment before saying, "He's over there." She pointed to a clump of trees where something was reflecting the firelight. "Hurry up before he bleeds to death." She returned to her blankets saying, "What does she expect me to do? I could not help Zeke even if I wanted to."
Maiya fought back a wave of frustration and approached the clump of trees. "Zeke, what's going on?" She stopped, frozen in her tracks. Zeke was lying on his back as still as possible, holding his breath so he would not give himself away by breathing. Sniffing at his feet was a wild pig with vicious looking tusks that were capable of tearing flesh. Before the beast could realize that the body on the ground was still alive, Maiya threw her sword at it and stuck it in the pig's head.
Zeke crawled backwards and quickly rose to his feet, picking up his sword and facing the pig again. "Serves you right!"
Maiya crossed her arms and stared at him, unsure of how to feel at the moment. "What happened?" was the only thing she could think to ask.
Zeke did not give her a direct answer, mumbling about a joke and then the pig ruining it. When asked to elaborate, the prince relented. "I thought I would get you by jumping out of a tree and trying to scare you, but I fell out of the tree and it alerted that stupid pig to my presence."
"So you didn't really hear something in the forest…"
"No."
Maiya punched Zeke in the face, sending him to his back once again. "What were you thinking? This is hardly the place for you to go out and do something like that! If you would have dropped from a tree I would have cut you to pieces!"
Zeke held his face with his hands, trying to roll onto his stomach so he could get up. "Lighten up, already. It was just a joke."
"Just a joke?" she shrieked. She kicked him in the side as he was attempting to get up and stepped on the small of his back so he would have to stay on the ground. "Even if I would have taken it lightly, that pig would not have. Did it occur to you that without your sword it was more dangerous than you? It could have killed you just as easily as I killed it, and it would have done it because it felt threatened by you. When are you going to learn to think with your brain and not your funny bone?"
"That's not fair. I fell out of the tree and my sword fell too far away for me to grab it. Now let me get up, I'm bleeding and I want to take care of it." He felt Maiya's foot lift off of his back and he got to his feet, walking over to the fire and grabbing a rag to still the flow of blood oozing out of his nose.
The entire time he was cleaning the blood off his face and holding the rag under his nose, Maiya stared at him, her expression one of anger. He ignored her as best he could, but for some reason he could not stand having her look at him like that. "Please don't look at me like that," he requested softly.
"Have you stopped the bleeding?"
"Yes, I think so."
Maiya's gaze became cold. "Good." Without warning, she jumped from her spot and tackled him to the ground, putting him in a headlock. "I wouldn't want to get blood on my shirt."
"What are you doing?" He turned his head and dug his chin into her elbow, attempting to free himself of the air-constricting grip around his neck.
"I'm teaching you a lesson, that's what." She tightened her hold on his neck and flicked him in the nose with her free hand. "This is what you get for trying to mess with me."
Zeke knew that he would pass out if he were unable to find something that would release him, so, frantic, he began to fight against the headlock and looked for any weakness in Maiya's position. Luckily, he found a small gap in the lock and slipped his head out of her arm. Slipping around behind her, he weaved his arms around hers and locked his hands behind her head, rendering her arms useless.
Maiya kicked up behind her, and grinned devilishly when the arms holding hers loosened their grip and Zeke slowly fell to the ground, gasping in pain. She stood above him with her hands on her hips and watched him writhe in his agony before dropping down and attempting to force him to submit to her again. Zeke was far from incapacitated though.
Moving quickly, he did the same maneuver he had before, but this time he locked his legs around hers to keep her from kicking him again. "Now, what was that about teaching me a lesson?"
Maiya growled and fought against his hold, but to no avail. "Alright, I give. Now let me go." She stopped struggling and waited for him to comply, but he made no effort to release her from his hold. "Zeke? Did you fall asleep back there?"
He slowly let her go, making sure she was not going to attack him again as soon as she was free. Zeke retreated to his tent as soon as he had let her go to prevent her from getting any ideas. Lying on a blanket, he looked over at the girl and saw that she had a tear falling down her cheek, but she rubbed her face and the tear was gone, making him wonder if he had really seen it. As he drifted off to sleep, he could see that tear falling like liquid crystal, causing his dreams to ripple like water.
