-
CHAPTER 7
DAWN OF THE SECOND DAY
A Stubborn Heart's Fear
Everyone had woken up and Jace had just packed everything away again. Iris rubbed her eyes and shivered slightly. Ilye had left to see how the weather and area was after the storm. She said she'd see how far the village was while she was out.
"Iris, I hope you don't mind the wait? It might take Ilye a while." Jace asked. He seemed irritated in his tone and actions...
Iris smiled "I don't mind." Secretly, Iris had some worry in her... She'd been scared to be honest from the start about the whole Twilight situation, and looked down. She could hear some stress in Jace's voice, probably from the weather. She wanted deeply to try and get their minds both off their troubles and worries "So, uh." She walked up to him, and held his hands. She hated seeing him so irritated, and was trying hard to think quick of something to cheer him up. "So, babe, with our alone time, would you perhaps like to discuss some future plans? Maybe the Wedding? Or even, after, the Wedding?" Iris said in a more flirty sweet fashion that she was hoping would make Jace at least smile or chuckle. She lovingly leaned in closer to Jace, their snouts almost touching. Skits seemed to roll his eyes, considering they weren't alone obviously. Skits had a 'Trying a little to hard there, Iris.' look on his face.
Jace seemed to show brief interest, but he felt more effected by her efforts to cheer him up than he showed, not to mention her more affectionate and loving tone caused a chill to go up his back. He wanted badly to go along with it and kiss her right there, but he gently let her hands go and backed up "Iris, right now isn't the time for this... Maybe later."
Skits had an "Ouch..." look on his face, when Iris' silence showed she felt sort of a sting. Her leaves drooped. Jace turned around and began putting everyone's things together so they could just grab them and go when ready.
"Sure... If you say so." she spoke lowly before going to the entry way of the cave, and began waiting for Ilye. Jace looked at her for a moment, and looked a little hurt himself. He wasn't trying to upset her, he was just in a hurry to get to the village where it's warm. Skits puffed up, and knew well to stay out of it... Iris wasn't one to get upset over such a dumb reason, there was more going on for her that she hadn't spoken, and they both had a feeling.
"... How long will it be till Ilye gets back?" Iris asked lowly.
"..." Jace continued looking at her shadowed form in the doorway of the cavern- her irritated tone obvious, before answering "I don't know..."
It was about twenty minutes of a wait, before Ilye finally came back to the cavern "Hey everyone, sorry it took me so long, I had a run in with some deep snow... But, the village isn't too far from here, and I cleared a path for the walk there."
"Alright." Jace grabbed his things and got ready "Let's head out, and hurry and get there... I'm freezing my leaves off."
Iris silently slipped her coat on and walked out before everyone else, nearly bumping Ilye out of the way by accident.
Ilye looked at Skits after moving "... Why's she so crabby?"
Skits waved his wings in a "Don't worry about it" way.
Jace simply shrugged for his reply, but didn't feel like actually telling her why. Jace himself wasn't sure why what he said earlier upset Iris that much, or what else she had on her mind that was making her this way.
They all walked out and followed Iris. Jace had walked this trail so many times, but the storm last night really beat things up, and if not for Ilye's trail, he'd have trouble finding his way up to the village. The walk there was pretty silent. Iris eventually calmed down a little. She walked next to Jace. In an attempt to keep her warm at least, he leaned against and wrapped his arm around her. She didn't show much response other than a smile, however. That morning felt a little more tense to Ilye, and she remained silent as she moved her way up to the lead of the group.
They passed the old mountain village and passed the bridges over the large lake, before finally reaching the Goron village. There, many goron came to greet Jace and Iris in a hurry.
gorons hugged and shook hands with the dekus one after another. They all smiled, laughed and joked, happy to see them.
Some gorons had been working on houses and adding on, and forging metals and weapons, as gorons are well-known blacksmiths with their handy work in materials. Making weapons and even sometimes furniture and household appliances that're great for old-style living.
The three had to watch out sometimes for young gorons practice rolling around the village in the midst of their visit...
Another goron finally came up and shook Jace's hand once more. "Brother, Sister, it's been so long! How are you?" A goron asked.
Jace answered "Brothers!" He paused "We've been doing well!"
As always, Jace and Ilye made conversation, and Iris remained slightly silent aside from small replies. The leader, Darmorn, finally came out to greet his old friends. Iris was shocked when she was the first one who received a deathly-tight hug from the huge leader of the goron tribe. "I'm... Glad to see you too, Darmorn..." She wheezed.
"C'mere, Jace, it's been a while!" He used his free arm to give Jace a tightened hug that made the blond boy wheeze for breath. Darmorn put both of them down, as they tried hard to catch their breath... Ilye was on the side giggling to herself with Skits.
"And who's this young lady?" Darmorn asked about Ilye.
Ilye introduced herself "A friend of Jace and Iris, sir! My name's Ilye!" She reached her hand out to shake Darmorn's hand.
He laughed, and shook her hand, which was hard to do considering how huge his hands were and how small hers were. "Any friend of Jace and Iris, is a sister of the gorons."
Skits had a look that said "And what am I? Chopped liver?"
"Whoo, I'm glad you guys chose this morning to come. There was a horrible storm last night." Darmorn said.
"Actually..." Jace began "I kinda rushed it, and we started our travel last night... We had to find a place to spend the night, so we found a cavern to stay in till morning."
"What!?" Darmorn replied. He laughed "Jace, you're as stubborn as ever."
"Tell me about it." Iris added irritably and lowly, which earned her a glance from Jace.
Darmorn began again "C'mon, I got a big pot of Dodongo Stew cooking. It'll help warm you guys up."
Ilye had a look of wonder on her face "Oh, that sounds good!"
Jace laughed and agreed. Iris' silence, however, had him concerned. So, he directly mentioned her. "Iris, Skits, how's that sound?"
Skits licked his beak and smiled big, all he cared about was something warm to put in his stomach. Iris simply nodded.
Inside the large household of the goron tribe, the smell of the stew filled every room, nook, and cranny. Skits' mouth was watering.
They all went upstairs with Darmorn and sat down at a large stone table. Of course, for Jace, Iris, and Ilye, the seats had to be elevated. Darmorn had sat bowls down filled with this delicious smelling stew for everyone, plus a little saucer for Skits.
"So, mind filling me in on this whole journey, Jace?" Darmorn asked, after chugging down a bowl of stew in a single gulp. "Come for a dip in the hotsprings?"
Jace looked to Ilye- Who had been too busy with drinking the sauce from the stew. Jace answered "Sure." he paused, then continued. "Ever heard of the Twilight Realm?"
"I don't believe I have. But I've heard strange stories about a swallowing darkness that fell over the South from one of our bomb shopkeepers in Clocktown. I heard a lot of monsters began showing up in the South."
"Exactly. That darkness is the Twilight Realm... You wont believe this, but THE Spirit, Minami, saved Iris and I when we got caught up in it. He told us to find the Light Spirits around Termina and reawaken them. We already reawakened Minami's full power at the Ruina Temple in the South... Minami and the keaton sent us to find the next guardian, Hokubu. I was told he lived here in the North."
"I see... I've heard of Hokubu... It's true. Some tales from long ago say when poeple got lost in the Northern Wildlands, a giant wolf would appear to them and lead them to a safe sanctuary. I've heard it was Hokubu. But these days, travelers go into the Wildlands to search for this mystic wolf, and no one ever hears from them again... Some of us believe something happened to Hokubu years ago that caused him to vanish from these lands. Sad really... I'm afraid I don't know much more about him."
"You don't say? Would you happen to know anyone who might be able to tell us more about him or his sanctuary's location?" Jace asked.
"Well... My father did, but he passed away years ago... I could ask around, seeing as this legend is little out of my knowledge." Darmorn insisted.
Jace added "Thank you. We have to hurry... If we don't find Hokubu-"
"And his vessel keeper." Ilye added with a full-sounding mouth.
"... Yes, and if we don't find his vessel keeper, then the North will be swallowed up by Twilight... Once everything is swallowed up, it's all over. Everyone can only reside in the Twilight realm as spirits, and time never moves. Only for it's Twili inhabitants will time flow. We'd be trapped forever... I should know, I was stuck in Twilight with Iris before Minami found us... It's horrible. And if we don't find Hokubu, all of Termina will share that fate. It's sorta like a virus."
Iris suddenly moved her bowl away from her, and jumped off her seat. Everyone looked at her and paused.
Darmorn began "Sister? Are you not hungry?"
"... No." She said quickly before leaving.
Jace sighed. Ilye looked at Jace with concern on her face, as well as stew sauce... "Um..."
"I'll be back. Ilye, you know enough about all this, can you continue on for me? I'm gonna go check on Iris."
"Sure!" Ilye answered.
Jace paused, before adding "And, uhh... You may want to wipe your snout."
Ilye crossed her eyes to look at her snout, before wiping the stew off her snout with the dinner cloth.
Jace hopped down, and began out of the room. He looked for Iris for a while, and couldn't find her. "Iris?" He called. Jace walked to the balcony of the two story height, and looked down onto the bottom floor. He saw Iris walk into a small cave room where the gorons stored their rocks. He walked downstairs and reached the bottom level. All the goron tribe members were either outside or upstairs, so the bottom level was pretty empty and quiet. Concern struck Jace like needles when he heard Iris sniffle lightly, 'Surely she wasn't this upset about this morning.' he thought. He looked inside the room and asked gently "Iris?"
"... It's nothing." She obviously lied.
Jace walked in silently. He looked around, before settling his eyes on her. She was sitting on a rock, and had her back turned to Jace. He scratched the back of his head, as he usually did when he was either stumped, felt bad, or was nervous. "Iris, what's wrong?"
"I already told you, it's nothing..."
"... Was it this morning?"
Iris sat up, and looked at him. "Wha-? ... No."
"Then tell me what's wrong, it's not like you to just storm out of a room like that and run off and hide." Jace responded, with more worry in his tone than he intended.
Iris' leaves twitched. Suddenly, she felt sheepish when she thought of how awkward that must've looked for her. She sighed "Jace... I'm scared." she responded lowly.
Jace's front leaves fell slightly. "... About what?"
"Everything." She answered pretty straight forwardly. "Jace, this was all so sudden. We don't know what the heck we're up against, or what even caused it! I'm not even engaged to you for a day, and our lives and our world is suddenly put in danger! Then some ancient spirit expects US to fix it all! Why us!? We don't even know where to go! We could die on this journey, and poor Ilye, we'd be taking her down with us!" She paused, and by now, she was near-teared. "If I'd known that in a matter of days, the world as we know it might end and time would stop and w-we-"
"Whoa, whoa, take it easy..." Jace felt his heart ache at her broken voice. It was all a little sudden, and very much unlike her.
He held her closely as she put her hands on his chest and buried her head. "Jace, I'm so scared... I've tried to hide it, but I can't... Are you not concerned about all this...? What if we fail?"
"..." He held her closer, and whispered to her "I am scared... I'm just as scared. It's got me just as upset, this whole thing... I want this to be over with, and want Termina to be fine again. But, we've gotta fight for it, otherwise, that future we aim for would be a ruined one."
"It's just, if we fail, there wouldn't be a future, we'd be stuck in Twilight."
"Not if we stayed in Yuriko, Twilight can't reach there."
Iris closed her eyes "It'd be a miserable little life being stuck in little Yuriko. I want freedom, like we've always had. A future with you and everyone back at the swamp... It's all too sudden, I wasn't ready for this."
He honestly answered "... I do, to... And I promise, we will be fine."
She sighed "I'm sorry. I've been scared ever since the moment we got sucked in Twilight. I've been hiding it. But I'm just so afraid we wont make it out of this one. This is bigger than Majora and the Dragalfos, Jace. We knew what we were doing then, but we're lost right now, everything's a blur. And you mentioning how bad it might be up there with Darmorn, I just couldn't handle it..."
"Was that what this morning was about, too? I mean, it was little sudden of you to just up and be all bubbly and saucy like that." Jace looked her in the eyes on his words.
Iris nodded lightly "You looked stressed, and I figured I would just try to lighten things up... I was just trying to get both our minds off of it. It just wasn't like you to respond so coldly, so I let it get to me..."
Jace grunted, before rubbing the back of his head "I'm sorry, I was just driven to get you all to the village, because I know you can't handle the cold well. Ilye's little plan to go out and clear the path for us was unnecessary, but there was no stopping her, and she was pretty keen on keeping us in there until it was safe. It sorta irritated me." something about the way Jace had been looking at Iris, made him seem like he was growing eager or impatient about something... Iris wanted to say something, but ignored it.
"I'm sorry for being a little awkward or crabby today... I wasn't angry at you, I was just worried, and also a little hurt about what my own off actions caused. You're hardly ever so tense-"
Jace had cut her off, and slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her as if he'd been waiting days just to do it. She was shocked for only a few moments, before she returned an embrace and held him to herself closely. Their kiss lasted a few moments as they nuzzled each other sweetly. Jace had slightly pulled his snout from their kiss, before whispering "Hey, it's fine..."
Iris smiled lightly, before she moved back into the kiss, and moved her arms up to rest over Jace's shoulders and held her hands behind his neck. Jace ran his hands over the softness of her autumn leaves lightly before holding her again. "I've wanted to do that since this morning..."
Iris' heart fluttered "I can tell."
They stood in the darkness of the cave, enjoying their first real time to themselves since the night Jace had proposed to Iris. Iris felt more at ease and calmed in what felt to be an endless embrace... They kissed softly, before they simply stood staring at each other's spirit-lit eyes with pure affection. Jace always got lost in Iris' gorgeous Hylian eyes when he got the chance. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Iris' and whispered "We're gonna make it out of this alive and well, you understand me? We wont fail. Don't you ever think otherwise..."
"Thank you..." Iris whispered in response. She kissed him one final time. They didn't want to leave the moment, but they had to force themselves to move out of each others embrace. Iris' arms fell from Jace's shoulder, only for Jace to catch one of her hands in one of his.
"I guess we should go back to the others?" Iris asked.
Jace responded "I suppose... We DO have things to do."
Iris nodded, and held Jace's hand gently. "Alright." she ran her fingers through Jace's fingers for a better grip.
"But... Please don't run off when something bothers you like that, you really scared me, I had no idea what was wrong."
"I'm sorry." Iris responded.
Jace gave an assuring smile "I'm about to be your husband, you can trust me with anything... Don't ever be scared of discussing something so big with me, there isn't anything you can't talk to me about..."
"I know..." She used her free hand to move that large leaf that hung over the right side of Jace's face. She remembered a time he wouldn't want her seeing behind it due to his old curse that X marked above his eye.
She still felt awkward for her sudden show of fear about the Twilight taking over Termina and running off... And a little more awkward after realizing that Ilye may be wondering what's taking them so long... Jace had felt the same way after he looked out toward the far out exit way, hoping Ilye hadn't come to look for them. He just looked at Iris and chuckled. "Um... Well, uh... Maybe I shoulda accepted that little kiss this morning?"
Iris chuckled and blushed.
They walked out of the cave and into the empty room before walking upstairs again. On their way, Jace mentioned, "I'd be a little worried for you, to be honest, if you weren't worried or scared. I think it's safe to say, we're a bit rusty in terms of defending the world peace haha. It's not like an everyday job. But give it some time, and we'll be back to how we were three years ago. Kicking all kinds of tail and making monsters wish they'd have never screwed with us."
Iris stared a moment, before giving him a smirk. She nodded, before looking ahead. Jace was pretty good with lifting spirits and pep-talking. Was a good counter to her pessimistic attitude.
Ilye was telling jokes to Darmorn, as they were both cutting up laughing. Darmorn's attention was brought to the deku pair walking into the doorway.
"See, I told you we didn't have to go looking for them, they're back." Ilye spoke. Jace scratched his head, glad they hadn't come looking for them since they'd needed that time alone...
"You're friend here is hilarious!" Darmorn said to Jace and Iris. "She's like the female version of you Jace." He was still laughing at, surely, the joke before.
Jace chuckled "We do have a lot in common, even an interest in weaponry." Jace cleared his throat, before adding "Anyway, anymore info on the whole Find more information on Hokubu thing?"
"Actually-" Ilye began "Darmorn said that a little bit beyond here, there's an old tribe of people named the Wa-... Watora... Watt..."
"The Watarara." Darmorn finished for her.
Iris stifled a laugh "Wow, that's a mouthful."
"They're a race of bird people. They're hidden town is located deeper into the North. Not many have been there, but a few of our gorons have made trips there to sell lumber and rocks for the material to build their homes. I can assign one of our warriors to take you there. Just be careful, it's dangerous out there, especially for deku scrubs. I've never even seen business scrubs go that far into the Wild North. The reason I'm sending you there is because the Watarara are historical people, spoke of in even ancient Terminian history. They used to live amongst the people closer to Clocktown, and a lot of them thrived around Termina, but the few that remain have made their homes in solitude. My grandfather used to tell me that the Watarara would listen to and contact the Spirits to know when the best seasons were to change location for teaching young to fly and for migration. I'm sure the North Watarara will know something of Hokubu."
"I'm surprised I've never heard of the Watarara. I love reading of Termina's history. Have you ever met one, Darmorn?" Jace asked.
Darmorn nodded "Once. One of their young were learning to fly, and fell here in the village. I had him for a few days, before his folks finally came and got him.
Iris thought for a moment, when the thought of the Wildlands had her spooked due to it's increased monster risk "I really hope we don't run into White Wolfos on the way there... Those guys are bad news..."
"Our warriors can handle them." Darmorn comforted her.
"And so can I." Jace added.
Ilye was looking around for her sword and other equipment so they could leave. She found hers and handed Jace and Iris theirs. Darmorn stopped for a moment, and said "Hold on before you guys go." He walked over to a cupboard, and began digging through it. He pulled out a map, and unrolled it. "I want you guys to take this. It's a map through the North Wildlands. It's a little hard for even our warriors to find their way sometimes, so this'll be quite helpful. Just be careful with it, because it's old."
"Thank you." Jace thanked kindly, and took the map. "Iris, what do you think? You ready for this?"
She nodded "I am, are you?"
"Yup!" Jace said eagerly.
Darmorn took the bowls off the table, and put them in a tub of water filled with dirty dishes. He then grabbed a rock from a pile of rocks on the table, and took a big bite out of it. Ilye winced when she heard him crunch down on it, wondering how goron's don't break their teeth doing that...
"Like I said, you guys be careful."
"Wow, this'll be exciting!" Jace spoke eagerly "We'll be careful, Brother. And we'll be back safe and sound with this whole mess taken care of."
Darmorn patted Jace on the back, knocking him over. Iris moved away to a safe distance so Darmorn wouldn't do that to her. Skits stood up from a chair, with his little bird belly full, and he groaned. Iris laughed out loud "Little bro, you okay? Did you eat too much? C'mon, we're about to leave."
He lazily flew to Iris and landed in her arms.
Jace stood up, and popped his back "Ugh..." he looked at Ilye "Hey, thanks for handling this discussion for me."
"It's no problem, I enjoyed hanging with Darmorn. What was with Iris, was she okay?"
Jace looked back at Iris, remembering their brief moment together and sighed deeply "Yeah, she's fine... She's just a little shaken up about this whole Twilight mess. Nothing a private conversation couldn't fix."
Iris was talking with Darmorn, and paid no mind to Jace and Ilye.
Ilye chuckled, and nudged Jace in the arm "I'd say by that expression on your face, the tone in your voice, and that loose I'm on cloud-nine look, you guys got alone time, huh?"
Jace blushed lightly "Now is that really any of your business?"
"I'm just teasing you. Besides, I'd rather you guys be spending time together than arguing."
Jace smiled "Well, of course we're not gonna fight... Why do you care about it so much anyway?"
"... I'd hate for something to happen to you two is all. Right now is a stressful time for those who're in the middle of this whole Twilight mess. I know it's gotta be hard on you guys."
"It really is..." Jace agreed "But... We all have each other's backs, and we're gonna get through this A-okay."
Ilye smiled "That's what I like to hear."
"Hey, you two comin' or what?" Iris spoke up. Jace's leaves twitched. "Oh, yeah!"
"I'm always ready." Jace smiled. He kissed her cheek lightly and hugged her and leaned all his weight on her. She lightly blushed at him, before teasingly shoving him off her.
Darmorn chuckled at their playful behavior, and asked with a smirk. "Hey, you guys got any sprouts yet?"
"..." They froze and stared at Darmorn, then both asked "What?" at the same time.
"Buds? Bloomed flowers? Y'know, k-?"
"WHOA WAIT UP!" Jace spazzed "We're not even married yet!" His eyes were like dinner plates. "Give us time to let that sink in before people start pressuring us about the pollen and the petals, geez. First Auran, then you. Good lords."
Darmorn laughed so hard, you'd have thought he'd have fallen on his back "I'm just joking with you, brother, calm down, That's what brothers do!" He was getting ready to pat Jace on the back again, but Jace moved. Iris had been laughing and blushing, taking the joke a little better than Jace had. Jace finally came around, and crossed his arms with a smirk. "Yeah, alright, well, joke or not, you wont be laughing when one day, I'm dropping my kids off here for you to babysit all day." Jace laughed back.
Iris was rolling her eyes. "ANYWAY, Jace, I think it's time we stop joking around and head out."
"Yeah, you're right..." Jace paused "So, bro, set us up with a warrior of yours and we'll be on our way."
Darmorn nodded "Gladly."
Time passed, and Darmorn had set them up for a journey into the Wild North. They were outside, and gorons were giving them farewells. The warrior goron leading them on had opened a path that lead to the deeper road to the North and waited for them.
The deku scrubs were ready, and began on after bidding their friends farewell.
"Be safe!" Darmorn called.
Jace nodded, and turned back around.
Iris smiled at him, with Skits sitting on her head "Here we go..."
"Yup..." Jace smiled back softly. They warmed each other's hearts, as they stood close to one another. Jace put his arm around his fiance, preparing for a new road. Ilye simply smiled at them as they walked on.
They soon set off, disappearing into the white nothingness of the wide land of snow.
To Be Continued...
