Hello and welcome once more, thank you Azarin for your review and for being that faithful reader (we should have a relationship), but aside from that thank you all for reading and enjoy.
The Timeless Shadow
"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." Hero's Shade
Chapter 06: Falling in Training
A few hours after the small encounter with Lilia's father, a sudden need had awoken. It was an unknown force for Lilia's that came with new trainings sessions. The young looking boy that seemed to keep an eye out for her safety appeared to be fully amused by her actions. He had never seen her move much during the time he had been near her but this was truly getting out of the ordinary.
She was still doing her normal routines but instead of walking like she normally did, she was jogging lightly. This was all meant so that she could capture her food of the day but it usually ran away once she got close enough, she was still too slow and noisy. Yet she didn't give up on trying capturing a small rabbit; however it became slightly humorous as she fell while she lost her balance in the deep snow, thus scaring the rabbit to run away from good and away from the young Lilia.
Link on the other hand tried his best to hide his laugh but failed miserably in holding it back. He doubled over lightly but continued laughing, never less. The girl, however, narrowed her emerald eyes as she noticed that she was the laughing stock of the brave man observing her. She kept trying her best to ignore his loud and seemingly happy laugh, but it continued ringing in her ears, it annoyed her to no end. She pushed her self to ignore it a bit more and started to run just a bit father away from his position.
Once the brave warrior was done laughing, he decided to go down the hill and to the spot in which she stood panting, her small jog didn't last long enough. Once she noticed him going down over to where she was, she tried to continue. She didn't want for him to get so close to her expecting him to poke some more fun out of her. However, she didn't last long enough running before she fell once more, this time she too tired to continue to even try to get up. Her pants became wet and she rolled over to stare at the blue sky but instead of the sky she found herself staring at a deeper blue that belonged to the man she had grown a nice friendship with.
"Here?" He said extending his hand to help her up.
She took it without uttering a single word of thanks and sat up breathing deeply so that she could recover her breath. He didn't fall behind and joined her by sitting beside her still holding her hand, thinking that probably she would fall on her back if he let go of it. His eyes never left her face which was starting to get slightly pink. He passed it off thinking that it was probably her running that had gotten her cheek turn that color but somehow deep inside he really wasn't hoping that was the real reason for that blush.
"Why did you lie to me?" She whispered to the air, turning the once peaceful air to dark and tense.
"What do you mean?" He asked wishing that he had heard her wrong.
"My father told me that mom had a diary, which had written of how to release the curse. I didn't found it in my room." She said out loud staring at their entangled hands she being slightly confused on where they stood.
"I'm sorry." He said releasing her hand that felt cold the instant it left hers.
He didn't know what had gotten to him but he felt as if he had to run and so he tried. He started to running up the hill but was stopped roughly by her soft hand, she had followed him; and with a strange force he knew she had but was hidden by her fear. She tugged on his arm lightly, but that was all that was needed for Link to lose his balance, hers following close behind him. He started to fall and she went down with him, his body falling on top of hers and both of them rolling down the hill for a few seconds before they stopped moving at all.
"Are you okay?" He asked her breathing heavily thinking that he might have hurt her by falling on top of her.
She couldn't let out words and it wasn't due to him taking the breath out of her, literary. No, it was because of her nerves, she had never been this close to someone, and yes she had been close to him but never in this way, this felt more intimate. Having a man on top of her, in between her legs, was something new, something that brought a strange feeling to her. Yet thinking of the question he had done all she could do to answer him was nod shyly and blush when he didn't move from his position on top of her. He, however, knew that this was wrong but it felt ten times more right than anything in his life.
He looked straight at her staring at her short brown hair that had fell behind her acting as cushion for her head. He didn't stopped there, he had to stare at her small round face looking up at him, the blush deepening and working as a great contrast against the pale skin of Lilia. Her huge emerald green eyes stared up at him and he couldn't help but feel lost in the forest she had for eyes. He felt comfortable with her and he felt something that he hadn't felt all the years he had spent awaken, he had felt something similar with Zelda but this time it felt stronger.
He knew he had developed feeling for her but knew that she was still too young and most likely naïve. From her actions and reactions he knew she felt something, but was it true? He wondered if it was true, he wondered if those three words she had told him when scared were real and he wanted to find out. He wanted to and he knew that this was no real science so why was he thinking it so much? And he did what his heart and insides told him to do, he did what he had done to Zelda when young, but he didn't regret it.
His lips had found his way to her rosy ones, it felt like heaven. He moved his hands to her face so that he could grasp it and deepen the kiss. However he stopped abruptly, he was in shock at his actions. Not only did he take her lips as his own, he had done it without asking her. He withdrew and ran once more, scared that she might hate him for what he had done. He kept running till he disappeared inside the huge house, wishing that it hadn't occurred that way.
'What did I do?' He thought once he had stopped his sprint. 'This is wrong, if she does have feeling she will suffer. I might leave her like I left Malon and Zelda... no this is not right for her, she deservers more.' And he ran once more, this time in search of the book that will determinate the end.
Out side the mansion and still in the same spot on the floor, Lilia rested. She kept staring off in to the heavens thinking of what had just happened and confused by why she let him go and why she didn't kicked him off. She had liked it and even felt some tingling in her stomach. But then she remembered the words that she had said before he did such a thing. She wasn't as dumb as some people would perceive her and thought back to her literary readings when she used to study the human mentality with the help of her step mother.
She had learned a lot back then and she knew how well the brain worked, being it animal or human. But what she had just experience didn't felt like anything written in those books. She knew it wasn't normal, same as back then during her father's visit those words she had said to him in pure fear. She didn't know where it all came, but she knew that probably this was one of those lessons that her step mother told her to grow up.
Lilia stared back towards the place in which now he was at the moment and then towards a small group of sticks resting on the floor near her feet. Closing those thoughts out of her mind and for one last time she touched her lips, remembering the warmth of his on hers. But she stopped herself before getting once more too deep in the simple problem. She simply moved forward and captured in her hands one of the strongest sticks in the group and started to swing it fast and steady. She was scared of what might come from her but she had to face it and for it, she had to train.
"My Queen, we have arrived." The young pheasant boy that had helped her said.
"Wow, the new Kakariko sure has changed a lot." The voice of Zelda rang from behind the young boy.
"Really? I've never been here." Said the boy exited about this place.
They entered the area past the now desert like town and stared around at the people looking curious. It wasn't every day that the Queen of the land would enter the town in an old and beaten carriage. That small feat had called the attention of the people and instantly they surrounded the carriage and helped the Queen to her feet. Once she stood proudly with the people that loved her and admired her deeply she looked over to a group that started to make space for someone to pass.
"My Queen, what graces us with your presence?" The shaman of the new Kakariko spoke to her.
"It's great to see that you are still alive but I will prefer to speak to you in private." Zelda said in a friendly tone, smiling lightly at the man she had met when they moved the town over to this place.
"Of course." He also smiled back but frowned afterwards thinking of her reason.
However his trail of thoughts had to be stopped abruptly when the aged Queen fell unconscious before his eyes. Luckily some of the villagers close enough reacted fast and didn't let her body fall on the floor. Everyone gasped at the turn of events and surrounded her in worry. The shaman on the other hand wasn't as worried as he should be and worked his slightly aged body trough the thickening crowd.
Once he got to her he noticed that she appeared to be dreaming and commanded the men holding her, to take her to his home. He stayed back calming the people for a few minutes before leaving towards the small spring at the side of his home. He had heard of what happened to the Queen to make her faint that way and wasn't as worried as the people was. He stayed calm and composed till curiosity started to strike at him.
Sensing a presence behind him made him look back and smiling once he noticed the young boy that had brought the Queen in to Kakariko. He knew that the young boy was worried for her health and seemed determinate in staying around till he knew that she was all right. However, the shaman didn't appear to react much to his insistence and kept filling a small bucket with the water of the spring.
"Will she be ok?" The boy finally got the courage to ask.
"Yes, she will." He said strongly. "Would you mid giving her some of this water once she wakes up?" The shaman continued handing the boy the bucket of water he had just filled.
"I can't believe this is all happening." Zelda's middle son said.
He kept reading the rumors that had spread all around Hyrule and tried his best to fix some numbers in the economics reading. He knew his brother was doing a pessimistic job at being 'king' and knew that something had to be done. However, unlike Markus he tried to do things by the law and was not one to go against his kin, no matter how much he wanted him dead. Yet as he kept reading and fixing a few numbers up he felt a presence behind him, his brows joined together as the felt a sad energy from the individual that stood behind him.
"Dear, you should rest. You've been dealing with this for months." His wife said placing a cup of tea on the table, her voice sad and somber.
"I can't, I will never let my guard down with what happened to dad and mom." He said pressing the cup to his lips, his eyes never once leaving the papers, yet his mind stopping processing anything that had to do with the economy. His wife had become his priority.
"But I'm worried for your health." She murmured in his ear, hugging him from behind making her light brown her fall on his shoulders. She had been crying recently as he felt a wet cheek touch his.
"I'm more worried about you and the twins." Nick answered back to a silent question that had followed after her confession; he knew his male child was born weak.
"No," She said softly some tears starting to stain his back. "No more twins." She whispered as she began to cry to his neck, with her being behind him, making it difficult for him to caress her. Yet he didn't speak, his hand simply touched his woman's head in an effort to calm her down, however she continued speaking through her cries. "Mattew died, all we got left is little Zelda." This time she cried harder on to his shoulder holding him tightly, as if afraid that he would also leave like her son did.
Nick was in shock, he didn't know what to do. He loved his newborn kids dearly and now he had lost one. He tried digesting the information he had just received from his wife and tightened his grip on the cup of glass. Experience had told him that it was just a matter of time before Markus would move against his family and with that in mind he needed to find a way to stop him before he discovers his baby girl. This time he knew he would have to react before everything fell down to chaos; the chaos that only his older brother knew how to bring forth.
"Sweetie I'm here for you, I'll find a way to get you and little Zelda to safety." He whispered to his wife those consoling words before gaining a malevolent look in his eyes; he had to stop it before this plague devours his entire family.
'I'll get you for this Markus; I will not let you keep harming those close to me... mother I'll save you somehow.' He thought angry at the turn of events.
In the training grounds of the palace stood Markus, his face was still hurt from his fight the earlier day but that didn't stop him from missing out on training. He had started to hate that servant for being so attentive to his mother but he fixed that by making false promises. He always did anything to get what he wanted and he was close but failed miserably when the Sheikah blood in her had awoken for real. He knew the dangers in which he had thrown himself to but was now glad that she was the last one to stand in his way. He was confident that with her gone no one else would dare to stand in his way.
"Guards! File up." He commanded at the top of his lungs already mad that his efforts for killing his mother and conquering more land had failed. "All of you here have been called up for doing a miserable job! You couldn't even kill a single person yesterday and what makes it worst is that the two targeted persons were women!"
He walked around the men, inspecting them for any rebellious behavior, but saw none. He pulled out his blade and pointed it at one of the men that had helped him on the last mission. He glared at him and continued his march around the men, his eyesight never leaving his. The man tried to hold his gaze but couldn't match to his wit and looked to the floor after a few minutes of doing so. He had lost all his courage and felt disgraced that he had to be a knight for a king that fell so low.
"You! I want you to become the commander and take all this pitiful excuse for knights out on a mission to capture my mother." He yelled, his screams directed to the man he had been staring down earlier.
"Yes my lord!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs, trying his best to hide the fear in his voice and body.
"Good, I don't want you back unless you have my mother in your grasp. You understood?" He said lowly and maliciously one last time and felt proud that they listened to his command without even trying to question him, every man leaving the training grounds to do their mission.
Pulling his sword up, Markus started to swing it around with some vicious and powerful trusts. He kept doing it even after knowing that he was being watched by someone with eyes similar to his, but he didn't stop till he grew annoyed with the person watching all his movements and threw down his blade, barely missing his feet. However, he didn't end his tantrum there; he also picked up a bow and pointed it blindly towards where he knew that the person stood, with a smug look on its face.
The arrow flew fast and came in contact with a stone wall barely missing the spiky blonde hair of the person. The face of the person didn't even changed at the impact being so close to its face but the smug look on it grew. He picked up the half broken arrow and twisted it around in its hand, his eyes finally leaving the familiar face that had tried to kill him. He laughed silently to himself before trusting the arrow forward. Unlike the older blonde in the area his arrow graced the cheek of Markus leaving a small trail of blood on it.
"That's a better look for you brother." He told him staring at the scar in his other cheek. "Yeah, now it looks more balanced." He continued laughing at his comment.
"Urrg, what do you want Kain?" Markus asked annoyed at his youngest brother for being a show off.
"Noting really, I was just curious as to why you would be going around training and commanding my men." The younger blonde said in a carefree voice.
"You of all people know why, now leave me alone." Markus answered in a grumpy voice.
"Oh well, do whatever you please king. I was really in the mood to tell you some news but I guess you could care less to what happens to Hyrule while you're in your killing spree." He said mocking him completely.
Kain started to walk away slowly, making sure that his brother would be capable of processing his words. But he in reality didn't care; he knew the truth of both his brothers and wanted to play a bit between those two. He knew it would have been an interesting fleet to tell of now third in line to the throne, the famous baby Zelda that was in the castle but thought against it knowing that it would end up in a massacre. He was a sadist in real life but he loved and admired both his brothers and it wasn't his place to help them destroy each other.
"Wait!" Kain stopped halfway at his brother's call but didn't turn over to see his face. "What do you mean of news?"
"Oh? I thought you weren't interested. But seeing that I'm a great brother I will tell you. You should thank Nick for clearing what you had done wrong in the economic numbers and should give him some love since his baby boy died. Oh, but I wonder how?" He told him half sincerely and half cynically. "Oh, and call for me once you decide to give me my army back, you know where I'll be."
Markus stared at his youngest brother as if the man had lost his mind. He knew that Nick would end up fixing his problems with the economy but something strange stood out with the story Kain had told him. 'His baby boy died?' Markus thought as he remembered that Kain had only told him that Nick had a baby girl. With that thought in mind he smirked, Kain being slightly intoxicated and not thinking well what he had just said. "You're drunk." Markus muttered to himself, insulting the brother that seemed to never age.
He observed the retreating back of his younger brother and smiled. He was glad that with him there could be a relation of sincerity, unlike his relation with his other brother Nick. Kain was free minded but a great fighter while Nick was as strict as if he had a stick stuck up his personal space. However he didn't mind the youngest of the three because Kain had shown that he didn't have any interest in the crown, but Nick was a force to be reckoned since he was trained by his father and a knight named Yael just in case he had to take over the crown. But that wasn't the only thing that he could envy from his younger brother, that man had learned the ability to balance everything. All that caused a great spite in the oldest of the royal family.
Zelda wasn't alone during the setting sun. She was with the company of the animals and a few fellow foxes that had kept her company while she was training. She didn't want to fight but after this vision she had felt obliged her to train that is if she wanted to live more. She was slightly tired and sleepy but didn't shifted at the scenery she had been capable of capturing. She knew it would be a few more weeks before any troop from the castle could get to her. However, she was prepared for them.
She stood up silently still regarding the vision and thinking of that frightful day in which dusk will finally set. This small event happening in her family was the start of the era of darkness, a strange and consuming darkness that will end up filling the entire land of Hyrule. She knew all that thanks to the book of prophesies that was held by the royal family but she didn't know if she was prepared to see the beginning of it. The first happening that was predicted and that she would have to suffer from it was the battle for the crown.
'If only Link or my husband were here... I know I could be capable of fighting it all.' She thought her eyes trailing to the small patch of water that rested under her feet. 'I know I'm not alone in this, maybe my kids will start thinking about me as a family... no... That is only a dream in my head.' She kept thinking to herself a small tear being shed by the thoughts of those she had lost long before this all started to occur.
Once the sun had finally set she turned over only to smile lightly at the man that was standing a few feet behind her all this time. She tried to whip her tears fast but he had captured her hands in his own and started to whip them off on his own accord. However, every tear that he cleaned off was replaced by one immediately. His face turned down on a frown and he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to speak up or stop tearing up.
"My Queen... we've known each other for years, but you should not let this be your downfall." The shaman said strongly to her.
"But-" She tried to protest.
"No, stop it before you begin to make yourself sound stupid. The people love you and admire you for your courage and wisdom; they will do anything to help you... even if it comes at the risk of loosing their life."
"But, why? Why would they risk so much? I am already old; I barely have anymore left to live." She said a small spite due to her irreversible sickness.
"Sometimes, things are better left unanswered." He said wisely at her. "Coming in?" He asked her as if none of those words were spoken. "We made your favorite." He said trying to convince her but the last part being said sardonically.
She laughed at his change in attitude and rejected his offer for the time being. She was happy with having such great friends that even after age had claimed them; they would still maintain the characteristic they had since young. She was happy at that moment but it all went down when she saw the entrance and remembered her vision. The happy smile she had disappearing at that instant and being replaced with a frown.
"Zelda!" He called her once more, his place being at the front of his door. "Don't kill yourself at training, or else we wouldn't have something to die for at this moment." He told her slightly darkly but his weird way to humor being present.
'I should concentrate... this might be my last fight. No... I'm sure it will be but I have to protect these people for the burden they will carry.' She said determinately, as she started to summon her powers concentrating in using it to controlling the air around her.
