Linebeck's Agreement
Chapter Nine: Not Listening
By Harmony283
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't claim any ownership of it, flattered that you'd think I'd own it, but sadly I don't.
Authors Note: Well the only thing I can really say about this chapter is you get to see a bit more of Venus' (the OC's) personality in the beginning. But because of her some things might seem a bit confusing, but hey I'd figure 9 chapters in you'd want to hear a bit more about Linebeck and his 'past'. Other than that--enjoy!
Note: The cards Venus refers to are like tarot cards, but not exactly. They're more…accurate and can be used for more than one purpose. Also Venus has the habit of creating nicknames for character's (which is why she calls Aryll 'seed', because her name sounds like Arils).
Warning: Installed this at the last minute but--blood is the main warning here. It's not…anyone's (again) but it's shown in Linebeck's 'dream' (and yeah the dream isn't italicized because…well…I can't say, but it just isn't and it's for a reason)
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"So what were you just about to do? I saw you go up a few minutes ago…" she started with an overly familiar grin on her face, "Don't tell me you were gonna go see what all the commotion in the game room was about? Then again, that seems like something you'd do--"
"--When I was younger yeah. I just wanted a drink. No not that kind of drink. Just a drink." She quirked an eyebrow at this, her eyes flashing mischievously but she didn't seem to push the subject.
Instead she just nodded her head, "Okay then--why don't I go with ya? I just came outta that place and it's brutal. It's like a sea of people packed in one tiny lil' space. Oh and they're playing poker."
I shrugged my shoulders, "Yeah I saw." She eyed me out of the corner of her eye; I could feel it, "Not interested. One guy already cheated--only on the first round too." She winced and shook her head, whistling lowly as we maneuvered through the still-thickening crowd. They had to have some sort of limit to how many people they could cram into one small space but--
"Hey, hey, let's sit down for a bit--let the crowd get settled." I felt myself being yanked into a chair at one of the only vacant tables left in the small room. I nearly got elbowed in the head twice, once by a waiter walking by with a full trey in his hand, and another by a guy who had obviously had a bit too much to drink--and was trying not to act drunk. Though he was failing miserably.
Then suddenly I had a hand in my face and a voice in my ear, "So tell me, Linebeck, what brings you back to a place like this?" I immediately shifted away from her and she laughed--or she should have but she looked serious.
"That's just like askin' you why you're here, y'know." She still kept her face straight, "You won't tell me will you?"
She shook her head, then paused and nodded it, "Weeelll I can actually tell you but," she twirled a braided strand of hair around her finger before letting it go, "You don't want me to. So answer the question, Becky," I cringed at the nickname, "Why are ya here? And who was that kid you were with a few minutes ago?"
I let out a sigh. There was no way I was getting out of this now. Might as well go along with it, "Her name's Aryll, she's the younger sister to one of the people I'm traveling with now."
This seemed to amuse her, "So you're basically babysitting?"
I shook my head, "No. I chose not to go with them."
"Where are they going?"
"With the doctor to the Blessed Ones home, to try and heal her." My voice cracked halfway through saying that--and she could tell. I knew she could tell.
"I see. And which Blessed One is this again?" She studied my face for a moment before answering her own question, "Ah, that one. They'll be back by morning, maybe."
I looked up at the ceiling, at the ornate light fixture over the table, "That's what I'm hoping. If not Aryll's probably gonna drag me out to look for 'em."
"And that won't be fun, will it?" She let out a warm chuckle, "You walked here from Port Jen didn't you? Hah, your feet must be killing you."
I shook my head, "Not as bad as earlier, but the hike wasn't fun. Considering I had to carry most of the equipment."
That seemed to be outrageously funny and she began to laugh, "Well then, at least you showed what a man you are, Becky." I flinched again at the name, "I've heard about that old Doctor Healer guy. Rather corrupt they say--how much did ya have to give 'im? To see her?"
"Four hundred Rupees."
Her eyes widened, "That inexpensive? I could've sworn it'd at least be a thousand or somethin'."
"Like we even have that much. We got lucky--that and we were drawing a crowd." She flinched at that, "Not a big one, it was late, but big enough that it got him uncomfortable."
"Well, Becky, ya did the right thing." I flinched again and she smirked, "Oh come on, you still don't like that nickname? It suits you! Be a man and take it!"
"You can be a man and take a lot of things, but 'Becky"?" I shook my head, "Don't know what generation you're from but that's a girl's name. Not a guy's name."
She shrugged her shoulders and began playing with her hair again, "Well hey, if I can be named after a plant that eats flies you can take a girly nickname."
"Yeah but Venus is a girls name."
"Not a normal one."
I let out a tired groan, "Look, why are you here? I need a drink and I need to get back to my room."
"And you still don't know how to end a conversation well with a girl," She shook her head in mock-sympathy, "I pray for you boy, I do. Not that it'll do ya good, but--"
I felt a sudden violent chill run down my spine and immediately I felt her hand on my back, "Linebeck? Hey, you feeling okay?" I tried to swat her hand away but another wave of nausea splashed over me and I felt like I was going to be sick. Very, very sick.
"Look, I don't think you need anythin' special right now. You just need some water and a good night's sleep. You have been sleeping haven't you?" I managed to look up at her briefly and that seemed to be all she needed, "Again?" Her voice was soft now, "You aren't sleeping again." She didn't say anything more as she stood up from the table, helping me up without really helping me.
I managed to get out of the game room and halfway up the stairs before I heard Aryll call out, "Linebeck? Ah…are you okay?!" I heard her hesitate for a moment before asking, "And…you're…?"
"You're Aryll aren't ya?" Venus asked from behind me, "Could you open the door to your room for us--and get some water? It seems your friend here isn't that…well."
My eyesight was going in and out of focus now, and the room…almost felt like it was tilting. The floor was coming up and I was going down. Great…not good. I covered my face with one hand and shook my head, "Ugh…"
"Linebeck? Hey, hang in there," I faintly heard Venus' voice, I could feel her hand on my shoulder, helping me without really helping me walk forward. I heard a door close somewhere behind me and I heard Arylls voice off in the distance asking if she could do anything to help.
"Water, just water, that's all he needs." Venus said before muttering, "What in the name of the Goddess is wrong with you? This never happened before."
I was sitting on a bed now, one of the ones in the room Link and I were supposed to share. And Venus was standing in front of me with a half-worried, half-oddly calm look on her face, "It's because you're here isn't it?" She looked like she didn't want answer, like she was talking to herself. If she was then might as well not answer her. Not like I could, it still felt like the room was tilting. I faintly heard her say something about sleep, or lack of sleep, or something along the lines of that before my head hit the pillow and I was, quite literally, out like a light.
And a few seconds later I was covered in blood.
'Oh my Goddess! Linebeck, Linebeck! Get down! Get down!'Someone shouted from above me, and I felt myself being shoved down onto the hard wooden floor of the deck. Then someone started laughing, but through the laughing I could hear a scream.
A flash of silver, and then a flash of orange hair, and then…I was covered in even more blood, 'Linebeck…you're blee…ding…' a voice whispered out, 'You're blee…ding. Where's…where's Venus? O-Or Tabitha…they…need to heal you…'
Suddenly the voice disappeared and the person was yanked off me. That's when I saw their--her--face. The face of the middle aged woman who had taken me in when I needed to get away. The woman who had played the 'mother' figure for me, and everyone else, for nearly five years.
And that was the last thing I saw until my eyes snapped open. I felt oddly cold, even though there were about three blankets on top of me, and I was shaking…badly. But I didn't feel sick anymore. I looked around the room, or what I could see of it laying down, until my eyes fell on a neatly folded letter on the bedside table.
A letter with Aryll's handwriting on it, obviously. I didn't have to open it, though, to know what it said. She had gone to look for Link. He wasn't back yet and it was—I glanced over at the clock that hung crookedly on the wall—almost noon.
'Great…she didn't listen did she?' That was the first thing to pop into my head. Not like I expected her to, though, 'But still…now I have to go after her. And I really don't wanna do that.' Or get up, I didn't want to do that either. But I need to wake up, get up, whatever. That…that dream--
"And the dead man awakes!" I let out a groan and sat up, "Oh come on now, Becky—don't look so peeved. You honestly expected me to leave you like that?" I heard the sound of a chair scraping against the wooden floors of the room and when I turned to look, I saw Venus looking over at me with an extremely worried, yet somehow bored expression on her face.
I let out a shaky sigh, "Yeah I know you wouldn't leave, but—"
"Oh and that little seed ran off saying she was looking for her brother." She completely cut me off, "Hope that wasn't a bad idea, letting her go, I mean."
I let out a low groan and managed to sit up all the way, "You let her leave? I thought I told you I was supposed to be watching her."
Venus let out a low whistle, "Well you definitely aren't watching her if she's looking for her brother alone. But do you think you can even stand?" Now her expression was just worry, no other emotion mixed in.
I pushed the covers off the bed and swung my feet over to the side, "I can stand." Didn't mean I still was completely fine though, "See?" I stood up, a little shakier than I wanted, but it showed her I could stand.
This just earned me a nod of the head, "Well it looks like you definitely can. Well then, I guess I don't have to tell you which way to go. I doubt you've forgotten the way." Her voice sounded serious and I felt sick again.
Or, no, not sick. More like afraid, 'First that dream and now this. But it's not like I'm going to actually see her. I'm just going to find Aryll.'
"I hope that little seed'll be okay," I was only half listening to Venus as I pulled on my coat, "make sure she's okay, y'hear?"
"I don't think I could face Link if something happened to her," I said with a shake of my head.
"Yeah there's that and," My hand paused on the doorknob and I turned to look over my shoulder at her. She had an unusually peaceful expression on her face, which seemed to grow just a little more panicked when she saw me looking at her. She took a shallow breath and murmured, "The cards say that she's going to do something stupid soon. Something really stupid soon, but she actually has to be alive in order to do it."
"Stupid? Her?" I almost laughed, "Yeah she's a kid but how can she do something stupid that you can pick up using the cards? Are you sure they aren't wrong?"
The look on her face told me a second too late that she was going to say something I wasn't going to like, "Linebeck, deary, the only one they don't work for is you." I flinched, "Now go find that girl so she can go and do whatever stupid thing she needs to do."
With that said and done I whirled around and nearly slammed the door. I didn't need to be reminded of that. Really I didn't. Especially not after that…dream.
But it's not like she wouldn't just peg me with it later. If she didn't then something was up. If she didn't then something was up and she wanted something from me. And when women wanted something from you it never meant anything good. Ever.
It meant that she would want something in return, 'Knowing her I really don't wanna go on a wild goose chase to find what she wants.' Because chances were that what she wanted would either be far, far, faaaar away in the middle of nowhere, which would most likely be on the veeery top of a veeery tall mountain and it would be something that was deemed worthless to every person in the world but her. Or it could be something so completely average that she could have just bought it herself, but that was beside the point.
Before I knew I found myself opening the door to the inn and stepping out into the slightly damp morning air. It was going to rain soon, that or it was just humid. Didn't seem to keep the place from being busy though. People were already selling things in carts or stalls--most being fresh vegetables or fruits that I remembered once but forgot how they tasted and what their names were. Some were even arguing whose produce was the best, and which was priced way too high to be any real good.
'Not that I can blame 'em, fifty rupees for two sacks of…apples,' Or at least that's what they looked like, 'Is a bit too high, even if they were hand grown a few miles away.'
After watching for a few seconds I turned and walked down the cobblestone walkway towards the exit I knew would lead to the woods--to the Blessed One's home. But did I really want to go through the woods alone? I let out a sigh, 'Not like I've got a choice.'
Hopefully Aryll didn't run off too far. And if she did--
If she did I'd still have to go after her. If I didn't then Link would, and he'd be upset with me, 'Though maybe that's a good thing…I've never seen him angry before.' But did I want the 'hero' to be mad at me? No probably not.
'Not that he'd do anything to me, he'd just be worried.' I let out another sigh and began walking down the path. It was much shadier than it had been, but then again the trees had grown. It wasn't like time stopped.
I let out a choked laugh at that, "Yeah, it'd be bad if it--"I couldn't even finish my sentence when I heard a scream from somewhere in the distance, somewhere distinctly off the path.
Crud.
I quickened my pace along the pathway, looking from side to side--maybe just maybe she saw a monster and ran back out. She shouldn't even be in the woods in the first place. Even Venus would've told her that--don't go into the woods. Just don't.
Then again maybe she was like her brother, he probably wouldn't've listened anyway if someone was in trouble, 'So maybe she is capable of doing something stupid. I didn't think she'd try something stupid that'd get her killed.'
A cold shiver ran down my back as I thought that and I quickly shook whatever beginnings of a memory that brought with it. Thinking was bad for me right now. Don't think. Don't think. Don't thi--
And suddenly I'm being knocked to the ground, I didn't get a chance to even see who it was that knocked me over but it wasn't like that really mattered at the moment--I already could guess who it was.
"Linebeck?! You're up?" Aryll asked, sounding extremely panicked, "You're up! You're up!" she sounded like she was about to cry. That wasn't good. I managed to sit up and immediately she latched onto me, "It's Sakura." Again I didn't have to say a word, "She got…trapped. In a trap."
…Well that just made my life worse, "Where?" She pointed off in the direction she had come from--to the left. I groaned and managed to sit up even further, pushing her off me so that I could stand up, "And how far away is it?" She gave me a confused look and I shook my head, "Fine, fine, what did the trap look like? And were there any monsters around?"
She picked up a nearby stick that had fallen from one of the trees and began to trace a pattern in the dirt. It looked almost like a cage…of some sort. But it looked like it had more teeth than bars. Then she drew this weird…human-shaped thing with huge claws next to it. So there was a trap and a monster. She looked up at me and said softly, "She told me to run, that the monster…it was…bigger than I was," and she thought it'd be smaller? "she said that I should f-find you or my brother but big brother m-might get mad."
I shook my head, "Well yeah you kinda didn't listen to him, or me," she flinched, "but I'm not mad, just…annoyed. Guess we'll have to get her back, right?"
"We have to!" immediately she was up and on her feet with a desperate look on her face, "If we don't--"
"She'll be monster food, yeah I get it. I just hope that…monster you saw is gone by now. If it isn't then this could end up very bad." As in Aryll really, really could die. Or I could. I didn't want to die, not yet anyway.
"S-So you'll help me?!" she looked relieved now and I nodded my head, "O-Oh thank you! I-I mean…if you didn't then…"
"Then your brother would've gotten mad at me, probably, and I don't want that," I patted her on the head and she squeaked, "Just if things get bad you're going to have to go to your brother again, you understand?"
Her eyes widened, "Y-You think it could go…b-badly?"
I looked past her, through the dense forest she had run through, "I don't really know. But I do know that I don't want to die--even if I did this isn't on my top list of ways to die." I glanced back down at her and her eyes seemed to have just gotten bigger, "But hey, I highly doubt that'll happen--I'm just saying it could," no use in telling her that the chances of one of us--unarmed basically untrained 'civilians'--surviving was really, really slim. Boosting moral for this was more important, "Besides the monster's probably long gone if it took you a while to get here."
"But what if it ate Sakura!" I almost laughed at that. Really I almost did. Even though it wasn't that funny, and she was being serious about it.
"Don't worry kid, I doubt it even went close to her. I don't think fairies taste very good anyway." This seemed to calm her down and she nodded her head, "Now I guess we should get goin'." She nodded her head again, faster this time, and turned around. She walked back through from where she had come from and for a moment I just watched her until she disappeared.
"Guess I'm really not getting myself out of this now," I muttered before stepping off the sunlit path and into the dark shady forest, "Just hope I can actually stop what's going to happen." I stared up at the large tree branches above me, "I don't have as much luck as I used to."
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A/N: I had to really think on what to tack of as the ending. But hey, this is another chapter that I really, really like. Though it may sound very, very confusing on the first read through--that's what I get for throwing in Venus this early on. Don't worry though, things should become a bit clearer in the next few chapters. Which reminds me--the next chapter is -drum roll- a bonus/special chapter! Why? Because it's the 10th chapter and it's going to be in Link's POV!
As always, if you've got questions, comments, anything of that sort send it in a review!
-Harmony283
