Agh! I am so sorry! It all kind of got away from me! Here are more chapters to make up for it!
Disclaimer: I don't own zelda
Talen stashed me behind the bar counter tonight. It is a fairly quiet evening… again. Business has been a little slow lately. I think word got around about Drayfus giving Lloyd the old heave-ho.
I haven't seen Drayfus since that day in the alley but I have managed to put my mind at ease over him. First of, there is most likely no way that I would have been able to learn that spell and there is most definitely no situation in which I would be able to use it. Second now that I know what Drayfus is up too I am far less shocked about why he is here. His story seems to make sense and it isn't like he asked for any information that could be used as weapon. If he is telling the truth his presence here would actually be very beneficial in light of current events. Plus it's been enough days that if he were causing trouble it would be reflected in the local gossip.
I hang the cup I just finished drying up on the rack. It was my last one. So I start to buff the counter with a rag. I have nothing to do but "look pretty" but Teddi puts it (he can be as ass sometimes) but I want to make up for my last few blunderous days, and I figure making the wood shiny enough to style your hair in would help a bit. I feel guilty about being a bother. The last thing I need to do is make Talen's life any harder due to my own incompetence.
My buff job is ruined by a sweaty palm. I look up to see one of Jan and Lloyd's big buddies, (Mervin? Mevrem? It's M-something…) slump across the counter. He looks like he's about to be sick. Sigh… there is no rest for busy.
I wave and shout at Talen, who's sitting and chatting with Mari. "I've got a live one. I'm taking him out back." Talen nods in acknowledgement. If the customer is going to be ill it is best that he sicks up in alley and not on the floor, at least that has always been the policy of the Midnight Angel. I guide Markin to the hall then place myself under his arm. Thank Din I am stronger than I look; Markirk here is heavy. Somehow I manage to help him get through the door to the alley, despite how badly he is staggering. Though we do bump into the walls a few time. And the fact that I want to drop him because of his current body oder also impedes progress. Together we stagger through the door and he pushes off of me, hunkered over like he is going to spew.
Something's wrong.
Dirt grates against the cobblestone and I dodge to the right where Macrkel is crouched over. I can't leave the poor guy here to be robbed and killed. It would be very bad for Talen's business. I take a few seconds to look around. There is definitely one person just around the corner of the building and I suspect a second is in the other alley. I feel like an idiot. I know how to use a sword, but do I own one? Noooo. Why is that? Because I'm too young to use a sword. Would I ever need it? Well this is the second time in as many months that it would have been handy.
A third man claps his hand over my mouth and uses the other on my throat. A soft voice whispers in my ear, "Don't struggle and you won't get hurt." I am going to kill MacKay or whatever the fuck his name is. I am going to kill him so brutally that even vultures will whimper when they see the remains.
My right hand shoots to the hand he has on my neck as my left streaks for my knife. Someone managed to find it after my first scuffle. As my fingers feel it's smooth worn handle my teeth clamp down on M's meaty palm. It tastes absolutely wretched but my suffering was worth it. The hand withdraws very quickly. So quickly in fact that my teeth end up with a bit of a souvenir. I whirl, simultaneously breaking the grip on my neck and slashes with my dagger. Even in the faint light I can see blood on his shoulder. I spit out the hunk of foul flesh and whirl again, aiming for the door. Two figures stand beside it, back lit by the entrance so I can't see who they are. But I know that one is Lloyd. I take a deep breath, preparing to yell for help, hoping I can make it through the entrance.
My yell turns into a gasp before it ever leaves my lung as something is jabbed into my side. What is in the Sacred Realms is that?! My entire side flashes with pain then goes numb. The numbness floods the rest of my body. I can barely breathe. Whatever that was it was definitely cheating.
I struggle to hold onto consciousness as the figures come closer. One is definitely Lloyd, while the other is a stranger to me. I can hear M cursing quietly over what will soon be his newest set of scars.
As I fight to remain awake the stranger pulls off my hat and runs a finger over the tip of my ear. I shudder involuntarily. "Perfect." The stranger man is foreign. He clips his words very much the same way that Nasty Looking did. I know that should mean more to me but right now everything is slowing down. I shut my eyes, hoping it will help me fight through this.
The sound of Lloyd's bark of laughter and the clink of rupees is the last things I hear as the darkness claims me.
I wake up feeling heavy and sluggish. My face is itchy. I try to move my arm to scratch it but can't.
That's odd. I know I have arms. Perhaps they are what's digging oddly into my back. I go to roll, but it takes me a few tries to actually make it onto my stomach. My body is being very non responsive. I don't like this. But I really don't like the itch on my face. I try again to scratch my face but my arms remain where they are. It still takes me a few more seconds before I realize they are tied behind my back.
I would love to say that realization woke me up, but truth is I'm still more than a little confused. And itchy. But I am out of scratch itch strategies at the moment so I just lie here with my vague confusion and physical irritation. Finally I find the strength to look around.
Now that wakes me up.
I am staring straight at a wooden spike that has been driven deeply into the ground. A silver (in color anyway) chain has been wrapped around it, using the spike as an anchor to the ground. Said chain snakes around on the dirt before circling to come directly at me. I jerk backwards as best I can in such circumstances and am greeted by rattling and jingling. The sound fills me with dread. I look down. Sure enough the chain leads straight to me and follows up my chest to gently hugs my neck.
"He's awake." It's that clipped accent that I'm beginning to dread hearing. At the sound I jerk my head up, gazing around at my surroundings.
I need to pay more attention to what is going on in my environment because I somehow missed the fact that I am sitting in a camp with at least seven other people. Six of them are crowded around a fire while the seventh is across the small clearing we are in, also chained and bound like myself. The seventh figure is unconscious.
"So he is." Make that eight other people. A hand yanks me up by the hair, pulling me up to my feet. Above my hiss of pain the cacophony of the chain is coarse laughter of my captors. But that isn't what really bothers me. My hat is gone. My mother's necklace is gone. I hope that it is still where it was tossed, somewhere back in the alley in Lynna, instead of in the greasy paws of this rabble but either way I don't hold much hope of seeing it again.
The hand lets go of my hair and it takes enormous concentration to keep my on my feet. Whatever it was they hit me with had nasty side effects. The hand trails gingerly down my scalp past my throat and ends cupping my chin as its owner circles round to my front. I look up.
I am staring into a human face a little higher than mine. It has sharp brown eyes and dark brown hair. The features around round but not necessarily unflattering.
That's all I catch as hit the ground again, crying out somewhat from the pain in my chest from the punch but mostly from the fire blossoming in my shoulders as I land on my tied arms.
"That was a warning. Next time I will not be so generous." His voice is clear and dark, filled with the promise of pain and despair.
I really think one of the Goddesses hate me.
Onto the next chapter!
