CHAPTER NINE

"I'll tell you what happened, you bastard!" Aeli was shouting. "Your girlfriend freakin' attacked him, that's what!"

"I don't have a girlfriend!" Khal retorted. "You don't have to yell at me for what Nalana did!"

"Din, Farore, and Nayru!" Aeli cursed. "Keep that bitch away from him, or I'll kill you, got it?"

Link cracked his eyes open. He was on a bed, or something else soft, and his torso felt crushed and weak. His lungs were wheezing and his head was aching.

"Where am I?" he croaked, and the attention of Khal and Aeli was directed at him. It was daytime now, though how many days had passed, he didn't know.

"You're in Khal's house," Aeli explained. "You've been unconscious for almost a day."

Link then said several vulgar words that would have made his mother scream at him. Aeli was about to slap him upside the head, but restrained herself in time.

"Where'd you learn sailor talk?" she asked him jokingly.

"Sailor talk?"

"That's what my father called swearing."

"Jeida, the bartender in Castle Town,"

"Sounds like a charming woman." Aeli rolled her bright blue eyes.

Khal loudly cleared his throat, making the Twili girl and the injured thief look up at him in confusion. "As soon as you can travel, we're leaving. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Aeli irritably brushed him off. "Why don't you go have an ominous conversation with a cloaked figure in the moonlight?"

Link sniggered, then coughed and fell silent.

Khal huffed and left, the door slamming shut behind him and leaving Aeli and Link alone in his house.

Aeli sat down in a chair by the bed. "I'm sorry,"

"For what?" Link asked.

"For letting her beat you. I should have woken sooner; if I had then this wouldn't have happened." Aeli averted her eyes. She was in silent turmoil about this, he knew it.

"Hey," Link reached out and took her hand. He wasn't sure why, but he did. "It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."

Aeli's lips betrayed a small grin, and she lowered her eyes shyly. Then she pulled her hand away from his and stood. "I'm gonna go find something to eat. See you later." She grabbed the white yew bow from a small table across from the bed, and keeping her own little smile, the young Twili girl left the house.

Link felt suddenly quite alone. He and Aeli hadn't really parted company for two long days, and having her near by felt...... natural.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Link knew he needed rest, so he went to sleep.

* * *

Aeli walked down the dirt road from Khal's house, but all she could see were boarded buildings. No trees, no forest, no cats.

Oh well. she thought. Eating cats wouldn't have been all that great anyway.

She walked a bit more, until she came to a tunnel at the end of the road, a little past all the shabby buildings. It was the same tunnel they'd arrived from, where Aeli herself had been unconscious until Khal found her.

Aeli gingerly reached to her head and touched the bandages. The slash on her head hadn't completely healed, but when she returned later, she'd bug Khal for a needle and thread to stitch it up.

It didn't take much effort to leave the village. She knew Link was safe in Khal's house, even if they distrusted him. And Link's left hand hadn't been hurt too bad, so he could fight if he needed to.

Wait.

Link was left-handed; Aeli could tell by how he usually left his right hand useless at his side. But when he took the Ordon Sword from Khal, he'd used his right hand. So how had Khal known he was left-handed?

"You go left, because that's your strong side," he'd said.

Aeli had been walking this whole time, and now she stopped at the mouth of the tunnel. She was surrounded by stone as far as the eye could see, as if she was in a valley.

But how had Khal known?

She went on the offensive. If Khal knew something like that without being told, he was an enemy. Something about him made her skin crawl; there was no doubt about it, his intentions were for his own benefit, not for theirs.

Aeli turned to go back, bow brandished. She had to get to Link, now.

"Going somewhere, my dear?" a voice, deep and cold, called to her.

She whirled around, an arrow notched, and fired it immediately at the speaker, but black-gloved fingers caught it easily. It was a man with black skin and fire-colored hair rivaling her own, cloaked in ebony and dressed similarly, with gold embroidery and heavy metal boots.

"What do you want?" she snapped, bow hanging uselessly at her side. She knew she couldn't fire at him; he'd only catch her arrows.

"I want many things, Aeli. One of them is the death of your friend, the thief." he snapped the arrow he'd caught between two fingers and dropped the pieces.

"Go to hell," she snarled.

"Ever wonder how you wounded your head?" he sneered, a sickening grin on his black-skinned face.

Aeli froze. Her hand found its way up to her bandages, and her memory flashed before her eyes as she remembered:

The rain was still falling. It was cold, so cold, like ice droplets trickling down her flesh. It made goosebumps rise on her body, and that was made her open her eyes.

At first, Aeli could see nothing, for the rain was so thick, like a sheet before her blurred eyes. Then, she made out a shadowy figure, just watching her and Link, who was unconscious a little ways from her position now.

Aeli thought it was her imagination, and looked away to her senseless companion.

"Link," she'd been shaking him. "Wake up, you dolt."

"A Twili girl, eh?" that cold voice had called over the rain. "There's something you don't see every day. A fine beauty, to be sure, but strange, odd, like some kind of animal."

"Who the hell talks to me like that?" Aeli sprang up, bristling, and took several steps towards him. "Who d'you think you are?" she stopped.

"I think," the man walked closer, and she saw his orange hair, his black skin, and his black armor trimmed in gold. She also saw that he was about seven feet tall. "that I am the future king of Hyrule."

Aeli snorted. "Sure, yeah, whatever you say. Zelda's the ruler of Hyrule. She has been for almost a decade. Dream on."

He ignored her and continued to walk forward. "And this young man must be the destined thief. Can't say I'm impressed; he looks scrawny, like a rat."

The giant of a man stooped over and picked up the unconscious Link by the throat. "He's small. I should kill him now and get it over with." He drew a huge sword from a sheath in his belt, and prepared to run Link through.

"Stop!" Aeli ran forward, her fist smashing into the man's black-skinned cheek, and he dropped the thief, cursing.

When her parents were still alive, they taught her how to fight without a blade or a bow. They taught her to use her arms and legs as weapons.

Aeli kicked him in the back of the knees, making him stumble, but he swiftly recovered and lashed out at her, his metal-clothed hand just missing her face.

"Brat!" he snarled. "You dare to strike at me? At Ganondorf, King of Darkness?"

"King of Darkness, my arse!" Aeli snapped. "You're King of your own little world."

He was too fast, she realized. His sword was getting more and more accurate.

Finally, she could no longer dodge him, and his sword point slashed through the flesh on the side of her head. It was deep enough to sting like a bee, and to bleed heavily.

"Ungh!" she cried out as it cut her, her head spinning as she fell.

"Listen closely, bitch," he hissed. "if you ever lash at me again, I will kill you. I was going to leave you to my ally, but if you do hit me again, she'll need to find some other prey."

Aeli was trying to stem the flow of blood with her hand, and her eyes began to blur.

She blacked out.

"I remember you," she whispered as the flashback ended. "From that night. You were the one that attacked me."

"Indeed, you are not as stupid as you appear to be, Twili girl." the man in black armor, Ganondorf, had moved in between her and the tunnel leading back to the hidden village. "I may just let you live after all."

"Spare me, will ya? I've had enough of your I'm-King-So-Obey-Me crap. Go to hell, Ganondork!" Aeli rushed at him, running straight for him. He was caught off guard, and crouched in a defensive position, but Aeli rolled on her shoulder off to his side, got up, and ran again.

She didn't have time for this. She had to get to Link before Khal did.

"You aren't going anywhere," a strong hand grasped her fire-colored hair and yanked her back. Aeli landed hard on her back, but sprang up again. Ganondorf was once again between her and Link, and she curled her lip in disgust.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded.

"I need your help, Aeli." he drew his sword. "I need help killing your friend."

"I won't let you kill him! Stay away from us!" Aeli ran at him again, but his sword was too fast.

He slashed her across the midriff. Blood splattered the ground, and she fell on her back, screaming in agony. Her tunic was soaked already, the flesh was ripped from left to right by his blade. Aeli felt tears of pain streaking down her face, but she opened her eyes to stare him down with her crystal blue gaze.

"Damn you," she hoarsely muttered.

"You're in the way of what I want, Aeli. I have to eliminate the impediments." he leaned over her, and, holding his sword over her head, let droplets of her own blood drip onto her face. "Sleep well, Twili girl."

Aeli's eyes went dark.

AND SO...... ganondorf rears his ugly head at last. but why did aeli have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?

you will see.....