Author's Note- Wow, what a lame wait for this chapter! xox; I apologize for my lack of activity. But nonetheless, here is your chapter 10! Reviews, follows, favorites, and everything in between are appreciated a ton. :) Look out for the next chapter that promises to have a lot of more action! :D
Vio frowned slightly as Green wrapped the bandage around his injured hand. Though he was one of the heroes that saved Hyrule, journeyed across the land, and did all these amazing things, Green didn't really have a touch for gentleness. Once the bandage was wrapped tightly around his hand, Green secured it, and let it go. After it was free of his grip, Vio watched the cream colored bandage turn red with blood.
"Now that you're back safe, we should tell Zelda. She's been awfully worried about you." Green told Vio as he put up the bandages.
"Alright," Vio replied. He knew it was going to take time for his hand to heal, so why not spend it visiting Zelda? "Oh hey, where's Father by the way?" He asked, suddenly remembering his father's absence for the past few days.
"He's been on duty at Castle Town for awhile. Apparently there's been some outbreak of Moblins there or something. Angry about something, probably. I asked Father if he wanted any help, but he said that Moblins weren't a big deal." Green responded. Vio felt as if his blood had frozen. Could it be his fault that the Moblins were raging? The book that he had stolen from them seemed so long ago now. It's possible that their pack of sorts became angry...
"Vio?" Green's voice jolted Vio back to the presence. Green bore a slightly concerned look as he saw Vio.
"Yeah, let's go see Zelda." Vio recovered, and got up from where he was sitting. Heading towards the door, he noticed that Blue and Red were still outside on the bench.
"Hey," Vio said to them as he went outside. "We were thinking of going to see Zelda today." He explained to them. Red's face lit up like a star in the dark sky whereas Blue simply smiled wider than he normally does.
"That sounds so fun! Let's go, let's go now!" Red bounced happily back to the stables around the house with Blue trailing behind him. The thought of taking a horse somewhere briefly seemed bizarre to Vio with all the walking he has been doing lately. But, regardless, he joined Blue and Red in the stables as they waited for Green to appear. Green came around to the stables a bit after, saying he had to clean the rest of the bandages up. Vio mounted the brown horse with Blue, and Red climbed on the other horse they were taking with Green. Once they were on securely, the two horses galloped towards the road to Castle Town.
Hyrule Castle loomed above their heads as Green, Red, Blue, and Vio passed through the gates to Castle Town. Like every other day, the town was alive with busy people. Some rushing along the streets and others carrying large boxes and bags, the town never saw a dull day. The four stopped by the bridge that lead to the castle and got off their horses. Looking up, Vio saw the large towers of Hyrule Castle touching the sky, bathed in sunlight that he used to find beautiful. Now he sees the sunlight uncomfortable, and finds himself hiding behind shadows whenever he can.
A lot has changed since I was last here, Vio realized. I'd better not trip again. Vio heard Shadow Link's laughter in his head as he and the others crossed the stone bridge to Hyrule Castle. The knights on guard near the entrance to the castle didn't bother to stop them from entering, but rather nodded to them with a smile. The four Link's faces have become known across Hyrule since Vaati's fall was credited to their heroic actions, making being searched and questioned before before going into Hyrule Castle unnecessary.
As they navigated through the extravagant castle, Vio's mind began to wander off in thought. The tall walls and beautiful stain glass windows reminded him immensely of the towers that he would go into to find a Grim Sol. With two down and one to go, the three Sols were so close to being in his grasp. The same longing he had when he first read about the Grim Sols' power flared inside Vio again. The dead Fairy of Wind that would grant whoever could find her an unimaginable power. Just thinking about it made him-
"Zelda!" Red's excited call for the princess caused Vio to jump back to the present. The Grim Sols and the Great Fairy of Wind were wiped from his mind as he set eyes on Zelda. She was sitting quietly at her desk, her head lowered and eyes narrowed in concentration as she wrote with her quill. At the cry of her name, Zelda looked up, and as she saw the four Links standing there, her tightened eyes softened, and a warm smile came on her face.
"Hello, Red." Zelda said, standing up and looking at the others. When she spotted Vio among them, she gasped, and hurried over to him. "Vio!" She said as she threw her arms around him in a compassionate hug, taking Vio by surprise. "Thank the Gods you're okay. I was so worried!" The last time Zelda had touched him was awhile ago when he bore the Moblin injuries and was stuck in bed. She had held his hand there, and he remembered the odd and painful sensation of burning that left with her touch. So now, Zelda's hug that she gave Vio felt like a smoldering fire. Pain along with the suddenness of the scorching feeling made Vio flinch and choke, his face tightening with the effort to not immediately push Zelda away. Zelda, who seemed to have noticed Vio's stiff stature, broke away from the hug to look at him with concerned eyes.
"Are you alright? Are you still hurt somewhere..?" She wondered out loud.
"Ah, no, I just-" Vio started, but Blue interrupted him.
"He's still recovering from hypothermia. He's probably still got weak and sore muscles." Blue said. If there was another time Vio had felt more affectionate towards Blue, he didn't know when. He had just provided Vio with the perfect excuse. Though it was true, his muscles were still weak and sore, he had learned to ignore it by the time they made it to Hyrule Castle.
"Hypothermia?" Zelda echoed, the concern in her eyes becoming larger. And as Vio feared confusion displayed in her cerulean eyes.
"Yeah, but I'm alright now," Vio said before Zelda could speak again. "Nothing to worry about. How have you been?" He asked, eager to get the subject off his strange injuries. Zelda, not seeming to mind, started talking about her day.
"I've been stuck up here all morning, and honestly, I'm getting quite bored." Zelda said with a longing look out her window.
"Then how about we go outside? In the meadow with all the flowers?" Green suggested. One could see excitement flare in Zelda's eyes, but they were quickly quelled.
"You know I would love to, but the guards won't let me out of here." Zelda replied, "Besides, there's still a lot of work to do."
"Ah, you can do it later!" Blue said, waving his hand dismissively. "And the guards are no sweat. We'll get you past 'em before they can say 'Rupee'."
"Well," Zelda started, walking away from her desk and towards the door, "I suppose there's only one option then!" With grins on their faces, the five of them left the office room in a quiet haste.
Through the hallways they dashed, keeping out if sight from guards by distracting them with various means. At a certain guard of a large stature, Red pretended to trip, and wailed like a child, clutching his foot. At another guard, this one fairly tall, Blue started to bad mouth him, and made a sufficient distraction. When Zelda and the others made it past him and Blue rejoined the group, Zelda thumped him in the forehead for his foul language. After getting through all the guards and corridors, the group finally found their way through the back of the castle and outside. Through some bushes and trees they traveled until they made it to the very meadow they were searching for. Zelda, happy to be able to taste freedom again joyfully knelt by the delicate flowers.
"Oh, it's been far too long since I've been here." She said with a smile on her face. Vio, not wanting to be in the sunlight, leaned against a tree in the shadows casually as Zelda talked with Blue, Red, and Green. Vio listened to them talking about what was going on in the castle, what was happening in the town, and how they wished they could see each other more often. He also heard Shadow Link's scoffs at how childish they were. What Vio wasn't expecting to hear was Zelda's shrill scream of terror.
Looking up, Vio saw four large Moblins charging through the surrounding trees. Two held spears while the other two held bows. Fury was blazing in there eyes as they aimed to swing at Zelda, but Blue got her out of the way. Vio stepped out of the shadows, ready to help, but as soon as he moved toward the Moblins and gained their attention, they stopped in their tracks. Vio felt a cold sweat drip down his neck as he saw recognition flash in their small eyes.
With a roar, the four Moblins charged at Vio without warning. Taken by surprise at their sudden change of attack, Vio drew his sword to defend himself as a Moblin tackled him too the ground. But the monster wasn't able to do any damage to him since the Moblin was already knocked off by Green's swing of his sword.
Back on his feet again, Vio worked with Blue and Green to drive the agitated Moblins away. With the three of them working together, it was an easy task. Soon, the four beasts were running away from them with fresh wounds to keep them at bay for awhile. Turning, Vio saw Blue heading back towards Red who had protected Zelda through the fight, and Green staring into the path the Moblins took to get away from them.
"That was weird," Green panted, "Why'd they come here? And why did they go after you?" Though the question was directed at Vio, Green was still staring off into space, seemingly asking the question to himself. Regardless, Vio gave a shrug, and turned to check on Zelda. She looked a little roughed up, possibly from all the shoving her out of the way, but she didn't appear to be hurt. Her face wasn't tightened with pain, but rather slightly red from an angered expression.
"Those beasts! How dare they interrupt our nice afternoon? And it was going so well..." She muttered bitterly, standing up and brushing the dust off her pale dress. "We should return to the castle. I expect someone should have noticed my absence by now." She said to the four of them. With a reluctant agreement, they brought the princess back to her office the way they came. By then, her temper had gone down, and she was in a much more jovial state.
"I can't thank you enough for getting me outside without the guards noticing. We should do it again sometime." Zelda told them with a smile.
"Definitely." Green replied. "We'll see you again soon, Zelda."
"G'bye Zelda!" Red said with a joyful smile.
"See you, Zelda." Blue said.
"Bye," Vio simply muttered as they all left the room. They exited the castle the way they had first entered it. The sun was a pale orange as it started to decline in the sky behind brightly lit clouds. The people in town were just as busy as they were when they arrived. It seemed that everyone had something to do, somewhere to go. The four of them found the horses they had took, and mounted them again. The brown horses looked as if they were eager to be moving again as they galloped out of Castle Town.
Vio felt relief wash over him as he stepped inside the house. The sun was now only peeking over the horizon, leaving little sunlight to reach him. The day felt especially long to him. With Zelda's hug and the constant sunlight burning him along with his frail (but healing) muscles, he felt exhausted. He sat at the table with Green as Blue and Red prepared their dinner. When a plate of poorly chopped carrots (probably Red's doing) and salad that was burned on the edges (most likely at Blue's hand), Vio smiled softly. With Blue and Red now at the table with their own plates of marred food, Vio sensed a feeling of family that he hadn't had in a long time. Eating at the table together might be a small thing, but it had a strong impact on him from being away from them for so long.
When the plates were clear of their damaged food, the four of them headed up the steps to their bedroom. Vio sat on his bed as the others removed their boots and hats, examining his hand. He delicately unwrapped the bandage to see that his hand was still glowing red from the cuts, but not as painful as it was that morning. Hope sparked inside Vio when he saw this, thinking that he would soon be able to go hunting for the next Grim Sol.
With his boots and hat off, Vio crawled under the covers, his mind still running on the thought of the Grim Sol. With his eyes closed, he imagined what the third tower would look like, what stain glass windows it would have, what trials he would have to face...
Without knowing, Vio fell into a dream. He was standing alone in a dim field of grass. The moon shined soft beams of light down onto the field, illuminating the small dew drops on each blade. After taking a few steps, confusion filled Vio. He didn't know why he was there, or what was going on. Shadow Link emerged from his shadow in a seemingly confused state as well. Once they had walked a fair distance away from where they had started, a puff of smoke erupted to Vio's right. Zelda emerged from the smoke with a large rock in her hands.
"Vio!" She called to him. "I have a package for you!" She held up the rock, motioning that it was the package for Vio. She didn't seem to notice Shadow Link floating behind Vio as he walked towards her.
"What, you mean the rock?" Vio asked, approaching her. Once they were close enough, Zelda dropped the rock into Vio's arms. It was remarkably heavy, making him stumble to hold it.
"Open it, I made it myself!" Zelda said eagerly, smiling up at him. Lost and wondering how exactly Zelda could have made a rock, Vio examined the rock, looking for some sort of opening. But it appeared to be a normal rock.
"How am I supposed to open this?" Vio questioned. He squinted his eyes as he struggled to analyze the rock; it was difficult with such little light.
"Oh, give it here!" Zelda said, taking the rock out of his hands. "Links, I swear, they're all stupid!" She muttered under her breath. Vio raised his eyebrows as Zelda screwed up her face before spitting onto the rock. Her drool rolled down the rock, revealing a hinge and a crease around the rock.
"There." Zelda said, forcing the rock back into Vio's hands. With a frown on his face and fairly grossed out, Vio tentatively reached to open the rock. He opened it slowly, uncertain of what was inside. After raising the lit of the rock up a few millimeters, it flung itself open. Inside the rock floated a small ball of light that looked like the sun. Bright sunlight filled the field, making everything radiant. The contact with the glistening light burned Vio, making him drop the rock onto the grass. Shadow Link growled and retreated back into Vio's shadow, feeling the burning sensation himself. Zelda picked the rock back up and held it out to Vio who was trying to block the sun's rays.
"What's wrong? Don't you like my gift?" Zelda asked, shoving the rock closer to his hands that tried to shield the sunlight pouring out of the rock. He was burning all over. Everywhere the light was touching was burning... Burning...
Vio snapped his eyes open, but squinted them quickly from the sunlight. Though his dream was gone, the burning wasn't. Looking down at himself, he saw that he was bathed in sunlight from the nearby window. He had apparently kicked his blankets off to the side from his dream. Rubbing his eyes, he reached down and pulled his blankets back over him. Coolness replaced the rough burning from the sun, making him sigh with relief. Whatever was causing him burn in the sunlight was becoming stronger, and Vio realized that would make it more difficult to hide. He needed to get into the Dark World soon. The quicker they found that Grim Sol, the better.
Vio stepped out of the bed, struggling to ignore the burning on his back, and put his boots and hat on. Grateful to see that the others were still sleeping, Vio quickly left the room. Turning through the kitchen he slipped outside. Though the burning was worse out in the sun bathed field, he quickly made it through the trees and into the shadows. Once he mead it to the Moon Gate, Shadow Link came out of his shadow.
"Are you ready to get the last Grim Sol?" He asked, hovering beside Vio.
"Better sooner than later." Vio responded,and stepped into the Dark World. He knew he was ready.
What Vio didn't know though, was that Green was lurking in the trees behind him, seeing every move he had made.