I don't own the Legend of Zelda or Soul Calibur, there I said it, so there.
Of Wind and Forest
A violent gale rocked the small ship that night. It carried with it a strange, unnatural wind, one that no matter how hard Talim tried she could not appease it. Not knowing what else to do the two youths huddled into a corner for protection, Link's seasickness all but forgotten in the seriousness of the situation. Both were scared, these winds carried with them the scent of evil intent, like something was barring their path.
"Link," Talim whispered as she hugged tightly his green tunic, "I'm scared, the winds aren't responding to my prayers."
"It's all right," Link said before he kissed her crown, "we'll make it through this storm, then it's just a little further to this Germany place right?"
"It's just that I-" Talim yelped at a loud thunder clap. Then instead of finishing her sentence she hugged Link tighter. Thought he did not protest this turn of events, Link did not like seeing Talim this afraid, it did not sit well with him.
"So you don't like thunder?" Link said in an attempt to get some air back into his lungs. He knew that he needed to take her mind off of the weather if she was afraid of it.
"No," Talim's voice sounded even smaller coming from the depths of his tunic, "what about you?" Feeling a puzzled stare on her Talim pressed further, "what are you afraid of?"
"Boats," Link said without hesitation, "now look where we are, on a boat in a thunder storm." Hearing a chuckle from deep within his tunic Link smiled and again kissed her crown.
The laughter died then as the ship suddenly lost balance. As a loud thunder crack broke through their ears, the two could feel the main mast being torn from the ship. The winds and rain soon picked up and through it all Link could hear the sounds of the emergency bell being rung.
"Talim," Link said with an air of urgency picking up his sword and shield, "we have to get on deck now." Feeling the same creeping dread Talim nodded and the two ran to the deck of the ship.
The storm was like nothing the Hylian had ever seen, as far as his keen eyes could see was nothing but dark clouds, rain pounded on the deck and each drop that hit him felt like a needle trying to pierce his skin. The winds howled and brought with them a terrible cold and rain, lightning could be seen everywhere illuminating the sky brighter than the sun would have in midday. Swirling winds could be seen dancing just over the sea's waters. However through all the turmoil that nature produced Link's thoughts remained the same, to protect Talim.
Just as they had expected there was no sail on the deck of the Fukushu no Fune, only the tattered splints of where it once stood remained. The boat was soaked with the sea water as Maxi tried to gain some semblance of order doing his best to control the wheel.
"You two," the Mariner swore under his breath, "what are you two doing up here? Get back below deck where it's safe!" He screamed at the two, but when he did he saw the one thing that he feared the most through out the storm, one of the swirling wind clouds had hit the water too close to the ship. "Oh crap." he swore under his breath.
Acting solely on instinct Link wrapped his arms around his Wind Priestess and covered her with his body. As he did so the water tornado tore through the ship sending the crew and passengers flying to the seas below. Unfortunately through the fall Link and Talim lost contact. She tried to reach out to him will all her strength as he did the same, their hands mere inches from each other as they hit the water.
"Talim!" Link called out as soon as he broke the surface of the wild waters, "Where are you? Talim!" Not seeing any sign of her in the wreckage of the ship Link panicked, could Talim even swim? Where was she? Taking a deep breath Link plunged back into the depth.
Talim felt caressed by the waters, much in the same way she had been caressed by the winds once. That would never happen again though, the water did not bring air to her as the wind once did. Talim could feel her lungs crying out even now, the darkness of the sea was all around her. She regretted one thing as she faced her mortality, Link had told her he loved her, she did not do the same. That led to total eternal darkness.
Link found Talim too far down, her eyes closed. She did not have enough air in her lungs to make the trip back up to the surface. Taking hold of her Link forced the last of his own air down her pained lungs and with pure adrenaline he carried her to the surface, securing her with his own body to a piece of driftwood. He did not know if she would survive, he did not even know if he himself would, but Link kept his hope and continued to move forward.
_____________________________
The storm had taken too much out of him, Nightmare felt his power waning. In order to stop this he knew that he would need to complete the Soul Edge. There were only two significant sources of shards left and he had just sent one to meet the other, who ever would win over the other did not matter to him, all he needed was for the last of them to be brought to him. Then with all that power at his disposal he could finally make his dream a reality.
_____________________________
Throughout that sleepless night Link prayed, he prayed to his Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore. He prayed to the Winds, he prayed to any force that would listen, for Talim to survive. She had been with him since the beginning, was the first person he had laid eyes on in this world.
Throughout it all he continued to pray for Talim and with the Sun came hope, in the distance not more than a few miles was an island, one that the currents were taking them directly to. The island was covered with forests and caves, one that Link could see lead to a cove on the waters. When they reached the island Link carried Talim onto the shore. Once there Link checked Talim again, she had been breathing before but things could have easily changed.
His fears were justified as he could no longer hear or feel her breathing. Remembering a trick he had learned on one of his adventures Link tilted Talim's head back on the sand, then raising her chin he opened her mouth. Taking a deep breath into his lungs, he pinched Talim's nose and forced that breath into her lungs. However there was no change.
Link had been told that the technique would often not work on the first try so he did it again. However there was still no change. The Hero of Time would not be denied though as he continued to breath air into Talim's lungs. Then some time after he had lost count Talim coughed up sea water. Bringing her up Link patted her back to help expel the rest of the water that filled her lungs.
The next problem was to warm her up, Talim's body had spent a considerable time in the water just as he had, if they did not raise there body heat and soon he knew that they might go into shock. Since Talim was unconscious and weakened she stood a far greater chance of it than he did.
Using his sword Link gathered up as much wood as he could carry. Using the wood he lit a fire near one of the outlying trees. When he felt her skin again he felt how cold it was, shock was setting in. Link knew what had to happen next, using the sands as a blanket he buried all but Talim's head.
Then wrapping his body around Talim's he sat close to the fire. The fire and the rising sun would help to warm her again, the sand would serve to protect her from any chill and he would protect her from anyother danger. Feeling the fatigue of his work and that of the journey to the island Link felt sleep claim its hold on him, with Talim safe and by his side he knew that he could rest.
_____________________________
The sun was too bright, it was also too warm for her. Slowly shaking the sleep out of her head Talim recalled the events that took place just before she passed out. The tornado had thrown her clear of the ship, the last thing that she recalled was falling away from Link and then the water took her.
"Link," Talim whispered, too weak to speak any louder. She did not have to look very far to find him, the boy was passed out, his body over her. She had wanted to awaken in his arms, however she could not remember much of last night, she did recall the strenuous means by which they left Maxi's ship but nothing else after hitting the water.
Talim did not have to wait long as Link was awakened by her rustlings. Had she been able to see into his eyes, Talim would have seen his face quiver almost in disbelief of what he was seeing. Link thanked any and every force that he had prayed to that night, be it his Goddesses or the Winds or whatever, all that mattered was that they had lived through the night.
"Are you okay?" Link whispered into her ear.
"Am I okay," she whispered wanting to taking the arm wrapped around her neck into her grasp, "my heart is still pounding." She felt like she could move mountains then, like her body had been suffused with life. Talim looked deep into herself and realize that for the first time in a long time she really was all right.
"We need to get going soon." Link said with almost no urgency in his voice. Talim felt then that Link did not want that moment to end as much as she did, but she also knew that like all things it had to. The two of them stood and dusted themselves off.
"How did you manage to keep that," Talim pointed to his hat, "and... almost... nothing... else?" Link laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, then with his head he motioned for Talim to look at herself. "You didn't?" Talim recoiled her hands to her chest in horror, "You couldn't have, not while I was asleep." Talim slumped to the ground crying out in a loud voice, "I can't believe you did that!"
"But I didn't do any-" Link's stuttering comment was cut short when he saw Talim turn her head to stick her tongue out at him.
"I'm just kidding," Talim said, rising to him again. Then using her fingers she traced small circles around his chest and abdomen, "I wouldn't want it to be anyone other than you anyway." She had said in her most sultry voice, one that made Link's knees go weak. "Come on," she pushed him away and went for the inland, "we have to find a way off this island if were going to keep going on our journey."
With that said Talim walked away, but as she did Link realized something. After her other comment she did not say 'Just kidding.' With that thought still rampaging through his mind Link followed the Wind Shaman.
_____________________________
Link realized that they had been followed, the creature seemed to have been watching them ever since they had entered the large, strange cave. The cave was not really a cave at all, it was actually a castle made into the natural rock formations of the island.
They walked a wide path that was encompassed by lit scones on the walls. This grand hall had lead them to an antechamber, the chamber was filled with various water ducts and the like all flowing down. Once the two had entered the center of the chamber the floor around them began to give way and fall to the depths below them. Looking around they realized that the floor was chained to the sides of the room, leaving a dark chasm below.
It was then that the creature made it's move. Sensing the movement Link quickly pushed Talim to the side, just as he did this a pair of bladed weapons stabbed down at the position she just occupied.
The creature had a human like appearance, it's face was covered entirely by a toothy looking metal mask. The creature was covered in black spiked leather. The suit gave off the appearance of muscles and in it's hands were a pair of tri-bladed weapons.
They knew that they had to fight the thing in order to survive. Talim wanted to help Link but she had lost her elbow blades Syi Sarika and Loka Luha in the storm the night before. She could still fight but without her weapons she would not be able to fight with Link as effectively.
"Talim," Link called out. Motioning with his hands Link called Talim over to him, "you trust me right?" He said when she reached him, the creature did not really move, it just stared them down from behind it's eyeless mask. Talim did not understand the question really, thinking that this was hardly the place for such a question.
Still she nodded.
"Good." Saying that Link grabbed Talim by the waist and dove over the side of the pit to the cave below. Talim held on to his waist tightly, her eyes clenched tight as the wind rushed past them. Reaching into his sword belt Link grabbed a hold of an old familiar weapon, it was a spiked chain wrapped around a coil attached to handle of some kind. His trusty Hookshot.
Pressing a button on with his thumb, the chain uncoiled and pierced the wall where they fell. The force of the shock of them stopping in mid fall was almost enough to wrench Link's arm from his body, sufficed to say it hurt like hell. Uncoiling the chain of the Hookshot the two landed relatively softly on the ground.
"Talim," Link said, he seemed to feel something inside the cave just as she did, "you feel that right?" Not waiting for a response he continued, "I need you to find what ever that is, I'll try to hold off the creature until you do." Talim nodded her response and was soon off. Drawing his sword Link planned to make his stand against the strange creature.
_____________________________
Following her senses Talim searched out the source of the vibrations. The source of the energy seemed somehow confused, like it was battling itself. Talim saw various forms of treasure throughout the cave, each one seemed to be more valuable than the last. There were crowns, necklaces, bracelets and coinage of all kinds. Each one was of the value that man prized most, money. Each held no meaning for her.
Entering into a weapons room Talim found the source of the confusing energy. It was a sword, a strange almost crystalline sword with two prongs. At the center of the sword was an eye, this must have been the strangest weapon that Talim had ever seen. The eye Talim felt was the source of the conflict inside the blade. There was nothing but evil intent emanating from that eye, Talim knew that if she could somehow remove that evil this sword would be just what they needed to defeat the creature and escape.
Reaching for a power hidden deep within herself Talim focused her energies on the evil inside the sword. Just as she did she felt the core resisting her. Talim knew then that this was a battle of will between her and the core. It's energies invaded her mind trying to tempt her with promises of power. Talim however focused on the core and in a short time the source of evil expelled itself from the rest of the sword.
It was a shard of the Soul Edge. Without that shard the hilt of the sword turned from an organic eye to a crystal ball. With it's evil purged the blade was ready. Taking the sword into her hands energies enveloped her body as a bright light blinded her. Her body became invigorated by the light and when she was able to see again the sword had become crystalline elbow blades. The weapon had changed to suit her.
"Soul Calibur," Talim whispered understanding, with the weapons in her hands Talim took the shard of the Soul Edge and ran to catch up with Link.
_____________________________
Link had been fighting the creature for a while and was just starting to get his blood flowing, this creature had been strong and was intelligent enough to block and dodge a good number of his attacks. It was, however, too fast. For every attack Link was able to execute the creature was able to get out at least three more.
Link realized how when he parried a particularly fierce attack from the creature. In the back of it's head was four shards of the Soul Edge. Gambling heavily on the next attack Link prepared his strategy. Using the Master Sword, Link entangled one of the tri-blades in his sword and with his shield hand he grabbed the creature's other arm. Then using his leverage Link slid his body in between the creature's legs. Bringing his sword to bare Link swiped at it's exposes back, but it blocked the attack with it's blades.
Even in the strange juxtaposition the creature held it's balance still going toe to toe with Link. As he battled the creature it suddenly twisted it's body and jumped away from him. Looking where the creature once stood Link saw Talim, now carrying a new pair of elbow blades.
Their eye contact didn't last long as the creature formed it's body into the shape of a wheel and rolled in between them. In unison the two ran to the creature. When they were just a few feet away Talim jump toward the creature as Link put away his shield and gripped his sword with both hands. The creature blocked Link's attack but was floored by Talim's.
Sheathing his sword Link reached behind him and threw a burning black ball at the creature. When it hit it exploded with enough force that it sent the creature flying. With the creature still in the air Link fired his bow and hit the falling target
When it landed it got back up on it's feet, just as it did Talim let loose a volley of attacks. Most of the Soul Calibur's attacks were blocked or dodged, then dropping low she swept the creature off it's feet. As she did Link came behind her drawing his sword and slashed the creature in it's chest.
When the attack connected the creature staggered back, a gaping wound in it's chest. Link then pressed his advantage on the unfazed monster, slashing unsuccessfully. Then as he ducked down Talim leap frogged over him and hit the creature in the back of the neck with her elbow blades. Using his shield as leverage Link flipped the creature over on it's back, unconscious.
"Get the shards," Link said. Prying the shards out of it's mask the two ran as fast as they could away from the unconscious monster.
_____________________________
When Talim and Link reached a hidden cove they relaxed and caught their breath. Seeing a small boat the two hopped in and set out to complete their journey. When they were far out at sea the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
"We did it." Talim said her eyes glowing.
"Yeah," Link's own voice was out of breath, "but were back on a boat."
"We'll be okay," Talim smiled brightly, it was a smile he had not seen in a long time, one he missed. "So what are we going to call this thing?" Talim said motioning to the boat. The ship was a small red boat with an ornately carved lion head in the front.
"The King of Red Lions," Link said, somewhat confused, "that's what we'll call it."
"I like it," Talim said, "don't worry, there's not much left to go before we reach our destination."
"I trust you." Link said, smiling back.
-To Be Concluded
That's right it reads 'to be concluded', so the next chapter for better or worse the next chapter will probaby be the end of the series. Although I'm going to do this again at the actual end of the story I'd like to thank those that supported me and those that did the opposite. This is probably the longest story I've ever posted and if it weren't for you guys this one probably would have died a long time ago. Thanks.
On a closing note I'd like to say that grammar check really rocks the house.
Ryuhiko@hotmail.com
Of Wind and Forest
A violent gale rocked the small ship that night. It carried with it a strange, unnatural wind, one that no matter how hard Talim tried she could not appease it. Not knowing what else to do the two youths huddled into a corner for protection, Link's seasickness all but forgotten in the seriousness of the situation. Both were scared, these winds carried with them the scent of evil intent, like something was barring their path.
"Link," Talim whispered as she hugged tightly his green tunic, "I'm scared, the winds aren't responding to my prayers."
"It's all right," Link said before he kissed her crown, "we'll make it through this storm, then it's just a little further to this Germany place right?"
"It's just that I-" Talim yelped at a loud thunder clap. Then instead of finishing her sentence she hugged Link tighter. Thought he did not protest this turn of events, Link did not like seeing Talim this afraid, it did not sit well with him.
"So you don't like thunder?" Link said in an attempt to get some air back into his lungs. He knew that he needed to take her mind off of the weather if she was afraid of it.
"No," Talim's voice sounded even smaller coming from the depths of his tunic, "what about you?" Feeling a puzzled stare on her Talim pressed further, "what are you afraid of?"
"Boats," Link said without hesitation, "now look where we are, on a boat in a thunder storm." Hearing a chuckle from deep within his tunic Link smiled and again kissed her crown.
The laughter died then as the ship suddenly lost balance. As a loud thunder crack broke through their ears, the two could feel the main mast being torn from the ship. The winds and rain soon picked up and through it all Link could hear the sounds of the emergency bell being rung.
"Talim," Link said with an air of urgency picking up his sword and shield, "we have to get on deck now." Feeling the same creeping dread Talim nodded and the two ran to the deck of the ship.
The storm was like nothing the Hylian had ever seen, as far as his keen eyes could see was nothing but dark clouds, rain pounded on the deck and each drop that hit him felt like a needle trying to pierce his skin. The winds howled and brought with them a terrible cold and rain, lightning could be seen everywhere illuminating the sky brighter than the sun would have in midday. Swirling winds could be seen dancing just over the sea's waters. However through all the turmoil that nature produced Link's thoughts remained the same, to protect Talim.
Just as they had expected there was no sail on the deck of the Fukushu no Fune, only the tattered splints of where it once stood remained. The boat was soaked with the sea water as Maxi tried to gain some semblance of order doing his best to control the wheel.
"You two," the Mariner swore under his breath, "what are you two doing up here? Get back below deck where it's safe!" He screamed at the two, but when he did he saw the one thing that he feared the most through out the storm, one of the swirling wind clouds had hit the water too close to the ship. "Oh crap." he swore under his breath.
Acting solely on instinct Link wrapped his arms around his Wind Priestess and covered her with his body. As he did so the water tornado tore through the ship sending the crew and passengers flying to the seas below. Unfortunately through the fall Link and Talim lost contact. She tried to reach out to him will all her strength as he did the same, their hands mere inches from each other as they hit the water.
"Talim!" Link called out as soon as he broke the surface of the wild waters, "Where are you? Talim!" Not seeing any sign of her in the wreckage of the ship Link panicked, could Talim even swim? Where was she? Taking a deep breath Link plunged back into the depth.
Talim felt caressed by the waters, much in the same way she had been caressed by the winds once. That would never happen again though, the water did not bring air to her as the wind once did. Talim could feel her lungs crying out even now, the darkness of the sea was all around her. She regretted one thing as she faced her mortality, Link had told her he loved her, she did not do the same. That led to total eternal darkness.
Link found Talim too far down, her eyes closed. She did not have enough air in her lungs to make the trip back up to the surface. Taking hold of her Link forced the last of his own air down her pained lungs and with pure adrenaline he carried her to the surface, securing her with his own body to a piece of driftwood. He did not know if she would survive, he did not even know if he himself would, but Link kept his hope and continued to move forward.
_____________________________
The storm had taken too much out of him, Nightmare felt his power waning. In order to stop this he knew that he would need to complete the Soul Edge. There were only two significant sources of shards left and he had just sent one to meet the other, who ever would win over the other did not matter to him, all he needed was for the last of them to be brought to him. Then with all that power at his disposal he could finally make his dream a reality.
_____________________________
Throughout that sleepless night Link prayed, he prayed to his Goddesses Din, Nayru and Farore. He prayed to the Winds, he prayed to any force that would listen, for Talim to survive. She had been with him since the beginning, was the first person he had laid eyes on in this world.
Throughout it all he continued to pray for Talim and with the Sun came hope, in the distance not more than a few miles was an island, one that the currents were taking them directly to. The island was covered with forests and caves, one that Link could see lead to a cove on the waters. When they reached the island Link carried Talim onto the shore. Once there Link checked Talim again, she had been breathing before but things could have easily changed.
His fears were justified as he could no longer hear or feel her breathing. Remembering a trick he had learned on one of his adventures Link tilted Talim's head back on the sand, then raising her chin he opened her mouth. Taking a deep breath into his lungs, he pinched Talim's nose and forced that breath into her lungs. However there was no change.
Link had been told that the technique would often not work on the first try so he did it again. However there was still no change. The Hero of Time would not be denied though as he continued to breath air into Talim's lungs. Then some time after he had lost count Talim coughed up sea water. Bringing her up Link patted her back to help expel the rest of the water that filled her lungs.
The next problem was to warm her up, Talim's body had spent a considerable time in the water just as he had, if they did not raise there body heat and soon he knew that they might go into shock. Since Talim was unconscious and weakened she stood a far greater chance of it than he did.
Using his sword Link gathered up as much wood as he could carry. Using the wood he lit a fire near one of the outlying trees. When he felt her skin again he felt how cold it was, shock was setting in. Link knew what had to happen next, using the sands as a blanket he buried all but Talim's head.
Then wrapping his body around Talim's he sat close to the fire. The fire and the rising sun would help to warm her again, the sand would serve to protect her from any chill and he would protect her from anyother danger. Feeling the fatigue of his work and that of the journey to the island Link felt sleep claim its hold on him, with Talim safe and by his side he knew that he could rest.
_____________________________
The sun was too bright, it was also too warm for her. Slowly shaking the sleep out of her head Talim recalled the events that took place just before she passed out. The tornado had thrown her clear of the ship, the last thing that she recalled was falling away from Link and then the water took her.
"Link," Talim whispered, too weak to speak any louder. She did not have to look very far to find him, the boy was passed out, his body over her. She had wanted to awaken in his arms, however she could not remember much of last night, she did recall the strenuous means by which they left Maxi's ship but nothing else after hitting the water.
Talim did not have to wait long as Link was awakened by her rustlings. Had she been able to see into his eyes, Talim would have seen his face quiver almost in disbelief of what he was seeing. Link thanked any and every force that he had prayed to that night, be it his Goddesses or the Winds or whatever, all that mattered was that they had lived through the night.
"Are you okay?" Link whispered into her ear.
"Am I okay," she whispered wanting to taking the arm wrapped around her neck into her grasp, "my heart is still pounding." She felt like she could move mountains then, like her body had been suffused with life. Talim looked deep into herself and realize that for the first time in a long time she really was all right.
"We need to get going soon." Link said with almost no urgency in his voice. Talim felt then that Link did not want that moment to end as much as she did, but she also knew that like all things it had to. The two of them stood and dusted themselves off.
"How did you manage to keep that," Talim pointed to his hat, "and... almost... nothing... else?" Link laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, then with his head he motioned for Talim to look at herself. "You didn't?" Talim recoiled her hands to her chest in horror, "You couldn't have, not while I was asleep." Talim slumped to the ground crying out in a loud voice, "I can't believe you did that!"
"But I didn't do any-" Link's stuttering comment was cut short when he saw Talim turn her head to stick her tongue out at him.
"I'm just kidding," Talim said, rising to him again. Then using her fingers she traced small circles around his chest and abdomen, "I wouldn't want it to be anyone other than you anyway." She had said in her most sultry voice, one that made Link's knees go weak. "Come on," she pushed him away and went for the inland, "we have to find a way off this island if were going to keep going on our journey."
With that said Talim walked away, but as she did Link realized something. After her other comment she did not say 'Just kidding.' With that thought still rampaging through his mind Link followed the Wind Shaman.
_____________________________
Link realized that they had been followed, the creature seemed to have been watching them ever since they had entered the large, strange cave. The cave was not really a cave at all, it was actually a castle made into the natural rock formations of the island.
They walked a wide path that was encompassed by lit scones on the walls. This grand hall had lead them to an antechamber, the chamber was filled with various water ducts and the like all flowing down. Once the two had entered the center of the chamber the floor around them began to give way and fall to the depths below them. Looking around they realized that the floor was chained to the sides of the room, leaving a dark chasm below.
It was then that the creature made it's move. Sensing the movement Link quickly pushed Talim to the side, just as he did this a pair of bladed weapons stabbed down at the position she just occupied.
The creature had a human like appearance, it's face was covered entirely by a toothy looking metal mask. The creature was covered in black spiked leather. The suit gave off the appearance of muscles and in it's hands were a pair of tri-bladed weapons.
They knew that they had to fight the thing in order to survive. Talim wanted to help Link but she had lost her elbow blades Syi Sarika and Loka Luha in the storm the night before. She could still fight but without her weapons she would not be able to fight with Link as effectively.
"Talim," Link called out. Motioning with his hands Link called Talim over to him, "you trust me right?" He said when she reached him, the creature did not really move, it just stared them down from behind it's eyeless mask. Talim did not understand the question really, thinking that this was hardly the place for such a question.
Still she nodded.
"Good." Saying that Link grabbed Talim by the waist and dove over the side of the pit to the cave below. Talim held on to his waist tightly, her eyes clenched tight as the wind rushed past them. Reaching into his sword belt Link grabbed a hold of an old familiar weapon, it was a spiked chain wrapped around a coil attached to handle of some kind. His trusty Hookshot.
Pressing a button on with his thumb, the chain uncoiled and pierced the wall where they fell. The force of the shock of them stopping in mid fall was almost enough to wrench Link's arm from his body, sufficed to say it hurt like hell. Uncoiling the chain of the Hookshot the two landed relatively softly on the ground.
"Talim," Link said, he seemed to feel something inside the cave just as she did, "you feel that right?" Not waiting for a response he continued, "I need you to find what ever that is, I'll try to hold off the creature until you do." Talim nodded her response and was soon off. Drawing his sword Link planned to make his stand against the strange creature.
_____________________________
Following her senses Talim searched out the source of the vibrations. The source of the energy seemed somehow confused, like it was battling itself. Talim saw various forms of treasure throughout the cave, each one seemed to be more valuable than the last. There were crowns, necklaces, bracelets and coinage of all kinds. Each one was of the value that man prized most, money. Each held no meaning for her.
Entering into a weapons room Talim found the source of the confusing energy. It was a sword, a strange almost crystalline sword with two prongs. At the center of the sword was an eye, this must have been the strangest weapon that Talim had ever seen. The eye Talim felt was the source of the conflict inside the blade. There was nothing but evil intent emanating from that eye, Talim knew that if she could somehow remove that evil this sword would be just what they needed to defeat the creature and escape.
Reaching for a power hidden deep within herself Talim focused her energies on the evil inside the sword. Just as she did she felt the core resisting her. Talim knew then that this was a battle of will between her and the core. It's energies invaded her mind trying to tempt her with promises of power. Talim however focused on the core and in a short time the source of evil expelled itself from the rest of the sword.
It was a shard of the Soul Edge. Without that shard the hilt of the sword turned from an organic eye to a crystal ball. With it's evil purged the blade was ready. Taking the sword into her hands energies enveloped her body as a bright light blinded her. Her body became invigorated by the light and when she was able to see again the sword had become crystalline elbow blades. The weapon had changed to suit her.
"Soul Calibur," Talim whispered understanding, with the weapons in her hands Talim took the shard of the Soul Edge and ran to catch up with Link.
_____________________________
Link had been fighting the creature for a while and was just starting to get his blood flowing, this creature had been strong and was intelligent enough to block and dodge a good number of his attacks. It was, however, too fast. For every attack Link was able to execute the creature was able to get out at least three more.
Link realized how when he parried a particularly fierce attack from the creature. In the back of it's head was four shards of the Soul Edge. Gambling heavily on the next attack Link prepared his strategy. Using the Master Sword, Link entangled one of the tri-blades in his sword and with his shield hand he grabbed the creature's other arm. Then using his leverage Link slid his body in between the creature's legs. Bringing his sword to bare Link swiped at it's exposes back, but it blocked the attack with it's blades.
Even in the strange juxtaposition the creature held it's balance still going toe to toe with Link. As he battled the creature it suddenly twisted it's body and jumped away from him. Looking where the creature once stood Link saw Talim, now carrying a new pair of elbow blades.
Their eye contact didn't last long as the creature formed it's body into the shape of a wheel and rolled in between them. In unison the two ran to the creature. When they were just a few feet away Talim jump toward the creature as Link put away his shield and gripped his sword with both hands. The creature blocked Link's attack but was floored by Talim's.
Sheathing his sword Link reached behind him and threw a burning black ball at the creature. When it hit it exploded with enough force that it sent the creature flying. With the creature still in the air Link fired his bow and hit the falling target
When it landed it got back up on it's feet, just as it did Talim let loose a volley of attacks. Most of the Soul Calibur's attacks were blocked or dodged, then dropping low she swept the creature off it's feet. As she did Link came behind her drawing his sword and slashed the creature in it's chest.
When the attack connected the creature staggered back, a gaping wound in it's chest. Link then pressed his advantage on the unfazed monster, slashing unsuccessfully. Then as he ducked down Talim leap frogged over him and hit the creature in the back of the neck with her elbow blades. Using his shield as leverage Link flipped the creature over on it's back, unconscious.
"Get the shards," Link said. Prying the shards out of it's mask the two ran as fast as they could away from the unconscious monster.
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When Talim and Link reached a hidden cove they relaxed and caught their breath. Seeing a small boat the two hopped in and set out to complete their journey. When they were far out at sea the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
"We did it." Talim said her eyes glowing.
"Yeah," Link's own voice was out of breath, "but were back on a boat."
"We'll be okay," Talim smiled brightly, it was a smile he had not seen in a long time, one he missed. "So what are we going to call this thing?" Talim said motioning to the boat. The ship was a small red boat with an ornately carved lion head in the front.
"The King of Red Lions," Link said, somewhat confused, "that's what we'll call it."
"I like it," Talim said, "don't worry, there's not much left to go before we reach our destination."
"I trust you." Link said, smiling back.
-To Be Concluded
That's right it reads 'to be concluded', so the next chapter for better or worse the next chapter will probaby be the end of the series. Although I'm going to do this again at the actual end of the story I'd like to thank those that supported me and those that did the opposite. This is probably the longest story I've ever posted and if it weren't for you guys this one probably would have died a long time ago. Thanks.
On a closing note I'd like to say that grammar check really rocks the house.
Ryuhiko@hotmail.com