Chapter 10
A Failed Plan
"Do you seriously have to keep doing that?"
"Dude, you're supposed to be my prisoner. We gotta look the part."
"I thought that was what the duct tape was for."
"Yeah, but we can't take any chances, now can we?"
Deep down, Sheik had to admit- he was really enjoying this. With barely suppressed glee, he dug the gun into Link's back with a bit more force and barked "Keep moving!" in his most authoritative voice.
"You're getting some sort of sick pleasure out of this, aren't you?"
"Who, me? Never!" Sheik quipped.
"If we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you…" Link muttered darkly, glowering over his shoulder.
"Isn't that a touching sentiment. I feel so loved." And on that sanctimonious note, the duo arrived at the top of the stairs and turned to walk down the short, garishly lit hallway toward the main office.
"Alright, remember the game plan. I take you in, we get Aryll, and leave. You don't make a sound, ok? You're supposed to be a prisoner. Hopefully, and if Nayru's in a good mood, all should be well." Sheik whispered fervently as they drew near their destination, thankful the tall glass windows on either side of the door had their blinds drawn.
"And… If Nayru's not in a good mood?" Link asked, clearly trying to hide his unease.
"Then… we wing it." Sheik said simply.
"We wing it?"
"Yeah. Like in that one cowboy movie. You be Jackie Chan, and I'll be Owen Wilson."
"Dude, enough with the movie references! Seriously, we could die in the next couple minutes!"
Sheik sighed and turned face his panicked best friend. It was odd; usually, Sheik was the unstable one, and it was Link who had to be his voice of reason. "Link, calm down. Remember why we're doing this. Aryll is in there. Aryll, your little sister, is in trouble and she needs your help."
Link swallowed gruffly. "Yeah… you're right… Ok, yeah, let's do this."
"Alright," Sheik said, pushing Link forward the last few steps to the door, "Let's go."
"Wait, one more thing." Link blurted out quickly, turning back to Sheik.
"What?!"
"Why do you get to be Owen Wilson?"
Sheik couldn't help letting lose a snort of laughter. "Because. I have the gun."
Reaching his hand over Link's shoulder and making sure that his gun was still pressed firmly into his back for dramatic effect, Sheik knocked on the door. To his immense displeasure, his hands were shaking. He'd been struggling to ignore the shooting and his part in it, focusing only on positive things like the friends he'd almost forgotten he'd had, but his façade was starting to crack. If he could just maintain this illusion of normalcy for just a little while longer…
With a gush of conditioned air, the door swung inward and they were met with the pale face of the guard.
"Sheik." The boy intoned dully, nodding in greeting, his spiky Mohawk standing out dramatically.
"Grog." Sheik replied, keeping his tone curt. "I've got-"
"The girl's brother, yes." Grog cut in monotonously before Sheik could finish. "Ganondorf will be pleased. He's waiting in his office."
Sheik felt his blood run cold. Great. Apparently, Nayru was not in a good mood after all. Ganondorf was here… Well, he knew it was a long-shot, but he could still feel the familiar pangs of despair sweeping over him. How were they gonna save Aryll now? For that matter, how was he gonna save Link?
"You've got good timing. He was about to call you. He's says you've got a problem."
"Uh… Great." Sheik said, trying hard not to lose his cool. "I'll just take him in then."
It took a bit of prodding with the pistol, but Sheik eventually managed to get Link to move forward. His footsteps were stiff and jerky and his face had gone unnaturally pale.
The office still looked pretty much the same as it did every other day of the week, sans the receptionists. In their place were Grog and two other guys who were crashing on the overly-starched couches in the corner. The office contained only one other door which lead to the faculty meeting room, as well as a narrow hallway which lead to the offices for the Principal, Vice Principal, and a small storage room. Sheik could see through the window of the meeting room that the vending machines had long since been broken into and raided.
"You know where he is." Grog said simply, shutting the door behind them with a soft snap. With a wordless nod, Sheik urged Link on ahead of him.
The hallway was short so there wasn't another opportunity to talk, but then what could Sheik have said anyway? 'Hey man, sorry the plan backfired. Good luck not getting killed!' That hardly seemed appropriate. From the door of the storage room, Sheik could hear the muffled sobs of the secretary and the vice principal. Or at least, he assumed it was them. He knew Principal Sahasrahla and Officer Viscen were already dead, but he didn't know if Ganondorf had decided to end the women since last he'd been here.
Sheik paused for a moment in front of the principal's office and turned to Link. They couldn't say anything without being overheard, but Sheik tried to communicate some of his sorrow and apology through his eyes. Honestly, inside, Sheik felt numb- Seeing Midna and fighting with Link in the hallway had jostled him pretty good inside, and he felt like his eyes were opening for the first time in weeks, but his mind was still hazy… He didn't care about the shooting or Ganondorf's plans any longer, he only wanted to run away and take his friends with him. As for the rest of the school…
To his surprise, Link shook his head, his eyes looking fierce and determined. 'This is it,' he was saying, 'No regrets, no turning back.'
With a resigned sigh, Sheik once again reached up to knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Came a plain, level voice from inside the room.
Sakon… Sheik mentally cursed.
"Sheik." he replied, willing his voice to be cold and composed. "I've got a prisoner for Ganondorf."
"Come in." This second voice was loud and dominant; Ganondorf.
With a deep, steadying breath, Sheik pushed the door open.
Ganondorf sat impassively in the principal's office chair, his legs propped up on the desk, fiddling with a computer on his lap. When Link entered the room his eyes seemed to sparkle malevolently in the dim lighting. Link returned his gaze with obvious contempt. To their right Sakon stood against the wall, awkwardly trying to bandage his bleeding arm with his left hand. There was a large bloodstain on the center of the floor as well as the broken remains of a police issue Walkie-talkie, but aside from that, the room looked unchanged.
"What happened to you?" Sheik asked before he could stop himself, regarding Sakon's arm with amusement.
"I could ask you the same thing." he replied coolly. Sheik stared blankly, not understanding, until he remembered the bloodstains on his shirt and his torn sleeve.
"This one put up a fight." He said, shoving Link forward gruffly.
"Too much for you to handle, Sheik?" Sakon asked, sounding cheeky.
Sheik was about to shoot back an insult when Ganondorf spoke up.
"Well well, Link Hero…" he murmured softly, setting the laptop up on the desk and placing his feet back on the floor, leaning forward intently. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Ganondorf." Link spat back in response, his face twitching.
"You know, I have someone here who's been dying to see you. Ugly little runt; I can see the family resemblance."
"You let her go, Ganondorf!" Link roared, suddenly losing his composure, his arms straining against his duck tape binding. "This is between you and me, keep her out of it!"
Ganondorf snorted derisively, clearly entertained by his outburst. "You took years of my life away, Hero. It's only fair that I take something of yours."
Link let out a vicious snarl, but Ganondorf turned away from him dismissively to regard Sheik. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he mentally willed Link to cool it; angering Ganondorf wasn't going to help them get out of here.
"Sheik, you've done well." Ganondorf said, his eyes flashing with amusement at some secret joke. "But I'm afraid we have a small problem with our previous arrangement."
"I… don't understand." he said slowly.
"You asked me to spare your friend Midna, and I allowed you to stash her in the computer lab so that she'd stay out harm's way. However, it would seem that she's taken it upon herself to stage an elaborate escape attempt."
"She… she got out?" Sheik's voice sounded strange and distant in his ears.
"Yes." Ganondorf replied simply, and it became obvious to Sheik that he was enjoying the panic that was coursing through his subordinate. "See for yourself."
He swiftly turned the laptop to face him. There, on the screen, was a miniature black and white video clip which clearly displayed Midna creeping slowly down the hallway, the janitor close behind her. The surveillance cameras… Ganondorf had got them working? Did… did that mean that… he saw Sheik helping Saria and Malon?
"And, it would seem that she, along with that oaf of a janitor, are attempting to free the student's trapped in the gymnasium."
Sheik swallowed quickly, forcing his fear behind him and focusing on the here and now. "So… then I'll just go grab her again, and this time I'll put her somewhere she can't get out."
"Mmm." Ganondorf grunted, smirking. "See that you hurry. I've got Zant positioned in the gymnasium, and you know how he detests disturbances."
Sheik felt his heart stop cold. Zant? And Midna? Together?
He didn't even so much as glance at his friend on his way out; Link was on his own now, and there was nothing he could do to help him. He didn't even have time to feel sorry about it; the only thing he saw now was stopping Zant from hurting Midna. Nothing else mattered.
Sheik all but ran out of the office, Ganondorf's booming laughter hounding after him.
At the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps echoing around the corner, Ashei found herself freezing in terror. Casting about desperately with her eyes, she noticed the door to a supply closet on her left. Seizing the back of Shad's collar, she quickly jerked him inside the small dark room, grateful it was unlocked, leaving the door cracked ever so slightly so she could keep watch.
With a startled wail, Shad stumbled forward in the semi-darkness and crashed noisily into shelf full of cleaning products.
"What was that for?!" he squawked indignantly, grabbing hastily at bottles that had toppled over, their contents spilling onto the grimy tiled floor, filling the confined space with their scent.
"Shh!" Ashei hissed, waving frenetically over her shoulder for him to shut up. "Someone's coming!"
"Can you see who it is?" he whispered, suddenly tense as he straightened his glasses and stepped closer to her, wiping his hands on his pants.
"They're not here yet." she growled in frustration, peeking out into the empty hallway.
They stood there for a moment, two teens hunched over awkwardly together in the tiny closet, silently gagging on the acrid scent of the cleaner that puddled at their feet, burning their eyes and noses. Squinting out into the hall beyond, she could hear nothing but their own panting breaths and the rapidly approaching footsteps.
All at once they came into view, and Ashei gasped.
"What? What is it?" Shad whispered frantically, silently trying to angle himself around her to get a better glimpse out the door.
"It's Vaati! We found him! And he's got a student!"
Shad cursed, stunning Ashei; she'd never heard him do that before. She didn't even know he knew how. "He already got the kid he was looking for?! Well, how are we supposed to save him?"
"Her." Ashei corrected automatically, "And I think I have a plan…" Vaati and the blonde girl he was escorting were rapidly drawing closer and she only had a moment before they'd pass her. Nayru, please let this work…
"Stay here, wait for your opportunity, then jump him!" she ordered quickly, ignoring his incredulous splutter before opening the door and dramatically stepping out into the open.
Vaati stopped dead in his tracks, clearly startled. The girl, whoever she was, lifted her head and regarded her with defeated curiosity. She looked a little worse for the wear; her clothing ruffled, her hair all over the place, and her eyes bloodshot as though she'd recently been crying. She was clutching her stomach fitfully as though it were in pain, despite the fact that her hands had been bound with duct tape, and the bottom portion of her jeans were stained dark red. Was that… blood...?
Vaati recovered from his surprise quickly and turned the gun from the girl to Ashei. "Who are you? Why aren't you in a classroom?"
"I…" Ashei was having trouble thinking straight; those cleaner fumes really must have gotten to her. She knew she somehow needed to get Vaati between her and the closet so that Shad could attack him from behind. It was the only way she could think of at the moment to get him to drop the gun so they could escape with the girl. Not the best plan, admittedly, and one that was likely to fail what with Shad doing the attacking, but her befuddled brain wasn't capable of creating a better one on such short notice. In retrospect, she should have made Shad be the one to be the distraction, but she couldn't be certain that he'd be able to pull it off.
"Just… Shut up and get over there!" Vaati demanded, gesturing to the wall opposite her with his gun. Oh Din, this was perfect! He was playing right into her plans!
Silently praising the Goddesses, she made sure to carefully mask her glee. She turned and slowly walked across the hallway, trying hard not to slip on the slimy residue that had stuck to the bottom on her shoes, and placed her hands on the wall like she'd seen criminals do on Law and Order. Oddly, she felt a little lightheaded…
Ok Shad, she instructed mentally, trying to keep her thoughts in order as Vaati cautiously approached her from behind, clearly trying to keep both her and the girl in his line of sight, now's your chance… Don't mess this up…
…any time now…
…please?
With a frustrated hiss, Ashei turned to glance over her shoulder, startled at the wave of dizziness that swept over her. Vaati was fumbling through the large pocket on the front of his lavender sweater, perfectly positioned for Shad to make his move, and yet the door remained closed. She could see the tiny puddle of cleaner leaking out through the bottom of the door, but other than that, there was no movement.
I swear, she thought viciously, turning back to scowl at the wall, if he's decided to climb back in to that air vent…
Vaati suddenly let out an annoyed sigh that had her attention immediately. Holding up what appeared to be a nearly exhausted roll of duct tape in one hand, he turned to her with a wry smile and said, "Well… Looks like tying you up is out of the question."
Ashei scowled darkly. Tie her up? Oh, if that little runt thought he could even so much as lay a hand on her, she was going to-
"I guess Ganondorf will merely have to accept the fact that sometimes, casualties are to be expected."
Ashei's mind went blank with shock as the meaning of his words washed over her. She opened her mouth to protest, but oddly, no air was passing through her throat. It was as if all of her words had been trapped within her chest, which now felt oddly constricted. She could feel a cold sweat breaking out all over her body as she stared at the barrel of the boy's gun, hanging simply at his side. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blonde girl's eyes widen, horrified, and her mouth open as if to call out a warning, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Leisurely, almost painfully so, the gun rose from his side to point at her chest…
There was a cough from the closet.
Vaati twitched his head to the side and glanced over his shoulder, but still the door remained closed.
"So… you are not alone. Funny. I never really pegged you as a team player, Ashei."
Ashei couldn't even muster the energy to respond to his quip. Her legs were wobbling unsteadily, and she was still having trouble forcing herself to breathe. But for the life of her, she couldn't understand why Shad wasn't coming out.
"No matter." He said with a slight shrug, turning back face her. "What is another casualty in the grand scheme of things? I will be sure to end their life next, no need to worry."
There was another cough from the closet, this one more of a hacking fit, but Ashei no longer cared. That bloody coward… she though weakly, turning from the wall to face Vaati. She'd given up hope of being saved by Shad, given up hope of making it out of that goddess-forsaken school alive. She was done. This was it.
Her last though before closing her eyes was that she couldn't believe she was being done in by a runt like Vaati…
With a resounding crash, the closet door burst open, finally, revealing a red-faced Shad who was grabbing at his chest, coughing wetly, clutching in his hands a sodden rag of all things and emitting a wave of noxious fumes that made Ashei's head spin.
"What-" Vaati managed to utter, turning his head to the sound, his face contorting as the chemical smell washed over him, but he was cut off as with a roar that sounded more like an almighty croak, Shad threw himself at the purple-haired boy.
The dripping rag was somehow forced over Vaati's mouth from behind with Shad's left hand while his right groped for the gun. In a stunned stupor, Ashei watched dumbly from the sidelines feeling like a spectator as Shad and Vaati tussled before her, Shad's face red from the effort of keeping the rag pressed over Vaati's mouth and nose while simultaneously trying in vain to catch the gun that Vaati inexplicably managed to keep just out of his grasp, Shad coughing roughly all the while. Vaati's face was also beginning to turn red, though for him it was likely out of rage. His right arm was flailing about wildly, trying to keep the gun out of Shad's grasp. His other hand was groping blindly behind him, clawing for Shad's face. All the while, both boys were slipping and sliding, trying to keep their footing through the puddle of cleaner on the floor.
Vaati suddenly whipped his head backward with a violent motion and with a dull crack she heard Shad's nose break, sending little drops of blood spattering everywhere. To Shad's credit, he miraculously managed to keep rag pressed to Vaati's face, but he let go of Vaati's gun arm as he staggered backward, losing his balance and slipping on the wet floor, dragging Vaati down on top of him.
There was an ear-splitting bang that was swallowed up as Ashei let out an agonized scream, white-hot pain lancing through her thigh, her vision going black. When next she opened her eyes she was laying on the floor, not knowing how she got there, both hands clutching fitfully at her left leg as she stared through blurry, tear filled eyes at the red that was now blossoming through her jeans.
The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before; it was as though someone had stabbed a red-hot knife into her leg, straight into the bone, and had decided to twist in around in circles for the fun of it. Willing herself not to scream out again, she clenched her eyes shut and bit her lip so hard she drew blood, aware that despite her best efforts, tears and sobs were still leaking out of her.
After a moment, she realized she couldn't hear any other sounds. Wrenching her eyes open and blinking through the tears, she could see the crumpled mass that was Vaati and Shad lying in the middle of the floor; Vaati completely still, his face white as a sheet and his eyes rolled back into his head, Shad struggling to rise, still coughing intensely.
When his eyes fell on her they bulged, and he scrambled on hands and knees across the slippery floor to reach her.
"Ashei!" he gasped, his voice sounding raspy and hoarse. "What- *cough cough* -happened? *Cough* Are you- *cough*- …can you-?"
"What do you think happened…" She managed to cut in, snarling weakly, only now realizing how short of breath she was. "Maybe if someone had decided to help me out a little sooner…"
"I couldn't." He started, shaking his head anxiously before he was seized by another coughing fit. "You don't realize what you-*cough cough*-did when you shoved me-*cough*- into the closet! Those cleaners we spilled…"
This time he doubled over, clutching his knees with knuckles that were white from strain as he apparently attempted to hack up his lung, though the rest of his hands seemed to be red and puffy. His face was covered in blood that was still gushing from his swollen nose, and his glasses were snapped clean in two and hanging from one ear. All in all, he looked about as bad as her leg currently felt.
"Um… excuse me…" came a timid voice from over Shad's shoulder, and for the first time Ashei remembered that there had been another girl there the entire time.
"If you cut my hands free, I think I can help you…" she said, gesturing lamely with her hands that were still bound together with duct tape, though the tips of her fingers could still wiggle with some freedom.
"Oh!" Shad gasped, rising up on unsteady legs. "Right. Of course. Um…*cough* There ought to be something in that closet that I can use… *cough cough* If you wouldn't mind getting it while I move Ashei away from the stuff on the floor. Also, don't-*cough*-breathe while you're in there. The air is toxic right now."
Both the girl and Ashei sent Shad peculiar looks, but before she could question him he'd seized her by her arms and started dragging her backward.
The sudden movement of her injured leg sent bolts of pain arching up her leg and made her whimper in the most pathetic way imaginable, but at the moment she couldn't care less about her image; she had a freaking bullet in her leg, for Din's sake! Still, it irked her when Shad sent her that apologetic look. She didn't need pity from some geek, especially not one who had decided to wait before coming to her rescue at the last possible moment…
By the time the girl had returned with a pair of scissors pinched tightly in her fingertips and a first aid kit she must have found in the closet tightly wedged between her stomach and her arms, Shad had managed to take her a good twenty yards down the hall, well away from the closet and the scent of cleaner and leaving an impressive trail of blood from her leg as well as spatters of droplets from Shad's ruined nose. His coughing seemed to have improved a great deal, but his breathing was still ragged. He'd managed to prop her up against a wall before turning to accept the first aid kit from the girl.
"What did you do to that guy back there?" the stranger asked quietly as together she and Ashei watched Shad fumble with the catch on the stark white metal box. His hands had grown even puffier, and he was apparently having trouble making his digits work.
"I… ah, ow… sorry, it's just… my hands…" His face was still red, but Ashei had the distinct impression that now it was due to embarrassment rather than strain. He coughed again; a wet, hacking cough that made him sound like he had emphysema.
"Here," Ashei said irritably, snagging the scissors from the girl and cutting through the tape that bound her wrists. "Let blondie here do it."
"Yeah…" Shad said, frowning as the girl's newly liberated hands opened the kit with ease. "Ok, you work on her, I'm gonna go wash my hands."
And with that, he once again struggled to his feet and set off down the hall, presumably in the direction of the bathroom just around the corner.
"You didn't have to do that…" The blonde girl whispered softly once Shad had vanished from sight, his coughs fading off into the distance.
"Do what?" Ashei groaned quietly, leaning back as the girl began using the scissors to cut away her pant leg directly above the bullet hole. Thankfully, it was midway from her hip to her knee, else she might have some compunction against Shad looking at her. Not that she was a prude; she just didn't like nerds checking her out, and Volleyball had given her some nice legs.
"Rescue me." She said, wincing slightly as she examined the now uncovered wound. The entire area around the hole was read and puffy, with blood still leaking out around the edges of the raged opening. The inside of her leg looked a lot like meatloaf, she decided. Just more pink and red; it was a good thing she wasn't squeamish.
"Sure we did." Ashei replied, waving her hand through the air dismissively in an attempt to hid her pain, though she was surprised at how weak she felt. "We overheard Vaati earlier saying that Ganondorf wanted this one student in particular, and we knew that once he got them, the rest of us were done for. So me and Shad followed him to stop him from getting them, and Linebeck and Midna went after-"
"Midna?" The blonde girl gasped, startled, dropping the wad of gauze she'd been holding.
"Uh… Yeah?"
"You mean she's ok?"
"The last I saw…" Ashei replied slowly, not wanting to get the poor girl's hopes up too much in case something had happened to the small gothic girl and the hapless janitor since they'd last been together. Still, she seemed happy to hear it, and her posture slumped slightly as she let out a relieved sigh.
"So… Midna and… Linebeck, was it? Where'd they go?"
"They went to go stop this freak from shooting up the gym. I don't know if they've managed it or not, but I haven't heard any gunfire lately, so…"
The girl nodded, looking troubled as she riffled through the contents of the box.
"Still, at least me and Shad managed to thwart Ganondorf's master plan. If only we could see the look on that demented mug of his when he finds out…" Ashei half-gloated, half-grunted, trying her best to sound cheerful about their accomplishment but the massive hole in her leg seemed to be letting all her joy ooze out of her.
"Oh…" The girl said sadly, turning hesitantly away from Ashei's leg, "That's not entirely true…"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
The girl sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly within the overly-large green hoodie she was wearing. "I… I'm not the person Ganondorf wants. I was only being taken to see him because I'd helped a bunch of girls escape through the kitchen and Vaati said they didn't have enough prisoners to waste killing one."
"But…" Ashei said, the thrill of success turning to cold horror in her chest. "Then… who is he looking for…?"
"Actually," she answered softly, "I think he already got her." Ashei groaned, letting her eyes close and her head fall back, thudding painfully against the brick wall behind her.
"Do you know who it was?" she asked softly, feeling the bitter taste of failure settle in her mouth.
"Yeah… Aryll Hero…"
Ashei's eyes shot back open. "Wait, Link Hero's little sister?"
The girl merely nodded, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, but Ashei merely sighed and let her eyes close again. Inwardly, she was praying Link had decided to escape rather than keep looking for her, because there was nothing he could do now. Ganondorf had gotten what he wanted. She didn't know why, or what little Aryll had to do with anything, but that didn't change the fact that they were doomed. All of them.
But… if that were true, then… why were they all still alive? Once he found what he was looking for, was there any point to keeping the rest of the hostages alive? What did he want Link's little sister for anyway? Why was she so important?
"What we really need…" the girl mused softly after a few moments of pained silence, "is some water so we can wash this before I try to bandage it."
"Got that covered." Came Shad's scratchy voice from a short distance down the hall. Jogging quickly to meet them, he sunk to his knees beside the girl and held out numerous wet paper towels. His hands were still just as red and puffy as ever, but he seemed to have stopped coughing. He was panting heavily though, as if that short jog had winded him.
"It's the best I could do…" he mumbled, grimacing as he noticed Ashei's wound for the first time.
"It'll be fine." The girl replied bracingly, taking them and gently mopping up the blood around the hole.
"So, you never told us your name." Ashei said for lack of anything else to say. It was taking supreme effort not to wince with every touch of her especially tender leg, though the coolness of the water felt good on her burning flesh.
"Oh!" The girl blushed and offered an embarrassed smile. "I'm Zelda Nohanson. I actually just moved here. This was my second day of school."
Shad offered a hollow whistle and Ashei grunted with dark amusement. "That sucks."
"Yeah, well…" she muttered, tossing the red stained paper towels to the floor and pulling out a cotton swab and a bottle of iodine from the first aid kit, "Aside from the guns and shooting and death, the school doesn't seem half bad."
Shad chuckled softly. Ashei might have joined him if she wasn't too busy cursing as Zelda started rubbing the brown liquid around the wound.
"Sorry," she whispered hastily. Gathering a ball of gauze, she placed it gingerly over the hole and then started to wind something cottony and white tightly around her leg. Ashei kept her jaw clenched tightly shut and refused to make a sound, all too aware of the tears still leaking from her eyes.
"Actually, I've already made a couple friends." Zelda continued, keeping up the conversation only to help distract Ashei from what she was doing to her leg. "Midna, Anju and Kafei, Link, Aryll…" She stumbled over the last name, then bit her lip, looking grieved.
"And now, us." Shad chimed in with a cheeky grin, catching Ashei off-guard with his surprising show of tact, and Zelda returned it tremulously.
"Yeah… Thank you. You saved my life."
Shad flushed profoundly, but Ashei merely snorted sarcastically and spat, "Yeah. I got shot and he spilled cleaner everywhere. Fantastic heroes we are."
"Yeah, what was that anyway?" Zelda asked in an off-handed sort of way, busting out the medical tape to secure the cotton bandage, only adding to Ashei's discomfort.
"Chlorine Gas." Shad replied nonchalantly.
Zelda and Ashei stared.
It took Shad a moment to notice, but when he did he frowned self-consciously back at them.
"What?"
"Chlorine Gas?" Ashei hissed incredulously, "Are you freaking kidding me? What are you, Bill Nye the Science Guy or a terrorist?!"
"How on earth did you make chlorine gas?!" Zelda chimed in, giving Shad a disgruntled look as she finished taping up Ashei's leg.
"Actually, it was an accident. When Ashei shoved me into the closet, I knocked a bunch of cleaner onto the floor and the bottles spilled everywhere. Well, chlorine gas is technically simple to make; just mix bleach with ammonia, both of which are common ingredients in most cleaning products."
"How do you know that?" Ashei accused suspiciously.
"It's common knowledge." He replied, recoiling defensively, sounding more than a little offended at her tone. "People are all the time accidentally mixing the two and end up getting hospitalized with one problem or another."
"Ok, ok, fine." Ashei said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Whatever. That doesn't explain why you felt the need to use Mustard Gas to take out the Lavender Boy Wonder."
"Chlorine Gas." Shad corrected acidly, "And like I said, it was mostly an accident. By the time you'd gotten Vaati positioned so that he wasn't facing the door, I was starting to get really dizzy and I couldn't figure out why. That's when I noticed the labels on the bottles that were spilled, and realized what was happening."
"So… you decided to try an impromptu science experiment. You realize that if you'd just tackled him like I'd told you to, none of this might have happened!" She spat angrily, gesturing at her bandaged leg. She wasn't entirely sure why she was blaming her injury on Shad, but at the moment she didn't care; she needed to take out all her pent up aggression on someone, and he seemed the best candidate.
"Look," Shad snapped, raising his voice for the first time she could remember, "There was no guarantee that I would have been able to get that gun away from Vaati, and if I'd messed up you'd be dead right now. So I'm sorry that I decided to play to my strengths and go with chemistry rather than brute force, but it worked didn't it? You're still alive, aren't you? I dumped the rest of the two bottles into the mop bucked and soaked a rag in the stuff, then used it to knock out Vaati, because I knew it had a better shot at working than wrestling him did!"
Even with his broken nose making his voice all nasally, he still sounded scathing. Ashei found herself struggling to sit up a little straighter, inhaling deeply so as to give Shad a piece of her mind when Zelda cut in.
"Um… I though mixing bleach and ammonia made stuff blow up." From the look on her face, she was apparently trying to ease the tension by changing the flow of the conversation.
Shad stared at her in surprise, looking as though he'd forgotten she was even there. Ashei settled back against the wall, folding her arms and looking thunderous.
"It… Well, yes, it can explode if mixed incorrectly…"
"So how'd you know how to mix it? That's pretty impressive. You must be really smart."
Shad opened his mouth then closed it, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Ashei snorted in derision. Of course, she thought bitterly, just go on feeding his ego…
"I didn't." he finally answered, his voice sounding oddly quiet after all of the shouting, if still a little raspy. "It was too dark in the closet to see much anyway. I just guessed..."
Zelda looked stunned. "So, wait… You willingly mixed two chemicals together, knowing that at any moment they could explode in your face and kill you?"
Shad shrugged uncomfortably.
"Is that what happened to your hands? And your throat?"
He licked his lips hesitantly than said, "The gas burns your esophagus and eventually causes lung paralysis and potentially death. That's why I sound the way I do. As for my hands… well, the chemicals can be caustic sometimes…"
Ashei's jaw dropped.
"Are you… Are you gonna be ok? You breathed a lot of that stuff in…" Zelda asked, sounding horrified.
"I should be fine," he replied, swallowing gruffly. The act looked especially painful. "It hurts to breathe and all, but I'm still able to function. I mean, I don't think I can run… But I couldn't run very far to begin with."
He offered up a weak smile at his own attempt at humor, and Ashei felt her heart lurch. He'd done that for her? Risked his life, his lung function, and severely burned his hands all because she had decided to play the hero? And here she was yelling at him… Something sickeningly close to guilt began settling in her gut.
"Why didn't you just tackle him?" she whispered softly. "Both ways had risks, but at least you wouldn't be…"
He shrugged, averting his gaze. "Well, I just figured I'd rather bet my life on science than on strength. I mean, who in their right mind would stake their life on me in a wrestling match anyway?"
Ashei punched his arm lightly, but smiled at him warmly all the same. Maybe he wasn't so bad, for a geek…
"Ok," Zelda said, cutting their brief bonding moment short. "You two really need to get out of here."
Their protests fired up at once.
"But the other students-"
"Ganondorf's still got-"
"No!" Zelda cut off sternly, fixing them both with an authoritative gaze. "Ashei, I did the best I could, but I'm hardly a specialist. You're still likely to bleed to death soon without medical help."
Ashei glowered at her bitterly but she couldn't exactly deny that fact. She could barely move without spots of color blooming in front of her eyes, and she'd already lost a lot of blood…
"And Shad, you've said yourself that that gas has burned your throat and lungs. You need medical attention too. The last thing we need is for your lungs to give out."
Shad opened his mouth to argue, probably to explain the actual steps that would lead up to that happening, but Zelda cut him off.
"No, no excuses. The both of you are getting out of here, now."
"Really?" Said Ashei sarcastically, "You wouldn't happen to have an exit in the pocket of that hoodie of yours now would you?"
"No," Zelda said, answering the question as though it was a legitimate query, "But I do know that the kitchen has a back door that's still intact. That's how I got the other girls out. I can take you there right now."
Shad and Ashei exchanged surprised looks, then quickly agreed.
Getting Ashei up was a laborious process. She was much weaker than she had thought, so she wasn't able to lend much help to the effort, and with Shad's difficulty breathing and muscle weakness, most of the work was dumped on Zelda. Still, after a couple minutes of strenuous tugging and incredible jolts of pain for Ashei, they managed to get her up with one of her arms around each of their shoulders.
"Ok," she panted, trying in vain to stave off the wave of nausea that had seized her the minute she was elevated, "Lead on, blondie, Captain Kirk. Let's get out of this place…"
"Which way?" Shad gasped, wheezing heavily.
"Straight. Past the closet. It's right beside the cafeteria."
"Right…" he gasped, "I knew that…"
Ashei and Zelda exchanged worried glances.
"Shad… are you gonna be ok?"
"'Course." he replied in a somewhat encouraging tone. "I have to be, so I will be."
"Ok…" Zelda said cautiously. "We'll take it easy then. Come on."
"Wait," Ashei gasped as they passed Vaati's body, still lying pitifully on the floor. "Shouldn't we tie him up or something?"
Together the three of them regarded Vaati, his body crumpled in a broken heap, his hair and clothing damp from the deluge of chemicals that had spilled on the floor. His face was pale, even by his standards, and his eyes were still showing all whites. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. The rag that Shad had used to knock him out lay discarded a few feet away, but the gun was still clenched tightly in his hand.
Shad was silent for a moment then said, softly, "…When Vaati wakes up… If he ever wakes up… He likely won't be in a fit state to do much of anything for a while…"
Despite what he had just put them through she couldn't bring herself to be happy with that pronouncement. Zelda tore her gaze away from the boy, looking ill. Shad had his eyes shut tightly, and was trembling in a way that Ashei could tell had nothing to do with the gas.
Squeezing his shoulder in what she hoped would be taken in a reassuring way, she gave him a small, sad smile, then whispered, "You did what you had to, Shad."
Sighing tremulously, he gave short, curt nod, then tore his gaze away from Vaati.
Without another word, they continued on.