In the last chapter, I began to really launch into the a/u side of the story. Rufus went through Dragon Roost cavern as per standard, being assailed by various creatures, including intelligent (and obviously female) bokoblins. He also seemed to have a friendly shadow following after him, (oh, the irony of the phrase!) making sure that he didn't get into too much trouble… Then, things started to go wrong, for, when Rufus reached the summit of the mountain, he found that a tall, dark Rito (who seemed to take a fancy to Rufus) was trying to kidnap Medli, the new attendant to the great Valoo. Now we shall see just how Rufus' 'friendly shadow' got on in the cavern as well.
Thoughts in : single colons :. Visions or dreams are in italics.
It's a/u. Deal with it, or flame me eloquently. Got that? Good!
Apologies for the time between updates. RL and Malfoy slash caught up with me O.o It wasn't pretty… Wrestles the little bastards out of the room. Much better. Now, Sheik, just pop off your clothes and sit on that stool over there…what do you mean no? How else am I going to paint y- Blink Oh, fic. Right, got it. (It was worth a shot…)
Shadow: The Illusionist
The flight towards the cavern took a lot longer than I thought it would, as the Rito had to circle around the mountain a couple of times in order to get to the altitude needed to rise over the cliffs, and then drop down over on the other side to the cavern entrance. I watched the ground race past below me, and then took in the view as the glittering sea melted into my line of vision. Now that I was used to the movements of the board under my feet, it was easy enough to keep my balance that I could let my mind wander.
And, at that very moment, my mind was on the young Hylian boy I was about to attempt to aid. I remembered when I'd bumped into him back on Windfall island. He'd looked so small…quite helpless in fact. If it hadn't been for that sword strapped onto his back, I very much doubt I would have taken him for the type to be able to fight! Even for a Hylian, he looked to be quite small, and I wondered whether he would even be able to wield his own sword to full effect.
:Well, he must be able to do well enough…otherwise Red wouldn't have been quite so keen that I don't help him unless he falls into…how did he put it? 'Mortal peril': If Red was so sure of the boy's abilities, I supposed I might as well be too. :Sure, why not, just believe in the Hylians un-educated guesswork. That's sure to be right: I shook my head to clear these dark thoughts, and nearly lost my balance.
I wobbled slightly, and the Rito who was leading the way turned to look over his shoulder. I looked down quickly, and pretended to adjust my daggers at my waist into more comfortable positions. When I was sure that he was no longer looking at me, I looked ahead again. Since he had analysed me, I felt myself drawn to studying him also. I noticed that he was armed, with an impressive rapier-style sword in a scabbard on his back. With each wing beat, the shimmering metal of the sword beneath the worn wooden pommel glittered in the sunlight, and I thought I even saw a ruby set just where the hilt met the blade.
:He obviously must be a very important member of their tribe: I thought, also taking in the expensive looking robes he wore – they even had golden stitching around the hem. His short spiky black hair was encircled with a red and black scarf, which fluttered in the breeze created by each down-stroke of his mottled grey wings. It was quite entrancing, and I watched the banner-like strip as it caught the tiny breezes and curled in the air like a small, vibrant snake.
Tearing my eyes way from the intriguing lead Rito, I also (covertly) took in the appearance of the other two. They didn't seem to hold quite as high a status as the lead Rito did. Whilst they too bore weapons, they were but simple broadswords, both worn at the waist. Their clothes were of linen, rather than silk, and the one on the left had an impressive scar marring his curved, amber beak. With a start, I found that he reminded me of someone… :The Rito back at Opacus Isle! When all of this began! He looks like him:
"Right, there it is lads," the black-haired Rito proclaimed, "the cavern. We'll just slow it up, and then we can hover down; sound good?"
"Sounds fine m'lord," the one who looked like the man I'd saved said, nodding. "Hold on tight – we can't promise a perfect landing – especially not with all this cloud." I was about to ask 'what cloud', but then we were submerged in a steaming blur of evaporated water and smoke from the great Valoo's raging. :Oh…that cloud…: I felt foolish that I hadn't noticed it before, and fumblingly reached out to grab one of the ropes to hold onto as we descended.
The board was rocking more violently now, and I guessed that each of them must have been slightly disoriented by the cloud. It seemed as though they were slowing at different rates as well, because the left side of the board suddenly tipped down violently, nearly throwing me off altogether! It was only the grip on the rope that prevented me from being thrown hundreds of feet down to the ground below, and I thanked my training for the quick reflex grab I'd made during the fall.
The board pitched upwards again, and remained fairly level for a few more seconds. Then, there was a strange thumping sound, again coming from the left. Looking over, I saw that the silhouette of the scarred Rito was no longer hovering on the same level as me. I looked around frantically, and saw the shadow of one of them moving towards the front. I realised with a start when I saw the outline of a rapier that it was the high-ranking one.
:What-: suddenly, the board tipped again, and the Rito on the right cursed loudly, flapping his wings vainly to try and keep aloft, what with the extra weight that had been added to his charge. I reached out to grab onto a rope, but it was no longer there to grab onto!
"Damn!" I screeched, tumbling off of the board altogether this time, which was at an angle of about sixty or seventy degrees, and completely impossible to stand on – I managed to catch onto the edge of it, and my legs swung uselessly beneath me, throwing me off balance as we suddenly changed course. I still couldn't see very far because of the cloud, but I was sure that I saw the leader come around towards the Rito on the right.
A particularly dense wisp of smoke crossed my vision, and, when I next looked, I could only see the shape of the lead Rito, still pulling the board along. There was a sudden jerk, and this time, not only did the board pitch (to the right), it actually flipped all the way over. Now I was hanging onto the scrap of wood upside down, and, I managed to find the ropes criss-crossed over the timbers of the circular frame.
I grabbed onto them, and wondered exactly what was going on. :Surely they can't both have just passed out…? Does it have something to do with…: I looked up front, and saw in horror (now that we had cleared the smoky cloud), that he was fumbling with the rope around his waist. "Hey!" I yelled, as loudly as I could, struggling to gain a better purchase on the board, which was flipping over every so often, and pitching as wildly as a ship caught in a storm. "Hey!" I tried again, and he turned around to look at me.
He seemed surprised to see that I was still even on the board, and then smiled darkly. As though in slow motion, I saw the last of the knot being undone – he held the rope for a few seconds, the strain of all the weight he was holding obvious by the tensing of his arm/wing muscles. Then, just as he himself had begun to sink with us, he let go.
I blinked, and, still in that strange, slow motion speed, I managed to clamber atop the board, which was now sitting almost horizontally as it fell. Then, with a great crouch, and then a hard, very hard, push against the wood, I propelled myself into the air, towards the Rito. He smiled contemptibly, and then his eyes widened when he realised I was about to collide with him. :Don't dodge, just don't dodge: I closed my eyes tight, bracing for the impact.
It didn't come – at least, not in the manner I had hoped for. Instead, I clipped his outstretched wings. Quickly changing my strategy, I grabbed onto the mottled grey feathers, and tugged. He yowled, and whipped his head around to glare at me – we began to plummet downwards, just as the other two Rito and the balance board had. Then, not more than twenty feet from the ground, he managed to regain control of himself, and flapped his wings powerfully – this threw me off, and he managed to get me around the head as well.
:Oh Gods, not good. Definitely not good: I thought, as the world around me looked hazy. I tucked myself into a foetal position, and frantically searched around for the ground. I managed to find it, and, extending my legs a little so that they were bent beneath me, soles horizontal, I looked upwards. A pair of angry amber eyes looked back at me, and began to draw closer as he dive-bombed me.
No coherent thoughts entered my head, and I panicked when I realised I wasn't going to be able to change my trajectory in time to prevent him from colliding with me. I held up one arm, the other ready to land on, and managed to turn myself so that I was sideways on. Cringing, I looked straight down, ignoring my urge to pay heed to my attacker, and instead insuring that I didn't break any bones on this landing.
Only about five feet from the ground, he hammered into my side, and knocked me flying again, extending my flight by a few seconds and nearly thirty yards! I slammed into the ground, and rolled over a couple of times, before managing to get a grip and bringing myself to my feet. With a feeling of horror, I noticed pieces of shattered wood lying around on the ground, and a few, bloodied feathers. There was also a length of rope, and the hilt and shards of a broadsword just by my feet.
I ignored these as best I could, and all the gruesome things they implicated, instead returning my attention to the Rito who seemed hell-bent on attacking me. I had absolutely no idea why, but I didn't stop to question him when he came at me with his rapier out and flashing on the sun. :Oh Gods: I jumped sideways out of the way, all else forgotten as the calming silence of battle descended on my mind, so previously stuffed with worries. Now that I was on the ground, a terrain that I could easily traverse, I was able to get rid of all the emotions (which I shouldn't have allowed to overcome me in the first place), and concentrate on that glittering rapier point.
Taking into account his age (for he must have been at least in his early thirties), he was quite agile. Of course, having wings leant him an advantage that I didn't have. So, after a few seconds of dodging around his thrusting weapon, and a leap over his head to try and attack him from behind, I realised I would need to take a very different approach if I was to escape this alive. :Alas, not every creature can be as stupid as a Moblin.: I superimposed a different past situation over my usual battle-thoughts, imagining myself to be fighting another Sheikah.
And, this meant I'd have to be incredibly sneaky… :You may not be a proper Sheikah, but you're still a warrior by trade. Now, show him why he shouldn't pick on a Sheikah: With fingers that were riddled with splinters, I was still able to withdraw my whip, and clutch it tightly in my right hand, waiting for him to again lunge at me so I could put the weapon into practice. He seemed to find it quite a laughable defence, as an amused sneer came to his anger-twisted features.
"And what do you propose to do with that?" he asked, attempting to draw my attention so that he could hit me with his next attack. Of course, it didn't work, and with a swift movement that surprised even me, I nudged him in the back of the leg with my right foot, causing him to stumble slightly. Using the extra time this gave me, I took out some of my needles in my left hand, and deftly flicked them onto the hem of his robes.
They caught alight easily, and he looked over his shoulder with pure murder written on his face. By rolling over across the gravel-strewn ground, he was able to put the small blaze out. Standing up, he allowed me to see the extent of the damage I had done, which was a minimal amount of singing to the expensive material of his clothes. He held his weapon horizontally before him, and beneath my cowl, I smiled. :I don't think he realises what a mistake that was…:
Quickly, I flicked my wrist backwards, and then cast my hand forwards again, in much the same action used by fisherman when casting their lines. With this lazy movement, my whip snaked through the air, and wrapped around the gleaming metal. He blinked just once, and then attempted to wrench the weapon from my snare – before he could even realise my intention, I had sent magic sparking along the leather, and to his hands.
He squawked in a manner that could be likened to the call of a kargorok, and spasmed slightly as the contained lightning entered his body. When smoke began to rise from his palms, I stopped, and he dropped his weapon, quickly following it to lie on the ground next to it. I pulled my whip back towards me, coiling it up as I did so. The rapier came with it, scraping loudly across the rock, and I stooped down to pick it up from the floor.
A slight crunch of gravel underfoot alerted me that they my foe was not yet as defeated as I would have liked. I jumped to the side, and he cannoned past me, succeeding in running clean off of the edge of the plateau we had landed upon. I knew it would only be a few seconds until he regained himself and flew back up. With the rapier in hand, I looked about madly for the cavern entrance. :There: It was about two hundred or so yards away, a large pool of inky blackness leading into the mountain…
I began a mad dash towards it, echoes of sports events and training days in my head, and I mentally tried to count the seconds it took me to cover the distance. My personal record for two hundred yards was eighteen seconds, but I highly doubted that would be fast enough to avoid any further confrontation with my attacker. However, I was a little nervous about being quite so near to the edge of that cliff, so any distance I could put between it and myself was good enough.
Barely five seconds after his unfortunate fall, I heard wing beats accelerating towards me – instinctively, I ducked, but he seemed to be ready for such an action, as he swooped down, and managed to grab his rapier back from me. Again, I had to turn to face him, whip in hand. A contemptuous smile was once more on his features, and looking down, I realised quite why.
When he had grabbed his rapier, he had had to pull sharply upwards in order to break it free. In that one motion, he had succeeded in slicing almost completely through the leather strip – it was doubtful I'd be able to use it again in a hurry. Unless of course I wanted to lose the thing altogether. :So, genius…what now: I thought to myself, now running backwards in the general direction of the cavern entrance.
My dilemma, however, was solved very quickly indeed. At that moment, there was a tumultuous roar from the top of the mountain, and both myself and the Rito looked up, just in time to see the great dragon flailing its clawed hands in the air. Twin jets of red-hot fire exploded from its nostrils, and in his rage, Valoo managed to knock great chunks from the mountain-side. These came tumbling down towards us at great speed, some of them sailing through the air to rain down like hail on the ground.
I managed to dodge out of the way of them all, but the large surface area given by his wings meant that the Rito wasn't so lucky. One clipped his wing, and his rapier again left his grasp, clattering to the ground right next to the shards of the broadsword of one of the Rito he had :murdered: I realised suddenly. The thought that somebody could murder another of their own race was…unbelievable.
:How – how could anyone…want to do that: I thought, appalled at the notion. Then, a rock thudded heavily to the ground next to me, and I remembered the danger I was in. After casting a brief glance back, I assured that the Rito man wasn't going to be going anywhere soon (his wing was still trapped beneath the boulder that had grounded him). Then, clutching my less than perfect weapon in both hands, and continued on my way to the cavern.
Valoo's tantrum subsided as quickly as it had begun, and the sudden silence that descended was stifling… I could now hear the anguished groans of my attacker, and even a plea that I help him up. :Somehow, I think not.: I rounded a large pile of boulders that had collected at the bottom of the steep incline that led upwards to the mountaintop, and stopped dead in my tracks.
:Oh Gods…: I had stepped directly into a pool of a thick, gloopy liquid. I knew that, had I a mirror with me, I would be able to see that the liquid was almost the same colour as my eyes… Feathers swam in the sticky substance, and I hurriedly stepped back, leaving bloody footprints on the otherwise clean ground. I could just see the balance-board, which seemed to have survived the impact with the ground pretty well, lying atop two very still forms.
It was from these two that the pool of blood extended, running downhill, and as such, towards me. I sidestepped it, and refraining from looking at the horrific scene, crept on my tiptoes past the pool. After rounding another set of boulders, I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I'd been holding, and went back to normal steps. I'd never seen…death so close…before. And never… :So much blood. Everywhere…: I shook my head, and realised that I was already before the entrance into the mountain.
:It's a lot warmer here that it was back…: my thought trailed off, as it bought me back to the two bodies I'd just seen lying there, on the ground. I didn't want to think about that… Instead, I just clipped by whip back onto my belt, and took out my daggers instead – I'd have to fix it along the way. :Though Gods only know if I'll find the time.:
Advancing into the blackness, I noted that it got hotter the deeper I went. Soon, my eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and I was able to see that the passageway I was walking through had high, vaulted ceilings, and the bones of various small creatures lying around on the floor.
A noise up ahead caught my attention, and I stopped immediately, both arms extended to their full reach, daggers ready to slash at anything that should deign to attack. However, when I spied a small figure, in very much the same position as myself, only a few yards ahead of me, I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face. I watched as he slowly stood up, his sword already in his hand. :His left: I noted. He crept forwards, his footsteps quite light (well, for a Hylian at least). He trailed his right hand along the wall, and I remembered that Hylians' vision wasn't very good even at the best of times, and was non-existent in the dark.
I had to admire his bravery, because, for all he knew, he could be about to run into a whole clutch of ravenous wild-creatures. (Of course, he wasn't, but it was the principal of the thing.) He rounded a sharp bend in the tunnel, and I immediately slunk over to the wall, and slithered along with my back to it. Cautiously, I peered around the sharp corner, and my eyes were assaulted by sudden light. I blinked a couple of times, and my eyes adjusted to this new ambience.
:What's he doing: I wondered, watching him study the bones that littered the small chamber the corridor had bought us into. Rats were scurrying about all over the place, and I turned my nose up as a cockroach deigned to try and grab a meal from my shoes, still stained with blood. I crushed it silently underfoot, and turned my attention back to the boy. He seemed enthralled by all the skeletal bodies lying around him, and even paused to stare at a few.
Because of this, he had strayed away from the set path, and I wince as he exclaimed, "Oh Gods!" after stepping upon a skull and completely crushing it beneath his heavy kid-boots. This didn't seem to deter him from continuing to study the bones though, as he again paused to look down at one that seemed to grab his attention. I followed his azure-gaze, and nearly fainted at what I saw.
:Is that? No, it can't be. A…centaur: I leant even further around the corner, meaning that should he turn around at that moment, he would surely see me. I didn't care, because I was so intent on getting a better view of those bones. :Yes! It is…but they… I thought they were a myth…: Both my eyebrows crept up to the top of my forehead in surprise, and I stored the knowledge of this discovery in the back of my mind. :Firen is not going to believe this:
Unwillingly, I tore my eyes away from the amazing discovery, and watched as Rufus crawled up a pile of fallen rubble at the end of the room, and put his eye against a small hole that had been supplying light to the whole room. This, of course, left me in total darkness. :Which suits me fine…: With the boy occupied by whatever was on the other side of the pile of rubble, I was able to creep into the chamber, and make use of a small crevice in the uneven walls to hide in. From here, I was able to see that he seemed to have taken his hat off. His hair was messy, and matted with dried salt from his recent dips in the sea. It was also blond… :Which isn't common for Hylians: I remembered, calling up more textbook knowledge about his race.
He paused for a moment, his hands idly at his sides, and his breathing slow and steady. Then, as I watched, his hands balled into tight fists, before he splayed his fingers, and let out a long, low breath. Next, he set about shifting the rubble, making a lot less noise than I would have expected him to. Each time a shower of pebbles pattered down the mountain of fallen stone, I tensed, expecting an attack at any moment.
Strangely, the boy just grinned on these occasions, and carried on in his task. The hole in the wall was steadily widening, and I vaguely noticed that it was already big enough for me to crawl through. His frame, however, was much wider, and he carried on shifting debris for a few more seconds before being satisfied that the gap was large enough for him to get through. He groped behind himself with his left hand, and came across the pommel of his sword.
Then, he placed his left arm through the opening first, going on his hands and knees in order to crawl through. Then, he shuffled forwards, and abruptly dropped out of sight. A second later, I heard an ominous thudding sound, and the hiss of more than one bokoblin sounded out from the room ahead! Thinking that he might have hurt himself in his fall, I hurried over to the man-made fissure in the wall, and bent down to look through it.
To my relief, he was up on his feet, and had already engaged one of the two monsters in the room in battle. I watched as he made short work of the pointed stick his first adversary carried as a weapon, and was, as always, amused by the expression of acute stupidity on the creature's face. It tried to jab at him with its ruined weapon, but he sidestepped easily, and I could tell by the angle of his head that he had caught sight of the other bokoblin.
From where I was, half of my view was obscured by a large pillar in the centre of the room, which was holding up the roof. This meant I could only see one of the monsters in the room, and I wondered what the other one was doing. :I would go in, but he'd spot me right away: I reasoned, quickly drawing my face away from the light as he suddenly span around to protect himself from another lunge from the closest bokoblin. He managed to put a large cut into the wood, and when the beast pulled it away, it fractured altogether.
With mad outrage, the beast lunged again, this time without a weapon. A howl of annoyance escaped its lips, and I could see its eyes flash brightly in anticipation of the blood to be spilt. :And it will be yours: I thought dimly. My prediction was correct, as Rufus again sidestepped. Only, this time, he added an attack to his move, holding his sword horizontally with both hands on the hilt, and then spinning around at high speed.
I blinked as I saw the metal go through the middle of the bokoblin. :…! Wow! That sword must be… I've never seen anything like that before…: I thought of my own favourite weapon, broken and almost completely useless to me, and looked jealously at his. :It seems the flood-gates are open. Don't hold back, will you? Let one emotion through, may as well let the rest join them, eh: I ignored the voice, and watched intently, making sure that if my help was needed, I would be ready to give it.
To the left, I spied the second bokoblin, trying to hide in the shadows. Obviously, after seeing the terrible demise of one of its brethren, it had decided to give up rather than fight. Rufus went towards it anyway, his sword swinging almost merrily in his left hand. He let out a loud bellow of pure rage, and the creature, realising that it couldn't outrun him, tried to slash at his face with a small dagger. Luckily, he was small enough to be able to duck under the swipe, and easily drew his sword across the knobbly knees of the bokoblin.
It collapsed to the floor, crippled by his attack. Its dagger also fell to the floor, and Rufus noticed it with a smile. He discarded his own weapon in favour of the crudely shaped knife, and plunged the beaten metal straight through the creature's heart. This succeeded in killing it swiftly, so that it felt only a little pain in death. I smiled, and nodded at his merciful manner of killing. The body turned to dust a minute later, and he tutted as he stood up. "Shoddy workmanship," he said, obviously referring to the bokoblin's knife, which had broken as soon as it had entered the monster's flesh.
He rubbed the back of his neck, and shivered slightly. I could see the sweat staining the back of his tunic, as well as beading on his forehead. The fight seemed to have taken a little more out of him than it should have done…however, perhaps that was just because of the heat of this place. The headscarf around my hair was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm, and I thought about removing it. However, the factor of visibility was one to be taken into consideration, as I couldn't afford for my hair to get in the way whilst I was fighting. So, I left it where it was.
I watched Rufus walk over to the door at the far end of the room, which was padlocked shut. "The key has to be in here somewhere," he thought aloud, wandering back to the place where the first creature had fallen to his sword. He of course found nothing there, and turned back to survey the room perplexedly. I too looked around for anything that looked out of place, and immediately spotted some urns sitting next to the door.
:They don't seem as worn down as everything else in the room: I thought, squinting through the heat-haze. Whilst everything else in the room was covered in a thick layer of dust, they only had a light layer of the stuff on their smooth, porcelain surfaces. Most of them were full of water, and even from this distance, I could see the green scum floating on top of it.
Rufus seemed to see them a few seconds after I did, and bounded over to study them. He bent down towards one of the urns, his hands nearly touching the water. :Don't drink it: I thought frantically, and was glad when he seemed to think better of it, and stood up straight again. After that, he moved a little way away from the door, to the few urns that didn't have any water in them. He looked into each one of these, and judging by the expression on his face after he looked into the third urn along, he had found something worthwhile.
Boldly, he plunged his hand into the jar, but he snapped it right back out again. "OW!" He cradled his hand against his chest, and I was unable to see what damage had been done. He used his left hand to tip the container over, and it shattered on the hard floor. A Keese shot out of it, yellow eyes glowing, and a small tongue flickering out into the warm air, red with his blood. It bared its four tiny teeth at him, and he stabbed it quickly. Then, he looked at his wound again, and picked something out of the shards of pottery on the ground.
When he started back towards the door, I realised he must have found the key. He struggled slightly with the lock, which was incredibly rusty, but managed to turn it after throwing the whole of his weight against it. Then, he threw back the bolt so hard that it clanged against the wall, and leant his shoulder against the door to push it open. It made a horrible grating sound as the old hinges were forced into a new position.
I took this as my opportunity to creep into the room, and slithered through the hole that he had made earlier in the wall. Then, with my back to the wall, I hurried over to the pillar in the centre of the room, using it as cover. Peering around on the shadowed side, I saw him pause on the threshold of the door, and tilt his head to one side. I drew back quickly, knowing that he was about to look behind himself. When he let out a small sigh, I knew that he hadn't seen me.
I allowed a few more seconds for him to go through the door, into the small corridor beyond. :Funny…I was expecting a cavern…: I gave a mental shrug, and then carefully leant around the pillar again to check that he had indeed advanced. He had, and I saw his stoop down to gather two rocks from the ground, no doubt to break through the rotten wooden door at the other end of the passage. I could see chinks of pulsating red light making their way through the gaps between the wood, and I guessed that behind the door must be the central chamber.
I noticed that there were more of those new urns lying about the place – one in particular stood out, if only for its size. :Why would anyone construct something so big? Unless…: As if on cue, the ceramic jar exploded, and out jumped an astonishingly intelligent-looking bokoblin. As my daggers were already in my hands, there was little I could do other than watch. :Don't get involved unless you have to: I reminded myself coldly.
Rufus had let out a short exclamation on the explosion of the pot, and I could see him reach down the small of his back with his right hand. Even from this distance, I could see the large chunk of the pot that had wedged itself into his flesh, and the blood that was slowly spreading across his tunic from the wound it had inflicted. He wisely discarded the idea of trying to pull it out, and turned his attention to the advancing bokoblin, which had twin scimitars of a much higher quality than any other monsters' I had seen before.
The Hylian stopped, waiting for the bokoblin to make the first move. I silently commended him as he managed to swing his shield from his back, and block the bokoblin's attack all in one smooth movement. :He obviously had a good teacher…and a great deal of natural talent as well.: The bokoblin moved faster than he did, so all he was able to do was block its blows. :But that in itself is pretty impressive for a Hylian…:
I noted that the bokoblin was backing him towards the door, and wondered if now would be a good time to cut in. :Just wait: I ordered myself, making my wending way to the first doorway so that I could get a better view. That meant I'd be able to ascertain exactly when (and if) my services would be needed.
I cringed when the bokoblin hit Rufus' shield with a double attack, which sent him flying backwards into the rotten door behind him. His face twisted in pain, as the shard in his back was no doubt pushed deeper, but a split second later, the wood buckled underneath his weight, and he somersaulted through the created gap – I wasn't able to see what happened to him after that, but the sound of him landing reassured me. :At least I know he found some ground on the other side:
The bokoblin quickly followed through the door, widening the hole in it, and consequently giving me a view-point to look through. What I saw alarmed me…the boy's arms were dragging, and his shoulders were slumped dejectedly. I rushed forwards, daggers raised, hoping to push him out of the way of the monster's next attack – however, the shards on pottery lying around on the floor slowed me down. One even managed to pierce the sole of my boot, and scratched along the entire sole of my foot. I had to pause, and watched in horror as my charge was about to be executed. :Some Sheikah warrior you turned out to be:
The distance between the boy and bokoblin was soon closed, and then – the speed of it amazed me – he dived out of the way, at the same time bringing one of his legs around and kicking her in the stomach. The creature stumbled in its sprint, and its heavy steel-capped boots thudded once against the wooden decking that made up the walkway, before it collapsed over the side and down. From the red glow, I guessed that there must be magma below, and I could hear the slight hissing pop as the creature hit the molten rock.
Rufus stopped, and put his hands on his knees, taking in a few deep breaths, before standing tall and looking around the room. He took a few steps forward, and I took this as my chance to get into the large chamber as well. I slowly edged through the splinter-ridden tear in the door, and noticed how the temperature of the floor, which had already been warm, now became almost unbearable, especially on my injured foot.
I reached out and grabbed onto the rough stone walls, finding suitable hand and footholds, and ending up in a small indent in the rock a good twenty feet up. There, I stopped, watching as the boy tried to decide where to go next. Leaning forwards, I became unbalanced (since I was favouring my uninjured foot), and had to literally throw myself back against the wall in order to prevent a nasty fall.
This of course drew his attention, and I hurriedly shimmied along in the alcove I'd found, using a small ledge in the shadows as my cover. He made his way over, and looked up, eyes intent as he tried to figure out what it was he'd just seen. I held my breath, and concentrated on creating the illusion that I was just another patch of the wall. With the improvements the Great Fairy of Western Fairy Isle had made to my amulet, the magic needed didn't drain me at all, and I felt just as strong as ever when the boy turned away and I could drop the guise altogether.
A low rumbling sound from the lake of boiling magma had distracted him; I hazarded a guess at what was about to happen, and when a column of fire erupted from below, I found out that my assumption had been correct. He turned his head slightly to the side, and then blinked, and focused his eyes directly on the spot where I was again. Luckily, as soon as the fire had erupted, I'd put my guise back up. He narrowed his clear, young eyes at me, and although I knew he couldn't see me, I still felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
He shook his head, and quickly looked over the rest of the cavern as well, obviously trying to find out what had made the noise earlier. He didn't lower his sword, probably worried that something was about to attack him, and walked back along the decking until he reached the end of this section of it. He paused, and looked at the gap between the section he was standing on, and the next section. The distance was probably about fifteen – twenty feet. :Easy: I thought, feeling sympathy for him because he probably couldn't jump any further than ten foot, at a push.
I began to traverse the walls of the cavern towards him, this time keeping my illusion up as I went, just in case I stumbled again on my injured foot. :You shouldn't have even injured it in the first place. You wouldn't have done, if you'd been paying attention to where you were going, you clumsy idiot: I was really beginning to despise that voice in my head, and I pointedly ignored it, instead paying attention to the movements of the boy.
He dropped all his belongings to the decking around him, and then took out a length of rope. I guessed that he wanted to shimmy down and move all the crates below so that he would be able to climb up on the other side. Quickly, whilst he was still tying the rope onto the wooden boards of the decking, I climbed hurriedly so that I was directly above the crates, and then I dropped down, landing heavily on right side, which was the side that wasn't hurt.
Then, turning around, I surveyed the crates. Looking up, I saw that Rufus was nearly ready to throw the rope down and be on his way. :Right, let's get this over and done with.: I rose both arms so that they were extended completely horizontally in front of me, the palms facing forwards and fingers splayed as wide as they would go. :Move to the other side of the level. Pile up next to the decking. Move over, pile up.: I concentrated solely on the wooden boxes, forgetting about my blend-in illusion as I tried to move the crates as quickly as I could.
As soon as the task was done, I looked up to see how the boy was getting on, and saw that he was looking down with surprise, directly at me. I realised I had let my spell waver, and quickly replaced it, fading out of his view. Then, I marched myself over to the wall, and leant against it, watching as he slid down the rope and landed gently on the rocky ground. I watched with a raised eyebrow as he walked around the whole collection of the wooden containers, knocking on the side of each one of them. Each time, a hollow sound rang out, and I wondered exactly what he was doing. However, I was quite unable to fathom exactly what this was supposed to accomplish, and merely waited for him to get on with it so that I could continue helping him.
He placed both of his hands flat on the lowest level of the crates I had set up for him, and began to pull himself up. I saw the problem even before his sharp out-cry of, "Ah! Damnit!" reached my ears. As soon as he tried to curve up the right side of his back, the shard of pottery still within his back twisted around, inflicting further damage on his back. "Ow – stupid thing!" he muttered, leaning heavily against the crates. I saw him wince with nearly every breath, and watched him delicately reach down into his pack for something.
He bought out a heavy-glass bottle full of some blue liquid. :What on the great sea is that: I wondered. With the bottle resting on top of the first level of crates, he then uneasily reached around to grab the shard in his back – it was covered in blood, and I saw the sharp object manage to slice a few cuts into his fingers as he yanked it out, with a loud yelp as he did so. With shaking and bloodied fingers, he uncorked the strange-looking blue potion, and took a tiny mouthful from it. He reached down, and smiled, which I supposed must mean the potion had done it's job.
"That's good stuff!" he proclaimed to no one in particular, wiping the back of his mouth with his hand. :It might be good stuff, but I bet it'll still hurt climbing up those things…: I looked around for something that might help, and smiled when my eyes fell on the perfect thing. There was a two foot crate just leaning innocuously in the shadows against the wall next to me. I grabbed it, and then pushed it with all my might towards the boy. He turned around, and the wooden container came skidding to a halt in front of him. He blinked dumbfoundedly at it.
"OK, who's there?" he demanded, once again casting his eye all over the cavern to try and find out where I was. Of course, he didn't actually think to look directly behind the trajectory of the crate, and I smiled wanly as he gave up. "Fine, whatever," he said, his annoyance clear in his voice – he seemed to realise this, and added, "Whoever you are, thanks for the help." I just smiled again, and shook my head slightly. :Cute kid.:
He stiffly bent down to pick up the crate I'd given him, and then made his laborious journey to the top of the pile, using the smaller box as a stepping stone between layers. As soon as he was onto the decking on the other side, he whipped his head around, probably hoping to catch me off guard. I just stayed perfectly still, casting my illusion to make doubly sure he wouldn't see me.
He shrugged, and hitched his bags into more comfortable positions on his shoulders, before carrying on along the walkway towards the bridge. I hurriedly climbed up the wall, and then decided to use the walkway as well, because the wall up here was quite smooth, and it was difficult to find good hand and foot holds.
The door that he was walking towards suddenly lifted upwards, and he stepped backwards in surprise. :How does that work: I wondered, as the door started to lower again, and then rise as he went back towards it. :How odd…: He walked through it, and I had to hurry forwards and creep in behind him, otherwise it would have been obvious when I entered, because the door would have opened up:This doesn't make it any easier.: As soon as I was inside, I made use of the rough walls, and climbed up to a high vantage point, from which I could look over the whole room.
Yet again, there were urns lined up against the walls, but, as all of these were normal-sized and filled with water, I didn't need to worry that he was going to get attack anytime soon. Finding that there were metal rings set into the ceiling of the room, I decided to make my way over to the other side of it. :I wonder what these are here for anyway: I thought as I reached out for the first one of them. As soon as I touched the metal, which was surprisingly cold, considering where we were, an image came into my head.
The same room came to my mind, only, hanging from the metal rings in the ceiling were long iron chains, on the ends of which were wooden planks, forming a walkway across the lava and to the other side of the room, where the ladder was. As I watched, a congregation of monsters piled through the automatically opening door, and began to pile across these walkways – soon, there were so many of them that the wooden planks couldn't be seen beneath their scaled bodies.
The chains obviously hadn't been constructed to take all this weight, and slowly, the links began to bend out of shape, and one by one, the chains snapped. Those monsters who hadn't yet reached the other side collapsed along with the walkways into the hissing pool of violent red below; some managed to use the bodies of their comrades to skip over to the other side, but most sank, screaming and screeching, into the boiling rock.
I blinked, and shook my head to clear away the vision. There was a slight nauseous feeling in my stomach, probably bought on by all the death I had witnessed recently. Again, the sight of these two Rito, lying twisted and broken on the ground beneath the balance board came to my mind, and I bit my lip to contain a slight sob. :Get a grip – it's not like they were your kind: I berated the voice, answering it back angrily:No, but they were helping me. They didn't have to get me up here you know, they chose to:
The sound of the Hylian boy's voice below stopped me from having a full blown battle with myself. "I have an idea." As I hadn't been paying attention to him for a while, I had no idea what he was about to do. He walked over to the urns, which were three deep against the wall, and picked one of them up, scrunching up his face as he put strain onto his back. Then, he tottered back over to the edge of the burning lake with it, and tossed the water onto the magma.
It landed with a hissing pop, and some of the rock solidified, giving him a perfect platform to use to get to the second island in the room. He hopped across, and the little platform disintegrated only seconds after his foot left it. :Good thing he's fast.: Whilst he was preoccupied with opening the disintegrating oak chest, I carried on to the other side of the room, clinging onto the metal loops on the ceiling with my hands, and keeping my feet pressed against the stone. By the time I reached the other side, and was able to lean against the wall again, the sweat was dripping off me, and my arms ached. :I haven't done any proper climbing in such a long time: I thought, silently engulfing as much of the stifling hot air in the room as I could.
Turning my attention back to the boy, I saw that he was holding a scrap of parchment in his hands, and was pointing at it with one of his fingers. Then, he looked up at the ladder (during which time I naturally cast my illusion), and then back at the paper, which I took to be a map. :Probably making sure he's going the right way.: After having ensured that he was, indeed, going in the right direction, he pocketed the piece of paper, and then picked up another jar of water, ready to create another platform for himself.
But, this intention was ruined when three Keese decided to attack him, trying to bite chunks out of him. With his hands full, he was only able to do one thing…and that was throw the water at them. This method worked quite well, and he dealt with them easily. Then, he picked up yet another container filled with water, and this time was able to throw it in the right direction.
A strange sound from behind me caught my attention, and I turned around to see a red globule of something wobbling along on the floor above the ladder. I scrambled down the wall, and dropped into the corridor above the ladder, managing to swing myself in so that I was behind the creature. :What's it called: I always wanted to know what I was fighting was called…it was a strange habit that I'd built up over the years, and not knowing the name of this creature really bugged me.
I took out one of my daggers, and swiped at it, cutting the jelly-like thing in half. It exploded with wisps of purple smoke, and left behind a small, tear-dropped shape piece of jelly-like stuff. :A chu-chu, that's what it was: "Wait!" called the voice of my charge, and I jumped, hurrying back into the dark corridor, my eyes quickly adjusting to the change in light.
I was going so fast that I managed to literally bump into a green bokoblin. It hissed at me, and raised its hackles, ready to attack. I just calmly stabbed it, and then pushed it over, running over to the wall and crouching down on the floor, making myself as small and un-noticeable as possible. Then, I cast my illusion, so that I looked like nothing more than a rock.
Rufus came around the corner, his blond hair wildly askew, and his eyes wide as he looked around. The body of the bokoblin began to disappear, and noticing that, he must have figured out I was still close by, because he called out, "Hey!" His voice echoed off of the walls, and then he called again. "Hey! Come on, show yourself – I'd like to know who's helping me!" I didn't move, and watched him through slitted eyes as he sighed huffily, and picked up the key that the bokoblin had dropped.
:You'll only see me if you need to lad.:
The first occasion where the boy truly needed my help, was when we had once again followed the path onto the outside of the mountain, and were carefully traversing it. Out here, my illusion didn't work so well, as I mostly relied on shadows to make it work. This meant that I had to make sure I kept myself out of sight as much as possible. :Which is even harder when you consider just how little cover there is out here.: All I was really able to do was to follow behind the boy, using the curvature of the path to my full advantage every time he turned to look over his shoulder.
The wind was very strong this high up, and I will admit to having to wrinkle my nose slightly at the – 'aroma', shall we say – that was carried to me from Rufus. His tunic obviously hadn't been made for wear in such warm climates, and the top half of it was almost completely soaked with stale sweat. I knew I was probably a little pungent as well, but at least my clothes didn't retain the smell like that tunic would.
After rounding a particularly sharp bend in the path, I had to suddenly draw back, because the boy had stopped only a couple of yards in front of me. Crouching down, I leant around the corner, and looked to see what had stopped him. It didn't take very long for me to catch sight of the large kargorok rising from a messy nest ahead. I knew from watching him that the boy didn't have any projectile weapons, and wondered what tactics he was going to use.
I saw him rolling some pebbles in his hands, and praised his ingenuity. He drew his arm back, and then threw his missiles…they didn't really seem to have all that much effect though, so he quickly took out his usual weaponry (being his sword and shield) and blocked an attack from the angry talons of the kargorok. He drew the first blood of the battle, but I could tell by his shuffling feet and uneasy blocks that he didn't have the first clue on how to fight an airborne foe. :Mind you, neither do I…:
I looked at the nest that the flying monster had come from, and saw that it didn't in fact contain any eggs or chicks whatsoever. :Odd…: the clashing of talons against metal bought me back to what I was supposed to be doing, and I observed the raging battle before me. A particularly harsh blow seemed to injure Rufus' shield arm badly enough that he lost some mobility. He groaned, and rolled the joint, and I could hear it pop slightly, and grate as the joint wasn't quite in place.
The kargorok kept him dancing around, and even at his impressive speed, it didn't look as though he was going to land any blows soon. The beast snapped its vicious beak at him, and he shuffled backwards, parrying it. He didn't notice the stony outcrop behind him, and fell over it backwards, which left him defenceless against further attacks. The kargorok moved to hover over him, and whilst it was distracted, I hurried forwards, and threw a fistful of darts into its ugly, oily black feathers. It looked at me, before dismissing me in favour of its 'ready to eat' meal. A second later, the needles explosive nature kicked in, and the creature dropped like a stone – right on top of the boy. He let out a scream, and I darted over to hide behind a handily placed boulder next to the locked door that led back into the mountain.
From there, I watched him tentatively open his eyes, and blink in a dazed way when he met the beady stare of the lifeless kargorok. He plucked one of my needles from its feathers, but it quickly crumbled away – looking down, I saw a needle reappear in my bag of them. :Ah, how I love self-replenishing weapons…: He pushed the huge black bird-creature off of his body, and then stood up, and dusted himself off. When he next rolled his shield arm, I heard another pop, and a sigh of contentment. :I guess that must have been his shoulder going back into place.:
Next, he went over and studied the empty nest, managing to come up with a key. :Ah, ingenious: He used this to open the door next to me, and then walked in – I heard a loud thud, which told me he must have walked into a wall. The sounds of 'ow', and grumbling as he blindly fumbled around in the dark confirmed this. I felt glad that he had left the door open behind him, and was able to quietly slip past him and delve deeper into the myriad of passages. Every time I cam across an enemy, I'd deal with it, and, after a short while, I came across a bokoblin that was carrying an unlit torch.
I killed the creature, and then lit the torch with one of my needles. Again, as if he had just been waiting for the right moment, I heard his voice echoing through the tunnels. "Where by the Gods is a torch when you need…one…" he trailed off, obviously having seen the light of the torch I was carrying draw closer. When I heard the sound of his hurrying footsteps, I placed it onto the floor, and then retreated into the shadows once more. He seemed disappointed to find himself apparently alone, but gratefully picked up the torch anyway.
As per usual, he looked around the entire area, trying to seek me out. And again, he failed because of my use of illusion to trick him into thinking me just another outcrop of the wall. Having given up, he carried on through the passageways, and I followed him as closely as I dared. Now, my injured foot had dulled to an almost non-existent throb, so my movements were a lot surer, as I was able to distribute my weight evenly again. Even so, the uneven floors of the place did mean I would often have to flatten myself against a wall and cast a quick charm in order to prevent myself from being seen.
The next time that we emerged from the mountain's interior, it was already in the later afternoon, which meant we had been trawling our way through the place for a good few hours. High above, Valoo was displaying another tantrum, roaring in pain and spouting bursts of fire from his nose and mouth. The outburst stopped as quickly as it had begun, and the dragon whimpered, looking to the side of the island that was in shadow. I could see great, pearl-like tears rolling from Valoo's large intelligent eyes, and I felt sympathy for him, as he was so obviously in pain.
Yet again, my attention wasn't allowed to linger for too long, as a shrill feminine voice shrieked, "NO! Let go of me, let go!" At least, I think that's what was said…Hylian is a hard language to grasp at the best of times, and when its being bellowed in such a high pitch, it's quite easy to mistake. However, the general tone of the voice made it sound like whoever it was, was being attacked, or something similar.
Rufus didn't seem to care about the fact that the steps he was running up were crumbling and looked very suspect, as he literally flew up them, his feet barely touching the ground. I followed, at a slightly more sedate pace (which felt laboriously slow to me), and stopped a few steps from the top, lying full length on the ground, and peering out to see what was going on.
I could see a small Rito girl being dragged along the ground towards a cage that had wheels on it, as well as two lengths of rope that could be used to carry it through the air. The door of this was wide open, and the moblin that was dragging her along seemed intent on putting her within it. There were also two bokoblins (both green, which was why they weren't trying to kill one another), taking swigs of some type of ale from a brown bottle.
The boy called attention to himself with an act of bravery (and stupidity…) "Hey!" he called out, drawing the attention of the monsters, and… :Oh Gods…how did he even get up here: The Rito man who had attacked me earlier was leaning against the mountainside to the right, and slightly behind Rufus, which was why the boy hadn't seen him. His wing, after being crushed beneath a boulder, looked almost as good as new. "You there, put that girl down!" I began fiddling with my whip, directing a beam of magic at it in order to fix it. Since it was a magical weapon itself, it would take about a minute or so for the spell to take effect. :I hope that's long enough.:
"And why, pray tell, my dear Hylian, would we wish to do that?" the Rito asked, his voice silky and aristocratic. Which was certainly different when I thought of the battle cries I had last heard issue from his lips. He made his way over to his moblin, and I realised that he must be working with the monsters! He nodded to it, and it continued forcing the young girl into the cage. He was once again wearing a black cape, which caught the wind and fluttered out behind him, making him seem ridiculously large and overbearing in comparison to Rufus.
"Because…because…" the Hylian stammered, unable to answer with that steely gaze pinning him down.
"I see the Hylian eloquence hasn't been exaggerated," he jibed, chuckling cruelly. Then, in a firm, business-like tone, "Now, child, if you'll excuse us, we-" Rufus cut him off in mid speech, and I raised my eyebrow at his choice of words. :Well, someone's been reading a few too many adventure stories…:
"Look, I'm warning you! Let her go! You'll be sorry if you don't!" I had to bite my lip against the laughter that bubbled up inside of me. If that line had been so much as muttered within the bunk-house back at home, the perpetrator would have been laughed out of the place! The black haired Rito man seemed to pick up on this, and drawled sarcastically,
"My, my. If that isn't the most clichéd line of them all. What do they do, teach you all to speak like imbeciles, or is natural?" This rudeness shocked me, considering the fact that both of the people in the conversation didn't know one another's name. :However, wouldn't you sort of expect that from someone who had tried to kill you for no apparent reason: I agreed with my inner voice, and watched as the Rito man continued to advance towards my Hylian charge.
"I don't think you seem to understand my proposition. Either you unhand the girl immediately, or I will be forced to use physical violence against you…understand?" The Rito man just laughed again, which I found odd, since Rufus had managed to sound rather mature with his choice of words.
The small Rito girl (whom I had almost forgotten, what with my focus on repairing my whip and watching the man and boy square up to one another), bit the moblin that was carrying her, and succeeded in yelling a warning. "Judas, leave him alone you stupid brute!" :Aha, so that's his name: "Rufus, run, he's a maniac!" She was thrown roughly into the cage, and the door was chained closed behind her. Shakily she got to her feet, and looked desperately between Rufus and Judas.
Judas ignored her and the Hylian, calling to his co-workers over his shoulder, "Our transport should be here any minute now." Then, he turned around, and smiled down at Rufus in a superior manner. "Do you really wish to fight us, boy?" An emotion that I couldn't quite read flickered through his amber eyes, and the boy back up a couple of paces in fear. "It would be a pity…to waste such an…intriguing…boy, such as yourself," the Rito's voice was now a low purr, and I recognised the emotion that crossed his face the second time around… :Lust…: "Going to kill me, are you?" he mocked as my charge raised his small, light sword.
"Look, just back off, I don't want to have to hurt you," he warned, his voice wavering as he did so. Feeling a slight burning sensation in my hands, I looked down and saw that my whip was pulsing slightly, good as new. My magic had continued to burn without my notice, and as such, had skewed slightly and seared the knuckles of my left hand. I shook it slightly, and then uncoiled and recoiled my whip, ready for battle.
I saw Judas collapse to the floor after being kicked in the shin and tripped by the boy. The moblin and bokoblins milled around, seemingly unsure of their next course of action. They haphazardly ambled towards the cage that Rufus had run to, trying to cut him off. He slammed against the metal bars, and the girl inside reached out and grabbed his hand. "Look, just run," she urged, "No point in you getting yourself killed." Her voice was sweet and mellow, and held a touch of command about it. However, Rufus didn't seem to notice this, as he pointedly refused,
"I'm not letting these madmen take you to…wherever they plan on taking you!" He yanked his hand from hers.
"Please, just run – please!"
"Nope." He leant back against the bars, and began to run to the other side of the level on which he was on. I knew his intentions – draw the monsters over, and then possibly kick them over the ledge. :Only that wouldn't work with Judas: I thought, remembering when I'd attempted just that.
Suddenly, Valoo let loose with another temper tantrum, and the vibrations caused by his thrashing succeeded in making the boy trip over his own feet, as the ground was moving so much. The moblin, showing a burst of speed I wouldn't have thought possible for such a burly creature, rushed over, and grabbed him by the back of his filthy tunic. "Ow – let go!" he exclaimed, struggling within the iron grip of his captor.
"Do as he says," Judas told the moblin, and it nodded, before dropping Rufus back onto the floor, so that he landed heavily on his front.
"Ow, for the love of!" Rufus wailed, and clutched his nose, which had begun to bleed heavily. "You fu-" Judas cut him off in the middle of the swear word.
"Shut up boy," he commanded. "Moblin, put him in with the other one…then at least this whole charade won't have been a total loss for me." He stared openly at Rufus, taking in his rounded face and wide, stunned azure eyes. I shifted uncomfortably, feeling almost as though he was staring at my bare face as well as Rufus'. :How could anyone stare at someone else for so long and not feel uncomfortable, or rude: Then, I blinked. :I don't think he's worried about being rude, do you:
Finally, when I realised that there was no plausible (or indeed possible) way for Rufus to escape this situation and turn it around for himself, I stood up, and dashed to stand at the top of the stairs. Clearing my throat, I called out as loud as my restricted throat would allow, "Hey." Rufus lifted his head up, and stared at me, as did the moblin. Judas, however, just glared at me, and then raised his eyes to the reddening sky above.
"Oh, for Gods sakes, yet another hopeful adventurer?" I gleaned that this was more for the benefit of Rufus and the girl than me. He tore his eyes away from the sky above, and stared levelly at me, frowning. "And it looks to be a dyke at that." I raised an eyebrow at the common insult, and before I could restrain myself, had answered back,
"No, not a dyke, not that you'd be able to tell the difference between a straight or gay woman anyway. I'm a Sheikah, actually. Now, kindly, let those children go, and I'll not have to hurt you." I inwardly groaned as I realised I had picked up some of the boy's speech, and berated myself for sounding like a common idiot into the bargain. :You should really pay more attention to the rubbish that's been coming out of your mouth recently:
"What is it with all the fucking bravado?" Judas asked (or rather, screeched). "Look lassie, it's obvious you're suffering from PMS or PMT, and are, as such, having delusions of grandeur and heroism. Back off, before I give you a real warrior's death." :…I see he at least knows a little bit about our culture… Though I find it odd that he assumes I'm old enough to have started cycles yet…weird… And why do men always assume that when women are annoyed, that they're stressed with cycles:
Outwardly, of course, I didn't allow my annoyance to show, instead inviting him with the words, "Try it." I reached down and took my fixed whip in both hands, doing my best to look bored by the situation. :After all, I don't want to fight another battle where I'm quite so…out of control…: "Come on – not scared of a girl, are you?" I managed to even make my sarcasm sound more like a genuine question, and sighed internally as I fell back into my normal pattern. :If you keep going like this, who knows…maybe you will be worthy of your bandages fingers once more…:
"Never," the black haired Rito growled, withdrawing his rapier and holding it horizontally across his chest, his battle stance yet again perfect. From where I stood, I could see that a few of his feathers still looked a little out of line, but all evidence of the boulder-injury was gone. :He must have had some potion or something…
Noticing that he seemed to be hesitating, I goaded him into action, "Come on then." As soon as the words left my lips, he called over his moblin and two bokoblins, and then charged at me with his rapier gleaming in the dying day's sun.
Feh. I don't like this chapter. But at least I got it done. Many cheers etc. I'm so incredibly sorry that I left this alone for so long, but, really, those Malfoy boys just don't know when to let go! Bats them off. Hopefully, now that I've gotten this chapter (which I always knew was going to be a problem chapter anyway) out of the way, the next one should be a lot easier to write. (Here's hoping, eh?)
So, for Lossemare, H7, WOLF ORION WOLFWOOD, Chibi Tetra (adorable ness right here people, look at the chibi!), crimson-88 (Linkness will come eventually) and Saria-Emerald… Here's the chapter, and have a whole bushel of cookies (let's pretend that makes sense, shall we?) as thanks for sticking around, and for putting up with my terrible uploading schedule.
Next chapter to come soon. I'll try and make up for all the chapters I should have posted, but didn't.
Bah…now onto the next chapter. O.o And I've already written ten pages today (to finish this chapter off). Wrist cramp, wrist cramp! (Sheik: You're not fooling anyone, you do know that, don't you?) Ah crap…it was worth a shot. Now, if you'd like to take your clothes off and sit on that stoo- is gagged by Sheik, who then goes off to raid her fridge.
Review. I have a whole backlog of reviews I have to pay to the review monster, and he breaks legs!
Soda
PS: Make my day, point out any and all grammatical and spelling errors!
PPS: I'm not taking the piss, please do. I want to know if I've made any that I missed.
PPPS: If anyone's interested in beta-reading for me, I'd love them forever, and I'd have their babies if they so wished. Adorable smile.
Additional postscript: I changed the errors that Lossemare pointed out. Hugs her muchly. Thank you my dear!