Chapter 9 – Trouble Times Two

"This area appears to be geologically unstable," Talen mused as he trotted along a twisting stone corridor with his companion clinging to his back. "How are you doing back there?"
"Mmm," Florella mumbled sleepily. "Better…really brought…roof down." Talen chuckled to himself. Florella had been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since he had permanently stopped the use of the sacrificial chamber. It had taken a titanic amount of effort, but he had managed to cave the room in on itself, the carved heads on the walls tumbling into the lava pit. Florella had instantly calmed down and had mumbled something along the lines of, "The stench of death has been washed clean." Talen hadn't really caught it as she had her head buried in his shoulder at the time; he was also running as fast as he could to get away from the ceiling of the tunnel he had unintentionally brought down.
"We're getting close to the surface Florella, I can feel it," Talen told her. The sacrificial victim that had escaped the knife thanks to Talen's intervention had pointed them in the direction of a lesser-used entrance when they found him some distance up the tunnel. After assisting them, he informed them that he would stay behind in the tunnels for a little while longer to rest before journeying to the surface. From what he'd said it wasn't much better than underground.
After rounding a corner, Talen caught a glimpse of something glimmering up ahead of him.
"Florella! Look, stars! We're out!" he cheered. Florella mumbled something unintelligible and snuggled in closer to his neck. The boy slowed down upon reaching the exit and coated his forearms in a protective layer of stone just in case there were any hostiles waiting to ambush them. He peeked out into the night and instantly felt the cool air on his face. Talen looked around but saw no sign of enemies. What he did see, however, made his heart sink. They were standing on the side of one of many huge rock formations that rose from the dark red sands of a desert. The glow of fire and lava bathed everything in an eerie arrange glow as veins of magma punctured the surface as boiling pools.
"Where in the world did we end up?" he muttered. A great spout of flame suddenly licked at the night sky, illuminating a foreboding city below. Talen was rather surprised that he hadn't noticed it before. The houses were squat, square shaped little buildings constructed in straight rows with wide torch-lit streets separating them. At the very heart of the city lay a large, blocky palace that was constructed in terraces. Each terrace wall gradually sloped inwards until they reached the flat pinnacle of the building. At the very top of the palace there was a massive torch that burned brightly with a fierce yellow flame. The palace was very large and had four square buildings, each roughly a quarter of the size of the main building, on its four corners. Small square windows peppered the walls, making it look more like a fortress prison than a palace.
"Well Florella, it looks like things are looking slightly pear-shaped," Talen sighed as multiple spouts of flame illuminated the sky.
"Mmm," the fairy mumbled before sighing into his ear. Talen shuddered slightly as he began to feel slightly light-headed.
"Careful Florella, you're leaking magic or something," he told her. "Come on, I'll find us somewhere safe to spend the night." Florella giggled sleepily and whispered something quite naughty into his ear. Talen's face turned bright red.
"Florella!" he hissed. "You're not yourself at the moment! I really don't think it would be appropriate to do that right now…or at all for that matter." She giggled again and promptly fell asleep. The boy shook his head and sighed before he began searching for a safe place to rest.

Link landed on the rim of the beach sinkhole with a thump. He shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand before looking around for some trees suitable for building a raft. He selected a couple of medium thickness and began the process of cutting them down. It didn't take too long; the sword Talen had made him had a very sharp edge to it and he soon had several logs piled up on the ground. With a few hacks here and there, he defoliated them and deftly kicked them down onto the beach. He glided down onto the sand and dragged his efforts into a suitable spot to begin the construction of the raft. Link looked up for a moment and saw Fura talking with Zelda. The Princess occasionally glanced over at him as she chewed on a lock of her hair that had escaped the confines of her headdress. The boy frowned and returned his attention to the task at hand.
"You'll both come around sooner or later," Navi told him, landing on his shoulder. Link gave her an irritated glance and batted her away with his hand.
"Hmph!" Zelda grunted, allowing her hair to slip out of her mouth. "He's doing that just to spite me."
"Doing what?" Fura asked. "Trying to get us off the island?"
"He's ignoring me!" Zelda fumed. "He's being childish."
"Well he certainly isn't alone," the Gerudo sighed. "Zelda, the pair of you have got to snap out of this before it gets too serious. It's happened to me before and I can tell you it's none too pretty." Zelda cast a sidelong glance at Link as the boy began stripping the bark from the logs.
"What happened?" she finally asked.
"Oh I got into a little argument with a friend over who stole what in a training exercise. Didn't seem like much at the time, but it got bigger and bigger. She was in the wrong of course."
"Oh, of course. So what happened?" Zelda asked curiously.
"What? Oh, I didn't break her arm very much," Fura shrugged. "But the point of it is; you shouldn't let trite things come between you. Besides, since Ruto isn't here you're the only sorta-rival I've got. It won't be very fun if I don't have competition…well what I mean is, it will be fun but…you know what I mean!" Zelda rolled her eyes and popped her stray lock of hair back in her mouth. She chewed it thoughtfully as she watched Link tumble over backwards into the sand after tearing off a strip of bark a little too quickly. A torrent of swear words followed, making the Zelda frown.
"Can I break his arm?"

Ark was roused from his sleep by someone tapping his head. Since he knew of only one other person in the cave besides him, Ark came to the conclusion that Nyara wanted him for something.
"Mngh?" he mumbled sleepily, reluctant to move from his comfortable position. "Miss Nyara? Did you want something?"
"Ark need have breakfast now. Get light outside so we can go," she paused and then giggled. "Or Ark want to make babies with Nyara instead?" Nyara's question hit Ark like a ton of bricks and his eyes snapped open. He suddenly realized why he felt so warm and comfortable; he was pressed up against Nyara's chest. He gave a startled cry and jumped away, babbling apologies as he went. Nyara, on the other hand, collapsed in helpless gales of laughter.
"Zelda say these make Ark uncomfortable," she chuckled, cupping her chest. Ark went beet red and looked away in an instant, making Nyara laugh even harder.
"M-Miss Nyara!" Ark protested meekly. "I-I'm sorry if-"
"But Ark seem plenty comfortable all last night when use them as pillows," she snickered, patting him on the back. Ark gasped and brought his hands up to his face in horror without remembering that his nose was still very sore. He yelped in pain before launching into yet another rush of apologies.
"Miss Nyara! How can I ever apologize enough for-"
"Ark keep Nyara warm like teddy bear, so Nyara no care. Hurry and eat breakfast," Nyara grinned, pointing to a hunk of bread she'd filched from one of the packs. Ark frowned and did as he was told whilst keeping his eyes averted the whole time. Nyara shook her head and laughed again.
"Ark very strange, but Nyara like that about Ark. Ark may not be tough, but Ark kind and cuddly like teddy bear." She leaned over towards Ark until her face was right next to his. Ark looked back at her nervously.
"Y-Yes Miss Nyara?" he asked.
"Nyara curious…" she began, placing a finger on her chin. "What does Ark think of Nyara?" The boy blinked under Nyara's unwavering gaze and fidgeted nervously.
"W-Well…you're certainly unlike anyone I've ever met before, Miss Nyara. You've saved my bacon on numerous occasions and you've got your, uh, unique way of doing things." Nyara's face beamed and she patted his head.
"Ark very sweet, but uses brush to paint picture. Maybe Ark one day use fingers instead, no?" she told him cryptically. Ark frowned and mulled over what the girl had told him.
"Miss Nyara…what do you mean?" he asked her. Nyara grinned and winked at him.
"Ark smart, you work it out soon enough so Nyara wait until then," she paused and touched his nose gingerly, making the boy wince slightly. "Ark nose heal very good, but very strange too. Should be all bumpy, Nyara felt bone reset…but it only swollen. Ark must be cheating…nose heal too fast and take away Nyara's job!" She stalked towards him on all fours, her sharp incisors protruding from her lips. Ark held both his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"N-Now, now…I'm not doing it on purpose. I don't know why it's healing so fa- augh!" he yelped as the animal girl let out a gleeful yowl and jumped at him. They rolled around the floor of the cave somehow avoiding hurting Ark's nose any further. His ears, however, weren't so lucky. Nyara chewed and nibbled them while Ark struggled to hold her off, by her shoulders of course. She only laughed harder and continued to play, letting out growls and clacking her teeth while Ark, despite his protests, felt strangely happy.

"Hello grumpy, how are you?" Fura asked perkily. Link poked his head out from under the beginnings of the raft. Fura pursed her white lips at his sour expression.
"Well couldn't that face of yours curdle milk!" she exclaimed. Link rolled his eyes and disappeared back underneath his work.
"You wanted something?" he asked.
"Yes I did. Get out from under there first; it's difficult to talk to you." There was a grunt from underneath the logs.
"Why is it so difficult? I can hear you, you can hear me," Link told her. Fura frowned before reaching down and ensnaring his bare foot in her hand. She dragged him rather unceremoniously out into the sunlight.
"Ergh, fine, fine," he sighed. "What do you want?" Fura put on a look of feigned surprise.
"My, my you sound irritable! Perhaps you're tense? C'mere," she ordered pleasantly. When Link didn't move, she clicked her tongue and quickly flipped him over onto his stomach.
"Hey! What are you doing?" he demanded as she pinned him down by sitting on his back.
"Mediating," she told him simply. "I don't like seeing you and Zelda at odds with each other very much at all…neither does Navi." The fairy nodded and settled on Fura's shoulder.
"Oh God, is that was this is about?" he mumbled, all the while trying to shake Fura off.
"It certainly is, my boy!" she grinned. "Now while I won't force you to go over and make amends with her, I will strongly advise you to. The two of you have been through a lot together, hell; you even shared the very core of your being with her to keep her from dying." Fura suddenly placed her hand between his shoulder blades and pushed down sharply. Her reward was a sharp crack and a groan from Link. She smiled sweetly and patted his head.
"It's on my to-do list, Fura," Link muttered.
"Well it had better be…now how about a back rub? You've been working away here for hours, sweating like a dog," Fura smiled.
"Dogs don't sweat," Link snickered. "And I want to get this thing done as quickly as possible so I can get off this armpit of an island and eat real food and sleep in a real bed."
"You're such an ass sometimes!" Fura sighed. "But that's just the stress talking. Come on, I'll make you feel like a million rupees!"
"A million rupees is pretty useless if you can't spend it! I want to cut wood up and bind it togeth- eeh!" Link squealed as Fura maneuvered around the Key and tweaked a particularly sensitive part on his neck.
"Fura knows best!" she laughed haughtily. "Damn you've got some stiff muscles back here."
"Well they won't even be there if you keep tearing them to pieces like that!" Link told her before whimpering half with pain and half with relief as she grabbed his shoulders and yanked him backwards, producing a multitude of crackling sounds.
"What was that? It hurts, but in a good way? Yeah, I'll have you feeling ship-shape in no time!"

Talen yawned after finally being able to rest. He was sore, tired and feeling just a little bit hopeless at his and Florella's situation. The rock formation he and his companion had emerged from was full of small caves, so finding a sheltered spot to spend the night was no problem. He glanced at Florella as she lay curled up in the corner of their temporary domicile. The poor girl was being affected in some way by the very land they stood on; it had sapped her of her strength and rendered her practically defenseless. Talen's destruction of the sacrificial chamber had lifted a great deal of strain from the fairy and had allowed her to begin her recovery, but the fact of the matter was that something still weighed on her.
"I wonder if we'll ever get out of here?" Talen mumbled dejectedly to himself, gazing out of the cave-mouth at the starry night sky. He sighed heavily and flopped back on the ground with his hands folded behind his head. He was just about to close his eyes when a face popped into view.
"Hello there Talen!" Florella beamed at him. Talen blinked up at her and made to rise. "No, no! You just relax, my dear! You've already done so much today!"
"Florella? What are you doing awake? How are you feeling?" he asked her, slightly shocked at her sudden bout of activity.
"Me? I'm feeling a whole lot better thanks to you!" she giggled. "But take a look at yourself! You're all cut and bruised!" Her little hands were instantly poking and prodding his wounded body, eliciting tingling sensations as she healed him. Strangely enough he felt quite tired after she had finished.
"Are you sure you should be doing that?" Talen asked her, sitting up. "I mean…you aren't at your best right now…"
"Oh you're such a cutie-pie!" she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. "This is nothing, perfectly harmless." She gave him a very affectionate look. Talen frowned slightly.
"Oh Talen, you're all worried, aren't you?" she smiled.
"Well of course I am," he told her. "You were…"sick" back there and we're stuck in some Godforsaken red desert that spouts fire and we have no idea where the others are. I think I have good reason to worry." Florella giggled girlishly and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Talen instantly felt and odd feeling of warmth spreading from where her little bow-like mouth had touched his skin. He felt very, very drowsy and his cares seemed to evaporate into thin air.
"I…I'm just…gonna sl…sleep for…" he trailed off and flopped into Florella's waiting arms. She squeezed him tight for a second, a look of pure glee plastered on her face. Then, as carefully as she could manage, she lay him down on his side and wormed her way under his arm. The little fairy watched his peaceful face for a moment or two before shuffling closer and resting her own lips against his very softly, staying in that position for the rest of the night.

Link felt like Fura had pulled his body to pieces, cleaned and oiled all his joins and then slapped him back together again. He had raised some strenuous objections at first after her initial tweaks gave him horrible images of mutilation and permanent damage. He had noticed Zelda grinning openly at him, finding some kind of justice in his agony. The pain, however, soon subsided and to Link's surprise he actually found himself enjoying it. All in all it was quite satisfying for both parties; Link had something to take his mind off his problems with Zelda and Fura was able to spend some quality time with him. His tunic had remained firmly in place throughout the entire process, despite Fura's objections that physical contact was the best way to bond with someone. Link remained steadfast, despite the fact that his underclothes covered more than enough of what shouldn't be seen. Fura merely sighed, grabbed his foot and wormed her fingers inbetween all his toes before clenching her fist. The result was a multitude of popping sounds and a yelp from the boy.
"You did that on purpose!" he accused her.
"Well of course I did," she smiled sweetly. "And I've got to do it to the other side now of else you'll be all unbalanced." A brief struggle ensued as Link thrashed his other leg about while Fura lunged at it. She eventually managed to snare the wayward foot whereupon she administered the same as she had on its twin. After a few more nasty surprises, Fura stood up and made a show of dusting her hands together.
"Well there you go. You should be feeling like a brand new man…so now you can get back to that job of yours with renewed vigor," Fura grinned. Link grunted and wobbled to his feet.
"You're right there Fura. Instead of being an able-bodied young man, you've turned me into a cripple. I'd call that new, wouldn't you?" Link coughed. Fura's face darkened instantaneously and she flicked his nose.
"Fine! See if I ever do something nice for you again!" she blared. "What do you have to say about that, you big fat smart-alec!?" Link blinked at her and a flicker of a smile hovered about his mouth.
"Wait! Don't even bother answering; I've just gone and dug my own grave. I forget who I'm talking to sometimes," she muttered, stalking back to Zelda.

Talen stirred as something sharp poked into his chest. He stirred and mumbled something unintelligible before rolling over.
"Taleeen," he heard Florella squeak. "I think you'd better wake up!" Talen grunted as the pointy thing jabbed at him again.
"Ugh, okay, okay! I'm up," he yawned, getting into a sitting position. As he opened his eyes he came face to face with a group of about a dozen armed soldiers. The pointy object from earlier was the head of a spear that was directed at him along with about five others. Florella was in a similar position next to him.
"What's the meaning of this?" Talen demanded.
"You are wanted at the palace," one of the guards told him gruffly. "Both of you move." After a slight bit of poking, Talen and Florella were on their feet and being led at spear point down the side of the rock formation. Talen came to the conclusion that the soldiers must have known that he could fight well, as they had threatened to skewer Florella should he attempt to resist. He wasn't sure how they had found him or learnt about his abilities, but he decided to play it safe, lest Florella come to any harm. The journey to the palace took a good couple of hours and Talen, as well as Florella, noticed the sky was still pitch black. The stars, however, seemed to have disappeared since the last time they had been out under the open sky. They walked in an oppressive silence that was only broken by the occasional order thrown at Florella to make her walk faster. Florella probably could have sent all the soldiers off to sleep, but Talen suspected that she had lied to him when she had woken up earlier in the night. She was, in fact, not entirely fine. Something in the land itself seemed to drain the fairy girl's power, leaving only a minimum behind. Still, she held her head high and managed to make it look like she was the one in charge.
The palace was an even grimmer place up close. Flaming torches boiled out dirty black smoke that hung in the air and made it almost hard to breathe. The palace itself was constructed out of light brown stone blocks cut immaculately. Florella and Talen were led along a series of dark corridors until they finally reached a large set of bronze doors that glinted eerily in the light of the ever-present torches. The soldier in charge pushed open one of the doors and stepped inside. A short time passed before he appeared again at the door.
"Bring them in," he grunted. The spears aimed at the two children prodded at them, herding them through the doors. The adjoining room was nothing short of vast. Great bronze snake statues littered the corners and walls of the room, some even functioning as pillars to keep the roof up. The room itself was long and rectangular, with the ceiling stretching off far above to be lost in darkness. Coal braziers hung from the open mouths of the bronze serpents to illuminate a long and extremely richly detailed carpet that trailed up to a raised dais at the back wall. The dais itself was shrouded in a silky curtain that only allowed for the silhouette of whatever lay behind it to be revealed.
"Let them approach," a husky female voice asked from behind the curtain. The soldiers poked Talen and Florella towards the dais. "No, only them. The rest of you may leave." The soldiers looked slightly uncertain, but did as they were told. Talen looked at Florella with a questioning expression.
"Come on Talen, let's not be rude," she said simply, reaching out and taking hold of his wrist. She walked forward briskly with Talen trailing behind. While he was being led along by Florella, Talen's eyes scanned the room for any means of escape should things turn nasty. The only entrance or exit he could see were the doors from which they had entered. Florella suddenly halted in front of the dais, causing Talen to nearly bump into her. The curtain obscuring the dais then drew back slowly to reveal an ornate divan upholstered with rich red velvet. A young woman lay across it, propped up on an elbow almost lazily. Her appearance would put even Fura to shame. Her chest and lower abdomen were clothed in what appeared to be a gold brassiere outfit; they also happened to be the only parts of her body that were covered at all. Her eyes were large and slightly angular with thick, dark lashes. Her hair, which was also very dark, was tied back in a bun with only a few strands making it down past her ears. Her skin had the same bopper tinge to it that Fura's did, the dim light making it even darker. Her wrists and neck were adorned with a multitude of bangles and necklaces that clinked together when she rose from the divan in a sinuous manner. Talen's eyes hit the floor the instant he saw her, causing Florella to smile to herself.
"What's the matter, boy?" the young woman asked in an amused tone. "Don't you like what you see?"
"Don't answer that," Florella told him sharply. The boy held his hands up and pursed his lips.
"So you're the two that defiled and destroyed the room of sacrifice as well as killing a good number of my followers. I'm quite surprised."
"Oh?" said Florella with a level gaze.
"Absolutely. I was to understand that I would be seeing a "titan of the earth with the strength of steel". The pair of you are only children."
"Oh you'd be surprised at what we can accomplish when we try hard enough. Now what's this all about? And who are you anyway?" Florella demanded.
"My, my," the woman smirked. "What a feisty little girl you are. It's easy to see why you seem to be the one in charge."
"You haven't answered my question," Florella said, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. The woman smiled and walked towards them with a sinuous grace.
"I am Queen Sarissa, the ruler of this land, and you…" she said, licking her lips up at Talen. "Have single handedly plunged the religious order into chaos. You're quite an amazing young man…" Talen blinked and shuffled in behind Florella.
"Sorry madam," Florella said curtly. "You can look but you can't touch. This one belongs to me and you're a little too old for him." Florella reached back and thrust Talen's ringed finger out towards the Queen. The woman raised her pencil-thin eyebrows and chuckled softly.
"Twenty-two years is hardly old, little girl, and it seems that you aren't entirely what you appear to be."
"No. I'm not. And you can either refer to me as Florella or the Great Fairy of Spring, not little girl." A flicker of surprise showed on Sarissa's face for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by her calm expression.
"My apologies, Great Fairy…but as I understand it, Great Fairies live for thousands of years…and you're saying I'm too old?"
"I'm young at heart and that's all that matters. Now enough of this idle banter. Are we prisoners here?" Florella asked bluntly. Sarissa circled them slowly, looking at Talen with a strange expression as the boy made sure that Florella was always between him and the Queen.
"For now, yes. But there may be a point at which you could possibly be free to go. A test, however, is first required before that can even be considered."
"A test?" Talen asked incredulously.
"Oh, so you can talk after all? There's more to you than just a pretty face, dear boy. You have some fantastic abilities that I want to see…for a number of different reasons." Florella narrowed her eyes dangerously at the Queen.
"I'd rather you keep some of those reasons to yourself, thank you. Part of what I like so much about him is his naivety and innocence in those particular areas. When he's ready, it'll be me who instructs him." The two women stared at each other calmly for what seemed like ages. Talen could feel the hair beginning to rise on the back of his neck and he began to fidget nervously.
"Can I leave the room or take this test or something while you two do whatever it is you're doing?" Talen asked. The Queen turned her attention to him and smiled.
"Mmm, so eager to get started, I like that!" Sarissa laughed. "You test begins…now." She clicked her fingers and stepped back up to her divan. A slight ripple passed through the air and the floor of the room trembled. Talen stepped back with his eyes darting all around the room. A vast groan filled the chamber causing Florella and Talen to whirl around in time to see one of the giant bronze snakes come to life.
"Taleeeeen!" Florella squeaked, ducking behind him. The boy squared his jaw as his stone skin raced down his arms and formed his sharp rock claws.
"Get away, Florella!" he barked as the snake reared up in preparation to attack.

After Fura had stomped off, Link had a burst of activity on the raft, but then he'd felt so relaxed that he had to lie around and do nothing for a while. Before he did that, however, he went and thanked Fura properly. Her eyes went large and luminous and her smile was wide when he'd given her his mumbled and drawn-out appreciation for the massage. That done with, he passed out snoring almost as soon as he'd reclined on the warm sand, but an unpleasant surprise met him as he woke up. Something kicked him roughly in his side, causing him to grunt and sit up sharply.
"Ow! Fura, if you want my attention you only have to call out my name or something," he muttered, rubbing his ribs. He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of metal scraping against metal and came face to face with the point of a cutlass.
"Eep!" Link squeaked. He followed the blade of the cutlass up and saw a rough-looking man holding the weapon.
"Up!" he barked. "And get over with the others!" Link did as he was told upon seeing that Zelda and Fura were both being held by a group of men with similar weapons. How the men had managed to sneak up on the three of them was beyond Link, but that fact of the matter was that they were in very big trouble.
"What's happening?" Link whispered to Fura when he was thrust over to the two girls.
"I don't know. I was sitting with Zelda when they snuck up behind us. We're up the creek without a paddle," the Gerudo replied.
"Can you blast them?" Link asked. Fura shook her head.
"If I start blowing people up then they'll stick you and Zelda in an instant." Link frowned.
"Enough talk!" one of the men ordered in a gravelly tone.
"Hey," another one cut in. "That kid looks like he's wearing a solid gold collar! Get it off of him; it could be worth a lot!" The eyes of all the men suddenly focused on the Key and Link.
"Hey kid, get that thing off and give it here," the man holding him said.
"Erm…I kinda can't," Link winced.
"It's not a request!" he roared angrily. Link held his hands up.
"I would if I could! It won't fit over my head and there's no catch on it!" Link said quickly. A murmur ran through the men before one of them spoke up.
"Well then just cut his head off and take it off his neck!" There were shouts of agreement and Link was hauled away from Fura and Zelda as they screamed out in protest.
"Can't we come to some kind of agreement!?" Link shouted as he was forced to kneel with his head out.
"Sorry kid, nothing personal," the man said as he raised his cutlass in order to slice Link's head clean off.