An Act to Follow — Part 10 — There's nothing wrong with us that a little pie won't fix!

Timbre and Tejina probably should have followed the old proverb, 'look before you leap.' However, desperation makes fool of the wisest sage. Neither of these were their thoughts as they both plummeted out of the window without a second look.

They hit the angled canvas awning that had been erected in the side alley beneath their window. They bounced several times, and for a moment, it looked like it was going to hold.

Then the structure suddenly gave way, and they found themselves entangled in folds of heavy canvas as the awning collapsed in a clatter of dust.

"Well," Timbre remarked as soon as he regained his breath, "That was fun."

Tejina blinked, then laughed hoarsely. "Yeah?"

"Well, no! I was being sarcasti-whoa!" Timbre was interrupted as the pile of canvas they had landed on suddenly moved and bulged. In fact, it did more then just that.

"What in the name of Din's fiery lower tresses do you think you're doing, landing on me like that?!" Timbre toppled onto the ground with a whoop, closely followed by Tejina as the figure trapped beneath the canvas berated them, struggling to stand.

Moments later, the canvas parted and a disgruntled blue-eyed Hylian stared bemusedly at them. Link slowly disentangled himself, brushed himself off, and readjusted the large metal shield strapped to his back. Timbre noticed he'd also brought his sword with him.

"Link?" Timbre blinked.

"Yeah, what's it to yo-" The boy in green turned around and stopped as he recognized them. "Oh. You two. What, did you fall asleep on the roof or something?"

As the Hylian spoke, Tatl emerged, disgruntled, from his cap. "What's the big idea, tossing me around like that?!" She hovered angrily in front of Link's nose, who waved her away distractedly.

"Don't blame me, blame them, they're the ones who fell on me. Good thing I was wearing my shield, or I'd have been squashed flat!"

Timbre smiled weakly. "Sorry."

Link nodded. "So where've you been, Timbe?"

Timbre rolled his eyes as Link got his name wrong intentionally. "You don't want to know, honestly."

Tejina however, wasn't listening to either of them. She was busying herself by staring up at the window they had just dropped out of. After a minute, she looked back at them.

"I think we'd better get out of here, Tim. We made a pretty loud crash falling down here. What if they decide to look out the window?"

Timbre blinked. "Right! We need to find some place nobody ever bothers to go to!"

Link was slightly confused. "Gotta find what for why?"

Tejina gave the Hylian an exasperated look. She'd learned how from Ana, although she wasn't quite as good at it. "We'll explain later, Mr. Hero. Do you know of any place out of the way?"

Tatl decided to be helpful. "Well, there's the observatory-"

"We tried that already, bad idea."

The Hylian looked thoughtful. "Okay then, how about that little hideout in the Laundry Pool, behind the Curiosity Shop? Remember, when Kafei's brother. was hiding from his girlf-hey Timbe, wait up!"

Timbre was already hurrying away towards South Clock Town, with Tejina close behind. Link jogged to catch up with them, but Timbre just stared ahead, looking annoyed, as the three of them fought through the morning crowd.

"You know that's not really my name, so either get it right or get lost."

"Heheh, he's extra grumpy this morning," Tatl smirked.

Tejina looked quizzically at Link as he caught up. "Why are you calling him that, anyway?"

Link shrugged at her. "'Cause it annoys him."

"Hey, no fair, that's my job!" Tatl whined.

Tejina hid a small smile. Tatl and Link's personalities seemed to fit rather well. After a moment, she remarked, "Well, you're both doing a marvelous job of it."

"Humph!" Timbre's back grumbled.

Link ignored that, and instead looked pointedly at the girl. "So, why are you two so in such a hurry, anyhow?"

"Well," said Tejina awkwardly, "To start, let's just say Timbre and I have a lot in common…"

-;O;-

Sond yawned loudly, and checked over her shoulder. They were definitely gone, the curtains waving cheerily through an empty window. Breathing out, she turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack. Sticking her head out, she blinked owlishly.

"Mwhassi?" she grumbled, acting as though she'd just woken up. This was easy, since this was nearly the case.

Captain Viscen and Veneer headed the group, with two junior Guards behind them. Four pairs of eyes stared at the small girl, and Veneer grunted in annoyance.

Sond smirked impishly at the man, though she found him kind of frightening. "Hey there, sirs. I think you have the wrong room."

Veneer growled, but Viscen ignored him.

"Miss, we're looking for Keisou and Ana Meimu, who are renting this room. Are you with them?"

"Yes!" Sond blurted, before she'd even thought out the question.

"So you are…Tejina, then…" Viscen said, looking at his copy of the Inn's register, and Sond nodded slowly, stuck for it. Anything to give those two time to get away. Veneer scowled deeply as his eyes flickered down to her ungloved hands.

"So where are they, then?" Veneer scowled.

Sond shrugged. "I dunno, they were gone when I woke up. And I only woke up when you knocked on the door. Um…maybe I could find them for you?" Sond trailed off, wishing she hadn't said the last part.

Viscen looked perplexed for a moment, then nodded. "Perhaps that would be helpful. Veneer, what do you think?"

Veneer was suspicious. He'd wanted to talk to any and all of the traveling performers that had arrived for the Festival. He'd been told that this particular traveling threesome had arrived in Clock Town the same day the crate incident had occurred, and that their first performance had ended right around the time the Captain had discovered the broken crate. Viscen had initially objected, saying he was jumping to too many conclusions. However, Veneer's gut instinct was often correct, and that instinct was saying there was a connection. So he nodded at Viscen. "Aye."

Sond quickly threaded out of the room, firmly shutting the door behind her. No need for them to see the open window, after all! "I'll find them quickly!" With that she hurried down the stairs, still aware of Veneer's eyes watching her.

She quickly swooped down the main staircase, while the innkeeper Anju looked on. Moments later, with a great deal of clanking, the Captain, Veneer, and their two juniors descended the staircase as well. Anju's eyes lit up. "Hello, Captain."

"Good morning, Anju. Busy today?"

Anju sighed. "Not really. Not too many customers stopping for breakfast. You want anything while you're here?"

Veneer rolled his eyes, impatient to continue his search, but Viscen pointedly ignored him. "I guess we could stop for a while…" Veneer scowled, and was about to have several choice words with the Captain when a loud crash from the kitchen startled everyone.

A cloud of thick black smoke immediately followed the crash.

A blonde boy, apparently the cook, who was coughing as he ran stumbling from the kitchen, followed the smoke. His flight was stopped suddenly as ran, blinded, into Veneer. Sitting down hard, he groaned, covered in a great deal of black soot.

"Breakfast may be late," he said as casually as the situation would allow. Then he sneezed.

Anju frowned. "And they said my cooking was bad…"

"Well, if we could actually get a stove that didn't belch up black soot every hour…" The blonde youth picked himself up off the floor, mumbled a sour 'sorry' to Veneer, and walked off back into the kitchen, supposedly to clean himself off. After a moment, the boy's voice broke through to the lobby, raised an alarmed octave. "Oh no! The eggs're on fire!"

Viscen raised an eyebrow at the trail of smoke, still curling from the doorway. "On second thought, maybe we'll skip breakfast…"

Veneer was still grumbling, however, and didn't respond to Viscen. "Where's that girl got to?"

They looked around, but Sond had completely vanished during the commotion.

Veneer cursed under his breath. "Brats! The children in your town have absolutely no respect, do they Viscen?"

Viscen raised an eyebrow. "And what brought this on?"

Veneer thumbed over his shoulder. "These kids. All kids. They keep getting in my way for some reason. This morning it's that kid, last night it was that wailing brat, and yesterday it was some boy in an overcoat."

The last statement seemed to jog something in Viscen's memory. "When was that?"

"Yesterday, right before you and I first met up. Why?"

"It's funny you mention it. Who was it I saw that night in a coat…those two witnesses in East Clock Town, one of them…ah, what did that boy you ran into look like?"

Veneer snorted. "You losing your touch, Captain?" He smirked as the insult managed to gain a withering glare from the Captain. Veneer stopped baiting him a moment and humored the question. "The boy? I dunno, short, spiky black hair-"

"-and wearing black gloves." Both men finished the statement at the same time.

Veneer looked suddenly surprised, then triumphant. "I believe we've found our next lead, Viscen." With that he strode out of the Inn, not looking back.

The Captain looked from Anju, who shrugged, to the two junior Guards, who also shrugged. Worried about what the man might do on his own, Viscen hurried out the door after him.

"What a weird guy," Anju remarked.

-;O;-

Viscen caught up to Veneer in front of the Clock Tower stage. He instructed his two juniors to stand by as he hurried over to the hunter, muttering in low tones. "Now Veneer, let's not jump to more conclusions, this could all be a strange coincide-"

Veneer glared. "I'd rather jump to a conclusion than lose the trail. There's always room for apologies."

"Veneer-"

"Now, do you remember what I said last night? It's a juvenile, so-"

"You…you don't honestly think-"

"Well, these beasts don't just suddenly appear fully grown, Viscen. You hired me to do this job for you. You aren't getting cold feet now, are you?"

"You're talking about using brutal force on a child, Veneer. I have a duty to protect the innocent. Now, what exactly are you planning to do about this…new inkling of yours?"

"Easy, next time you, I, or any of your guard see that kid, detain and question him, that's all."

"And if you're correct?"

"Well then, my job will be done, won't it?"

"Slaying a child-"

"Slaying a beast, Viscen."

Viscen slammed his spearbutt furiously upon the cobblestones. "I will not have you do anything…anything lethal, until you have brought me absolute proof, do you hear me?"

"Viscen-"

"Did you not understand me, Veneer? I will see it alive first, or you are not paid. Capture it, and then I shall determine the course of action."

Veneer growled, grinding his teeth together.

"So, can I stop my Guards from patting down every poor gate traveler, then?"

"No. Not until we've got something." Veneer stuck his jaw out as Viscen scowled. What Veneer really wanted at the moment was for Viscen to get out of his hair. "Tell you what, Viscen. If it makes you happy, go find that girl and those performers we were looking for and ask them what they know. If you find anything more concrete, I won't have to investigate other leads."

Viscen did not stop scowling. "Very well, Veneer. I do hope something good comes of all of this, it is quickly getting out of hand." The Captain turned to his two companions, who saluted and then marched away towards North Clock Town.

Veneer's eyebrows furrowed. "We'll see," he spat bitterly.

-;O;-

Link coughed. "It's dusty in here, apparently nobody's been here for a while."

Tejina waved away several dust motes with her ungloved hand as she stepped inside from the brightness of the Laundry Pool. "Kafei's big brother stayed in here?" she asked Link.

"Yeah, remember when we were telling you about the Skull Kid and Majora's Mask? Well, Kafei's older brother found himself on the wrong side of a youthening curse. It was bizarre, he and Kafei looked nearly identical. Anyhow, he hid out in here. Everyone thought he'd gotten cold feet right before his wedding, but he was in here all the time. See, look over there."

Tatl hovered over to a small hole in the side of the small area. "This peephole gives a spy's eye view of the Curiosity Shop. He was watching for that thief, Sakon-"

"Why?" Tejina asked.

"Well, it's a long story, but he'd stolen an important engagement mask from Big Kafei. I'm glad the Guard caught him last night," Timbre cut in. Had it really only been last night? It felt so long ago. So much had happened since then, it was hard to contemplate. "Well, might as well make ourselves comfortable…"

"Do you think the guards would search this place?" Tejina asked.

Link shrugged. "Doubt it. Like I said, nobody ever comes in here. It's falling apart, for one. Kafei says it belongs to the city and used to be a storage area, but it's too out of the way for anyone to really bother with it." He stood up, brushing himself off importantly. "Well, I need to go find everyone, I'll let them know where you are so they don't worry."

Timbre slumped against the wall. "Yeah, do that." He groaned. "I can't figure out it I'm more tired or more hungry at the moment. Too bad we couldn't have caught breakfast at the Inn…and considering I've dealt with Anju's cooking before, that's saying something. I'm ravenous."

"You're always hungry," Link pointed out. "I'd be worried if you weren't."

"And Link, if you see Kei or Ana, tell them where I've gone, alright?" Tejina sat down against an old crate, sniffing because of the dust.

"Okay."

"And bring back some food!" Came Timbre's voice.

"Will do. Have fun, Timbe!" And with that the Hylian and Tatl left, the door shutting behind them with a dull thud.

"My name's…not Timbe…" Timbre groaned, shaking a half-hearted fist in the direction of the door. Closing his eyes, he let the back of his head bang against the wall several times. "Ugh. What a mess."

"Sorry."

Timbre opened one green eye irritably and glanced at Tejina. "Why are you apologizing?"

Tejina shrugged gloomily. "Dunno."

The eye closed again. "Then don't."

"You know what? Tatl's right."

"What?"

"You are a grump."

"Baah." Timbre turned the other way. "Don't talk right now, I'm trying to sleep."

Tejina shrugged, and stared through the peephole curiously. Behind her, Timbre twitched, trying to fall back asleep. He fidgeted for almost a half-hour, changing positions 3 times a minute, until he finally gave up the idea. "This is great," he moaned. "Now I can't sleep."

Tejina kept staring though the peephole, one eye shut. "I could've told you that."

Timbre untied his headband, then retied it out of sheer boredom. "I hope they do come back with some food soon…I'm starving."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"I've always found it hard to sleep on an empty stomach. And since you're not exactly comfortable, either, of course you're not gonna be able to sleep." She said in that slightly matter of fact voice. Backing away from the peephole, she sighed. "Nothing going on in that store, either. Everyone's outside."

Timbre let his mind wander. If he hadn't been fool enough to go snooping, none of this would have happened, and he might be out there right now, having fun with the rest of his friends, instead of stuck in a dusty old closet with Tejina, whose company was already beginning to agitate him. He idly wished that he had a pack of playing cards, a book, anything to make the time go faster.

Tejina was looking similarly bored. She looked up suddenly. "Hey Timbre."

"What?"

"Make conversation." She ordered.

"Why should I?"

"'Cause maybe then we won't be sitting here bored out of our minds."

Timbre wasn't sure what time it was now, but he was certain not too much time had passed by since Link had left. "Uh, okay. Um…" His eyes roved around, trying to think of something to say. He wasn't very successful. "Uh, it sure is dusty in here," he finally mumbled.

Tejina rolled her eyes. "Sheesh. No, something that'll spark conversation, not babbling. Like this: So, Tim, where are you from?"

Timbre frowned. So that was it. She was being nosy. So he decided to play stupid. Maybe she'd get off-track and change the subject. "Uh, who said I wasn't from here?"

"Well, your friends said so yesterday, for one. And besides, you don't look like a local. You don't wear the same clothing, and your accent is different. Also, the local humans are Hylians, they've got pointed ears, like mine." She pointed at hers, as if he hadn't noticed them. "And yours aren't," she added.

Self-consciously, Timbre pulled at one rounded ear. "Well…"

"So, if you're not from Clock Town, where are you from?"

Timbre turned away. "It doesn't matter."

"What's your family like? You said your mother died-"

"I really don't want to talk about it," he said pointedly, and then he suddenly turned the tables. "So where did Kei and Ana find you? Where are you from?"

Tejina chewed her lip, surprised by the reversal. "Er, well…"

"What?"

"Well, they don't know."

Timbre raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Just that." Tejina shrugged. "They found me shut in a basket, for sale amongst some other items in a traveling merchant's caravan. No other pups, just me. Alone. Kei's told me, but he's pretty vague about it."

Timbre suddenly recalled her slightly awkward syntax when speaking in lupine. She really hadn't had much opportunity to speak it before. "And you have no memories of anything before then?"

"Everything before Kei and Ana is just kind of…blank. All Kei says is that it was probably for the best. That's all."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

Timbre shrugged. "Don't know."

Tejina smiled sadly. "Then don't, okay?"

Timbre looked slightly stricken, with nothing to say in reply.

"You couldn't have known."

They both looked awkwardly away, then the girl suddenly spoke up again.

"Is that hunter right?"

"Hm?"

"I wonder, is Veneer right? Are wolves bad?"

Timbre glanced over at her. She looked very pensive. "Well," he said slowly, "are humans bad? There's some awful ones like Sakon and Veneer, but then again there's good ones like Kei and Ana-"

"And your friends."

"Yeah, they're alright too," he said fondly. "But what I mean is, we're the same way. Nobody's inherently bad or good, it all depends on how you choose to be."

"How you choose to be," she echoed his words. "So you choose to stick with those friends of yours."

"Hmm? Well, yes. To be honest, I wouldn't have gotten far without them."

Tejina sighed. "Sometimes I can't help but feel like no matter how much the world moves, I'll always be – ugh, there's no words for this - stuck on the outside looking in. It makes me feel sad and angry at the same time. Do you know what I mean?"

Timbre looked blank, but Tejina continued, frowning. "To be honest, Tim, I'm quite jealous of you. You have some very true friends, and you've done some amazing things with them. I mean, to go on an adventure like that…"

"It's not nearly as fun as it sounds."

"You are just so, so…lucky, to have friends like that…"

Timbre said nothing, his head turned towards the opposite wall. Tejina, feeling slightly disappointed, decided not to press the subject. Five minutes passed.

Tejina was secretly glad she didn't own a watch, because if she had, she would've been glancing at it every half-minute. As it was, she was currently fidgeting with her hair. It just didn't feel…natural to sit around doing nothing. Desperately, she yawned. Looking over at her companion, she noticed he'd finally managed to nod off.

"Not a bad idea," she murmured vaguely, nodding off herself.

-;O;-

Sond slid along the Stock Pot Inn's westernmost wall, where the building was sandwiched closely with the Eastern District boundary wall. Slipping into the alley, she looked around. "Guys?"

The remnants of the canvas awning lay in a pitiful heap. None of the structural supports had snapped, but the whole thing had somehow collapsed. It was almost like something had fallen onto it.

Or perhaps a few things had dropped onto it out of a second story window…

Sure enough, when she looked up, she could see the window, still wide open.

"Well, that's a good thing, I suppose," she muttered to herself. "But where have they gone?"

The alleyway was a wall at one end, meaning that they could have only exited the way she herself had entered. But where had they gone to afterwards?

Sond ticked off some of the more obvious locations in her mind, trying to think which Timbre would likely consider. He'd said they'd unsuccessfully tried the Observatory last night, so that was out…

She was idly slipping out of the alleyway with the idea of North Clock Town firmly in her head when a sudden hand on her shoulder made her jump and squeak in surprise. Resisting the urge to start madly swinging at her unknown assailant, she instead turned her head.

"Ah, Miss! There you are!"

The girl looked up to see Captain Viscen and his two juniors, their armor glinting merrily in the morning sun.

"Ah, h-hello," she stammered sheepishly.

"Must have lost you in that commotion at the Inn. Would you be so kind as to take us to your brother and his wife?"

"Uh…of course, sir," Sond said helplessly.

"Very good! Lead on."

Sond fell into step with the three soldiers behind her, hoping feverishly that she would not be able to find Kei and Ana in the ever-bustling crowd.

-;O;-

"Hey, check this out!"

Kat waved, excited, pointing to a poster plastered up behind a booth in South Clock Town. It was advertising the talent show scheduled for that night.

"There's separate contests for kids and for adults. Oh botheration, the age line is fifteen. Looks like we're stuck in the kids' group."

"Ah, easier com'tition, eh?" Nick tried to put a good spin on it.

"Yeah, but the kids' group prize isn't as high. Let's see here…'Contestants can enter as a group or individually, prize money is 200 rupees for a single winner, 100 each if part of a group,'" Kat read aloud. "Sign up early for best times. Late entries may be accepted if time allows. First act scheduled at seven thirty at night."

"Hey," Ty said, "We haven't even thought about what we'll be doing yet, have we?"

"I figured a song," Kat said, shrugging. "We're pretty good playing as a group. Lots of practice."

Nick shrugged. "Do'en't matter t'me anyway. Can' sing."

"Same here," Kafei added.

"Oh we'll think about that when we're all together. When we find Sond and everyone else, we'll work something out. I'm signing us up now though." Stepping up to the booth, she had a short conversation with the Zora woman taking names. After a moment, she walked back to the group.

"Ten rupees each to enter," she said, holding out a hand.

Ty rummaged in his pocket. "Uh, some of our entrants aren't here yet. How many of us together is this gonna be?"

"Uh, counting everyone…Eighty?"

"Well…" Ty groaned. Kat, Chiron, Nick, and Ty all rummaged in their pockets. "Uh, all I've got is a blue rupee and an old Deku Nut."

"Nuthin' here, sorry…" Nick shrugged.

"I've got twenty," Chiron said after a moment.

"And I've got ten," Kat said. "That's…thirty-five. We need forty-five still…"

Kafei cleared his throat. "I've got a hundred."

"So that's a hundred and thirty-five altogether. Eighty for the contest, and forty five for lunch! Thanks Kafei!" Kat looked triumphant.

"But…well…uh…you're welcome." Kafei shrugged.

As Kat returned to the booth to sign the group up, Link (with Tatl grumbling under his hat) arrived, looking out of breath.

"Well look who's up. Did Fairy Boy get enough sleep, or does he need another nap?" Ty said in falsetto, as he battered his eyelids.

"Stuff it for a moment, Ty." Link scowled, lowering his voice so that only they could hear him. "I found Timbre. He's hiding out in that secret area behind the Curiosity Shop."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "This wouldn't have anything to do with-"

"Th' searches at th' gates?" Nick looked thoughtful.

"That's not even the half of it." The Hylian pulled them all into a huddle and proceeded to quickly and quietly tell them the story.

Finally, Ty chewed his lip, fidgeting with his tail. "Sounds pretty bad."

Kat walked up. "Well, we're all signed up, and…why's everyone looking like they're at a funeral?"

After they told her as well, she remarked, "Hmm, that is a problem. What's this 'Veneer' look like, anyway?"

"Kind of tall, a bit unshaven, fur-lined tunic, generally unpleasant air-"

"Li' tha' guy?" Nick said from the ground. He was picking the dirt out of his boots with his fingers again.

"Which guy?" Tatl re-emerged from Link's cap.

"Tha' guy." Nick pointed towards the Clock Tower and the stage. Leaning against the stage was Captain Viscen and a tall, slightly unshaven man wearing a fur-lined tunic.

"Wow." Kat said. "I think that might be him, he's there with Viscen and everything-"

Veneer's face suddenly turned towards them, and everyone quickly looked away.

"Definitely him," Kat said, shuddering. "Scary guy."

"I think I'd be hiding too," Tatl agreed. "So now what?"

Chiron shrugged. "We still haven't found Sond, yet. And it's nearly lunchtime, and we haven't eaten yet."

That jogged Link's memory. "That's right. Timbe asked that we bring him some food. I don't think he's eaten since yesterday."

"Poor little guy," Kat said sympathically. "What if we go get lunch, bring it to the Laundry Pool, then go look for Sond? And while we're at it, we can figure out what we're going to perform tonight."

There wasn't too much argument, as there wasn't much use in just sitting around.

-;O;-

"Excuse me sir, but you're going to have to be searched."

Kasumi halted in his tracks, halfway across the Clock Town's Northern Gate. Ty's brother raised a gray eyebrow at the Guard, who shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry, Captain's orders." His voice lapsed into a monotone as if delivering an official statement: "All persons entering or leaving Clock Town must be searched before being allowed to enter or leave."

Kasumi sighed in resignation. He suffered the two Guards' prodding with a neutral air. Why are they doing this? he wondered idly, staring upwards at a cloud in the sky. Since when do they pat down every traveler like this? Finally the first Guard asked him another question "You wearing gloves, sir?"

Kasumi wordlessly held up his hands, which were ungloved.

"Good," the first Guard seemed almost relieved. "Don't have to administer the eye test, then…I swear Viscen's losing it, ever since a few days ago…" The Guard shook his head. "I hate this stupid job sometimes."

"Hmm," Kas said casually, speaking for the first time. " May I go through now?"

"What? Oh…right, go ahead," the first Guard said, waving him away distractedly.

"Thank you, sir." The caped man walked away into North Clock Town without another word. Halting in front of a tree, he paused. It was rather nice and green here, and excellent place for quiet sitting. However, Kasumi preferred the Laundry Pool, as it had a water feature. After another moment's contemplation, Kasumi breathed in deeply, and pointed his walk towards South Clock Town.

-;O;-

Tejina woke up suddenly. It could have been because Timbre had snored loudly, but she wasn't too sure. Sitting up, the young girl yawned and stretched. Momentarily disoriented, she looked around with half-lidded eyes before the events of the past day finally hit her. She was hiding in the dusty old room behind the Curiosity Shop. Also, she was hungry. She idly poked her stomach, trying to stop it from complaining. No use there.

Timbre snored again, and rolled over, mumbling something that sounded like 'demon horses.' Tejina frowned. As far as she was concerned, Timbre was a frustratingly complete enigma. The fact that he was a wolf like herself just made it worse. She still knew next to nothing about him. He'd even unceremoniously shot her down when she'd tried flat out asking him about his past, which just made her even more frustrated.

Tejina looked guiltily over at her companion. He'd changed forms in his sleep, and entangled himself in his overcoat in the process. How many times had Kei chided her for doing the same thing? Was it a normal thing for their kind, or not?

There were just so many things she didn't understand about herself, and being confronted with someone who might have some answers for her was almost like torture. She had so many things she desperately wanted to ask him, yet was too terrified to, lest she look even more the fool. Or worse-

Last night, when he'd gotten truly angry with her, his words had hurt like teeth at her throat. Even the memory of those intensely angry green eyes made her feel so utterly dismalthat she choked a little; if Veneer hadn't arrived when he did, she likely would have ran. Mere terror of the hunter's scent had kept her rooted to the spot then, nothing more.

And he still helped, she thought guiltily. He could have left me there to be caught in the open, but he made sure I got away too. She knew she should have just left him to his own after their joint revelation on the roof, but some visceral part of her furiously demanded she challenge this magpie-colored boy at every opportunity, despite how wretched it might make her feel later. Maybe she just needed to know what she was; just to see that she wasn't totally alone in this world-

A knock at the door made her jump suddenly. Last time someone had knocked, she'd ended up running for her life. Her hands instinctively curled into fists, and she looked pensively at the door.

"Hey!" Thud thud. "Open up, it's Link, and everyone else!" The noise made Timbre jump up. He stumbled awkwardly, encumbered by the overcoat, and then slowly wriggled out of it.

"What?" He yawned.

"You told him to bring food, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" Timbre stumbled towards the door, but it opened before he could reach it. Daylight flooded in, and the wolf blinked back in the sudden glare. He quickly stepped to the side as his friends, laden with what appeared to be piles of paper packages, piled into the small room.

"Hey Tejina! How have you been?" Kat said, nearly tripping over Timbre's overcoat as she set down several of the bundles. They were wrapped in brown parchment, somewhat semicircular, and about ten inches wide and half again as tall.

"Uh, okay, I guess…" Tejina looked confused. "Is all of that stuff your lunches?"

"Oh goodness no!" Kat smiled, and thumbed back at Nick, Ty, Chiron, Kafei, and Link, who were similarly laden down. "They've got the rest of it!"

Timbre sniffed the air, and his tail wagged appreciatively.

Ty grinned at him. "It was cheaper to buy in bulk."

Nick nodded. "Sinc' we're so many, 'ee gave us a big disc'ont!"

Tejina nodded a fraction. "Makes sense."

Timbre was suddenly human again. He was still sniffing the air. "Smells pretty good. What did you get?"

All of the newcomers exchanged looks, and grinned. "Pie!"

"It was the only thing we could all agree on," Chiron explained.

Ty agreed. "We might argue about a lot of stuff, but everyone likes pie, because it comes in so many varieties."

Kat started opening packages, each of which smelled delicious. "Yeah, we got warm ones: vegetable, beefsteak, potato…plus some cold: rhubarb, honeyed apple, blueberry…and coconut crème…plus the pasties…" She went off and listed half a dozen other varieties. "Uh, you guys might wanna dig in before it gets soggy…"

Nobody really needed a second bidding anyways, as they were all quite hungry.

As they ate, Tejina explained her role in the previous days' events. As the friends quickly took her story and nature in stride, the girl's shy grinning soon became a genuine smile.

"You'm gotta realize," Nick told her casually, "We 'en weirded out an'more. We'n dealin' wi' stranger n' summat as lobos."

Tejina still wasn't quite used to Nick's accent, so she became very confused. "Summat as what?"

"Lobos. You'n Tim, aye?"

"It's a Volcanian term," Ty explained to her. "Lobo isa word for folks like Tim and yourself, you see?"

"Ah," Tejina said brightly. "So it's your word for wolf."

Ty shook his head. "Not quite. Lobo means a shapeshifter."

"Wolfs ain' th' only lobos, if'n ye get th' drift," Nick added wryly.

"Ah," Tejina said, a bit weakly this time.

"So, Kat, any ideas yet?" Kafei asked suddenly.

Kat stared upwards. "For a song? Not yet. I'll ask Sond, she's always got the good ideas."

"Uh…" Timbre looked slightly lost. "What?"

"A song, for the talent show going on tonight," Kafei clarified.

"Really? Oh wow, that'll be ne-oh wait. I can't go, right?" Timbre swallowed the last of his beefsteak pie guiltily.

"Yeah," Kat agreed quietly, with a little glance in Kafei's direction. "They're always next year, though."

Timbre just shrugged gloomily, as if he weren't sure if he'd be around then.

"So Tee," Kat asked suddenly to change the subject, "What's it like, traveling everywhere and doing performances?"

"It's quite interesting," Tejina replied with a slight smile. "I get to see lots of places and meet lots of people. It's kind of sad to have to move on all the time, but, well, it isn't like I'll never be coming back."

"Heh, sounds a lot like what we do," Link said, grinning.

Tejina asked, "What about you guys, then? What do you get up to now that you're not, y'know, saving the world and stuff? Why didn't you go back to Hyrule?"

It was Link's turn to stammer slightly. "Er, we aren't doing much really, and glad of it."

"After my brother got married, my Mom offered to let everyone stay for a while, and well, to be honest, we felt like we deserved the break," Kafei said.

"Also that portal to Hyrule's Lost Woods underneath Clock Town hasn't been active since we first came through it," Chiron said, shrugging. "So it's not like we could go back anyway."

Timbre sighed. "Too bad. It would've been a fast way to get out of here, that's for sure…"

"Ain' fer lack've trying," Nick said soothingly. "An' I like Term'na, any'ow. Bit cold, tho'."

There were a few snickers.

Link finally asked, "So, have you and Tim been chatting it up? Like, comparing notes about good hunting techniques and stuff? Or how to get rid of fleas? What do wolves talk to each other about, anyway?"

"Erm," Tejina stammered, looking shy.

Timbre just looked sulky and uncomfortable.

"Link," Kat admonished softly.

"What? I just figured they'd have a lot in common to talk about. Anyhow, isn't it about time we go find Sond?"

"Yeah, and my brother too!" Tatl piped up.

"We saw Tael a bunch of times last night," Timbre said, brightening a little. "He's with Sond, they were both at the Inn with us last night. I could help-" He offered, standing up.

Kat poked Timbre firmly in the forehead, causing him to overbalance and sit back down. "You aren't going anywhere right now."

Timbre glowered at her.

Kat sighed. "Please don't look at me like that, Tim. You know it's for the best. And it's not like you'll be alone, you've got Tee to talk to."

Timbre made no comment.

"We'll come back and bring dinner with us. And we'll leave the food here, alright? If you get hungry before then, you'll have plenty to eat."

As everyone said their goodbyes and left, Ty called over his shoulder, "Have fun."

"Yeah, really…" Timbre slumped down again, chin in hands as the door clicked shut. Tapping one foot against the other, he groaned. "Great, now I'm really fidgety."

Tejina shrugged as she idly munched a blueberry turnover. "Well so am I. Just accept it, we're likely in here for a while, so you might as well get used to it."

"How long is a 'while,' though?" Timbre retorted fretfully. "What if nothing changes after the Festival, what if Veneer doesn't leave? Then what?"

"Well then," Tejina shrugged. "We'll have to find some way out. Maybe the Observatory after it reopens. Maybe that portal they were talking about. Or maybe we could try climbing over the walls."

Timbre snorted. "Yeah right, and maybe we'll sprout wings and fly away while we're at it. I hate feeling so stuck, about as much as I hate being stuck in here with you."

Tejina inhaled sharply.

Timbre corrected himself…"Uh, well…that came out badly."

She didn't reply.

"It's jus-" He was quickly flushing. "I didn't mean I hated you…I just hate being shut in places, that's all…It's not natural." When he didn't immediately get a response, he stood up. "That's it. I don't care what they say, I'm getting out of here before I go insane!" He stumbled over to the door, and clutched the doorknob.

It rattled, but wouldn't open.

Timbre swore.

Tejina looked up, alarmed out of her mood. "What's wrong now?"

"They locked the door!" Timbre said, wilting.

-;O;-

Halfway across Clock Town, Kafei whistled innocently as a small brass key swung about his index finger.