CHAPTER TEN
Link woke with a start. It was dark out now, he could tell through the blackened window. But, he noticed as he looked around, Aeli and Khal were still gone. Was hunting really taking that long? And where had Khal gone, the sneaky weirdo?
But he thought too soon, for Khal came bursting into the house, demanding,
"Where is she?"
"Where is who?" Link replied stupidly. His head was fuzzy with sleep.
"Your friend, idiot. The Twili! I can't find her anywhere." Khal exclaimed.
"What?! You lost her?" Link half-jumped out of bed.
"I don't know where she went! You saw her last, what did she say? She didn't say she was leaving, did she?"
"No, she said she was hunting!"
"Hunting? I found blood outside the tunnel. It's her blood, not some animal's." Khal sighed. "I think she's been taken."
"Blood?! You... you..." Link couldn't find a foul enough word, so he just went on. "How could you just let her be taken? She could be dead, and it's all your fault!"
"Calm down, kid!" Khal harshly cut across him. "There's still a chance to find her, if we go now! There's a trail!"
Link was already up. "Then let's go!"
The Ordon Sword somehow found itself strapped to his back, and Khal handed him a shield similar to the one the older boy was wearing. "Take this; you'll need it, trust me."
Link smiled a brief smile of thanks, and set the shield to his back, above the sword's sheath. They were gone in another five seconds.
Running seemed to be no problem for Link, injured as he was, then he figured it must be adrenaline, otherwise he wouldn't be this energetic.
The tunnel seemed larger than he remembered, but with Khal just ahead of him, and Aeli in such danger, Link hardly cared.
The darkness of the tunnel gave way to light again, and Link blinked. A puddle of blood was being absorbed into the ground a little ways forward; he could smell its sick, salty scent, and see signs of a struggle in the rough terrain.
"Which way?" Link demanded, and Khal studied the prints for a moment.
"I think..." he looked to his right, then left. "... this way!" he took off again, to the left. "It looks like he's taking her South!"
"Are you sure?" Link ran as fast as he could to keep up with Khal.
"Positive!"
They ran for a long time. Link's adrenaline didn't last long, but it was enough to keep him going; that, and the thought of finding Aeli's bloody, broken body, with her bright blue eyes open but unseeing.
At nightfall, they still hadn't caught up with her. Link and Khal were both bone-weary, but neither was willing to admit it to the other.
Finally, just before midnight, Khal, his breath choking in his throat, admitted, "We'll never catch them like this. We need to rest."
Link slowed when his companion stopped, but continued to stumble forward in the blackness. "We can't give up!" he harshly called back. "What if she dies?"
"Link, you're chasing midnight! As soon as you think you've caught up to her, she'll pass by you again! We're halfway to Faron now, we can't catch them exhausted!" Khal shouted to him desperately.
Link finally came to a halt. "Chasing midnight, eh?" his cobalt-blue eyes glinted dangerously as he turned his head to glare at Khal. "I'll make sure this hunt ends soon. And when it does, midnight won't be running anymore."
i know. short chapter. BAD NIRY!!!
but i wanted to keep it short and sweet. if u want long long chapters, just tell me, but keep in mind u might have to wait a lot longer for them.
