Ch.10-Swap our places
I knew this one was a bit longer than the others, so I'll keep this short and sweet. :3
Hi, how you doing? I'm eating Chinese and having a fun time writing this up. :D
I don't own LoZ.
Read and Review, please. :)
It was supposed to be a simple mission—take out the evil human that had been terrorizing a nearby village and take its soul.
But like all the kishin eggs of late, the thing was anything but human.
It had forest green skin, a round body with stubby legs but powerful arms, and beady red eyes.
Two ivory horns curved up from the sides of its head with the right tusk broken in half as if the beast had gotten it stuck in something too sturdy to easily yank out and had cracked the horn in the process.
Shattered teeth lined its mouth as if someone had knocked several out and its breath stank of rancid meat. The kishin had apparently no decency as it wore a simple loincloth around its waist and wielded a huge crude axe made out of stone.
"These guys just keep getting uglier and uglier, don't they?" Ghirahim asked as he summoned his black rapier to his hand.
"That's why we were assigned to him," Link explained, grabbing Fi's hilt as she transformed to her sword form, "he's just a few more souls away from becoming a Kishin."
"I'd sure hate to have this guy running around, then."
"Boar rider Bulbin," Link announced, pointing the Goddess Sword at the creature, "we've come to take your osul."
Bulbin snarled, raising the axe above its head, swinging it around, then bringing it down with a resounding crash.
Ghirahim rolled his eyes at the display, snapping his fingers to summon several knives that circled Bulbin before embedding themselves deep in the thick flesh.
Bulbin squealed as he wildly slammed his weapon against the ground, stomping in a circle in hopes to shake off the pain.
While he was distracted, Link slashed Bulbin with his sword until the kishin egg blindly swung out its left arm to strike the blonde, but missing when Link ducked under the swipe.
"I thought you knew better than to play with your enemies," Ghirahim teased, stabbing two knives into Bulbin's shoulders before slicing his blade across its stomach.
After Link had dodged another attack made by Bulbin's arm, he responded by maturely sticking his tongue out.
Bulbin roared as he raised the axe above his head, wielding it in both hands.
Link and Ghirahim leaped to opposite sides to avoid the strike, but Bulbin was faster than the two realized as he raised his left arm slightly, ready to swipe it to the side into an unsuspecting Link.
"Link, watch out!"
Link looked in Ghirahim's direction and didn't have time to react as he was pushed to the ground.
The only thing he registered was the air whistling above his head before there was a pained grunt and a crash.
Link instantly glanced up with a gasp, instinctively looking to his right to see Ghirahim slumped against a tree far away.
"Ghirahim!"
Ghirahim gave the blonde a thumbs up as he used the tree as support to get to his feet.
Link climbed to his feet, glaring at Bulbin as the beast chortled to itself, victoriously waving its axe above its head like a flag.
"Fi, Soul Resonance now."
"Yes, Master."
As Link and Fi merged their souls, Ghirahim panted, one hand leaning against the trunk of the tree while the other wrapped around his chest as he hunched over slightly, brown skin covering his forearms slowly fading back to crystal white.
I absorbed most of the impact with the hardened skin on my arms, but he still did a number on me...Ghirahim gritted his teeth as pain shot through his chest and right shoulder with every breath he took, closing his eyes. Damn it!
He looked toward Link to see blue energy rapidly swirling around him and Fi, sinking into the sword's blade and imbuing it with azure energy.
I hve to help him. Ghirahim removed his hand from his chest, summoning his blade to his left hand. He can't kill it on his own.
"Skyward Strike!" Link brought down his raised sword, unleashing the pent up energy in a crescent shaped arc.
Bulbin roared as the attack hit him and before he could retaliate, Ghirahim jumped into the air, landing on his shoulders and stabbing his blade deep into Bulbin's skull, successfully ending his existence.
Ghirahim flipped off Bulbin as the beast vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind its crusty red soul, and landed neatly beside Link, his sword disappearing.
"There you go," he gestured to the floating soul, "that will help you make Fi a Death Scythe, right?"
"But you finished him," Link protested, "you should take it."
"I have no use for such a thing," Ghirahim chuckled, knowing Demise would not be pleased that he declined the soul, "you have more use for it than I."
Link stared at him suspiciously for a moment before he threw Fi into the air.
"Here, Fi," Link handed her the soul as Fi landed gracefully beside him, "another soul."
"That makes 70," Fi said as she accepted the soul.
Link smiled faintly, "we're getting there."
"This is all very touching," Ghirahim interrupted, his left arm around his chest, "but I think I'm beginning to lose consciousness."
"What is it?" Link asked, instantly heading to Ghirahim's side and placing a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"My right shoulder's dislocated," Ghirahim glanced at his right arm, "as I've lost all feeling in my arm."
"A 95% probability that three ribs are cracked and one is broken," Fi put in as she stepped closer to Ghirahim and stared at him intently, "he also has a fractured collarbone and is suffering from—"
Ghirahim gave a sharp glance at Fi as Link practically forced him to lean against him and Fi became quiet, her expression still neutral as she pushed up her glasses.
"What is he suffering from?" Link looked at Fi before he stared at Ghirahim. "What's hurting you?"
"Nothing," Ghirahim replied, giving another look at Fi before he stared at the blonde, "can we go see Nygus before I decided to drop all my weight on you?"
A woman in her mid-twenties sat at a desk, working on some paperwork.
The woman had dark skin with a tattoo imprinted into her upper left shoulder, ice blue eyes, and had her hair tied into dreadlocks.
Bandages covered her entire left arm, save for her shoulder, and left hand. Bandages also wrapped around her chest in place of a shirt and entire right arm. The woman also had on green military pants.
"Mira! Mira!"
Mira glanced up from her work to see Link practically carrying an unconscious Ghirahim.
"What happened?" she asked as she stood up, motioning for Link to lay the white-haired teen on the nearby bed.
"He…he got hurt on our mission," Link sniffled, struggling to keep back the hot tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, "it's my fault. I was too slow to—"
"Do you know the severity of his wounds?" Mira asked as she began checking Ghirahim's vital signs.
Link glanced at Fi.
"Three cracked ribs, a cracked collarbone and one broken rib on his left side," Fi explained.
"A-and he said something about his shoulder," Link put in.
"Which one?"
"Um…his right one."
Mira carefully felt Ghirahim's arm, running her hands up its length, then touched his shoulder blade and the front of his shoulder.
"Dislocated," she muttered as she set about gathering the items that she needed, "I'll have to pop it back in and push the rib back into place."
"Wh-what can I do to help?" Link asked anxiously, watching Mira gather supplies from the nearby cabinet.
"You can help by leaving and letting me do my job," Mira replied, placing a few bottles and bandages on the table beside Ghirahim's bed.
"B-but—"
Mira sighed, looking at Link.
"I know you want to help. But putting any dislocated limb back or setting a rib back into place is very painful. I don't want you to have to see your friend in such pain."
Link understood what Mira was saying and looked at Ghirahim with a sigh.
"Will you tell me when I can see him?" he asked as he glanced back at Mira.
"Of course," Mira nodded.
"Thanks," Link smiled tiredly as he turned and exited the dispensary with Fi trailing after him.
The next day, Link was allowed to visit Ghirahim. He went without Fi and was surprised to find that Ghirahim was still asleep.
Mira explained she had given him some morphine which would keep him under for a while and help with the pain.
"Did you know that Ghirahim was extremely exhausted?" Mira asked as Link sat on Ghirahim's left side.
Surprised, Link looked at the nurse.
"No, I didn't."
"He also had low blood sugar and protein levels. Did you ever notice if he seemed tired or especially irritated during certain times?"
Link thought about it as he tried to remember if he had seen a tired Ghirahim.
"There was that one day he fell asleep in Stein's class," Link said, "but after that he seemed okay."
"He was probably running on adrenaline," Mira sighed as she turned and exited the room to let the two be alone.
"Why didn't you tell me you were tired?" Link muttered as he stared at the sleeping teen before him. "I would have told Shinigami-sama not to send you on that mission and none of this would have happened. I don't understand what you're thinking sometimes."
Link sighed as he shook his head.
"I guess it's my fault you got hurt. If I had been faster, you wouldn't have taken the blow for me. It's all my fault. If I could, I would swap our places. If I could just be as fast as my brother…"
"Will you…stop comparing yourself to your brother?"
Link gasped as he noticed Ghirahim staring at him with a tired glare.
"You're awake. You aren't supposed to be until tomorrow…."
"The pain woke me up as well as your incessant whining about how you aren't as good as your brother. Listen, you are you and Shadow is Shadow; you can't be each other. You both have your own talents and yours just happens to be the most stubborn, stupidest, thick-headed person I have ever met."
Link gave a weak chuckle, "should I count that as a compliment or an insult?"
"Take it as you wish," Ghirahim smiled before he gritted his teeth with a groan.
"Is it your chest?" Link asked instantly as the white-haired teen closed his eyes.
"Yeah. Just a flash of pain, it's gone now."
"Okay, how about you go back to sleep and I'll do the same?" Link crossed his arms beside Ghirahim's, resting his head on them. "I didn't get much sleep worrying about you last night."
"Oh, so now you realize your feelings for me?" Ghirahim teased and got a light bump against his arm.
"I just want to make sure my friends are all right," Link replied with a small smile, "that's what friends do, right?"
"Right," Ghirahim returned the smile and watched as Link slowly closed his eyes.
If I could, I would swap our places.
Ghirahim frowned a little as he continued to watch the sleeping blonde.
I don't think you'd enjoy being in my shoes, Link, he thought as he let his arm rest against Link's.
He smirked a little as the blonde unconsciously snuggled closer to his arm before he allowed his eyes to drift closed.
But I appreciate the thought.
I like Bulbin. :3 I hated fighting the idiot, but he's fun as a kishin. XD Anyway, hope you look forward to the next chapter. :D
Read and Review, please. :)
