Against All Tides
Chapter 10: Erupting Emotions
My eyes fluttered open as the warm sunlight caressed my face. A smile graced my lips while I peeled back the warm blankets from my body. The cool morning air sent goosebumps across my skin. After climbing out of bed, I stretched my stiff muscles and walked to my dresser. Within a few minutes, I was dressed in my everyday attire. Then, heading to the mirror, I brushed my tangled hair until it was silky smooth. I stole one more glance in the mirror before exiting my bedroom. Upon entering the living room, my heart nearly stopped at the sight before my eyes. I couldn't contain the light gasp from escaping my mouth.
My father sat on the couch cleaning one of his own crafted weapons. That alone was questionable enough, since he had disappeared a few days ago. But, what surprised me even more was Kaelin sitting beside him. They were leisurely talking, as if it was the common and everyday occurence. For my father to even be in the same room as a Zora, was a feat in its own. But, to be talking to a Zora was enough to question my own sanity. By this point, they had noticed my presence and gave me loving looks.
"Good morning, honey!" Father greeted me cheerfully. He carefully set his weapon on the coffee table and walked over to hug me. "This fine young man was just telling me that he quite fancies you."
Kaelin nearly fell out of his seat from shock while I groaned from embarrassment. Wait...he told my father that he likes me? I'm sure my face had turned every shade of red. As father chuckled at our reactions, mother poked her head from the kitchen. Things were getting more surprising by the minute. What the heck is going on here?
"Harold, stop teasing the two love birds." She scolded father lightly, completely ignoring my shocked expression. "Now, everyone come into the dining area. Breakfast is ready."
"It was all in good fun, Elaine." Father replied as he followed her into the kitchen. "I hope you made plenty of food, darling."
I chuckled at my father's appetite. Before I could follow him, Kaelin's smooth and muscular arms wrapped around my waist from behind me. A shiver ran through my spine when his warm breath tickled my neck. Not wanting to spoil this perfect moment, I leaned into his chest and sighed contentedly. Of course, a moment this perfect couldn't last forever.
"Stella...wake up..."Kaelin whispered into my ear, confusing me.
The room around me began to blur and distort. Eventually, everything faded into blackness. A small light appeared in the distance and grew brighter by the second. As I reached out to touch it, someone else called out to me.
"Stella, get up!" A new voice shouted.
OoTOoTOoTOoTOoT
My eyes flew open at the sound of the new voice. The morning sunlight filtered through my window and into my room. I stifled a yawn as I noticed the other two occupants in the room. Kaelin stood by my bed and Elpis floated by his side. Elpis looked slightly irritated while Kaelin looked happy as usual. I gave them a sheepish smile in return.
"Finally, I thought you were never going to wake up." Elpis exaggerated. "That must have been some dream."
"Uh...sorry." I mumbled embarrassed. "I didn't mean to sleep that long."
"Don't worry about it." Kaelin said softly. "We'll leave so you can get ready now."
"Thanks." I replied. "I won't take long."
After they left my room, I scrambled out of bed quickly. The clock on my bedroom wall read 7:23. I quickly got dressed and joined my friends in the kitchen. Elpis was munching on a small piece of fruit and Kaelin was scrambling eggs on the stove. They each gave me a morning greeting as I entered the room.
"I hope you don't mind, but I took some eggs from the cucoo coop outside." Kaelin wondered. "I'm not as skilled at cooking as you are, but I thought eggs would be easy enough."
I smiled warmly at his gesture, "Of course, it's fine. It's really sweet of you to cook breakfast for us. But, I should be the one cooking since you're the guest."
"It's okay, I really don't mind." He kindly responded with a flushed face. Although, I couldn't tell if it was from the heat of the stove or...
"So, Stella..." Elpis sang from her perch atop the counter. "Where are we headed today?"
"Well, Kaelin and I decided it would be best to head to Lon Lon Ranch next." I filled her in with our discussion last night.
"Sounds good to me." She chimed after I was finished explaining.
"Breakfast is ready!" Kaelin called cheerfully.
I grabbed a few plates from the cabinet and set them at the table. Kaelin followed behind me and scrapped different portions on each plate. Kaelin having the most, Elpis had the smallest, and I had a medium sized portion. We hungrily lapped up every morsel of food and idley talked in between bites. After finishing breakfast, we gathered up our belongings and prepared to leave. A thought struck me as I remembered my dream. Going over to the closet, I pulled out a beautifully crafted sword. The same one that my father had in my dream; it was his pride and joy.
"That's a fine sword you have there." Kaelin admired from over my shoulder. His close proximity caused my heartbeat to quicken, but I didn't mind.
"Thanks," I replied. "My father made this sword. It was very special to him."
"Why is it so special?" Elpis asked.
I smiled at the memory before explaining, "My parents were very much in love before they married, but mother wanted to be sure father could provide for her. So, father being a blacksmith apprentice, started his own shop. After several attempts and working long hours, my father was able to craft this sword. He presented it to mother, along with his shop. She was impressed and accepted his hand in marriage."
"Ah, that is so sweet!" Elpis squealed.
"That was very admirable of your father." Kaelin said as he gave me that same loving look from yesterday. "He must love your mother very much."
"Y-yeah." I stuttered with a light blush dusting my cheeks. "Well we better get going."
With father's sword strapped to my back, we set out for Hyrule Field. Thankfully, no one paid any mind to us. They were all busy working or talking among one another. But, before I could sigh in relief, a loud rumbling shook the ground. People screamed in fright and began running for cover. Kaelin quickly grabbed me and pulled me closer to his side.
"What is making the ground shake like this?" Elpis asked loud enough to hear over the noise.
"Look, the mountain!" I shouted and pointed to Death Mountain. "It's erupting!"
Lava was shooting out of the volcano that was once thought to be dormant. The ring of fire now glowing brighter than ever around the summit. Fear consumed me as I thought of the lava traveling down the mountain and destroying the village. But, what happened next was strange and unexplainable. A magical force sucked up all the lava into the sky and disappeared. The rumbling stopped and the volacano lay dormant once again.
We exchanged bewildered expressions before Elpis spoke up, "That...was...really strange."
"I wonder what made it do that?" Kaelin inquired, still holding me close to him.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like we're safe now." I hinted to Kaelin.
"Oh, s-sorry." He blushed and let go of me. "I-I suppose we should leave now."
I nodded in agreement, ignoring Elpis' snickering, and led the way. Kaelin rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment which only made Elpis laugh out loud. This was going to be a long day.
OoTOoTOoTOoTOoT
After a long walk and a lot of teasing from Elpis, we finally reached Lon Lon Ranch. A smile spread across my face as I took in the familiar scenery and scents. The sound of the horses' pounding hooves echoed throughout the ranch and widened my smile. As we passed the barn, the cows mooed happily. A cluster of clucking cucoos blocked our path into the pasture. Kaelin was too busy taking in the sights to notice and accidentally stepped on one. Big mistake.
Horror consumed me as I noticed the cucoo give a loud cluck. I quickly grabbed Kaelin, who was standing there completely dumbfounded, and dragged him toward the house. Elpis stared at us in confusion before she noticed a large shadow looming over her. Above her was a large swarm of angry cucoos, looking for revenge. Elpis released a shrill cry of terror and zoomed after us. We reached the door just in time to escape the wrath of the cucoos. Once inside, we all collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.
"What just happened?!" Elpis cried. "Are those cucoos possessed?"
"Are they always like that, Stella?" Kaelin panted, but froze once he noticed the deadly glare I sent him.
"Never do that again!" I screamed and then added in a low and threatening voice, "...ever."
"O-okay." Kaelin whispered fearfully.
"Hey, what's wrong with him?" Elpis asked from across the room.
I turned around and noticed her floating above Malon's father, Talon. He was slumped against the wall and silently crying. I ran across the room to inspect the situation.
"Mr. Talon, are you okay?" I asked him softly. "It's me, Stella."
"M-my p-poor l-little..." he hiccupped through the tears, but was unable to finish. He let out a deep, agonizing wail.
"Sir, please calm down." Kaelin knelt by his side and laid a hand on Talon's broad shoulder. "We just want to help, but you need to tell us what's wrong."
He took a deep breath and answered, "It's M-Malon."
My heart froze and my blood ran cold as the words reached my ears. "W-what about Malon?"
"She's...gone...disappeared." Talon whispered in an almost inaudible voice.
But, to me it was as loud as an exploding bomb. I hadn't even realized I was crying until Kaelin was wiping away my tears. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his neck. His fingers brushed through my hair, trying to soothe me. Tears streamed down my face and onto Kaelin's neck. I didn't even care that I broke my promise not to cry anymore. All I could think about was my missing best friend. This is all my fault.
SailorSunstar: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review, because I love hearing feedback. From now on, I'm going to include a special thanks in my author's notes for all who review, follow, and favorite. I apologize for not doing it beforehand. So, thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and/or reviewed since the beginning.
Special Thanks To:
-cookiebabe for following this story!
-wall flower for reviewing! I'm sorry my chapters are so short. I always try to write long chapters, but they always end up being short. :/ I will try to write longer chapters in the future.