Meoooooooow
"What's going on?" Chain stared at the two, confusion written clearly on her pale features. "What's so bad?"
Link and Telma stared at her incredulously.
"Are you serious?" Link gaped, wiping some more blood from her forehead. This time, it had more black in it—the more Chain bled, it seemed, the more of the inky colour was mixed in with the red.
"Isn't this normal?" The long-haired ginger tilted her head to one side, the dark, thick liquid running down her face in thin branches.
"Link," Telma turned to the boy, wiping the blood on her skirt, "like I said—I'm going to need an explanation. And now."
With a shaky sigh and a reluctant glance at Chain, the adventurer with hair the colour of the sun recounted their story. The tattooed stranger looked on, listening with a wary ear. She didn't know what exactly was going to happen—Renado's reaction was far from good, and Chain wasn't sure whether she and Link could escape from a place this crowded.
But Link seemed to trust the bartender, so she did, too. Reluctantly enough.
Link finished his account of the past few days with a tired sigh. Just retelling what had happened had left him exhausted—how was he still awake after living it?
Easy answer, he thought wryly to himself, I'm not.
Even as he sat there, he could feel his eyelids drooping shut, and it took every bit of willpower he had not to fall asleep where he sat.
Telma noticed, her features softening.
"I understand you must be tired, Link, Chain." She smiled warmly at the two. As if on cue, Chain suppressed a yawn, her eyes fluttering closed.
Now that you mention it… the ginger drifted off, slumping in her chair. With a soft laugh, the bartender turned back to Link.
"Here; I'll help you guys out. Chain can hole up here for the night, and I'll take you to an inn near the Eastern Gate. How's that sound?"
"Good…" Link nodded slowly to his friend, letting out a wide yawn and stretching widely as he tried to stand up. Almost immediately, he toppled over, falling numbly towards the hard cobblestone floor. Telma, however, was anticipating it, and she caught him before he totally collapsed.
"It's… It's okay…" Link muttered to the woman, "I'm fine… I'll go…" he grew heavier, and he could feel his energy tricking away.
With a smile, Telma scooped the adventurer up in her arms, lifting him up with ease. He laid his head on her collarbone, going totally limp.
"Thanks… Thank you…" he murmured, his azure eyes closed and his voice low. "But I… I can…"
"That's the fattest lie I've ever heard." Telma began to stride purposefully out of the bar, acting as if this was something she did every day. "I'm taking you to the inn, and that's that."
Link didn't protest—in fact, he didn't do anything except let out a series of small, gentle snores. Telma laughed, going out into the street and towards the Eastern Gate. Nobody stared—nobody wanted to. They knew how fierce Telma was, and the last thing they wanted to do was get on her bad side. The tall, robust woman strode unchallenged to a tall, thin building identified by a sign:
The Rusty Kettle.
The faded wooden insignia swung creakily back and forth as Telma went through the door, somehow managing to cradle Link with one arm as she plopped a few days' worth of Rupees onto the table. The landlord took them without complaint, totally ignoring Link.
Telma tiptoed awkwardly upstairs, trying her best not to wake the sleeping teen, and found an empty room for the boy.
Gingerly, she set her little companion down on the bed, her motherly disposition towards him not letting her leave without pulling the covers up.
And without another moment's delay, she left to go prepare a place for the mysterious Chain. Rain started falling in a light mist when she exited the inn, and she looked up, frowning at the sky. It was a good thing she got Link inside before the rain started, she mused.
I still don't know what to make of this girl, she thought, back to business when she walked down the street, heading back to her tavern. No one knows where she came from, and what exactly can she do? Summon… what?
The bartender shrugged as she entered her abode. Chain had made herself comfortable on a pile of sacks of flour, sprawled out in an incredibly awkward position, but somehow fast asleep. Her hair was curled around her like a cat, and as the bartender watched, the girl nestled into it until she was almost buried. Telma laughed quietly, tossing a blanket over the stranger as she had done to Link. Chain muttered under her breath and turned her head in recognition.
And that tattoo… Telma's eyes scanned the girl's left arm, which was covered with a geometric sign that looked so familiar. It started on the back of her hand and ended on her left cheek, and it was inked in a dark, dull black. Where was this girl from?
Who knows? The woman slumped in a chair, rubbing her face tiredly. Not me. There are a lot of strange things about this girl… one thing for sure was that Link left the part about what she could do unclear. He said he wasn't exactly sure, but I think he knows something… or maybe this was another one of those things he's forced himself to forget.
With a shake of her head, Telma rose from the chair, brushed the dirt off her lap, and went back to the main dining room. Everyone was gone, and a glance at the clock told her it was way past closing time.
"All right, then," she told herself with a business-like air. "I'll just clean off these tables and head off to bed. Sleep on it, I guess."
With that, she locked the door the bar.
"Sleep on it, indeed."
Chain woke slowly, letting her eyes drift open as they pleased. As she looked around the messy bar, she stiffened, the feeling of not knowing where she was overwhelming her.
"'Mornin', love!" A tall ginger woman caught her attention before she could leap up and run, and the word Telma came to the foreign girl's mind.
Oh… she let out a wide yawn as she relaxed once more. Right. Untangling herself from her flaming hair, she pushed herself to her feet.
"Hungry?" Telma asked, striding towards the kitchen as if she already anticipated the answer. "I could whip you something up before people start arriving."
The answer was the soft rumble of Chain's stomach, quickly followed by a sheepish smile.
"So meat?" Telma laughed deeply, raising a frying pan. Chain nodded awkwardly.
"Sure…"
The food was done in minutes, and Telma watched as the stranger tore in, tearing with her long canine teeth and completely ignoring any rules of etiquette that may or may not exist.
"Like it?" Telma raised an eyebrow wryly.
" 's good," Chain muttered, finishing the meat in a final gulp. "You're good at food."
Telma laughed again, growing more fond of this Chain character by the minute. "I should hope so! It is how I make a living, after all."
Chain grinned, standing up and gazing up at the formidably woman. Suddenly self-conscious, she picked up her messy plate and walked it over to the kitchen's wash bucket. The soft clink of the plate hitting the bottom was followed by an awkward silence that consisted of Telma's incessant smile and Chain's mind searching for an escape rout.
"I'm going to go check on Link," the teen broke the quiet with a decisive nod. "Any idea where he is?"
" 'Rusty Kettle', over near the Eastern Gate. You'll see it."
"Thanks," Chain beamed, and Telma was left alone with a still-strong smile and the first dirty dish of the day.
Chain waked down the street, following the shadows cast by the rising sun to make her way to the Eastern Gate. At first, she kept to those shadows, afraid someone would see her and try to kill her like nearly everybody else had been trying to do lately. Her heart racing, she crept around the edge of the road—but nobody looked her way. Eventually, she stopped trying to hide, casting a wary eye at the surrounding townspeople as she made her way towards the inn Link was staying at.
But still, no one stared. To Chains right, a girl in an elaborate pink dress was happily chasing a shiny black beetle, not caring if she ran into people or not. A tall man in a dark green leotard was striding towards a side alley, a gaggle of giggling girls close at his heels. Another of those Gorons lumbered by, causing Chain to stiffen apprehensively, but she relaxed when she saw it was only carrying bottles of steaming hot spring water to a small wooden stand that was set up on the side of the road.
Chain couldn't believe it. A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips, which quickly turned into a brought, fanged grin. Of course these people didn't stare at her—they saw things just as crazy as her every day. She fit right in with the mismatched crowd, and it felt good.
The more she stared at the morning bustle of Castle Town, the more she noticed something else.
The cats.
There were cats everywhere, spread thickly throughout the crowd like a layer of butter. Warm, fuzzy butter.
All different kinds of cats, weaving in and out of any and every pair of legs they could find as they strutted around. One particularly fat one took Chain from behind, knocking her feet out from under her and sending her on a one-way trip to the floor.
"Hey!" Chain yelled as the cat bounded away, it's fluffy white tail floating smugly in the air. It glanced back at her, eyes gleaming with intelligence, before motioning with its tail for the girl to follow.
All…right… Chain was confused, to say the least, but followed anyways, slipping through the crowd after the snowy feline, who she recognized as Telma's cat. Pushing her way into an alley, the stranger saw that she wasn't alone. Dozens of cats surrounded her, all heading in the same direction she was going. Getting more and more curious, Chain was herded to a small, square yard of pounded-in dirt and sporadic tufts of grass.
Here was where all the cats congregated, lining the area and gazing expectantly at a small, squat house that laid, defeated, at the other end of the yard.
"Huh," the ginger muttered to herself, checking the door to the house. Locked.
With a small shrug of acceptance, the redhead made her way out of the throng of cats, making sure not to step on any tails as she went back towards the Eastern Gate.
Ash Telma had said, Chain saw the Rusty Kettle almost immediately. Though it was a tall building that was made of faded wood planks that looked like they would come loose at any second, the bright bronze tea kettle chained to the sign caught the eye of any and all who passed.
Pushing open the creaky door, it didn't take long for the girl's eyes to adjust—the windows lining the front of the inn were open wide, letting in a comfortable breeze and a steady stream of light.
"Hey," Chain walked up the landlord at the front desk, trying her best to water down her typically rough tone. "Where's Link staying?"
"Link?" The man wrinkled his brow for a second, trying to pinpoint where he knew that name from. "You mean that blonde kid with the weird hat?"
Chain nodded, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah. Room number?"
"Two-oh-two," the landlord gestured towards the rickety stairs that laid against the far wall. "First door on the right."
"Thanks," the ginger turned to walk up the stairs.
"Wait—" The innkeeper's voice stopped her halfway up the steps. "You're not from here, are you?"
Chain cringed, turning her head to look him in the eye. "No…" She got ready to run.
"Oh, all right," the man gave her a bright smile. "That's what I thought. Welcome to Hyrule!"
The redhead nodded slowly, waiting for her blood to thaw before she continued up the steps.
"Th—thanks," she managed before she darted to the upper hallway. The town folk here were so different from the people in the rest of Hyrule. "Welcome to Hyrule," he'd said. Yes, that was definitely the best welcome she'd received so far.
Room 202 was identified by messily painted runes on the rough-hewn wood, and shards of the paint flaked off when Chain pounded on it with her calloused ivory knuckle.
"LINK!" She yelled, banging on the door. No answer—the inside of the room was as quiet as the rest of the inn. With an annoyed sigh, Chain shaved the door open, letting herself into the dorm.
Link obviously hadn't been awake in there long enough to get it messy—the only thing out of place was his sword and shield, which had been propped up against the far wall. Sunlight streamed through the window the same as it did the rest of the motel, illuminating the snoring forme of Link, who laid fast asleep in the bed.
Grinning to herself, Chain pulled up a chair in the darkest corner of the room, as far away from the window as she possibly could. She hadn't known Link for that long, but, according to Talo and Malo, this was typical Link behavior.
So there she sat, though she didn't know how long. Soon enough, however, Link began to stir, stretching his arms high above his head and groggily grabbing for his hat as it slipped off his head.
Where… he looked around the room, confused. I don't remember coming here…
The hero looked down and saw his weapon dented shield laid gently against the wall.
Telma, a golden bug lit up in his brain as he realized what had happened. Only she seemed to treat his gear like it should be treated.
"Up already?" A voice drenched with sarcasm caught his attention, and his head immediately turned to the intruder.
"You really do like to sleep in, don't you?" Chain raised an eyebrow at him from the far corner, where she was sitting comfortably in a chair.
"How long…?" Link stared at the girl awkwardly, not exactly wanting to finish the phrase.
Chain's answer was a dismissive shrug. "Don't really care. Now to business?"
"Uh—yeah." Link pushed himself to his feet, running his long fingers through his hair as he went to retrieve his hat. "The Poe?"
Chain nodded. "You know where it might be…?"
"Well," Link cracked his knuckles and sat down on the edge of the bed. "We saw it go towards Lake Hylia, so it might be somewhere in the Zora's Domain—which would be good for us, because I can basically go wherever I want over there."
Chain nodded along. "Uh-huh."
"But then it might have also taken the tunnel to Snowpeak, so we'd have to get some furs and the like."
Chain's eyes grew glassy. "Uh-huh."
"Or it could've just circled back to where we found it, which means it could eb anywhere in Hyrule Field, plus Kakariko and Ordon."
"Uh-huh."
Link sighed. "Chain, are you even listening?"
"Uh-huh."
"That's what I thought."
Chain snapped back into focus, sunset eyes narrowing. "So is there a point to all this?"
Link laid his head in his hands, letting out a soft moan. All this thinking was giving him a headache, and Chain wasn't exactly the most easy person to be around.
"My point is," he peered up at Chain, "we need more information than we already have, and I'm fresh out of ideas. I don't suppose you know anything that might help, eh?"
Chain waved her hand indifferently, ignoring nay signs of annoyance Link was showing. "Nah, none of those. But I do have a question."
With a loud, harsh groan, Link fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
"Fire away," he let out a breath of resignation.
"Right," Chain leaned back in her chair and stared out the window. "What's with all the cats in this place?"
"What?" Link looked up at her curiously.
"Well, there are a lot of them, for one thing. Maybe two for every person I see—that's a pretty weird cat ratio, don't you think? Also, they all gather in this one yard, and the house is locked up tight. That's pretty crazy, too."
"Cats…" Link muttered under his breath, sitting back up. "Cats…" His eyes slowly widened as he repeated the word. "Cats. Cats!"
"Yeah, cats," Chain could only stare at the golden-haired teen in front of her. "You allergic or something?"
"No, no," Link shook his head, leaping to his feet and pacing around the room. "When I was… travelling about a year ago, I met up with this guy who'd turned to gold—by selling his soul to Poes! That's the guy who owns the house all the cats come to. I managed to turn him back by collecting those things' souls, and he's never gone outside since—sends his cat to fetch groceries for him, I hear."
"So… you're saying…" Chain's eyes lit up.
"He can give us the information we need!"
Link smiled for the first time that day.
