So I finished my exams for the first semester, and I was going to write a bunch of chapters up, but I got lazy...
You guys should just kill me, I'm not a very nice person...
Ah well...
Thanks to: Tsuki Mei, KATZUNITED, And Dark Link!
Note: I thought I would follow Zeon around a bit because I haven't really developed his character yet... To tell you the truth, in the story I'm writing, Zeon and Shigen kind of end up together...
P.S: Happy late Valentine's day!
Zeon gasped as he splashed the cold river water on his face, the shocking cold made him shiver, but it served the purpose of waking him up.
The group had been traveling at top speed since fleeing the elf heaven, and none of them had really wanted to stop because they had all felt the feeling of being watched.
It is getting colder, and there are fewer trees... We are close to the borders of the Daedlands. He exhaled the air from his lungs and watched as it made small clouds on the cold air.
"We're getting closer eh Zeon?"
Zeon looked behind him to see Link standing there. "Truthfully, we should only be a week at the most before we are over the border." He shifted away as the hero took a seat beside him and began the process of washing his face.
This man controls the power of the gods, his magic is so strange and surreal, I wish I could learn more about him... Zeon didn't realize he was staring intensely at Link's face until Link looked at him and smiled, bringing Zeon back down to Earth. "Sorry! I did not mean to stare at you."
Link shrugged and patted the slightly tense elf on the shoulder. "I'm kind of use to it, with Kai and all." He turned his attention back to the water, cupping a small amount in his hands and drinking from it.
"If it is alright with you, I think we should stop in the small town of Novaska on the Daedland border to rest up, it will be hard going from that point on an we will need all the energy we can get."
"Sounds like a good plan to me. Lore doesn't seem like she's in a hurry to kill Shigen, and since you put him to sleep he's not likely to be moving around and killing people, so we have time." He looked towards the vast elven forests behind them, a small frown forming on his face. "We need to be careful though... I think she might have sent someone after us. I've felt like I've been being watched for some time now."
Zeon too looked back at the forests, almost expecting some awful dead creature to pop out of nowhere and kidnap him. "She will be after me, I was the one who put the spell on Sir Shigen, and I am the only one who is able to lift it."
"Well that's good to know. So as long as we have you, there is hope of getting our Shigen back..." Link tilted his head in thought. As long as Lore doesn't get her hands on Zeon we'll still have a chance, but if we lose him, and Shigen wakes up... Things could get messy. He beat me once, what's to say he can't do it again...
Kai materialized from the shadows behind Link and wrapped his arms around him. "Hey there gorgeous~"
Zeon chose that moment to leave and let the two lovers have their time together. I still find it strange that two men could love each other so much, but I guess it is fine... They are not hurting anyone, and they look happy. It is almost... sweet...
When he got back to their camp, he found Vii tending to her still injured wolf, and Ryuk sulking in a tree that was well out of range of the fire. With a sigh he walked and stood under the tree, looking up towards the young Haniam. "Are you going to come down so I can look at your arms?"
There was some kind of mumble that Zeon could have sworn meant 'fuck off' so he bent down and picked up a rock and threw it up in Ryuk's general direction.
With a curse Ryuk jumped out of the tree and tackled a very surprised Zeon to the forest floor. "You've already healed my damn arms, now would you fuck off and leave me the hell alone?"
"Hey now perfection, calm down, I'm the one who's taking elf boy out." Vii petted Xxeon when he whimpered softly, devoid of the attention he had previously been getting.
Zeon rolled his eyes, not at all threatened by the wolf girl. "You have been saying that for years now, and still you have yet to kill me." He waited quietly for Ryuk to relax, ignoring the insults Vii was now hurling at him. As soon as he felt Ryuk slump forward a bit, he quickly reversed their situation, flipping the Haniam on his back.
It took Ryuk a few seconds to figure out what exactly had happened, which gave Zeon the chance to glide his hands down Ryuk's arms to see how the healing process was going.
"Do you mind getting the fuck off me?" Ryuk tried to wiggle out from under the crazy elf, he wasn't exactly on best terms with the species, and he was in no mood to put up with their crazy magic tricks.
Zeon furrowed his brow as he tried to figure what was wrong with Ryuk's arms. It is like they have not healed at all... there is no new cell production at all, and there is still minimum blood flow circulating through them. Is his body incapable of healing? He pushed Ryuk's sleeves up and glanced at the ugly red and sore looking scars.
Vii sat down next to Ryuk and peered at his arms intensely. "Man, that's weird, they haven't healed at all! Vampire's can heal if they drink enough blood, but..." She threw her hands up in the air as the realization hit her. "He needs to eat! People, not animals! Then he'll probably heal!"
"Did you just figure that out now, stupid?" Ryuk said while shaking his head sadly at the two people. "I've only been trying to tell you this ever since I woke up after getting hurt." The stupidity of lesser beings never surprised him.
"What are you all talking about?" Kai and Link entered the camp area with confused expressions. "And why is pretty boy trying to rape Ryuk?"
Ryuk didn't waste any time throwing Zeon off him and standing up. "Like hell I would let some elf touch me!" He pulled his sleeves back down over his arms and ignored the look of horror on Link's face, but he couldn't stop the laugh that escaped from his mouth.
Before any questions could be asked, he quickly climbed back up his tree and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head.
Link shook his head sadly before turning back to Vii and Zeon. "We'll eat and then pack up, if Zeon's right, we should be reaching the border in the run of a week, which is good time. We'll stop at Novaska for some rest before we cross the Daedlands."
Vii flinched upon hearing the plan, and she raised her hand after Link was done speaking.
"Is there something wrong Vii?" Link asked her, elbowing Kai in the side when he grumbled out something about 'stupid females'.
"Um, yeah, about Novaska..." She shifted around on her feet nervously. "I think we should skip it... That place is kind of my home town, and my ex boyfriend kind of lives there."
Zeon gaped at her. "You mean you had a real boyfriend, truthfully?" He ducked a blow aimed at his head and went to stand beside Kai.
"I don't see why we have to mess up Link's beautifully laid out plan, just because you're scared of some boyfriend." Kai muttered, already bored with the conversation.
"Well, you see... He's kind of possessive, and if he sees me wandering around with a bunch of guys, no matter how girly they look." She made sure to glance in Zeon's direction. "Bad things might happen! He's the villages champion warrior after all."
Link shrugged. "I'll just kick his ass then." With that said, he dragged Kai over to the fire to make breakfast.
Vii slapped her hand to her forehead and sighed. "Men..."
Seker was crouched in his tree, a little ways away from the targets camp. He made sure to keep his eyes on the creature who was sleeping in the tree. That thing has a wonderful sense of smell, too bad he's too busy trying to ignore the world to try and scent me. He had to keep an eye on the wind too, so he could stay down wind of them.
He jumped as he felt something nudge his chest.
Rush was in his bat form, hiding in his tunic away from the sun. He patted it gently trying to urge the teen to go to sleep, he would need his energy for tonight.
The smell of food reached his nose and he tried not to drool, he hadn't eaten a solid meal in a good few weeks, and he was starving. Soon this will all be over and I'll be able to eat a meal fit for a king.
Rush nudged him again and Seker tapped him on the head. "Be still..." He whispered very quietly and the movement ceased.
It was going to be a long day.
After eating, the small group packed up and began their ride. Nothing unusual happened, and they only had to stop when Epona or Plash got rocks stuck in their hooves, but Link still couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched and it was unnerving to him.
Behind him Kai didn't seem to be noticing anything, which Link knew was normal for the shadow, he had always been easy to sneak up on and scare, he probably couldn't sense his own foot.
Zeon, Vii, and Ryuk however were all tense.
Zeon would look into the trees every once and a while trying to spot something. Vii would often take Xxeon and ride off the path into the woods looking for tracks or trying to find a scent. And Ryuk had a grumpier than normal expression on, and would sometimes lift his nose up and sniff the air, but he seemed unable to catch anything.
All of them tried to keep their cool, but by the time the sun set behind the horizon, lighting up the sky with brilliant oranges and pinks and then fading into darkness, they could sense the danger in the air.
Link was about to stop the group and start looking for a place to set up camp when he spotted two figures standing still in the distance.
I was wondering when they would show themselves. He stopped Epona just a few feet short of the figures and dismounted, unsheathing his sword as soon as his feet touched the ground.
Behind him, the others dismounted, Kai was the only one who pulled out a weapon though.
"Can I help you?" Link tried to make his voice sound friendly, but it came out more hostile than intended.
Seker nudged Rush gently. "I want you to hold that dead creature down, if he becomes too troublesome, kill him. I will take care of the others and steal the elf."
Rush nodded and transformed, taking off into the air so he could get to the back of the group where the 'creature' was.
Seker unsheathed his two daggers, but he kept his hands down, trying not to appear immediately threatening. "Yes you can. I believe you have someone with you by the name of Zeon."
Kai pushed past Link and pointed Sulken towards the strange guy. "What if we do?"
Seker was not at all fazed by Sulken. "If you do, then I kindly ask you give him to me. He is worth a lot to me right now, and my client wishes to speak with him." Seker took a step forward and Link and Kai got into a defensive stance.
Vii led Zeon behind behind Plash where Ryuk was standing. "Where did the other guy go?" She asked Ryuk, her voice quivering slightly.
"Never mind that, you need to take the elf out of here and hide in the woods somewhere." Ryuk dug through one of the pouched on his belt and pulled out an item, holding it in front of Vii. "See this? An old friend gave this to me, it's an invisibility barrier. All you need to do is say 'unlock' to activate it." He passed her the small diamond shaped thing.
She nodded her head and dragged Zeon into the woods, Xxeon not far behind them.
Ryuk unclasped his bow from his back and grabbed onto an arrow. I hope my arms are healed enough to do this... He knocked the arrow and moved into position. The stranger was still talking to Link and Kai, but it didn't seem as if they were getting very far negotiation wise.
Ryuk pulled the arrow back and tried not to cry out in pain. His arms felt as though they were on fire, and they were shaking uncontrollably. Fuck, gotta concentrate!
He took a deep breath and aimed down the shaft of the arrow, his ability kicked in and his hands stopped shaking, the world became eerily still. He could see perfectly, almost as if the target was standing right in front of him.
He aimed at the guy's throat and prepared to shoot, but before he could he was tackled to the ground.
The arrow shot off somewhere in the distance, completely off target, and Ryuk landed on his back, his breath leaving his lungs with a big 'whoosh' sound.
He sunk his claws into whatever was pinning him and kicked at it with his feet, but it didn't seem to care.
"You almost shot my master!"
Ryuk cried out as something sharp slashed across his face, the blood ran into his eyes making it impossible for him to see his attacker. Even though his arms were killing him, he continued to claw his attacker, his instincts were screaming at him to bite the hell out of whoever was threatening him, but he couldn't follow it in his current situation.
"Stop moving or I'll have to kill you."
Hands reached out and pushed his arms to his side. Ryuk tried to resist, but he didn't have the strength. "Fuck you! Whoever you are! I hope when Benhail finds out you killed me, and he chases you down and kills your sorry ass!"
There was another sharp pain at his throat, the bastard was biting him!
The guy was crushing his throat in an attempt to keep him quiet, Ryuk went still, cursing the guy in his head. Good fucking thing I don't need air to live... He could feel the cold blood trickling down his throat, and he suppressed the urge to shiver. This is how I died... Fucking Benhail and his rare sentimental side!
He could remember that day perfectly. It was the day he had finally gotten fed up with his abusive parents and fled the house. I still don't know what their problem was with me... Was it because I was second born? He remembered his parents, they loved his older brother, always showering him with gifts and praise. But All I ever got was the belt... Fuck 'em!
He could remember running like hell itself was after him, then getting attacked, bitten by some dead creature. The wonderful blanket of death had fallen on him, and he relished in it, until...
Benhail... The stupid bastard saved me...
"You don't really hate me for that... do you...?"
Ryuk opened his eyes.
He was standing.... somewhere, or to be more specific, nowhere.
All he could see was himself, he held up his hand to his face and looked at it. He was surprised to see all of his injuries were completely healed and his flesh was emitting a soft glow, everywhere else was complete darkness. "Where the hell am I?"
"Some sort of void I've been traveling in... Anything is better then listening to that crazy bitch talk..."
Ryuk spun around. "Benhail?"
Shigen was there in front of him, giving him that annoying but sexy grin he always gave him. Only him...
Ryuk glared at him. "Okay... I guess I'm dead then."
Shigen stepped closer to Ryuk, but stopped when the younger Haniam backed away. "You're not dead... just unconscious..."
"How the hell is that possible? It takes a lot to knock one of us out!" He was getting easier to anger, which was usually the case whenever he was around Shigen. There was just something about the guy that pissed him off.
"I may have knocked you out... I wanted to talk to you... I... missed you."
"Like I give a fuck! Send me back! I don't want to talk to you right now..." Ryuk hugged himself and turned away from Shigen. "I'm need to kill the bastard thats biting me. He clawed my face too!"
Shigen chuckled and closed the distance between them, and before Ryuk could protest, he wrapped his arms around him. "My fiery Ryuk... You should have been the one to wield Sulken, not me..."
Ryuk tried to keep himself from melting into the embrace, but as usual, he felt too comfortable and safe to bother struggling. "I don't think Sulken would be of any use with my targeting ability... That's why I use my bow."
"Hn..." Shigen burrowed his head into Ryuk's neck and sighed contently, he could have stayed like that forever, but the prickling at the back of his mind was getting was time to leave.
He grasped Ryuk's head in his hands and stared into his eyes. "Come save me... Before she makes me do something else... like killing you for instance... Which is something I would never forgive myself for doing..."
Ryuk gulped, not liking the direction this conversation was going.
"I would never be able to move on... Because... I love you..." And before he had a chance to say anything, Shigen pressed his lips to Ryuk's.
Link blocked the dagger that was going for his throat, then dodged a kick that was aimed at his ribs. He clearly had a disadvantage in this fight, the area they were fighting in was not big at all, Epona and the other animals had moved back to give them some room, but it still wasn't enough, and he also wasn't fast enough to keep up with the dagger wielding ninja. And yes, Link believed the guy was a ninja, because he had summoned a clone of himself to preoccupy Kai, and from the looks of it, the clone was just as strong as the real thing. As long as he doesn't start screaming 'belive it!' I'm good...
The hero continued to fight the un-named ninja, his arms were already stinging from the blows, and his breathing was labored. I can't keep this up much longer!
And then, just like that, the guy vanished.
Link who had been in the process of a swing ended up running full speed into the ground, almost cutting himself on his sword.
Kai let out curse when the same thing happened to him.
Both men glanced at each other, trying to figure out exactly what had happened.
"Link, I think we were both fighting clones!" Kai jumped onto his feet and ran over to help Link to his feet. "That means that the real one is..."
"Shit!" Link said while taking off towards the back of the group.
"Fucking bastard!"
Rush almost jumped a foot in the air when the creature who had been very silent only a few moments before, sat up looking pissed and in a mood for revenge.
He wasn't expecting the burst of strength either, within seconds he was smashed onto his back, the blinded creature was growling loud enough to make a wolf envious.
"You bastard! I told you to stop kissing me! I'm gonna rip your fucking lips off!"
Rush grabbed a hold of his hands before he could do any such thing. When did I kiss him again?
With the situation out of control, Rush decided it was best to get out of there. He transformed quickly and flew up into the air, dodging the creature's angry claws. What a freak!
He flew over the trees until he spotted his master, he was holding onto the girl who was traveling with the target. Looks like he has a hostage. Rush drifted down and transformed as soon as he hit the ground, coming to stand by Seker.
Vii would have loved nothing more then to kick the strange guys nuts in, but with a dagger to her throat, she was rather scared about trying it.
She and Zeon had run into the forest, and she was about to put the barrier up when the bastard swooped in from nowhere and grabbed her goods, which in turn, she slapped his face, with in turn, he held a dagger to her throat.
Now they were in their current situation, Zeon was standing across from her, looking like he had no idea what to do, and the idiot was still grabbing her girls and glaring at Zeon, and Xxeon was whimpering beside him. The dog always picks the worst times to turn into a chicken.
"If you surrender without incident, I will release this woman." He shook her to emphasize this. "I'd rather keep the blood shed to a minimum."
Zeon nodded his head in agreement. "As long as you let her go, I will cooperate."
Vii could have killed the stupid elf for giving in so easily, but she remained quiet when Zeon shot her a look.
Seker pushed the woman to the ground and walked over to the elf. "Good, then shall we go? I'll need to carry you." Without waiting for an answer, he picked Zeon up and slung him over his shoulder. He turned to Rush and motioned for him to follow.
Rush bent down to pull Vii to her feet and then took off running before she could kill him.
Vii stood there and glared at the forest floor with tears of frustration welling up in her eyes.
Xxeon trotted over to her and licked her hand sadly.
"We better get back to the others and tell them about how much of a failure I am."
"Fucking ass hole! Let's go back to Hyrule! I couldn't care less if he gets rapped by some woman and- Ouch! Fuck you hero!"
Link paused for only a second before going back to rubbing the blood off of Ryuk's face and out of his eyes.
Both Link and Kai had run as fast as they could to the back of the group where they found Ryuk yelling and cursing, Zeon had been nowhere in sight. And then Vii had emerged from the forest, a look of defeat on her face, and they knew exactly what had happened.
Now all they could do was hope that they would get to their destination before Lore decided Zeon was longer any use to her and killed him.
"Are you sure it was Shigen, and not just your unconscious mind acting up?" Link asked the fuming Ryuk who looked ready to bite his face off at the suggestion.
Kai knelt down beside the Haniam and poked his cheek. "Yeah! We all know you want to make out with the emo~ Don't try to hide it!"
"Fuck you shadow!" He would have said more, but Link was scrubbing at his cuts, and he was too busy complaining about Link's horrible doctoring skills.
Kai ruffled Ryuk's hair. "Just remember this kid, you haven't seen Link bad at anything, until you've seen him drive."
Oh my... This is getting intense!
Again... I'm sorry about the wait... I feel really bad....