Chapter 14
Request Denied

Chaos dominated the battle ground with its hectic fury and made it nearly impossible to comprehend the current happenings.

There was a shrill hiss emitted by Serapis, most likely, and this was followed by a loud thud as if he had fallen or dropped his prey. Link had been unable to right himself after his recent stunt, and he felt an arrow imbed itself in his arm as he toppled forward. Following this he hit the ground and took on a stoic state of immobility unknowing of what direction safety lay in.

Gingerly feeling around his injured arm with his fingers, he was relieved to find that the arrow hadn't gone deep…though if the tip had been dipped in poison then such luck would have run out, but he didn't think that would be the case. However, he was uncertain as to whether or not he should leave the arrow in its place or take it out right then since sight currently wasn't available to him; Link decided to rest a moment and concentrate on any background noise detectable beyond the continuous whir of arrows.

Link realized that there was no other sound. Serapis wasn't small enough to duck down and avoid the arrows, he would have already teleported to a more 'comfortable' location. Did he take Kiani with him, or had he shifted into another form to evade the arrows?

There was a sharp intake of breath nearby that confirmed someone was still there with him. As to whom it was, he wasn't sure. Link proceeded forward crouched in a low crawl, and his hand soon fell on a booted foot. "Kiani!" he called, assuming it was him.

"Yes, though it appears our 'friend' has left us...And after all that effort, it was for nothing too…" Kiani's voice bitterly replied.

Though Link knew caution was something that he now needed to keep close by, he was quite sure that it was the real Kiani he had spoken to. "Well, let's get out of here and then we can turn our worries back to Serapis."

"Good plan, let's go!"

And so the two gradually made their way along as they crawled forward directly below the arrows' range. They were poked multiple times by the arrows that had already taken residence on the floor.

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The healing process this time was painful; more so than it had ever been before. Serapis could feel the bone as it formed back together in its rightful place and his face progressively returned to normal. Once the process was done, Serapis set himself to pacing about the corridor as he delved into a thoughtful mood. He needed a way to demolish his adversary, though a very worthy one he was, but what how was he to carry out such a task so that there would be no way the boy could retaliate with some new strategy?

That last trick had certainly been a clever one, but it had gone in Serapis' favor seeing as how he was able to get away and heal himself. Serapis wanted Link's loss to be more than just a failed attempt to make a leather pincushion. …Not that the arrows would have penetrated his rough hide anyways.

An idea came to him as he remembered that humans had very complex emotions in which love often took residence. That other girl, the blonde…surely the boy was close to such a pretty thing. An evil smile expanded the width of Serapis' mouth as his mind filled with all the sadistic ways this act could be carried out.

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Link, who had been able to get the arrow out and bandage himself up, and Kiani had finally made it back to where each party had first encountered each other…and now they had reached a dead end in the sense that they couldn't agree on what to do next.

"You don't think he killed her, do you?" Kiani asked out of the blue.

"Kitty seemed like she could stand on her own well enough to get away, but what you're suggesting is always a possibility…" Link stated slowly, trying not to create any reason for Kiani to get upset.

He bit his lip thoughtfully instead of replying and for a while they stood there pondering their options in silence, and they did so up until something dawned on Link.

"Um, where are the others?" he asked tensely.

"I left them behind to find you faster, why do you ask?"

"Do you think Serapis would go after them instead of us?"

"Let's hope not. We separated at the bedroom so there's no way I could take a guess at what direction they took."

"What about the dust, would there be footprints for us to follow?"

Kiani's face lit up at the thought. "Of course! I can't believe I didn't think of that…Well, come on, we'd better get a move on then."

"Wait, you seem able to move much quicker in the form of a shadow…Would you be able to turn me into one?"

"You want me to do what?" Kiani exclaimed in surprise.

"You heard me; can you do it?" Link kept a calm demeanor about himself.

"Er…probably, though I'd imagine that it'll be awfully painful…" Kiani stated after a moment of slight hesitation.

"You're telling me that every time you transform you experience pain?" Link asked blatantly.

"Nope, just the first time…You see, your body has to adjust to such a change in its matter."

"I can handle pain so that shouldn't be a problem," Link replied confidently. "I trust you can change me back as well…?"

"That part'll be a piece of cake," Kiani said with a grin, having found more assurance in his abilities after thinking through what Link was asking from him.

"So you've done this to someone else before?"

"Nah, but I know what it's like and…I've had a long time to learn my body's limitations; this should work out great. Although I must say that even though the pain really only lasts for a few seconds, it feels like an eternity…so try not to scream, please."

Following Link's short-lived thought of Why couldn't he have done this to the others so they could keep up too?, Kiani placed his hands on Link's shoulders and the alterations began.

The pain that instantly swept over him was like a torrential rain, leaving nothing free from its onslaught. It felt horrible and if it weren't for Kiani's statement of '...try not to scream...' Link knew it was very likely that he would have been screaming by now. His limbs stiffened and he closed his eyes in hoping to quell the ferocity of the torment that ravaged his body. Of course, such a subtle action had no effect on the continuous bombardment. However, just as Link thought it was never going to end...the pain vanished just as quickly as it had come, leaving Link to feel as if a great weight had been lifted from him.

Then again, I bet he didn't want them to go through that…It was voluntary for me after all.

He slowly opened his eyes to find Kiani now standing several feet away to survey his handiwork.

"Welcome to the shadow world," he stated before morphing himself into shadow form as well.

Link stared in amazement down at his hands, turning them over this way and that. It was actually kind of cool to see them all shadowy like that, and it was quite ironic because he had encountered his shadow form before in the alternate timeline.

But enough of that, the important thing was to find the others and hope Serapis hadn't found them first.

Link was amazed by how light he felt and how much quicker his movements were as they traveled along. What would have looked like just a darkened corner become textured and vibrant to his eye, and he felt strange when at times he couldn't even distinguish his own body from the surrounding shadows he clung to as they made their way along.

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Zelda sighed, "This wandering around of ours doesn't seem to be doing us a whole lot of good. I know moving about like this we're more likely to spot them wherever they may have gone to, but it's becoming quite tedious to carry on in this manner."

"You're right, but what else is there to do?" Fay queried.

"I'd suggest staying right where you are," the all too familiar voice of Serapis gritted out from behind.

They immediately froze, more from shock than actual obedience to the statement, and cast nervous glances at each other. Nodin was the first to turn and face their enemy.

"It's so good to see you again," he said sarcastically, adding to the end of that statement, "not."

"Maybe you should keep your tongue in check boy, especially since I could easily pommel you to the ground." Serapis gave voice to a ferocious growl to back this statement.

"If you can supposedly 'pommel me to the ground', then why haven't you done so-what is it you want?"

"Why are we wasting our time exchanging words with him?" Fay muttered under her breath. Despite limited abilities she had been reduced to, she was still ready for a fight.

"I want her," Serapis bluntly put it, pointing a claw in Zelda's direction.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but she's not yours for the taking," Nodin snapped in return.

"It seems to me that we have different views on the situation," Serapis said with a sly smile, totally undeterred by the harsh way Nodin spoke to him.

Serapis vanished and Nodin looked around frantically trying to locate him incase he should reappear. In fact, he did…and the spot was directly behind Zelda too. He grabbed her around the waist and instead of screaming, she reached into a pouch and pulled out one of the small orbs she had shown off earlier. Striking accurately, she nailed him in the eye.

A blinding flash lit up the room and his hold on her no longer existed as his hands flew to his eyes. She dropped to the ground and rolled away.

"We need to---…" her statement was cut short as Serapis blindly nabbed her again; this time he made sure to hold her in such a way that her arms were pinned to her sides.

Nodin summoned a powerful wind with the hopes of accomplishing something helpful to Zelda, but it was no use. In the next instant, Serapis had left. And with him…was Princess Zelda.

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My birthday is in a few days, wooooooooooooot!...Welp, reviewer replies are up so feel free to check those out.
-blondie91

Disclaimer: I have no claim on The Legend of Zelda. …sigh…