It's been a while. Sorry for slacking off like this but I actually forgot for a bit because of some stuff I had going on. ANYWAY now we're back on track and I've got the poll results. The OC romance will be Ruby and Shadow and some Ginger and Blue. Now before you start throwing banana peels at your monitor and screaming "BOO THEIR MARY SUES NOW!" Allow me to ask you, were they Mary Sue's before? I don't think so. And their personalities and anything else I've worked to develop with these characters will not change just because I'm throwing some romance into the mix. That being said shall we get back to the plotline?
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda.
Chapter 14: I Am Attacked By The Tin Man
Onox stood before us, holding that big freaking ball and chain that he's so keen on carrying everywhere. Though frankly, I was more worried about the other thing and I think everyone who's read the Oracle of Seasons manga knows what I'm talking about—it's the I-breath-poof-you're-dead thing.
"So what's it gonna be?" he smiled wickedly, "You kids gonna hightail it back to the guard or do I have to take you out myself?"
We both edged away nervously. The guard was looking awfully friendly right now. I was actually about to turn and drag Lya back to the castle with me when she looked at me and mouthed back gate.
I nodded and allowed her to grab my hand and pull me behind her through the streets.
"SMARTER THAN YOU LOOK!" Onox shouted after us, "I'D RATHER OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE MAGES BE DELIVERED TO OUR BASE IN ONE PIECE!"
Lya and I zigzagged in an irregular pattern. Ducking through back alley ways and side streets, trying to avoid the main roads and the castle as much as possible, as if the guard could spot us snaking through the shadows, even though I'm sure from the watch tower THAT far away, we looked like no more than ants.
"Nice plan!" I complemented.
"Someone's gotta have one!" she replied.
"True that!" I smirked, "We're home free in a few minutes!"
(Line break: Back at the front gates)
"You IDIOT!" someone shouted. The voice had suddenly appeared out of thin air, shouting various insults at Onox and cursing him in a combination of English and ancient Hylian. Onox was more than a bit startled by it, though he'd never admit to it.
"L-Lord Ganondorf?" He stammered, looking in all directions for said man.
"YOU BUMBLING, IDIOTIC HEAP OF SCRAP METAL!" the disembodied voice of the Gerudo king continued to rant, "DID IT NOT OCCUR TO YOU THAT THERE ARE TWO EXITS IN EVERY CITY?"
Onox's eyes widened. "I-I-I,"he stammered, searching for the words.
"YOU WHAT?" Ganondorf demanded.
"I-I forgot…" the general said quietly.
"YOU FORGOT? LISTEN HERE YOU FOOL! YOU'D BETTER GET TO THE BACK GATES AND CATCH THOSE MAGES OR WHEN YOU RETURN, I'LL USE YOUR SCALES TO MAKE ARROWHEADS! MOVE!"
Just like that, the voice didn't speak to him again. The general of darkness immediately got moving to the south exit. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Ganondorf meant every word of that statement.
(Page break and back with Ruby and Lya)
Lya continued to pull me through the streets of Hyrule. I could see the gate a few yards away. Just as we were nearing the last few feet of our run a fog settled in. And I'm not talking about a normal fog. I mean a really dark, black, unnatural fog.
I think unnatural is the understatement of the century, actually. The fog left a lingering chill in the air, the kind that went straight through you and chilled you to the bone. It was heavy as well, almost making it hard to breath.
"Thought you had gotten the best of me, did you?" Onox asked. The fog cleared to reveal a VERY ticked off general between us and the gate. "You know if there's one thing that gets my goat, it's people trying to play me for a fool," he took a few steps forward.
I glanced around quickly, spotting a stack of crates leaning against the stone wall, apparently courtesy of Talon, who was snoring away beside them. That was all I needed, then I did something very rare for me folks, I had an escape plan.
I poked Lya. "I start to climb over the crates. While he's distracted, you turn around and run back to the other exit."
"So basically your big plan is split up because he can't chase us both?" she asked, "Because I'll go for that."
"Okay then," I whispered, "One, two, three… AHHHH!" I charged towards the stack of crates and began climbing over to the top.
"HEY, YOU!" Onox shouted, turning to face me.
As he did, Lya shot off back down the street. About ten yards away before Onox turned to see what was going on.
"HEY!" he shouted.
Yeah, like that was going to stop her.
Onox growled and started to go after her, when my foot slipped out from under me, causing me to yelp as I tried to regain my balance and returning his attention to me.
He muttered something that sounded like, "might as well get the closest one first" before darting out of the city to meet me when I jumped the wall.
I stood at the top of the wall, trying to find a position where he wouldn't immediately catch up to me and I wouldn't kill myself by jumping off a wall.
I took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothin'," I said, leaping at the nearest tree I could climb down, "BONZAAAAAAIIIIIII!"
(Page break)
Allow me to say, of all the things NEVER thought I would do, jumping off a wall and landing in a tree was somewhere near the bottom of the list. As such, why the HECK would I practice jumping off a high object and landing in a tree? Ergo, I had NO idea what I was doing.
"OOF!" I shouted as I hit a tree branch. I smacked into a second branch on my way down and managed to grab onto it… unfortunately after my other arm hit it.
I cried out when my left arm made contact with the branch and bent at an unnatural angle. I climbed up onto the branch and recoiled when I attempted to touch my arm, oh yeah, it was definitely broken.
Fortunately the branch was low enough I could swing down to the ground without much of a problem. The only down side was I had to take off right away and had no time to examine my injured arm, which by the way, moved into some VERY uncomfortable positions as I ran. I certainly hoped the others were having an easier time than I was.
(Page break)
I dashed through the forest, stumbling over roots and my own feet. I could hear Onox crashing through the brush behind me like a very large, angry bulldozer, swinging his ball and chain wildly as he pursued me.
The weapon whistled over my head, causing me to scream with surprise as I hit the ground. Wood splinters from the unfortunate tree the contraption hit rained over me.
I sprang to my feet, my boots sliding on the muddy path making it hard to get any traction. Curse you and your unpaved roads, Hyrule! I thought.
I yelped as a large, armored hand closed around the back of my jacket.
"It's about time," Onox said, sounding very impatient and short tempered. He turned me to face him and lifted me off my feet by the collar of my shirt, "Be a good girl," he ordered, "and come along quietly. Some friends of mine would like to have a word with you."
I struggled to free myself. "N-no!" I gasped, "L-let go!"
"Hm… the resistance is cute," he smirked, "But do you honestly think you can get away?"
"Now, now," another voice said, "How many times must I tell you to keep your nose out of my business?" Shadow said, stepping out of the brush, "I'll give you til five to let go of her," he smirked, "That's MY prey."
"Always ruining my fun," Onox smirked, dropping me on the dirt path. The landing aggravated my injured arm and caused me to wince and bite my tongue. "You," he snarled, "are one heckuva cocky brat."
"Five seconds to leave," Shadow said, holding up his hand, "before I blast you back to whatever hole you crawled out of. I'm counting, Onox."
"You don't seriously think you—"
"Four," Shadow's face became serious.
""I won't surrender to a—"
"Three."
Onox looked a bit nervous. "You're not gonna—"
"Two."
"I-I'm not gonna surrender to a kid!" He said, backing up a bit.
"Your right," Shadow deadpanned, "You're not. ONE!"
The area darkened completely. I couldn't see anything at all, but I could certainly hear Shadow and he sounded very please with himself. When the area cleared, we were all alone. No Onox, just Shadow and I.
"Thanks?" I asked.
"Don't," he snapped, "If you think I did this out of concern for your safety then rethink your position."
U-um—" I stammered, slightly taken aback by the change of attitude.
"I have my own agenda girly," he said, returning to his usual mocking tone, "I have my own reasons for doing everything. That should be apparent by now."
He walked up to me and bent down. "Come now," he said, "Someone I know would like to meet you."
I gave him a hard slap across the face to show him exactly what I thought of that idea. "Like heck I'll follow you Mr. I-have-my-own-agenda!" I spat.
"I'm not asking," he snarled, grabbing my good arm, "I'm ordering. Come NOW!"
Taking this as my cue to run like heck, I kicked him in everyone's favorite place to hit male enemies.
"OUCH!" He howled, loosening his grip enough for me to squirm away.
I stumbled through the forest, not bothering to stick to the path and, with the exception of trees, which I did my best to avoid, I ran down anything that got in my way.
My desperation fueling my run, the forest blurred by then was suddenly enveloped by Shadow. I tripped over my boots and fell to the ground. Confused by the blackness, I brought my hand up to my face. My body tensed when I realized that I couldn't see it.
Blind? I thought, Am I blind?"
"Not permanently," someone said.
"Shadow," I muttered, "What the freak did you do?" I shouted.
"I don't you're in any position to use that tone of voice with me," he mocked, "but since I was planning on telling you anyway, you're not permanently blind. The shadows are merely obscuring your vision. Think of it as a blindfold," he said, I could practically hear that smirk of his.
His arms wrapped around me and I felt myself lift off the ground.
"Put your arms around my neck," he growled, apparently he didn't want it anymore than I did.
"I'm not coming!" I shouted, lashing out blindly.
"I'm not giving you a choice," he said bluntly.
My mind clouded as the shadows enveloped it and I fell into unconsciousness.
Until the group gets back together I'm going to be alternating the POVs per chapter. It doesn't seem right for nobody to know what's happening to the others and only know what's happening to Ruby. The next chapter will be Lya's POV. Sorry, but this means it'll be a few chapters before you find out where Shadow and Ruby are going and what happens.