Long time no see...just kidding! Well anyways, it has been a busy week for me and I've really been missing out on sleep. Guess it can't be helped...I'll make this author's note and such as short as possible, so if you don't care about reading this, go ahead and skip.
As for others...
Legendoffun - Yep, I'm still riddled with errors, but I promise to search over it more than just leaving it to go. But don't worry. It isn't fresh off the press (after all, that's against the rules)... Yeah, and we are having some fun in the group... and I'm sure you met 'made it into Hyrule' and not 'mad' :P As for 'cliffies', I needed to leave it for some dramatic effect or I'm sure I'd head straight into the story and into a load of writer's block...no thanks. Well, somehow it is easier to find errors in other people's fanfictions, but so hard to find it in my own...especially since I'm always overlooking it. And my MLP story is in progress, so this'll be just great. Maybe it'll be updated every other Thursday? Oh, notice anything new?
Chapter 21
After getting ashore by the small lake they came from, Fauna dropped down, exhausted. The long rowing tired out her arms and she couldn't wait until it was dark. It was enough that she hadn't gotten much sleep, but it was worse when she heard Chad and Kiara - who wasn't acting like herself - bickering about various topics. As the sun began to set, Fauna was to tired to stop their fighting. Despite their annoying grumbling, she turned over. But she wasn't comfortable right there. So she rolled over on the grass again, found a comfortable spot, and finally fell asleep.
...
The following morning, Fauna woke up late. At first she was confused by the patterns of light, but soon, the events of the following days rushed back to her. The memories seemed really painful, and at first, Fauna couldn't move. But soon she shook off the feeling. She was just acting paranoid...right? Sitting up, she groaned as a piercing pain rapidly flew through her body. For another night in a row, she had slept in an uncomfortable position, resulting in aches and pain in the morning.
She stood up and stretched, ignoring the 'pins and needles' feeling in her body. She looked about and noticed that the rest were both asleep. For the better, Fauna thought. She strolled over to her bag and searched through the contents, looking for one thing in particular. After a quick search, she pulled out the flower, which she affectionately called 'Gaia's Blossom'. She carefully took it out of the jar and searched about for something more spacious to place it in. After a quick search, she was surprised to find an empty bottle.
Wow, they sure don't care about dropping helpful things every now in then...but this is just sad. Fauna thought, shaking her head. She hated seeing waste and trash sitting around in such beautiful landscapes and by homes. But she couldn't do it herself - trying to keep the land clean. Fauna filled the bottle halfway with dirt and placed the plant in it. With the other empty jar, she filled it with water and watered the plant. It looked a bit withered, which worried her.
Could it possibly be dying? Fauna dismissed the thought and turned away. No. It probably shouldn't have been placed in a jar, after all, would you like to be left in a jar or bottle? It would have been better planted in the rich Hyrule ground, but Fauna didn't want to leave it behind. After all, the person who set the forest on fire was looking for it. She wouldn't leave it for it to be taken as easily as that.
It really is dark in here...where am I? All I hear is a voice calling my name. It won't stop, neither will it go away. I can't shake a feeling that I'm somewhere in between my mind and the real world. I can't figure out a way to get out of here...it's starting to get chilly in here. No. Cold. Really cold. It is starting to hurt, what is it? What's going on?! Help me!
Kiara darted awake, sweat drops dripping down her forehead. She wiped it away and tried her best to calm down. Her breathing was fast and uneven, and she had a sick feeling in her gut. What ever that short vision was about, she didn't like it. Not one rupee.
"Are you alright?" The question was simple, but obviously, whoever it was, was concerned. Kiara shook her head and glanced about. Where was she? She turned and faced the speaker. She gasped.
"Y-you? Is that...you?" She clutched her head, a horrible throbbing feeling coming back, "ugh...this is as bad as the first time." She muttered.
"Uhm, Kiara? Are you alright?" Chad asked, clearly confused. "You know you have met me before. And I don't like to be the end of a prank."
"A prank? Why would I be pranking you? I don't even know who you are? You look nothing like..." She stopped, a look of confusion plastered on her face. "Link...who in Hyrule is that?"
Chad chuckled. "I was hoping you would tell me. Recently you kept mistaking me with that...stupid, er, ridiculous name."
"I was? OH! Of course... Topaz. So that's what she meant by 'mistake'."
"Topaz? Uhm, Kiara, first you don't recognize me, then you call me 'Link', and now you are talking about this girl named Topaz? Would you mind if I asked you what was going on?"
Kiara laughed nervously. "I still haven't caught your name."
Chad groaned and face palmed. "Alright...It's C-h-a-d. Chad...really? What did you do, hit your head?"
"Probably." Kiara and Chad jumped, only to turn around and face Fauna. She had obviously been up earlier, from the clean clothes and hair to the packed and ready satchel she had tied to her waist. "I'm sure of it now. Kiara's suffering from something close to amnesia."
"Ooh..." Chad said. "Is there something we can do?"
"I'm not sure. She could be partially suffering or completely. Maybe if she remembers a few lessons from training, it could prove that she's either a natural or is only partially suffering." Fauna replied, packing up their things.
"Oh, maybe after we clear up are things. In the meantime, where should we leave the boat?"
"Why are we leaving the boat?" Kiara asked
"Well, we're obviously not going to always find a stream to row down by, so we'll have to walk. Remember our main objective?"
"And what was that again?"
Fauna rolled her eyes and sighed. "We are headed to Hyrule castle for help. We need to find Impa and alert her about the village and get some help. There are probably many people sick and wounded because of this...mess. We were only lucky we weren't hurt. But we can't travel like this. We will need some provisions, and obviously, we can't run about saying we are sheikah and we live over the side of the mountain. That's exactly against the rules. Anyways, do any of you have some disguises or something?"
Chad searched himself quickly. "No. Maybe I can get something from a village."
"If there's a village nearby - that is. We don't know the layout of Hyrule...that is, unless you all were paying attention in 'The World Around Us (better known as geography)' class." Fauna said regretfully, "because I wasn't paying attention at all."
Chad sighed. "I don't think I noticed anything important, but I do remember that Hyrule Castle should be on the horizon." He immediately darted away and climbed a tree, leaving the two alone for a moment.
Finding this as a perfect opportunity to find out what was happening, Fauna turned and faced Kiara. "Uhm, Kiara? Can I ask you something?" Fauna said, looking down for a moment at her boots, before glancing up again at her.
"Hmm, yeah? Sure..." Kiara trailed, looking at the glimmering water.
"I just wanted to ask you...who is Topaz? Have we met her before?" Fauna asked.
"Topaz? Oh, she's a...hylian...I think. I'm not sure if I'm right though. She never exactly answered my question, and if she did, she was a bit hesitant. No, I don't think you've actually met her...just her in my body."
"In your...what?" Fauna said loudly, obviously surprised and horrified. But before she could ask anything else-
"Hey! Girls, you can stop chatting and bickering, I see Hyrule Castle. And it's closer than I thought. Distant. But closer." Chad slid down the tree trunk. "It should take less than a fortnight to be there and back again."
"Oh - uhm, thanks Chad. I guess we should be going." Fauna said, leaving Kiara alone. She wasn't quite expecting to hear that some girl was sharing a body with Kiara.
I want to know if it is permanent, or temporary. But I don't want to alarm Chad. Who knows how bad that might make it... How long has it been like this? Is the girl a spirit, or did she just get cast out of her body? A bunch of questions bothered Fauna as they trudged away from their campsite and out to the top of a hill. In a moment, Kiara caught up with them. The hill started to become steep halfway up. As Fauna thought about her questions, Chad began whistling, finding it a beautiful day. A light breeze ruffled his hair and he was clearly glad to be out in the air.
Kiara, on the other hand, was beginning to get a little skeptical herself.
'Can Topaz really be trusted? Am I suffering from this "amnesia" completely or partly? If it is partly, will I ever get my memories back? And how?' Kiara continued walking behind the group, every now and then stopping and sucking in a big gulp of air. She sighed. 'Would things every be normal again?', She wondered.
They continued upwards until they came to the top of the hill. There, they all stopped and rested. By this time, the sun was high up in the sky. Chad settled down in a short patch of grass and examined their surroundings. For a bit, the wide fields would continue. Then there was a couple of villages. After that, some more open fields and then a vast forest. After that, there would be more open fields, a few more villages, a rocky path or two, a wide, grassy field again, and then Hyrule Castle. Chad was confident that they would make it to Hyrule Castle within a week. But then doubt began to creep inside.
'Would they make it to Hyrule Castle, or would they die trying? Who would they encounter? Would Impa even be there? Would they be allowed in the castle? Could such a crazy feat as this even work? Would everyone hang on back at home, or would they bring help too late?' These plagued his mind constantly, and he couldn't shake off the feeling. But what worried him the most was this. 'Where was Nova? What had she meant with her last words? Who was she going to, and what did they want? Would he really be able to control his dark magic? How did he get it? From someone else? Someone related to him? And the last just made him go off into a frenzy...Was Zack even his brother? If not, who was his real family? Were they still alive? Or had they perished, all except him? And if they did, how did he escape? He must have been too young to remember.'
"Chad!" A voice snapped in his ear. He left his thoughts and turned to the speaker.
"Huh? What?!" He questioned, looking over his shoulder at a very irritated Kiara.
"What? Fauna and I were discussing our plans about that village not far away. If you'd even care to join us in our conversation, we would be happy to hear your opinions."
"Opinions or suggestions?" He asked
"Either is fine." Kiara hissed, obviously mad. "Anyways, we can send one of us into the village and buy some bandages, wraps, or disguises."
"Bandages? None of us is seriously wounded. And didn't we agree that I was going into the first village for supplies and disguises?"
"Well, you didn't give any of us a chance to plan anything out, so it doesn't count." Kiara pointed out, "anyways, Fauna says we could use the bandages to cover our faces."
"Why again?"
"Doofus, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we have these tattoos on our faces that basically scream our identities. We need to cover them, and the ones on our arms and legs, silly." Kiara remarked dryly.
"Right..." Chad trailed, "kind of forgot about that."
Kiara snorted, turning away. "You were saying Fauna?"
"Oh, glad you could join us Chad." She received a quick glare from Kiara, so she continued on with the current conversation, "we need to cover our faces, skin, nearly everything. It couldn't hurt to find some satchels for you two either, but I didn't exactly grab any rupees on my way out. And I totally oppose to stealing." Kiara kept silent for a moment, staring off into space.
"Aw, come on Fauna!" Chad groaned, "how else are we supposed to get it? Begging? You wish...but I don't." He mumbled at the last second.
"I know, but maybe we could try to get a few spare jobs quickly."
"But that contradicts what we chatted about earlier!" Kiara replied, finally joining in, "we can't go in looking like," she raised her hand above her head and swept it down in one swift motion, "this!" The motion meant that they couldn't go, since they didn't have any scraps of clothes, and their sheikah tattoos were showing.
"I know...but maybe if we plaster some mud on our faces -"
"And look like dirty hooligans or street rats? No thank you."
"Kiara, you should be open to suggestions." Chad reproached
"Pardon, but I didn't ask for your opinion!" Kiara yelled, glaring at him furiously.
"If I recall earlier, you said either was fine-"
"Forget what I said!"
"Alright! Sheesh..."
Neither of the three sheikah had let down their guard until that moment. Now they were in a heated debate - ahem, argument - and hadn't noticed someone slowly approaching from afar. Slowly, they made their way up from behind Kiara until they were right beside her. Then they jumped into the middle of their circle.
Nearly all of the sheikah 'students' suffered from a heart attack. Fauna covered her mouth to cut off her ear piercing shriek. Chad's eyes grew wide, and Kiara sucked in a breath - and a nearby fly. She immediately started choking after that. A few seconds later it was out, the poor thing dead. But the awkward silence continued. A minute later, they all snapped out of their trance.
"Who are you?" Chad asked.
The kid simply shrugged. He was a boy with silver-blonde hair and blue eyes. On his back he had a short sword with a white blade, a black bow, and a quiver full of silver arrows. A satchel was strapped to his back and he wore a silver-grey tunic, with a brown belt. He had dusty black boots. What interested them the most, was that he didn't have pointy ears, so he was probably a human.
"Mercury. It's Mercury. But the important question is...who are you?" He replied, his blue eyes darting among the crowd. His eyes rested on Kiara. Involuntarily, she blushed when his eyes locked onto hers. He was about Chad's height and age, and his eyes flashed with curiosity.
"It's none of your business." Chad snapped, standing up and glaring at Mercury. Mercury only grinned in reply.
"Why do you look so weird?" He asked, mainly directing his question towards Chad. Chad's face flushed.
"It's none of your business," he snapped, becoming irritated. "I told you the first time."
Mercury rolled backwards and grinned. "I've taken on boys older than you, and every time I've gotten the information I wanted out. So if you'll kindly choose the easy way..." Chad pulled out of his back pocket a throwing star and threw it directly at the boy. In the flick of a second, it was caught in between two fingers from the other boy's hand. He caught it a few inches away from his face, smirking.
"Oh well. Thanks for the souvenir." He chuckled, pushing it into one of his small satchels attached to his belt. He took out a grey, steel short sword. "The hard way it is."
Mercury front flipped and planted his feet on Chad's chest, knocking him over. Chad rolled out of the way before he was pinned down by the kid and jumped backwards, landing in a tree. "Care to join?" Chad questioned sarcastically towards the girls. The only one who reacted was Fauna, who spun around and pulled Kiara out of the way. Then she ran back towards the battle. Closing her eyes, she tried concentrating on a plan. Mercury was as swift as he was fast. He dashed after Chad in a moment, copying his moves. Easily he dodged Chad's attacks and landed a few kicks on Chad, but none of them were fatal. Pretty soon, Chad and Mercury were even, both panting and trying to catch their breath.
"I've never fought someone this good."
"Never had to fight someone this determined..." Mercury paused, before a smile flickered across his face, "and this sloppy." Chad scowled, darting at Mercury in anger. It was just what Mercury needed to bring him down. He jumped over Chad, twirled around in midair, put away his dagger, and shoved Chad smack into a tree branch. Mercury landed on one foot, back flipped, and stood where he was. His blue eyes widened, as if something had struck him, though nothing did. But he leaps just in the nick of time to avoid Fauna's blast. He turned and smirked.
"Now what do we have here?" He said, grinning. Fauna huffed.
"Leave my friend alone." She glowered at him. Mercury merely laughed.
"What could a girl do against me? Your 'boyfriend' was terrible enough -" A well aimed magic blast launched Mercury across the field, and this time he didn't land on his two feet. He rolled a few times and groaned. Fauna's eyes widened, and she shook herself to get out of a trance. Was that dark magic? She shook her head, figuring her senses must have been off the charts that day. She turned and faced Chad, who smirked.
"Never turn your back to your true enemy." He hissed towards Mercury, who jumped up and disappeared. "Say, where's Kiara?" It dawned upon Fauna that she didn't even bother to watch her, and she might have gotten frightened and run off. Now Fauna was starting to get worried. Her throat felt dry and she swallowed. A shower of fear crept over her, but she tried her best to hide it. She had turned around and discovered Kiara and Mercury missing. That could only mean one thing.
"Mercury must have taken Kiara!" Fauna blurted out, panicking. "How could I have been so foolish?"
"That little..." Chad groaned, "come on, let's go. Split up, and if he tries to make an imposter of me, ask me one question. The trick is, I won't say anything, but will jump over you and attempt to sweep kick you. You have to trip, and then we know we are still 'ourselves'."
"Alright, meet you there. Though your imposter plan is pretty long..." Fauna replied, darting off. After running a few feet, Fauna began to worry about Kiara. I just hope she can fend for herself until we get there... Chad dashed off in the opposite direction as Fauna rolled down the hill, headed for the village. Hang on Kiara...
It only took a few seconds before Kiara noticed what happened. At first, she was just watching the battle in confusion. Next, she had been taken by that kid - Mercury, that's what his name was. He had grabbed her and disappeared in a flash, obviously something to do with magic. The next moment, Kiara tumbled into some mud.
"Ouch!" Kiara exclaimed, snapping out of a trance. "What's going on here?"
"Just a little bribe." He replied, dusting himself off.
"Bribe?"
"You tell your friends to back off, and you can go back. If not, you're coming with me." His smirk disappeared and became a scowl.
"W-who are you? What do you want?"
Mercury coughed to get her attention.
"Look, I already told you who I am. And I can't answer your second question."
"Answer me." Kiara hissed, standing up and wiping mud off her pants and onto her hands. "What do you want with me?"
'Tsk tsk'... He muttered, obviously making sure he said it loud enough so she could hear it. He turned and faced her, a smug look on his face "You don't understand, don't you? You're that girl they're looking for...Kiara, right?"
"H-how do you know my name? I never told you that!" Kiara shouted, backing up against the cave wall. Mercury turned his back to her and snorted.
"You've run into them before. In fact, if it wasn't for your friend out there, I'm sure Hetia would have dealt with you." He sighed, "good thing she didn't, or my job would have been pointless."
"Hetia? Who?"
Mercury growled, obviously irritated. "Are you telling me you've never met her? By Hylia...I must have picked up a fool." He grumbled, kicking a stone into the cave walls. "Ugh...I knew he was setting me up when he sent me..."
"Setting you up? Who?"
"Would you stop saying 'who'!" He snapped, turning around quickly. There was a blue blaze in his eyes, and his hair stood up on ends. "No matter," he mumbled, the fire in his eyes disappearing, "I'll take you there and see what they have to say about you."
"You can't take me! My friends will find you and rescue me!"
"My dear princess in distress..." Mercury said sarcastically, whirling around again, "they can't find you here. You're sitting in parallel space. Part of my magical abilities, a great touch up I'd say. Basically, you're sitting in a part of a magical world invisible to others, so everything you say or do won't really matter. They can't hear you. And once we're out, I'll be sure to snatch you away quick."
"W-what, wait..." Kiara said, stumbling. Oddly enough, instead of hitting the floor, she levitated above it by a few inches and started to float upwards. "Huh, that's odd. But you didn't just take an ordinary girl!" Kiara felt herself shout. She backed away and fired a magic blast at him. She was quite astonished herself when she saw the magical energy fly away from her fingertips. But Mercury didn't care. He caught it in the palm of his hand and crushed it into microscopic particles.
"Uh uh uh, my magical world, my rules." He said, smiling. Kiara growled. He jumped up and moved towards her. "So when you're in my world..." he started inching towards her.
Crack! It was sickening, and in a second, Kiara felt herself tumble into darkness. Thud! The next moment, she was wide awake, on the ground underneath a tree.
"Kiara!" She heard behind her, and Fauna ran beside her. "Glad you're safe." Kiara moaned, clutching her head, a throbbing headache bothering her the instant she came too. She slowly stood up, and grabbed Fauna's arm for her knees started to buckle. She felt a bit weak, but that was all. Looking around, she noticed Chad was in battle with Mercury again.
"Huh, what happened?"
"Mercury snatched you and took off. Luckily, I found his magic trail. Apparently, we aren't just dealing with a kid with great reflexes..." she mumbled, her voice barely audible about the fighting boys. "Let's get out of here."
"What about Chad?" Kiara asked, greatly concerned.
"We made a rendezvous point not far from here. Let's go!" Fauna declared, grabbing Kiara by the arm and running. As Kiara looked over her shoulder, she noticed something glittering around Mercury's neck. All she noticed at first was a small piece of metal, but a moment later, she saw it. A small rainbow feather amulet...where had she seen that before?
Dun dun dun...! Well, a great cliffhanger, but do you recognize it? I do...'cause, you know I'm writing the story so I kind of have too... A cheap joke I wrote was 'not one rupee' instead of 'not one bit'. See what I did there? Rupee = LoZ. Bit = MLP (for those who are MLP fans...). So anyways, I hope you enjoyed my chapter, but before I go, please leave a review and your opinions.
"Should I rewrite the first chapter or leave 'em?"
"What are your thoughts about Mercury?" Surely you aren't shipping him with anyone...(because I'm kind of am... :P)
Anyways, I spent enough time writing like this, and I'm glad I got to 4,000 words (not including AN!). See you all later and I hope you enjoyed this installment of 'Sheikah Warriors'! (Warned you about renaming it!)
~ Yours truly,
AuthorPen11