And here it is, chapter 20! Sorry about the wait, but it's worth it. I got bored of writing such serious scenes and added a bit more comedy to this one than I originally intended, but it's still good! You'll get no filler chapters from me :D Anyways, read and review, comment and criticize without flaming and as always, enjoy!
-Jack Knights
"Hey there boys," Trex called from the kitchen. "You two were out late. Did you at least get everything you wanted?"
"And then some," Sheik called as he and Link went up the stairs. Link closed the door as he heard Trex ask Sheik if he wanted a drink, to which he replied by hastily going back down the stairs. Link sighed, chuckling a little as he set his bag down and kicked off his boots. Inexhaustible kid... and nothing ever seems to faze him. He went to the window to close the blinds and spied Jaz out back, hanging laundry on a wire that stretched from wall to wall in the little enclosed patio. Link closed the blinds, shaking his head and lay out on the bed, his arms behind his head. He was asleep in seconds.
"Get up!" said a shrill voice in his ear. He sat up hurriedly, smacking his head against the person bent over him. A hand to his forehead, Link stared angrily at Sheik, who did the same, but was giggling madly. He stood and waved Link's glare away as he cringed. "Geez, your head's as hard as marble!"
"So's yours!" Link shouted back, his head throbbing. "Why were you bent over me like that? And why did you have to shout in my ear!"
"I didn't want to touch you," Sheik said, looking embarrassed, "because you smell horrible and I just bathed. Speaking of which, it's time you had one yourself."
"Oh, and where would that be? I can't go to a public bath because of my ears and this house doesn't have one, in case you haven't noticed."
"It does too," Sheik said, going to the window and opening it to the night sky. He pointed down at a large tub sitting in the middle of the patio, steam rising from the water in it. "See? Now you can bathe in privacy."
"And out in the open!" he said exasperatedly. "What if someone saw me?"
"Give them a show," Sheik said walking away from the window "Unless you really are that self-conscious," he added, waggling his eyebrows when he ran out the room as Link threw a pillow at him.
"Jerk!" he shouted after him, the maniac laughing wildly as he descended the stairs.
"Better hurry before the water gets cold!"
Link walked down the stairs a few minutes later, two fluffy green towels in his arms, with his new clothes, a bar of soap and a washcloth stacked on top of them. Trex and Sheik were in the kitchen and had gone silent when he'd reached the first floor. Link got the distinct feeling that they had been talking about him like two old ninnies and frowned. He is so annoying sometimes, he thought, annoyed when they'd started laughing when he exited the sitting room and out into behind the house.
The patio was small, paved over and surrounded by high walls, which had bits of glass stuck to the top to deter thieves. He stood in front of the tub, which had looked much bigger from his room and wondered if he'd even fit. It looked barely big enough for him to sit in, but was deep enough to reach his knees. Just as he put his things aside, Link heard the back door creak as it opened. He turned around slowly, his gaze murderous when he saw both Sheik and Trex watching him. They hurriedly slammed the door, howling like madmen and Link felt a vein in his forehead pulse angrily.
"I'll keep a lookout for you, if you want," came a voice from above. Link looked up and saw Jaz sitting on the windowsill, looking out at the patio. "For them, Trex and Sheik, I mean," she added hurriedly, going red in the face. He nodded and she disappeared from the window. He took off his boots and shirt and stepped into the tub, relishing the hot water as it sloshed around his knees. He looked behind him at the door to the house, feeling insecure.
Suddenly the power shut off and the world was plunged into darkness. He blinked twice, adjusting to the light. He realized he couldn't see much, the moonless sky offered him no light and smiled. Thank you, Goddesses, he said as he quickly stripped, getting into the tub. Thank you for keeping those perverts at bay with this power shortage, he prayed as he washed himself.
Feeling immensely refreshed once he'd dried off and clothed himself,in black pants and a white long sleeved shirt he'd left partially open because of the steadily climbing temperature, Link began blundering about in the dark, looking for the door. This blackout is lasting for much too long, he thought as his hand brushed against the door-frame. It's been almost twice as long as the last one. He opened the door and stood in the doorway, frowning.
If it had been dark outside, the black pitch inside meant he was blind. He walked in, closing the door behind him, plunging the room into total and impenetrable darkness. He took a step forward, immediately bumping into someone, who squeaked in surprise. He recognized the voice as Jaz's and instinctively raised his arms to cover his face. Stupid, she's not going to hit you, he realized after a moment. Even if she was, she's as hampered by this darkness as you are.
Link heard snickering coming from his far left and he realized it was Sheik, laughing. He frowned and shot him a rude gesture, confident that in the dark he couldn't see him, to which the Sheik tutted disapprovingly. He heard a shuffling to his right when before there hadn't been any noise and Jaz yipped in fear. He gripped her, putting her between him and door in an attempt toprotect her from an attack.
"Relax, boy," Trex's voice sounded eerily disconnected. "We saw nothing, unfortunately; and there's no need to defend the lady, although she's no doubt grateful for it anyway."
"I... don't like the dark," she said, hating how she sounded so pathetic. Sheik moved from wherever he was, startling her so that she grabbed for Link right arm tightly. "Sorry, I can't see and get jumpy 'cuz of it."
"It's alright," he said as her hand traveled down from his elbow to where his hand used to be. "And there's no hand of mine to hold yours," he added when she reached halfway down his forearm. She jerked away from him, pushing on his back a little and got the feeling he'd offended her.
"Don't sulk, my pretty," Sheik said, stifling a laugh. "He only meant that literally. He doesn't have a right hand, remember?"
Link turned his head to face her and give her an apologetic smile then stopped himself when he realized she wouldn't be able to see it anyway. "How could you see her face?"
"Old Sheik magic, a spell that let's me see in the dark," he said, sounding proud and oddly misgiving. Almost as if by his words, there was a hum of energy in the air and Link shut his eyes a second before the light blinked on, chasing away the inky darkness. He heard Sheik shout in anger and then something fell to the floor heavily. He opened his eyes, blinking away the dark spots as he looked for Sheik, who was crumpled on the floor, hands covering his eyes as he rolled on the floor in pain.
"What happened?" he said worriedly, going over to Sheik. He heard Trex stand and sigh, and he saw her shaking her head, bemused.
"I told you to take them off if the lights went on," she said, waggling a finger at him. "And now you've probably gone blind."
"You wish, old hag," he said viciously, throwing a pair of strange looking glasses at her. "It hurts like the seven pits of hell, but my eyes will adjust again, despite your faulty inventions, which remind to heartily turn down the next time you try to use me as a guinea pig for them!"
"I warned you," she said, shrugging. "But you never listen to a word I say. Besides, you were eager to try the out before."
Link picked up the glasses, which in essential structure were. But they had many different coloured lenses place one in front of the other on levers. He fiddled with them, curious.
"Like them? They're an invention of mine; night vision bifocals," she said proudly, pointing at a pair sitting on her head. "It took me ages to find the right combination of colouring on those lenses for the to refract light enough to see, but I think they could you some adjustment," she added, taking them gingerly from Link's hand.
"Amazing..." he said, genuinely in awe. He turned to Sheik, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "'Old Sheik magic,' huh?"
"What can I say?" the Sheikah said, sitting up, squinting. "I like to play tricks on people. And you are a person, so..."
Link offered him his hand, helping the still dazed man to his feet. He looked behind him, at the door, when he'd noticed that Jaz had been unusually quiet during their conversation. His brows furrowed when she wasn't there any more. Trex caught his gaze and he looked away.
"No need to worry about her," she said, looking up at the stairs. "She doesn't like to show any form of weakness. She's much to proud."
"You know, you guys looked pretty cute together," Sheik said, patting him on the shoulder. "Her clinging to you like a scared child and you acting the protector. It almost made me sigh."
"Shut up," Link said, punching him in the shoulder. "She was afraid and I was on edge."
"Anyway, putting your love interests aside, we have something serious to discuss," Trex said, her face going somber as she crossed her arms. Link and Sheik looked from each other to Trex, dumbstruck. She closed her eyes, a vein pulsing in her head as she struggled to remain calm. "I can be half as serious as either of you two!"
"Sure, once she's got one too many pints in her," Sheik said, rolling his eyes.
"Link, could you be a dear and pass me that book behind you?" she asked, pointing to a huge hard cover. He picked it up, struggling to keep it from falling. "Thank you," she said politely as she took it from him, proceeding to bring it down on Sheik's head. The Shiekah fell to the floor, dazed. She is one scary woman... Link thought as Sheik rubbed his skull, muttering profanities.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," he said to her, wary. She smiled at him and put the book back.
"Oh, I don't have a bad side," she said, stepping on Sheik's hand when he made to say something, probably a rude comment. "Back to the matter at hand. Your hand, that is."
Link gulped when he realized what she was talking about, his heart beating faster in excitement. "Are we really going to go forward with it then?"
"Yes, I think now is as good a time as any, what with the blackouts," she said, rubbing her cheek as she thought. "I had Jaz get the parts I might need for the procedure already. I think we'll start when once the sun rises, just in case the power fails during the operation."
"What would happen if it does?" Link said, suddenly frightened. "Would you be able to continue?"
"I may not look it, but I once worked as a medical officer to the King's army during the last war," she said, not to proudly. "I've worked in far worse conditions, and I never lost a life then, and I won't lose one now."
"What about the machinery? How will it operate if there's no power," Sheik asked, having regained some composure.
"Don't worry about that, I have a generator for just such an occasion," she said, pointing out back. "I am well prepared for any eventuality that might occur."
"Wait a minute," Sheik said, his eyes narrowed as his mind went back. "Are you talking about that piece of junk you scrapped together from other, worse pieces of junk? The one that wouldn't start the last time and that guy lost his whole leg, instead of just a foot?"
Last time? Link wondered, morbidly curious. "That was a fluke, and besides, he wasn't going to need that leg anyway. He works at a desk all day."
"Because you forced that on him," Sheik said incredulously. "Look, the power will go out at some point during the operation. What do you plan to do if that generator of yours doesn't turn on?"
"Well, first off I'd stop," she said, rolling her eyes. "But that won't happen. I gave it a tune up and fixed that leaky fuel tank you spotted the last time. We're in danger of ever losing power and we won't get blown to smithereens either."
Leaky fuel tank? Link felt a trickle of sweat run down his neck. Trex turned to him, smiling widely. "Well, what d'ya think? Ready to get that hand back?"
"I guess so, it's not like I've got much of a choice," he said, shrugging casually as his heart beat wildly in a mixture of fear and excitement.
"That's the spirit!" she said, acting as if she hadn't heard the last part. "Sheik, go tell Jaz to give the workshop a once over. And help her this time!" she called after him as he ran up the stairs. Trex went over to the couch, plunking her wide self in between it's dusty cushions and started leafing through a newspaper.
"That's it?" Link said, dubious.
"Hm? Oh, right," she said, tossing it aside as she got a tape measure out from her pocket. "We'll need to take all sorts of measurements, but I think I've got them down pretty close. And of course we have to go over all the details of your new hand too."
She waddled into the kitchen, leaving Link standing in the main room, confused. "Well, come on, I don't have all day!" He shrugged to himself and went after her, eager to get things started.