Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART
Chapter Twenty Six - Stubbornness Gets You Nowhere
Cole had never seen anyone eat as fast as she did. Aurora had scoffed down a third helping of fish pie with potatoes and herbs and was still asking for more; Rosie had eaten two helpings which was understandable with not eating the day before but Link had just a small helping, not even that, most of it was shoveled around the edges of his plate; the other hand had made itself at home on his cheek; eventually he gave up and left the table; vanishing into his room for a few hours sleep. Cole decided to follow before war broke out between the girls, he had seen it; the death glares from Zelda's direction, the silent slurping from Aurora and the constant slam of the plates on the table from Rosie that sent Link sprawling for a few moments.
He knocked on Link's closed door to hear nothing on the other side, he opened it a touch to find Link was fast asleep already and Pippa was nowhere to be seen; he had not seen much of her since the night before; it was strange for her to be away from him, not to mention when he was asleep; he remembered the scene with the tent and shuddered, that pup was good at getting into your head.
"Pippa?" Cole called; no pounding footsteps, no pounces from behind. Strange. Link was too tired to go looking for his friend, so he decided not to get involved in a punch up between the girls; and go look for her, the only female that did not hate him or at least not hurt him somehow.
Aurora placed a cup down on the table, forcing some of the liquid inside to spill out onto the surface.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'll go check up on Link. He is a very nice boy, a bit quiet though."
Rosie chewed the cup she sipped on hard with her teeth so that the marks on the cup were left
"That is because he can't talk." she snarled
"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Aurora smirked poking a finger into her cheek
"Of course not! I'm his sister! I'm just irritated with being ill that's all." Rosie sighed rubbing her shoulders
"I wasn't directing that comment at you." Aurora chuckled turning her head a little to see Zelda gritting her teeth "Am I right, Princess?"
"Get lost!" Zelda remarked turning a new shade of red "Link can sleep all day, I don't care."
"He does." Rosie muttered stabbing her fork rather hard into the pie "When he was a thief he would sleep all day and be awake all night, he's still not used to being awake at this hour, he turns into a zombie."
Aurora flinched and her right hand touched her whip hanging from her hip, she cleared her throat "Anyway, I'm here to act as a guide, I told Link this."
"We don't need a guide. We have a map." Zelda snapped standing up so fast the table moved
"Oh yes, about your map, water plus a mutt doesn't mix." Aurora sighed glancing over her shoulder to a tiny green bird sitting on a lamp high up on the wall; his wings outstretched "I sent her away after finding the shreds."
"If you think I'm bad, you should see what Pippa is like to other women who get on her nerves." Rosie muttered just loud enough for the others to hear. Zelda nearly spat out her drink.
Aurora snorted and turned on her heel to exit the hall, the green bird following her out till they arrived at a secluded area of the beach; the waves were choppy now and the wind was strong against the current; her hair whipped against her face as she wandered off.
"Well, did you locate him?" she asked folding her arms as the bird fluffed up his feathers to transform into his Hylian form
"We did, Goron Mountain; he won't come back here though, he disguised himself with one of Tempus's masks. And by the looks of that argument, I say your mission is not going well either." the bird-masked man grumbled, rubbing a little dust off his arms
Aurora sighed and sat down next to him "The girls are having a silent war and somehow I've gotten into it and the boys keep their distance. Cole and Link have found friendship; but that's not enough to awaken more of his power, Sky."
"I took his dream as we agreed." the bird-masked man mumbled crossing his arms "You're just going to have to act like a mortal."
"I will do no such thing!" Aurora snarled pushing him backwards over the rock "Mortal matters are not of my concern; this is a job set to me by my master and you will respect him!"
Sky rolled his eyes "You play a good mortal, Aurora, but you are only skin deep; mortals learn, change and grow from their experiences. They all play a part in fates design, why would the sea allow Link to live for Tempus to find him? Why would the world?"
"You know that the birth of Link and Rosie was almost sacred! But it was chance that it worked to this day. You know Rosie would have died without Link being born to save her from her fate."
"That he did. Light cannot exist without shadow; this is why the illness chose Rosie and it's only going to get worse; in her painful times, Link will be a target, if one kills the other, then they both will die. This is the problem."
"I won't let it happen, I protected him once, I will do it again."
"Aurora, you are not in the clouds anymore I'm afraid; you have to learn on your own feet not by watching. I would give anything to go back but this was my fault with going into the Grove in the first place. I discovered the Arrow Birds and set them free from their nest; the fourth hatched long ago." Sky commented holding his chest "It gave a gift only Link could have."
"I know that, Sky. Don't question me, I'm just annoyed at the fact that the group is so…"
"Disbanded?"
"That. I don't know what I can do about it, Link understands and accepts my role, he sees me as I am, Amalie and Glint also know. I can't believe I haven't found them yet."
"With respect, Amalie did come a long way, she could be anywhere. As for Glint, well, he went missing an over a decade ago. I'm surprised your master let you out of his sight."
"That's the thing. They need to come home, Master misses them."
"He didn't seem too bothered about Amalie when she was born. He sent her down from the clouds and clipped her wings so she couldn't return. Glint had been gone for years beforehand but he left of his own accord, leaving you alone."
Aurora bit her lip "Respect my master, Sky."
"I do. I just don't think he was fair to her and I still don't, she wasn't even old enough to leave even by human standards."
"Enough! I will not have you talk about Master this way! Resume your schedule; I will get them moving even if I have to drag them." Aurora snarled giving him a hard slap
"I'm allowed opinions, Aurora, and dragging mortals around is no easy task, I failed to get two talking and I know more about mortals than you." Sky said rolling his eyes and spreading his arms out to transform into his other form. Aurora gnashed her teeth as the bird flew away into the afternoon sky across the sea.
"Who are you, Aurora?" a voice asked, Aurora flinched and twisted her head sharply to find Cole leaning on a stone wall like the start of a Western movie; Pippa was snarling at her through locked teeth.
"I am Aurora. Everything else is on a need to know basis." she replied brushing a hand through her hair to reveal the bamboo necklace. Pippa barked a warning that Aurora flinched at "How much did you hear?"
"Funny, you act like a Gerudo. Yet Gerudo don't like men; why would you take Link's arm without trying to murder him first? He seems relaxed in your company." Cole accused folding his arms "I heard enough, that man and that bird are the same aren't they?"
"Who's to say I didn't try first?" Aurora growled coming closer, Pippa leaped forward, her paws digging into the sand as she stopped just short of her legs. Smart Hylian is smart.
"Because a Gerudo would never save a man's life; let alone shake his hand." Cole sniggered holding his hand out palm side up. Aurora took a step back and drew the bamboo necklace up to her mouth, Cole raised an eyebrow and waited for the projectile to fire; he held up a piece of wood that the needle stuck into, he twanged it for good measure.
"So, what do you want to do?"
Aurora looked at him with sad eyes, Sky was right, mortals do learn and quite fast. She sighed "Fine. Yes, I am the Aurora. I am looked at by many people, I see many things; when Link and Rosie was born I shone so brightly and when my siblings were lost, I lost my light. They are key to finding my them!"
Cole jumped his eyebrows came down into concern "You are the Aurora Borealis? Why are you so hostile? Aren't you meant to be-"
"You would be hostile too if you lost your siblings!" Aurora roared "I need help to find them! Please!"
"What has Link and Rosie finding their father got to do with this?" Cole asked slicing the air to make Pippa stand down.
"It is important. They are beacons of light and when they are happy they will shine; showing the path to my siblings." Aurora spoke sitting in the sand, her head down "My older brother, Glint, he went missing upon Link and Rosie's birth, Amalie, my younger sister, only recently. I need to find them and bring them home."
"There must be another reason, Link is Half-Shadow; how can he be a beacon of light?"
"You must keep this to yourself." Aurora sighed, glancing over her shoulder. "Link may have his father's blood and bone, but his mother is the one who had the most impact on him; he is not a Half-Shadow anymore…"
Sky flew through the cold and stormy night towards Hyrule, landing on an evergreen tree to rest for a while at the shoreline of Lake Hylia. He was tired, frustrated and irritated with Aurora's behaviour, but he could understand how much the Realm of Heroes meant to her, not being used to a shell, she was ruthless, narrow minded and rude but as her form allowed her, she had true beauty, something that had grown with the more people that marveled at her. She had not shone in the skies this year; no one had seemed to notice, maybe that was what was infuriating her so. Sky lowered his wings and looked up at the sky; not a star shone through the thick clouds that threw snow onto the land, no one would miss her tonight. He chirped a low song, one that had him tearing up in his youth, long, long ago; it had been the same song his companion had sung when they were together; they had parted. The Grove was where she was housed, he would give anything to see her again in the Realm of Heroes, Link was important to him this way, if he could open the gate then he could hear her sing and dance again like no time had passed. That was the thing with the Realm of Heroes; time made no difference to the animals within it, giving them an immortal life and an immortal legacy. Sky shivered on his perch and broke into flight again, he wondered, what did Tempus need from the boy that was so important?
It was the next afternoon before he landed; Tempus was below, finishing off a Kesse he had caught in his wolf form; however he was being much more dignified about it, his hard working hands carefully roasting the meal on a spit over a warm fire.
He said nothing when Sky landed on his raised knee, his face was low. "He won't leave. Not for his children, not for anyone." Tempus sighed turning the spit wire "He keeps saying that it's too dangerous for him to return to the Shadow Folk of Fire in Termina and doesn't want to put them in any more danger."
"Doesn't he understand what has happened to them? And what will?" Sky mumbled transforming back into his Hylian form, pacing around the fire
"He won't have it." Tempus grumbled "People like him make me feel so ill. He's abandoning his children! Things are different now. He's not seen them in fourteen years!"
"Thirteen, actually." a voice spoke accompanied by footsteps on the red hot rock "They are not sixteen till the Orange Moon."
"You should be ashamed, Ezekiel." Tempus snarled nearly kicking over the spit as he got up "I would never do this to my family! Your wife is dead, your daughter is ill and your son was nearly chopped in Hyrule! Why don't you help them?!"
"I still love them, Tempus. They are my world." Ezekiel replied folding his arms over a red tunic with a purple stripe running across the centre.
"Liar!" Tempus screamed pointing a finger "You have done nothing for your children since you left and you choose not to now! You are a terrible husband and father! They are searching for you and they are going to find out what an awful man you are and how they were better off not knowing you!"
"Cool it, Tempus!" Sky hissed grabbing his shoulders and pulling him back, the Sheikah man did not move, though it showed quite clearly that the words had hurt.
"If I go to them, the Sheikah of Termina would kill them and me too." Ezekiel sighed turning away "I'm sorry, men."
Tempus looked like he was going to burst into tears with sadness and rage "You have to forget that! They need you!"
"If you're such the family man, why not take my place as you did with Mikau?"
"Because their father was dead! You were such a kind and caring man when Malon was alive! Did that die with her?!"
Ezekiel marched over and gripped Tempus's collar, his fists were clenched as he pulled him off the ground; the men stared at each other for a long time, invisible daggers firing into each other's eyes. Sky tore them apart; the pair looked like they were going to explode at any moment.
"I will not have you make the biggest mistake of your life, Ezekiel." Tempus growled drawing his sword from a scabbard on his back under his cape. Sky groaned and took a step back; taking a purple shield with a silvery face from his pouch "I was ordered to stay away from them, you did this by choice!"
Ezekiel raised an eyebrow and changed his stance; drawing two sias out of nowhere and twisted them in his hands till his wrists clicked "You could never understand what pain I go through. You are not a father!"
The men lunged at each other
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CHARACTERS! Well, we finally have Ezekiel make an appearance or has he already been in the story? 'Disguised in one of Tempus's masks.' ... What does that suggest? Tempus is very fatherly isn't he? He's really annoyed, but that's probably why he's been hard to find due to his well, not Hero of Time looks, what did Ezekiel say? And Aurora, bet you weren't expecting that were you?! Ha! Cole is really smart and Pippa is almost a weapon.