Chapter no. : 27
Chapter title: Of Cats and Dogs
Story rating: T (for now)
BETAed: UnBetaed - Mistakes imminent
Disclaimer: Me no own Zelda. I mean, come on - how stupid are you? If I did own Zelda , it would contain much swearing, blood, sex and rock'n'roll. And Yaoi. Don't forget the luffly yaoi. But since I don't own it, I have to settle for entertaining you guys with my stories and OCs - which is fine by me.
Warnings: Not any at the moment. Apart from that this is a shounen ai/yaoi story and contains spoilers from TP.
Thanks for the reviews...
JtheChosen1
BlackLadyCharon
Ryukai-MJ
mahoakitti
TheFireSage
Lil' Miss Spookiness
Akatsuki Seal
NC-chan

Notes: Again, Unbetaed, because Venksy has noted absense. -snort- that makes me sound like a teacher... Now class, today you will learn more about the relationship between people; may they be family, lovers, enemies or strangers. Sit down, Miss Spookiness and calm yourself, please. We will begin the next chapter now. Also note that Ashei does indeed sound like Deidara from Naruto, which TheFireSage pointed out last lesson. Now, on we go.
Totally irrelevant quote of the update - or is it?:
All men are exasperating, and I'm in love with their King.


"Hey."

His greeting rang clear through the night air. I turned to regard him, noticing how I relaxed when I saw his characteristic boyish grin stretching his lips. He moved over to me and slid his arms around my waist, kissing my forehead gently. I was glad Ashei had returned inside before Hero came out.

"Hero…"

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to hold your hand, or kiss you – not even your forehead." He pulled back. "What am I allowed to do?"

I shrugged and he frowned momentarily. "Well, guess what? I found our guide."

"Who?"

"You saw that guy that entered the bar? Wearing a cloak? Well, he's actually a 'she' – you'll find out what I mean when you meet her – and she from a place called Raun that's in trouble. And here's where I get clever. The Ruby told us that our guide was the coloured enlightenment of our days and she has bright green hair and tunic, yellow eyes, red bandana-"

"I get it, she's very colourful."

He nodded, grinning smugly. "And I'm very clever for figuring it out. That means I get a reward. And I want a kiss."

This time I frowned, fuelling his grin with even more haughtiness; for some reason, the look didn't make him look stuck-up – just very mischievous and perverted. He moved a hand from my waist and tugged down my cowl. I did nothing to stop him. Slowly, he brought his face closer, his breath ghosting over my cheeks, 'til his lips brushed mine, almost teasingly.

Gently, he applied pressure, drawing out the kiss. It wasn't as passionate as the one we had shared in Death Mountain, but it was sweet nonetheless, filling with the same level of emotions and affection as before.

With hesitation, I brought my hands up and skimmed them over his broad shoulders, sliding one arm around his neck to slip under that strange green hat of his, and letting the other rest on the strap of his sword's harness. I knew that by doing that, I had admitted to him that he had won me over and that he was indeed clever, but I didn't care – at that point in time, I just didn't want him to stop kissing me.

But of course, the kiss had to end. We both pulled away slowly at the same time, as if it were a shared, silent agreement. The grin once again found its way onto his perfect features, but it was less haughty; more affectionate.

"She has ears too."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Hero, that's hardly something amazing."

"No, Shei- ugh…" He rolled his eyes. "Dog ears and a tail. She's really feral. Raisa's in love."

I allowed a small smile and he chuckled, eyes softening.

"So what did Ashei want to speak to you about?" he asked delicately.

I looked away and he brought me closer, raising a hand to the back of my head and resting his chin on my hair, like he had done in our room before we left for the volcano for the second time.

"She's betrayed Xiomar, her country and her people. She found out that they took Sheikah prisoners from the attack fifty years ago and experimented on them, sealing spirits and poes inside their bodies… they're all gone, except for a boy, with a vindictive Sheikah spirit trapped in his body, who Ashei helped escape, but who in turn escaped from her…"

He said nothing, but began to trace imaginary patterns on my back, through the material of my exoskeleton. He tenderly kissed my scalp and whispered an 'I'm sorry' after a few heartbeats.

"I guess this gives us more reason to fight against the Xiomaran," he murmured against my hair. "They must be looking for the gems too, they're going against Hyrule, and now we find out they did that to your people. Three strikes."

"I have to tell Impaz," I whispered. "I don't want to hurt her, but she has to know."

"We'll tell her en-route."

"En-route?"

"Well, we have to follow Tsukiko back to Raun if we're going to find the next stone, which I'm guessing is the Sapphire, cos it's the last one left. Oh, but I suppose it could be the Ruby…"

I shook my head and backed away from him. "Before we go back to see this… 'Tsukiko', we need to sort out a few things. Firstly, there are more than three gems to find."

"What?" he near-yelled. "How many?"

"One for each sage, meaning each element, so six. But since we have the Emerald sorted, five left."

He grumbled something under his breath.

"Secondly, you will tell me about this 'Tsukiko' from Raun. Why is she here?"

"Raun's in trouble. Xiomaran fighters invaded after they were refused allegiance. Tsukiko was sent by her King – who's heading the rebellion – to plead with Zelda for help."

"Let me guess, help is being refused."

"Yeah. It's the Gerudo all over again." He eyed me weirdly. "Sheik, for some reason I'm getting the idea that Zelda isn't all hearts and roses."

"It's diplomatic reasoning, Hero," I said with a shake of my head. "Ignoring the fact that we know Xiomar is secretly against Hyrule, if Her Highness were to help a country being attacked by Xiomar, then she would be endangering a possible allegiance with a very strong nation. Though Raun is known to Her Highness, it is unclear whether it is an ally – Raun and Hyrule have never talked about becoming allies, but Hyrule and Xiomar have. And then let's not forget that Isidor is probably playing Her Highness like a puppet."

"Ugh, I hate that guy… and he hates you, and you hate me, so it's a hate triangle, rather than a love triangle, eh?" He stepped forward, and (pardon the irony) linked his fingers with mine, a small smile spreading along his lips like a wave. "But, hey, he's not getting his hands on you, is he?"

'No, but I am,' Raka's voice echoed through my mind – I had once again forgotten about him.

"I always thought of you as the affectionate type," I muttered, inadvertently answering both at the same time – although, with Raka, it was more sarcastic.

He laughed. "Really? What else did you think I was?"

"Pure, but recently, I figured that was wrong of me. You can be extremely perverted at times."

"Is that why you love me?"

"Yes, I love you because you're a pervert."

"Knew it… I also realised something. I bet you planned to get blood on my tunic-" He gestured to the large dark patches marking the green fabric. "So that I would have to take it off. You did suggest me taking it off when… well, we were heading to Kakariko for the first time…"

I rolled my eyes. 'He's nearly as bad as you, Raka.'

'Oh, no one can be as bad as me… you haven't even heard half the things I think and could say about you.' Raka chuckled, a deep, sultry sound. 'For example, he probably hasn't thought about how fucking tight your body would be around my-'

My eyes widened, but thankfully, Hero didn't notice, as his face was too close to my neck to see. I cleared my throat, trying to distract myself from Raka's unfinished sentence – I knew the missing word, but I willed myself not to think about it.

"You're being very affectionate tonight, though," I managed to say, even as he peppered kisses along the underside of my jaw.

Great – I had two versions of Hero, seducing me at the same time. Most would kill Her Highness to be in my shoes, but it was frustrating to say the least.

'No, most would kill Her Highness to be in your breeches, not in your shoes, Sheik. Stop being so modest. However… I don't have to kill Her Highness to get in your breeches.'

'Neither does Hero,' I thought, surprising myself.

Raka growled playfully. 'Is that a threat?'

"Hero… Hero." I tugged on a lock of his golden hair, catching his attention fully and bringing his face away from my skin. "We should go back inside. Decide a plan."

He looked disgruntled but nodded, turning and beginning to walk back to the bar, not before he grabbed my hand and held it tightly in his grip. The boyish grin crept over his face and he tugged up my cowl as we moved towards the door.

"I don't care what you say, Sheik; I'm holding your hand whether you like it or not, and whenever I want to," he said, smiling still, and I managed to only just stop the returning smile, allowing a small lift of the corners of my lips and softening to my crimson orbs. "But I remember what you said – no public displays of affection, so…"

Slowly he let go of my hand, fingers trailing along mine, almost regretfully. I felt the sudden urge to… to wrap my arms around his neck and just stay near him, but that would be silly, a time-wasting and pointless thing to do; plus, it wouldn't be a very 'Sheik-thing' to do. It didn't stop the impulse to do so, however, and it didn't help when he ran the backs of his knuckles along the top of my cheek softly, blue eyes full of affection and tenderness.

"Come on."

I pulled back. "Wait, Hero." He did so, turning to regard me with a confused, yet patient expression. "…You really do love me, don't you?"

"More than anything…" His reply was so whispered that I thought I hadn't even heard right.

He heaved the door open and gestured for me to enter first. My fluttering heart stopped trembling with adoration, instead beating slowly and heavily. The reason for this change was simple – I was once again being treated like a woman. I glanced back at him icily and he caught on, grinning sheepishly.

I went through, into the tavern, and leant against the stone wall beside the curtain. Ashei was sat at the large table strewn with maps and charts with Shad, who was, as per usual, mulling over a thick book, Raisa cuddled against his chest peacefully.

Hero sat on one of the bar stool, starting up (or restarting) an idle conversation with Telma, and the originally cloaked being was sat beside him, murmuring with Auru, dull ochre orbs half-lidded in obvious sadness and sharp-nailed hands curled around a large tanker/glass full of amber liquid; and around those strange golden-colour eyes was a shading of bright green, ending in a point diagonal from the corner of her eye on her nose… like a wolf's markings. As Hero had stated, short lime-green strands escaped from under the confines of a blood-red headband, but her skin was a strange tone of pale – she was most likely deeply tanned, but due to the news of refusal of help for her country, shock and grief made her skin sallow.

He had also mentioned a mistaken gender. To the untrained eye – in other words, one not with Sheikah sight – she looked mightily boyish, but no – her features were too soft, cheekbones too high and defined to be male; there was no littering of unshaven skin on her chin either.

"Sheik," Ashei murmured, catching my attention. She gestured to one of the charts on the table. "I got these from one of the soldiers in the castle – they don't yet know I'm… a traitor. It's Raun. And it's sealed up tight. New walls around the capital, each heavily manned, and with daily, plus nightly, rounds with armed guards." She paused. "And if what Tsukiko says is true, then this segment of my- no, Xiomaran, this segment of Xiomaran have some form of magic to create strange illusions to create dark monsters, which attack those not of Xiomaran blood."

My eyes narrowed. "Heavy duty for such a supposedly poor country compared to Hyrule."

"Yeah," she replied. "And the whole magic thing… Xio-Xiomaran don't have magic; we're… they're combat fighters, not magicians." She shrugged. "'Left the enchantment to you Sheikah."

"Ashei, you don't have to keep referring to the Xiomaran as a separate entity from you. You are still Xiomaran, even if Royalty state you as a traitor."

"No." She shook her head, suddenly finding the rug very interesting. "Like I said, my mother was Hylian and as I left my people in her name, I will live by it."

I nodded slowly and she turned her head, hiding the tiniest of smiles from my view.

"Thanks, Sheik," she whispered. "Not many people with our people's history would forgive me like you have."

"Hero would have."

"Hm, maybe. I dunno. I guess you don't know until the event arises, yeah?" She shook her head again. "But you probably know Link more than me, don'tcha?"

I scowled at her and she smirked, turning back to Shad.

"Ay, Shad?" The blond looked up with raised eyebrows, inviting her to continue. "Found anything interesting?"

"Not yet, no," he replied, with an underlying tone of disappointment in his voice. "There are no accounts of Raun anywhere. I suppose it's because not much effort was made to create an alliance of some kind. There's only a mention of a kingdom filled with anthropomorphic beings to the north, but nothing more."

"Anthropo- what?"

"Humans with animal traits," I explained. "They are able to turn into a specific animal at will. I was sent, by the orders of Her Highness, on reconnaissance to an area nearby the borders of Raun, just short of half a year ago. There are also many legends within my people, stories that speak of 'skin-walkers'; spirits of animals reborn inside the bodies of humans."

"Skin-walkers, how intriguing!" Shad said with awe. "I haven't heard many Sheikah legends, and now I think I need to know. When you have a little spare time, you should come teach me some."

"And here I thought you couldn't be taught anything else," Ashei muttered.

As Shad and Ashei continued to bicker, my mind drifted, body fully rested against the cool stone wall. I couldn't help but feel anxious about the situation. First I heard about my people being tortured for over fifty years within the walls of Xiomar, then of a small possessed boy on the loose, and finally of a Xiomaran invasion of Raun, the peaceful nation beyond Zora's Domain.

I was more anxious about the demon child, however. Impaz could be in danger. There was just a small prickling feeling that the boy would venture to Old Kakariko… would he hurt Impaz, the last remaining true Sheikah? And what of the slowly-growing forces of the Xiomaran?

I never really fretted about her before, but during the others times I was away, there wasn't the threat of Xiomaran fighters on the horizon. For the first time since the age of ten, I felt the chill of fear set into my bones and the dread sink uncomfortably in my chest. I could feel my body beginning to panic, as if sensing an enemy and creating unneeded adrenaline for fight or flight. Unless I acted soon, my body would take its own route and I'd be in big trouble.

Inconspicuously, I reached into a pouch in the magical pocket in my tabard and pulled out a deku nut, letting it drop silently to my feet. With a 'crack' it exploded into a plume of smoke, hiding me from view. I heard a mutter from Hero, but I ignored it, leaping to the rafters and darting quickly out of the bar.

As fast as I could, I made my way over the rooftops to the east gate. Pursing my lips, I gave a short, sharp whistle to call Nyx and within seconds, I was on the drawbridge with my little black elk was cantering towards me. He bayed in greeting and I mounted, turning him around swiftly and spurring him into a gallop.

For the first time in years, my gaze darted to either side of my every so often, as if expecting to see blood red irises of the possessed boy staring out at me from the shadows somewhere, or a band of armed Xiomaran fighters cantering towards me. But I saw nothing out of the ordinary; still it did nothing to quell the uneasiness in the pit of my stomach.

Old Kakariko was ominously deserted when I arrived. None of the cats came out of their hiding places to pleadingly meow at me for food or attention and Impaz wasn't wandering about, doing the aforementioned. It set me on edge and I placed a throwing knife in my hand in preparation for an attack.

What if I was too late? What if I opened the door to our home and found her lying in a pool of her own blood, dead?

I moved towards the house at the end, eyes narrowed and ears pricked for the slightest of sounds; I pointedly ignored the soft padding of Nyx's hooves as he walked beside me, head bowed slightly, ready to spear any threat with his deadly horns.

The door opened before we could reach it, however, and Impaz was stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Sheik? Well, I'm certainly glad this quest has come up – you've visited me more times this week than in a normal month," she commented.

I sighed a shuddering breath in relief, which she picked up on, her worn face creasing with a frown.

"What's going on, Sheik?"

I explained to her quickly about the Xiomaran threat we had faced in Death Mountain, along with Raisa and the Ruby Shard; Colt too. Then I told her of Ashei and her betrayal of her people, with the information of my people's suffering in Xiomar and the possessed boy.

I finished with our soon-journey to Raun and the Xiomaran invasion there. As I ended my tales, Impaz's face was so wrinkled with a scowl, she looked as if her skin had become elasticised and too big for her skull.

"I'm… I'm worried about you," I added in a whisper.

"Sheik…" Her expression broke free of its tenseness and she smiled warmly. "You don't need to worry about me. I am and will be fine. Old magic protects this dilapidated place from any attack and I have a hundred or so territorial elk in our backyard, unless you have forgotten, all with sharp horns ready for a bloody fight."

I nodded.

"Sheik, I am so glad that you fret over this old bag's welfare. It shows you are still human and not fully consumed by the ways of our people. But you need to concentrate on what is at hand. My time in this world is short, and if I am not killed by the filthy hands of a Xiomaran, then age will take me. You cannot protect me all the time."

"I know… it doesn't stop the feeling that I have to," I replied solemnly. Nyx whickered in agreement beside me.

"Don't quell that sensation, Sheik, but don't act on it, either." She paused, head cocking to the side in an almost feline manner. "What happened to your turban, Sheik? Surely you didn't fight with your hair loose?"

I shook my head this time. "No, it came loose just after the fight. I didn't expect to be put in action so soon afterwards."

"Ah… I was beginning to think that young Link had changed you…"

It was then that I realised my mother was still a young woman beneath those layers of wrinkles and that I had a passion of hate for such females – they all went giddy at the sight (and any mention whatsoever) of two males in love. Lovely. I look forward to returning to the Gerudo Fortress...


Demi: Wouldn't I make a wonderful teacher? Hah, instead of teaching Wuthering Heights, I'd force you to read Zelda yaoi, more specifically my own work XD You wouldn't mind that, though, would you?

Review and more LS goodness will come sooner.

I've started doing this for my friends, plus in all my stories too now... lol... how ghey...
Tip of the day: Wallets and purses are not necessary. Girls have bras for a reason. The booble area is the greatest and safest place to store your money, as (unless you are traumatically groped by friends on a daily basis -cough-) it is hard for one to get the money from you... uh, it's even hard for you yourself to get your own money, but hey - that's a way to force yourself to save money, ne?