This is not an early update. This is tomorrow's chapter posted early because Cane Fay is paying a visit to my neighborhood tomorrow. It's probably safer if I don't turn on my computer tomorrow. Category 1 or not, I ain't taking my chances.
Last chapter it wasnt the comic releif I was worried about. It was having two boys in dresses. I try not to add too mcuh of my guilty pleasures in my stories. I was just hoping to find something funny that didn't involve boys in dresses... But you can't get much funnier than that so...
Without further interruption, they all went through the door. Haizea put out his fire when they entered. Cracks in the walls supplied light from the outside.
"Did anyone even bother to check this part of the Temple when they were building a castle on it?" Nabooru asked, looking around cynically.
"Probably not." Link told her as he walked around to get a good look of the room. He tripped over something and fell on his face.
"Are you alright?!" Rayeh asked as she rushed over to help him up.
He felt his arm being pulled up by the maid. "Fine…" he groaned. "What the heck did I trip over?"
"The air, most likely." the slave said, seeming amused. That was Haizea's indirect way of saying, "You probably tripped over yourself."
Rayeh knelt down on the floor where Link had fallen. "No, I think it's a… handle?" She lifted a thick ring that was attached to the floor. She laid it back down and then knocked on the floor.
"That isn't the sound of stone…" Nabooru said kneeling down next to Rayeh. She brushed some of the dirt off the floor and revealed a wooden bottom. "It's the sound of a door."
"More hidden doors? This is becoming a bit annoying." Haizea said, as he peered over the two women to see the floor.
Link shrugged and then went over to the place where everyone was crowding at. He started helping the girls brush off the layers of dirt on the floor. "This door feels weird…" se commented. "Like something is carved into it…"
"It does feel it a bit like that…" Nabooru said, feeling the floor carefully.
"It almost feels like writing…" Rayeh said.
"Writing?" Haizea asked. He stepped forward carefully, peering over everyone again. "All of you move."
Nabooru glared. "And why should we-"
Rayeh stopped her. "I think we should do as he says." she said. The pirate gave her an almost insulted look but backed away nervously. Link just followed their example.
Haizea practically dropped onto the floor, examining it closely. Nabooru and Rayeh ended up peering over him this time. He didn't feel original at this point in time, but he had nothing better to do, so he followed the example of the girls again. The slave ended up glancing back at them with a glare. "You're in my light." he snapped. Everyone backed off a bit and the man went back to examining the floor.
"So… is it writing?" Link asked after a few moments.
The slave didn't answer immediately. His attention was still on the floor but he did answer. "It is. Very, very old writing."
"Well what's it say, pale-face?" Nabooru asked impatiently.
He gave her a quick glare and then went back to his floor. "The Keaton will only guide the ones who can carry life, but will lead others to doom."
It was quiet.
"And what does that mean?" Link asked, interrupting the silence.
Haizea stood up and brushed himself off. He then looked at Link and said plainly, "It means you and I can't enter or we'll die."
"Huh?"
The pirate forked an eyebrow. "I agree with the kid: huh?"
"It's not much of a riddle." The slave told them. "When they say 'ones who can carry life' they mean women. All women have the potential to carry life through pregnancy."
"Then what do they mean by Keaton?" Nabooru asked.
Rayeh answered this one. "The Keaton is supposed to be a mythical fox-like creature. I remember stories from when I was a little girl about them. But what do they mean 'guide'?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Haizea told her.
The maid furrowed her brow in confusion. "But Keatons don't exist… Do they?"
"After what I've seen on this adventure, I'll believe they exist." Link said.
Nabooru then grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open. "I guess I'm gonna find out whether they do exist or not."
"I'm going too!" Rayeh said.
The pirate stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing. The maid had a look of sheer insult on her face.
"I'd step back if I were you…" Haizea warned Link quietly. The boy didn't even have to be warned. He knew a dangerous situation when he saw one.
"What is so funny?!" The maid asked angrily.
Nabooru stifled giggles as she said, "You were serious?" She started laughing harder. "I mean, no offense, but you're just a fabric maid. You should just stay with your sheets and blankets."
"Linen maid." Rayeh corrected. "And for your information, I am much more capable than you think!"
"You're a maid, not capable! I bet when those guards started banging on the door that was your first dangerous experience, unless you count those ever so dangerous laundry basins!" She started laughing even harder. So hard, in fact, that she hadn't even noticed Rayeh walk past her and go down through the door in a huff. Nabooru finally stopped laughing, brushing tears from her eyes. When she looked around and didn't see the maid, she froze. "Where'd she go?"
Link pointed to the door. Nabooru then scrambled down quickly.
The boy gave a sigh of relief. "I thought there was going to be blood for a second…" he said.
"I dunno, I think my attraction to Rayeh is coming back." Haizea said with a smirk. "If she can keep getting that woman riled up I may just marry her."
Link just gave him a disgusted glare. "Your jokes are not funny."
The slave shrugged, still amused with himself. "I find them hilarious."
The maid marched down the long dark hallway, still iffed. She was so angry, she hadn't even noticed that there were torches lighting as she walked past them. She did, however, notice the sound of footsteps quickly catching up to her.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Nabooru cried out.
Rayeh turned on her heel and glared daggers at the other woman. The only thing that could've made her stare more intimidating would be if the maid was taller. "I'm going to help Link and Haizea!" She snapped. Then she continued to march on.
Nabooru paused for a moment, still shocked at the girl's attitude. Maybe she was just too used to respect from the women that made up her crew, but her opinion of this maid wasn't improving. "Oh yeah, sure you are! More like you're doing it to impress pale-face!"
The maid didn't say or do anything to deny it. She just kept stomping on until the underground hall split three ways. That was when the anger started to fade and uncertainness began to settle in. The pirate stopped beside her and looked down all the three passageways.
"Seeing as I don't think I can stop you from embarrassing yourself, which way do you think we should go?" Nabooru asked.
She looked at each hall nervously. She opened her mouth to say her choice but she noticed something strange. "Have you noticed that it's been getting misty…?"
The other woman looked around and shuttered when she saw the maid was right. It was getting misty. Humid, she might be able to understand. They were most likely under the castle wear underground water was. But humid and misty weren't the same thing. And it was an eerie mist too. She shivered.
"My, my, my, it's been such a long time! Two lovely young ladies, but tensions are high…" said a slightly warbled voice.
Neither girl could find the owner of the voice. Nabooru unsheathed her daggers quickly and kept them at the ready and the maid stood her ground, trying not to appear frightened.
The mist grew thicker and started to circle in front of them. The circling motion the mist quickly changed into an eddy of mist. As quickly as the eddy had come, it dissipated. Where the eddy had occurred, a fox like creature with multiple tails sat in front of them. The creature spoke without moving its mouth. "I am the Keaton."
"They're real…" Rayeh squeaked. Nabooru just gaped.
The creature's head began to shake and there was a growling sound. It was a laugh. "Of course we Keaton are real! We have lived in secret with others of our kind, only appearing in special occasions, such as now. Have you come to seek the treasure that was left here?"
"Treasure?" Nabooru said, suddenly perking up a bit.
"I think he means the key…" Rayeh told her, still a bit shaken from seeing the supposedly mythical creature.
"Yes, yes! A key! It's a very special key that unlocks a very special lock! An evil man dropped it within these caverns not long ago. He left before I could accomplish my mission…" the Keaton said almost sadly.
"Oh…" The pirate sighed with disappointment. "Just out of curiosity… are there any other treasures here?" She asked hopefully.
The Keaton lifted its head in a thinking motion and then made a shrugging motion. "Yes, no, maybe so. It depends, which do you really want? The key or treasures?"
Rayeh was shocked to see that Nabooru actually thought about it. She jabbed her with her elbow. The pirate scowled and said to the Keaton, "The key… we want the key…"
The Keaton made its chuckling sounds and movements. "The key it is, then. I will guide you to it. Be sure to keep up." It said. It stood up and then skipped down the left path speedily.
Nabooru cursed and chased after the creature. Rayeh was taken a little by surprise but she ran as quickly as she could behind the pirate. She wasn't quick enough, though. Her long skirt slowed her down quite a bit and unlike the hallway they had come through, torches were not being lit as they ran. The only form of light came from the slightly glowing form of the Keaton, which she was quickly losing view of. And since she was losing sight of the Keaton, she was losing sight of Nabooru as well. Soon, the light of the creature faded completely. She was only leading herself through the hall from the sound of footsteps. But the echoing of them all over the walls was confusing her. She couldn't tell if there were other halls or if she was to keep going straight. She finally stopped.
"Miss Nabooru…" She called out softly. "Keaton…" She reluctantly took a step forward. It was so dark. Even as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she still couldn't see a thing but black.
The pirate, however, had a bunch of light but no Keaton. The creature had to led her to a room that opened up to several halls, and she hadn't seen which one it went through.
"Maid, did you see-Maid? Hey… Rayeh, where'd you go?" she said, noticing that the maid hadn't followed her. She looked back into the hall that she had come from. Was she still back there? That was bad. She remembered as she was chasing Keaton that the hall would fork occasionally. She looked back to the other halls and back to the one she came from. She could either go attempt to find the Keaton, or she could go look for the maid. The key was important; they needed it to save the Siren. But at the same time, there was a girl's life in danger at the moment. Sure, she didn't particularly like this girl, but she wasn't sure if a key was more important.
What would the kid do? She thought. She spent a moment thinking it over. He'd go look for her. "I guess I should look for her." she ran back through the tunnel.
"Rayeh? Hey, maid, are you in here?!" she called out. No answer.
She did a 360 degree turn. She shuddered again. Without Keaton around it was much darker than she thought. She stepped back and bumped into something. Someone screamed. Well, she screamed, but someone else screamed to. She turned on her heel, daggers at the ready but paused when she heard, "Miss Nabooru?! Is that you?"
She sighed in relief and put her daggers away. "Yeah, it's me… I think you scared ten years off of me…." She could see the maid now, somewhat. She definitely looked scared. The place was creepy and she had been left alone… Heck, even she was scared too. Long dark hallways have a habit of doing that to people.
"Where's the Keaton? Did you get the key?" The maid asked. Straightforward. She supposed that was something she could admire about the girl.
"Sorry I lost-"
A light appeared from behind them. "What did you lose? Not little old me, of course! You passed my test Gerudo!" Said the Keaton.
"Test?" Rayeh asked.
"Yeah, what test?!" the pirate was beginning to feel a little outraged.
"The evil man I mentioned earlier was also Gerudo. I wanted to make sure you were not with him. If you were, you surely would have let this girl suffer a grim fate here." said the creature. The torches of the hallway suddenly all lit. There was a poof and a large, thick key appeared in the air. The Keaton grabbed it with its jaws. "Another test, now, to prove you are worthy of this treasure."
"Another test?! What's going on here?! Didn't I already pass a test?! Why can't you just give it to me?!" Nabooru ranted.
The Keaton laughed. "Silly girl, I can't simply give away a treasure, especially one of this value."
"Just whose side are-"
Rayeh put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "It's just one more test. We can pass it." She said.
"See, this one has the right attitude!" the Keaton said happily.
The red headed woman grumbled something inaudible and then said, "This won't involve anymore running will it?"
"No, no. No more running. Some things are repetitive, but my tests aren't. Instead, you must answer my questions. If you can't answer them, I won't give you the key."
The girls looked at each other uneasily. Questions? They weren't too sure how it would work out. The maid finally gave the creature a wary glance and said, "We will do our best."
"Yes, yes!" It almost looked as if the Keaton was smiling. "That's the spirit. Your first question: What are ratlines?"
Rayeh bit her lip. Ratlines? She had no idea. Nabooru on the other hand brightened up. She was a pirate. Of course she knew what ratlines were! "Ratlines are the ropes attached to the masts of a ship! They let the crew climb up to fix the sails and such!" she said.
The Keaton nodded. "Correct! H!"
"H?" asked both of the girls.
"Your next question," the creature continued, completely ignoring the girls' inquiries. "There is a festival held in Castle Town every year during the spring. It is dedicated to a particular kind of Fae said to be the size of one's thumb. What are they called?"
Well, Nabooru felt hopeless now. She was Gerudo; she was from the desert. Honest to the goddesses, this was her first trip to Castle Town.She knew nothing of the place. Even when she was under Ganondorf, she was always positioned near the sea of the desert. However, Rayeh was smiling broadly. "The Picori!"
"Yes, yes! That's right! R!" Once again, both of the women looked at the Keaton strangely. They didn't ask about the letter that time, however. It probably wouldn't explain. "Now finish this sentence: The scourge of every sea is-"
Scourge of every sea… pirates? Weren't they supposed to be the scourge of the sea? The maid wanted to say it but she wasn't sure if it was right. If she was wrong then they'd lose the key. She looked over to the pirate beside her, who seemed lost in thought. The thought about pirates being the scourge of the sea crossed her mind as well, but that just didn't sit right with her. In fact, it seemed all too familiar the sentence the fox creature had said. She racked her brains for it and a tune came into her head. She hummed it softly, hoping that it might provide her with an answer. It did.
"The scourge of every sea is anarchy, us pirates-that's what we be!" Who says crime doesn't pay, Nabooru thought. Had she not been a pirate, the verse from that pirate song probably never would have come into her head.
"Right again! You ladies are very good at this! But it's not over yet! C!" said the Keaton. "The commander of the Royal Guard is married with two children. Little does his wife know that her husband has a mistress. What is his mistress's name?"
The pirate was sure she didn't know this. She doubted the maid even knew it. Until she saw the expression of disgust on the brunette's face. "Her name is Bertrice…" She said, almost hacking on the name.
"Once again, correct! I!" the Keaton said happily.
Nabooru gave the maid a puzzled look. Upon noticing Rayeh answered, "She's a scullery maid. She thinks she's special since she's seeing a man with high status behind his wife's back. Very annoying…"
"One last question. Make sure you get it right…" Keaton warned. "What is my name?"
"Your name?" Nabooru said. The multi-tailed fox nodded. Nabooru scowled. She didn't even think the thing did have a name!
"The letters." Rayeh told her. "The letters it was saying after we got a question right! They must spell out its name!" she said excitedly.
That made sense! Hey, the maid was good to have around after all! "Lessee… H… R… C… I…" the pirate thought aloud. "That doesn't spell anything pronounceable…"
The maid sighed miserably. Its name had to be in there somewhere… "Maybe the letters are switched around? I don't think it would make it so easy if it had spelled its name out." She suggested.
"That's a good guess…" Nabooru said. She thought then. The only name she could think of was Rich… but that probably wasn't its name. It was a mythical creature! It was going to have a strange name, but she was sure it couldn't be anything that strange. The expression on the maid next to her said she wasn't having any better luck. "Some things are repetitive…" The Keaton had said that just before it gave them this last test… Some things… repetitive… "It's repeated!" she told the maid.
Rayeh brightened up. She understood. She knelt down and put a finger on the dusty floor. She shaped the letters on the floor and vague outline of the letters appeared as the dust was brushed off. Nabooru knelt next to her. They then began to list a series of anagrams involving the multiple letters. The pirate became frustrated easily at all the combinations, but it wasn't long when Rayeh noted one of her anagrams.
"That's it!" she said as she looked at the word Nabooru had written down.
Nabooru looked down at the word she had written. She wasn't so sure about it. "Are you sure?"
The maid nodded. "Yes, I remember something. When I was a child, my father had taken me to the Picori festival. There was a storyteller there. I remember he told us a story about a Picori who dealt with a Keaton with this name! It must be the same Keaton!" she said happily.
"But that was just a story…" the pirate said skeptically. "It might not be its name…"
She shook her head. "No, I'm sure of it. This is his name." Rayeh assured.
Nabooru bit her lip. "Fine…"
They both stood up and faced the creature. "What is my name?" It repeated.
Nabooru gave Rayeh a worried glance, but the maid nodded in confidence. They said it at the same time. "Richichi."
The Keaton tilted its head and said nothing. After a moment or two, its disembodied voice said, "That's right. I'm Richichi of the Keatons and I say you are worthy of this key." It stood, stepped forward and lowered its head to release the key from its mouth. Once the key was on the floor it stepped back. If the two girls hadn't known better, they'd say it almost looked as if the creature was smiling. Them the cyclone of mist of surrounded it again and it disappeared. But it said one last thing before the mist completely vanished. "Gerudo, if you are ever in the area again, I will happily guide you to the treasure in this labyrinth. As for now, remember that helping the child comes first. The lit tunnels will guide you out."
There was no more sign of the mist or that Richichi had ever been there. Rayeh picked up the key and handed it to Nabooru. The pirate took the key, not sure how she was going to say what she wanted to say. "Um… I guess I couldn't have done it without you…" she told the maid quietly.
"I guess not." The other woman said. "But I was a hindrance, I'll admit it. Well, shall we?" she said, gesturing cheerfully down the hall.
The redhead nodded with a smile and they began to walk.
It was quiet and Nabooru felt the need to break the silence. "So this Bertrice girl, why does she think she's so special? Being the mistress of a married man isn't exactly something to be proud of." She said.
Rayeh shrugged. "She's just an idiot, I suppose. She's convinced he's going to leave his wife for her, but it's obvious he's not. He doesn't really love her. In fact, the man's a notorious womanizer. He's slept with dozens of other maids, she just happens to be his favorite of the moment. She is convinced that the lust is love. It's very sad…"
It was weird to Nabooru to hear all this. It sounded way too familiar. She figured out why. She knew from the first day she let Link and Haizea stay aboard her ship that the pale man was a colossal pervert. Sure, he never made any advances, but the way he looked at some of the girls… And now he had an interest in Rayeh and… well… the situation between Bertrice and herself sounded too much alike. She sorry that she'd probably rip the girl's heart out by saying this, but she had to warn her.
"You know…" she started off. "Pale face-Haizea, I mean-he just wants to get under your skirt…"
She was just about ready to hear the worst of it from the maid but instead she got, "Hmm? Oh yeah… I had a feeling that was the case…" she said nonchalantly.
The pirate was at a loss for words. That was definitely not the reaction she expected. "And you're okay with that?" She asked unbelievingly.
The maid nodded with a small smile and blushed fiercely. "Well… yes… I mean, he's very handsome… I wouldn't mind…" she said, slightly embarrassed.
Nabooru shuddered. She found it a miracle that she could even stand the man's presence and here walking with her was a girl who'd actually be willing to hang around with him and even… She visibly gagged when the thought crossed her mind.
"Um, are you okay, Miss Nabooru? Are you feeling ill?" Rayeh asked worriedly.
"Yeah… as alright as I'll ever be…" she muttered. I just have to deal with the mental trauma…
So yeah, I'll say it right now. No ridiculously long Temple. No, just... no. I wasn't lying when I said I hated writing those parts. So instead I give you a Keaton.
I always thought Keatons were cool. I liked wearing that mask in OoT and MM. And in MM where you actually meet Keatons and they quiz you on the most obscure shiz... Yeah, totally awesome. The name Richichi is one I found a while back. I just wanted to use it so badly. When I got around to this chapter I said to myself, "Holy crap that sounds like a ridiculously Keaton-y name!" So I used it. I apologize for my lame riddle and quiz making skills too. I suck at those, as well. My cousin gave me a riddle the other day. After like... two hours I gave up and he told me the answer. Damn did I feel like an idiot afterward. THE ANSWER WAS IN FRONT OF MY FACE! GAH!
Oops, I ranted. I'm sorry-bad habit... Next chapter is Thursday.