Chapter no. : 34
Chapter title: Do it Doggy Style
Story rating: T (for now...)
BETAed: Purr-fectly Betaed
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
NC-chan
mahoakitti
Ryukai-MJ
Solo-Strifer
Lil' Miss Spookiness
yumie-darkness123
crule strawberry cat
Notes: The only reason for not updating sooner is because... well, because. I forgot, alright? I'd sent this chapter to Mahoakitti for beta-ing, and I thought I'd uploaded it; that just proves my memory is like a sieve, ne? Plus, stuff happened. And I promise you - LS fluff happens for definite next chapter; I know this, cos I just wrote half of it in one big gulp. WB must be going - huzzah!
Totally irrelevant quote of the update - or is it?:
Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant

Hero and I both froze; Lyall, nearby, growled in distaste under his breath. There, stood in a wide arc before us, were a line of cloaked and armed men, each holding some form of bow, though it was held horizontally. One man was further forward than the others, and grinned at us maliciously, his cloak – fur-trimmed – both blending in with the snow and moving with the wind. Their iris-less eyes stared blankly at us – Xiomaran…

"Well, well, well…" the man muttered. "Three birds with one stone – how good am I?"

"It's just luck, Maralah," Lyall spat, blue eyes narrowed.

"Oh, luck has nothing to do with it. And hold your tongue, traitor – you have no right to speak to me unless spoken to."

"Fuck you."

Maralah laughed loudly, throwing his head back, dark green hair flowing in the breeze and plain black eyes scrunched tight. "Oh, dear… you do make me laugh, dog. No, I'd rather not 'fuck you' – the Chosen Child on the other hand…"

Lyall snarled; his roar was extremely wolf-like, his eyes narrowing and darkening in shade, lips pulling back to reveal sharp canines – I almost expected him to morph into his monster-form that he spoke of. His body jerked as he fought to lunge forward, but obviously Hero's strangely-glowing, goddess-blessed arrows had injured him and so hindered any fast movement.

"You touch him and I'll—"

"You'll what? You can't even move, dog!"

"He might not be able to move," I murmured. "But I can. And I promise you that if any harm befalls the boy, it will be you who suffers last."

"Ah, so you are the last Sheikah… Prince Isidor spoke of you; very lowly, of course. You are a thorn in his side, you know, and an insult to his name – if he is to rule Hyrule successfully within our eyes, every single Sheikah is to be gone… apart from the child, of course; he may stay – at a price, mind."

"You're a sick man, Maralah – you all are!" Lyall bellowed.

"And you're a dead man, Comnall. Oh, sorry, you're a dead dog; my bad." Maralah looked over his shoulder at his men. "The dog can be killed by anyone. The Sheikah is mine, but the Great Hero is to be unharmed; he is the prince's right."

"Sheik…" Hero murmured, eyes flitting over each of the weapons pointed right at us, voice too low for the Xiomaran to hear. "You go on and get to Imp. I'll deal with these guys and catch you up."

Lyall cleared his throat loudly behind us.

"Ugh, and Lyall will help too."

"Too right I will. I'm nay rollin' over and dyin' like a good doggy."

"Shame…" muttered Maralah. "But then again, it will be good to see you writhe like a puppy when my men have caught you like the mutt you are."

"Could you stop with the dog analogies? You're starting to bore me."

"For the first time, I agree with you, Lyall," Hero added, shouldering his bow and unsheathing the Master Sword, also sliding his right arm into his shield. "Let's just get this over with."

"Settled," replied Maralah, motioning with his hand for his men to ready themselves. "Remember, the Sheikah is mine! And I hope you scream for me, Sheikah."

The fight started. With a battle cry, Hero launched himself at Maralah, causing his men to also begin their attack. My hand immediately went to my throwing knives, tucked safely beneath the wrappings around my arms (the only sort I had left on my body) but a firm grip on my arm stopped me. I looked up sharply, finding Lyall towering above me, fixing me with a fierce stare, dark blue seeming to chide me.

"You heard your mate, Sheik – you go ahead and leave these bastards to us," he said, voice gravelly with the promise of a fight.

I frowned. "I—"

"You'll get to fight later. But the sooner you get to Imp, the better. I cannay go because it takes a Sheikah to get past another Sheikah's mind."

"…" My frown deepened. But then, I couldn't help but say, "I thought you said you didn't like running around 'tackle-out'."

"Oh," he replied with a feral grin. "But I do make exceptions. Now go! Just follow the river and keep going. That's where I was last with Imp… Go!"

Although my mind was slightly disgruntled at the fact that I was being ordered around and following orders of a stranger with no clothes on, I put it aside, nodding to the wolfish male and morphing into my feline form as quick as I could, before darting away from the developing battlefield. Behind me, in the corner of my eye, I saw Lyall howl to the sky, fur erupting over his body (which doubled in size); also, I heard Maralah shout in anger – he had probably spotted my escape.

With my senses, I located the familiar river that Hero and I had followed before, and so I made my way towards it. I kept my speed to its prime level, or as fast as I could go through the winding foliage.

Unconsciously, my thoughts wandered to Hero. I was, to be honest, worried about him; if he could survive a three-part battle with Ganon, he could survive an attack from a slimy group of Xiomaran, I suppose, but still, I felt that unfamiliar weight settle in my stomach – uneasiness.

I couldn't help but let loose a growl when the river up ahead divided into two separate streams; one continued on, although veered more to the left, whilst the other parted off towards the right – both, however, looked lifeless, the ground coated with cracked, dried mud. Which way had Lyall intended me to go? What if I went one way, whilst Hero went the other?

"You wanna go the other way, mister," chirped a nearby voice. Glancing up, I saw Coro's small bird, Trill; what was the shop-bird doing here? "Follow me!"

He then flew off, pursuing the river that ran towards the right. Knowing I had no other choice, I trailed after him, using my speed to keep up with him; he flew slow, but his flight path was unhindered, much in contrast to mine, which was strewn with rocks, some so large that I had to dart over to the other side – this also got me rather wet and more disgruntled.

"Keep up!" Trill twittered over his shoulder at me.

I distinctly remember making a note for the future at that point in time: bury that bird, dead or alive – I was going as fast as I could.

The barren ground, with no warning, gave way to lush long grass, so long that it towered over me, double my height. Trill began to slow down, decelerating to a mere hover, before resting upon the oversized branch of a gigantic tree. I too stopped, squatting low to the ground, tail swishing from side to side unconsciously. I stayed frozen, ears searching for any sounds; why had Trill stopped?

Perhaps he could go no further and so I had to continue on my own? Thinking this was the reason, I raised a paw, intent on taking a quiet step forward, but halted immediately after, ears high and keen. I had heard approaching footfalls – many, actually.

"Hello there!" Trill chirruped up ahead, flapping his wings in greeting to whoever was up ahead.

"Thank the Deku Tree you're here! Fado's real bad. He got attacked! We all did! We need the potions!" a childish though obviously boyish voice called.

"Calm down, Mido," a girl murmured. "Fado will be fine."

"Calm down? Calm down? Saria, the Deku Tree placed him in our care not a few days ago and already he could…"

Saria?

I stood and moved quickly towards the spot beneath Trill's perch; my speed was quick, but I was silent as ever. I emerged from the towering grass, indeed coming face to face with Saria and the other Kokiri child, Mido. The boy leap between Saria and I, holding his arms out.

"You shall not harm her, foul beast!" Looking over his shoulder, he hissed, "Get the potion and get back to the Great Deku Tree!"

I sighed, closing my eyes, trying to ignore Mido's theatrical threats. I felt the magic stir within me, as many times before, and, upon opening my eyes once again, I was human. Mido and Saria gasped, the former in shock, the latter in happiness.

"Sheik!" Saria near-squealed. "Oh Farore above, it is you! I saw your eyes and…" She trailed off, simply settling for smiling.

"What's going on?" I asked. "You were attacked?"

Mido nodded, brow furrowed. "Yeah. Some weird grown-ups with no eyes came. We hid in the Deku Tree for safety, but that didn't protect our homes-"

"Nor Farore's Temple!" she cried, shaking her head frantically. "They've defiled it so! Every single defence is down! They've taken the Emerald and only the goddesses above know what power they have now! The Poe Sisters told me; they are lucky to have escaped – these strange eyeless men have magic."

"Xiomaran…" I hissed.

"We weren't supposed to even come out of the Great Deku Tree, but Fado – uh, he's a new kid – he got hurt when he tried to protect Saria – that feather-ball of a bird comes every so often with extra potions and we had to come and get them for him."

"Are these strange men still in the Temple?"

"The Sisters say they have not left," Saria murmured, but she shook her head. "Sheik, are they the reason why you're here? And where is… where is Link?"

"We were attacked by the leader of the Xiomari group and he told me to go on to get… someone. Another Sheikah; a child. He is a prisoner of Xiomar."

"Another…? But I thought… never mind, we must move quickly – who knows how many of those bandits walk these woods."

"A whole battalion," a familiar voice answered behind me. Turning, I was met with the sight of Hero approaching, along with Lyall in his upright-wolf form beside him. "It's mental."

"Hero…" I murmured instinctively, when I spotted the wound on his temple – a cut I thought had healed – had reopened, glaring a harsh red against his paler skin.

"That would be me, yes, glad you remember." He grinned, coming to a stop just before me. Lyall, too, stopped, leaning over to sniff gently at the air around me; even stood still, he remained on two legs, the knuckles of his arms just brushing the shorter tendrils of grass. "No attacks?"

"No," I replied. "The Kokiri have been, however. The Emerald has been taken."

"So that's why the vines are murderous."

I nodded. "Perhaps they are looking for the Emerald, or perhaps they are controlled by whomever has the Emerald."

"Warlord Maralah has it."

I froze. A warlord? In this forest? It could not be… Xiomar had to be deadly serious about our demise if they had sent a warlord to fight us. They were the highest a soldier could get without being royalty; the elite. Though there were only seven of them, they were a force to be reckoned with, even when solitary – a disaster incarnate…

"We need a plan," I murmured with a sigh. "We cannot go up against a warlord without substance."

"Can we help in anyway?" Saria asked.

Lyall let a growl loose; a refusal, I suppose, though Hero interpreted in an aggressive sense and his hand immediately went for the Master Sword, sheathed on his back. The wolf let loose another growl, this time a low thrumming sound – a warning.

"Hero," I said quickly, placing a hand on his upper arm. "No. He meant no harm."

He glanced at me, brow furrowed in doubt, peeking back to Lyall in the corner of his eye; the wolf merely blinked back with bored blue eyes, a furry brow rising with the hint of a challenge. Hero growled, grinding his teeth in slight frustration.

"Calm, Hero," I murmured, catching his eye and meeting his gaze steadily. "It would do no good to harm each other when there's a warlord on the loose."

Lyall snorted, as if dismissing the fact he could be harmed by Hero.

"And both drop the attitude now, please. It's growing tedious." There was silence for a moment or two. "Tell me about your fight with Maralah."

"It went quick, that's for sure," Hero replied, voice harsher than usual, most likely because of his clash with Lyall. "We killed all his men, but when we went for him, he held up the Emerald, gloated for a bit on how Xiomar would rule all the lands, and then there was this huge earthquake, probably caused by the Emerald. Then, when we managed to get back up, he was gone."

I was still for a few heartbeats after his explanation of the events that had occurred in my absence. My eyes narrowed instinctively and I looked Hero straight in the eye.

"We have to get Imp as soon as we can. Maralah has the power of earth and shadow in his hands and Hyrule be damned if he gets anymore of the elements," I hissed. "Thank the Three we sent Tsukiko away from here with Raisa…"

"She will be fine, Sheik. Absolutely fine. And even if Xiomaran get her, she can either escape like last time, or we get her back and show them we're not to be messed with, yeah? Now come on, Sheik; get that Sheikah mind back on track and come up with a game plan."

I couldn't help but glare at him. "Why must I always decide what to do?"

"You're the brains, I'm the brawn, remember?" He grinned cheekily.

"… I say we go directly to the problem – we get Imp and then take down Maralah. With their warlord gone, we wipe out his men."

"Sounds like a plan," Hero replied, smiling.

Lyall also made a sound of agreement, and then pointed his snout to the east, the direction we had just come from. Obviously, this was not the path we were supposed to take, and so he wanted us to go back to get onto the right path. I nodded to him, before looking to the Kokiri.

"I'm sorry…" I murmured, gaze locked with Saria's. "But everything will be sorted soon."

"Thank you, Sheik… thank you all." She nodded respectfully, but with enthusiasm. "I know you can do it. Here… I want you to take a bottle of our potion."

Trill dropped it into my awaiting hands and I handed it to Hero.

"We will have enough to treat anyone who gets injured. We'll stay inside the Deku Tree, don't worry – we'll be safe in there." She turned to Hero. "You kept your promise you know… both of them. You came back for me, however inadvertently. Ignore the fact that you… you're not really him… you're still his soul. History will repeat itself over and over – it is only by looking into the past that we figure out the truth; we can't stop or change the path we take… but, if I think about his path… you'll have a good life ahead of you…" She glanced up at me and, lowering her voice to a whisper, hissed to me: "Don't let him mess up."

I smiled behind my cowl and nodded, turning back to my two companions and indicating for us to move on.

Demi: I have nothing to say apart from review cos it'll make me vereh happeh.

Oh, and who loves Lyall? I doooo. Teehee... ugh... that's so ghey. Don't worry, he'll get on Link's nerves a whooole lot more XD trust me, it has both disastrous and... great effects... if ya know what I mean -winkwinknudgenudge-

Review X.x

P.S. visit my deviantART gallery - the link is in my profile - as I have a WIP (work in progress) picture of Linky and Sheiky. You'll like it, I hope -smiles and shoves non discreetly-