Chapter 54 – Runt
"Uhh? Augh! Fura! Get off!" Link demanded as he awoke to an uncomfortable feeling of dampness against his cheek. The first thing he had seen was Fura's partly-open mouth just below his eye. The Gerudo had obviously snuck across the cabin some time during the night and had fallen asleep on his arm, causing it to go completely numb. The damp feeling on his cheek had been a small river of dribble originating from the corner of Fura's mouth. She always seemed to drool when she slept, frequently soaking her pillows and, sometimes, Link's beloved tunic.
"And what are you doing on my bunk? There's only room for one, not two," Link groaned. Fura opened her eyes groggily. Despite her obviously-disheveled state, it was easy to see that Fura had regained her colour and vibrancy since the very moment she had jumped on Link's back after he had returned with Ark.
"Ugh, what?" she grunted, blinking at him before squinting.
"You're drooling on me!" Link wailed in frustration.
"Oh," she yawned. "Sorry. You…smell so delicious I can't help but- ack!" Fura found herself pulled into the air and dropped back onto her own bunk across the cabin, courtesy of the Key. She sat up and stuck out her bottom lip in a gigantic pout that was supposed to gain Link's sympathy. It did not.
"Fura, that's the third time in a week that you've woken me up by cutting off the circulation in one of my arms and dribbling all over me. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so stop "keeping a close eye on me" as you put it," he sighed.
"But I worry," she frowned.
"I know, and by the Goddesses it's truly thoughtful that you do…but I haven't had a good night's sleep since I came back from Zeel's land-o-fun," Link told her pleadingly. "So please, can you worry about me from you own bed instead of invading mine and crushing and drowning me?"
"Heh." Link glanced irritably at Florella's bunk and saw the fairy grinning at him idiotically.
"Shut up, Florella," he grumbled. "And tuck yourself in properly. Your paunch is showing."
"Paunch!" Florella snapped, sitting bolt upright. She clutched her blanket against her stomach tightly. "There is most certainly no paunch on this body!" There was a groan from Talen, who was trying valiantly to block out the early-morning argument. He rolled over to face the wall of the cabin, pulling his pillow over his head.
"Please, Florella," he groaned. "Not right now. My ears are not prepared to hear the melodious sound of your voice this early in the morning." Florella clasped her hands together.
"I'm sorry, Talen," she said girlishly. "Sleep now, my mighty knight." Talen cringed and there was a loud snort from Link.
"Hah! If ever there was something you've said to induce uncontrollable vomiting it's that," he scoffed. Florella's eyebrows slanted together in irritation.
"Then why don't you lie on your back and do it right now? Maybe I'll get lucky and you'll drown in it," she grumbled icily before flopping back down on her pillow.
Unfortunately, sleep proved to be just a little too elusive for Link and Talen. Nyaragon woke up only a short while later, and after picking Ark up off her belly where she'd made him sleep every night since he got back she hauled a protesting Talen and Link out from under their blankets. Her excuse was that Link had done such a bang-up job at keeping him safe in Zeel's realm that he was the perfect one for the job. She didn't give and excuse for Talen. The Bloodcat had been incredibly strict in limiting Ark's wanderings from her side. So strict, in fact; that she kept her tail coiled around his waist like a leash so he couldn't stray more than a few steps from her at all times. That included when she decided to take a catnap out in the sun, which had decided to show itself once they had sailed out of the colder waters.
"Oh it'll do you good to get up early," Saria told the boys as they groaned and grumbled about their forced eviction from their oh-so warm blankets.
"I don't see you champing at the bit to greet the morning," Link muttered sourly at the Kokiri girl as she smiled at them with her blanket clutched tightly at her chin.
"That's because I don't have to. I also want to sleep in," she giggled. "Enjoy the day, boys!"
And so Link and Talen followed the same routine of being yanked out of bed early in the morning for the next month and a half. Ark also followed the same routine of sitting next to Nyaragon, sitting on Nyaragon or sleeping on Nyaragon. But he didn't seem to mind. Rather; Ark seemed quite listless ever since returning from Zeel's realm. It wasn't due to the bite she had given him just before she had released him, Florella had confirmed that, but he just seemed rather quiet and contemplative- more so than usual. He didn't even seem to concerned about the amount of water surrounding him, but that was perhaps because he felt safe with Nyaragon. His companions and Nyaragon in particular seemed to be just a little troubled by his behavior, but he assured them that there was nothing wrong and that he was just thinking about things. Nyaragon didn't mind so long as she got to stay close.
"They seem even odder than usual," Fura chuckled as she sat on top of a stray barrel in the warm sunlight. The weather had warmed dramatically as they neared the equator. Link was back in his green tunic- much to his delight- and the rest of the group had also changed into cooler clothing. Saria was back in her Kokiri Tunic, though she had decided to forego wearing her boots since her feet kept getting too hot. Zelda wore an odd little outfit that consisted of a rather short bodice that showed her stomach if she lifter her arms, and a short dress-bottom that sometimes showed a little too much leg when the wind kicked up. She also seemed to find a great deal of amusement in showing that particular fact off to a rather uncomfortable Link. Florella wore a rather loose-fitting, sleeveless white tunic and her favorite pair of dainty little sandals. The fairy girl had also drawn her hair back into a thick ponytail similar to Zelda's, but she had left herself a fringe that hung down to near her shoulders, framing her face. Talen wore a pair of long shorts and his usual plain, sleeveless shirt. Ark's usually heavy load of clothing had lessened slightly. His cloak had gone and he wore a simple shirt and long shorts that were quite similar to Talen's. Impa wore her Sheikah outfit and Fura continued to wear the clothes she had left Aurora in.
"Who?" Link grunted from his semi-reclined snoozing position against the side of Fura's barrel. She tapped her feet against his cheeks before pointing one of them at Nyaragon and Ark. The Bloodcat and the grey-haired boy were sitting quietly near the prow of the ship.
"They just look so odd together. Nyaragon's so big and Ark's rather small," Fura smiled. "He really does look like her pet."
"I think it's sweet," Zelda said with a small nod. The Princess sat a small distance from Link with a cat's cradle, weaving it into a variety of complex patterns. "They're so funny sometimes. Ark's all manners and formality while Nyara just says and does what she thinks."
"Like licking the skin of or poor Ark's face," Link murmured sleepily. Fura caught his ears between her toes and pulled them back.
"Don't be mean…and don't fall asleep either," she chided him.
"But she got me up so early," Link moaned.
"So you can keep an eye on Ark," Zelda said. "For somebody as gentle as he is, the boy really has been through a lot. Nyara even tells us that he has terrible nightmares sometimes. He's lucky to have her there when he wakes up." Link mumbled something of an affirmative.
"You know, I had some bad dreams while you were away," Fura said, leaning forward and looking down at Link from atop her barrel. Link blinked and looked up at her. "But not all of them were like that. Some of them involved things that shouldn't be mentioned in front of children." Zelda blushed and got the giggles while the blonde boy looked confused.
"What's so funny?" Link frowned. Fura leaned down and cupped her hand to his ear and whispered something into it. Link looked rather puzzled at first, but then his expression changed quickly to shock and then embarrassment. Zelda had to cover her mouth with her hand to quell her laughter.
"Fura!" Link gasped. "I most certainly would never ever do…something like that! I don't think I can look at honey in quite the same way ever again." Fura laughed at him.
"Oh don't be a prude. It's perfectly normal." Link shuddered before looking disdainfully at Zelda as she rolled onto her back in a fit of giggling.
"Yeah, but pouring it over…eww, I'm going to see what Talen's doing so you can't put more horrid images in my head. Yuck." Link stood while Fura and Zelda laughed him away.
"Hah, the seeds have been sewn. He'll be thinking about that for some time now," Fura grinned as she rubbed her hands together.
"That was evil," Zelda told the smug-looking Gerudo. The Princess paused and looked about before lowering her voice to a hushed whisper. "What…was your dream about exactly?" Fura quirked an eyebrow.
"What's this? The sweet and innocent Princess of Hyrule wants to know about the dreams of a depraved Gerudo temptress?" she asked in mock surprise. Zelda gave her a flat look.
"Depraved temptress?" she snorted. "Fura, what would you do if Link suddenly did try to get into your rather tight-fitting pants?" Fura looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"I'd probably slap him around and set his cap on fire," she admitted truthfully. "I love the idiot more than anything, but until I'm old enough I don't want anybody getting into my pants…not even Link. It'll be a different story in a few years though. Ahh…a night of passion with my one true love." The Gerudo slowly pulled her lips back into a devilish smile. "However…I definitely wouldn't say no if, by some kind of divine intervention; Linkie-pie-darling decided to do a bit of roaming with his hands." She giggled and clasped her hands to her face.
"Fura!" Zelda gasped.
"Hey, look who's talking!" Fura exclaimed defensively. "You may act like little miss proper, but you can misbehave just as much as me." Zelda blushed and grinned.
"That's true I suppose…but you still haven't told me about your dream yet. If you tell me about yours…" Zelda frowned thoughtfully. "Then I'll tell you about mine." The two girls laughed and looked across the deck to where Talen and Link were throwing a small cloth ball to each other. Link missed a catch and was struck in the side of the face when he jerked his head around suddenly to give the Princess and the Fire Witch a suspicious gaze.
The party sailed for another week in the hot weather and spent a majority of the time in various states of lethargy. Fura seemed relatively unaffected by the heat, but was more than happy to lie around with everyone else. Both the Gerudo and Zelda refrained from teasing Link in the heat and the three of them managed to spend a good deal of time together without Link stomping off in an embarrassed huff. Ark was more than happy to sit in Nyaragon's comfortably-sized shadow while the Bloodcat carefully groomed his hair with her sharp claws. In return, Ark scratched her under the chin.
Talen and Florella found a quiet, shady spot to spend the time playing checkers and other games the Great Fairy was so fond of. Talen, of course; allowed her to win a majority of the games so as to keep the peace. Florella was a Great Fairy, but her child-like body seemed to take the reins sometimes and she got horribly temperamental, but it only seemed to happen with other people, Link in particular. When Talen's blonde friend had first noticed Florella's antennae protruding from her mass of dark purple hair he had made some remark about the fact that she really was an annoying little insect. That set the fairy girl off and she launched herself at Link and the two became engaged in some kind of hair-pulling altercation. However; to Talen she was always sweet and smiley, but she could get upset if she thought he was trying to ignore or avoid her. Truth be told; Talen had tried to avoid her on several occasions during the voyage to the Meera village, but it wasn't out of dislike for the fairy girl; it was due to the fact that he was trying to shape the piece of Gorodite he had received from the sunken city of Seavale. Florella could absolutely not see what he was creating until it was ready for her, so Talen took great pains to work on it in secret…though doing so on the confines of a ship was no easy task. Aside from Talen himself, Link was the only other person who knew what he was working on, and he intended to keep it that way until Florella was presented with it.
"Nyaragon hungry." Ark blinked his eyes open and sat up straight. He had fallen asleep against the Bloodcat's side in the warm sun.
"Hungry?" he murmured, rubbing his yes. "Oh…well I'm sure we can find you something in the galley." He heard her stomach grumble and she looked up at the sky.
"Seagulls look tasty," she purred eagerly. "Nyaragon like to have tasty seagulls. Nyaragon not eat bird for a long time." She licked her lips appreciatively and continued to stare at the birds circling above. "Meat taste better raw." Ark cringed as the image of Nyara crunching into a seagull complete with feathers, claws and beak crept into his mind. Seeing her eat live animals was disgusting, but, thankfully, rare. A sudden thought occurred to Ark.
"Erm…Miss Nyara?" he asked tentatively.
"Mmm?" The Bloodcat fixed her large eyes on him.
"Ah…what kind of things do you eat at home?" Nyara smiled, cottoning onto what he seemed a little worried about.
"Ark no have to eat raw things," she assured him. "Ark can have cooked meat. There also lots of fruit and plants to eat." Ark looked instantly relieved. "But Ark have to try Eebie Grub."
"E-Eebie Grub?"
"Big, fat, juicy grub that live in dead trees. One of Meera's favorite things to eat. Pop grub in mouth and swallow, yum," she told him with a look of anticipation evident on her face. "Nyaragon pick out nice big one for Ark."
"Oh…thank you, Miss Nyara," the boy replied. He didn't sound all that enthused.
Nyaragon had gone off to find something to eat, leaving Ark with Talen. The two boys sat in the afternoon sun and simply stared out to sea. Talen glanced across at his friend's pensive expression and frowned.
"Rupee for your thoughts?" he asked. Ark blinked and looked at him.
"Pardon? Oh…it's nothing," Ark assured the smith.
"Come on," Talen told him. "You've bee like this for most of the voyage. What's wrong? Talking about it could help." Ark looked unsure of himself for a few moments before speaking.
"It's…Miss Zeel," he murmured. Talen blinked.
"Oh," he said. "What about her?"
"Well…it's been a while since she's shown up, but she's never really taken this long to appear again." Talen shrugged.
"And that bothers you?" he asked. Ark made an odd expression.
"Well no…but she said something to me just before she let me go," Ark murmured. "She said something about everything is at stake for her…and that I'm pretty much the center of it all. I get the feeling that perhaps her reward can't be measured in terms of monetary value. For all we know she could be getting a cure for a disease she has…maybe she only has a short while left to live, but then again it could be anything. Perhaps the reason for her not turning up for the past two months or so is because she's sick." Ark sighed and put his face in his hands. "Despite everything I don't want something bad to happen to her. She may leave a lot to be desired in terms of personality, but she isn't a bad person." There was silence between the two boys for a while as they both mulled over what had been said. Talen turned back to Ark once more as the smaller boy gazed out to sea with a worried look on his face.
"Then you're a big man, Ark," the smith told him, putting his hand on Ark's shoulder. "Most people wouldn't take the time to care about somebody like Zeel. In a way she's quite lucky."
There was a cry from the lookout in the crow's nest the following morning, signaling the appearance of land on the horizon. It wouldn't, however; be a direct stop since there was no port. The ship was to moor a short distance from the coast whereupon the party would row to shore in the longboats. The ship would then continue its voyage. Impa was there to make sure everybody was packed and ready to load their equipment into the longboats.
"Come on, children," the Sheikah woman said levelly. "We don't want to keep the sailors waiting longer than necessary."
"We're packed," Link said cheerfully. "It's just those lazy girls you're waiting on."
"Oh shut up, Link," Florella grumbled. "Go and drive somebody else to the edge of insanity." Impa shook her head and stepped out of the cabin to put the boys' packs in a pile ready to be loaded onto the longboats.
"Sorry, Florella," he murmured. The fairy looked at him sharply.
"All right, what are you up to?" she sighed.
"Nothing!" he exclaimed innocently. "I just don't want to upset the terrifying Ant Queen." Florella shook her head in disgust.
"They do have one use, Link," she muttered. The two antennae atop her head wiggled and then stuck up straight. A tiny bolt of pink energy arced between them and built up between the tips before a small spark or pink jumped from the antennae to the tip of Link's nose. He squawked and jumped about as his nose buzzed uncomfortably. Fura burst out laughing while Florella grinned triumphantly at him. Impa returned at that moment and glanced at Link hopping about the cabin clutching his nose. She turned her attention to Florella.
"Florella, if you have time to torment Link, then you have time to pack. Chop, chop," the Sheikah woman murmured. Florella made a small squeak.
"But it was him!" she exclaimed. "He-" Link was standing behind Impa with his tongue sticking out at the fairy girl. Florella ground her teeth together and Link hopped out of the cabin where she couldn't do anything else to him.
Once the girls were finally ready and the ship had dropped its anchor in the bright blue waters of the tropical coast, Impa put all of the equipment safely into two longboats. The two rowboats were then lowered into the water at which point the group slit in half and climbed down into the small crafts. They were then rowed to shore by two crewmen before disembarking and watching the two longboats head back to the ship from the white, sandy beach. Behind them lay a dense tropical forest filled with the sounds of teeming wildlife- birds, insects and who knows what.
"Ooh!" Saria squealed, wriggling her toes. "It's good to be back on land after two months of being stuck on that ship."
"Nyaragon home," the Bloodcat said, turning to face the forest. "Meera village not too far from here. Everybody follow Nyaragon." For some strange reason, she didn't appear to be that excited about being back. Yet only Ark seemed to notice.
"Miss Nyara? Is there something wrong?" Nyaragon turned her head to the sound of the small voice beside her and saw Ark struggling to keep up with her while the others followed along behind. The Bloodcat frowned and cut through the foliage in front of her with her sharp claws.
"What does Ark mean?" Nyaragon asked.
"You seem, well…not that excited to be home. Don't you want to see your family again?" the boy asked curiously. Nyaragon winced.
"Of course Nyaragon want to see family," she said. "But…Nyaragon is…" She trailed off, seemingly ashamed of what she was going to say. "Nyaragon is…Nyaragon's family didn't have high hopes for her." Ark looked shocked.
"They didn't!? Why in the world not?" he gasped. "Look at you! You're a big Bloodcat! You're so…" Ark trailed off and tried to think of something to say. "I don't think anybody could have anything but high hopes for you." Nyaragon grinned. Ark seemed to take the news as some kind of personal insult.
"Ark nice," she said, patting him roughly on the head and ripping a branch out of her way at the same time. "But it not like that. Parents love Nyaragon lots…but it because of…eeh…hard for Nyaragon to say." Ark nodded.
"That's all right," Ark smiled. "Is the village far from here?" The Bloodcat shook her head, her spirits seemingly lifted.
"Village near. We get there in few hours."
The group continued moving through the forest at a respectable speed thanks to the path Nyaragon cut for them. However; as they got nearer and nearer their destination, Nyaragon seemed to get increasingly nervous.
"Perhaps we should stop for a brief rest," Impa said suddenly. "This spot is relatively clear, what do you think." The Bloodcat nodded and they all gratefully sat down.
"Ugh, I've never liked slogging through the heat," Link grunted, pulling his boots off and wiggling his toes in the air. "The desert I can handle, but it's too humid in the tropics."
"Link can swim in Meera river when we get to village," Nyaragon told the boy. "Nice and cool." Link looked infinitely pleased.
"Well I think I'll be changing into something a little cooler when we arrive. I'm all hot and itchy," Florella sighed.
"Perhaps your loyal subjects have something to do with that," Link murmured, pulling his cap off and running his finger through his hair. Florella narrowed an eye at him.
"What?" Link pointed at her.
"You have ants crawling all over you." Florella's antennae twanged straight up and she looked down at herself to see a trail of tiny black ants crawling into her tunic. The fairy girl lumped up with a squeal of terror and began dancing about in an attempt to rid herself of the insects.
"Eek! They're everywhere! Talen! Get them off me!" she shrieked.
"How?" the smith asked in confusion. "I'm not yanking your clothes off to get at them."
"Wahahaha!" Florella wailed, brushing furiously at her arms and legs. Nyaragon's ears pricked up while the others stood about in various states of uncertainty. She charged at Florella and picked her up before rushing off into the jungle at top speed. The others ran after them, making note of where they left their packs so they could come back to claim them. Nyaragon ran around trees, jumped over fallen logs and hacked into palm fronds before arriving at the bank of a meandering river. Without a second thought, she hurled the squealing Florella into the air and straight into the water just as the rest of the group caught up. A dark purple mass of hair broke the surface of the water followed by Florella's face. She looked like she was about to crack. Nyaragon smiled in a self-congratulatory manner.
"Water is best way to get rid of bugs," she told everyone. "Jump in river if get ants on body." Link peered at the wet and miserable-looking fairy in the water and smiled cheerfully.
"Learning is fun." Florella started bawling.
With Florella back in dry clothes after her de-anting dip in the river, the party was once again on the move.
"Look! I can see smoke, we must be close!" Saria said excitedly. Nyaragon's ears drooped and she frowned.
"Is there something the matter?" Ark asked the Bloodcat. Nyaragon slowed to a stop and peered into the lush foliage ahead of her.
"Nyaragon want to see everybody again…" she murmured, her expression growing steadily more anxious. "But Nyaragon is only…" The others looked at her strangely.
"Only what, Miss Nyara?" Ark queried. "What's the matter? You're only what?" Nyaragon's nerves broke and her image warped before she instantaneously shrank and became Nyara once more. The tawny-furred Meera looked at herself.
"Nyara is only a runt!" she wailed. There was silence from the group as they gazed at her in surprise.
"N-Nyara! You're back to normal," Zelda squeaked.
"Well I'll be," Link blinked. "Well at least she isn't as scary as before."
"R-runt?" Ark asked in confusion.
"Hoo, wait a minute!" Fura commanded, waving her hands. "Are you telling us that you're-"
"Nyara smallest in family! One of smallest in village for Nyara's age too! Nyara runt!" she cried in embarrassment. She clasped her hands to he face and looked at the ground.
"But…that's the smallest?" Link coughed. "How can that be?" The others murmured amongst themselves in agreement.
"Yeah! I mean…you're hardly a little girl," Fura scoffed, looking closely at her. "I'm considered busty by most standards…but those rockmelons on your chest are bigger than min-"
"Fura!" Link cried. "Do you have to?"
"I can't help it," the Gerudo said lamely.
"I think she means overall size, Fura," Impa told the girl, hiding a smile behind her hand. "Nyara must be the smallest out of all of her siblings." The party looked at Nyara as she fidgeted in shame.
"The rest must be huge then. Nyara, you're nearly as big as Link and Talen," Zelda told the animal girl. "You are not small, and are most certainly not a runt."
"You were huge just before," Talen said, stepping towards her. "And I'm sure your family wouldn't see you as a runt if you became a Bloodcat again, right?" Nyara fidgeted and murmured something. She seemed especially determined not to look at Ark.
"We go now. Village close," she murmured, wandering away from the group and back to where the packs were.
Since Nyara was no longer Nyaragon the Bloodcat, she couldn't simply hack through the foliage that barred the way. Instead, Link chopped through the dense fronds and tangled vines with his sword while the Meera girl pointed out the way. It was tough going, but they made reasonably good time with what little distance they had left between themselves and the Meera village. The smoke from the village was soon joined by the sounds of voices. The village was but yards away.
"Through there," Nyara said, pointing at a veritable wall of jungle. "Then we at village." Link nodded and gripped his sword.
"I'm looking forward to having a nice, cool swim. What's the water like, Florella?" he grinned at the fairy. She gave him a flat, unfriendly stare. "Brr! Did it just get cold out here? Lighten up, Porks-a-lot-" Link's little jibe at Florella was suddenly cut short by a gruff shout from the jungle.
"Halt!" it growled. "Who go near village of the Meera?"
