When I say I am on a serious writing spree, I really do mean it!
Heya! I'm back at it again!
I kinda wanted this chapter as long as the last one, but I also knew with Christmas now on the way, I might not get to keep my writing spree going…
No reviews to answer this time around, but I do wanna give a shoutout to rulink for following! This ones for you!
Now that that's all done,
On With The Story!
It was dark that night, but nature continued to go about their ways with hoots and chirps echoing throughout the wooden land. Nights were calm, but loud with nature; no night being completely silent.
At least, not when it's a time of peace.
One by one the animals of the night fell into a hush as footsteps made their way through the woods. The figures made their way onward, glancing up through the trees to make sure they were going the right way. Far ahead, to the east, smoke was rising from the trees. It was soft smoke, one of a small fire trying to go unnoticed, but it was consistent, and stayed in the same place, and that's how they knew someone was there.
)*()*()*(
Groggily opening his eyes, Vio tiredly noticed how it was still nighttime as he looked at the small fire. Looking around, he caught sight of Shadow and Green sitting towards the left, away from the others as they watched the fire flicker snap, pop, and crack. Vio had to think back to before they all went to bed to determine who was on watch right now, and just exactly what time it was.
"Shelda took first watch, Green took second, and Blue took third." Was Vio's conclusion, remembering them deciding that before bed, and realizing that that meant it had to be the middle of the night. Knowing he won't be able to fall back asleep any time soon, Vio carefully sat up, aware of the ting in his arms and chest, as well as the pressure that had more or less disappeared, but there if he thought about it. Getting up, Vio grabbed his blanket and carefully walked around the others to where Shadow and Green now watched him.
"Morning." was what Vio mumbled as he sat beside Green on the floor, Shadow sitting on an old stump beside him.
"I wish." Shadow replied with a bite to his words as he tried to suppress a yawn.
"Shadow didn't sleep well, and can't fall back asleep." Green explained simply to Vio who nodded in acknowledgement. They all sat there quietly, each of them in their own heads as they watched the fire. Everything was calm, and Vio was just about to doze back to sleep when it happened; Green went rigid beside him, the hairs on his back going up, his ears perked as he looked out into the woods. Now on alert, Vio shared a look with Shadow before straining to hear something, but couldn't hear anything besides the sounds of the night. He was getting ready to ask Green what was wrong, but before he could, the woods suddenly went silent and Green out of nowhere ducked as something flew past right where the wolf's head was. Hearing a distinct 'thunk', Vio looked behind him to see what it was.
It was an arrow lodged into a tree.
"We're under attack!" Vio heard Shadow shot out as dark beings came flooding out of the treelines. Everyone was on immediate alert, and was up and fighting in no time. Grabbing his bow and arrows, Vio took a quick look around to see who could use some help. Shadow was fighting off some Duku sprout soldiers, seeming to be ok. Red and Blue were back to back, covering each other's blind spots as they fought. Shelda seemed to be trying to make her way to Shadow, but was caught between two Dark Knights. Green seemed to be the only one not actually fighting, more of distracting the soldiers so they didn't overpower the others. As he stood there, a Dark Knight came out of nowhere behind Vio, pulling his sword back, ready to strike. Arrow nocked and thinking quickly, Vio spun around and fired. His arms and back screamed at him when he drew back, causing the arrow to fly to the left a bit, knocking the sword out of the Dark Knight's hand. Taking his body into account this time, Vio nocked another arrow and fired; this time hitting his mark right into the opening of its helmet, right between the eyes. He watched as it collapsed into a pile of armor before completely evaporating. Looking around once more, Vio could see they were still outnumbered, no matter how many the others seemed to have taken down. Firing a few shots to assist the others was hard enough, but now he could feel the tightness in his chest again. Shaking his head, Vio closed off all feeling in his body, and allowed muscle memory to do its job as he fired one arrow after another, taking down as many knights as he could.
And then it happened.
Vio wasn't sure exactly what happened, but he remembered firing at a couple knights that seemed to be surrounding Shelda as she took the last one. He watched as she disarmed the Dark Knight from his sword, but didn't take his shield into enough account. One swing was all it took as it seemed to hit her square in the chest. Vio was close enough to hear a 'crack' sound when the shield made contact, but didn't have time to think about it when both Shelda and Shadow let out a howl of pain, both collapsing to the ground trembling.
"I knew it" He heard the Knight say as Vio shot arrows at any knights that came close, seeing out of the corner of his eye as it kicked the now weak Shelda to lay on her back,
"Do you think you're smart?" reaching out and grabbing what looked like a necklace from under her shirt and lifted it up to see. Taking a quick glance at Shadow, he could see both Blue and Red protecting him as they fought off more Knights, and Green suddenly jumping in teeth bared at any more soldiers that entered the clearing. As the Knight pulled on Shelda's necklace, and in turn her, he could see the fear in her eyes as she desperately but weakly tried to pry it out of his hands as he continued to examine it. Moving before he could think anymore, Vio rushed over with an arrow nocked and ready. Dodging some soldiers that tried to grab at him, Vio slid in right behind Shelda, drawing his bow. He had a clear shot that he took; the arrow flying right past Shelda's head and into the Knight's eye, turning him to smoke. With nothing holding her up now, Shelda dropped like dead weight to the ground as another 'crack' was heard under the sound of both shadowlings shouting in pain.
"Red, I need cover!" Vio called out as he shot another arrow before crouching down beside Shelda. Red was quick to respond and was by his side in no time fighting off the soldiers that came near.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he watched Shedla lay there on her side and trembled, hair falling out of her updo, clutching her necklace in a scared, gentle grasp.
"The mirror." She gasps, "It cracked."
"What do you mean?" He asked, suddenly worried as he remembered what Shadow told him about Dark Mirrors. "Where is your mirror?" In answer, Shelda held out her necklace with trembling hands. A locket laid in her hands that was gold in a triangular shape, and with a shaky press with her finger, the locket opened to reveal a familiar tinted piece of glass. Only now, three spiderweb cracks spread along its reflective surface with a blunt force crack near the bottom.
"Shit." Vio couldn't help but whisper as he looked at it. Glancing up, he could see they were easily losing with two down and the others having to try and protect them. Firing a few shots to try and help, Vio felt his arms tremble as he bit his lip. Not wanting to, but knew they had to, Vio shouted out,
"Everyone split up, and head to the rondevu point!" Then turned and added to Red,
"Take Shelda, I'll cover you."
"Wait!" Shelda said with a gasp as Red nodded and came to help her stand. Reaching out, Shelda grabbed Vios hand and placed the locket in the palm of his hand, before taking it off her own neck, closing his hand around the cool metal.
"They'll come after me to destroy it." She explained. Vio nodded in understanding, slipping the necklace on as Red helped her up and more or less dragged her into the woods.
"Vio! Take Shadow! Blue, stay with me in case I 'snap'." Vio fired a couple more shots before running and grabbing his and a couple other random satchels that sat close by, then running to where Blue stood over Shadow, fighting off two other Knights. Vio pulled his bow back out and shot one in the eye, leaving the other to Blue.
"You got him?" Blue asked, finishing the knight as Vio struggled to pull Shadow off the ground. Clenching his teeth, Vio took a couple puffs of air before pulling Shadow to his feet, an arm wrapped around his waist and the other pulling his brother's arm around his neck.
"I got him!"
"Head out, me and Green will hold them off!" Nodding, Vio almost had to drag Shadow out of the clearing into the woods before the shadowlings adrenaline kicked back in and started running with Vio. The sound of a wolf snarling echoed through the woods as they ran. The woods blurred by them as they went, jumping over fallen limbs and tripping over roots. Vio felt his chest tighten even more than before as they pressed on, his breathing coming out in short, fast puffs of air until it got so bad after a good 30 minutes of running that Vio felt like he couldn't breath.
"Hang on." He wheezed as he fell against a tree, taking Shadow with him.
"What's wrong?" Shadow asked, panting as he held onto the tree and watched Vio slide down into a kneeling position. Vio tried to answer, he really did, but it was becoming so hard to breath, all that came out when he tried to speak was wheezing breaths. He felt like the air wasn't even able to pass through his mouth, no matter how he tried to breath. Letting go of Shadow, Vio reached down and tried to rub his chest and relieve it, but that didn't seem to work.
"Is it your lungs?" Shadow asked as he kneeled down as well, trying to rub Vio's back, hoping it'll help. Vio nodded in answer, still not being able to talk as he felt his lungs constrict, even more with every inhale and exhale. He was vaguely aware of one of the satchels being taken off his shoulder as his eyes watered due to the lack of oxygen he was receiving from his body. He felt like he would pass out any minute, and was quite scared of the thought of not knowing what to do. He felt useless to his own body's revolt, and didn't know a thing that could help. He was contemplating telling Shadow to go on without him and just leave him here to die his slow death when he felt a hand on his face angle it upwards, a wooden bowl quickly being pressed against his lips.
"Shallow!" Was Shadow panicked command as a thick liquid entered Vio's mouth. After everything that happened, a big part of Vio's brain told him to spit it out, spot it out, spititout- but the other part, the part desperate to live, willingly took a hold of the bowl swallowed all that it contained, trusting Shadow as the strong taste of ginger hit his tongue. He felt his chest loosen, if not slightly, but enough for him to breathe, which he gladly did. Tears of relief fell down his cheeks as he breathed in the sweet sweet oxygen his lungs craved for, leaning heavily on the tree beside him. After a moment of getting his breathing somewhat back, Vio looked over to Shadow, who honestly looked just about as great as he felt; bags hung under his pain filled eyes, sweat beating off his face causing his hair to cling to his forehead, breathing in puffs of air while he trembled in what Vio assumed was pain.
"Thank you." he gasped out, his voice coming out airy and weak. Shadow nodded in acknowledgement,
"I remembered Shelda making that last night. I don't think I got it completely right, but I know she said ginger is an important ingredient that helps respiratory illnesses."
"Yeah," Vio agreed, speaking in between breaths, "I remember her saying that too." They sat there for a bit while they got their breathing under control before either of them said anything else; the night became quiet as nature returned to singing its songs.
"We need to get to the rondevu point as quickly as possible." Vio stated, panting, as he continued to lean against the tree, the whole lung episode leaving his body weak and frail.
"We can take our time for now," Shadow added as he put away everything he pulled out of the satchel he grabbed, Vio just now realizing he had grabbed Shelda's, along with his own and Blue's.
"I might have died if I didn't end up grabbing hers." He couldn't help but think in a somewhat haze as Shadow put the last of the stuff away.
"I don't think anyone is following us." Shadow added as they sat there, both hesitant to move. Vio opened his mouth, reading to agree, when Shadow gasped out in abrupt pain as his whole body tensed up for a few seconds before shuddering, a hiss escaping him as it passed. Suddenly worried, Vio reached out to grab his shoulders,
"What is it?" Shadow shook his head as he leaned forward against Vio's arms,
"The mirror was cracked at some point in that battle." He explained with battered breath while Vio guided him to sit beside the tree, allowing both of them to lean against it.
"I know." Vio stated as he pulled out a half empty canteen of water to hand to Shadow, "I was there when Shelda got hit with a shield square in her chest." He watched Shadow nod before taking a swing of water, before letting out a sigh, and looking even more tired.
"I don't know how bad it's damaged," Shadow admitted as Vio took a sip of water himself,
"But as long as it's damaged, it'll continue to cause weakness and bounts of pain to Shelda and I as a kind of resistance from our bodies for not getting the correct amount of magic from the mirror." Vio thought for a second, biting his lip before pulling out the necklace, and showing the inside of the locket to Shadow,
"I think it's kinda bad."
"How did you get that?" Shadow exclaimed worriedly, completely missing Vio's comment as he took the locket and caressed it in both hands.
"Shelda gave it to me before we split up." he answered, "Said they might try to hunt her down to destroy it." Vio watched as Shadow looked at it, a sorrow look upon his face as he nodded in acknowledgement. They were quiet for a bit, Vio having nothing to say as he continued to cherish his ability to breath, until Shadow gently closed the locket and handed it back,
"We should get moving." He said quietly. On one hand, Vio just wanted to sit here for the rest of the night until one of the others found him and carried him back, but, on the other hand, there was a huge chance the others wouldn't be able to find them; hence the point of having a rondevu.
"Yeah." He agreed as he mentally prepared to move again, "The others will be worried." Both watched the other, waiting for one to move first. Sighing, Vio braced himself as he grabbed on to the tree's bark and pulled himself up to a standing position. Taking a moment to get his bearings, Vio reached down and helped Shadow stand as well. They stood there for a second before Vio went ahead and took Shadow's arm and threw it over his shoulder, and wrapping his other arm around the shadowling's waist. No words were exchanged as they pressed on, both were too exhausted to try and keep up a conversation. All they could do was press on, and hope they get to their destination soon.
)*()*()*(
Shelda sat with a blanket draped over her as she leaned on the headboard of the bed Red had taken her to; said boy sat on the floor by her legs, arm in her lap as he held a bloody needle and string with his other hand, a small trail of blood creeping down his face from a wound somewhere above his hairline. She was in the slow process of helping him restitch his arm, the last stitches had got pulled out in the fight. They both sat in Malon's room at Lon Lon Ranch to give them some privacy while they tended to their wounds, having only arrived about an hour ago; Thankfully able to escape any pursuers on their way here. Shelda couldn't help but be amused at the fact that Malon remembered her, and then jokingly lecturing the shadow girl about bringing injured Links to their house. Both her and her father became worried, however, as Red explained everything; from where they have been, to the ambush at camp, to them spitting up and making this their rondevu. She herself felt too weak to do so, and was put in the bed to rest her pained body.
Which brought them to now; Shelda feeling the constant sweating and tremors of pain throughout her body as she helped Red guide his steady hand through his skin. She stopped with a gasp of pain as her entire body's pain suddenly spiked to an unbearable high, but only lasting a few seconds before it quickly diminished, leaving her body to shudder before settling back to the previous discomfortable tremors.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Red asked as he watched her heavily lean on the headboard, gasping for air "That's the third time that's happened now, and you look worse!" Shelda felt her hair, now down, clinging to her sweaty body as she shook her head, saying in a whisper,
"I'm not Red, I'm sorry." She briefly made eye contact through half lidded eyes as she continued, "The damage to the mirror has caused an unbalance in my lifeforce, which causes physical pain." Then she closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to whoever would hear that the pain could at least lessen in some way, but opened them again when she felt a hand on hers. Glancing down, she noticed Red's hand on hers as he looked at her with worry, pity, and a few tears in his eyes.
"Is there anything we can do?" he asked, his voice soft and seemingly innocent.
"Not until Vio gets here with the mirror." she answered with a sigh, "Even then, it might not be much." she watched Red for a second to make sure there wasn't anything else he wanted to say before she looked out of the window to her right, one thought entering her mind;
"Let's hope it's soon. For both of our sakes."
)*()*()*(
He grunted as he pushed a knight off of him, glancing behind to see Vio and Shadow disappear into the trees. Letting out a huff, Blue knew he had to buy them time, and charge into the next dark fucker that dared try to pass him. He had tried to keep an eye on where Green was, making sure the wolf was ok as he stabbed another knight in the chest, turning it to smoke, but could only catch glimpses of his fur coat between all the dark soldiers.
A good twenty minutes pass, Blue huffing as he stands in front of four of the last of the Dark Knights. A deep slice on his right shoulder flared with pain, along with other nicks across his body that the knights were lucky enough to get. Deciding the others had enough of a lead, Blue called out to his partner, who was on the other side of the wall of knights, dealing with the rest,
"Alright, I think we can head out now!" A spike of fear went through him as he heard no response, and his yelling was enough of a cue for the knights to advance on him. Thinking like the skilled swordsman he is, Blue dodge two of their attacks, quickly blocking the third with his shield, before slicing the forth in half, turning it to smoke.
"I thought they were in this realm." He thought bitterly as he kicked the one into its friend before blocking an attack from the third one, then grabbing the hilt of its sword and thrusted his own into its neck. Two down, two to go.
"So why are they turning to fucking smoke?!" Before he could think anymore, Blue was thrown to the floor with a grunt, his sword flying out of his hand. He glared at the Dark Knight that seemed to be smiling as it held him down, having been thrown by the first and tackling Blue to the floor. Blue struggled as the Dark Knight saddled him, and raised its sword to plunge it into the blue clad one's chest. Thinking quickly, he took his shield and sliced it at the knight's neck, ignoring his shoulder screaming in pain as he successfully decapitated it and turning it to smoke. Once the last one approached, Blue knew where his sword was and easily rolled out of its attack and grabbed his sword, jumping to his feet all in one swift move. Taking a quick look around, Blue couldn't find Green, and six more knights were advancing on him. Cursing under his breath, Blue realized that he'll have to flee with or without Green. Preparing himself, and double checking he wasn't turned around and would run the right way, Blue grabbed his hammer from his satchel, and threw it at one of the closest knight's head before bolting the other way into the woods. His body screamed at him to stop, and take a break, but the sound of clanking metal told him he was being pursued. He ran for a good two miles before the sound of their pursuit vanished into the night. Slowing down, Blue gasped for air as he quickly found a spot in the undergrowth to hide in to catch his breath. Taking deep breaths, Blue looked around to make sure no one was after him. Once the coast was clear, Blue sighed in relief before pulling out his blanket to tear a piece off and bandage his shoulder, the night critters returning to their calm as time passed. As he finished, Blue perked up at the sound of something making its way through the woods. Taking a silent peek around his hiding spot, Blue felt a wash of relief at the sight of a familiar wolf, and he quickly stepped out of hiding as he called out,
"There you are Green! I was-" he stopped mid sentence, his skin running cold at the red, merciless eyes that stared back at him, fear keeping him in place. Green's hair went up as a growl rang out, and that was all Blue needed to snap back.
"Shit!" he cursed as he turned and bolted the opposite way, the cursed wolf giving a snarl before following close behind him.
"Shit shit shit shitshitshitshit" way all he could think as he ran through the woods, trying not to trip on anything. As he ran, Blue couldn't wrap his head around an idea of how he could snap Green out of it without whacking him with a shield.
"But if worse comes to worse," He thought as he ran "I just might have to.-" His thoughts came to an immediate stop as the trees broke away all of a sudden, and revealed a ravine straight ahead of him. Desperately skidding to a stop, Blue came right to the edge before stopping, sighing in relief as he caught his balance and not falling down the seemingly bottomless crack in the world.
"Wait.." he thought out loud, remember back in the day taking patrols through this part of the woods, "I don't remember a ravine being here-" forgetting about his pursuer, a huge weight ramming into his back caught Blue by surprise, and knocked him over the second time that day, down the ravine. Looking over his shoulder, Blue caught sight of his cursed brother, who dug a claw into his back with a snarl. Silently apologizing, Blue elbowed him in the head to dislodge him, before he remembered they were free falling down the ravine. Right as he thought that, Blue came too close to the wall, and a rock sticking out of the side smacked him in the head, knocking the boy unconscious immediately as him and Green hit the ground with a 'thump', a yip echoing into the dark chasm.
)*()*()*(
He let out a pitiful groan as he came to, a painful headache pounding in his skull as he laid on the cold, stone floor. Green blinked the blurriness from his eyes as he stared at a tall wall of gray stone in front of him.
"What..?" He thought, confused at his surroundings as he lifted his head. Somehow, he found himself at the borrow of what appeared to be a gorge. The last thing Green could recall was seeing Vio take Shadow into the woods to the rondevu before seeing a knight approaching Blue's blind side, not thinking twice until-
"Blue!" He called out, his headache momentarily forgotten as he looked around the gorge for his brother, quickly catching sight of him a few feet off to the right, lying in a pile of his own limbs. Quick to get up and rush over, Green took a good couple look overs on his brother to see his condition; blood trickled down his face and soaked his hair red from a nasty head wound near his temple, his shoulder had a makeshift bandage that was already bleeding through, and seemed to be dislocated, and his left leg from below the knee was sitting at an unnatural angle, indicating a break. Green couldn't help but whimper at the sight of his brother in such a horrible state, and he was guilty; it was all his fault. As he stood over Blue, a cold breeze blew through the gorge, reminding Green just how cold it probably was for the unconscious Link. Being mindful of his injuries, and being aware there might be more that he can't see; Green grabbed Blue's now torn blanket from his satchel and draped it over his body before protectively curling himself around Blue's body.
"Please be ok." He couldn't help but think as he looked up to the entrance to the gorge, praying to the goddesses. They fell a good 30, maybe 40 feet down here, and it was hard to tell if there would be any easy way to escape. All he could do was hope as he watched the sky above start to darken, indicating the break of dawn just only a few hours away.
"I'll take your shift for watch. Just wake up soon, ok?"
*clap* *jazz hands* No one's ok!
For starters, I really like the idea of Vio having the habit of biting his lip before inevitably saying or doing something he doesn't/shouldn't.
Also speaking of Vio, I'm not entirely sure if I should have him figure out just why his lungs are being stupid or not in this fic, or do y'all think it's kinda obvious what's going on? If it's not, I'll tell ya in next chapters AN, cuz I don't think it would be a common thing in those times
So originally, by the end of this chapter in my old notes, they should have gotten to Hyrule Castle already, but my wonderful friend who I bounce ideas off of (luvs you boo 3) helped me realize we need something in between. Don't worry now! They'll prob be at the castle by this coming chapter, or the next. Not exactly sure yet.
Any who! Hope y'all are still doing good, and I hope I can get another chapter done tomorrow before this writing spree fades from me, but I make no promises.
Hope everyone has a Good morning/night!
TELLER OUT!