Reclaiming Power
Chapter 3
A/N: Hi guys, I'm back! I wrote something, too! ^_^;
I'm really sorry if the following letters are missing from any part of my fic: m, u, t, p, z, 8, s, d, a
Those buttons on my keyboard tend to not work anymore. They *usually* do, but not all the time, and I might not always catch it. Also, my spellcheck is dead and the shift button doesn't work properly. Heh. Don't worry though; I'm fairly good with spelling. End of a/n.
Jason, Janine, and Kelsey trudged up the last of the stairs, all three of them out of breath. The castle stairs were way too long, they decided. They rested for a moment at the top, then started down the hallway to Link and Zelda's bedroom.
Jason reached the door first, noting that it was slightly ajar. His expression hardened when he stopped to listen for a second.
"What is it?" Janine, his twin sister, asked in a panic.
"It's Mom," he said, sounding concerned. "She's crying. What if Dad..?"
That was all he needed to say for the princess to shove past her brother and barge straight into the room. "Well!?" she cried. "What happened? Is Daddy okay?"
"I'm fine," Link said weakly, still hugging the sobbing Zelda. Janine raced over and hugged him as well. "It's Malon.. she's dead. At least, I'm pretty sure she's dead."
"What?" Kelsey cried. "My mom? DEAD? That can't..but..I.."
"It's okay, Kels," Jason said kindly, still standing back with her. "Everything's okay. Maybe..well..maybe.."
"See?" she said dismally, tears welling up in her eyes. "You can't say anything that proves that she's okay, and that must - it *must* - mean she's dead."
Janine just sat on her parents' bed in shock. Malon was like a second mother to her, and to her brother. Now she was gone. This only made the princess think of one thing: Revenge.
Zelda continued sobbing, and Link continued holding her and stoking her hair. All of a sudden, the hero cried out, clutching his chest as though he'd been stabbed. Janine let out a yelp and jumped up from the bed, backing away in fear. The three children watched in horror as Link fell victim to a mysterious pain that kept stabbing at him, and Zelda freaked out and tried desperately to make everything better.
"Hey," someone whispered from the doorway. Kelsey turned around and saw Rikaaya, looking confused. She motioned for the three of them to join her in the hallway, which they did.
"Rikaaya.." Janine said, almost feeling sorry for the Gerudo girl. She looked as if she was about to cry. When the princess noticed this, Rikaaya just turned away and wiped her face with her sleeve.
"Listen," she said coldly. "We obviously can't take your father with us, so we'll have to use our own abilities and talents to win this thing. Okay?"
"Okay," Kelsey said, which surprised everyone. Her tears had turned from sorrow to anger. She smiled when she noticed that everyone was surprised her eagerness to fight. "My mother was killed, and probably by our enemy. There is no way I'm going to let her go like this. I'll fight for her like she would have fought for me."
"Yeah.." Jason said, smiling faintly. "Well, if we're going, we need weapons. Come on; the training room has all sorts of stuff we can use."
The group made their way back down the stairs, snuck past the guards, and got into the training room. The prince rumaged through piled of weapons and equipment until he found four sheilds that looked like they could take some hits for them. He gave each of them one, but when he got to Rikaaya, she refused.
"I've got a sheild already," she said simply. Jason shrugged and put hers back, eyeing her suspiciously. Well, whatever, he finally thought.
He searched another pile for a few more minutes until he successfully pulled out a sword, a bow, a quiver, and five daggers. He got the sword and two daggers, Kelsey got the bow, quiver, and one dagger, and Janine got the remaining two daggers. Rikaaya, again, refused to take anything.
"What do I get to fight with?" Janine asked, staring at her daggers. "I doubt I can do much damage with *this.*"
"Be patient, woman," he laughed. "I've got something special in mind for you."
He led the way through the halls, while the other three trailed behind. "Where are we going?" Kelsey asked quietly, examining her bow.
"I don't know," Janine admitted. "I've never been to this part of the castle before."
"Why not?" Rikaaya asked, surprised. "This is your home."
"Yeah, but *look* at it," she said, disgusted. "It's all grungy and dirty and I was afraid of the rats and stuff."
"Rats?" the others said in unison. They had identical frightened looks on their faces. Janine just laughed and quickened her pace to catch up with her brother.
Jason opened the door at the end of the hall. He tried, anyway; the door was locked. "No problem," he said to himself. He pulled out a dagger and looked to Rikaaya. "You don't, by any chance, know how to pick a lock, do you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'm a theif, l know all about breaking and entering." Dispite her sarcastic voice, she took the dagger and picked the lock, true to her word. Jason opened the door and gestured for the ladies to enter first. Rikaaya rolled her eyes again and went in. As soon as she entered, though, she froze.
"Wow," Kelsey remarked. "It's the Triforce."
"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Janine demanded. Jason jumped back, frightened from his sister's screaming. "That's the TRIFORCE, you idiot! That's what the bad guys are after!"
"Exactly," he replied, staring at it with pride. "If *you* have it, *they* can't get it."
"You're an idiot," she snapped, walking over to it. She took a deep breath and randomly grabbed one of the pieces. "There. Happy now?"
The other three stared past the princess and at the two-pieced Triforce. "It.. it's gone!"
"What!?" Janine cried, turning around in horror. It had faded away into nothing. She turned back to her friends, her face pale. "This is bad. This is very bad. What is Mom going to say?"
Just then, a scream was heard from upstairs. The twins instantly recognized the voice as Zelda's. Jason looked back at his sister, his eyes laughing. "You're in deep. You're practically dead."
"What are you talking about? This was your idea!"
"Hey, you took it, not me."
The scream was repeated, only in a much angrier tone. This time it was a scream of frustration and rage. The four of them trembled as they realized that she was coming for them. The ceiling practially shook as the enraged Zelda stormed down to the Triforce room. Janine stuck the Triforce piece behind her back. As if that would stop Zelda from seeing it, as it illuminated the corner of the room in a bright green glow.
The door burst opened, and she walked calmy into the room. Too calmly. To the twins, it looked like she was about to snap. They both held their breath in terror.
"Who did this?" she asked quietly, holding up a radiant, blue Triforce piece. The girls all pointed at Jason, while he pointed at his sister.
"Aw, that's not fair," he said in defeat. He dismally turned to his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. But we were going to fight some bad guys and Janine had no weapon. I though she could use the magic. We're sorry."
"You mean *you're* sorry," Janine piped up. Jason shot her a look.
Much to thier surprise, Zelda did not flip out. She didn't yell and she didn't scream. She just took a deep breath and handed an astonished Jason the Triforce of Wisdom. "There. Protect it with your life. I can't take it because Link isn't well, and you have a better chance of keeping it safe than I do. Whatever you needed it for must have been important anyway." She also handed him the dazzlingly beautiful and radiant Ocarina of Time, their family's keepsake. She stared into his eyes. They were just like hers, bright and violet, glimmering with hope and a hint of fear. She smiled at him and let go of his hand. "Now, go on and save the world."
She calmly - and again, *too* calmly - left the room, letting the group to go off on a quest that she knew nothing about. Jason turned to his sister after a few moments of silence. "That was weird."
"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess we'd better go."
The four of them headed out of the dark, murky hallway, inwardly dreading their adventure but acting tough on the outside. They paused only to say goodbye to the King, who wasn't really paying any attention when they did.
"Very well then," he said cheerfully, "and do say goodbye to your mother! Nayru knows what she'd do if you didn't! I remember once, years back, when your father didn't say goodbye to her..ooh, did he regret it in the morning! He and Saria were going fishing..." After that much, they kind of left him there remembering days long past.
Janine took a deep breath and stepped out of the castle walls. 'This is it,' she thought. 'The start of our journey. I really, *really* hope we make it through this.'
"Okay guys," Jason said, as if he'd read her thoughts. "This is it. Let's go."
The group started along down the path toward Lon-Lon Ranch, planning to pass it and go on to Gerudo Valley. They would then make their way to the Spirit Temple within the Haunted Wasteland. This would clearly be a long journey, as they weren't even sure that was where they were supposed to go.
"Rikaaya," someone whispered. The Gerudo girl turned around defensively, but there was nothing there.
"Did you guys just hear that?" she asked uneasily.
"Hear what?" Jason wondered.
She shook her head. Probably just a memory..
"Rikaaya," it said again.
"WHO IS THAT!?" she screamed.
"Rikaaya," the voice taunted, "do you know what happens when my minions turn on me?"
Her dark, tanned face turned pale. "Wh..what are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you," it laughed. All of a sudden, a dozen Stalfos appeared around them. Everyone cried out in shock and terror. "THEY DIE!"
The Stalfos instantly attacked. Kelsey screamed and ducked just in time to avoid losing her head. Hysterically, she shot an arrow at it and totally missed. She screamed again and fainted.
Jason fought two of them off at once, and they disappeared when they were defeated. He sent a blast of magic from the Triforce at Kelsey's attacker but also missed. Fortunately for her, the Stalfos turned to the prince and attacked him instead.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Janine screamed. She shot several beams of magic at the three Stalfos attacking her, and hit one of them. "Hah! That makes three down, and.. um.. Kels?"
"Nine to go," Rikaaya told her after killing one. "Eight, now."
"Thanks," she said bitterly, shooting again at the remaining two that were after her. One of them raised his sheild and deflected the blast, and it happened to deflect straight back at her. In a panic, the princess forgot about her own sheild and raised her arm feebly. In an instand, that arm was gone.
"Oh, by the Goddesses!" Rikaaya cried, seeing what had happened to Janine.
"My arm..my arm.." she repeated, over and over. She sank to the ground in a daze. "But there's no blood..and my arm.." She lost awareness of anything until much later, when the sun had gone down and the camp was set up.
"Oh, you are okay," Kelsey said kindly. "We were worried about you."
"Wh..."
Jason sat down next to his sister. "I saved your arm with the Triforce," he said softly. "You have your arm back."
"She's not listening to you," the Gerudo said bluntly. "Just let her sleep."
"..Okay," he said uneasily, leaving her once more.
~•~ ~•~ ~•~
"Owww," the princess moaned, sitting up from her makeshift bed. Her head hurt and her arm hurt. "What happened?"
She looked around and saw no one. The camp was still set up and everything, but there were no people there. No one except Rikaaya.
"Where did they go?" she asked stupidly.
Rikaaya sighed. "They went back to the town," she explained, "to buy supplies."
"Why did they leave you here?"
"Because they thought I could protect you better," the Gerudo said sourly. "I have better fighting skills.. because I'm a Gerudo."
"Oh.." Janine frowned. "That's not fair."
"No, it's not."
"Um..yeah. I'm sorry I was asleep and we all couldn't have gone."
Rikaaya laughed bitterly. "No, no. My theivery skills weren't needed this time. I'll be the one going shopping when Jason runs out of money."
The princess frowned again. It wasn't really fair that Jason only called on Rikaaya when something needed to be stolen or a battle needed to be fought. She didn't know how to fix it, though, so she shut her mouth and temporarily forgot about the subject. "I hope they bring back some food. I'm starving."
"..Yeah."
A few hours later, they were back, with bagloads of food and supplies. Of course, they ate immediately, then set off for the desert. "It should only take us a few days to get there," he said reasonably. "I mean, we're still near the castle walls. If we're lucky, it'll take us two."
"We all care how long it will take us," Janine snapped. "Let's just go."
"I see you're back to normal," Kelsey laughed.
True to his word, Jason got them there in just under two days, allowing only one rest stop the whole time. Janine was quick to blame him for not getting horses like he should have, and for not getting enough food, although they had plenty to get them through at least another week.
"What if I got hungry?" she had demanded.
"You'd have to eat the grass out of the field," he'd said sarcastically.
"Well if you had remembered the stupid *horses* then I wouldn't *have* to eat out of the field because THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN US THERE BY NOW!!!!!!!!"
Princess Janine was not fun to travel with.
When they finally got to Gerudo Valley, Rikaaya stopped everyone just outside the entrance to the fortress. "Remember, you guys," she said sternly, "if you get caught, you'll most likely be killed."
"What!?" Janine screamed, ready to fly into another fit of rage.
"And what if *you* get caught?"
"I'll deny any association with you and, most likely, get away free."
"...I hate you."
She smirked, then turned to Jason. "You and Janine can use those Triforces to make yourselves invisible while I get the guard at the entrance to the Haunted Wasteland to open the gate, okay?"
"Whatever."
They excecuted the plan exactly, and the gate was opened for them. As they were making their way across the sand, however, the invisibility wore off.
"Hey! It's the Princess!"
"Get them!"
"RUN!!"
The four of them ran out into the Haunted Wasteland, into the flying sands. "We lost them," a guard said, rather loudly. "They're as good as dead, anyway."
Kelsey fidgeted nervously. "We're.. we're not really gonna *die*, right guys?"
"..Right, Kels," Jason said, trying to sound truthful.
For a few hours, the group just wandered around aimlessly in the Haunted Wasteland. No one knew where they were supposed to go. Rikaaya pretended that she did, but Janine was certain that they were only getting more lost. After nearly half the day had passed, the prince had an idea.
"I'll use the Triforce," he declared, proud of himself. "The sand will calm, and we'll be able to see!"
Everyone just stared blankly. "Why didn't you tell us that before!?" Janine finally shouted. The others snickered behind her.
Jason got out his blue Triforce piece. "Um..Triforce?" he said, not quite sure what to do. "Could you please get rid of the sand for us?"
"It shall be done," the Triforce said.
"Wow!" Kelsey exclamied. "It talks!"
"Yeah.." he said, watching in amazement as the flying sands around them began to settle back to the ground. As the dust cleared, the group could see a shrine-type palace far off in the distance.
"That's it!" Rikaaya cried. "That's the Spirit Temple! Let's go!"
"It looks pretty far away," Kelsey said, biting her lip. "Do you think our supplies will hold out?"
"WHAT!?" Janine shouted, enraged once again. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SUPPLIES!? I TOLD YOU TO GET HORSES BUT NOOOO, WE COULDN'T!!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO - "
"Janine!" Rikaaya yelled. "Shut up! It's not really all that far off! We have enough supplies, I'm sure of it. It's the heat that's getting to you and making you irratable. Plus, the lack of water.."
"Lack of water?"
The Gerudo girl smiled innocently and held up the water jug. She flipped it upside down and nothing fell out.
"WWAAAAAAA!!! HOW COULD YOU, YOU LITTLE WENCH!? YOU DRANK ALL OUR WATER! AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Jason and Kelsey held the princess back from murdering Rikaaya while she went on about the water problem. "There's a spring in the area over there," she said, pointing toward the Temple. "We can all get water there, so just relax! Now come on, let's go. Don't want to die of dehydration before you get there, hmm?"
"AAHHH! THAT'S IT! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"
With that, the group took off for the Spirit Temple, being chased by Janine.
~End of Chapter~
More A/N: Okay, I'll admit, it's a little weird. It's long, though, plus I actually *wrote* it. So there's something good. ^_^;; Well I was perfectly content to just not finish the story, but nooo, I started feeling all guilty and stuff! Hehe. Sorry it took like forever. Please review! As always! I *do* always beg for reviews, don't I? Okay, I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now! Chapter 4 up.. sometime soon! Hopefully! Bye!
Oh yeah, and if you see any spelling problems please tell me. Thanks!
Chapter 3
A/N: Hi guys, I'm back! I wrote something, too! ^_^;
I'm really sorry if the following letters are missing from any part of my fic: m, u, t, p, z, 8, s, d, a
Those buttons on my keyboard tend to not work anymore. They *usually* do, but not all the time, and I might not always catch it. Also, my spellcheck is dead and the shift button doesn't work properly. Heh. Don't worry though; I'm fairly good with spelling. End of a/n.
Jason, Janine, and Kelsey trudged up the last of the stairs, all three of them out of breath. The castle stairs were way too long, they decided. They rested for a moment at the top, then started down the hallway to Link and Zelda's bedroom.
Jason reached the door first, noting that it was slightly ajar. His expression hardened when he stopped to listen for a second.
"What is it?" Janine, his twin sister, asked in a panic.
"It's Mom," he said, sounding concerned. "She's crying. What if Dad..?"
That was all he needed to say for the princess to shove past her brother and barge straight into the room. "Well!?" she cried. "What happened? Is Daddy okay?"
"I'm fine," Link said weakly, still hugging the sobbing Zelda. Janine raced over and hugged him as well. "It's Malon.. she's dead. At least, I'm pretty sure she's dead."
"What?" Kelsey cried. "My mom? DEAD? That can't..but..I.."
"It's okay, Kels," Jason said kindly, still standing back with her. "Everything's okay. Maybe..well..maybe.."
"See?" she said dismally, tears welling up in her eyes. "You can't say anything that proves that she's okay, and that must - it *must* - mean she's dead."
Janine just sat on her parents' bed in shock. Malon was like a second mother to her, and to her brother. Now she was gone. This only made the princess think of one thing: Revenge.
Zelda continued sobbing, and Link continued holding her and stoking her hair. All of a sudden, the hero cried out, clutching his chest as though he'd been stabbed. Janine let out a yelp and jumped up from the bed, backing away in fear. The three children watched in horror as Link fell victim to a mysterious pain that kept stabbing at him, and Zelda freaked out and tried desperately to make everything better.
"Hey," someone whispered from the doorway. Kelsey turned around and saw Rikaaya, looking confused. She motioned for the three of them to join her in the hallway, which they did.
"Rikaaya.." Janine said, almost feeling sorry for the Gerudo girl. She looked as if she was about to cry. When the princess noticed this, Rikaaya just turned away and wiped her face with her sleeve.
"Listen," she said coldly. "We obviously can't take your father with us, so we'll have to use our own abilities and talents to win this thing. Okay?"
"Okay," Kelsey said, which surprised everyone. Her tears had turned from sorrow to anger. She smiled when she noticed that everyone was surprised her eagerness to fight. "My mother was killed, and probably by our enemy. There is no way I'm going to let her go like this. I'll fight for her like she would have fought for me."
"Yeah.." Jason said, smiling faintly. "Well, if we're going, we need weapons. Come on; the training room has all sorts of stuff we can use."
The group made their way back down the stairs, snuck past the guards, and got into the training room. The prince rumaged through piled of weapons and equipment until he found four sheilds that looked like they could take some hits for them. He gave each of them one, but when he got to Rikaaya, she refused.
"I've got a sheild already," she said simply. Jason shrugged and put hers back, eyeing her suspiciously. Well, whatever, he finally thought.
He searched another pile for a few more minutes until he successfully pulled out a sword, a bow, a quiver, and five daggers. He got the sword and two daggers, Kelsey got the bow, quiver, and one dagger, and Janine got the remaining two daggers. Rikaaya, again, refused to take anything.
"What do I get to fight with?" Janine asked, staring at her daggers. "I doubt I can do much damage with *this.*"
"Be patient, woman," he laughed. "I've got something special in mind for you."
He led the way through the halls, while the other three trailed behind. "Where are we going?" Kelsey asked quietly, examining her bow.
"I don't know," Janine admitted. "I've never been to this part of the castle before."
"Why not?" Rikaaya asked, surprised. "This is your home."
"Yeah, but *look* at it," she said, disgusted. "It's all grungy and dirty and I was afraid of the rats and stuff."
"Rats?" the others said in unison. They had identical frightened looks on their faces. Janine just laughed and quickened her pace to catch up with her brother.
Jason opened the door at the end of the hall. He tried, anyway; the door was locked. "No problem," he said to himself. He pulled out a dagger and looked to Rikaaya. "You don't, by any chance, know how to pick a lock, do you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Of course. I'm a theif, l know all about breaking and entering." Dispite her sarcastic voice, she took the dagger and picked the lock, true to her word. Jason opened the door and gestured for the ladies to enter first. Rikaaya rolled her eyes again and went in. As soon as she entered, though, she froze.
"Wow," Kelsey remarked. "It's the Triforce."
"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Janine demanded. Jason jumped back, frightened from his sister's screaming. "That's the TRIFORCE, you idiot! That's what the bad guys are after!"
"Exactly," he replied, staring at it with pride. "If *you* have it, *they* can't get it."
"You're an idiot," she snapped, walking over to it. She took a deep breath and randomly grabbed one of the pieces. "There. Happy now?"
The other three stared past the princess and at the two-pieced Triforce. "It.. it's gone!"
"What!?" Janine cried, turning around in horror. It had faded away into nothing. She turned back to her friends, her face pale. "This is bad. This is very bad. What is Mom going to say?"
Just then, a scream was heard from upstairs. The twins instantly recognized the voice as Zelda's. Jason looked back at his sister, his eyes laughing. "You're in deep. You're practically dead."
"What are you talking about? This was your idea!"
"Hey, you took it, not me."
The scream was repeated, only in a much angrier tone. This time it was a scream of frustration and rage. The four of them trembled as they realized that she was coming for them. The ceiling practially shook as the enraged Zelda stormed down to the Triforce room. Janine stuck the Triforce piece behind her back. As if that would stop Zelda from seeing it, as it illuminated the corner of the room in a bright green glow.
The door burst opened, and she walked calmy into the room. Too calmly. To the twins, it looked like she was about to snap. They both held their breath in terror.
"Who did this?" she asked quietly, holding up a radiant, blue Triforce piece. The girls all pointed at Jason, while he pointed at his sister.
"Aw, that's not fair," he said in defeat. He dismally turned to his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. But we were going to fight some bad guys and Janine had no weapon. I though she could use the magic. We're sorry."
"You mean *you're* sorry," Janine piped up. Jason shot her a look.
Much to thier surprise, Zelda did not flip out. She didn't yell and she didn't scream. She just took a deep breath and handed an astonished Jason the Triforce of Wisdom. "There. Protect it with your life. I can't take it because Link isn't well, and you have a better chance of keeping it safe than I do. Whatever you needed it for must have been important anyway." She also handed him the dazzlingly beautiful and radiant Ocarina of Time, their family's keepsake. She stared into his eyes. They were just like hers, bright and violet, glimmering with hope and a hint of fear. She smiled at him and let go of his hand. "Now, go on and save the world."
She calmly - and again, *too* calmly - left the room, letting the group to go off on a quest that she knew nothing about. Jason turned to his sister after a few moments of silence. "That was weird."
"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess we'd better go."
The four of them headed out of the dark, murky hallway, inwardly dreading their adventure but acting tough on the outside. They paused only to say goodbye to the King, who wasn't really paying any attention when they did.
"Very well then," he said cheerfully, "and do say goodbye to your mother! Nayru knows what she'd do if you didn't! I remember once, years back, when your father didn't say goodbye to her..ooh, did he regret it in the morning! He and Saria were going fishing..." After that much, they kind of left him there remembering days long past.
Janine took a deep breath and stepped out of the castle walls. 'This is it,' she thought. 'The start of our journey. I really, *really* hope we make it through this.'
"Okay guys," Jason said, as if he'd read her thoughts. "This is it. Let's go."
The group started along down the path toward Lon-Lon Ranch, planning to pass it and go on to Gerudo Valley. They would then make their way to the Spirit Temple within the Haunted Wasteland. This would clearly be a long journey, as they weren't even sure that was where they were supposed to go.
"Rikaaya," someone whispered. The Gerudo girl turned around defensively, but there was nothing there.
"Did you guys just hear that?" she asked uneasily.
"Hear what?" Jason wondered.
She shook her head. Probably just a memory..
"Rikaaya," it said again.
"WHO IS THAT!?" she screamed.
"Rikaaya," the voice taunted, "do you know what happens when my minions turn on me?"
Her dark, tanned face turned pale. "Wh..what are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you," it laughed. All of a sudden, a dozen Stalfos appeared around them. Everyone cried out in shock and terror. "THEY DIE!"
The Stalfos instantly attacked. Kelsey screamed and ducked just in time to avoid losing her head. Hysterically, she shot an arrow at it and totally missed. She screamed again and fainted.
Jason fought two of them off at once, and they disappeared when they were defeated. He sent a blast of magic from the Triforce at Kelsey's attacker but also missed. Fortunately for her, the Stalfos turned to the prince and attacked him instead.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Janine screamed. She shot several beams of magic at the three Stalfos attacking her, and hit one of them. "Hah! That makes three down, and.. um.. Kels?"
"Nine to go," Rikaaya told her after killing one. "Eight, now."
"Thanks," she said bitterly, shooting again at the remaining two that were after her. One of them raised his sheild and deflected the blast, and it happened to deflect straight back at her. In a panic, the princess forgot about her own sheild and raised her arm feebly. In an instand, that arm was gone.
"Oh, by the Goddesses!" Rikaaya cried, seeing what had happened to Janine.
"My arm..my arm.." she repeated, over and over. She sank to the ground in a daze. "But there's no blood..and my arm.." She lost awareness of anything until much later, when the sun had gone down and the camp was set up.
"Oh, you are okay," Kelsey said kindly. "We were worried about you."
"Wh..."
Jason sat down next to his sister. "I saved your arm with the Triforce," he said softly. "You have your arm back."
"She's not listening to you," the Gerudo said bluntly. "Just let her sleep."
"..Okay," he said uneasily, leaving her once more.
~•~ ~•~ ~•~
"Owww," the princess moaned, sitting up from her makeshift bed. Her head hurt and her arm hurt. "What happened?"
She looked around and saw no one. The camp was still set up and everything, but there were no people there. No one except Rikaaya.
"Where did they go?" she asked stupidly.
Rikaaya sighed. "They went back to the town," she explained, "to buy supplies."
"Why did they leave you here?"
"Because they thought I could protect you better," the Gerudo said sourly. "I have better fighting skills.. because I'm a Gerudo."
"Oh.." Janine frowned. "That's not fair."
"No, it's not."
"Um..yeah. I'm sorry I was asleep and we all couldn't have gone."
Rikaaya laughed bitterly. "No, no. My theivery skills weren't needed this time. I'll be the one going shopping when Jason runs out of money."
The princess frowned again. It wasn't really fair that Jason only called on Rikaaya when something needed to be stolen or a battle needed to be fought. She didn't know how to fix it, though, so she shut her mouth and temporarily forgot about the subject. "I hope they bring back some food. I'm starving."
"..Yeah."
A few hours later, they were back, with bagloads of food and supplies. Of course, they ate immediately, then set off for the desert. "It should only take us a few days to get there," he said reasonably. "I mean, we're still near the castle walls. If we're lucky, it'll take us two."
"We all care how long it will take us," Janine snapped. "Let's just go."
"I see you're back to normal," Kelsey laughed.
True to his word, Jason got them there in just under two days, allowing only one rest stop the whole time. Janine was quick to blame him for not getting horses like he should have, and for not getting enough food, although they had plenty to get them through at least another week.
"What if I got hungry?" she had demanded.
"You'd have to eat the grass out of the field," he'd said sarcastically.
"Well if you had remembered the stupid *horses* then I wouldn't *have* to eat out of the field because THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN US THERE BY NOW!!!!!!!!"
Princess Janine was not fun to travel with.
When they finally got to Gerudo Valley, Rikaaya stopped everyone just outside the entrance to the fortress. "Remember, you guys," she said sternly, "if you get caught, you'll most likely be killed."
"What!?" Janine screamed, ready to fly into another fit of rage.
"And what if *you* get caught?"
"I'll deny any association with you and, most likely, get away free."
"...I hate you."
She smirked, then turned to Jason. "You and Janine can use those Triforces to make yourselves invisible while I get the guard at the entrance to the Haunted Wasteland to open the gate, okay?"
"Whatever."
They excecuted the plan exactly, and the gate was opened for them. As they were making their way across the sand, however, the invisibility wore off.
"Hey! It's the Princess!"
"Get them!"
"RUN!!"
The four of them ran out into the Haunted Wasteland, into the flying sands. "We lost them," a guard said, rather loudly. "They're as good as dead, anyway."
Kelsey fidgeted nervously. "We're.. we're not really gonna *die*, right guys?"
"..Right, Kels," Jason said, trying to sound truthful.
For a few hours, the group just wandered around aimlessly in the Haunted Wasteland. No one knew where they were supposed to go. Rikaaya pretended that she did, but Janine was certain that they were only getting more lost. After nearly half the day had passed, the prince had an idea.
"I'll use the Triforce," he declared, proud of himself. "The sand will calm, and we'll be able to see!"
Everyone just stared blankly. "Why didn't you tell us that before!?" Janine finally shouted. The others snickered behind her.
Jason got out his blue Triforce piece. "Um..Triforce?" he said, not quite sure what to do. "Could you please get rid of the sand for us?"
"It shall be done," the Triforce said.
"Wow!" Kelsey exclamied. "It talks!"
"Yeah.." he said, watching in amazement as the flying sands around them began to settle back to the ground. As the dust cleared, the group could see a shrine-type palace far off in the distance.
"That's it!" Rikaaya cried. "That's the Spirit Temple! Let's go!"
"It looks pretty far away," Kelsey said, biting her lip. "Do you think our supplies will hold out?"
"WHAT!?" Janine shouted, enraged once again. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SUPPLIES!? I TOLD YOU TO GET HORSES BUT NOOOO, WE COULDN'T!!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO - "
"Janine!" Rikaaya yelled. "Shut up! It's not really all that far off! We have enough supplies, I'm sure of it. It's the heat that's getting to you and making you irratable. Plus, the lack of water.."
"Lack of water?"
The Gerudo girl smiled innocently and held up the water jug. She flipped it upside down and nothing fell out.
"WWAAAAAAA!!! HOW COULD YOU, YOU LITTLE WENCH!? YOU DRANK ALL OUR WATER! AAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Jason and Kelsey held the princess back from murdering Rikaaya while she went on about the water problem. "There's a spring in the area over there," she said, pointing toward the Temple. "We can all get water there, so just relax! Now come on, let's go. Don't want to die of dehydration before you get there, hmm?"
"AAHHH! THAT'S IT! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"
With that, the group took off for the Spirit Temple, being chased by Janine.
~End of Chapter~
More A/N: Okay, I'll admit, it's a little weird. It's long, though, plus I actually *wrote* it. So there's something good. ^_^;; Well I was perfectly content to just not finish the story, but nooo, I started feeling all guilty and stuff! Hehe. Sorry it took like forever. Please review! As always! I *do* always beg for reviews, don't I? Okay, I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now! Chapter 4 up.. sometime soon! Hopefully! Bye!
Oh yeah, and if you see any spelling problems please tell me. Thanks!