"An Act to Follow"
Disclaimer: It's been said already.
*****
Author's Note: Well, three good things have happened today: #1, my duty as a juror is currently over, #2, I am now steadily employed, who cares if it's at the local ice cream place, at least I have a job! #3, Fanfiction.net is currently working again. So I'm happy today. Here's to the next chapter, thank you to everyone who reviewed, you know who you are. And for all those who read but don't necessarily review, well, thanks for just reading. It's nice of you.
*****
An Act to Follow – Part 9 – Disappearing Act
So, there were two of them.
Veneer's eyes narrowed at the thought. Two means twice the danger, he thought. Like any creature of the sort, the more wolves, the more problems. A loner might be easy enough to corner, but having two was going to be twice the burden. Twice the trouble.
Then again, that little voice in his head persisted, two means twice the reward. How much had he asked for? Six hundred? Well, if he'd known what he was dealing with, he would have charged a thousand or more. And with two around…well, there wasn't anything saying doubling his fee might be in order…
Veneer didn't consider himself a greedy person. He, just like any other, had his own life to take care of. Then again, a little extra wealth on the side never hurt anyone, right?
The hunter managed to shake himself out of his money-oriented stupor as he neared the Inn. He'd approached the place with a slowness that was nearly agonizing. Move too slowly, and he was in danger of losing his quarry. Move too fast, and they'd be alerted to his presence, and run away. Or maybe attack.
Veneer hoped for the second in such a case. He'd rather fight them now than draw it out, no matter how dangerous that might be. Then again, from those tracks, and the prints-at least he wasn't dealing with fully grown adult monsters. He'd had enough of those to know it was a treacherous business.
He'd lied to Viscen slightly, claiming to search for an adolescent. If those prints were any indication-it might be even younger than he'd said.
But enough of that. He was at his goal; flattened into the shadows on the southern end of the Inn, the place that brat had pointed him to. Now all he had to do was keep his eyes and other senses open.
So far, there wasn't a sound. It was if they had known he was coming. Blast!
Patience, a small voice sounded in his head. Be patient.
Heh, small chance of that, Veneer growled to his subconscious. The minutes ticked by, and the area remained as silent and motionless as ever. It was so still; Veneer swore he could hear his own heartbeat as if it were somebody pounding on the drum. If the wolves had been here, they weren't now.
The still was cut by a single curse that shot like a bullet, echoing.
"You've given me the slip this time," Veneer grumbled out loud, in true vilified fashion. "But on my oath it will not happen a second time, you hear me?! And that goes to the both of you!"
If Veneer had arrived even 5 minutes earlier, things would have been much different. Both Timbre and Tee had taken off the moment Jim started yelling, fortunately for them they both chose the same direction. Towards the Inn, where they had originally been headed.
Tee was the first to voice an opinion. "That was probably a bad thing."
Tim rolled his eyes. "Thank you so much for that assessment…" Both of them had paused for breath, peering around from the northern corner of the Milk Bar. Tee backed up, trying to assess the strange floral growth that protruded from the ground.
"Uh, what is this?"
"Deku Flower." Timbre turned his head back towards the Inn. "Never mind that, we got to find a way inside. Think we could climb onto the roof?" No answer. "Hello?" Still nothing.
"Hey, when I'm asking a question, I'm not just…doing it for…my own…good…uh…" Turning his head, his dialogue slowly petered out. Tejina had vanished without a sound or trace.
Timbre shivered a little, staring down at the flower. She'd been getting on his nerves all day, and he'd been hoping for hours she'd finally get a clue and leave. But now that she was gone…well, what was he supposed to do now? He suddenly felt very alone. Turning away from the flower, he stared pensively at the deserted town. Any minute, Tim reflected, that psychotic guy was going to find him, and then-
"ACK!!!"
Something had grabbed his tail - and dragged him backwards rather forcefully. So startled was he that he didn't even think to struggle. Moments later he found himself – well, somewhere. Whereas the deserted square had been merely low of light, Timbre's eyes now met with complete and utter darkness. He shivered, wondering if the hunter had caught up with him. He swallowed nervously.
"Am I dead?" The fearful question rose aloud. His voice didn't echo at all, as if he were simply in a tight space. For a moment, nothing answered him. Then something deliberately poked him in the back, right between the furry shoulder blades.
"Gyah!" He whirled around in a panic, only to crash into something.
The something was fuzzy.
"You startle too easily," Tee's pointed out matter-of-factly. He couldn't see very much, but she had a hint of amusement in her voice.
He decided not to rise to the bait. "Uh. Were are we?"
"We're in the Deku flower, of course," she answered in that know-it-all tone.
"Oh, of course." Timbre glared, even though that didn't do much good. "Two questions. Why, and how?"
"Well," Tejina started, "The first seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? As for the second one, I suppose you'd better ask her."
"Huh??" Timbre turned his head directly to his left, where a pair of glowing coals had suddenly come to life. The Deku Scrub they belonged to waved quietly by the light of her luminescent optics. She was also drinking coffee.
"Sond??!" Timbre blinked several times, then remembered the Deku Mask.
Although she probably couldn't understand lupine, Sond did her best to give an affirmative. Seconds later she put a wooden finger to her nonexistent lips in a signal to keep it down, pointing directly upwards. That guy might still be lurking around. He nodded.
A short time later, a rather potent curse cut the air above them. Tee almost started laughing at the mention of an explicative. The obscenity was followed by angry dialogue, spoken by a somewhat familiar voice. Even within the tight confines, it was quite clear what he was saying.
"You've given me the slip this time, but on my oath it will not happen a second time, you hear me?! And that goes to the both of you!"
The both of you. Tee suddenly shuddered. Tim realized he'd been holding his breath as he started to feel faint. He was then faced with his third startling moment in five minutes as a purple orb suddenly entered the confines, giving everything a weird violet aura.
Tael waved. "Its alright, he's gone. At least for now." Tejina shivered again.
Her voice, suddenly raspy, murmured the words. "The both of us, huh…Guess we'd better start on that disappearing act, Tim."
Timbre suddenly felt very awkward, probably due to the fact he was squashed in with three others in a rather confined space. "Best get to the Inn, I think…"
One short climb (and for one, a flowercopter ride) later, two human kids, a fairy, and a prancing Deku Scrub stood outside the upstairs door to the Stock Pot Inn. Timbre, in an after thought, scrambled over the thatch, remembering his all-important trenchcoat. As he leaned on the door, he looked down.
"Hey Sond, you can take the mask off now…"
Sond blinked several times and huffed at Timbre. "Fine." A flash of blue light later, and the brown haired girl yawned, still managing to balance the coffee cup on her head. Tael just smirked.
"You really should thank her. The moment she heard that Bomber's brat screech she was off like Spiderman to save your butts."
"Who?" Tee and Tim exchanged raised eyebrows.
"Uh, nevermind." The fairy laughed nervously. "Let's get inside. I'm bushed. I've been swatted at, thrown out of a window, and nearly murdered by a psycho in a fur-lined tunic. I think it's time for bed."
The door creaked louder than usual, or maybe it was just their imaginations. It was dark inside, the innkeepers and tenants alike long gone to rest. Tee led them two doors down, then stopped. "Here's our room. Hope someone's still awake." She knocked twice.
The door cracked open, and Ana greeted them all with a stern look. From the sunken appearance of her eyes, it was apparent that she hadn't slept yet.
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to bring friends back," she said crossly. "Especially this late."
Tejina made a small noise. "Uh…sorry?"
"We can explain," Timbre began.
Ana sighed. "I suppose you can, come on in…might be a bit cozy with extra people, but we'll manage." All three followed her resolutely into the small room. There was a single cot, where Keisou was currently sleeping with his mouth wide open. From time to time he'd mumble something incoherent. Ana gestured at the corner, where a couple of pillows and blankets were neatly stacked.
"Only thing I can offer's the floor, unfortunately…" Before Ana's sentence had even finished, however, Sond had already bunked down. Tael too, quickly settled on a cushion with a tiny yawn. "Well, at least there are no complaints…"
Tim and Tee looked at each other and shrugged.
"As for you two!" They both jerked to attention at Ana's voice, soft enough not to wake the sleepers, but still sharp. She waggled a finger at them. "I know wolves are nocturnal and all, but you're still kids. You need your sleep."
Timbre's jaw had gone slack. "How did you-"
Ana's observant eyes twinkled. "Knew you were one the moment you climbed up on that stage two days ago. Go to bed. Now."
From the tone of her voice, she sounded as if she meant it, so there were no arguments. To Tee's slight amusement, she watched as Tim slumped down in the corner, as far as he could possibly get from her considering the smallness of the room. Without a second glance, he pulled his coat over his head and zonked out.
Hmm, guess he was tired, Tee thought. And Tejina didn't even realize how incredibly tired she really was as well until she fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.
*****
The morning sun glared brilliantly through the window in Kafei's room. Moments later, the purple-haired youth had flung the window wide open, gasping.
"Mom must be trying to asphyxiate us or something, it must be a hundred degrees in here!" Kafei took a refreshing breath of air that wasn't so…stale and hot. Behind him, somebody groaned and fell out of bed. Luckily for her, she was using the bottom bunk, so she wasn't injured. But it was enough of a jolt to wake her up.
Kat squinted sleepily at Kafei as she disentangled herself. "Mornin'. Is Sond up there on the roof still?"
"Nope, I looked already." Kafei gave a start as Nick snorted in his sleep. Across the room, Link was still curled up, thumb halfway out of his slack jaw. Kafei rolled his eyes. "Wherever she went, she's not here right now. Hopefully she found someplace to sleep."
Kat stretched. "Oy, what time is it?"
"Eight in the morning, about."
"Last day of the Festival. Hopefully your parents will be less insane once it's over, huh? What's the big story today? Not more dancing, right?"
"Actually, I think there's a singing competition. Mom and Dad left early to organize it." Kafei smirked.
Nick opened one eye. He yawned. "Sommun' say singin'?"
"Yeah, either groups or individually. I think the prize is a few hundred Rupees or something." Kafei stretched in boredom. "I'm hungry."
Kat looked thoughtful, ignoring Kafei's hunger. "I say we all go for it as a group."
"But I can't sing," Kafei protested. "Only thing I'm good at is percussion."
"We 'cn bot' play p'cussion. Like backup, y'see," Nick offered. He then looked over at the lumpy sleeping bag that contained Ty. "Oy! Kaii! Wake up tim'!"
"Wossat?" Ty blinked sleepily.
"We're going to enter the singing competition," Kat informed him.
"Really now." Ty attempted to flatten his hair, but it was still sticking out at all angles. And a prevalent pinkish stain still showed down his white streak. "Dumb fairyboy," he grumbled, casting a glare over at the Hylian. His glare soon turned to amusement. "Hehe, he's sucking his thumb again."
Chiron stirred. "Wass so funny?"
"Him." Kafei thumbed backwards at the blonde boy.
"If we only had a pictograph box right now that worked…" Chiron mused.
"Nah, not embarrassing enough…" Ty mumbled.
"You still on about that revenge thing?" Kat looked amused.
"'Course. He doesn't get off insulting my pride that easily. He'll be lucky if he's alive after what I have in store for him." Ty managed a rather toothy grin.
Kat raised an eyebrow and decided to change the subject. "Anyways, it's not like we all can't sing or something. I mean, Sond's a good singer, so's Ty an' Chiron. Link's okay, I'm not horrible, and Tim's not too bad …"
"Speakin' of," Nick said. "Where is 'ee? An' where's Sond?"
"Not here," Kafei shrugged. "Probably somewhere else, and with the heat in this room, I don't blame 'em too much." Changing the subject suddenly, Kafei clapped his hands once. "Say, let's go get breakfast before there's too much of a crowd, alright?"
"Right."
"Yes'm."
"Alright."
"I'm starvin'."
As the five conscious people left the room, Ty couldn't help pulling a last wisecrack as he passed the sleeping Link.
"Sweet dreams, thumb sucker."
Ty later stared at the portly merchant with bored interest.
"An' what do you call this stuff again?"
"Gelatin!" The man guffawed, and his stomach wobbled in the same manner as his products. The Merchant's tent had changed, apparently the sellers only could lease space in there by the day, as this man hadn't been there earlier yesterday. The early morning crowd's sounds mingled into a dull roar. "My boy, you ever boiled bones?"
"Uh, can't say that I have…" Ty said, his tail tapping the ground impatiently. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friends, also idly browsing. Chiron and Nick were admiring a pair of katanas that a blacksmith had put on display inside a glass case. Kat was ogling jewelry again, and Kafei was looking decidedly bored next to them.
"Well!" The portly gelatin man chortled, startling Ty. "I'd never tried it before either, until a couple of months ago. Tried makin' soup, instead, I got this stuff. When it's hot, it's like liquid, but when it cools off, it turns solid. Add flavors, and it doesn't taste half bad. Here, try the strawberry."
Ty did so. It wasn't the most pleasant texture, but it certainly tasted like strawberries.
"I got other flavors, too, y'know," the man rattled off, counting on his fingers. "Blueberry, grape, watermelon, raspberry…"
"Hey, what's this one?" Ty squinted at a yellowish wobbling mold.
"Oh, that's lemon. Nobody seems to like it too much. Must be the yellow color, I suppose. It stains when it melts." The man shrugged. "I've tried to get it to look more appetizing and less colorfast, but what can you do, you know?"
Ty leaned forward on the counter, looking confidential. "How much you got?"
Five minutes later, Kat squinted at Ty. "Whad'ya buy?"
"Nothing!" The boy smiled disarmingly, trying not to look suspicious. He changed the subject. "Any sightings?"
"Nope," Kafei shrugged. "Who knows how long they were out last night. Who knows if they're even awake at this point."
"Oh well, they'll turn up eventually," Chiron said. Though his eyes looked less nonchalant than he sounded. "…right?"
Several murmured assents were given.
"We could always walk around. Maybe we'll find them-woah!" Kat screeched to a stumbling halt in front of the Southern Gate. "What the heck?!"
"Loo' like a border p'trol, dunit?" Nick looked surprised, and everyone nodded in agreement.
There were three guards stationed in front of the gate. Normally, there was only a single guard, who waved people across in a relaxed manner. Every once in a while he'd stop someone, but normally he was just there to make sure no straying children or unprepared fools ventured outside by themselves. The three guards around the archway today, however, looked like they meant business. There was a line to exit, and each passer was carefully scrutinized.
"What the-" The sentiment was echoed though all five children at the same time. Only Chiron had the thought to ask what was going on. He poked the last man in line.
"Why's there such a hold up?"
The man looked irritable. "They're searching people today. Apparently there was an attempted robbery or something, something about a little kid being almost attacked last night, and they're looking for the culprit. All four gates are like this, awfully strange."
"Oh."
"You coming in line? Probably gonna be a long wait. And I wouldn't wear those if I were you, kid." The man pointed at Nick's hands, which were gloved.
"Huh? Wa' wrong wi' em?" Nick looked indignant.
"Nuthin, but word around is that all they know about the culprit was 'ee was wearin' gloves, like that poor fellow they're interrogating up there." The man pointed at a person at the head of the line, who was being patted down by Guards. "They see you wi' gloves, they start getting' suspicious, see? Maybe it's a smuggler they're lookin' for."
All of them raised eyebrows as one Guard suddenly grabbed and held the man's head still while another shone a bright lantern in his eyes. The startled man was then released and waved through, rubbing his face and grumbling incomprehensible curse words as he was let though the gate. Backing away, all five kids went into a huddle nearby.
"Well, I doubt that Sond or Timbre left town, otherwise they'd be caught in that little rabble." Kat said as everyone nodded
"An' even if Tim had gone through," Ty added, "They'd have stopped him. Gloves, right? An' he isn't about to take his off…"
"Okay, so they're still in town. But come on, when's the last time the Guard's been this interested in a robbery?" Chiron said.
Nick was sitting down, picking the bottoms of his boots with his dirk. "Mebbe i' wa' a importan' person?"
"Yeah, but that guy said it was just a little kid, and nothing was actually stolen." Chiron reminded him. "Ya don' think Tim or Sond was-"
"Uh, if anyone tried to rob Sond they'd find themselves rather worse for the wear," Ty said delicately. "As for Tim, well you saw what happened when that girl stole his headband. Doubt it was either of them."
"'Course it wasn't, was me!" a voice squeaked behind them.
Jim, the leader of the Bomber's Gang, leaned against the wall, licking a sucker with a smug expression. The sucker was enormous and must have been at least 10 inches in diameter. He gave it a final lick, and talked to them again.
"B'sides, wasn' a robber," Jim boasted. "Was two big monster Wolfos. Tried ta eat me, but I drove 'em off, yep!" Jim puffed out his chest. "An' then Captain Viscen gave me this for bein' so brave. An' it's all mine, ha!" The young boy marched off with his chest out, nearly tripping twice before making it into the Merchant's Tent.
All five stared after him, wearing confused expressions.
"Uh." Kafei blinked.
"What's up?" Ty raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, just trying to break the silence, that's all," Kafei scratched his ear. "Anybody else find that kid's story kind of far fetched?"
"Well, he does kind of exaggerate," Kat added uneasily.
"Still…" Ty looked thoughtful. "If he was attacked by Wolfos, why are they searching for people?"
"With gloves," Chiron added on quietly.
All five stared, unable to meet each other's eyes. Apparently the quintet had all come to the same general conclusion at the same time. Nick stood up busily and brushed himself off.
"Guess th' lobo's out o' th' bag." He chewed his lip. "Or summthin'."
Even as Nick was speaking, the three children were still asleep. Tee groaned and rolled over as a loud knocking came at the door. It knocked a second time, and she forced her heavy eyelids open.
"Uhg…" she sat up, still not fully awake. Rubbing her eyes, she yelled crankily, "Go away!"
The knocking only became more persistent. "This is the Clock Town Guard, on official business. Open the door immediately, please."
"Fine…" Tee struggled up onto her feet. She was halfway to the doorknob when her brain finally caught up with her body. Wait a second, she thought. Did they say, Clock Town Guard?
"Oh crud…" Tee chewed her lip. Looking over to the cot, she was surprised to see that Kei and Ana were already gone. The only other living things in the room besides her were the three on the floor, three counting the fairy.
"Open up, I say!" The knocking almost became pounding.
Sond was woken up by the noise. "…purple…" she grumbled, sitting up groggily. "Tell 'em to go away," she said to Tejina. Tael woke up as well, though he gave no comment.
"I would," Tee hissed back in a whisper, "But they're on official business. They'll break the door down first."
"Ugh," Sond fell back onto her pillow. "Guess you should let 'em in. Who is it?"
"That's the problem," Tee whispered as Tael joined her at the door. "It's the Guard."
"Uh, problem guys…" Tael whispered, hovering over to the peephole. "It's the Captain and that weird fella, the one who was chasin' you an' Tim last night."
"Oh." Sond sat up again as the pounding continued. "What do we do, then?"
"Dunno…We gotta hide, or get out of here, or something. Timbre, wake up!" Tee hissed. Timbre, however, showed no signs of moving.
"I wasn't the one being chased last night," Sond offered. "I could always stall, while you two hid or something."
"Maybe," Tee said softly, as the door was pounded again. "Timbre, wake up!" She hissed again, sounding urgent. Tael flew over to the sleeping boy and pried one eye open.
"Wake up! ACK!" Tael yelped as an ornery gloved hand flattened him to the floor. Timbre continued to be unresponsive.
Tee had had enough at this point. Stress was beginning to make her hands shake. "Timbre wake up!!" She practically yelled, chucking her pillow at him.
"OW!" Timbre sat up angrily. "Hey, what was that fo-"
"Shuuush!" Tael struggled and managed to shut Tim's mouth. "Look, and just nod when you agree. There's Guards outside this door, an' they're gonna break the door down if someone doesn't answer it right now. So Sond's gonna do that, and you and Tee have to pull that disappearing act, okay?"
Timbre nodded, slipping into his trenchcoat. His eyes flickered towards the window.
Tee caught the idea. "Go out the window? But it's rather a long drop…"
"Well, I dropped on you yesterday, and I'm still alive," Tim retorted, pulling Tael off his face. "And besides, I'd take the drop over the Guard right about now."
"Okay, fine…" Tee opened the window fully. A fine breeze flowed into the room from the outside, and Timbre climbed up onto the windowsill. Tejina followed her example as the door was pounded again.
Tim raised an eyebrow. "Okay Sond, open the door."
Next second they both jumped.
*****
Well, it took me long enough to finish this chapter, didn't it? And so short as well…I guess I should apologize for both the length and the length of time it took to finish this. Summer is problematic like this. Yet there is more work in the winter, and yet more seems to get done. One of those big mysteries. I hope people are liking this. If they do, could they possibly review? Many thanks to those who read, and doubly there for those who review as well! Thanks!!!