Well, wasn't that exciting? One thing I forgot:
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda
Don't sue me, please, I have no money! And what money I do have goes on Japanese CD's and games and comics! Take pity on my dear friends! Anyway, back to the story, I hope your enjoying this ^_^ even though I don't know where I'm going to take this next. Someone asked for a longer chapter, I can't do that, my attention span works in leaps and bounces, but I shall try, for your pleasure readers!
"You can't mean..."
I looked straight at him, looking for signs of a lie or sarcasm. Was it possible? I looked around at the other occupants of the ring, were they kidding? I had no idea. I looked back at the man, frowning.
The big man laughed heartily and slapped his chest as he bowed deeply "My name is Shigeru, young lady, it is an honour to meet one of the four who saved the joint worlds of Termina and Hyrule"
I made a short, bow, kind of. But being tied up it was a little difficult, and anyway, I could do nothing more than stare at this large Shigeru.
I felt my hands and legs be untied, but felt no inclination to run away. I needed to be sure he wasn't joking.
"Come" Shigeru grinned, showing his white teeth once again, but I paused, he stopped and turned back "I'm not going to hurt you and I promise I never will. I assure you are safer here than back at your inn"
I stumbled up, with a helpful push from Sao, I hit him on the way past and he made a mock sob and grinned as well. Rubbing my hands together against the snow I followed Shigeru out of the ring and toward the tents.
We headed into one of the smaller tents, close up, the tents looked like skin or something like hide. Inside they were almost stifling, a large contrast to the freezing snow outside. The floor was covered with blankets and rugs, with nothing else anywhere apart from a few things like herbs and clothes hung from the supporting beams and ropes above.
I looked around, and there she was. Huddled in blankets and shuddering, back to me, Lucy sat and mumbled grumpily to herself. I'd know the hair anywhere.
Shigeru made a sort of introductory cough to make our presence known, and without turning round Lucy growled, "No, I do not want another 'welcome', thank you very much! Tell the next person who dares to stick his nose in the tent that" she brandished a curved sword like that of the men's in the air "I will personal make sure that the patter of little feet is NEVER heard again.... and bring some food next time!"
I felt relief surge through me and dashed forward, wrapping my arms around her from behind and holding on to her tightly saying, "You stupid girl, what are you doing here? I thought you were revising, silly girl, just as stupid as me"
I let go as I heard a choking noise, obviously my enthusiasm and relief was a little much and I'd cut off her air. She turned around, seeing me in my clothes from the palace and a smile lit up her face.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely split between happiness and scolding me
"Right girl?" Shigeru asked grinning
I threw my arm around her shoulders and nodded "Now leave us alone" he left and I turned to Lucy "You tell me what you're doing here!"
"Well" She said, "I was in my room, playing with that stone we got from Link and happily doing maths, well, not happily but, you know. Then somehow I was in this tent, with a load of guys and here I am. What are you doing here? Where is here?"
I giggled, "You don't know where you are?"
"No, I haven't left this tent, I grabbed a sword that they left here. Lying about on the floor for god's sake! And told them to get away before I stuck it in them, because I knew how to use it" she grinned "They didn't seem bothered and left, I reckon I was knocked out and brought here. That is the LAST time I play with a stone that I know can take me places"
I wrapped my arms around her and said "The big man who was here said he was called Shigeru. He sent this guy our age called Sao and this big guy to break into my room and, I think, kidnap Link and me. But Link was out drinking" I didn't mention he hadn't come back at all, even to rescue me or anything "So they got me instead, and then this big black thing that I thought was Link but wasn't came and almost got me. But I got dizzy and fainted so then I woke up here, almost"
"So where am I?"
"Termina" I replied, "The opposite of Hyrule, I guess"
"So we're...in a computer game?"
"Yeah"
"AGAIN?"
"Yeah"
"God damn it, can't they ever leave me out of their storylines?"
"This is real Lucy"
"I know, I know, I was kidding. So how did you get here?"
"I told you"
"No I mean BEFORE that"
"Oh, well Link turned up at my house, said he needed help and I went"
"Cool, is he still hot?"
I sighed, now I should explain it "He's...unavailable"
"What?"
"Link got big and married" I sighed again "Time here goes faster than in our world. SO when we had three years go past, he had...ten"
"Wow" Lucy seemed a little stunned, but then she grinned and said, "Who cares, plenty more fish in the sea"
I must admit, my eyes seemed to feel to pop out of my skull right then, I'd never heard her drop anything that fast.
"So..." I said slowly "You don't care he married Zelda and has three kids?"
"Nah" Lucy winked "We're on an adventure again, what more should I care about? Now check out this sword!"
I grinned; everything was always so simple to Lucy after we'd come back from Hyrule the first time, even though she didn't know it. She didn't care if things happened some ways or if they happened another, once she had another thing to look at, she forgot everything else.
I suppose you could also call that having a fish mind, but then that's beside the point
So I watched her swing her broad sword, getting into the swing of the moves Link had taught her when we'd been in Kakariko so long ago. I'd learnt the bow and arrow skills, barely considering we'd spent so little time practising (I considered myself a natural though).
I thought about a lot of stuff. The swing of the blade and light glinting off it had a strangely entrancing effect. So I just watched it and thought. I wondered where Link was; surely he'd have turned up by now.
We seemed to be safe here, Sao and Croa hadn't hurt me and Shigeru seemed honest enough about not hurting us. But that didn't mean they weren't going to trade something, or perhaps us, for supplies and stuff. I'd seen it happen all before...well, in films and stuff.
What had been that thing in the square at the castle? I shuddered as I remembered the strange howl I'd heard before I'd passed out and the feeling of the fear washing over me, the sickness I'd felt in my stomach. The aching I'd felt in my bones...
I jerked out of it as I realised Lucy was talking to me.
"...They've been treating me alright here. I quite like the big guy, wasisname? Shigeru? Yeah, and the younger one, Sao is it?" Lucy stretched "He went off about two weeks ago...no...days? Hours? Damn the time difference"
"Time is faster here, whereas you were taken probably less than a day ago our time, but three or four here?"
"Seems right" Lucy nodded "Anyway, I haven't been out of this tent but I heard them saying good bye. I heard them saying something about seer, Hero of Time and stuff. No names though so I guess they don't know yours yet. I didn't tell them mine though. They seem to have a good idea who we are though"
"I noticed" I thought for a moment "So what did they say they needed us for"
"I don't know" Lucy scratched her head "I was half asleep but they sent Sao and the big guy to blend into the inn and wait for you to arrive. They were to bring you and Link back here unhurt and try to avoid contact with the...shadow man, was it? Yes that's it. If they were discovered before they had time to get both of you to come, they were to get who ever they could manage"
"Me" I replied "I found them in our room"
"Our?"
"Two beds Lucy, 'our'"
She folded her arms, "Good"
"He's like twelve, thirteen years older then me" I protested
"Doesn't stop people" she replied haughtily, "And he wasn't that old to begin with"
"Anyway" I growled, "I guess they got me from the inn, I have no idea where Link went"
"Well, I'm sure he'll turn up" Lucy grinned, "He always does"
"Meanwhile, what are we going to do?" I wondered out loud "Should we try to escape? They do seem all right, they honestly don't seem to want to hurt us at all. It's freezing outside though, the snows been coming down ever since Link and me got to Termina"
"So why did you come anyway?" Lucy asked leaning down onto a cushion and rolling the sword handle between her palms.
"I don't know" I replied truthfully "At home, I was feeling restless and I wanted an adventure, I happened to discover Link in my kitchen. He said he needed help with something, so I went. We arrived, he dropped the bombshell of the time difference and we came here"
"To do...?"
"No idea"
"He didn't tell you anything?"
"Not a f***ing thing"
We sat for a moment in silence, in with our own thoughts. I wondered what we had been here to do, thinking back over the last few events I began to see something that I hadn't noticed before. Water Temple. Opposite personas. Shadow Man. Something we had to deal with in Termina. Seers. My dreams of childhood I didn't remember.
Were they connected? Now I thought about it, the dark person in the courtyard in Clock Town had seemed to be Link for a moment. And he'd had the same shape of body and everything. Except he was fear. I knew that in the Water Temple in the game you had to face your exact opposite, a polar self. Was it possible that Termina was being plagued by...?
"Hey"
I looked up to see Sao at sword point by Lucy's hand and looking helplessly at the sharp point next to his nose.
"Lucy, stop it" I said sternly, I'd made my decision, we were going to stay and find out what these men were doing out here in the winter weather
"Fine" Lucy lost interest in killing him immediately and sat down
Sao sighed and rubbed his nose tenderly "Thank you"
"What do you want?" I asked, "Are we prisoners?"
"No" he grinned widely, "Quite the opposite actually"
I raised my eyebrows "What does that mean?"
"It means you are both free to wonder the camp as much as you like, you aren't prisoners here. We just need to take certain security measures"
"Meaning?"
"You can't leave the camp for any reason and you must have one us present with you at all times when you leave this tent"
I groaned and flopped down onto a large cushion "So we are prisoners"
"But with less restrictions" Lucy pointed out, turning to Sao she asked, "So why do we need these measures and why are we here?"
"We're keeping you safe from a number of bad people who'd love to get their hands on the people who were responsible for Reika's defeat" Sao said slowly, as if he was explaining things to a very small child "I can't say more than that at the moment"
"Who's the shadow man?" I asked steadily
Sao jumped back as if I'd verbally given him an electric shot, "How do y~ who's that?" he chuckled nervously "What are you talking about?"
I sighed, "Don't be stupid, from your reaction and what Lucy's been eavesdropping on" Lucy ducked her head apologetically "We've pieced together that we're important to you somehow and that your afraid of slash fighting against someone who you call the Shadow Man. Obviously this is a nick name because I'm having a completely different theory on this guy put through my head"
Sao stood there and stared at me "I'm not at liberty to..."
"Divulge information?" Lucy supplied helpfully "Don't worry, this is mostly new to me to" she looked at me "Thanks for sharing"
"It just came to me" I apologised, "Now you are going to take us to Shigeru"
He looked stunned, but I'd somehow gotten it into my head that I was going to be obeyed because I was this Seer person to them. It always happens that people with powers get revered, for different reasons sometimes but essentially revered.
Sao shuffled on his feet indecisively, he seemed to come to a decision because he snapped to attention at once and motioned for us to follow him outside of the tent.
We did so. As soon as we stepped out of the door, the cold weather hit us again and we realised we weren't wearing clothes like these guys and we began to feel the cold even more harshly.
We headed across the open ring and under the canvas, past the fire and the other men. Who all stared as if we'd popped out of the ground and told them we were gods. Sao stepped into the tent that Shigeru had appeared out of on the first meeting and Lucy and me were quick to follow.
Inside Shigeru's tent it became strikingly obvious that he was the big cheese. The leader of these guys, even more so than before. His tent was decorated more grandly than ours had been and had the bearing of its regal occupant.
Sao stood next to Shigeru and I marvelled at their likeness once more before seeing that Shigeru didn't look that pleased. He didn't look angry, more like he was frustrated or worried.
"I thought the matter was clearly explained" Shigeru said quietly
I drew and indignant breath and exclaimed "You told us nothing!"
Shigeru looked down his nose "It depends how you value information. I told you the story and reasons of Reika's fall"
"And how the hell does that relate to the present?" I almost screeched across the space at him
"It has EVERYTHING to do with the present" Shigeru snapped, he stood up and walked over till he was almost on my toes, he looked down at me and leaned in to whisper "Nothing is ever meaningless child, don't forget that"
Sao took over to try and calm the almost fuming Shigeru "What he is trying to say is that the past always affects the present. Your actions always catch up to you. Cause and effect"
"So what is going on?" Lucy asked bewildered, we all looked at her "Sorry, I've been out of the loop and..."
"Cause and effect" Sao continued, "The early snowfall in Termina isn't an accident, and it's the effect of something. A spell most likely. Our tribe usually live in the mountains but the men of the tribe who go out to trade with Clock Town in the summer were caught before getting through the pass back up to the mountains. We're trapped till spring"
I sat down on the cushions, no one asked me to, but hey, almost 18, I could do what I wanted.
"While we were camped here, we came under attack by a larger group of Moblins and Stalfos under the leadership of a man cast in shadow. We fought off most of them but several of our men were" Sao paused "Well, they were killed. Good men they were as well. The all fought one of the attackers and died. Yet, as we thought that we would all be killed, the creature cast in shadow spoke. It's voice filled dour hearts with fear and despair and yet we listened..."
Shigeru grunted, "It said 'Unless, the Hero of Time is summoned with the woman Reika's defeaters then this land will over taken by darkness'"
I smiled wryly "Was it a threat?"
"What do you think? A messenger was sent to Hyrule, to report the incident and ask for the assistance of the Hero of Time from the Queen and King of that land. Yet even we were not expecting him to bring the seer with him. We sent Sao and Croa to the Inn to wait for his arrival"
"So what is Link supposed to do? Are you handing him over to this dark man?" Lucy asked
"No, we were hoping that he would have the power to stop these events from occurring. I am thinking now that he misunderstood and brought you right into the heart of danger" Shigeru sighed rubbing his beard slowly
Lucy put up her hand "So why am I here?"
"A complete set?" I ventured
"We thought things would go in our favour if the original defeaters of Reika and Gannondorf before that were on our side" Shigeru replied
"What about Kestrel?" I asked
"Who?"
"The Zora"
"Ah, yes well, he was unavailable" Shigeru smiled "He was having family troubles with his wife"
Ah, Fiona.
"What family troubles?" Lucy asked interestedly
"Well" Sao replied, "He said that Zora's do not take pregnancy lightly..."
"Oh"
So there I sat. In a tent in a the middle of a frozen land being told that I was being demanded to stop the darkness overtaking Termina, and then that I wasn't going to be handed over which, altogether prompted me to think that perhaps Termina was going to be given over to darkness.
And all the while this dark figure was beginning to confirm my suspicions even more.
"So what are you going to do now?" Lucy asked "If we're here then surely this guy is going to come back, right?"
"Yes" Shigeru nodded slowly "But know we have you here we can set up a counter attack"
"And what are we?" Lucy said
"Good luck charms" grinned Sao "You can't fight can you"
"Fight well enough for you buddy" Lucy muttered
"As son as the hero of time turns up" Shigeru said "Then we can set up a counter attack to the Shadow Man and his forces and drive them out of Termina, hopefully this will be enough to return the seasons to normal"
"And if not?" I asked quietly
"Then we must pray that the darkness is not as bad as it sounds"
So, what do you think? How did this chapter go down? Yes, I know it's confusing but, you have to admit, I did make it longer! Yay me! So read, review and be happy guys!
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda
Don't sue me, please, I have no money! And what money I do have goes on Japanese CD's and games and comics! Take pity on my dear friends! Anyway, back to the story, I hope your enjoying this ^_^ even though I don't know where I'm going to take this next. Someone asked for a longer chapter, I can't do that, my attention span works in leaps and bounces, but I shall try, for your pleasure readers!
"You can't mean..."
I looked straight at him, looking for signs of a lie or sarcasm. Was it possible? I looked around at the other occupants of the ring, were they kidding? I had no idea. I looked back at the man, frowning.
The big man laughed heartily and slapped his chest as he bowed deeply "My name is Shigeru, young lady, it is an honour to meet one of the four who saved the joint worlds of Termina and Hyrule"
I made a short, bow, kind of. But being tied up it was a little difficult, and anyway, I could do nothing more than stare at this large Shigeru.
I felt my hands and legs be untied, but felt no inclination to run away. I needed to be sure he wasn't joking.
"Come" Shigeru grinned, showing his white teeth once again, but I paused, he stopped and turned back "I'm not going to hurt you and I promise I never will. I assure you are safer here than back at your inn"
I stumbled up, with a helpful push from Sao, I hit him on the way past and he made a mock sob and grinned as well. Rubbing my hands together against the snow I followed Shigeru out of the ring and toward the tents.
We headed into one of the smaller tents, close up, the tents looked like skin or something like hide. Inside they were almost stifling, a large contrast to the freezing snow outside. The floor was covered with blankets and rugs, with nothing else anywhere apart from a few things like herbs and clothes hung from the supporting beams and ropes above.
I looked around, and there she was. Huddled in blankets and shuddering, back to me, Lucy sat and mumbled grumpily to herself. I'd know the hair anywhere.
Shigeru made a sort of introductory cough to make our presence known, and without turning round Lucy growled, "No, I do not want another 'welcome', thank you very much! Tell the next person who dares to stick his nose in the tent that" she brandished a curved sword like that of the men's in the air "I will personal make sure that the patter of little feet is NEVER heard again.... and bring some food next time!"
I felt relief surge through me and dashed forward, wrapping my arms around her from behind and holding on to her tightly saying, "You stupid girl, what are you doing here? I thought you were revising, silly girl, just as stupid as me"
I let go as I heard a choking noise, obviously my enthusiasm and relief was a little much and I'd cut off her air. She turned around, seeing me in my clothes from the palace and a smile lit up her face.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely split between happiness and scolding me
"Right girl?" Shigeru asked grinning
I threw my arm around her shoulders and nodded "Now leave us alone" he left and I turned to Lucy "You tell me what you're doing here!"
"Well" She said, "I was in my room, playing with that stone we got from Link and happily doing maths, well, not happily but, you know. Then somehow I was in this tent, with a load of guys and here I am. What are you doing here? Where is here?"
I giggled, "You don't know where you are?"
"No, I haven't left this tent, I grabbed a sword that they left here. Lying about on the floor for god's sake! And told them to get away before I stuck it in them, because I knew how to use it" she grinned "They didn't seem bothered and left, I reckon I was knocked out and brought here. That is the LAST time I play with a stone that I know can take me places"
I wrapped my arms around her and said "The big man who was here said he was called Shigeru. He sent this guy our age called Sao and this big guy to break into my room and, I think, kidnap Link and me. But Link was out drinking" I didn't mention he hadn't come back at all, even to rescue me or anything "So they got me instead, and then this big black thing that I thought was Link but wasn't came and almost got me. But I got dizzy and fainted so then I woke up here, almost"
"So where am I?"
"Termina" I replied, "The opposite of Hyrule, I guess"
"So we're...in a computer game?"
"Yeah"
"AGAIN?"
"Yeah"
"God damn it, can't they ever leave me out of their storylines?"
"This is real Lucy"
"I know, I know, I was kidding. So how did you get here?"
"I told you"
"No I mean BEFORE that"
"Oh, well Link turned up at my house, said he needed help and I went"
"Cool, is he still hot?"
I sighed, now I should explain it "He's...unavailable"
"What?"
"Link got big and married" I sighed again "Time here goes faster than in our world. SO when we had three years go past, he had...ten"
"Wow" Lucy seemed a little stunned, but then she grinned and said, "Who cares, plenty more fish in the sea"
I must admit, my eyes seemed to feel to pop out of my skull right then, I'd never heard her drop anything that fast.
"So..." I said slowly "You don't care he married Zelda and has three kids?"
"Nah" Lucy winked "We're on an adventure again, what more should I care about? Now check out this sword!"
I grinned; everything was always so simple to Lucy after we'd come back from Hyrule the first time, even though she didn't know it. She didn't care if things happened some ways or if they happened another, once she had another thing to look at, she forgot everything else.
I suppose you could also call that having a fish mind, but then that's beside the point
So I watched her swing her broad sword, getting into the swing of the moves Link had taught her when we'd been in Kakariko so long ago. I'd learnt the bow and arrow skills, barely considering we'd spent so little time practising (I considered myself a natural though).
I thought about a lot of stuff. The swing of the blade and light glinting off it had a strangely entrancing effect. So I just watched it and thought. I wondered where Link was; surely he'd have turned up by now.
We seemed to be safe here, Sao and Croa hadn't hurt me and Shigeru seemed honest enough about not hurting us. But that didn't mean they weren't going to trade something, or perhaps us, for supplies and stuff. I'd seen it happen all before...well, in films and stuff.
What had been that thing in the square at the castle? I shuddered as I remembered the strange howl I'd heard before I'd passed out and the feeling of the fear washing over me, the sickness I'd felt in my stomach. The aching I'd felt in my bones...
I jerked out of it as I realised Lucy was talking to me.
"...They've been treating me alright here. I quite like the big guy, wasisname? Shigeru? Yeah, and the younger one, Sao is it?" Lucy stretched "He went off about two weeks ago...no...days? Hours? Damn the time difference"
"Time is faster here, whereas you were taken probably less than a day ago our time, but three or four here?"
"Seems right" Lucy nodded "Anyway, I haven't been out of this tent but I heard them saying good bye. I heard them saying something about seer, Hero of Time and stuff. No names though so I guess they don't know yours yet. I didn't tell them mine though. They seem to have a good idea who we are though"
"I noticed" I thought for a moment "So what did they say they needed us for"
"I don't know" Lucy scratched her head "I was half asleep but they sent Sao and the big guy to blend into the inn and wait for you to arrive. They were to bring you and Link back here unhurt and try to avoid contact with the...shadow man, was it? Yes that's it. If they were discovered before they had time to get both of you to come, they were to get who ever they could manage"
"Me" I replied "I found them in our room"
"Our?"
"Two beds Lucy, 'our'"
She folded her arms, "Good"
"He's like twelve, thirteen years older then me" I protested
"Doesn't stop people" she replied haughtily, "And he wasn't that old to begin with"
"Anyway" I growled, "I guess they got me from the inn, I have no idea where Link went"
"Well, I'm sure he'll turn up" Lucy grinned, "He always does"
"Meanwhile, what are we going to do?" I wondered out loud "Should we try to escape? They do seem all right, they honestly don't seem to want to hurt us at all. It's freezing outside though, the snows been coming down ever since Link and me got to Termina"
"So why did you come anyway?" Lucy asked leaning down onto a cushion and rolling the sword handle between her palms.
"I don't know" I replied truthfully "At home, I was feeling restless and I wanted an adventure, I happened to discover Link in my kitchen. He said he needed help with something, so I went. We arrived, he dropped the bombshell of the time difference and we came here"
"To do...?"
"No idea"
"He didn't tell you anything?"
"Not a f***ing thing"
We sat for a moment in silence, in with our own thoughts. I wondered what we had been here to do, thinking back over the last few events I began to see something that I hadn't noticed before. Water Temple. Opposite personas. Shadow Man. Something we had to deal with in Termina. Seers. My dreams of childhood I didn't remember.
Were they connected? Now I thought about it, the dark person in the courtyard in Clock Town had seemed to be Link for a moment. And he'd had the same shape of body and everything. Except he was fear. I knew that in the Water Temple in the game you had to face your exact opposite, a polar self. Was it possible that Termina was being plagued by...?
"Hey"
I looked up to see Sao at sword point by Lucy's hand and looking helplessly at the sharp point next to his nose.
"Lucy, stop it" I said sternly, I'd made my decision, we were going to stay and find out what these men were doing out here in the winter weather
"Fine" Lucy lost interest in killing him immediately and sat down
Sao sighed and rubbed his nose tenderly "Thank you"
"What do you want?" I asked, "Are we prisoners?"
"No" he grinned widely, "Quite the opposite actually"
I raised my eyebrows "What does that mean?"
"It means you are both free to wonder the camp as much as you like, you aren't prisoners here. We just need to take certain security measures"
"Meaning?"
"You can't leave the camp for any reason and you must have one us present with you at all times when you leave this tent"
I groaned and flopped down onto a large cushion "So we are prisoners"
"But with less restrictions" Lucy pointed out, turning to Sao she asked, "So why do we need these measures and why are we here?"
"We're keeping you safe from a number of bad people who'd love to get their hands on the people who were responsible for Reika's defeat" Sao said slowly, as if he was explaining things to a very small child "I can't say more than that at the moment"
"Who's the shadow man?" I asked steadily
Sao jumped back as if I'd verbally given him an electric shot, "How do y~ who's that?" he chuckled nervously "What are you talking about?"
I sighed, "Don't be stupid, from your reaction and what Lucy's been eavesdropping on" Lucy ducked her head apologetically "We've pieced together that we're important to you somehow and that your afraid of slash fighting against someone who you call the Shadow Man. Obviously this is a nick name because I'm having a completely different theory on this guy put through my head"
Sao stood there and stared at me "I'm not at liberty to..."
"Divulge information?" Lucy supplied helpfully "Don't worry, this is mostly new to me to" she looked at me "Thanks for sharing"
"It just came to me" I apologised, "Now you are going to take us to Shigeru"
He looked stunned, but I'd somehow gotten it into my head that I was going to be obeyed because I was this Seer person to them. It always happens that people with powers get revered, for different reasons sometimes but essentially revered.
Sao shuffled on his feet indecisively, he seemed to come to a decision because he snapped to attention at once and motioned for us to follow him outside of the tent.
We did so. As soon as we stepped out of the door, the cold weather hit us again and we realised we weren't wearing clothes like these guys and we began to feel the cold even more harshly.
We headed across the open ring and under the canvas, past the fire and the other men. Who all stared as if we'd popped out of the ground and told them we were gods. Sao stepped into the tent that Shigeru had appeared out of on the first meeting and Lucy and me were quick to follow.
Inside Shigeru's tent it became strikingly obvious that he was the big cheese. The leader of these guys, even more so than before. His tent was decorated more grandly than ours had been and had the bearing of its regal occupant.
Sao stood next to Shigeru and I marvelled at their likeness once more before seeing that Shigeru didn't look that pleased. He didn't look angry, more like he was frustrated or worried.
"I thought the matter was clearly explained" Shigeru said quietly
I drew and indignant breath and exclaimed "You told us nothing!"
Shigeru looked down his nose "It depends how you value information. I told you the story and reasons of Reika's fall"
"And how the hell does that relate to the present?" I almost screeched across the space at him
"It has EVERYTHING to do with the present" Shigeru snapped, he stood up and walked over till he was almost on my toes, he looked down at me and leaned in to whisper "Nothing is ever meaningless child, don't forget that"
Sao took over to try and calm the almost fuming Shigeru "What he is trying to say is that the past always affects the present. Your actions always catch up to you. Cause and effect"
"So what is going on?" Lucy asked bewildered, we all looked at her "Sorry, I've been out of the loop and..."
"Cause and effect" Sao continued, "The early snowfall in Termina isn't an accident, and it's the effect of something. A spell most likely. Our tribe usually live in the mountains but the men of the tribe who go out to trade with Clock Town in the summer were caught before getting through the pass back up to the mountains. We're trapped till spring"
I sat down on the cushions, no one asked me to, but hey, almost 18, I could do what I wanted.
"While we were camped here, we came under attack by a larger group of Moblins and Stalfos under the leadership of a man cast in shadow. We fought off most of them but several of our men were" Sao paused "Well, they were killed. Good men they were as well. The all fought one of the attackers and died. Yet, as we thought that we would all be killed, the creature cast in shadow spoke. It's voice filled dour hearts with fear and despair and yet we listened..."
Shigeru grunted, "It said 'Unless, the Hero of Time is summoned with the woman Reika's defeaters then this land will over taken by darkness'"
I smiled wryly "Was it a threat?"
"What do you think? A messenger was sent to Hyrule, to report the incident and ask for the assistance of the Hero of Time from the Queen and King of that land. Yet even we were not expecting him to bring the seer with him. We sent Sao and Croa to the Inn to wait for his arrival"
"So what is Link supposed to do? Are you handing him over to this dark man?" Lucy asked
"No, we were hoping that he would have the power to stop these events from occurring. I am thinking now that he misunderstood and brought you right into the heart of danger" Shigeru sighed rubbing his beard slowly
Lucy put up her hand "So why am I here?"
"A complete set?" I ventured
"We thought things would go in our favour if the original defeaters of Reika and Gannondorf before that were on our side" Shigeru replied
"What about Kestrel?" I asked
"Who?"
"The Zora"
"Ah, yes well, he was unavailable" Shigeru smiled "He was having family troubles with his wife"
Ah, Fiona.
"What family troubles?" Lucy asked interestedly
"Well" Sao replied, "He said that Zora's do not take pregnancy lightly..."
"Oh"
So there I sat. In a tent in a the middle of a frozen land being told that I was being demanded to stop the darkness overtaking Termina, and then that I wasn't going to be handed over which, altogether prompted me to think that perhaps Termina was going to be given over to darkness.
And all the while this dark figure was beginning to confirm my suspicions even more.
"So what are you going to do now?" Lucy asked "If we're here then surely this guy is going to come back, right?"
"Yes" Shigeru nodded slowly "But know we have you here we can set up a counter attack"
"And what are we?" Lucy said
"Good luck charms" grinned Sao "You can't fight can you"
"Fight well enough for you buddy" Lucy muttered
"As son as the hero of time turns up" Shigeru said "Then we can set up a counter attack to the Shadow Man and his forces and drive them out of Termina, hopefully this will be enough to return the seasons to normal"
"And if not?" I asked quietly
"Then we must pray that the darkness is not as bad as it sounds"
So, what do you think? How did this chapter go down? Yes, I know it's confusing but, you have to admit, I did make it longer! Yay me! So read, review and be happy guys!
