Thank you so much for the reviews! Yay, people are reading my story! I really think we'll be reaching the magic number of hundred reviews! I hope I can continue to reach your invariably high standards and I hope you will continue read my story as I keep writing!
In answer to your question Frances, I was actually planning on Lucy having some romance but I think it will be later on, perhaps even in the third part of the trilogy (if I decide to have one!) or later on in this story. OK?
Anyway, I'm so glad the last chapter didn't sound stupid because I didn't think I could write emotions that well so the best way to practice was to actually do it as I planned out the story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda but I do own my own original characters Sao and his tribe so if you'll ever want to use them you must ask me. That done, heres the story!
We sat in silence.
Sao had decided to go back to Clock Town, not speaking, and stay there since everything that he had had all his life was gone or cut off.
I had cried for most of the journey, silently sniffing into the blanket. Sao didn't notice, or pretended not to, after the initial display of grief, he'd seemed to cut everything off except where he was heading.
We'd rode away from the camp when we'd began to realise we'd sat there so long that the water was freezing after it had been melted before. The cold was building again.
I looked up at him, he was frowning and his eyes were fixed on the horizon.
I sighed and repositioned myself; the saddle wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, Lucy would agree with me. I smiled; thinking of when we'd ridden the three horses in Hyrule and Link had been dragged along by his horse for at least most of the way to the canyon.
My smile wiped itself away as my heart hurt thinking about Lucy. Poor Lucy, what had happened to her? Had she been carried off? Or burnt alive in the camp?
Any number of role plays filled my head and my imagination showed me the horrible ways to end a life, each of them being carried out by the dark figure who'd so ruthlessly cut me down.
I felt my stomach and collar bone again, where were the injuries? Why wasn't I dead? It was too strange.
But in life I could reside in the knowledge that I was now certain who the Shadow Man was.
The weight of the sword, the size of him, and his altogether sickening presence that was so familiar. I knew the score know and I knew who was responsible for it all. I pulled my hands into fists against the cold and gritted my teeth.
I was so going to kill Link if I ever saw him again; this was what he'd been keeping from me. Not telling me why we were here when I could now see it was quite obvious he had known what we were doing here.
The town began to fill up the far off horizon as the horse continued it's steady crushing of the snow toward it.
"When we get into the town we'll go and get your stuff"
I jumped; Sao nodded toward the town and said, "We'll be there before sun down"
He sounded steady and cool, I don't know why, he'd seemed pretty distraught at the campsite. He'd never even let me explain what had happened, he'd presumably put it all together and didn't need telling. So before I could answer he'd said 'Let's go' and set off for clock town.
I was upset so I couldn't imagine what he was feeling like. I mean, all your friends and family wiped away and the other half you couldn't get to till spring.
It was so sad.
Why didn't Link turn up? It was maddening; he was supposed to be the hero of this story, not me.
The town ahead grew larger and larger across the land and we drew up to the gates as the sun began to set, the sky was gloomy and the growing shadows gave the town a melancholy look, like it was reflecting my feelings.
Pathetic fallacy. That is what my English teacher would call it.
Dismounting, Sao herded me into the gates, pulling the horse along as well, and into the south courtyard of Clock town, across the way stood the clock tower. THE clock tower.
The ticking was loud and filled the courtyard with echoes. People littered about the stalls in front of the clock, counting up daily profits and packing way their produce.
I stared up at the face, the light like a lighthouse beginning to pour from it's top across the plains of Termina.
"Come on" Sao said, and began to turn toward the steps that led up to where the inn was situated
"Wait a second" I said, he stopped and turned round
"Don't you want your stuff?" he asked tiredly
"Yes, but..." I paused and looked at the ground "Well..."
"Well, what?" Sao said with weary impatience "It's getting dark, it'll probably snow again so what is it?"
"I think..."
"Well...?"
I was debating what he'd say if I told him that I had been dead. By now I was sure of it. No one could have survived what I'd been dealt. Would he believe me? No sane person would that's for sure.
I decided not to tell him.
I smiled a small smile "I was just thinking, that last time we were here, I was being kidnapped" I realised that this would grieve him a little as I said it, but the words still came out
Sao smiled twitchily, for my sake, then turned around and started to walk on again.
I felt my own chin tremble as a tear slipped out, but no more fell behind it. I followed him up the steps, feeling slightly alone; if he wouldn't share his grief with me then he'd keep it bottled up. And that would help no one. Least of all him.
Slipping every so often on the way, we made it to the inn door and embraced the warmth of the inside room.
"May we help you?"
Anju stood at the desk with a large smile on her face, "Sao! And...er...friend!"
I grinned, my first real smile of happiness since last night. She seemed bright and began fussing about Sao as if he was her own son, taking his bags, sending someone out for the horse and all.
She sent a few strange looks at me, in my blanket covered state, but seemed to recognise me.
"Anju" I asked once she'd begun to pick up Sao's bags from the saddle "Is Link here?"
She looked up at me; the smile faded and my heart sank "The one you were with?"
I nodded.
"Well" Anju looked up and down the room, as if she was expecting something to jump out and eat her "Come on, I'll show you to the room"
I understood this as the usual code for secret sharing from films so I willingly went along with her.
"We're putting you in your old room" Anju said "Since you still are booked into it and your things are there. In a mess I might add"
I shot a look at Sao, who shrugged.
Down, down, down along all the passages I'd run along a few days ago that seemed like years ago. And there was our door. A little beaten and bruised, but our door none the less.
Anju took out what I guess was her master key and unlocked the door. Picking up Sao's saddlebags and putting them inside the door she walked right into the room.
It was a mess.
The beds were over turned and all of our items were strewn across the floor in a heap, everything was messed up or broken.
"Did anyone come in here?" I asked Anju, walking into the room and surveying the wreck
"No one but you and Mr Link" Anju replied sitting on a bed frame, the mattress was on the floor "I'll have to ask you to pay, sorry"
"S'ok. And was he drunk?" I picked up pieces of glass and looked at the window, the frame had been beaten in
"Drunk?" Anju repeated, "Well he was..."
"I knew it" I threw up my hands "Goes to question people and comes back drunk exactly when I could do with rescuing! I knew he would"
Sao began to pick things up, mostly Link's weapons, carefully avoiding underwear.
"He was..." Anju began quietly, looking around again "He was a feared"
"What?" I shut the door quickly
Anju had gone pale, as she had stated this fact; I sat next to her and repeated
"What?" I repeated
"Well" she whispered, leaning forward to say it quietly, "After all the racket during the night, he returned in the morning, not knowing what had happened. So we explained that you had disappeared in the disturbance. He went as white as a sheet and began to shout"
"He Shouted? At you?" Sao asked inspecting an arrowhead
"No, at everything, not just me, even at the stairs for being in his way" She said slowly "He burst up the stairs like a tornado and headed straight for your room"
"Goddess knows what he saw when he locked the door" Anju continued, "We heard him ripping this place apart and then the next instant he tore back down the stairs with such a murderous look on his face! Like he was about to kill someone! He screamed at me to keep the room and sprinted out of the inn. We haven't seen him since"
I sat there listening, obviously he had been angry. And from the sound of it Link had found out what he'd been wanting and come back to tell me. Maybe the thought I'd been taken by Shadow Man or something.
Taken...
A light burst in my head.
Taken...
I hadn't been killed. Or taken by Shadow Man...
"Thanks Anju" I heard Sao say as he showed her out of the room "We'll clear up now" he turned back into the room as he said "Well. Looks like he was mad"
"Sao" I began slowly "What if...the camp isn't gone"
He froze "What?"
"Well, it is gone but. Taken" I said, "What if everyone was taken, I never saw anybody die" except me, I reminded myself silently "Only the tents were gone. If Link thought there was a chance I was alive when I was gone"
Sao shook his head "It would be nice to have some hope. But I doubt it"
"Yet it might be true!" I persisted, knowing that if I was right then I could stop feeling guilty and do something
"It isn't" Sao said a little more loudly "It isn't, you are the only survivor"
"Well let me go then if you won't come with me!"
"No, I'm not letting you out my sight!"
"Why not?"
"Because you are valuable to the defeat of the Shadow Man!"
"Why?"
"Because you are, you will not be going anywhere where you might be in danger!"
"But what if they're alive!"
"THEY'RE NOT!" he hit the bed, and said more quietly "They're not"
I paused, the last time I had argued like this here, in this timeline, in the other world, I had earned a slap. Too bad.
"Are you afraid to look for them?" I said quietly
Despite myself I knew it was my hope that Lucy was alive and I could take her home with me once more, he wasn't going to stop me but if I could have a companion that would be an asset, and I'd rather leave on bad terms than sneak off without him if he wouldn't let me go.
He wasn't going to let me go. Time to put the plan into action. I eyed my things on the floor.
So I would make him angry, if I made him angry then perhaps he would leave me and I could go and search for Link and Lucy myself. Or maybe if he wouldn't want me to go I could get him angry that he'd let me leave out of pride. At the moment this was my only idea. He was almost angry already.
That caught his attention. His grief that he'd bottled up after finding me had slowly been turning to anger, anger at himself, at Shadow Man, at what happened, and perhaps that it was I who survived and not one of his friends.
"What?" he muttered
I swept coolly off the bed and began to pull my stuff together to fit into the backpack I'd brought that was flung against a wall.
"You heard me" I replied
Sao's face was a grim stone "Do you think you know me?"
I couldn't look at him, I hated people angry with me or shouting at me but this was my only way to get him out of my way.
"I've barely known you" I replied, pushing my things to the bottom of the bag and keeping my eyes on the objects in front of me "I am usually a good judge of character though, considering you weren't at the camp I can only see that the evidence suggests cowardice because you ran away. And now you won't even go search for them I guess I was correct"
I could almost feel the room heat up as his fist in the corner of my vision clenched and unclenched.
"I am not a coward. Just look at me," he said suddenly, angrily
"I'd rather not," I said carefully, to keep my voice steady, "Someone who deserts his people is not worth looking at"
That blew it.
Once again I had earned a blow as my reward for holding an argument.
Sao snapped his fist back and struck me with unrestrained force across my cheek, slamming me back into the wall.
Dazed enough not to cry, and in enough pain to be mad enough to stand up when I was almost unconscious.
Drawing a breath I steadied my legs as I stooped to pick up my backpack and riding cloak I had been fortunate enough to finish packing and my sword that was lying nearby.
I also picked up some of Link's interesting little pieces to shove into my pack, including a red potion and a dagger.
I closed my eyes against dizziness for a moment and then looked straight at him. He seemed as shocked as Link had been when he'd hit me; I was making a habit of this. He also seemed to have no remorse for the blow, a difference between Link and himself.
"Good day to you sir" I said coldly forgetting momentarily it was evening in favour of dramatics, "I shall see you in hell"
Striding past him, a little unsteadily I grant you, I slammed the door and walked down the hall with my head as high as it would go. I almost gave myself a high five for such a great parting line.
Around the corner of the hall I grabbed the wall for support as my light-headedness returned and felt my cheekbone.
I was surprised it was not broken; maybe my hair had taken some of the blow or something, but it hurt so much. I could already feel the bruise rising.
What hurt even more was that I had been horrible. I felt even worse now than I had before. At least I had some hope to cling to in that Lucy might still be alive.
But what filled me with a cold sort of chill was that I was all alone. I had shoved away my only companion in this huge place, and I had no idea where to start looking.
Companion, not friend I noted. In all our time at camp he'd barely come to see us and since he had kidnapped me I wasn't that drawn to him in the first place.
I barely knew him at all. He wasn't a friend so I shouldn't feel so bad at leaving him and being so mean. Even so...
I would have liked his old humour to have come back to travel with...
I pulled myself up against the wall a shook off my faint headedness. I was almost 18, an adult and old enough to have had children in the 15th century. So why shouldn't I travel alone? I leant on the sword sheath momentarily and was glad that I wasn't weapon less as well as friendless at the moment.
I looked back at the door for a second, and then strode off and down the stairs.
I didn't look back. I wasn't going to let regrets fill my head anymore. I had a chance to undo one by saving Lucy, I'd never forgive myself if I had to tell her parents she wasn't coming home when she'd never even left there in our world.
If no one could or would help, then this time I was doing it alone, even if it killed me.
I didn't stop to think then that it just might do that.
How was that chapter? Was it ok? Fine? Good or bad, review and tell me! I love reading your comments and advice people! Do you like the longer chapters?
In answer to your question Frances, I was actually planning on Lucy having some romance but I think it will be later on, perhaps even in the third part of the trilogy (if I decide to have one!) or later on in this story. OK?
Anyway, I'm so glad the last chapter didn't sound stupid because I didn't think I could write emotions that well so the best way to practice was to actually do it as I planned out the story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda but I do own my own original characters Sao and his tribe so if you'll ever want to use them you must ask me. That done, heres the story!
We sat in silence.
Sao had decided to go back to Clock Town, not speaking, and stay there since everything that he had had all his life was gone or cut off.
I had cried for most of the journey, silently sniffing into the blanket. Sao didn't notice, or pretended not to, after the initial display of grief, he'd seemed to cut everything off except where he was heading.
We'd rode away from the camp when we'd began to realise we'd sat there so long that the water was freezing after it had been melted before. The cold was building again.
I looked up at him, he was frowning and his eyes were fixed on the horizon.
I sighed and repositioned myself; the saddle wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, Lucy would agree with me. I smiled; thinking of when we'd ridden the three horses in Hyrule and Link had been dragged along by his horse for at least most of the way to the canyon.
My smile wiped itself away as my heart hurt thinking about Lucy. Poor Lucy, what had happened to her? Had she been carried off? Or burnt alive in the camp?
Any number of role plays filled my head and my imagination showed me the horrible ways to end a life, each of them being carried out by the dark figure who'd so ruthlessly cut me down.
I felt my stomach and collar bone again, where were the injuries? Why wasn't I dead? It was too strange.
But in life I could reside in the knowledge that I was now certain who the Shadow Man was.
The weight of the sword, the size of him, and his altogether sickening presence that was so familiar. I knew the score know and I knew who was responsible for it all. I pulled my hands into fists against the cold and gritted my teeth.
I was so going to kill Link if I ever saw him again; this was what he'd been keeping from me. Not telling me why we were here when I could now see it was quite obvious he had known what we were doing here.
The town began to fill up the far off horizon as the horse continued it's steady crushing of the snow toward it.
"When we get into the town we'll go and get your stuff"
I jumped; Sao nodded toward the town and said, "We'll be there before sun down"
He sounded steady and cool, I don't know why, he'd seemed pretty distraught at the campsite. He'd never even let me explain what had happened, he'd presumably put it all together and didn't need telling. So before I could answer he'd said 'Let's go' and set off for clock town.
I was upset so I couldn't imagine what he was feeling like. I mean, all your friends and family wiped away and the other half you couldn't get to till spring.
It was so sad.
Why didn't Link turn up? It was maddening; he was supposed to be the hero of this story, not me.
The town ahead grew larger and larger across the land and we drew up to the gates as the sun began to set, the sky was gloomy and the growing shadows gave the town a melancholy look, like it was reflecting my feelings.
Pathetic fallacy. That is what my English teacher would call it.
Dismounting, Sao herded me into the gates, pulling the horse along as well, and into the south courtyard of Clock town, across the way stood the clock tower. THE clock tower.
The ticking was loud and filled the courtyard with echoes. People littered about the stalls in front of the clock, counting up daily profits and packing way their produce.
I stared up at the face, the light like a lighthouse beginning to pour from it's top across the plains of Termina.
"Come on" Sao said, and began to turn toward the steps that led up to where the inn was situated
"Wait a second" I said, he stopped and turned round
"Don't you want your stuff?" he asked tiredly
"Yes, but..." I paused and looked at the ground "Well..."
"Well, what?" Sao said with weary impatience "It's getting dark, it'll probably snow again so what is it?"
"I think..."
"Well...?"
I was debating what he'd say if I told him that I had been dead. By now I was sure of it. No one could have survived what I'd been dealt. Would he believe me? No sane person would that's for sure.
I decided not to tell him.
I smiled a small smile "I was just thinking, that last time we were here, I was being kidnapped" I realised that this would grieve him a little as I said it, but the words still came out
Sao smiled twitchily, for my sake, then turned around and started to walk on again.
I felt my own chin tremble as a tear slipped out, but no more fell behind it. I followed him up the steps, feeling slightly alone; if he wouldn't share his grief with me then he'd keep it bottled up. And that would help no one. Least of all him.
Slipping every so often on the way, we made it to the inn door and embraced the warmth of the inside room.
"May we help you?"
Anju stood at the desk with a large smile on her face, "Sao! And...er...friend!"
I grinned, my first real smile of happiness since last night. She seemed bright and began fussing about Sao as if he was her own son, taking his bags, sending someone out for the horse and all.
She sent a few strange looks at me, in my blanket covered state, but seemed to recognise me.
"Anju" I asked once she'd begun to pick up Sao's bags from the saddle "Is Link here?"
She looked up at me; the smile faded and my heart sank "The one you were with?"
I nodded.
"Well" Anju looked up and down the room, as if she was expecting something to jump out and eat her "Come on, I'll show you to the room"
I understood this as the usual code for secret sharing from films so I willingly went along with her.
"We're putting you in your old room" Anju said "Since you still are booked into it and your things are there. In a mess I might add"
I shot a look at Sao, who shrugged.
Down, down, down along all the passages I'd run along a few days ago that seemed like years ago. And there was our door. A little beaten and bruised, but our door none the less.
Anju took out what I guess was her master key and unlocked the door. Picking up Sao's saddlebags and putting them inside the door she walked right into the room.
It was a mess.
The beds were over turned and all of our items were strewn across the floor in a heap, everything was messed up or broken.
"Did anyone come in here?" I asked Anju, walking into the room and surveying the wreck
"No one but you and Mr Link" Anju replied sitting on a bed frame, the mattress was on the floor "I'll have to ask you to pay, sorry"
"S'ok. And was he drunk?" I picked up pieces of glass and looked at the window, the frame had been beaten in
"Drunk?" Anju repeated, "Well he was..."
"I knew it" I threw up my hands "Goes to question people and comes back drunk exactly when I could do with rescuing! I knew he would"
Sao began to pick things up, mostly Link's weapons, carefully avoiding underwear.
"He was..." Anju began quietly, looking around again "He was a feared"
"What?" I shut the door quickly
Anju had gone pale, as she had stated this fact; I sat next to her and repeated
"What?" I repeated
"Well" she whispered, leaning forward to say it quietly, "After all the racket during the night, he returned in the morning, not knowing what had happened. So we explained that you had disappeared in the disturbance. He went as white as a sheet and began to shout"
"He Shouted? At you?" Sao asked inspecting an arrowhead
"No, at everything, not just me, even at the stairs for being in his way" She said slowly "He burst up the stairs like a tornado and headed straight for your room"
"Goddess knows what he saw when he locked the door" Anju continued, "We heard him ripping this place apart and then the next instant he tore back down the stairs with such a murderous look on his face! Like he was about to kill someone! He screamed at me to keep the room and sprinted out of the inn. We haven't seen him since"
I sat there listening, obviously he had been angry. And from the sound of it Link had found out what he'd been wanting and come back to tell me. Maybe the thought I'd been taken by Shadow Man or something.
Taken...
A light burst in my head.
Taken...
I hadn't been killed. Or taken by Shadow Man...
"Thanks Anju" I heard Sao say as he showed her out of the room "We'll clear up now" he turned back into the room as he said "Well. Looks like he was mad"
"Sao" I began slowly "What if...the camp isn't gone"
He froze "What?"
"Well, it is gone but. Taken" I said, "What if everyone was taken, I never saw anybody die" except me, I reminded myself silently "Only the tents were gone. If Link thought there was a chance I was alive when I was gone"
Sao shook his head "It would be nice to have some hope. But I doubt it"
"Yet it might be true!" I persisted, knowing that if I was right then I could stop feeling guilty and do something
"It isn't" Sao said a little more loudly "It isn't, you are the only survivor"
"Well let me go then if you won't come with me!"
"No, I'm not letting you out my sight!"
"Why not?"
"Because you are valuable to the defeat of the Shadow Man!"
"Why?"
"Because you are, you will not be going anywhere where you might be in danger!"
"But what if they're alive!"
"THEY'RE NOT!" he hit the bed, and said more quietly "They're not"
I paused, the last time I had argued like this here, in this timeline, in the other world, I had earned a slap. Too bad.
"Are you afraid to look for them?" I said quietly
Despite myself I knew it was my hope that Lucy was alive and I could take her home with me once more, he wasn't going to stop me but if I could have a companion that would be an asset, and I'd rather leave on bad terms than sneak off without him if he wouldn't let me go.
He wasn't going to let me go. Time to put the plan into action. I eyed my things on the floor.
So I would make him angry, if I made him angry then perhaps he would leave me and I could go and search for Link and Lucy myself. Or maybe if he wouldn't want me to go I could get him angry that he'd let me leave out of pride. At the moment this was my only idea. He was almost angry already.
That caught his attention. His grief that he'd bottled up after finding me had slowly been turning to anger, anger at himself, at Shadow Man, at what happened, and perhaps that it was I who survived and not one of his friends.
"What?" he muttered
I swept coolly off the bed and began to pull my stuff together to fit into the backpack I'd brought that was flung against a wall.
"You heard me" I replied
Sao's face was a grim stone "Do you think you know me?"
I couldn't look at him, I hated people angry with me or shouting at me but this was my only way to get him out of my way.
"I've barely known you" I replied, pushing my things to the bottom of the bag and keeping my eyes on the objects in front of me "I am usually a good judge of character though, considering you weren't at the camp I can only see that the evidence suggests cowardice because you ran away. And now you won't even go search for them I guess I was correct"
I could almost feel the room heat up as his fist in the corner of my vision clenched and unclenched.
"I am not a coward. Just look at me," he said suddenly, angrily
"I'd rather not," I said carefully, to keep my voice steady, "Someone who deserts his people is not worth looking at"
That blew it.
Once again I had earned a blow as my reward for holding an argument.
Sao snapped his fist back and struck me with unrestrained force across my cheek, slamming me back into the wall.
Dazed enough not to cry, and in enough pain to be mad enough to stand up when I was almost unconscious.
Drawing a breath I steadied my legs as I stooped to pick up my backpack and riding cloak I had been fortunate enough to finish packing and my sword that was lying nearby.
I also picked up some of Link's interesting little pieces to shove into my pack, including a red potion and a dagger.
I closed my eyes against dizziness for a moment and then looked straight at him. He seemed as shocked as Link had been when he'd hit me; I was making a habit of this. He also seemed to have no remorse for the blow, a difference between Link and himself.
"Good day to you sir" I said coldly forgetting momentarily it was evening in favour of dramatics, "I shall see you in hell"
Striding past him, a little unsteadily I grant you, I slammed the door and walked down the hall with my head as high as it would go. I almost gave myself a high five for such a great parting line.
Around the corner of the hall I grabbed the wall for support as my light-headedness returned and felt my cheekbone.
I was surprised it was not broken; maybe my hair had taken some of the blow or something, but it hurt so much. I could already feel the bruise rising.
What hurt even more was that I had been horrible. I felt even worse now than I had before. At least I had some hope to cling to in that Lucy might still be alive.
But what filled me with a cold sort of chill was that I was all alone. I had shoved away my only companion in this huge place, and I had no idea where to start looking.
Companion, not friend I noted. In all our time at camp he'd barely come to see us and since he had kidnapped me I wasn't that drawn to him in the first place.
I barely knew him at all. He wasn't a friend so I shouldn't feel so bad at leaving him and being so mean. Even so...
I would have liked his old humour to have come back to travel with...
I pulled myself up against the wall a shook off my faint headedness. I was almost 18, an adult and old enough to have had children in the 15th century. So why shouldn't I travel alone? I leant on the sword sheath momentarily and was glad that I wasn't weapon less as well as friendless at the moment.
I looked back at the door for a second, and then strode off and down the stairs.
I didn't look back. I wasn't going to let regrets fill my head anymore. I had a chance to undo one by saving Lucy, I'd never forgive myself if I had to tell her parents she wasn't coming home when she'd never even left there in our world.
If no one could or would help, then this time I was doing it alone, even if it killed me.
I didn't stop to think then that it just might do that.
How was that chapter? Was it ok? Fine? Good or bad, review and tell me! I love reading your comments and advice people! Do you like the longer chapters?
