Disclaimer: Mark is mine. Mark is fun. I don't even know if Mark is in this chapter. To my knowledge, nobody but some inconsequential announcer-type people are mine, either. What a story. *shakes head* (to quote Homer Simpson) What an age we live in. Oh…and Alca the nurse is canihavea-soda's. Well, you said I could make you drunk or dead…how's this, then?

*

Maybe lies weren't the best way to go. But I've left the truth behind…and I can't go back now. (scrawled on a wall at the Tourney)

*

"I am darkness…I am pain…I am the forgotten, the unreal…"

            Ymota U's meditating was interrupted by the knock on the door. Ymota U was immediately jolted out of her meditative state. She shoved all her arcane things underneath her bed with her foot and unlocked and opened the door. Her sister, Zyuiu Dbyu, stood there.

            Although Ymota U and Zyuiu looked different, they were twins. They were born in Hyrule Proper. When they were six, their parents died. Two families who lived next door to each other were willing to take one twin each; they each had other children and had room for only one. One family took Zyuiu and the other took Ymota U. By pure accident, their bedroom windows faced each other.

            Both families thought that the other girl would be a bad influence on the other, mainly because the families themselves were rivals in everything they did. It was at this time that Zyuiu and Ymota U made up the names they used now. Before they were named Kristi and Tami. They were not allowed to see each other, and if they did and were caught, they were punished. They made up the language they used they were famous for in the Tourney so they could send letters to each other using the language. If the letters were intercepted by either family, they could deny knowledge of what it was. The letters were rarely intercepted anyway; they were sent by way of paper airplane.

            When Ganondorf began his rise to power, he felt the evil sleeping in Ymota U's heart and came to her in a vision. He hoped to recruit her for his army, knowing she would be twisted and evil enough, and that she, unlike her twin, had magic at her disposal. Ymota U would have liked nothing better than to join Ganondorf and leave her foster family forever, but she was fiercely loyal to Zyuiu and could not imagine leaving her. Zyuiu was growing to be kind and just, with a noble heart, and would never go with Ymota U to Ganondorf. So Ymota U declined Ganondorf's invitation. However, she secretly began practicing dark magic, and with Ganondorf's occasional help, she amassed a large understanding of darkness of the soul. She grew to be powerful and arrogant with her magic; when Ganondorf was sealed away, she forgot about wanting to join him…someday she knew she would serve only herself.

            When Ymota U and Zyuiu had been old enough to marry, they left their foster homes for the Tourney. Even before their parents had died, the sisters had dreamed of the Tourney and a different life. After the death of their parents, and with their separation, it became an obsession for the both of them. They would practice fighting whenever they had the time.

            When they reached the Tourney, they had one more decision to make before entering their new life. Should they remain Kristi and Tami, or take the names for themselves that they felt were warrior's names, and names that symbolized that they were together…they abandoned Kristi and Tami along with their old lives, and took on the names Zyuiu Dbyu and Ymota U.

            They lived permanently in Odnetnin, but when the Tourney rolled around, they took rooms in the actual Tourney. Ymota U still practice her dark magic, and Zyuiu still had no idea. "Hey, Zyuiu," Ymota U said. "What ar—oh! I'm late, aren't I? We were going to practice…is it time already?"

            Zyuiu grinned. "What were doing in there, anyway?"

            Ymota U froze for a moment. Then she smiled. "Nothing," she said, grabbing her lance and shutting the door. "Nothing at all."

*

"You like her."

            "I don't even know her!"

            "I saw the way you stared after her last night…you were in a trance, Rowrun!"

            Rowrun and André had been inseparable since they had met when they were kids. André, as prince, was expected to have noble friends, which was exactly what Rowrun was. Nobody discouraged their friendship, and they were even allowed lessons together. Along with several other boys of nobility, they formed a 'secret society' called the Order of the Crimson Hawk. Everyone in the order had a crimson hawk tattooed on their chests. It was with the Order that André stumbled into the storage rooms, long forgotten beneath the castle of Odnetnin, and found the Sword of Power.

            In the castle, André and Rowrun were as different as night and day. Because he was Prince, André was reserved and quiet. Rowrun was outgoing and brash. André flirted politely at castle functions; Rowrun played love-and-leave. It was no secret that Rowrun had quite the harem, or at least a following of lovely ladies who swooned every time he came near.

            In the Tourney, André seemed to loosen up quite a bit. He joined Rowrun in his shameless flirting (and both extended it far beyond flirting) and joined Rowrun in his trouble-making schemes. In the Tourney, André had as big a following of women as Rowrun did. André had once accidentally attracted the Princess Peach, much to the anger of Mario. André had been forced to forfeit the Tourney that year because Mario and his wrench wouldn't leave him alone.

            "Well, if I like Lindsay, you have a thing for Shiek."

            André colored scarlet. "All right, let's both admit it, then."

            Rowrun grinned. "And if either of us tells, we're out of the Order, neh?"

            "Exactly," André said. "I'm falling in love with Shiek. You."

            "I'm falling in love with Flames…Lindsay," Rowrun said. He grinned again. "But I don't think these are the best choices for love-and-leave, André."

            "I agree," André sighed. "Lindsay would bash you to pieces without a second thought. At least you'd die fast."

            Rowrun laughed. "Poor guy," he said. "Shiek would slowly drain the life out of you with that whip of hers, while periodically stabbing you with those little needles."

            Suddenly André changed the subject, at least a little. "Do you get the feeling that Shiek is hiding something?"

            Rowrun shrugged. "Like that she murdered the Princess of Hyrule?"

            "You know she didn't."

            "Yeah, yeah, Link's story doesn't make all that much sense," Rowrun said. "Neither does Shiek's, but hers is vague enough that she could be telling the truth. Link doesn't  know what he's saying. But what would Shiek be hiding?"

            "Dunno," André admitted. "But I think she is."

            "Which Sword do you think Lindsay has?" Rowrun said.

            André smiled. "I'm not sure I want to know," he confessed. "Mine will be useless against hers, and if she has something big and bad, I'm screwed."

*

Lindsay, Rhia, and Shiek were all coming out into the practice arena when Samus Aran fell in beside them. Shiek looked surprised for a moment, then said, "Samus, this is Rhia D'nalz, the chicken girl and archseer. Rhia, this is Samus Aran. Um…she looks good in metal."

            Samus laughed. "So you're an archseer but can't control your magic?" she asked Rhia.

            "Yeppers, that's about it," Rhia said. "Fighting is going to be very interesting. Magic is my biggest weapon, though in hand-to-hand I'm marvelous. But if I want my magic to knock out my enemy, I'll very likely have another giant chicken incident. Except when I'm fighting it'll probably lay an egg on top of me."

            Samus laughed again. As they walked out into the arena, they passed Zyuiu Dbyu and Ymota U. Zyuiu was stretching; Ymota U was smiling to herself, leaning against a wall. She subtly watched as Shiek, Samus, Lindsay, and Rhia passed by. She whispered something to herself. Zyuiu looked up. "What?"
            "Nothing."

            Zyuiu finished stretching, grabbed her lance, and trotted over to Shiek. Shiek looked at Zyuiu and blinked. "Oh, I get it," Shiek said. "You wanna fight. Hehehe…I'm so smart." Shiek took out her whip and needles.

            Zyuiu turned her head to Ymota U for a moment. "She takes out all her weapons in training," Zyuiu said. "Either she's very, very good, or—"

            "Very, very stupid," Ymota U finished. "Personally, the latter. But you don't judge what an enemy will do, rather what they can."

            Zyuiu nodded. She turned back to Shiek and expertly held out her lance for the whip to wrap around. Zyuiu screeched in shock when she was shocked by her lance, now electrified. Shiek yanked her whip back and quickly tossed some darts at Zyuiu. Zyuiu dodged at kicked out at Shiek. The fight continued on in the same fashion, each fighter gaining a victory as soon as they'd lost.

            The fight ended when Zyuiu slammed Sheik in the stomach with her lance. Sheik stumbled backward and tripped over a rock, twisting her ankle. She grimaced and tried to stand up, trying to signal the fight was still on. Zyuiu laughed. "She seems brave, Ymota U,"  Zyuiu said. "Or maybe, like you said, very, very stupid." Zyuiu shook her head at Shiek. "I commend your bravery, but the fight is over. You're hurt—this is just training."

            Shiek was about to say something but thought the better of it. She slowly stood up, her eyes squinched shut in pain. "Come on, Shiek, we'll take you to the infirmary," Lindsay said. Lindsay offered Shiek her arm so Shiek would not have to stand on her ankle. Zyuiu watched them take several steps, then smiled to herself. She picked up her lance and charged at Shiek.

            But Shiek was ready for her. Even with her bad ankle, Shiek flipped so she was standing on her hands and caught the lance between her legs. Then she threw herself off her hands and as she landed more or less right-side-up, the lance went with her. "Holy sh—" Zyuiu began, staring in wonder.

            "What happened to that—other language?" Shiek asked. She gingerly tried her weight on her bad ankle. A crack was heard and Shiek ended up on her bum. "Uh-oh."

            "After that display," Zyuiu said. "I trust you enough to…at least talk to you."

            "Thank you for that trust," Shiek said. She pulled the raggedy scarf from her mouth and gasped. "Lindsay, Rhia, I think my ankle just broke. And I don't think I can walk."

            "I know a spell where you'd float in front of me," Rhia offered.

            The entire arena stopped their practicing, turned to Rhia, and shouted, "NO!"

            Rhia pouted. "But—"

            "Lindsay has carried me before," Shiek pointed out. "We don't need the magic, Rhia, and frankly, we're all terrifed I'll end up with a chicken for an ankle."

            Rhia rolled her eyes. "Fine, she can carry you," she snapped. "You know, where I come from, people would never treat an archseer this way!"

            "Where do you come from?" Lindsay asked, bending down to pick up Shiek.

            "I have absolutely no idea," Rhia said. "Now, hurry, Shiek looks like she's going to pop."

            Lindsay shifted her way and, with Shiek in arms, hurried off. As Lindsay and Shiek left, Prince André and Rowrun moseyed over. And yes, they moseyed. Mostly because moseyed is pretty fun to write, but, I digress. For those of you whom the meaning of moseyed escapes, they sauntered over casually, pretending not to look curious or worried but really in truth anxious as hell.

            "What just happened?" André asked.

            "Shiek broke her ankle," Rhia said. She had been going to the Tourney since she was five years old, and somewhere along the line Rowrun and André had started going. Rhia watched Rowrun give André a slightly worried glance. She smiled to herself.

            "Where'd Lindsay go?" Rowrun said, then realized that was most possibly the most obvious and stupid thing he had ever uttered in his entire life.

            "She carried Shiek off," Rhia said, stifling a giggle.

            André stretched and pretended not to look worried. "I have to go practice, my muscles are all stiff. Coming, Rowrun?"

            "Uh, yeah, you go ahead and I'll be right there," Rowrun said. "Um…Rhia? Can you do a spell on me? To make me more…I don't know, appealing to Lindsay?"

            Rhia seemed to stop dead. "Wait wait wait wait," she said. "You are actually asking me to perform magic on you?"

            "Yes."

            Rhia raised her eyebrows. "Are you completely stupid or something?" she said. "Did you not see the whole giant chicken thing?"

            "Yeah, but, they say you're an archseer," Rowrun said.

            "Um, I am, I just can't control my powers," Rhia said. "Listen, I bet…I bet…okay, I don't know if anyone else here can do anything, but that's still better than me doing it!"

            "Please!" Rowrun said. "I just can't stop thinking about Lindsay, and I just know that no matter what I do, she won't notice me. I made a bad first impression and it's going to ruin me. Please, Rhia, I'm begging you!"

            Rhia sighed and looked guilty. "Fine," she whispered. "But, I'm not liable for anything that happens to you under this spell."

            "Yeah, of course not," Rowrun said. "What'll happen to me?"

            Rhia shrugged. "Come on, like I would actually know?" she raised her hands. "How did it go again…oh, right." She kept her hands where they were and white smoke shot from them, surrounding Rowrun. "Hmm, that's probably not supposed to happen." Rhia sighed. "When the smoke clears, you should be a perfectly charming man. And you'll attract a lot of ladies, not just Lindsay, but like Princess Peach, as a—" Rhia stopped as the white smoke cleared. "Chicken?"

*

The head of the infirmary was a young-ish woman named Alca. She was a completely normal woman, except for the fact that she took strongly to drink and was missing most of one leg. She was sitting behind a table, pouring some sort of liquor into a glass, when Lindsay came in carrying Shiek.

            Alca looked at Lindsay and Shiek, then at her drink, then back at Lindsay and Shiek. She stood up, leaning on a crutch, opened a closet, stuffed her liquor and the glass into the closet, closed the closet, and sat back down. "You never saw that," Alca said. "What's up? Who's down?"

            "My ankle is broken," Shiek said sullenly. "And my name is Shiek."

            "Ohhhh," Alca said. "Shiek. There's been some talk about you, Shiek."

            "I hope you don't believe Link's story," Lindsay said. "It's all wrong."

            "Well, sure it is," Alca said. "Because you're with Shiek. If you'd been traveling with Link, then you'd be thirsty for Shiek's blood as well." Alca paused a minute. "But, I don't believe Link's story. Nor do I believe yours, Shiek."

            "It's good that you don't believe Link," Shiek said. "Because his story isn't true."

            Alca rolled her eyes.

            "But it's good that you don't believe mine, either," Shiek said. "Because it's not true either."

            Alca looked up, surprised. "Oh?"

            "You must tell no one what you see here," Shiek said. She slipped out of Lindsay's arms. She closed her eyes and white lights suddenly surrounded her. When the white lights were gone, Princess Zelda sat there on the floor. She looked at Alca beseechingly. "Not a word from me," Alca said. Zelda smiled hesitantly, then changed back into Shiek. "My ankle is better now."

            Alca nodded. "Good luck, Shiek," she said. "And—I believe you now. But I'm not telling anyone that."

            Shiek stood up, and she and Lindsay left the empty infirmary. Alca leaned over, opened the closet, and resumed her drinking. "What happened to Alca?" Shiek asked when they were walking back towards the practice arena.

            Lindsay was silent for a moment. "She used to be a regular," she said. "She'd been fighting for six years, I think. I'd been coming here every year for seven years at the time. She went into a closed fight with Ymota U—that's Zyuiu's sister. A closed fight is one where only the judges watch. They pretty much suck if you're just watching, but it must be great for the fighters—for us. Alca went into the fight with two legs, and came out without one."

            "Goddesses," Shiek said.

            "Exactly," Lindsay said. "The judges wouldn't say what happened. That was one of the years Ymota U won."

            "What happened the other year?" Sheik asked.

            "Fyre almost died," Lindsay said.

            "Fyre…?"

            "Link's little brother," Lindsay said, a half-smile on her face.

            "He told me he had a little brother in the Tourney," Shiek mused. Shiek and Lindsay stopped as they entered the practice arena. "What the hell?"

            Prince André of Odnetnin was yelling at Rhia, who was flinching. Ymota U and Zyuiu Dbyu were laughing and wiping tears of mirth from their eyes. Princess Peach, who had come to practice with Mario, was screaming. Mario was running around, trying to whack something with a wrench. Prince Marth and Roy were running around after Mario, yelling for him to stop. Mewtwo and Ness were standing around with nets. Samus, like Ymota U and Zyuiu, was helpless with laughter. She had actually fallen on the ground. Mr. Game and Watch had produced a barbecue, and Bowser was heating it up. Falco was yelling for Bowser and Mr. Game and Watch to quit it, how could they eat that with him there? Fox was standing off to the side, looking conflicted: side with Falco, or barbecue? Mmmm…barbecue…

            Sheik and Lindsay exchanged glances, then ran over to André and Rhia. "How could you turn Rowrun into that?" André howled.

            Shiek grabbed Rhia by the shoulder. "What did you do?"

            "Um…" Rhia grinned remorsefully. "I turned Rowrun into a—" Suddenly Rhia launched into a coughing fit.

            "You turned him into a WHAT?" Shiek demanded.

            "Um…" Rhia sighed. "A chicken?"

            "You turned Rowrun into a chicken?" Lindsay giggled. "This I've got to see."

            "Cluckcluckcluckcluck."

            The four's heads turned down. "Rowrun!" André said. "Catch him!"

            As ChickenRowrun waddled off (rather fast…definitely not a normal chicken here), Shiek, André, Lindsay, and Rhia dashed after him. Ness and Mewtwo, holding their nets without using their hands, followed after a moment. Peach stopped screaming, only for Mario to start. In his fruitless w of the chicken, Mario had whacked Bowser on the foot. Bowser abandoned the barbecue and started chasing the plumber hero as Mr. Game and Watch packed up his barbecue. Falco and Fox, reassured that there would be no barbecue, resumed practice after helping Samus stand up. Marth and Roy, now reassured that Rowrun would not be eaten or beaten to death with a wrench, continued their practicing as well.

*

"How could we lose a chicken?"

            The despondent query was made by Shiek. The chicken hunters had given up after losing Rowrun and circling the Tourney four times. They were now in front of their rooms. Shiek was slumped on the floor, Lindsay standing next to her. André was pacing, and Rhia was standing across from Lindsay and Shiek, hunched up like she was expecting to be yelled at.

            "It's not just that we lost a chicken," said André. "We lost Rowrun!"

            At that moment, Zyuiu Dbyu came down the hall. She stopped in front of her door and asked, "How goes the chicken hunting?"

            "Terrible," Lindsay said. "We lost ChickenRowrun!"

            Zyuiu looked torn between pity and laughing. "Do you want me to help you look?"

            "No, we've given up," André said. "If you do see a chicken, don't hesitate to pounce on it."
            "I'm telling you, he asked me to," Rhia said sullenly. "I didn't know he'd turn into a chicken!"

            Unable to hold in her laughter any longer, Zyuiu wrenched open her door and disappeared inside. André sighed and stopped pacing. "I'll go inform Master Tourney to not let anyone kill a chicken. My father would be furious if Rowrun was killed as…ChickenRowrun." André sighed and walked off to find Master Tourney Man.

            "I really didn't mean it," Rhia said when André was gone.

            "We know you didn't," Lindsay said. "And so far, there's been no lasting harm done, so maybe, in a few years, after killing you, Rowrun will look back on this and laugh."

            "Assuming you can change him back," Shiek said. "Of course, I can too, assuming fowlus deminius will work here."

*

"Cluckcluckcluckcluck." Whee…I'm a chicken! I wonder how this'll get Lindsay to like me, though?

            Clucking occasionally to himself, ChickenRowrun waddled peacefully through the Tourney, his thoughts still fully human except that he was seriously in the mood for raw corn kernels. He was walking along a stone wall in one of the Tourneys courtyards, pecking at the grass. He looked up and saw Link enter the courtyard from one direction and, not long after, Ymota U from another. "Link," said Ymota U.

            Link looked up from the grass. "Ymota U," he returned.

            "Thinking about Shiek?" Ymota U said in a voice like silk. Beneath the silk lurked a demon, but Link did not know that.

            "How did you know?" Link said despondently.

            "It's obvious," Ymota U said quietly, coming closer to Link. Her voice and body were seductive, but her words enticed more than Link's body—his soul. "You want so badly to destroy Shiek that the original goal no longer matters. It's no longer about revenge, Link, you've moved on. You exist now only to kill her and all around her."

            "Yes," Link breathed.

            Ymota U lifted a hand to trace Link's jawline. "And you've come this far, you've come to the Tourney. Ever honorable, you'll defeat her in real combat. But what if—" Ymota U's other hand searched for Link's hand and found it. "What if she defeats you in combat? You'll look like a fool." Link shuddered and Ymota U closed her hand tighter around Link's. "You'd do anything to defeat her, wouldn't you?"

            Link's voice was no higher than a husky whisper. "Yes."

            "I can help you," Ymota U whispered into his ear. "But you have to help me too."

            "I will."

            Ymota U drew a necklace from a pocket in her tunic. The chain was fine gold; the pendant a golden eye. "Wear this when you fight Shiek," she said. "It will enable you to see her weaknesses, her next move." Ymota U put it in Link's hand.

            "How can I help you?" Link asked.

            "When you defeat Shiek, make sure she is unconscious but not yet dead," Ymota U said. "The first time. After that—we'll see. Put this charm on Shiek and I'll do the rest. And…give me the name of who sent you after Shiek."

            "Damion."

            "Damion." Ymota U repeated and smiled. She knew Damion very well. "Good." Ymota U whispered something into Link's ear and suddenly Link felt a heat burning low in his belly. She smiled seductively and walked away. Link stood there a moment longer, the eye charm in his hand. He turned and looked where Ymota U had walked off and wet his lips with his tongue. The red mist he had seen in front of him had turned to a black mist; it was red again in lust—for blood, and for more…

            Link slipped the necklace over his head and walked away. Rowrun was grateful to see it was in a different direction than Ymota U. Rowrun let out a strangled cluck, then waddled off towards his own room. If he was lucky, someone would see him.

*

Zyuiu stepped out of her room with the full intent to wander around the Tourney. She almost stepped on ChickenRowrun. "Rowrun!" she said, scooping him up. "Oh, thank the goddesses, André's ready to kill Rhia!" Zyuiu walked briskly to Rhia's room and rapped on the door. "I've got him!"

            Rhia opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief. "Shiek! Lindsay! We've got Rowrun!" she called. Shiek and Lindsay opened their doors. At that moment, André came down the hall. His face split into a large grin when he saw Rowrun. "Can you turn him back?" André asked Rhia.

            "Well of course I can," Rhia sniffed. "You all might just want to duck." Rhia took ChickenRowrun from Zyuiu and held him at arm's length. She muttered something under her breath and hurriedly turned her face away. A moment later, she dared to look. "Oh, crap." The chicken now had fangs and was, more or less, trying to eat Rhia. Urgently, Rhia muttered something else and turned away her face. When she dared to look again, the chicken was munching contentedly on a few dried corn kernels floating in midair. "Oh, for the goddess's sake!" Rhia muttered something then shrieked.

            Rowrun was standing there again, completely naked. Zyuiu, Shiek, Rhia, and Lindsay all snapped their faces away, shielding their eyes with their hands. "Where the hell are my clothes?" Rowrun asked.

            Lindsay was giggling. "Nice tattoo, Rowrun," she said.

            Rowrun looked down at his chest. "Yeah, thanks," he said.

            "I need to wash my hands," Rhia said, and disappeared into her room.

            "All of you stay here," Rowrun said. "Just let me pull on some clothes." Rowrun dashed past the girls and into his own room. André stood there, laughing. Rowrun came back out, wearing brown pants and a white shirt. Rhia came back out a moment later. "I need to tell you all what I heard when I was a chicken." Rowrun said. He repeated the conversation between Link and Ymota U as best he could, leaving out as much innuendo as he could while still making his point.

            "No way," Zyuiu said. "Ymota U would never do that."

            "I'm telling you, she did," Rowrun said.

            "You were a chicken!" Zyuiu snapped. She was about to say something more, but stormed off instead.

*

Ymota U sat down to meditate. She felt the aura of the room turn dark and evil, just like her. When she could change the aura of a room, it thrilled her. The evil was inhaled into the lungs, and spread through the bloodstream. The evil became a part of her. She thought, as the evil joined with her, beat through her veins in time with her heart's pumping, of Damion. Damion had been a supporter of Ganondorf, powerful in his own way. He specialized in deception. With the fall of the Evil One, Damion had fallen out of his power, though no one knew why. Some said Ganondorf had joined their souls so that if one fell, the other would be there to pick the other back up. She had heard rumors, through networks of fallen dark agents of the Evil One, that Damion had come to Hyrule Proper, but none of the rumors had said anything about what he was doing there. Now Ymota U knew, and she liked it. Murder the princess, and if that doesn't work, take both Zelda and Link out in one fell swoop. But she wasn't so sure she wanted Link to die. If her seduction worked well enough, she could force the Triforce from him, then give it to Damion. And then Link would be hers…

            Ymota U was so deep in her meditation that she didn't hear the knocking on the door. She did realized that she was in deep shit when the door was flung open and Zyuiu stood there. Ymota U looked at her darkly glowing candles and sucked her breath in. Zyuiu looked extremely angry, and the candles and incense burning didn't seem to help. Her cheeks were flushed scarlet, her eyes glinting with unshowing tears.

            "What is going on?" Zyuiu whispered.

            "Um…One of the new guys here told me that candles and incense can really help a person relax," Ymota U said.

            That seemed to break Zyuiu's final straw. Hot, angry tears welled in her eyes but did not spill. "Ymota U, we have never lied to each other before," she said. "What is going on?"

            Ymota U looked at Zyuiu from her place on the floor. "You're wrong," she said in a whisper.

            "What?" Zyuiu demanded.

            Ymota U smiled bitterly. "I've been lying to you since before we came to Odnetnin," she said, a sudden bitter-edged laugh in her voice. "And you—you were just too blind to see it. You, the righteous Zyuiu Dbyu. You, the honorable Zyuiu Dbyu. And me? Me? I have dimensions your honorable mind couldn't fathom, they're so dark! You'd go blind just looking into my soul!"

            Zyuiu shook her head, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing—or just didn't want to. But Ymota U carried on. "Do you remember when Ganondorf rose to power, Zyuiu?" Ymota U said, suddenly sickly thrilled in the pain she caused her sister. "Do you remember how I kept my drapes closed for two years? How I told you my family had shorn my hair and cut me? I was practicing Ganondorf's magic, Zyuiu!"

            "No!" Zyuiu said, the tears pouring from her bright blue eyes.

            Ymota U stood up. "It's true, Zyuiu," she sneered. "Look into your righteous heart and see for yourself."

            "Ymota U—"

            "I suppose this is where we part, Zyuiu," Ymota U said. "Because you've found me out. You could never stay loyal and true to me like this, could you, honorable Zyuiu?"

            "I'll stop you," Zyuiu said. "You're making the wrong choice."

            "I am not," Ymota U said simply. "How are you going to stop me, Zyuiu? What are you going to do, try to stab me?"

            "Please, Ymota U—"

            "I'm sorry, sister," Ymota U said. "Now leave."

            "No, I won't leave you to—to this!"

            "Leave or I'll make you leave!"

            "No!"

            "Zyuiu, now!"

            "NO!"

            Ymota U held out her hands and Zyuiu was blasted backwards into the hall, nearly over the open edge of the window on the other side. Zyuiu watched, the tears still glittering in her eyes, as the door magically slammed shut and locked itself. Rowrun had been right—Ymota U was helping Link to kill Shiek, and Zyuiu didn't even know what else. Had she just believed Rowrun, would it have mattered to her? Make Shiek leave the Tourney, it's all good then. Or better yet—stop caring. But she'd had to confront her sister, her best friend, about it, and had gotten this. Ymota U had not only supported Ganondorf, she still did. She practiced dark magic—and she was willing to abandon Zyuiu to further that dark magic.

            Zyuiu cursed Rowrun for making her see this, then stopped. She realized that she had to know this. Ymota U still loved her enough to spare her heart, but would've dragged Zyuiu down with her in the end. Zyuiu stood up, shaking, and vowed that she would help Shiek in—whatever it was she had to do.

*

*

*

Chappy 9 is done! Go me, go me! Or not. Whatever. Zappermon—I did change what you said in the email, this seemed to fit better. I couldn't wait for the Tourney to actually start to do ChickenRowrun, and the spat was, um, a little more than a spat. And I totally lost the language for Zyuiu and Ymota U, so, for the benefit of the readers, I just put it in italics.

Readers—the italics when Zyuiu and Ymota U are talking is a different language!

Readers—duh

OmniGaruGreymon—I'm really very sorry about turning Rowrun into a chicken.

Warstock—Betcha never knew you had a chicken for a best buddy, then, huh?

Winkybunnion—Well, you asked to turn people into chickens. I believe it was in a Review of chappy 6 or 7.

Lindsay—if you're still reading, I do hope you like your character!

Canihavea-soda—I remembered while writing this chappy that you'd requested a character, so this is what happened. Hope it's ok.

Lil' Blue Muse: It is absolutely NOT okay!

Me: meh?

Lil' Blue Muse: Ok, I just said that because I drank all of Soda's soda again and she's going to be really mad at me and for all I know her muses are on their way this very moment carrying machetes and whatnot to hack me into little pieces, not that that should bother me too much, because your dragon has already eaten me 13 times and Takeis ate me twice but still meep!

Me: longest sentence I've ever heard. Okay, then, I'm off to muse-proof my house.

A & B the C of D,

winged one

and always A-er & B-er the C of D,

~lil' blue muse~