Strange Nights.
The moon fell into a river And carried quickly to the ocean, And soon t' will be swallowed by a whale,
Who spits it back into the sky
When deeds must be done, And done at night without fail.
~Drinking song (once very popular)
Springfield was a cunning dancer. His feet moved like spilled mercury. But even with this impressive display, he was only just able to keep up with the princess. Her articulate movements made a once popular dance with an inordinately slow beat into a display of her cobbler's ability to fashion a most impressive heel.
Its light ivory heel kicked her small ankle up in a way that made her look as tho she were pushing herself out of a bath, calm and graceful. She danced in the old fashion. A complex series of formal movements around the partner, it was once considered an indication of flirtation to dance around one's partner in this way. Springfield smiled at the challenge of it all.
It was when the dance changed over to a subtle nocturne, all the stars had crept up and twinkled in the sky, that the young nobleman took the princess off the dance floor and to the balcony.
He quickly into her eyes and flashed a not so innocent grin through long dark brown strands of hair. He looked like a writer, albeit a very successful one. He hadn't quite the smile of one who writes sonnets. She shyly smiled back and looked over the terrace and to the green expanse. He put his arm around her. She let him.
Link sneezed fitfully. He, Relic, and Terryn walked along the dark catacombs. Relic was emanating a slightly blue light, and when she smiled at Link, it hurt his eyes. Terryn spoke up, "I don't think I want to go to Hyrule."
"But you must", said the faerie softly, "once you start going somewhere, you can't go back. It's like trying to stop falling. You don't fall down and right yourself exactly where you stood."
"He does." Said Terryn acidly, pointing at Link. He shrugged indifferently, although he was fairly sure she was smiling when she said that.
"He's---special." Relic offered.
"Thanks, I think," said Link. He wasn't paying a terrible amount of attention to them. He was staring at his left big toe, now peaking through his boot affirmatively. "Which way is north?"
"Once we get out, you'll want to go right, and you'll find the exact direction once the sun comes up?"
"Yea, I know where Hyrule is... eight months if we're lucky."
Terryn snorted. That didn't appeal to her at all. "I don't want to spend eight months with him leading the horse. He pulls left."
"I do not! Epona does." Link offered, but felt guilty for saying it. Did he pull left? He wondered silently, irritated with himself and his company.
A large moan filled the cavern and traveled away from them. It was a low guttural groan, and tiny pebbles shook on the dirt floor. The first thud occurred. The second. The third one didn't happen for another minute, but it seemed very close.
Terryn drew closer to Relic, who held her akin to how a mother might when her child is afraid of something that was rather commonplace. For example, a windmill. "Link, could you?"
"Could I what?" asked Link.
Relic glared at him, then with her eyes motioned down the dark pathway. Link glumly took out his sword and went into the darkness. "I can't see".
Relic swore in a dead tongue, and spat on the ground. Smoke and dirt sizzled where she spat. Smoke sputtered and the ground sparked. A glass lamp, curved like a woman, rose with a bright blue flame in its center that hummed steadily. "Hurry!" she hissed. He looked back but twice, and on the second time he had noticed that Relic and Terryn were not to be seen but lost in the darkness.
Link picked up the lamp and ran. He was racing along a pathway and the moans and hums grew louder.
In regards to the monster's appearance, Link first heard it. With the rumbles of the cave, he could feel scratchy steps run and then a sudden wet thwack against rock wall. It grew louder and soon the hairs on Link's head moved with each thunderous noise. Link hadn't seen the creature; he had tasted it. The air was rancid and putrid, and it hit his tongue before his nostrils. It buckled his stance and stopped his pace. A particularly violent bile taste had hit the back of his throat as he ran, and his tongue violently wretched at the sensation. He felt like vomiting, and dry heaved and was instantly repulsed by the foul rotten orange stench in his nose. He realized he was on a path overlooking a lower level, and only when it was too late did he realize he was falling over. It was in the sure din of the lamp that fell nearby that he saw the creature.
Its body was like that of a pear with a giant mouth ripped across its base. It was a lurid purple; not that of flowers, but the kind you'd find in the robes of a holy man who was murdered on pilgrimage and found facedown in a marsh a fortnight later. It had no eyes. Its feet were less feet than purple stubs encrusted in a layer of dirt. It had no arms. If it ever did, the mouth had long since stretched its length and chewed them off.
A sick mouth was filled with yellow teeth. Unsightly pocks of honey-colored sores bruised the teeth most unnaturally. The teeth had bubbles in them as if pregnant with infection. All seemed cracked and cut like the knives of a very mad dungeon master who never cleaned the blood off his rusting shards of metal. Globs of steaming drool fell, mostly the color of sewer water. It bellowed once more, and ran hard into the wall near Link.
It breathed heavily after this, and this turned into a wheeze... it wheezed until it was within knifepoint of Link. The smell was nauseating, and it made him dizzy and weak. A sick putrid tongue came out, and it was covered in boils and welts that oozed a syrupy substance. It lashed and poked in Link's direction. He dove to avoid it. It threw his considerable weight against him.
The whack did clear Link's head of some of the pain. The nausea was replaced with considerable pain, but now he could see straight. When next it lunged, Link leapt (and this is not without some doing, mind you) over the creature, dragging his sword low across the beast. Blood that looked like coffee sprayed out, and it ran again at Link.
This time he had the advantage, and as it tried desperately to bite him in two, he darted away, and thrust his sword into it's top half. He turned the blade slowly into a fleshy sheath to make sure it got the point. The purple creature turned its attention into throwing weight against Link, holding him. Suffocating, Link dove the blade deeper. It met no bone, just fleshy darkness. He began ramming it in as he began to realize what lungs were, and how much they hurt. Soon, although no one was there to see it, a tiny hint of metal poked through the other side.
The creature ran hard into Link, knocking the wind and the sword away from him.
The rock wall he fell against was increasingly painful, and his body felt dizzy
and numb at first. As he fell and tried to reclaim breath, his side began to itch
and sting. The entire right side of his tunic now was now was gone, replaced with
maggots. The rice sized yellow things moved in a dizzying stir. Bits of what was
once green-brown tunic were being napped up. Some were eating his side too, and
his side began to shiver at the hundreds of stings. He ripped his tunic off
maniacally, brushing and clawing at his side. Most of the top part of the tunic
shredded almost too easily and took most of the maggots with it. He was getting
most of the maggots off, and just when he felt the worst was over, the creature
lunged at him again, this time hitting him in the head.
He fell backwards, and for a short while there was silence. He could hear the
creature shuffling its feet, and the sounds of maggots choking on ashen rock
floor. His head hurt. His backside hurt, and there was a noticeably cold
and annoying sensation. He realized he had landed on the hilt of is sword. The creature was near. Link rolled and stabbed at where his ears told him the creature was. He let
the knife dive in. When the first bits of blood squirted Link in the face, the
creature let out a painful moo-ing sound, and rushed against him, crushing Link
against its own weight and the cave. Link felt what little air was left rush in
and out of him, and his vision was specked with yellow fireflies. He choked. He
also refused to let go of the sword, forcing it in. Suddenly, the blade wetly
poked through the other side, and with a horrible squishing noise the creature
grew limp and staggered. Link fell down a couple feet, his sword fatally in the
beast,
It howled horrendously, and then Link grew very worried. The blade seemed to melt
away in the creature's dome. Link arcs of silver liquid dripped down the
creature, like candle wax. Slowly, it hardened. The purple head bubbled over like
pewter and of several bubbles rose a crown of spikes. Link thought that part
looked somewhat familiar, at least. They were spikes in shape of his blade. The
metal drips began to solidify, creating what appeared to be a tight metal cage
around the creature.
When it moved against the metal, it's skin dove under the cage like soft cheese.
It drooled heavily. The creature charged, raging at Link. It grinded loosely against it's fast-hardened cage of its own making. It roiled and charged again at Link. With no weapons, and little chance, Link grabbed the blue din and ran. He could feel it charging. The creature was big, Link thought, but not entirely coordinated. It continuously BONKed and BAMMed against the catacombs. It was after some time that Link saw a small blue light. His feet felt damp. Soon did Link find out that he was in fact, sitting in the beginning of a rather impressive river. It's a small trickling from the caverns, which sat elevated in the midst of the mist... and through a series of tributaries and several lakes, one would be seeing the smoke above Death Mountain on the horizon. At the present time, Link came to different revelations. The creature, stammering forth, was clearly blind and insane. Its monstrous tongue whipped in the side of the mouth, independent of any other movements or directions. It's purple side had become to turn red and volcanic; ashen pumice pocking its skin with each brushing. Link saw the sky's deep navy glint, and realized he was out of the cave. He saw no stars, the trees were too tall and thick. But the air was noticeably cleaner and more refreshing. The river opened up. Swimming through it seemed a good idea. The creature grew near, and bucked a mushy stump of a foot on a rock and fell face down into the water's yaw. Link clung to the shore and closed his eyes. The scream was terrible. Slowly the creature turned into water. Bits of rock and blood and pus fell off and disintegrated in the water. The trees moved at the dying cries. It sounded purely awful, miserable, and sad. Link thought he heard the disenchanted moan of an old woman, lost in the many octaves and tones the creature shrieked. Before long, the mouth was pulled wide and stretched in half. Soon, there was nothing left but the gleam of something floating in the water. Then nothing.. Link sat in the cool water and listened. After a while he pulled himself up. His side had stopped bleeding, for the most part. His rib cage was red and swollen, and looked like he had pox. Relic appeared from the forest. Terrryn was tending to Epona. Link was soaked. She was holding a satchel, and only her eyes glowed. Link stumbled towards her, and saw that her face was wet. "I'm sorry", she said. She shivered. "For what?" "Terryn?" Relic turned her head to the girl and horse, who took the hint at once and walked in the opposite direction. Link handed her the lamp, and with a great flash it was no more. Relic glowed a smile at him. "Let's walk, Link. So how do you think you did against that creature?" "I don't know what that was..." "It was my... pet." Link stopped and flashed anger. "Who keeps such things?" "I do, by and by. It was a Mora. In the old days, that meant sea. In the days after that, it meant clay. They were always rare. Hard to kill, as you've seen. I regret you had to do it, but it was old and confused." Her head hung low. Link felt it didn't suit her. "Then why did I have to?" "- Terryn shouldn't be exposed to such things." Relic sounded very old then. Link wondered how old she must be. "She's just a nice young girl. Bright, energetic, and doesn't know what's good for her. She thinks she does. But I won't let my problem get in her way. So I hid her from it " "It didn't do a lot of good" Link snapped, "it destroyed my sword and my tunic." "I can help you with the tunic." Relic said. She smiled in a way that made Link feel uneasy. They walked on, until Link saw the beginnings of a valley. The trees were smaller, and stars began to peek. "I want you to safely deliver Terryn to Hyrule's court. There is a gathering there. You might find a sympathetic ear. More than likely, however, you will not. You do want to go back to Hyrule, yes?" Link thought for a second. "Yes." "Why?" "I don't know, a lot of things. I liked it there best, I suppose." He said it in a way that he hoped the fairy queen would pick up on and drop the subject. She did. They heard Epona whinny at the edge of the forest. Terryn yawned and scratched the horse's mane. "This is where I leave you, don't fail me Link. Please. I would have done this myself, but" Relic sounded terse and shaken as they walked towards the horse, "I cannot hide myself well enough to deliver her safely. I trust you, Link.
She handed Link a package. "You two have fun. Terryn, you take good care of him." "I will." said Terryn sleepily. Link wondered what that all meant. He went behind a tree, and took a long, satisfying piss. Then he opened the new satchel. In it was a new tunic and boots. It was dark brown, like wet bark from the inside of the tree. It was lighter than his old tunic, but it did fit better. The new boots slid on nicely. The hat was too big, and hung loosely just above his eyes. He picked up the satchel, and in the night saw a blue dot moving through the trees back in the direction they had come. He walked over to his horse and they rode til the sky turned the green of dawn and day. Deep within the forests of Hyrule, a Gerudo thief was sitting around a fire. She was cold, unaccustomed to the temperature. Her jewelery tinkled with each shiver. It had not been a good night. She counted her earnings. Just to make sure. It was the same--- all thirty two rupees of it.. Common pickpockets had better nights than this. She would use it, she thought, to buy a shawl for herself; ordinary and more subtle. Pick up more money in busy markets. She hated competition, and the roads of this kingdom were fast becoming more dangerous than a Gerudo. Well, she thought, former Gerudo. That's what you get for stealing. Oh one rupee is harmless. How painful would four be? Who'd know? The stupid bitch had reported her out for forgetting guard duty, not theft. But when she was startled, she confessed to everything straightaway before realizing her mistake. Now who's the stupid bitch, she thought. She spat into the embers.. The world rustled. Very quietly, the hairs on her body rised, and she cocked her head just slightly. An arrow whispered past her ear, and landed in the fire. There was next to no time before the next move. A single curved blade held by a man in a red cloak swung at her. His sword went sideways to cleave off her head. Her hand went up. Blade met flesh, then bone, then flesh again in swift, sure motion. It fell loosely. The red rider staggered forth, reaching out for the hand. As he fell to his knees, the thief was gone. Arrows sang through the air around her escape. One went through her shoulder. Bastards, she thought, they had manipulated the arrows to go through, not to stick in. It would be worse to stick in, but it left a horribly small gushing of blood. She bit her lip until that too did bleed. The trees mostly met the barrage, though, providing an excellent cover for her escape. Soon, the thunks of trees falling was heard. Several assassins adorned in red robes cleaved through trees with clean motions, while two lept from tree to tree, shooting their deadly arsenal mid-flight. The trees fell in one swoop. A savage roaring could be heard. One particularly homicidal rider, holding his right stump in towards his stomach, was running faster and practically going through the trees he fell. An arrow met an ankle, and she began to stumble forth. Their awful noise could be heard. She caught her foot in an old root. She struggled to free it. Very quickly, the root grew and wrapped around her. Then it pulled her body into a large bush. "shhh" said the bush. "I am a spirit. Do not make any noise, please?" The thief nodded slowly, eyes welling up. The riders were very near. They passed by.
The forest woke up. Roots, vines, and branches wasted no time in trying to grab the riders. They slashed through them irritably, and the riders stopped their pursuit. A tree began to moan, "What business do you have in my forest." It was not a question. The Deku Tree was downright irritable. Most men would have been mortified to see an impressive oak the size of a small outpost chastising them, but the riders were an indignant lot. One walked up to the tree, and said, in a low rasp, "Murderers." "Lies," the tree said. "I see no murderers but what's in front of me. Tell me why I shouldn't fling you from this place." The rider reached into his cloak, and pulled out a decorative ornament on a chain. It was silver. Three conjoined triangles to form a larger triangle, with another triangular space in the middle. The leaves of the Deku Tree shook. "What proof do you have?" "She is an assassin. Sworn to kill the Princess Zelda in the name of the Thief King." "I asked for proof, rider, not for identity." A bush rustled in agreement. Heads turned. "You are wasting our time!!" A rider, a bit larger than the others, slashed horribly at the Deku's base. And they ran off. This time they didn't stop for the trees. Another crimson knight shot an arrow lit with fire at a bush. The flame grew. "Run" said the spirit. The roots loosened, and she fell to the ground. She saw a large thin tree to hide behind. As she was about to turn around it, she stopped. A knife found her stomach. It twisted. A branch lashed out and knocked her killer away like so much pebble skipping on the water. "LEAVE." The forest became increasingly deadly. But it didn't matter. The riders stole into the night. Her feet slid and she fell into the mud. Her toes grew fresh white roots. The branch caressed her. "I'm sorry," said the tree king. Her skin hardened. Before not very long at all, there was a small tree in the forest. It had curves in it, and it's branches arced down and upwards. Embedded in its trunk and branches were jewels of the desert that shone brightly in the moonlight
The moon fell into a river And carried quickly to the ocean, And soon t' will be swallowed by a whale,
Who spits it back into the sky
When deeds must be done, And done at night without fail.
~Drinking song (once very popular)
Springfield was a cunning dancer. His feet moved like spilled mercury. But even with this impressive display, he was only just able to keep up with the princess. Her articulate movements made a once popular dance with an inordinately slow beat into a display of her cobbler's ability to fashion a most impressive heel.
Its light ivory heel kicked her small ankle up in a way that made her look as tho she were pushing herself out of a bath, calm and graceful. She danced in the old fashion. A complex series of formal movements around the partner, it was once considered an indication of flirtation to dance around one's partner in this way. Springfield smiled at the challenge of it all.
It was when the dance changed over to a subtle nocturne, all the stars had crept up and twinkled in the sky, that the young nobleman took the princess off the dance floor and to the balcony.
He quickly into her eyes and flashed a not so innocent grin through long dark brown strands of hair. He looked like a writer, albeit a very successful one. He hadn't quite the smile of one who writes sonnets. She shyly smiled back and looked over the terrace and to the green expanse. He put his arm around her. She let him.
Link sneezed fitfully. He, Relic, and Terryn walked along the dark catacombs. Relic was emanating a slightly blue light, and when she smiled at Link, it hurt his eyes. Terryn spoke up, "I don't think I want to go to Hyrule."
"But you must", said the faerie softly, "once you start going somewhere, you can't go back. It's like trying to stop falling. You don't fall down and right yourself exactly where you stood."
"He does." Said Terryn acidly, pointing at Link. He shrugged indifferently, although he was fairly sure she was smiling when she said that.
"He's---special." Relic offered.
"Thanks, I think," said Link. He wasn't paying a terrible amount of attention to them. He was staring at his left big toe, now peaking through his boot affirmatively. "Which way is north?"
"Once we get out, you'll want to go right, and you'll find the exact direction once the sun comes up?"
"Yea, I know where Hyrule is... eight months if we're lucky."
Terryn snorted. That didn't appeal to her at all. "I don't want to spend eight months with him leading the horse. He pulls left."
"I do not! Epona does." Link offered, but felt guilty for saying it. Did he pull left? He wondered silently, irritated with himself and his company.
A large moan filled the cavern and traveled away from them. It was a low guttural groan, and tiny pebbles shook on the dirt floor. The first thud occurred. The second. The third one didn't happen for another minute, but it seemed very close.
Terryn drew closer to Relic, who held her akin to how a mother might when her child is afraid of something that was rather commonplace. For example, a windmill. "Link, could you?"
"Could I what?" asked Link.
Relic glared at him, then with her eyes motioned down the dark pathway. Link glumly took out his sword and went into the darkness. "I can't see".
Relic swore in a dead tongue, and spat on the ground. Smoke and dirt sizzled where she spat. Smoke sputtered and the ground sparked. A glass lamp, curved like a woman, rose with a bright blue flame in its center that hummed steadily. "Hurry!" she hissed. He looked back but twice, and on the second time he had noticed that Relic and Terryn were not to be seen but lost in the darkness.
Link picked up the lamp and ran. He was racing along a pathway and the moans and hums grew louder.
In regards to the monster's appearance, Link first heard it. With the rumbles of the cave, he could feel scratchy steps run and then a sudden wet thwack against rock wall. It grew louder and soon the hairs on Link's head moved with each thunderous noise. Link hadn't seen the creature; he had tasted it. The air was rancid and putrid, and it hit his tongue before his nostrils. It buckled his stance and stopped his pace. A particularly violent bile taste had hit the back of his throat as he ran, and his tongue violently wretched at the sensation. He felt like vomiting, and dry heaved and was instantly repulsed by the foul rotten orange stench in his nose. He realized he was on a path overlooking a lower level, and only when it was too late did he realize he was falling over. It was in the sure din of the lamp that fell nearby that he saw the creature.
Its body was like that of a pear with a giant mouth ripped across its base. It was a lurid purple; not that of flowers, but the kind you'd find in the robes of a holy man who was murdered on pilgrimage and found facedown in a marsh a fortnight later. It had no eyes. Its feet were less feet than purple stubs encrusted in a layer of dirt. It had no arms. If it ever did, the mouth had long since stretched its length and chewed them off.
A sick mouth was filled with yellow teeth. Unsightly pocks of honey-colored sores bruised the teeth most unnaturally. The teeth had bubbles in them as if pregnant with infection. All seemed cracked and cut like the knives of a very mad dungeon master who never cleaned the blood off his rusting shards of metal. Globs of steaming drool fell, mostly the color of sewer water. It bellowed once more, and ran hard into the wall near Link.
It breathed heavily after this, and this turned into a wheeze... it wheezed until it was within knifepoint of Link. The smell was nauseating, and it made him dizzy and weak. A sick putrid tongue came out, and it was covered in boils and welts that oozed a syrupy substance. It lashed and poked in Link's direction. He dove to avoid it. It threw his considerable weight against him.
The whack did clear Link's head of some of the pain. The nausea was replaced with considerable pain, but now he could see straight. When next it lunged, Link leapt (and this is not without some doing, mind you) over the creature, dragging his sword low across the beast. Blood that looked like coffee sprayed out, and it ran again at Link.
This time he had the advantage, and as it tried desperately to bite him in two, he darted away, and thrust his sword into it's top half. He turned the blade slowly into a fleshy sheath to make sure it got the point. The purple creature turned its attention into throwing weight against Link, holding him. Suffocating, Link dove the blade deeper. It met no bone, just fleshy darkness. He began ramming it in as he began to realize what lungs were, and how much they hurt. Soon, although no one was there to see it, a tiny hint of metal poked through the other side.
The creature ran hard into Link, knocking the wind and the sword away from him.
The rock wall he fell against was increasingly painful, and his body felt dizzy
and numb at first. As he fell and tried to reclaim breath, his side began to itch
and sting. The entire right side of his tunic now was now was gone, replaced with
maggots. The rice sized yellow things moved in a dizzying stir. Bits of what was
once green-brown tunic were being napped up. Some were eating his side too, and
his side began to shiver at the hundreds of stings. He ripped his tunic off
maniacally, brushing and clawing at his side. Most of the top part of the tunic
shredded almost too easily and took most of the maggots with it. He was getting
most of the maggots off, and just when he felt the worst was over, the creature
lunged at him again, this time hitting him in the head.
He fell backwards, and for a short while there was silence. He could hear the
creature shuffling its feet, and the sounds of maggots choking on ashen rock
floor. His head hurt. His backside hurt, and there was a noticeably cold
and annoying sensation. He realized he had landed on the hilt of is sword. The creature was near. Link rolled and stabbed at where his ears told him the creature was. He let
the knife dive in. When the first bits of blood squirted Link in the face, the
creature let out a painful moo-ing sound, and rushed against him, crushing Link
against its own weight and the cave. Link felt what little air was left rush in
and out of him, and his vision was specked with yellow fireflies. He choked. He
also refused to let go of the sword, forcing it in. Suddenly, the blade wetly
poked through the other side, and with a horrible squishing noise the creature
grew limp and staggered. Link fell down a couple feet, his sword fatally in the
beast,
It howled horrendously, and then Link grew very worried. The blade seemed to melt
away in the creature's dome. Link arcs of silver liquid dripped down the
creature, like candle wax. Slowly, it hardened. The purple head bubbled over like
pewter and of several bubbles rose a crown of spikes. Link thought that part
looked somewhat familiar, at least. They were spikes in shape of his blade. The
metal drips began to solidify, creating what appeared to be a tight metal cage
around the creature.
When it moved against the metal, it's skin dove under the cage like soft cheese.
It drooled heavily. The creature charged, raging at Link. It grinded loosely against it's fast-hardened cage of its own making. It roiled and charged again at Link. With no weapons, and little chance, Link grabbed the blue din and ran. He could feel it charging. The creature was big, Link thought, but not entirely coordinated. It continuously BONKed and BAMMed against the catacombs. It was after some time that Link saw a small blue light. His feet felt damp. Soon did Link find out that he was in fact, sitting in the beginning of a rather impressive river. It's a small trickling from the caverns, which sat elevated in the midst of the mist... and through a series of tributaries and several lakes, one would be seeing the smoke above Death Mountain on the horizon. At the present time, Link came to different revelations. The creature, stammering forth, was clearly blind and insane. Its monstrous tongue whipped in the side of the mouth, independent of any other movements or directions. It's purple side had become to turn red and volcanic; ashen pumice pocking its skin with each brushing. Link saw the sky's deep navy glint, and realized he was out of the cave. He saw no stars, the trees were too tall and thick. But the air was noticeably cleaner and more refreshing. The river opened up. Swimming through it seemed a good idea. The creature grew near, and bucked a mushy stump of a foot on a rock and fell face down into the water's yaw. Link clung to the shore and closed his eyes. The scream was terrible. Slowly the creature turned into water. Bits of rock and blood and pus fell off and disintegrated in the water. The trees moved at the dying cries. It sounded purely awful, miserable, and sad. Link thought he heard the disenchanted moan of an old woman, lost in the many octaves and tones the creature shrieked. Before long, the mouth was pulled wide and stretched in half. Soon, there was nothing left but the gleam of something floating in the water. Then nothing.. Link sat in the cool water and listened. After a while he pulled himself up. His side had stopped bleeding, for the most part. His rib cage was red and swollen, and looked like he had pox. Relic appeared from the forest. Terrryn was tending to Epona. Link was soaked. She was holding a satchel, and only her eyes glowed. Link stumbled towards her, and saw that her face was wet. "I'm sorry", she said. She shivered. "For what?" "Terryn?" Relic turned her head to the girl and horse, who took the hint at once and walked in the opposite direction. Link handed her the lamp, and with a great flash it was no more. Relic glowed a smile at him. "Let's walk, Link. So how do you think you did against that creature?" "I don't know what that was..." "It was my... pet." Link stopped and flashed anger. "Who keeps such things?" "I do, by and by. It was a Mora. In the old days, that meant sea. In the days after that, it meant clay. They were always rare. Hard to kill, as you've seen. I regret you had to do it, but it was old and confused." Her head hung low. Link felt it didn't suit her. "Then why did I have to?" "- Terryn shouldn't be exposed to such things." Relic sounded very old then. Link wondered how old she must be. "She's just a nice young girl. Bright, energetic, and doesn't know what's good for her. She thinks she does. But I won't let my problem get in her way. So I hid her from it " "It didn't do a lot of good" Link snapped, "it destroyed my sword and my tunic." "I can help you with the tunic." Relic said. She smiled in a way that made Link feel uneasy. They walked on, until Link saw the beginnings of a valley. The trees were smaller, and stars began to peek. "I want you to safely deliver Terryn to Hyrule's court. There is a gathering there. You might find a sympathetic ear. More than likely, however, you will not. You do want to go back to Hyrule, yes?" Link thought for a second. "Yes." "Why?" "I don't know, a lot of things. I liked it there best, I suppose." He said it in a way that he hoped the fairy queen would pick up on and drop the subject. She did. They heard Epona whinny at the edge of the forest. Terryn yawned and scratched the horse's mane. "This is where I leave you, don't fail me Link. Please. I would have done this myself, but" Relic sounded terse and shaken as they walked towards the horse, "I cannot hide myself well enough to deliver her safely. I trust you, Link.
She handed Link a package. "You two have fun. Terryn, you take good care of him." "I will." said Terryn sleepily. Link wondered what that all meant. He went behind a tree, and took a long, satisfying piss. Then he opened the new satchel. In it was a new tunic and boots. It was dark brown, like wet bark from the inside of the tree. It was lighter than his old tunic, but it did fit better. The new boots slid on nicely. The hat was too big, and hung loosely just above his eyes. He picked up the satchel, and in the night saw a blue dot moving through the trees back in the direction they had come. He walked over to his horse and they rode til the sky turned the green of dawn and day. Deep within the forests of Hyrule, a Gerudo thief was sitting around a fire. She was cold, unaccustomed to the temperature. Her jewelery tinkled with each shiver. It had not been a good night. She counted her earnings. Just to make sure. It was the same--- all thirty two rupees of it.. Common pickpockets had better nights than this. She would use it, she thought, to buy a shawl for herself; ordinary and more subtle. Pick up more money in busy markets. She hated competition, and the roads of this kingdom were fast becoming more dangerous than a Gerudo. Well, she thought, former Gerudo. That's what you get for stealing. Oh one rupee is harmless. How painful would four be? Who'd know? The stupid bitch had reported her out for forgetting guard duty, not theft. But when she was startled, she confessed to everything straightaway before realizing her mistake. Now who's the stupid bitch, she thought. She spat into the embers.. The world rustled. Very quietly, the hairs on her body rised, and she cocked her head just slightly. An arrow whispered past her ear, and landed in the fire. There was next to no time before the next move. A single curved blade held by a man in a red cloak swung at her. His sword went sideways to cleave off her head. Her hand went up. Blade met flesh, then bone, then flesh again in swift, sure motion. It fell loosely. The red rider staggered forth, reaching out for the hand. As he fell to his knees, the thief was gone. Arrows sang through the air around her escape. One went through her shoulder. Bastards, she thought, they had manipulated the arrows to go through, not to stick in. It would be worse to stick in, but it left a horribly small gushing of blood. She bit her lip until that too did bleed. The trees mostly met the barrage, though, providing an excellent cover for her escape. Soon, the thunks of trees falling was heard. Several assassins adorned in red robes cleaved through trees with clean motions, while two lept from tree to tree, shooting their deadly arsenal mid-flight. The trees fell in one swoop. A savage roaring could be heard. One particularly homicidal rider, holding his right stump in towards his stomach, was running faster and practically going through the trees he fell. An arrow met an ankle, and she began to stumble forth. Their awful noise could be heard. She caught her foot in an old root. She struggled to free it. Very quickly, the root grew and wrapped around her. Then it pulled her body into a large bush. "shhh" said the bush. "I am a spirit. Do not make any noise, please?" The thief nodded slowly, eyes welling up. The riders were very near. They passed by.
The forest woke up. Roots, vines, and branches wasted no time in trying to grab the riders. They slashed through them irritably, and the riders stopped their pursuit. A tree began to moan, "What business do you have in my forest." It was not a question. The Deku Tree was downright irritable. Most men would have been mortified to see an impressive oak the size of a small outpost chastising them, but the riders were an indignant lot. One walked up to the tree, and said, in a low rasp, "Murderers." "Lies," the tree said. "I see no murderers but what's in front of me. Tell me why I shouldn't fling you from this place." The rider reached into his cloak, and pulled out a decorative ornament on a chain. It was silver. Three conjoined triangles to form a larger triangle, with another triangular space in the middle. The leaves of the Deku Tree shook. "What proof do you have?" "She is an assassin. Sworn to kill the Princess Zelda in the name of the Thief King." "I asked for proof, rider, not for identity." A bush rustled in agreement. Heads turned. "You are wasting our time!!" A rider, a bit larger than the others, slashed horribly at the Deku's base. And they ran off. This time they didn't stop for the trees. Another crimson knight shot an arrow lit with fire at a bush. The flame grew. "Run" said the spirit. The roots loosened, and she fell to the ground. She saw a large thin tree to hide behind. As she was about to turn around it, she stopped. A knife found her stomach. It twisted. A branch lashed out and knocked her killer away like so much pebble skipping on the water. "LEAVE." The forest became increasingly deadly. But it didn't matter. The riders stole into the night. Her feet slid and she fell into the mud. Her toes grew fresh white roots. The branch caressed her. "I'm sorry," said the tree king. Her skin hardened. Before not very long at all, there was a small tree in the forest. It had curves in it, and it's branches arced down and upwards. Embedded in its trunk and branches were jewels of the desert that shone brightly in the moonlight