An Assorted Collection of One-Shots
BY: Midnight*Starfire
Genre: Hmmm.....suspense...maybe horror?
Rating: I suppose PG?
Warning: Plotlessness and pointlessness ahead!
Note: I like to play with different genres, ratings, and characters, this story is just an example of me trying something new!
Disclaimer: I own nothing about the LOZ! I only own Gjuldane. Pronounced (Jil don nay)
One-Shot # 4 : The Gemini
The brilliant sun was setting in the west, and its illumination cast dark shadows upon all those in Hyrule. The birds had ceased their continuous chirping in the trees and all creatures wicked and mystifying had come out to play. A night owl in a nearby tree opened its amber eyes and hooted once. Twice. Before long the golden full moon lit up the nighttime sky.
Standing guard outside a potent desert fortress a fiery haired, muscular young woman stood holding a well crafted spear. She closed her eyes and took in the nighttime sounds as the wind threatened to take over her senses. Next to her stood her identical clone, yet younger and smaller, her sister Gjuldane. The only discernable difference between the two was their eyes, while Nabooru's were a violent violet (they aren't amber in this story), Gjuldane's were a piercing sea green. Nabooru casually looked over to her sister who was slouching and leaning against her spear ineptly. Being a stickler for perfection, this drove Nabooru absolutely mad. She reached over and poked her sister slightly with the silver tip of the spear, giving her a venomous look while doing so. Gjuldane rolled her eyes and straightened up. Gerudos were known for their ferocity and precise skills as warriors, and Gjuldane was constantly reprimanded for her lack of precision.
Then all at once, the nighttime sounds ceased, and silence immersed them. Nabooru was alerted by this, but Gjuldane closed her eyes and went back to leaning against her spear, as if she was about to fall into a deep sleep. Nabooru strained her ears to hear what that sound was in the distance. It sounded like a scratching sound, like something was being dragged. "Something's coming, I can feel it," she told Gjuldane with a haunted look in her eyes.
Gjuldane yawned heartily, "How can you be so sure? I feel nothing, not even the wind," she said.
"Precisely," Nabooru told her, "When all sounds desist and even the wind stops, that's when you know something is amiss."
Gjuldane cocked her head and stared at her sister, "I think your imagination has run off again. Don't you remember last time? When you claimed someone was breaking into the kitchen at night and we found out it was Viorica sleep walking?"
Nabooru turned and fixated her icy stare upon her sister, her eyes reflecting that fact that she did not wish to be taunted. The stare alone was enough to make Gjuldane turn her head, no one could look Nabooru in the eyes. There was something about her eyes, perhaps the stare, or maybe it was the unnatural violet that they were. Or perhaps it was the fact that she looked so inhuman, almost evil, and that she never blinked. She was almost unreal, something from a dream. Nabooru stood ready for an attack, thinking something was there. How right she was....
At the exact moment the bushes ruffled, something stirred and came closer to where the two women stood. Gjuldane, not believing what she saw stood dumbfounded, only thinking of the tales of terror other Gerudos told about rejected Gerudos, ones that had been kicked out. Other Gerudos like the King of Evil. But it was well known that he was dead and gone.
"Be on your guard, Gjuldane," whispered Nabooru as she prepared herself to pounce upon whatever it was. Nabooru's pulse quickened even though her exterior showed no signs of fear. Nabooru thought about other instances in her life, other situations like this one. All of the Gerudos had taken to calling her ghost, due to the fact that wherever she went, they believed spirts followed. Nabooru had seen apparitions all her life, especially whenever she was alone. Not everyone believed her, however. Preparing herself for whatever awful thing she was about to witness, she focused violet eyes upon the bush.
For the next few minutes all was quiescent and silent. A lone fox wandered out of the bush, where Nabooru's ghost was. Gjuldane tried to stifle a laugh but to her dismay she could not do so. Nabooru turned to face her sister with agitation in her eyes. "I was on my guard, Nabby. And you know what I was about to attack? A simple little fox! I cannot believe how paranoid you are!" laughed Gjuldane.
Gjuldane's uproar continued for a few minutes, partially to spite her sister for always trying to make her as perfect as she was. Nabooru blocked out the inane laughter and focused on watching the entry gates. Why was she out here guarding anyways? She was renowned and was training to be the next leader, so why was she doing the dirty work? She focused her eyes on her sister, who had finally stopped snickering and was the reason Nabooru was out there. Gjuldane was always trouble, and since she was Nabooru's sister, Nabooru had to practically babysit her.
An hour passed and all was still and serene. The iridescent stars danced in the nighttime sky and the golden moon rose higher into the sky. Gjuldane promptly fell asleep leaning against her spear, while Nabooru remained agile, yet tranquil. The bushes shook once again nearby and Nabooru focused her weary eyes upon them. A musty putrid smell wafted up to her nostrils and made her stomach turn over. It was suddenly freezing as well and an glacial wind began to blow. Nabooru stood still, watching the bushes as she clung to her spear and shivered uncontrollably. She glanced over at her sister who was now laying on the flithy ground fast asleep. Some guard she was. It did not matter however, because Nabooru was used to independence and solitude, she had always done things for herself. She needed no one.
After a couple hours the lively young Gerudo woman found herself drenched in lethargy, and had taken to sitting on the ground. Her younger sister was intent on sleeping their whole watch, and Nabooru was beginning to question the fact that the other Gerudos had not yet sent someone to replace them. Their shift had to be long since over. When jobs were assigned there was always an uproar about who would be given the tedious job of guarding. Nabooru felt her head lurch forward and her neck felt suddenly stiff. It was then that she felt something brush against her arm and her eyes opened with a start. Turning her head slightly to the left, she saw nothing ....at first....
The shadow of what looked to be like the great Hero of Time was cast upon a nearby crevice. Unsheathed at his side she could see the magnificant blade and in his other hand he held a mighty Hylian Shield. But a closer look revealed that this was no ordinary presence.....
It was not quite a shadow, image, apparitation, or reflection. It was merely a twin of Link's likeness, with startling differences. It was as if one were looking at Link but it was not complete in such a way that it made him look malignant. He was ghastly white, lacking in color and his face was devoid of any emotion. To look at him sent a chill down Nabooru's spine and knocked her air supply from her. He seemed to radiate a forbidden iniquity and his persona seemed so....dark.
Dark like the color the night when one can see nothing around themselves. Dark like the feeling of foreboding one experiences when predicting their own demise. Dark like the endless black sky; a sea of despair. Nabooru stood there with her unblinking gaze locked upon his, her breathing had ceased to exist and time had stood still.
"Gjuldane," she whispered, "You need to get up," said Nabooru simply.
Her mind was closing and her thoughts were being sucked from her head as she stared at the twin of Link before her. She felt that maybe if she closed her eyes, he would disappear and alas he would be yet another reason why the others mocked her. Nabooru felt her teeth chatter, out of coldness and fright. The blood red lips of the twin slowly slipped into a malevolent smile.
"Go ahead and wake her, for she will not see me as you do," it enunciated without moving its mouth.
Never before had she been face to face with something this vile. She swallowed hard and looked briefly to the left of her, towards the entrance to the Gerudo Fortress. When she turned back to look upon the dark image of Link she found nothing. Breathing a sigh of alleviation she once again beckoned her sister.
"Gjuldane, wake up!"
Gjuldane stirred this time, and opened her green eyes. Gjuldane glared at her sister, finding her to be a nuisance who was intent on abolishing her sleep. "Why did you wake me, I was having quite an interesting dream."
Nabooru weighed her options. Tell her sister and once again face ridicule or dismiss this whole incident as a wild hallucination. The latter was the one she inadvisably choose.
"I thought I saw something, Gjuldane. Turns out it was my imagination running amuck yet once again."
Gjuldane smirked and stood up, brushing herself off as she did so. Picking up her spear she leaned against a nearby rock and closed her eyes. Nabooru sighed inwardly, would nothing ever daunt these people? Apparently, they did not believe in what she knew to be accurate. What she knew with every ounce of her being to be tangible. Seeing is believing right?
Perhaps it was a mere trick, and when analyzed the situation could have been fantasy all along. She was exhausted and it was nighttime, two things which could cause one to think they saw things that did not exist. 'But then how could I explain the abrupt coldness and the rancid smell,' Nabooru thought. The coldness was the wind and the scent could have been any number of things. Nabooru argued with herself over the justifications of the recent events. Was it possible it was all a figment of her imagination?
She had found a way to convince herself she was disturbed until she heard heavy breathing directly behind her. She froze in place, not moving a muscle, holding her breath as if it would help. She strained her ears to here as he moved closer and closer to her until she could feel his warm, rotten breath upon her bare olive skinned shoulders. Lightly he brushed his fingertips down her back as if trying to take in what real human flesh felt like. Nabooru shivered at his touch, and the profound coldness that made her skin ache. She closed her eyes tightly, willing him to go away. She felt his fingers weave through her hair and another chill darted down her spine. Whether or not he intended to harm her she could no longer take it.
Taking a deep breath and counting to three Nabooru spun around and uttered a shrill battle cry. She was met with a sword however and he stabbed her in the side before she could even impact him. Nabooru had dealt with pain all her life, but there was something about this wound. It was more than a flesh wound. It felt as if her flesh was decaying and burning all at the same time. Although her pain tolerance was high and she was quite the warrior herself, her shriek reverberated through the canyon walls. The last thing she remembered before consciousness left her was him standing over her, the smell of his breath and glowing glint in his eyes and the way the large hilt of his sword felt as it impacted the side of her head.
Darkness had suffused her senses rendering sight useless. She shook with violent tremors as she tried to awaken. Voices echoed in the background, familiar ones at that. She fought to regain consciousness, to reclaim her senses, but so far to no avail. The voices had come closer to the point where she could distinguish words, although she could not differentiate between the voices.
"What do you mean you just found her like this, Gjuldane?" demanded an irate high pitched voice.
"When I awoke she was like this, bleeding from the side. I searched everywhere but found no one," said Gjuldane, the second voice.
"It almost looks as if she injured herself," drawled a third feminine, yet raspy voice.
"What do you mean awoke, Gjuldane?" demanded the first voice, "sleeping on the job again?"
But the first voice was cut off by the third. "This isn't a spear puncture!"
"What" asked Gjuldane.
"Well what is it then," interrogated the first voice.
"It looks to made like this wound was made....by some sort of long sword," replied the third voice. If you look here you can see the incision is.....
The voices began to fade from Nabooru's head as she once again lost all consciousness and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Yet a few hours later Nabooru awoke to darkness save a flickering lanern mounted on the wall. Her eyes frantically jerked open and she looked all around for the warrior who bore an uncanny resemblance to Link. She lurchd forward and felt herself pulled back onto the hard cold ground, her head smacked again solid stone. The air was heavy and sour and leaning forward she saw strong metal bars surrounding her. Nabooru once again tried to get up, only to be pulled back to the ground. This time she heard the clanking of metal upon marble and knew she was chained to the wall. Her side ached as she writhed against the chains, panicking trying to free herself. Nabooru knew exactly where she was, but why? Why would they chain her to a wall in the dungeons, what had she done wrong?
Nabooru called out for anyone but no one came, she was all alone. Paranoia began to take hold on her and she began to worry she would see the twin once more. The masochist who deliberately stabbed her with a smile on his face. She screamed in agony and anguish and writhed against the chains once more.
"Why is she screaming, what's wrong with her?" asked Gjuldane frantically. Three gerudos stood outside looking into Nabooru's cell watching as she tried to free herself but to no avail.
"Gjuldane, we know this is going to be hard for you to understand. But it appears that your sister tried to kill herself earlier. Gjuldane she is-" began the leader of the Gerudos who was then cut off by Gjuldane.
"Do not stand there and lie to me! My sister is not suicidal or insane! There is nothing wrong with her, NOW RELEASE HER!" Gjuldane screamed.
Another Gerudo, that ranked just below the leader stepped forward. "I suggest your words come to a halt. Unless you would like to join her."
Gjuldane turned to her sister and watched her. Nabooru was panicking and screaming continuously. She was acting as if there was something in the cell with her, yet the other Gerudos saw nothing. If only they understood that her sense of vision was heightened and see could see what the untrained eye missed. If only they knew she could sense what others wouldn't believe to exist or even be present in the room with them.
Nabooru had begun to calm down, she was wearing herself out screaming and thrashing around. She sat down upon the hard cold ground and leaned her head forward. Closing her eyes, she took in deep breaths convincing herself that this somehow wasn't real. Any second she would open her eyes and be in her own chambers. She would awake to find it was a nightmare and that she had not been attacked by some twin of Link and that she was not chained to a wall in the dungeon. For she knew exactly why she had been chained here. The other Gerudos believed her to be a threat and an extremely dangerous one at that. They must think her crazy to chain her to a wall and leave her.
Still uneasy and suffering, Nabooru tried to find a way to sleep. She was very weary and she figured that at any second she would feel herself dropping off into the land of dreams. This was all interrupted however by heaving breathing that came from directly in front of her. A sudden coldness washed over her and she began to shiver. Nabooru was afraid to open her eyes, because she knew what she would find there. But no matter because the more she reacted to his taunting the more of a show she put on for the other Gerudos. Either way she could not win. Opening her eyes she saw within an inch of her face was the twin. With his glowing eyes and blood red lips, and pale skin. The two stared at each other for a moment and Nabooru couldn't help but notice his leering smile. Looking into his eyes she knew that this would be the end of her. She would be like this forever, thought to be a lunatic. She would see things others would not and they would never ever believe her. She would become an example and she would be the basis of why other Gerudos would never speak up if they saw something unexplained.
With this in mind Nabooru did not react, and did not move a muscle. She only maintained her eye contact with the creature resembling Link. His unblinking stared burned into her and she felt herself gasping for air. Her very thoughts were being pulled from her as it came closer...and closer....
"What is she doing? What is she looking at?" demanded the chief Gerudo.
Gjuldane silently watched her sister, fearful that something would truly happen to her. Nabooru was not a known prevaricator, so why would she create such falsehoods? Surely there must be some truth to what she has said.
"Move her to the Spirit Temple, I cannot have her disrupting the rest of us. There she will remain in exile."
The next day Nabooru was moved to the Spirit Temple and was told to stand guard there for all times. Gjuldane wanted to stay with her sister but she was forced to come back to the main Gerudo stronghold. The other Gerudos left Nabooru all alone, and she thought no one was in the room with her. But the moment she believed that to be true, she heard the deep raspy breathing sound coming from the entrance of the Spirit Temple.....
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Well hopefully you enjoyed my explanation of why you find Nabooru in the Spirit Temple during the game. I have no idea why I even wrote this. I guess you could just blame it on me having some extra time and wanting to write something about Nabooru and something about Dark Link too.
Reviews are very much appreciated!!!
M*S