Chapter 8: The First Stone Lies within
Near the entrance to the forest, Misty's eyes were blank. She was thinking over and over and still couldn't get her answers. Tamorie was grinning to himself when he watched her walk like she was in a trance.
"The whole thing went perfectly. Deep down inside she is slowly coming to my side of the battle," he thought. Mikagami looked at Misty and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey are you going to be all right?" he asked.
"Huh? Uh yeah sure," she said softly. Mikagami looked at her as if someone had trade places with her.
"This isn't the Misty I know," he thought. He then went up to Saya, Rasheed and Tamorie, leaving Misty in the back.
"Do you guys notice something strange about Misty?" he asked them.
"That she is always quiet you mean? Then no not really," Saya said.
"Well she just looks like she is in some sort of trance. I tried to talk to her but she was just out of it," Mikagami said.
"Well maybe she isn't feeling well," Tamorie said.
"I don't know," he said. Rasheed hearing their conversation he slowed down to walk with Misty.
"... Hey can I talk to you once we get deep enough in the forest?" he asked. Misty just sighed and nods. They were about half way in the forest. The sun was shining through the leaves, lighting their way to the spiritual stone of forest. Of course you would think it would be with the Great Deku Tree, but no it's not. When Tamorie a.k.a took the stones he sent them far off in the forest. But no on knows where in the forest. Rasheed sighed and held her hand. Her hand felt lifeless when he touched it, but he just held it as if nothing had happened. In the clearing there was a huge shrine in the center and some huge boulders scattered about. The shrine was covered with vines and had a light green color to it.
"So is this the place where we will find the first stone?" Saya asked.
"I'm pretty sure about it," Rasheed said. Saya walked up to it and tried to open it.
"Locked... Well good thing I brought the key," she said.
"What key?" Mikagami asked. Saya grinned and took out her sword of darkness. She slashed the door several times before giving up.
"Ok... I give up!" she finally said.
"Maybe it requires a spell or something to open it," Tamorie said.
"Yeah well what type of spell is it anyway?" Mikagami asked.
"I have no idea," Tamorie said. He lied, only he knew the spells to open the shrines to each of the spiritual stones. The sun was about to set, night was coming soon and it will be too dark to see.
"... Another day wasted, well I guess we can camp out for the night. I mean we haven't rested for oh I don't know TWO DAYS!" Saya said.
"Yeah I guess we should camp out," Tamorie said. Mikagami threw down a few deku sticks and lit them.
"Don't expect me to sing Kumbiya," he muttered. Saya, Tamorie and Rasheed laughed. Though Misty just sat behind an oak tree. She wrapped herself in her arms and looked down. Deep inside her heart she still felt alone, but she also felt that the mission is more important then anything. The group was sitting around the fire and was talking about how they might be able to get in. Rasheed turned and noticed misty wasn't there so he got up and left. They didn't notice he left and just kept talking; Rasheed however looked behind the oak tree and saw her sitting there.
"Hey there," he said softly. She looked up but then put her head down. He sat down next to her and looked at her. He knew she was still not herself, so he tried to cheer her up.
"You know... You should try and be yourself again. We need your help to open the door to the shrine," he said.
"It's always the mission that comes first, I know that... But it's just..." she started.
"It's just what?" he whispered. The fire had gone out due to Saya and the others going to sleep. Misty didn't answer to his question and remained silent.
"You do know you have to answer me... Especially the questions I have for you," he said softly. "Such as, what really did happen to you?"
"So much... But... It's just not that... You don't know how it feels to be alone," she said. Rasheed smiled and looked into the forest.
"I guess I don't... But the thing about you is, you don't allow people to get that close to you," he said softly. She looked up at him as if he was a nut.
"I have many friends... And so do you, it's just you don't want them near you... Or to even get to know you personally... But since you and I have a much different friendship, I would love to know you. A lot more actually," he said.
"You don't want to learn more about my life... It is too painful for me to think or even talk about it. The scares in my heart have been in me ever since Nayru and the other gods disappeared and never returned... I was alone for years. Do you have any idea how that feels to go into the woods and search for your mother and all you hear is nothing?" she said angrily. Rasheed fell silent; he was listening to every word she said.
"When I was in the woods... The darker parts... I was attacked by two huge wolfos... I couldn't do anything so I just stood there... I was wounded very badly and no one found me for over a day and a half... That's how I met up with my elder... But that wasn't the reason why I felt alone... Too many reasons," she said.
"There's no need for you to feel alone..." he said softly.
"Yes there is, I lost my mother and had no idea what had happened to her! I didn't find out until two years ago! I was alone then and I couldn't do anything for the loss of my mother," she said. Tears fell from her eyes and she dug her face into her arms.
"You were never alone... And that's because you have me," he said. She looked up and looked into the ground.
"You should never feel alone..." he said again.
"You don't understand," she said.
"Yes I do... And I'll prove it," he said. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. He looked into her eyes and smiled. A small smile formed on her face as well. He held her in his arms and said,
"You will never be alone... Once this whole mission is over we will get married and live our lives together." The smile got brighter and she was soon starting to feel herself again. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in his arms. Tamorie was hiding behind some trees nearby, watching and listening to everything they said and did.
"That bastard Rasheed is ruining this whole plan all together," he whispered. A dagger formed in his hand as he slowly made his way to the sleeping couple.
"If I can't take her to Ganondorf then no one will have her. But Ganondorf will be pleased anyway if I killed her," he thought. He kneeled down to her and raised his dagger. His face darkened as he went to strike her in the heart. Just as he was only a centimeter away from killing her he stopped. The dagger almost hit her but had stopped. His hand started to shake and his face broken, he didn't know why he didn't kill her.
"Why... Can't I kill her?" he thought. He tried forcing his hand but it didn't budge. So he pulled away and got up. He quickly went back to the bonfire and sat down.
"Why can't I kill her?" he asked himself again. Mikagami had one eye open, had he knew what was happening?
**** The sun rose from the top of the trees, Mikagami was the first to wake up. He didn't bother to wake the others up, but he had to talk to Misty about what had happened last night. He walked around the oak tree and saw Misty and Rasheed. He grunted and thought to himself,
"Next time I ought to strangle that guy for sleeping with my sister," He kneeled down and nudged her.
"Hey wake up," he whispered.
"Nya what?" she said. He placed his hand over her mouth and held his finger to his lips.
"Shhh... Just come with me," he whispered. She slowly got up and followed him, not knowing why he would wake her at this hour. They walked for over 15 minutes; there he stopped by a small river.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.
"Because... It's about Tamorie," he said.
"What about him?" she asked. Mikagami took a deep breath and sat down on a rock. He didn't know how to tell her but it had to be done, for her sake.
"Last night, when you were asleep... He tried to..."
"Tried to what?" Misty asked anxiously.
"Well he tried to... Kill you," he said. Misty was left speechless, she knew that he is Hattori but she always thought he had changed.
"But for some reason... He just couldn't. I over heard him repeating over and over this question. And it was, 'Why couldn't I kill her?'"
"So... He was about to kill me... But then decided not to?" she asked.
"I know it sounds strange but that's what happened," Mikagami said. Before they could continue their conversation Saya was calling them. They quickly head over to the shrine and saw that the door was glowing.
"What's going on?" Rasheed asked.
"I don't know... I went up to see if I could open it and it just started to glow," Tamorie said. The stone door stopped glowing and opened. A series of stairs appeared that lead down in the shrine.
"How convenient," Mikagami said. Misty went ahead and ran down the stairs.
"Well I see she is feeling herself again," Saya muttered.
"Yeah," Rasheed said with a smile. He too ran down the stairs and soon the other's followed. Down the stairs, they saw Misty standing in front of a pedestal, and there the spiritual stone of forest stood. It glowed a bright green and float above its tomb. Misty went to try and grab it but pulled back when it gave off electrical discharge.
"OW!" she cried.
"Ok... So now how are we supposed to get it?" Saya asked.
"Well why don't we read the writings you dolt," Mikagami said. Saya glared at him and shook her head. She mouthed the words "Whatever" and walked around the chamber. Misty looked at the small writings and began to read them out loud.
"Only those who carry the blood of Farore can take the sacred stone of the forest. Those who don't carry such blood shall face off against the spirits of the forest,"
"Ok since none of us have Farore's blood... Shouldn't the demons be here by now?" Tamorie asked. He looked at Saya's facial expression and gazed at what she was staring at.
"Uh guys?" he said.
"Not now Tamorie," Mikagami said. He was busy trying to figure out how to get the stone; Misty and Rasheed were reading the sentence over again.
"Guys!" he said again.
"What?" Mikagami finally said. He turned and he froze. Two giant wolfos appeared. They had blood red eyes and saliva dripped from their mouths.
"Hey guys why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" Rasheed asked. He got up and turned, his eyes grew wide and he grabbed Misty and turned her around.
"Wow that's huge," she said. Rasheed drew his twin swords and got in a fighting stance. The wolfos saw him draw his weapons; they growled and started to walk closer to them.
"Let me handle this," Rasheed said. The four nod and backed away, but at the same time getting ready to help out. Misty however stayed in place and tried to pull the stone from the pedestal.
"Come on move!" she muttered.
"I can't stand this! Hey lets just help him out and let Misty take care of the stone," Saya said.
"But she would be left wide open! Let's just..." Tamorie said.
"Yeah but the fight will end faster this way!" Saya said. The two men groaned and jumped into the fight along with her. Misty however almost got the stone out but shards or glass were shooting out at her hand. Causing her to bleed, and the drips of blood disappeared into the glowing light. A figure appeared in front of her. No one saw this figure but for some reason only she could see him. His name was Vladimir, supposedly Misty and Rasheed's friend. But a few months ago he tried to rape her at Farore's Shrine. She looked up and her eyes grew wide.
"Stay the hell away from me..." she snapped. Vladimir just grinned and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Relax darling... I'm not here to cause you any trouble... I'm just here to help you out," he said innocently.
"Yeah right! Some friend you are, you almost... did it with me," she spat.
"Hey... I couldn't help it... I guess I was just a little jealous because Rasheed is now engaged to you," he said warmly. Mikagami turned his head and looked at Misty, all he saw was her cursing to the air.
"Ok... Maybe she isn't completely ok," he thought.
"Is that all you can say? Because if it is I would like to take this stone now and leave," she said angrily. Vladimir just smiled and chuckled.
"Always like that... But I have to say Rasheed is a lucky man," he said. He disappeared in a glow of bright green. The stone fell out and into her hands and the two giant wolfos disappeared into a puff of black smog. Rasheed stood there confused, Saya blinked and her mouth open. Misty walked over to them and held out the spiritual stone of forest.
"Got the stone out," she said coolly.
"Aw the fights over?" Saya asked.
"Afraid so... But hey, two more stones to get and we will live our lives in peace," Tamorie said.
"Um... Misty? Who were you talking to and how on earth did that stone come out?" Mikagami asked.
"Uh... Well lets get going!" she said. She started out of the shrine and left the others standing there dazed.
"Well... That was interesting... Did you know what happened?" Saya asked Rasheed.
"Nope," he said. Though it was a lie. He knew Vladimir was here and helped them get the stone out.
"Thank you... Vladimir," he whispered.
Near the entrance to the forest, Misty's eyes were blank. She was thinking over and over and still couldn't get her answers. Tamorie was grinning to himself when he watched her walk like she was in a trance.
"The whole thing went perfectly. Deep down inside she is slowly coming to my side of the battle," he thought. Mikagami looked at Misty and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey are you going to be all right?" he asked.
"Huh? Uh yeah sure," she said softly. Mikagami looked at her as if someone had trade places with her.
"This isn't the Misty I know," he thought. He then went up to Saya, Rasheed and Tamorie, leaving Misty in the back.
"Do you guys notice something strange about Misty?" he asked them.
"That she is always quiet you mean? Then no not really," Saya said.
"Well she just looks like she is in some sort of trance. I tried to talk to her but she was just out of it," Mikagami said.
"Well maybe she isn't feeling well," Tamorie said.
"I don't know," he said. Rasheed hearing their conversation he slowed down to walk with Misty.
"... Hey can I talk to you once we get deep enough in the forest?" he asked. Misty just sighed and nods. They were about half way in the forest. The sun was shining through the leaves, lighting their way to the spiritual stone of forest. Of course you would think it would be with the Great Deku Tree, but no it's not. When Tamorie a.k.a took the stones he sent them far off in the forest. But no on knows where in the forest. Rasheed sighed and held her hand. Her hand felt lifeless when he touched it, but he just held it as if nothing had happened. In the clearing there was a huge shrine in the center and some huge boulders scattered about. The shrine was covered with vines and had a light green color to it.
"So is this the place where we will find the first stone?" Saya asked.
"I'm pretty sure about it," Rasheed said. Saya walked up to it and tried to open it.
"Locked... Well good thing I brought the key," she said.
"What key?" Mikagami asked. Saya grinned and took out her sword of darkness. She slashed the door several times before giving up.
"Ok... I give up!" she finally said.
"Maybe it requires a spell or something to open it," Tamorie said.
"Yeah well what type of spell is it anyway?" Mikagami asked.
"I have no idea," Tamorie said. He lied, only he knew the spells to open the shrines to each of the spiritual stones. The sun was about to set, night was coming soon and it will be too dark to see.
"... Another day wasted, well I guess we can camp out for the night. I mean we haven't rested for oh I don't know TWO DAYS!" Saya said.
"Yeah I guess we should camp out," Tamorie said. Mikagami threw down a few deku sticks and lit them.
"Don't expect me to sing Kumbiya," he muttered. Saya, Tamorie and Rasheed laughed. Though Misty just sat behind an oak tree. She wrapped herself in her arms and looked down. Deep inside her heart she still felt alone, but she also felt that the mission is more important then anything. The group was sitting around the fire and was talking about how they might be able to get in. Rasheed turned and noticed misty wasn't there so he got up and left. They didn't notice he left and just kept talking; Rasheed however looked behind the oak tree and saw her sitting there.
"Hey there," he said softly. She looked up but then put her head down. He sat down next to her and looked at her. He knew she was still not herself, so he tried to cheer her up.
"You know... You should try and be yourself again. We need your help to open the door to the shrine," he said.
"It's always the mission that comes first, I know that... But it's just..." she started.
"It's just what?" he whispered. The fire had gone out due to Saya and the others going to sleep. Misty didn't answer to his question and remained silent.
"You do know you have to answer me... Especially the questions I have for you," he said softly. "Such as, what really did happen to you?"
"So much... But... It's just not that... You don't know how it feels to be alone," she said. Rasheed smiled and looked into the forest.
"I guess I don't... But the thing about you is, you don't allow people to get that close to you," he said softly. She looked up at him as if he was a nut.
"I have many friends... And so do you, it's just you don't want them near you... Or to even get to know you personally... But since you and I have a much different friendship, I would love to know you. A lot more actually," he said.
"You don't want to learn more about my life... It is too painful for me to think or even talk about it. The scares in my heart have been in me ever since Nayru and the other gods disappeared and never returned... I was alone for years. Do you have any idea how that feels to go into the woods and search for your mother and all you hear is nothing?" she said angrily. Rasheed fell silent; he was listening to every word she said.
"When I was in the woods... The darker parts... I was attacked by two huge wolfos... I couldn't do anything so I just stood there... I was wounded very badly and no one found me for over a day and a half... That's how I met up with my elder... But that wasn't the reason why I felt alone... Too many reasons," she said.
"There's no need for you to feel alone..." he said softly.
"Yes there is, I lost my mother and had no idea what had happened to her! I didn't find out until two years ago! I was alone then and I couldn't do anything for the loss of my mother," she said. Tears fell from her eyes and she dug her face into her arms.
"You were never alone... And that's because you have me," he said. She looked up and looked into the ground.
"You should never feel alone..." he said again.
"You don't understand," she said.
"Yes I do... And I'll prove it," he said. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. He looked into her eyes and smiled. A small smile formed on her face as well. He held her in his arms and said,
"You will never be alone... Once this whole mission is over we will get married and live our lives together." The smile got brighter and she was soon starting to feel herself again. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in his arms. Tamorie was hiding behind some trees nearby, watching and listening to everything they said and did.
"That bastard Rasheed is ruining this whole plan all together," he whispered. A dagger formed in his hand as he slowly made his way to the sleeping couple.
"If I can't take her to Ganondorf then no one will have her. But Ganondorf will be pleased anyway if I killed her," he thought. He kneeled down to her and raised his dagger. His face darkened as he went to strike her in the heart. Just as he was only a centimeter away from killing her he stopped. The dagger almost hit her but had stopped. His hand started to shake and his face broken, he didn't know why he didn't kill her.
"Why... Can't I kill her?" he thought. He tried forcing his hand but it didn't budge. So he pulled away and got up. He quickly went back to the bonfire and sat down.
"Why can't I kill her?" he asked himself again. Mikagami had one eye open, had he knew what was happening?
**** The sun rose from the top of the trees, Mikagami was the first to wake up. He didn't bother to wake the others up, but he had to talk to Misty about what had happened last night. He walked around the oak tree and saw Misty and Rasheed. He grunted and thought to himself,
"Next time I ought to strangle that guy for sleeping with my sister," He kneeled down and nudged her.
"Hey wake up," he whispered.
"Nya what?" she said. He placed his hand over her mouth and held his finger to his lips.
"Shhh... Just come with me," he whispered. She slowly got up and followed him, not knowing why he would wake her at this hour. They walked for over 15 minutes; there he stopped by a small river.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.
"Because... It's about Tamorie," he said.
"What about him?" she asked. Mikagami took a deep breath and sat down on a rock. He didn't know how to tell her but it had to be done, for her sake.
"Last night, when you were asleep... He tried to..."
"Tried to what?" Misty asked anxiously.
"Well he tried to... Kill you," he said. Misty was left speechless, she knew that he is Hattori but she always thought he had changed.
"But for some reason... He just couldn't. I over heard him repeating over and over this question. And it was, 'Why couldn't I kill her?'"
"So... He was about to kill me... But then decided not to?" she asked.
"I know it sounds strange but that's what happened," Mikagami said. Before they could continue their conversation Saya was calling them. They quickly head over to the shrine and saw that the door was glowing.
"What's going on?" Rasheed asked.
"I don't know... I went up to see if I could open it and it just started to glow," Tamorie said. The stone door stopped glowing and opened. A series of stairs appeared that lead down in the shrine.
"How convenient," Mikagami said. Misty went ahead and ran down the stairs.
"Well I see she is feeling herself again," Saya muttered.
"Yeah," Rasheed said with a smile. He too ran down the stairs and soon the other's followed. Down the stairs, they saw Misty standing in front of a pedestal, and there the spiritual stone of forest stood. It glowed a bright green and float above its tomb. Misty went to try and grab it but pulled back when it gave off electrical discharge.
"OW!" she cried.
"Ok... So now how are we supposed to get it?" Saya asked.
"Well why don't we read the writings you dolt," Mikagami said. Saya glared at him and shook her head. She mouthed the words "Whatever" and walked around the chamber. Misty looked at the small writings and began to read them out loud.
"Only those who carry the blood of Farore can take the sacred stone of the forest. Those who don't carry such blood shall face off against the spirits of the forest,"
"Ok since none of us have Farore's blood... Shouldn't the demons be here by now?" Tamorie asked. He looked at Saya's facial expression and gazed at what she was staring at.
"Uh guys?" he said.
"Not now Tamorie," Mikagami said. He was busy trying to figure out how to get the stone; Misty and Rasheed were reading the sentence over again.
"Guys!" he said again.
"What?" Mikagami finally said. He turned and he froze. Two giant wolfos appeared. They had blood red eyes and saliva dripped from their mouths.
"Hey guys why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" Rasheed asked. He got up and turned, his eyes grew wide and he grabbed Misty and turned her around.
"Wow that's huge," she said. Rasheed drew his twin swords and got in a fighting stance. The wolfos saw him draw his weapons; they growled and started to walk closer to them.
"Let me handle this," Rasheed said. The four nod and backed away, but at the same time getting ready to help out. Misty however stayed in place and tried to pull the stone from the pedestal.
"Come on move!" she muttered.
"I can't stand this! Hey lets just help him out and let Misty take care of the stone," Saya said.
"But she would be left wide open! Let's just..." Tamorie said.
"Yeah but the fight will end faster this way!" Saya said. The two men groaned and jumped into the fight along with her. Misty however almost got the stone out but shards or glass were shooting out at her hand. Causing her to bleed, and the drips of blood disappeared into the glowing light. A figure appeared in front of her. No one saw this figure but for some reason only she could see him. His name was Vladimir, supposedly Misty and Rasheed's friend. But a few months ago he tried to rape her at Farore's Shrine. She looked up and her eyes grew wide.
"Stay the hell away from me..." she snapped. Vladimir just grinned and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Relax darling... I'm not here to cause you any trouble... I'm just here to help you out," he said innocently.
"Yeah right! Some friend you are, you almost... did it with me," she spat.
"Hey... I couldn't help it... I guess I was just a little jealous because Rasheed is now engaged to you," he said warmly. Mikagami turned his head and looked at Misty, all he saw was her cursing to the air.
"Ok... Maybe she isn't completely ok," he thought.
"Is that all you can say? Because if it is I would like to take this stone now and leave," she said angrily. Vladimir just smiled and chuckled.
"Always like that... But I have to say Rasheed is a lucky man," he said. He disappeared in a glow of bright green. The stone fell out and into her hands and the two giant wolfos disappeared into a puff of black smog. Rasheed stood there confused, Saya blinked and her mouth open. Misty walked over to them and held out the spiritual stone of forest.
"Got the stone out," she said coolly.
"Aw the fights over?" Saya asked.
"Afraid so... But hey, two more stones to get and we will live our lives in peace," Tamorie said.
"Um... Misty? Who were you talking to and how on earth did that stone come out?" Mikagami asked.
"Uh... Well lets get going!" she said. She started out of the shrine and left the others standing there dazed.
"Well... That was interesting... Did you know what happened?" Saya asked Rasheed.
"Nope," he said. Though it was a lie. He knew Vladimir was here and helped them get the stone out.
"Thank you... Vladimir," he whispered.