Blood roared through Link's veins spewing out the ends of his shattered
skin. One arm had gone numb and in the other the shattered remains of his
broken sword stared back at him. The beast glared menacingly at Link, and
in one mighty leap struck at him, ripping chunks of his back off with its
large claws. More blood, the smell of it was intoxicating. And then
suddenly a sort of putrid, reek burnt his nostrils.
The beast had suddenly gone limp. A thick ooze began to run down Link's chest as he dropped the hilt, and shattered remains of his sword, and watched with the useless weapon fall the beast as well.
Black ooze pushed itself out of the hole the broken blade had created. The creature was dead. Link stepped back, his good hand reaching for his bad arm, and feeling the rough pieces of sword embedded in the skin.
He exhaled sharply, and fell against a tree. Pain suddenly ripped up his back as he slid down the barky trunk, and chips of wood caught in the stickiness of his shredded back. He would have cursed if his breath had not caught in his throat. Another dark form was passing through the trees.
He hurried himself, and in a desperate rush tried to reach the embedded blade that stood erect in the center of the first beast's chest. Leaves on the forest floor rustled around him, as he moved as fast as his quickly weakening body would take him.
He reached the hilt and with a thickening slurp, the broken weapon pulled from the monsters body. Link held the blade tightly in his right hand, hoping, praying desperatly, that the second monster would not find him.
A startling growl issued suddenly from the dead beast, and in an instant it was on all fours snarling at Link.
"You should have finished it, boy!" the thing taunted pushing itself slowly to its feet.
And in a blur of speed for a wounded animal, Link was in a death choke, a clawed hand closed tightly around his throat.
The air that had been absent before, was having an even harder time getting into Link's body now. Light began to fade from his vision. It would end like this. It would all end like this. The shattered sword fell into the dirt sticking in the ground.
"Now, boy, you die. No one strikes a moblin and survives!"
A soft sickly thud issued, and then a plop. The beasts head fell from its shoulders landing on the ground. Suddenly the clawed hand that had so recently been holding Link by the neck, began to disingrate into a long black cloud. Link hit the ground and in the last glimmer of his consicousness he saw a weathered face look into his.
A fire, the heat burned Link's long closed eyes. He was no longer lying on the forest floor, and the pain that had been so sharp earlier was now just a dull burning sensation. He used all his energy to turn his head. He jumped nearly out of his skin. The dark figure... the one he'd seen in the woods was now croaching over the fire.
He again tried cursing, and again his voice seemed not to work. No, this could not happen now. He was... he was ... He could not move. Where was his shattered blade? No where to be seen, or held. Adrenaline seemed to have forced itself out of his body with the blood he had lost because now he could not even summon the energy to lift his good arm.
The dark figure was holding something into the flames on a pair of tongs. Link struggled again to move.
"You'll never heal if you keep trying to move. Not to mention if you keep rocking like that then your going to fall out of that hammock."
Link stopped moving. The voice that he had just heard was nothing like the gruff growls that he had heard earlier today.
"You—you saved me?"
"Yes. Moblins are tricky little buggers. And you really couldn't do much with a broken sword. Or even a full sword in the condition of yours."
"What happened to it?"
The dark figure stood pulling the tongs out of the fire. After a second he used his forefinger to touch the glass flask, and walked over to Link's tattered form.
"Drink this. It'll help."
Link no longer thinking clearly reached a shaking hand up and took the flask, and began to drink it. A rush of energy poured into his body as the draft first touched his lips. The liquid drained down his throat, and in a matter of seconds the glass flask was empty.
"What was in that?"
The dark figure, a man Link could now see, took the glass flask up. "A small mixture of different mushrooms, and herbs, and stuff of that sort. A witch up past Kokiri makes it for a certain price. I helped her out once and she gave me her recipe."
"Ah. My uncle used to visit her every so often."
"She is a very helpful person if you know how to deal with her. She can be very fickle at times."
There was a moment of silence. Link with his new found energy lifted his body to a sitting position and found his left arm, and back and chest wrapped in bandages. He again remembered those beasts. What had the man called them? Moblins. It had called itself a Moblin as well. "What happened to the Moblin?" Link asked again.
The man put the flask down on a small earthen table across the room. "The moblin, the one that you battled, I killed. In fact I also killed the other three too."
"What was that black fog?"
The man let out a hearty laugh. "That fog was the moblin passing over into the dark realm. They'll reform there and then die."
"The dark realm?"
"Yeah the dark realm. That's where they live. Someone had to have summoned them here. They don't have the brains to find a way out of the dark world."
"Summoned?"
"Yeah, a wizard or something."
"Agahnim," Link stated sullenly.
"Most likely."
Link let his feet hit the ground and tried his luck standing. There were no immediate problems. So he began to walk towards the man. "You're the one I came here looking for aren't you?"
"Did that old man send you?"
Link thought about the cowardly librarian. "Yeah. He sent me."
"Then you're here for the book of Mudora?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, hold on, give me a second."
The dark figure slipped away into the darkness of the... of the whatever there were in.
"Here," he said after he returned throwing a book with a leather green cover on Link's chest.
Link caught the book. There was no pain in his left arm as the book hit his palm. "That stuff you gave me. Did it heal me?"
"Well you're a quick one aren't you?" the man said with a laugh.
"Wait a second! I thought there was a challenge involved. Something about beating you with a sword?"
"To tell you truth I'm somewhat tired of this game the old man made up. So if you don't tell anyone I won't tell anyone. And either way your out of a sword."
"That's true," Link said with a smile. He didn't know why he was smiling. This stranger just seemed to helped him feel more open.
"Why'd you want the book anyway? You a devout or something?"
"Hardly. I need the book to travel through the barrier in the desert. So I can enter the Western Palace."
The man looked at him with his piercing eyes. "You plan to go in the palace. Lad, you might be healed but you don't have enough skill to go into that palace. Not to mention, again you are out of a sword. O'course that's not a problem as much as your skill."
"I have to go. I've got to save the princess."
"Well if your that sure of yourself than I have something for you." The man went back into the depths of his cave and came back with a sword in his hand. "This is my back-up sword. When you die make sure your not to far in the palace. I don't want to have to look long to get my sword back."
"What? I'm not going to die," he said taking the sword from the man.
"How about this boy. You stay here for three days and by the time you leave, I'll have you ready to tread your way into that palace."
"I suppose if that's the only way I'll survive," Link said with a grin. Truthfully he hadn't been ready to leave this kindly man anyway. Little did he know that the training the man had proposed would be the most trying thing he had ever gone through with.
The days were long, seemed to lengthen with time. Three days later Link stood at the entrance to the Great Desert. The sword strapped to his back, a yellow, and brown tunic on him. He was ready.
A/N. Wow. Its been awhile hasn't it? Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Lol. Review please.
The beast had suddenly gone limp. A thick ooze began to run down Link's chest as he dropped the hilt, and shattered remains of his sword, and watched with the useless weapon fall the beast as well.
Black ooze pushed itself out of the hole the broken blade had created. The creature was dead. Link stepped back, his good hand reaching for his bad arm, and feeling the rough pieces of sword embedded in the skin.
He exhaled sharply, and fell against a tree. Pain suddenly ripped up his back as he slid down the barky trunk, and chips of wood caught in the stickiness of his shredded back. He would have cursed if his breath had not caught in his throat. Another dark form was passing through the trees.
He hurried himself, and in a desperate rush tried to reach the embedded blade that stood erect in the center of the first beast's chest. Leaves on the forest floor rustled around him, as he moved as fast as his quickly weakening body would take him.
He reached the hilt and with a thickening slurp, the broken weapon pulled from the monsters body. Link held the blade tightly in his right hand, hoping, praying desperatly, that the second monster would not find him.
A startling growl issued suddenly from the dead beast, and in an instant it was on all fours snarling at Link.
"You should have finished it, boy!" the thing taunted pushing itself slowly to its feet.
And in a blur of speed for a wounded animal, Link was in a death choke, a clawed hand closed tightly around his throat.
The air that had been absent before, was having an even harder time getting into Link's body now. Light began to fade from his vision. It would end like this. It would all end like this. The shattered sword fell into the dirt sticking in the ground.
"Now, boy, you die. No one strikes a moblin and survives!"
A soft sickly thud issued, and then a plop. The beasts head fell from its shoulders landing on the ground. Suddenly the clawed hand that had so recently been holding Link by the neck, began to disingrate into a long black cloud. Link hit the ground and in the last glimmer of his consicousness he saw a weathered face look into his.
A fire, the heat burned Link's long closed eyes. He was no longer lying on the forest floor, and the pain that had been so sharp earlier was now just a dull burning sensation. He used all his energy to turn his head. He jumped nearly out of his skin. The dark figure... the one he'd seen in the woods was now croaching over the fire.
He again tried cursing, and again his voice seemed not to work. No, this could not happen now. He was... he was ... He could not move. Where was his shattered blade? No where to be seen, or held. Adrenaline seemed to have forced itself out of his body with the blood he had lost because now he could not even summon the energy to lift his good arm.
The dark figure was holding something into the flames on a pair of tongs. Link struggled again to move.
"You'll never heal if you keep trying to move. Not to mention if you keep rocking like that then your going to fall out of that hammock."
Link stopped moving. The voice that he had just heard was nothing like the gruff growls that he had heard earlier today.
"You—you saved me?"
"Yes. Moblins are tricky little buggers. And you really couldn't do much with a broken sword. Or even a full sword in the condition of yours."
"What happened to it?"
The dark figure stood pulling the tongs out of the fire. After a second he used his forefinger to touch the glass flask, and walked over to Link's tattered form.
"Drink this. It'll help."
Link no longer thinking clearly reached a shaking hand up and took the flask, and began to drink it. A rush of energy poured into his body as the draft first touched his lips. The liquid drained down his throat, and in a matter of seconds the glass flask was empty.
"What was in that?"
The dark figure, a man Link could now see, took the glass flask up. "A small mixture of different mushrooms, and herbs, and stuff of that sort. A witch up past Kokiri makes it for a certain price. I helped her out once and she gave me her recipe."
"Ah. My uncle used to visit her every so often."
"She is a very helpful person if you know how to deal with her. She can be very fickle at times."
There was a moment of silence. Link with his new found energy lifted his body to a sitting position and found his left arm, and back and chest wrapped in bandages. He again remembered those beasts. What had the man called them? Moblins. It had called itself a Moblin as well. "What happened to the Moblin?" Link asked again.
The man put the flask down on a small earthen table across the room. "The moblin, the one that you battled, I killed. In fact I also killed the other three too."
"What was that black fog?"
The man let out a hearty laugh. "That fog was the moblin passing over into the dark realm. They'll reform there and then die."
"The dark realm?"
"Yeah the dark realm. That's where they live. Someone had to have summoned them here. They don't have the brains to find a way out of the dark world."
"Summoned?"
"Yeah, a wizard or something."
"Agahnim," Link stated sullenly.
"Most likely."
Link let his feet hit the ground and tried his luck standing. There were no immediate problems. So he began to walk towards the man. "You're the one I came here looking for aren't you?"
"Did that old man send you?"
Link thought about the cowardly librarian. "Yeah. He sent me."
"Then you're here for the book of Mudora?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, hold on, give me a second."
The dark figure slipped away into the darkness of the... of the whatever there were in.
"Here," he said after he returned throwing a book with a leather green cover on Link's chest.
Link caught the book. There was no pain in his left arm as the book hit his palm. "That stuff you gave me. Did it heal me?"
"Well you're a quick one aren't you?" the man said with a laugh.
"Wait a second! I thought there was a challenge involved. Something about beating you with a sword?"
"To tell you truth I'm somewhat tired of this game the old man made up. So if you don't tell anyone I won't tell anyone. And either way your out of a sword."
"That's true," Link said with a smile. He didn't know why he was smiling. This stranger just seemed to helped him feel more open.
"Why'd you want the book anyway? You a devout or something?"
"Hardly. I need the book to travel through the barrier in the desert. So I can enter the Western Palace."
The man looked at him with his piercing eyes. "You plan to go in the palace. Lad, you might be healed but you don't have enough skill to go into that palace. Not to mention, again you are out of a sword. O'course that's not a problem as much as your skill."
"I have to go. I've got to save the princess."
"Well if your that sure of yourself than I have something for you." The man went back into the depths of his cave and came back with a sword in his hand. "This is my back-up sword. When you die make sure your not to far in the palace. I don't want to have to look long to get my sword back."
"What? I'm not going to die," he said taking the sword from the man.
"How about this boy. You stay here for three days and by the time you leave, I'll have you ready to tread your way into that palace."
"I suppose if that's the only way I'll survive," Link said with a grin. Truthfully he hadn't been ready to leave this kindly man anyway. Little did he know that the training the man had proposed would be the most trying thing he had ever gone through with.
The days were long, seemed to lengthen with time. Three days later Link stood at the entrance to the Great Desert. The sword strapped to his back, a yellow, and brown tunic on him. He was ready.
A/N. Wow. Its been awhile hasn't it? Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Lol. Review please.