Sagi: It's been a while. Oh well. Here's Chapter two for your enjoyment…
Virgo: …
Sagi: Oh shut up you!
Virgo: I didn't say anything, dim wit!
Makai: Hey, lets stop fighting…now…
Sagi and Virgo: NEVER!
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Zelda smiled serenely at the Hylian boy sitting across from her. It was nice being able to just sit and relax here.
"Hey, Link, you think Cheshire would mind if I petted her ears? It's just so tempting!" she exclaimed softly so as not to wake the sleeping Neko.
Link starred at Zelda for a moment, adjusting his cap on his head. "Well…no…she's asleep," he said with a small laugh, raising an eyebrow at her and shaking his head. A small grin spread across his face, a smug expression.
"Oh…well in that case," Zelda said brightly, scratching Cheshire behind the ears carefully. A few seconds later a warm purring was heard, Cheshire's large furry ears twitching. Zelda had to suppress a giggle, putting a hand over her mouth.
Link watched her still trying to regain his vision. At the moment Zelda appeared to him as a large fuzzy blob. It was difficult seeing Cheshire as well and everything beyond them was a complete blur. A few minutes later the hero regained his sight, blinking repetitively.
"Hey! What're you three doing having fun without us?" a perky voice chirped coming from the direction of the castle. Three figures were making their way towards the threesome.
"It's bad enough when you ditch us at a royal banquet, but not even telling us where you were going?" a brunette exclaimed, his short spiked hair waving in the wind. The tips were a light red that shone brightly in the sun. His energetic violet eyes bounced around as though flames were lit within them except that his right one seemed duller. He wore a blue tunic that held the emblem of the Sheikah on it, and sported baggy blue knee length pants. He to had forgotten his shoes, bare feet in the cool grass.
A tall-framed man with short deep purple hair and long bushy bangs followed him. His crimson optics shone through his thick locks of hair, his dark intense gaze settling on Link causing the Hylian to flinch lightly. On either cheek a large triangular stripe purple stripe ran up his cheek staring from his jaw line ending just below his eye.
The large male carefully carried a sleeping female that looked very much like a china jester doll. A large poofy tri-cornered hat covered her small head with bells at each end. Her teal bangs ran down the side of her face, a few stray hairs sticking upwards. Her outfit was similar to a jesters and had tails and bells with stripes on just about everything. Her main leotard was checkered black and red, her shoes curving upwards. The fragile girl was asleep, her thin frame cradled in the mans arms.
"Quinn fell asleep so Kage had to carry her," the brown haired boy announced brightly, plopping down beside the dazed Link. His violet eyes blinked as he heard Kage mutter something.
"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't spent five hours trying to find a secret way out of the castle, Yuki. She wouldn't have gotten so exhausted," Kage said coldly, glaring at the thin Sheikah boy on the ground with narrowed eyes.
Yuki nervously scratched the back of his head in utter embarrassment. "Heh, well hey! She agreed to come along…it ain't my fault. And besides you're enjoying the fact that you have to carry her…I know it you hunk of burning love!" Yuki exclaimed, making a peace sign that moments later was dropped in an effort to free himself from Kage's strong grip.
Kage held his large body length sword to Yuki's neck, "Shut your mouth…" His words were full of menace and seething with hate. Or it might've seemed that way.
Yuki put his hands up in surrender. "I give up! I give up! I'm shutting up now!" he said, quietly folding his hands and bending over in a pout as Kage released him. This was a daily thing, normal for the group.
Link sat bewildered, blinking lightly. As much as he'd seen Kage react he'd never threatened Yuki like that before. It was quite strange. He knew Kage was very sensitive, but also stone cold. Zelda also sat in a state of shock for a moment as well, thinking for a brief second about what had just happened.
"Well, anyway. As we you were saying. We told you earlier we had been planning to sneak off to the field. You weren't listening were you Yuki?" Zelda asked in a dull tone, obviously not amused with the brown haired boy.
"Er, well…no I wasn't, "he admitted quietly, fumbling with the ends of his silk tunic. Impa, another of his race and a good friend of the troublemaker had given it to him.
Kage gently lifted Quinn off of the ground where he'd set her and into his lap. Quinn gave a small sigh of content, curling up into a small ball. She seemed at peace, in a dream like state of sheer happiness. Whatever it was the little living mannequin was dreaming about it was obviously wonderful.
Zelda smiled softly, enjoying the time spent with her strange friends. She loved them all dearly. More then anything. Even more then her father. He hadn't been there for her when she'd needed him most, but they had. They were always there.
---------------------------------------------------
The two siblings growled low, minds connected by a power only granted to twins, siblings, and close close friends.
"Hikage, what's it mean? That's the question I want answered," Tori hissed; revealing her large, sharp fangs. "The aura is near…something has arisen once again," her voice dripping with malice.
The female Gryphon demon turned so her back was to the flap doorway and she was facing Hikage. "I will not stand by while this presence is around. I'm going to investigate…" she spat, breathing deeply. Whatever the thing was it had angered the feline horse, and that was not a good thing.
"Don't be rash," Hikage, boomed, his voice deep. He sounded more like he was in monotone, but not quite. "Useless…that would be completely useless, Tori. We have to wait for our prey to be in sight before pouncing. Remember…curiosity killed the cat…"
Hikage was referring to the fact that Tori had cat in her, and most of her body was cat like. The feline hissed and retorted, "Satisfaction brought it back."
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"Ma-chan! Ma-chan! Ma-chan get up!"
The high-pitched voice of a young girl could be heard all through the ranch, the small child banging on the door of the female ranch-girl.
"Five more minutes…" Malon shouted, growling to herself. Why did she have to live with such an annoying cousin? Why? Because they had nowhere else to live. The ranch back in Termina had been destroyed. The town's people had accidentally lit fireworks in that direction and ended up catching the ranch on fire. They had paid for the damage, but it would take several months to rebuild the place. So in the meantime, Malon's older cousin Cremia and her younger cousin Romani would be staying with her.
"Please Ma-chan?" the little child pouted, making a sniffly sound in her voice. Her blue eyes watered over, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. The little girl had orange hair of course, all the females in Malon's family did, but hers was cut short so she had fluffy bangs that constantly got into her eyes, and a cow lick in the very middle of head, little fluff trails before her ears. She had a little plump body, looking at least to be six.
The red head was a very sweet little girl and worked very hard when it came to the horses and animals although her one down side was that she had a habit of crying a lot.
"Fine Oma-chan…gimme a sec!" Malon shouted in utter defeat, reluctantly stepping out of bed. Oma was the nickname she'd given to Romani, in an attempt to make the little girl feel welcome.
The red head reluctantly went through her morning process, brushing her teeth, combing her hair and pulling it back so that her hylian ears stuck out, little loop earrings visible. She struggled to pull on brown pants and dirty white shirt, tying a red bandana around her forehead.
"Oma-chan! I'm coming to get you!" Malon shouted, bursting the door open to her little room in the hayloft of the chicken coop. "Better run little squirt!" she teased, jumping out at Romani.
The girl gave a shrill scream and raced down the steps like lightning, flinging the door open for the seventh time in a row in the past five days and raced out, giggling like crazy. The two cousins played cat and mouse a lot, Malon usually letting the little tyke win.
"Mia! Mia-chan! Ma-chan's chasing me!" the little girl shrieked with a burst of energy, flying into the arms of her older sister. The older girl laughed and gently set her down.
"We'll have to get her then won't we?" Cremia said with an evil smirk, ducking quickly behind the barn doors. The eldest cousin had long red hair that reached just below her shoulders. At one point in her life she'd visited a fair in the city and had gotten her hair died purple, just to spite Cremia who wasn't aloud to do such a thing. Her body was slender and tall, being quite long legged. Malon quietly appeared, looking around curiously. It was oddly quiet, too quiet.
Quite suddenly Cremia burst out from behind the door, tackling Malon. Cremia's purple tipped red hair flew behind her, as she hadn't pulled it into her usual ponytail yet. She pinned the other rancher to the ground, smirking down at Malon.
"Gotcha! When will you learn?" she questioned in a singsong voice, playfully mocking the other girl.
Malon laughed and forcefully rolled over on top of Cremia, pinning her to the ground. "You dropped your guard, whoops! Don't think you'll do that again!" she said with a grin, sticking her tongue out at the girl underneath her.
Cremia growled and the two began to wrestle violently, trying hard to pin the other onto the ground. After several minutes the two were exhausted, lying side by side on the ground gazing up at the gorgeous sky. The two hadn't actually been fighting, just playing. It was a daily ritual they performed, just to make the start of the day lively.
Malon brushed strands of loose hair out of her eyes, swiftly getting up and brushing the dirt off of her. "Er…you got dirt all over my butt," she said with a disgusted face, brushing it off readily.
Cremia burst into a fit of laughter. "Go feed the horses," she said with a roll of her eyes, getting up to go milk the cows. "Oma-chan, go get the feed for the chickadee's and feed them, kay?" she said brightly, bending down so little Romani could see her sisters face.
The child raced off merrily, singing a song she'd heard when visiting the market for fresh food, to gather the chicken feed.
"Mal, you can leave after feedin' the horses. You've been working hard lately. Go have some fun," Cremia added with a smile, looking over her shoulder at the red head. "But please stay out of trouble…and if by chance you go the market pick up some fish please." The girl acted like a mother to Malon, always being there for her.
Malon happily shook her head. "Thanks, Cremia!" she shouted after the wandering girl, watching her walk away. Malon skipped into the barn quite happily, and began to lift bale upon bale of hay out of the loft and into the troughs for the horses. Ever since her father had died Malon had been very lonely save for the comfort she received from the horses. Having people around wasn't so bad.
After attending to the horses needs, Malon happily walked to the entrance of the ranch, gazing upwards towards the great blue sky. "It's nice out today," she said joyfully, walking lazily towards the middle of the field where the group of friends had gathered.
"Yo, Zelda!" Malon called, hastily running towards her best friend, waving her arms crazily over her head before plummeting right into the princess, joyfully embracing her with a bear hug. "Haven't seen ya in a looong time!" she said, giving the blonde a noogie.
"He-oof!" Zelda didn't have time to react to her friends leap and grab, so she ended up falling backwards. The ranch girl really had caught Zelda by surprise. She made a face, hugging her friend tightly back. "Same here! How ya been?" she asked, looking upwards towards the girl.
Malon thought for a minute then grinned, "Better 'n ever!"
By this point Cheshire had awoke and was rubbing her tail with a grumpy face. She twitched and glared at Malon and Zelda. "Baka's…" she hissed, turning her fierce gaze to the ground.
Link awkwardly shuffled his feet, standing up and gazing at the sky. The teenage boy didn't like being kept in one place for very long. "Uh, hey Zelda…sorry to burst your bubble, but look at the sky…"
The once beautiful azure sky had turned a shade darker, gray clouds beginning to gather. Rain droplets began to fall, dampening the ground. Almost immediately, Kage stood with Quinn in his arms, gently holding her tight to his chest as if to keep the rain from falling onto her limp body.
Link's mind raced with possibilities. Gannon? Nah, he'd been banished. But obviously something was going on. And that something was not good.
The fist one to speak after Link's statement was Cheshire and that was only her screeching about rain. "AIEEE! Water!" she shrieked, running in little circles wildly, trying to keep away from the ever-falling droplets.
Malon felt water splash on her face and trickle off her nose. Both girls looked upwards, cocking their head s to the side. "What the hell are you tal-?" Zelda was once again cut off, taking in her surroundings.
Yuki blinked and shook out his own brown hair. The frisky brunette stood quickly, pulling off his own shirt and tossing it over Malon and Zelda's head. "Here, stay dry," he said softly, grinning. His bare chest was muscular, but not the point of being completely unscrawny.
Link felt the winds pick up and swirl around in a flurry of a mess, not knowing which way to go. "Something's terribly wrong…terribly wrong. Zelda…We need to get back to the castle and ask Impa a few questions!" the hylian boy shouted, making sure she could heard him before setting off towards the castle.
The groups of friends followed, but before reaching the gates were greeted by two boys riding upon a large gray mare. Wait they were twins, and anthro wolfo twins at that. Both had long shoulder blade length gray hair that gently caressed their faces giving them very youthful appearances. Black wolf ears sprouted from their heads and gray tails from their backsides. They had extremely large wolf paws for feet and claws on their small delicate hands. In matching green tunics they were dressed, and they adorned tan pants as well.
"Zelda!" called the one sitting in the front, his ears flattened against his head. Link waved to gesture that they were coming, not sure if the boy could see him through all the mist that was now coming in.
The wolfo gave a wave for the to acknowledge the Hylian boy, but Link was busy guiding the group through the smog and didn't see it although it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
They finally reached the gates and the two boys, clinging tightly to each other. "Thanks for coming to get her, Kaerin!" Link said with a smile, addressing the boy in the front. "You too, Yaarin," he added, addressing the boy in the back. Both were soaking wet by the time the group reached the castle.
Link had gone off to see Impa and Zelda, Malon, Quinn, who'd woken up by now, and Cheshire were in Zelda's room drying off by the fire.
All four girls had changed into long nightgown like t-shirts that reached their knees; Quinn's reaching her feet. Each had a different color. Zelda's was white, Cheshire's was light pink, Malon's a light green, and Quinn's a baby blue.
Zelda was having a hard time drying her thick long hair, rubbing it with a towel that was wet now from all of her rubbing. All Malon had to do was sit by the fire for a few moments and her hair dried quickly. Cheshire sat there, completely wet for a moment before shaking out striped her fur, hair and tail, flinging water everywhere causing Malon's newly dried hair to become damp.
Cheshire got several dirty looks from Malon and Zelda, but ignored them and continued to clean herself, licking her hand and tail. Quinn was enjoying herself, lying by the fire curled up in a ball, blanket up to her neck, face buried in a soft pillow.
All the girls sat and chatted for a while about things, nothing all that important. All except for Quinn, of course, who couldn't speak anyway. About an hour later Link burst through the door, Kaerin and Yaarin standing by him.
Link blushed quite brightly, seeing all the girls in just nightshirts, but shrugged it off quickly. "We couldn't figure it out," Link announced, plopping down on the carpeted floor next to Zelda with a defeated look on his face.
Cheshire latched herself to Link causing his face to light up even more. "It's okay…I'm sure you'll figure it out soon," she purred, wrapping her tail around his arm.
Link appeared more frightened of the small cat girl rather then embarrassed. "Cheshire…leave me alone," he grumbled, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. Link hadn't had the chance to dry off properly. However both twins were completely dry now and in long nightshirts as well, little wolf claws tapping against he cold stone outside Zelda's door before the girl beckoned them inside.
"Well dun worry bout it. After all, it's pretty late. Funny how time flies when you're having fun, huh?" Zelda said with a bright smile, trying to cheer Link up.
"I spose you're right," Link said with a sigh, scratching his head. He held his wet cap in one hand, wanting his hair to dry.
For several more hours the group talked, Kage and Yuki joining them a little while later. Obviously neither Kage nor Yuki was embarrassed about walking around in nothing but boxers although Kage had the decency to put on a t-shirt as well.
By ten that night Quinn had fallen asleep, Cheshire curled up next her, purring because the little mute had been stroking her tail and petting her ears. Zelda had crashed on Link's stomach, snoring like a boar, and Link was leaning against the edge of Zelda's bed. Kage was still there, watching Quinn with steady red eyes and Yuki had zonked out all over the floor in a rather comical way, arms and legs spread eagle everywhere. The twins had left to sleep in their own chambers, and were now sound asleep in their own beds.
The fire crackled softly as if playing some sort of music. Kage stared into it deeply almost in a trance. His dancing crimsons optics narrowed as his keen hearing took over, listening to the sounds all around him. He could hear people bustling about the castle, but he also heard another noise, one heading right towards Zelda's door. He stood and growled defensively, eyes narrowing. The door flung open and a dark light flooded the room, blinding the male berserker.
When the light subsided there stood Link's counterpart, Dark Link.
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Sagi: Oi, that took forever. Sorry about the wait.
Virgo: Yeah, I'm sure you are.
Sagi:…
Tori: Shut up ya fools
Sagi:…
Kaerin: Hey, lets stop fighting, kay?
Sagi:…
Makai: At least someone agrees with me…
Zelda: Eh, well go R and R! Sagi will be verrry happy if you do!
Virgo: …
Sagi: Oh shut up you!
Virgo: I didn't say anything, dim wit!
Makai: Hey, lets stop fighting…now…
Sagi and Virgo: NEVER!
----------------------------------------------------
Zelda smiled serenely at the Hylian boy sitting across from her. It was nice being able to just sit and relax here.
"Hey, Link, you think Cheshire would mind if I petted her ears? It's just so tempting!" she exclaimed softly so as not to wake the sleeping Neko.
Link starred at Zelda for a moment, adjusting his cap on his head. "Well…no…she's asleep," he said with a small laugh, raising an eyebrow at her and shaking his head. A small grin spread across his face, a smug expression.
"Oh…well in that case," Zelda said brightly, scratching Cheshire behind the ears carefully. A few seconds later a warm purring was heard, Cheshire's large furry ears twitching. Zelda had to suppress a giggle, putting a hand over her mouth.
Link watched her still trying to regain his vision. At the moment Zelda appeared to him as a large fuzzy blob. It was difficult seeing Cheshire as well and everything beyond them was a complete blur. A few minutes later the hero regained his sight, blinking repetitively.
"Hey! What're you three doing having fun without us?" a perky voice chirped coming from the direction of the castle. Three figures were making their way towards the threesome.
"It's bad enough when you ditch us at a royal banquet, but not even telling us where you were going?" a brunette exclaimed, his short spiked hair waving in the wind. The tips were a light red that shone brightly in the sun. His energetic violet eyes bounced around as though flames were lit within them except that his right one seemed duller. He wore a blue tunic that held the emblem of the Sheikah on it, and sported baggy blue knee length pants. He to had forgotten his shoes, bare feet in the cool grass.
A tall-framed man with short deep purple hair and long bushy bangs followed him. His crimson optics shone through his thick locks of hair, his dark intense gaze settling on Link causing the Hylian to flinch lightly. On either cheek a large triangular stripe purple stripe ran up his cheek staring from his jaw line ending just below his eye.
The large male carefully carried a sleeping female that looked very much like a china jester doll. A large poofy tri-cornered hat covered her small head with bells at each end. Her teal bangs ran down the side of her face, a few stray hairs sticking upwards. Her outfit was similar to a jesters and had tails and bells with stripes on just about everything. Her main leotard was checkered black and red, her shoes curving upwards. The fragile girl was asleep, her thin frame cradled in the mans arms.
"Quinn fell asleep so Kage had to carry her," the brown haired boy announced brightly, plopping down beside the dazed Link. His violet eyes blinked as he heard Kage mutter something.
"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't spent five hours trying to find a secret way out of the castle, Yuki. She wouldn't have gotten so exhausted," Kage said coldly, glaring at the thin Sheikah boy on the ground with narrowed eyes.
Yuki nervously scratched the back of his head in utter embarrassment. "Heh, well hey! She agreed to come along…it ain't my fault. And besides you're enjoying the fact that you have to carry her…I know it you hunk of burning love!" Yuki exclaimed, making a peace sign that moments later was dropped in an effort to free himself from Kage's strong grip.
Kage held his large body length sword to Yuki's neck, "Shut your mouth…" His words were full of menace and seething with hate. Or it might've seemed that way.
Yuki put his hands up in surrender. "I give up! I give up! I'm shutting up now!" he said, quietly folding his hands and bending over in a pout as Kage released him. This was a daily thing, normal for the group.
Link sat bewildered, blinking lightly. As much as he'd seen Kage react he'd never threatened Yuki like that before. It was quite strange. He knew Kage was very sensitive, but also stone cold. Zelda also sat in a state of shock for a moment as well, thinking for a brief second about what had just happened.
"Well, anyway. As we you were saying. We told you earlier we had been planning to sneak off to the field. You weren't listening were you Yuki?" Zelda asked in a dull tone, obviously not amused with the brown haired boy.
"Er, well…no I wasn't, "he admitted quietly, fumbling with the ends of his silk tunic. Impa, another of his race and a good friend of the troublemaker had given it to him.
Kage gently lifted Quinn off of the ground where he'd set her and into his lap. Quinn gave a small sigh of content, curling up into a small ball. She seemed at peace, in a dream like state of sheer happiness. Whatever it was the little living mannequin was dreaming about it was obviously wonderful.
Zelda smiled softly, enjoying the time spent with her strange friends. She loved them all dearly. More then anything. Even more then her father. He hadn't been there for her when she'd needed him most, but they had. They were always there.
---------------------------------------------------
The two siblings growled low, minds connected by a power only granted to twins, siblings, and close close friends.
"Hikage, what's it mean? That's the question I want answered," Tori hissed; revealing her large, sharp fangs. "The aura is near…something has arisen once again," her voice dripping with malice.
The female Gryphon demon turned so her back was to the flap doorway and she was facing Hikage. "I will not stand by while this presence is around. I'm going to investigate…" she spat, breathing deeply. Whatever the thing was it had angered the feline horse, and that was not a good thing.
"Don't be rash," Hikage, boomed, his voice deep. He sounded more like he was in monotone, but not quite. "Useless…that would be completely useless, Tori. We have to wait for our prey to be in sight before pouncing. Remember…curiosity killed the cat…"
Hikage was referring to the fact that Tori had cat in her, and most of her body was cat like. The feline hissed and retorted, "Satisfaction brought it back."
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"Ma-chan! Ma-chan! Ma-chan get up!"
The high-pitched voice of a young girl could be heard all through the ranch, the small child banging on the door of the female ranch-girl.
"Five more minutes…" Malon shouted, growling to herself. Why did she have to live with such an annoying cousin? Why? Because they had nowhere else to live. The ranch back in Termina had been destroyed. The town's people had accidentally lit fireworks in that direction and ended up catching the ranch on fire. They had paid for the damage, but it would take several months to rebuild the place. So in the meantime, Malon's older cousin Cremia and her younger cousin Romani would be staying with her.
"Please Ma-chan?" the little child pouted, making a sniffly sound in her voice. Her blue eyes watered over, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. The little girl had orange hair of course, all the females in Malon's family did, but hers was cut short so she had fluffy bangs that constantly got into her eyes, and a cow lick in the very middle of head, little fluff trails before her ears. She had a little plump body, looking at least to be six.
The red head was a very sweet little girl and worked very hard when it came to the horses and animals although her one down side was that she had a habit of crying a lot.
"Fine Oma-chan…gimme a sec!" Malon shouted in utter defeat, reluctantly stepping out of bed. Oma was the nickname she'd given to Romani, in an attempt to make the little girl feel welcome.
The red head reluctantly went through her morning process, brushing her teeth, combing her hair and pulling it back so that her hylian ears stuck out, little loop earrings visible. She struggled to pull on brown pants and dirty white shirt, tying a red bandana around her forehead.
"Oma-chan! I'm coming to get you!" Malon shouted, bursting the door open to her little room in the hayloft of the chicken coop. "Better run little squirt!" she teased, jumping out at Romani.
The girl gave a shrill scream and raced down the steps like lightning, flinging the door open for the seventh time in a row in the past five days and raced out, giggling like crazy. The two cousins played cat and mouse a lot, Malon usually letting the little tyke win.
"Mia! Mia-chan! Ma-chan's chasing me!" the little girl shrieked with a burst of energy, flying into the arms of her older sister. The older girl laughed and gently set her down.
"We'll have to get her then won't we?" Cremia said with an evil smirk, ducking quickly behind the barn doors. The eldest cousin had long red hair that reached just below her shoulders. At one point in her life she'd visited a fair in the city and had gotten her hair died purple, just to spite Cremia who wasn't aloud to do such a thing. Her body was slender and tall, being quite long legged. Malon quietly appeared, looking around curiously. It was oddly quiet, too quiet.
Quite suddenly Cremia burst out from behind the door, tackling Malon. Cremia's purple tipped red hair flew behind her, as she hadn't pulled it into her usual ponytail yet. She pinned the other rancher to the ground, smirking down at Malon.
"Gotcha! When will you learn?" she questioned in a singsong voice, playfully mocking the other girl.
Malon laughed and forcefully rolled over on top of Cremia, pinning her to the ground. "You dropped your guard, whoops! Don't think you'll do that again!" she said with a grin, sticking her tongue out at the girl underneath her.
Cremia growled and the two began to wrestle violently, trying hard to pin the other onto the ground. After several minutes the two were exhausted, lying side by side on the ground gazing up at the gorgeous sky. The two hadn't actually been fighting, just playing. It was a daily ritual they performed, just to make the start of the day lively.
Malon brushed strands of loose hair out of her eyes, swiftly getting up and brushing the dirt off of her. "Er…you got dirt all over my butt," she said with a disgusted face, brushing it off readily.
Cremia burst into a fit of laughter. "Go feed the horses," she said with a roll of her eyes, getting up to go milk the cows. "Oma-chan, go get the feed for the chickadee's and feed them, kay?" she said brightly, bending down so little Romani could see her sisters face.
The child raced off merrily, singing a song she'd heard when visiting the market for fresh food, to gather the chicken feed.
"Mal, you can leave after feedin' the horses. You've been working hard lately. Go have some fun," Cremia added with a smile, looking over her shoulder at the red head. "But please stay out of trouble…and if by chance you go the market pick up some fish please." The girl acted like a mother to Malon, always being there for her.
Malon happily shook her head. "Thanks, Cremia!" she shouted after the wandering girl, watching her walk away. Malon skipped into the barn quite happily, and began to lift bale upon bale of hay out of the loft and into the troughs for the horses. Ever since her father had died Malon had been very lonely save for the comfort she received from the horses. Having people around wasn't so bad.
After attending to the horses needs, Malon happily walked to the entrance of the ranch, gazing upwards towards the great blue sky. "It's nice out today," she said joyfully, walking lazily towards the middle of the field where the group of friends had gathered.
"Yo, Zelda!" Malon called, hastily running towards her best friend, waving her arms crazily over her head before plummeting right into the princess, joyfully embracing her with a bear hug. "Haven't seen ya in a looong time!" she said, giving the blonde a noogie.
"He-oof!" Zelda didn't have time to react to her friends leap and grab, so she ended up falling backwards. The ranch girl really had caught Zelda by surprise. She made a face, hugging her friend tightly back. "Same here! How ya been?" she asked, looking upwards towards the girl.
Malon thought for a minute then grinned, "Better 'n ever!"
By this point Cheshire had awoke and was rubbing her tail with a grumpy face. She twitched and glared at Malon and Zelda. "Baka's…" she hissed, turning her fierce gaze to the ground.
Link awkwardly shuffled his feet, standing up and gazing at the sky. The teenage boy didn't like being kept in one place for very long. "Uh, hey Zelda…sorry to burst your bubble, but look at the sky…"
The once beautiful azure sky had turned a shade darker, gray clouds beginning to gather. Rain droplets began to fall, dampening the ground. Almost immediately, Kage stood with Quinn in his arms, gently holding her tight to his chest as if to keep the rain from falling onto her limp body.
Link's mind raced with possibilities. Gannon? Nah, he'd been banished. But obviously something was going on. And that something was not good.
The fist one to speak after Link's statement was Cheshire and that was only her screeching about rain. "AIEEE! Water!" she shrieked, running in little circles wildly, trying to keep away from the ever-falling droplets.
Malon felt water splash on her face and trickle off her nose. Both girls looked upwards, cocking their head s to the side. "What the hell are you tal-?" Zelda was once again cut off, taking in her surroundings.
Yuki blinked and shook out his own brown hair. The frisky brunette stood quickly, pulling off his own shirt and tossing it over Malon and Zelda's head. "Here, stay dry," he said softly, grinning. His bare chest was muscular, but not the point of being completely unscrawny.
Link felt the winds pick up and swirl around in a flurry of a mess, not knowing which way to go. "Something's terribly wrong…terribly wrong. Zelda…We need to get back to the castle and ask Impa a few questions!" the hylian boy shouted, making sure she could heard him before setting off towards the castle.
The groups of friends followed, but before reaching the gates were greeted by two boys riding upon a large gray mare. Wait they were twins, and anthro wolfo twins at that. Both had long shoulder blade length gray hair that gently caressed their faces giving them very youthful appearances. Black wolf ears sprouted from their heads and gray tails from their backsides. They had extremely large wolf paws for feet and claws on their small delicate hands. In matching green tunics they were dressed, and they adorned tan pants as well.
"Zelda!" called the one sitting in the front, his ears flattened against his head. Link waved to gesture that they were coming, not sure if the boy could see him through all the mist that was now coming in.
The wolfo gave a wave for the to acknowledge the Hylian boy, but Link was busy guiding the group through the smog and didn't see it although it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
They finally reached the gates and the two boys, clinging tightly to each other. "Thanks for coming to get her, Kaerin!" Link said with a smile, addressing the boy in the front. "You too, Yaarin," he added, addressing the boy in the back. Both were soaking wet by the time the group reached the castle.
Link had gone off to see Impa and Zelda, Malon, Quinn, who'd woken up by now, and Cheshire were in Zelda's room drying off by the fire.
All four girls had changed into long nightgown like t-shirts that reached their knees; Quinn's reaching her feet. Each had a different color. Zelda's was white, Cheshire's was light pink, Malon's a light green, and Quinn's a baby blue.
Zelda was having a hard time drying her thick long hair, rubbing it with a towel that was wet now from all of her rubbing. All Malon had to do was sit by the fire for a few moments and her hair dried quickly. Cheshire sat there, completely wet for a moment before shaking out striped her fur, hair and tail, flinging water everywhere causing Malon's newly dried hair to become damp.
Cheshire got several dirty looks from Malon and Zelda, but ignored them and continued to clean herself, licking her hand and tail. Quinn was enjoying herself, lying by the fire curled up in a ball, blanket up to her neck, face buried in a soft pillow.
All the girls sat and chatted for a while about things, nothing all that important. All except for Quinn, of course, who couldn't speak anyway. About an hour later Link burst through the door, Kaerin and Yaarin standing by him.
Link blushed quite brightly, seeing all the girls in just nightshirts, but shrugged it off quickly. "We couldn't figure it out," Link announced, plopping down on the carpeted floor next to Zelda with a defeated look on his face.
Cheshire latched herself to Link causing his face to light up even more. "It's okay…I'm sure you'll figure it out soon," she purred, wrapping her tail around his arm.
Link appeared more frightened of the small cat girl rather then embarrassed. "Cheshire…leave me alone," he grumbled, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. Link hadn't had the chance to dry off properly. However both twins were completely dry now and in long nightshirts as well, little wolf claws tapping against he cold stone outside Zelda's door before the girl beckoned them inside.
"Well dun worry bout it. After all, it's pretty late. Funny how time flies when you're having fun, huh?" Zelda said with a bright smile, trying to cheer Link up.
"I spose you're right," Link said with a sigh, scratching his head. He held his wet cap in one hand, wanting his hair to dry.
For several more hours the group talked, Kage and Yuki joining them a little while later. Obviously neither Kage nor Yuki was embarrassed about walking around in nothing but boxers although Kage had the decency to put on a t-shirt as well.
By ten that night Quinn had fallen asleep, Cheshire curled up next her, purring because the little mute had been stroking her tail and petting her ears. Zelda had crashed on Link's stomach, snoring like a boar, and Link was leaning against the edge of Zelda's bed. Kage was still there, watching Quinn with steady red eyes and Yuki had zonked out all over the floor in a rather comical way, arms and legs spread eagle everywhere. The twins had left to sleep in their own chambers, and were now sound asleep in their own beds.
The fire crackled softly as if playing some sort of music. Kage stared into it deeply almost in a trance. His dancing crimsons optics narrowed as his keen hearing took over, listening to the sounds all around him. He could hear people bustling about the castle, but he also heard another noise, one heading right towards Zelda's door. He stood and growled defensively, eyes narrowing. The door flung open and a dark light flooded the room, blinding the male berserker.
When the light subsided there stood Link's counterpart, Dark Link.
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Sagi: Oi, that took forever. Sorry about the wait.
Virgo: Yeah, I'm sure you are.
Sagi:…
Tori: Shut up ya fools
Sagi:…
Kaerin: Hey, lets stop fighting, kay?
Sagi:…
Makai: At least someone agrees with me…
Zelda: Eh, well go R and R! Sagi will be verrry happy if you do!