~ Disclaimer ~ I own Zelda, NOT! Talk to Myamoto about that. Or better,
talk to Link about it.
Link: She doesn't own me. *nods*
^_^ Thank you, Link. Now then, that last chapter . . . I'm not doing that anymore. All these are being written in the a. m. or in early p. m. That was just horrible.
As for the dedications, I dedicate this chapter to Angle1 (oh, tired is an understatement!), GSfreak (why not talk about? I can take a flame!), hyliansage (yeah, that was random), Jelie36 (Okay, I re-posted the chapter BECAUSE it was fast as someone said before. I'm not yelling, just explaining), and Shadow Knight (Wah! I told you I didn't know much about Hydra! Stop picking on me! T_T) Just kidding ^_^
Now then, I had a little brainstorm so decided to write it down instead of the boring stuff that would have happened had I forced myself to type. I guess it is true. You can't make yourself type well, it just has to come. *Deep breath*
~~~~~~~
~ Trio Reunited, Problems Arise ~
Link couldn't sleep. He didn't want to anyway. He could hear the roar of flames in the back of his mind and the maniacal laughter beckoning to him. He shivered slightly despite all pain had subsided. The storm had let up completely and the sun was poking through the clear dawn air.
Raindrops still fell from the roof and he was counting them as they plunked to the floor beside him. At first the sound was annoying, driving him mad but then it was better than the laughter . . .
Crystal returned again and Link was surprised she was still awake. He looked over at her, careful to keep his thoughts to himself. She smiled weakly at him and he could tell she hadn't slept either. In her hand was a tray laden with a steaming bowl, a cup beside it and a small plate with cut up fruit. She sat in the chair beside him as he sat up in the bed grinning widely at her to cheer her up. She slightly laughed at him as he took the tray from her and set it before him.
The bowl was filled with steaming hot oats with a golden tinge of stirred in honey. The fruit he had never seen before but upon taste testing it, he certainly didn't complain for its exotic tang. The cup was filled with a coppery liquid neither hot nor cold. Taking that next, he gingerly sipped at it to discover it was an odd sort of tea, odd but not unpleasant.
Crystal began a bit tentatively, "Link, what happened back there? Are you ill? You don't seem it now." He shook his head and tried to swallow the wedge of fruit in his mouth. After struggling it down, he said a bit darkly, "No, not ill. When the Tyrant Wolf was beaten, I fell unconscious but, even worse, I nearly died. Actually, I did die. There is this evil man from my homeland whom I beaten a long . . . well, I did beat him. He set a curse on me I guess and dragged he into darkness and flames. I was just remembering it in the hall."
She nodded slightly as she could imagine only faintly what it would have been like. Link stopped before biting into another piece and shook her shoulder as she slouched forward in deep thought. "Crystal, I'm fine. It was only a memory. Oh, that does remind me, though. Sharra mentioned a lot about you." Crystal was about to interrogate him further as he grinned and kept eating. She shrugged it off with a smile, knowing better than to try and pry it out of him. Instead, she stole the last two slices away from him and dashed down the hallway.
"HEY!!" Link carefully set the tray aside before leaping up from the bed and chasing after her. Matt watched from the rim of his cup as Crystal ran, laughing, outside as Link gave chase. He shook his head and said to the no one, "They behave more childish than Cait. And this early too." Cait was still fast asleep in the room two doors away from where Link had slept. She shared the room with Matt but he was morning watch over the shadow fighter.
Matt finally drained his cup and went to check on the prisoner. Upon thinking of the fighter, he couldn't help but to think of Kohachan. The guy had been nice to him and Cait, after all. Where had he gone with Toloran? He unlocked the thick chains from the wooden storm shelter and lifted one of the two heavy flaps. Light poured before him revealing cold, gray stairs each covered with sand that had fallen in.
The fighter was tied up at his ankles, hands, and to the wall. There proved to be no need for a gag as the fighter never muttered a word. With a bit of Matt's own handiwork, he had managed a type of noose going about the fighters neck, up to a loop of iron on the wall, and back down to the fighters hands behind his back. The rope was long enough to where the fighter could sit against the wall but not fall over but he couldn't reach beyond a certain point anyway.
Andrake had pulled the mask away shortly after capturing the fighter and gagging him. His weapons were also taken away and stored in a secret location. The fighter's spirit had drained tremendously after the night, he still seemed groggy from the fight as well. Matt knew better than to take for granted the fighter was indeed as fatigued as he appeared.
He climbing down the stairs, stepped into the room, and told the fighter to look up. The fighter didn't respond. Matt felt a sense of danger on the back of his neck, his hand went to his chest where the silver dragon usually was only to discover it was gone. He cursed himself slightly for forgetting it but then noticed the fighter. The dark man was slowly looking up, an evil glint in his eye and a downright confident smile on his lips. Matt took a step back when the wooden door banged shut behind him, no escape.
~~~~~
Crystal had finished eating the fruit but that didn't stop Link from trying to claim revenge. They were both laughing like young children again when a startled cry for help sounded from the tavern. They shot each other a questioning glance before sprinting back.
Cait was nearly in tears as Andrake led them to the cellar doors where the fighter had been bound and held. The ropes were cut and a note was pinned to the wall:
We will return your friend only under one condition.
We will trade him for the unconditional surrender of the elite trio as well as the Kitsune's leader's daughter.
We give you until three days dawn to reply. Fail, and the boy's life is surrendered.
Link growled in his chest as he read the note over, "This is not possible! What the heck is a Kitsune? And for that matter, what is the elite trio? If we can't figure out these conditions . . ." Link didn't have to finish. Cait let out a wail and clung to Andrake's waist. He ruffled her hair in comfort before stepping forward, "We can't give up on him. When Kohachan returns, he should know the answers to these riddles. He seemed very familiar with the fighter after all. All we can do is hold our wits together and wait."
~~~~~
Kohachan was enjoying himself at last. After the wonderful prank he schemed then performed with Zolaris, he had a few more bruises but Toloran would have to live with the fact his hair was stuck up with tree sap concentrate. Kohachan suddenly laughed aloud at the remembered sight of Toloran's hair all stuck up in spikes. The laugh only increased until his cheeks hurt from smiling and he was rendered completely breathless.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad, cheer up." Zolaris said. For a moment Kohachan stared at Zolaris before they both burst into a fit of laughter. Toloran had gone to wash but couldn't escape the odd and laughing glances of a few of the Kitsune along the way. Altogether in the tribe, there were thirty-eight elderly and kittens, then there was another forty sum warriors. The city itself was high in the trees, bridges connecting one house to the next with shops set up here and there.
The river was set on the east side of the city while the site of the prank was on the south side. He muttered promises of revenge other than the simple bruises he knew Kohachan bore. And where had Zolaris been? Holding the bowl of sap and laughing right alongside Kohachan! They both acted like children! He followed his thoughts with a steady stream of different curses, careful not to actually cast any actual spells, and climbed down from the tree to the river shore.
Still growling, he dipped his hands into the water as a couple vixens dashed away from the water's edge. He didn't look at them, couldn't bring himself to. The water was cold but there was a more pungent shock in it. He focused on it, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Yes, it was the feel of anger and pain flowing downstream. There was only a little bit of blood but it was the blood of a tortured youth. He closed his eyes, trying to summon on image of the youth. Black hair slightly curled on his forehead, brown eyes almost black with suffering.
MATT! Splashing water onto his head and running his hands through it to ruin the spikes and somewhat slick his hair back, Toloran dashed back to the trees, jumping from the trunk of one to another, he used the two close trees to gain altitude. When he reached the top, he leaped off of the trunk and onto the nearest bridge. He leaped over a couple of foxes and ran back to the house.
Kohachan jumped to his feet, expecting nothing less that a rain of fire for the look on Toloran's face. Zolaris returned to the room, a wooden cup in one hand but sat it aside and asked for an explanation. Toloran locked eyes with Kohachan. "The fighter you captured, please tell me he was gagged." Kohachan shook his head, I was not in any condition to see that he was. Then we left. I thought after hearing his spell, Crystal or Link would have it taken care of."
Toloran hung his head and shook it slowly. "No . . ." Kohachan felt an ache inside of him. If anyone was injured, it would be his fault for not finishing the fighter off. With a deep breath, Kohachan got his weapons together but didn't bother with the cloak. Zolaris caught his arm, "There is no way you can get past the entire army of Shadow warriors! Even in the day light there are too many of them at the bases."
Kohachan shrugged him off, " I don't care about that. I'm going back to the tavern where the fighter was kept. The enemy will not have anything of value with the boy except as a bargaining chip. I'm going to find out what they want for him." Zolaris nodded in understanding, "Let me go, too."
"No."
"What?!? Why not?"
"Stay here just in case. You're more familiar with this ground than I am so it would make sense you stay here instead of me in case of an ambush. I wouldn't put it past them to plan an attack at a time like this." Before Zolaris could rebuke any further, Kohachan began his own sprint back toward the docks. Tarawen saw him running and quickly joined him, not wanting to lose his so soon.
~~~~~
It was well into noon as Link continued his worried pacing. Andrake watched Link from one of the circle tables, his own irritation growing while Crystal tried to soothe the young Cait. Andrake lunged up, grabbed hold of Link's shoulders and plopped him into a chair telling him to stay put.
Link shot him a death glare and sprang up to go outside. Crystal watched him as Andrake heaved a sigh and went back to the room, it was not going to be long until Katie woke up. That was when things would get complicated. Cait sobbed a bit until she pulled away from Crystal, wiping her eyes, she thanked Crystal and then went outside. Crystal followed, having nothing else to do. Waiting any longer would no doubt drive her insane, to which Navi pointed out {too late for that, you were insane from the first day you followed Link}
"I didn't follow him, he followed me." Cait looked back at her, "Did you say something?" Crystal shook her head, smiling nervously. Navi laughed {Yep, not much longer and then you'll be seen as a nut case!} Crystal silently cursed Navi and then caught up with Link who was well into pacing and looking at the calmed ocean.
The ship was a wreck from the storm. It was obvious they'd all be land bound for a while until the captain found supplies to patch a few holed in the hull and material to repair the sails. A sudden movement from the jungle caught their attention. All three yelped as a figure was dashing headlong toward them. They relaxed considerably when they saw it was Kohachan with that same tiny fox on his shoulder.
Link tried to speak with him but Kohachan didn't slow down until he reached the tavern. He fast walked through the main room to the room where Andrake watched Katie. Katie was starting to stir then sat up, blinking furiously. She blinked at him and Andrake before yawning. Kohachan decided it was not the time to deal with her and gave her another dose of the sleeping powder. She fell back into a deep sleep once again.
Andrake was about to thank him when Kohachan demanded to know where the fighter was. Andrake stood up and led the Sheikah to the cellar, grabbing up the note on the way. Kohachan read it over and looked at the throwing star the note had been pinned with. He resisted hard simply tearing the note into shreds.
He pivoted and began walking away from the cellar just as Link caught up, Crystal carried Cait as she continued jogging to catch up. Kohachan said shortly to them all, "This is now out of your hands. I'll deal with it. Just stay here and see to it that the ship is repaired. This'll be settled soon." He pocketed the note as Link glared at his back.
He said to Crystal as Kohachan started jogging back to wherever he came from, "If he thinks I'm going to stay here while Matt's life is on the line, he has another thing coming." Crystal nodded in agreement but Andrake insisted on sitting this one out, his speed was no good in a jungle. Cait slightly sobbed but said, "Are we going to save him? Are we going to get Matt back?"
Crystal set the girl down and said to her, "Yes, Cait. Don't worry, we're going to bring him back safe and sound. You stay here and keep Andrake company, okay? We'll be back soon enough." Link laid a hand on her shoulder as he passed toward the jungle, a grin look of determination shining in his eyes.
~~~~~~~
Wee! That one is done! Sorry it was a bit short but I don't want to over- do it. You know how it is. I liked that one, actually. It was fun to type.
What do you think of it?
Well, now, Matt is in a world of hurt and Link is once again playing the stupidly brave one. I wonder how the Kitsune will take to a Hylian crashing in . . .
Till next time!
Link: She doesn't own me. *nods*
^_^ Thank you, Link. Now then, that last chapter . . . I'm not doing that anymore. All these are being written in the a. m. or in early p. m. That was just horrible.
As for the dedications, I dedicate this chapter to Angle1 (oh, tired is an understatement!), GSfreak (why not talk about? I can take a flame!), hyliansage (yeah, that was random), Jelie36 (Okay, I re-posted the chapter BECAUSE it was fast as someone said before. I'm not yelling, just explaining), and Shadow Knight (Wah! I told you I didn't know much about Hydra! Stop picking on me! T_T) Just kidding ^_^
Now then, I had a little brainstorm so decided to write it down instead of the boring stuff that would have happened had I forced myself to type. I guess it is true. You can't make yourself type well, it just has to come. *Deep breath*
~~~~~~~
~ Trio Reunited, Problems Arise ~
Link couldn't sleep. He didn't want to anyway. He could hear the roar of flames in the back of his mind and the maniacal laughter beckoning to him. He shivered slightly despite all pain had subsided. The storm had let up completely and the sun was poking through the clear dawn air.
Raindrops still fell from the roof and he was counting them as they plunked to the floor beside him. At first the sound was annoying, driving him mad but then it was better than the laughter . . .
Crystal returned again and Link was surprised she was still awake. He looked over at her, careful to keep his thoughts to himself. She smiled weakly at him and he could tell she hadn't slept either. In her hand was a tray laden with a steaming bowl, a cup beside it and a small plate with cut up fruit. She sat in the chair beside him as he sat up in the bed grinning widely at her to cheer her up. She slightly laughed at him as he took the tray from her and set it before him.
The bowl was filled with steaming hot oats with a golden tinge of stirred in honey. The fruit he had never seen before but upon taste testing it, he certainly didn't complain for its exotic tang. The cup was filled with a coppery liquid neither hot nor cold. Taking that next, he gingerly sipped at it to discover it was an odd sort of tea, odd but not unpleasant.
Crystal began a bit tentatively, "Link, what happened back there? Are you ill? You don't seem it now." He shook his head and tried to swallow the wedge of fruit in his mouth. After struggling it down, he said a bit darkly, "No, not ill. When the Tyrant Wolf was beaten, I fell unconscious but, even worse, I nearly died. Actually, I did die. There is this evil man from my homeland whom I beaten a long . . . well, I did beat him. He set a curse on me I guess and dragged he into darkness and flames. I was just remembering it in the hall."
She nodded slightly as she could imagine only faintly what it would have been like. Link stopped before biting into another piece and shook her shoulder as she slouched forward in deep thought. "Crystal, I'm fine. It was only a memory. Oh, that does remind me, though. Sharra mentioned a lot about you." Crystal was about to interrogate him further as he grinned and kept eating. She shrugged it off with a smile, knowing better than to try and pry it out of him. Instead, she stole the last two slices away from him and dashed down the hallway.
"HEY!!" Link carefully set the tray aside before leaping up from the bed and chasing after her. Matt watched from the rim of his cup as Crystal ran, laughing, outside as Link gave chase. He shook his head and said to the no one, "They behave more childish than Cait. And this early too." Cait was still fast asleep in the room two doors away from where Link had slept. She shared the room with Matt but he was morning watch over the shadow fighter.
Matt finally drained his cup and went to check on the prisoner. Upon thinking of the fighter, he couldn't help but to think of Kohachan. The guy had been nice to him and Cait, after all. Where had he gone with Toloran? He unlocked the thick chains from the wooden storm shelter and lifted one of the two heavy flaps. Light poured before him revealing cold, gray stairs each covered with sand that had fallen in.
The fighter was tied up at his ankles, hands, and to the wall. There proved to be no need for a gag as the fighter never muttered a word. With a bit of Matt's own handiwork, he had managed a type of noose going about the fighters neck, up to a loop of iron on the wall, and back down to the fighters hands behind his back. The rope was long enough to where the fighter could sit against the wall but not fall over but he couldn't reach beyond a certain point anyway.
Andrake had pulled the mask away shortly after capturing the fighter and gagging him. His weapons were also taken away and stored in a secret location. The fighter's spirit had drained tremendously after the night, he still seemed groggy from the fight as well. Matt knew better than to take for granted the fighter was indeed as fatigued as he appeared.
He climbing down the stairs, stepped into the room, and told the fighter to look up. The fighter didn't respond. Matt felt a sense of danger on the back of his neck, his hand went to his chest where the silver dragon usually was only to discover it was gone. He cursed himself slightly for forgetting it but then noticed the fighter. The dark man was slowly looking up, an evil glint in his eye and a downright confident smile on his lips. Matt took a step back when the wooden door banged shut behind him, no escape.
~~~~~
Crystal had finished eating the fruit but that didn't stop Link from trying to claim revenge. They were both laughing like young children again when a startled cry for help sounded from the tavern. They shot each other a questioning glance before sprinting back.
Cait was nearly in tears as Andrake led them to the cellar doors where the fighter had been bound and held. The ropes were cut and a note was pinned to the wall:
We will return your friend only under one condition.
We will trade him for the unconditional surrender of the elite trio as well as the Kitsune's leader's daughter.
We give you until three days dawn to reply. Fail, and the boy's life is surrendered.
Link growled in his chest as he read the note over, "This is not possible! What the heck is a Kitsune? And for that matter, what is the elite trio? If we can't figure out these conditions . . ." Link didn't have to finish. Cait let out a wail and clung to Andrake's waist. He ruffled her hair in comfort before stepping forward, "We can't give up on him. When Kohachan returns, he should know the answers to these riddles. He seemed very familiar with the fighter after all. All we can do is hold our wits together and wait."
~~~~~
Kohachan was enjoying himself at last. After the wonderful prank he schemed then performed with Zolaris, he had a few more bruises but Toloran would have to live with the fact his hair was stuck up with tree sap concentrate. Kohachan suddenly laughed aloud at the remembered sight of Toloran's hair all stuck up in spikes. The laugh only increased until his cheeks hurt from smiling and he was rendered completely breathless.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad, cheer up." Zolaris said. For a moment Kohachan stared at Zolaris before they both burst into a fit of laughter. Toloran had gone to wash but couldn't escape the odd and laughing glances of a few of the Kitsune along the way. Altogether in the tribe, there were thirty-eight elderly and kittens, then there was another forty sum warriors. The city itself was high in the trees, bridges connecting one house to the next with shops set up here and there.
The river was set on the east side of the city while the site of the prank was on the south side. He muttered promises of revenge other than the simple bruises he knew Kohachan bore. And where had Zolaris been? Holding the bowl of sap and laughing right alongside Kohachan! They both acted like children! He followed his thoughts with a steady stream of different curses, careful not to actually cast any actual spells, and climbed down from the tree to the river shore.
Still growling, he dipped his hands into the water as a couple vixens dashed away from the water's edge. He didn't look at them, couldn't bring himself to. The water was cold but there was a more pungent shock in it. He focused on it, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Yes, it was the feel of anger and pain flowing downstream. There was only a little bit of blood but it was the blood of a tortured youth. He closed his eyes, trying to summon on image of the youth. Black hair slightly curled on his forehead, brown eyes almost black with suffering.
MATT! Splashing water onto his head and running his hands through it to ruin the spikes and somewhat slick his hair back, Toloran dashed back to the trees, jumping from the trunk of one to another, he used the two close trees to gain altitude. When he reached the top, he leaped off of the trunk and onto the nearest bridge. He leaped over a couple of foxes and ran back to the house.
Kohachan jumped to his feet, expecting nothing less that a rain of fire for the look on Toloran's face. Zolaris returned to the room, a wooden cup in one hand but sat it aside and asked for an explanation. Toloran locked eyes with Kohachan. "The fighter you captured, please tell me he was gagged." Kohachan shook his head, I was not in any condition to see that he was. Then we left. I thought after hearing his spell, Crystal or Link would have it taken care of."
Toloran hung his head and shook it slowly. "No . . ." Kohachan felt an ache inside of him. If anyone was injured, it would be his fault for not finishing the fighter off. With a deep breath, Kohachan got his weapons together but didn't bother with the cloak. Zolaris caught his arm, "There is no way you can get past the entire army of Shadow warriors! Even in the day light there are too many of them at the bases."
Kohachan shrugged him off, " I don't care about that. I'm going back to the tavern where the fighter was kept. The enemy will not have anything of value with the boy except as a bargaining chip. I'm going to find out what they want for him." Zolaris nodded in understanding, "Let me go, too."
"No."
"What?!? Why not?"
"Stay here just in case. You're more familiar with this ground than I am so it would make sense you stay here instead of me in case of an ambush. I wouldn't put it past them to plan an attack at a time like this." Before Zolaris could rebuke any further, Kohachan began his own sprint back toward the docks. Tarawen saw him running and quickly joined him, not wanting to lose his so soon.
~~~~~
It was well into noon as Link continued his worried pacing. Andrake watched Link from one of the circle tables, his own irritation growing while Crystal tried to soothe the young Cait. Andrake lunged up, grabbed hold of Link's shoulders and plopped him into a chair telling him to stay put.
Link shot him a death glare and sprang up to go outside. Crystal watched him as Andrake heaved a sigh and went back to the room, it was not going to be long until Katie woke up. That was when things would get complicated. Cait sobbed a bit until she pulled away from Crystal, wiping her eyes, she thanked Crystal and then went outside. Crystal followed, having nothing else to do. Waiting any longer would no doubt drive her insane, to which Navi pointed out {too late for that, you were insane from the first day you followed Link}
"I didn't follow him, he followed me." Cait looked back at her, "Did you say something?" Crystal shook her head, smiling nervously. Navi laughed {Yep, not much longer and then you'll be seen as a nut case!} Crystal silently cursed Navi and then caught up with Link who was well into pacing and looking at the calmed ocean.
The ship was a wreck from the storm. It was obvious they'd all be land bound for a while until the captain found supplies to patch a few holed in the hull and material to repair the sails. A sudden movement from the jungle caught their attention. All three yelped as a figure was dashing headlong toward them. They relaxed considerably when they saw it was Kohachan with that same tiny fox on his shoulder.
Link tried to speak with him but Kohachan didn't slow down until he reached the tavern. He fast walked through the main room to the room where Andrake watched Katie. Katie was starting to stir then sat up, blinking furiously. She blinked at him and Andrake before yawning. Kohachan decided it was not the time to deal with her and gave her another dose of the sleeping powder. She fell back into a deep sleep once again.
Andrake was about to thank him when Kohachan demanded to know where the fighter was. Andrake stood up and led the Sheikah to the cellar, grabbing up the note on the way. Kohachan read it over and looked at the throwing star the note had been pinned with. He resisted hard simply tearing the note into shreds.
He pivoted and began walking away from the cellar just as Link caught up, Crystal carried Cait as she continued jogging to catch up. Kohachan said shortly to them all, "This is now out of your hands. I'll deal with it. Just stay here and see to it that the ship is repaired. This'll be settled soon." He pocketed the note as Link glared at his back.
He said to Crystal as Kohachan started jogging back to wherever he came from, "If he thinks I'm going to stay here while Matt's life is on the line, he has another thing coming." Crystal nodded in agreement but Andrake insisted on sitting this one out, his speed was no good in a jungle. Cait slightly sobbed but said, "Are we going to save him? Are we going to get Matt back?"
Crystal set the girl down and said to her, "Yes, Cait. Don't worry, we're going to bring him back safe and sound. You stay here and keep Andrake company, okay? We'll be back soon enough." Link laid a hand on her shoulder as he passed toward the jungle, a grin look of determination shining in his eyes.
~~~~~~~
Wee! That one is done! Sorry it was a bit short but I don't want to over- do it. You know how it is. I liked that one, actually. It was fun to type.
What do you think of it?
Well, now, Matt is in a world of hurt and Link is once again playing the stupidly brave one. I wonder how the Kitsune will take to a Hylian crashing in . . .
Till next time!