Because you guys were so patient while I was busy, I have here a rather long chapter for ya'll. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter Fifteen
Zara and Rittowa faced Orma. Rittowa was in a stance with her duel blades and Zara was shaking a little, but holding onto her staff. Orma grinned and jumped forward in an attempt to impale the Gerudo. Rittowa criss-crossed her swords, blocking the stab right in the middle of them, then slashed the katana away and brought her sword around from the other side. Orma ducked, then rushed past her and rammed into Zara, knocking her completely off her feet and onto the ground. He then black-flipped to jump on top of her but she quickly raised her staff so that he landed on it, then she forced him off with a blast of water magic from the staff. The high-pressure water shooting from the whole staff sent him flying off of it and onto ground a good fifteen feet away.
He slowly got up and raced over to them again while swinging his sword up and bringing it down at Rittowa's head. She stepped to the side, then spun and hook-kicked him across the face. He quickly recovered and growled at her, then went for another stab, but this time Zara came up from the side and knocked him in the back of the head with her staff.
"Looks like I underestimated you two some what..." He said, getting up. "No more playing around!"
Isuke dodged a horizontal swipe by flipping high over Yuma. He put a twist in his flip so that he faced the Sheikah's back when he landed, and then shot forward, his arm outstretched with his fin pointing forward. However, Yuma leaned to the side, the arm just flying past him. As Isuke followed it, the Sheikah kicked right up into his chin, sending him into the air a few feet.
Sheik ran over and caught him before he hit the ground then set him on his feet without a word and raced forward, taking his katana and stabbing at the other Sheikah's neck. Yuma grabbed Sheik's arm before the stab connected then turned and threw him over his back, kicking Isuke behind him in the head in the process.
Sheik groaned a bit from the pain from landing on his back, but managed to recover and hopped up. He spun around and jumped up, kicking Yuma in the face twice then Isuke crashed his blue foot into the back of the enemy Sheikah.
Link drew back the Master Sword and bent into a crouch, channeling magic as fast as he could into the sword. "Kai-Ten-Giri!!"
The power of the attack was enough to shatter Spiaze's sword, however, before Link came to his senses from the attack, Spiaze kicked at his hand, knocking the Master Sword away. He nodded to Orma who broke away from his fight and, knowing that he couldn't hold the Master Sword, kicked it farther away.
Link reached down in his boot. Great, I must have forgotten my dagger back at the Inn.
Spiaze rushed at him, throwing a punch at his face. Link grabbed the fist and kneed the Sheikah in the gut, then grabbed his arm with his other hand and attempted to throw him. However it didn't work, as Spiaze managed to land on his feet, ducked to avoid a punch, and then knocked Link off his feet with a sweep. Not letting up for a second, Spiaze pulled up and threw a punch at the Hero's head, which probably would have shattered it if he hadn't slid his head to the side. Link moved quickly, clasping his hands around Spiaze's neck and pulling him down, trying to knee him in the gut. However the Sheikah raised his own knee, and they both collided with each other.
Link kicked Spiaze off of him then rolled backwards and onto his feet. The two warriors continued fighting for another hour or more, both showing remarkable stamina, not letting up at all during that period of time. They traded attacks, each one looking like it could send a normal man flying into next week. However each of them stood their ground, neither of them hardly moving from their spot. There was no grab moves, sweeps, or anything like that involved, like an unspoken agreement that they would just punch and kick.
Link, despite his strong arms, relied more on his foot-work than anything else because he was so used to battling with a sword and shield in hand, therefore his feet were like a secondary weapon. Spiaze seemed to use his legs more as well, not for Link's reasons, but because he didn't have strong arms, like most Sheikah.
In one last attempt to knock each other down, they both spun around, lifting their knees up halfway and then kicked their legs around. The calves of the two warriors collided, sending the two men off balance and falling to the ground. Link growled at the new pain going through his leg, but managed to get back up without putting weight on his throbbing leg. With Spiaze on the ground, he allowed himself to glance at what was happening, but almost fell back when he saw Yuma and Orma lay in a pool of their own blood, both with their eyes open but were never to see anything of this world again.
The four warriors that had slain them were all either on one knee or both, panting and covering wounds with their hands.
Spiaze stumbled back, looking at his two fallen comrades.
"You'll pay for this...I swear you will pay, Hero of Time." Without another word, he crossed his arms and disappeared.
Link finally allowed himself to drop to one knee, which made a grunt of pain emanate from his mouth. Every joint in his body ached from that battle. He hadn't had a hand-to-hand fight like that since the last time a sparring session with Darunia got out of hand.
"Is everyone okay?" Rittowa asked when she finally caught her breath.
Everyone was fine. Out of breath, cut up, and sore, but fine.
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Back at the inn, everyone had had their wounds treated and were now sitting around the table, drinking, eating, and talking about what was going on. Their wounds were bad, but none as bad as Link's. The Hero's face had two black eyes, and various other wounds, he had been limping the whole time, and most of his body was black and blue. He ached all over still, but was able to hide it.
"So...you guys buried the bodies?" Link asked with a grim look on his face.
"Yes... They're all buried in that fenced-off area."
"I can't believe they're all gone... Everyone I grew-up with....the twins...the know it all brothers, heh... Mido... That little kid I saved back at Kakariko, Miroku.... I practically sent him to his death by bringing him there. ARGH!! It's so stupid!! I should have been there for them!!!"
Zara put a hand on his arm. "Link, calm down...It wasn't your fault, so stop blaming yourself."
Link half sighed, half growled and dropped his head to the table.
"Link... Did you say a little Hylian child?" Isuke asked.
The hero's head nodded a little.
"We didn't see any Hylian kid among the dead."
Link's head shot up. "You didn't see Miroku?!"
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A small child was walking through the almost pitch-black Lost Woods, his face red from crying. Miroku didn't remember how he got there, only that he had taken a nap some time that day.
As he walked, his foot got caught under a root and he tripped and fell, making him burst out crying again. Apparently his crying attracted some of the life in those evil woods, however, it was of the non evil kind.
Three Skull Kids hopped from the tree tops and landed in front of the frightened child, and started poking him with their sticks.
"What is this noisy thing?" one of them asked.
"Heck, I don't know. Looks like a Kokiri, or maybe one of them Hylians... except smaller."
Miroku was terrified by the black-faced monsters in front of him, and had turned to run off, but just tripped over the same root.
"Clumsy, isn't it?"
"Yeah, very. He must be lost in here. Maybe he's that 'kid' thing that Link told us to look after if he got lost in here."
"Could be."
One of them went up to Miroku and poked him with a stick again. "Hello, little kid person. Do you know Link?"
"A-are you going t-to eat me?" Miroku stuttered.
"If you are tasty then we will."
This made him cry even more.
"Heh-heh-heh, just joking, little person. We won't eat you. We eat forest bugs and stuff like that. What's your name?"
"M-M-Miroku..."
"Ah! So you are that 'kid' that Link told us about. C'mon, Kid, we're gonna take you out of here."
"Really?"
"Yep."
The other Skull Kid spoke up. "But, err...where are we suppose to bring him?"
"Back to Kokiri Village I would think."
"But no one is there. I heard from the forest sprites that everyone is gone."
"Oh well, let's keep him here then! We can play with him, and teach him all about the forest!"
"Yeah, that's a great idea!"
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Link rode swiftly on a horse next to the river the flowed from Zora's Domain with Zara behind him, clinging tightly to him so she wouldn't fall. Rittowa and Sheik were riding right behind them. Back when Link had seen the dead Kokiri, he had left Epona there, so they had to borrow a couple of horses. After all, it was the least the town folk could do for the warriors who had stopped Link from destroying their village. They just didn't mention anything about Link needing one too when asking.
Isuke had been keeping up by swimming through the river, but then had split with the group to check how things were going in Zora's Domain. Link made sure that the Zora would see if Malon had made it safely to the domain.
The sun had come up by the time they got into Kokiri Forest, but Link was fine due to his extended sleep. Epona was doing fine; she was grazing near Link's old house. Link patted her on the head then walked over to the fenced area, and looked at the sticks that marked each shallow grave. Without a word, he turned and walked off, into the Lost Woods.
"Link! Why are you going in there?" Rittowa called.
"Miroku is in here. I know he is."
"How?"
"I just....know."
Sheik followed him in shortly after, and Zara and Rittowa looked at each other. They shrugged, and ran in after the Sheikah and Hylian.
Link glanced around the thick forest, not bothering keeping an eye on the Sheikah behind him; Rittowa and Zara could handle that. He still didn't completely trust Sheik, even though he had destroyed one of his own race and
"Link," Rittowa said. "this forest is so huge... It'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I've been through it before, and we got lost."
Link didn't answer. He had his eyes closed, his left hand was raised halfway, and it was moving it back and forth like there was an eye in his palm and it was looking around the forest. It was then when Zara realized that the back of that hand was glowing slightly. Of course! He was using the power of the Triforce of Courage to locate the boy! It would be easy to find him, even with all the other energies floating around in this dark forest. He should be the only Hylian here, and the only other life forms were Skull Kids, forest sprites, and Deku Scrubs. They had an all together different aura so Miroku would be a rather large needle in this haystack they were searching through.
Link's eyes suddenly opened and he ran forward. Unsheathing his sword he started chopping down large trees that were in the way. The Master Sword cut through them like they were paper.
Zara blinked and looked at Sheik. "Is...that... really necessary?"
Sheik shrugged. "It's faster than weaving our way in and out of that path we obviously have to take through that rather thick part of the forest."
"Man, he got over those wounds quickly," Rittowa noted.
"I think it's the combined power of the Triforce of Courage and Zara's healing powers that made it possible," Sheik replied, then started running after Link, followed by the girls.
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"Lord Isuke!" exclaimed a Zora soldier, quickly standing in attention. "We all thought you were killed!"
Isuke looked at the guard. Guard...heh. Here, in Zora's Domain. Talk about weird. "Where is my father?" He asked.
"Up in Zora Fountain, the training grounds."
Isuke nodded and walked up the incline that led to the throne room. As he looked around he realized just how much his home had changed since he had been gone those few days. Everywhere were spears, swords and shields, just laying against walls or on the ground. Most of the Zora folk were walking around in brown leather armor, and many were sparring in the underground lake that sat in the middle of the domain.
What the...!? They're sparring underwater! What, do they think they'll be fighting other Zora or something? Geez... What idiot has been in charge of training?
He changed his walk into a sprint and got to the throne room and into Zora Fountain in a matter of seconds. Midoto stood where Lord Jabu-Jabu's shrine was, the ancient lord having been cremated. Most of the Zora army were in the deep area of the lake, sparring in and out of the water.
"Father!!" Isuke yelled, with an annoyed tone.
Midoto turned to his son. "Ah, Isuke. I was wondering where you had gone."
"What in Hyrule is this about?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"This!! They're all sparring under water!"
"What is your point? We are Zora, creatures of the water..."
"Yes! But our opponents won't be. And even if we get them into the water, we don't need any training to defeat them in it! Training on solid ground is what we must do. The Zora spend so much time in the water that our enemies will have an advantage over us. Do you understand what I'm saying?!"
"........................Well, it wasn't my idea to have them train in the water."
Isuke turned around and started beating his head against a pillar.
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The Master Sword had stopped chopping trees and was now slicing through a pack of wolfos. The three others stood back and watched in amazement as he made quick work of the five beasts that had attacked them. By the time he was done two of the wolfos had been beheaded and the other three impaled in one way or another. He wiped blood from the sword and walked on.
"Come, we're getting closer," he said.
Before he could take another step, there was a loud rumbling, shaking everyone off their feet.
"An earthquake?" Rittowa blinked.
"It c-" But Sheik didn't finish, for looming over them was a fat, sixty-foot worm-like creature. Drool ran down from its massive jaws as it shot down to clamp those jaws over Zara. Rittowa quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her away just before the teeth chomped down and got a mouth full of grass and earth.
"Just great..." Link grumbled. "Hey! Everyone, go strait through that opening over there. You should find Miroku down there somewhere."
"But...don't you need help?" Zara asked.
"I'm" –Link jumped backwards and cut down a tree- "going to draw it away from you. Now go!" The tree fell onto the head of the worm and knocked to the ground.
"But..."
"You have to find Miroku before he turns into a stalfos!"
Zara nodded and the two girls ran through the opening, but Sheik stayed.
"You'll need some help, Link."
The worm lifted its head up, throwing the tree from its head.
"Let's go!!"
Link jumped up to a branch and swung off diving deeper into the dark forest, with Sheik following right behind him.
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It had been ten minutes since Rittowa and Zara had left Link and Sheik and they were both worried about getting lost. Even Zara, as a fairy, didn't know where to go. She could only keep Rittowa from turning into a stalfos. That's why she was worried about Link and Sheik. Without her there, who knew when they would turn into a stalfos? Perhaps the Triforce of Courage Link held would keep him from changing.
Zara's mental pounding was shattered when the ground under her gave way and she felt herself drop, but then a hand gripped her arm.
"Hang on, I got ya," Rittowa grunted, starting to pull her up.
She heard something come up behind her and turned her head. A Skull Kid stood there, staring at her.
"Bye-bye!" He pushed her over the edge, and she and Zara fell down the dark hole, screaming, but it was drowned out by the Skull Kid's outrageous laughter.
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Well, that's gotta be one of the longest chapters I've done in awhile. I was gonna go for ten pages, but, I figured you'd just rather me get this one out. So anyway, please, tell me what you think of it!