A/N: Yeah....it's gonna be longer than the, what was it? 7 lines the last one was. Maybe.
Writer's Block Demon: *laughs insanely and grabs a hold of Griz's arm*
Griz: HEY!!
Writer's Block Demon: I WANT MY SQUEAKY TOY! *chomp*
Griz: GAAAH!!! Anyways, I, uh, hope this chapter turns out better than it's title....*rummages around in pocket for the squeaky toy*
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Only a few words can describe the Hylden. They were like nothing I've ever fought before. Very cunning...very sneaky. There was a time when they trapped Kain and I in a room that filled up with water.
"It's Glyph Energy!" said Kain, showing a hint of nervousness for the first time since I'd seen him.
"What do we do?" I said, also panicking. If that room filled all the way up with water, Kain would probably dissolve, and, though I wouldn't drown (Lucky for me, I was wearing the Zora's Tunic), I'd be trapped!
"You idiot girl, you can go through the Glyph Energy!"
"I can?"
"Get out there and find the switch to shut it off! Hurry!"
Well, what choice did I have? I stepped up to the energy barrier...walked towards it...and went through. It took a little while to find the switch, but I did. Just in time, too.
"Could you have gone any slower?" Kain griped. Something in me snapped, and I calmly walked up to him.
"Uh-oh..." Tal said softly, as I pulled my hand back and slapped Kain in the face. Hard.
"This whole time I've been here, you've been nothing but an ass to me! I've had enough!" I shrieked, slapping him again.
"Calm down, woman..." said a very, very shocked Kain, rubbing his face. I was really very tempted to kick him where it would really hurt, but decided that he'd probably be expecting it or something.
"That ugly thing's the Mass?" asked a very disgusted Tal.
"Will ya look at all the Hylden?" I muttered.
"Let's go," Kain ordered, his face still red where I'd hit him. He did like to order people around...I thought about that for a moment...and then I thought of Janos. For some reason, I'd been thinking about him lately...suddenly, something cut across my back, causing me to collapse.
"Aryasei!" Tal cried out, causing Kain to turn around and attack the culprit. All in the space of a few seconds.
"Damned Hylden..." Tal muttered, "Are you okay, Aryasei?"
It hurt like all get out, but I didn't want to worry Tal. "Yeah..."
"Let me see." Kain said.
"No. It's only a little scratch, really!"
I got even more scratched up when we got closer to the thing. Mostly because I was covering Kain. A few of those cuts were probably serious, but right then I didn't really feel like tending to them. Besides, I'd been a genius and left my pack at the Sanctuary.
As Tal would say, whoop-dee-doo. Finally, Kain got up to where he could successfully kill the thing. Unluckily, I was dealing with several Hylden, all of whom wanted to capture Tal and put him in a jar.
"I don't think so!" he snapped, dodging them all. During all of this, one of the Hylden managed to cut me across the side. I collapsed again. Kain, meanwhile, had successfully killed the Mass and was coming back down to where I was trying to stand up. I was bleeding a lot.
"Aryasei! Can you stand?"
"I think...I think so..." I answered, weakly, struggling to stand.
"Lean on me." Kain said softly, helping me stand. I was surprised by this act of compassion. "Here, lean on me." Kain repeated.
So I did.
When we got back to where the beast was, I didn't see him. But, by then I was very weak from loss of blood and thought perhaps my sight was playing tricks on me. And I kept insisting that all I had were "little scratches". Tal's presence helped slow the bleeding a little bit, perhaps because fairies have a mystical aura that heals. Only my grandmother and the wee pink fairies had auras strong enough to completely heal, however.
Anyways, what I saw crouched in my Beast's place...was a man. With beautiful feathered black wings and blue skin.
"You do not know me for the poor, oppressed Beast that crouched here before? Behold, I am restored!" His voice, I knew his voice...then he stood, stretching his wings. I still leaned on Kain, mesmerized by the winged man. He was the Beast.
"What are you?" Kain asked, also amazed by this man.
"Not what, but who." Answered the man.
"Janos..." I murmured, taking my arm from Kain's shoulder and walking towards him, reaching out to him. I was still convinced that I wasn't hurt so badly that I could walk without help...
"But Janos is dead!" argued Kain. I wasn't paying attention...I wanted to make sure he was real...and I collapsed for the third time. This time, perhaps the first time that whole night, I began to realize that my wounds were much more severe than what'd I'd said they were. And I began to fear that I wouldn't be able to stand again.
"Aryasei!" Janos called out, running over to me and kneeling next to me. He looked so concerned...and beautiful at the same time. I feebly raised a hand to touch his face. "You are beautiful..." I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. Janos took my hand.
"Aryasei..."
"I'll be alright..." I promised him, "Really. When we get back to Sanctuary, you'll see..." I was getting dizzy now..I had to close my eyes...
"Aryasei.." Janos murmured again as the Hylian girl closed her eyes. Not her! And not now, not here! It's too soon! he thought, desperately.
"She's alive." Tal said, softly, "But she won't be for much longer unless we get her back to Sanctuary."
This wasn't much comfort for Janos. He told Kain a little bit more about his race and the Hylden, then lifted Aryasei into his arms.
"Oh.." Janos said, surprised by something.
"Is she too heavy for you, Janos?" asked Kain, smirking a bit despite the circumstances.
"No...she's got so much will to live...I can feel it when I touch her..."
Vorador was amazed by his sire's desperate attempts to save the girl.
"She came here a Hylian, she'll leave here a Hylian!" Janos ordered the fledglings carrying her to a large cot.
"She'll die then, sir.." said one of them, softly.
"Don't say that!" roared Tal, frightening the poor fledgling and surprising Vorador, who was trying to send Umah and Kain on their merry little way to the Wharves. After they had gone, Tal instructed Janos to find the red potion in Aryasei's pack. He hoped it was still there, which, luckily it was.
"Pour a third of the bottle down her throat," Tal said, "Hurry!" he barked, causing Janos to stop hesitating and do it. Some the cuts on Aryasei's arms began to close, and some of the color returned to her face.
"Another dose, Janos." Tal ordered. Janos complied. More color returned to Aryasei's face, and she stirred.
"Give her half of what's left!" Tal instructed again. And again, Janos complied. The more serious wounds had to be mostly healed now, but the girl still didn't open her eyes.
"Give her the rest.." Tal said, sounding worried, "And check where she was cut up to see if she's all healed," Seeing Janos blush slightly, Tal added, "Don't worry, you won't have to take her tunic off." Janos nodded and poured the rest of the potion down Aryasei's throat and looked at the deep wounds on her side and back, which had healed.
"You'd probably enjoy it if you had to..." Tal muttered, almost as an afterthought.
"What!?" Janos snapped.
"Nothing."
And while Aryasei's breathing had become more regular and the color returned to her face, she still didn't open her eyes.
A/N: Man...the effects of sad music on your writing. I listened to "Aerith's Theme" while I wrote this...yeah, I like that song.