"The Destiny Stone"
Disclaimer: Own Zelda I do not.
*****
Author's Note: Well well wellback for more, are we? ^_^ Since I promised a break from all the nautical stuff this chapter, I'm going to offer thatthough I will try to get those two off the boat (or at least on their way) by the end of this chapter. This is only, of course, if the characters decide to cooperateI kind of let them go off on tangents sometimes and it can drag stuff out. Hopefully this isn't moving too slowlylet me know what you think.
*****
"The Destiny Stone" – Chapter 10: On to Termina
It was just getting dark when the horse-drawn cart slowly ambled its way into the boundaries of Kakariko Village. Talon, a portly specimen of a man, nodded slowly, and stared past the furry head of the white gelding hitched to the cart. His cargo was expected in the village by nightfall, and consisted of many crates of fresh milk from Lon Lon Ranch.
That, plus two extra occupants, who rode in back.
Benz and Aka had hitched a ride with Talon as he delivered his latest load of milk to Kakariko. When Malon's father had returned to the Ranch, the pretty redhead had explained to him that they were searching. Since they'd been so helpful to Malon the few days that he'd been gone, Talon was more than willing to give them a ride.
Aka swung his feet over the edge as the cart bumbled its way jauntily over the unpaved and uneven path. The Skull Kid grinned as they passed townsfolk, tipping his hat in a friendly way and totally overlooking the stares he was receiving.
Benz, on the other hand, wasn't enjoying the ride as much. He much preferred his own two feet on the ground most of the time, and the cart's incessant jolting was making him feel slightly ill. The Deku's glowing eyes were shut tightly as he huddled inside his cape.
"You cold, Squeaks?" Aka said, looking concerned for his friend.
"No," Benz murmured. "We *squeak* there yet?"
"Almost!" came the jovial voice of Talon. The large man's equally bulbous nose appeared over the edge of one of the crates, eyes twinkling from behind large black eyebrows. "Jus' got to get to the town square."
The town square' was more of a green. Kakariko village was a tiny place, nestled comfortably at the foothills of Death Mountain. The buildings were nearly all private homes, although there were a few commercial places, a smattering of small stores, and an inn. Another building that caught Aka's eye was a kind of tower, with a huge pinwheel like structure attached to it that slowly rotated with the wind currents.
"What's that?" Aka asked, pointing with a gloved finger.
"That's the Windmill," Talon said, smiling. "Ah, here we arewoah!"
The cart ground to a slow halt, and several strong-looking men approached, as they had been expecting the delivery.
"'Ello, Aref," Talon nodded to the dark haired young man in front.
"'Lo," Aref replied, smiling. "How was the journey?"
"Not too bad," Talon replied. "'Ad worse times gettin' across Hyrule Field. An' wasn't so bad this time, I had company."
Aref raised one eyebrow as he pulled off the top crate. "Company?"
"Yep, a Deku an' a Skull Kid, if you'll believe ithey, speakin' of, where'd they go?"
Aka and Benz had smartly hopped off the cart so as not to get in their way. Benz edged away nervously from the much-taller people, finding refuge underneath the shade of a tree that had survived the village being built around it. With a sigh of relief, Benz sunk into an exhausted sit with his caped back against the trunk. Aka followed his friend at a sedate pace, arms behind his head.
"So," the Skull Kid said. "Now w' go look, right?"
"Gimme a *squeak* moment, Aka" Benz wheezed, his wooden skin blending in with the bark of the tree. "Let me catch my breath."
Aka smirked, leaning nonchalantly against the tree trunk. "I wouldn' rest here if I were you," he said.
"Why not?" The Deku sounded quite indignant.
"Cause there's a dog," Aka said quietly.
"What?!" The Deku jumped up nervously. "Where?"
Aka pointed wordlessly over at a small white terrier dog that trotted at the heels of Aref and the other young Hylians unloading crates.
"Cripes!" shrieked Benz, jumping in the air and landing squarely on top of Aka's hat. "It's gonna *squeak* eat me!" The Deku clung on his impromptu perch, soundly refusing to move.
Aka sighed as he tried to dislodge Benz and failed. Shrugging, he suggested. "How bout we go look for the heroes, now?"
Benz just whimpered, staring in fright at the tiny canine that was now yapping at a nearby Cucco.
Most of the houses in Kakariko Village were simple affairs, whitewashed constructions with dark wooden supports. It was a very small rural community, but it was a happy one, Aka thought. Several groups of kids passed them in a game of tag, although they did receive a good amount of stares. Then again, Aka reflected, he did look kind of funny with a Deku Scrub doubling as headgear.
The children seemed to be running off towards their homes, as it was rather dusky out. The Deku and Skull Kid's eyes seemed to glow even brighter in the absence of light.
"Squeaks," Aka gritted slowly. "Do you mind getting off my head?"
Benz didn't reply. He was still spooked that somewhere, a dog was waiting for him to let his guard down.
Aka sighed. "Well, then y'can't complain where I decide to go, y'hear me?"
Benz just squeaked.
Aka turned his wandering along the houses. He knew that Spikes or his friend whom they were looking for could easily be in any of the homes, but his shyness kept him from actually knocking on doors. So he put on the pretense he was just checking out the lay of the village.
Kakariko wasn't a very large village, and so Aka soon found himself back where they had started, underneath the tree in the town square. It was now completely dark out, and he stared upwards as the clouds passed over the moon. It was slowly waxing, and would probably be at its full in a week or so.
Benz finally seemed to snap out of it, and peered down at Aka. "Well?" he demanded, as if expecting results from the search.
Aka sighed. "Maybe we should wait until morning," he suggested. "Everyone here seems to be afraid of the dark."
"Well," Benz replied. "I'm afraid of *squeak* the dark."
"Well, why don't you come inside, then?"
"Ack!" Both of them jumped, edging away from the taller figure that had suddenly emerged from the other side of the tree. As the figure stepped into their vision, they found it to be a young woman, with brown hair and equally brown eyes. The hair was neatly tied up and braided, running down her back. She was wearing a kind of simple long brown skirt, coupled with a half-sleeved greenish top.
Benz let out a huge sigh of relief, glad it wasn't the dog. "Don't DO that!" he said to the woman irritably.
"Sorry," said the brown-haired girl. "Talon and I have been looking all over for you. He wants you to meet someone."
"Eh?" Aka squinted.
"Come on, Lady Impa said you could stay at her house for a while." As she walked away, she turned around. "It's a lot less dark inside, you know."
Benz and Aka exchanged one look, and then both decided to follow her.
Lady Impa's house, as it turned out, was one of the larger buildings in Kakariko, second to only the windmill in volume. It was a cozy little place, as befitting a simple country home. The mistress of the house, however, seemed almost out of place. Lady Impa was a stern looking woman of middle-years, with piercing red eyes and short silvery hair that was always pulled back in a tight ponytail. Impa had a perpetual sternness about her that seemed to emanate from those staring eyes. Underneath each eye was a small marking, like a tattoo or shadow.
The red-eyed woman also wore full Sheikan body armor, emblazoned proudly with the insignia of the Sheikah, a stylized eye with a single tear. In fact, as Impa explained to her guests, she was among the last of the Shadow Tribe.
Among them as well now in the comfortable den like living room was Talon, who looked tired after his day's work. The farmer reclined deeply in an overstuffed armchair, dozing. Impa stood with one hand resting on the chair's back, regarding her guests curiously as they sat stiffly on a matching couch.
Benz swallowed. Those crimson eyes of Impa seemed to stare both of them down, as if she could see into their minds. The matronly Sheikah nodded curtly at them.
"Talon has told me about you. He says you arrived at his ranch a few days ago."
"Yes, ma'am." Aka said.
"And so you are not spies from Ganondorf." This wasn't a question, but essentially a statement. "Thenso why are you looking for those two?"
"You know where they went?" Aka perked up.
"You have *squeak* to tell us!" Benz demanded.
"First, you tell me why you're so eager to apprehend them," the Sheikah crossed her arms.
"They *squeak* stole from us!" Benz yelled.
"We wanna help em save the world!" Aka cried at the same time as the Deku.
"They stole from you?" Impa raised an eyebrow, handling the outbursts one at a time.
The Deku practically jumped up and down in his seat in indignation. "Yes! Two *squeak* swords, a shield, an' two *squeak* valuable life-sized statues!"
The corners of Impa's mouth twitched imperceptibly, as if she were hiding a smile. "The thieves got burgled, eh?"
Benz withered slightly under the Sheikah's eye. How had she known that they were- well'archaeologists?' The Deku was about to stammer something in reply when Impa spoke again.
"Any you want to help them save the world?" Impa had a hard time hiding the smile this time. "Kind of a demanding thing, isn't it?"
"Well, yes ma'am" Aka said shyly. "Well'e dun believe me," he pointed to Benz. "But I thin' th' statues came t'life so they could save th' world"
"Stranger things have happened in Hyrule. Well then, I do believe there is somebody here in this village who knows more of whom you speak."
"Really?" Aka asked hopefully.
"Yes," replied a male voice, and an older man with graying brown hair now entered the room, his left leg stiff in its brace. "Hello Impa," the man said, nodding to the Sheikah.
"Hello Vulcan," the woman replied in turn. "How goes the restoration of the forge?"
"It might be a little out of repair," the smith replied, "as it hasn't been used in a while. But it will serve my purpose." As the two guests politely scootched aside, the older Hylian ambled over and sat down on the couch, stretching his left leg out carefully.
Benz couldn't help but be curious. "What purpose?" he squeaked.
Vulcan leveled a steady gaze at the two. He was almost as good at it as the Sheikah woman. "So, you're the ones who met up with those two," he mused. "That makes me feel better, now I know it wasn't just some weird hallucination."
"Huh?"
"You know about the *squeak* thieves who stole from us?" Benz blinked.
The smith smirked. "They seemed decent enough. I don't think they meant to steal from you, they just needed those arms."
"Let me *squeak* guess," Benz said snidely. "They needed to save the world.'"
Vulcan snorted. "Don't you be speaking rudely of things you don't fully understand."
"Well," Aka piped up innocently. "Are they gonna? Save the world, I mean."
The smith looked down at his forge apron, protecting his brown tunic and gray pants from being completely covered in soot. "Well, I believe in them."
"So" Aka looked very excited now. "You met Spikes an' his friend?"
Vulcan hid a smile. "Spikes, eh?" He remembered clearly enough Timbre's spiky black hair. "Yep. He and his green-suited friend came to me the a few days ago, you see."
Impa looked at the smith sharply. "Are you sure it is safe to be speaking of this?"
Vulcan shot her a confident glance. He wasn't going to give too much away. "They asked me to repair something of theirs that was broken."
"So are they here *squeak* now?" Benz asked hopefully.
Vulcan shook his head. "No, they needed toretrieve something very important. Unfortunately, this important item is located in Termina, and they left to cross the eastern ocean."
"Aww, man" Benz looked disappointed. "Now we're gonna *squeak* have to-"
"No," Impa said shortly.
Aka, who also looked a bit dejected, turned his two yellow eyes up towards the Sheikan. "Whaddaya mean, no?"
"Well, obviously they're coming back here," Vulcan said shortly. "What Lady Impa means is that you are welcome to stay here until they return."
Aka grinned at this. He'd been very taken with Kakariko Village so far. It was cozy, and somehow this reminded him of his forest home in the Lost Woods. "That sounds alright. What do you think, Squeaks?"
"Well" the Deku looked uncertain.
"He agrees," Aka said, nudging his friend slightly.
"Oh, fine!" the Deku squeaked irritably, and the Skull Kid grinned again.
After this outburst, the brown-haired girl quietly entered with a tray full of mugs that were filled with something steaming. "Thought you might all want some soup," she said quietly. The Skull Kid and Deku blinked curiously at her as she set the tray down. "Oh. Hello again," she said to them, waving.
"Hi," said Aka.
"Miss Kat," Impa gestured. "I'd like you to meet Benz and Aka. Benz and Aka, meet Miss Kat. They'll be staying with us for a few days."
"'lo," Benz mumbled, helping himself to soup.
Aka did likewise, noting that Kat had rounded ears, unlike the others around him. Shrugging to himself, he discovered the soup to be quite tasty.
"Did you tell them about the-" Kat hesitated, and looked relieved as both Vulcan and Impa nodded. "Funny business, that," she murmured. "Kind of wish I'd met them before they left."
"I'm sure you would have," Vulcan said with a smile, "Had they not been on such urgent business. You sound as if you might fancy one of them."
Kat looked slightly bashful. "No, it's not that," she said, twirling the end of her braid in her fingers. "It's justthey must have been on quite some adventures from what you've said. I'd have liked to have heard about them."
Impa just nodded and looked as if she were hiding a smile again. "Miss Kat, could you please escort our guests to the spare room?"
"Certainly," Kat said with a smile. "Come on you two," she said. "Bring the soup, it's alright."
"Well, it can't get better than this," Aka remarked. "No more sleeping in trees or haylofts, right Benz?"
The Deku shrugged as he hopped off the cushioned couch.
"Dunno," Kat said to herself as she left with the two in tow. "Sometimes, I kind of wish I could have gone on adventures"
"Who knows," Impa murmured to the still-flustered girl as she turned and left,. "Maybe you will, yet."
When they left, Vulcan leaned back on the comfortable cushion and half-closed his eyes. "Ah, youth," he said, his brown eyes hinting slightly of sadness.
"You really meant that, didn't you," Impa said to her friend. "About believing in them."
Vulcan stretched and shrugged at the same time. "I meant every word, Milady," he remarked. "That boy had the Triforce of Courage, and he brought me the Master Sword. What else could that possibly mean?"
Impa's brow furrowed. "Sometimes the Triforce isn't enough," she remarked, her own crimson eyes growing slightly sad. A slightly furrowed brow marked her otherwise expressionless face. "I learned that mistake, once."
Vulcan opened one eye. "If the Master Sword is reforged, that mistake could be amended, you know."
Impa bowed her head. "I know," she said softly. "It's just been so long, Sir Hephestus, and I'd given up a long time ago-"
"That's what I thought, too." Vulcan said, fixing the Sheikan with a long stare.
"What if they fail?" Impa said, her eyes showing more emotion than she normally would in front of the town. As a Sheikah, it was her duty to remain indifferent, after all.
"They won't," Vulcan replied firmly. "I believe in them, after all."
*****
Even as Vulcan spoke these words, far across the darkened sky, halfway across the great sea, the Alicorn bobbed like a restless child among the waves. Though inky darkness had long befallen the ship, it was not completely thrown into obscurity. Lights from below deck provided a small but welcome illumination, as did several sturdy lanterns installed in careful places on deck.
Timbre found himself wandering up slowly from below decks. Part of it was just that he was slightly seasick; although the Alicorn did not make him feel as ill as the small boat had, it still made him uneasy to have the floor below him shifting constantly. Another reason was pure restlessness. He'd never really enjoyed the feeling of being locked up. It wasn't quite like claustrophobia, it was just that he liked his space. And although he was granted free reign of the ship (so long as he didn't get in the way), he still felt slightly confined. And that made him jumpy.
The wind blew at his fur playfully as he stepped out onto the deck. The deck was almost completely deserted, save for a few sailors coinciding to their night-duties. They paid him little heed as he emerged, by now they'd gotten used to him. He'd even had some of them trying to coax him with tidbits from the dinner table. Timbre of course had refused. For one, he was too dignified for that. For another, anything coming from that table had been heavily spiced up, and he didn't relish trying to digest anything like that while the ship insisted on pitching so much.
Without the sun, and surrounded by water, the air up on deck was rather chilly. Timbre of course didn't mind the cold, in fact it was almost a relief from the slight stuffy nature below decks. He'd left Link, who was snoring away in their stall. Nick had really run the Hylian down with work, and so he'd been exhausted and fallen asleep the moment he was given the opportunity. The wolf reflected on this, thinking that if anything, it would do Link a little good to be humbled. In fact, it was doing them both a bit of good.
Purely out of habit, he found himself sitting down and scratching at the accursed silver collar. He'd finally given up and accepted the extra weight, but it still rubbed and was annoying. He would be glad when they got to Termina and it was taken off-
Timbre suddenly jerked up, blinking, with both ears standing straight up. Before he could stop his overcharged senses, he hurtled after a tiny dark shape that had scurried past him. The sailors half-blinked in hooded surprise as they saw him swoop past them, running towards the bow.
Upon reaching the front of the ship, the rat had promptly hidden itself deep within the rolled tangle of the anchor's ropes and chains, which served as an impromptu maze. Timbre smirked and started examining the hideout, wondering how he could best flush the small vermin out.
He was just noting possible exits when something even more distracting got his attention. Timbre wrestled with his priorities, and finally decided that whatever was moving out in the dark of the sea's horizon would be more important than a single rat.
With that, he turned his nose off the port bow, ears forward. He couldn't see all too well, it was too dark for that, but he could hear something that wasn't just white noise or splashing waves. It almost sounded like a guttural groan, coupled with soft hissing.
Alarmed, he leaned forwards, forepaws up against the rail as he craned forwards, squinting, willing himself to see what was out there.
At first, it was too dark, but then the wolf became slowly aware of a kind of glisten, as if the dim light from the ship were reflecting off of something wet and slick. He traced the faint stripes, and recognized them to be coils. Then, suddenly a head emerged with a hiss, and he caught the gleam off of dead black eyes. There were answering hisses, and five other heads rose to join the first.
SNAKES!
Backing away, the wolf glanced from side to side. He had to warn everyone, but running below deck would take too long, and he couldn't yell for help as he was- or could he? Not that anyone would understand him, but it would certainly get the sailors' attention. Timbre smirked and took a deep breath.
"AROOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Nick irritably threw open the door to his cabin with a bang as he was jolted awake by the echoing lupine howl from on deck. His hair was disheveled and he blinked blearily, pulling his shirt on.
"Will some'on' shut tha' crea'ure up?!" he snarled, as around him lights sprang up from half a dozen sailor's lanterns. They'd been alerted by the howling and had come up on deck to investigate. Among them was Link, who was sporting dark shadows under his eyes.
As the crew rounded on the wolf, he turned and looked meaningfully at them, then stared back out over the railing, howling again. "Aroooooo!"
"Timbe!" Link grumbled, pushing forward. "What in Din's name do you think you're going at?!" He wasn't very pleased, in the least.
Timbre just growled, ears twitching, still staring out.
Lanky, one of the sailors who had been on deck before the commotion, spoke up. "I dunno wot appened. One moment ee was chasin' a rat-"
Link woke up slightly. "So that's why you haven't eaten anything," he said to his friend. After a slight reflection on this, he added, "Eww"
"I dun' care was up!" Nick snapped. "Jus' get im t'be quiet!"
Timbre stared back at all of them, and then back out to sea.
"Weird, its almost looks like he's about to jump overboard," Lanky remarked, annoyance replaced by confusion.
"Well ee better urry up, then," Nick grumbled, still not fully awake.
Link stared, and looked out to sea in the same direction as the wolf. "Hold up," the Hylian said quietly. "He isn't staringhe's pointing. Look"
The entire crew squinted off into the darkness. There was a half-minute of anxious silence as everyone stared, then some people caught the reflections of coils, even brighter now with the additional light.
Link stared. "Those'resnakes! Sea snakes! They're attacking again!"
There was considerable noise after that.
Many sailors scattered, although their course had less sense than reason. There was a lot of shouting going on, many yells of serpents,' and monsters.' A few crewmembers shouted aloud that they were going back to the tiller and changing course. Link headed down below decks for his sword. Nick, who hadn't moved yet took a deep breath.
"'EY!"
Everyone froze at the sound of their Cap'n shouting.
"Lissen up!" Nick roared. "I wan' a thir' of ye t'go r'trieve arms f' th' crew. Range we'pon', now. A thir' more, git everythin' stowed dow' an' fin' some way t'light us up. Th' res' I wan' up ere!"
Sailors ran obediently in different directions, some searching for weapons, others for additional lanterns. Link passed a few sailors as he re-emerged, adjusting the sword on his back. "Nick- I mean, Cap'n-"
"Jus' Nick," the Volcanian said, looking sidelong at the wolf, who was now growling out at the darkness. "No time f talk though" The Captain of the Alicorn turned towards the horizon, and whistled sharply between his teeth. Timbre winced at the high-pitched sound.
In response, the snakes hissed balefully as a mournful honk sounded from not too far away. Leviathan was back. Although they couldn't see him clearly, they could hear him as he skimmed swiftly towards the endangered ship.
"There's more than one this time, though," Link said, counting the numerous gleams off of a dozen or so eyes. Even as he spoke, one of them reared up, not even ten yards away, and struck at the boat, hissing.
The strike collided with Leviathan's jaws as the dragon intercepted the blow. Screaming loudly, the snake hissed noticeably, as if it were shouting orders. The other five serpents (Link could see them clearly now as they were close enough) growl-hissed back, and Leviathan screeched as he suddenly found himself attacked from every angle. The dragon's body was quickly swamped and entangled by five muscular sets of coils.
"Leviathan!" Nick shouted, his voice alarmed.
"Like I said, there's too many," Link said numbly, as he became dimly aware of sailors arriving back on deck. "There was just the one this timewhat's making them attack us like this?"
"Dunno," Nick said. "Mebbe th' been set to it-"
"Alright!" Lanky's voice roared from behind them. "Ye mig' wanna duck."
The three did so, and an instant later there was a deadly hiss as arrows and stones pelted past them, striking into the fray. A screeching hiss told them they'd connected with something. As Timbre turned back towards the crew, he saw many of them armed with bows, and others still armed with slings loaded with heavy led shot.
"Heh, an' they thou' I was nuts, bringin' range weapons wi' me on th' ship," Nick murmured, standing and retrieving a bow of his own. Link found himself a bow as well, and the well-habited warrior calmly strung an arrow. For a second, he thought again about Sond. They could've really used her archery skills right now. In fact, he reflected, there were a lot of skills that his friends had that he was currently missing.
Timbre paced back and forth between the archers and slingers, feeling very useless at the present. He couldn't pull a bow or load a sling without opposable thumbs, and that aggravated him to no end. So, he reflected he might as well keep himself out of the way, as much as that annoyed him.
The group of snakes was now holding back Leviathan, who despite being outnumbered, was holding his own against the monstrous serpents. The sea dragon had the advantage of being used to the gravity of the surface, while the snakes flopped weakly, unable to breathe air and being forced to submerge when they lost their balance. They were, however, able to entangle the dragon in their coils, pulling him further away from the Alicorn.
"What if they pull him under?" Link yelled as he shot at one of the snakes. It was a good try, but the shot went slightly wide, missing its eye.
"I no' worried bout tha'," Nick said, shooting and scoring one of the snakes across its jaw. "'Ee kin old is breath f'daysI'm m'worried bout them teethan' them attackin' m'ship. Th' Alicorn dun ave scales, after all"
Even as he spoke, the sixth sea snake turned its attention from the sea dragon, leveling its gaze at the boat. With a swallow, Link noticed a large gash on the snout of the monster, and realized it was the same one that had attacked their smaller boat. The dead eyes seemed to orient on Link alone, and it hissed, striking at the boat.
There was a huge lurch as the boat shook from the impact, swaying crazily. Fortunately, the snake's horizontal attacks were not as devastating as they could be. Above the water, the sea snake wasn't as forceful, being unable to propel itself fast enough to puncture the boat. Hissing, the snake suddenly reared high above them, dripping sea spray and water onto the deck like rain.
"Go for the eyes!" Link yelled suddenly, realizing it was going to strike again. Hitting the boat from above, it wouldn't need to propel itself, gravity would take care of providing force. If it struck the deck, it could possibly capsize even a ship the size of the Alicorn. The snake still seemed to be staring at only him, as if it were targeting him specifically. Scowling, and feeling slightly frightened, Link reached for another arrow, only to find he was out. Cursing aloud, the Hylian turned his gaze away from the snake.
Something nudged him in the side, and Link turned to find Timbre was jabbing a new quiver at him, held fast in his jaws.
Not having time to thank his friend, he snatched an arrow, strung it, and pointed it nearly directly upwards, at the snake's head. He paused for a split second, then let the arrow fly.
It practically sang as it flew true, and found its mark deep in the right eye of the sea snake. The half-blinded creature shrieked, and reared its head back. Many of the sailors cheered. The snake lost height, sinking slowly into the ocean. With a final pitiful whining hiss, it sank into the bubbling waves and disappeared.
The crew craned a collective neck, staring down at the place where the snake had gone. Even the remaining five seemed to pause momentarily, allowing Leviathan to nearly break free of them.
"I guess" Link murmured, "It's been done in"
With a screech of absolute rage, the now one-eyed snake exploded from the water. With a shriek, it propelled through the air, its massive head landing on deck with a huge crash. There was an ominous crack as the boat slowly tipped forwards from the massive weight suddenly pressed on the bow. The jaws snapped at the Hylian, who drew back just in time to save his left leg from being severed completely.
Sailors yelled in horror, clinging to the deck as it slowly went from a horizontal to a treacherous slope. Nick yelled the loudest as he lost his grip and slid towards the serpent's head. He wasn't yelling in fear, however, as he bravely drew his dirk.
"Git off m boat, y'slimy apodes!" Nick slammed the dirk into the snake's head, burying it up to the hilt in the serpent's snout. He clung bravely to the handle as the injured creature screamed and thrashed, shaking its head from side to side. Finally, it shook the dirk loose from its snout, and Nick was flung heavily to the right, rolling heavily into the starboard bow railing. The railing made a loud cracking noise, but held, keeping the Volcanian from falling overboard. However, his head hit the railing with enough force to knock him unconscious. The Captain of the Alicorn slumped, in danger of being snapped up by the enraged and ravenous serpent. Already, it was glancing at the Volcanian hungrily out of its remaining eye.
Timbre was now sliding down the bow. He couldn't hold on as well as the sailors could, although he probably would have let go even if he had. He skidded, colliding with the bow railing before scrabbling to reach the unconscious Nick. As he reached him, the snake hissed warningly. The wolf growled back, placing himself between the two as best he could. Timbre knew he was no match for the monstrous serpent, but he knew someone who was. And currently, Timbre knew it was his job to distract the monster for him.
And presently Link was charging the serpent from its blind side, drawing his sword as he ran. His charge was a little less controlled than he'd like, as it was sloped heavily downwards, however this gave him an idea. With a monumental leap, Link's boots left the deck of the Alicorn, carrying him directly towards the head of the snake.
"HIYAH!"
With a furious movement, the Hylian brought his sword point down into a solid downthrust, straight into the base of the snake's skull. The serpent didn't even have time to slash back. It just kind of gurgled, hissing as it expired, it's remaining eye filming over. Its mouth sagged open, and a wash of rancid seawater, slightly crimsoned, washed out onto the deck. Then it was completely still.
The five remaining snakes shrieked, and dived underwater. Apparently without their leader,' they were unable to cooperate as a unit. Or maybe they were just cowardly. Leviathan bit at several tails and coils until he had freed himself, but didn't make any move to chase them once they'd fled. The dragon wasn't in any mortal danger from his wounds, but he certainly looked a little bit battered and gashed from those teeth. He slowly swam towards the ship, honking softly.
Link held his position a moment longer before tugging the sword free. It took quite a bit of strength, he'd driven it down nearly to the hilt. He twirled the sword like a baton, posed, and said, "Death from above, y'gotta love it." With that, he jumped down, and started pushing at the dead snake's head, trying to shove it overboard.
Wordlessly, the rest of the crew abandoned arms and came to his aid, sliding carefully down. As one, more than a dozen men pushed at the gargantuan head, and it slowly slid backwards off of the bow. Link grunted, and with one last aided shove, the dead snake's head flopped backwards, sinking into the water with a morbid splash. The surface of the sea closed over the horrible monster, and it sank, this time for good. The boat, suddenly relieved of its extra weight, bobbed up again, sending several shaky people to the deck.
As they recovered, many of the sailors turned their heads towards where Nick still lay in a senseless heap. Timbre was still standing, and many were giving the wolf a wide berth, as he still looked rather wild-eyed. Link, however, strode over to the two fearlessly. Wiping his sword and sheathing it, he bent down, and pulled the silver key from about the unconscious Volcanian's neck.
"Sorry bout this," Link murmured to him. With that, he turned to Timbre. "How bout I get that thing off you?"
The wolf strode forward eagerly, and the crew watched in silence as seconds later the silver collar fell to the deck with a loud, heavy clang.
A good number of the sailors jumped back, cursing, as Timbre reverted to his human form, rubbing his neck, but looking very much relieved. "Thanks," he gasped, his voice slightly raspy.
Link nodded, then turned towards the sailors. "What?!" he asked indignantly, as if shapechangers were common.
"Is he a d-demon?" Lanky stammered, swallowing and putting a hand to his sheathed cutlass. "Because-"
"Uh" Timbre chewed his lip. He didn't like it when people were just scared of him. True, he'd been called worse things, but it was kind of debilitating to have people call you demon' when it simply wasn't the case.
"He's not," Link said, as if daring any of them to disagree. "If he meant you harm, do you think he would've warned us about the snakes?"
Lanky opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then stopped. He nodded. "Fine then. Boys, let's get Nick back to his cabin sharpish."
Timbre seemed concerned for Nick, as the Volcanians lifted up the Captain, bearing him back towards his warm cabin. "He's out coldbut he should be alright" Timbre winced slightly. "He's going to have a huge bruise though, he must have hit his head pretty hard."
To both their surprise, Lanky just guffawed. "Aw, our Cap'n's taken worse blows n' thatthere's no way a blow t' the head like that's gonna take im out!"
*****
The next morning dawned gray and overcast, but spirits were generally cheerful on the deck of the Alicorn. Once it had been established that no lasting damage had occurred to either the ship or its Captain, many of the sailors had become cheerful once more. Leviathan, who'd hung anxiously around the boat, had finally disappeared once more with the morning, probably to go nurse his wounds. Even those who had been slightly apprehensive about Timbre were being less fearful. Some of them even came up to him as if wanting to apologize.
"I knew it!" said one sailor, and Timbre recognized him as the one who'd peered in at him right before his first escape. "Knew it, could see it in those eyes. No hard feelings, right?"
Timbre actually laughed, much to Link's surprise. Getting a genuine smile out of Timbre was about as rare as a flying Goron. "None at all. At least I didn't get thrown overboard."
Link was glad to see that Nick's prediction of the crew rejecting Timbre was false. In fact, there had been a few among the crew that had even known wolves existed. He wasn't sure how, after all the race was exceedingly uncommon.
Somewhere between breakfast and lunch, Nick finally emerged from his cabin, squinting painfully in the sun with his red hair tussled, and wrapped in a large bandage. "Ooh," he groaned. His green eyes were dilated, making him look all the more confused.
"Like I said, not much can keep Cap'n Nicoli down f'long!' Lanky laughed. Then, as an afterthought he said in an aside to Link and Timbre. "Except ice cream or anything cold. Can' seem to handle it. Givesim a headache."
Link snickered. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was replaying a memory of Clock Town's Spring Festival, where he'd managed to dump both a milkshake and a scoop of cherry ice cream on Ty. Timbre gave his friend a weird look.
"Nick just asked you a question, you know."
Oh. "Huh?" Link said, feeling slightly dull.
Nick repeated his question. "Now I thin' bou itY'knew Ty, so y'must've know' bout me?"
"Er, yes?" Link said.
"S'funny," Nick murmured. "Cou' swear I know y' tooI dunnoit's on th' tip of m'tongue" The Volcanian glanced at Timbre, "You too. I see y'lost th' collar."
"Eh," Timbre looked apprehensive. Was Nick about to insist that he put it back on? He hoped not.
But Nick just waved his hand. "I tol' Link eed need som' compensa'tion fore I let y'out of it," The Volcanian winced as if he had a massive headache. "Well, y'warned us bout th' attack, n prolly saved th' ship. An' for that I'm grateful, so I'll consid' tha' m'compensa'tion."
Timbre breathed a sigh of relief. If he had any say in it, he'd never go near another bit of silver. Ever. Link looked relieved as well, due to the fact the Destiny Stone wasn't in jeopardy anymore. In factLink glanced down at the Destiny Stone, which was vibrating.
"Y'two're weird," Nick said, though not in an unkind tone. "Wis' I knew wh' y'gave me su' a déjà vu feelin'"
Timbre and Link exchanged a meaningful glance. "Think it's worth a try, Link?"
"I think so," the Hylian remarked, as Nick furrowed a brow. "I think that blow to the head jostled his brains up enough, it might work."
"Alright then," Timbre said. "Nick, what can you remember from when you were ten years old?"
"Well, I member bein' ome in Volcania, then Ty lef', after th'eruptionI member wantin' t' follow tell im I weren' deadwait, an' there wa' a storm, big un."
"A storm, eh?" Timbre nodded. "Where?"
"In Volcania-wai' noit we'ren'twas it?" Nick looked slightly confused, as if something in his memory wasn't matching up right. "No," he said firmly after a moment's speculation. "Th' storm were som'where else."
"So it wasn't in Volcaniawhere were you after the storm, then?"
"Well, Volcania, course, bfore I lef' for th' ocean" Nick furrowed his brow. "Strange, never thou' bout it b'fore, but that doesn' make much sense, does it? Ow coul' I be in Volcania, then random'ly som'where else f'th storm, then back i' Volcania?"
"Strange indeed," agreed the Hylian with a smile.
"Must've hit m' ead arder tha' I thought," Nick said. He looked up at both of them. "An' why're y'laughin' at me?"
Both Timbre and Link were snickering now. "Come on, Nick," Timbre said after a moment. "Think about it, will you? What exactly happened during the storm? What do you remember?"
"Well," Nick looked thoughtful, and his green tinted eyes dilated even more, if that were possible. "I bein' swept I wa' outside?" The Volcanian blinked several times, as if trying to contemplate this. "Yeahwa' outsidewi' o'er people"
"Yes?" Link looked expectant.
"O'ero'er kids! An' Ty wa' there!" Nick yelled, and some of the sailors turned heads, looking alarmed.
"Y'okay, Cap'n?" Lanky asked.
"I'm fin'!" Nick snapped. "Lemme figure thi' outi' Ty wa' there" The Captain of the Alicorn's head snapped up. "You two!" He pointed at Link and Timbre.
"It's about time you recognized us," Link said.
"Y'two werewere missin', an' y'fairy came, an' then th' storm " Nick shook his head. "'Ow coul' I forget?"
"It isn't your fault, really," Link said. "It was a spell. Everyone was affected, practically. Except for us two."
The Volcanian scowled. "Spell? Hmm. An' where'ya been f' a decade, if th' spell dinna ffect you?"
Timbre grinned. "We'll explain while you take us the rest of the way to Termina."
"Well y'best xplain quick," Nick smirked, pointing past the bow. "Look."
Sure enough, a faint something could be seen on the horizon, which wasn't clouds or ocean.
"Hey," Link said, "Is that Termina?"
The Destiny Stone, for the first time in days, turned green.
"Land ho!" yelled a random sailor.
"Hey!" Nick said. "I knew're some'thin' funny bout tha' rock!"
"Yep," Timbre agreed.
"Well, gla' I kept y'aboard after all," Nick mused. "Gla' I greed t' elp y'out as well. But I can' elp but wonder"
"What?" Link asked quizzically.
Nick looked hopeful. "ca' I still keep th' boat?"
*****
Benz and Aka trailed after Kat as she strode purposefully towards Hyrule Field, leaving the relatively safe boundaries of Kakariko Village. Swinging from one of her hands was a large wooden bucket.
"Tell me *squeak* again why we're *squeak* leaving th' village?" Benz asked, still slightly irritable. Even a night's sleep hadn't washed out all the grumpiness.
"'Cause," Kat replied, "The well has been dried up since I was a child. Its never contained water in the time I can remember. So when we need fresh water, we have to get it from the next closest place, and that's Zora's river."
A yellowish fairy who had been perched on the girls shoulder nodded fiercely. "An' that's that, so stop complainin'!"
"Dink!" Kat reprimanded the tiny fairy. Dink just made a face at her partner.
Aka skipped along, in his own little world, dragging a bucket as well. Kakariko Village by day was even more appealing than at night. He stared up at the overcast morning sky and grinned. "Can't wait till Spikes an the green guy come back, ow bout you guys?"
Benz fumed. "I'll *squeak* certainly have a bone to pick with them," he grumbled darkly.
"How bout you?" Aka asked Kat.
The brown-haired woman sighed. "I'd love to meet them," she said. "Kakariko's nice, but I'd love to hear about the rest of the world."
"So you've lived *squeak* here your whole life?" Benz asked, for a moment forgetting his anger.
Kat nodded. "Well, since I could rememberI used to live in th' orphanage, but that was closed down after Ganondorf took over ten years agowe, that being all the orphans, were either taken in by other villagers, or left to fend for ourselves."
"And Impa took you in, right?" Aka prompted.
Kat nodded. "I was a special case, you might say," she said vaguely. "Impa took me in as her protégée."
"Her what?" Benz looked perplexed.
"WellI'm kind of her pupil. She's not gonna be around forever, after allshe needs someone to watch this village when she can't."
"That's a rather big responsibility, isn't it?" Aka said.
Kat just nodded, as they reached the bridge spanning Zora's river. Kat looked around her before she bent at the river's bank and filled her water bucket.
"What's wrong?" Benz asked. "You look *squeak* nervous."
"Just being wary," Kat answered. "You never know what'll attack you when you're not looking."
"Why?" Aka asked quickly. "You've been attacked here before?"
"No," Kat said. "Or maybesometimes I get the weird feeling that I have, though I can't put my finger on it."
Behind her back, Benz made the coo-coo' sign, pointing at the woman so that Aka would notice. The Skull Kid just ignored that for the time being. "Maybe it was in a dream," he said.
Dink the fairy leaned back, sitting on Kat's brown-haired head. "We've been through this déjà vu thing many times before," she mumbled, "And all that gets you is more confused, Kat. I think you just worry too much."
Kat snorted. "Look who's talking."
Aka suddenly spoke up as he dipped his bucket into the river. The full bucket was heavy. "Maybe you have been attacked here before, an' you just don't remember it, like amammeo-"
"That's *squeak* amnesia, twerp," Benz said. Then he paused. "What would attack you?"
Kat shrugged. "Wolfos, probably. That's what I always thought, anyway. Dunno why."
"They wouldn't cross this bridge," Dink said. "And besides Kat, if they did, you could just toast em all with-"
At that moment Aka pulled his bucket rather forcefully out of the river, sloshing them all with cold water.
"Ick," Kat said. "I think that's enough water."
"Yeah," Benz agreed, wringing out his cape. "Time to *squeak* go."
But Kat wasn't listening. She was staring across the bridge, off in the southwestern direction of Hyrule Field. She blinked and squinted a few times, looking slightly horrorstruck.
"What's wrong?" Aka asked, hauling his water up the bank. "You look scared or summthin'."
Kat nodded off in the direction. "Someone's coming this way."
Sure enough, several dark shapes were quickly closing in from the horizon. Benz jumped up, his still slightly soggy cape sloshing. "Wait a second*squeak* those are-"
"Gerudos!" Kat said, alarmed. "But why are they-" wordlessly she moved in front of the bridge, unconsciously acting as a small block. As the Gerudos neared, it became quite obvious how quickly they were moving. And at the head of them was-
"Chiron!" Kat scowled, her brow furrowed. Dink squeaked, and nearly fell off her perch.
"Who?" Benz looked confused.
"Chiron," Dink said, with a nervous wing twitch. "He's bad news. Bad bad news."
Kat sighed, looking troubled. "He's the Gerudos' highest assassin, second in rank only to the sisters Twinrova and Ganondorf himselfnormally he's in Castle Town, so if he's making a personal visit to Kakariko-"
"How do you know he's coming here?"
"Well, there isn't much else in this direction, is there? Kakariko is small compared to Castle Town, and we're hardly ever disturbed because of this. We're justhere. No real resources, no tactical advantage. Castle Town is- er, well it was- a huge center for the kingdom. But if he's visiting here, in an out of the way little town, that can only mean one thing."
"What's that?"
"He's gota job."
Benz and Aka shuddered. An assassin having a job was never a good thing. "Who do you think he's after?" Aka asked quietly.
"I don't know," Kat said, staring levelly as the group of Gerudos grew ever closer. She looked like she was bracing herself as she boldly held her ground on the bridge. "But I have a feeling we're going to find out."
*****
Gasp! Shock! Intrigue! Er, a sentence that isn't just one word! Well, I got em to Termina, most of the way anyhow, and managed to get Vulcan, Benz, Aka and a few other characters grounded for a while. Oh, more pictures, BTW:
http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=231578 -- Benz and Aka. Woot.
http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=231577 -- Okay, this isn't from the Destiny Stone, it's from The Kindred, a fic on this same site by FogFrontier. Go read it right now, it's excellent! And that Poe's gonna show up in this story too, either next chapter or the one after, depends on my speed at moving the plot.
Well, that's all for now, catch you all later!