"The Destiny Stone"
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or any characters, places, or events thereof, so there! Of the original characters, I came up with Timbre, Kat, Aka, Benz, Vulcan and some various bit characters here and there. Sond owns the rest. Thanks Sond! Rej is © FogFrontier!
*****
Exam time! Yep, I've got a few coming up, which means somebody's going to be studying a lotand the other news is that I've got an internship this summer! Woo! No ice cream wrangling for me! *celebrates* So therefore, have a nice action-oriented chapter in celebration! And I'm not kidding.
*****
Last Chapter:
The Wolfos showed its glimmering teeth in a hideous parody of a grin, then threw its head back, howling.
Timbre shuddered fitfully as the cry echoed through the moonlit night, causing the three other injured beasts to immediately pick up their heads, and turn in his direction. They still looked famished and dangerous, despite their open wounds.
"Oh no," Tael moaned. "This can't be good."
*****
"The Destiny Stone" — Chapter 19: Gluttons for Punishment
They were now practically surrounded, their only real avenues of escape directly ahead and behind of them. And as Timbre got to his paws, his nose immediately jerked about, looking to both of those options.
If he turned tail and fled, the Wolfos would most certainly pursue him, and he wasn't sure if he'd make it back to the Ranch in time to ward them off. Then there was the question of the walls: he'd never be able to scale the walls in time to avoid being bitten.
Come on, think dummy! Timbre screamed at himself, as his head twisted back and forth, ears slicked back in fear. There was always the option of just bolting to Kakariko, but then where that lead him?
Straight into a town full of innocents, with a pack of bloodthirsty monsters on his tail. And the way they were flanking him at the moment, he wasn't even sure he'd make it that far. All it would take is one good hit to the shoulder and he'd be down. And then they would close in with flashing teeth and claws and that would be it for him.
As Timbre was quailed in his own thoughts, Tael was jumping up and down, clinging to his neck fur like it was a horse's reigns. "Come on, get us outta here!"
The Wolfos were skulking slowly forwards, with the stalking step that made Timbre remember how easily they'd fallen in hunger upon their dead comrades. They don't have any remorse. Don't expect any pity either.
Timbre groaned quietly in the back of his throat, his jaws still clenched convulsively about the boomerang in its bundle. From behind the bundle, his teeth were baring themselves of their own accord.
Well, if you can't —or don't want to- run away, you'll have to stand and fight. Think you can handle four at once? Timbre tried very hard to ignore that last part, though already the urge to destroy all of theseabominations was quickly rising, and damned if they were all twice as large as him, or even if he was outnumbered four to one.
Tael moaned as Timbre gently deposited the boomerang on the ground between his forelegs, carefully niching it in the lee of a small jutting rock. "What are you doing?!" the fairy hissed urgently. "You aren't going to-"
Timbre silenced him with a meaningful stare, and then his head inclined towards the direction of the village.
"You want me to get out of here?"
Timbre's right ear twitched as he looked meaningfully at the fairy. Sorry Tael, but you're not going to want to stay around. At least maybe you could warn the villagersand tell Vulcan where this bundle isif I don't make it
Tael's eyes were livid with concern. "You can't do this!" he hissed matter-of-factly. "You'll be torn to shreds!"
Timbre barked and reared angrily, causing the fairy to flip off his back. The fairy cartwheeled gaining his composure in mid-trajectory. The purple glow drooped.
Timbre just glared. Would you get going?
Either Tael made up his mind by himself, or managed to understand the wolf's urgings. "Fine. But I always thought you had more sense than this, Tim" This last part was said with a slight bitterness to it, as the fairy gained altitude and quickly oriented himself. Then a quick hum of wings and he was gone.
Timbre would have felt bad under separate circumstances, but currently he had other problems. Namely the four ravening monsters that had halted their approach. They stood before him, scrutinizing him like butchers, dismembering him with their hungry eyes. All of them were larger and more bony than him, though the one that had spotted him was the largest, and also walked with a noticeable limp. The Wolfos made hulking gray-white shapes against the night sky, with long tangled fur that hinted slightly of mange and fleas. Moonlight glinted like razor blades off of silver claws, which flexed talon-like into the ground. All four were heavily scarred, missing fur in places and with irregularly torn ears. The three smaller' ones were still cut open from their brief skirmish with the Stalchildren, and long ugly gashes ran along their sides like crimson streamers.
They smelled about as bad as they looked, as the atrophied scent of their comrades' blood still hung from their crimsoned jaws. Timbre made a small sound in the back of his throat, his willpower spent in the effort to keep from cringing and retching. It didn't help that they leered at him from above, due to his current place lower on the hill's incline. It made him feel even smaller and more vulnerable than he was.
"Well well," growled the lame one sardonically. "We meet again, wolf."
Timbre blinked, stared, and realized why the lame Wolfos was so familiar. The trip across Hyrule Field with Link, the attack, and the surviving Wolfos who'd run away with a broken foreleg-
"Yesss," hissed the Wolfos as he noted Timbre's eyes widening. "I do believe we have some unfinished businessTwinrova has been looking for you." The monster looked up at his packmates, and growled. The others, apparently subordinates to the lame Wolfos, calmly sat in reply. Though they looked relaxed, Timbre knew better. Their body language spoke that they would be ready to spring, fight and kill at a moment's notice should the order be given. The lame Wolfos looked down its snout at the smaller wolf. "Before it was three against two. Now it is four against two. Did the humans throw you out already?"
"No," Timbre snarled. "Now stand aside." He knew this kind of dismissal wouldn't work, but it was all he could think of in response. His brain didn't seem to want to work correctly, with the scent of an impending fight already in the air.
"I do believe you are the one who is trespassing," the Wolfos reminded him. "And only a fool would travel this way alone."
"Not half a fool as you," Timbre remarked. "Or a lame one," he added, grinding his teeth together for emphasis. "Unless you'd like to be lamed twice."
"Ah yes, I see you do remember what has passed before. Then perhaps you are also aware of what fate awaits you?" The Wolfos paused, examining its talons with a casual air.
"I'm not afraid of you," Timbre clarified.
"That is something a dog behind a fence says," the Wolfos replied and the other three laughed toothily at this remark. Timbre bristled. He'd never been one to enjoy being ridiculed, especially when by bullies. The Wolfos noted this reaction and chuckled mockingly. "Well, I seem to have hit a nerve"
"I have to time for this," Timbre snarled impatiently. His sensible side was screaming that he needed to get out of here. Now. I need to deliver the boomerang! What am I doing?!
The Wolfos slid down the incline like a liquid, stopping only inches from the wolf's face. Fetid breath stung Timbre's eyes as the monster lupine's grated snarl blasted him full in the face. "You HAVE no time, wolf! You're dying on the inside, even as I see you now!" Then the lupine regarded the shaken wolf with both blood-red eyes. "Ah, I can see the fear in you..."
Timbre's mind reeled, unable to tear himself away from that angry stare. Although his sensible side was still tugging away at him, his sense of duty was starting to become sluggish, almost as if it were yelling at him from far away. The Sword! You have to-
"I won't be cowed," Timbre growled back at his tormentor, the fur on the back of his neck standing up.
"Sothere is a fight in you," the Wolfos paced back and forth with the step of a dominant creature. "I'd watch myself, runt. You're likely to get hurt."
Timbre drew himself up. "You're pathetic," he spat. Seconds later, his mind reeled. Augh! I'm going to get myself killed! Timbre shook his head, decided to ignore his sensible side, and continued. "You'd betray your own in an instant, wouldn't you? You'd do anything, no matter now despicable, just to serve yourself."
"Mere opportunity," replied the Wolfos venomously. "Only the strong deserve to live. At least I was never used by others like a slave."
"What?"
"My dear boy, you don't actually believe that the humans actually see you as an equal?" The Wolfos slavering tongue ran methodically over its teeth, keeping one amused eye on his rival. "You must be a bigger fool than I imagined. Humans are wretched, useless creatures. They don't care about anyone other than their own foul species. The moment you don't serve any purpose to them, they'll throw you out. They're a plague, which fears and consumes anything not like them. They only benefit they have is when they're dead, and even then, they're hardly a meal."
Timbre growled. "Don't you say that about my friends," he warned.
This statement caused the lame Wolfos to literally howl with laughter, a sound that was echoed dirge-like by the three others who lounged above, calmly licking their wounds and their chops, as if in anticipation. "Friends?! You really are a dog."
Timbre bristled. Everything in him was urging him to leap and silence the Wolfos, but Timbre knew that only death awaited such a foolish move. The Wolfos was baiting him, trying to get him enraged enough to let down his guard. So Timbre stayed his trembling legs, though he couldn't stop himself from baring his teeth. "I am not a dog," he replied calmly.
"Is that so? Then tell me, not-dog, why is it that you're out here, on a full moon, completely alone? Where are your so-called friends?' Or did you sneak out here all alone for a little blood?" The Wolfos chuckled. "Don't deny that," he warned. "For you'd be lying. Everyone has the urge to kill."
"If that's so," Timbre replied. "Maybe you shouldn't anger me." Oh nonow I've done it.
The Wolfos half-turned, greasy guard hairs glistening a pale cyan. "Is that a challenge?"
Timbre smirked as he felt the tables beginning to turn. "Do you really want to risk a fight? How do you know that I'm alone? You don't, do you?"
The Wolfos growled. "Don't play me for a fool. There isn't a human around for miles."
"Perhaps," Timbre agreed. "But there is more than just humans to fear."
"I'm not afraid of humans!" the Wolfos snapped, lunging at Timbre. The wolf lightly hopped back, the Stone about his neck banging against his chest. That small sensation somehow gave him the courage to continue.
"Are you, now?" Timbre smirked. "Then answer me this: why is it you remain out here, surviving on whatever refuse your dirty claws can scrape out of this dead land? Why did you agree to work for Twinrova? Why do you cringe every time I mention them?"
"I won't be spoken down to like that!" the Wolfos snarled, advancing again. Its comrades watched on from the top of the incline, waiting to see what would happen.
Timbre wasn't finished yet. "And why is it that you ran away last time with your tail between your legs, when the odds were suddenly out of your favor? Were Twinrova's great rewards' not worth risking your miserable hide? If anyone is a slave, it's you. You're nothing but a coward. You'reyou're worthless."
The Wolfos whirled, a murderous gleam in its eyes. "I'll show you who is the coward!" With a challenging howl, it crouched and leapt for the smaller wolf, talons slashing the air.
Timbre had spent the past few minutes ready for such an attack, and calmly sidestepped the charge. Remembering his last swordfight with the Skulltulla, he followed his opponent as it charged past, head lowered as he tried to butt the huge monster off its balance. If he could get it off its feet-
The Wolfos, despite its lamed leg, was very agile and sturdy on just three legs. The moment it realized Timbre had sidestepped, it had turned its charge 180 degrees, its teeth bared to meet its opponent's countercharge. The huge muzzle snapped once-
With a yelp, Timbre tore himself away, wincing from a gash on his right shoulder. Fortunately for him, the Wolfos had slightly misjudged the bite, and had caught mostly fur. Timbre sprung away as the Wolfos spat out clumps of loose fur from between its fangs. Its head turned towards its subordinates as they all suddenly jumped up. "Stay back! This one is mine!" With that he licked his bloodied teeth, leering at Timbre. "Your blood tastes fresh," it remarked. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"Ready when you are," Timbre called out mockingly, though he hardly felt that untroubled inside. Inside his mind was in a turmoil. Half of him was screaming to just grab the boomerang from its hiding place and make a run for it. The other half of him smelled his own blood in the air, and wanted to tear his opponents to pieces for it. Unfortunately, neither of these options had a very good chance of survival.
The Wolfos stalked forwards, its mindless rage spent from its initial lunge. It didn't walk in a straight line, but more along a zigzag, prodding with its feral eyes for an opening in which to strike. It would only need one well-placed shot to rush him, and then Timbre would be slashed open from shoulder to tail.
Timbre swung his forequarters in time to his opponent, trying hard to discern the monster's next move. He knew better than to try leaping for the Wolfos' throat while it was on its guard. If he was going to survive, he was going to have to use his brain.
If you'd used your brain in the first place, maybe you wouldn't be in this mess, he heard his sensible side chime in. Timbre squashed down the thought with a growl, as the Wolfos leapt.
Timbre ducked and weaved to the left, using the inertia of the incline as a way to slide quickly past the attack and avoid further injury. His bitten shoulder was already beginning to stiffen, but he didn't dare look away long enough to see if it was still bleeding or not.
"Come on," taunted his opponent as it stared him down. "Come at me, I dare you! Or are you too cowardly?!"
Timbre leapt forward on instinct at the stinging insult, only realizing too late that he was being baited. And fell for it, nice going. With nothing else to do for it, Timbre kept the pace of his charge, but at the last possible instant instead leapt high in the air, clearing the Wolfos' head and landing with a loud thump on the other side, halfway up the incline.
As the monster turned to strike at him with gaping jaws, Timbre abruptly had a stroke of brilliance, garnered by sheer panic. He braced his entire weight on just his forelegs (making his shoulder seriously twinge), and kicked out furiously with his hind legs like he'd seen Epona do once. Although it was an awkward move for a lupine, it was certainly a move that the Wolfos had not been expecting.
Timbre's kick landed squarely into Wolfos' chin bringing the two sets of toothy jaws together with an audible clip. The monster reeled backwards, stunned by the whiplash. Without pausing to think, Timbre whirled around and suddenly found himself rushing his opponent, driven by instinct for the monster's exposed neck-
Only to be sent reeling as one of the Wolfos' clawed forepaws slapped him full across the face. Expecting an attack while defenses were down, the Wolfos had lashed out desperately at the sound of the opponent's approach, and unfortunately for the wolf, connected.
Timbre skidded some yards away and half fell, feeling like his face was on fire. He wasn't exactly sure where the silver claws had hit exactly, because his entire head felt like it had been struck with a red-hot iron. He struggled upright, blinking furiously to clear his vision as bright lights flashed before him. The wolf recovered in time to see the Wolfos laughing at him.
"Got you that time. You give up? If you do, I'll make it quick and painless."
"You wish." Timbre's mouth sagged open in a sardonic laugh, the iron flavored taste of blood on his tongue. "I'm not finished yet."
"Very well then," the Wolfos said. Then it lowered its head and charged.
Timbre had very little time to react, and did the first thing that came to his head: flip. He'd seen Link pull off backflips before, though he himself in human form had been a bit too clumsy for that sort of thing. Thankfully in this form he was a little more flexible, though the exercise was really more suited for a cat.
Timbre's flip was uncalculated, and therefore he had no discretion of how or where he landed. The fates were kind enough to land him right side up, though he found himself only several inches away from his opponent's jaws, directly between its forelegs.
As the jaws descended, Timbre desperately snapped at the Wolfos' unbroken foreleg. For the second time, he felt his jaws secure around a foreleg, and convulsively snapped his jaws together.
CRACK.
The now doubly lamed Wolfos bit the ground and screeched, and Timbre took this time to get out of range, before it started to flail. However, his bark of triumph was cut off as something huge and bony slammed into his injured shoulder, sending him ears over tail with a yelp of anguish.
One of the Wolfos, impatient with watching, had flanked him while he was distracted. Timbre skidded heavily into the ground, a second gash now decorating his already bloody shoulder. Wincing, the wolf struggled frantically to get up. The intruder Wolfos was mad-eyed with hunger, and Timbre flung himself away just as the monster's claws thudded into the ground where his head had been.
Extricating itself from the earth, the monster whirled and charged again. This one was much less experienced than his first opponent, more focused on overpowering what it thought to be a weak opponent. Instead of leaping away, Timbre backpedaled, ducking claw slashes as he peered, waiting his opponent's opening. As the Wolfos reared one foreleg to slap him, Timbre saw an opportunity. And in that moment of imbalance, Timbre rushed in. He seized the monster's throat where the jaw connected to the neck and threw himself furiously backwards in one violent movement.
The lamed Wolfos stared up from its mist of pain at the death-shriek of his comrade, in time to see it fall down heavily upon its killer, dying with a liquid gurgle. The infernal wolf emerged victoriously from underneath his victim, spitting out blood and fur as if shocked and disgusted at what he had just done.
Timbre was breathing heavily as he pulled himself away further from the kill, still in a bloodied daze. Two down, two to go. He felt himself shaking a little from his sudden victory, the adrenaline stinging through his throbbing shoulder muscle like acid. He'd violently conquered something completely on his own for the second time in so many days, and the thought managed to thrill and revile him all at once. It was much like his half-forgotten victory over the Goriyas, only with less of a clear purpose. Then it had been a matter of silencing them and protecting others. Here, he could have run, should have run, but he hadn't.
Now thenwhat was I doing? Where was I going? He panted heavily as he attempted to clear his spinning mind. Despite his attempts to focus, his roused instincts refused to listen.
There's still two left! The mere presence of threat' was driving him to distraction, and despite his struggles to get himself over towards the boomerang and out of danger, he found himself unable to move. It was more of a dream-like state that his ears heard the downed Wolfos' infuriated howls: "Kill him!"
He turned to see the other two Wolfos bearing down on him, hungry jaws agape in grins ready to tear his own throat open. Although he felt weary enough to collapse, the wolf readied himself for battle. Crouching and lowering his shoulders into a fighting stance, he laughed fully into the faces of his enemies. And in that time-frozen moment, Timbre Firral completely forgot himself.
*****
Ganondorf was laughing too.
The King of Gerudos stood on the same island's beach as he had before, now shadowed in the penumbra of night, his frame illuminated by the full moon's glow. The stars winked cheekily above, though at the moment he had no eyes for them. He was more focused on what stood across from him.
It had even surprised him that there were dragons living on this tiny island. The creatures were becoming increasingly rarer, for all their brute power. But there apparently were some left, as he was currently being faced off by two of them. Both were practically full-grown, crouched in the sand dunes like giant dusky lizards, moonlight scintillating mirrorlike off of heavily armored scales. Currently they were both hunched, wings tight against their backs, a hint that they were not very pleased to see him there. Then again, most creatures didn't like Ganondorf on first sight.
Well good for them. All the more reason for me to blast them to pieces. Ganondorf's pondering hadn't gotten him any further through his paranoia, and that frustration made his blood boil, and his desire to destroy things manifest.
The slightly smaller of the two, a red-scaled male with a pied black and white mane grunted aggressively, uncurling wings from their resting places. Although Ganondorf had no communication spell activated (nor did he care to), it was clear that he was being told —rather forcefully - to leave.
Amused and curious to see what the dragons would do if he refused, Ganondorf just chuckled and crossed his armored arms over his breastplate, staring directly into the larger creature's violet-red eyes. Make me.
Growling, the red dragon started to aggressively stride forward, until the second dragon gently (though this involved a rather hefty shoulder check) detained the first. Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. The larger dragon was a completely mottled blue-gray male, though it clearly was of no great age. A silver-gray mane matched the dragon's eyes, which glowed like firecoals in the absence of a real light source. Of the two, he appeared to be the oldest, because the two curling horns, one above each eye, were longer and had one extra curve in them than those of his red counterpart.
With a growl, the gray dragon lowered his head, which was encased in brown-armor plating that resembled a harlequin's mask. He then twisted his head downwards stared Ganondorf directly in the eyes with his own huge, ponderous gray ones. Though not visibly swayed by this gesture, Ganondorf was slightly surprised to see a great degree of calculating intelligence in that gaze. He'd known dragons were smart, yes, maybe even to the level of humans, but he'd never known one to so casually shrug off its instincts and back off of a challenge. It was like it knew better.
It's asking me to go away again, the Gerudo King thought, still standing with arms crossed. Even though I refused the first time. The corners of the King's mouth twisted upwards in a sardonic smile. A pacifist dragon. Who would've thought
When Ganondorf still refused to move, the red dragon roared and strode forward. Radiance glinted off of crimson scales as he charged, head down and wings half-spread to make the indication of threat' very clear.
Ganondorf smirked. Although he generally didn't like to demand an excuse to fight, he was curious as to what this pacifist' would do should he injure his comrade. Tearing himself away from his former position, he whirled to face his attacker. Laughing, he made a hand gesture at the dragon that could be universally translated as a dire insult.
The angered creature roared and the charge turned from a mock-charge to a serious attack. Good. Angry creatures are often stupid as well. Ganondorf licked his lips and prepared to attack. Curling his right fingers into a rock-hard fist, he called upon the Triforce of Power, a slow growl rising in his throat.
Either the red dragon didn't realize the danger, or didn't care, as he screeched a battle cry, ready to bite the insulting green-skinned intruder in half.
Ganondorf's eyes flew open wide as he suddenly felt and saw his fist explode with a vile, violet energy. Moments before the dragon's jaws were on him, he screamed, brought his right arm back, and slammed it full-force into the nose of his attacker.
"Aaaaaaarrrrg!!"
The intensity of the attack was so great that it sent the great dragon reeling as if a mountain had struck him. The red dragon teetered awkwardly, swaying, then fell too the beach with a loud cry, scattering sand particles everywhere. The ground rumbled dully with the impact of the dragon as he fell onto one side, violet energy still crackling about his face. The dragon groaned in pain but did not stir.
Humph. Only knocked it out. Ganondorf was slightly amused, but disappointed. Apparently this dragon had been made of tougher stuff than he'd first assumed. One more impact like that, though, and it'll be dead, he thought. However, if Ganondorf had been planning anything, he never had a chance to follow through. Instead he jerked upright and instinctively threw himself to the side.
The ground he'd been standing upon exploded into an inferno as the fireblast melted the sand into a slick glassy ooze, which glowed an angry vibrant orange red. The sand about the blast site hissed and smoked due to the sudden extreme heat. The Gerudo turned and looked up at the gray dragon above him, which having spent his fireball, was now bearing down on him with a roar.
So much for pacifism.
Ganondorf stepped back as the jaws snapped like a steel trap inches from his backpedaling feet. No sooner had he done that when a swipe from the one of the dragon's taloned foreclaws made him jump backwards before he was eviscerated. Then the jaws came at him again.
Here's a challenge, Ganondorf thought, dodging the attack. Charging up another Triforce-driven punch like his first would be impossible while preoccupied with evasion, and somehow the dragon seemed to have figured that out. Instead of all out charging, the dragon was making him watch his step, lashing out with teeth and claws in rapid succession, not allowing his opponent any time or openings.
Though he didn't dare to pause long enough for a glance over his shoulder, the King knew that his back was currently facing the ocean. Before long, he'd be driven into the water. Sand was hardly good traction to begin with, but wet sand was ten times as worse. In the surf, Ganondorf's own weight would cause him to sink. He'd be more vulnerable, and unable to react as quickly. Or so the dragon thought.
Ganondorf's next evasive backstep landed with a splash, and he felt the cold wash of water running about his ankles. The wet sand sunk his boots deeper into the mire, and the dragon's foreclaw came around at the Gerudo King, talons extended like swords.
Instead of jumping, Ganondorf called up the Triforce's strength, and caught the blow in a double-handed block. The Gerudo's left fist convulsed, holding the claw at bay. The silver dragon snorted, and slashed with his other foreclaw. Ganondorf grunted and concentrated again, holding his right hand out before him.
The foreclaw abruptly froze in midair, a red aura growing around the entire appendage as the silver-gray dragon grimaced, unable to move it. Ganondorf laughed, despite his furrowed concentration. He knew what would be coming next.
The silver dragon's head came at him like a steamroller, attempting to butt him out of the way. Ganondorf braced himself in the wet sand, and at the last moment released his hold on both appendages. As the armored forehead surged towards him, the Gerudo's boots left the ground.
THUD.
Both the heavy boots connected together between the dragon's eyes, stopping the headbutt in midair. The force caused Ganondorf to bounce backwards and the dragon to recoil. The silver dragon wasn't stunned for long though, as the head armoring had absorbed most of the kick. Snorting, he reoriented and lashed out again, this time barreling the side of his muzzle at the King in a sidesweep.
The King's last stop had jarred him, and his winded body hadn't had time to recover. He was swept up in the attack as the side of the dragon's snout smacked him in the back. Instead of just rolling off though, the King snatched out and made a lucky grab. One fist closed around the extreme tip of one curling horn. As he tumbled off of the snout, he managed to get a two-handed hold.
The moment he felt his boots hit sand, Ganondorf tugged with all his unnatural strength. The gray dragon abruptly found his head being forcefully yanked downwards at a very uncomfortable angle, twisting his neck and driving his nose into the surf. His snout ploughed up a clod of wet sand, and he spluttered as he inhaled stinging saltwater up his nostrils.
Ganondorf laughed, and started to charge up another punch.
The dragon, sensing his vulnerable position, abruptly snapped his head up, flinging his nose up to the moonlit sky. The Gerudo King, still preoccupied with charging, felt his boots leave the ground. Though surprised, he kept his grip on the dragon's horn as he found himself abruptly launched upward. Twisting himself in a natural somersault, Ganondorf took this unexpected flight to his advantage. He easily flipped over the dragon's head, and landed squarely between the horns, in the center of the dragon's silver-haired mane. The Gerudo grabbed two large fistfuls of silver fur and hung on grimly.
The gray dragon shook his head wildly, trying to dislodge his opponent. When this didn't work, he tried physically clawing Ganondorf off. The Gerudo simply recharged the red aura and surrounded himself with it like a living shield. The talons collided with the aura and bounced off, leaving the King unharmed.
However, the dragon was not so game to give up. Ganondorf felt his stomach twinge as the dragon suddenly spread his huge wings, the structures snapping open with a rush of night air. Though delicate seeming, the wings were clearly very strong, their interconnected fingers' attached like an umbrella by a thin but very durable membranous skin.' The dragon flapped them experimentally, stirring up a sandstorm in their wake. Then crouching, the dragon sprang and easily took off, still trying to claw and shake his passenger off. As he climbed higher into the air, the dragon began flipping and twisting, trying desperately to disorient his opponent enough to dislodge him.
Ganondorf watched the ground spiral away, and knew why the dragon was suddenly so desperate to remove him as to launch himself. At the same time, he concentrated, violet motes gathering once again about his right fist. The gray dragon had seen the destructive capabilities of Ganondorf's magic when allowed enough time to charge. And given his current position, he had all the time in the world to do so.
Even as they spiraled higher and higher towards the full moon, Ganondorf laughed aloud in victory and unleashed his devastating magic.
"Aaaaaaarrrrg!!"
The small explosion had an immediate effect as it connected right between the dragon's eyes. This was no light melee move like his kick had been, however. Dark magic crackled through the dragon's skull, and the flier lost control and consciousness even as he fought desperately to retain both.
The upward climb abruptly turned into a steep dive, as Ganondorf rode the senseless dragon as he spiraled inevitably down, down directly towards the small strip of beachland that separated the tide from the terrain. At the last possible moment, Ganondorf abandoned his steed, pushing off into his own skydive. Sardonically, the red aura surrounded its master, slowing his descent while he watched his opponent hit the ground with a large explosion.
Sand flew everywhere as the dragon landed with a heavy earthquake, right shoulder impacting with the ground first as his wings crumpled uselessly above him. The dragon writhed once, and roared deliriously as he collapsed completely.
Ganondorf floated sedately towards the ground, somewhat surprised that the beast hadn't been completely annihilated on impact. Hmm, the sand cushions a bit, he thought wryly. I must be losing my touch. Neither of these dragons had went down easily. Despite this setback, he was sure that the dragon was incapacitated now. The dragon's right foreclaw was bent under the rest of the his bulk at an angle that suggested a fracture at the very least, most likely also a sprained shoulder. The Gerudo merely smirked as he floated down, boots lightly impacting the ground.
Like an executioner, Ganondorf strode slowly towards his downed foe. Too bad it wasn't younger, he thought. I could have used a pet like thisbut so it goes. I could always try and bind the smaller oneGanondorf's walk brought him around to the dragon's head, half-buried in the sand from the crash. The single eye that was visible cracked open dully, but the glazed look of pain in its eye told Ganondorf that his foe was still helpless. The Gerudo King smiled. Fool. Nothing can defeat me.
He brought up his right fist again and held it aloft as he gathered more Power to it. The glow of violet energy intensified. At this range, with his foe so very helpless, such a blow would prove most fatal. And, the King thought, I have every intention of destroying my opponent.
The ruthless man brought his fist back. It was times like this that he felt most alive!
WHAM.
Ganondorf's victorious yell suddenly metamorphosized into a yell of shock as something backhanded him from behind with such force that his feet left the ground completely. As the King arced through the air, he spun about and caught a glimpse of his surprise attacker.
The red dragon, apparently recovered enough to regain consciousness, had taken to the air, following the trajectory of the man he'd just struck. Ganondorf's eyebrows shot up as he slowly realized this. These creatures just don't know when to give up! The King would have been worried, had he not been so confident in his own power. Ganondorf's devastating punch was still charging, and he smirked as the enraged red dragon shot towards him like a javelin. Just like last time. The monster would close in, try to bite him, and Ganondorf would smite it down like the worthless beast it was. These creatures just didn't learn either.
However, as Ganondorf would soon learn, he had been deceived. Instead of trying to slam him, the dragon's flight suddenly dipped at the last moment. The red flying lizard described a complete somersault in the air, head first, not seven yards in front of his opponent. Ganondorf stared, unable to understand what such a display of aerobics meant until it was too late.
The dragon's long whiplike tail smashed into the Gerudo King from above like an avenging demigod's thunderbolt. The armored man shot headfirst towards the sand as if shot from a cannon, impacting the ground with an explosion smaller than the gray dragon had made, but no less violent.
The only thing that saved Ganondorf's life was the fact he had the insight to build his red aura shield about him moments before he hit. Even then, the kinetic force of the high-speed impact made him feel as if he'd been struck repeatedly by a sledgehammer. Driven headfirst a good three meters into the beach sand, Ganondorf could only splutter as his hair brushed up against wet grainy sand. Unable to breathe anything but choking seawater and grit, the Gerudo struggled, the sand pinning him down as effectively as steel wires.
UrghSpitting out grit from between his clenched teeth, the Gerudo King struggled for a good thirty seconds, then gave rise to a roar of complete and utter fury. He'd had enough.
The Triforce of Power manifested in response to his anger, and the aura flared about him like a gas giant, pushing the sand smothering him away at such a speed that it was like an explosion. The smoking crater hissed, and Ganondorf's hands curled around the crater's rim, looking all the world like those of a zombie rising from its grave. Still furious, the King's head appeared, evil eyes narrowed to infuriated slits, ready to deal out fatal retribution to the two dragons that had defied and humiliated him.
But they were gone. All that remained to prove of their presences were the two areas of shifted sand where they had fallen, and the congealing puddle of molten glass from the fireball. As to where they had gone, Ganondorf was completely confused. There were no footprints, only the tumble of shaken up sand. He peered along the darkened skies, but saw nothing there except the full moon, and the myriad of stars that still winked, defying him even as he was still awake.
Snarling through his teeth, Ganondorf levered himself out of his prison-hole, sand grains scattering as he stood upright. Breathing solidly through his nose, Ganondorf stared a while, his energy and fury spent in the battle. Despite the distraction he'd thought a good fight would give him, it still hadn't taken his mind completely away from his premonitions of unease.
There is something wrong, Ganondorf thought. As he slowly turned his head westward, towards Hyrule, the feeling intensified. It was almost like a ringing sound, only instead of sounding in his ears, it resonated through his very being. Rubbing his temples, the Gerudo King decided it was time he returned to his rightful place, on the throne of Hyrule Castle.
Clicking his tongue, he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled for his horse. However, there was no response, even as he whistled a second and third time, several minutes after the first call. The creature had been off grazing further upland when the dragons had arrived, which was what startled him. His stallion never failed to alert him to danger, unless-
Quickly striding the way he'd last seen the stallion go, the Gerudo King pushed through some loose undergrowth. Swatting green flowering shrubs and plants aside, he followed the trail of cut and grazed grass as it wound haphazardly, just as it would in the case of a foraging herbivore.
He hadn't been walking two minutes when his boot suddenly came in contact with something that wasn't ground or undergrowth. Tapping his boot, he bent downwards, picking up the shard of metal. It was smeared and muddy, but he recognized it at once. His horse's armored breastplate.
Several yards over, he found more scraps of discarded metal, all once parts of his steed's armor. Sighing, Ganondorf pressed on, only to find the last straw.
His stallion's highly decorated saddle, chewed almost in two, giant toothmarks scoring the ruined leather and metal like sword strokes. Caked blood and an unsightly smell made Ganondorf's nose wrinkle. His horse was gone, peeled right from its armor like a metallic orange. There was no doubt in his mind as to what had done this.
Growling, the Gerudo cursed aloud and kicked furiously at the only remains of his prized stallion, his echoing roars causing sleeping birds to fly frantically from their roosts.
*****
Kat shivered as a long ululating howl echoed mournfully through the darkness. It was cold and creepy outside at night, and although she wished she could be indoors at the moment, she had a job to do. Turning her head slightly, the girl jostled her shoulder as she realized Dink had fallen asleep.
"Whoop!" The fairy half-tumbled off of her charge, glaring angrily. "What was that for?"
"We're supposed to stay awake," she reminded her fairy. "We've got the night watch for a reason, not to fall asleep!"
"Heh," Aka laughed. "Try tellin' that to Squeaks." He pointed upwards, at the slumbering Deku perched on top of his hat, stubby arms thrown about the conical cap so he wouldn't fall off. The scrub's cape hung down behind them both, making Aka resemble a very strange nun. The Skull Kid sighed. "He was never one for staying up very late. Says he gets tired when there's no sun out."
Sond, who was alternately picking at the ground several yards away with an arrowhead and staring out towards the blockade, shrugged. "Well, it is about midnight. Guess the moon doesn't work for him. Even when it's completely there." She nodded towards the huge glowing orb in the sky and sighed as another howl echoed from the Field. The Poes guarding the barrier stirred restlessly, though their boss Chiron had not chosen to reveal himself yet.
Aka looked concerned. "You okay, Sond?"
"Yeah," Sond murmured. "I just wish I knew where they were."
By they,' Aka and Kat knew that she meant the two questors. "So," Aka said before an awkward silence could fill the night air. "What're they like?"
The bow master looked up from her drawing. "Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Wellme an' Squeaks here had a little argument going. He didn't believe that those two statues we found were really them, y'know? He thinks they stole the statues from us, along with a couple of swords an' a shield." He stopped, chewing on the hem of one of his gloves a moment before continuing. "Do they steal stuff?"
Sond looked at the arrowhead she was currently holding, running a thumb over the chiseled iron while she spoke aloud. "They aren't bad at all, Kat'd agree with me but she wouldn't remember anything."
"Still don't," Kat agreed from her spot back first against the marker tree. She'd been oddly silent all during the watch. Something about the night noises just bothered her. She wasn't exactly sure why.
"Anyhow, they're not th' type to just steal thingsI meanthey might borrow something for a while, but they would certainly return it," she chewed her lip. "Or they'd reimburse you later. Anyhow, I think they were those statues, from the description you gave."
Aka smirked. "Knew I was right. So, you think they'll be successful?"
Sond tried to look as optimistic as possible as she shuffled her boots. Turning her gaze towards the barrier, behind which flickered the glowing eyes of wandering Poes, she sighed. "Any day now, they'll be coming back," she reassured the Skull Kid, somehow trying to convince herself of the fact at the same time. "I know it."
Cyrus, who had been circling Sond's head in the fairy version of pacing, suddenly drew himself to a halt. "And just what about this plan of yours?" he suddenly asked his charge. "We all know this place can't be self-sustaining forever! We might be able to hold out now, but what happens when this village runs out of food and water? We can't just sit around and wait for them!"
Sond had admitted she'd thought of an idea, however she had chosen to keep it to herself. Aka strode over to Sond after gently depositing Benz at the base of their tree. Seating himself cross-legged beside her, he glanced sidelong at the designs she'd been scraping in the ground. "Humm."
The girl stopped drawing and looked quizzically at the Skull Kid.
"Battle plans, eh?" the Skull Kid murmured, winking secretively.
"Maybe," Sond said vaguely, staring down at the drawing. "It all depends" She raised her eyes, staring up into the sky where a pair of fireflies were circling each other, looking all the world like falling stars. "on how long I want to wait."
Aka had noticed the fireflies too, and stared with a raised eyebrow, perplexion stamped across his dark features. At first he'd thought they were both the same color, but now that he could see them clearly as they grew larger, he suddenly realized that one was a bright orange, the other a flashing violet. "What the-those are the weirdest fireflies I've ever seen"
Cyrus coughed in surprise. "Those aren't fireflies, those're fairies!" The two fairies suddenly crashed together, hurling themselves in a single mass towards the ground. "They're gonna crash! They're headed straight this way!"
And they were. Like a fire-tailed comet, the fairies streaked across the night sky, leaving a trail of blinding light in their wake. Rej the Poe stared up as the odd affliction buzzed towards him, tilting and teetering as the two creatures apparently fought for control. With a snort of resignation, the ghost readied his lantern like a baseball bat. As the ball' came within range, he spun a complete circle in the air, swatting the fairies out of the air with a cackle. He'd never liked fairies that much.
The ball' dropped instantly, falling towards the barrier. It flipped over several times, whirling like a downed commando. As it fell, its trajectory crossed the barrier. As the sphere entered the field, an odd thing happened. The two fairies split apart, the orange one colliding with solid wall and bouncing off into the river. The purple light, however, passed directly through the barrier, landing in a glowing heap on the opposite bank.
Pedro the orange fairy extricated himself from the water with an indignant splutter, rising in a dripping fury to confront the Poe. "You did that on purpose!" he screamed at the ghost.
The phantom smirked as best he could. "I was instructed to keep things from going in and out of this barrier! Don't blame me because you got in the way!"
"Well, while you were too busy mutilating me, you allowed the enemy to escape!" Pedro pointed an accusing finger down at the ground.
Aka had jumped up the moment the second fairy had collided into the ground like a meteor. Before Sond could warn him, the Skull Kid hopskipped quickly to the unconscious creature. He'd seen fairies many times during his life in the forest, though he'd never had the opportunity to get this close before. He gently picked up the prone form, cocking his head to one side. Then, he turned towards Sond, ignoring the Poe and Pedro who were now holding an intense argument above him. "UhI think it's still alive"
Sond beckoned the Skull Kid over, standing as she did so. Kat had joined her during the commotion, though Benz had remained asleep. Kat raised an eyebrow as Aka held out the unconscious fairy, cradled delicately in his gloved palms. "Ouch."
Sond, however, had a better contribution. "Tael!" She exclaimed as she recognized the hapless violet fairy. "Tael! What on earth-"
Tael sat up and shook his head at the sound of his name. "Ugh," he mumbled vaguely, going cross-eyed. "Who're you? What happened?"
"You were just doing a wonderful impression of an exploding baseball," Kat said.
Dink shushed her charge, and alighted herself in Aka's palms. Cyrus joined her, and the two busied themselves with reviving Tael. This amounted to them each grabbing him under one arm and dragging him upright. The purple fairy blinked with hooded eyelids, shoulders hunched dully. His wings twitched once, and his eyes crossed again.
"You recognize this poor guy?" Cyrus asked Sond, interested.
"Yeahhe's an old friend," she explained. "You don't remember of coursehe and Tatl his sister were the whole reason for one of our adventures," she mused. "If they hadn't bumped into us-"
"Ack!" Tael's eyes suddenly snapped upright, regaining some sense. "Timbre!"
Sond abruptly dropped her nostalgia. "Timbre? What about him?"
Tael stared off the way he'd come. "He's out there"
"What? Is Link with him? Is he alright? What happened?"
Tael was still too dazed to offer much of an answer. All he was able to manage was one world: "Wolfos-"
Sond, Kat, Aka and the fairies stiffened suddenly at the long echoing howl, the third in so little time. However, this one sounded eerily close. Kat squeezed her eyes shut as he whole body started to shudder.
"If you're friend's out there right now-" she started slowly.
"Oh no," And with that, Sond was suddenly away, stringing an arrow to her bow as she headed for the shore. Kat was perplexed, but followed suit quickly. Turning to Aka, she offered him instructions.
"Stay here. If something goes wrong, you've got to get help! Or something!" The Skull Kid nodded and retreated to the tree, where his friend still curled, asleep and unaware.
Meanwhile, Sond had paused at the very edge of the bank, sighting down an arrow towards the sound of the howling. Above them, the Poe flinched from the sudden loud howls, and Pedro blinked as echoes of the sound danced in his ears.
"What the-"
There was a deceitful still in the moonlit night, then Kat saw the grass stir. Bounding over the crest of the nearest hill were three large dark shapes, four-legged and furry in the moonlight. Wolfos!
They were headed directly towards the barred riverbank, and as Pedro glanced down, saw that the horse-riding girl from a day previously stood on the opposite bank, arrow drawn in her bow. Next to her stood the Din's Fire girl. Pedro wasn't sure which of these events was the bigger surprise, and this confusion caused him to shout randomly: "Get them!"
The Poes on guard stared blankly and Rej scratched his head in mock stupidity. "What, the Wolfos or the humans?"
"Gah! I don't know, juststop whatever's going on!" The orange fairy half-thought about alerting Chiron, but thought better of it as he realized how quickly this situation needed to be dealt with. "If those Wolfos attack, they'll just crash into the barrier and then they're just going to start harassing us again! And if the humans try anything out of line or try to make a run for it, snuff em too!"
Rej rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine" He turned to several subordinates and gestured at them with a silent wave of his lantern. They nodded and floated heavily towards the Wolfos.
The bloodlusting creatures paid them little heed, though one of them did snap at one of the Poes as it passed. The Wolfos seemed much more interested in chasing after the leader of their entourage. Rej squinted. Was that the leader of the pack? It seemed unlikely, the one in front was clearly a runt, and from the snarls emitting from the others, it seemed like they were chasing prey, not following an alpha. Undaunted, Rej directed the force to fly after the monsters, though they were having trouble keeping up at the breakneck pace.
Meanwhile, Kat stood on the riverbank in abject horror. Something about the appearance of the murderous creatures in a frenzy was scaring her out of her wits, and she couldn't understand why. Lost in a cloud of haze, she tried hard to fight the dizziness ensnaring her senses.
The two beasts circled closer, licking their chops hungrily as they fixed her with piercing, paralyzing stares-
"Idiot! Get out of here!"
"Bu-"
"Just go already, you stupid girl! Get out of here!"
Kat snapped out of her daze as there was a sudden bright flare of light from Sond's bow. The extreme tip of the markswoman's arrow was glowing with an ethereal white radiance that even shamed the great moon's orb in the sky. The stars temporarily winked out from the glare as Sond sighted her target: the leader and smallest of the three dark shapes bearing down on them.
She was about to let her arrow fly when she noticed a minor detail or three that caused her stomach to suddenly lurch. First off, the creature was carrying something in its mouth. Second was the large and familiar crystal-like Stone that dangled from a chain encircling the furry neck. The third was the reflection of the Light Arrow off of the creature's wild wide eyes that glowed a desperate viridian, instead of blood crimson.
Crap! At the last possible second, Sond shifted her trajectory by jarring her arm to the right. Not a moment too soon, as her arrow shot off with a deadly twang. It hissed straight down a line, missing her original target by mere inches, and instead finding its mark directly in the left eye of the Wolfos directly behind. Without checking to see if her first arrow had proved fatal or not, she was stringing a second, and at the same time yelling:
"This way! The bridge is out, you'll have to jump!"
Kat just stared with a slack jaw as another Light Arrow flared to life, only to flash away with a second twang. A screeching inhuman cry told her that somewhere, another Wolfos was ending its earthly existence. However, the one in the front had been spared, and Kat recoiled as it closed in on the far bank. It was going to jump! "Sond! You missed one!" Forgetting about the barrier completely, Kat gasped as it gathered itself up for a mighty leap, still pursued by Poes-
The Poes smacked into the wall like rotten fruit, while their quarry passed through without a scratch. Pedro stared, slack-jawed, as he saw the creature hit the opposite bank and collapsed inelegantly in a tumbling heap of fur. "Itit jumped through," he said dully. "It jumped completely over the river, and through the barrier"
Rej shrugged as he watched the remnants of his ghostly command regroup in dazed clumps. Some were bemoaning cracked lanterns, though he tuned out their pitiful grousing so he could answer Pedro. "Well, it happened last time, with that girl on the horsemaybe the barrier's faulty-"
"If it was faulty, it wouldn't have splattered our forces against it like rotten tomatoes!" Pedro snapped. "Don't be foolish; there's a reason its letting random people — and things — through. I'll have to tell Chiron about this," he added wearily. "He isn't going to be very happy with us, you know."
Rej couldn't help but offer the semblance of a sardonic smile. "Which is exactly why you're going to be the messenger," he replied snidely. "Better you than me."
Down below, Kat was edging away from the dark, muddy shape that was sprawled motionless on the ground, save for its heaving sides and several quiet moans. Not dead, after all that. She fearfully glanced back at the barrier. If she hadn't seen the Poes collide with it, she would have been convinced it had either become faulty or failed altogether. Feeling suddenly very dizzy and weary, she stooped low, her legs bucking from shock. It was with faded senses that she saw Sond rush by her in a flare of worried color.
"Timbre! Timbre! What happened to you?"
*****
And so ends the battle royale' chapter, as I've dubbed it. Three scenes, all with action in them. As fun as they are to write, action and fight choreographies are exhausting, since you have to think every single little detail out in your head, and that makes your brain completely scrambled after a while. I know it ended out on a kind of hanger like that, but it'll all work out. Besides, the sooner I release these chapters, the sooner you, the reader, gets to give them the look-see. So anyhow, until next time!!