Alright, school's in session, kiddies...but I'm still trying to finish this story. I've extended a few ideas and the ending, and I've even added an 'epilogue' as well. It's still sad, in my opinion, but, hey, you guys are my readers, so it's whatever you guys think. Like I said before, I've got my ending written down and everything, but it's the "getting there" that seems so difficult...the more I write, the more I realize how long this is taking me. Plus, it's like a freaking double-edged sword here! On one hand, I've got the accomplishment of actually finishing one my stories (Heart of a Wolf and Children of an Ancient Prophecy are a looooong way from completion); but, then again, I have to let go of my characters. Yes, I'm crazy, but I've grown rather fond of my characters (especially my main character ), so, when I do finish this whole thing, it'll be like saying goodbye to a very dear friend of mine sniff . Well, as usual, I don't own the Legend of Zelda or anything....
-LOZ-
Ch. 34: Desperation
-LOZ-
The green sword flashed with its own light as it swung down onto his knife, showering the world around them with the harsh clang of steel on steel. Ganon sank to the ground on one knee, fighting back against her as Airaen touched the ground softly on her feet.
He pushed with a sudden effort, pushing her back, allowing him enough time to hop-step backwards and stand.
To Airaen, it seemed rather odd that this battle alone was greater and more important than the thousands upon thousands of creatures fighting for their lives around them. It was horribly ironic to her as she suddenly recalled that sunlit, yet sad day in Sidar, recalling a crying young boy, and a child laughing and saying:
"The whole world rests on the shoulders of children."
She shook her head; she wasn't a child anymore, she couldn't be, though it saddened her a little. Her eyes spoke with too much age, too much experience...eyes she had seen in a mirror in a different land, in the blurred reflection of the sea when she came home. She knew from the way people looked at her that she stood out completely, as if she carried an aura of difference, of mystery.
But it didn't frighten her anymore. She had a task, and she would see it through to death and beyond if the need arose.
But Ganon wasn't attacking.
It shocked her in her sudden realization, and she glanced up quickly to gaze at him standing there with a thoughtful, lustful expression on his face.
He was staring at her bandaged hand.
I want it, his eyes seemed to say, his mouth hanging open. "I need it," he growled, his eye twitching. "Give it to me!"
He leapt on top of her, catching her suddenly off guard as she fell to the ground, her sword spinning away from her grasp. Clawing at her, a maddened expression in his eyes, he struggled to grasp her right hand, his tongue lolling. She struggled and squirmed under his massive weight, her eyes wide.
"Get off me!" she yelled, trying to kick him.
But his legs expertly pinned hers.
With his left elbow, he pinned her left arm down and clutched her throat with his hand, his right hand reaching for hers.
The sudden loss of oxygen blurred her vision, making her head swim as she struggled in vain. As his hand grasped hers, the scarred mark burned with renewed intensity. He gripped her hand tighter and held it close to his face, licking his lips in anticipation. The burning reached its peak as a bright light started to issue from the back her hand, searing the bandage through completely, burning it into nothing but white ash.
She was unable to cry out from the sudden agony along her hand as tears formed in her eyes. Again she struggled madly under him, but he merely laughed, trying to summon her triforce pieces by sheer force of will and complicated magic.
He would take it for his own...he would take...my...
A wild desperation took her, fueling her with a possessive rage she never thought possible as she pushed off slightly from the ground, wrenching her right hand from his and freeing one leg. She then power-kicked him squarely along his shoulder. He cried out and fell flat on the ground.
Breathing hard, Airaen staggered back, clenching her fist. Now freshly cut, warm blood from what had been her scar trickled down her hand, running along her fingers and onto the floor. She trembled, then grasped the wound with her left hand, trying to stop the bleeding.
Snarling like a wounded animal, Ganon half-ran, half-crawled towards her, then leaped, his arms outstretched. "It's mine!" he roared, trying to slash at her face.
She jumped to the side, narrowly missing him, then ducked as he rebounded on her. "Dammit," she swore as he slashed along her arm.
"GIVE IT TO ME!"
Airaen whirled around to see him in the air, a knife in his hand, his eyes burning with hatred.
She had nowhere to run...
"Dammit," she swore again as she raised her right hand. "May the Goddesses forgive me..."
"DIE!" Ganon roared as he brought his knife down.
"Basaru...Saikaru! Nayru! Farore! You may take my blood!"
The light that ensued from her scar nearly blinded her as an aura of light surrounded her hand, then the rest of her body. Her hair swirled around her as the burning reached such an intensity as to open the wound even more, blood trickling down her arm. She bit her lip.
"GO!" she yelled as the spell shot forth, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying back. She hit the ground and did a swift back flip only to land on her face. She looked up quickly to see Ganon take the spell head on. He screamed like an animal as he was tossed high into the sky until the spell erupted in a bright light. Airaen, along with the rest present, shielded her eyes as the bright light came crashing back to the earth with a loud crash. Several screamed and ducked for cover.
When it finally settled, Airaen opened her eyes again, quickly brushing away dirt and debris. As she looked, she smiled.
A great pillar of smoke was issuing forth from a rather large crater some hundred feet from where Airaen lay.
She chuckled to herself as she stood shakily to her feet. "Rest in peace," she whispered, a grin on her face that quickly turned to a cry.
She sank to her knees, clutching at her right arm. Trembling, she glanced at it and bit back a cry.
Blood from the scar had covered the entirety of her hand, but that wasn't what was making her tremble.
Even as she stared, she could see golden lines from the triforce mark spreading along and up her arm, reaching her elbow and continuing on. The pain she felt from it was like nothing she could ever experience as she cried out, clutching at her arm and falling to the ground on her side.
"Fuck it!" she screamed, rolling onto her back. "Stupid...blood...price...!"
Blood was pouring from the scarred mark, rushing down along her arm and into her face. She coughed and spat and rolled quickly to her side, staring at the blood that issued forth, blood she knew was not hers.
Closing her eyes, she swore again at the pain, feeling the gold lines spread to her face. "S...stop!" she cried suddenly.
And then the pain dissipated, the lines receding back to the mark on her hand.
Startled, she sat up, wiping the blood on her face away with her left hand as she watched the lines disappear into her mark. Wringing her right hand, she wiped the blood off it on her tunic, then examined her hand carefully.
"The scar...it's...spreading," she whispered to herself, flipping her hand over to look at her palm again. A triforce mark, identical to the one on the back of her hand, had formed in her palm. She stood, her knees a little shaky, then spat on the dirt, trying to get the blood taste from her mouth.
Blood of other Bearers, she thought suddenly, staring at the caked blood along her arm.
"It's because I awakened it, huh? I awakened my triforce pieces, isn't that right, Gate?" she asked, turning to the enraged fairy who came flying towards her.
"You...you...what the hell were you thinking?!" Gate roared, flying around her head in anger. "What kind of arrogant...stupid...ah, what were you thinking?! You want to kill us all?! Idiot! That spell could've wiped out Hyrule a hundred fold!"
She clenched her right hand, testing it. "I had no choice," she said after a time. "My task is done. Ganon's dead...isn't he?"
"You idiot! That spell can't kill an Awakened Bearer, you ass! Didn't you feel it?! Ganon awakened his triforce piece before it hit him! All you did was put on a rather extensive light show!"
"WHAT?!" she yelled, turning to him. "After all that?! I hit him head on! No one gets hit by Basaru and lives to tell about it!"
Gate, frustrated, hit her on the back of the head, then whirled in front of her. "You've got some nerve, girl, using Basaru like it's some...toy!! You almost killed us all! And now, we've got two awakened Bearers on our hands, and you just happen to be inexperienced! Do you know what Ganon can do now??!! He'll be able to take your damnable pieces away with ease!"
"You're...joking...."
He hit her again. "IDIOT! DO I LOOK LIKE I'M JOKING TO YOU?!" he roared.
"Well, how do I unawaken the stupid thing, then?!" she yelled back, swatting at him in vain.
"You can't! It takes years of training, and even if you did manage to unsummon, you would die in the process, which would bring us to an even worse problem, since the triforce pieces would just appear if the Bearer holding them dies! Do you understand now?" he cried, circling her. "And you had to ask for the Blood Price, too, didn't you?!"
"Well, it's not like I didn't want to!" she retorted, her hands on her hips. "That's the only way to get Basaru to work, you idiot!"
"Well, guess what? YOU'RE STUCK WITH THE DAMN THINGS SINCE YOU JUST FUSED WITH THOSE TWO TRIFORCE PIECES, YOU ASSHOLE!"
Airaen stopped in the midst of her next insult. "Say...say that again?"
"You don't even know what the Blood Price is?! What the hell were you thinking?! You just...oh, Nayru, don't you understand? You just fused yourself with your triforce pieces! You're directly linked with Nayru and Farore! Idiot! If you die, they get destroyed, and Hyrule ends!"
"Oh..."
"'Oh'? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?! OH? 'OH' ISN'T GOING TO SAVE US FROM CERTAIN ANNIHALATION, NOW IS IT? DO I LOOK LIKE I WANT TO DIE?! NOT REALLY!" Gate roared, his voice growing hoarse.
There was an explosion from the smoldering crater, causing the two of them to turn.
"Great," Airaen grumbled as she saw a rather angry Ganondorf soar into the sky. "And his hand's glowing...why is it glowing?"
"Because of the Triforce, moron!" Gate hissed back.
Airaen stared down at her scarred hand. "Well, why isn't mine glowing?"
"Because you're imbalanced, idiot, and inexperienced, that's why!"
"Imbalance? What does...that mean?" she asked quietly, eyeing Ganon.
"It means you hold two Triforce pieces, which causes an imbalance in the Bearer, which, if they awaken them, will eventually tear them to shreds," Gate answered matter-of-factly.
"Oh..."
"Stop with the 'oh' thing!"
"Sh!" she hissed, swatting him away and behind her. She stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "He's around here somewhere..."
"What're you..." Gate began.
"SH!" she hissed, then sniffed at the air. "Come on...where are you?"
"Airaen! He-ey!!"
Airaen whirled, then swore profusely. Roh, Link, Zelda and the others were running towards her, waving their arms for her attention. Ith, much to her surprise, was leading Perigan by the reins. When did Perigan get here, anyway?
"Get out of here!! What are you doing?! Get out of here, now!" she yelled.
Suddenly the whir of a spell could be heard from behind her. She leapt to the side as it crashed to the ground in a small explosion, making her shield her eyes.
Damn it all, she thought as she landed on her feet with such delicacy it surprised her a little. He's using guerilla warfare...and he's moving too fast for me to track him...
"Get back, all of you!" she yelled again, turning round with her back to them.
Come on, come on...where are you, you damnable demon?
"There!" she yelled, throwing her arms in front of her face to block his attack. Ganon pushed her back a bit as he pressed his fist against her arms. Airaen sank to one knee, groaning in the effort to keep him back. "Get...OFF!"
With a ditch effort, she pushed up against him, gaining momentum and knocking him away. Without even thinking, she threw her right hand out in front of her and sent a spell crashing into Ganon, throwing him backwards. Growling, he jumped up and disappeared again.
"Dammit," she hissed, wincing as she grasped her right arm. The whole arm hurts now...just great...
She glanced down at her arm and shook her head.
"Ha, this is what I get for trying to save the world," she muttered.
"Die!"
Airaen ducked, narrowly missing Ganon's fist. She rolled back, then launched into an assault – ducking, rolling, punching, swerving, parrying, kicking. It was an all-out war between them both, each testing each other's strength's and raising the bar constantly.
But Airaen was surprised at how easily swift she could move, how natural the speed seemed to her. Perhaps...
But there was no time to think of anything else as she ducked a back-slash from him, back-flipped, then pushed forward effortlessly off her feet, jumping and giving her opponent a graceful spin kick to the side of the head.
Ganon staggered, blood flying from his mouth, then fell to the ground, gasping for air.
"Haha, I almost snapped your spine, huh?" she giggled as she stepped back with her arms crossed. "You look pretty stupid..."
With a snarl, he leapt up to try to give her face a long-awaited meeting with his fist, but she dodged him with ease and back-handed him on his back, sending him sprawling on the ground.
"Now, now, there will be none of that, sir," Airaen giggled again. "Come on, get up...you're looking pretty pathetic down there on the ground and all!"
Ganon staggered to his feet and turned to face her, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"You seem quite confident for a child," he snarled. "Do you honestly think you have a chance against me?"
She remained silent, contemplating as she gazed at him. "I'm tired of this," she answered with a shrug.
Narrowing his eyes, he launched into another attack, a flurry of motion. She dodged and answered, before she realized that Ganon was on the offensive completely, disregarding his defense for the moment. Assuming it as his own folly, she answered with a swift kick to his knees, trying to get him off-balance, when he disappeared, causing her to nearly fall forward as her leg sliced at air.
"Wha..." she began, before he was back, using her lack of balance to strike a few critical hits along her stomach, back, and legs. She flew back, sliding along the floor, dust flying in all directions.
Ganon laughed heartily, a lustful smile on his face. "As I thought, your pathetic excuse as a teacher clearly underestimated you. I see nothing from you at all."
He watched her struggle to get up before he extended his hand, sending a wave of energy towards her. Caught in it, she was thrown back further.
"Pathetic! You should be ashamed of your skill," he hissed.
Slowly, Airaen pushed herself to her knees, a gleam in her eyes. Carefully, she extended her right hand outwards and held it there for a moment. Curious, Ganon watched with interest, then started as he saw her gleaming, green sword glide across the ground on its own towards her. Grasping it with both hands, she stood and got into a fighting stance, the blade suddenly glowing blue, then bright yellow.
With a yell, she ran forward, jumping into the air and bringing her sword down. Ganon barely had enough time to jump to the side and reach down for a smaller knife in his belt when she swung sideways, catching him off guard as he parried. The glowing blade reflecting in her eyes, she pushed forward, squatted down, and barreled into his gut, forcing him back. He yelled in frustration and tried to swing his knife down on top of her when she rolled expertly to the side, pushed off from the ground, and swung her sword, trying to catch him at the neck.
Snarling, Ganon parried, showing a distinct effort in trying to push her blade back. The hint of a smile on her face, she got low and kicked sideways at his knee. He toppled to the ground with a cry, landing square on his face. Bringing her sword up, she made to strike the blade tip first through his back when he rolled over and released a bit of energy.
But she was ready, using her blade as both a shield and a lever to jump up and over him, feeling the energy rush by her like a screaming, bitter wind. She rolled forward as soon as she hit the ground, allowing for an easy stop, but taking her eyes off of him for a brief span of seconds.
Seconds that proved crucial as Ganon backhanded her along her face, blood flying from her mouth as she hit the ground. Then he was on top of her, driving his fist down, his nails narrowly missing her face as she moved to the side. She kicked him off slightly, then scrambled away, was up, and kicked him at the side of his face, then swung her sword at him. Ganon parried, but barely, his arm shaking in the effort.
"Damn you!" he hissed as he sank back to one knee again. "Damn you!"
But she pushed against him, trying to push him further and further back, to find the opportune moment to finish him.
So focused was she that she didn't notice Ganon's free hand as it pointed at her thigh, even as he gathered energy.
The spell shot from his hand, bright as flames, striking her along the side of her thigh. She screamed and fell back, giving him enough time to release his energy again, sending her back a few feet along the ground.
Gasping for air, he got shakily to his feet, then looked around for his sword. Seeing it some twenty feet away, he staggered towards it, wiping the blood from his face.
But just as he bent to pick it up, he saw her coming at him again, sword raised. Shocked, he parried the attack, his eyes wide as he was caught in the dance. Feet twirled, arms swung, an endless flurry of motion as they came at each other again and again.
But where he had expected a childlike approach to fighting, he was met surprisingly to the strength, guile, and ferocity of a woman, her very eyes ablaze with both hate and determination as she ducked, parried, and attacked with a speed that was both human and not.
When he stepped back, she moved forward, trying to catch him off balance, searching for an opening, a sudden lapse in defense. He snarled, trying to meet with her, to fight back, but he was only met with more ferocity. As his sword met with hers time and again, he suddenly realized the true purpose in this child who was not a child, would never be a child. He saw the hatred without resentment in her amethyst eyes, and he trembled at what he saw.
The tremble cost him dearly as her blade slashed along his side. He snarled with shock and fear as he hobbled back, sweat trickling down his face, blood already staining the side of his tunic.
She waited, body tense yet relaxed, waiting, but appearing as not so.
His eyes widened. What...is she?
There was no way he could get the Triforce from her now. That much was clear, even as he thought it.
He studied her again. There has to be a weakness...there HAS to be! She's been run through with my sword...I've attacked her head on with one of my spells that SHOULD have killed her...and yet she stands here, so confident...she has to have a weakness! If not in fighting style...then...
His eyes widened. That was it!
He stood to full height and laughed suddenly till the tears ran down his face. Shaking his head at his previous blindness, he wiped the tears from his eyes and stared her down, the grin never leaving his face.
"It will be mine," he hissed, licking his lips in anticipation. "That which you hold is not yours, girl-child! It is mine!"
But I have your weakness, he thought with another smile, a fit of laughter. And it will prove your greatest folly.
-LOZ-
Okay, I'M REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! I HAD MAJOR WRITER'S BLOCK, AND SCHOOL IS JUST HORRIBLE...but, if you forgive me, will you please review? I want to know how I'm doing so far...and this story might take longer than I first thought, I don't know, but I have Friday off this week (October 8, 2004), so I can do some MAJOR writing then. None for Tuesday night cuz I've got two tests, but definitely Wednesday, I hope, after my volleyball game. Thursday is NDA Day (which is basically a "do whatever you want and watch some fun stuff and play games" day, my favorite day EVER in school), but then I have a volleyball game again that day, but it won't take long...I've got all night! Hopefully I can get this story finished...I don't know, it's taking longer than I anticipated, and I feel as if I'm portraying Airaen in different ways, but I know the reason behind it, so it's all good (you guys'll get it later on). There's a lot of mysticism I'll be putting in this, plus a chapter after the "last" and then an epilogue, which I've already written (the epilogue) and I was crying my eyes out...I don't know why, I'm just weird like that. Anywho, you guys are GREAT, and thank you so much for being so patient! If you have any questions about the story, or just questions in general you want to ask me, GO RIGHT AHEAD! I'll do my best to answer them all...please, FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANYTHING AT ALL! Yes...I AM weird...oh, well...there's always an insane asylum that needs a new patient somewhere out there...