I can hear your thoughts. "W00t, update!" or "Yay, finally!" or "Why did he dump me? WHY!" O.o Who thought THAT? Anyway, I know you've been waiting for it, so let's get right to that chapter! ...AFTER the replies! n.n
CheeseFromJupiter: I agree! All I ever hear is how awesome stories are! I want VARIETY! -throws thesaurus at awesome-users-
DC16: Hmmm, Mystus... Gray eyes... Aiko... CRAP! I'm giving MYSELF spoilers! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! ;-; Huh? Oh, I'm not talking to you! n.n;I love Hieke's weapon too. I drew the ideal picture of it, but first I have to... update my website. Tee hee, the last update was the eighth of September, I think. It's been a while! What was that? Sore throat? GAAAAAAAAAAAH! Strep! Stay away from me! I've already had strep throat eight times and I'm only fourteen! I DON'T WANT IT AGAIN!
JiminiycricketX: (TLoA!) Ye gads! You weren't kidding about the length of your list! I think I'll use a few of those! Like, the ones that I chuckled at when I came to! OH! The K9 Advantix one! That's DEFINITELY a keeper! I am SO parodizing that jingle! Keebler! Trix! THIS IS PERFECTION! I love you.
Blondie91: This soonish enough for ya? It wasn't for me! Heehee. Yes, 'awesome' is banned. No more awesome. -kills awesome-
Da marshmallow: (FYD) GAAAAAAAAH! THE DEMON WORD!
Da marshmallow: (FYD) Yeah! I loved my scene dividers! It was three stars in a row, centered. When I rewrite the stories, I'll make sure to make my scene dividers visible.
Da marshmallow: (FYD) Yeah, I go to OSH (Oscar Smith High). They call the outdoor/portable classes 'learning cottages'. Man, no one calls them 'learning cottages'! For one thing, there are no muffins! No muffins equals no cottage! Duh!
Da marshmallow: That's how I make the reader form a personal attachment to the character! You can't deny that you love poor little Lor already!
Dairokken: EXACTLY! That's EXACTLY right!
Da marshmallow: You ought to be pacing yourself... You'll catch up right now, and then you'll be all sad because you have to wait like your sister! Heh.
Da marshmallow: I guess I only had five responses written, but still... They were long responses! n.n; Yeah, the third chapter is the plot-initiator in this story. La la la... Oh yeah, the story!
Da marshmallow: "Splendiferous"? Strange, I think that's actually a word. Well, maybe, maybe not. I LOVE long reviews! GIVE ME MORE LONG REVIEWS! Ahem... please?
Da marshmallow: (DUES) Ooh, I love that acronym! No, I give myself the right amount of credit. YOU ALL GIVE ME TOO MUCH CREDIT! It's the crappiest poetry I've ever written ever!
JMG: I take that as a flame! FLAMER FLAMER FLAMER! I'll update... eventually. Live with it.
Mxedcherub: Groovy? Cough, cough... Well, of course there's romance! Not only are they sixteen, but the readers have been waiting for thirty-seven chapters for something to happen with Link and Hieke, so I have GOT to make it happen before the end of this story. Just wait for the epilogue. Everyone who wants romance will get it.
Peg: (TLoA!) XD Pepto Bismal... I'm glad you like it!
Phew. That took a while. Well, here's the chapter!
Chapter 5: Darkest Desires
"Who are you?" Kaze demanded. The man before them had silver hair, but appeared to be in his early twenties. His eyes were icy blue with a piercing gaze. His clothes were white and bluish-white, and he bore a strange emblem on his back.
"Greetings and salutations, comrades," the snow-haired man said with a bow. "I am Dameus, at your service. I couldn't help but overhear your friend's wish to return to his home, and I think I may be of some assistance in the department."
Link regarded the newcomer suspiciously. "You don't seem very trustworthy," he muttered. "Oh, but I am!" Dameus chimed, clasping his hands together. Lor moved backwards slightly so that he was standing behind Hieke, his nearest shield. The silver-haired man narrowed his eyes with a malicious grin and approached Lor. "It is your wish to go back home, isn't it?" he asked as he reached out and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. He instantly withdrew further, so that he was now behind Link. The former hero made it obvious that he wasn't going to allow Dameus near Lor.
"Child, what is wrong?" the man asked solicitously. "I heard you speak of your wish do go home, and I offered to help you. Anything you desire, I can give you. For the right price, that is."
Lor gained some confidence and stepped forth from Link's protective shadow. "I'd give anything to go back home," he whispered. Kaze, strangely, looked intrigued by Dameus' words. "You say you can give us anything?" he said. Dameus nodded vigorously. "The girl Aiko is currently paying off her own debt to me. When she's through, I'll find her brother for her, as she requested. I can give anyone anything they want!"
"It's not that hard," Hieke interrupted. "We just saw Drakar a few moments ago." Dameus narrowed his eyes at the girl, but only for an instant. His cheerfulness soon recovered its position on his face. "They have dreadful luck to always be missing each other," he offered with a chuckle. Link was not convinced.
"I think you're intentionally keeping them from meeting," he accused. "In what manner is Aiko paying her 'debt', as you called it?"
Dameus shook his head. "I am not forcing her to do anything unjust. I've just asked her to retrieve some items for me," he explained with energetic hand gestures. "I'd never force my clients to do anything against their will…"
"I'm in," Kaze said as he walked across the gap that separated Link and his friends from Dameus. "What!" Link and Hieke shouted simultaneously. Kaze turned with a somewhat despondent smirk. "You heard the guy. He'll grant your desires for a minuscule price. I've got some stuff I'd like taken care of, if you know what I mean, and a little labor sure would be worth it."
"You shouldn't do that, sir," Lor advised. "It's tempting, I know, but I don't like the vibes I get from this Dameus character. I have a bad feeling about this." Link chuckled meekly to himself and wished Malon was with them. The redhead had an excellent sixth sense for feeling out evil wherever it may lurk. If she was there, she could tell them if Dameus' intentions were as bad as he was assuming. However, James had recently taken Malon to Termina on a sort of vacation, so they were on their own.
"I know what I'm doing, kid," Kaze yawned. He was surprisingly casual about the whole ordeal. He turned to Dameus with an icy glare. "But I'll have you know that I have no plans to do anything immoral or unjust. Got that, buddy?" he spat. The snow-haired man looked momentarily flustered, then replied, "Dear boy, I understand completely!" He led Kaze away into the distance.
"Kaze, come back!" Hieke pleaded as she ran after the departing men. They disappeared in a gust of wind, leaving the blonde Hylian girl standing atop the hill with an expression of dismay still across her face. She turned back to Link and collapsed in his arms. "Why didn't he listen?" she sobbed into his tunic. "Why? I just know that man is going to do something evil… Link!"
The hero glared at the place where Kaze vanished. Kaze… I'll never forgive you for making Hieke cry. I can only hope you realize what you've done before you do something you'll regret… He broke off his thoughts and closed his eyes, head bowed. Lor stood solitary from the two. He felt something sinister growing within him. This thing, whatever it was, was the cause for his suffering in that dimension. It had to have something to do with Kuro, the demon inside the Guardian Tree. Now that Kaze had unknowingly betrayed them, the feeling was much stronger.
"Dameus…" Lor muttered. The sun was going down, staining the sky a less than peaceful scarlet. The plains of Hyrule appeared to burn with the fire of the heavens, or the blood of the fallen. As the black-haired boy gazed across the crimson-colored grasses, he could sense the countless battles—losses, victories, deaths—as though he was watching them happen before his very eyes.
"Lor? Is something wrong?" Link asked, still holding the sniffling girl though she had calmed herself a great deal. Lor shook his head with a sigh. It was funny how he had made friends so easily with these people, even though he was completely out of place in that world, not to mention the fact that he was the remainder of some great evil. An idea struck him and he dug into his pocket and drew out…
A bag of chocolates.
Chocolate was a luxury that no one in Hyrule had ever witnessed. Not knowing this, Lor offered one of the candies to Hieke, who looked to be prepping herself for another outburst. She stared at the silver-wrapped confection curiously. "What is this?" she asked as she turned it over in her hands. Lor, after distributing one of the treats to Link, unwrapped one for himself. "You've never had chocolate?" he said in disbelief. Link and Hieke shook their heads.
"Well, you eat it," Lor said simply as he put the small morsel in his mouth. Link stared at the brown candy skeptically. "It looks like poo," he observed. Lor almost choked on his chocolate. "It does not!" he argued, forcing himself to swallow. Hieke cautiously popped the candy into her mouth. Instantly her eyes lit up with glee.
"You are a god!" she exclaimed as she got on her knees and bowed before Lor. The boy looked around in mortification and took a few steps backwards. Hieke latched onto his leg and stared at him with tears in her amber eyes. "I love you!" she cried. "Hey!" Link objected as he threw his chocolate to the ground. Hieke shrieked and ran to the side of the fallen treat.
"Be brave, fine fellow," she crooned as she nuzzled the cellophane encasing the confection. Then she devoured it, saliva frothing at the corners of her mouth. She turned murderously to Lor, a demonic look in her eyes. "More!" she screamed as she jumped onto the black-haired boy's back and rummaged through his pockets. "G-get off!" Lor demanded in shock as he tried to uncurl Hieke's fingers from around his shoulder and leg.
Someone tapped on the Hylian girl's shoulder and she turned around abruptly with chocolate and candy wrappers spilling from her distended mouth. Link was standing there, his arms folded and a disapproving look on his face. Hieke looked at him, turned back to Lor, then to Link again. She spat out the chocolate in an inexplicable wad on the ground and leaped from her current perch's back to Link's. The hero raised an eyebrow, but chuckled in dry amusement and petted his friend's head.
"You'd better get that demon food away from her," he advised, pointing to Lor's pocket. The boy nodded and tossed his bag of chocolates into a nearby stream. Hieke saw this and dove into the waters, emerging moment's later and flailing about mindlessly. "Drowning! DROWNING!" she shouted as she made her way to the bank where she crawled out like a soaked cat.
Link and Lor laughed (ain't alliterations grand?). But elsewhere in Hyrule, the plot was thickening. Kaze received his first order from Dameus…
Okay, so here it is: WHAT DO YOU WANT DIFFERENT? Anything at all. See, I'm rewritingall three storiesand am going to call the whole thing "Tomes of Hyrule". You'll recall Aiko mentioned it. If something didn't make sense or needed more humor or more drama or more action... Or if you have a suggestion for a joke somewhere or maybe another chapter entirely.
Annnnnyyyyyway... How'd you like the scene with the chocolate? Hieke's a girl, so you wouldn't expect any other reaction, wouldja? It just needed the humor... And what do you think about Kaze joining Dameus? Unexpected, yes? I needed to get rid of one of the main characters; it was getting hectic. Besides, that helped develop the plot!
Well, a review would be nice! Please? Hee hee, I love reviews, especially long ones. BUT DO NOT SAY 'awesome'! If you use that Demon Word, I'll call it a flame! So don't use it, okay? There are so many other words you could use!