A/N: Thanks a lot you fuckers. At least someone reviewed- was it really that much of a total bore?
Review Responses:
Cerasi Avalon- Thanks! Here're two more chapters; did you read it when it was on HMOtaku, or...?
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Chapter One- Mistakes In The English Language…Cheated At A Hick Chateau…The Girl With TheLong Brown Hair…
(1- Can't Pronounce)
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one for over-the-top nationalism, but I didn't like this town too much when I first came here. I mean, it was a nice town- quaint? Is that the word?- but it was…the roads that threw me off.
The problem was Epona. Not to say anything about her. But it was these roads- no grass, only in patches around neat edifices. The dirt, if there was any, was dry and dusty, flying up into my eyes as we rode along. And when you rode into town, the cobblestone (if you were going too fast) made sparks of rock fly up. Not anything like Hyrule.
Like I said, I'm not the representative of over-the-top nationalism reallyat all. I like this town. But something about it was so alien…
Like Takakura said, I couldn't miss it. After all, it had this HUGE sign, in purple letters, screaming: FLORIST LILLIA. Who was Lillia? There was a tiny sign by the little white fence that said, "Open 6 A.M.- 5 P.M. Closed Sundays and Holidays."
I didn't see the point of the really small fence but I really didn't need to complain about it. I walked inside.
Someone in the store smelled like flowers, but the pink kind- either soft and powdery or strong and overpowering. This was a mix. I tried my best not to gag, because, well, you know, it's rude.
The lady at the counter stopped her conversation with someone else to look at me. I turned red- she was pretty. Her hair was wavy and long and pink, and her face was thin and delicate-looking. She had nice red eyes, that seemed sad for some reason. I thought that she sort of looked like an undercover Sheikah- maybe she was!
I discussed my undercover Sheikah with Navi. "You're so stupid……" she said with a tone that reminded me of rolling eyes.
"Hello," the woman said cheerfully, "Can I help you?"
"Uhmmm…" She looked at me intently. I was worried whether or not I could speak English to her. I had spoken to Takakura, but by that point I couldn't really remember whether or not I had been making sense. Plus, it doesn't really matter to be embarrassed in the company of a man, but with a woman it's sort of different. I tried to speak slowly. "Uh……I need…" What did I need, again? Oh, man…I tried to remember the lessons on English from the disc, the friendly woman's voice repeating: "I NEED…SOME FOOD. I NEED…SIX EGGS…" Six… "Six…" She looked at me blankly, somewhat confused, I guess. I tried speaking fast. "Tomatoseedsand…" I tried speaking at a normal, Hylian pace. "Eight watermelon seeds."
I had a feeling they were all staring at me. I turned hot red with embarrassment. I looked around, shy and nervous. There were two girls, one with pale skin and long dark hair, and another with long, curly pink hair. They were both giggling.
"Well, of course, honey," the desk-woman said. "Popuri, Celia, go get those seeds?" They left to another room. "So, you're the new guy?"
I turned around, surprised to hear anyone talking to me. "Uhmm, yea. Yes."
"You nervous?" she asked. Her voice was very clear and refined- I could understand every word she said. It made me relax a little, that she didn't mumble or have some kind of accent. "I was nervous when I was new to this town…then again, when I was new, the only people here were Jack, Sr. and the mountain carpenters. And some of the store owners, but that's beside the point." She looked at me and laughed, high and clear and nice-sounding. She just sounded like a nice person. "I'm sorry, are you acquainted with them yet? My mistake…well, it's been a long time since a man came in here…am I talking to much?"
"No!" I blurted, smiling.
"Thank you," she answered. She smiled warmly. "Well, my husband's gone. I get chatty when he's gone away. But, I'm counting down 'til the seventeenth! Would you like to see my calendar?"
"Sure," I answered. The calendar was a little creepy. It was like a little obsession…there were red marks all over the calendar saying things like, "Basil's Coming Soon! Yay!" I remember being sort of…really freaked out. But, at the same time, I was a little sad for her- that she had to be away from her husband for so long. I wondered where he was.
"You must think I'm mad," she sighed.
"No, not really," I said, even though I did think that a little bit. But sometimes honesty just isn't the best policy. "I think you just miss him."
She looked at me for a second, with a look that said she was either confused or taking in what I'd just said. Then a slow smile spread across her mouth, and she straightened up, looking at me from a three-quarter angle. "Well, thank you." She held out her hand to me. "I'm Lillia, by the way. I own the shop."
Celia and Popuri came back from the other room. "Hey!" the dark-haired one said, throwing me two small pouches, one red and one light green. "Here are your seeds." She giggled, I don't really know why, though.
"Come again, cutie," Popuri winked at me. They giggled some more.
"Girls!" Navi exclaimed in a squeak as we walked out. "I'll never be able to understand them!"
"I thought they were kind of nice," I replied. I heard Navi huff. Hee hee, I bet she was jealous…
"That's what you think about everyone," she grumbled. Her toned pepped up mischievously. "Especially your little boyfriend."
"SHEIK IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" I sighed and turned to see maybe ten people staring at me, probably wondering what I was talking to, and in what language…
I turned red again. "Uhmm, hi……sorry for that…"
They all stopped staring and turned back to their normal morning chores. I climbed onto Epona.
"You're so stupid," Navi said.
"Hey," I laughed.
We passed into the dry, dusty intersection again. "Oooh, look!" Navi squeaked excitedly.
"What?" I asked, slowing Epona down.
"A WINERY!" she yelped. Navi would never admit it, but she was a diligent drinker. For her size, she could intake a lot of alcohol…
"You're such a drunkard," I teased.
"Hey, what!" she exclaimed. "How dare you, I am not a drunkard! I'm just excessively fond of alcohol!"
"Surrreee," I replied. "C'mon, let's go get a drink. I'm parched!"
We rode up a sloping entrance and reached a large chateau. There was a nice, big house nearby, and a smaller building, a wine cellar, maybe. In front of these two buildings was a plot of grapes, and a large tree.
A tanned man with a purple bandanna was working between the wine cellar and the plot of grapes. A man was standing outside of the house, with some wine bottles on a stand beside him. He was gruff-looking, with a serious expression (heavy-set brows) and a grizzled dark beard.
"Hi!" I said, happily.
"Hmph." What a nice reply, right? "How can I help you…" He really didn't even seem like he wanted to help me. He said it with the same tone he'd use if he was saying, "Go away."
"You sell wine here, right?" I asked.
"30G a bottle," he grumbled.
I poured out something like six rupees into my hand and held them out. "Is this enough?" I asked. I learned later that the rupees all equaled about 200G…oops.
"Thank you!" he said, suddenly turning happy and grabbing at the rupees. "Come back any time!"
"Sure! Thanks," I answered, getting back up on Epona. The tanned man looked at me, shaking his head in some sort of pity as the owner counted the rupees joyfully.
Navi seemed skeptical as we trotted back to the farm. "I've got a mind to go back and kick that guy…
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Because-"
"Hey! Wait!" someone called behind me.
I turned on Epona to see a girl following us. "Oh, sorry. Yes?"
She ran up to me, looking a little winded. She looked up to me- she had a wide, pretty oval-shaped face, with fair skin and dark green eyes. Her hair was long and brown, two strands of blonde rimming her face. She blushed, looking a little angry or embarrassed to talk to me, avoiding eye-contact. "Uhmm, my father ripped you off. Here's your money." She threw the money to me in a small bag and ran off.
I shrugged. "Obviously this isn't the friendliest family," Navi said importantly. I nodded in agreement.
I stopped Epona at the farm and tied her up to the a white fencepost as Takakura walked toward me. "Hey!" he called, "Did you get those seeds?"
"Yeah!" I answered, throwing the two bags to him.
"Hey, watch that throw!" he yelped, "You could kill someone with that iron arm!"
I checked my arm. It didn't really look iron to me, so I didn't know what he was talking about. "Hey, what about that reefer smoke?" I laughed a little, but he didn't seem to get it. "Uh, so what do we use the seeds for…?"
"What the hell do you think?" he asked. "Planting, stupid. First get the hoe from the tool shed-"
"The what?" I asked, not seeing the need for profane language.
"NO, STUPID, NOT THAT HO!" he shouted impatiently. "I mean the hoe that you- oh, forget it, I'll get it!"
He came back with a tool, with a dark wood handle and a wide, curved dark metal head. I waited for further instructions. "Now we till the soil," he said, slowly. "It's a bit heavy," he said, "So you might not be able to pick it up, or work it very well."
"What? Oh, okay," I answered. I used it the way I'd seen Ingo or Malon's father use it back in Hyrule- arms above head, bring it down, pull it forward. The movement became fluid momentum after a few turns.
"That's strange," he interrupted.
I slowed down and took a look at him. "What?"
He shook his head. "I've never seen anyone handle it like that. Easy…You are a weird kid."
"You think?" I asked. "I wonder what everyone else thinks…"
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(2- Interlude)
"I've successfully lured him in," Sheik said, soft and casual, making a slight bowing movement.
Ganon looked at him from the book he was reading. "Hm? Oh, you. Well, good job," he said, getting out of his deep mahogany armchair and putting his book on the desk. He tossed him another bag of rupees; Sheik caught it easily and stashed it away. "He really is too entertaining to kill. But too dangerous not to. I hope you're satisfied with your pay."
Sheik stifled something in the back of his throat, indistinct emotion. "Yes. I am." He was just a mercenary- and he never meant to hurt him…
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(3- We Met)
A lot of people saw him. Hell, I saw him, too. The only thing I knew about him was that he was drop - dead - gorgeous. I could have died when I saw him for the first time.
He'd been in town for three days, maybe. I heard from some people that he was staying above the bar. I had a mind to go up and meet him, but I really didn't have any time to make buddies with some stranger. Gorgeous, yes- worth it, no.
He had long, messy bangs and blonde hair, and a flawless complexion to boot. His eyes were open and blue, a shade of cerulean only movie star heroes donned. Oh, and that skirt, man- well, I'd go a little beyond a "Teen" rating if I told you exactly what I thought of that particular item of clothing on him.
At the same time, he looked weird to me. Well, the skirt, for one- but there was something else about him…
It'd been a sunny afternoon, but only in weather. I'd fought with my father again that day. Egad, I really hate him.
The new guy came around. I looked down at him and my father from my bedroom window. Just seeing him from far away was very rewarding.
I walked downstairs, hoping to catch a closer look at him, to see if he was really all that cute. In the living room, my father was sitting on the couch, counting glittery jewels, looking like a miserly cave troll. "What's got you so happy?" I asked, pausing in my boy scouting for a minute to make a mean comment.
"He doesn't know conversions," my father chuckled to himself.
"What! I can't believe you'd rip someone off like that!" I screamed. Looking back at that, I realize I have a MAJOR temper problem. "Give me those right now!"
"You give, you learn," he sniffed. "Besides, if he's going to give this much, it's out of charity. This vineyard's going down, you know!"
"It's still not right! You cheap bastard!" I snatched the rupees from his hand and walked off with them into the kitchen.
"Hello, Karen," my mother said tiredly, as I looked underneath the sink for a Ziploc bag.
My father was yelling from the living room. "You little ingrate! This is blatant disrespect!"
I stuffed the small jewels into a plastic baggie and got up. Gotz was yelling at me in the doorway, in my face and following me to the door. "You cheated me out of my well-deserved 30G! How about that! You ungrateful daughter!"
I opened up the bag and threw one rupee at him. "There!"
"Hey!" he yelled as I went out the door.
I ran down the slope and into the intersection, where the new guy was trotting along on that horse of his. "Hey, wait!"
He turned, and I could swear my heart stopped beating for split second. "Yes?" he asked. He had some sort of strange accent that made his voice open and soft, but happy at the same time.
I turned red. "Uh, my dad ripped you off. Here's your money." I threw the bag at him and ran off. God, he was so…blonde. And gorgeous…
My father was waiting for me, arms crossed, when I came back to the vineyard. "Why would you do that!" he shouted. "You've got no business mind! You ingrate!"
I ran inside the house. "MOM! Dad's being a jerk again!"
"Gotz! Are you drinking again!" my mother asked, tired but stern, from the kitchen.
"What do you think? She took my money and gave it to some weirdo in a skirt!" hw said back.
"Oh, wow, Dad! That's real good!" I stomped upstairs.
"Honey!" Mom called, "Please come back down, so we can sort this all out!"
"I hate you all!" I screamed downstairs. People say I have a tendency to overreact. I guess this was one of my drama hours. "I'm not going down!"
"Come down before your father comes up!"
My father coming up…not a good idea. I came down, but made sure to look severely distressed. I folded my arms and messed up my hair, pouting for an extra effect.
"Now, explain to me what the problem is," she said, calmly.
"Well, this big lumbering idiot-" I started, sharply eyeing my father. Kai, being "part of the family" (?) just had to come, too, standing right next to him.
"Karen," my mother scolded. I hate my parents- especially my father.
I continued. "Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to say that Gotz-" when you use a parents' first name, it stings bad- "had a customer today who didn't know how to convert his money. So he didn't even bother to help him and just cheated him out of more than 100G. That's not very fair to the customer."
"You never care about the customer," Kai grumbled in jealousy, "why start now?"
"Shut up, Kai," I said. I turned back to my parents. My mother had a concerned look on, but my father just looked like a big stupid yeti, as usual.
"I'll talk to your father about this. Kai, you may go back to work. Karen, just go."
I went compliantly. I was near Ann's ranch when I screamed, "I don't need any of you! I hate you all!" I usually do that when I'm angry- scream at nothing. It cools me down tremendously.
I walked a little further until a strong wind came over me. It blew toward me and stayed there, hovering like a fog around me, cold and malicious feeling. My vision blurred a little; the dusty dirt was getting in my eyes. My head started to feel light, the scene spinning around me into some kind of shadowy fog- was it really getting that late?; and then I threw up, dizzily. God. The extreme change in weather…I took time to look up from my vomiting.
I saw a smile. A white, menacing smile, teeth peeling out from thin lips on a tan face, almost olive green in color. The face's hair was like a flame, a blur of messy red. The Hell? What was this? God, a little weather change wasn't something to make someone hallucinate…what the Hell was going on?
"What…the Hell?" I asked, my voice drawling in and out in my dizzy state. The face laughed. I can't tell if I screamed then. I didn't even know what was fucking going on!
I heard a voice, open and soft, calming. "Hey! Hey, get away from her!"
And then I blacked out.
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A/N: Mmmm. Hmm. What-ever.