Bottom of Form 1Chapter 6

Lira stirred in her dreamless sleep. She pushed the covers off of herself and sat up, rubbing her sleep-filled eyes. Her ears twitched at the soft sound of a melody playing somewhere outside. The wind blew in from the doorway, chilling her hot skin. She shivered slightly and rubbed her arms with her hands.

Her curiosity got the best of her and instead of returning to her slumber, she stood from the floor and stepped outside in the still dark, but very early, morning. Her eyes flickered over the empty streets, searching for the source of the music. It was a lot louder out here and a lot clearer. It was a tranquil, soothing melody, nearly lulling Lira to sleep where she stood.

She turned around and tilted her head back to stare up at the roof. She smiled, realizing the Hylian's scent had been rather stale in the hut, as if he hadn't been in there for some time.

Lira leapt gracefully and silently onto the roof. She saw Link sitting a few feet away, eyes closed, and a strange blue instrument at his lips. She sat down beside him and listened to him play.

She closed her eyes and imagined lush forests and children playing in streams. She imagined trees all around, tall trees, and one particularly large tree that seemed to have...a face. The song ended abruptly and Lira slowly opened her large crimson eyes and faced Link who was regarding her with an odd expression.

"I'm sorry...Did I disturb your sleep?" he asked, gesturing to the foreign object in his hands. Lira smiled and shook her head. "No, I wasn't sleeping very well anyway." She tilted her head to the side. "Where did you learn that song, from your mother?" she asked innocently.

Link glanced up at the dark sky that was slowly lighting up. "My mother...died when I was born," he said sort of distantly. Lira put a hand over her mouth. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Link smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "It's alright. I never knew her, so I don't really feel a loss," he replied.

Lira brought her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs. "My mother and father died when I was young." Lira sighed. "I remember crying for so long..." "How did they die?" Link inquired gently.

"They were killed by a mob of wyverns," she replied simply. Link's eyes widened in surprise. Her parents had been killed by wyverns yet she had pleaded with Firagaht to let the wyvern woman be spared from death? Link glanced down into his lap. "You're a really compassionate person, aren't you?"

Her ruby gaze shifted to him from the slowly rising sun, filled with confusion. Link matched her gaze, though it was filled with admiration. "You can't seem to feel hatred for the wyverns even though a mob of them killed your parents," he clarified. Lira closed her eyes and inclined her head toward the sky. "I got over it, and I realized that filling my heart with hatred and ignorance will prevent me from learning all that life has to offer me," she said, turning to smile at him at the end.

Changing the subject Lira pointed at the blue wind instrument. "Tell me what that is, Link." Link held the instrument up for her to see. It seemed to glow with a mystical blue light. "It's called an ocarina. This one in particular is called the Ocarina of Time." She held out her hands and Link placed it gently in her palms. She stroked her thumbs over its smooth surface, fascinated.

"O-ca-ri-na," she repeated slowly. Do you...mind if I try to...play?" she asked, giddily. Link shrugged. "Sure. Go ahead." She placed the ocarina at her lips and blew. A loud shrill note was emitted from the instrument. "Ooops!"

Link guided her fingers over the holes and told her which notes were which. He managed to teach her how to play the version of Zelda's Lullaby that Impa had taught him. Lira laughed and clapped her hands together when she successfully played it. "You're a quick learner, Lira!" Link congratulated. Lira handed the Ocarina of Time back to him. "Your land of Hyrule must be interesting with its ocarinas and Mirror Shields!" The two of them laughed.

The sun was rising, casting hues of reds, golds, and oranges across the sky and the sunrays shone on Lira's face and shimmered on Link's golden blond hair. Lira stood to her feet. She closed her eyes and let the sun warm her face. "I'd like to go there, one day," she said sort of dreamily. "Everyone would love you," Link said, standing as well. "Zelda would love to meet you."

Lira blinked and turned to stare at Link. "Zelda?" she repeated.

He nodded. "She is the princess of Hyrule, and my friend."

"Oh."

An awkward silence ensued for a few moments. Link heard Epona neighing. He glanced over at Lira. "Maybe we should head back inside..." She nodded and they both leapt off the roof to the road below. They didn't make it inside before a dragon soldier caught them at the door.

"Lira-sama! Firagaht-sama wishes to have you in his presence at the castle." His gaze flickered to Link briefly. "Alone," he added. Lira nodded. "Alright. Link, will you wait for me?" Link was regarding the dragon soldier suspiciously. "Yeah...I'll wait," he answered. The man and Lira walked off in the direction of Firagaht's dwelling.

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Link was causally walking through town, trying to kill time till Lira returned. He had greeted and introduced himself to nearly all the townspeople, most of which were very curious and fascinated by him.

He had discovered the Dragon Clan, as they referred to themselves as, were a very intellectual species. They were kind and didn't mind answering a few of Link's questions. They certainly didn't mind asking Link tons of questions either! A crowd surrounded him and he had to fight his way free just to breathe. He escaped and ran down a back street. He had walked by the castle at least twice within the last hour. "What could Firagaht suddenly want from Lira so early in the morning, and take so long?" he muttered to himself. Freezing in his tracks, his face scarlet, he suddenly thought of a reason, but quickly shook it away. "That couldn't be it," he mumbled, shaking his head vigorously to clear away such thoughts.

He wandered by the fortress, hoping to see Lira coming down the stairs in that grace that was unique to herself. He was surprised when he saw her standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking around as if searching for someone. She spotted him and waved, running over to him. "Link! You waited!" She was smiling from head to toe and her dazzling image left Link's mind at a blank. He shook his head and grinned at her. "Of course I did. I said I would, didn't I?" Lira grabbed his arm and began pulling him toward the palace. "Come! I want to show you something!"

Inside the palace, the pair headed down a brightly lit hallway and into a room filled with books. Link could only assume it was a library. Lira released Link and climbed up a ladder to the top to reach for a large black book. She tugged at its binding to pull it out but it wouldn't budge. Frustrated, she grabbed it with both hands and jerked hard. The book popped out of its spot, and with her momentum, Lira lost her balance and began to plummet to the floor. She would've hit the ground if Link had not caught her in his arms. She smiled sheepishly at him as he set her down on her feet. "Thank you. I must have looked like such a fool..." She pressed a palm to her cheek as she reddened with embarrassment from falling so ungracefully in front of him.

Link scratched the back of his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm always clumsy around people I li-... er, um... What's that book you got there?" he switched subjects most obviously. Lira blinked at him but decided not to bother and set the book down onto a table.

"This," she opened it to the middle, "is an ancient text, written back when the wyverns and dragons were in neighborly distance of each other."

In the center of the page, there was a hollowed out core. Inside it there was a little black metal box, looking to be worn from age. Lira pulled out the box and showed it to Link. He watched her curiously as she opened it and looked over her shoulder to see inside. Lira slipped her fingers into the box and retrieved from its innards a small rusted key. It looked like it had been black at one point. The grooves were worn but still appeared usable for a lock.

"What do you think it's for?" Link asked. Lira smiled at him. "There is a door in the castle dungeons that is locked. For as long as I can remember, it has always been closed and no one has gone into it in years. I've asked Firagaht-sama about it, but he would never tell me where it leads to. I think this might be the key for it!" she said excitedly. Link scratched the back of his head. "Well, couldn't it be for any door in this castle? It could be for a chest or a diary or something. There's no real proof that it's for that door," Link disagreed. Lira pouted. "You don't believe me? Fine! I will show you the door and we'll see if the key fits!"

Down in the dungeons, Link held a lit torch to light the path to the mysterious doorway they were heading for. Lira walked ahead of him, leading the way. They walked down what seemed like thousands of twists and turns and eventually down a small staircase. At the end of the reasonably long hall, there was a lone door that ended the hallway. It was large and made of the odd metal that was the floor and ceilings of the dragons' houses.

Lira reached into her pocket and removed the key from its depths. She approached the door while Link ran his hand along the smooth surface. "What type of metal is this?" he asked the native girl. Lira glanced up from trying to work the lock. "It's a special alloy that is mined in the underground mines in the mountains that are nearby the village," she replied. "Ah! There!"

Link nearly fell forward as the door gave way and opened into an enormous dark dreary chamber. A gray mist spilled into the hallway they stood in. Link exchanged glances with Lira who was smirking at him. "I told you it was for this door," she said. Link didn't reply and stepped into the room, Lira behind him.

There were vines creeping up the walls as broad as tree trunks and others as thick as Link's arms. He carefully stepped over a tree root that was protruding through the ground, as thick as Link's whole body. He coughed lightly. The mist was hard to breathe in and it irritated his nose a little. At the other end of the room there was a humongous tree whose roots were spread all about the room's floor and walls. The branches were numerous and wide, filled with fresh, healthy-looking green leaves. This seemed odd to Link because the rest of the tree looked ancient and as if it was on its last few days. The trunk was a grayish color and was peeling in many places.

Lira gasped, staring up at the tree. Link looked at her. "Is this tree special?" he asked. Lira shook her head and pointed at some tree limbs that were near the top of the tree. Link followed her gaze and gasped too in horror at the sight. There, hanging from the thick arms of the trees, were several dead bodies. They looked old and gray like the tree as if they had been there as long as the mammoth plant. They hung from there necks and were held up by brown ropes.

"What the hell!" Link exclaimed. He ran to the tree and began climbing up to reach them. Lira leapt up onto the branches and Link met her up there. Link poked at one of the bodies and it twirled slowly around on the rope it hung from.

"This is disgusting!" Lira whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from the way the corpses were mutilated. There were five of them. Each had large gashes all over their bodies. Two had their legs cut off at the knee and two others had missing fingers. The last one was missing a whole arm. What was worst, was that all the bodies appeared to be that of young females!

Link wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Who or what could have done such a thing?" he muttered, standing carefully from his crouched position on a thick branch. He glanced over at Lira. She was standing with her mouth and nose covered with one hand and her eyes squeezed shut.

Link made his way over to her cautiously, a bit worried. "Lira, are you alright?" he asked, placing a hand upon her arm. She responded by flinging her arms around him and sobbing coherently. He patted her back, feeling a little awkward, and they both sunk to the limb's surface, Link sitting with his back against the trunk and Lira sort of in his lap. Lira pulled back a little to look at Link's face. "I'm sorry Link, to just throw myself at you, but..." her lip trembled and Link squeezed her arm reassuringly. "I knew some of these women!" After revealing this truth, she threw her arms around Link again and continued to weep. Link wasn't quite sure how to react to this, but he knew who or whatever had done this would die a slow and painful death.

Link patted her back again, hoping she would calm soon because he felt embarrassed in this position. "I'm sorry again, Link. I couldn't help it. It's just that...I..." As she was speaking, she had lifted her head to be level with Link's. She reddened when she realized how close they were, there lips merely inches apart. All Lira could think of, was this wasn't exactly the most romantic place in the world to do...anything.

Link didn't know what came over him, but the sight of her pink lips caused him to lose all ethical thought. All he could think of was how she would taste. So he cupped her cheek and was a bit surprised when she closed her eyes, and drew her forward, closer, and closer, until he could feel her breath on his face.

BOOM!

The entire tree shook, jarring the pair from their focus upon each other. The cadavers swung violently from their ropes, the ropes looking ready to snap. Lira was slammed against Link's chest and uttered a small squeak of surprise. Link wrapped his arms around her protectively and tried to re-situate himself on the tree branch. "What was that!" he exclaimed.

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