Ok, firstly I have many excuses for why this took so long...Band Camp...lack of inspiration, homework, assignments, parents banning me frmo the comp, holidays with relatives...you name it - I've been through it :P
Anyways, other then the fact that I'm sorry, I'd like to say that I've worked very hard on this chappie, and I'm hopeing it's one of my best, it's twice as long as some of my other chapters (which might be ANOTHER reason why it took so long) but as far as I'm concerned it was worth the wait...you might want to re-read the other chapter before you read this - just to recap :)
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Almost the entire day passed by and there was still no sign of Ganon or his minions in Hyrule, Link figured that he must have made a kind of secret base somewhere nearby, it had been overcast since midday, a storm was approaching – and fast, it was a sign that danger was coming.
Both Link and Tomus were tired and exhausted, they hadn't eaten in ages – or so it seemed, as the sun began to set Link dismounted the horse to allow it to graze as he scanned the surrounding area for any sign of whom he was looking for. There was a cold breeze, light and chilly, it swept Link's dirty blonde hair across his eyebrows and into his eyes, he brushed it away, irritated, the scent of rain was in the air.
Link sighed as he Placed Tala in the grass beside Tomus, he then inspected the cramped bushes on the edge of the Hylian field, they were strange, bunched up in an unusual fashion, tall, leafy, but somewhat damaged, the usual green shade of the shrubs was dull and grey, the leaves were brittle - it was rather obvious Ganon was nearby…who else could cause vegetation to wilt like this?
With a bit of energy he managed to pry the compact plants apart to peer over towards the other side, cautiously and conscientiously he gazed but there was no sign of an enemy nearby. He bit his lip and squeezed through the overgrown shrubbery and examined his surroundings, the air was cool and crisp, a stench had met his nostrils, it smelt similar to some kind of swamp…either that or something rotting, or perhaps a mixture of the both.
Knowing the coast was clear, Link pushed past the greenery again and heaved Tala onto his shoulder, "Stay" he warned Tomus, if anything bad happened they'd need a swift ride homeward but it was far too dangerous for an animal as large as a horse to trespass into foreign land. Link then slipped back into the fortress of greeny-grey and left the black stallion standing obediently alone.
Link leapt skilfully from side to side in the dense overgrow area, the vines were easy to trip on, not as much so for Link, even carrying Tala he managed to keep fast on his feet, despite the slippery, mossy soil he didn't trip. He dashed past a mass of Deku Scrubs without them even noticing his presence, there was a light squelching sound of damp grass under his feet as he paced on the outskirts of the strange area.
Link noticed a group of moblins with long, sharp, spears. Of course he could defeat them with his light arrows rather easily, but even he couldn't use a bow and arrow with one hand, there was no way he'd drop Tala in such a dangerous place, he couldn't fight them so his only chance was to hide…
He ducked behind a massive tree, trying to be as quite as possible…just to stay still until the danger passed…after all, everything passes…there was a small snap of a twig being broken in half, it wasn't far off…the enemy was drawing nearer.
The moblin raised it's ugly snout and sniffed the air, with a grin it approached the tree, it's spear ready, it could sense someone on the other side, with a quick manoeuvre, it span around and hurled the spear towards the tree.
There was a small squeal, a trickle of blood…shish-kababed…it was all over. The moblin grunted…it had only been a small mouse-like creature, but the creature had suspected there was a creature much larger that had been near the tree…no matter, the moblin pressed on and rejoined its group.
Link breathed a small sigh of relief, he had clambered silently up onto a branch, Tala's loose hand had been dangling mere inches from the moblins head but the stupid animal never though to look up, Link waited until the moblins were well out of sight before h attempted to clamber down…
CRACK! The branch snapped with the combined weight of Link and Tala…if only he had kept still, Link landed firmly on his ankles, unable to roll over to lessen the impact because of Tala. He grunted slightly as a chill was sent straight up his ankles, luckily they weren't sprained or broken, but they did hurt like hell…
"Crap…" Link muttered hearing the thundering footsteps of moblins coming towards him, they must've heard him fall. Link sprinted across the jungle terrain, towards the large building-like figure ahead in a desperate attempt to loose his trackers. He felt the cool air sweeping hair into his face, every time he gasped for breath he felt the same bitter cold air rush into his lungs, stinging slightly as it came out. With every step he took he could feel his tread slip a little, but still he pressed on, his ankles ached as the combined body weight was forced upon them.
'A mort…looks like fun' Link thought sarcastically as he spotted a wide river between him and the dark structure before him, but the moblin tribe were catching up, they were dangerously close, if any of them had've been intelligent enough to throw their spear it would've been all over for him…both of them, no, all of Hyrule.
The moblins trampling on behind him extended their arms, and their spear, the sharp points were so close it was deadly, Link could feel the tips scraping against the behind of his calf before he pushed forward to the next step, they were digging, trying to pierce skin, but they only got so close, Link made a jump for it, into the river, carrying Tala constantly in his arms.
Link nearly yelped as he hit the ice cold water, he felt his body being almost instantly dragged away by the current, the moblins didn't dare follow and Link couldn't single-handedly swim the rest of the way – he was stuck in the middle…
He felt something hit him in the back as he struggled to keep both himself and Tala aloft, it was a branch, sticking out to the 'castle' side of the river, it was bending slightly with the strength of the current and Link's back pressed up hard against it, Link held onto the branch and tried to pull himself to shore. The branch was hollow, but firm – like bamboo, but Link could feel that it was about to snap, he moved very carefully to prevent an accident like before – not that it was something he could do quickly with one arm.
This was when the moblins took notice of what was happening downstream, they took advantage of it, trampling closer to Link they held their spears above their heads and threw them towards the water in an attempt to harpoon Link who almost instantly began to panic.
He moved faster across the branch until he heard it creak and groan, soon enough it was splitting near his fingertips, he quickly shifted to one side as half of the branch broke off, Link just barely clinging to the remainder.
With a 'woosh' a spear flew straight through Link's hat, pinning it to the muddy shore beside him…so close, but yet so far… Link whimpered slightly in fear as he continued along the branch, his body was turning numb, the cold was beginning to settle in, he could feel himself about to drift out of consciousness…
He jerked awake, trying to concentrate on the predicament, still fumbling along the smooth branch as a series of wooden spears flew close to his shoulder, some sweeping against his green, moist tunic. The bank was drawing closer! Yes! He was almost there! He moved just a tad closer to give him a chance to lunge at the mossy, muddy ledge when finally one of the moblins aimed true.
"Argh!" Link threw his head back and yelled as the spears sharp point pierced his back, causing him to let go of Tala. Hot, hot pain was what he had felt, searing…like melting barbed wire being driven into his body, he ripped it out and threw it into the water, letting the blood mingle with the dirty river water. He leapt from his safety-branch toward Tala's drifting body that was sinking from the surface. Taking a deep breath beforehand, Link dove down under the surface after her, only when he had a firm grip of her wrist did he rise again.
Link's fingernail grinded hard against the mud, trying to get a grip, when he did he levered himself up and collapsed on the grass, leaving Tala in a position to drain any fluid that was left in her lungs…
And that was only the "easy" part…
Link knew the worst was yet to come.
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Good? Bad? You have the final say! REVIEW! -crosses fingers- (please tell me it was worth the wait... XD)