Reminisce
CHAPTER TWO
A tapping sound. That's what he kept hearing. What was it? It was getting louder. Nave could feel the dank moisture of the floor against his body.
He could hear his own breathing and that tapping again. Suddenly, Nave bolts up as the tapping is interrupted by a loud bang. Nave looks around quickly. He now realized that he was in a holding cell, as far as he could tell, he was alone. He looked to his left and saw three pieces of brick lying near each other. Above the bricks was a hole in the wall where the bricks once stood together.
Curious, he crawled over to the hole, stood on his knees and looked. On the other side was Zelda. She looked surprised for a moment before smirking, "Well, that's ironic."
Nave asked quickly, "Why are you…?" he picked up a brick and showed her, "…how?"
Zelda ignored this and said in the same tone he gave her when he had hauled her into her cell, "What did you do to get put in there? Don't tell me," she pretended to gasp in shock, "You wanted to be the princess, too?"
Nave simply stared, "That's not funny."
Zelda shrugged, "Seriously, though…why are you in there?"
Nave puts his head down and shook his head, "I don't know…but I'm going to find out. Whoever is behind this will have hell to pay." He sighed and looked at her sternly again, "You didn't answer my question. How did you put a hole in the wall?"
Zelda shrugged, "With a pick."
Nave raised a brow, "How did you get a pick?"
Zelda smiled innocently, "I've always had it. If you would've searched me like you were supposed to, you would've found it."
Nave sighs despairingly and turns away, leaning against the wall beside the hole. Zelda, seeing this decides to do the same. They would've been leaning against one another's backs if they weren't separated by brickwork.
"I knew it…" Nave muttered, "I knew you'd be trouble for me…"
Zelda replied empathically, "I'm really sorry…I truly am. I never meant to drag anyone down with me."
Nave decided to check if his suspicions about her were true, "Why did you run away?" he asked inquisitively.
There was a pause before Zelda answered, "I'm looking for someone."
Nave scoffed, happy that he was at least right about who she was, "So you really are the princess."
Zelda nodded from the other side, "Yes…"
Nave turns his head towards the hole in the wall, "Who are you looking for? Why is it important enough to run away? Couldn't you have simply ordered a kingdom-wide search? You have men under your command."
Zelda sighs and lightly tapped the back of her head against the wall. She looked at the ceiling, "Questions, questions, questions…"
Nave responded, "You owe me that much for getting thrown in here with you."
Zelda relented, "Of course…well…where should I begin?"
She collected her thoughts and began, "I'm looking for someone very important to me. He…He's someone I hold very close to my heart. Two weeks ago, he had gone missing…things happened. Lots of things…complicated things."
Nave listened intently.
She continued, "Of course, my father issued an order to all available personnel to search for him. Days pass and still no word. I grew frustrated. I had no idea what they were doing. For all I knew, the men were simply sitting on their bums and drinking instead of looking for him." She inhaled slowly and said, "And then…a week after…he…had gone missing, I decided to take things into my own hands. I grabbed what money I could carry and snuck out of the castle."
Nave seemed amazed, "You snuck out of the castle without getting caught?"
Zelda nodded, "Yes, I did. I learned from him…anyways, I then ran to my friend's ranch. She was the only one I trusted. Of course, we argued for a bit, because she wanted me not to do anything rash. I won her over, of course and she did all she could to help me prepare. She gave me a canteen of water, some milk, bread and other things to eat. She gave me a horse to ride and got me on my way."
She puts her head down and said, "Days pass as I searched for him. I passed through kingdoms and such, never resting for too long in one spot, following clues that seemed to dwindle with time. After a few more days, I struck gold and found a definite lead. It led me to this place; The Kingdom of Vanale."
He smirks, "All that for one person. He's really that special to you?"
Zelda nods, "More than you'll ever know. I can't go on without him, I know this." She looks around, "Now I'm here…because someone recognized me and began telling everyone I was Princess Zelda of Hyrule." She leans her head back against the wall, "That drew attention to me, and people began to ask me, I didn't answer right away because I was caught off guard and suddenly, I'm thrown in here."
She looks towards the hole, "Does that answer your question?"
Nave raised a brow, "Yes…It does." He scoffs, "It's all just some scary coincidence. Now I'm in here, and I don't know why…maybe I know too much? I'm willing to bet it has something to do with you, though…"
Zelda hugged her knees; "Regardless…" she began.
"…I'm going to get us both out of here." They both said at the same time.
They paused in surprise for a moment before laughing softly to themselves.
Nave looks at the bricks under the hole, "You know, if they find you with that hole in the wall, we're both going to land in even more trouble. Trying to escape?"
Zelda shook her head, "No…I wasn't. I made this hole to distract the guards. I don't plan on escaping without help." Nave thinks for a moment, suspicious.
Zelda continued, "I planned to get you in trouble for not following the rules and searching me properly. In the confusion, I'll take the credit and make a few deals here and there to buy my way out." Nave sighed miserably, "You're an evil little girl…do you know that?"
"Maybe…" Zelda smiled, "If I force my way out, that'll get me even more unneeded attention and I'll have the kingdom after me. I don't need that right now, so you'd have to take the fall for me. Of course, seeing you already in jail just ruined that plan of mine."
"Whatever." Nave muttered.
Without warning, one of the three iron locks on Nave's side of the door moves. Nave suddenly goes into action and begins frantically replacing the bricks into the wall. Each brick he fits in was followed by another unlocked iron lock.
As he reached for the final brick the door opens. Nave shoves it in place and turns quickly, sitting against the renewed wall.
Zelda listened in, placing her left ear against the recently walled up hole.
She heard:
"Ah, Sir Nave…" came a voice.
The second voice was less calm, "You're a sickening sight, Nave. What were you thinking? How dare you do this? Hasn't this kingdom treated you well? You were the last person I'd think to turn traitorous."
"What in heaven's name are you talking about?" Nave demanded.
The first voice responded patiently, "I believe you already know, Sir Nave. It seems you have changed alliances."
The second voice continued, "Bloody turncoat! You realize how many civilians you have killed?"
The first voice spoke, "You were found at the scene of the crime, Sir Nave. Theres no use denying it…you set off a chain of explosives below the pier of several docked homes and businesses in our harbor, sinking them. You were in the process of doing more damage within the kingdom when you were captured."
"What…?" came Nave's shocked reply, "This doesn't make any sense! I was attacked by-"
"No need for excuses, traitorous rat!" came the second voice.
"That's right." The first voice began, "Vincent here was the one who stopped you in time, needless to say, his words have more weight than yours."
There was a slight pause.
"Those boots…" Nave muttered. There was another pause, "You!" Nave exclaimed.
"Enough!" Vincent's voice rang out, "Kill the traitor now! Rats like these don't deserve to speak."
Zelda's eyes widen and she backs away from the wall. She points both palms at the wall and…
…the guards neared Nave as he began to get up. He was going to have to protect himself.
One of the guards raises their sword and Nave steadies his nerve.
Before the guard could swing, the wall behind Nave explodes with flames and embers bouncing on the floor like marble. Everyone in the room is floored as the dust hovers inside the room.
Nave is pulled to his feet, "Zelda!" he managed to say between coughs.
He heard Zelda's voice as she dragged him out of the room, "Oh, great…look what you made me do. I guess we're forcing our way out of here…" they run out the door and up the stairwell, Nave's eyes were still burning from the debris caused by Zelda's explosive spell, he tried to rub the burning sensation out with his free arm. Zelda, meanwhile, kept dragging him along and finished saying, "…as if I didn't have enough problems already…"
