Seeing Truth

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Chapter 17: Ruby-Red

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Only one week had gone by in my life and everything changed. Only one week. How can one week have changed my life forever? It was only a normal day of the week. Friday. I loved Fridays, but I can't say the same anymore. I can barely remember what day it is tomorrow, and I even continue to digress. So, how can one day change it all? I really hated it. I hated all of it ever since I opened my eyes and stared up at those blue eyes, but why did I feel even worse, now? How can Kado do that? Why did he do that? I just wanted to strangle him for leaving me?

"Jade…? Jade?"

"What?" I snapped as I turned my head the direction of the voice.

Link raised an eyebrow curiously then shook his head, directing his attention back to his book and mumbled, "Didn't you say you had to go somewhere at one?"

My eyes widened, "Oh, crap."

I jumped off the sofa in the main room of the library.

"See you later, Link!" I said as I ran off and out of the door that was surprisingly open. Though, I had never told anyone about the little trapped incident the day before with Kado, I still thought it was kind of peculiar, but like always, I discarded it.

Servants just seemed to stare at me a bit bewildered as I raced past them in hopes of making it to the farm on time. By the time I was out in Hyrule fields I was out of breath. I could barely breath and all I could think of was how the heck does Link do this? Maybe he's not human…?

I reached the farm as quick as possible, and as quick as my little…ehem…legs could take me. I was now sprawled on the grass on my back, staring up at the sky. The smell of fresh grass tickled my nose and I rubbed it absentmindedly as I began to hear footsteps. Sheesh, me and footsteps. Sounds suspicious?

"You are here early." Aw man… That familiar voice rang through my ears as I opened my eyes. Pierre Rayne towered over me like a building.

"Early? Isn't it one o'clock?" I asked flatly.

"No. It's twelve-thirty…" My eyes widened as I began to take all that in.

"WHAT?"

"Who ever told you that?" his French accent rolled off his tongue like it was its own language…where am I getting this? His dark blue eyes just stared down at me boringly as he crossed his arms.

I mumbled something under my breath.

"What?"

"Nothing." I said as I covered my eyes with my hands, trying to block the sunlight.

"When you work here, you have to do what your owner tells you to."

"You didn't tell me to do anything." I said as I stood up and brushed my black pants off.

"In time…" he breathed, "Follow me."

I followed him as we entered the largest barn in the area. It wasn't painted red or anything special- just plain wood. The inside smelled like hay and soil. Workers walked by quickly without a single glance towards me…until the girls came. They stared at me like there was something on my face than towards Pierre. I brushed a strand of hair from my eyes and tried to ignore them. What is up with staring girls? FANGIRLS! Grr…

"This way…" Pierre said as we entered an area that was full of hay, and I mean FULL of hay. I already hated what I was afraid of hearing.

"Kenny will tell you what you need to do." I just stood there as Pierre turned around and left. A boy maybe a few years older stood in front of me. He didn't look at all like a stableboy. My guessing that he was one. His black hair stuck up in every direction. Something that…ehem…caught my attention. His eyes were a ruby red and when our eyes locked, I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I gulped and tried to form words, but I just couldn't… How come every boy around is so…good-looking?

He smiled, a small glint in his eyes as he crossed his arms and spoke, "Well, I guess Pierre has his own days…"

He turned around and grabbed a huge hay fork, or whatever you would call it. I gawked at him. The first sentence ever to come out of his mouth to me was an insult.

"W-what is that supposed to mean?"

He turned around and stared at me boringly, "Just that, most of the girls he chooses to work here aren't so…"

He stopped and I just had to insist, "What?"

"Weak."

Weak…weak… "WEAK? You're calling me weak? You don't look so strong. What makes you so special?" It was the truth. He didn't look that strong, but maybe it was just that his baggy clothes hid…whatever.

"Well…from what I see." His eyes traveled up and down towards me and I backed away.

"Well, well, what makes you so special?" I soon learned to regret those words.

He cocked his head then without even much energy he had jumped onto the haystack, which was about fourteen feet high. My mouth was agape as he pushed his arms forward. The whole front row of hay was pushed forward and into a nearby wagon. In only a few minutes, the whole pile in the corner was neatly stacked in five wagons…and through all this, I had said nothing.

"And you were saying?" he said as he jumped in front of me with an eyebrow raised. I backed away from his closeness.

"Well, it seems like you have that down, so I'll get going…" I backed away slowly, but he grabbed my wrist and I jumped.

"No, you still have plenty of training to do."

"For what?"

"Well, you are going to work here, aren't you?"

"Uh, I guess, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"See, the reason why all of Hyrule's economy survives on this farm is because it's the fastest growing company. No one knows why, but anyone who begins to work here finds out soon enough. We all know that the Sheikan tribe has almost become extinct. There are very few left, and if there are, they are only half. That is why they have to learn how to control their powers rather let it come naturally. I, like many others, am part Sheikan, and learned how to use my powers around the time I was five. The thing is, almost anyone can learn to master a Sheikan's power, but you have to be concentrated most of the time. I am here to teach you to learn this power, but I have to warn you that it's not going to be easy."

"Well, this sucks…" I mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing?"

"You can't just say 'nothing.' You work for me, now."

"Work for you? I thought I worked for the other guy?"

"You do, but I still have authority over you."

"Oh, great…just great."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll enjoy working for me."

"I'm sure I will…" I said sarcastically.

"You must be careful of what you say around here. Everything is taken literally."

"Great…"

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"Stop laughing! Concentrate!" Kenny said for the hundredth time today as my snort, to giggle, to full-on laughing began to annoy him. We were outside on one of the hills trying to 'concentrate' on a specific thing. Actually, it was more like meditating except we were standing up. The clover in my hand was about crumpled as I continued laughing at the stupidity of what we were doing.

"You know, that if you continue to fool around, you'll have to stay after hours." I quickly straightened up and cleared my throat, trying to concentrate on the clover. The point of this stupidity was trying to get the clover in our hand to…bend. Kind of stupid, really, but he said it was possible. Not at first, though. We had to picture every part of its being to twist and bend and fall in shape. It would only be a part of our imagination at first, but soon enough, it would be reality. That was why we had to concentrate the whole time, which was really something I wasn't good at doing.

I shook my head and continued to concentrate. I tried to imagine myself looking at the clover with a magnifying glass, and watching it slowly bend, then through a microscope, seeing the plant cells slowly move around and form a very odd shape. Wait, cells wouldn't move just for that. I creased my eyebrows and poised myself again…man…this really sucked. I think I'd just rather work by lifting with my own arms and hands rather than my mind.

My head hurt…

My feet hurt…

I'm so bored…

What the heck am I doing…?

My nose is runny…

Not a good picture…I sniffled… then sat down. It wouldn't do any harm. I mean- it's not like Kenny could see me.

"Get up…" I jolted then relaxed from his words.

"What? I am standing up."

"No, you aren't."

"Yes, I am."

"No. You aren't."

"Yes, I am…" I slowly stood up.

"Good."

"Oh, come on! I'm tired!" I exclaimed, "We've been out here for hours!"

"Twenty minutes!"

"-Which actually means minutes in my world." I added quickly.

Kenny sighed and opened his eyes. I glanced at him, but for some reason, his ears caught my eye. They were round like mine, but then again, he could just be from Meyenn…Then again, why was he in Hyrule?

"What?"

"What?" I retorted back.

"You were staring…"

"No, I wasn't."

"You know, lying is punishable. I don't think you want to go down that road." My eyes widened.

"It was just that your ears are round, and not all elf-like and pointy."

"I'm not from around here."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, "Then where are you from?"

"Earth." That was enough to send a jolt through my body.

"Are you serious? Me, too!"

"What?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you were from Meyenn or something." He said calmly as he sat down next to me. Did I mention I had been sitting the whole entire time?

"Nope, how come you're here, now?"

"It's a long story. What about you?"

"Me, well, kind of long. I've only been here a week or so… I can't believe it. Maybe I can finally go home."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Go home? I've been here almost my whole life, I doubt that would happen."

I really didn't want to here that right now, so… I tackled him flat on the ground, "Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true."

"No, have you even tried to do anything about it? You've just worked here your whole life and never even thought about the possibility. You could've gone to the castle. Didn't you ever think of that?"

He narrowed his eyes as he pushed me away. I fell backwards and stumbled onto the ground, "You have no idea what I've gone through my whole life. You don't know anything about me, so stay out of it."

His ruby-red eyes seemed to cloud over as I stared at him overwhelmed. All I could think of with him so close to me was, wow, he is strong. Then again, what has he gone through? He backed away and stood up. I pushed myself up as he left without a single glance. I guess anyone can throw a tantrum.

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That was possibly the worst day I could have possibly ever had. Luckily, since Kenny never showed up, I was free to go because of my trainer's sudden absence. Maybe I could do this tomorrow, too…Hmm…

I slowly made my way back to the castle. The sun was still up, but it felt eerie being so alone. The weather was great; I loved the wind that sent that ruffled my hair, now and then, but I felt like I was being watched. I wanted to shake the feeling away, but it was too overwhelming that I even found myself running to town the rest of the way. When I reached the market, I felt safer. People were about doing regular business, but I still felt like something was missing. I casually walked back to the castle where I was greeted with the familiar death glares of servants. Home sweet home. Right? Wait, when did I start calling Hyrule castle home? I made my way to my room where, hopefully, I could find some much needed rest. So, when I got up again I could make Link pay for making me run so hard.

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A knock on the door brought me out of my peaceful nap on my sofa. I was so comfortably sprawled out on my back I didn't even want to move, but the knock just continued. I swung the door open angrily. It was Link…of course.

"What is it, Link?" I asked tiredly.

"Nothing, just wanted to visit."

"That's nice… Done?"

He raised an eyebrow and I sighed, letting him in at the same time.

"You missed lunch today. Where did you go?"

"Out." I said simply.

"Out where?"

I shrugged, "Around."

He plopped down and the couch and took off his hat.

"What did you do?"

"Not much. Talked to Zelda today."

"Really?" I asked curiously, a small grin forming on my lips as he ran a hand through his hair.

"We…need to talk…"

I'm so sorry this was really short and not my best, but I'll try to make the next chapter longer and better. Anyhoo, I want to thank you all for reviewing, and I heard of fanfic shutting down stories from ChipsDip, so I'm going to be just as cautious. I'll answer questions whenever. Oh, don't you guys just hate me for adding another guy. Nyeheheheheh. Anyway, you guys wanted the farm, there it is, but it's still going to go on. Thank you all!