Hello everyone!
I'd like to say a profound thank you to those of you who've followed, faved, and reviewed my first chapter! I squealed like a three year old when I saw (no joke!) Thank you!
So here's chapter 2.
Not gonna lie, this one gave me a bit of trouble. However, I feel like I have it in a good place; and as long as you're entertained then that's good enough for me.
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN The Legend of Zelda, just my OC's.
Darkness…
That's all I saw.
I didn't know which way was up and which way was down.
Was I falling for only a few minutes or a few hours?
Was I alone or did the others fall with me?
Was I still alive or was I… dead?
WHAT'S HAPPENING…?
My stomach never left my throat as the sensation of falling kept going.
The sheer force of my decent caused my hair to come loose from the elastic and whip wildly around my face. My heart was beating violently in my chest; and my lungs were seizing up as the bitter air doused my body, grazing at my skin with freezing fingers as it rushed all around me. Tears started to form in my eyes, turning into icy rivulets as they streamed away into the dark void.
I stretched out my hands looking for something- anything- to stop my decent. I screamed Parker, Calli, and Charlie's names, but my voice was stolen and carried away by the wind. I prayed to everything in the universe that the others were safe. I prayed that they managed to avoid falling into this nightmare.
Then, all of a sudden I felt as if I was slowing down.
The wind calmed, causing my hair to fall over my face and down my back, my stomach to dislodge itself from my throat, and the pressure on my lungs to be released. It felt as if my body found equilibrium with gravity once more; however, my feet did not touch the ground…
I was suspended in midair!
I stretched and kicked my legs to see if I'd make contact with anything.
Nothing.
I reached my arms out once more.
Still nothing.
I called to the others again.
No response.
Everything became so still in the darkness. All I could hear was my breathing, harsh and ragged, echoing in my ears. Then I heard something else, as if coming from a great distance. It was a soft, rumbling sort of sound, and seemed to be rising from the depths below.
Suddenly everything happened all at once: The wind returned, jet streaming from above and causing me to fall from my suspended state; a noise exploded through the air and roared past, making my ears ring; and the air changed, the pressure squeezing my entire body to the point that I couldn't breathe.
Then- feeling like what I can only describe as being blown out of a tube- I shot out of the darkness and into the light.
I hit the ground with my feet, but the momentum from being a human cannonball overtook me and I started rolling. Tough grass scratched at my face and tiny rocks poked all over my body. I finally stopped face down, but rolled onto my back, brushing the long, black stands of my hair out of my eyes. My body ached like nothing I've ever felt before. I moved my arms and legs to check for any broken bones. I didn't find any and I let out a sigh of relief.
I heard a soft moan off to my right, and sat up. A wave of dizziness hit me hard but I just pushed past it as I saw Calli and Parker lying next to each other, sprawled in front of a line of trees. I jumped unsteadily to my feet and ran to them.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked, sounding breathless as I knelt next to them.
Parker sat up holding his head in his hands. I gave him a once over to see if he was okay. His knees and elbows were a little scratched, but from what I could tell that seemed to be the only damage.
"I think so. What…what happened?" he asked, lifting his head and looking around.
I turned my attention to Calli to make sure she was alright. She made a soft hiss of pain as she rolled onto her knees, her right hand holding her hip as she sat back, scanning the area.
"Where's Charlie?" she asked, her head whipping back and forth.
I stood up and looked around.
We were on top of a short rocky platform of a cliff that was surrounded by very tall trees; and a small opening in the tree line revealed the cliff's drop off not too far from where we landed. I heard a noise coming from the cliff's edge- something was scraping at the side, causing rocks and dirt to loosen and fall. My heart pounded in warning, but then a muffle cry filled the air.
"Oh my god, Charlie!" I yelled as I ran towards the cliff. Stopping just short of the edge, I looked down. There he was dangling off the side; at least a thirty foot drop beneath him with sharp rocks protruding all the way down to the ground. He was hanging on to a dislodged root, feet scrambling to find a foot hold in the crumbling rock. His eyes widened when he saw me, pleading for help.
"Hang on!" I cried, and I laid on my stomach; Parker and Calli coming up beside me within seconds. Parker managed to grab Charlie's wrist and pulled him up so that Calli and I could reach him. I caught his other wrist and Calli grabbed hold of the collar of his shirt. We heaved Charlie back onto the platform where he scooted back into Calli with a mix of fear and relief on his face. She hugged him from behind, whispering words of comfort while he gasped for breath.
"Where…the fuck… are we, Del?" Charlie panted.
Everyone's eyes turned to me.
Slightly taken aback that the question was directed at me, I scanned the area again from where I was sitting, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. But the trees on the cliff were so dense, and the trees along the ground below were so tall, that wherever I looked they blocked any view of what laid beyond them.
There was something different about this place.
I couldn't tell if it was the way the trees looked, or the colouring of the sky, or the grass that grew on the cliff, or even the smell in the air, but something in my gut told me that these woods weren't the same as before.
"I don't know," was all I was able to say.
"I'm going to see if there's any cell service around here," Parker said while standing up. "Maybe I can get a hold of someone who can help us. Charlie, where's the backpack?"
"Backpack…?" Charlie mumbled, his eyes closing as he rested against Calli. Then his eyes snapped opened and bulged with shock. "When I went over the cliff… the bag was too heavy- weighing me down. I- I dropped it." He spoke in a daze as he remembered.
I was sitting the closest to the ledge and I quickly crawled over to it. I peered over and there it was, my purple backpack, lying on a large protruding rock more than half way down the cliff face. It would've been a miracle in itself if any of our phones survived the fall, but judging by the ginormous dark patch at the bottom of the pack I'd say that the water bottles exploded. I groaned.
Parker came and crouched next to me and sighed. He looked thoughtful for a moment then stood and turned around. "Calli, you were using your phone's flashlight. Do you still have it?"
She shook her head. "I dropped it somewhere in the tree when…whatever that was, happened."
Charlie sighed loudly from her lap. "Guys, I'm so sor-"
"Charlie, it's not your fault!" Calli said forcefully.
"She's right," I said standing up and walking over to them. "This isn't anyone's-"
"This is your fault, Del!" Calli hissed, cutting me off. "We told you not to go into that tree! Now we're god-only-knows where, Charlie could've died falling off that cliff, and we have no phones!" Her eyes started to well up with tears, but from the set of her jaw she refused to let them fall.
I shook my head. "No! The voice! It…didn't anyone else-" I abruptly stopped myself. The others exchanged confused glances at my mention of a 'voice'. I just stared at them in shock.
They didn't hear it…
Why was I the only one who did?
I wanted to explain what happened, but from the looks I was getting they were one-wrong-word away from thinking I've gone crazy.
But I wasn't! I couldn't be…
However the more I thought about it the more I started to wonder if I truly was going crazy. Here I am trying to justify hearing voices that no one else can! When we find our way back home, I'm getting checked out.
But crazy or not, the truth of the matter is that Calli was right. This was my fault. And in the end it was me who decided to listen to a "voice" in the breeze, and it was me who led them into the tree.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but nothing came out. I just dropped my head and stared at my hands. How do you apologize for something that you don't really understand?
Parker came up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. He gave it a light squeeze before walking towards the trees behind Calli and Charlie. I could tell he was upset by the tension in his shoulders, but his small gesture told me that he had my back- no matter what.
Charlie got to his feet, glared at me once, and went to see what Parker was up to. Normally Parker and Charlie wouldn't engage in much conversation, if any at all- god only knows how many times I've brought Parker to hang out with us, but the three of them would never really get along- but the two of them were talking now. They were looking behind trees, touching the bark, scanning the ground. I was curious what they were doing, but I remained where I was and kept quiet.
Thankfully, Calli asked what they were looking for.
"We're trying to find the place we came out of," Parker said, examining the base of a fairly large boulder.
"We came from somewhere. Some cave, or even a hole in the ground. If we can find it again, we might be able to use it to get back home," Charlie added.
Calli got up to join the search. I was about to as well (no sense in sulking and being useless, especially since I should be the one to fix this problem) when I heard what sounded like twigs snapping somewhere off in the distance. I turned my head and realized that where the sound came from was within the trees that lined a small clearing at the bottom of the cliff. I walked back to the ledge and strained my ears to listen below as the other three shuffled about.
I managed to hear the sound of forest debris being disturbed as multiple, dull thuds thumped from amongst the trees. As the thuds got closer I could hear muffled voices. Voices! There were people in these woods!
I quickly turned around, ready to announce my news, when I hesitated. I didn't have a good track record when it came to hearing "voices" today. But, I couldn't worry about being called crazy right now. I needed a second set of ears to make sure what I was hearing wasn't just in my head.
"Guys?" I tentatively asked, seeing if they'd turn to answer. Nothing. "Guys? I- I think I hear people in the woods… at the bottom of the cliff…"
That got their attention. All three of them rushed to the cliff side, Charlie standing back a little. They were so quiet you could hear a leaf fall and hit the earth. I heard the voices again, this time a little more clearly. I breathed a sigh of relief, because the others heard them too.
As the voices got closer I was able to see two male figures walking inside the treeline of the clearing. As they passed through a patch of sunlight something long and metallic glinted off each of their hips.
Odd, the metal things look like…
I gasped.
Calli started waving her arms in the air, and yelling to get their attention. I threw my hand over her mouth, and pulled her down onto her stomach.
"Get down," I whispered urgently to the others. The boys, clearly freaked out by my behaviour, thankfully did as I asked. We were all on our stomachs, just close enough to the edge to still see over.
"What is wrong with you?" Charlie asked. I shushed him and removed my hand from Calli's mouth to point to the two men who just exited the trees and were now walking along the clearing at the bottom of the cliff.
"Don't you see? They have swords!" I whispered.
"So? They must be hunters," Calli said softly, rolling her eyes at the obvious.
"Hunters don't use swords," Parker mumbled. "We should stay hidden and keep an eye on them. Make sure they're not murdering psychopaths."
Charlie snorted and shook his head. "You two have seen way too many crappy horror movies. Those swords are probably fake."
I rolled my eyes. Fake or not, I didn't want to take any chances of putting us in danger.
"Then what…" Calli started but I shushed her.
The two men walked to the middle of the clearing then stopped, and the four of us silently scooted back along our stomachs so they wouldn't see our heads. Before I lost sight of them, I caught a glimpse of what they looked like. One was tall and large, possibly on the verge of obesity, while the other was short…really, really short. Then one spoke.
"I do not understand why Nobu thinks it is necessary for me to join in on the patrols. What if something goes wrong? What if there is an ambush? I am useless if there is an ambush, and he knows it!"
Judging from the high-pitched squeakiness of the voice, I guessed that that was the short one talking. The other man responded, his voice much deeper than the first.
"I do not know, Hanch. Maybe Nobu sends you on patrols so if the bokoblins attack you can distract them by being a quick and easy snack, allowing the rest of us to get away."
My eyes widened.
Did he say bokoblins?
I turned my head towards Parker and saw the confusion in his eyes as he mouthed that word to me. I just shook my head in disbelief. That couldn't be what we heard. Bokoblins are a Legend of Zelda character. They don't exist.
The little man squeaked in fear and the large man roared with laughter.
"Ah, I am just yanking your beard, Hanch. You are sent on patrols because you have a great set of eyes and ears, and Nobu needs a good scout," he said, and the he yelled, "Right, Rusl?"
Rusl? There's a third man? Where-?
"Right," another voice yelled back.
It came from behind us.
Calli jumped, and Parker let out a gasp of surprise.
"Turn around, slowly," the new voice said.
Each one of us gradually rolled onto our backs, and we came face-to-face with the man named Rusl- and his bow and arrow.
"Who are you kids? What are you doing hiding up here?" he asked sternly.
None of us said a word. I think we were all focused on the arrow taking turns pointing at our chests. I felt the earth start to shake, but then I realized that the shaking was really coming from me.
I switched my focus from the arrow (now hovering over Calli) and looked at the man. He wore a white band wrapped around his blond hair, and his blue eyes were clear and focused. The oddest mustache sat on his upper lip, extending to just under his cheekbones and pointing at an angle back to the corners of his mouth. His clothing was a mismatch of colours, all layered over one another. Just then, I was hit with a sudden realization. This man looked familiar to me, but I couldn't remember from where. But all thoughts of how I recognized this man disappeared when he spoke again.
"Are you spies? You have ten seconds to tell me who you are, or I start firing." He drew his arrow further back for emphasis.
Calli let out a whimpering sound, Charlie looked like he was about to be sick (I'm sure one death scare was enough for him today), and Parker's eyes bulged out so far that I wouldn't be surprised if they popped out of their sockets.
"Wait! Please!" I said, my voice trembling. "We- we're not spies, we're just lost," I explained, my hands rising in fear as he swung his arrow to point directly over my heart.
Rusl looked at me, then at the others, his eyes narrowing. They landed back on me, then softened as he lowered his bow and un-notched his arrow.
"I had a feeling. I do not believe Dojan would recruit kids to be his spies. Not his style." He replaced his arrow in the quiver on his back and settled his bow over his shoulders. "Follow me," he said, and headed for the trees on the left.
I just remained where I was, frozen. I tried desperately to process what just happened, but I wasn't having too much luck. After a few moments the others started to shift and slowly sit up; and although it took me a little longer to move, I eventually managed to raise my body from the ground.
"Should…should we follow him?" We all turned our heads towards Charlie.
"Are you insane? He was threatening to shoot us!" Calli whispered her voice close to hysterics.
"Yeah, well maybe we ruined their hunt, or are trespassing on their property, and that was their way of getting back…at us..." Charlie's voice died out as we all looked incredulously at him.
Parker shook his head. "And that makes what kind of sense? If that was their idea of a joke, then-"
"Alright, alright! So maybe it wasn't a joke. But what are we supposed to do? We're lost, and hurt," (I looked at the scrapes on all our arms and legs; the red patches on our skin that will turn into dark bruises in the morning), "and as scary as this is, we could use their help, even if it's just a point in the right direction."
As hesitant as I was to trust these men, he was right. I nodded my head in consent and Parker did the same. Calli, on the other hand, shook her head vigorously.
"Come on, Calli. Why would you want to stay?" Charlie asked gently.
"I just think that we should stay here, is all," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
He stayed silent and stared at her. He always did this when he thought Calli (or even I) was holding back on something.
She huffed. "I'm afraid that if we leave here we'll never find this place again. What if going back the way we came is the only way to get home? If we go-" Her voice broke and the tears she'd been holding in finally spilled over. Charlie was at her side within seconds, holding her and stroking her hair. After a moment he stood and pulled her up with him, still holding her in his arms.
"We'll come back. If they can't help us then we'll come back, and we'll find where we came from and go home," he promised her. "We just need to make sure that we're all okay first." Calli just nodded her head in the crook of his shoulder and the two of them walked off in the direction that Rusl went.
Parker got up, then offered me a hand. Once I stood he turned to follow the others into the woods, and I followed behind him. As I reached the trees, I stopped to take one last look at the place where we all landed, seemingly out of thin air.
A small sense of dread started to form in the pit of my stomach as my eyes wandered around. Something told me no matter how hard or how long we searched… this wasn't the way home anymore.
I turned and entered the woods, allowing my own tears to break free as they quietly slid down my cheeks.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
The trek down the hill took less time than I'd expected and I had to furiously wipe away the moisture from my eyes before anyone could notice.
Once we entered the clearing, Rusl brought us to where the other two men were standing.
"So, I guess you decided that they do not belong to Dojan, then?" the larger man said to Rusl, crossing his arms and looking at the four of us in turn. His eyes were half-closed and I couldn't tell if he was squinting from the sun- although it was behind him- or if they were naturally like that. "Could have fooled me with those odd clothes. They look like something a spy would wear."
Is he seriously talking about our workout clothes?
As he was sizing us up, I took the chance to take a good look at him in return. When I caught my first glimpse of him, I automatically thought that he was overweight from his size. Seeing him up close, I now realized that pretty much all of him (excluding his stomach, which was quite round) was muscle. He seemed familiar to me too. He wore what looked like a sleeveless white tunic with a sand coloured wrap around his middle. Each of his upper arms and his upper left thigh had a thick bronze cuff. His head was bald, his eyes were… well, I couldn't tell since he wouldn't stop squinting them, and he had quite the unusual mustache. (Maybe odd mustaches were a thing with these guys?). It looked as if his mustache were white tusks protruding out of his upper lip. I had a sudden urge to feel them and see if they were really made of bone.
I mentally shook off that crazy impulse and quickly turned my eyes to the short man. As I noticed before, he was really, really short. He wore platform sandals (I'm guessing to give him some extra height), but they seemed to be pointless as he stood with his shoulders hunched over, giving his back a slight bend. His brown hair fell past his shoulders, and his mustache was very Charlie Chalpin-esk. (That's three weird mustaches out of three!). His outfit was a white sleeveless top, a long blue skirt, and looked as if he wore an apron around his hips.
"Nah, I think they are just a couple of kids that have gotten themselves lost," Rusl said turning to face us and placing his fists on his hips. "You four should know that it is never a good idea to wander about, especially this far from any village. You never know what enemy is lurking behind the next corner."
Enemy? What the hell is he talking about?
"Wher…where are we?" I heard Calli ask, still wrapped in Charlie's arms. Her voice was thick and watery from her crying.
"The South Field," the large man answered.
"The South Field of what?" Parker asked, raising his eyebrow.
The three men looked at each other briefly, confusion flashing across all their faces.
"Hyrule, of course," the short man stated matter-of-factly.
I took one look at Parker and we both doubled over with laughter.
"Hyrule? You…all insane…doesn't…exist…" Parker was saying between fits of laughter.
"What's Hyrule?" Charlie asked.
"Hyrule is the world that the Zelda games are in," I said breathlessly while wiping the tears from my eyes. Even Charlie gave a low, disbelieving chuckle at that.
"Are you kids alright?" Rusl asked, looking a little perturbed.
"Sure, we're alright," I said smiling. "It's just that we know Hyrule doesn't exist." I had to bite my tongue or else I would've started laughing again.
The large man leaned towards Rusl and whispered, none too quietly, "I think they got the stupid scared out of them." Rusl just nodded his head in agreement.
"Well, wherever the hell we are, we could use your help. We're lost and have no way to contact anyone since our pack fell over the cliff," Charlie said. "Do you have a First Aid kit? We got a little banged up after we fell out of the cave, or hole, or… whatever."
"What are you talking about, boy?" the large man grunted. "There are no caves in this area."
Rusl looked at us with curious eyes. "Where you are from?"
"We're from Oak Bay, which is just outside of Langsdale," Parker said. He was rubbing his hand under his lower lip and trying not to laugh, clearly not over the 'Hyrule' thing.
"Oak Bay? Lang-Dale? Where in the Sacred Realm is that?" the large man scoffed.
"What are your names?" the short man asked.
"I'm Del," I said pointing to myself then I pointed at the others. "This is Parker, and Calli, and Charlie. Who are you?"
"I am Rusl," Rusl said, then nodded his head in the short man's direction, "this is Hanch. And this," he shot his thumb towards the large man, "is Bo. He is the mayor of our village in Ordon."
And then it clicked why I thought these men looked so familiar to me: they were the spitting image of the village characters in Twilight Princess!
Then a thought hit me. "Are you larpers?"
The three men looked at me confused while Parker chuckled in understanding. "You know, that makes sense," he said.
Did we accidentally stumble upon a group role-playing their game? Their costumes were incredible; pretty accurate from what I could remember of the game (which I had to admit was a little spotty as it's been years since Parker and I last played it). They weren't even breaking character- which actually bothered me a little since we were in need of their help.
"Larper? What the heck is a larper?" 'larper' Bo asked.
"Live Action Role Players," Parker said with a raised eyebrow. "You're playing a game, right?"
"Game?" 'larper' Rusl asked.
Okay…these guys seem to be really invested in their role playing.
"Listen, I'm sorry if we've interrupted your game but we could really use your help in finding our way back home," I said, slight irritation toning my voice.
The three larpers looked at each other. "Perhaps… we should take them to the princess?" 'larper' Rusl said.
"Princess Zelda? You mean there are more of you here?" I asked, scanning the woods for other people. Maybe someone else would be more willing to help.
"You know of our princess?" 'larper' Hanch squeaked.
I turned to look at him. "Yeah, I know of her." His eyes widened and I gave him a terse smile.
Yes, I know the Zelda Universe too.
'Larper' Bo looked at me, his eyes narrowing- well closing shut in his case- with suspicion.
'Larper' Rusl looked at me as well then ran a hand over his mouth and said, "I think we should bring them to the camp with us."
'Larpers' Bo and Hanch went off, saying it was too dangerous; they didn't know our intentions; that we could be part of a trap. 'Larper' Rusl agreed but he also noticed that we all looked tired, were probably hungry and thirsty, and, as Charlie mentioned, in need of some medical care.
"We are well guarded," he continued, "and have Princess Zelda's magic if anything should go wrong. Also, Nobu would never allow anyone to hurt the princess under his watch."
"Who's Nobu?" I asked, but I looked over at Parker who shrugged his shoulders. I turned back to the three men. "Is he a new character that someone made up? What about Link?"
"Link is…at the camp, with the rest of the refugees," 'larper' Rusl said in shock. His expression seemed genuine and I was hit with an odd feeling that something wasn't right. He gave his head a little shake then said, "Okay, follow us. We will bring you to talk to Princess Zelda. You can get food and rest, as well." He turned and started to walk out of the clearing, heading towards a thin layer of trees that lined what looked like a flat field just beyond them in the distance. The other two followed suit.
The four of us watched the three larpers walk into the woods and once they were a safe distance away Parker let out a low whistle. "Well, that was slightly messed up."
"Yeah," I said with a nod.
"Is it smart to go with them?" Calli asked, her light eyes round with confusion as she stepped away from Charlie's embrace.
"They did offer us food and first aid. And maybe they have a phone we can use to call for help?" Charlie said.
Parker scratched his head. "I don't know you guys. Did anyone else notice that their weapons were actually real? I'm pretty sure that larping weapons are supposed to be fake for safety."
Parker's observation sent a small shiver down my spine, but I said, "I think we should follow them."
"How do we know that these guys won't hurt us?" Parker asked.
I sighed. "We don't, but they're the only help that we have. And Charlie's right, they may have a phone. We just need to keep a close eye on them, and watch each other's backs, okay?"
The others nodded just as 'Larper' Bo's voice boom at us to hurry up before we became bokoblin food. I started for the trees that lead to the field, Calli and Charlie following behind me. Parker hung back for a moment, then told us to wait a second. He went over to the cliff side, climbed a few feet up and reached over a rock that was jutting off the wall. He pulled down my purple backpack, and slung it over his shoulders.
"It might be pointless, but I don't want to leave this behind," he said.
Together the four of us left the clearing, venturing through the trees towards the field.
And now the adventure truly begins...
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Until next week.
~lavender phoenix~