Chapter 4

I coughed up a lot of water. It stung my throat and nose as it shot up. The sharp salty taste from the water only made me dry-heave more. I felt sand around me. It was warm and stuck to my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes, but the sun was bright. Everything had a negative imprint; it looked like I only saw shadows. I lifted my head to try and get a better focus. I barely remembered what happened. I had no idea where I even was. I heard a loud splash and I felt some droplets of water hit me. I quickly sat up and scooted away in response.

"Who's there?" I shouted. I could see ripples in the water where the splash took place. I thought I saw a long fin swim away quickly into the depths of the water.

My head was pounding. I didn't know where I was. I was starting to remember my fall from the sky. I looked down at my feet and the rest of my body. My clothes were still on, but I quickly realized my stuff was gone. I tried to stand up, but it hurt to move. I let myself rest there and I noticed that to my left, a sheath of arrows and a silver bow were set neatly in the sand with my satchel leaned against them. Someone had placed them there. I reached over and opened up my satchel there was a lot of seaweed, one of the kitchen knives, and a bunch of soggy bread and fruits. I quickly grabbed one of the fruits and peeled it. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I shoved it into my face as fast as I could. The sweet juices tasted divine after coughing up saltwater.

I finally got the strength to stand up. My legs were wobbly but eventually adjusted. I picked up my things and turned around, but what I saw only made me fall right back down on my ass. It was the biggest tree I've ever seen in my life. At this point, I was able to put together that I was in Faron woods and that was the Great Tree. The memories from what happened flooded back. Everyone must have thought I was dead. I fell thousands of feet and somehow survived. No one was going to come looking for me.

I was drenched in sweat, saltwater, and now covered in sand. I was going to need to find a place to clean up. I collected myself and hiked my way up a narrow path through some trees. There had to be some springs or ponds near the Great Tree. Yeah, I'll go with that. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I only heard stories about the surface, I had no idea how to survive down here. So I walked for a while... a long while. I found myself tangled in spiderwebs, bugs in my mouth, and my clothes caught in any branch or thorn bush within a five-foot radius of me. At this point, I was beginning to think that this whole surface thing may not have been my slice of pie. After pushing my way through, I found an open clearing. Finally, a path! I kept my head high and continued walking towards the tree.

The closer I got to the Great Tree, the more lively the woods became. Flowers were blooming more, the grass was greener, trees were taller, it all looked brighter. I saw some of the roots of the tree twist and ramp their way up to the base. They became the size of buildings and walls. I tried to climb over as many as I could, but soon they became impossible to maneuver around. I noticed that very close to the trunk of the tree, a pond of water sat crystal clear. I ran over to it and immediately slurped up as much as I could. After putting my satchel and bow against a small tree, I jumped in fully clothed. I slowly peeled off layer each so that way I could rinse it individually in the water. I then would lay it out in the sunny grass to dry. I repeated this until all my clothes were off and I was naked in the water. I swam around and tried to wash my hair from the grim that was built up in it. The tangles were almost impossible to work through but eventually, I picked them out in the water with some small twigs. When I got out I wrung out my hair and tied it up into a tight bun. I was about to start putting on my clothes again when I heard leaves crinkle from footsteps. I grabbed my bow and prepared an arrow for whatever was around me.

A group of pig-like creatures walked out from behind the distance. They had scrunched up faces and wore rags. Each one had a sword but none of them noticed me or drew them in response. I stood quietly where I was at. They spoke in squawks and screeches. They were about fifty yards away from me and still had not noticed a naked girl holding a shiny bow. They just kept talking to each other.

One of them made eye contact with me. He took a double-take and then ran up and tapped a friend on the shoulder. He yelled and pointed at me. One-by-one they alerted their whole group. Once they were all aware of me, they huddled in a group and started talking for about thirty-seconds. I still couldn't assess if they were a threat or not. They fell out of their team-halftime-talk and decided to charge at me. There were seven of them. I can take out seven.

The one that was running closest to me was screaming and flailing its sword frantically. I shot him through his open mouth and watched him fumble around not knowing what to do until he fell on the ground and died. The two behind him got a little hesitant but kept trying to run at me too. Their hesitation was enough time for me to grab a couple more arrows. One got it in the right eye and the other got it in his left. The next three started falling over the bodies of their comrades. My aim was a little too high for one, I ended up shooting his forehead instead of his neck, but I corrected it for the other two. The last one stopped running and looked at the bodies in front of him, slowly put down his sword, and turned around to casually walk away, accepting his defeat.

These guys were nut jobs.

At least I got some good target practice out of it. I went over to the bodies and took my arrows out of them. I rinsed them each off in the water. I put on my slightly-dried red tunic. I took my female knight cap, which looked like a beret, and tucked my bun inside to keep my hair from getting in my face. I looked at myself in the reflection of the water. I immediately got self-conscious about my ears and then tucked them into the cap. It's funny how even while alone I was still ashamed of myself.

The most important thing was for me to find some shelter. It was going to get dark eventually, and with idiots like that out there, I don't want to just be sleeping out in the open. There were all sorts of ancient buildings around here, there had to be something somewhere. Even if it's just a dinky shed. I decided to go wondering and see if I found any paths that could lead to something useful. The path I followed began to disappear into an overgrown mess. The trees around me thickened and before I knew it, I was completely lost. I had no idea where I had been or hadn't. All I used as my source of direction was looking up towards the great tree.

No matter how much I felt like I was walking toward the tree, the further away it got. I started to get paranoid. I had my bow readied with an arrow for any sort of surprises. I kept feeling like someone was watching me. I feel my hairs on my arms and neck stood on their end. My heartbeat was racing. I didn't know what was happening and I needed to get out before I went insane. I picked up my pace and built my pace up to a sprint. I heard footsteps behind me begin to pick up. I twirled around and blindly let loose an arrow. I saw it fly out of sight.

"Dammit." I murmured under my breath. I just lost an arrow. I wasn't about to go get it either. I just whipped back around and started running faster. I could still hear someone else out there. I kept my eye on the Great Tree and just kept running. I wasn't going to look away in hopes that I would lose track of my only way out. I was running for my life. My anxiety and fear were extremely high from something that was probably nothing. It was probably some animal. I broke down my steps and began to walk. I didn't unlock my eyes from the Great Tree. My lack of attention leads to my foot getting caught on something and I fell on my face. I heard a woman laugh next to me. I looked up and saw no one. I tried to get up and start running again as fast as I could. However, I didn't properly regain my balance and ended up tripping right back onto my face. This time I knocked the wind out of me. I had mud on my face. I rolled over expecting someone to be there, but instead, I was somewhere else. I looked around while panting and the thick woods were behind me and the great tree stood ahead of me. Spooky.

There was one of those pig-guys standing below the tree, it was the same one I let go from earlier. He pointed at me on the ground and started laughing, grabbed a horn, and blew it loudly. I growled and began to lift myself and reached for the bow. I saw a pair of gross ugly feet step up to me. I readied my bow and stood up. I was surrounded. I didn't even have enough arrows for all of them. There had to have been at least fifty of them. Each of them just stared at me with swords, cleavers, and bats in their hands. I was quiet and didn't move. I examined my surroundings, I needed to find a way to get out of this. I found an opening that I figured I could sprint through. After taking a deep breath and thinking over my chances, which were slim, I shrugged and got into a sprinter stance. One guy raised his club and began his battle cry. That was my cue to run. I used my bow and started whacked anything I could out of my way. I barreled through the crowd. It sounded like an earthquake with all of the feet chasing after me.

While sprinting, I realized in the distance there was a large building that abandoned. Something about this place didn't feel right, but I needed to hide somewhere. I felt a club hit my back and I yelped in pain. I managed to keep my balance and continued running towards the house. I felt the breeze of a swipe missing my neck. I was so close, I couldn't give up yet. Another whack got my left lower ribs and I went down. I fell hard onto the grass and the ground was hard and dried. I rolled over and expected to see the hoard of fifty swords read to go down on me but there wasn't anyone. They all just stood staring blankly at me. I clenched my ribs, which I am certain are broken and got up. I had also broken the skin so I felt blood seeping through my clothes.

The creatures just stood there and looked around, they seemed completely unphased. I walked back and forth and their eyes didn't follow. I was invisible to them. I looked back at the old building behind me. I was standing in what I think is the only patch of dead grass in this whole forest. The whole house was surrounded by it. There was a distinct line where the dead grass met the healthy green grass. The pig-dudes started to get frustrated and turned around to leave. When they got a few feet away I took a step over the line to the healthy grass. One of them spotted me and screeched for the others to attack. Once they got close I took a swift step back and they became shocked and confused. I disappeared on them again.

"HA!" I yelled with a snicker. I decided to do it again. Every time they would give up and walk away, one step over the line and one step back. They fell for it again, and again, and again. Once I got bored and saw the sun started to set, I picked up my stuff and walked towards the porch of the building. The porch had dead plants in pots covering the railings There was termite raided benches that collapsed on themselves years ago. The front door was huge and elegant, small detailed carved into it but they were cracked with age. There was a large golden door-knocker. I knocked it three times and I could hear the echos inside. There were many windows along the side of the building, but dust and vines made them too stained to see through to the inside. This place hadn't been used in years. I try to open the doors, but of course, they were locked. I shook them and they didn't budge, I decided to kick them and they didn't budge. I took a deep breath, held tight to my left ribs, and rammed my body into the door... it budged. I screeched in pain and fell to my knees. Tears welled up in my eyes but I bit my tongue to toughen up. I could peek inside now. It was dark, however, the door wasn't locked, it was blocked from the inside. I caught my breath and calmed down. It was getting darker outside, and I didn't want to sleep outside and risk testing the limits of whatever spell is around this building. Taking another deep breath, a longer-running start, I rammed myself into the door again. This time the door gave in and swung open. I fell in the threshold and hissed. I inched my way over to the side of the porch and puked from the pain.

Once inside I noticed that the door was blocked by a dining table that was flipped on its side. It was hard to see without any light but I could make out a lantern on a small decorative table pressed against the wall. I went over and grabbed it. There was a box of matches next to a paper bag that had the top rolled shut. I lit the lantern and took in my surroundings. There was furniture broken, smashed, and thrown throughout the hallway. The hallway went a ways back and veered off to the left. Where I was by the front door, there were three doors to other rooms around me. Two left of the front door, and one directly across. The one across was slightly ajar so I decided to test it out first. I tapped it open with my foot and peered inside.

It was a small kitchen mixed with what seemed to be a dining room minus a table. There was a sink, an oven with some old burned wood inside, and lots of cabinets. I looked through the cabinets to see if there was anything to help my ribs. There were only small cloths and potholders. I found tons of jars of pickled or candied foods. Tons of them. My mouth watered but I needed to find something to help me first. After searching the rest of the kitchen I only found pots, pans, spices, and other normal kitchen things. I navigated myself to the other two doors in the hall. The one closest to the kitchen was locked. I was not willing to injure myself further to get inside, yet. The next room was a closet. It held mops, brooms, and other cleaning supplies. Ironically, it was very neat and organized compared to the rest of the house. There was a medicine cabinet on the wall and to my surprise, there were bottles of berries, healing herbs, and whiskey. There was also a shelf of bandage wraps. I snatched the alcohol and bandages. I used an old cloth from the cleaning supplies and dab the alcohol on my open wounds. I tightly wrapped the bandage around my ribs. It gave me the pressure and support I needed. I dropped the extra bandage and whiskey into my satchel. I grabbed the lantern and went back into the hallway.

I walked toward the table with the paper bag, again. I set the lantern down and decide to open it. My stomach clenched immediately and I puked all over the floor. It was one of the most horrendous smells I had ever encountered. I backed myself away, but the scent to follow me. Covering my face with my arm, I walked back to it and reached into the bag. I pulled out two bottles of a green moldy substance. On one of the bottles, there was a little marking of the Lumpy Pumpkin.

"I find it incredibly rude that you think you can just promenade into another person's abode and just regurgitate all over the floor." A sly, low masculine voice spoke from behind me. I took a step back and looked towards the front door where he was sitting on top of the old dining table. "A proper guest would at least ask before snooping through belongings or steeling." It was hard to make out what he looked like in the darkness. I heard a snap. I watched his shadow get up and start walking towards the light, as well as me. I naturally started stepping away in defense. He had dark skin- no-metallic skin, it glistened in the light. His eyes were glowing white, as well as his hair. He was extraordinarily tall. In the center of his chest was a silver diamond; however, the silver covering was cracked and a red crystal glimmered underneath. He has a similar diamond on his forehead. He reached his hand up and drank the remaining of a bottle of whiskey. I reached into my satchel and felt that my bottle was gone. He smashed it on the ground and I yelped in fear.

"Now tell me, how did you find my house? I'm curious." He snickered. "I haven't seen a human in a long time, so how were you able to get in here?"

"I-I-" I tried to spit some words out but I was too busy trying to back away from him as fast as I could. Uncomfortably enough, he kept inching forward with each step. "I was chased here by those-those pig-people." He chuckled. His voice was harsh like he hadn't talked in a while.

"My bokoblins," he put his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Still out to destroy the humans as I ordered. Good to know they're loyal... or imbecilic enough to not know what else to do. I'd prefer to think loyalty though." He appeared to be talking more to himself than to me. His speech was interesting, he seemed young but used slick vocabulary, almost from a different time. "So you were chased here, but how did you see this place?" His laughs quickly turned into a serious tone. He was getting so much closer and I have my back pressed against a wall.

"I just walked up. I saw it-"

"How did you see it?" He asked annoyed. I looked blankly at him. I didn't know what he meant.

"With my eyes?" I answered confused. He punched the wall left of my head. I quickly ducked under his arm and begun back-tracking towards the front door. I kept myself facing him so I wouldn't lose sight of where he was.

"I would not mouth off to me." He snarled as he turned around to face me again. "The only people who can see this dwelling are members of my household. Otherwise, it is disguised for everyone else. So let me ask you again? Are you enchanted? Were you sent to kill me? Did someone send you here? Or are you too idiotic to remember what magic you cast to come in here?" I felt my heart pounding in my chest.

"I'd say the latter. So if you don't mind idiotic me, I'll just get going-" I turned around to quickly run to the front door. I heard his fingers snap and the door slammed closed and the lock clicked.

"Oh, won't you please stick around?" He hummed as he slowly walked toward me again. I was fiercely jerking on the door handle, I hoped it would open even the slightest but it didn't. "You've already made yourself comfortable." He was standing right behind me. I couldn't let him lead me to a secondary location. "What kind of host would I be if I didn't pay you my respects." The hairs on my neck stood on end, my instincts told me to duck down as fast as I could. I heard his fist clash into the door. I took the dining table that was next to us and kicked it in his direction as I sprinted down the hall. I passed several doors and stupidly kept running. Unsurprisingly, I was out of places to run. I spun around and he was right in my face.

"If you're trying to play hide-and-seek in my own house, I assure you that you will lose." He snarled. He stared me down as I took some steps away from him. He decided to try and reach to grab my tunic. I barely dodged him, but I noticed that I had a good position to strike him. I go for an uppercut punch to his jaw. My knuckles were met with the searing pain of punching a block of steel. My arm began trembling in pain as I tried to mute my scream as best as I could. The skin on my knuckles was now bloodied and raw.

Cradling my right hand with my left, I hunched over and started to try and shuffle my way back down the hallway towards the front door again. This time I was going to break a window and try to get out that way. My foot catches something and then I felt a hand grab my ankle and yank me back. I started kicking my opposite leg frantically. I got lifted by my ankle and thrown against a wall. My ribs screamed in excruciating pain. My vision became blurred and a loud ringing was all I could hear. I started aggressively coughing. My mouth tasted like blood and I hacked up a good mouthful onto the marble floors. I tried to stand up again but he was standing above me. He reached down and lifted me by my collar.

He clicked his tongue in disapproval as he looked at my bloody bandages around my waist. "Looks like you tried to fix yourself up. Here let me help you!" He grabbed my already destroyed left ribs and crunched the bones in his hand. A deafening scream bubbled up and erupted from my mouth involuntarily. His angry glowing eyes bore into mine. I felt him pull and rip at my skin, he opened up my wounds. All the pain took over my body and seamlessly blended together. I couldn't tell if my ribs were hurting, my concussion, or anything else. All I felt was pain.

"I'm sorry! Please!" I sobbed between screams. His face shifted to shock. He immediately dropped me to the ground and turned around. He began mumbling to himself.

"She wouldn't be proud of you- but she's not here. You fool-" I couldn't make out everything he was saying. He was going back and forth with himself, having an argument. Who the hell was this guy and why was he such a lunatic. I could barely move, but I felt a warm puddle flow underneath me. The scent of blood prickled my nose. I kept trying to move, it was difficult but I knew I couldn't stay here. I was going to die if I didn't do anything. I noticed he wasn't even paying attention to me, he was too invested in talking to himself. I had a burst of motivation volt through me. I ripped my bow off my back and loaded it with an arrow. I knelt on both my knees because I was still too weak to stand. I pointed my arrow at the center of his body. He heard me shuffling and turned to see me. The tip of my arrow pressed against the red diamond on his chest. He looked down at me and appeared a bit concerned about where the arrow was. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Your persistence is perennial." He let a small smirk fall on his face. I was beginning to feel cold and sweaty. My vision was going in and out. "But blood loss can take down even the toughest of knights." I looked down again and most of the floor around me was flowing with blood. When I looked back up he was still there just smirking down at me. I slowly felt my arms weaken and lower. My body fell backward and splashed in my blood. Before I had time to do anything else, I blacked out.