Hey Wolf Pack!
So I've decided that I'll post a chapter every Saturday or Sunday. Of course sometimes I may be too busy so there will be a few times that I can't add a chapter. Hopefully that won't be often.
As a side note, for us in America, today is a sad day; its 9/11. Remember, many innocent people died, some in the twin towers, and some in the Pentagon. For all of us alive today, let us be thankful that we are here. To those of you in the military, or have family in the military, thanks for your service and sacrifice
Anyways, this chapter is less dramatic, though, I think it may be one of my favorites.
Enjoy!
Many thanks,
WolvesoftheBlueMist
P.S
It's also my birthday. :D
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"As you sleep peacefully in your beds, our troops will be standing guard, ready to give their lives for the cause of freedom." –militaryquotes
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CHAPTER SEVEN: New Start
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Sky later that day found himself in a different den than before. It was nicer too he decided. For starters it was bigger. The den walls were a gentle light cotton blue. There were strange leafless shrubs whose wood was a dark color.
Turning his head, Sky saw the den opened up to a little patch of white ground. The sky stretched out beyond it.
Flopping out of the nest he was in (for he was too weak to jump), Sky headed toward the open air; only to smack into an invisible wall and fall backward onto his rear. He stared, stunned, while at the same time, the sound of laughter filled the room.
Twisting around in surprise at the sound, Sky laid eyes on one of the strange creatures. He'd somehow not noticed her before. Her head was tilted back, and the sound coming from her open mouth reminded Sky of the song of nightingales. He waited until she stopped, then blinked as her eyes met his. They were a dark blue and were filled with amusement.
He stiffened when she began to walk toward him, but didn't move. He watched, intrigued as she grabbed a strange orb and pulled on it. The clear wall opened and the fresh smells of outside reached Sky's nose. The blue-raven haired she-creature smiled at him and he knew she meant well because he'd made that face himself before.
Slowly, cautiously he slipped past her and outside. It was warm and the sun shone brightly, warming Sky's cold body. (Remember he lost a lot of blood!) He closed his eyes as a gentle breeze ruffled his hair. It was quiet and peaceful, and for the briefest of moments, Sky forgot that he was trapped in the strange place; his heart was racing away with the breeze, dancing and playing in the sliver of freedom that he felt.
After a pause, he turned to the creature he decided to call 'Night Eyes'.
He was incredibly grateful for her allowing him to come out, and he had to show it somehow. He stepped forward and did the first thing that came to mind, Faron's words echoing in his ears:
"They mean well…."
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Ayleth had to admit, Link was freaking cute as he stood on the balcony, head tilted, eyes closed, hair blowing, and the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
For a second, Ayleth forgot he was some crazy person. He looked so peaceful. She wondered what he was thinking about, what he'd do.
Her question was soon answered, when Link turned to her, held his arms wide, and enveloped her in a hug.
His body was warm and his arms wrapped around her tightly, but not suffocating her. His breath was tickling the top of her left ear while his silky hair tickled the side of her face. Ayleth could feel his heart beating against her chest in a steady and soothing rhythm.
Recovering from her shock, the swordswoman lifted her arms hesitantly and returned the embrace. Link tensed against her, and Ayleth could hear his pulse beat faster in uncertainty. He didn't pull away, though, and as the seconds ticked by Ayleth could feel the tips of her ears burning, but at the same time both relaxed.
The sound of a throat clearing behind her caused her to jump and her whole face burned as someone spoke.
"Am I interrupting something?"
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Zelda was thoroughly confused and amused.
She'd finished practicing her archery and had decided to visit Ayleth on her shift of watching Link, before heading off to lunch. However, they weren't in the room. Noticing that the balcony doors were open, she walked towards it, fully expecting to see Ayleth struggling to stop Link from throwing himself of the second floor… Again.
But she'd been absolutely flooredto see the two in a rather intimate hug.
Ayleth's back was to her and she was gently holding the other, her arms curled around his back. Link was holding her more closely. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, the other pulled and held her upper body to his chest. His head lay against Ayleth's with closed eyes and the very corners of his mouth were turned up.
Zelda literally had to bite her tongue to stop herself from shrieking: "What in Goddesses name is going on?!"
Instead she took it as the perfect opportunity to get revenge on Ayleth's teasing remarks the other day. Clearing her throat, Zelda spoke. "Am I interrupting something?"
Swiftly Ayleth stepped away from Link, and the rare occurrence of her face in a complete beet-red blush was visible. Zelda couldn't help but burst out laughing much to her friend's annoyance.
"Zelda!" she shouted. "That's not funny! Link was just happy that he got to go outside. Nothing more!"
"Oh REALLY? Then why were you two in such a loving embrace?"
"We were not!"
"Were too!"
"WERE NOT!"
"WERE TOO!"
Zelda continued to tease Ayleth, hardly noticing poor Link standing there in absolute confusion, watching silently as the two females argued. At some point Zelda registered that Cassius and her father had come on account of the noise. After deciding enough was enough, she tried to apologize to Ayleth, but the teen wouldn't hear it. Instead she launched into a crazed rant on how much Zelda liked Cassius; right in front of the guy!
"You've been crushing for, like, EVER! I'm honestly surprised at the fact that you haven't LITERALLY fallen head over heels! You've no right to tease me about sharing ONE small hug with Link when you almost EXPLODE with stereotypical teenage hormones whenever Cassius walks past!"
NO WAY. She did NOTjust say that. Zelda opened her mouth to tell Ayleth to shut her trap, but the girl swept on.
"Can you blame him for wanting ONE SIGN of comfort?"
Wait, what was she talking about now?
"It's not his fault he was raised in the wild! He probably NEVER saw another hylian till now! Hugging is a natural thing for humans; he wanted to show me that he's ALONE AND SCARED! WHY ARE YOU SO-"
"AYLETH!"
The soldier froze at Zelda's sharp tone.
"Ayleth," the princess continued, softer this time. "What on EARTH are you talking about?"
Her friend narrowed her eyes in anger. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Without another word, she grabbed Link's hand and stormed out of the room, dragging the utterly baffled person behind her. Zelda gaped at the door, ignorant to the shocked stares of her father and Cassius.
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Never. EVER. EVER. Get in the way of Night Eyes when she's angry.
That's the lesson that Sky was learning as he was hauled around the maze of tunnels. He was already exhausted, but he didn't dare slow down. The overwhelming rage-scent rolling off of Night Eyes made him want to crawl into a rabbit hole and hide. As he was led around bend after bend, Sky witnessed several of the larger shinier creatures step forward and questioningly snort something, only to back off with a slight fear scent as Night Eyes snarled something in response.
So, Sky allowed himself to be led around the tunnels, past a strange moving tree, outside (thanks Faron!), and down a white trail. All the while, his body screamed in protest and dark spots danced across his vision. As they neared a creek he finally couldn't take anymore and flopped down.
Whipping around Night Eyes looked at him in concern. After a pause her stance relaxed and she heaved a sigh and settled herself next to him. She muttered something that sounded apologetic. She seemed rather upset and Sky whimpered gently to comfort her. However his sounds seemed to make her even more worried.
Unsure of what to do, Sky decided to forget about it and rolled onto his back. He closed his eyes and listened to the soft rustle of tree leaves as drowsiness clouded his mind. Faron had told him not to worry, and in honesty, Sky couldn't help feel so relaxed. It was hard for him to believe that he'd been so hysterical the other day. Sure, he was still plenty scared staying with the strange look-alike-beings, but at least he knew they weren't trying to kill him thanks to the light spirits' words.
Slowly relaxing, Sky gave his body permission to be at ease and enjoy the quiet companionship of Night Eyes. OK. He'd admit it to himself. He liked her. She was kind and seemed to understand that he was uneasy around them, but still had the ferocity of a wolf. Sky was also pretty sure she had a playful side, he just hadn't seen it yet. But most of all, he knew that she was loyal to what she believed in.
"Eclipse would love her," he thought to himself. Immediately, guilt and regret filled Sky. The last words that he'd told his sister filled his ears: 'YOU DON'T CARE!'
"Stop it," he whimpered, but the hateful words echoed in his mind over and over.
'You don't care. You don't care, you don't care.'
"I'm sorry!"
'You don't care you don't care.'
"Leave me alone!"
'You don't care you don't care. YOU DON"T CARE.'
Water filled Sky's eyes and he turned onto his side feeling sick. "Oh Epona, Eclipse, I'm so sorry. I miss you so much; I wish you were here with me."
He could feel the paw of Night Eyes on his shoulder and he lay there trying, and eventually succeeding, to fall asleep.
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Cassius eventually found Ayleth and Link by the creek that flowed through the south part of the gardens. She was gently rubbing the shoulder of her companion as he lay on his side. Her head lifted to acknowledge Cassius and her eyes were filled with sympathy.
"He's asleep," she whispered as Cassius drew near.
He nodded in response and sat next to his friend. After a moment's silence he looked at Ayleth.
"It's weird you know?" he said. "To think that he's been alive after all these years."
Ayleth turned her head to him. "What are you talking about?"
Chuckling, Cassius tilted his head back and gazed at the clouds. "I've never told anyone this, but Link's my cousin. I guess you could call him my younger brother. My dad died before I was born and my mom died giving birth to me. I wasn't alone though. I was taken in by my Uncle and his wife. They raised me, and when I was five Link was born. I was so happy to have my own family and people who loved me."
Cassius looked at the sleeping body of Link and smiled.
"He was so small, I felt like I had to protect him all the time. He got sick a lot in his first two months; the doctors all thought he'd die. Then one day he was suddenly just better. No one knew what had happened, but all at once there was a bubbly little boy in my family. When he opened his eyes for the first time, Aunt Loretta said that he looked like a blonde and blue haired version of me."
Ayleth looked at Link then Cassius. His Aunt was right.
"When Link was six months old, Uncle and Aunt were invited to the castle. They wanted me to come, but I was too scared. About four days passed then we got the news."
Tears filled Cassius' eyes.
"I remember just being so devastated; do you know what it's like to lose a family twice. I know I never knew my real parents, but they were my mom and dad. They were family. When I learned that I lost Link, I was so heartbroken. It was my job to watch over him, and when he was actually in dire need, I wasn't there because I was too scared."
Cassius was crying now, taking choking breaths in between sentences.
"I wanted to die Ayleth. It was my fault! If had gone with them then perhaps I could've grabbed Link and ran- but I WASN'T THERE! Link was dead to the world for seventeen years, and it was all because of me!"
"Cassius," Ayleth murmured. "You were five. There's not much you can do at that age. For all we know you both could've been really killed, and everything up to this point would've never happened. Let's be thankful that your baby cousin is now here and alive."
The young Captain looked at his soldier, his tears now stilled.
"You know, someone might actually mistake you for being smart Ayleth."
She smacked his arm.
"I'm being serious Cassius."
"Really? I thought you were joking."
Smack.
"Are you getting bitten by a mosquito as well?"
Before Ayleth could smack him again, this time in the face, Link rumbled something and rolled over to other side; an arm falling across Ayleth's lap. Cassius smirked. "He likes you."
"Na. I thinks he just realizes that I understand him," she replied, though her ears were tinted pink.
"You understand him?"
Ayleth looked at Cassius. "Do you and Zelda really not know?"
He rolled his eyes. "Know what?"
She studied the sleeping form for a moment before answering.
"I don't think he grew up alone. It's obvious that he wasn't raised by humans; you've seen how he acts around us; he doesn't understand what we're saying. He acts, well like a dog. But you and I both know that there aren't any wild dogs in Faron woods."
She paused.
"I think he was raised by wolves."
XXX
"When the realization is deep, your whole being is dancing."
-Zen saying
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