Clutching his shawl against himself, Ghirahim sighed. After departing Lanayru and setting the gem into its home in the demon gate, Ghirahim had decided it would be best to stop for the night. Link had tried to argue, saying he was fine and that they should depart to the next temple, but Ghirahim disagreed. The next temple was dangerous enough to get to already, without the added hazard of darkness. He did however teleport them to Faron woods, as close as they could get to their destination that was safe for sleeping.
Link lay curled up in the grass, his chest slowly rising and lowering as he slept. Ghirahim watched him, regarding the boy. He looked so young and innocent in the moonlight; fragile even. The face of determination he always bore smoothed out, to the soft face of an adolescent. Ghirahim gave a thin-lipped smile and traced his finger over links cheek gently, causing the aforementioned blondes nose to twitch.
"Such an innocent boy…" Ghirahim mused to himself quietly. His lips twitched up into a smirk. "It's almost a shame I'll have no more need for you after we bring down Naberius. Almost."
He snickered to himself. "No… sooner than that…. After you get me to the demon world, that's where your usefulness to me comes to an end…" He brushed some hair off of Links forehead, the gesture strongly contrasting the self-serving look on his face.
"I think I'll let him fend for himself once we get there… Should serve as some entertainment. Or perhaps let him take on Naberius? I could use him as a meat shield..!" A series of chortles left his lips.
After he settled himself down, He leaned against a tree, closing his eyes and humming softly in contentment. "All going according to plan…"
The air was thick with tension and the scent of blood. Sable was slumped in front of the throne, the other silhouettes around her. Naberius curled his lip "Sable. The boy was able to do this to you?"
Sable looked up, one hand cupping her damaged eye, a soft hiss escaping her mouth as her palm touched the red and bloody socket. "Y-Yes, sir. I apologize... I...I went too easy on him and he took me by surprise…" A silhouette scoffed to the right of the throne "Did you now? I believe he was just stronger than you. You were in your true form, correct?" Sable turned and snarled at him.
Naberius raised his hand "Silence. Did you get the data?" His eyes turned to the figure that had argued with sable. "Yes. I watched the entire battle. I have sufficient data for the moment on his fighting capabilities…" Naberius hummed in approval. "Good.. Be sure to share it with the others. Alecai, Take Sable up to the infirmary. We can't afford to lose someone right now." A figure stepped forward and nodded "Of course sir.." Sable was escorted out, leaving a puddle of blood in her wake.
Link jolted awake, stifling a yell. He was sweating, and hurt. Hurt bad. His nerves felt shot, and the unpleasant feeling spread from the top of his head to his toes. He curled up tightly and gasped, getting his breath back, willing the pain away. These dreams were amazingly helpful, but they got more and more painful each time. Soon, Link figured that he wouldn't want to sleep at all. He was almost back to normal when Ghirahim stirred, stretching casually. Ghirahim opened his eyes and took a look at him, blanching.
"You look horrid! Was it another dream?" Link nodded, wiping the sweat off his brow.
"Sable was there. Taken to the infirmary. Someone has data on our fighting now.." He explained choppily. His throat was dry and it hurt to talk. Ghirahim contemplated "Hmm. I see.. So we shouldn't have to worry about that bitch for a while." He smirked.
Link stood up and wandered to some water, cupping some in his hands and drinking. He let out a soft groan as the water soothed his throat in the best way. He drank for a few moments. Goddesses, had water always tasted this good? After he finished he wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
He walked back over to Ghirahim, who had been chuckling to himself the whole time. He's still such an odd guy. Links stomach rumbled. He grunted and sat down, digging through his pouch. He took out some bread and a spear. Ghirahim finally seemed to notice him, and regarded him with curiosity. Link walked off, and returned a few minutes later with wood, and a fish. He set the wood down and made a fire, mounting the fish on a stick and using it as a spit to roast it on.
Link took this time to look around. Dawn was breaking, and the birds had begun to chirp. The sound of water and rustling leaves filled the air, as well as the cries of unknown animals, and a few monsters. Despite this, he wasn't very alert. In fact, link would say he was pretty relaxed. This revelation unnerved him a bit. Why? Was it because of the lack of monsters? His familiarity with the area? Or perhaps it was Ghirahim. Link had to admit; it was a reassurance having a strong ally accompanying him. Even if that "ally" was Ghirahim. Said demon was watching the fire crackle and spit along the fish, before his eyes slid and met Links.
They held eye contact for a moment, before Ghirahim gave a lazy smile. "After we eat, we can head out in the direction of the temple." Link pulled the fish off of the spit. "Where is the temple?"
Ghirahim snapped and the map appeared. He splayed it out on the grass and pointed to an area behind sky view temple. "It's a ways back here. While the deep woods are rarely traveled, there is a thicket a ways behind sky view that is, for lack of a better word, forsaken. It's a very negative place…"
Link listened as he took served the fish up on some cloth. He slid Ghirahim his share and nodded, to signify he understood. He blew on his fish and then took a bite. Ghirahim kept talking. "Though, between sky view and the… let's call it forgotten forest; There's just woods for a while. However…" He trailed off. "We may run into any number of odd creatures. So it would be best to be cautious."
He picked up his cloth and bit into the fish, seemingly unperturbed by the heat. Link finished his fish and started on his bread, nodding yet again.
They finished eating in silence, though the woods around them began to stir. The cry of kikwis could be heard off in the distance as they began to wake, as well as birds chirping happily as the sun rose, casting a golden glow over the tree tops. Link put the fire out and cleaned up their mess. He packed up all of his belongings, and soon they were headed out toward the deep woods.
Getting back to sky view was simple, and remarkingly more peaceful than Links first few times in the area. Ghirahim smirked at the temple "Hmmm. The place where we first met and you first foiled my plans… Through to be frank, I don't think I would have caught that girl in this place. She was already almost departing by the time you had arrived." He shrugged and chuckled. "Water under the bridge now I suppose..."
Link looked around, not seeing any paths or openings. Ghirahim walked around the right side to the back of the temple, toward the fence. He smiled "If you're wondering where the entrance is, there isn't one. This fence has no gate, so we'll just make one." He snapped and a section of fencing disappeared. He walked beyond the gate, Link following him. Once they stepped through, the section of fence reappeared.
The forest behind the temple looked untrodden, and denser as it went farther back. Vines and overgrowth peppered a small path that divulged into the woodland. Because of how early it was, fog was still set onto the forest, and the grass was wet with dew. Despite the obvious danger, to link, the seclusion was beautiful. He smiled a bit.
Ghirahim started forward on the path "Enjoy while you can. Once we hit the forgotten forest, you won't be smiling."
And their trek began. They had been walking for some time. There were no direct paths on the map, so Ghirahim used his dowsing to point them toward the temple. The path became more overgrown as they went in, and as the brush increased, so did Ghirahim's annoyance. He grunted every time a thorn nicked him, or burs caught on his clothes. He eventually got fed up and kicked a tree that had been a bit too close to the path for his liking; resulting in it uprooting. Link chuckled under his breath. Nature didn't bother him. Having grown up in the sky, he didn't think seeing all this new land would ever bore him.
Ghirahim threw him a look over his shoulder and huffed "How can this wretched foliage not bother you?" Link smiled a bit "I don't mind it. Never was any back on sky loft. The thorns hurt though…"
Link mentioned to the perturbed demon that he could simply retreat back inside the sword at any time. Said demon seemed to ponder that for only a moment, before deciding he took offense to the idea. "This vegetation isn't nearly enough to cause someone of my stature to retreat!" Ghirahim turned around, huffing and they continued walking; punctuated by Ghirahim's angry grunts and snarls. By the time they reached a stream cutting through the woods, it was nearing the afternoon, if the sun was any indication.
There was a small rickety bridge across, which was really nothing more than logs piled up so one could cross. Ghirahim eyed the bridge and looked around. "This poor excuse for a bridge means that this area is inhabited by intelligent creatures. Huh.." He shook his head and made his way across, Link following.
The sword pointed northwest, so that's the direction they headed in. The path in this area was much more worn, and there was less overgrowth. Ghirahim looked around casually, but cautiously. A clearing could be seen ahead.
Once they came out into the clearing, Link almost gasped. He would have, had Ghirahim's hand not pressed against his mouth, and the man hissed a 'shhh' into his ear.
Standing on the other side of the clearing, a creature stood. It looked a bit like a horse. Link had never seen one, but he had learned about it from Professor Owlan. Never the less, this horse had the four legs, hooves, tail.. But.. Links eyes trailed up where a man protruded from where the neck and head would be. It looked like someone had sewn a man at the hips to a horse's body!
The creature carried on normally, gathering some grass and wheat, humming softly. It stilled and so did they. When the creature turned, and its gaze met Links, he felt his breathing stop. The man had long hair that reached his waist, that was colored very oddly. It had some blonde, green and brown in it, but it looked very soft and earth colored. The two ends closeset to his face were tied back into a ponytail, while the rest hung down low. He had an eye patch covering one eye, but the other eye was a very soft green. His face was handsome, but somewhat angular. His chest was adequately muscled; his skin a nice tanned color. As link watched the man, the man watched him. While the creature eyed Ghirahim wearily, it looked to him curiously.
The man then spoke, his voice very pleasing to hear, low and fairly soft. "Well.. this is odd. We don't usually get visitors here. Are you… a human?"
Link felt himself nod before he could really register. The man smiled some and turned toward them fully. "Based on your expression, I can tell you haven't seen one of my kind before… But likewise, I've never seen a proper human.." He then looked to Ghirahim carefully "…You are a demon, right? I can feel it in your aura. It's a pretty sinister presence in these calm woods."
He paused then smiled "I apologize if I seem to have trepidations.. I was wounded by a demon in the past." He put his hand up to touch the eye patch. He then looked at the odd pair "Why are you two here?"
Ghirahim moved to step forward, but link did instead. "We need to get something from the forgotten woods…"
The man tilted his head then blinked "Oh.. There's rumored to be a treasure deep within that stretch of forest, but none of my people would dare go there… It reeks of the underworld. Monsters will periodically invade our village as well.. We think it's the treasure itself that is making that area so heinous."
Ghirahim appeared giddy at the prospect of such a vile place, while Link frowned. The man smiled "I'm sorry, I'm being impolite. My name is Prince Valoys. But please, just call me Valoys." He gave a small, surprisingly graceful bow.
Link smiled a bit and nodded politely "I'm Link. This is Ghirahim. Uhm.. We are looking for that treasure. If at all possible, I'd like to help you and rid the evil here.."
Valoys blinked "Really? You would do such a thing? How courageous!" He smiled and trotted over to the two. He then moved in a circle around link, looking him up and down "Huh… Humans are quite odd.. You look fine down to your hips though.."
Link smiled a bit. Valoys was the odd one here, being half human and half horse; yet he took it in stride. Valoys stood straight up and looked pleased "Allow me to take you to my village. The forest isn't too far from there anyway.."
Valoys went and grabbed some bundles of the wheat he was collecting and cradled it in his arms "Alright. Follow me, if you would please."
Okay so I was spurred on to finish this chapter because my friend just got her hands on Hyrule Warriors. I HIGHLYYYYY recommend it. Super fun, music is KICK ASS AMAZING, graphics are stellar.. ! And of course, team villains (Ghira, Zant and Ganondorf)
Damn, Quite alots happening aint it? Yup, Ghirahims still the evil asshole we all know and lovee. But, what else is new? More on that (And possible changes to his mindset) later.
We also get Valoys! Yup, the obligitory race for this area is centaur-like people. So I will, at some point put up a picture of valoys I have. In the mean time please enjoy! Seriously I may not update often at all but I promise I haven't forgotten! Reviews and Input apprecieted!
