Welcome to chapter eight of 'The hero, the broken, the saviour'. Last chapter, we saw Shadow kick the butt of the pirate woman Marie, encounter a ghost ship, and turning slightly mad because she's not keeping to the Sheikah ways. All this self-bashing doesn't really put her in the best frame of mind to watch over Rufus… The young hero is even now entering Dragon Roost cavern, for his first real adventure – will he be able to cope, with what little training his simple island life has given him? You'll have to read on to find out!
Thoughts in : single colons :. Visions or dreams are in italics.
It's turning a/u. Run for your dictionaries so you can all flame me with big words!
Rufus: Invisible aid…
Quill dropped me off in front a large, ominous looking cave entrance. The King of Red Lions had told him that he needed to go back and tell the other Rito what was going on, so he hurried off to get back. I watched as he falteringly wheeled around, and grinned as he waved a wing at me, which caused him to drop about ten feet through the air before he righted himself. I swear I heard him curse, but I'm not sure. I'd like to believe I didn't actually; otherwise it might well have spoilt my opinion of him. Swearing is just not…not cool.
I turned away from the bright morning sun, which was bathing the island in a golden light, and returned my eyes to the inky blackness of the cavern I was about to enter. The tall cliffs on either side blocked out the rays of the sun, so that I stood in shadows that were almost as deep as those of that gaping hole in the rock… However, instead of feeling cold, I felt quite warm. :In fact, I feel even warmer than I did in the sun just now: My head was starting to feel especially warm, and, now that there wasn't anyone else around to see the terrible state of my hair, I took it off and stuffed it into the spoils bag Niko had given me.
Then, knowing that as soon as I got into the cavern, I wouldn't be able to speak to the King of Red Lions again, I took out the green stone he had given me, and looked at it. :How does this work: I'd never contacted him with it before…he always contacted me. I prodded it with a finger to see if that would make anything happen. Nothing did :did you really expect it to be that simple: Then, after another look around to make doubly sure that there wasn't anyone there to laugh at me if I happened to make a fool of myself, I held the stone up to my face, and spoke into it.
"Red? Red, are you there?"
"Marie, just stay in the cove until I send for you," Red's voice came back faintly, and then I heard a voice that I recognised, but couldn't quite place,
"Don't make it too long mate, there's only so much time a gal can sunbathe before she gets bored!"
"Yes, I know," Red answered, and he sounded exasperated. I said his name again, more loudly this time, which cut across the lady's voice,
"Red? Is that you? It's me, Rufus." :Stating the obvious there: I grinned to myself.
"Shh," I heard Red hiss quietly, and then, in a falsely jovial voice, he spoke to me. "Hello Rufus! What did you want to speak to me about?" It was then I realised that I didn't actually have anything to ask him about…
"Urm, well," I stumbled looking for words. "I just, you know, wanted to, uh – make sure that if I needed to contact you, I'd be able to." :Nice save: I congratulated myself.
"Oh – well, of course. Good thinking my dear lad! You do remember that you won't be able to contact me from inside the cavern though, don't you?"
"Yeah, I remember. But, why is that?" I knew by this point that I was stalling for time. I really wasn't all that keen on wandering into a darkness that could hide any number of monsters baying for blood!
"Why? Something to do with the great Valoo's magic most likely – the magic of this stone is only small, but his magic is very strong… Why do you ask?"
"Just curious…uh, well, I guess I'd better – go then, right?"
"Oh! Yes, you had better get moving as quickly as you may! The Rito are counting on you boy; and I know that you will do me proud, and you'll help them with ease! Now, go, and be careful."
"I will," I said, in the exact same tone I would have used to Grandma. He didn't seem to notice my insincerity however, and didn't reply. The stone stopped glowing in my hands, and I put it away again. :How many of these stones are there: I wondered, thinking about the voice I'd heard before Red and the lady were both aware I was talking as well. I shook my head, and decided there was no point trying to figure it out. If Red wanted to tell me, then he would. If he didn't then there was probably some great mystical reason why he couldn't…or something like that anyway.
I nudged an annoying long bit of hair out of my face, and briefly considered putting my hat back on. As I got nearer to the entrance into the mountain, however, I decided against it, because, with every step I took, the temperature seemed to rise by a degree or two. I even had to pause to unlace the neck of my tunic, and roll up my sleeves, before I carried on. I left the twilight shadows cast by the cliffs, and entered the midnight blackness of the cave.
I moved across until I found a wall with my right hand (in my left I was already holding the Hero's sword). The rock there was warm beneath my fingertips, which was something I hadn't expected. I kept my hand to it though, following the wall forwards, and carefully placing my feet before me, checking for unstable bits of floor before I actually took a step. Luckily, the floor was perfectly intact, and soon, there was the red glimmer of light penetrating the gloom.
It was even hotter here, and sweat began to trickle down the back of my neck, as well as plastering my hair to my forehead. :I am going to smell so bad when I get out of here: I thought with a mixture of amusement, and then horror at the thought that Medli might be privy to a rather more pungently scented Hylian boy than the one she'd met earlier. :Where did that thought come from: I thought just after that, and then a sound from ahead broke into my thoughts.
I immediately crouched down low, the Hero's sword in a position ready to block any blows that might come my way. I squinted to see through the still murky light, and couldn't see anything moving. There was, however, a heat shimmer over the whole scene, which gave the illusions that the walls themselves were moving! I advanced slowly, still with my right hand trailing along the wall. I was scared that if I took my hand away, I might end up losing my way before I could even get into the cavern proper.
This did mean, however, that I only had my sword to block with, as I couldn't carry both sword and shield on one arm! I'd just have to hope that nothing too strong would try and attack me before I got to a place where I had enough light to see by.
Finally, a sharp bend in the tunnel I'd been following bought me into a small chamber, with a large pile of rubble at the far end, and various – eurgh – various bones lying about on the floor. A rat skittered across my path, and jumped through the eye-socket of a charred skull, before crawling out a whole in the back. It must have been a heavy blow, because almost the whole back of the skull was missing. I could even see a few slivers of metal glimmering in the hazy red light.
All of the bones lying around must have belonged to civilised beings… Monsters all disintegrate very soon after they die, but these bones looked old. There were even a few lying around who had lost all colour, and were completely ivory white. Some of the other skulls lying around had paper thin bone, and, when I accidentally stepped on one that I hadn't noticed, it crunched beneath my feet. "Oh Gods!"
I shuddered, and looked away. It was hard not to just stop and stare at a few of the skeletons…most of them didn't seem…human. There was even something that looked like it had had four legs, which ended in hooves, and then two extra arms. I tore my eyes away, and pointedly ignored the rest of the oddities lying around me. Instead, I focused on the pile of rubble, in which there was a small hole which was letting light through. :That must be the entrance to the cavern then: I decided.
With that in mind, I hurried over to the rubble, and put my eye up to the hole. The room on the other side had many torches burning steadily, and a door exactly opposite my viewpoint, which had a large bolt on it, with a padlock on. As well as that, there were two bokoblins, both of whom were holding very large, scarily pointed looking sticks. However, the expressions on their faces (the one on the left looking comatose, and the one on the right actually asleep and leaning on his stick) told me that they wouldn't be much harder than the ones I'd fought back at the Forsaken Fortress…
The memory came back to me unbidden…
"I've come to get you out of here – do you know if there's a key anywhere?"
"Big brother, are you listening?" Aryll called.
"What was that, sorry?"
"I said I don't know where the key is, but maybe you should look over – OH NO! Rufus, watch out!" I didn't have any time to react before the huge black bird that had kidnapped Aryll landed in front of me. I made to get out my weapons, but it flapped, throwing me back against the wall. Aryll screamed, and then I felt huge claws digging into me.
My stomach lurched as the creature took off, and the world turned upside down – I managed to catch a glimpse of Aryll's face, and saw that she was crying. "No..." I groaned, dazed from hitting the wall and feeling sick. "Aryll!" I struggled, but the bird's grip was like iron, and I couldn't get free.
Guilt ran through me, and that quickly turned into anger. It had been monsters like those bokoblins that had slowed me down when I was trying to get to Aryll. It was monsters like these that had been spreading across the Great Sea and causing havoc! And it was monsters like these that I had trained for five years of my life with Orca, greatest of swordsmen, to be able to fight. Staring out with a wooden play sword, and then a staff, and then finally the coveted Hero's sword, treasure of the island armoury!
I began shifting the rubble as noiselessly as I could; small showers of stone were sent pattering down the mound every so often. Each time this happened, I stopped to look through the widening hole I was making, and grinned when I saw them in exactly the same positions each time. Finally, when I'd made a hole just big enough for me to comfortably crawl through, I picked up my sword from where I'd laid it down to shift the rocks, and shoved my left arm through the hole first, before following with the rest of my body.
I hadn't gauged quite how far the drop was on the other side, and landed with a loud thud that finally drew the attention of the bokoblins. :Well, at least that proves that they're not deaf: I thought, picking up my sword from where it had clattered onto the floor during my fall. One of the bokoblins rushed towards me, pointy stick raised aggressively – I made short work of it in my anger, reducing it to a short, stumpy stick. The bokoblin looked at it disbelief, and then tried to jab me with its ruined weapon.
I easily sidestepped, and caught sight of the other monster whilst doing so. This one appeared to be slightly more cunning, as it had run to one of the nearby torches, and had lit its stick on fire. I returned my attention to the first one, and block another attack made with its almost useless weapon. I put a large chink into the wood, and, when it swings the weapon away, the whole end splinters off, and it was left holding something that resembled a very small twig. With a howl of outrage, it sprang at me.
Years of working on footwork against Orca (who for someone his age is still damned fast) meant I yet again sidestepped easily, and then span around, sword held out horizontally. Thus, I was able to cut the bokoblin straight through the middle – before its body disappeared into dust, I saw the top half sliding away from the bottom half, and got a glimpse of blood. :Eurgh – not nice: I thought, wrinkling my nose at the gloopy black substance that now clung to my sword. :The other bokoblins didn't make quite such a mess of my weaponry either: I thought, and this added to my insane anger.
I ran towards the other bokoblin, who, after the demise of its fellow, had dropped its own weapon and tried to hide in the shadows at the other side of the room. I let out a howl of fury, and the cowering creature tried to run away – it held a small knife in its hand, and when it had figured out it wouldn't be able to outrun me, it turned around and tried to slash at my face. Luckily, I'm small enough to be able to duck out of the way of that sort of thing. I did this, and then swiped at the knees of the creature.
It screeched loudly, and buckled onto the floor, dropping its knife. My sword, already filthy, I discarded, and, thinking it to be poetic justice of sorts, I picked up its knife, and stabbed the crudely shaped metal object through its heart. I may have been angry, but I wasn't going to torture the beast. If something has to die, its better to go quickly and cleanly. I wrenched the knife out, but half of the blade remained in the body, which a second later turned into dust, and the rusty knife shard clattered onto the floor.
"Shoddy workmanship," I muttered, dropping what was left of the knife next to the small specks of dust that were also fading away. The rage I'd felt was waning rapidly, and I found that my sweat had turned cold. I rubbed the back of my neck, and then discovered a piece of tattered old cloth lying on the ground, which I used to wipe the blood from my sword. Then, I discarded the rag, and walked over to the door which I already knew was padlocked, in order to get my bearings of the rest of the room.
"The key has to be in here somewhere," I reasoned aloud to myself. I wandered back over to the place where the first dark creature had fallen, but there was nothing there, and I already knew the second had only left his stick and knife behind. I turned slowly around, studying the walls, the floor, the ceiling, of the room, for anything that looked out of place. The only thing I could find was a group of large urns that stood next to the door.
Walking back over to them, I saw that almost all of them were full of water. :Well, I am quite thirsty: I thought, bending down to scoop some out and drink it. But, then I noticed the green scum growing on the top, and it even looked like a few pots contained moving organisms! I wrinkled my nose:Who's to say it isn't poisoned or something anyway. It's probably a good thing you didn't drink some.: I nodded in agreement to the part of me that talked sense, and then lent my attention to the urns that didn't hold any water.
The first urn was completely empty, and the second one just held a huge bundle of more sticks. In the third urn, however, I found exactly what it was I sought. I put my hand in to grab the key, but swiftly pulled it out again when something very sharp cut into the skin between my thumb and forefinger. "OW!" I looked at it in horror, to see two tiny pinprick teeth marks on the upper side of my hand, and two almost identical ones on the palm side. I balled my hand into a fist, and then used my left hand (thanking the fact that I'd reached in with the hand I don't usually use in the first place) to tip the urn over.
It shattered on the hard stone floor, and a bat-like creature looked up at me with demonically glowing yellow eyes. :A Keese: I thought, quickly stabbing it with my sword. :Thanks the Gods they aren't poisonous: I thought, looking at the small wound again. I picked up the key from within the shards of the urn, and hurried over to the door in order to use it.
It was quite hard to turn the key, probably because the padlock itself was so rusted, but, once I had, the bolt flew out of the way after a good hard shove. It clanged against the rock on the other side, and the sound echoed off of the stone walls of the room. I looked around to check that there wasn't anything about to creep up behind me, and then leant against the door to push it open.
I'd been expecting to find myself in a large cavern, but, instead, I found myself in a really small corridor-like room, with a boarded up door at the other end. There were a few small rocks lying around on the floor, as well as some more of those pots lined up along the walls. I walked towards the boarded up doorway, picking up a couple of rocks as I went. The wood looked to be mostly rotten, so it shouldn't be that hard to break my way through.
As I drew closer, I was able to see chinks of bright red light pulsating through the cracks between the boards. There was a roaring, bubbling sound, and the rush of hot air coming from behind the door was astonishing. I broke out in a new sweat, and licked my lips with a tongue that was already quite dry. :I wish I had a drink: I thought, treading lightly across the floor, which was sending a great deal of heat through the soles of my boots.
Crash! There was an explosive crash behind me, and something sharp shot into the small of my back at high speed. "Fu-" I began, but I cut myself off before I could even finish the word. Reaching down, I managed to find blood seeping slowly out of a wound that was blocked with a shard of broken pottery. I could yank it out – besides, there were more important things to worry about, such as the strikingly intelligent looking bokoblin that was advancing towards me. It had two curved swords in its scaly hands, and, for some reason, I found myself thinking of it as a 'her'.
:After all, Aryll does keep saying that girls are smarter and all that: I felt a lump in my throat as I remembered Aryll back in that cell. But, the thought didn't preoccupy me for long, as my opponent launched her first attack. The shard of pottery lodged in my lower back was obviously from the pitcher she'd been hiding in, waiting for some fool to come past. :Ah well, she'll get more than she bargained for in me.: I managed to swing my shield from my back at the same time as blocking a double assault from her twin blades.
With shield and sword together, I was able to contend with two blades more easily, as I had two things to block with. However, her blows came down so thick and fast that I wasn't able to get any of my own in! She was backing me towards the door, and I gulped as I sensed the gap between it and I became smaller and smaller. I had none of the rage I'd had earlier, and I tried to call it back. It seemed as though I fought better when I was mad :which is completely contrary to what Orca told you, so you shouldn't do it:
There was no denying the fact, however… I thought of Aryll, but where I'd found anger before, now I only found a deep self-loathing…
The bokoblin hit me especially hard – it was a double hit that sent me flying backwards, into the rotten wood. This served to wedge the shard of pottery more deeply into my flesh, and I had to keep in another incredibly rude word! The wood buckled underneath my weight, and my top half tumbled through, whilst my bottom half found resistance, which resulted on a back flip to the other side. I landed on my suffering back, and completed the roll so that I managed to get back onto my feet again.
She exploded through the door, and I rose my shield against the splinters of wood that went flying. Her eyes were narrowed and deadly, and I'm sure I saw a calculating smirk on the dark-skinned face. Pointed teeth shone with the red light, which now, I realised, was given off by magma bubbling over a hundred feet below. :At least, I think it was magma. Since it was below ground I mean…I know that it's called lava when it gets above ground, and magma when it's below ground. But, does that count for above or below ground? No matter… Because, that gives me an idea…: I wasn't going to win this battle through strength, so I'd have to win it by cunning instead.
I let both my arms drop, pretending to be so hurt that I couldn't even bear the weight of my equipment anymore. A delighted snarl escaped the bokoblin, and she raised her swords to give what she must have anticipated to be my deathblow. She bent down slightly, to give extra power behind the swing, and then sprinted forwards to deliver her attack. :I just hope she's going fast enough…: I thought, playing a game of chicken, and waiting until the last minute until I dived out of the way.
At the same time, I swung a leg out sideways, which caught her in her mail-clad stomach – she stumbled in her run, and collapsed forwards. Onto nothing – the decking ended, and it was only the heavy boots the beast wore that hit against the wooden platform once, before she tumbled into the incandescent magma below. I didn't look, and flinched a little as I heard the hissing pop that told me she'd hit into the boiling rock.
Instead, I looked around to see where I could go next, in order to make my way upward. There were some stairs on the far side, but it was impossible to get to the bridge that led to them from where I stood. And there wasn't anywhere else I could go either. Not to mention that the heat in here was almost unbearable. I took to using my shield in order to fan myself a bit, as I walked along to try and find somewhere to go next.
I thought I heard a sound behind me, and I reeled around, sword raised. Something then moved in my peripheral vision, but, when I looked, it wasn't there anymore. I walked towards the shadows that whatever it was must have moved into, peering to try and see through the darkness to whatever it was I'd just seen moving around.
Another sound distracted me – this time a low rumbling sound that soon escalated into a bubbling roar – and then, all of a sudden, a column of fire shot up from the magma lake behind and below me. I saw it from the corner of my eye, and, the shadows in front of me were all quelled for a few seconds, so that I could see what was there.
Nothing…not a thing. I rove my eyes around the rest of the cavern whilst it was all lit up, but the light faded before I could search everywhere. :Well…if it hasn't tried to attack me yet, then maybe it won't at all: I thought, though I didn't dare to lower my sword. If there were more creatures here as intelligent as the last one I'd fought, I needed to be on my guard.
I went back along the decking, towards the place where there was a huge gap in it. The far away scrap of decking linked to the long bridge that in turn led to a large door which had no padlock on. :How do I get across: I knew there was no way I could jump that. Normally, I would probably have given it a go at home. The only difference between here and back at home was, if I missed at home, I'd only fall into water. If I missed here, I would either fall into boiling hot magma, or become splat on the stone floor eight or nine feet below.
There were a few crates laid out on the level below. I wondered briefly just how wooden crates had survived in a place like this. Then I remember that I was in fact standing on wood, and realised that it was surviving pretty well. The crates themselves posed an interesting idea to me, which would help me to get across the gap and ultimately to that unlocked door that was just begging me to go through it.
I backed away from the edge of the decking, and dropped both of my bags (the food one and the spoils bag) onto the ground. Then, I took out the rope I'd bought on Windfall, and started to tie it around a couple of the boards of the decking, looping it in and out of the gaps, trying to remember the orders Red had barked at me when I was trying to put up the sail. When I was done, I tugged as hard as I could on the rope, and found that it seemed to be strong enough to hold my weight.
I picked up both of my bags, and slung them back over my shoulder, along with my sword and shield. Then, I turned around, picking up the rope that was coiled up on the ground, and went to throw it over the edge. Imagine my surprise when I saw a flash of indigo and white below me – it was so quick that I blinked, and it was gone. I was sure I'd seen it however, and threw the rope down, then shimmying down as quickly as I could.
The indigo thing, whatever it had been, wasn't there anymore. The crates, however, had been moved, so that they were all on the far side of the gap I wanted to breach, and one was even stacked on top of four others, reaching a height of six feet, which would be more than enough for me to be able to pull myself up onto the decking from. :It wasn't like that before…I swear…it wasn't: I wondered if this had anything to do with the indigo thing… :Well, it must do. You saw it just before you saw the crates had changed:
I wondered if maybe the crates were a trap, and, if I trod on them, they'd set fire, or bokoblins would leap out of them, or something. I went around the crates, knocking on the sides of each one in turn. All of them sounded hollow, and none of them relinquished monsters.
Satisfied that I might very well have a shy friend helping me out, I rested my hands on the edges of the lower level of crates, and began to pull myself up. When I scrunched up the right side of my back, fiery-hot pain declared its presence. "Ah! Damnit!" I exclaimed, and this time, the swear word was completely called for, and rather too soft a one for the pain that was shooting through my back. The shift had caused the shard to move around a little bit, and it had literally twisted around, gouging out a bit more of my flesh, and bringing out more of my blood.
"Ow – stupid thing!" I leant against the crates, and winced when I realised it was even hurting to breathe. I decided I may as well try some of that blue potion Doctor Bandum had sold me. Gingerly, I leant down, and took the heavy-duty glass bottle from my pack. I placed it on top of the crates, and then, quite awkwardly because no matter what I did, it really hurt, I managed to get a hold on the shard in my back.
It was slippery with blood, and I even managed to slice a good few cuts into my fingers as well from the sharp porcelain. However, I did manage to yank it out, with a sharp shout as I did so. Then, quickly, I uncorked the blue potion, and took a small mouthful. The pain of my back died down to a dull numb, and I reached back to find the wound closed up. My fingers also healed, only leaving small, scabbed cuts. I also felt refreshed – my tongue wasn't as dry, and I didn't feel as thirsty as I had. "That's good stuff!" I murmured to myself, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand.
Again, the sound of movement from behind me assailed my ears, and I turned around just in time to see a small crate (about two feet tall) come skidding to a stop only a yard or so away from me. :Weird…: "OK, who's there?" I demanded, looking all around to try and catch a glimpse of whoever or whatever was helping me. I suspected they were the thing in indigo, and looked out for that colour. However, I didn't spot anything. "Fine, whatever," I said, a little more grouchily than I intended. "Whoever you are, thanks for the help," I added. Again, there was no answer.
A little stiffly, I bent down, and grabbed the box, bringing it so that it made a step that I could climb up. I did just that, so that I was on the first layer of big crates. Then, I turned around, and lay flat on my stomach in order to get the stepping box. This I then used to step onto the second large crate. Then, I reached down, picked up the stepping crate, and put it on top of the larger crate. I was able to easily step up the foot gap to the decking, and I hitched the shoulder of the spoils bag back into place.
I turned around quickly, hoping to catch my silent helper off guard…no such luck. So, I turned around again, and made my way across the bridge (which swayed precariously beneath my weight). I only started to breath again when I reached the other side, nervous that the whole thing could have collapsed at any time!
The unlocked door glinted slightly as the fire column appeared again. I walked towards it, stretching out my free hands to push it open. However, all of a sudden, it just opened by itself, rising upwards into the steaming stone of the cavern. I took a couple of steps back, and it started to fall again. Then, I ran through, noting that as I got closer, it started to rise up again. :How odd.:
The next room was lit by only the glow of the magma. To the left, I could see a large wooden chest, and straight ahead, I could see a ladder leading up to the next level. :I know I've got to go upwards, but there might be something useful over there…: I wasn't sure how I was going to get across, however, because the magma pool before me yet again posed a distance too far for me to jump. And, crates wouldn't really help me this time, would they?
I backed up slightly as a large bubbles caused spots of magma to fly onto the dark stone ledge I stood on. They hissed slightly, as a couple of them fell into a small puddle of water, and turned abruptly into solid stones once more. I turned to see that there were dozens and dozens of urns filled with dirty water behind me. I also saw that there were more of them on the platform with the chest, and wondered how it was I'd managed to overlook them before.
:You're probably just too preoccupied with whoever it is that keeps helping you.: Yeah…that just about summed it up really. Between my mysterious helper, saving Medli from almost certain death/maiming, and the fact that I had to save Aryll no matter what, my mind was pretty preoccupied…
I kicked the small stones that had formed in the water that was leaking from a cracked jug back into the magma. This caused it to sputter, and fire out more sparks, which then created more stones as they hit the water. "I think…" I began aloud, looking at the water-filled pots, "I have an idea." If my helper was around, they would probably hear me and think me crazy. However, if this worked, then they'd understand what I was about to.
I bent down, and picked up one of the urns; they weren't as heavy as I thought they'd be. Then, I caught it by the brim with one hand, and at the base with the other, so that the neck faced the magma. Some sloshed out and over my hands, but I didn't care – it cooled my hands down a bit actually. Then, I bought my arms back to give my swing some leverage (cringing as my back complained a little), and then threw the pot forwards. The water flew out and arced through the air, before falling with a satisfying pop, and turning the surface of the magma into a stone step to the next platform.
Not daring to think about what would happen if it couldn't hold my weight, I jumped onto it, and then leapt onto the platform to the left. Almost as soon as my feet had left it, the thing had melted into oblivion, and I felt glad of my light footwork.
Now that I was on this platform, I was able to kick open the chest – the lid sprung open, and I backed away, remembering the whole bokoblin coming out of a pot experience of earlier. All that jumped out of this chest though, was a lot of dust. When it had cleared away, I saw a small folded square of parchment folded up at the bottom. :Seems a lot of bother to go to for just a scrap of paper: I thought, reaching in and picking it up.
When I unfolded it, I realised just why it was important. It was a map of the cavern, and after a few seconds, I was able to pinpoint where I was, and where I needed to go next. Just as I had thought, my route was going to be up that ladder which was now to the left of me. I picked up an urn in order to repeat the trick I'd carried out earlier, but was accosted by a group of three Keese, who chattered loudly whilst trying to take chunks out of my ears.
As the only thing I held happened to be the pitcher full of water, I threw the water at them. All the extra weight that the liquid added to their wings meant that they could no longer stay airborne, and two of them spiralled down into the molten rock, where they perished. The survivor dragged its small, rodent body across the floor, and I dropped the empty urn upside down on top of it.
Then, I got another urn, and this time managed to throw it in the right direction, so that it made a useful step between the two platforms. Remembering how quickly the rock would disintegrate, I hopped across and on the last platform, which housed the ladder. Looking up, I saw a small opening into what appeared to be a corridor. It looked a lot darker than the room in which I was standing, and again I wished for a torch or light of some sort. :I should really have grabbed one from the room where I fought the two bokoblins: I thought with rueful regret. Ah well, it was too late now.
As I extended a hand towards the rungs of the ladder, I again heard a strange sound. However, this didn't sound the same as the sounds I'd heard before. This was a sort of 'gloopy', 'gooey' sound. It was coming from the corridor up above, and I looked up just in time to see an indigo-clad arm, ending with a pale white hand, swipe at a red chu-chu (a strange, jelly like creature) with a bright silver knife. The arm withdrew, leaving behind only a small gloop of red chu-jelly on the floor. "Wait!" I called, hurrying up the ladder as quickly as I could.
But, of course, when I reached the top, whoever it had been was nowhere in sight. There was the sound of movement up ahead, and, slightly hopeful, I advanced, sword now out, just in case it wasn't my helper. There was the sound of a loud thud, and as I rounded a corner in the corridor to come upon a long, thin room, I was just in time to see the fallen body of a green bokoblin before it disappeared. "Hey!" I called, my voice echoing off of the walls. "Hey! Come on, show yourself – I'd like to know who's helping me!" I called, urging them to show themselves. They didn't. :Well, what did you expect, hrm? Maybe they're shy…:
The bokoblin had left behind only one thing, and that was a key. I picked it up, and stuffed it into my pocket for use later. Then, I reached out to trail my hands along the wall, just as I had when I'd been walking through the tunnel to enter the cavern proper. The gloom wasn't quite so impenetrable here, but it was still deep enough that all I could make out were the outlines of shapes, and the square of light around the door at the end of the curving hallway. I felt glad that there'd been no branches, or I might have ended up quite lost, since I wouldn't be able to check the map in this light.
I stumbled slightly over some small rocks on the ground, but managed to right myself before I fell flat on my face. I felt a prickling feeling on the back of my neck, as if I was being watched, but I didn't turn around. I knew that the eyes were friendly…or, at least, that they weren't the eyes of something that wanted to kill me. I began to withdraw the key from my pocket, but the door in front of my lifted upwards just like the one before had, so I put the key away. Bright light assaulted my eyes, and when I stepped out into the open, I discovered that I was back in the large cave with the magma lake again.
Only this time, I was on a higher level. :Looks like I'm on track then – going up: I smiled merrily because everything was going according to plan, and then jumped with a pillar of fire erupted right next to me. The heat was so strong that it prickled my skin, and I quickly moved away from it. This bought me towards yet another of those gaps in decking that seemed to have been plaguing my recent existence. Happily, this distance was one that I was comfortable with jumping, and I hopped across with little trouble.
At the end of a shallow incline, I could see a door with a padlock on it, and I took out the key again, walking towards it. The fire flare died down, leaving the soft light and heat coming up from below to seep through the boards I walked on. I looked down, to see the red/orange/yellow mass of writhing liquid rock, quite beautiful, and quite, quite deadly to anyone who so much as touched it. Even looking for too long could hurt your eyes; it was so bright in some places.
The door slid open easily after I had wrestled with the padlock (just as rusty and unkempt as the first), and a gust of refreshing wind whipped over me. The light was bright, as the sun beat down upon me, and as I went outside, the wind blew more insistently, cooling my sweat, and even managing to give me a chill feeling, as opposed to the half-melting one I'd been experiencing for the past hour or so.
I rolled down my sleeves, and used my own sweat to slick my hair back out of my face again. As I did that, even I managed to see the size of the sweat-patches all over my clothes – they sort of all merged in together, so that the only place there wasn't any were the cuffs of my sleeves, and the bottom half of the tunic, below the belt. "Gross!" I exclaimed, when I discovered I could actually wring out my clothes. Deciding that I was just glad that the wind was blowing my own smell away from me, I walked towards the bridge that led to the next wide ledge on the outside of the mountain of the island. I could see the small figure of a bokoblin leaning on the ropes at the other end, and looked around for something to throw at it.
:Aha: I thought as I spied a bunched of small pebbles lying on the ground next to the main body of the mountain. I scooped up a couple of handfuls of them, and then advanced onto the bridge. It swayed slightly at the extra weight, and the creature at the other end (I could tell from even this distance that it was one of the stupid kind) started. It rose a brutal looking knife which had spikes embedded in one side of the blade. The weapon only had short range though, whilst I had long range…and if I could hit it on the head from here, I might not even have to engage it in combat at all. :Though, your smell might be enough to knock it out if it gets to close: I managed to jibe at myself, whilst I tried not to sniff, even though my nose was running.
I was lucky, because the creature made it all very easy for me to attack it, as it started jogging towards me across the bridge. This jiggled me up and down a little bit, so it was harder to aim – however, as the shot was shorter, that meant it was easier to judge the throw. It took six stones – two of which missed completely, one that got it on the shoulder, one on the foot, and two on the arm that half the sword – I managed to hit it on the head. I paused, looking a little bit dazed, so I rushed it. Not having the time to get the Hero's sword out, nor the space to manoeuvre with it properly, I just nudged the stunned bokoblin over the edge of the bridge.
I didn't wait to hear the splash, and hurried onto the next section of stone pathway… Here, there was another ladder, and when I looked up the full length of the thing, I nearly yelled out loud in shock when a jet of fire shot out of the side of the mountain, and over the ladder. I expected it to burst into flames as well, but, when the jet of flame receded, the ladder was just as it had been before this happened.
Shaking a bit because of the shock, and worrying whether or not I would end up being blasted, I started climbing up the ladder. At that very moment, getting on with my 'mission' was more important than thinking about all the stupid things that I was getting scared by. Only about five feet from the ground, I surreptitiously glanced around to try and glimpse my helper. Yet again, they proved to be elusive, and I wondered whether they knew when I'd turn around and look for them…it certainly seemed like it!
I hadn't been paying attention, and was almost at the section of the ladder assailed by flames when they suddenly burst forth again. "Argh!" I yelled, letting go of the ladder with my hands, and wheeling out backwards – I managed to snatch a hand back onto the run before I fell a very long way down. I clung to the ladder for dear life, panting, and looking down at the drop I'd almost had.
Then, quickly, before the flame happened again, I climbed over that section of the ladder. I saw that the reason why the ladder didn't burn, was because this section of the ladder had been coated with metal. It was painfully hot to the touch, and I held onto the rungs as lightly as I dared, hurrying up the ladder at the highest speed I could manage.
Even so, I was only just out of the firing line with the flare erupted again, and I could feel the soles of my boot melting and becoming softer from the heat. I hurried the remaining feet up the ladder, glad when I could pull myself back onto sturdy, steady, safe ground.
I was inside once again, and was faced with a puzzle that I wasn't quite sure how to handle. I could see an opening into another, larger room, high up in the wall, and no way to get to it. There were loads of freestanding blocks in front of the hole in the wall, but there was no way I'd be able to climb up them, because the sides were sheer, and even had there been cracks, the blocks were too tall for me to have been able to grab onto any cracks there were anyway.
:Damnit…: I looked at the map again to see if it could give me some clue. But, all it said was 'block room' on it, and nothing else. I sighed, and folded the map up again, stuffing it into one of my bags (I'm not sure which one, and I don't really care which one either). Then, I fell back heavily against one of the large blocks, defeated.
Or so I had thought…the block that I'd leant against moved backwards, leaving the one above it teetering half on and half off. I hurried out of the way quickly, and looked at the whole structure, which was swaying precariously. I reached out a foot, and managed to nudge the block another inch with my toe. The second row of blocks up first swayed to the left, and then, when they swayed to the right, it looked as if they weren't going to stop. I backed away quickly, to make sure I was out of the range of the very large, very heavy looking falling bits of stone.
I bumped into the wall that was furthest away from the commotion, and opened my eyes when I realised I had closed them in my retreat. The dust that had been kicked up made me start to cough, and it took a while to get myself under control again. By that time, of course, all the dust had settled again, and I looked with wonder at the complete chaos I'd managed to create with my little accidental nudge.
There was a veritable mountain of rubble – the blocks, that had looked to sturdy and strong, had in fact been hollow, and the shells had broken open, leaving a huge pile of rubble that was even now shifting tiny bits in some places. It provided me with the absolutely perfected stairway up the opening that I had believed it was impossible to get to. Praising my hither-to unsung genius in my mind, I scrambled up the pile of shattered rocks, and then hoisted myself up onto the next level of the cavern's myriad of passages.
A chest awaited me, and I opened it to find a small key sitting, covered in dust and surrounded by the bodies of spiders that had been unfortunate enough to find a way into the chest, and then hadn't been able to find the way out. I shook off their hopeless empty shells, and grinned at a memory that I knew Aryll probably didn't think of all that fondly, but one that I thought summed her up perfectly.
"Don't like spider!" the golden haired Aryll, toddler of doom and destruction, shrieked, stamping about trying to squash the poor defenceless creature that had been stupid enough to find its way into our kitchen. "Bad spider, squash spider, splat!" she proclaimed as she stamped a foot down right over the poor creature…however, she had forgotten that she was wearing heeled shoes, and the spider just crawled out from underneath the arch of her shoe and scuttled away again, fleeing from this mad Hylian spider-killing machine.
"Aryll!" I called, trying to distract her with an onion, which she thought were even 'worser' that spiders on the 'ickiness' scale. I, of course, didn't quite see how she had figured that out, but I felt the spider had had enough mortal danger for one day. Aryll turned around, and pulled as face as I picked up a slice of the onion I'd just cut, and eat it, grinning at her as I crunched with my mouth open.
"Eww! You're icky!" she exclaimed, running over to club me on the head with her teddy bear. I just laughed, and picked her up, swinging her around in a circle, before putting her back down and getting back to chopping up the vegetables for grandma. "You're still icky," Aryll proclaimed, and she tackled me with a hug.
"So are you, shortie," I laughed, hugging her back.
I smiled fondly, and found that I was twirling the small silver key on my finger. I stopped, and put it into my pocket so that I wouldn't lose it. Then, I took out the map again, because the light here was very good, so I could see where I needed to go next. I pulled the map out, and opened it up; I was shocked (and strangely elated) when a small spider launched itself from the confines of the parchment, crawled across my hand, and then jumped off and drifted down on the floor.
I felt the smile wane, and shook my head at the memory. Those had been the days when Aryll's vocabulary mainly involved sentences with the word 'icky' in it. Something that both Grandma and I always found amusing…we'd sit there for hours and give her topics to talk about, and tell us just where they fell on the 'icky' scale…
I saw that there was a door right ahead down this small hallway, after a turn to the left, to the right, to the right again, and then straight on. I again folded up the map and put it away in my pocket, before setting off to the door that would take me to the outside of the mountain again, where I would be winding my way almost halfway around the entire thing before going back inside into a room that was quite simply labelled 'dark room'. :Not very imaginative room-naming here, is there:
The padlock on this door was actually quite smooth, but the door itself seemed to be jammed shut with something. It took a lot of brute strength just to open the damn thing about a foot. After that, I decided I couldn't be bothered to open it anymore, and squeezed through the gap, leaning the key behind in the door, just as I had with all the other keys. That way, whoever locked the doors, would be able to lock them again easily.
Outside, I was again assailed by the strong wind, which cooled me off after my second stint inside the mountain. Now, I was so used to the fact that I must smell really bad, that I didn't even think about it that much… It was like I could really anyway, because there was a large kargorok rising from a next about ten yards away, and bearing down on me with angry chirrups. I looked around in a panic, as the only missiles I had were a few of the pebbles I had left from taking on that bokoblin on the bridge earlier…and I very much doubted they would be enough to knock this large creature out.
:However…you never know until you try, right: I readied three of them in my hand at once, and lobbed them at the approaching creature. It squawked as one clipped its wing, but seemed to be otherwise unaffected. This meant that I was going to have to fight it with sword and shield – I got both of them out speedily, and I donned my shield just in time to protect against a vicious attack the monster mad with its gigantic talons. I was able to stab at the bare, unprotected scaly legs of the creature with my sword, and I drew the first blood of the battle.
The monster, however, having come from a nest, was acting just like a mother would when her children are in danger. It was attacking almost faster than I could block, and whilst I was managing to land a lot of minor blows, it was impossible for me to get any major ones in there. One particularly hard hit against my shield almost managed to throw my shoulder from its socket, and I groaned as I rolled my throbbing shoulder and prepared for yet another assault.
:I've never fought one of these in flight before – what do I do: I wondered, even as I parried an attempt it made with its beak to bite me. "Damn!" I yelled out, as I tripped backwards over a rocky outcrop. My shield arm I'd thrown backwards in order to stop my fall, and, as such, I'd left my front completely and utterly unprotected. The kargorok, delighted by this turn of affairs, hovered over me, flexing its impossibly strong talons as it made itself ready to descend and rip me limp from limb.
I closed my eyes, and held my sword out in front of my neck. If I didn't managed to defeat the beast, then the least I would be able to do is ensure that it was all over quickly for me. The bird chirruped happily just before it descended, and I braced myself for the impact. It came like a tonne of bricks, and I screamed in the anticipation of the pain of the talons ripping into me, the beak tearing parts of me away…
When that didn't happen, I opened my eyes. I was confronted by the large beady green eye of the kargorok, which was staring lifelessly at me. The pupil was fully dilated, so that almost the whole eye was black – it was only because I'd seen the eyes alive that I knew they were green… There were tiny needles embedded in the flesh of the karkorok, which seemed to have been the cause of its death… I pushed the creature off me, and then stood up shakily, dusting myself off.
:Whoever it is that's helping me, I think they just saved my life: I thought, sending out silent waves of gratefulness to the person/ creature that was watching over me.
I rolled my shield arm again, and the joint popped loudly as it slipped fully back into place. Suddenly curious as to why I couldn't hear the chirps of kargorok chicks, I went towards the next, sword raised and alert in case the other parent came back… There weren't any young in the nest, nor were there any eggs. Instead, nestled amongst a bed of soft down feathers and wild grasses, was a silver key. I walked along the precarious ledge that led to the nest, and picked it up.
Then, I turned around, and walked to the door that led back into the mountain, and into the 'dark room' as the map had so ominously dubbed it. I inserted the key into the lock, turned, and this door opened smoothly.
The dark room was aptly named – I walked in, and immediately collided with a wall. After that, I ended up fumbling around in the dark for a while, falling over more than once. "Where by the Gods is a torch when you need…one…" I trailed off, because a light was drawing closer and closer. I hurried towards it, just like a moth, thinking that now I would finally get a chance to see my helper. However, yet again they'd disappeared, leaving behind only a torch on the floor, which sputtered slightly.
I picked it up, and held it high, trying to see where they could be hiding…there were so many places that I didn't even begin to try and fathom how long it could take me to find them…and it wasn't as if I had time anyway. Even now, Medli could be in serious trouble! So, I cast my mind back to the map (unable to get it out because my sword was in my left hand and the torch was in my right hand) to remember where I had to go next.
I entered a room that was simply full to the brim with pots and urns and jars of all shapes and sizes. There was a funny hissing sound, and when I looked around, it was to find that metal bars were falling into place over the door I'd just come through. "What the-?" I began, but my ears were assaulted by the attack cry of a bokoblin. I managed to strike it out of the air, and it disappeared before the body even managed to hit the ground.
I could see a ladder leading upwards to another door, which was also barred. I couldn't see anything that looked like a puzzle, and was again somewhat stumped about what I should do. Since there were a lot of pots around, I wondered if perhaps I was meant to smash them…so, without further ado, that's what I started to do. I broke a whole swathe of them with a swing of my sword, and then kicked a few more over, stepping carefully over some of the sharper shards.
When I approached a shelf on which pots were sitting, one of them began moving, and, remembering to way back when I'd first entered the cavern, I ducked behind my shield, and just in time too. The pot exploded, releasing a very angry looking bokoblin. It had that same clever expression on its face as the one I'd tricked to fall into the magma…and here, I didn't have any magma to make it fall into! The only plus was that this one only had one knife for its weapon.
This one I also thought of as female, though I'm not quite sure why… Well, anyway, she lunged at me with her knife, showing some pretty fancy footwork off as she danced from side to side, dodging my lunges in the same way I dodged hers. All I could hope for was that she, being larger than me, would get tired more quickly.
We darted close to the ladder, and there was another sound of exploding china, and a bokoblin landed with exceptional grace (for an upright lizard thing) just behind the one I was fighting. This second bokoblin was pink, whilst the first one was green. She turned to look at the new arrival, and let out a loud growl. The other one did the same, and then, suddenly, the two of them started to fight, and had completely forgotten me.
This allowed me to hoist myself up the ladder and onto the suspended walkway above – from here, I watched as the two of them bit and scratched each other, drawing a lot of blood. When the both rolled close to the ladder, I was ready with two pitchers filled with water, which I dropped onto their heads. With the added weight of the water, the momentum they gained was enough to give both of the bokoblins a very heavy blow to the head.
They lay very still, and the bars over the door slid up – I quietly made my way through the door, and found myself once again outside. There was the loudest roar I ever heard in my life, which echoed and echoed off of the cliffs, and then the ground began to shake beneath my feet as something very heavy jumped up and down, or something to that effect. I found it hard enough to stand, let alone walk, and I leant against the side of the mountain for support.
Looking up, I could see the vibrant red scales of the great Valoo, who was banging his giant clawed fists on the ground, and letting out a sound of great pain. He shot bursts of fire into the sky, and tongues of smoke completely surrounded him in a misty veil. Finally, Valoo stopped in his tirade, and let out a mournful cry, turning his great face away from the sun and towards the side of the island that would be in shadow at this time of the afternoon.
Knowing that all I could do is go up at this point, I followed the half crumbled stairway up towards where the great Valoo sat. "NO! Let go of me, let go!" I heard a girl shriek, and I knew by the voice that it had to be Medli. Throwing caution to the wind and the stability of the steps that I ran on, I sprinted up the stairway, to see Medli being dragged into moveable cage, kicking and screaming all the way. It was a moblin that was carrying her, and two of the cleverer bokoblins (both of them green ones) were taking turns to have swigs from a large, brown glass bottle.
"Hey!" I called, and congratulated myself on sounding a heck of a lot braver than I felt. "You there, put that girl down!" I didn't expect an answer, so imagine my surprise when I got one!
"And why, pray tell, my dear Hylian, would we wish to do that?" A tall, thin Rito man, with mottled grey feathers on his wings, and short, spiky black hair on his head, asked. He strode towards the moblin, and nodded that it should continue forcing Medli into the cage. Then, he turned to face me fully, and the black cape he had gathered about himself caught the wind, and flared out behind him.
"Because…because…" I stammered, and he laughed.
"I see the Hylian eloquence hasn't been exaggerated," he chuckled drily. "Now, child, if you'll excuse us, we-"
"Look, I'm warning you! Let her go!" I managed to say, my voice a lot stronger than it had been before. "You'll be sorry if you don't!"
"My, my. If that isn't the most clichéd line of them all," he said in airy sarcasm. "What do they do, teach you all to speak like imbeciles, or is it just natural?" I growled, feeling highly insulted at the implication that I was, if I understood him correctly, an idiot. I decided to let him know this by employing all the long words I could think of at the time.
"I don't think you seem to understand my proposition. Either you unhand the girl immediately, or I will be forced to use physical violence against you…understand?" This was met by yet another raucous laugh, and the tall Rito man advanced towards me.
"Judas, leave him alone you stupid brute!" Medli yelled, biting the moblin that was carrying her. It just growled warningly, and the Rito (Judas) ignored her. "Rufus, run, he's a maniac!" Judas raised his wing – arm – whatever! The moblin managed to finally stuff Medli in the cage, and chained the door closed behind her.
"Our transport should be here any minute now," he called over his shoulder to the moblin and bokoblins. Then he smiled down at me in a highly condescending manner. "Do you really wish to fight us, boy?" his face was curved in a cruel smile, and I backed up a couple of paces. "It would be a pity…to waste such an…intriguing…boy, such as yourself," he purred, now increasing the pace of his advance. I held my sword up, and he laughed. "Going to kill me, are you?" he asked, tauntingly.
I'd never killed anything but monsters…and I wasn't sure I intended to now… "Look, just back off, I don't want to have to hurt you," I said, but it lacked all the strength it needed to be taken seriously. My sword arm was even shaking. :This isn't how it's meant to go: I thought desperately, casting an eye around for help. :Where's my bleeding shadow of a helper when I need them: Judas reached down and grabbed me around the wrist – I managed to throw him off and I kicked him in the shin, then tripped him over. Then, I ran towards the cage in which Medli was screaming blue murder to be let out. The moblin and bokoblins, however, didn't seem to be about to let me get at her without a fight.
And Judas was getting up from the ground as well. Medli grabbed my hand and tugged on it. I turned my ear to listen. "Look, just run. No point in you getting yourself killed!"
"I'm not letting these madmen take you to…wherever they plan on taking you!" I answered back sternly, taking my hand back abruptly.
"Please, just run – please!"
"Nope." I leant back against the bars of the cage, and then launched myself at a full-sprint to the other side of the plateau on which we were standing. Suddenly, above, Valoo began to have another tantrum, and I tripped up. :Oh…dear…: My thought was confirmed when the moblin grabbed me by the back of my sweat-and-dirt stained tunic, and lifted me off of the ground. "Ow – let go!"
"Do as he says," Judas ordered, and the moblin literally dropped me onto my face.
"Ow, for the love of!" I clutched my nose, which had begun to bleed like mad. "You fu-" he cut me off before I could finish my blaspheming.
"Shut up boy. Moblin, put him in with the other one…then at least this whole charade won't have been a total loss for me." He leered at me, and I blanched as the moblin once again picked me up. :Not that I've anything against those of the homosexual persuasion, but I do find it worrying that this man finds a thirteen year old attractive – the fact that that thirteen year old happens to me is also incredibly disturbing.: Of course, out loud, I didn't say much, just struggled and tried to get away like any sane person would.
"Hey," a soft voice called, and I turned around to see a shade of indigo that I'd been trying to capture for hours. :It's that girl, from the market at Windfall: I had to restrain myself from letting my jaw drop – even the moblin stopped in its tracks to gape (though I think that may have been for different reasons. The clothes she was wearing were very…urm…tight…if you know what I mean… Not that I – uh – oh dear…)
"Oh, for Gods sakes, yet another hopeful adventurer?" Judas raised his eyes the heavens in obvious annoyance. "And it looks to be a dyke at that." :A dyke? Isn't that something to stop water or something:
However, it appeared that 'dyke' was offensive to the girl, because she sighed heavily. "No, not a dyke, not that you be able to tell the difference between a straight or gay woman anyway. I'm a Sheikah, actually. Now, kindly, let those children go, and I'll not have to hurt you." I winced as I heard my own words repeated, and I realised just how stupid they really do sound.
"What is it with all the fucking bravado? Look lassie, it's obvious you're suffering from PMS or PMT, and are, as such, having delusions of grandeur and heroism. Back off, before I give you a real warrior's death."
"Try it," the girl replied, looking somewhat bored as she took a coiled whip into her hands. "Come on – not scared of a girl, are you?" she asked, managing to make it sound like a genuine question, rather than a sarcastic jibe.
"Never," Judas growled, and he suddenly had a sword in his hands. :Where did that even come from: I wondered, trying to look to see where his scabbard was. He levelled it horizontally across his chest, and I could already see that he had perfect form for fighting. The girl just left her hands at her sides, hitting the coiled whip gently against her thigh.
"Come on then."
And that was when the madness ensued.
:Giggles: Lookit, I made a cliffie hanger! Yay me! Oh, and I had to cut it off there, or it really would have gotten too long, and this is already going to be a complete bitch to match in Shadow's next chapter! Eesh, that first section of prose was huge! Eleven pages to be precise:Gasps:. I've not written a piece of continuous prose like that for a very, very long time. Hurrah for me!
Oh, and Judas – I decided to use that behindthename site Lossemare told me about, and I typed in 'traitor' as a keyword. It actually gave me 'Matthias', who replaced the apostle Judas Escariot after he hung himself (or whatever he did over the guilt of turning over Jesus). Gah, don't ask me to get it right, I don't even have a religion! Anyway, I decided on Judas, because even we people 'without the faith' think of that name, and we think Escariot, and thus, we think 'traitor'. Good connections, ni?
Well, that was hideously long, and I'm now stuck into the a/u stuff like mad. You are warned…it will get weirder, trust me on that!
Lots of love from a tired canihavea-soda, who cannot write for the life of her at almost four o'clock in the morning (British time). Point out any blaring errors that I've missed in my 'wee hours of the morning' haze.
Review, make my day, punk