In the last chapter, we saw how Shadow's diplomatic talents could be put into use, and the boat Flo was retrieved from the Rito, in return for a pirate promise from Marie to pay off her debts. Then, we saw Rufus collapse as his fever relapsed, leading to Shadow taking Red, and Marie caring for Rufus on board Flo. Now to see how the poor boy's doing…
Two updates within a month of each other. If I'm not careful I'll lose my label as a procrastinating slacker! Also, excuse the tacky title…but it does reflect the chapter (sort of.) Oh, and the last thing – I apologise if recently you've been getting some author alerts for me, because I've been using the new edit feature :bounces around, and actually praises ffnet for the first time in her life: in order to put things right that I've been too lazy to sort out before. I'm not sure if author alerts come out for stuff like that or not…so I'm apologising…just in case…urm…yeah… Anyway!
Thoughts are in :single colons : and dreams are in italics.
Rufus: Ancient Powers
I snuggled beneath my covers, briefly wondering why the bed seemed to be moving – in fact, so did the whole room. Not feeling ready to open my eyes and get up, I just decided that I must be imagining things again. Grandma hadn't been up to wake me yet, so I must still have some time to sleep before morning arrived. The bed was warm, if a little harder than normal, and I yawned, turning over as I did so.
Alas, I'd misjudged the width of the bed, and found the edge to be a good deal closer than I'd reckoned. "Oof!" I groaned as I collided with the floor, the blankets tumbling after me; it was horribly cold in comparison to how warm I'd been only a few seconds before, and I added a few choice swear words under my breath in annoyance. Footsteps sound on the landing and I was willing to bet anything that Aryll was coming to laugh at how clumsy I was. Blearily, I opened my eyes to stare at the wooden floor on which I lay.
"You alrigh' lad?" a woman asked. I peered up at her, shielding my eyes from the strong morning sunlight, that was pouring through the door she had entered by, with my left hand. She was tall, with green, wavy hair which reached her shoulders, which were without the usual trench coat, instead bearing only two thin straps which kept her tight, dark grey shirt in place. Wide trousers were tucked into heavy boots, the buckles of which bore the same eye insignia as on the patch over her right eye. "Lad?" she knelt down on one knee next to me and touched me on the shoulder, eyebrows raised in worry, "What happened?"
"I…I f-f-fell," I answered, teeth chattering as a chill wind blew in through the open door that led out onto the deck. I remembered everything that had happened since my birthday (:it seems like years ago, rather than a few weeks:) and placed a name to the face that was smiling sympathetically down at me (whilst obviously trying not to laugh!) "M-m-marie, d'you reckon you could h-help me up?"
"Sure thing lad." I rolled over onto my back, and grabbed the hand she offered to help me up. Finding my legs to be shaky, I promptly flumped back down onto the bed, and she lifted the blankets from the floor, wrapping them around my shoulders. She fussed over me, making sure that I was completely cocooned, and I was sorely reminded of Grandma; she acted just like this whenever I got ill… "You warm enough?" she queried, dragging a small stool from the tiny table at the other end of the cabin, and sitting next to me.
"Yeah," I nodded, sniffing a little; the cabin door slammed shut in a particularly strong gust of wind, making us both jump.
"How much longer till we get there?"
"Oh, not much more than a few hours I should think – if you want to come out on deck, you can see it on the horizon already."
"Really?" I'd heard about the Forest Haven from my parents when they returned from one of their adventures many years ago. They were some of the few people who'd ever been inside the Forest Haven, and they'd told me it was absolutely beautiful! Not like the forest back at home, with monsters and terrible things, but full of fireflies, and flowers that grew to enormous heights.
Excitedly, and neglecting the blankets altogether, I hopped off of the bed again. This time, Marie was there immediately, obviously noticing my shaky legs, and she gently propelled me up the steps and out onto the deck.
She let go of me as soon as we'd both navigated the steps, and she was sure that I was steady on my own two feet once more. I stared in wonder at the tall silhouette on the horizon, already able to see the huge swathes of green forest that comprised the island. Absent mindedly, I tugged at the shoulder of the top I was wearing, and realised that it was Marie's greatcoat. Looking down, I saw that she'd left my tights, and I blushed slightly at the thought of what she must think of my fare. :Probably thinks I'm a complete weirdo: I guessed, hugging the half-buttoned coat around me, and focusing my attention back on the Forest Haven.
Unlike Dragon Roost Isle, there were no dark clouds, or any other ominous thing hanging over the island, and I hoped that we'd be lucky, and arrive to find that nothing bad had yet happened. However, on remembering Red's sombre face, I feared that this wouldn't be the case. With the thought of Red in mind, I glanced to either side to try and spot him and the girl, Shadow. After scanning the waves for a few seconds, I spotted them off of the port bow, sailing directly in line with us.
For a few seconds, I panicked when I didn't see a flash of indigo standing up and managing the sail, but then, as we crested a wave, I saw that she was curled up in the keel of the boat, seemingly fast asleep. As if envious of her situation, I felt a yawn coming on, and quickly stifled it. I needed to stay awake now, to make sure that I was fully alert when we got to the island in a few hours. After all, who knew what we might find…?
"Still tired lad?" Marie asked, drawing me out of my dark wonderings.
"A little – but I don't think I'll go back to sleep though… I'll just stay out here. You can go and sleep if you want, and I'll look after the sails and everything."
"Nah, that's all right. This beauty practically looks after herself as it is," she said, carelessly casting her good eye over to Red, just as I had a few moments before. "Oh yes – I was speaking to Red whilst you were asleep; here's your stone back," she grabbed my hand, and then dropped the green stone into my palm. "Sorry about borrowing it, but he started speaking, so I had to rummage around a bit to find it…you don't mind, do you?" She looked sincerely apologetic, and I just smiled, and shook my head,
"No, I don't mind. What were you talking about?" She looked furtively back at the King of Red Lions, and then smiled, somewhat falsely, at me.
"Noth'n in particular, really…"
"Please, Miss Marie, don't keep things from me," I exclaimed, albeit rather more childishly than I had meant to. It didn't matter though, because it did the trick anyway.
"Alrigh', though if it gets me in trouble with Red, I'm telling him you forced my hand, got it?" I just nodded, swaying slightly as we entered a slightly rougher patch of water. "OK then… Well, he just said that Shadow – the girl – is pretty much tired out… She fell asleep just before you woke up actually…I had a few words with her too,"
"What abou-" she rose her hand and effectively cut me off.
"One thing at a time!" I bashfully shut my mouth, and silently waited for her to continue. "As I was saying, he said the girl's very tired, so she may not be going with you onto the island straight away."
"Why would she be going with me anyway-"
"Hush, I was getting to that!"
"Sorry."
"Don't worry, it doesn't matter," she said softly. "Now, may I continue without further interruptions?"
"Yeah – sorry again."
"Right. Well, as you figured out, she was helping you back on Dragon Roost. Now, she's a member of the Sheikah tribe, who are a very secretive people of highly trained warriors and mages. Shadow herself is a warrior, and Red chose her to help you on your quest, and to make sure that you don't get too badly hurt on your adventures."
:Great, so he really does think I'm useless then: I thought, and Marie's eyes widened. I'd said my thoughts aloud again!
"No!" she exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing me by my upper arms. "Of course he doesn't, you silly lad!" she assured me, chuckling a little. "The only reason he has her helping you is because of your lack of experience, my boy. I mean, really, look at how far you have come already, when you have rarely wielded a sword in combat before! Even I'm impressed, and I've seen thousands of treasures and amazing things all over the sea!" I blushed at this, and looked away, only to have her shake me so that I looked back at her.
"Trust me, Rufus, Red just wants to keep you safe and well. Shadow is…like a safety net… Have you ever seen the circus?"
"What? Yes, but I don't see how that ha-" I began, but she cut across me.
"Well, the tightrope walkers and trapeze artists. As good as they are, and as highly trained as they may be, they always have safety nets, don't they?" I nodded slowly, and realised what she was getting at.
"So…she's just there as a sort of…precaution? Just to make sure?" I said haltingly, and she nodded, beaming.
"Yup, that's about the top and bottom of it. Red initially meant for her to work in such a way that you wouldn't know that she was there. But, he evidently underestimated you, because you did notice. So, he's changed his plan, and decided that you two will work together – that way, hopefully things will be easier for the both of you. However, as the girl needs sleep, he wanted me to tell you not to do anything…urm…'too rash', as he put it…until she wakes up again. OK?"
"Yeah, OK," I said, nodding again. She finally let go of my arms, and then spun me around to look up at the Forest Haven, which had become even larger on the horizon whilst we had been speaking.
"Amazing, isn't it? I've been sailing the Great Sea all my life, and never once have I set foot on those shores," she muttered, more to herself than I. "I wonder if the stories of fairies and fireflies are true." Her voice was now so quiet that I knew she was no longer talking to me. I looked over my shoulder, to see that her green eye was glazed, and there was an almost girlish expression of delight on her face. I smiled at her wonder, and then looked back at the island to which we were headed. My head spun with all that had already happened, and all the information I'd been given about what was going to happen.
The sight of a flock of seagulls overhead caught my attention, and the whirling thoughts in my head slowed, before all merging together into one, main thought. :I'm doing this for Aryll. I'll finish this quest as quickly as I can, and then I'll get her out of that terrible Fortress, and we'll both go home to Grandma. And no one will ever take my little sister away from me ever again: I thought fiercely, frowning at the sky, which was sunny and bright blue, not matching my mood whatsoever. :Stupid weather…:
A few hours later, we finally drew into shore – the King of Red Lions nudged up against the beach next to us, and Marie was out in a flash to grab him and tie him up. She quietly let down the sail so that the wind wouldn't be able to suddenly tug him away from shore, taking care not to wake Shadow, who was still slumbering in the bottom of the boat. I stayed on board Flo, and began taking down the sail there, frequently looking over to where Marie and Red were having a whispered (yet heated) conversation.
Just as frequently, my eyes drifted over to the girl, who was curled up in a tight ball on the deck of the boat, with nothing more than an extra set of clothes to act as blankets. Having felt the chill air this morning, I wondered how she'd fallen asleep at all… Even as I looked, she stirred, and turned over, so that her masked face was now towards me. It had fallen down a little way, so that I could just make out the tip of a pointed nose amongst the folds of fabric. Almost as if she had sensed me looking, she reached up with a sleepy hand, and tugged it back into place, without opening her eyes.
I continued to mess with the sail, finally managing to bring it down and fold it up somewhat neatly. My attention was constantly drawn over to Red and Marie, who were still muttering away to one another. :I wonder what they're talking about: However, if the past few days were anything to judge by, Red wasn't likely to let me in on any secrets anytime soon. :Do they think I can't be trusted or something: Marie abruptly turned away from the King of Red Lions, looking sour but determined.
"What is it?" I asked, as soon as she was within earshot. She scowled, but her face softened slightly when she looked at me.
"I've been sent off to do a few errands for Red, so I'd suggest you go and get your stuff from below," she answered, swinging back onto deck, already holding the landing rope in her hands. "Oh, and you'll need to change the wind so that it blows north west for me lad."
"Are you going to Windfall Isle then?" I guessed, shrewdly. She looked surprised, but nodded all the same.
"How'd you guess?"
"Well, apart from the fact it's the only island I know about north west of here…" I trailed off, grinning, and she grinned back. "Plus that's probably the best place to get supplies and stuff on the whole of the Great Sea."
"Right again," she said, sounding impressed. She looked over her shoulder at the Forest Haven, a wistful smile on her face. "Looks like I won't be exploring this place quite yet…" Again there was that girlish quality about her, and, on impulse, I grabbed the hand in which she clutched the landing rope.
"I'll tell you all about it…if you want me to…when we next meet," I offered. Her face brightened, and she squeaked childishly,
"Would you really do that?"
"Yup!"
"Thanks lad!" she exclaimed, enveloping me in a rather strangling hug. Thankfully, she let go before I passed out altogether. "Anyway, best get your stuff – I've got to leave as soon as may be."
"All right, I'll just be a minute," I said, turning away and hurrying towards the cabin, before pausing as something struck me. "Urm…Marie."
"Yes?"
"Where are my clothes?"
"Hrm? Oh! They're drying over the sink – I'll give you some time to get dressed and whatnot, shall I?"
"Yeah, that'd be good," I nodded, continuing my path to below deck. The smell of the vegetable soup we'd both eaten the day before still lingered in the cabin air, and I hoped that there'd be time to eat before Red sent me off again. Wending my way past the blankets that still lay on the floor, and the stool next to the bed, I reached the sink. As she'd said, my tunic and hat hung over it, dry, but decidedly stiff looking. :Probably all that salt in the water…I wonder if there's anywhere on this island where I can wash my clothes. And my hair for that matter: I tried to flatten it down, but as usual, failed.
Grabbing my clothes, I then searched around for my bag, finally finding it, and my sword and shield, leaning against the far back wall in the corner. I picked up my effects, and bought them over to the bed along with my clothes. Dumping my bag and weaponry, I ran my hands over the almost crispy fabric of my tunic, and then, cringing slightly at the odd sensation, yanked it on over my head. Wriggling around in order to get it on straight, I knocked Marie's greatcoat onto the floor (I had shed it as soon as I'd entered the cabin.) I bent down and picked it up; something tinkled out of one of the pockets.
Looking around furtively, I scooped the shining object off of the floor. At the first glance, it didn't really look all that impressive – it was just a small triangular piece of gold. Two of the edges looked a little wonky, as though they'd either been melted, or worn down in some way. Only one of the edges was crisp, with sharp edges and a flat bottom. It buzzed slightly against my palm, and felt warm. I bought it closer to my face, thinking that I'd seen something else on the golden surface…it looked like a woman…with shining blue eyes and hair to match. Stars sparkling around her image, and her skin glowing as brightly as a fairy's…
Footsteps heading towards the steps down from the deck alerted me, and I quickly shoved the triangular thing out of sight. Then, I picked up my belt from the mattress of the bed, and started fumbling with the buckle, to make it seem as though everything was normal. Marie just raised an eyebrow at my belt difficulties, and picked up her coat from where I'd laid it over the stool. "Nearly done?" she inquired.
"Yeah, nearly," I told her, finally managing to do up the blasted belt buckle. I picked up my sword and shield, and strapped them onto my waist and back respectively. Then, I grabbed my pack, and followed her back out onto deck. She paused at the doorway, stepping aside to let me past.
"Well, good bye for now lad," she said. "And good luck."
"Thanks – and thanks for looking after me so well," I answered, remembering my manners at last. She just smiled and shook her head,
"It was no problem… Now, off you go, I get the feeling Red probably wants to speak to you." I looked to the left, where Red was tied up, and saw that he was looking over at me. :Looks like she's right.: I went over to the prow, which overhung the beach, and swung my legs over the side. Then, after a last turn back to wave at Marie, I jumped off, and landed hard on the sand below. Immediately, Flo began to drift away from shore. "Hey, lad, don't forget, you need to change the wind for me!"
"Oh yeah," I said, hurriedly slipping off my pack and fishing around for the Wind waker. I found it pretty quickly, and after a few seconds memory-search, remembered the melody Zephos had taught me. I made an anticlockwise circle, and then tapped out two downbeats, followed by one upbeat, finishing with a final clockwise circle. Just as had happened on Dragon Roost Isle, the whole world seemed to stand still. "North west," I commanded, and suddenly everything began to move again. The sail of Flo (which Marie had managed to erect in record time), billowed and filled, swiftly taking her away from land.
"See you soon lad!" she yelled.
"Bye!" I called back, waving as she quickly sped off. The King of Red Lions coughed demurely, and I turned to face him. "Marie said you might want to speak to me?"
"Aye, that I do Rufus. Come over here so I don't have to shout, if you will – I don't want to wake her unless it's necessary!" He turned his head to look at the still slumbering Shadow, who had turned over again, and now had her back to me.
"Is she all right?" I asked, more than a little worried, considering she'd been out in the cold for so long.
"She's fine," he assured me, "just very tired. Now, come over her and sit by me so we can talk." I did as he asked, plonking down on the cool sand next to him, and shedding my sword, shield and pack as I did so. "I trust you're feeling better?"
"Much, thank you," I said, smiling.
"Good, good…" He looked up and over my head at the island behind me, and I saw a dark shadow cross his face. He then looked back at me pensively. "Rufus…I wonder…have you heard of the Forest Haven before? I believe your parents may well have visited it-" I spluttered and cut across him,
"You knew my parents!"
"Hush!" he scolded, looking at Shadow – she stretched momentarily, before settling back into her old position.
"You knew my parents?" I repeated, more quietly.
"Not personally, no. But there are many of us on the Great Sea who have heard of their spectacular adventures." I smiled indulgently at this, remembering when my parents used to come back with hours worth of stories to tell from every adventure. "As I was saying, you have probably heard of this place before, haven't you?" I nodded, not quite sure why this was important.
"Well, I've heard about how its full of fairies and fireflies, and flowers that grow as tall as trees. And there are waterfalls all over the place, that come from these great big springs, and-"
"Yes, yes, that's all well and good," he butted in, his tone blasé. "But I suppose you, like most Hylians, are not aware of the great importance of this place." I just shook my head, clueless, and waited for him to continue. "Ah, I thought not… Well, I shall have to tell you then…along with some other things I suppose," he added, on noticing my raised eyebrow and frown.
"As to the Forest Haven… It may well be filled with all those wonders that you have described, but it is not these things that make this place as it is. In fact, all of these things would not be here, were it not for one key factor. The Great Deku Tree, spirit of the earth, and guardian of the great forests of the world before the floods of the Gods rained down upon us…" his eyes were glazed, and I supposed he was remembering those days. "It is the spirit of the Great Deku Tree that makes this place so lush, and green, and full of life… Yet, his spirit also attracts dark things to this place, who would wish to take a great power from him…"
"Let me guess – I am to retrieve this thing of Great Power and bring it to you?" I grinned, scratching my head underneath my hat. He frowned, and I quickly stopped smiling.
"This is no laughing matter Rufus!" he exclaimed harshly. "Do not jest about things like this, no matter how high your spirits. For, should you fail, I dread to think what may happen to you…to me…to Shadow here…and to the rest of the Great Sea…" I trembled at his words, and timidly bid him to continue, apologising at the same time.
"Don't think on it," Red sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm sorry. I'm just…worried… But you can't go on until Shadow awakens, so try and keep yourself occupied until then, all right?" He tried for a smile, but it died halfway. Then, he turned his head upwards again, and looked at the lush green forests which covered the island. I stood up, gathering my things as I did so, and began trekking up the beach, looking around for a stream or pool of some sort in which I could wash my face, and possibly my clothes as well.
When I found nothing of the sort, I mentally groaned in frustration, and collapsed onto a conveniently placed boulder, facing out to sea, where I could still just about make up Flo and Marie sailing away. :I hope the girl wakes up soon…I hate just sitting around and doing nothing, whilst Aryll's alone and scared in that cell.: I sniffed as I thought of her, and what a failure I was. I'd come so close to getting her out, but I let myself get distracted by a pretty face!
Sniffing again loudly, I hid my head in my hands, feeling tears insistently press at my closed eyelids. :Crying's not going to help, stupid: I yelled at myself, but that didn't manage to stop the tears. Hiccoughing slightly, I pulled my legs up onto the boulder as well, hugging my knees and looking back up, out to sea. "Aryll, I hope you're safe," I whispered, hoping that even though she was so far away, she'd be able to know that I was thinking about her, and would feel better because of it.
Some time later (though I'm not sure quite how long it was, as I was so engrossed with hiding my face and my tears away), I heard a slight, startled scream from the bay below. Looking up, I briskly wiped my face with my sleeves (which were abrasive like sandpaper against my skin). The girl was sitting bolt upright in The King of Red Lions, and even from this distance, I could see that her chest was heaving. She looked wildly about, ignoring Red who was trying to calm her down – or at least, that's what I guessed he was trying to do – and when her red eyes fell on me, she became completely still.
I did likewise, caught underneath her stare. Even during our short meeting a couple of days ago, I'd become used to her not meeting my eye, and always casting her gaze to the floor. Having her stare directly at me was unnerving, and I hoped that it wasn't too obvious that I'd been crying. Finally, she moved, though did not remove her gaze from me. Slowly, she rose to her feet, not at all affected when a large wave hit against Red's side and made him wobble. She just daintily stepped out of him, and onto the sand, those red eyes still staring, wide, and uncertain.
She then padded up the beach, reminding me of a cat because of the way she moved – every motion seemed fluid, and this, along with her general aura of mystery, meant that I couldn't bring myself to look away. I looked around for something to say; a greeting, or a question; but I couldn't think of anything, so just waited silently for her to reach me. :What made her scream? And why is she looking at me like that? What's going on: These questions only added to the store of them already careening around in my head, and I shoved them to the back of my mind as best I could.
"Rufus," she whispered, the trace of an accent stronger than it had been last time I'd heard her speak. "I'd suggest that you go and see the Great Deku Tree at once. I have other things that need to be attended to. Should you need to contact me, call Red, and he'll pass on any messages to me." This close up, I could see that her red eyes were bright, and wondered if she too had been crying. She abruptly turned around, and as soon as those fiery orbs left me, I felt the ability to move return to my body.
I hopped down from the boulder, and stood in front of it with my hands behind my back. "Please…Shadow… What's going on?" I asked her. She tensed upon hearing her name, and turned her head to the side, allowing me to see the profile of her face, half buried beneath the mask she wore.
"It's nothing of great concern to you. Do not…don't worry about," she finished, rather lamely. "Go and see the Great Deku Tree; I will be back in time to help you when you need me to." She turned back towards the bay, and added in a mutter that, I nonetheless, heard, "Or at least, I'll try to be."
I took a couple of steps forward, and extended a hand, meaning to catch her by the arm. "Please, don't go!" I begged, the full force of being alone only just hitting me. :I'm just a kid, I shouldn't even be here! I should be at home with Grandma and Aryll, having fun and being safe:
"Why?" she queried softly, and I could see that she was shaking.
"I…I don't…want to be alone…" I admitted quietly, dropping my hand and looking down at the ground morosely. She turned around at this, and I was surprised when she briefly brushed a hand across my shoulder. From the upward tilt of her eyes, I supposed she was smiling.
"You won't be – you have Red to keep you company, do you not?" I looked up at her, and hoped that my feelings were conveyed on my face. :He's just a boat! How can that be good company when all I can do is talk to him through some magic stone: She sighed heavily, "I suppose that isn't exactly the comfort you were hoping for, is it?" she seemed to have guessed what I'd put across on my face. "I…" she hesitated before continuing, "I suppose you may as well know what all that was about…who knows, you may even be able to help," the last part was more to herself than to me.
"Well, what was it about then? Why did you scream?" I asked, taking up a seat beside where she had crouched on the grassy ground. She sighed again, and looked down at the floor.
"Rufus, I… I'm able to see visions," she said simply, and looked at me to see my reaction. I just nodded, willing her to carry on. "And…sometimes they are of things that have already happened, and sometimes of things that are likely to happen. Visions of the future are not always as reliable as visions of the past," she explained, "sometimes there are many different possibilities of things that can happen. What I just saw was…" she took in a deep shuddering breath, "something that I hope never happens. But it well may, and there is only one way I can see of stopping it."
"Stopping what?"
"Deaths. Many, many deaths. Ruination. Torment." I stared at her, shivering at the dread in her voice. "In the vision…I…it was…horrible," she ended, wrapping her arms around herself. Not quite sure whether it was proper or not, I reached out and touched one of her hands. She jumped a little, and stared at my hand on hers, but didn't reprimand me. Instead, she reached up with her free hand and placed it over my one. "Thank you," she murmured.
"That's all right. Is there – anything I can do – to help I mean?" She shook her head.
"I think the best thing you can do is to carry on…I must go and retrieve something most important."
"What is it you're looking for?" I asked, feeling slightly calmer now that she seemed to have calmed down a little herself. I shoved my hands into my pockets to warm them up, and my bright hand came up against something cool, smooth, and somewhat triangular. Curiously, and with some feeling of dread, I pulled it out of my pocket, and groaned aloud. "Oh no!"
"What?" Shadow was drawn out of some reverie or other, and looked over at me. When her eyes caught the small triangular lump, she gasped. "What the- Where did you get that!" I looked guiltily up at her, and answered timidly,
"Marie. I didn't mean to take it – it just fell out of her pocket, and I had to get it out of sight. I must have put it in my pocket by mistake, I really didn't mean to-" She held up a bandaged hand, and shook her head, and my eyes widened when I actually heard her laugh.
"Oh Gods Rufus, don't you know what that is?"
"Urm…no?" I answered, non-plussed.
"Here, pass it to me so I can check something." She held out one hand, and with the other fumbled with a pouch on her belt. I dropped the metal thing into her upturned palm, and watched as she drew out some egg-shaped thing will holes in it. This she put upon her knee, and she held the golden triangle next to it, looking between the two objects. Her brows came down and knitted together. "It's not big enough…maybe…" she ran her fingers along the edges, and then nodded. "Of course, they must have split it so it would be harder to find… Ingenious!"
"Urm…not to be rude…but I have no idea what's going on," I declared, shuffling a few inches closer to try and figure out what she was doing. She looked up, eyes sparkling merrily.
"You've just saved me an awful lot of bother and hardship by getting this. Of course, we'll need to find the rest, but we're a step up on Dragmire now…" On seeing that I was still clueless, she laughed again. "I'm sorry, I'm not making much sense am I?"
"Not really, no."
"Thought as much…well, let me explain. This," she held up the small golden triangle, "is part of the great Tri-Force. If I'm not mistaken, it's actually part of the Tri-Force of Wisdom…"
"But, wasn't that held by the legendary Princess-"
"Zelda?" I nodded. "Yes, it was. But, on her death, it returned to the Sacred Realm, and it was only after the great flood that it returned to the world. I never – not in my wildest dreams – I never thought I'd see it for real!" she exclaimed excitedly. "And, now that we have it, Dragmire won't be able to find it and use its power against us, because he will only find half of the piece!" I nodded, pretending to understand her. She looked positively ecstatic, and suddenly asked, "Are you ready to go and see the Great Deku Tree now?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, I suppose I am… Are you going to come with me, or are there still other things you need to do?" It was hard to keep the bitter tone out of my voice, and she looked slightly abashed.
"No, I believe I've done everything I needed to," she answered, speaking a lot more stiffly, and with a lot less accent than she had been before. "We'd best go back down to Red and tell him that we're going now then, hadn't we?"
"Good idea," I answered, with little enthusiasm. She stood up, and hurried off down the beach, not bothering to wait for me. About ten minutes ago, I had still thought of her as an interesting (if mysterious) helper. But, now I wondered if Red had chosen the right person to accompany me. She didn't seem to be used to being with other people, let alone helping them, and I wasn't entirely sure that I trusted her. :Idiot, she saved your life, didn't she:
:Yeah…but… She's just so…cold. Formal. Weird! I wonder if all Sheikah are like that: I'd never even heard the word before Marie had said it that morning, so I knew nothing of the race, other than the fact that they trained as warriors and mages. Annoyed by the fact that it seemed all this journey was giving to me was a giant headache from all the questions in my mind, I headed off down the incline towards the beach after Shadow. She was already at the bottom, talking to Red in a brusque manner.
"We're going to go and see the Great Deku Tree now," she told him.
"What about your vision? What did it tell you?" he asked, sounding truly concerned. She just shrugged,
"Just something that could happen…but…you don't need to worry. Luckily, Rufus here has the very thing to make sure what I saw never will happen." Red turned to look at me quizzically, and I realised that she still had the triangular gold piece. This, she had held in her clenched fist, and she opened it to show Red the small shining thing. He gasped,
"Surely not. It-it can't be!"
"It is," she closed her fist, and bent down to scoop a small pack from Red's keel. "Now, we really must be going-"
"Are you sure you're all right to go? You look so pale." She stopped fiddling with the straps of her pack, and bent down. I didn't hear what was said, but saw him nod and look at me, before returning his gaze to her and nodding some more. Feeling annoyed at being left out of the conversation once again, I coughed loudly to draw their attention. Shadow stood up, raking a few awry strands of hair away from her face.
"Do be careful," The King of Red Lion's said, and I smiled warmly at him, raising a hand to my head to give a small salute.
"Aye, aye, cap'n," I called, and heard him snort quietly to himself. Shadow walked up to me, and then looked down at me.
"Come on then; the afternoon's wearing on, and we'll need the light to find our way through the forest," she advised, taking the lead. After one last look back, and a wave to Red, I turned around to follow her, wondering if this was wise. :Oh, come on, you've seen how good a fighter she is. Maybe she's just shaken up by that vision, or whatever it was she saw. Red's right…she does look a bit pale after all.: But, somehow, there was still this feeling of mistrust that I couldn't quite shake. She just seemed…different…
:Though I suppose this could be how she normally is. I mean, it's not as though I know her or anything…: Frowning, I just carried on up towards the green band which signified the start of the forest. Ahead of me, Shadow was walking very quickly, and had already put quite some distance between herself and me. Her fists were clenched, and she violently shook her head a couple of times, managing to dislodge the scrap of material that kept her curly platinum hair out of the way. Then, she seemed to calm down again, as her fists loosened, and her pace slowed, so that I could catch up with her.
"We'll need to follow the river," she pointed upwards to where a shimmering silver waterfall erupted from the verdant trees. "The Great Deku Tree sits in a hollow from which the only spring on the island comes, and makes it the purest water around with his magic," she informed me. I just looked wistfully at the water as we approached, and hoped that she'd stop next to it. Thankfully, she did, falling to her knees next to a deep pool in which the water collected, before running down a deep gully towards the ocean. She dipped both hands into the water, and gulped it down. "Well, are you going to drink or not?"
I immediately collapsed onto the bank, and not feeling in the mood to be dainty about it, leant out over the water, and drank directly from the pool. From the corner of my eye, I noticed her finish her drink, and look at me with unhidden amusement. I ignored her, and carried on drinking, finding that it was taking the edge off of how hungry I was, as well as sating my thirst.
When I was done drinking, she stood up again, and we began our trek through the dappled light of the forest to find this 'Great Deku Tree'. :Whatever that is…:
It wasn't long before the river widened, meandering a path through the forest. It was surprisingly devoid of life, though the water was clear, and had refreshed me greatly when I drank some of it earlier on. Looking around, I hoped to spot some sort of life, other than Shadow, but nothing presented itself. I shivered a little, finding the silence eerie, and the girl ahead of me looked back over her shoulder at me. "It's a bit quiet, isn't it?" she said, more of a statement than a question, and she sounded a lot less hostile than earlier. I just smiled tightly and nodded,
"Just a bit… I thought there'd be…I dunno…just some animals or something around here. It doesn't feel right," I ended, looking back at the clear water in the hopes that I would at least spot some fish or something. But the only thing I could see was the sky reflected back at me, and the small round pebbles at the bottom of the channel. "How much further do you suppose it is?" I called, drawing myself away from the water's edge and hurrying to catch up with her.
"I'm not sure. It can't be too far though – we've already come quite a way in."
"I hope it isn't too far; I'm starved," I proclaimed, now falling into stride next to her. She made a sudden movement, as if to get her bag, but then dropped her hand and looked away from me and into the trees on the left. The hand that I could see clutched tightly onto the strap of the bag over her shoulder, the knuckles of it turning white. I raised my eyebrow, but made no comment, instead looking away and back upstream. The trees ahead seemed to come together in a sort of arch, and beyond that, I could see a blanket of pink and yellow flowers covering the ground of a clearing, which was lit up by the sun.
"Is that it?" I asked, noticing a huge, gnarled tree in the centre of the clearing, with great branches extending out for many feet from the main trunk. It was surrounded by a pool of water, which fed into the river by which we walked.
"I think so, yes," Shadow said, slowing in her pace and allowing me to take the lead. I paused to wait for her, but she just urged me on. "Go ahead – I need to sort out my boots," she said, bending down to do just that. I turned around again, and my eyes went wide when I thought I saw a glimmering ball of light duck out of sight beneath the carpet of flowers. However, I wasn't quite sure, and told myself that I might have just imagined it… :I hope I didn't! That could have been a firefly, or even a wild fairy: I thought with a smile, carrying on towards the archway of trees that led into the clearing.
However, my smile soon died away as I stepped into the clearing. For, whilst from further away it had looked a scene of perfect peace, from here I could see that there were monsters crawling all around the beautiful place. Most of them stood around the base of the large tree in the centre, with sharpened spears, and even lit torches in their hands. Smoke billowed from a pile of dry leaves that they had collected, and I could smell them burning even from this distance.
:They're trying to set that tree alight: I realised, already taking out my weapons and starting forwards. The sound of footsteps behind me told me that Shadow was coming, and I felt glad that I'd have some help fighting against all those monsters. "Come on," I urged, "we have to stop them!"
"We?" she echoed, sounding surprised. "No Rufus…this is something you must do alone."
"What – but you – you're meant to-"
"I'd hurry up if I were you, or else one of the lower branches will catch, and then the Great Deku Tree will be doomed," she said, rather airily. I stared at her in disbelief as she just took up a place against one of the trees that made up the entrance into the clearing. "Well, what are you waiting for?" The sound of the creatures around the tree finally noticing our presence jolted me back to reality, and I turned around to see a good number of them careering towards me, weapons raised.
:What in the Gods is she playing at? Isn't she meant to help me? What on all the Great Sea has happened to make her act like this? She was protecting me before, so why is she just leaving me alone to do all the fighting now: All of these questions ran through my mind in a split second, but, then the first of the crowd of monsters reached me, and I didn't have time to think anymore.
Some of the monsters were ones that I could recognise – large bokoblins with crude scimitars and sharpened sticks, and small goblin-like creatures – but there were others that I couldn't put names to at all. A pig-like one with scales on its snout and a whip-like tail hissed at me, displaying a pointed tongue. I just raised my shield, blocking against the large axe that it bought down towards me. The flat metal blade became wedged in my shield, which enraged the monster, as it was unable to pull it out; I leant all my weight backwards as it pulled, making sure that I didn't lose my shield. If I did…well, I was willing to bet they'd finish me off in an instant!
Feeling glad of the training Orca had given me, I lowered my shield a little bit and began to fight back, taking advantage of the fact that none of the creatures I faced seemed to have shields or armour of their own. They weren't very skilled fighters, seeming to prefer just hacking and slashing at whatever got in their way, and I was able to take advantage of this as well, attacking un-protected sides, and using my quick footwork to make sure that the monsters didn't surround me.
I managed to look over my shoulder once or twice back towards the arch, but didn't catch sight of Shadow again. :I guess she's abandoned me then: I decided, and this in itself incurred a huge wave of anger inside me. :How dare she? When Red went to all that trouble to get her to help me! She just runs off and leaves me all alone with all these monsters to fight: One of the pig-lizard things swung one of those roughly hewn axes at me, and I dodged out of the way, not fancying another tug of war over my shield. The weapon became stuck in the floor, and it grunted as it tried to pull it out again; I just swung my sword sideways, and it fell to the ground, disappearing as it fell.
A bokoblin immediately stepped into to take its place, along with a couple of small goblins. I jumped backwards as the large bokoblin swept at me with its rusty sword, and then countered with a swipe of my own which succeeded in cutting off its hand and rendering it weaponless. Feeling a little sick at the sight, I turned my attention to the small goblin creatures, one of whom had managed to get past my defences, and had jabbed me in the leg with its sharpened stick. Annoying, I kicked it away, and glanced down at my leg. :It's not too bad – I'll fix it up later.:
The monsters carried on coming, and I began to feel tired. After all, I'd only just come out a fever, hadn't eaten a decent meal for over a day, and well, I wasn't exactly the best fighter in the world either. I scanned the area again, taking care to block any attacks that came my way, and finally spotted Shadow next to the burning pile of leaves, which she was fast putting out. A few monsters noticed my line of sight, and hurried back over. She looked up, and faster than the eye could see, had a dagger in each hand.
Assured that she was, at least, still alive, I returned to my own battles. I'd felled all of the pig-lizards, leaving three bokoblins and about a dozen of the small goblin creatures. The little ones hung back, looking as though they were scared. The one I'd kicked was chattering away madly, and hopping up and down with its pointy stick raised above its head. :Little fella looks a little annoyed: I thought, managing a smile. My smile didn't stay for long though, because the three bokoblins chose that moment to cleverly combine forces and rush me.
I raised my shield, but not in time – one of their swords grazed my right shoulder, sending burning pain down the entire right hand side of my body. "Gods!" I yelped, dropping my shield altogether in shock. This meant that I only had my sword left, which seemed to make the little monster I'd kicked very pleased. It made a sound of joy, and still jabbering, led its fellows forward to join the bokoblin attack. I gulped, and wildly swung, managing to get one of the bokoblins in the advancing wall of monsters.
Looking over my shoulder as I backed away, I saw that the edge of the trees was coming closer and closer – they were hemming me in! "Shadow!" I yelled, praying that she'd deign to help me. Whilst engaging one of the two remaining bokoblins in combat, I looked over to where she'd last been, but was unable to spot her. I wasn't able to look any longer, as this was one of the intelligent looking females, with a sword in each hand. She bore her teeth at me in a twisted grin, and then bought both weapons crashing down together. In the split second I had before they cleaved me in two, I thought about my options. Stay still, and be cut into pieces, or throw myself sideways and into the crowd of small goblin creatures that swarmed around my legs.
Deciding the second option was the better one, I dived, and rolled over and over across the lush grass of the clearing. Pain erupted all over my body almost immediately as the little goblins swarmed, brandishing their sticks aloft and crying triumphantly as they prodded me with them. The one I'd kicked climbed onto my chest and jumped up and down like I was some sort of prize he'd one. I just lifted my sore left arm and ran him through with my sword. The joy of getting it off was short lived when I realised there were about eleven or so more of them all crowded around me in a rather mincing manner.
The two remaining female bokoblins didn't even bother to come at me anymore, instead looking at each other with expressions akin to triumph. The one of the left (the one who had attacked me previously) bore her teeth again, though the look on her face was different. Rather than amusement, I could detect pain, and when she fell over forwards, I saw that there was a dagger in her back. It clattered to the floor when she disappeared, and the other bokoblin looked wildly about. Her eyes fell on me, and narrowed when she saw the sword I held in my left hand.
She took one step forwards, and then the same expression appeared on her face, and she fell over forwards, a dagger also in her back. The little goblin creatures ceased prodding me, and looked around fearfully at their fallen comrades. Something whistled past my ear, and struck the goblin standing nearest me. After that, the rest of the troupe dispersed, running off into the trees with shrieks of terror. Another dagger fell to the floor, and I dropped my sword onto the grass, reaching around to check my right shoulder with my good hand.
Thankfully, there wasn't much blood coming from the wound. When I checked the one on my leg, I saw that it had already begun to dry, so decided not to worry about it. Shadow hadn't reappeared yet, but I guessed the daggers must be hers.
Slowly, I sat up, groaning as I did so – my head hurt where I'd hit it in my tumble, and I knew by tomorrow morning I'd be covered in livid bruises from the insistent poking of those goblin things.
Just as gingerly, I got up onto my feet, using my sword to help me stand up. My shield lay a few feet away, and I hurried over to pick it up. Not feeling quite safe, I kept my weaponry out, and moved over to the pile of leaves around the base of the large central tree, to make sure that it wasn't about to catch fire again.
Smoke still rose from the untidy pile, curling into wispy fronds as it floated upwards. I walked through the shallow pool of water that surrounded the towering trunk, and came to stop by a group of large lily pads. Carefully, I kicked some more water over the leaves, and then looked up at the tree before me to make sure that none of its branches had caught. Thankfully, none had. However, something about the trunk caught my eye, and I found myself staring in disbelief as I came to realise what it was.
A great, bulbous stump of an old, broken branch, had been weathered away by the rain and the wind, so that it was now round and shaped almost exactly like a giant nose… Two large holes about halfway up the entire tree looked like eyes, and some tendrils of ivy around the bottom, which dipped in the centre of my view, and then raised upwards to twine around the tree, looked like a mouth. I shook my head at such flights of fancy, and looked around to try and spot whoever it was I'd been sent to see about the Great Power Red needed me to get.
When nothing presented itself, I huffed loudly, and put away my weapons. Nothing had yet leapt out at me, so I guessed that I'd already faced all the monsters I needed to worry about. Scuffing my feet through the water as I did so, I turned around and walked away from the tree, intending to find somewhere to sit down and properly sort out my wounds. As I went past the giant lily pads, they rose up and down on the ripples I made. Curiously, having heard tales about lilies that full-grown men could stand on, I reached out a hand and pressed down on the leaf.
When it didn't so much as give underneath my fingers, I cautiously leant my whole weight on it via my arm. When it still didn't do anything other than sink about an inch in the middle where I was pressing, I felt confident about its strength. Turning around, I half fell, half jumped backwards onto the leaf, so that I landed in the middle. It moulded around my shape, and the feeling of the water beneath the leaf made me feel like I was floating on nothing. Sighing, I drew my legs up onto the leaf, and looked at the injured one.
I'd just started to look around in my pack for some potion to put on my cuts, when I heard a creaking sound from the tree behind me. I looked around, and didn't even have time to gasp before a large booming voice began to speak, though I was unable to understand. I just watched the vine open a rip within the bark of the tree, and it began to move to form the sounds that were being made – the holes for the eyes twitched animatedly, narrowing and then widening as the tree spoke in a surprised tone.
:I've gone mad. There is a tree talking to me. I'm dead, I died, this is hell, where everything is weird…: I thought, backing away from the tree by shuffling backwards on my butt. However, I'd forgotten where I was, and suddenly tumbled off of the lily pad altogether, and into the cool, shin deep water. When I resurfaced, I saw that the tree was looking down at me in a quizzical way, and I just attempted a shy smile, crawling back onto the lily and looking up. :Should I say something? What if it doesn't understand what I say:
"I must apologise. I was in error…I saw your clothing and suddenly I longed for an age gone by. Such a longing caused the ancient tongue to pass my lips," the tree explained, and I nodded, pretending that I understood, all the while keeping as far back on the lily as I dared. He continued, "I'm the guardian spirit of this, the Forest Haven, the Great Deku Tree, and I owe you my thanks for saving me from those foul creatures!" I smiled again, this time a little more comfortably, though I was still a little freaked out.
"I-I," I began nervously.
"Yes young one?"
"The – the King of Red Lions sent me," I continued more boldly. "He says that you have a Great Power that we need…?"
"Ah," the vine became down turned in a sombre frown. "So it is true… Ganondorf has indeed returned…no wonder such despicable creatures have been roaming this land recently." He took in a deep breath. "In that case, we must make haste!"
"Indeed, we must." I whipped my head around to see Shadow, with a flaming torch held in one hand, and a dagger in the other. "Great Deku Tree, my regards, but we cannot afford to waste much time. Hand us the Pearl, and we will be on our way."
"And who are you, young Sheikah, to order me around so?" he boomed, though not in a menacing way. Shadow didn't answer, instead dropping the hand that held her dagger to her waist, and taking out the large blue ocarina from earlier. The Great Deku Tree gasped. "The descendant of the Shadow sage?" he said, voice now quite and breathy. "By Din…"
"Come along sir, we haven't the time to tarry on your memories of a sunken land," she spat, still holding the pearlescent instrument in shaking hands. I was shocked by her tone, and sent her a dark warning look. She just made a rude gesture towards me with the hand that held the torch, and then stood, tapping her foot expectantly on the ground.
"I cannot – not yet. There is something I would wish this young hero to do first," he turned his great eyes back to me. Shadow, however, didn't seem too happy with this, as she marched forward, splashing through the water, towards the pile of leaves still smouldering slightly at the roots of the tree.
"I'm not feeling in the mood to wait around for you, old one," she growled, and her voice sounded unlike anything I had heard from her before.
"No Sheikah would have ever spoken to me as such back in the-"
"Well, we're not back in the good old days of Hyrule anymore, are we?" she exploded. "A lot of things have changed around here, and the balance of power has long been awaiting change!" she laughed with abandon, and bought the torch dangerously close to the kindling pile. "The pearl, if you please."
"Never – not to you, Dragmire!" One of the great branches bent down, without the aid of any wind or extra weight, and literally threw the indigo clad girl away from the pile of dry twigs and leaves. The torch fell from her hands and landed in the water, hissing and popping as the flame went out. She landed in a heap on the shore, and I made to go towards her. "Stay where you are!" he barked. Shadow remained unmoving where she was, and I looked between the two of them in worry.
"Fairies, you must help our Sheikah before she is consumed by Dragmire's will," the tree bellowed, and hundreds of small, sparkling lights suddenly appeared from beneath the flowers that littered the floor. The whole clearing became dazzling under their light, as it sparkled off the pools of water and streams that criss-crossed the ground. The fairies manoeuvred themselves so that they encircled the Sheikah girl, covering her completely from my sight as they did so.
"I would shield your eyes, young one," the tree advised. I lifted up both hands, ready to do so, but peered through my fingers to try and figure out what was going on. When a flash of bright light erupted from the fairy mass, I squeezed my eyes tight shut and pressed my hands against my eyes, making spots appear on my eyelids. There was no sound at all, and I could still see the light shining even through my eyelids and hands. Only when I could no longer see it did I take my hands away and open my eyes.
The light still lingered, and died away slowly, until eventually, it was only the small, gentle glow of each fairy that lit the clearing. They began to disperse, allowing me to see that Shadow was still lying where she had fallen, and was breathing deeply as though asleep. When I began to move towards her this time, the Great Deku Tree made no move to stop me.
Within three strides, I was next to her. I bent down, and tapped her on the shoulder. She squirmed and scrunched up her eyes. "Want sleep," she grumbled, turning her face away and batting at my hand. I tapped again, and groaning, she opened her eyes. Compared to earlier, they looked positively friendly and normal, and she blinked a couple of times up at me, before simply saying, "Rufus?" in her soft voice, "What…what am I doing lying on the floor?" Then, a dark thought seemed to flutter across her mind, and she closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, before opening them wide, with a shocked look on her face.
"Rufus! Oh my Gods, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, grabbing the hand that I'd tapped her on the shoulder with, and squeezing it. "I – I didn't mean to – he just took control, and-"
"Explain it later, young Sheikah," the Great Deku Tree interrupted. "There are other things that must be discussed.
I don't like this chapter. After the arrival to the island, it just gets icky. But it had to be done. Apologies for abrupt ickiness, angstiness, confusal and heavy speech. My head hurts. I think I'm going to go and lie down, and try to figure out what the hell I've just written about. :Smiles as sweetly as she can:. I want a beta-reader so badly it hurts… :Cries pitifully.:
Soda
PS: One of these days, I should really get around to starting my geography coursework…hrm…
PPS: I did attempt to actually download a Hylian text font. But…my computer, being the darling that it is, decided not to let me…hence a lack of stuff actually written in old Hylian. Heh…
PPPS: Seriously, I'm willing to take this chapter down and seriously rethink it if people don't like it. I'm not sure if I do or not. The idea seemed grand when I came up with it, yet I don't think I put it across in a very good way. :Grumble: