The hero, the broken, the saviour

Right, last chapter, it seemed as though our adventurers had gotten themselves into a right mess! They managed to complete their mission and free the Koroks, but now the Lord has arrived. After being temporarily blinded by Shadow, he flew into a rage and set the Kokiri on them – and now Shadow's gone off by herself and left Rufus to fend for himself. What's going to happen, and how on earth are they going to get out of this one? (Don't ask me, you'll just have to wait and see – I'm only an introductory summary after all!)

Note to self: Listen to McFly, Jamie Cullum and The Calling more often when writing. Bop-music really helps.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with me. I know I'm a horrible updater, and hell, I should be hung drawn and quartered for taking so long, so thank you so much for actually reading!

Together: A problem halved

Scouring the scene around us (always keeping half an eye on the advancing child-creatures), I looked for a way to reach the Lord. There had to be a weakness, something that we'd overlooked… I snapped my whip out when a couple of the Kokiri came too close, and they jumped back in shock. It wouldn't hold them back for long, but even a few more seconds could be enough…

The Lord was staggering around a little, trying to get his bearings. :He must still be dazed, with eyes that sensitive.: I half hoped that the damage might be permanent, but knew that that was too much to ask for. :That's not very nice, is it: he growled, catching hold of one of the ropes dangling from overhead and clinging to it as a support. I just ignored him, continuing in my attempt to come up with a good plan. His small minions, though poorly armed, threatened to overcome us with mere numbers.

Rufus pressed against me; I could feel his heartbeat thundering away through his ribcage. :There must be a way to get him to safety.: My hair had tumbled loose again :damnit, not a good time: and I swept it out of my face with an annoyed jerk of my free hand. As I dropped my left hand, it brushed against the daisy chain around my neck. One of the green stalks snapped, and the natural necklace fell to the ground. I could see that the flowers were still as fresh as they'd been when I picked them. This seemed important…

The Lord shook his head and looked in the direction of the battle. Evidently, his sight was returning faster than I'd thought. :Think, think! Flowers, the glade… Why was he so mad with the girl: There was something there – a connection – but… :What is it:

An opening didn't look as though it would come anytime soon. The Lord's movements were starting to look too coordinated for my liking…so, hoping that the Gods wouldn't begrudge me for my actions, I quickly dealt with a few of the Kokiri, stunning them with my whip. Then, with a pang of guilt, balanced out with the knowledge (or hope) that Rufus could hold his own, I fled the battle and made a beeline for the black Wolfos-man. On my way, I snatched up both my own daisy chain, and then crushed one of the red-haired Kokiri girl.

These I quickly wound around each hand so that they acted as floral knuckle-dusters. Then, after a moment's hesitation (:if this doesn't work, I am going to be very dead:), I launched my first attack on the Lord. OK, so it wasn't particularly chivalrous, considering I came at him from behind, but I was beyond honourable combat now. I bent down close to the ground in order to get the power I'd need for my spring, and then leapt.

At the last possible second, he turned, blinked, and his eyes swam back into focus. His barb-filled mouth fell open in surprise, and then I was upon him, hands on his throat, finding it too large to encircle and instead applying pressure to his windpipe.

He gagged, putrid breath hot on my face. Then, he copied my actions, clawed fingers easily enclosing my neck. I pressed, he squeezed, black dots appeared in front of my eyes. :No: I writhed in his grip, and managed to land a blow to a rather sensitive area with my right foot. He hissed and relinquished his grip. I let go as well, and sprang backwards.

Since I hadn't checked my direction, I slammed (at high speed) into a tree trunk – a few leaves drifted down, shaken loose by the collision. :Ow.:

:Just what I was thinking, wench.: The Lord had regained his composure, though winced as he took a step towards me. :That was a low blow Sheikah.:

:So was strangling me: I retorted, only afterwards realising the hypocrisy of the statement.

"Shadow!" Rufus shrieked, the sound tearing the air with desperation. Turning, I could see that he was hemmed in by the Kokiri, all of whom had their weapons poised to strike. The Lord took another step towards me, now fully upright, the cool glint in his eye glittering in a shaft of sunlight. He had one hand held up; he was holding his minions back. :But for how much longer:

:That depends on whether you'll indulge me.:

:What: I asked flatly, shuffling slowly that I could easily watched Rufus and the Lord without having to turn my head.

"It's widely rumoured that your people are indeed a handsome race. I'm curious as to what you have to hide behind that mask of yours." I switched to speech as well, and retorted,

"If you think for one moment that-" He flicked his wrist, and Rufus was pinned to the muddy bank with the sticks of two Kokiri. A third held a dagger levelled between the Hylian's eyes. :Rufus:

:Toy with me if you like – I'll enjoy having him cut to ribbons.: He had me and he knew it. No doubt he also knew just how humiliating his demand was. I hesitated, and the Lord lifted his arm to give the go ahead.

"Wait!" I implored, disgusted at the weakness of my tone. Another few Kokiri had arrived from the outside forest, and joined the gaggle surrounding my companion.

"Come here." I moved forwards, closing the gap between us to only a few yards. "Show me." Shuddering in a combination of shame and suppressed rage, I reached up to untie my facemask, casting another glance at the poor Hylian boy in my charge.

At a hand-signal from the huge black Wolfos-man, I was pinned against the wall. I winced as the sticks dug into me, and glared at the Kokiri boy who was holding his dagger in front of my face. He just grinned back at me, looking unearthly. I tried to pay attention to what was going on between Shadow and the Lord, but it was difficult to see anything past him. A few more Kokiri arrived, and I despaired. :There's no way we're going to get out of this one:. I slumped a little, and the dagger was waved threateningly in my face.

"Show me." The Sheikah girl had moved, and now I could see her perfectly – she was shivering in front of the Lord, hands wandering to her facemask. I watched, fascinated, thinking back to the glimpse of her face I'd already had. Some part of me wanted to stay where I was, just so that I could see her face again.

The Kokiri boy who was holding the dagger suddenly fell backwards – another of the child-creatures had their hand around his neck, and wrestled him to the ground, the dagger clattering to the floor. The rest of them broke ranks and began to fight. Only the two pinning me to the wall remained where they were. A grinning face that was familiar appeared in front of me, and shoved my captors out of the way with ease. "Hello there lad – care to come with us?" There was a flash of light, and then a cloud of fairies burst into life, showing that the actual Kokiri were all out cold on the floor.

"Phoebus!" I realised as the shimmering lights grabbed onto me and whisked me upwards onto one of the many walkways above. Below, Shadow had noticed, and quickly jumped backwards, dropping her hands to the daggers at her waist, and drawing them out. The black Wolfos-man's eyes widened, and then he grasped what had happened.

"Why, you-!" One of the daggers embedded itself into his shoulder, and he cursed loudly. His lips curled back in a snarl, and he pounced. Shadow dodged it, but barely. The fairies gasped as one when she rolled into the path of the downward swing of his sabre. She realised the danger at the last second, and managed to pull herself up short – when she stood up, a large portion of her silver hair floated to the ground. The Lord swung his weapon again, forcing her to back up.

I again found myself in awe of her speed as she managed to run behind him and score another hit with a dagger to his back. He roared at this, and reached back, managing to grab the hand that had driven the blade home. As soon as he had hold of her, he flipped her over and slammed her into the ground, holding her down by pressing a clawed foot into her chest. She cried out on impact, but was silent afterwards – blood blossomed around the red eye on her white shirt.

I made to jump down to her rescue, but the fairies restrained me, a dozen of them taking each arm, and even more grabbing onto my legs to hold me back. "Let go!" I hissed, desperately struggling against them. They didn't heed my wishes, and I could only watch in horror as the black Wolfos-man bent down to sniff Shadow. He removed his foot and bent down on one knee, free hand moving towards her facemask. I scowled at him, hating him completely. :Shadow, Gods, be all right:

She stirred slightly, and the Lord froze, hand poised to pull the material down and expose her face. My earlier wish to get another glimpse of the girl's features was overcome by my wish for her to survive. When she did nothing more, he hooked his fingers over the scrap of white cloth.

At that point, her eyes snapped open and her arms snapped upwards, forefingers stabbing into his eyes with a sickening squelch that I could hear from where I stood. The Lord howled in anguish, and she took the opportunity of his pain to kick him off her. Then, she got to her feet, bent almost double from the pain of her wound, and kicked him again, hard in his shin. His leg buckled – she did the same to the other, and he fell backwards onto the ground.

She didn't waste any time at all, and immediately jumped onto him again, her hands around his neck, thumbs digging far into his throat. The Wolfos-man howled again, and rolled over, pinning her to the ground – she managed to roll them again, slamming the both of them into the tree trunk that held up one end of the walkway I was standing on. This shook the whole walkway so much that the fairies were flung every which way. Suddenly free of their grasp, I lurched forwards, arms windmilling as I tried not to fall!

"Don't worry, we got you!" Phoebus huffed, and I felt him tugging at the back of my tunic – it wasn't much, but it was enough to balance me again. I let out the breath I'd been holding, and returned my gaze to the terrible scene below.

The Lord's fur was now matted with both his own and Shadow's blood – her hands around his throat were white with tension, but seemed to be slackening. He couldn't breathe, but he was still scrabbling around, trying to reach the blade he'd dropped in their scuffle. Throwing caution to the wind, I managed to dodge pass the cloud of fairies who were trying their best to restrain me, and ran to the nearest ladder. There, I clambered down a few rungs, and then slid the rest of the way down, succeeding in filling my hands with splinters. I didn't care though – I sprinted over to the pair, and kicked the sabre out of reach.

The Wolfos-man's green eyes narrowed at me murderously, but I didn't care. I felt triumphant, and smirked at him. Then, I unsheathed my sword and levelled it between his eyes, just as one of his Kokiri had done to me. He stopped struggling at that, and his eyes started to roll back in his head. "Shadow," I muttered, letting her know I was there – that bloodstain was getting worryingly large now… "It's all right, you can let go." She released her grip a little bit – I was able to see that there was a ring of blood all around our enemy's neck.

I was surprised when I saw flowers wrapped around Shadow's hands – I was even more surprised when a small spark of some sort of magic went between the daisies and the Lord's neck. His eyes snapped into focus, and he kicked Shadow away with such force that she only stopped when she collided with one of the logs gathered around the fire-pit. "That was a stupid idea, boy," he spat, batting my sword away like it was a toothpick. I squeaked, and ran backwards; I ended up tripping over Shadow's prone form. She grunted weakly when I landed on top of her, and cracked one vermilion eye open to look at me.

"You need flowers," she whispered, voice husky.

"What?" I muttered back, trying to get to my feet. She grabbed my arm in a surprisingly strong grip, considering her wounds, and held me down.

"Flowers – send the fairies – get as many as they can carry from the glade – it's the only way to defeat him!" With that, she let out a small sigh, and her head lolled back. I panicked for a moment, before feeling her chest rise and fall, and realising that she'd only passed out. :Oh Gods, now what do I do? Flowers? How can they-: Then the image of the ring of blood around the Lord's throat flashed in my mind. It seemed ridiculous, but then again, the whole adventure so far had been pretty weird as it was… This was just another of those weird things…

I hopped to my feet now, with my shield up; I looked around for my sword, and saw it glinting amongst the dead leaves, almost exactly half way between my opponent and me. He didn't seem to pay me any attention though, and was looking around with narrowed eyes; they alighted on something over to the left, and he bounded off. I took a chance, and ran to my sword. I snatched it up, and then fled back over to Shadow – I saw that he'd gotten his sabre back, and gulped. :His reach is a lot bigger than mine…and he's a lot faster than me too…: In fact, it seemed as though I had little hope at all of winning this battle…

:Flowers… Well, she's usually right, so…: "Phoebus!" I snatched the still-fresh daisy from my buttonhole and clutched it along with my sword in my left hand. The yellow fairy swooped down, though stayed behind me, away from the Lord.

"Rufus, you need to get out of here! We can carry the Sheikah, and you can-"

"No," I snapped, cutting him off. "I need flowers from the glade – lots of them – and I need them now."

"Flowers?" he echoed, sounding perplexed.

"Just do it!" I ordered, internally sorry for being so harsh. But, well, I didn't have much time to spare explaining did I? Even at that very moment, the Lord was experimentally swinging his sabre, and glared at me with fierce intent. :OK, OK, I just need to hold him back until they bring the flowers, and then…what? What then: I looked down at Shadow, but it didn't look like she was going to come around anytime soon. :What am I supposed to do with them once I have them: Phoebus was still hovering around – I risked it and turned to look at him, "Please, go and get them, and quickly!" My voice cracked, and this spurred him into action. He nodded once, and them zoomed off, the rest of the fairies following him at high speed.

"Hah," the Wolfos-man barked triumphantly. "I see that even your precious magical friends desert you, now that they realise you're doomed."

"I wouldn't be so sure," I answered coolly, doing my best to cover up the nervous note in my voice. He raised an eyebrow, and with a sickening fascination, tugged the dagger Shadow had stabbed into his back out. Gore clung to it, oozing down the cruel blade and splattering onto the crisp leaves underfoot. He wiped the blood off, and then casually tossed the dagger in my direction. I blocked it with my shield, and it bounced harmlessly onto the ground. :I get the feeling I won't be so lucky the next time he tries that.: He was growling now – a deep, low sound right from his chest, which rumbled ominously in the air. I re-gripped the pommel of my sword, and waited for him to make the next move.

I was in a lot of pain – it felt like something was being repeatedly slammed into my chest every time I breathed in. I tried to figure out what was going on – the world around me was pretty hazy. Looking up, I could see the blurry outlines of two people dancing around each other. I couldn't figure out what the dance steps were for, and tried to sit up to get a better view. "Give it up boy, you're finished!"

"I don't think so."

"Well, then you're wrong."

The clash of metal on metal, a small grunt and a loud snarl, followed by a hiss as the smaller of the two figures put his hand over the taller one's face. I shook my head, hoping to clear my vision – it worked, though it did also make me feel like I needed to be sick. Rufus swam into focus, one arm wrapped around the neck of the Lord, right hand pressing a small, crushed daisy into his face, and his left hand plunging his sword into his foe's back. The Lord, with his large, clumsy weapon, was unable to turn it around in order to stab Rufus back (:thank the Gods:), and he flailed around, finally getting hold of the boy's tunic, and ripping him off. The flower stayed where it was, stalk embedded in one of the once green eyes, now red and weeping blood.

Rufus landed rather gracefully for a Hylian, legs splayed beneath him and arms held out to the sides for balance. He managed to duck a swipe from the Lord's sabre, and then hurriedly fled back towards me. I wondered how long I'd been out for, and tried to voice the question. However, Rufus spoke first, panting, "They've gone to get them – I'll hold him off – stay here!" And with that, he charged off again, leading the huge black Wolfos-man on a merry dance around the camp. I tried to keep up with the battle, but found my head reeling every time I turned to follow the two fighters.

Feeling nauseous, I closed my eyes, listening to the sounds of the battle – so far, neither of them seemed to be winning, though Rufus was continuously backing down. :Clever lad – knows when not to put up the offence…: I knew it couldn't last though; he was still a child, and he'd only recently recovered from his fever – something was bound to give! Cursing every single nerve ending in my body, I forced myself onto my knees, and opened my eyes again. Then, I tried to get to my feet, but my body wouldn't cooperate.

Sweat was pouring down my face, and I used my sword hand to wipe the salty liquid out of my eyes. The Lord didn't seem to be tiring at all, but I could feel my energy draining away. I carried on jumping out of the way of his attacks, and parried any that came too close. Without the daisy (it was still poking grotesquely out of his eye), I felt powerless. :I hope the fairies get back soon, or else I don't think I'm going to get out of this…: I didn't know how much time had passed since I sent them off…it felt like forever.

I ducked behind a tree-stump in order to catch my breath – the blow that would have taken off my head, thunked into the wood. I got ready to run again, and then paused to look over my shoulder. I almost laughed when I saw the huge black Wolfos-man struggling with his sabre. He'd managed to get it completely stuck. :Maybe this is my chance: I was about to spring on him, when he let go of the weapon altogether, and came at me, claws bared. I panicked and threw myself sideways, tumbling down a small incline and landing next to the pile of ash in the fire pit.

The Lord towered over me, and smiled, teeth glinting. He snapped his fingers, and heat suddenly exploded all around me. I jumped up immediately, and then dropped to the ground again when I realised that my tunic had caught fire! I scrambled around in the leaves, batting at my clothes to try and put the flames out. My opponent laughed heartily, and kicked dirt over me, extinguishing the flames. I hyperventilated; the skin on my palms had blistered, and it was painful to hold my sword. I clutched it tightly anyway – it was the only thing I had left to defend myself with.

I blindly swung it when I saw the Wolfos-man reaching down towards me. He easily evaded my attack, and then kicked me hard in the side. "Argh!" I yelped, stars exploding in front of my eyes because of the pain. "Damnit!" I felt his clawed fingers around my left wrist, but didn't relinquish my grip on my sword. :I'm not going to let it go! Never:

I watched in horror as the Lord lifted Rufus from the ground by his sword arm – the boy struggled, and I could see the tendons in his arm flinch as the Wolfos-man tried to pry his weapon from his hand. Annoyed that the Hylian wouldn't let go, he dropped him again, and stalked over to the tree where his sabre was still embedded. Rufus rolled over, and struggled to his feet – he'd landed badly, and seemed to have twisted his ankle, as he was limping.

I gritted my teeth, and against the better judgement of my body, forced myself to stand up. Fresh blood spattered the dry leaves underfoot, and it was impossible to stand up straight, but at least I was mobile. I staggered over to Rufus, who seemed surprised to see me. "Shadow?" he murmured, laying a hand on my stooped shoulder. I winced, and he immediately removed the hand. "Sorry – look, you should just-"

"I'm fine," I grunted back, applying more pressure to the gash the Lord's claws had left across my right shoulder and breastbone.

"Of course you are," the Hylian muttered, rolling his eyes. A snigger fought its way out (though the movement jarred my injuries terribly), and he grinned.

The reprieve from battle didn't last long – with a sound of splintering wood, the Lord managed to wrench his blade from its prison, and turned back to us with a demonic glint in his remaining good eye. "Stay behind me," Rufus instructed, shakily taking up a defensive position in front of me. I found myself unable to disobey him, as I was finding it hard to so much as stay upright at that moment in time…

Shadow was deathly pale, and she'd left a trail of blood behind her – if someone didn't see to her wounds soon, I had the feeling that she wouldn't… :Don't think about it: I told myself sternly. :Focus on the huge monster that's about to try and kill you instead.: He was charging again, that huge sabre raised above his head – I didn't think I could block it, but…it was obvious the Sheikah girl couldn't go anywhere in the state she was in. And if I just stepped out of the way, then she'd-

The black Wolfos-man paused, mid-stride. Something white had settled comfortably between his pricked lupine ears, and he had an expression of extreme discomfort on his face. He reached up and removed the white speck, flicking it onto the ground with an annoyed mutter. Then, he lifted his weapon again, ready to deal a deadly blow.

"Oh, Lordie!" called a voice that I knew only too well by now. Looking up, I felt my jaw drop.

Above us had appeared a canopy of blossoms in all colours of the rainbow. The fairies had returned in the nick of time – by the looks of it, they'd bought practically the entire glade back with them. I spotted Phoebus' yellow glow clutching onto a bunch of red roses; Luna was next to him with a huge sunflower held in her hands like a spear.

The Lord's mouth fell open just as mine had, and he made as though to run for it. However, as soon as he started to move, the fairies began to pelt him with their floral weaponry. If the situation hadn't been so dire, I probably would have laughed at just how absurd this would sound if I ever tried to tell anyone about it. It would always be one of those 'you had to be there' moments…

The volume of flowers being thrown resembled a multi-coloured snowstorm. The Wolfos-man stumbled, and the fairies immediately crowded around him, depositing their loads as one. Shadow returned to something like her former self, and scooped up a chain of roses that had landed near us. With this in hand, she hurried forwards to the fallen Lord. "This is going to work this time," I heard her mutter to the monster, before looping the roses around his neck, and yanking them tight.

I only let go of the floral garrotte when the creature's pulse disappeared completely. Then, with shaking hands, I quickly detached his belt from around his waist, and slipped the bottle with the Pearl in it from the leather strap.

"Rufus," I held it out to him, and he took it reverentially.

"We did it," he breathed, sounding disbelieving.

"We did indeed," I nodded. Then, feeling suddenly weary, I settled onto the petal-blanketed ground and closed my eyes.

Be in awe of my shoddy battle scenes! It's terrible, I know – I apologise… Feel free to pelt me with the deadly daisies of doom. (LOL, I suppose at least I'm original with my crazy weaponry ideas, right?) Sort of parodying the idea of 'the Wicked Witch of the West' and water from 'the Wizard of Oz'. Only with flowers (obviously).

…my plot devices suck…