Author's Note:
As promised, here is the second chapter today!
Also...Happy Halloween kiddies.
*laughs maniacally*
First thing to have when spelunking: lantern.
Second thing: Smarter, better prepared friends.
Fortunately, Link had the latter. Pipit took out a small jar from his pocket and produced -
"Geez Pipit! Where the hell did you get those?" Link exclaimed at the bright, luminescent bugs whirring around the small jar. Pipit beamed.
"Caught them myself last week, actually. Heard from somewhere the lake's a good place to catch them, and since my house's pretty close, and I'm trained and all..." He shrugged.
"That's really cool, Pipit! Um...are you going to let them go?" Fledge asked. " ...W-when you're done, I mean."
Pipit raised his makeshift lantern, making the cavern walls gleam. "Nah, I'm selling them to the potions master. She'll need them for the stronger potions."
Fledge's gaze dropped. "Oh..." He looked around. "Um...where's...um...that girl?"
"Karane?" asked Pipit. He looked down the dark tunnel. "Hmm...I guess she went this way?" He sounded a bit too uncertain to Link.
The sandy-haired boy frowned, and Fledge looked uncomfortable.
"We should find her," said Link, rubbing the back of his head.
The other two nodded. "Yah."
Their footsteps made a cacophony on the slick, grimy floor. Link tripped up more than once, but to his credit, even Pipit seemed to have trouble keeping his footing, let alone poor Fledge, who had slammed into the slimy walls more than once. They'd be laughing their heads off right now, if not for Karane's absence.
As they made their third turn in the cave down yet another tunnel, (Pipit having nearly run head-on into an inconveniently settled stalagmite) with still no sign of their other companion, the boy's went silent. In that silence, it became apparent that their third, and youngest party member had very noisy steps. On top of that, Link smelled something particularly gross in the must, something like rotting meat.
"You...still sense your bird, Link?" asked Pipit after a while. He sounded rather distracted. Link nodded.
"Yah."
Click Click Click went Fledge's boots on each step.
"Hey...guys?" Pipit asked.
Click Click Click
"What?" Link asked, grimacing at the sharp tap of Fledge's shoes.
"Do you... smell anything funny?"
"Yah," Link replied.
CLICK CLICK CLICK
"Huh...strange..." Pipit muttered under his breath. It went silent, except for the clacking echo of Fledge's boots.
Link's headache felt bad enough without -
CLICK CLICK CLICK
The boy covered his ears. Hylia, if Fledge's stupid, steel-toed boots clanked on the ground one more time...
They didn't.
Link froze.
"Er...Fledge?" he asked, turning around. He saw the tall silhouette of his unmoving friend and took slow, cautious steps towards him. A disgusting wave of the foul odor hit him in full and Link gagged. "Fledge?" The other boy's form trembled and Link called out, "Pipit!"
"What-" The senior turned around nearly dropped the jar.
The bug's eerie light revealed something blue, oozing, and transparent dripping on Fledge's head. The poor guy's distorted face stared at them in horror, petrified.
Link swore and unsheathed his sword, and Pipit let out a short scream.
"Shit...okay Fledge," Link said, taking easy steps forward and eyeing the two large, orange orbs sitting a top the blob. It blinked from side-to-side like a Remlit...only more goopy and a hell of a lot more gross; it only had a thin, clear membrane to cover the sphere.
"Take it easy..." The boy's hazel eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets, and Link realized the other probably couldn't breath. Shit. "P-Pipit...got a match?"
"Link, are you insane? That thing's explosive!"
Link whirled around. "Goddess-dammit, Pipit! What the hell are we supposed to do then?"
Pipit furrowed his eyebrows. "You still have that medicine Karane mentioned earlier?"
(Oh. That. Zelda was going to kill him.)
Link grit his teeth and shouted, "What does that have to do with anything?"
Pipit growled, "Hand me the antitoxins."
Link glanced between Fledge and Pipit before digging into his pockets and throwing it to the senior. Pipit unhooked the bottle and raced to Fledge, shoving the bug jar into Link's free hand. The lightning bugs started and began running into each other; their eerie light flitted against the walls. Then the senior dumped the red potion's contents onto the blob and stepped back. The thing let out a gurgling screech that made Link's head spin as the antitoxin hit it like an acid. It continued to scream as the bubbling formula corroded the blue glob, and then with a sickening sort of GALLOOP let go of Fledge's head and jumped at Link. The boy stumbled back and felt his sword go out on reflex. The moment steel and jelly met, the slimy thing splattered everywhere.
"Agh!" Link cried out in disgust as an eyeball landed and stuck to his right shoulder. He flicked it away and felt his stomach wrench.
Pipit groaned and wiped off purplish blue ooze from his face in disgust. "Did you have to make such a mess of it?" The senior turned quickly to Fledge, who had sort of fainted. Link couldn't blame him. Pipit shook the younger form. "Oy! You all right?"
Fledge groaned, and the other two sighed in relief.
"That was too freaking close," said Link.
Pipit frowned, scrutinized the ceiling with narrowed eyes, and muttered, "There's more where that came from..."
Link raised the jar to check the cave's top and furrowed his brow. "...What was that thing?"
Pipit sighed and helped the younger, slime-covered boy to his feet, who still looked quite shaken. "Chu Ju Jelly. They're not particularly difficult creatures, unless they manage to sneak up on you. ...It explains why their their favorite places are so dark, wet, and humid." Pipit looked around and chuckled." This cave is like Chu Ju heaven." He paused. "They act a lot like leaches, in the sense they drink blood, but they're also decomposers." The older inspected Fledge's face. "I don't think we gave it a chance to do anything to Fledge, thank goodness."
Link wiped away some extra goop and shuddered. Eww.
"So what you're saying is, the stuff all over me right now..."
"Is blood waste component and carcass smudge."
Link blanched. "I think I'm going to be sick..."
"At least it wasn't on our head. No offense, pal," said Pipit, giving Fledge a gentle pat. "Can you get up?"
Fledge blinked and took deep, calming breaths. "...Y-y-y-yah... I t-think so."
"All righty, lemme help." Pipit hooked the younger's arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Geez!" the senior grunted. "You could lose some pounds..."
Fledge blushed with the remaining color he had left in his blue face. "S-sorry..."
Pipit sighed. "Naw, it's fine." The senior turned to Link. "We should hurry if we're going to find Karane and your bird on time."
Link nodded and went over to help with Fledge. Once he secured the other boy's arm over his own shoulders, they made their way down the tunnel at a hurried pace. Fledge, to his credit, had never complained once this whole trip.
Link kept the make-shift lantern on the ceiling and walls. Only once or twice did they spot anything moving up there, but whatever it was, it left them alone.
The attack on Fledge had put Link over the edge about their wayward companion. Pipit seemed tense too; his movements and pacing far too stiff. She could have gotten seriously hurt by herself...
"...Uh, guys? Do you smell...smoke?" By this time Fledge had begun to run on his own. His hand never left the hilt of his blade. Link and Pipit looked at each other and sniffed.
"...Yah," muttered Link.
Pipit grit his teeth. "What idiot built a fire in here with all these Chu Ju crawling around?"
"...It'd explain why there aren't many monsters," said Fledge, wiping off a speck of blue slime he'd missed on his left cheek. Once again the two other's stared. "I-I mean...aren't there a lot more? You said something about them not liking the warmth or light..."
Pipit frowned. "Yah, but it's still stupid. One little touch and KABOOM! The whole place is up in smoke."
Fledge shrugged. "I guess, but why would they go near something they hate?"
Link chuckled at Pipit's annoyed expression. "He's got a point, bookworm."
The senior narrowed his eyes. "Says the one who offered to light the blob up when it was still stuck on somebody's head..."
Link grinned sheepishly. "Well, yah... It's not like I've been in knight school or anything..."
Fledge chose to ignore this.
At the next turn Link jumped back in shock as two large, black creatures with enormous, blood-shot eyes and long, featherless wings seemingly popped out of nowhere. He almost dropped the jar himself.
All three cried out in alarm and ducked. The Keese, large, mouse-like creatures with wings, long ears, large noses, and arched claws, screeched and swooped down on them. Fledge fumbled with his sword but Link and Pipit had beat him to it. In one swift strike, they cut down the large rodents.
"Shit, I hate this place..." Link grumbled, sheathing his sword. Pipit nodded.
"We'll be out of here soon enough," he said. Link had his doubts.
On the next turn they saw a soft, orange glow flickering at the end of the tunnel. Fledge looked positively relieved, but his comrades though a bit differently.
Pipit put out his hand to stop them. "Be quiet and keep your steps light," he whispered. "We don't know who that is."
Link and Fledge nodded, if not the latter with some reluctance.
Taking his bug jar back from Link, Pipit crept forward. After stuffing it back into his pouch, the senior waved them on to follow. Link had an easier time than Fledge.
Click Click Click
The two others glared back and saw the tallest's dark form flinch. He muttered apology after apology, and clearly struggled to keep his boots from clacking. It didn't do much good.
Click Click Click
Having enough, the senior turned around and hissed, "Fledge, just take them off!"
"B-but my feet will get wet..."
Link heard Pipit's teeth grind. "Fine, just...don't move, all right?"
"But..."
"Still."
Fledge's shoulders sagged and the boy fell silent. Link felt a stab of pity for the poor, luckless guy; they'd dragged him along, forced a sword on him, and on top of that, a Chu Ju had nearly suffocated him. Not to mention, all of this after overhearing Groose and nearly getting pummeled half to death. Link gave his peer's shoulder a sympathetic pat and promised himself that he'd make it up to Fledge once he got his bird back.
Ahead, Pipit's orange-rimmed silhouette lead the way. Both boys; one trained, the other gifted, made not a sound on the cave floor as they snuck towards the tunnel's end. Pipit's hand cut across and Link stopped. The senior made a silencing gesture and snuck a hasty, cautious glance around the stone wall. When he came back, Pipit seemed unsure.
"Who was it?" Link whispered.
Pipit hesitated. "I didn't see anyone, but..." Pipit shook his head. "Come on, let's go before they come back."
Link waved on Fledge, who came sprinting forward with the typical click click of his boots, and Pipit, rolling his eyes, led the way into the open area. They made a narrow, straight line to the center of the cavern, where, to the side, flames of a small fire flickered away. Faded, patched blankets had been drawn up over a small niche near the fire, and next to the flames, laid charred, eaten remains of cooked keese in a small bowl. Link frowned.
"Do you think Groose and his gang have been camping in here?" he asked.
Pipit shook his head. "I don't think so. There's only room for one, and I don't think they'd actually sleep here, rather than the academy. Probably just some homeless-"
"EY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY STUFF!"
Author's Note:
Haha, for those who read chapter six: you know what's going on. ^_^