Author's Note:
Ok, I really enjoyed writing this - you'll see why - buuuut it's probably no good...
If you see something off it's because I rushed it, and if you would be so kind to point anything funny out, it would be much appreciated. :)
Also, thanks so much wolflink207! I'm glad you like Zelda so much, I wanted to make her a more appealing character. :D
Everything hurt like he'd been dropped off that blasted cliff all over again.
Link tried to scramble to his feet, but Groose caught his foot and dragged him back. Without his legs' support, Link's face smacked onto the floor.
Unwelcomed tears sprung forth, and his vision flooded temporarily with screaming white. Too long, far too slowly, did Link realize he was still being dragged across the floor. As soon as his busted brains registered this, he kicked back and struggled against the monstrous boy's strength. To his utmost surprise, Groose let go. The boy jolted back away from the tyrant like a streak of lightning, wondering why. The answer came unbiddingly with a hammering blow to his abdomen.
The boy choked, blood flying from his mouth, quickly followed with agonizing, uncontrollable coughs racking like a tornado through his broken body. It murdered his mouth; jawline flaring with unspeakable pain. It still hurt so bad from that first hit...
Dang it, he couldn't even open his mouth without it hurting like hell. That idiot better not have broken his jaw...
Fight it...come on...don't let HIM see you cry, dang it!
(Goddess, make it stop... Please!)
Link felt a burning, disgusting gobbet weld up in the back of his throat that usually came only on a sick bed in the nurse's office.
No freaking way. No.
Holding back his gorge through sheer mass of willpower, Link clambered backwards and tried once more to escape. His heart thudded against his ribcage like an animal trying to claw its way free, and everything thing seemed to happen so agonizingly slow. If not for his adrenaline, Link would not have been able to move.
He looked up with a baleful glare and wished to goddess he had something...anything to fight back with. But he didn't. He was defenseless, he was weak, and he was pathetic. He couldn't...he couldn't even get a freaking spoon for goddess's sake!
Link did not look forward to seeing Zelda after this. She worried...she worried enough about him as it was.
Link hated that fact more than anything in the world (even Groose, though the competition was fierce). He absolutely despised the fact that she always had to save his tail all the time, fix his stupid mistakes, make sure he did his homework and basically not fail at life. And even after all that, it came down to this. He went across the room to get a spoon. A SPOON. For crying out loud.
Now look at him. Covered with blood, clothes torn and filthy, scrambling away pathetically on a disgusting, uncleaned for-goddess-who-knows-how-long floor, from an unescapable, hulking jerk.
Maybe she's right to worry. A small voice jeered.
Link clenched his fists.
"You're awful quiet, champ." Link felt himself being picked up for the umpteenth time that day and slammed against the wall for the other, umpteenth time. Well, Groose didn't really slam him that time per say, thank goddess, or he would have blacked out for real, but hitting the wall over and over again did little for the nerves on the back of his head. His eyes watered dangerously.
Link blinked the pain away and scowled at Groose. He took a bit of satisfaction at the small trail of blood coming out of the jerk's lips from where he'd kicked him.
Groose looked him over with narrowed, jaundiced eyes, but Link could have sworn to see a hint - maybe a even flicker of concern creep into them.
Probably result of a concussion.
Groose shook him again, almost how a small child might shake a broken toy to get it to work again. Link felt his stomach do a couple of backflips at that. Groose furrowed his brow when Link remained unresponsive, minus a small grimace.
"W-" Groose scowled and went on as if that tremor hadn't happened, "What happened to that smart mouth of yours, pipsqueak?"
Link repressed the urge to roll his eyes.
Gee, maybe because you BROKE MY FREAKING JAW, he thought derisively. Idiot!
Groose's eyes flickered to the door, and then across the walls as if looking for something. Link would eventually guess it was a clock.
Then the muscle-bound competitor pulled Link so close their nose's practically touched, and hissed impendingly, "Listen up, and listen good, slug," Groose narrowed his eyes, and all previous (possibly imagined) concern ceased to exist in those cruel slits. "I am winning tomorrow, and no one, especially wimpy little sticks like you, is going to get in my way." Groose smirked humorlessly and let Link fall to the floor in a heap. "You're lucky this time around. I have other things - more important things - to deal with than you."
Groose gave one last, condescending smirk before spitting at the beaten pulp in front of him, and left from which he came. The two large doors whined loudly, then shut hauntingly with a final BANG.
Link could barely move now that his adrenaline had exhausted, but he forced himself up to his knees, wincing at every movement. He sent a final, rebellious glare after Groose, and closing his eyes, let out a long, defeated sigh.
Life just isn't fair.
He brought his hand up tentatively to his jaw, and without barely touching it, he cried out, only making it a thousand times worse. He ducked over and clamped his mouth shut, but all he succeeded in that was crushing his bruised stomach. Link straightened, too quickly, disturbing countless other bruises on his back, but sitting up straight was too exhausting. Link closed his eyes, trying to somehow forget all the pain racking through his poor, mangled body. It hardly did any good. He opened them and gingerly wiped the blood off his face. That did even less good. His nose was bleeding as profusely as the back of his head must be, and he tasted warm, coppery blood in his mouth where he'd bit his tongue to hold back a few cries. That, or Groose had damaged something inside. ...Link didn't like to explore the implications of that.
He inwardly cursed over and over again in his head and fisted his palms so tight his knuckles turned a dull white from the taut skin. He swore and cursed that idiot. How...
Link felt the sudden, violent urge to hit something.
How could he even compete now!? He was completely beaten into a bloody pulp, a possibly cracked jaw, and if he had made it out without several concussions it would be a dang miracle.
I promised I'd win for you...
Link grit his teeth and tried to push himself to his feet. He made a promise, goddess help him, to himself, to Zelda, and...and to his parents. No stupid coward like Groose was going to stop him. He didn't care if Groose broke every bone in his body, he didn't even care if he let himself down, but he wouldn't let Zelda down, or his parents if they were alive. He wouldn't!
Ah, and of course Pipit would be in tears if he didn't compete. How much had he bet on Link's victory? His life savings, probably. Link accidentally grinned at the thought, immediately hissing in torment thereafter.
Link's head shot up at the door as it let out an increasingly familiar whine, and felt himself scoot back involuntarily.
Oh goddess, tell me he hasn't come to break my leg or something, Link thought, paling.
"Who's in here!?" a woman's voice screeched. Link stared unresponsively as a short, hobbling old woman shuffled inside, letting the doors slam behind her. Mrs. Tolsen, the kitchen lady and head cook, pinpointed the young boy with her dark, beady eyes and swooped after him like a keese.
"YOU!" she shrieked, making the boy wince. "You're not supposed to be in here! What in the islands do you think you are doing!?" Mrs. Tolsen glared down at him and almost grabbed his arm, until she apparently noticed the actual condition of this boy. She froze, blinked, and furrowed her eyebrows at him, a whir of emotions flickering on and off like lights on her ancient, corrugated face. She eventually settled with her usual scowl.
"What in the name of the islands happened to you, boy!?"
Link looked up like a deer caught in headlights and tried to find the words to speak. "I - ow!" Link cupped his jaw and squinted his eyes shut in pain. Mrs. Tolsen frowned.
"Something wrong with your mouth, boy?" she asked. Link said nothing, but nodded. The elderly woman sighed with a rattling breath, and made her way to the door. Link stared curiously after her, until she opened it and screeched at the top of her lungs, "EEEEEVVVVVAAAAANNNN! Get your sorry tail over here! NOW!"
Link winced again at the shrill voice ringing in his ears, and tried to remember an "EEEEEVVVVVAAAAANNNN".
A few moments later, a tall, thin, gaunt looking man walked in, and the woman gestured at Link, looking at this Evan fellow. Evan's bright, deep set eyes looked down at Link, observed in heavy silence at the stains on the walls and floor, then looked back at Mrs. Tolsen with raised, thickset eyebrows.
Link thought he recognized the man from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. The boy observed the man's light blue jacket and worn, large hands and realized the man was one of the janitors. He'd probably seen him mopping the floors at one point or something.
The man turned and grinned at him with a spry, not unkind look. "You sure made one loftwing's crap of a mess in 'ere, boy."
"Evan!" Mrs. Tolsen snapped reprovingly. The man just gave the hot-tempered woman a boyish grin, before walking over and leaning down next to Link. The young boy was taken somewhat aback by the man's cheerful character, despite his almost ghostly appearance.
"Well," said the man, offering his hand, "can ya get up?" Link stared at him for a long moment in stunned silence, then nodded his head slowly and pushed himself to his feet laboriously. Evan grabbed his shoulder with very cold, brittle hands and helped him up gingerly, minding the boy's injuries.
"We'll need to get him to Nellian," Mrs. Tolsen stated, folding her arms. For such a small woman she had a very commanding, large presence. Evan nodded and just started helping Link to the door, when Mrs. Tolsen interjected, "No Evan! Not like that!"
The man looked up, flabbergasted and somewhat affronted. He cursed and said, "Woman, what-"
"Don't you swear at me, Evan," Mrs. Tolsen hissed, dark, beady eyes blazing, "I mean, I don't want that boy paraded in front of the whole school during lunch hour, and I'm sure he doesn't want the attention either!"
Link looked up at Mrs. Tolsen like a blessing from above.
Evan, however, looked up at the heavens for an answer from Her Grace. "Well, what do you suppose we do then, incognito?" he snapped.
Mrs. Tolsen huffed and said, "There's a back way on the other side of that wall. I believe you, being a member of the old staff, are familiar, yes?"
Link's eyes widened at that. There was another way out? Sure would've been nice to know that sooner.
"You want me to break down the wall?" Evan asked incredulously, but a playful twinkle in his eye seemed to hope for a yes.
"Of course not. I'll go back there and open it from the other side, Her Grace bless us," scoffed Mrs. Tolsen, rolling her eyes and storming out the doors, muttering to herself. Link felt Evan sag with disappointment.
"Dang woman. Can't let anyone have any fun." Evan then set his bright, twinkling eyes on Link. "What do you say I bust through anyway? It's not like I'm not going to have to fix this this place later on anyway." He winked at the boy, "I can thank you for that, my boy."
Link held back a wide grin, but he still felt bad...even if it wasn't really his fault.
"I...I'msorry" Link gritted out. OUCH.
"Hylia," Evan swore, "What happened to your mouth, kid? Looks like you got suckered good."
That's one way of putting it, Link grumbled inwardly. The boy shrugged noncommittally, and the older man looked down at the boy thoughtfully.
"Here, have a seat." Evan said, and helped Link back down on the floor and sat down next to him. After a few moments Evan said, "Would it fair to assume it was that red-haired bully and his cronies?" Link's eyebrows shot up and looked up at Evan in astonishment. The man chuckled. "Thought so," he said, then looked at Link's shocked face with growing amusement. "Heh, us janitors know everything, you know." he said with a wink. "Kids these days and their crazy hair..." The man eyed Link's long mat of hair critically, then burst into a couple of hearty guffaws. "Call me Ev, kid." he said after a moment, offering his hand. Link took it happily and shook.
"Link," he managed through his teeth.
"Don't hurt yourself now, Link." Ev said teasingly. Link rolled his eyes and Ev laughed. "Don't worry, you'll be ship-shape in no time at all. Good ol' Miss Nellian knows her stuff."
Link nodded. Miss Nellian was a very large, kind woman with wiry brown hair and a smart pair of green eyes. She was the school nurse, and he knew that the young woman really had a knack for potions. He would probably be fine...
"What's wrong, Link?" Ev asked suddenly, noticing the sudden gloom that had come over the young man. Link shrugged again, and Ev furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "Try miming it. I've always loved a good game of charades." Link looked up with a raised eyebrow and Ev laughed long and hard.
This guy is trying to murder my mouth, isn't he? Link thought, equally amused and frustrated with the man's attempts to lighten the mood, at expense to his own busted mouth. Link was going to burst into laughter himself if Ev didn't stop.
The odd pair looked up at the sound of the far wall cracking, and Ev got up quickly to his feet.
"That'll be-" The janitor started.
"BLASTED DOOR! DANG THING HASN'T BEEN TOUCHED IN YEARS!" they heard a familiar, muffled voice shout on the other side of the wall.
"I better go help-" Ev tried again.
*CRASH*
Mrs. Tolsen burst through the wall, a trio of familiar heads peering through the other side after her. There were two dark-haired, middle-aged women and a young copper-skinned man with reddish brown hair that Link recognized as cooks from the kitchen, even if he didn't know their names.
Ev gave up and gave Link a helpless shrug. "Can't do any good for that woman..." he mumbled under his breath.
Mrs. Tolsen turned around and glared at the three heads in the door and shooed them off. "Go on! We've got a whole island to feed tomorrow! Quit gawking now, go on, get!" The three exchanged quick glances and sped off.
The woman straightened herself and put a ginger hand on her back, as if pained. Ev looked up at her concerned.
"Uni, you all right?" Ev asked.
She glared at him and snorted. "Well of course I am, and will you quit it with that ridiculous nick name already?" The janitor sighed.
"All right, all right, Unisa." Then the man gave her a somewhat disbelieving smile. "I still can't believe you broke down that door for this kid."
Mrs. Tolsen sniffed. "Most certainly not! I've been wanting to do that for quite some time. They said they were turning this into an...art class." She cackled at the absurdity. "Well, that didn't happen. I'm using this for storage, so I'll need you and your brothers to clean all this up and make it suitable. Also, fix this blasted door. It's all rusted up on the other side."
Ev grinned, where areas Link would've groaned at the mere mention of fixing all this junk up. "You did it for the kid," the man confirmed happily.
Mrs. Tolsen narrowed her eyes and snapped, "You are impossible. I did not!"
"Did diddly doo did!" Ev sang, doing a little jig. Link couldn't help a grin, even if it did hurt. Ev saw this. "Oh, howdy doo! There still be teeth in that boy!" Ev guffawed merrily.
If there had ever before been a more unimpressed face than the one Mrs. Tolsen displayed now, Link would have sold his loftwing.
"Pah, all right, enough! Get him through here then, go on!" Mrs. Tolsen behested with a scowl. "I have to make sure those hooligans don't burn down my kitchen." She left through the old door and called after her, "Be sure to take him to Miss Nellian!"
The janitor swore and called back, but eyes still twinkling, "Woman! I'm not stupid!"
"Quit it with that potty mouth Evan, or so help me-!"
Ev looked down at Link and grinned. "You think I have a potty mouth, Link?" Link wasn't sure how to answer that, so he didn't respond. Ev laughed. "Not as dirty as yours, I bet." Link smiled sheepishly and predictably winced. Ev chuckled. "Don't think us janitors don't know the mouths on you kids. We know everything, you know." The old man winked at him in the same manner as before, then looked up at after where Mrs. Tolsen had left. "She really does care about you kids, you know. Especially that one girl...um..." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see...um she's got blonde hair, keeps the bottom half in a braid, I think? Likes pink? You know her?"
Link nodded and mistakenly said, "Baker-Miller," by force of habit. "Ah!" Link cupped his jaw immediantly following the stinging pain.
Ev stared at him like he was an alien from another planet. "Baker-who now?"
"C-color," Link spat out through clenched teeth.
Ev stared at him for a long time, then burst out into a roar of laughter. Link blushed furiously, but Ev kept laughing.
"C-C-Color!?" Ev wheezed out, tears pouring down his face and chortling uncontrollably. He gasped, "How-HAHA! Heh- how many boys know...HAHAHA!" He covered his face in one large hand and gave Link a rough pat on the back. "You're...you're all right kid." Ev shook his head and wiped the tears away. "Heh, I'll...I'll take that as a yes than?"
Link wanted to find a nice, quiet place to disappear from the world.
"Heh..." Ev gave Link a mischievous, evil look that he did not like. "You love her don't you?"
Link choked and shook his head furiously. NO! Friend! F-R-I-E-N-D. friend!
"I think you do. I mean, you know her favorite color by the book!" Link held his face in his hands and shook his head. "What was it again? Baker-Mill - Mi -?" Ev chuckled and then, finally, seemed to have his fill at teasing the boy. "All right, all right. ...lovebird." Link groaned out loud. This guy was just like Pipit. Ev laughed in a goodnatured manner that Link mistook for sinister, from the pits of the Dark Realm laughter.
The old man grinned merrily and said, "Okay, okay, Ev's done messin' around. Come outo' your shell." Link sighed. "We've gotta get going though. I don't know the extent of your injuries, but I'm pretty sure that a mess of blood like that doesn't come from a light knock on the head, if you know what I mean."
Tell me about it, thought Link darkly.
Ev bent over and helped the boy to his feet with as much care as before, so that Link used the older man's shoulder for support.
"Can you walk, Link?" Ev asked. Link nodded and Ev grinned. "You're a tough one. I commend you. Planning on being a knight?"
Link furrowed his brow. Any other day he would've smiled and nodded, but now Link wondered how anyone who got beat up on a daily basis could possibly protect anyone. If you can't protect yourself, how can you swear an oath to look after others, let alone a whole city? Maybe...maybe Groose had a point.
Link shrugged.
The wise old man knew he'd stumbled on a sore spot, and he could figure where that nasty little bugger had hurt.
"You think the little-" he called Groose something that almost made Link smile- "who beat you up is better opted?" asked Ev, making his way through the old, newly opened door into the staff halls. It was a surprisingly well-lighted, well-kept place, minus a stray cobweb. Link didn't respond.
Ev snorted. "Listen here Link, any man who abuses his power is a man fraught for disaster. He's not worth your time of day and is an embarrassment to his fellow man, let alone knighthood. I don't give a rat's tail if you're the biggest, the fastest, the smartest or what. If you ever abuse whatever goddess blessed gift you're given by Her Grace, you're not worth nothin'. You remember that, Link."