Hello, it's CrypticElf! Thank you, reviewers for telling me my little error in my summery in the story. I changed the summery, but if I did something in the first chapter that had something to do with error please tell me.
Another thing, yes Talim's nails are orange in her first outfit. If you go and look at the pictures with the ones that are computerized and look at Talim's picture, her nails are orange.
And another thing, I'm sorry for not describing Link's weapon. I forgot to I shouldn't have. Thank you for the flame though... it made me stronger.
Link: So when's this story going to start?
Right now!
I own nothing of Soul Calibur II, but the script and Strange Room is mine and if you take it I get to sue you! YEE HAW!!
Chapter Two: Seeing Their Hearts
Talim woke up just as the rays of sunlight started peering out of the horizon. She sat up and stretched her arms up, and then took in a deep breath of fresh clean air.
"A new day has arrive!" She said to herself, she jumped when someone that wasn't herself or the wind answered her.
"Yep, how did you sleep?"
Talim looked at the source, and then memories of what had happened the day before filled her mind.
"Oh, hello Link. How long have I been asleep?"
"Five hours or so. You kept watch a long time last night."
"I was glad to."
"I don't believe that!"
"Why not?" She asked him in her curious tone.
"I don't think that anyone likes to be up just watching for something that probably won't come."
"Well, I like looking at the stars. Or perhaps just to spend sometime with yourself. And something could always pop up at you, so keeping watch is always important."
Link nodded, it was always important. But it could be so boring to just sit there and do nothing.
Did Talim dance every night like that? It seemed that she had been dancing all of her life, or at least that dance. The way that she moved, it was like she was moving... like the wind. For some reason, when she danced last night it made him feel like he was watching the wind dance.
He almost wished that he knew how to dance like that. He didn't like to dance, but it would be something to do during the night.
"You're right, you win!" He told her as she finished wrapping his blanket up. She held it out him, and Link took it and put it up in his pack.
"Thank you for the blanket, Link. You didn't have to."
"I didn't, but I did."
Talim smiled and laughed playfully as she picked up her own pack and pulled out a small piece of bread. She stuffed it into her mouth and swung her pack on her back and then she stood up.
"Ready when you are." She told Link as he stood up as well with his pack on his back.
"I'm ready, but I have to tell you that you wake up quickly."
Talim laughed again.
"Oh, well I get used to it. Usually I wake up before dawn, but I guess that I was really tired this night."
"Well, I guess so."
And with that said they started out, walking together, but not side-by-side.
Two day later, they arrived at Regulus. It was just around noon, and the sun stared down at them.
Standing before the gate, Link and Talim looked up at it.
"Well, how do we get in?" Link asked, Talim answered him by walking up and pounding on the door.
"HELLO? IS THERE ANYONE THERE?"
"Um, Talim, I think that they can hear you. You really don't have to yell like that...."
"HELLO?"
Talim continued pounding on the door, luckily when the door opened her fist was caught mid air before it was going to hit the man's face.
"Oh, hello." Talim said to him, she didn't try to free her hand.
"Hmm." He replied. Link started thinking that it hadn't been such a good idea to go to Regulus.
"Me and my friend would like to train here." Talim told him in a kind voice, he turned her hand over. Not to twist it, but to look at it.
"Hmm." He said again as he looked at her hand. Then he looked back up at Talim. "How old are you? You aren't strong enough to lift a barrel!"
Talim didn't seem to take this as an insult.
"I'm fifteen." She told him, he grunted and looked at her hand again. Then he looked at Link.
"Come here, boy."
Link came over, reading to draw his weapon if he had to. The man let go of Talim's hand and seized Link's hand. Seeing that Link's hand was covered, he started looking at his arm.
"Hmm..." the man went into deep thought, and then he looked back up at Link. This time the man actually looked friendly. "You could train here, but not her. She wouldn't be strong enough."
Now Talim didn't look like she was going to cut the man's head off, but you could tell that she wasn't happy.
"Please, how can I prove to you that I can train here?" Talim asked.
"There is no way, you're too small. I've never met anyone here that is as tall or shorter then you that wants to train. You are too small and weak." He told her.
"Please...." Talim told him, he didn't even look at her.
"Come on boy, you look like you have some promise." The man started dragging Link in, but Talim stepped in his way and lifted her Elbow Blades.
"Please, let me fight someone to prove that I can fight!"
The man laughed, and waved his hand at Talim.
"I couldn't be responsible if you got hurt, you know!"
"Yes, I'm willing to take that risk. If I fail then you may kick me out and I won't resist!"
"Alright! I'll do it if you'll calm down!"
Talim smiled and then said this.
"Thank you!"
The man sighed and said something under his breath that neither Link nor Talim were about to catch.
The man let go of Link as they stepped inside, and Talim stepped up right next to Link.
"We were able to get in!" Talim told him with a large smile on her face. Link smiled as well, for a moment he had thought he would have been forced to leave Talim. Link looked around and saw many stares; at first it looked like they were looking at him. But then he realized that they were all staring at Talim.
"Talim, everyone is looking at you." Link whispered in her ear.
"Oh, that's Ok." Talim whispered back.
After about fifteen minutes, the three of them arrived at a stadium.
"Alright, there's your opponent." The man pointed at a young man with red hair and a strange curved sword. The young man looked at Link at first and smiled. The man that had been guiding them shook his head. "No, this girl is your opponent"
The smile disappeared and the young man gave a look of anger.
"WHAT? I'm not going to fight that midget!"
"Well Yunsung, you don't have a choice." The older man told him.
Talim glided into the fighting stadium, and walked up to the young man named Yunsung.
"May the best fighter win." She told him as she bowed, Yunsung snorted and replied without bowing.
"I will."
Talim walked to the other side of the stadium.
This stadium had red tile floor and was surrounded with water as the bridge that had led Talim into it disappeared back to the other side. There were seats for people to watch others fight, and it was filling up at the site of a young man battling with someone that didn't look like they had the muscle to cut down a tree.
"Alright, you can use any type of skill that you have. Go!" The man next to Link said.
Talim did just the same as she had with Link, she charged strait to Yunsung. Laughter spread through the audience as more people gathered to watch.
Yunsung also went strait at Talim with his sword pointed strait at the middle of her cleavage.
Talim took her Elbow Blades and knocked down Yunsung's weapon. Yunsung lost his balance and Talim kicked him in the stomach. Making him go backwards instead of forward.
He recovered quickly as he went backwards, and sprang back to his feet.
Talim went to the side and before Yunsung could block she started slashing at him like a tornado. Then after she slashed in three circles she took her left Elbow Blade and smacked the handle of it into Yunsung's chin.
Falling backwards, Talim leapt on top of his stomach and knocked his weapon out of his hands. Pointing both of her blades at his neck she told him this.
"You shouldn't have underestimated me. That's just what my friend did and I won."
Yunsung stared at Talim harshly in the eyes, but Talim simply smiled.
"The winner is...!" The man next to Link looked at Link and asked him softly: "What's her name boy?"
"Talim." Link replied in a quiet voice as well.
"The winner is Talim!" The man cried out, at first the audience stared for a moment. But then they erupted with claps and cheers as Talim got off of Yunsung's stomach and ran onto the bridge and rejoined with Link and the other man. The man smiled at Talim and nodded his head.
"Forgive me for underestimating you. You definitely have the skill to pass this place. In fact, why are you even here?"
"Well, me and this other young man," Talim said referring to Link. "Want to become partners in fighting but we don't know if we can trust each other. So I came up with the idea of training here to see if we can fight well and if we can trust each other."
"Good idea then, but I think that he can trust your fighting skills!"
Talim nodded and then smiled at Link. Link nodded, he really could trust in her fighting skills.
"So boy, what's your name?" The man asked.
"Uh, Link."
"Alright then, Link, Talim. My name is Edgar. I have a special interest in both of you, so I'll train Link in the morning and then at noon I'll switch to Talim. Deal?"
Both Link and Talim nodded, both happy that they could both get in.
Author's Note: Edgar does not look like Mitsurugi. Try and picture him differently if you can, please! You don't have to, because I know that I wouldn't be able to. I'm just trying to help make the story more original. Ok, back to the story!
The next morning, Link started his training. Or at least his test to prove to Talim that he could fight and that he could be trusted.
Edgar led Link to a place that looked like the one that Talim had battled in. Only this one wasn't surrounded by water and there weren't any seats for an audience. Talim sat on the edge, watching eagerly.
"Alright then, I'm guessing you already know all of the basics?" Edgar asked Link.
"Yes, I do."
"Well then I guess that we should just do some exercise then. Alright, ready?"
Nodding, Link got in a battle position and coped what Edgar did and showed him. Link did it with ease, and Edgar was obvious impressed. Even when Edgar was breathing heavily Link was barely sweating.
"You definitely don't need any training!" Edgar told Link at their mid break. Talim walked up with water, both Edgar and Link took it happily.
"You two train good!" Talim said with a large smile on her face.
"I'm sure that you will too." Link told her as he sat down on the grass.
"I agree." Edgar told Talim as well. Talim just smiled and then walked off without another word. "She fights well for someone her age and her height, I don't think that I've ever seen some her size want to fight."
"Well, that's what I thought when I first met her as well. And I wasn't even able to land on hit on her because I underestimated her so much."
"True, I agree."
Link finished his water and stood back up.
"Well, should we start again?" Link asked Edgar.
"I suppose that we should." He replied.
An hour after noon, Talim came right after Link and Edgar had finished the training. Edgar nodded and waved Talim over.
"I'm guessing that you already know how to do some exorcizes?" Edgar asked Talim, she nodded and started coping Edgar in what he did just as Link had.
After about an hour, Talim longed to start doing the exorsizes that she used to do in the fields by her village.
Or, by the home that she used to have.
Two hours went by, and then another. Finally Edgar called for mid-brake, and Talim sat down.
She wasn't tired, but it was getting irritating on how Edgar was doing so many exorisizes that did nothing to strengthen her.
"Neither of you need to do any training, but still I think that it is a good idea to learn and see about how you fight."
"Yes." Talim told him, she almost longed to have the weights....
"Something wrong? You don't look too good." Edgar told Talim.
"Oh, nothing is wrong at all." Talim lied.
"Hmm. Alright." Edgar replied to her in a doubtful voice.
Link came up with some water, and Talim and Edgar took it and started drinking it.
"Sorry, I'm not as well on timing as Talim is." Link said. Talim tried to smile but it failed and she just kept on drinking her water. Edgar gave her worried look but she pretended not to see it. Edgar sighed and looked at Link.
"Well, she's just as good as you are."
"Is she?" Link asked.
Edgar nodded, and suddenly a messenger popped up and gave Edgar a note.
"Hmm. Excuse me please, I need to go. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Edgar walked off, and Talim and Link watched after him. After he left Link looked at Talim.
"So, how was it?"
"Oh, it was fine." Talim replied with a large smile.
"You smiled a lot, you know that."
"I know."
Link looked at her weapons with wonder.
"What are those?"
"What are what?"
"Those things that you use to fight with."
"Oh, they're called Elbow Blades."
"They don't have a name besides that?"
"They do, Syi Sarika and Loka Loha."
"Those are interesting names." Link told her, she only smiled back and then finished the rest of her water.
"Thanks for the water." Link nodded and sat down next to Talim as a breeze blew by.
"You do fight well. You really beat that Yunsung guy."
"Well, I have a feeling that he would have been better if he hadn't underestimated me."
"Probably."
"Just like you." Talim told him, Link blushed and Talim giggled.
Edgar returned, and Talim immediately got up and picked up Syi Sarika and Loka Loha. Edgar nodded as Link also got up and walked to the end of the training ground. Now he should watch.
Talim mimicked what Edgar did, and again she felt that feeling to just start doing what she had used to do every morning to well after the after noon. But that was gone now, and she had to follow what her instructor was doing.
After doing the same time that Link had done before, Talim was able to go. Link walked beside her as Edgar went off to his room.
"You did pretty good." Link told her. Talim smiled back and laughed.
"You did well yourself, remember." She replied.
"Those Elbow Blades seem like something that aren't easy to use."
"Well, after using them all of your life you get used to them."
"Hmm.... I started using a sword when I was about seven or something."
"And when did you get that sword?" Talim asked as she glanced at the strange sword on his back.
"Oh, this one? I'm not sure." He replied as he touched the Master Sword.
"What's it called?"
"The Master Sword."
"Hmm. It must be an important weapon in your world."
"It is, I'm the only one who can use it."
"Really? Why's that?"
"Well, one time someone tried to take my sword. But the it grew too heavy for them to even lift it up."
"And who tried to steal it?"
"I'm not sure. When I came over they ran off before I could look at their face." Link thought about the time when he had been fighting Ganon, and a thought came into his mind. How had Zelda been able to throw him the sword then?
But she was his sister, and not to mention the Queen of Hyrule and the Sage of Time. And perhaps the Goddesses had given her the power at that moment; he didn't see why they wouldn't.
"Interesting, it must be a holy sword then! And what do those three triangles on it mean?"
"Um, they resemble something called the Triforce. The Triforce is something in world of immense power, and if in the wrong hands it could lead to destroy the whole world in just a moment."
"It must be powerful then." Talim said quietly. Link nodded and then glanced at Talim as the wind blew by.
"Why does the wind always blow when I'm around you? I don't get it. It's nice, but every time...."
Talim laughed as kept laughing even as she went into her room. Link looked at her, what had he said?
Shrugging, he walked off to his own room.
The next day, the same thing was done. And in the next day it was the same.
On the fourth day, both Talim and Link started wondering just how long they were going to stay there.
On the fifth day, something different finally happened. Edgar asked for both Link and Talim to come to the training area at the same time. When they arrived, Link was the first to ask the question.
"So, what's going to be different?"
"Follow me." Edgar replied in a stiff voice.
Talim and Link exchanged glances and started to follow Edgar.
They came to a strange room that was filled with candles. A priest stood at the end of the room, in front of an alter.
"Hello, welcome Talim and Link." The priest said. Edgar signaled for them to go forward and then he left the room. Walking forward, Link and Talim wondered the same thing.
"You're wondering why you're here. Well, Edgar told me that you two wanted to become fighting partners but didn't know that if you could trust each other. I can help you solve your problem. Come here, both of you."
They both obeyed, and the man told them to hold hands.
They did it awkwardly, but they did it. Link found that Talim's hands were pleasantly cool. And Talim thought the same about Link.
"Alright, now don't fidget." The priest told them sternly as if they were only five. But both Link and Talim obeyed as the priest started throwing something around them that looked like ashes.
And then without warning, their vision spun for a moment.
Link's vision cleared, and he found that he was in a field of grass that reminded him of the place where he had first met Talim. He looked around, but all that he could see was the grass.
But there was the Wind, and it didn't feel like the normal Wind. In this Wind, Link could feel it's calmness and it's wisdom. And yet, he could feel the power that it had. That if it chose to it could rip a house off its foundation.
Suddenly, he could see someone off in the distance... who was it?
Talim looked and realized that she was in a Temple. Not the one that she had been in with Link, but a Temple of pure white marble. She could hear the sound of a strange instrument, playing a tune.
She could feel the power of the Temple; it felt like the power of Time itself.
Looking down she saw that she stood on top of a large decorated yet short platform. She looked back up and then behind her and saw an alter with three jewels on it. Each different colors but each with gold curving around each. She walked over, her footsteps echoing through the Temple. She stepped up to the alter, and looked at the stones with interest.
Something caught her eye, and she looked up and saw the same sword that Link always carried on his back. Hadn't he called it the Master Sword?
She stepped around the alter and walked up slowly to the sword.
Link looked at the figure and realized, that it was Talim.
He called out to her, but she didn't answer. Link ran towards her, but even when he was right next to her she didn't notice him.
Gently he touched her shoulder, and then his vision blurred again.
Talim gently took the hilt, and her vision blurred.
Together, they plummeted into each other hearts for just a moment, and then suddenly they were back in the strange room.
"Ah, I was wondering when the two of you were going to get out of that trance." The priest greeted them with two jugs of water. Talim and Link let their hands go and drank, surprised how thirsty they both were. "You've been like this for twelve hours."
Both Link and Talim choked.
"What?" Link asked with pure shock.
"Yes, twelve hours." The priest replied as if it was nothing.
Talim looked at Link, and Link looked at her.
"Alright then," the priest told them. "Hurry and meet back with Edgar, he isn't always a patient man as I am."
Link and Talim scuttled out of the strange room, and Edgar met them just as they came out.
"Hello, how was?" he asked them.
"Strange and weird." Link replied. Edgar laughed and started walking. Link and Talim followed as well.
"Well, I hope that you two trust each other completely now."
Link and Talim looked at each other, it was true. They did trust each other more then they thought that they ever would.
"What happened is the both of you experienced a part of each other's minds. And then you looked in their heart or something. I'm not sure what those priests do. But it's something like that."
Talim and Link turned away and kept on walking.
"I feel... tired. I think that I'm going to skip dinner tonight." Talim said.
"I agree." Link also told Edgar.
"Alright, you two. But don't sleep in too long, because tomorrow is going to be the day that you two prove that you have obtained the skills to pass the final test."
"Really?" They said together.
"Yes, since you already knew how to fight I don't need to train at all. So, tomorrow you do the final test. Which is going against an opponent and winning."
Talim yawned and then smiled.
"I can't wait for tomorrow then!" she cried out happily.
All right, this chapter might have been a little corny... but I didn't know what else to do! I hope that I didn't screw up on it....
So Until Next Time,
CrypticElf....