Hello, my wondrous reviewers!
Ivy: Finally! Something different…
Excuse me?
Raphael: You're little 'author's talk' sucks, to be blunt.
Well you better get your little French butt OVER HERE-
Talim: Link, get Chapter Eleven.
Link: Sounds like a good idea right now...
The Star Swordsman: I'm glad that you thought that my chapter was touching! Thanks for reviewing.
Dakyu: I'm sorry if I made you feel stupid… but… don't worry, this chapter is fifeteen pages long. Thanks for reviewing.
Leviathan's Son: I'm glad that you thought that the chapter was so drama filled! Mwaha… and I remember figuring out who you are, but then I forgot. Whoops… thanks for reviewing.
Massacre-of-Flies: I thank you for your helping me, and forgive the spelling mistakes, I'm now reading over what I write now and checking things over. Thanks for reviewing.
redskin122004: Thank you so much! And don't worry, I'm sure that you'll be great at writing, just keep on trying, that's what I had to do. Thanks for reviewing.
Ben Stylin: What? What do you mean what? You've gotten me confused…! Thanks for reviewing even so, everyone counts!
Hououza: Wow, your words there really gave me this cool feeling inside! You're great at seeing these things. Thanks for reviewing.
Lvmj: You know, I didn't even plan for Talim's Grandmother to die, in fact, I kept on thinking and thinking about how Talim could keep on going on her journey and so I thought up of that, knowing that everyone would get really depressed! Lol. Thanks for reviewing.
firetwins: I try and put in the humor when I think it's right, but sometimes I worry that I put it in at the wrong times. Thanks for reviewing.
Jarock16: Very short review, but I still enjoyed reading it. Thanks for reviewing.
Super Davis: Wow! I feel so specail now! I can't believe that you really think that I'm closer to that 'professional' level now. Your review has really helped me put more into this chapter, thank you so much for your review!
mega edgar: You have a unique name! Thanks for reviewing.
(Is being strangled by Raphael) This… chapter is… dedicated to Hououza… (Gags) For being a faithful… reviewer… and internet… friend…
Chapter Eleven: A Nightmare Come Alive
The city was loud, bustling with excitement as people rushed through the large, wide open streets, the people moving so quickly and the whole number of people themselves making the streets look like a fast moving river from above.
"This is Benetnasch!" Talim cried out as she a Link stood together off to the side of a street.
"Benetnasch?" Link lifted an eyebrow as he looked at the people. Both he and Talim had to yell to hear one another, for the sound of the streets completely blocked any sound at all that was small enough to be swallowed by it. "This place is huge!"
"Come on; let's go find an Inn to stay in."
Talim looked at Link, and he looked back at her, and with that, Link grabbed Talim's hand as they went through the streets, so that way they wouldn't be separated from one another. Link couldn't help but notice that Talim's hand was soft, warm and….
"What?" Link asked himself, in that moment, he tripped over a rock that was sticking out of the road. Talim practically yanked Link's arm out as she pulled him back up, saving him from being crushed beneath the feet of people and the hooves of horses, not to mention the dangerous carts that rode by as well.
Talim gave him a worried look as Link blushed and scratched his head, Talim then gave him a simple smile, and then they took off once again.
They stayed at an Inn, but to their discomfort the prices of even the cheapest looking Inn was terribly high and costly.
"A competition is being held off in the new stadium." The Inn Keeper advised as Talim asked about a competition that paid well to the winners. "Lots of people are gonna be there, along with a lotta tough fighters. If you're gonna go, then be prepared for anything, Benetnasch may look pretty but the fighters here won't be nice. And as you can tell, Benetnasch is filled with travelers like yourselves, and those who come to competitions always have an interesting style of fighting, and so you can never know how your opponent is gonna be. What I'm sayin', is that you should be careful if you want to enter, lot's of people who go and fight for money and lose get hurt real bad."
Talim and Link heeded the Inn Keeper's words, but the probably was, was that if they wanted to buy the supplies that they needed then they would need to get some money, for the Inn had taken up most of the few pieces of money that they had.
"I have some money… but… I don't think that it'll be worth anything here." Link sighed as he scratched his head as they stood in a line to be enrolled into a competition.
"Let's just do our best!" Talim cheered with a grin as they neared the fighter's ring. "It's all that we can do, and we can't go back now."
Link nodded, and a minute later the battle that had been going on had ended, and they took a couple of steps closer.
"This reminds me of Regulus." Talim stated, Link nodded, completely agreeing with her, but without any words, because he was paying attention to the battle that had ended nearly immediately.
Ten minutes past, and Talim was to be one of the next fighters once the current battle ended.
"Good-luck." Link told Talim as he leaned against the wall, seeing how the battle outside was close to ending. "Just remember what the Inn Keeper said."
"I will." The battle ended, and winner was walking away, slightly bleeding, the loser on the ground, a gory mess as a couple of people came a removed him. Link scratched his head, staring at the loser as he was taken away.
"All right, I'm up!" Talim nodded to Link and gave him a reassuring grin, and he did the same. She then stepped out, and the crowd cheered as the two next fighters emerged.
"I'm going to rip you ta' pieces." Her opponent growled, Talim didn't reply but did a few stretches, getting prepared. The man that she was facing had a few scars, and looked to be around his mid-twenties. He was a few inches taller then Link was, and was all muscles, no shirt and simple white pants, bare-footed.
By the cheers of the crowd, the battle was getting ready to start, and someone stepped up, close yet keeping clear of the two of them.
"Ready… fight!"
The one who had come up raced away, used to fighters who charged and began slashing around wildly. But Talim and her enemy just stood there and looked at each other, Talim's face serious and the others grinning.
"Won't you please give up?" Talim asked, the man's grin faded, clearly enraged by her words.
"You'll take that back!" He cried out as he raised his long smooth sword, he charged towards her, and Talim moved aside quickly. He saw this, and swung his leg down at one of her feet, tripping her.
Talim went back, but instead of crashing to the ground, she landed on her hands, and as she moved to bring herself back up onto her feet in a flip, she had both of the tops of her feet land right onto the man's chin, using the force of her flip to create the impact. She landed perfectly, the man stumblingly backwards.
Talim leapt forward, but she went down, and as she fell down the ground she slid between his legs on the ground. As she got clear of his legs, she did the same as before, she flipped up, and she pushed herself up off of the ground completely, going up at a small angel upside-down in the air. Her heels hit the man's head as he was stumbling back, and he was lifted off of the ground, and as he was going through the air, there was nothing that he could do.
Talim turned herself in the air as he fell, and then he landed with a thud. She took this moment to get herself into a position where her elbow was facing first before anything else. She landed on top of him just as he was pushing himself off of the ground, her elbow hitting the middle of his back.
The man cried out, and again Talim flipped off of him, making him grunt as she pushed off of him. She landed, and then looked down at the man on the ground.
"Seven... eight… nine…" The announcer counted down from a ways afar, "Ten!"
The crowd erupted, those who won in their bets cheering and those who had lost groaning in anguish. Talim gave Link a gave and a grin as she made her way off of the battle ring, a few people coming and removing her opponent.
"She did that all… in flips!" Link scratched his head as he made his way into the ring. "I can't believe that she did that… how did she do that? How does she pull that stuff off?"
Link stopped his talking to himself as he entered the ring. He stood there, and as he stopped his opponent emerged.
His opponent was shorter then he was, and, he noticed, his opponent was also a young woman.
She wore odd clothing; it was all a light blue. Her shirt was light blue, with the image of a cloud sewed in skillfully around the tops of her breasts. Her pants were light blue as well, and went down to the middle of her shin, slightly opening around there and being brought back together. She wore slipper like shoes, which were light blue as well. She also had sleeves, but her sleeves were different. They weren't part of her shirt, but instead, they started at her middle arm from a bracelet on each arm, and then went down, widening as they finally reached her wrists. Her eyes were a light brown, ready and determined. Her hair was a light brown, so short to where it didn't even hang down to the tops of her ears. But her side-burns were long and grown out, going down to her shoulders. She appeared to be in her very early twenties. Her weapon was long and completely strait and thinner then Link's blade, and on the end of the hilt was a blue like tail.
"Get ready!" She declared as she brought herself to the ring and then stood near Link. "I'll be more difficult then others to fight, and don't expect to win! I'll beat you, and you won't even know what hit you!"
"Erm… whatever you say…" Link replied as he shrugged and began stretching, although they were basic stretches, nothing like Talim's odd looking stretching routines in which she seemed to bend in every way that no one else could.
"Whatever I say?" His female opponent hissed as she gave him a glare, although she herself was stretching. "Is this how you treat your opponents? How rude!"
"Fighters ready?" Link looked over at the announcer as he stopped stretching and took out his sword. The young woman did the same, although she didn't have a sheath for her weapon. "Go!"
"Ayah!" The woman charged forward, and she was being foolish, for she left her stomach open as she charged towards him.
Link saw this and readied to give her just a small wound enough to make to her faint, he brought up his sword, and began bringing his blade down as she was in front of him.
"Just kidding!" The woman kicked her leg up forward, throwing up Link's arm. She still had her leg up in the air as she began to make a stab towards Link's shoulders, but Link regained his balance and was able to move back before her sword was upon him. He put distance between them as quickly as he could, looking at her.
He then saw something on her sword… blood?
Link looked down at his shoulder, and saw that she had managed to slice past his tunic and just a bit at his skin, although the scratch was long and thin. He looked back up her, surprised.
"Oh, was I being a meanie?" She asked him innocently as she gave him a smile and tilted her head, like a child would.
"We are fighting; you got me fair and square." Link answered as he got ready to fight again, she saw this, and did the same.
"You're interesting!" She stated as they started circling each other. "Most people would get angry and attack me, and that's when I'd beat them!"
"I'm not like most people, not at all." Link meant this more about his ears, but of course no one would really know that besides him and Talim.
"You're going to be a good one to beat!"
Link didn't answer, but ran towards her, but he kept his sword up, ready this time, and he wasn't going to take her as lightly as he had before.
She ran towards him, and they locked blade together, looking at each other strait in the eyes. She looked strait at him, and he looked strait at her. It was then that her eyes suddenly went wide, and she dropped her blade, stumbling back.
"Is there something wrong?" Link asked this instead of taking this moment to bring her down.
"Y-you…" She looked at him, head to toe, mostly in a glance, and then she quickly came forward and grabbed her sword and left the ring.
"Battle done!" The announcer yelled as the woman left, glancing over her shoulder as she left. Link stared after her, and then brought himself together and walked out as well.
Talim was waiting for Link as he left the battle ring and into one of the tunnels that looked much like the ones where the fighters were waiting. She looked at him, grinning.
"You won!"
"But she…"
"I know, but it still counts as a win." Talim's smile faded, and she looked at Link. "But I do wonder why she left… there's nothing that looks different about you right now."
Link shrugged, and a man came over, and handed Link a bag that was large enough to fit in his palm, well, he really threw at Link. It seemed that the people at the arena were always in such a rush.
Link opened the pouch, and silver and golden coins winked back up at him. He looked up at Talim, and she gave him a grin.
"Is this a lot?" Link asked as he showed her his winnings.
"It's a lot," Talim patted Link's back and together they walked out of the arena, and back into the rushing streets.
They were back at the same Inn as before, and as a token for winning their battle the Inn Keeper gave them one free night, but one free night only, he reminded them.
They sat together on the floor of their room, their winning money out before them.
"Benetnasch pays well!" Talim exclaimed as she finished counting up the gold. "Makes me want to go and fight if we can get Gold like this again!"
"What's the difference between a silver coin and a gold coin?" Link asked as he looked at Talim, she looked at him, and explained:
"Copper is a brown coin, and it's the cheapest, there's more of it. Silver is a bit more rare, and normal people usually carry either Silver or Copper. Gold is worth the most, and you can buy many things with just one, the rich usually carry only Gold or Silver."
"So Gold is really worth something." Link scratched his head, looking at piece in his hand. "In Hyrule, Gold is only used for decoration; it isn't used as money, although it is worth a ton. I thought that it might be different here."
"What's your money there?"
Link pulled his pack over, and had to go through it for a while until he finally pulled out a glimmering green diamond, along with a red diamond. They were just the size of Link's middle nail each.
"An emerald and ruby!" Talim whispered as her eyes went wide. She looked back up at Link. "How many do you have?"
"A bag full." He answered as he pulled out a bag, filled with more green and red, more green then red. "The green ones aren't much, and the red are worth more. This was my money that I had before I began living with my sister Zelda in the Hyrule Castle. After that I just put it away and forgot about it. Being the brother of the Princess of Hyrule makes you famous. I already was though, since I was the Hero of Time, so it then it didn't just make me a Hero, I was the Prince too. I got a lot of free things from the people, it was simple things, like a few arrows or something, but it was all that I needed. But when I was getting ready to leave Hyrule, I found it again and decided to take it with me."
"That's…" Talim peered into the bag, and then grinned at Link. "That's more then enough money here!"
"We have Gold and my money." Link nodded and put the bag with his money away.
That night went on, and they slept deeply, Link thinking just before he went to sleep, about his strange opponent. Why had she given him that look and left?
They had gathered what they needed, food for the journey, and new thicker blankets for the cold season that was beginning to lurk around the corner. Soon, they were out of the large, thriving Benetnasch, and out on the open road.
They had been traveling for well over six hours, talking to each other whenever a subject came in mind. It was then, that not even two days there would be that horrible event.
"Halt!"
A familiar voice called out, and both Talim and Link stopped and turned to see from a slight ways from the small road that they were traveling, Link's opponent in the betting arena.
"What do you want?" Link asked as he looked at her, she walked forward, and stopped when she was a yard and a half away from him.
"You, you have pieces of Soul Edge, I felt it." She stated in a low voice as she looked at them, her joking manner which Link had seen before gone.
"Many people have pieces of Soul Edge." Talim replied as she began to sense hostility from her. "What is your name?"
"Your names first."
"Link."
"And my name is Talim."
"Well then, Link, Talim, my name is Xianghua." Xianghua looked between them, sternly. "Do you know what Soul Edge can do?"
"We do." They answered in unison, Xianghua shook her head.
"No, you don't. If you knew what it could do then you wouldn't even dare to get near a piece!"
"What do you know about us?" Link questioned, beginning to get irritated with her for telling them that they weren't able. "You don't know anything about how we fight."
"It doesn't matter how you fight, moron!" Xianghua took a step closer, her sword raised towards them. "It doesn't matter anything about that at all! Give me your pieces before a slice you to ribbons!"
"We won't give up." Talim stepped forward, the tip of Xianghua's sword right in front of her, but Talim didn't even give the blade a glance, but instead looked strait into the other woman's eyes. "If we must fight, then may it be so. But let me tell you that you will make a huge mistake trying to get what isn't yours."
"Soul Edge shouldn't even be left! It belongs to no one else but me!" Xianghua took her blade down, her arm that held it resting by her side. "And when I get it, I'll destroy it, I have to make up for my terrible mistake. I don't know how Soul Edge was able to only shatter, but I'll make sure that nothing like that happens again. You can't even begin to image how terrible the blade is when it's whole."
Talim and Link looked at Xianghua, silent, for they had nothing to say. Not shame, not stupidity in their faces, in fact, you wouldn't even be able to read their faces.
"Just the very essence of the blade kills those who are weak; they don't even have to be touched by it!" Xianghua cried out as she looked between them. "It'll just kill you!"
"Then we'll take that chance." Talim whispered, and Xianghua shook her head.
"Say what you want, but you'll never be prepared. Leana warned me before, but I didn't listen, I'm surprised that even I lived! I'm protecting you, why must you defy me?"
Xianghua's blade suddenly went towards Talim's throat, but Talim instantly ducked. Talim then went down and tripped her, and Xianghua fell down, her head landing on a rock. Talim then bent over, going through her pack.
"What are doing?" Link asked instantly when he saw this.
"Taking her Soul Edge pieces." Talim pulled out three pieces, each of them large in size. It was obvious that the three pieces had fused with others. She stood up, and placed them in her own pack, and then looked at Link, who was giving her a sad look. "I fought her Link, and I won. That was a battle, even if it only had two attacks. In a battle, you don't even have to touch the other. She attacked me, and that was the starting of a fight, and she was fighting for our pieces, and I was fighting for hers. I beat her, and so as the prize we take the pieces."
"You're right… I've had many battles to end in just one attack, like with Talison at Regulus… let's go now; I don't think that I want her to wake up when we're still here."
Talim nodded, and they both took off, running, Xianghua still knocked out. She would be fine, Link knew that, and so did Talim.
They didn't stop, not for an hour. They didn't stop until they had reached a forest, and felt hidden within its dense brush. They both had simply stopped together, and sat down, both of them taking drinks of water and pouring a bit on themselves. Soon after, they stood up, and began again, but they didn't run, but jogged. The forest itself was small, but you could easily get lost, for the way that the trees were seemed to make you think that you were going strait, but an hour later you'd find that you'd already passed that creek.
They emerged out of the forest, Talim thanking the Wind for telling her which way to go. They went farther, keeping up a brisk pace, sometimes going out into runs. They only stopped when night was close to falling, the sun already just a small sliver from the horizon.
They lay next to each other, inside of their blankets, not risking a fire. They didn't know why they felt that they had to hide, but there was something about that Xianghua…
"Where is she, do you think?" Link asked, although he kept his voice low.
"The Wind tells me that she was found by a traveler going to Benetnasch and brought her there on his cart, he's a Trader. When she woke up, she thanked him but immediately went on her way. But the Wind had created a harsh wind storm, and made it strong enough to where Xianghua had to stop."
"Well, thank you Wind." Link politely said, the Wind seemed to smile as it gently touched his cheek and then flew about slowly. "You know… the Wind doesn't bother me anymore, it used to, but now I don't even notice."
"That's great; it wouldn't be good if you hated that constant breeze, like Maxi did."
"Yeah… I wonder… what happened to Maxi anyway?"
"I don't know." Talim sighed as the sun's rays finally disappeared, and the Moon showed in a small crescent. No traveler would continue in this light, so Link was grateful for the fact that they wouldn't be bothered by anyone at all. "The Wind says that after we left, that he didn't come back for a few days, and when he came back he began his journey again… the Wind also tells me that he's angry that we took his Soul Edge pieces."
"What? But I didn't take them, did you?"
"No… but… I think that my Grandmother must have given them to me, you know, like how she gave me Charade's?"
"That must have been it, because I can't think of anything else… you know… we have so many pieces now. Together, we only had two, but then we got Maxi's, who had about five pieces, then we got Charade's, who had four pieces, and now we've got that… hmm… Xianghua girl's, and she had three, but her pieces, like ours had absorbed other pieces. That's got to be… fourteen pieces!"
"That's so many." Talim agreed, amazed as she had her hands on her stomach, underneath her blanket. "And that Xianghua… as you said her pieces had absorbed some as well, so we have more then fourteen pieces really… you know, that makes me wonder… if we have fourteen pieces, then… how many more are out there? We must get as many as we can, we have to. In order to finally put Soul Edge where it belongs."
"How long will that take?" Link asked, and although that question sounded hopeless, he really did have curiosity in his voice. "I've learned that trying to put an end to things, make things right… takes so long."
"It does. And that's just the way that it has to be."
Silence fell over, and Talim fell asleep almost instantly, feeling that the conversation was over. But Link stayed awake, looking out at the blank darkness that veiled over him. He couldn't stop thinking about that Xianghua. There was something about her, something stranger about her. He had a feeling… that she was closer to Soul Edge and knew more about It then either he or Talim did.
And Maxi… there had been something in those words that he had told Link before, about how Link had to learn how to lose what was precious to him. And now that Link had thought about it, the way that Maxi had said it, there had been something within his words that had rung true for Maxi as well. Link had had a feeling that Maxi had said that because he had lost something as well, but he had never actually thought about it. And so, Link had to wonder, what was it that Maxi had lost? Maxi had never spoken about his past. Did that have something do with it? Of course, he hadn't been with Maxi that long, and Link himself had never spoken about his past… what could it be then?
"Sleep…" Link commanded himself; he closed his eyes, and lay down on his side. He soon then fell asleep, leaving his thoughts for later, perhaps the morning, perhaps the afternoon, who knew? Maybe he wouldn't even think about it for another month. It was unknown.
The morning came, and Talim was awake before Link, passing him some bread and water, and just a bit of cheese. Once they finished, they packed up their blankets and put away their food, and began walking again through the tall waving grass at a brisk pace.
The afternoon came, and something off in the distance appeared, something disturbing.
"What is that?" Link suddenly asked as he stopped walking, looking out into the distance. Talim stopped as well, first looking at Link to see where he was looking, and then turned her eyes to where he was staring.
"It's smoke." Talim replied as she looked out at the dark gray smoke that rose up in billows. How did she not notice that? It was close by, and how did she not smell it?
"I know, but where is it coming from?"
Talim and Link took those words as their cue to find out what it was, and began their way closer, a large hill slightly off in the distance covering up what they wanted to see.
It was soon when they arrived at the hill that was blocking their view, and now they could smell the smoke perfectly, along with another disgusting stench that Link far too well.
"That smell…" Talim had to stop as the odor rammed into her, but she kept on going, right beside Link. They arrived at the top of the hill, and saw something that made their eyes go wide. But that wasn't the cursed event that was going to happen, no, but that event was coming very soon.
"What… happened here?" Link whispered weakly as he looked out at the charred land, where there wasn't a survivor left.
It was a town, a large town, but large enough to be a city. Or at least it had been… it had all been burned down, and there were still flames eating on wood, but not just wood, there were the bodies of those who had been there, all of them on the ground, still burning. That's what the smell had been, actual burning flesh.
The buildings that had once stood strait and ground were now hardly anything but ashes, and a remain of a piece of wood was rare. The ground was pure black, and what had once been a street made of stone was only black sand.
"L-Link!" Talim put her hand up to her mouth, and she looked out at the scene before them. Link instantly turned to Talim, and hugged her tightly as she closed her eyes and rested her head against her chest. She wasn't crying, but she still took in deep breaths, trying to keep herself under control. Link rested his head on her own head softly, his eyes closed as well.
Talim turned her head, and looked out at the dead town as Link took his head away from Talim's and looked at well, still holding her.
"What could have… done this?"
"Soul Edge." Link replied, just two words that now had a completely new meaning now.
Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from a corner in the town. Talim pulled away from Link, and looked at him. The roar came again, and this time, Talim gave Link and glance before heading down, Link following next to her.
They didn't have to go far, when they saw something peculiar, something that looked human, but it had been… mutated.
Something stood there, with armor, large, thick in muscles and tall. Glowing dark orange and red eyes peered out from the helm. Long, dark red hair made its way from behind the helm. A large arm could also be seen, and it was far larger then any human arm could ever be, it had to be three times larger then Link's own arm, and had long, skeleton like fingers. Nothing else could be seen behind the armor, but it was obvious at first glance that this was a human who had been turned into a monster. It held a weapon, a weapon that was thick and long, made of flesh that showed its pulsing veins and muscles, almost like a human body. It also had one eye, an eye that had every color that an eye could ever had, and Link noticed that the eye looked exactly how Charade's eye looked, the same color, everything. And it was clear that sword was part of Soul Edge, although not complete.
The creature turned his eyes towards Its two intruders, and It turned its body slowly, It's blade dripping with blood, It's own armor covered with blood.
"Your souls… I can smell them…" The creature made movement towards them, It's voice deep and distorted. "They will…be mine…"
It came closer to them, but neither Talim nor Link made a movement. But someone did speak, and it was Talim:
"What is your name?"
"My name?" The creature gave a low, garbled laugh, which almost seemed to bring It pain. "I'd think… that you would know it… I am known as Nightmare… I kill whoever crosses my path… I am known… everywhere… the slayer of men, women, and children… if there is ever a massacre… everyone and everything… knows that it is me…"
Talim took Link's hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, telling him not to worry, which confused Link at first, but when Talim let his hand go and stepped forward, he understood immediately. She was going to try and face this beast! Link fought to keep himself in place, to stop himself from charging after her and pulling her back. He didn't move, and watched Talim, feeling as helpless as a newborn pup.
"You want… to face me?" It said this, giving out another painful laugh as it raised It's one-eyed sword. "Your soul will be mine!"
"No one's soul will be taken in this battle." Talim answered as she drew nearer, a few seconds past, and she stood near Nightmare, so close to where if he were to raise his sword and bring it down upon her that it would slice her right half with ease if she didn't move to evade it. But Nightmare only stared at her, and she stared back. They were both silent, and Link simply watched this, trying to figure out what was going between them.
"What is it, which you think… that you can… do?" Nightmare asked, and his voice wasn't threatening, but he was actually curious.
"You aren't a monster… I can feel something inside of you." Talim drew closer, very, very slowly, but even so, Link's heart began to race faster.
"Is that so? …Well your friend over there… his heart is beating… like a humming bird's… he doesn't seem to think that… you can do anything…"
Link felt anger rise inside of him, but then he realized that Nightmare was trying to make him angry, and make Talim pay attention to Link. But Talim didn't fall for this, but instead kept her eyes on Nightmare.
"What was your name before it was Nightmare?" Talim asked as she stopped going closer, and she said this in a soft voice, and yet it was strong and commanding.
"Pathetic question!"
"What was your name before it was Nightmare?" She repeated again, Nightmare seemed to be angered by her question, and raised his sword up. But Talim said again: "What was your name before it was Nightmare?"
"Shut up!" Nightmare brought his blade down towards Talim, faster then Link thought that possible for something his size. But Talim was able to move aside quickly, and as Nightmare swung towards her again horizontally she ducked.
"You're beginning… to irritate me…" Nightmare growled, as a violent gleam in both his own eyes and the sword's one eye appeared. "I will show you… the greatest nightmare!"
Nightmare charged forward, and Talim brought her elbow blades up, ready to attack. She leapt back when Nightmare was closer to her, narrowly missing another swing of his massive sword. It was then that Link knew that it would Talim wouldn't be able to win, at least without Link's help.
Link unsheathed his Master Sword, and charged forward, and Nightmare caught Link's movement from the corner of his eye. Nightmare turned himself around, and charged towards Link as well. Talim took this opportunity and leapt up upon Nightmare's back, and to Link's surprise, she stabbed one of her elbow blades into an opening in Nightmare's armor. Nightmare roared out in pain, and took his large, deep dirt colored arm and reached back, farther then any human could reach, and grabbed Talim, and threw her off of his back as if she were mere rag-doll. In the air, Talim was able to turn herself, exactly like a cat would, and landed roughly on her feet.
Link was about to make a quick glance at Talim to check if she was alright, but quickly reminded himself that was not facing a human opponent, if Nightmare saw his glance; he would be able to cut Link up before Link could even know that Nightmare's sword was coming towards him.
"You're… not from this world…" Nightmare stated to Link, and there wasn't any doubt within his voice. Link knew that his ears weren't showing, he could feel his hair and the cloth of his hat against both sides of his ears. "I can tell… feel…"
Link decided that he shouldn't ask anything about this, even though his curiosity instantly flared wildly. Thus, he chose to simply charge forward, his shield up, his sword out. Nightmare went forward too, his sword raised. Just as they were about to connect, Link dropped to the ground, and rolled between Nightmare's legs. As he finished rolling between his legs, he flipped up, and leapt forward towards Nightmare's back, the Master Sword piercing through the armor with little difficulty.
Link pushed the sword through Nightmare's skin and flesh, and Nightmare cried out in pain, and veered around so fast to where Link was thrown off, the Master Sword still inside of Nightmare's back, so deep to where only the hilt could be seen.
"He can't die…" Link whispered hoarsely when Nightmare was completely unaffected, even though red blood began leaking out from Nightmare's armor like tiny red rivers.
Talim jumped in front of Link, and Nightmare took his sword, and began moving his sword side ways to where the blade would meet Talim and throw her away so hard that her landing would defiantly be painful. But Talim simply stood there, Syi Sarika and Loka Luha's sharp tips facing the sword.
Talim soared through the air when Nightmare's blade met her elbow blades and her, but as Nightmare's sword met the tips of the Elbow Blades, Nightmare's eyes and the sword's eyes went wide as the Elbow Blades went through the flesh of the sword, black blood spurting out, and then as Talim was thrown into the air, leaving her Elbow Blades in the sword, the sword literally began to crack with white light gleaming through the cracks.
The eye of the sword went completely wide, just like Nightmare's, but unlike Nightmare's eyes, the eye rolled back into its socket, and all that could be seen was white.
Nightmare gave out a long, loud, ear-piercing inhuman scream, his whole body stiff as his beloved blade was being shattered.
"NOT AGAIN!"
The large sword that was a large piece of Soul Edge began to literally crack, and within the cracks came pure white light. It exploded, blowing back Link and Nightmare, and even Talim, who was still flying through the air like a bird who had been caught in a horrible wind-storm.
Link opened his eyes, and slowly sat up, wiping away dirt that had flown from his eyes. He saw Talim slowly bringing herself up too, spitting out dirt and wiping her eyes at the same time.
Nightmare laid on the ground, still.
Talim stood up slowly, and walked over to Nightmare. She leaned over him, and as Link stood up clumsily he saw that Nightmare looked… different.
Nightmare's hair was still long, but now it was light yellow, he was blond now. He still had his large, brown arm, but his other arm was human, the skin on that arm just barely tanned, as was the skin on his face and chest. His face was human, although there was still brown like veins that stretched across his face. Now he only had armor on his legs and feet, everything else bare. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing.
Link brought himself up, and picked up his sword, which was lying nearby. He then walked over to Nightmare, and leaned over him.
"What do you think…?"
"Happened?" Talim finished Link's sentence as they both leaned over Nightmare, both of them on a different side. All that remained of Nightmare's own sword were a pile of Soul Edge pieces, dimly glowing red, and then going out.
"Urg…." Nightmare's eyes slowly began to open, and both Talim and Link saw that he had one eye that held a deep, dark blue, that reminded Link of Zelda's eyes, and the other eye that was still a cross between orange and red. Nightmare looked between the two of them, clearly confused. But it wasn't Nightmare anymore… Nightmare was gone.
"Are you all right?" Talim asked soothingly as she tilted her head.
"What… who are you…?" He asked, his voice now no longer terrible and deep.
"Talim."
"Link."
"I'm… Siegfried."
"Sage-fry?" Link repeated clumsily.
"Sieg-fried." Siegfried corrected weakly as he closed his eyes and laid his head back, although he didn't go to sleep. His eyes then reopened, and he looked at them, realizing something. "Where is it? Soul Edge?"
"We destroyed it." Link answered, getting prepared to jump away if he tried to assault them. But he didn't, and a look of relief passed through his face.
"Wha-?"
A voice that neither Talim, Link, or even Siegfried wanted to hear at that moment came to their ears. It was… Xianghua!
"You're supposed to be DEAD!" Xianghua screamed as she looked at who she believed was Nightmare, and was in a sense. "I killed you myself! How can you still be alive? Arg! Why can't you monsters just die and stay dead?"
Link stood up, the Master Sword raised towards Xianghua. Talim stayed kneeling next to Siegfried, for she didn't have her weapons with her.
"Don't come near him." Link warned as he stood protectively over the other two. "Or Talim."
"Are you stupid?" She asked as she came forward, and when she was close enough she raised her own sword and let it touch Link's blade. "He's an evil, vile being who must be killed!"
"You are… the one who beat me?" Siegfried raised himself up, and stood up slowly, Talim standing up with him, supporting him. He finally brought himself up all the way. "Your name is Xianghua, is it not? You're the wielder of Soul Calibur. Tell me, where is your sword?"
"I lost it after the battle, thanks to you!" Xianghua took her sword away from Link's and pointed it at 'Nightmare'.
"Lost it?" Siegfried's eyes went wide, and he almost fell over, but Talim was able to help him regain his balance. "How are you supposed to destroy Soul Edge if Soul Calibur is gone? There's no hope if the blade is gone!"
"Soul Calibur?" Talim asked, both she and Link gave one another a glance.
"Yeah, duh, Soul Calibur!" Xianghua answered hotly. "My sword might I add. It's the only sword that can defeat Soul Edge!"
Link brought his sword down, but he was ready to bring it back up instantly if needed, watching Xianghua's every movement.
A sound of someone walking behind Xianghua could be heard, and everyone turned to see who it was.
"Maxi?" Xianghua quickly forgot about the problem at hand and dropped her sword, and ran towards him. She jumped on him, hugging him tightly.
"Little too friendly woman!" Maxi pushed her off of him, dusting himself off. "Who are you anyway?"
"What?" Xianghua's face fell, and tears came to her eyes. "You don't- how can you not recognize me? It's me, Xianghua! Don't you remember me, and Kilik?"
"Obviously not." Maxi mused as he gently pushed her out of his path and began walking, but she quickly raced in front of him and stood in his path. "Woman, move."
"No! How dare you treat me like this?" She demanded as the tears began to go down her face, and she said the rest of her words with a cracking voice. "How can you not remember me? We traveled together, and saved each others lives! Why are you doing this to me?"
Talim listened to her, both filled with joy for Maxi's return but also purely confused. But the Wind blew by, and although Xianghua, Maxi's, or Siegfried took notice of it, Talim and Link both turned their heads, Talim sensing something wrong and Link noticing that the Wind had blown harder then usual.
Talim listened to the Wind's words carefully, and Link noticed something in her eyes, something… that frightened him deeply. Talim was afraid, and she was never afraid. What was wrong?
Talim faced Link, her eyes wide, her next words trembled: "The Wind… after breaking Siegfried's sword, the eruption of Soul Edge's power has…" She swallowed, and Link waited upon her words, the only other being listening Siegfried, for he was standing right next her. "Soul Edge… it's taken over the wind. The spirit of the wind has been tossed aside and is now too weak to fight back…"
"The Wind has fallen?" Siegfried seemed to understand completely, and now Maxi's and Xianghua argument was being blocked and ignored. "If that is so… then the turnout could be horrible…"
"Shut up!"
Maxi's words were said in a yell, and that even shut up the large mouthed Xianghua by the urgency in his voice. He lifted his hand, and pointed into the distance.
"Tornado." He stated, and as everyone turned to see where he was looking, they saw a distant swirling vortex, so far away that it couldn't be heard. But as a few seconds of silence passed, they were shattered when a horrible screaming could be heard. It was the wind, the tornado, coming towards them.
"No…" Talim whispered as the breeze that had been constant around her stopped, dying. She looked around, a tear going down her cheek. She was used to having the Wind go away when she went inside of a building, but outside she had never been without the Wind, and even inside of a building she had been able to feel the Wind outside, waiting for her to come back. But now… it was like a part of her was dead.
"T-tornado?" Xianghua exclaimed as her eyes like everyone else's was wide.
"The Wind has fallen." Talim stated, her fists clenched as she faced the others, her eyes were no longer shining with tears, but the tear that had already fallen down her cheek was still there.
"The Wind is really gone then? Completely?" Siegfried asked slowly, Talim nodded back. "How could one of the mighty Elemental Spirits be beaten? Never has Soul Edge been able to take down an Elemental Spirit, it has never been able to ever compare to a Spirit's power… if Soul Edge is really this powerful now… then I believe that we're all going to die."
"We've got run!" Xianghua told the others as she ran over and picked up her sword.
"No, we can't out run a tornado that is actually aiming for us." Link hadn't spoken for a small period of time, but it seemed like he had been mute within those few minutes. "What can we do?"
"Soul Calibur is the only thing that can save us." Siegfried answered, hope in his voice like a dried-up fountain.
"Are you kidding me?" Xianghua demanded as she looked at him franticly. "I've already told you that Soul Calibur is gone! I LOST it!"
"Then we're all going to die." Siegfried retorted simply, almost as if it didn't matter.
"No! I'm too young to die-!" Xianghua screeched as she brought her head down and both hands on her head. "And too beautiful!"
The tornado was closer now, the sound of the swirling vortex of death coming closer and closer every second. A few seconds past, and the tornado was traveling so fast that now someone would have to scream at the tip top of lungs to be heard, and even then they would sound like a mere whisper. It was so close, ready to devour them whole.
"What can… we do?" Link whispered the sound of the tornado so loud that he couldn't even hear his own words, and he could only depend on the thought of him saying those words to know that he had said them. Wind now began blowing back everyone's hair, but even so, no one moved a muscle.
Because there was nothing that they could do that would make a difference.
(In a bed covered from head to toe in a large cast with only brown eyes peered out) And that's the end of the chapter!
Raphael: You're leaving your reviewers hanging like that? That's even crueler then what I've done to you… (Yawns)
HEY! Just because you beat me doesn't mean that I wasn't hard to beat!
Raphael: Are you kidding me? You're even more pathetic then-
Link: Anyway, just make sure to review!
Talim: So 'til next time,
CrypticElf…