Ayaaaache!

I SWEAR the world is against me!

Or at least my PC. xD

Y'see, a while after I posted the last chapter, my PC's hard drive went wacky and basically... well, crashed.

Ironic, isn't it:

So when I got it back I bitterly had to face the fact that I didn't have Word anymore. And Dell wouldn't give us the disk that we'd needed. D: So, I got to have the joy of waiting forEVER. Then, one day, when I was with my friend Robin and was talking to her about my problem with Word. Then she goes over and hands me the disk!

SO I FINALLY HAVE WORD BACK. But then Finals come up, so I'm delayed yet another two weeks or so. Now I'm finally back and ready.

And learning once again how difficult it is to pick a fanfiction back up when you can't even remember what's been happening in it. XD

That being said, I'm out of wack for writing these things. So, Emerald Wind will be ending soon. I've already made my fans wait way too long for these updates. Maybe I'll make another story like this, but for now, I'm going to end Emerald Wind. This isn't the last chapter, but there will only be another chapter or so left.

Thank you everyone! I LOVE you people for being so incredibly loyal. D:

Chapter Fourteen: Irony

Link had been embarrassed to wake up in the morning and then suddenly find a warm, soft body snuggled up against his. At first he was startled and confused, but soon after he remember what had happened last night. A question, eyes, crying, and then... His cheeks and the tips of ears turned a soft hue of pink as the memory of last night passed through his mind. He paused, not sure what to do other than lay down and look down at the small head of ebony hair using his chest as a pillow. If Link knew one thing for certain, it was that Talim certainly wasn't being shy about the situation. She had her arms wrapped around him and her body was pressed right up against his. It sent weird sensations up his spine. Link blinked at the wind shaman a while more before setting his head back down. He was probably acting like a baby. After all- how big of a deal was it to have a girl sleeping next to you?

No... wait.

That came out wrong.

Uhhhm...

Link sighed and punched himself softly on the forehead. He was a genius. He set his hand on his chest, looking up at the sky. The colors of dawn were just barely starting to mix with the darkened shades of night. From here, it looked like... well, just pretty, he guessed. There really wasn't a way to describe it without turning feminine himself. Just because his shirt was longer than usual didn't make it skirt.

A soft mumble broke his thoughts, followed by a shift in movement. Link's body grew tight as Talim slowly woke up. She tightened her arms around his frame and yawned sleepily into his shirt. Then she stopped, as if falling back asleep, before sitting up. She looked around and then looked down at Link, who smiled sheepishly at her.

"Good-morning, pillow." Talim chimed before falling back onto Link, getting an "oof!" in response.

"So... I'm a pillow now?"

"Mm-hmm..." She answered slowly while steadily rolling off of him. Once she was completely off Link sat up, tilting his head at her. She normally wasn't this sleepy. In fact, wasn't she usually the one who was waking him up? Link had always thought that she was awake far before the crack of dawn every single day.

For a reason unknown to the elf a smile crept up on his face and for a few seconds just wouldn't go away. The pair remained still for a few seconds until Link broke the paralysis by getting out from the blanket and standing up. He stretched and then hopped into his boots. He turned to look over at Talim for a few moments before stating that he was going to try and find something fresh to eat for breakfast. They were camped out in the woods, so hopefully he would be able to find either some berries or meat. He got a soft mumble in response. This was enough to satisfy him, so he turned around and walked off into the brush with his sword in hand.

As he walked through the brush many thoughts came to him. Surprisingly, they weren't entirely based on Talim. Instead most of his thoughts were focused on his lost ocarina. He... he couldn't believe that he had lost it. He missed her... Zelda... Malon... Saria... everyone. A small, sad grin appeared and he chuckled softly to himself.

'I wonder... what kind I do here?' Link thought to himself, almost scaring himself. 'I never really thought too deeply about it... but what am I going to... to do here? I know that I can trust Talim here, but to others... I'll have secrets. I'll always have secrets... It's... kinda weird that I met Talim pretty much the instant that I arrived here, in this place. I mean, it is lucky! Out of everyone here in this place... I was so unbelievably lucky. I didn't know anything about this world. I didn't even think that my ears would have made a difference. What if someone else had seen me? What would've they done?' A shudder passed through his body as he stopped in his tracks. 'I... I wonder: who else can I trust here in this place...? I miss everyone, kind of. Well... yeah, I miss them a lot. It's kind of sad that I'll never be able to go back there again.'

But the three goddess were the goddess of Hyrule- not of Earth. Their powers didn't reach this far. They could only send him; they couldn't bring him back. Link rubbed his forehead with his rough hand and sighed once again. But there was hope... at least he knew that there was one person he could trust here in this world. This world would never really be home, but Talim... Talim was.

"So, where are we now?"

"I don't know," Talim answered, bringing a hand up and looking up at the sun. "We probably should've bought a map in the last town..."

"...Well... as long as we reach that place where that energy is coming from, we'll make it, right?" Link asked, scratching the back of his neck and watching as Talim nodded. "Then again, a map is for looking out for where the towns are. We can't really use a map to track down Soul Edge..."

Talim chuckled in response before running behind him and pushing him forward. Link stumbled for a few moments before catching himself. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at her, getting a giggle in return. Talim ran ahead, Link following in return.

They had left the woods a while ago. Neither of them were sure when. It was almost pointless to keep track of time now. Though the reason for the pointlessness wasn't known; it just seemed like it was.

As regarding what had happened... it hadn't been talked about. Link felt awkward, but it didn't seem as if Talim felt so. She was much more affectionate towards him now- not that he didn't mind. There hadn't been anymore... uh, "lip-touches," but Talim had seemed to adapted to the idea of sleeping beside Link. Though she kept to her own set of blankets, simply setting herself nearer to him than she had before. Link felt like asking her what she felt, but whenever he thought that he might have the courage he would freeze up and end up suddenly becoming a mute.

He had fought countless monsters, saved the sages, defeated Ganondorf, and restored to peace to all of Hyrule. And yet he couldn't even get himself to talk to Talim about what'd happened? Messed up! Link silently shook his fists at the goddesses. They had granted him strength, incredible magical power, and so many other gifts. But they just HAD to leave out that little ability to talk to girls about that kind of a subject. Yeah, thanks Farore!

But it was easier to get over his discomfort with Talim acting so natural. She didn't seem to mind at all. He wondered what was going through her mind and what she was thinking. In fact, he wondered this a lot. There had to be something on her mind. It was only... well, human. Not that he was one, but….

Soon they found a town. It was relatively big. Bigger than usual, but it was still a town. Both of them grinned at each other before walking in, first stopping to get a room at an inn before moving around the town. They both agreed to buy something to eat. Something that was warm, not stale, and tasted different from old bread and ancient cheese. They wandered around and asked about the place that had the best food to eat. Once they were pointed in a direction they took off, intended on getting something edible and tasty. As they entered the building that they were looking for, however, a surprise was set in for both of them.

"Maxi!" Talim bellowed, running across the room to a man who was sitting on the table. The man turned around and stared at both of them, stunned for a few moments.

"It's... it's you two!" Maxi's eyes bulged for a few moments as he tried to grab a hold of himself. "How'd you two troublemakers managed to get out of there?"

"Maxi!" Link beamed as he walked up, standing beside a very overjoyed Talim. "You're okay! We thought that maybe- er, well... you were gone..."

"Cheh. You thought that that thing could take me down?" Maxi stood up and then flipped the small curl of black hair he had over his face back. "You seriously underestimate me."

"Of course," Link grinned, copying the hand movement.

"Where are Siegfred and that woman, Xianghua?" Talim asked curiously after giggling at their comments.

"I don't know, actually." Maxi admitted, looking away for a moment before returning his eyes to the two in front of him. "Probably fine though, seeing you two here. How come I keep on running into you punks, anyway? And where've you been this entire time?"

"We woke up in a field," Talim explained, "but we didn't and don't know where we we'd ended up. So we into a city before traveling. But that was... a month ago I think."

Maxi fell back into his seat, a strange look on his face. A few seconds passed and he glanced back up at the two and patted the table. They both nodded and sat down, a smile on Talim's face.

"The food here's pretty good," Maxi commented, leaning back coolly in his seat. Whatever had been bothering him before wasn't on his mind anymore. "Ain't as good as fresh fish strait from the sea, but it's pretty damn good considering what I've been eating lately."

"Stale bread, strange tasting cheese, and old meat." Link laughed, getting a deep chuckle from Maxi in return.

"Sounds just about right. Delicacy is what we wandering fighters eat." The sailor threw his head back and laughed before returning to the previous subject. "Anyway, I don't know what happened to that woman or Siegfred. And I seriously don't understand how the two of you could still be alive after going into that tornado." Maxi turned himself to face Link more directly and then lifted his finger up to make distinct gestures at the young elf. "And you, oh you- you are a complete idiot, by the way."

"I… idiot?" Link repeated, titling his head with a confused expression on his face. "Why am I an idiot?"

"Oh sheesh…." Maxi rolled his head and flopped back into his chair. "I really wonder what's hidden underneath that hat of yours. 'Why am I an idiot?' What kind of a question is that? You jumped into the tornado! And Talim- you did it first. Both of you are lacking in total common sense, aren't you? Usually partners fill up the other's gaps, but apparently you two are way too alike…."

"Aw come on, you don't have to say it like that. Talim's a wind priestess, after all. She knew what she was doing."

"Okay then, she's out of the clear. But you're still an idiot."

Link blushed and sucked his lips in to keep himself from saying anything else. Talim reached out and gently patted Link's shoulder. He turned his head to look at her and spotted a soft smile on her face. Seeing that he couldn't help but return it.

"You win." Link held his hands up and lowered his head in defeat. Talim let out a soft chuckle at the two boy's banter, her legs swinging playfully.

"Now that I've gotten the fact out that you're a pinhead, I'd like to discuss more important matters. But these are more private things that shouldn't be heard between anyone else besides the three of us. So, if you have questions, ask them while we eat."

A young lady walked over, just on cue, to ask the trio what they wanted to eat. After getting their food and spending several minutes indulging in hot, practically dream-like food, they slowed down and took the time to start talking again. Talim was the first.

"Maxi, after Link and I disappeared, what happened?"

"Well little miss," Maxi casually broke off a piece of his bread and buttered it as he began. "After you and Link pulled off that stunt of yours, the tornado kept on coming towards all of us. That woman with the strange name kept on yelling something. I couldn't have heard or understood anything that she was saying because of that thing blowing so loudly. Siegfred was just standing there, pretty much waiting. I couldn't blame him for just being there without trying to fight. I mean, what could we have done? So I joined him in plainly standing there. I was thinking about how much of a crappy way that was to go when the tornado started glowing from the inside. I tried to keep on looking but everything was so bright that I couldn't keep my eyes focused. So I blinded. After that all that I can remember it feeling like my organs were being ripped out from my skin and spun around multiple times before finally being knocked-out.

"When I woke up I was covered in dirt that was yellow, for some reason. I didn't know where I was, just like you guys, and ended up wandering around until I found a town. First time in my life I'd ever had to beg for food. I had nothing, everything 'cept for my clothes was gone. I was almost half-dead when I finally found a city. I hated it but I did. Y'gotta eat when y'gotta eat."

"Yeah." Link nodded slowly before tucking a slice of egg into his mouth. He took his time in chewing it, his eyes on his plate as if something curious was there. "That's how Talim and I pretty much ended up. I somehow managed to keep my sword, though. Everything else is gone. Talim doesn't even have anything to use anymore."

"Unless I go back home, I don't think that I'll be able to find anything." Talim added gravely, lowering her food as her appetite began to dissipate. "I'm willing to learn how to use a normal sword, but…."

"No, those weapons were yours and yours only. I can't imagine you using anything else." Maxi interrupted, shaking his head vigorously. "Even though they were completely unorthodox weapons they suited you. You need to use something that's light enough for you to move around with quickly."

"She could get daggers," Link offered with a thoughtful tap on the table.

"I could." Talim agreed, a smile forcefully appearing on her face. "Those wouldn't be too hard to find, right?"

"Not at all, lass." Maxi reached out from across the table and gently patted her head. "Besides, no one could say no to that cute face of yours."

Talim's lips curled up again, only this time she meant it. She nodded eagerly with a bright look in her eyes. Link grinned as well, ignoring the feeling that was stabbing itself into his side.

The three of them finished their meal and paid. Then they left, heading into the inn to talk about whatever it was that Maxi had on his mind. They went into the room that Maxi had rented for himself. Once they arrived Maxi closed the door and locked it. Then he moved to the end of the room and sat on his bed; his feet set up on the bed frame.

"There's something that I want to talk to you both about." Maxi's voice was lowered, so Link and Talim were forced to come over and sit down on the edge of his bed in order to hear what he was talking about. "It's about Soul Edge. I already told you that when I woke up after that incident that I'd lost everything. I even lost the pieces of Soul Edge that I'd collected. I'm assuming that the same thing happened to you?" He waited until he got the response he'd expected before continuing on. "So we both lost the pieces of Soul Edge that we had. And I recently… well… I recently learned from an anonymous source that Soul Edge has… almost been completed. I have no idea how the hell it was able to do it but the sword has completed itself to almost half. That sword that Siegfred carried was a huge shard from Soul Edge fused with a large sword. Siegfred was actually the previous owner of Soul Edge before it was destroyed; so he was naturally able to find pieces of it much faster than we possibly could. Anyway, it's sounding as if he lost his shards too. I'm starting to believe that the tornado wasn't sent to kill us."

"We all had a significant amount of shards," Talim breathed softly, her hands gripping the fabric of her pants. "When we all grouped together like that it had to have sent off a signal. Whenever a shard is near another it starts reacting. With all of them so close together, the energy must have been incredible…."

"Exactly. That tornado wasn't sent to kill us. It was created to take the shards from us. Morons like us didn't even realize what would happen if we went so close to each other."

Link's eyes closed and he held his head up. He took in a breath and released it, his body shaking softly. "We were trying to do good and thought that collecting the shards would lead us to where the source of the main energy was. We were all fools… we were just acting as Soul Edge's delivery boys."

"Link… Link, what have we done?" Talim's hands covered up her face and she let out a horrible shudder.

"There's only one thing that we can do now." Maxi stated in a hushed tone. "We have to find Soul Edge and destroy it. We have no more time left. Unless we find it and destroy it completely there's no way that we'll stand a chance."

"No… that's not…" Talim shook her head before standing up. Both Link and Maxi looked at her as she began to walk away from both of them.

"Talim, what's wrong?" Link pushed himself up off of the bed and reached out to gently grab her shoulder. "Talim?"

"Please let me go!" Talim pulled herself back before quickly dashing out of the room.

"What's her problem?" Maxi asked, setting his feet on the floor and leaning over. "Did something happen between you two?"

"I don't think that's the problem." Link answered, his eyes locked on the door in front of him. "It has something to do with Soul Edge."

"Let her be." Maxi ordered as Link made a step towards the door. "If there's one thing that I can understand about women it's to leave them alone when they're really upset over something. Stay away from her for a while and see her later."

"But-"

"When you tried to reach out and grab her she pulled away and ran out of the room, Link. She doesn't want your help right now. Leave her alone."

'What am I supposed to do?'

Talim now stood with the town at her back. Her arms wrapped around her sides and the wind blew around her body in twirls and tugs. There was nothing but rolling hills in front of her. But if she were to look just barely to her left there would be a huge forest expanding out for miles upon miles. These hills felt like home. Almost. There was no sea, no mountains. And despite the wind that was flowing around her it had no soul. The Wind was gone, and she was now left in its place to guide the winds to flow accordingly around the earth.

'Why me? Why was I picked to control the wind now? There are others who have so much greater spiritual power and control than I do.' This question burned through her mind strongly as she opened her eyes and looked up towards the sky. 'And now I am also stuck in this situation. My resolve is strong, it will never waver, but what do I do now? Fear is only something that can get in my way. I must cast it aside and let myself start forward on my path! But… Link doesn't understand. Neither does Maxi. Destroying Soul Edge won't do anything. To destroy the sword will destroy Soul Edge, but what about its soul? It's spirit? Absolutely no one through physical means could do something like that. Destroying the sword would only prevent it from finding a new way into the world. Its energies have to be straitened- it needs to be set to course! But how could I convince Link? Would he believe me? And Maxi….'

Talim dropped down to her knees and hung her head. Her eyes shut and her heart felt shockingly heavy. Talim had been taught ever since she could remember that she had to be like the wind. She had to be strong and wise. She had to soar above her troubles and not allow them to drag her down. To be strong as the Wind was… to be able to be as quick. To act as a vortex- destroying everything in her path while moving with such speed and grave that she couldn't be stopped. With wisdom. The Wind was one of the first spirits to ever be born on this earth. Its understanding and knowledge of history was beyond any possible human comprehension. And to fly above her problems. The Wind gave birds wings as to give freedom to some of the creatures of the earth. And while birds landed on the ground, they still always took back to the sky. They never let themselves be pulled away from the sky. From their troubles.

How could she possibly be any of these? And despite how hard she was trying she couldn't keep herself from being plucked from the sky. Her wings had been ripped off. And now she felt utterly alone. The Wind no longer sang to her and gave her advice. Talim could no longer hear the quiet but clear whisper of its comforting words. And Link… she trusted him. More than anyone she ever had before in her life. But what would he say? How would he react? Talim had kept herself from telling him that what he wanted to do with Soul Edge was wrong. And now it had ended up like this.

She had lost her entire tribe. Her family. Her status as the last wind priestess. She was nothing to them now. A traitor: that's what she was now. All that she had had was the wind, and that had been enough. Then she had met Link and had found her new family, her new home. And then the Wind was torn away from her. And Link- would she lose him too?

How horrible were these problems? Was her mind blowing them beyond any real proportion? What was she doing to herself- was this the right way?

'To fly above my problems… I have always been able to do that. To see everything a brighter light so that I wouldn't be dragged down by the darkness. But I can't help it. I can't stop myself anymore. What can I do now?'

A sudden shriek reached her ears. Talim's head moved up sullenly, her eyes wandering around. The scream had sounded familiar for some reason. Then it came again. It was from above. Talim's gaze drew upward and she could barely see a tiny figure flying down towards her.

"Alun…? Alun?" Talim shot up onto her feet, her words growing louder. "Alun! Alun!"

One last shrill call came from the bird in the sky before it began its course towards her, moving faster than an arrow. Talim ran forward, her arms outstretched. A hawk soared down to her, pushing itself up at just the right moment to keep itself from slamming into the ground. Alun then pumped his wings and landed on Talim's arm.

"Alun, Alun!" Talim crumbled to her knees again, her face shining as tears began to fall from her eyes. She wrapped an arm very gently around her bird, afraid that if she hugged him to tightly that she might hurt him. Alun made a soft whistle and nipped at her hair.

'Alone… no… I'm not alone.'

And there you go. Oh joy, I got angsty. xD;

Well, we'll see how this ends. Review, you... peoples. Review.

D:

ILU REVIEWERS!