Chapter 10: Birthday wishes! A dream; And a desperate escape

Me: Inspiration…

Yoshimi: Ayumi doesn't own Zelda or any of it's games.

A soft light hit my face, and I heard birds chirping happily from outside the window.

"Mmm…" I sighed. Somebody walked in and sat on the bed. A tasty scent of bacon and eggs overwhelmed my senses, "What's cooking, doc?" I was expecting Renado to answer me but instead Yoshimi's voice took his place.

"You're all time favorite platter, my lady." I sat up quickly.

"Yoshimi!" I threw myself at him and hugged him lovingly. He patted my back, surprised, yet equally as enthusiastic.

"I missed you too, Ayumi!" He chuckled. I released him and beamed excitedly, picking up a fork and wolfed down the delicious meal until nothing was left.

"What brings you here?" I asked, sighing contentedly.

"Oh, now, don't tell me you forgot what today is."

"Huh?"

"It's your birthday!" A tingling sensation spread through my limbs. How could I forget? Today, I'm officially 18!

"You are now 18 years old. My, my, my… It seems only yesterday, when we met. What were you, 15?... Yeah haha, I remember… Ayumi..?" I was gazing off outside. Something about what he said bothered me.

"Ayumi?" He shook my shoulder.

"Who?..."

"What is it?"

"Stephyyy!!" What's going on?

"I don't know…" I closed my eyes tight and began to think hard.

"Hey Neko-Neko!"

"UGH! DON'T SAY THAT!!"

"But.. It's true! I do love you!" I'm looking at a dark haired girl with braided hair. She's wearing some type of spectacles.

"STEPH! UGH! UGH!"

"Hehe, but Shelbi!!" I frowned playfully at the fuming brunette.

"Haha! Neko!!"

"Tee Hee!" I just love teasing her, "Yes, Wolfie?" I looked at the shorter girl on my right and smiled. She had curly dirty-blonde hair and glasses. I put my arm on her head.

"Hey! Stop that Neko-Neko! Hahaha!"

"Aww, but it's fun! Besides! You do it to me, while I sit down. It's only fair." Wolfie laughed.

Shelbi snorted and milk shot out her nose.

"OH!" She turned red, and the blush spread through her entire face. Wolfie and I giggled again.

"It's okay Shelbi." I said. I blew a gust of wind into her ear, and she gave me a wild look. She grabbed my arm until it hurt.

"Ow! OW! OW, OW, OW, OWWW…"

"Gosh, Stephy!" I looked at the curly, browned headed girl. She laughed sweetly.

"You know I love teasing Shelbi, Becky." Shelbi let go of my arm and started eating her apples. Becky looked expectantly toward me as if she was waiting for me to sneak an apple.

"I'm not gonna do anything!" I looked down, and a piece of gala apple was in my hand, "Oh. I guess I did do something."

"Hey Stephanie!" I looked at Jenni. She put her hands up on the side of her mouth and finger-spelled a "K" and another "K". We both know sign language, so it's fun to communicate with each other that way, Shelbi also knows it.

"KoK!!" I mimicked the motion. We both went into hysterics.

"OH GROSS!! YOU PERVS!!" Said Shelbi. She laughed with us. The mouth represents the "O".

"Oh!! Kerri!! Can you come over this Friday?" I asked Wolfie.

"Sure! I'll ask my mom today."

"Sweet!"

"Yumi…" My eyes fluttered a little, "Ayumi… Wake up!"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes, "What happened?"

"You blacked out. Are you okay? Are you feeling alright?" Yeah, I'm fine. I had the weirdest dream.

"Yes, I'm alright." People were laughing downstairs and the door opened and closed. Yoshimi looked at me curiously. He leaned in closer, and I could smell his sweet breath. Clouds rushed over my eyes and I blinked a few times.

"You sure?" He put his hand over my forehead. I smiled.

"Pretty sure." Vivid images of that dream flashed across my mind. It seemed so real almost.

"Well, let's get downstairs to greet everyone! We have much to celebrate!"

I ran into the door.

"OW!! HOLY SHIT!! THAT FREAKING HURT!!" Yoshimi jumped.

"What are you talking about?" I was still in bed.

"Erm… Nothing? Hehe…" I giggled nervously. That's odd. I thought.

Yoshimi took my hand, and looked at me with a bright gleam in his eyes.

"After you, my lady?"

"Thank you, again." We walked downstairs.

"AYUMIIII!!!" Talo jumped on top of me and hugged me. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Yes, indeed, happy birthday. You are now an old woman." Said Malo, always seemed so sophisticated for a tiny toddler.

"Haha, say that again midget." He gave a mock shout of rage and pummeled me like Talo. Collin came running in and stood shuffling his feet with a huge grin on his face.

"Come on Collin! Join the ruckus, it's not like my back will break too soon." He jumped on me as well. My back swayed under the additional weight and I fell with the kids on top, "Oww, spoke a little too soon." They started cheering.

"Morning, Ayumi!" Ilia had sprung out of nowhere and said cheerfully, "I know we don't really know each other, but it's your birthday! And this special day calls for a delicious feast to celebrate."

"Aw, Ilia you are so nice."

"I will get right on the food then!" She practically skipped away to the kitchen in the next room.

"Oh! You don't have to— Ahh!" I struggled from underneath and Talo nudged me.

"Don't worry about Ilia, Yum-Yum, she can take care of herself."

"Yum-Yum?" Hello! Since when did Talo call me 'Yum-Yum?'

"Yes!"

"Okay, then? That's an interesting, erm, nickname."

"Sure is isn't it?" Said Beth who had, like Ilia, came out of nowhere, "Yoshimi said it the other day by accident. It's kind of catchy."

"Yup!" Said Talo. I sighed. A big crash made the inn shake. The kids screamed. The door slammed open, and the Bomb Shop- Guy came running in.

"MONSTER!" He shrieked. The kids started screaming and Yoshimi yelled for Renado, who came running in. Yoshimi grabbed my hand and dragged me upstairs.

"Wh-what's going on, Yoshi?" I guessed that now wasn't the time for revenge on the obsurd, new pet nickname but still, I was pretty disturbed. He pulled me inside the room and started taking off my shirt.

"EEK! What the heck are you doing?!"

"No time to explain." He muttered as he threw my shirt in the corner. I covered my chest, and he examined the long cut on my side. "So it DID happen."

"What?"

"Something happened that wasn't supposed to… She warned me this would happen, why didn't I listen? Now there's no choice but to do it." He started taking off my skirt.

"HEY! This is getting a little personal, don't ya think? Sheesh! Give a woman some privacy when it comes to this general area!"

"Oh! Sorry! Get some clothes already and get dressed!" Another loud boom sounded. And a rage of panic gripped me. Yoshimi started going through my drawers, throwing clothes onto the bed.

"EGAD! WHAT THE HELL??"

"STOP SCREAMING AND GET PACKING WE HAVE TO LEAVE AND FAST!" The terror in his voice added to the level of panic rising in my chest.

"Something's going on…" I watched as he got a travel bag out from under the bed. I was still covering my chest. "Yoshimi…"

"GET A MOVE ON, AYUMI!" He threw a shirt at me and hurried in the other way to get my sword and shield. I slipped it on, and put some travel pants under my skirt, then removed it. Quickly, I shoved my clothes into the bag and zipped it up.

Yoshimi rushed to me and knelt down to strap a sword belt roughly to my pants then did the same with the shield to my back. He grabbed me again and we ran out the bedroom door. He stopped, suddenly, at the corner, pulled me close then covered my mouth so I wouldn't make a sound.

A sinister, male voice was speaking downstairs.

"Find the girl then bring her to me in one piece." I had an off feeling that they were referring to me. Yoshimi looked at me gravely and dragged me, yet again, except this time towards the window. He picked me up in his arms and jumped. A silent scream caught in my throat at the sudden desperate move, and while he was running with me, I looked up at my bedroom window, only to see shadow creatures with glowing red tribal markings rampaging through it, destroying everything in there in attempt to find me.

I realized then, that my adventure was finally about to begin and it wasn't going to be an easy one.