Scooter: Do you have any idea how ASHAMED I am that this took me so long? I have had this chapter written for about TWO months now and only just got around to typing it today. I really do feel horrible! If it makes any difference, it's because of school. But that's the excuse about 90% of other writers on here use. Oh well. I guess it's a mix of school and the fact that I've been hooked on Doctor Who for the last few weeks. About a month ago, actually. The Tenth Doctor is amazing. David Tennant made that show. It's a pity he had such a short run. =( I might do a Ten/Rose fic sometime in the future, but don't really hold your breath. I've been mainly doing one-shots that I post on FictionPress or on my own site. I'll work on the seventh chapter of this ASAP, though!
Anyway, now I'll shut up and let you get on with the new chapter! Speaking of which, I'm so sorry that it's by far the shortest chapter!
Chapter 6
"You really won't explain this to me, will you?"
Shadow sighed and passed a tired hand over his face, feeling both physically and mentally drained. His encounter with the King of Darkness had not exactly been the best thing for either his health or his nerves. He turned black eyes to Vio, taking in the pose of defiance.
The purple Link was basically hovering over the shadow like a buzzard or turkey vulture hovers over its prey. His hands were propped on his hips and his eyes were narrowed.
"I already told you as much as I could, Vio."
"I already told you that I won't accept that as an answer!" Vio thrust his right hand, palm down, towards Shadow just like Shadow had no idea what was wrong. "Why was the Triforce piece black?"
His voice was slowly rising in anger, a red flush spreading over his face. Obviously he had forgotten about the need to be quiet in the Dark World. Shadow cast a brief anxious look over to the window. He had no knowledge of spies in this part of the Dark World but one could never be too sure. Vio's accusing voice called him back.
"Why did it mark me?"
"I can't tell you, Vio, but you will just have to trust me," As an afterthought he added, "You've trusted me so far."
The ever-calm strategist stamped his foot in frustration. "That's only because you've never given me a reason not to until now!" Shadow had apparently been forgiven for the whole 'trying to kill you' business.
Red began to slowly filter into Shadow's face as well now, and he had to struggle to maintain a thorough grip on his temper. Shadow's mind flailed around for a new topic. Anything to just get the accusatory glare away from him.
"The Palace of Winds." Eh. Not one of his better transitions, that's for sure, but at least Vio wasn't glaring as bad now.
"What about it?"
"We need to talk 'bout it. The others are movin' on even though I'm not there but they don't know what to do when they get to the end of my directions."
Vio heaved a sigh that portrayed weariness and Shadow could not help sighing quietly as well. That had not been one of his favorite discussions. Then again, whenever the King of Darkness, or anything that has to do with the King of Darkness, enters the conversation, it immediately turned sour. Black eyes met violet and the latter pair closed in resignation.
"All right. What's the plan? I'll keep trusting you," Vio's eyes opened again, fixed on Shadow's face, "for now."
Shadow waved a dismissive hand and flopped onto his back, arms crossed behind his head.
"I was forced to leave before we got out of that cave, but I'm sure that they've gotten out by now. As long as there were no more monsters. . . ." his black eyes caught Vio's as well as the glare. Shadow shrugged as best as he could in his current position. "Jus' kiddin'! Anyway, once they're out of the cave I'd say they are about halfway through the mountains. What they're lookin' for is another cave-" Shadow grinned up at the ceiling when he heard Vio's groan "-and that cave should lead to somewhere higher in the mountains."
"So the entrance to the Palace of Winds would be up there?" Vio paused to think that through. "It makes sense. . . ."
Shadow grunted slightly as he pushed himself to a sitting position, looking at Vio. "I know there's also the issue of time, and I'm sorry to say that two days'll have to pass before we can exit that second cave."
Vio groaned. "It's that long?"
"Mm-hmm. Luckily it's open and it'll be easy t'fight whatever tries to stop us."
"But how would you fight, Shadow?"
He instantly regretted asking.
"I'll rip 'em open with my bare hands!" Shadow gave it a few seconds for that to sink in and for Vio's eyes to widen. "Hah! Just kiddin'! I'll hafta ask to use that Flame Rod again . . . eh?"
He looked over at Vio with his head slightly cocked to the side in question. As if by magic (Hell, anythin's possible, Shadow thought wryly, Maybe he has a dimensional pocket or somethin'.) Vio produced a bow and a quiver filled with arrows.
"Not sure if you can take this with you or not but it might help. I don't think it's any use to me here."
Shadow's eyebrows raised slightly. I think Vio's havin' mood swings.
Instead of voicing his opinion however, the shadow rose from the bed and took the offered weapon before returning to his previous position.
"This has to finish. . . ." Shadow lifted his eyes from the bow to look at Vio's slouched form against the wall. "This whole mess has to be over in five days' time."
"Oh? An' why's that, my dear Vio?"
The purple Link bowed his head to hide the sudden rush of blood to his cheeks, but then decided that Shadow wouldn't have been able to see anyway. The strategist continued. "If my calculating is right then there's only enough food for five days."
Shadow sighed. That meant that there could very well be a food crisis in the near future. "It takes 'bout two days to get through the cave." Shadow muttered. "That's only if there are no set backs."
The two Links glanced at each other and sighed.
This whole mess was just getting worse and worse.
"Can we please take a break now?" Red whined. Green shot a warning look to Blue when said Link clenched his teeth and uttered a growl.
"Yeah, I think we can stop now." Green pointed up ahead, directing Red and Blue's attention towards a cave in the side of the mountain. The sun was high up in the sky, giving the three travelers no break from its unrelenting heat. The sky was devoid of all but a few clouds that were off to the south and were so small that it looked doubtful they would offer any reprieve from the heat or even produce rain.
Blue did not like the look of the cave.
"Why do we have to go in there?" If it had come from anyone else, Green would have sworn that was the best whine he had ever heard.
"We don't really know if we have to go in, right?" Green and Blue both turned to look at Red, Green questioning and Blue incredulous. Red's already flushed face darkened a bit more. He wiped a bit of perspiration from his forehead.
"I mean, Shadow didn't tell us, did he? We might just have to go around it."
"Might just be an excuse-" Red opened his mouth, rearing to protest "-but it's a damned good one."
Red beamed.
The three Links back-tracked a little, planning on camping out in a small alcove. Red slid his pack off, heaving a grateful sigh.
"It's bad enough to be up in these mountains!" Red declared after about five minutes. "The sun just makes it worse!
Green sat down, his legs nearly collapsing out from under him. He looked at the other two, still feeling a bit weak.
"Well, we've stopped now for a bit. I'm going to try to get some rest before it gets any later. Shadow might come back tonight."
Then, without even getting a blanket to make the rocky ground just a little bit more comfortable, Green had closed his eyes.
Red eyes turned to rest on Blue. When Red next spoke, his voice was soft, just barely above a whisper.
"Hey, Blue? I guess Green is still a bit sleepy because of what happened in the other cave."
Blue snorted quietly, turning around to face Red's worried gaze. The blue-clad Link wondered for a brief moment if that was Red's default facial expression. He bet it was.
"You'd be tired too, wouldn't you?"
Red blinked and nodded after a few seconds, then got a distant and thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Blue, do you really think that Shadow is evil? That he's going to kill Vio and lead us to Ganon or Vaati?"
The other Link had to admit that this question startled him and he silently thought that he should start giving Red a bit more credit. The whole time that Blue was trying to think of how he would respond, Red had pinned with his second most common expression: the wide-eyed look. Blue sometimes thought that Red's eyes were simply going to fall out of his head.
When he finally gave his answer, it surprised both Red and himself.
"I . . . don't really know anymore. He's had plenty of opportunities to take us out. . . ." He trailed off and shook his head, feeling the familiar dislike creep up on him again. "But I don't think he's completely good. Did you forget what he did to Vio? He had him bound to a pillar of rock and was going to let those stupid ogres kill him if he didn't fall into the lava first!"
The red Link looked thoughtful yet again and continued to merely gaze at Blue. "But . . . he can't be all bad, right? I mean he helped us a lot during this whole thing. . . ." He trailed off when he realized he was being subjected to Blue's stare of death.
"He's a trickster, Red. He could just as well be using us to get what he wants. Tch. Who knows? Maybe he wants us to kill Vaati for him so he can be Ganondorf's number one servant!" The more he spoke about it the more confidant he grew. "Yeah, I bet that's it. I bet he can't fight Vaati on his own so he'll get us to do it for him!"
Wide red eyes blinked at him and then Red curled up next to his pack. He may be a bit slow at times, but he also knew Blue well enough to know that when he got going, there was nothing that could dissuade him. "We'll see what happens tomorrow, right? We'll get to the Palace of Winds and destroy the mirror."
Blue yawned, doing a complete 180 and looking positively sleepy. "Right. Can't go anywhere now so let's just get some sleep. . . ." The words had hardly left his mouth before he was on the ground, snoring.
True to his word, Shadow materialized yet again while the trio slept. Black eyes easily picked Blue out. . . . The snores were quite distinctive. A half smile and half smirk flitted across his face when he spied Red with his blonde head on Blue's stomach. Black eyes darted around, searching for Green.
"I'm over here, Shadow."
He turned, looking at the original Link who was standing in the mouth of the alcove the other two were sleeping in. Even though they'd have to get up soon anyway. Shadow stepped quietly to where Green was standing, watching him.
The light blue gaze was disconcerting to say the least. Shadow gulped inaudibly. Green would be thorough with his questions and Shadow could not expect him to lose his cool.
"What's goin' on?"
"You said that we were not to touch any of the Triforce pieces if they weren't our color, right?"
Here it comes, Shadow thought in despair. He nodded to show that Green was indeed correct, but then continued speaking. "First though, before you interrogate me, you should know that we might very well run into a food crisis. Well, you three might, anyway. I don't need t'eat. Though Vio'll need food when I go back."
Green inclined his head to Shadow.
"I'll get some ready. Now we need to talk."
"Yeah. Tha's what I figured." Shadow's mind was going a mile a minute. None of the others, especially Green, could learn of the plan.
"Fine, then. First question: where's the Triforce piece that belongs to Vio?"
The shadow was silent for a few seconds while his mind worked furiously. Slowly, an answer formed. Shadow just hoped it sounded plausible.
"True, I did take it when I found it," The dark Link rushed onwards before Green could speak. "The Goddesses are pretty fickle, y'know. I didn't know if somethin' would happen if we touched the wrong piece. The Goddesses might've put a spell on them to detect if the wrong person picked 'em up."
Silence. The tension built slowly but surely, and Shadow waited anxiously for Green's verdict. The truth was that it did not matter who picked the pieces up. Shadow had just needed Green, Blue, and Red to think that so he could safely get Vio's.
The fearless leader looked doubtful but he nodded to Shadow anyway. The shadow could tell that Green didn't fully believe him, but was keeping his misgivings to himself.
"Okay. Next question, then." Light blue eyes met with pitch black. "Can we trust you?"
Two pairs of eyes remained locked with one another, neither wanting to yield to the other. Several hoots came from far off and the wind almost seemed to howl from outside the cave.
"I guess that depends on what you want to trust me with." The answer was evasive, and Green knew it.
Light blue eyes narrowed as Green spoke his next words. His voice was no longer that of a whisper. "Listen to me, Shadow-" Green cut himself off when he heard Blue start to stir and return to the waking world. Green continued in a low hiss. "If you lead any of us into a trap or attempt to harm any of us, including Vio, then I will kill you myself. Even if you are a part of me."
Wow . .. I guess if you mess with a pack of wolves, you can always expect the leader ta bite ya. Shadow let none of the worry he felt show, and instead gave Green a mock salute with two of his fingers. When he spoke, his voice was a low whisper that Green had to strain to hear.
"Warnin' heard, leader. 'll behave m'self."
"What're you two doing?"
Green and Shadow both turned to see that Blue had completely woken up and Red wasn't far behind. The blue Link rose and tugged his tunic down.
"We were just discussing a few things, right Shadow?"
Shadow nodded, then turned to look outside at the moon. It was full, and hung like a giant ball in the black sky, a large ball of light amidst smaller pinpricks of light."
"We need t'get movin'. Now. We gotta make a lot of progress tonight."
It took another good half hour before the other two were completely ready, and green had taken the liberty of letting Blue and Red know about the food issue. Shadow started off up the mountain trail without a word when the other three were ready. The night breeze felt wonderful on Shadow's skin. He detested the world of light, but he always loved how the wind felt against his face.
Of course, the peace did not last. Shadow wanted to kill Blue already.
"So we're going to go through another cave?"
"Tha's the plan." Shadow called back to the blue Link who was bringing up the rear of the single file line they had to form in order to go up the trail.
Shadow had estimated that the cave was only about an hour away from where the trio had spent the night. They should be fairly close as the majority of the trip had been silent. No one, not even Red, had been feeling overly chatty.
"It should jus' be a straight shot through. Not confusin' at all compared to the other one."
The narrow trail gradually began to widen and Blue began to walk beside Red. The craggy mountain wall to the right of them was still as tall as ever, but Shadow could see it begin to slope downwards as they walked up ahead the trail ceased being a trail and led to a wide open area that didn't even look like the mountains. The walls had smoothed out and the scenery to the group's left had changed dramatically as well. From a large forest to solid rock, the four Links felt like they were being gradually boxed in. Dead ahead was a large, open entryway. At the top of this entryway was the Triforce symbol. Thanks to the full moon overhead, it shined with a bright golden light.
Shadow turned to look at the stunned faces of Green, Red, and Blue.
"Welcome to the first entrance to the Palace of Winds."
Scooter: Well there's the pretty lame chapter six. I'm so sorry for all of you who were waiting with high expectations. I really feel like I let you all down. Ooon...another subject. At this point in time, the poll asking for evil! or good!Shadow results are tied. Both options are tied at three. We're just past the halfway mark in this story I think, so get your votes in, please! Reviews are also love! Even if it's just two words, they give me motivation and inspiration. :D Anyway, seeya next update!
~~Scooter~~