An Act to Follow — Part 11 — We've got Cabin Fever!
Ana gave Sond a quizzical look as the young girl suddenly ran up to and then behind her. Although she immediately recognized her from the previous night, Ana was perplexed as to why the girl should suddenly use her as a refuge. Ana's answer came quite suddenly in the form of several members of the Guard, flanking their Captain.
"Greetings," Viscen said airily. "I've been looking for you."
Keisou, who was standing next to his wife, looked confused. "Us?"
"Indeed," Viscen replied, his eyes moving to the pair of eyes peering from behind Ana's billowing dress. "This would be Tejina, I presume?"
"Tee? Well sir uh-" Kei was suddenly cut off by Sond, who was making wild hand motions at him. He raised an eyebrow at this strange behavior.
"Yes?" Viscen either was extremely patient, or just not very attentive.
Kei squinted. Sond inclined her head towards Viscen, then pointed to herself. As she pantomimed, a violet glow ball detached itself from behind Sond's head and hovered behind the back of Kei's head, out of sight of the guards.
Fluttering his wings in agitation, the fairy hissed urgently in Keisou's pointed ear. "You need to pretend she's your sister for now. Just trust me on this one."
"Aye sir, that's her." he answered the Captain, shrugging.
Viscen nodded. "I could've sworn her hair was blue before…so you dye your hair?"
Kei's eyes widened. "Yes, well, it does looks better when we match, see?" He forced a smile, indicating his own blue shock of hair.
The Captain grinned. "I was amazed at that show of yours, sir. Was able to catch some of it before the- well, before I was called off to investigate something." He peered at Sond and tried a halfway decent smile. "No need to be shy, Tejina. I'm not that terrifying, am I?"
Sond kept up the pretense of shyness, chewing her lip and refusing to move. Ana, who had caught on, shrugged and quickly changed the subject.
"What did you need to see us about, sir?"
"Well, technically it wasn't me who was specifically looking for you. A colleague of mine-" Viscen's voice strained a little at the word 'colleague'-"wished to ask you about your knowledge of a certain incident which occurred right after your performance two nights ago."
Keisou blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Following your performance, someone trespassed into the off limits area of East Clock Town and knocked over a large crate, causing some damage to a merchant's goods. I wondered, since you were backstage, if you might have seen anybody suspicious lurking around beforehand."
"Hmm…how do you know it wasn't just an accident?"
"Well…" Viscen started. "Can't give out the details, but we know it wasn't an accident. Mr. Chatrail wanted me to-"
Ana and Kei exchanged a startled glance. "Chatrail?"
"Yes, Veneer Chatrail. Heard of him, have you?"
"Yes," Keisou said shortly. "As to what happened that night, we don't recall anybody else backstage. We stayed on stage for an encore, and our act ran a bit late. If someone was lurking back there, we would've been too busy with our performance to see."
"I thought as much," Viscen sighed. "I apologize for detaining you from your day, last day and all. I suppose you will be leaving town after today?"
Kei nodded, trying to look nonchalant. "We've got a show in Labrynna next, Captain. Can't keep them waiting too long, can we?"
Viscen blinked. "I suppose not. Well, you three enjoy the Festival and all," he said, wearily. "I still have some duties to attend to. Good day to you."
Bowing, Viscen melted into the mid-afternoon crowd, flanked by his juniors. Ana, Kei, and Sond watched them go in silence. Nothing was said for a while, until Kei flickered an annoyed look at Tael, who was still buzzing by his ear.
"Hey, you mind not doing that? You're like a mosquito."
"Sorry…" Tael mumbled, retreating behind Sond's shoulder.
"Now," Ana turned and fixed a firm gaze at the young girl. "What exactly is going on?"
Sond chewed her lip and took a step backwards. "M'sorry, ma'am! We ran into a little trouble this morning, and now Tee's gone off into hiding 'cause the Clock Town Guard's after her 'n Timbre."
Kei raised an eyebrow. "What? What the Guard want with two little kids- wait…" Kei's eyes met with Ana's for a moment. "You don't think that…accident…was Tee, do you?"
"It wasn't her. It was Timbre…he's a — well…uh, what I mean is…oh he didn't mean any harm!" Sond looked frustrated. "And now this guy named Veneer's after him, and Tee too, and then he and the guards came to your room this morning and they thought I was Tee and then Tee and Tim had to jump out the window to escape and… it's just awful, that's all!" She stared down at the ground, too upset to look up.
Kei scowled. "So your friend is the one Veneer's after…is he the one I caught chasin' Tee? Little guy? Long coat, black hair?"
Ana nodded to Kei. "Him and Tee…have a lot in common," she said carefully.
Kei blinked. "I see." Bending down to look at Sond, he posed a question. "So where are they now?"
"I don't know!" Sond wailed, looking even more distressed. "They went out the window, and I had to stall Viscen and the others, I didn't see which way they went. I'm sorr-"
"Sond!" Several voices rang out at once.
"There you are!" Kat shouted, looking relieved.
Tatl zinged over to her brother and collided with him in what appeared to be a tackle hug. "We've been lookin' everywhere for you!" Tatl screamed. "Where you been?"
"We've been a little bit busy," Tael explained.
Sond blinked. "Tael and I were keepin' away from th' Captain and the guards, sorry if I've worried you."
Ana sighed a little. "Now that you're all here…"
"I found Tim and Tee," Link blurted, remembering his promise.
"More like they landed on you," Tatl murmured, and Link shot her a warning glance.
"Anyways…Tee asked me to tell you where she was and that she was safe and everything." Looking confidentially about, he then leaned in towards the two adults. "They're by the Laundry Pool in that old storage room."
"Is it a safe place?"
"Safest I could think of," Link replied. "Nice cozy little spot, they could hole up in there for days if need be."
"One problem there," said Kei. "I'm not worried about them being found. I'm worried about them getting out and into more trouble. How long do you honestly think they'll want to stay cooped in one place? I know Tejina's attention span is rather short and all-"
"I wouldn't worry about that too much," Kafei smirked. "You see, I have the key to th' place, and I locked the door. They aren't going anywhere for a while. They have no choice but to sit tight."
Ana looked thoughtful, though doubtful. "I suppose cabin fever is better than the alternative…how secure is this place?"
"I take it you heard about that Veneer guy, then," Kat said darkly.
"Unfortunately, yes." Ana sighed. "We've run into his, er, family before. There are…issues. They generally feel that everything that isn't humanoid is malevolent."
Ty chewed his lip. "What if he's convinced Captain Viscen the same? Tim and Tee could be in real trouble."
"At leas' everyone's safe, tho…'ee mi' jus' take off, y'know, if he don' fin' them again…" Nick said.
"Again?" Ana and Kei looked startled.
Sond was still staring at the ground. "Uh, yeah, last night they were spotted by a kid…caused a ruckus and a half. That's why I was with them, we had to disappear 'em pretty quick."
Ana and Kei sighed in unison. "And we thought she could stay out of trouble this once…"
"Guess we should've warned you," Link grinned. "Trouble follows us like fleas on a dog, if you'll pardon the expression."
-;O;-
Kasumi yawned, as if bored. To the casual observer it might appear that the caped Volcanian was merely dozing, leaning nonchalantly against the wall directly to the left of the entrance to the Laundry Pool. But Kas, being the observant being that he was, was far from asleep.
He'd been watching for Captain Viscen for at least an hour so far, but his search has so far been fruitless, but he wasn't exactly ready to give up yet. He was about to restart his search, when a voice stopped him. The voice had a certain edge to it that was slightly uneasy.
"Get me Viscen."
One of Kasumi's eyes opened slightly, catlike.
"R-right away, sir!"
The man who had spoken to the frightened Guard was none other than Veneer. With a sigh, Kas crossed his arms, as if still asleep. Minutes passed, and finally the harsh voice spoke up again.
"Greetings, Captain."
Viscen didn't seem in that good of a mood. "I found those performers you were looking for," he said shortly.
"And?"
"Nothing, Veneer! Nothing at all! None of them are even wearing gloves. Your hunches, your ideas are all turning out to be dead ends, wild goose chases, and rumors. And I've had it. Veneer, if you do not make any progress by midnight tonight I will dismiss you from my services. Is that clear?"
Kas had to force himself not to react.
For once, Veneer seemed taken aback. "Calm yourself, Captain. You wouldn't want to do anything rash. What if your dismissal directly precedes an attack? It would be most…unfortunate, wouldn't it? And I cannot hold myself responsible if that's the case."
"Is that a threat, Veneer?" Viscen's brow furrowed, and his armor glinted furiously in the afternoon sun.
But Veneer was already walking away. "I still have a lead, and when I find that kid, you'll see just how wrong you were."
That kid. Only Kasumi's sheer will stopped him from reacting. Still, he reassured himself, if they haven't found him yet, that probably means he's hiding somewhere. That's fortunate. With that revelation, he was able to relax slightly.
Viscen glared at the retreating hunter. "One more day, Veneer." As he turned to walk away, the corner of the Captain's eye caught the image of a dark-skinned young man with gray hair leaning nearby. He completed a full pivot before his stomach suddenly gave a lurch. The witness! From that night, he'd know the kid's name! Turning quickly around, Viscen squinted.
The wall was empty. Whoever had been there moments ago was gone.
"This job must be getting to me," Viscen mumbled to himself, turning away again. "I'm starting to see things."
-;O;-
"Would you stop pacing already, Timbre?!"
Tejina's voice was beginning to become hoarse from exasperation, and she felt about ready to pull her hair out. Or better yet, his.
Four steps forward. Pivot 180 degrees. Four steps back. Pivot. Four steps forward. Pivot. Four steps ba-
"Timbre!"
"What?!" The boy snarled, looking up from the floor finally.
"Just…stop, okay? Please. Your fidgeting around is not going to help in the slightest. Besides," she added, "you're making me fidget."
"Fine," Timbre slumped down in the corner, staring at the floor. Being locked in was absolutely torturous, and from the looks of it, Tejina wasn't faring much better. Staying human at the moment was imperative, otherwise he'd be scratching madly at the door until his paws bled. There wasn't any pie left, that had already been anxiously devoured. Not that he was really hungry at the moment, but it would've taken his mind off that infernal door.
"They had better come back soon," he muttered between gritted teeth, suppressing the urge to bite something. "It's bad enough we're in here at all, but hearing about that talent show-"
"Why do you care about that?" Tejina asked him, staring sullenly at the floor.
"Well…er, it would've been fun to sing in it." Timbre admitted ruefully.
Tejina looked up in surprise. "I didn't know you sang. It doesn't seem like it would be your kind of thing."
"My name didn't give you a clue? But yeah…" Timbre confessed. ""Everybody…we've sometimes performed as a group, you see…well, they play instruments, some of 'em sing too, but I don't play an instrument."
"…so they're going to compete tonight?"
"Yeah. Wonder what they'll do?" Timbre stared at the ground. "Wish I could go too, but they're not gonna let me."
"Well, think about it…a big stage at night…a big crowd, everyone staring and watching?"
"What, you think I'd get stage fright?"
Tejina inclined her head as Timbre continued his verbal thought-process.
"…but of course all the guards would be there, and if any of them stopped us…"
"That," said Tejina resolutely, "Is the exact reason that they don't want you competing. Veneer will likely be there; if he found you out he'd have your head on a pike."
"I guess you're right," Timbre said grudgingly, playing with a loose strand of hair. "But I'm still angry that I can't at least watch." With that, he stood up and started pacing again, as Tejina made an exasperated noise behind him. In mid-stride, however, he got sick of pacing.
"Argh! Stupid door!" Timbre charged the offending object and proceeded to take out some frustration on it. He hit the door several times, then as an afterthought, banged his head against it, causing it to only thud dully. "Ow."
"Like that will help any." Tejina closed her eyes and stretched. "It didn't the last time, either," she added cynically.
But Timbre wasn't listening. He'd found a knothole, allowing him a limited view outside.
"Oh jubilation," his companion muttered. "Are you finally going to quiet down and sit still?"
Timbre didn't retort. The hole was low enough that he had to be on hands and knees to peer out of it. The view was limited, of course, but it was better than nothing. He squinted through the knothole, and was able to just catch the glare of the sun off of the Laundry Pool's liquid surface. A few blades of grass waved temptingly in the wind beside a small stone bridge that ran across the water. Nobody was around, obviously, except maybe a few frogs. But even as Timbre thought that, a man came into view.
"Kas?" Timbre blurted suddenly.
Tejina opened one eye, not so much due to Timbre's exclamation, but due to a sound from the wall. Ignoring her fellow captive, she quickly got up and wandered over to the opposite peephole, the one that opened into the Curiosity Shop. True to her intuition, there was movement inside.
"Kas! In here!" Timbre exclaimed, as outside he watched Kasumi sit down cross-legged at the edge of the pond, staring at something close to the ground. He struck the door with a dull thud.
"Shush!" Tejina hissed urgently, a lump quickly forming in her throat. "Someone's moving inside the Curiosity Shop, dummy! They'll hear you!"
-;O;-
Veneer had indeed stepped inside the Curiosity Shop. Pushing his way through the door with its dirty glass window, he squinted. The entire shop was lit by a single lamp, keeping it rather dark. In one corner, a large vulture-like bird crouched grouchily, one of its wings tied with a bandage.
"Go away, I'm closed for the Festival." said a man's voice from behind the caged counter, back turned to Veneer. "Come back later, alright?"
"I need to ask you a few questions," Veneer started, totally ignoring the man's command. The hunter scratched his bristly chin and looked about. It looked to be a typical city pawnshop, no doubt full of the pawnings of petty thieves, unscrupulous traders and desperate citizens. But Veneer also knew such places often sold information.
"Hold yore horses, then," The owner of the Curiosity Shop muttered, as he finished polishing a bronze plate, which he set back up on its shelf with a snort. In the corner, the bird squawked loudly. "Aye, I'll feed ye in a moment, Takkuri." Turning around, he looked up at his customer and sniffed. "Alright, what'd you want?"
"Just looking for some information. You get kids in here?"
"Heh, not too often, unless Takkuri managed to filch- er, find something of theirs. But he's been injured, someone got him in th' wing last week." He paused, as if interested. "Why you ask?"
Veneer leaned on the counter with a creak. "I'm investigating with the Clock Town Guard. They're looking for a certain child, male, short, black hair, black gloves, wears an overcoat-"
The Curiosity Shop owner smirked. "There's lots of 'em, you know, kids…"
Veneer blinked. "You sound as if you know who I'm talking about."
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. My memory's a little rusty, I kid you not," the man grinned messily from behind his sunglasses. "Of course, a Rupee or two could help…aid it."
Veneer as about to suggest a punch on the jaw as a good memory enhancer when a dull thud from the back wall caused several nearby metal shields to rattle. Takkuri squawked in agitation.
"Argh." The shop owner rolled his eyes.
"What was that?" Veneer quirked an eyebrow.
"There's a storage shed on th' other side of this building. Usually it's empty, but I guess someone's messing around. Probably those carpenters."
A second barrage of dull thuds followed the first after the man's simple statement.
-;O;-
Tejina glared at Timbre from her side of the peephole. "Would you shut up, honestly? It's Veneer in there, and he can probably hear you!"
Timbre was too intent on escaping to care, however. "Kas, come on! Over here!" He rammed his shoulder repeatedly against the door, each blow making a dull thud that shook the walls. But either Kas wasn't listening or simply chose not to respond. He was still staring at something near the water's edge with a small unreadable expression playing on his face. "Kas!"
Tejina had had enough. She climbed down from the peephole. "Look, if you don't shut up in about two seconds, I'm going to make you be quiet!"
The pounding suddenly stopped. Tejina turned around. Timbre had changed forms and was disentangling himself from his overcoat, which he hadn't bothered to take off first. He was making a quiet whining sound in the back of his throat, which the girl recognized in dismay.
Timbre was going to howl, because that would certainly get Kas's attention.
And Veneer's.
"Don't. You. Dare," she hissed.
Timbre threw back his head, and-
-;O;-
Both Veneer and the Curiosity Shop owner stared at the back wall as the loud pounding noises turned into a sudden ruckus. The suit of armor set up against the wall rattled ominously, and several items fell noisily from the shelf. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the disturbance quieted. Dust motes gently floated to the floor. The bird ruffled its feathers irritably.
The Curiosity Show owner scowled. "That whole place is falling down. I'm surprised it's not been condemned yet, actually."
"Squawk!" Takkuri looked disgruntled.
"Ayeh, you'd think this bird had been mortally wounded, or something!" The shop owner threw his hands in the air. "Alright, I'll feed you…" Tripping over an old trunk, the shop owner pulled a dead rat from somewhere behind the counter and threw it over his shoulder. The bird neatly caught the rodent. "Now, about this kid…"
Shrugging, Veneer flipped a blue rupee onto the counter. "Talk."
"Yeah, I've seen that brat before. Hangs around with the Mayor's younger son and a whole bunch of other kids, he's been around the festival a bit. Las' time I saw that him was yesterday morning, was running down to the Laundry Pool. An' that's all I know. For a fiver, anyway…"
"Next question. Did you see anything going on along this street two nights past?"
"Eh? What's that?"
Another blue rupee fell onto the counter.
"Ah. Well, I wasn't here that night of course," the man winked, scratching his armpit. "But while I wasn't here that night, I thought I heard something scratching about outside. This part of town gets mighty creepy at night, I kid you not! Later on I hear a loud crash, and then the Guard shows up." The Curiosity Shop owner stooped to gather the items that had fallen.
"Where did you get that?" Veneer suddenly asked, pointing at a purple object in the man's arms.
"Ah, this?" The Curiosity Shop owner held up an intricate glass lens shaped like a stylized eye. "Well, Takkuri brings things into the shop on occasion, he brought this in about a month and a half ago. Do you like it? I did some research, and I think it may be one of the tools of the Sheikah. You're familiar with them, right?"
"The Hylian Shadow Folk, yeah."
"This lens is purported to allow you to 'see the truth.' In practical terms, that means it shows you magical auras."
"Hmm."
"Fascinating, isn't it? You'll never look at people the same way again, I kid you not! You can learn a lot of things from someone's aura…"
"Indeed."
"But to be honest, it gives me more of a headache than it's worth. Never been one for the magic, myself."
Veneer had also had never put much stake in the magical arts, being more at ease at relying on his own two hands for results. However, he had read of the properties of Sheikah lenses. Auras could reveal invisible items, concealed magics, and-
A wolf in human form, he thought suddenly. In theory, an object such as this it would help his investigation immensely, if it were real…
"How are you sure it isn't fake?"
"I've tried it out. Try it yourself if you want," the man shrugged, fumbling in the back with some other objects that had fallen. Takkuri squawked, having finished his rat.
Veneer accepted the man's offer, unbuckling his hunting knife. Its edge was silver, so if it worked, the lens would pick up on its natural aura. As the hunter held the lens up to his right eye, he was momentarily disoriented by the distortion of the glass eye. After a moment's adjustment, he turned his gaze through the lens towards his knife. At first, he saw little difference. As he concentrated however, he noticed a faint halo of energy surrounding the blade slowly coming into clarity. It was hard to understand exactly why, but that aura was distinctively 'silver.'
He looked up at the shop owner, who was now surrounded by a golden quality that somehow signified 'Hylian.' The gold was further speckled with a few dark motes that gave Veneer the inkling that the man knew he was not entirely guiltless in his business practices.
Could've deduced that myself, but it least it proves the lens is working…
Disengaging the lens, Vener blinked and grimaced as he felt a faint ache from behind his eye.
"Heh, you do have to watch how much you use it. Gives you one monstrous headache if you use it too long. Skilled magic users can do some pretty impressive stuff with them, though."
"…how much?"
"Mmm, well since you seem like a decent guy, I'll give it to you cheap. Two hundred rupees."
"That's cheap?"
"It's magical, ain't just fancy glass. I kid you not."
"One hundred." Veneer countered.
"One sixty." Takkuri crunched down messily on another rat as the Curiosity Shop man tossed it over his shoulder.
"One forty."
"One fifty, and that's my last offer."
"Done." Veneer wasn't a fan of spending Rupees so freely, but this lens would prove to be an invaluable tool in his search. And subsequent searches…
"Anything else I can do you for?"
"That will do." Veneer said, passing the Rupees over the counter. Although he wasn't too disturbed by the crunching from the bird's corner, but he was more than glad to be out of the shady Curiosity Shop. Besides, now he had an excuse to leave: he needed to contemplate his new acquisition. It also wouldn't hurt to discover why the back room of the Laundry Pool was so noisy.
After all, that had been the last place he'd seen that kid…
-;O;-
Kasumi had, until the moment that Veneer entered the Laundry Pool, been in a very intellectual conversation with a frog on the meaning of the universe. The young man looked up from the frog's croaking speech, and held a cautionary finger to his lips.
Veneer. The man who is after something he both does and doesn't understand. Kasumi sighed, shaking his head. He'd heard the pounding coming from the door to the storage shed, and faintly had heard Timbre's voice.
His brother Ty and his friends had encountered him on their way through town and had briefly told him the latest goings on. They had told him that they'd intentionally locked Timbre in to keep him away from the hunter, and Kasumi agreed with their sentiment. It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother's friend, but he was still young. Being locked in a room temporarily was a much better outcome than death; a necessary difficulty that the wolf would have to live with. Kas had instead focused on what the frog had to say.
Veneer looked around, his eyes settling on the door. He walked around the Laundry Pool's circumference and past the grass and flowers. He was striding very purposefully towards the door, Kas's eyes widened slightly. Veneer's hand was feet from the doorknob. Inches…
"It's locked," Kasumi said suddenly.
Veneer jerked and spun around to face the gray-haired man. "Where did you come from?" he demanded.
Kasumi shrugged mellowly. "I've been sitting here for a while," he said finally.
Veneer sniffed. "I see." Then suddenly, he thumbed back at the door. "What's in there?"
"Dust. Rats. It is very run down, locked up, and has been empty for years. Some say it is haunted. It is a private property of the Mayor, off-limits."
"Really now," Veneer raised an eyebrow, suddenly becoming suspicious of the young gray-haired man in the cape. "And what are you doing here, when there is a Festival going on?"
"Enjoying the weather, and listening."
Veneer approached. "What?"
"Just what I said." The frog croaked, as if on cue. "Listening."
The frog's eyes blinked out of sync as it stared at Veneer with one eye and beyond him with the other.
"We aren't the only living things in this world," Kasumi said, blinking serenely. "Sometimes it pays to listen to others."
"I…I see," Veneer said, locking eyes with the impassive gray eyes of Kasumi. Something about the utterly calm man's gaze profoundly disturbed him. "I suppose…I have business elsewhere then." Veneer left the Laundry Pool, perhaps even more quickly then he had left the Curiosity Shop.
Kasumi didn't say anything to Veneer's retreating back, but the corners of his mouth twitched a little.
-;O;-
Tejina glared. "I hope you're happy with yourself, you nearly got us both killed."
Timbre was human and doubled up on the floor, his eyes squashed shut, his face contorted in pain. Tejina was evidently no stranger to roughhousing. Before he'd been able to actually howl, she'd flung herself at him like a sudden thunderstorm. With both her hands wound tightly around his muzzle, he'd fought and scratched ferociously, but she'd fought back, eventually elbowing him heavily in the stomach twice, which had winded him completely.
"If Veneer didn't hear us, in fact, I'd think he was deaf. Nice going."
Timbre gurgled.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"You bit me," came the accusing line.
"And I'll do it again if I need to," she threatened. "What were you thinking?!"
"I panicked!"
"Yes you did. Now, will you promise to stop being such an idiot?"
"I'm the idiot?" Timbre wheezed, sitting up, "I'm not the one who bullied into someone else's business when she wasn't welcome. I'm not the one constantly being an insufferable know-it-all! I'm not the one who can't tell when to leave well alone! But no matter what I do, you just have to keep prodding and staring and pestering…it's a wonder anyone puts up with you at all!"
There was a sudden high tension in the air. For a moment, the two children seemed prepared to fling themselves at each other again. And then-
"Hmph!" Tejina turned away with her noise in the air.
"Hmph!" Timbre followed suit in the opposite direction.
Silence fell.
Tejina felt hurt. She might have come out the victor in the tussle, but she hadn't emerged unscathed. It wasn't just the fact that her arms stung and bled after being scratched from Timbre's claws while wrestling him down. It was what he'd said afterwords that hurt the most; she faced yet again that wretched feeling of utter rejection. Both their reactions in the scuffle had been fueled by sheer instinctual panic; that she understood. Part of her wanted to knock him down again and make him understand why she'd stopped him, the other part of her wanted to cry. She fretfully rejected both ideas, and miserably wedged herself into the furthest corner she could find.
Timbre felt hurt. It was mostly the throbbing ache in his stomach, but he was also now housing a pit of resentment that simply wanted out. He just wanted her to stop interfering, why was that so hard for her to understand? Both their reactions in the scuffle had been fueled by sheer instinctual panic; that he understood. Part of him wanted to thank her for stopping him, but the other part wanted to wrathfully drive her as far away as it could. He furiously rejected both ideas, and miserably wished he could just understand why she kept tormenting him.
The silence continued all afternoon, and was still going strong when Kat, Kafei, Nick, Chiron, Sond, Kei, Ana, Ty, Kasumi, Link, and the fairies arrived around dinnertime, this time laden with a smorgasbord of food items.
The children had also stopped by the Mayor's residence to retrieve their respective musical instruments. Chiron was now wearing a guitar slung over his shoulder. Sond had brought her hollow wooden flute, made from a branch of the Deku Tree of Hyrule's Kokiri Forest. Kat had a small silver trumpet she had brought from Kakariko Village. Link of course, had the Ocarina of Time.
Kafei and Ty, who didn't have their own instruments, were sharing with Nick, who had brought a trio of small Goron-style drums he'd bought recently.
"You kids in a band?" Kei asked, looking amused.
"We could be," Sond grinned.
"Hmm," Link said suddenly to Timbre. "You've barely even touched dinner."
"M'not hungry," Timbre mumbled.
"That's…odd, coming from you. You two alright?"
"Not really," Tejina admitted, miserably. "Can I go back to the Inn? Please?" She looked up at Kei and Ana pleadingly.
Ana looked slightly severe. "Tejina…"
The girl frowned. "I know, I know…"
"Tomorrow," Ana promised. "I'm still a little concerned about Veneer being around, but from what Mr. Kasumi has told us, he may well be gone by tomorrow."
"Just Kas, please." Kasumi said, quietly.
"You'll just need to wait it out a little bit longer," Ana said gently. "Eat something, you'll feel better."
"So, what have you two been up to all day?" Sond asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Nothing," Timbre said, not looking at Tejina.
"Nothing," said Tejina, not looking at Timbre.
Sond and Kat exchanged a knowing glance. There'd been a fight.
"Look you two-" Sond began.
"There's nothing to talk about," Timbre said seriously, looking her straight in the eye. "Just drop it. Please."
Sond lapsed back into silence. Meanwhile, the boys were having a very animated conversation.
"So then we went back to Honey and Darling's place, and I got a perfect score on their Bombchu bowling circuit!" Link looked pleased with himself. "Didn't miss a single target!"
"Are you sure you didn't cheat?" Chiron asked seriously.
"Of course I didn't!" Link retorted.
"Why do we not believe you?" Kafei responded quietly.
Link was about to answer when Kat suddenly burst out of her otherwise silent thoughts.
"I've got it! I know what song we can sing tonight!"