Ch 1 Interlude
Link felt the freezing cold rush against his face that numbed his bones as he slid into the stream, but the adrenaline surging through his veins managed to keep him pressing on. Bolts whined through the water around him and zipped past his body, a few actually grazing his tunic. Link dove deeper and swam against the current, trying to get underneath the bridge where he would be covered from the steel storm breaking the water's surface. He swam hard against the current as he slowly tired out, his lungs burning as he fought the urge to gape for air where he knew they would find none. He pushed on with heavy limbs through the water, regardless of what his instincts told him.
AIR
I couldn't... I'll be pincu-
AIR screamed every fiber of his being
Can't... not go up... bridge's... so close... he thought sluggishly, his vision flickering as traces of darkness enveloped the edges of his sight...
Darkness, the shadow of the bridge was just above him.
AIR!
He complied, using his final reserves of strength to kick off the lake bed and rocket to the surface. He cleared the waters grasp and lunged into the dry world as he gasped for precious air. Small red spots danced across his field of vision as he quickly began to sink back into the wet clutches of suffocation when an arm grabbed him and pulled him onto a wooden planked floor.
"NO! NO FUCK NO! HE CAN'T DIE! NOT ANOTHER!" screamed Red, howling in rage toward the open lake they had come from, his voice bouncing off the man-made cavern's walls. Despair filled Link's mind and crushed all other thoughts as he gasped, not only for air. Another? One of ours, DEAD? He thought, they couldn't fail this early...
"Purps or Blue?" he choked out desperately, trying to push air he didn't have past his lips. Red turned and gave him a confused look.
"Who'd I fail, Purps or Blue!" he sobbed out, tears slipping over his already watery eyes.
Red slapped him across the face hard enough to get him thinking again, taking the tears as a sign of weakness. "Shut up you moron! No one died yet, but you might if you don't breathe for FARON'S FUCKIN SAKE!" he hissed.
Confusion replaced Link's despair, what the hell was Red saying? He heard an aggravated sigh, followed by whispering very near his ear "It's better if they think we've got lower numbers, so make them think that." He felt Red's forcing arm drag him upright on the curious floating platform that rocked as they shifted their weight. Red dragged his companion up a small rope ladder leading to a ledge with just feet between the bridge and patchy floor. Link was thrown unceremoniously to a grassy patch next to a boulder which turned from light grey to a darker hue as the water from Link's tunic seeped onto the cold stone. He struggled upright as Red poked and prodded at Link's wounds.
"Hey! Watch it!" mumbled Link, still feeling lightheaded. Red reached up and pulled the iconic green hat off of Link's head and showed him a hole with a bolt from the crossbow still lodged halfway through it.
"Lucky sumbitch, aren't you?" mumbled Red, staring at the gap that nearly gave Link a new nostril in his skull's back. He crumpled the hat and tossed it back to Link who gave Red a warning glance. "Watch it with the ha-"
"mmmpppfffgghhhmmmuuuuu!" yelled a muffled voice. Link turned his head over to see his other two companions performing some kind of surgery. Blue had his hat clenched in between his teeth as he fought through the pain of extraction. Purps was maneuvering an arrow through his calf and towards the other end, blood covering his hands as he squinted and focused for this crucial part of operation, carefully moving the arrow through the tough and muscled leg and around Blue's veins. Blue adjusted the hat and released another snarl of pain as the arrowhead appeared bloodied out of the other side of Blue's calf.
"MUFFUGGHHAA" he yelled, his swear muffled. Purps broke the arrow head off of the shaft and swiftly pulled the broken projectile out of the hole it created upon entry. His dirty work done, Purps got up to go wash his dark red and wet hands off. Blue stayed leaned against the wall as he fought through the intense pain he endured. He began clenching and easing his muscles to take his focus off his bloody calf. He sighed weakly.
It wasn't even midday yet.
Purps was washing his hands off in the slow moving stream. As he watched the red cloud wash off his hand and down the dirty river, a thought struck him. He wiped his hands off his tunic and climbed up the small rope ladder, troubled about this disturbing idea.
"We've gotta stop Blue from bleeding if we want to move on, he can't get sick and slow us down even more." Purps reported to the group. "Were gonna need boiling water to clean off the wound and some way to stop the bleeding..."
"Could we use his hat?" asked Link. The hat had become his sort of trademark; any kid wearing a green hat was obviously trying to impersonate the Hero of Hyrule. "Maybe if they see him without it, they won't think he's me."
"But what if they think he's Shadow?" asked Red.
Blue spit out his hat to get his thoughts in, "I though you were the one saying we killed Shadow!"
Red glared at their deadweight companion "No one else knows that, even Link doubts it, so shut your crippled mouth."
Purps snapped his fingers together. "Hey! I just got an idea! Pass me the Fire Rod?" he said, thankfully stopping the argument from escalating. Link cocked an eyebrow questioningly and Red reluctantly agreed. "You know how to work that thing?" he asked cautiously while passing it over to the eager Purps. Blue squirmed in his seat, not liking the idea already.
"Yeah, no worries, just get a little flame going on..." said Purps as he held the blowtorch in both hands, awaiting a small flicker of flames. He sat waiting for a few seconds, then bumped the weapon against his palm as if something was jamming it. "What's wrong with this thing-" A spout of flames burst out of the fire rod's tip, scorching the wall next to Blue's head.
"WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA!" screamed Purps as he dropped the rod quickly, catching the grass around it aflame. Red ran over and quickly stomped out the flames, while picking up his weapon and cradling it carefully like a child. He checked briefly for scratches as Purps quickly spat out an apology "Oh man, Red, I'm SO sorry. I swear, this usually never happens to me!"
Red smiled and shook it off unnaturally quickly for the easily angered swordsman. "Don't sweat it Purps, it takes a lot of practice to actually learn how to use this thing, maybe I'll teach you some day."
"No worry for Blue?" Link questioned, gesturing towards the wide eyed and singed warrior who was cowering behind his shield with terror plastered on his face as he mumbled incoherently. "-"
"Calm down, I heard it's great for your hair!" Purps said with a good natured smile.
"Maybe if you don't want it!" retorted Blue heatedly, "OK, I can't believe I'm saying this, but give Red the Rod and let him do... Whatever, just don't let him burn me alive." said Blue, barely managing to wrangle the words around his tongue. Red grinned evilly at the chance to roast Blue, smiling as the Rod in his hands sprang to life. He took a step forward and was pulled back by Purps, who whispered instructions in his ear.
"Well that's no fun." stated Red, but he sighed and complied. Anything to get them back onto the road. Purps rolled up Blue's leggings to reveal a nasty wound and Red lifted the leg none to gently, causing a wince from their patient. The fire rod's searing tip approached Blue and he started to panic once he felt the flames begin.
"Actually, you know what? I changed my mind, keep it away from me. Wait, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" he screamed, Link scooted over for a better view.
Purps heaved out a sigh "Way to take the dramatic confusion out of it, we're cauterizing the wound so nothing... weird gets inside you while we're passing through the water. It will keep you from catching something, but don't pick at it, OK?" he explained as Red sent a tiny flame from the burning jewel as it licked at Blue's wound. Blue grimaced in pain as the acrid smell of his burnt hair filled the small cavern while the flames licked at the dark red blood which quickly dried into a brownish hue and stopped the blood from escaping Blue. Red flipped the rod over in his hands and none too carefully toasted the other side of the wound to ebb the bloody tide, and then got up as Purps cleaned up after their patch-work surgery.
Red sat down next to Link as he finished the procedure. "What now? I think we're pinned down here if they're on the bridge." he mentioned as he laid his back onto the rock with Link. Unsurprisingly, the stone began to shift backwards, but this time was different in a sense that the boulder yelped in pain as it shifted backwards.
"AUUUGGGHHHHH" yelled the rock. Red and Link jumped up and drew their swords and Blue picked up the shield he left next to him. Purps sat up and drew his weapon as he heard the yell and scrape of swords against their scabbards. Red cautiously circled around the rock and saw a strange green dressed man trapped halfway under the rock.
"Umm, hi there?" Red asked, somewhat baffled, had this eavesdropper been here all along? The small green man started to turn blue to the face, and he started gaping like a fish.
"What? Are you dying or som- oh, Nayru's sake, LINK! Lend a hand flipping the rock! I think this freak's choking!" Red stated loudly. Red on one end and Link on the other, they flipped the rock over and into the water bellow, where it's spray flew above the ledge with a thunderous crash and drenched Red, Link, and the funny green man, who lay still.
"Um... Are you alright... sir?" asked Link to the stranger. Red rolled his eyes at Link and swiftly kicked the green intruder's exposed stomach. Link was about to reprimand Red but closed his mouth when he saw that his tactics worked and the man was stirring. His strangely slanted eyes shot open and he stared at Red.
"..." The weird man's dark eyes shot from Red to his surroundings, wildly around again, then stopped at Red again
"..." silence still. The man's eyes continued darting, almost... following something? Link quickly followed the gaze that flew just above his head and behind him and Link spun about to check.
"..." the man was standing straight up as if he always had been in front of Link for says without moving, mere inches from Link's surprised face. The two were almost nose to nose until Link jumped back in shock, almost falling off the small ledge behind him and into the rapid stream.
Link stumbled but the man firmly gripped Link's arm and pulled him on balance, speaking and gazing through Link with his huge eyes. "You... You saved Tingle?"
Link looked this "Tingle" up and down. He was a man easily in his mid 40's, an admiral feat for one so obviously crazy. He had no hair showing on his tear shaped head, but his features stuck out remarkably. He had dark and squinty eyes set inside his pale face resting above two rosy, spiraling markings on his plump cheeks which stood guard by an unnaturally large and rosy nose. Under the nose, the man's features managed to become even stranger. His small buck teeth were sticking out at all the wrong angles, and Link could ~feel~ the stench of his breath. He had a jagged goatee that almost matched his ears' points which stuck out of his head at jaunty angles, massive even by Hylian standards, but they were concealed under the top of the bright green and stretchy suit he wore, like Link's leggings except more fit for the body. The suit covered his bloated shape from fork shaped head to thankfully hidden toes and he wore bright red... Link wanted to use a word other than thong, since this nut was obviously no lady, but that is what the outer garments were. Link questioned weather falling into the stream was a better fate...
"Ooo...! Th-that outfit! That aura!" cooed the strange man, reaching out and poking at Link's garbs to test their reality. Link's grip on his sword tightened as he prepared to defend himself should Tingle decide anything funny, what was going on in his mind?
"It's the fairy that Tingle dreamed of..." said tingle, moving forward towards Link and forcing him to take another step away from the safety of the plain. Link looked over to his team mates and saw Purps standing over Blue with a sword drawn and Red standing behind Tingle, sword ready and smiling. Either he was getting a kick from Link's misfortune, or he was eagerly awaiting to run Tingle through, Link wasn't sure, but he shook his head to signal Red to wait.
Tingle lunged forward and embraced Link in a bear hug, knocking the sword from his hand and simultaneously pulling him away from the cliff side as he twirled Link in his surprisingly strong grip.
"It's you!"
Link struggled out of the grip and tumbled to the ground, where he pulled himself up while dusting himself off. He raised his weapon at the intruder of his personal space.
"Listen... Um, Tingle? I'm no fairy, and I REALLY hope I'm not the guy you dreamed about, so you had better stay back or-"
Link's threats and sword where swept aside as Tingle walked past the cold steel and re-embraced his savior. "Oh Mr. Fairy, you coming to my rescue has left me overcome with emotion!" exclaimed the man.
Purps couldn't verify from where he was sitting, but he was pretty sure he knew what 'overcome with emotion' meant when the stout stranger hugged Link, and Link's expression of disgust made it certain. Purps chuckled under his breath at Link's luck, or lack thereof
Link fought himself free of Tingle's bear hug. "GOOD FARORE MAN! Look, I'm glad you're alright, but seriously. Don't you have someone else to-"
"Nope! No time to see and no place to be! That's me, Tingle! Let me thank you by sharing some thrilling Tingle News with you!" exclaimed the jolly green man. "The oh so Tingle-esque pastime of collecting Force Gems is all the rage now!"
"Hang on a second, didn't these just begin showing up recen-"
"In fact, I got stuck under here trying to get the Force Gem under this rock. But you saved Tingle! Clearly, it was the power of the gems that lead you here to Tingle!"
"You didn't answer my question, and we actually saved you on acci-"
"Tingle believes without a doubt that good things come from collecting Force Gems."
"Listen Tingle, the only good thing you'll get is a brand new sword sticking out of you ribca-" started an aggravated Link, but was quickly cut off once again.
"Why, collecting enough force gems may even turn Tingle into a real and true fairy! No doubt that's why you're after the force gems too, Isn't it, Mr. Fairy?"
"NO IT'S NOT! Listen here you wacky..."
Purps could tell Link was about to loose his cool with the excitable man, so he decided to step in Link's place. With a pat to Link's shoulder and a nod, Purps stepped up to talk with the strange character.
"Tingle, have you seen the Hylian guards lately?" asked Purps politely. Tingle turned and snapped at the magenta Link.
"Do you how rude it is to interrupt a conversation?
Get out of here you imposing abomination!" rhymed the moody stranger.
Purps cocked an eyebrow as if inviting the challenge. He cleared his throat and returned the rhyme.
"You silly green fool, I'm no imposter nor abomination,
For I'm of this sword's creation.
See Link here is the Hero of the Four Sword,
And I'm one of him, so you can take my word.
We're trying to save the Maidens and seal a deal,
So let me make this crystal clear.
We need an update on the Hyrulian condition
and some clue as to our location.
So what's guard up to and where are we at?
Just tell me and you might not get stabbed."
Blue, Link and Tingle stared wide eyed at the apparently well versed warrior and Tingle gasped as he felt cold steel press up against his exposed cheek and Red leaned on Tingle's shoulder.
"You wouldn't me to follow through for Purps now would you?" threatened Red, who had used Purps' ballad to sneak behind the stout stranger. Tingle gulped as the edge of the blade pressed a bit harder against his oily skin.
"Well, heh heh, Tingle sends you his apologies,
Hopefully not as his eulogies.
Where we are is under a bridge in Lake Hylia
And the guard was going... um... to find... uhhh
Tingle cannot rhyme with a sword to his throat,
now back yourself up you deceiving stoat!" said Tingle as he brought his black boot backwards and up in-between Red's legs.
He skipped towards the cliffs edge giggling madly as Purps ran over to check up on the downed Red. Link barreled after the green stranger with revenge on his mind.
"Hey come back here!" shouted Link to little avail.
Tingle stopped on the edge of the river and faced them "Let's be fair about where we look and share the gems equally, Mr. Fairy!" he said with a smile. "And with that, Tingle must say his farewells!"
Link charged towards the ledge "Don't you jump you psychotic gre-"
"Tingle..." he said, stating his name and performing a weird dance which involved lifting his arms over his pointed right ear.
Blue attempted to stand, but slid back against the wall. "Nayru bless the fool, I think he's about to ju-"
"Tingle..." he said again, switching his arms as Link got even closer to his prey.
"Ko-LimpAAA!" screamed Tingle, performing a back flip off the cliff side and out of the group's sight over the ledge.
The group held their breath in anticipation and Purps turned his head after seconds had passed, "There's no splash... Where did he go?"
As if in answer, Tingle floated into view on a large red balloon. He waved a fan in their direction and laughed widely as he floated off, steered by the fan he held alone.
"Goodbye you purple Fairy fake! I hope you come to harm!
Next time we meet, maybe you won't be as well armed!"
he laughed at them as he floated under the bridge's lip and off into the sunlight above.
"FIRE!" yelled a voice from above and there was a loud pop followed by Tingle's fading screams as he sailed past of hearing range of our Heroes.
Horrary for support! Thanks for the reviews guys, they are all much appreciated and read, but sorry if I don't get back to them though... I'm still not to sure about how to work this site. Constructive criticism welcomed, always improves my work, blah blah blah, but I genuinely thank you for any words you have to say about my writing. Reviews are like drugs that make me want to keep writing, so please keep them coming, or start writing them... I need my fix man. :D
Anyway, about the story. I plan to do updates about twice a month, three if I manage to get back on top of my self-made schedule, shouldn't have uploaded Chapter 1-1 before I got done with at least Chapter 2. Bad planning on my part, but it's my first ever story so that was the first of my hopefully few mistakes. Also i try not to incorporate author's notes per chapter. I've read a few stories and I've learned that involvement leads to OCs, OCs lead to Mary Sues, and Mary Sues lead to bad writing (no offense to anyone that does that, I just think writing is fun since you get to develop people that bear no resemblance to you. At all.)
Don't worry though, whenever I do interludes like this I plan to give my thought on the chapters so far or say whatever. BUT I also will advance the story as evident here, just with a somewhat smaller chapter. These might get used if I need to change the daytime, feel like throwing in shout outs, meet a deadline, adding character development, giving in to a ~tiny~ amount of requests (no madness, plot related advances, or stupidity, please. still a relatively serious work) or featuring fan work if I ever get to that point in writing not-failure. By the way, let me know if you have any questions or comments. I'm not sure if these chapters are too long/short, but just let me know and I can attempt to adjust.
Fun fact: all my writing is done on an iPod without auto-correct on (silly thing tells me octoroks and Hylians aren't real). Moral of that story is please forgive sudden mood shifts in the story or grammatical errors. I will sometimes write a scene and drop it off since I can't find a proper adjective and return with a completely new idea of how the scene should go the next day. It usually isn't a problem unless I point it out... *awkward chuckle*
Anyway, thanks for support and see you all next update! As long as I've got one person interested, half a brain, and two thumbs, the show must go on!