Ok guys, first chapter of Heartless. Din this takes me back. It's been a little over a year and trust me when I say I did not have this in mind. I've come up with so many ideas, I can't even remember them all (maybe I should start writing this all down) anyways, if I forget something, do not hesitate to shout at me. And yeah, all I can say is thanks to everyone who was there at the beginning when this all started. You made sure I didn't give up and go home. Giving up is the easiest thing in the world, but I can guarantee it will get you nowhere.
Chapter 1
Ghosts, giants and other creepy things
Link broke the surface of the water and began swimming down the river. Making a beeline for the bank, his strong arms cut through the current and he made good progress, swimming diagonally down the stretch of water. Behind him paddled Silver, the wolfos-wolf cross he'd picked up in Snow Peak that had become one of his closest and most trusted ally, second only to his guardian and lifelong companion Epona. Not being as strong a swimmer, she swam in his wake where the current was less powerful.
Link hauled himself up on to the bank and sat on the grass. His hair was plastered to his head and his hat flopped lifelessly on his cranium, heavy with not-so-clean river water. The teen pulled what might've been seaweed put of his hair and flicked a leech off of his tunic. Next to him, Silver plopped down, her white fur dripping wet.
"That…was…hell…" Silver growled.
Link chuckled.
"Don't laugh. It's your fault I looked like a flaming drowned rat!"
Link wrung out his hat, smiling mischievously.
"I'm sorry? What did you say?" Silver said, reading his reply in her mind's eye, via their telepathic connection due to the triforce piece they both possessed.
Link laughed as Silver leapt on top of him, knocking him over.
They tussled for a while before Silver climbed off, shaking out her fur. A rather confused stickleback slapped Link in the face. The teen peeled it off his face and dropped the little fish back into the river where it swam off in a hurry, spewing colourful curses.
When Link turned back, Silver had a scowl on his canine features.
"I hate fur!" She growled.
Her pale silver fur was standing on end, making her appear like an overgrown Pomeranian, an angry one at that.
Noticing the smirk on her friend's face, Silver padded past him.
"Let's go."
Link obediently followed. Having grown up with Ilia and Epona, too rather vain females, he knew when it was time to back down.
With Link still trapped in hylian form while the mist, his spirit given physical form, gathered its strength, their progress was slow. Epona had been forced to flee before the invasion of armed giants. As the moon began to rise, they made a pit stop under the shelter of a tree.
"Anything from Fi?"
Link shook his head.
The spirit that resided within his sword had been silent ever since they'd left Ordon. When they were at a safe location, he would try calling for her at a deeper level. But until then, they would have no help from her.
"Should we call Epona?"
Link shook his head once more. After their encounter with the dark lynx, the mare had warned them not to howl for each other openly, only on closed spirit links, which required not only intense concentration but also left the user prone to attack. Not ideal on a battlefield.
Silver looked at Link, he looked worn. More than two years of fighting had aged the teen. He bore the scars of countless battles and his eyes had the kind of light in them that showed he had seen things no boy should have to witness.
"Get some rest, you look like you could use some."
Link smiled his thanks and took off his shield and sword, laying them beside him within easy reach. Laying down, he put his head on his arm and within moments he was asleep. Silver lay next to him their backs touching. She laid her head on her paws and looked up at the sky. On the horizon massed dark clouds. Silver pricked her ears, listening to the stormy melody on the breeze. The earlier rain had slackened, the clouds fleeing as the moon's eye rose up to the heavens. Silver's eyes fell upon the square of the Great Mare. Link had explained to her the story behind the group of stars known as the Great Mare. She understood why it reminded him of Epona. With the mare in her thoughts, she drifted off to sleep.
Epona galloped head long across the field, heading for the gorge, she galloped on its edge. The giant's in their eagerness to reach her, increased their pace, running directly behind her. A few missed the ground and were sent tumbling into the abyss (hands up who did that in the game)
Epona glances behind her, they were still hot on her heels. Turning her gaze back to the path ahead, she saw the bend of the gorge. It was a huge risk, if Epona put just one hoof wrong, she'd fall. But she couldn't run forever, and the giants were showing no signs of tiring. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she followed the inward curve of the gorge, her hooves miraculously finding the ground with each stride. The giants however, didn't have her co-ordenation, the majority of them over-judged their course and took the curve too early, half of them plummeted to their deaths. That left three. Epona glanced behind her once more. Now for phase two. Sparing a glance upwards, she looked at the square of the Great Mare. Saying a little prayer to Farore, she dig her hooves in, skidding to a stop. Whirling round, she reared. Her hooves collided with the face of one unsuspecting giant, sending him stumbling back into his comrade. They both went over the edge. That left one. It had been lagging a little and so had been spared the fate of its fellow giants. It came to a stop in front of the mare, his mace-like sword. Epona half-reared a warning. They circled each other, Epona flattened her ears and half reared again. The giant slashed, the mare checked her rear, hopping to the side and bringing her hooves down on its wrist. There was a crunch and the hand went limp. Epona whirled round and lashed out with her hind legs. The sword could do little against the hard keratin of her hooves. It glanced off and the giant was kicked hard in the chest. It stumbled back. It wasn't directly in front of the gorge, but the force of the blow had it reeling. It took one step too many. Its foot met with air and with a startled grunt, fell backwards over the edge. Epona trotted to the edge, watching it disappear into the foggy depths of the gorge. She didn't hear it hit the bottom.
Epona looked up at the sky. She had notify the council first, then she would go and find Link. She always got worried when she wasn't watching him. He had a disconcerting habit of getting himself into trouble.
Link woke up first. The sky was grey with the inset of dawn. To his surprise, the mist curled round his fingers, glowing with energy. Link smiled and let it change him into a wolf. The transformation complete, the mist retreated back inside him. It felt good to be a wolf again, his senses instantly tuning in to what was around him. He heard something crack. Honing his senses, he looked around. He swore.
Silver awoke to Link kicking her with his hind leg.
"What the hell?" she growled.
Link growled back.
Silver opened her eyes and leapt to her feet.
"Oh poo" Silver muttered, just about managing to keep her language clean.
Surrounding them were little creatures. Their heads were bird shaped, resembling a mask with no visible eyes. Their long impossibly thin necks disappeared into the ground. The bobbed up and down, watching Link and Silver.
"Any ideas?"
Link dropped into a fighting stance, growling.
"I had a feeling you'd say that."
Then someone jumped on top of them.
Link's first thought was Midna, who had habit of landing hard on his back. Except that Midna didn't weigh a tonne and a half and she was trapped in the twilight realm. Link twisted immediately, bucking hard. Thin bony fingers enclosed round his throat. His head was pulled back hard, the fingers crushing his windpipe. Back stars flashed in his vision. Another hand grabbed his chest, crushing it with ling bony fingers. Link thrashed wildly, giving into to his instinctual beastial nature. His tail charged with magic, thruning the soft fur as hard and sharp and steel. With a buck he loosened the hold on his chest and spun round. His tail cut into whatever was behind him. The hands loosened the grip more and the wolf sprang free before they could grab a hold of him. Taking in great lungfuls of air, Link looked at his attacker. It was a huge creature with a faceless bird head mask. Its body was just a mass of ethereal white feathers. Four pairs of wings sprung from its body and a multitude of arms with long bony fingers. Link snarled when he saw Silver been handled by the hands, drawing her in the mass of feathers. Enraged, Link leapt to attack. His claws crunched bone and tore arms. Practically tearing his way through the forest of arms, Link saw Silver and grabbing her by the scruff, kicked off and pulled her free.
The wolf nuzzled her, trying to get her to breathe. Silver let out a feeble whine.
"All good." She whined, as she began taking in great lungfuls of air.
Link smiled and stood over her while she got her breath back. He snarled, tail up, ears pricked. His blood was up, and he wasn't going to let anyone harm his pack.
One of the arms shot forward, Link repelled it with a spin attack and the creature retreated. Then Link noticed something. There seemed to be less floaty-head-thingys. Link swore again.
One head sprang from the ground, wrapping around the wolf's torso. The beak, stabbed into his skin, despite the thick fur. Link shrieked in pain as he forcefully injected with a huge amount of light. He immediately became hylian. Four stronger monsters rose from the ground, glowing an ethereal white-blue. They wrapped around his arms and legs, hoisting him into the air. Link thrashed, trying to dislodge his attackers. Below him, Silver was still weak, unable to attack. The creature used its four wings to hover in front of Link. One bony hand ran a finger down the side of his face. Link froze at its touch. He couldn't see the monster, as a hylian he couldn't see the monsters. To him, all he saw was empty air.
On the ridge, a pair of red eyes watched them. The spirit disappeared in a shimmer of gold clouds. Reappearing beside Silver, it stood over her. A monster tried to attack her, but was repelled with a spin attack identical (if not better) than Link's own.
In Link's mind, a voice spoke.
"Let them feel the searing flames of your spirit."
Link understood. He called on the mist. It gathered around him, and Link showed it his spirit. The mist glowed red, responding to his anger at being contained and determination to protect Silver. The hylian began to glow. The monsters, even though they were spirits, recoiled. The flames though, clung to them and they disintegrated into ethereal ash. Link changed into a wolf, before he even hit the ground. Now he could see what he was fighting. He became a blur claws and teeth. Tearing the head monster to pieces.
Silver, having sufficiently recovered, joined the fray. Nobody noticed the spirit disappear.
Link tore off a head of a monster and spat it out. Silver dispatched the last one.
"This seems decidedly familiar…"
Link nodded, they seemed to spend a lot of their time doing this sort of thing.
There was a screech and the many armed monster floated up from beneath the ground.
"Boss time already? The joys of life."
And with that, they leapt into battle.
Ok, what do you think for a first chapter. Hehe, cliffhanger already, I am so cruel. Anyways, I had hoped to get to the Lake this chapter but I got distracted. Anyways, I didn't have as much time todays because I have a controlled assessment on Wednesday and an MRI the day before and a double barrel geography exam the following Monday. So yeah, not much time for myself at the moment. Oh well, do review and whatnot and I'll see you next week. Oh the joys of life…
