Ok I got a little feedback back, and my dialogue is weak. So, if I may, could I ask you to comment on my dialogue here to see where I can improve.
Chapter 27
And if the darkness finds you, run
Link sat curled in his dark cell. It was dark as pitch, he couldn't even see the hand in front of his face. When Nubia had left him last, she had dissolved his chains, giving him free rein of the cell. A gesture that made Link shudder.
He had already paced the perimeter of the cell, one hand on the wall, the other out in front. He gauged the cell to be about 7 paces by 4 paces. The walls were made of some sort of stone, which had been roughly hewn to make the cell, leaving jagged sharp edges as if it were glass. The floor was slightly flatter and less jagged, the bedding planes of rock were probably horizontal. As he had passed the cell, he had noticed that there was no door. The only was in or out was shadow travel. He was really starting to miss Midna now.
Now he leant against the wall, curled in a corner, trying to sort of his memories. The past few years was still so fuzzy. He could remember Midna clearly, but others: Zelda, Shad, Renado, they were just indistinct shapes. It was as if, everything from the moment he had been knocked out in the spring all those years ago, was gone. If he tried to remember the first time he'd met Zelda, everything would be out of focus and hard to remember, except for Midna.
What he wouldn't give to hear her laugh, or see her mischievous grin. She could find her way out of any foxhole.
A thin wail echoed through the rock. Majora, that was what Nubia had called him, was still in pain. Someone must've done a real number on him. Whoever it was, he sent them a prayer of thanks. If Majora had been in any state to think about his prisoner, Link expected it would involve a hell of a lot of torture.
Link wished he wasn't so afraid of the dark.
Ilia sat in Faron's spring, her legs tucked beneath her as she perched on a rock and polished Epona's bit. Silver lay looking forlorn at her feet, pining for Link.
Ilia's head was cocked to the side slightly, as she listened to the gossiping trees. None of them had heard any news of Link.
Zelda and Fi were engaged in deep conversation with Epona, they looked concerned.
"Cheer up guys." Dal said, padding into the spring.
"Right, our best friend and the only one who can save the world is missing. We should be laughing and dancing." Ilia snapped, attacking a piece of dirt on the bit with fiery vengeance, rubbing it so hard with the cloth that she wore a hole through it.
"No need to snap." He whimpered. "I just brought Kvas to see you. He said he had some information that might be useful."
An old grizzled wolf walked out from behind Dal. Despite the food he'd been given in Ordon, he was still thin and his patchy grey fur hung from his skeleton like a shroud. His fur was mottled slate grey and silver, so that it seemed to reflect light like a blade. He was missing on ear, and the other was a mangled mess. His nose was scratched and his eyes were milky white. Most of his claws had been pulled out, and the old wolf walked with a definitive limp.
"It is an old nursery rhyme Alpha Callum used told me once."
"Alpha Callum?" Epona's eyes were wide. "The lead stallion on the greys, Callum?"
Kvas looked over at the mare.
"Ah, Stellos' daughter. You're his spitting image." The old wolf looked at the mare, his eyes clouded with memories.
"Anyways, getting back to the point." Dal prompted.
"Ah yes, Alpha Callum once sung an old nursery rhyme to my cubs." The wolf tilted his head as he fought to remember the words. "Yes it went something like;
A storm is coming, its eye burning bright,
Warning lights flash, light up the night
And tears of silence split the sky
And shattered porcelain hearts in the darkness lie
And in the darkness you shall find
The ashen remains of burning bones
And in those bones the dark you'll find
Yet dawn shall break, the path it shows…"
His voice was rhythmic and hypnotic, so much so that Ilia blinked sleepily. "…oh dear, it looks like I've forgotten the rest."
"Seriously? Is that it? What a waste of time." Ilia muttered darkly.
"I know that rhyme." Epona mused. "Our parents used to sing it to us at bedtime. But I don't remember there being any other verses."
Kvas shook his grizzled head in exasperation.
"I was so sure there were more verses. I remembered them because they seemed a little dark for bedtime stories…but…I guess this old wolf is just going senile." He sighed dejectedly.
Zelda walked up to the old wolf, kneeling in front of him. She stroked his ears fondly and smiled.
"On the contrary, you've been very helpful Kvas. Thank you."
Kvas smiled contently.
"I'm glad this old wolf can still be of some use."
"What is it Epona?" Ilia asked, noticing the mare deep in thought.
"I just…Lead Mare Farore told me that there was still hope. I never thought about it that way, but what if 'dawn' really means 'hope'."
"Hope for what?" Zelda asked.
Epona looked at Silver, who was staring vacantly into space.
"Hope for the greys."
Nubia sat in her throne of black obsidian. With one hand she massaged the migraine building in her temples.
"NUUUBYYYYY!" Majora's thin-high wail was like shards of glass piercing her brain.
Ever since Nubia had rescued him from Link's onslaught, the manifestation of hubristic evil had not stopped wailing. It was worse than baby-sitting a two-year-old. She was really starting to regret having Link resurrect Majora. It wasn't worth this agony.
One moment…
Link managed to resurrect Majora using the Song of Healing. True, the meddling little princess had intervened before Majora could fully reform, but it revived a part of his spirit. If Link could repeat the process, partially resurrect Majora in order to heal him then…no more wailing.
Nubia was such a genius.
Getting to her feet, Nubia waved her hands as if conducting an imaginary orchestra. The shadows swirled around her fingertips, taking the form of the Ordon girl. Link cared about her. She'd provide the right incentive to make him use the Song of Healing.
With a small smug smile on her face, Nubia swept out of the room towards Link's cell.
She approached the wall in the tunnel, a doorway had been carved into the rock with glowing red light. With one long finger, Nubia touched the rune in the doorway's centre. The doorway folded back at itself, to reveal a hole the size of a door in the metre-thick wall.
It was pitch black inside the cell. Nubia liked that. But to her, the darkness was like broad daylight. She smiled as she saw Link, cowering in the corner, unable to see her, yet able to sense her presence. It was nice feeling, scaring him.
With a flick of her wrist, the shadows became manacles on his hands and shackles on his feet, holding him straight against the wall with his wrists bound above him head.
"Hello." Nubia whispered, flicking a strand of hair from his eyes. "I brought someone here to see you."
The phantom girl ran in. The shadows had inverted her colours, but Link was blind anyway so it didn't matter. The shadows mimicked her voice, scent and shape perfectly. The girl collapsed next to him, sobbing, arms around his neck.
"She's evil Link. I was so worried…and she…" The tears were a nice touch.
Nubia saw him bristle with that characteristic anger she had seen when she'd threatened his friends. It fuelled the triforce on his hand and stoked the green flame of courage within him.
"Oh please, you make me sound positively detestable. I'm really not all that bad once you get to know me." Nubia teased, examining her long claw-like nails. "But I didn't come here to listen to insults, I have a request of you Link."
She saw his eyes narrow.
The triforce was beginning to flash on his left hand. If its light revealed the phantom Ilia's true identity it would all be for nought.
The shadows clustered closer around Link, blotting out the golden light.
"I want you to play me a little song. Just a little one, to help my migraines."
He was eyeing her warily, like a spooked horse might a viper.
"You know it well I'm sure. It's called the, song of healing."
He tensed, and a growl rumble in his throat.
"Oh, it wasn't a request." She let the shadows press around him even closer, she could see the fear in his eyes. "It was a demand. Because you see, if you don't. Well, the girlie gets it."
She watched the emotions flicker across his face. First fear, than anger, then sorrow, then some more anger. Nubia concluded that Link was quite an angry person when she thought about it.
"Please Link, do as she says. She'll kill me." The phantom dissolved into a flood of tears once more, she was good.
For a few moments, Link didn't react. Then his head dipped and he sagged, he was backed into a corner.
"Good boy. Here you go."
His bonds dissolved, reforming into a black ocarina. Link eyed it warily.
"Well go on then." Nubia barked.
Link gingerly picked it up, and slowly put it to his lips. The song was shaky, layered with fear and anger and frustration. The shadows reacted to the dark magic, supplementing the ocarina with their own ethereal orchestra. But unlike the mist, this music was dissonant and out of key. The instruments were horrible jarring things, from high pitched flutes, glockenspiels that sounded more like bones, and deep-throated contra-bassoons. It was enough to scare the living daylights out of any listener. The sound echoed around the complex, and Nubia could feel Majora's growing strength. The screeching violins and piercing whistles a prelude to the screams to come.
But the song took its own toll on Link. She could see the life force being sucked out of him. His skin became sallow and his eyes sunken. The wounds that he himself had inflicted on Majora, now appeared on him. That was the true power of the song of healing, not to remove pain by healing it, but by transferring it to another. But without the mist guiding it, it couldn't be siphoned off into a mask like the sixth Link had done. No, it attacked Link's very core.
Yet, as Nubia watched Link wither away before her, something that she thought had long since been extinguished now stirred.
With a flick of her hand, the shadow ocarina dissolved and Link was left gasping on the floor. Nubia could hear the weak fluttering of his heart, like the beating wings of a chick caught in the jaws of a cat as it slowly bit down.
The shadows around her were angry. They roiled and writhed around her.
"I'm not being soft. But we need him if Majora gets beaten up again. Or would you rather we lose him completely." Nubia snapped at the shadows.
The phantom Ilia got to her feet, her face no longer tear-stained, but angry and cold.
"If you cannot handle attacking your former family, then let us take over." She was moving her mouth, but the voice that came out this time sounded like a disembodied choir of off-key amateurs.
"I can handle it, I'm just thinking ahead." Nubia growled in reply.
With a wave of her hand, the chains rematerialized. His hands were manacled above his head, while Link himself lay slumped on the ground. His feet were simply shackled to a ring that had appeared in the floor.
"Happy?"
The phantom Ilia shook her head.
"Honestly, you're so hard to please." Nubia muttered.
Link was hoisted up the wall, so that his whole body was hanging from his hands.
"Well, don't blame me if he dies on us then. You can resurrect Majora on your own."
And with that, Nubia swept out the room.
Back in the spring, all eyes were on Epona.
"What do you mean by hope for the greys?" Zelda asked.
"Lead mare Farore told me that the greys weren't as extinct as we may think. I think that if we can find them, we'll be able to save Link."
Fi, who for the duration of the meeting had remained silent, all of a sudden doubled over.
"FI?" Zelda cried.
"It is not I, but the mist. My scans have shown a steep decline in the mist's vitality. If a host is not immediately found, then its chances of survival are minimal, 2% at best." Her voice was glitch and stunted.
Ilia tilted her head as the trees rustled overhead.
"Silver…" She echoed.
"Silver?" Zelda asked, looking at Epona.
"The trees say Silver has to take the mist." Ilia translated, just as baffled as the others.
At the mention of her name, Silver looked up at the others, her eyes indistinct and confused.
"Ilia is right, lead mare Farore told me that Silver is the one."
"Lady Farore said that?" Zelda looked at Silver with a newfound respect.
"My reports show that the chance of the mist surviving within Silver is at 84%." Fi added, her voice strained.
"Then what are we doing standing around? How do we transfer the mist?" Ilia said.
Everyone turned to Epona.
"If I remember correctly, Silver has to want to accept the mist then if the sword is place beside he than the mist should naturally flow into her as she is the better host."
"Silver?" Dal whimpered.
The wolfos looked around, she looked so young and confused.
"To save Link, you need to host the mist." Zelda told her.
"Come on, otherwise if the mist dies then Link dies." Epona explained.
Whether or not this got through to Silver, it was hard to say. She just looked at the pulsing sword with veiled curiosity. The tears still swam in her eyes, waiting to be shed.
Zelda placed the master sword at Silver's feet.
"Please Silver."
Silver whimpered, looking at the sickly purple mist that was beginning to spew from the blade. It coiled around her, as if trying to get in but unable to.
"Let it in." Ilia urged.
The mist began sing, just as it did whenever Link played. It sung his own spirit song, only it was warped and off-key. It lay low to the ground, as if it hadn't the strength to rise.
"Chances of survival are at 1%." Fi stated.
"Now Silver."
The mist, in one final attempt, took the shaky form of Link himself. The dark grey wolf that had first rescued her in Snow Peak all those years ago. The mist wolf whined in plead that was identical to Link's own voice. Then, the mist collapsed in on itself.
"Chances of survival are at 0%" Fi whispered, her voice quiet as the mist began to disperse.
Silver stretched out her muzzle to sniff the mist. Where she touched it, the mist turned pale grey.
"Chances of survival at 0.1%" Fi announced.
Silver's eyes closed, as she let the mist in. With one paw, she poured at the fading eddies of sickly purple mist. As she touched it, the light returned to it. The light spread throughout mist, like a ripple spreading out over a pool.
"Chances of survival are increasing."
"Come on!" Epona whispered.
The mist was alive now. It reared up around Silver, hiding her in a writhing mass of pale grey cloud. It drew on Silver's own energy to replenish itself, while permeating Silver's own mind with the intention of healing it.
"Chances of survival are at 90%." Fi said.
Then came Silver's howl.
It ripped through the spring, a piercing cry of pain as the mist forced its way into her mind. Its light blinding her simultaneously as the darkness which clouded her vision. It filled every corner of her being, rifling through her memories, weaving through her DNA. And it was agony.
"Silver's chances of survival are falling rapidly." Fi reported.
"Make it stop." Ilia shouted, looking to Epona for answers.
"I don't know…I don't…" Epona's voice was shaking and she looked frightened.
Silver's scream grew in intensity, until it drowned out every other sound. The mist was destroying the fragments of her mind, ripping them apart as it explored its new host.
"The wolfos blood in her veins is fighting the mist." Fi explained.
"It's ripping her apart." Zelda's hands covered her mouth as she watched the horrid scene before her.
All of a sudden, Silver's voice went silent.
Sorry for the delays. I can't promise anything, school is difficult. I'll update when I can. Until then, tschüs!
