:O Wow! That was great! Heh. Ark Mantrios "The Great Demon" *smiles smugly* Heh heh heh...
Great work Din! I can't wait to read the rest of the story!
lol! Yes, and you are on your way to free your trusty friend Hazel, another great demon.
I'm glad you enjoyed it friend! lol.
And now I will leave you all with the shock of the middle of this chapter, without the rest of it, because it isn't done yet! lol, enjoy.
---------- Post added at 12:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 PM ----------
Chapter 4 – “Teammates”
Rad and Din had made it back to Hyrule field just after dark that day. Avail had seen them off with a word of caution and all the supplies she could give them. The two fighters had collected their horses and picked their way back across the path in exceptionally good time. They stopped in the same spot where they had rested on the way to the desert. Rad sat propped up against a large rock as Din tied their mounts for the night. When she had finished she walked over and sat down beside him.
“So, if I were Ark, I would go and release the demon held in the forest first,” Rad began, “it’s closest and the easiest to get to.”
Din nodded. “I know very little about the demons. All I know was that the hero of time chose to imprison them rather than kill them to make a point of eternal damnation. But other than that…”
“I know quite a bit about all of them.” Rad stated. He had been present in Hyrule when the hero had imprisoned each of them in their supposedly unbreakable cells. The Dragir had lived through many different historical events, but this one was one of the most remembered for him. He had decided to leave the side he had been fighting for and find something better to do with himself. “They are all made from dark magic and therefore cannot be banished to the sealed dark realm. They can be killed though. It won’t be easy by any terms, but it is possible.”
“Are they human in form?” Din asked him.
“The true form of each of them is human-like. But they each have a beast form.”
Din nodded. She was not overly interested in all the details at this point. They had to travel all the way to Faron province in the south. They would have lots of time to discuss what was to come. The two were silent for a long moment, then Din smirked.
“She likes you, you know. You should be very proud of yourself.”
Rad looked at her, confused. “Who?”
“Avail.” Din looked over at him and smiled. “Not only that, she asked for your help. That is probably first time in Gerudo history that a Gerudo leader asked for the help of a man. Well, I guess it would be the second.” She giggled a little.
Rad smiled. “Well I’m glad she likes me.” Rad thought about how to approach the question that had been on his mind since he met Din’s mother. “Din, I know you call her mother, but you aren’t Gerudo…”
Din looked at him, “So, what am I?” She finished his question for him. He looked back at her a waited.
She turned her head and stared into the desert. “You, me, and all the Gerudo’s wonder the same thing. The truth is, Rad, I don’t know what I am or where I came from.” She looked back at him and took a deep breath. “My earliest memory was from when I was about ten. I woke up in a cell in Gerudo fortress. I was alone, cold and hungry. I was so angry that I was locked in, that I thrashed on the bars and grabbed hold of the lock. When I did, it melted in my hands. Avail saw what I could do and she took me in. I was trained as if I was a Gerudo warrior and I learned to use fire and heat to my advantage. The desert and the Gerudo became my home. Avail tells me that I had wandered into the desert from the mountains, but the truth is…” hurt was mounting in her voice, “I have no idea who my family is, or why I was left alone…I was just ten, and was left with nothing…no one…”
As she tried to regain control she pulled her knees up to her chest and placed her forehead on the butt of her hands. Rad reached over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. He could feel small shakes come from her body.
“Din…” He slid his hand across her neck to her other shoulder and pulled her close to him. She let her head fall and land on his collarbone. They stayed like that for quite some time. He hugged her gently until she fell asleep.
Rad felt sick as he thought about her story. Now he knew why he thought he knew her, because he did. He had met her before…long ago, when he was not fighting for the right side of the battle.
Morning broke and the two were off on their way to the Faron province with good time. They would surely make it there by nightfall, their horses keeping steady pace. The two rode in silence for quite awhile. Rad was trying to focus on what was to come but he couldn’t stop think about what he knew of the past. He looked over at the woman on the other horse frequently, trying to decide the best course of action. Din was mentally in and out of focus. Mostly, she was daydreaming about the last time she had been to Faron performing. And the thoughts of a young girl came to her mind. She burst out in a single giggle, which she controlled and stopped quickly.
Rad looked over at her in response to the sound, “What is it?”
Din looked over at him as they entered the first of the trees at the province boundary. “I was thinking about the last time I was here. Someone that I met.”
Rad’s heart turned and he had a feeling that he had not felt in a long time, “oh…who?”
They got deeper into the forest and the canopy blocked out most of the light. The trees became thicker and the underbrush began brushing higher on the horses legs.
Din looked at him and rolled her eyes, “I’m sure you will see. I would think there would be no way for me to show up here without running into--” Din’s sentence was cut off as a vine swooped down from the trees and seemed to grab at Din. She dodged it and jumped off the horse. Just then a figure swung through the trees and disappeared again. A short smirk jumped from Din’s lungs. She ran forward into somewhat of an open space between the trees. Looking up and between the trunks Din could see nothing. “Awe, come on out!” She called into the forest. Rad was still and surveyed the area, also seeing and hearing nothing. A moment of complete stillness pasted and Din sighed. “Alright, well we can do this the hard way.” Din held up her hand after calling into the forest and a small ball of fire appeared floating an inch above her skin. Din turned her palm and moved to place the flames against one of the tree trunks. Just before she touched, a swirl of movement in the treetops produced a figure jumping down on top of Din. A confident noise came from inside Din’s throat. The flames went out and Din reached up and caught the figure upon impact. She threw her weight sideways and Din and the other person fell to the ground. Din rolled quickly and pinned the intruder to the ground holding her face only inches away from the others.