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Memories and Moments:LoZ:Ch.14

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Chapter 14: It Never Ends…

"It's the season where it's all fair and sunny during mornings…" Robin said. "…and rainy during afternoons."

"Hate it!" Dark said, peering out of the tent.

The five travelers stayed inside the tent in each of their sleeping bags. Thankfully, Robin had brought two extra sleeping bags, so now Gufuu needn't share with Dark because he has one too.

"So that means we have to stay here until afternoon fades?" Gufuu asked.

"I'm afraid so…" Robin shook his head.

"Well, I hear that there's many an interesting tale during night time in the forest. I hear there's a stalker Sasquatch on the loose near the mountains…" Dark said, his voice and expression jokingly menacing.

"…or that there are caves in there which served as ancient graves for either despised people of the society or worshiped icons!" Gufuu added, his eyes sparkling.

"It's dangerous at night." Robin warned, being an experienced dweller of the woods.

"But see, we're dwellers of darkness, no matter how stereotype it may sound!" Dark explained himself.

"And we're used to these so-called 'dangers'." Gufuu added to Dark's statement.

"Suit yourselves, but mind you…" Robin said. "It's fine by me to go into the woods at night, but I dunno if it's safe for the four of you."

He looked at the four. The two shadows didn't mind as they had their mind set on going out for the night. The expressions of the other two could not be determined; are they scared, approved, or indifferent about the thought of going out in the woods at night?

"Let's go GHOST HUNTING!!!" shouted Link as he excitedly waved his fists.

"ALL RIGHT!!!" Dark shouted in approval.

Gufuu just smiled and felt happy that even the hero agreed to go with them; and what's more, suggested their activity in the woods for the night. He looked at Vaati, hoping to hear his whimpering pleas not to proceed…

… instead, he saw that the Hylian-Minish was smiling. He didn't see any traces of fear at all. For some reason, he frowned. He liked the sight of his light self being frail at all times. He felt that he was superior to him, though he was a mere shadow.

And so it begins…

Upon nightfall, the group hiked deep in the woods to go on a ghost hunt as the hero suggested. Everything was completely different from night time in the city… unlike back home, the night seemed to be full of life for there were a lot of lights and noise… it ran on electricity. The homes seemed to be asleep from the outside, but it was alive from the inside like what Link's circle of friends has been doing. But it was all different in the forest…

Everything was peaceful. The moon shone brightly upon the sleeping forest, its creatures in their respective homes to get some rest. Even the plants seemed to sleep at that night, the flowers' petals closed. Only the nocturnal joined their night out.

'This feels so much like home…' thought Vaati to himself, remembering the quaint Minish Village.

"So where do we start?" asked Dark, looking from left to right. "I want some action!"

At this, Robin's eyes widened. He looked behind the youngsters who were following him and showed a frightened face.

"Guys, what the heck is that??" he asked hurriedly, pointing a finger behind them.

As a reflex action, the four looked behind them to see what might have scared him…

They heard footsteps. Fast paced running footsteps, going away from where they stood.

Since they saw nothing, they decided to dismiss it and turn to Robin. Maybe they missed it because it got scared of the group's attention or maybe he could just be seeing things.

"The HECK?!" Dark said, seeing that Robin wasn't there anymore.

"The fool completely forsook us!" Gufuu growled.

"So THAT'S what I heard…" Link said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

The three could only complain about how Robin ran away from them when they saw Vaati running to where Robin disappeared to. When Link saw this, he chased him without hesitation, and so the two other shadows followed him.

But Vaati had gone deep in the forest, making him camouflaged in its darkness despite his ivory complexion. The three could see neither hair nor hide of the boy. They tried looking for him…

"Vaati! Vaati, where are you??" shouted Link, walking through the grassy forest ground.

"Vaati, it's us! Come on, where are you?!" Dark called out, helping Link.

"Vaati… if you don't come out…" Gufuu tried to keep his frustration in. "You'll begin to see how truly scary you are!!!"

The three continued to call out his name as they searched throughout the forest. Feeling afraid that they already lost two members of their party, they stopped to think.

"Guys… what if there IS a stalker Sasquatch on the loose…?" Dark asked them. "I mean, not that I really believe in them but…"

"Oh, please… you mean to tell me you honestly believe in that?" Gufuu said exasperatedly.

"What I mean is… what if someone or something got them? What do we do?" Dark asked. He didn't sound scared for his sake, he sounded more like he wanted to think up of something just in case.

"We must think up of a plan." Link said, trying to formulate a strategy in his head.

The two Links brainstormed for a plan in case they meet something on the way. Their weapons were always ready for monsters and the like.

Gufuu tried to think on his own…

'Why… oh WHY does this always happen? I wanted to enjoy this trip, not to think up of solutions and strategies!' was what the young Minish shadow thought.

It was then that two hands grabbed Gufuu from behind! One held his body while the other covered his mouth so that he wouldn't be able to scream. He was pulled into the bushes.

The two Links saw this and immediately went to the bushes to come to Gufuu's aid. As Dark half-expected it, there was no trace of the shadow sorcerer.

"Dang it!" Link grumbled. "Now we've lost THREE members!"

"They must be nearby." Dark said, gazing up. "Tell you what, I glide up there and try to see if I could spot them."

"If we split up…" Link thought to himself. From the looks of it, he looked worried.

"Don't worry, I promise you that we'll both be fine." Dark said, his hand on Link's shoulder. "I mean… you should know, you've been going on quests alone, right?"

Link looked at him and nodded. Hearing those words from Dark made him feel a bit better, confident about both himself and Dark. He believed that Dark was to be trusted in his words.

Dark smiled and glided off, leaving him all alone in that spot. He decided to wait, his eyes fluttering about, hoping to see any of his missing friends.

After some time, Link's mind began to wander. Besides thinking the best that Dark would be fine, that the shadow would find the missing hikers… he could not help but think of negative thoughts.

'What if… what if those footsteps were that of the abductor's… taking Robin away…? What if Vaati was kidnapped right after he followed those footsteps…?'  he began to shudder at his own thoughts.

'What if… what if Gufuu was taken…? What would that person… or THING, possibly want from him? And Dark… what if he never made it?'

He shook his head and tried to relax. Dark never was the type to be taken advantage of... he certainly knows how to take care of himself as well as others. That was basically why he looked up to his shadow in times of desperation.

He almost jumped when he heard someone speak…

"Okay…  I got the clothes all washed and hung up to dryyy~
And I even embroidered our initials onto the chest… it's just FABULOOOUUUUUUS~"

'F---. That made me swear randomly…' Link thought to himself.

The hero checked his cellphone. It said that he received at text message from Dark.

'Dearest friend of the brunette, i caught ur little friend.'

Link could not believe what he just read. He almost let the phone slip from his hands if only he didn't try to gain control of himself. He felt extremely worried now that he was left all alone in the woods.

He decided to tread the woods on his own, his eyes swiftly moving from one direction to another. He almost screamed when he saw a pair of glowing eyes staring directly at him, situated in one of a tree's dark branches. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was only an owl.

He continued. As he went deeper, his bravery strengthened. He knew that he shouldn't be afraid for he needed to uphold his title as a hero. The real reason that he was afraid was his friends might be in deep peril, but he wasn't necessarily afraid for himself. His cerulean eyes gleamed in the moon's light as he bravely strode in the forest.

His cellphone rang once again, the tune of "Thunder" by Boys Like Girls. He received a call from Vaati. He put the phone near his ear and greeted.

On the other line, he could hear panting.

"Who is this?!" Link said, raising his voice.

"L-Link… help!!!"

The hero's eyes widened. From the other line… it was Vaati panting and screaming for help!

"Vaati, where are you?!"

"I… I don't know…!" whimpered the poor boy. "Ah… AAAAAAH! What are you going to-"

The line was suddenly cut.

"Vaati? VAATI!!!" shouted Link, but as expected, no response came out. 'DANG!!!'

Hearing this, he stopped to listen to the environment around him. He closed his eyes and concentrated… he began to feel one with nature…

He tried to sense if any presence was there at all. He felt the presence of the winds, as if assisting and calming him, but he could not feel his friends' vibes. He concentrated deeper, trying to understand the winds that came to him…

The breeze suddenly turned to a single direction, going forward in a gushing manner. It felt more like the river's current, flowing to only one direction… it also seemed to catch him in its current, urging him to move towards the direction they flowed to.

He understood and followed the wind.

He arrived in front of a lone shack. It did look like any other shack you would ever hope to find in the woods, but still different than that of Robin's. He tried to peer in the windows as stealthily as he could…

Seeing that nobody seems to be around from where he peeked into, he tried knocking on the door just to make sure.

"Huh?" Link's ears twitched after knocking.

The hero decided to proceed right in. He swore he heard something…

…something that sounded like moaning and crying.

As soon as he went inside, he felt that something was wrong despite the shack's seemingly homey appearance. He looked around, everything seemed to be fine. He decided to check every room that he could go into until…

"What the…?"

He found a door that made him curious. There was a padlock in on the door, but luckily, he learned a few tricks up his sleeve. After staying with streetwise Dark for too long, he finally figured out how to open it without the aid of a key. He slowly opened the door.

There revealed a dark room. He felt chills go down his spine, hearing that the crying grew louder as he opened the door. The crying turned soon turned into pleas, begging him not to come closer. As scared as he was, he needed to know what was going on.

He groped for the light switch just to know what made this room so special it had to be locked like that. And so, he did open the lights…

"LINK!!!"

Link was surprised and just a bit relieved to finally find a certain someone in the room, but bound to a chair in the room's center.

"VAATI!!!"

He rushed to aid the Hylian-Minish. As soon as he got him out of the ropes, Vaati hugged him tightly in gratitude while crying. He hugged him back in assurance that he was safe with him.

"Vaati… who did this to you?" Link said sternly.

"L-Link… I don't know… but he wanted to kill us all…" Vaati tried his best to avoid sobbing. "All I know is… he… he looked a lot like… like…"

Vaati couldn't continue for he sobbed too much. Link tried to reach for his pocket to get a small bottle of water for the poor boy to drink. It indeed helped the crying boy and let him continue his story.

"R… Robin tried to pull a prank on you… honestly… and he got us as props to get you worked up…"

"Again? Oh, next time, I really won't play…" Link stopped. He looked at Vaati and realized that he was tactless at that time.

If this was all a prank, why did Vaati react like that? And the way that he was bound… it was so tight and it almost burned the Hylian-Minish's delicate ivory skin.

"I'm sorry!" sobbed Vaati. "I… I… it was supposed to be all for fun until… until after Dark came to us and someone tried to take us on… his laugh made me terrified… it was just so scary!"

"Vaati…" Link patted his head and his back with each of his hands. "Where are they…? Why did he treat you like this?"

"He… he took Dark and Gufuu away! And Robin… he… he tried to defend all of us but he suddenly disappeared…" Vaati said almost in a whisper. "The kidnapper seemed to know the secrets of the Dark Mirror…"

Link looked around cautiously and urged Vaati to run away with him while tugging his arm. They ran away from the house as fast as they could and headed to camp without looking back. They ran into the tent and zipped the door flap shut.

"Alright, now we're safe." Link said, assuring Vaati.

He looked at the Minish once more with his kind eyes. "Alright… tell me. Tell me everything, Vaati."

"The Dark Mirror… after he made Robin disappear with it, he used it to suck Dark and Gufuu inside. When he got me all alone, he… he tied me up in that room and said that he had plans for me… I think he wanted me to do something…"

"What makes you say that?"

"His eyes… his dark eyes told me that he was up to something sinister… and that he wanted me to help him in whatever it may have been…"

"Well, I'm here for you, Vaati." Link said bravely, his hand on his sword. "If he wants to do something with you, he'd have to get through me first!"

Vaati smiled, feeling a lot more comfortable knowing that he was in the hero's care. Although, behind that smile, one could still see that he was feeling something else deep inside due to what had just happened.

"Link… please, we must save them." Vaati said, his eyes squinting in worry.

"Of course." Link said, ruffling his hair a bit. "They're my friends too."

Vaati looked up at the hero who stood up. With a sword and a shield in hand, Link looked like he was in optimum condition to fight anyone. He looked around cautiously just to ensure their safety in their campsite.

"Can you stay up all night, Vaati?" asked the hero, lowering his sword and shield.

"Well… yes. I think I slept long enough this past afternoon."

"Good. We need stay on guard at all times. We have to get them all back this night."

Vaati nodded and stood up. After shedding his tears, he tried to look as brave as possible to show that he truly was determined to do what Link said. He was, after all, the firsthand witness to this.

And so, the two proceeded once more to the forest, fully prepared for the unexpected. Vaati had recharged and refreshed himself so that he may cast strong magic. Even without his shadow, he was mighty and powerful himself in the field of sorcery. Link had all his weapons and gears ready.

Link was in the lead; almost commanding Vaati to stay close at all times to avoid any danger. If any danger was to befall upon them, they were to get out of it together.

"Hey, Link?" Vaati called out after some time of not talking.

"Yeah?" the hero turned his head and stopped.

Vaati let out a sigh and stopped in his tracks as well. He bowed down his head and his fingers were nervously playing with each other.

"Thanks." the magician said.

Link smiled at this and neared Vaati. He laid his hand on his shoulder, making the shorter boy look up at the taller.

"No problem at all." Link said, blinking in satisfaction. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Vaati countered Link's genuine smile with his and nodded.

And so, they continued to tread through the forest. It was tiring for their body, but their spirit told them to keep moving forward.

"Hey, Vaati?" Link said, not looking back as he continued walking.

"Yes?"

"Since we're all alone…" Link thought of what to say. "Ummmm… how exactly do I put this…?"

Vaati waited for his friend's statement as they continued to walk under the moonlit night. It took a while for the hero to speak up again. The hero drew a deep breath before he continued…

"…How exactly do I remind you of your… your dad?"

Upon hearing this, Vaati smiled wryly. "Link…"

Link looked back to look at Vaati since he heard no extra footsteps behind him. He found out that the young Hylian-Minish was looking at the ground, not moving a step further. He saw that Vaati's eyes formed tears yet again…

'Oh, nice GOING, hero!' Link made a dismayed face, blaming himself entirely for bringing it up.

"…How do you remind me of him…?" Vaati repeated. "…Your kind eyes… your gentle voice… your affectionate disposition towards everyone… even me…"

Vaati shook his head, his face focused on the ground as he did, and tried to look up at the hero to speak once more.

"Especially your affectionate disposition towards me… it's how kind he was… wait… his kindness was way beyond words… that's why you amazed me, Link…" Vaati smiled through his sad eyes, ready to flow out tears anytime. "You, as a friend… no… as a best friend… you're one of a kind…"

Link just stared at him, squinting his eyes in concern. He felt so warm, seeing that Vaati had really developed an intimate friendship with him…

…despite the fact that they had quite the conflict before.

'Even after all those things I did to you, you still think of me as "one-of-a-kind"?' he thought, feeling guilt in the warmth he felt.

"But, Link… what will you do in case…" Vaati hesitated and looked away, worry obvious in his tone.

Link stepped closer to him and kept a firm, concerned face. Vaati turned his head again and looked up at him. His eyes looked almost too worried.

"What if I… I return to what I was before…?" Vaati said as he tried not to panic.

"Vaati…" said Link, ruffling Vaati's hair a bit. "I believe that you won't ever turn back like that… I mean, this Vaati…"

He looked into Vaati's precious ruby eyes with his calm, beautiful, eyes which looked like they belonged to the skies and ruffled his hair some more.

"…This Vaati before me is who I recognize… who I love as a friend…" he continued. "I don't believe that it was your true will to be a destroyer… no, it just wasn't you, Vaati."

Hearing these words made Vaati blush and smile in delight. His once worried eyes are now replaced with calm ones, looking directly at the hero angelically. As a response, the hero also smiled at him the way he always did, radiant and sweet.

"Even after all I did, Link… you really think that…?" Vaati said, almost in a whisper.

Link went closer to his ear and whispered, "That's what I should be asking you…"

The hero went a bit apart from his face. "…You honestly still accept me as your friend… even after all those things I did with you…?"

Vaati smiled angelically once more. Hearing these words, he replied with a gentle nod. Link smiled at him tenderly, knowing that they really have accepted each other fully, without any doubts.

"Thank you, Link…" said the boy with the flowing hair.

"No…" Link answered back. "Thank YOU, Vaati…"

The two felt the winds, urging the trees' leaves to dance all around them, accompanied by the precious flower petals. The dandelions gave off their white fluff and sent them dancing to the air with everything. It was beautiful; it's as if nature itself was delighting along with them.

"Link… we mustn't stop…" Vaati reminded him.

"Yes… yes, of course…" Link agreed with him. "We must keep pressing forward to find them."

The two then continued to hike, but this time, their feeling of weariness has worn off… knowing that with each other, they share a common feeling.

Link had his sword ready to defend themselves while Vaati prepared his magic stance if anything need be pushed by his mystical spells.

It was not long after that Vaati's ears began to twitch. He then looked around to see if anything was there amidst their presence…

"Why? Do you see anything?" Link said, preparing his guard.

"I sense something bad…" Vaati frowned.
Here's Chapter 14! Finally a bit of action after a while. ;)

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Link to full-size image ---> [link]

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Memories and Moments

Table of Chapters~

Chapter 1: It begins... ---> [link]
Chapter 2: Link, Dark, and Shadow Link ---> [link]
Chapter 3: Vaati's Origins ---> [link]
Chapter 4: An Unknown Friend ---> [link]
Chapter 5: The Shadows Meet ---> [link]
Chapter 6: A Young Shadow’s Typical Life ---> [link]
Chapter 7: Reasons ---> [link]
Chapter 8: Just Another Hiking Trip? ---> [link]
Chapter 9: Regret Awaits ---> [link]
Chapter 10: The Odd Trio… ---> [link]
Chapter 11: A Ray of Hope? ---> [link]
Chapter 12: It’s a Thing Called Fate ---> [link]
Chapter 13: Happy Hunting! ---> [link]
Chapter 14: It Never Ends… ---> [you are here]
Chapter 15: Conflicts ---> [link]
Chapter 16: To Heal a Wound... ---> [link]
Chapter 17: Dusk ---> [link]
Chapter 18: A Moment of Rest ---> [link]
Chapter 19: A Step Forward… ---> [link]
Chapter 20: Exploring the Shadows ---> [link]
Chapter 21: Familiar Faces Much? ---> [link]
Chapter 22: The Path that Lies Ahead… ---> [link]
Chapter 23: Red ---> [link]
Chapter 24: Blue ---> [link]
Chapter 25: Vio ---> [link]
Chapter 26: Green ---> [link]
Chapter 27: What's… Happening to Me…? ---> [link]
Chapter 28: Showdown of the Warrior Mages ---> [link]
Chapter 29: Reunions with a Twist ---> [link]
Chapter 30: My Little Traitor ---> [link]
Chapter 31: Ally or Not? ---> [link]
Chapter 32: A Fight for my Memories ---> [link]
Chapter 33: The Truth ---> [link]
Chapter 34: The Final Battle ---> [link]
Chapter 35: The Battle is Over… ---> [link]
Chapter 36: A Mage's Pain ---> [link]
Chapter 37: Return to the Woods ---> [link]
Chapter 38: My Family... ---> [link]
Chapter 39: A Father’s Journal ---> [link]
Chapter 40: We Shall Meet Again... ---> [link]
© 2011 - 2024 MayJasmine
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ViolentLink's avatar
"I sense something bad..." YEA THE CHAPTER ENDING XD