FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination|
Author of 11 Stories |
I've decided it's pointless for me to ever try to guess how long something I'm writing will get... I also re-wrote then over half this chapter there were glaring plot errors and other such things that gnaw at my brain until I fix them so Chapter 5 is really chapter 4 only better - so I decided to re-release it. I'll leave chapter 4 up cause I'm too lazy to delete it right now. You don't have to read it, but I think it's 100x's better than before .. so off we go
Strangers for a Night
Part IV
But to do that, she'd have to find him first. Changing quickly, she yanked her door open to find Gonzo leaning against the rail. When he saw the look on her face he asked, “Is everything alright?”
“Nothing a good smack upside my big brother's head wouldn't fix,” Aryll said crossly.
“Gah! That's right, Link is on the island, I saw him just before I left Miss Tetra ...” Gonzo trailed off and an expression of abject terror crossed his face and his eyes went wide when he abruptly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. While it did occurred to Gonzo in that moment that some bit of his memory was missing, none of that mattered since he clearly remembered what Tetra said she would do to Link if she did happen to run into the Hero of the Winds. Grabbing Aryll's hand, he pulled her in the direction of the stairs and Gonzo said in a rush, “Gods, please don't let those two run into one another.”
“Tetra came ashore. Why?” Aryll asked as Gonzo pulled her along.
“I talked her into it and left her down near the plaza. I'm supposed to be getting her dinner.”
“Oh my. Well let's split up, if either of us finds Link we'll try to get him to come back here, okay?”
Gonzo nodded and the pair headed off in opposite directions.
Now keep in mind that Gonzo is a very large and very strong pirate and after shaking his head, he glared at the two boys he now found in front of him. There wasn’t anyone else nearby and Gonzo noticed the pair were speaking in hushed tones. More curious to him was that they were doing so in a language, Gonzo had never heard before and he wondered where they could be from. In his travels, he’d been to just about every island on the Great Sea, but this dialect he did not recognize. Clearing his throat to get their attention, he noted the boy with green eyes must be in charge since when he nudged the taller boy with blue eyes, they stopped their argument and smiled up at him.
Gonzo did a double take, there was something eerily familiar about the pair, both were blonds and neither looked to be more than ten years old. While one outstripped the other by at least four inches both were certainly too short to have hit his jaw with that much force so Gonzo looked around the crowd asked, “Did either of you two see who took a poke at me?”
They boys exchanged glances, the taller shrugged and the other rolled his eyes, but both turned and pointed toward a large balding man behind them. Gonzo pushed past the pair in the direction they'd indicated, but stopped after a few yards once he realized what he was doing. He cursed and turned back in the direction he was heading before. Miss Tetra was no longer in sight; the pair of boys…gone as well. Gonzo looked up at the arch and noted Link was still there, but he decided if Miss Tetra really had seen Link, things wouldn't be so calm up there. Deciding to search elsewhere he headed for the docks, what was more likely was that the captain had grown tired of waiting and went back there and he needed a new shirt anyway. When Gonzo considered what he'd gone through to get her off the ship in the first place, he frowned. He was right back where he started.
“Link, you dolt, how could you?”
He favored the girl with a quizzical expression that made Tetra smile. So your name is Link, eh? she thought, well that gets one detail out of the way.
The girl continued her mini tirade and finished it by telling Link to find somewhere else to sleep, cause he wouldn't be staying with her. Tetra decided the pair must be siblings, since, she didn't like the idea of him being with anyone else and they looked so much alike. She paused in her thoughts and groaned aloud and thought, You don't own him you moron. Still her curiosity overruled her annoyance and she moved closer to the pair being careful to stay out of sight. It humored her that Link only smiled as his sister's irritation got the better of her and Tetra heard him say, “Sorry, little sis, promise you won't set Jake and Jasper on me and I'll clean it all up later.”
“Why later?”
“Guess I'm gonna watch the fireworks after all.”
“You're kidding,” she said.
“No choice really, I was gonna head home but I seemed to have misplaced my boat.”
“How weird is that? I could send Jake and Jasper to have a look around. Those two can find anything.”
“Yeah that'd be great. You eaten yet?”
“No, I tried to, but I ended up wearing most of it.”
“I thought your clothes looked different. Come on then, it's my treat,” Link said and hopped from his perch.
“You're still cleaning up that mess, Link,” his sister said as they headed toward the stairs.
Link paused and held his hands over his heart, a dramatic pained expression on his face he said, “You wound me with your skepticism. Can't a guy buy his favorite sister some food? ”
The girl laughed and said as she put her hands on her hips, “I'm your only sister and I know you better than that.”
Tetra watched them as the made their way back across the plaza. Link bought his sister and himself more food and both took seats at tables set up nearby. Her attention wandered and she spent some time looking at the various people that wandered around the plaza below. When refocused on the pair below her, the sister was looking right at her and Link was pointing in her direction. Tetra actually felt a moment of panic as she took a quick step back from the wall out of sight.
Aryll tore her gaze from the arch and looked at her brother. He's lost it for sure, she thought.
“So are you going to answer the question or what?” Link asked popping a biscuit into his mouth.
Aryll, until that second completely forgot the 'special potion' Link drank earlier. This brought to mind her grandmother's letter that she'd not read. Aryll got an odd feeling of apprehension as she blinked and said, “Tetra...her name is Tetra Shukkon.”
“Tetra...” Link said with a weird sort of smile. “Thanks, little sis.” Link got up from the table and while Aryll sat there trying to figure out what she should do. She was not surprised at her big brother expression, she knew perfectly well that Link really did love Tetra no matter how much he denied it of late. What was creeping her out was that he didn't seem to remember Tetra at all and said in a rush, “Link I gotta get something from my apartment. Promise you won't move until I get back.”
“Why?”
“Just promise me, okay?”
“Are you feeling alright? You haven't been taste testing at the wine tents-”
“Link!”
“Alright, alright, I promise I'll wait...for a while.”
Link watched his sister disappear in to the crowd and looked down at his now empty plate. His eyes strayed to Aryll's abandon dinner and after glancing around, he surreptitiously pulled it in front of him. No need to waste good food, he thought. When Link looked up again he found two sets of eyes watching him. The boys looked familiar but he couldn't say why exactly but they didn't have any food or parents with them so Link wondered if they'd eaten. From the way they were eying his plate, he guessed no.
“Hungry?” Link asked setting down his fork. The pair nodded and Link sighed and pushed the plate across the table to them. “Stay here I'll be back with more in a minute, you two like ramen?” The pair broke into wide smiles and nodded again. "Great, two ramen coming up," Link said as he got up and headed back to the food tents.
Aryll,
I hope this letter finds you well, as you know your brother's odd behavior has needed correcting for some time. I'm guessing he'll show up there shortly after you receive this. He is bringing you some papers and a few books that Master Sturgeon promised to Miss Marie. He is also carrying a potion I brewed up that I wanted him to take to Doc Bandam along with a sample of my elixir soup. If, for whatever reason, your brother ends up ingesting the silvery one, he may start to act a little strangely.
Either way, it's important you just let him be. He needs a break from his little melodrama anyway and the effects of the Lethe will most likely wear off within a few hours or a few days depending on how much he swallows.
Love - Grandma
Aryll dug through her head until she remembered just what a Lethe was and her eyes went wide as her breathe caught and Gonzo asked behind her, “Aryll what's a lethe?”
“It's a potion that make a person forget,” Aryll said as she walked over to her window and looked in the direction of the food court.
“Forget what?” Gonzo asked as he came up beside her.
“It depends on the person who drinks it and what they want to forget. Lethe's can be made to clear everything out permanently or they can be very specific and mask only the memories the potion drinker wants taken.”
“How could a potion know that?”
“It doesn't, the person has to wish for it. It has to be a strong wish too, otherwise it won't work properly,” Aryll explained and she recalled how Link didn't seem to remember Tetra at all. Was he really that bad off that he'd want to forget her?
“So you think Link took one?”
Aryll laughed a little nervously and said, “I know he did, I fed it to him myself this morning.” Gonzo gave her a confused look and she added, “Don't ask.”
“Alright, but what's he forgotten?”
“Tetra.”
“Did either of you see where the man who was sitting here a few minutes ago?”
They nodded and both hurriedly tried to clean themselves up as they both got up and grabbed one of her hands. Normally Tetra would not have cooperated, but these two reminded her of someone... someone she knew well, so when they pulled her the rest of the way to the table, Tetra sat down.
“You two have names?” she asked.
“Jake,” said the taller boy.
“Jasper,” replied the other.
“Nice to meet you both,” Tetra said, “so that man I asked you about, did you see where he went?”
The boys nodded again and pointed in the direction of the food tents. Tetra looked up to find Link was back and he was holding two more bowls of ramen. Tetra wondered how anyone could put away that much food.
“Hello,” Link said smiling and Tetra felt her hear skip a beat. Just like the last time, Tetra felt her thoughts scatter for a moment and thought to herself, You are in way over your head this time Tetra Shukkon. Link set the two bowls in front of the boys, who immediately dove into the meal. Tetra watched the boys as they ate. While she'd swear she'd never laid eyes on either of them, there was something about the pair that made Tetra think of those rare lazy mornings when she was young and her favorite breakfast of pancakes and jam. Tetra remembered a promise she'd made to herself to learn how to make those one day. She smiled and wondered if their mother ever made such things. She realized this was a strange thing to be wondering, but they sure were cute little guys. Link cocked an eyebrow at her lack of response and shrugged and said, "Umm, well then it was nice meeting you, Miss." And started to move away.
Tetra jolted herself out of her silence quickly said, “Wait, I wanted to thank you, for earlier.”
“You're welcome,” Link replied and startled her when he asked, “Do these two belong to you?”
“Me? No, I was just keeping them company.”
“Waiting for someone then?”
“You could say that.”
An odd look of disappointment crossed his features and it dawned on Tetra what he must be thinking so she asked, “You're Link right?”
“Yeah, and your name is Tetra.”
Tetra was momentarily surprised he knew her name so asked, “How did you know that?”
“My sister Aryll told me.”
“Oh that girl you were with earlier.”
Link again cocked an eyebrow and Tetra felt the heat in her face rise. Idiot you just told him you've been watching him. Link may have noticed but to Tetra's great relief he didn't mention it. Instead he replied, “Yeah, she asked me to wait around here for her to come back...” Link scanned the crowd and then refocused on Tetra saying, “But, I've decided she's taking too long. At this rate, I'll end up buying dinner for every waif that wanders by, no offense.”
“None taken. I'm a little tired of the crowds myself. Wanna go for a walk?”
He took another look around and then back at the boys who were still enjoying their meal and replied, “Yes.”
Link, apparently, was known to just about everyone on the island. A number of people, including the mayor all stopped to greet him. The Mayor eyed Tetra warily and she barely kept herself from laughing as Link introduced her to His Honor. All that attention seemed to make Link a bit uncomfortable and the first chance he got he led Tetra outside the town walls and stopped near the shore. Finding a dry spot on the grass Link sat down and gestured for Tetra to do the same. She did and they sat silently together watching the beauty of sunset that day. Link remained quiet for a while and without looking at her asked, “So do you come here often?”
“Not really, just in town for a few days,” Tetra said.
“For the festival then?”
“Not exactly...where do you hail from?”
“Outset.”
Tetra paused when the name of the island tickled something in the back of her brain. “Outset?” she asked.
Link nodded.
“Never been there,” Tetra said. There was something wrong with the statement, but since she couldn't decide what, she shrugged and asked a different question. “Any family here other than your sister?”
“No, my Grandmother still lives on Outset, only my sister lives here on Windfall and I'm bored with talking about me. Where do you call home?”
“Everywhere and nowhere...” Link wore a puzzled expression so Tetra explained. “As far as I know I was born aboard ship, in the middle of the ocean during a terrible storm. ”
“So you've lived your whole life on board?”
“Yup. The ocean's my home, always has been. Normally I don't leave the ship, but I got conned into coming ashore by my first mate. I'm the Captain by the way and my ship is tied up in the harbor. Wanna see?”
“Yeah.”
They walked along the beach to the dock, and when they stopped in front of a rather large ship, Tetra said with a proud smile, “Behold the great Hoshimawari.”
The sails and flags were neatly furled, more because the mayor didn't want any extra attention being paid to the pirates and Tetra didn't need anymore headaches. She already agreed to pay for any damage her crew might cause so the restrictions were rather stupid in her opinion. Of course her entire crew knew that if she caught wind of any of them so much as spilling a drop of ale, she'd find new and exciting ways to make their lives miserable.
“Wow...” was all that came out of Link's mouth as he took in the size of the ship. “You must be able to take on some pretty good cargo. What do you usually freight?”
“Freight?”
“Yeah, what kind?”
“Ummmm...this and that.”
Link's eyes continued to wander up and down the ship. “Wow,” he repeated as his gaze stopped here and there, a huge grin growing on his face. Tetra felt a blush rising in her face and sighed as she realized she was quite impressed with this person. It really didn’t make a lot of sense; she’d just met him for pity’s sake and gave herself a shake when she found herself staring at his changes in expressions. Tetra took a deep breath, smitten or no, she was always wary of entanglements of the romantic variety. There had been a few in her past that hadn't worked out well and Tetra resolved she wouldn't lose her head over it. Still, she thought as she looked up at him again, he is awfully handsome.
Link was still taking in the ship and asked, “This and that, huh? You sure you aren't a pirate?”
“Pirate...well I guess in some circles of society they might call it that, I prefer to think of it as salvage.”
He barked out a laugh and Tetra decided not to get irritated with herself when her own surreptitious motives made her sigh at the sound of it. To help take her mind off that she asked, “So what is it that you do? From that pack I'd say you're not the stay at home type.”
“I travel around a lot.”
“Doing what?”
He paused as he searched for the right words. “People hire me…to...find things.”
“You mean you look for treasure too.”
“Let's call it salvage.”
This time Tetra laughed and when Link suggested they go for a ride on the Ferris wheel, Tetra agreed. When he smiled as he caught up her hand and Tetra surprised herself when she did not protest. Link however, went still when he realized what he'd done and probably would have released her hand if she'd wanted. Thing was, she didn't really want him to and though Link's touch remained light, Tetra felt a thrill as his skin remained against hers. The feeling brought to mind a similar encounter and Tetra tried to remember when that was, but was lost in the excitement of this moment. Tetra tightened her grip enough to let her handsome stranger know she was perfectly content to allow him to pull her along into the crowd. So he did.
“I told you before; it's just not that simple Chiyuu.”
“Boot wees are here...I don't understand.”
“Keep in mind the shadow's spell is already at work by this point in time. It wasn't just the unbinding that separated us, we were already avoiding all contact with one another and without this odd little intervention, we most likely would have stayed that way. This is the only time I recall us both being in the same place prior to the time loop being set off.”
“I yam curious why we did note stop zat from happenink?” Jinchi asked.
“Needs be, Jinchi. There are simply too many paths that would have to be altered if we interfered with that event, including what we are trying to accomplish here. However, this can still go wrong. If my memory serves, the shadow and his accomplice will arrive here some time near dawn. His goal was to keep us apart. While Sarith may never realize how the paths have been altered, he will do whatever he needs to, to see that the unbinding continues to work its magic. This also means that eventually the unbinding will win over, that's why it's important those two get it together tonight.”
“Boot zat ees a paradox,” Chiyuu said.
“Perhaps, but it is also a paradox you and your brother and your father owe your existence to. Maybe playing the fortuneteller to this incarnation of myself was a little too ironic, but now that the path's been set, all we can hope for is that I'll remember doing what comes naturally.”
When the Ferris wheel slowed and the passengers disembarked, Tetra wondered what they would do next. As their car neared the top, the ride stopped moving. After a few minutes of waiting Tetra looked over the edge to see what the hold up was, but she couldn't see the ride operator any more.
Still looking over the side she said, “The ride stopped.”
“Did it?” Link asked.
“Yes it did, but then I have a feeling you know why since that face reeks of guilt.”
“Kreeg, he's the owner of this ride, owed me a favor for something I did for him a while back.”
“Really?” she asked. “Must have been an awfully big favor.”
Link shrugged. “Was an accident, actually.”
“Accident? You know if I didn't know better I'd swear you were up to something. You're not one of those hopeless romantics that believes in love at first sight, are you?” Tetra asked.
He didn't say anything at first, just stared out over the town. Something about that question made him unhappy but when he looked back at her, his unhappiness was gone and after a moment Link said, “Not usually.”
This wasn't the answer she expected and it made Tetra wonder why she asked it to begin with. Link straightened his back as he twisted his neck making it pop and for the first time Tetra notice then the tiny white lines that criss-crossed the exposed parts of his right arm and hand. Those scars are old, she thought and it made her wonder just how young he was when he got them. The vivid image of a boy holding a shining blade flickered through her memory, but she lost track of it though when he said;
“What if I told you I did it because I thought we could watch the fireworks from here?”
“I would have to tell you that it sounds more like a ploy.”
“You think?”
“Yes.”
He was silent for a bit then turned to her and asked, “Is it working?” Tetra burst into a fit of laughter at the question and Link scratched the back of his head and said, "So that's a no."
“What happens if I say yes?”
“Just this,” and Link leaned forward and kissed her squarely on the lips. While Tetra was hoping that was what he meant, she was gripped by a moment of acute anger that made absolutely no sense to her. She squelched the feeling and ignored it when it reared up again a moment later. Just as she did when he took her hand she felt that intense familiarity and Tetra reminded herself, she wasn't going to fall for him, but knew she already did somewhere in her heart. Her anger evaporated as that feeling took hold of her and when he pulled away Tetra truly wished he hadn't. There was something warm and comfortable about the way his kiss filled that empty place she'd forgotten about.
Link didn't look away from her even as the festival fireworks began. He didn't say anything and the intensity of gaze left her completely spellbound. “Just that?” Tetra asked in a somewhat breathless voice. He reached up to touch her face and Tetra leaned into the gentle caress realizing she already knew the answer.
doh! That's definitely better - I hate it when I get lazy
:
:
:
:
