She turned to him and stared for a few seconds before falling back flailing until she hit the ground hard on her back. “Shit! How?! How can... what the?!” She was trembling uncontrollably, staring at Link agape.
“It’s alright, it’s alright.” He put his hands up so she would know he wasn’t a threat. “Please calm down.”
“But you-“ She was breathing heavily, but had stopped shaking for the moment.
“I’m not going to hurt you. My name’s Link.” He tried a smile so that maybe she would be more at ease.
I know...
“I’m... Ani Bishop...”
“Ani... are you the eighth sage? The sage of oblivion?”
“What?” She seemed to be clueless.
“Are you a sage?” He prodded again.
“There’s eight sages?! Wait... why would I be a sage!?”She stood, starring down at him with her eyes as wide as they were the first time.
“Calm down, please.” Link pleaded with her once more.
“This is crazy... Agh!” Ani fell back onto her bum and held her head, pulled her knees up to her chin and rested her head on them. “This isn’t right... I’m having a dream... it’s a good dream, but I need to wake up.” She muttered, rocking back and forth.
A dream? What? “Look. Just come with me to the castle, we’ll explain everything there.”
Ani’s head rose slightly, eyes wandering. They landed back on Link after a bit of dodging around. “...Ok...” She nodded, looking behind her at the Temple of Time before she stood up again.
Link had managed to calm her down, though she was still jittery when they entered the castle. Sheik and Zelda stared at her when they entered the dining wing.
“Who is that, Link?” Zelda asked, stepping closer to them and eyeing Ani’s clothing.
“Look at her eyes.” Link answered simply, smiling excitedly.
Zelda did, and once she recollected the eye colors from the books description, she took a step back. “....It worked... Sheik, it worked!” She called, whirling around to him.
Ani stared at him as he walked up, testing her with his eye-noting all flaws mentally. “She does not have her power.” He stated flatly, looking her up and down once more. “She emanates no aura.”
“What!?” Link and Zelda shouted at the same time.
“Huh?” Ani just cocked an eyebrow at him. “Of course I don’t have power.” She retorted sourly, leading them all on for an explanation. “I’m weak.”
Sheik’s eyes narrowed, Zelda’s down-cast, and Link’s head hung. “...Why is that disappointing?” Ani asked curiously, completely oblivious.
Zelda stood in front of her, eyes narrowed condescendingly. “It is disappointing because you are the only one who can- mmf!” Sheik covered Zelda’s mouth. Ani gaped at him, one eye more open then the other.
“Uh... right. Why am I here?”
“There is a good reason... that we cannot divulge yet.” Sheik removed his hand upon answering.
“Why not?”
“It’s ... a surprise.”
Ani’s eyes lit up and she clapped, bouncing on her heels, giggling like a giddy child. She stopped all of the sudden and stuck her tongue out at them. “Fine be that way.”
Ran through the trio’s mind all at once as they watched Ani act like a child.
A few days passed with more of Ani’s eccentricities. She was odd- a far odder person than any of them had ever seen, but she kept herself well occupied, and didn’t cause any trouble for them.
Link knocked on her door a week after her arrival. “Ani?” His voice traveled, muffled through the large wooden door in one of the guest hallways.
There was no answer.
“Ani?” He tried again, louder.
“Meh!” A whine came from the room and a soft thwack on the opposite side of the door.
“Ani, you have to get up. I know it’s early, but we need to find out how to get you your power...”
“Where’s my shitty temple? Find that fuckin’ thing and ...whee...” There was a much louder thump following her small ramble. “...Ow...”
“You alright?”
“No.” After some faint scuffling in the room, she opened the door and leaned her head out, arm resting on the doorframe. “What now?” Her eye lids were drooping, large bags underneath them.
“Ok, one: breakfast, two: we’ve got to figure out how to get your powers to awaken.”
“...Do I have a temple?”
“We’re not sure.”
Ani rubbed one of her eyes, a strand of hair getting in it. “Gimme five minutes...”
“Alright, we’ll be in the dining wing.” Link nodded and walked back down the hall.
She closed the door and glared at the dresser at one end of the room. “I’m so glad there’s a way to wash these clothes.” She shook her head and stepped over to it, pulling off the clothes Zelda had lent her to sleep in. Once dressed back in her usual attire, she fixed her hair as best she could in the five minutes she had.
She entered the dining hall with both hands raised in the air flaunting the ‘rock’ symbol (thumb over middle and ring fingers, index and pinky raised) and did a two second head-banger. “Ani-chan... is uber hungry. Let’s eat. Yum yum.”
Ani fell into her chair, the three staring at her. “So... what’s the deal? About the whole ‘find my power’ and ‘lack of temple’ issue thing?” She looked up at them from the table, bangs almost covering her eyes.
“Eat first, and wake up.” Sheik rolled his eyes after speaking and sat across from her. Link sat beside her, and Zelda at the end of the table.
“This breakfast will consist mostly of discussion.” Zelda started on her food.
“Uh... ok? Can we just not eat and tell me what the hell’s goin’ on? Huh? I’ve been here a whole fucking week and none of you have said anything to me about why my power needs to be awakened or what the fuck’s going on, so why don’t we just stop with the secrecy and spill it?”
All of them stared at her, Zelda for the fowl language, but Sheik and Link for the decent point she made, even in her tired state.
Link opened his mouth to answer, but Sheik interjected. “Tomorrow... you are far to tired to learn anything today.”
“...Can I sleep in tomorrow?” She asked, poking the table with her left index finger.
“‘Till when?” Link inquired.
“‘Till when I... get up... aloo... Uh,” She shook her head. “What time is it now?”
“About eight.”
“Ten or eleven...ish.” She nodded to herself and leaned back in her chair. “So, if I learn nothing today, what’s there to be done?”
“I have another meeting, but Sheik and Link will not be attending this one, so... “ Link finished for Zelda. “Whatever you want, I guess.”
A broad smile formed on her face, but her eyes didn’t move from the edge of the table. “Sweet... eating first, though.” She nodded, and straightened herself up. “I’ll probably just hang out or something. ... Or go back to sleep.” She shrugged, forking food from platters in the center of the table onto her plate.
“That sounds good.” Link glanced at Sheik who nodded in agreement, mouth showing for once as he, too, started on his food.
Link and Ani, once Link finally started, were eating at the same pace, which usually happened at breakfast, until Ani slowed down with stuffing her mouth.
“Yes... a nap is good...” She thought aloud once everyone was finished with their meal, and she was resting her head on the table cradled by her crossed arms. “Have fun at the meeting, highness.” She half saluted Zelda, who gave Ani a look of confusion, but awkwardly returned it just the same.
“What’re y’all gonna do today, then?” She looked at Link as she asked.
“We’re not sure. I think I’m going to buy a new shield... mine’s sort of cracking.” He replied with a feebly chuckle.
“It was that peahat, wasn’t it?” Sheik asked, the neck of his clothes back over his lower features.
“Probably, but it didn’t show up until now.”
“Woo, yay, peahat.” Ani rose from her seat, speaking in the most unenthusiastic fashion. “I’m off. Both y’all have fun.” She waved at them before putting her hands in her pockets and walking back up the long, winding staircase to her guest room.
Once Ani was out of hearing distance, Link turned to Sheik. “When are we going to tell her? We keep putting it off...”
“Tomorrow. As I said.” He replied, interlocking the fingers on either of his hands and bringing them before his face, resting his elbows on the table.
Link sighed. “Is it really right, though? Keeping it from her for this long?”
“She is only fifteen years old,... and eccentric... She is unpredictable, and thus we cannot take our chances with what information we give her.”
Link nodded, eyes drifting back to the staircase Ani had taken.
~~
Ani’s head was beneath her pillow, which was covered by the comforter and thin sheet. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the white wall in front of her. The tips of her fingers tapped the corner of the pillow.
So this is definitely Hyrule... Took me a week to figure that out. I’m retarded! Anyway... Hyrule will be different than the game, ... maybe I should go check it out... recon-Ani! Whoot! Maybe I can even find...
Her thoughts were interrupted by the night-guard making his usual rounds on this level. She sighed, and sat up, looking as disheveled as she did when she woke up in the morning. “...Can’t look like this, though...”
She hopped up from the bed and reached into the night stand on the other side of the bed’s drawer and retrieved a hair brush.
Once her hair was back in order and tolerable, she straightened her clothes again since the morning. Flopping onto the bed, she pulled her shoes on and tied them tightly.
She opened the door a crack to see if the guard was done with his nightly check, and left, closing the door silently behind her. Ani quietly crept down the stairs to the main hall. Passing through a few more corridors, she stood just before the rusty side door, freshly locked.
“Shit.” She fiddled with it carefully so it wouldn’t cause a racket, but was unsuccessful in the lock-picking. After cursing another time under her breath she walked down to the castle-basement and entered the library.
“Gah... bigger at night... and when... you’re alone...” She muttered, stepping down the three stairs to the entrance and walked through the labyrinth-like shelves of full rows. “The stupid... there’s gotta be another door... some where...” Her eyes darted around until she caught the tip of a door frame just over a few more bookshelves.
She picked up her pace, and reached the door without making a sound. She sighed, and opened the door, a small smile on her face when it worked, and she closed the door behind her. Let’s see... fence, She pointed out to herself just in front of her. Uh... hill.
“Dude... I’m on the left wall. ...Exactly the same as the right...” She looked over her should at the door she just exited from. “Except for stairs... hm.” She shrugged and slowly peeked from behind the wall.
Security’s tight like a bitch at night...
Guards were lined up at their regular posts, but double the usual amount. Fuck... not cool... Her eyes lingered on the four guards positioned at the front. “Odds are not good...” She sighed soundlessly before drawing in a long breath, and flattened herself against the wall.
Careful... She slowly crab-walked against the fence, trying to keep out of sight while still being a sitting duck. She turned the corner, still unnoticed by the guards, and turned around, climbing up the dirt ledge.
Once she was up, she laid down longways so no one would spot her from the top. Good... But maybe the guards really do sense changes in the wind currents rather than looking at people.
Ani scoffed silently at the prospect. Once it was all clear, she climbed down the other side and flattened herself against it. She watched the guards again, and moved forward when they weren’t watching.
The tall tree by the entrance was her target, to get close enough to it that it would obscure her from the two guards at the gate.
Success.
The eighth sage lingered behind the tree awhile before darting into the market. “Cool. Home free.” She smiled inwardly, passing by shops and houses that were all darkened- seeming devoid of life.
Where would it be different though...? It all looks the same... Ani stopped dead when something caught her eye for a second, bedimming the moon. When she did a double take, the moon was fully showing, not a cloud in the sky.
“Creepy...” She shivered, walking towards the entrance again, feeling something she rarely felt- like she was being watched. “...Why am I being paranoid?” She shook it off once more and proceeded.
Loud voices were calling from the castle, obviously her absence had been noticed. She dashed for the exit, but remembered the drawbridge was closed. “Fuck!” Footsteps sounded behind her, she turned, assuming it was the soldiers coming to retrieve her.
Nothing was before her save for the empty, desolate streets of the market. One eyebrow rose and she scoffed, turning around to smack her face into something hard. She fell back onto her butt.
“Ow! Mother fucker...” Ani felt at her burning nose, a thick liquid slowly drizzling out of both nostrils. “Great...” She grumbled in a whine, wiping her bloody nose with the rim of her sleeve. She sniffed some blood back into her nose making her cough and cringe.
Finished with her nose, she looked up at what she had slammed the fragile cartilage into- her eyes widened.
Towering over her was a cloaked figure, sword drawn and held before the person (which was what she hit her nose on, the flat of the blade). Ani stared back at the piercing crimson gaze the figure, seemed to be a man, was giving her.
Those eyes...
A shriek escaped her and she moved her arm out of reflex to block her face as he brought the sword down just next to her, crumbling the cobblestone street. She looked back at him, the rim of the cloak fallen down around his neck so his face was visible.
“Shit!” She flailed and jumped away from Dark Link as quickly as she could before he swung again, nipping a few small strands of hair from her bangs. Whimpering loudly, she directed herself back to the castle, Dark Link pursuing from the rooftops.
She yelped as he lunged at her, landing the tip of the blade not even an inch from her heel. He slashed at her legs, some how with her flailing dodges she missed all of his swings narrowly. She fell back after his blade finally skimmed her leg, ripping her trousers and some of the skin.
Rolling unintentionally, she held her leg when she stopped, wincing from the blinding pain as the blood flowed away from the wound. He stood over her again, sword at the ready.
Ani yelled, holding her head as she awaited the death blow. Clang! Her peripheral raised.
Dark Link was holding his own head, palms on either temples. His hair was blocking his eyes, but the contortion of his mouth seemed like he was calling in silent pain. Ani slowly reached her hand out to him, inching herself closer without moving her leg to much.
The tips of her fingers almost touched his shoulder before he swatted her hand away.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Anger rang in his voice. She was taken aback, but replied.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He raised his head, eyes set in a glare between his parted fingers. The look was different from the one he had attacked her with. His eyes drifted around the area, lingering on a few shops before going back to Ani.
“Why am I here?” Ani stared at him like he was an idiot.
“You were attacking me!” She shouted, clinging to her bleeding leg afterwards. “Ow..”
“Wait...” He said aloud, unintentionally it seemed, as he never finished what he was saying. He stood up without another word, picked up his sword, and started walking away, still holding his head with one hand.
“Yo! Hold up!” She called after him.
Dark Link stopped but didn’t turn to face her. “Why did you attack me?” His hand dropped to his side limply. Her brow furrowed as his form seemed to disappear right before her.
“Yaah!” She fell back, the tip of the blade embedded into the cobblestone where her leg was a second ago.
His eyes were set back to the emotionless state. She yelped again when she fell on her front into the dirt path entryway towards the castle, and pulled herself into a curled up ball. She felt the swish of the blade close to her back, but it was stopped with a clang just before it was about to slash at her.
“Ani, go!” The familiar voice shouted and raised her eyes to Link who was shielding her from Dark Link’s sword with his own.
“Wha-“
“Go!” Link shouted again.
She scrambled to her feet, dashing erratically, occasionally falling to her hands before she got to the entrance gate. She was breathing in gasps, vision blurring as she made her way to one of the soldiers and collapsed at his feet in a blur on white.
Ani’s eyes opened the slightest bit, the colors of the room all meshed together. “...Uhn...wha?” She mumbled, her eyes opening a bit more so her vision was clear.
“Ani, are you alright?” Link asked, his face hovering over hers. It was dirty, and cut in a few places, his hat as well.
“You’re one to talk...” She laughed quietly. “I’m fine... I think... what happened?”
Sheik summarized what Link had told him after Dark Link disappeared, causing her to sit up and fall back down rapidly. Head rush. She sat up again, slower this time, and stared at Link.
“Where did he go?”
“What?” Link asked with a dumbstruck look.
“Where did Dark Link go?!” She repeated loudly.
“I don’t know, he disappeared... It was like he got eaten by black fire.”
“Oh, that’s astute, sounds like something I’d say!” She looked down at herself, still in a daze. “I’m wearing clothes, right?”
“Yes, why?” Zelda asked, just as confused as the other two.
“I need to find him.” She threw the covers off and stood for a second, falling on her face the next. “How much blood did I loose?!” Ani shouted, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
Link helped her to her feet wearing a stern look unbefitting to him. “Why the hell would you want to find him? He tried to kill you!”
“It’s not revenge,” Sheik blurted. “Ani’s not the vengeful type.”
“No. No I’m not, but something was wrong with him. I think he’s being controlled.” Her gaze fell.
“I doubt that, and what does it matter?!” It was clear to Ani that Link was losing his temper with her. She made her way back to the bed and sat down, eyes on the floor.
“He has a point,” Sheik turned to her. “Dark Link is someone who wouldn’t hesitate to take out an entire village, let alone one person.”
“He hesitated with me!” Ani clenched one of her hands tightly onto the blanket. “...He hesitated before Link came..”
There was a long, awkward silence following her words. Ani continued once she was certain no one else would speak. “I don’t know why, but he did... and when he did, we spoke. He was confused, but when he was leaving, I called to him, and he attacked again... He was going to leave without killing me. Why would he change that in a second? He has a mind of his own, can make choices like any other person because he is any other person-“
“He’s a murderer!” Link shouted, silence befalling them again. Her head hung, eyes narrowed and forming tears that wouldn’t fall out.
“...I know...” She quietly responded, turning to Zelda and Sheik. Apparently Zelda had left without her knowledge. “I know what he’s done is wrong... and I know he could have killed me, but I honestly think he needs help!”
“Do you even think for a second that he would accept your help? Even if that is true?” Link’s recent tone was beginning to disturb her, she flinched each time he yelled. “A heartless bastard like that won’t accept anyone’s help. Especially from someone who’s helping us.”
“He can repent! Anyone-can-repent.” Ani retorted firmly. “I don’t care if you think otherwise, I want to help him!”
She and Link had a small glaring contest, in the middle of which, Link left slamming the door.
“...He’s mad at me now...”
Sheik didn’t reply as he made his way to the door. He stopped before opening it and turned back to Ani, hand on the knob. “Why were you out?”
She looked up, surprise glazing her eyes. “...Recon.”
“You’ll not be permitted to leave for three days...”
“What?!” Her reply was to late, he closed the door and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heehee, lots and lots of A/N's in this fic, ne? So, how does everyone like Ani? Ang was silly for making her -^^-' but this FF wouldn't get very far without her. Anyway! There will be an uncolored pic of Ani I drew up very soon, as soon as Kasuto-sama gets his ass in gear. I will have a colored pic up eventually, as well as a small expression sheet I did today in french class. Go chibi Ani expressions! -dances like a retard-