The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Today was a new day Melissa told herself and she was going to get Chara to teach her Hylian if it was the last thing she did today. She had realized that if she were to actually escape she would still be unable to communicate so it was probably a good thing she hadn't had the chance the night before. Melissa knew her door was open but she still waited to see if they were going to escort her down. She waited for what seemed hours before she decided to chance going by herself. She would hopefully be early enough that she could avoid Ganondorf or Armos. She ate her portion, drank the cactus juice, then went in search of Chara. It didn’t take long to find her. They practically bumped into each other in the hall where she pleaded with Chara to teach her. The only thing that had convinced Chara was if Melissa could speak Hylian she could teach Chara the ancient language. “After magic practice” Chara promised but Melissa had no intention of going today. “Don’t be surprised if I play hooky today.” Melissa told her. “What’s a hooky?” She asked. “It just means I won’t be there.” Melissa replied not knowing what she was going to do instead. Armos might come and look for her and she didn’t want that. Then again he may think he got all the info he needed and not even care. She would just have to hide somewhere all day till practice was over. But where? She decided to go back to the stable and visit Trinexx. When she got there the stable hands were busy cleaning out the stalls. Most of the horses had been taken out and gotten ready for whatever they were going to do today. Trinexx was the only one left alone. He neighed at her approach which caught everyone’s attention. She didn’t look at anyone as she made her way to the horse. One of the Gerudo’s grabbed her arm and pointed to the horse shaking her head. Melissa guessed she was trying to warn her about the horse but Melissa already knew Trinexx didn’t mind her. She ignored the girl and went up to the horse. Trinexx whinnied and lowered his head for her to reach. She scratched behind his ears again which seemed to be the horse’s favorite. The women gave each other relieved looks. One handed her some stall cleaning equipment. Melissa didn’t mind. If she was going to hang here for a while she might as well help out. She started cleaning out the stall and when she was done she found a brush. Trinexx seemed to really enjoy the grooming. After the cleaning was done the girls filled the water and food pails then left, leaving Melissa alone. She didn’t care at all. She just stood there grooming Trinexx singing songs from home. The horse seemed to enjoy this as well nudging her when she stopped. Was the horse trying to encourage her to sing? She laughed at that thought. Who thought Ganon’s war horse would love music. She started to sing another song. Something she had heard recently by a group called Florence and the Machine. “A falling star fell from your heart, and landed in my eyes.” She started singing.”I screamed aloud as it tore through the midnight, it’s left me blind.” The horse seemed to bob its head in time with the song which encouraged her to continue.”The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out, you’ve left me in the dark.” Melissa was unaware of the figure behind her. She was too enthralled with her music and with brushing Trinexx. “No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight, in the shadow of your heart.” She had always thought this song would make a good choice for a twilight princess music video but had never taken the time to make one. ”And in the dark, I can hear your heart beat, I tried to find the sound. But then it stopped and I was in the darkness, so darkness I became.” Melissa sang with confidence resounding in each note and brush stroke. ”Really?” Said Armos’s voice from behind her, shattering all her built up courage in one word. She froze. “No don’t stop on my account.” he said looking cross when she turned to the sound of his voice.”It’s not like you had practice this morning.” She was in for it now. Chara had probably told on her. Trinexx nudged her whickering. Fine if he was going to be a jerk she could just go on ignoring him. “The stars, the moon.” She began to sing the refrain again. She turned away from him pretending he wasn’t bothering her. “they have all been blown out, you left me in the dark, no dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight, in the shadow of your heart.” Was he just going to stand there? She was sure he had other important things to do. She started to hum the middle part starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.”I took the stars from my eyes and then I made a map, I knew that somehow I could find my way back. Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness to. So I stayed in the darkness with you.” She sang the last verse finishing with Trinexx and turned and walked past Armos without even looking at him. He grabbed her by the arm. “Where do you think you are going?” he demanded. She yanked her arm back from him. “I have done nothing wrong!” she shouted back at him. “ I helped clean the stables this morning and gave Trinexx a well deserved brushing for the wonderful ride last night.” Armos just folded his arms looking cross but he didn't yell at her. Instead he spoke calmly to her with a look of anger that he was keeping in check making her more nervous than if he had actually yelled. “I am sure he appreciates it but I have been waiting on you for a while now. I had decided to let you have a little more freedom but now I think that decision was a little to hasty. You still seem not to know your place here. I don't have time to waist on silly little girls.” What did he mean he had decided? He didn't have that authority... did he? The night before had made her feel as if she were just being used and she just couldn't figure out why, if he had gotten what information he needed from her, would he care if she learned anything? “Why do you care if I learn magic so much?” She demanded. “You got all the information I knew yesterday. Don’t think I didn’t know what you were doing.” He looked taken aback. “You can pretend all you want but I’m not stupid.”Melissa said with a huff getting angrier the more she let herself talk. ”All that flattery, pretending you thought I was pretty, taking me for a moon lit ride.” She was just so angry at being used and she knew she should just shut up but she just couldn't stop herself. “I wouldn’t tell you anything about the sword of kings even if I knew. It is none of your business anyway. The sword of kings is only for the king right? And you’re not king.” She stormed away without letting him have time to speak. She probably shouldn’t have said that last part. He could probably guess now that she did know something more but it was too late to take it back. Melissa spent the rest of the day exploring what there was to do in the temple. She would find something to do that wasn’t magic related. She had done magic by accident but already she knew she didn’t like the draining feeling it put on her. There was a dancer’s guild that entertained the king, Cooks that prepared the food, and the warriors outside. She couldn’t dance…at least not in public, She usually burnt her food, and well she wasn’t physically able to do the things the warriors were able to do. She gave up discouraged. While walking she came across a room of mirrors. It was an odd kind of place why would they have a room like this. She stepped in and looked at herself. It had only been a few days here but already she had lost a little weight from a combination of stress, weird food, and the heat. Still not very pretty she thought. Of course she had never thought of herself that way even when Jimmy would tell her so. She dropped her head. She couldn’t find a single thing to do. Now what? She skipped dinner that night. She didn’t want to run into anyone. Chara had come to her room that night to teach her and Melissa was actually getting the hang of it by the time Chara left. She was a long ways from being fluent but it was a start. Chara had told her that when she hadn’t shown up Armos had been really upset. Apparently he punched a hole in the wall. Melissa thought by now he was probably thinking up a new way to drag the information out of her. For the next few days she found ways to avoid Armos and his lessons. She kept a constant eye out for him and once he even spotted her but she dashed away before he could catch her. She had become much more familiar with the temple and it was getting easier for her to hide from him. She had been worried that because of this they might start locking her door again but they never did. Several times he came to her room looking for her but she would just pretended to be asleep. Tonight he seemed particularly upset with her for not showing up but no matter how hard he shook her and how loudly he yelled she refused to open her eyes. She swung her arm at him pretending to sleep hit him and he stopped giving up. She heard him sigh and felt him brush a strand of hair from her face. His hand trailed the side of her face and paused at her lips. What was he doing?!?!? He sat like that for a while before planting a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes almost opened from shock. She felt him get up and heard the door open and close. She sat up straight away putting a hand to her forehead. Wasn't he just mad at her? Why... why did he just kiss her? Melissa was more than just a little confused and couldn't help but blush. The next morning she debated whether or not to go to the main hall at all. She hadn’t seen Ganon since a few nights ago and wondered what had happened to him. Why should she care though? The less she saw of him the better right? The main reason though was the fact that she didn't know how to act the next time she saw Armos. He wasn't a pretty boy but he wasn't bad looking either. She felt her face flush and felt instantly guilty. Was she attracted to this man? She couldn't be. She wouldn't let herself be. Jimmy was waiting for her at home and she would do what it took to get back. Her hunger eventually won out and she trekked solemnly to the main hall. She ate as quickly as she could then went back outside to see Trinexx. Armos of course was waiting for her just outside the doors. She turned around to go back inside so he wouldn't see the blush creeping across her face but he wouldn’t allow her to leave. He grabbed her arm and dragged her all the way to magic practice. No matter how much she struggled he wouldn’t let her free. They entered the room and Koume and Kotake just watched them as they passed. He finally released her once inside the separate training room and locked the door. “No more running.” he said. “Magic is a part of who you are and I won’t let you waist it.” Acting as if Melissa hadn’t called him on his behavior. “We will not leave here till you master the fire ball. So I suggest you listen well.” “Well then we will be hear till one of us dies because the chances of that are unlikely.” Melissa responded angrily but no matter how angry she was she knew better than to disobey. They practiced all day with the same results as the first training session. “Are you even concentrating!” He yelled at her when she once again failed. She felt so distracted. Her thoughts kept going back to last night but then she remembered she was angry at him. She felt so confused. She didn't quite know how to feel about him now. Not that being distracted had anything to do with her inability to perform a simple spell. She was pretty sure even if she was fully concentrated she wouldn't be able to do anything. It was getting to be late before he had finally pissed her off so much something actually did happen. She guessed it was a combination of him barking commands at her, yelling at what she had done wrong, and being hungry. She tried one last time concentrating as hard as she could willing the fire to appear in her hand. What happened in stead was more than just a little fire ball. Fire engulfed her making her yelp in surprise. It didn’t hurt at all and she wondered if maybe she was dying. Surely she would feel some sort of pain but she only felt a tickling sensation as the flames licked her whole body. Her hair floated around her face making it almost look like fire it’s self. Armos jumped back surprised. She lifted her arm to look at herself and the fire went out. Leaving her naked. “Eek!” She screamed covering herself as quickly as she could. She concentrated on the fire once more willing it to surround her, and it did. At least with the fire around her body it wasn’t as visible that she had no clothes. “I told you I didn’t want to learn.”She said now angrier from embarrassment than anything else. He had that amused look on his face again. “Your magic has a mind of its own.” He observed. “How is this not burning me and now what am I going to wear?” She asked trying to keep the flames up. It was slowly draining her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. “I’ll be right back.” he said looking pleased with himself but didn't answer her. He brought back a shirt and pair of pants that was way too big for her. She guessed it probably belonged to him. “Turn around.” she said giving him a stern look with which he complied wearing a lopsided smile on his face. She dropped the flames and quickly pulled the shirt over her head. The pants ended up being too big as well but she tied them as tight as she could. “You may keep these till you get some new clothes.”He said laughing at how funny she looked in his clothes. They smelled of him. It was a musty earthy smell and she hated to admit it but she kind of liked that smell. It reminded her of her being in the woods at her parent's house. She shook her head. What was she thinking? She needed to stop these thoughts before they became something else. “Now.” he said. ”See if you can focus it to your hand and not your entire body.” ”Damn It! Do I have to? I don’t want to be naked again.” said Melissa irritated. “Humor me.” He laughed.”You’re so close. Do this and we can call it a day.” She looked at her hand then closed her eyes and tried once more. She opened them when she felt the tickle of the fire around her hand. Well it wasn’t a ball but at least it wasn’t all over. She smiled holding up her hand to look at what she had accomplished. “Much better.” she said to herself. “Can we get something to eat now?” she pleaded with puppy dog eyes. “Alright let’s find some food.” He chuckled unsealing the door and they walked out.