Ria's Writing Corner
Earthbound Millennium : Moon Saga
Chapter 21: Spiritual Awakening
She munched hungerly at the plate of food before her. Her friends decided that if they gave her less food she'd come out. The plan backfired. She saved scraps from all her meals. Her friends stared at her worriedly. "You can't stay in here all day! You must leave!" They pleaded. Nabooru snarled and glared at her friends with her yellow orange eyes. "No!" she growled. An annoyed sigh broke out behind them. "Nabooru!" The voice yelled. The tone sounded irritated. A Gerudo pushed herself between the other girls. "You weak coward!"
The voice yelled again. The other girls gasped in horror. No one would ever dare speak to Nabooru in such a way. "You stay inside all day and night! You think your safe! HA!" The girl's blue hair bounced with her short laugh. Nabooru took a look at her friend. This friend had an orangey fire in her eyes. The girl's hair was pale blue with green tips. "You need to train yourself! You can't fight anyone sulking in here!" Thr girl crossed her arms, her expression never changing. "Maysla..." Nabooru stood up. She took a look at herself. Maysla was right. She couldn't defend herself properly in this condition. She much skinnier than before and it looked like her ribs were trying to slice through her skin. Her eyes were dulling from malnutrition and the muscles she tried to get were disappearing. "Alright. I'll leave." Nabooru smiled and everyone cheered. Maysla grinned. Nabooru ordered more food for both her and Maysla. While Maysla tried to protest, her stomache argues and she sat down. "Y'know...I'm sorry. You're going to be just fine." Maysla poked at her meal. "I know." was all Nabooru said.
"Oh, come out!" Reeses put her hands on her hips. "We have her power! She's safe!" The only answer she got were sobs from Zelda. "Zel!" Link also knocked on her door. Again, the only answer they recieved were Zelda's pained cries. "Why won't she come out?" Razz held his head. He couldn't take anymore. It felt like a week long child's tantrum. When would it stop! Gabrielle just stared at the ground. While her eyes seemed childish and innocent, there was also a faint hint that she knew something. "Razz..." Reeses made a motion that she wanted to talk to him alone. Razz timidly walked to his cousin as Reeses sat Gabrielle on a chair a few feet away. "Yeah?" He asked. Reeses just stared coldly at the wall next to him. "I'm leaving." She had such an icey tone in her voice that Razz froze. "We can't! We have to find this girl and save these people!" Razz hissed. "I can do that from my own house." Reeses turned and just walked away. Her attitude enhanced her features. The black portion of her face seemed much blacker than Razz remembered. Her eyes burned with rage about everthing around her. Trailing behind her was Gabrielle, never wanting to leave her side. She fell behind like some toy or blanket and Reeses was the child. Razz sighed. He agreed. Maybe they should leave. "'Causing nothing but trouble anyway." he whispered under his breath and went to be near Zaterl. Link just stared at Reeses as she left. He couldn't help but watch the way her hair bounced on her neck as she strides or how the lines of her back seemed to move gracefully with each step. He sighed.
No matter what he can't seem to tell her how he felt. "Link?" Zaterl waved a hand in front of his face. "Huh?" Link snapped back into reality. "You've been out of it since we returned..." Zaterl was concerned. She didn't like it when her friends were sad. She wanted to find the problem and fix it. Link stared at Zaterl in a daze. "I'm fine." Zaterl tilted her head. She didn't believe him but agreed with his words anyway. Razz had a feeling about Link's oddness. He didn't want to blab it out without being sure.
The next morning Reeses and Razz decided to tell everyone their news. "Where's Link?" Razz yawned. "Where else?" Zaterl sighed. "In his room. He's sulking." Zaterl rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up. "Mm." Reeses mumbled. "Zelda?" Razz did another yawn. "Door is still locked." Zaterl fiddled with her pajamas. All the nonsense she witnessed the past few weeks made her antsy. She jumped at every little thing and she never wanted to be alone. Her ability to see the future really frightened her. Around noon, Link emerged from the room. "Link!" Zaterl called cheerfully. Link just grunted a response and walked to Zelda's garden. Zaterl sighed sadly. She really wished she could help.
Link needed help. He spent half the day locked in the room and the other half in the garden. After losing Impa's body, he broke. He couldn't take it anymore. He sat on the oak bench thinking up ideas that could never happen. He wanted to tell Reeses how he felt. He hoped his feeling weren't just puppy love. She was just too unique to pass up. Whenever she walked by, his whole body would swell up like he was just stung by thousands of bees. The only time he didn't have such feelings was when they were trying to save one of his friends. Though, that could be a horrible time to ask her out. Sulking wasn't going to help, he knew that. If only something could snap him out of it.
Razz sat down on his bed. "Are you sure you want to leave?" He didn't wish to leave the palace. Razz loved the place, especially the food. "We must." Reeses looked around. "We're too much of a threat here. Maybe if we go Zelda will cheer up." She layed out some cloth. She didn't bring anything besides her sword but she wanted to take things home to mom. "What makes you think that just because we leave Zelda will be happy!" Razz wanted to yell but he knew his place. Reesess won't back down. "What about Gabrielle? Our friends?" Razz grumbled. Reeses shook her head. "My decision is set, Razz. I want to leave. I'll tell Zaterl and Link later." Reeses put some small trinkets in the cloth. Reeses looked at Razz. "You can stay. I'm not forcing you to go with me." She turned her back on him which told Razz the conversation was over. He sighed. He couldn't let her go anywhere alone. It would be dangerous. "Let's tell them now." Razz got up. Reeses turned her head slightly. He wanted to go? She shook her head again and agreed. "Let's go find them."
The two stoof in the doorway. Link was plucking things off his tunic while Zaterl brushed her hair. "Well, if you haven't noticed..." Razz started, shuffling the cloth in his hands. Zaterl caught sight and gasped inside. "What's going on?" She squeaked. "We're leaving." Reeses just yawned and fiddled with her own cloth. "What!" Link shot up. "Y-you can't!" He cried. "I am." Reeses hit a tone meaning she was the only one leaving. Link sighed. He couldn't change her mind by talking. He just didn't want her to leave. Reeses took this opportunity to take out her usual bad habit, smoking. She pulled out a white stick from her pocket and lit a match. She lit the stick and threw the match away. 'She's not leaving.' Link thought bitterly. Zaterl sighed deeply. She decided to do something impossible. Cheer Zelda up. Zaterl meekly knocked on the door and was greeted by a crackly "Go away!" from a broken hearted woman. Zaterl wasn't going to give up. She moved the door knob and the door opened. She peeked in. The room was a disaster. Broken glass scattered on the floor, clothes were tossed about. "Ugh!" She grunted in disgust. Zelda gasped and stared at Zaterl. Zaterl took a good look at their princess. The beautiful, powerful authority figure they once knew suddenly looked so weak and helpless. Zaterl was about to cry looking at her. The brown, silky hair that once shined with the sun was now ragged and tangled. The face was white and sunken.
"Oh, Zelda!" Zaterl got on her knees next to Zelda. "You're hurting yourself!" Zelda gave Zaterl the look of death. "I don't care!" Her voice was scratchy and raspy. "Zelda! You have to get up!" Zaterl stood up, determined. "You can't live like this!" She exclaimed. "The room needs cleaning! You need a bath and food!" Zaterl grabbed Zelda by the shoulders and stared into her dulling blue eyes. "We're going to get Impa back, okay! We're all going to save everyone!" Zaterl had such a rush overflow her that she didn't know what she was doing. Zelda smiled. She knew Zaterl was right. This sad state she was in had to end at some point. "Thanks, Zaterl." Zelda rose to her feet. "Guess I'll have to clean..." Zelda tinkered with some clothes lazily and ignored Zaterl.
She stretched her honey tanned arms. She forgot how well it felt to be out in the sun. "Catch!" A cheerful voice giggled and thrusted a spear at the lovely Queen of Thieves. Nabooru caught the spear in confusion. "Let's hope you didn't forget anything!" Nabooru's fair skinned friend, Maysla clutched her spear. Nabooru smiled. "Ah. A spar you want, is it?" Maysla nodded. Maysla then got into position. She stretched her right leg and tucked the other one under her. She bent down and held the spear away from her. Nabooru grinned and got into a position that seemed similar to ballet's first position. She held her spear over her head and watched Maysla. The air was silent. Maysla, impaitent, set off like a rocket towards Nabooru. Nabooru twirled her weapon and used it for defense. Maysla's head bounced off the hard wood and she flung backwards.
Nabooru chuckled. She flung her spear down, the sharp tip just missing Maysla's ear. "Seems you haven't lost your touch!" Maysla laughed and jumped up. She twisted her body and spun at Nabooru. The sharp end of the spear pointing out. Nabooru ducked and swung her left foot. Maysla then fell on her buttocks. "Ungh!" She gasped and tried to stop the pain from getting to her legs. Nabooru smirked. Maysla rose and just swung her spear at her friend's face. Nabooru let herself fall to the ground and roll behind Maysla. She jumped up and pricked the back of Maysla's head with the spear. Maysla dropped her spear in defeat. The place was silent again. Nabooru chuckled which turned into full fledged laughter. Maysla joined in soon after.
Maysla coughed and twiddled her thumbs. "Um, Nabooru..." she started. Maysla stuttered. She knew asking this question could loser her a friend but she had to know the answer. "Okay, yeah. I've been meaning to ask... this..." Maysla poked at the ground with the tip of her foot. "Yes...?" Nabooru was getting frustrated with her friend. "How did you become the Queen of Thieves?" Maysla said this so suddenly and aruptly, Nabooru fell over. Sitting back up she giggled. "So you want to know, 'eh?" Maysla nodded. Oh, did she! The whole thought about how one was chosen excited her. Did they fight for the title? Did they have tests of knowledge? She got closer to Nabooru and listened. She didn't want to miss a single detail. Nabooru sighed mentally. Should she say anything? The real reason she got the term was stupid. She didn't understand much of anything back then. All she wanted was to be like her mother. Though, she wondered, if her mother went through the same thing. "Well it all started..." Nabooru began.
"Mom! Mom!" A teenager called out. "I got chosen!" The teen who was almost an adult squealed like a child. "I can't believe it!" She hugged the paper she was holding and giggled non stop. The girl's shiney crimson hair hid her glowing face. "Chosen?" A taller woman waltzed in. She was a warrior, you could tell. Her clothes weren't too baggy and had many scars. "I could be the next queen!" The younger one swirled around happily. "Oh. That." The taller one faked a smile. "Now, Nabooru darling..." She wanted to tell her something but the teen wouldn't stop babbling. "Oh, mom! He must've seen me practice using two swords!" Nabooru rushed off laughing.
"Okay..." She whispered as she slipped into a more tight fitting garment. Baggy clothes wouldn't do for what she was planning. Tieing her red hair into a bun, Nabooru was ready to prove herself. She rushed away from the Fortress and stealthfully stalked the Market Place. Waiting until the last light turned out, she struck. She robbed all the stored within an hour. She left just as she came. No one was ever aware of her presence. She became exhausted when she returned home and slept right on her prize. "Oh!" "Nabooru!" Everyone around her giggled. "She's so awesome!" One girl sighed dreamily. "Nabooru." A slim, dark skinned Gerudo pushed her way through the crowd. "You have trained yourself to use two sword and have proven your worth by robbing the one place, others have failed. Ganondorf would like to see you." The taller Gerudo walked away. Nabooru jumped up. "Really!" Her golden eyes sparkled in the rising sun. "Ma!" She cried and looked for her mother in the crowd. What she saw was some heartbroken woman with tears coming out of her eyes. "Ma...?" Nabooru tilted her head but was dragged away by the other Gerudo.
The hall was golden with tribal markings everywhere. Nabooru was in awe at her surroundings. What got her attention most of all was the tall figure sitting in an even bigger throne. The figures skin was dark chocolate and the hair was red as blood, much like her own. She got on one knee and bowed to him. This was the perfect moment she had ever had.
"...Or so I thought at the time. I had no idea it was going to be much different..." Nabooru had laid down by now and was fully aware of how alert Maylsa had become. She stared at the sky for a moment. 'If only she was this alert all the time.' She thought. "So anyway..."
A month had passed and Nabooru wondered if she was doing the right thing. Instead of learning how to fight or defend herself, she was wearing skimpy outfits and serving him food. "Um, Ganondorf..." Nabooru said as sweetly as she could. "Shh!" Her leader hissed. Nabooru peeked over his shoulder. Seemed he was writing plans on taking over Hyrule. Nabooru moved a slender finger around some of the text. Ganondorf scuffed. "You can't get Hyrule like this." She said simply. This angered Ganondorf. "Excuse me!" He bellowed and Nabooru shivered. "None of your plans involve the key factor - the princess." Ganondorf just grinned.
"Come on.." He whispered as he held her in his arms. "You want to become queen?" His voice was so low Nabooru was having a hard time hearing him. "I ..I do.." Nabooru tried to push him away but Ganondorf wouldn't move. "Then do as I say..." He chuckled.
"So ..yeah..." Nabooru coughed. She couldn't continue. What happened was something she never wanted to witness again. She was glad he was gone. Her fellow warrior were safe. Maysla sighed. She didn't know her friend went through such torture to get the highest rank. She was glad she never tried to be the best then. "Oh, Nab!" Maysla cried and pulled the surprised woman into a hug. Nabooru looked at the ground. Should she tell her that she already made a decision?
Reeses tied the knot of her cloth tighter. She didn't want to risk losing what little she had already. "Hrm..." She rubbed her chin. Something felt odd but she couldn't place it. "'Eh..." She shrugged the feeling off and turned around only to be stopped by one angry Hyrulian. "...?" Reeses backed up. The Hyrulian said nothing. His golden yellow hair had gotten paler as with his skin. He continued to say nothing. He kept himself in the doorway making sure Reeses couldn't get out. He lifted his head and his violet blue eyes turned indigo with rage. His eyes, if they could speak, would be screaming and cursing away. He stared at Reeses's own eyes, not budging one bit.