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4 Swords: Shadowed Truth ch15

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Chapter 15: Prelude to the Storm

"(Veran) Very well, if you won't come to your senses, I'll just have to cut off your hand along with the Triforce piece!"

Veran violently yanks Vaati into the air, a magic whip coiling tightly around his right arm and instantly drawing blood. The crackling black torture devices have revealed themselves to be sharp as razors, a very brutal weapon and seemingly her tool of choice. As he hangs suspended in midair by his arm, she glares maliciously at his glowing, bleeding, heavily burned palm with an intense hatred for the item within. More whips soon follow, binding the rest of the unresisting Wind Sorcerer's limbs.

"(Veran) Have you anything to say for yourself, Vaati? Surrender now, and you'll be spared this pointless torment. This is your last chance, my dear. Please, have some sense."

"(Vaati) ..."

He doesn't respond, hanging limp and motionless in the whips' razor-sharp hold. His usually-brilliant red eyes clouded with pain, Vaati stares dully at the marble floor beneath him, not even bothering to raise his head.

*B-bmp!*

'A-all of a sudden...! Dizzy again...!'

That same image from before flashes through Vaati's mind, still appearing and disappearing too quickly for him to make out any kind of detail. This time, though, it's accompanied by a voice that only he can hear. It is much deeper than his own, yet somehow eerily similar, and he suddenly feels a bit more alert as a significant amount of the pain-filled haze is lifted from his thoughts as the voice echoes through his pain-fogged mind. The purple-skinned sorcerer's eyes widen unconsciously and something about him looks a bit... odd for a split second, too fast to catch.

"(???) You've already been hurt more than enough, you reckless, masochistic imbecile! Fight back!"

A sudden strong blast of wind knocks Veran back and breaks her concentration, releasing Vaati, who falls to the ground with a thud.

"(???) There, now THAT'S more like it! Take better care of yourself, stupid."

The sorceress spots a twitching, reptilian tail peeking out from behind a corner up on the staircase, and screams at this intruder who has just partially come into view. Meanwhile, Vaati is lying on the ground in a slight daze, drained and barely conscious.

'Wh-what was that...? Was that even real...?'

"(Veran) Show yourself!"

She sends a brutal whip of evil energy towards where she saw the tail, smashing part of the staircase.

"(Green) Too slow!"

Green jumps down from the stairs and lands in a crouch next to Vaati, easily dodging Veran's attack.

"(Vaati) *whispering* Wh-what are you... doing, you fool...?! I told you... to get out of here...!"

Green whispers back, grinning conspiratorially.

"(Green) I am getting out of here, but so are you!"

He looks at Veran, raising his voice and flashing a cocky grin at her.

"(Green) Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm taking him with me!"

Green pulls Vaati upright with his human left hand, careful to make it look rough, but actually be quite gentle.

'He's already wounded more than enough without me making it worse on accident,' Green thinks to himself with a slight frown, the sheer amount of damage done to that small body making him equally horrified and angry.

Green protectively furls his wings in close around himself and the tired youth, partially hiding them both from view.

'Why... Why is he helping me?'

The exhausted Wind Sorcerer leans heavily against him, too weak to stand properly and barely conscious. However, from Veran's point of view it looks like Green simply yanked Vaati up, causing the youth to lose his balance and stumble right into the half-dragon boy's grip. The boy is surprisingly good at acting as Veran is completely fooled, growling dangerously at him with her voice full of a deadly intent.

"(Veran) Why you...! *positively enraged*"

Green quickly whispers in Vaati's ear, hiding the movement with his wings.

"(Green) Struggle! Act like I'm kidnapping you!"

Vaati understands what the boy is getting at and struggles weakly in his grip. However, he's quickly approaching his limit and looks ready to pass out at any moment.

"(Vaati) L-let... go...! Let me... go...!"

Green quickly wraps his somewhat-armored right arm around Vaati's torso and lifts him off the ground in one smooth, fluid motion. He then gently taps the purple-skinned on the head with his left hand, making it look like a hit meant to knock Vaati out. Green's right arm seems to have retained not only the form of a dragon, but its strength as well, the mage seeming light as a feather to him. His timing was perfect, as Vaati slips into unconsciousness an instant after the head tap.

"(Vaati) ...Unnnh..."

'Hihi... G-guess it's up to... him, now...'

Green tenses his legs, having an instinctive knowledge of how to move in this form, and takes off. Hovering an inch or so off the ground, he slowly flaps his wings to maintain his position as he stares Veran down, daring her to try and stop him.

"(Veran) Why you... You little brat! You're just like him; always getting in my way! I should have just killed you back in the Sanctuary when I had the chance!"

He laughs and flashes a cheeky, annoying grin at her, infuriating the sorceress even more.

"(Green) Well, it was killing me, but it sure isn't now! Better luck next time, Miss Crazy!"

"(Veran) Grrr! You little...!"

She trails off as a sly, calculating smile appears on her wicked face.

'Wait. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage. All I have to do is strengthen the curse to the level it was at within the purple brat's body. He won't be able to fight my power forever, and when he falls, there is a high probability that he will have reunited with the purple brat and that freak of nature shadow of theirs... Three birds with one stone, and, more importantly, my sweet, sweet revenge!'

Green immediately takes notice of how easily he's escaping and begins to feel uneasy.

'It's going well... TOO well. She hasn't even attacked me yet. I have a bad feeling about this...'

Green carefully tightens his grip on Vaati, then flaps his wings harder, beginning his escape. However, he's a second too late. Sultry, sadistic laughter echoes through the Palace of Winds as Veran's insane, revenge-obsessed gaze focuses on Green, his appearance slightly overlaid by that of another green-clad boy holding an odd-looking harp.

"(Veran) I am Veran, Sorceress of Shadows! How dare you underestimate me! Do you really think you can just leave, fool? You're not getting away that easily, brat. Not without a bit more... suffering, that is! Ahahahaha!"

Veran shoots a concentrated beam of evil energy at the pair, laughing maniacally all the while. With no time to dodge, Green quickly turns and shields Vaati with his body, taking the full force of the attack.

'Just as I expected, he's a complete goody-two-shoes like him! Turning to take the hit and keep my dear little Vaati from getting hurt... That fool doesn't even realize that Vaati is more resistant to magic than he is in the first place! Protecting others, helping others, what's the point?! Power and pain, that's all that really matters! These stupid heroes are so easy to trick because they put others' safety before themselves! It's so idiotic, and just as predictable! The perfect weakness for me to exploit!'

"(Green) Aaaargh!!!"

Pure agony shoots through his system and he screams, his body freezing up. Green begins to fall through the air in a barely-controlled dive back down to Hyrule, clearly in too much pain to fly properly. He doesn't worry about it though. The Palace of Winds is very high up, so he'll have to dive quite far to get back down to Hyrule in the first place. Veran laughs even harder and calls out one last taunt as he disappears into the clouds below.

"(Veran) How pathetic! Your foolish sense of 'justice' will be your doom, brat! Just you wait and see, I will have my revenge! After all, since I cannot punish him, then I will just have to make do with you four and your shadow, five of his descendants! Ahahahaha!"

Green doesn't respond, instead focusing on getting away alive and not giving in to her magic. The Triforce is helping him, of course, but he won't last forever.

'What? Descendants? Is this crazy lady ancient or something? Wait. This "him" she keeps referring to, she thinks I'm descended from him? That all five of us are? All right, I'd better make sure I get this all straight and remember it so I can tell the others.'

Green closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, gathering his thoughts.

'She called herself "Veran, Sorceress of Shadows," and she has a grudge on someone who looked and acted a lot like me, someone from the past... It feels like a really big clue, but I can't make any sense of it. I bet Vio would know something, or at least know where to look to find out. He is the 'smart one,' after all! Ugh, her magic's strong... I don't know how long I can hold out, but I won't give into it, not as long as I can still fight!'

"(Green) Where are you guys? I have to find you... But where to start? The Four Sword isn't resonating."

'Wait. Vaati said he'd seen Shadow...! That means he's GOT to be out there somewhere! But where would he go? Instead of trying to guess, I'll just head for Hyrule Field. Oh, wait. It's nighttime!! Stupid, stupid, stupid! With my luck, I'd just crash into a tree or something! And I don't think I'll be able to stay in the air all night. I need to find somewhere close by, so I can land, help Vaati, and rest until morning.'

Green breaks through the cloud cover and flaps his wings to slow down to a hover, his eyes widening as he's greeted by the beautiful silver-coated view of Hyrule at night. Searching for a place to land, he spots a reddish glow off in the distance and heads toward it. Though he doesn't realize it, the light he's using as a guide is the red-hot lava of Death Mountain.

~Meanwhile...~

'Slowly but surely, I am getting stronger. That Sorceress, however... She's a threat, I can feel it. If I had not intervened when I did, she really WOULD have chopped off his hand. Especially with how Din-forsaken masochistic he seems to be. ^.^; And now the curse tainting that annoying green kid's body fills me with a strong sense of foreboding. Well, he's still the same brave little idiot I remember, at least. Nothing short of a miracle could change that. I wonder how long I've been asleep...'

"(???) Hihihi... This situation possesses such a beautiful sense of irony, with that kid now being in danger of losing himself to that insane power of hers."


A deep, low-pitched laugh echoes through the darkness.

"(???) Oh, such irony indeed! "Courage" falls into chaos, while "Power" is the one waiting in the wings to stop it! Hihihi!"
Teehee! A cookie for anyone who guesses the identity of the mystery voice in Vaati's head! I'll give you one hint: it's not Ganondorf! Oh, and that "Sorceress of Shadows" title is straight out of Oracle of Ages, the game Veran comes from...

chapter 14: [link]
chapter 16: [link]

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