A Murderer's Son: A Zelink Story

Chapter 5

*Omg this chapter. I'm so in love w this chapter. I even got AI to make a picture for it. It took forever to write plz appreciate😭😭*

Crunching footsteps along the hard ground shook me awake. Whoever it was halted, probably to inspect the many garments suddenly hanging from a banana tree. In this short period of tense silence, my head flipped round to be met with Link's widened eyes and creeping laughter. 

"Oh my God," I mouthed, carefully lifting the blanket as the footsteps drew nearer to the tent.

Link began gathering up his things, confirming for the stranger that there indeed was somebody living inside his tent. Upon further inspection, the man immediately spotted us, his face screwing up in anger as he yelled, "HEY!"

"Sorry, sir!" I cried as me and Link made a run for it, dashing out of the tent. I quickly snatched my clothes and boots, the man chasing after us. "GET BACK HERE!" He yelled, the vein in his forehead pulsing at the mere sight of us. His heavy feet trampled the ground behind us, but we were quick to dodge his flailing arms and attempted attacks. I held onto Link's arm as he lead the way, sprinting through the level sands, disturbing the sheets into clouds that hung round his feet. The two of us giggling uncontrollably as the man chasing us spluttered and grasped for us before toppling over, shouting strings of curses that echoed for miles behind us.

Once done running, me and Link erupted into laughter, him placing his palms on his knees to catch his breath and then placing them behind his the back of his head, stretching his torso. "That was a close one," He snickered, "I almost tripped up back there."

"God, I..." My pants were uncontrollable, confirming yesterday's theory that I truly was lacking excercise. "...I couldn't..."

"Couldn't what?" Link teased, putting his hands back on his knees to look up at me from underneath my hunched-over body. "Couldn't win a race? No, I don't think so either, Princess."

Once I'd regained my dignity and straightened my back, I noticed something in the distance. A vehicle, horse and carriage, headed straight for us, its two black beauties galloping with boast and with ease. Once the carriage got close enough, the driver seemed to take note of us, slowing her horses down until their hooves scraped the dirt into puffs of dust.

"Damn, have you kids just outran a yiga or what?" She exclaimed, her voice laced with chuckles. She flicked her chin up at me, whistling. "Girl, careful. You're practically in a nightdress."

"Can you help us?" I asked, my frail voice still recovering from the run. 

The lady craned her neck, scanning the horizon behind her. "You tryna go that way?" She grilled, her voice like this ever-shifting melody. She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "No can do, kids. Sorry. I'm off to sell my stuff at the market. But this is a road, so maybe some other sucker'll come along and take you on board."

I gripped my forehead, turning to Link with a worry-stricken face. "Maybe we should just walk."

He shrugged in response. Helpful. Were all eighteen-year-olds this way?

Scoffing in astonishment, however, the lady's voice cracked before she said, "Looks like you're in luck."

On the horizon behind us, approaching at immense speed, was another horse and carriage, but this one drew a wooden cart filled with hay. 

"Good luck!" She bid before slashing her horses with the reins, setting them off once more into the distance with head flicks and gruffs of superiority.

I gazed after them. "Don't you just love horses?"

"Wrong thing to be focusing on," Link added, beginning to dash for the battered carriage. I ran behind him, my bare feet beginning to throb from the impact of the gritty earth on my supple skin. He leaped on, but wouldn't haul himself fully up until he stretched an arm out to me. Me, of course, who was too slow, and was reaching an unsteady arm towards his already planted self, my boots and clothes still hanging from one arm.