#comments loved!

~

King Crimson's face started to contort as the blood magic constructed his face into a permanent scowl. The monster of a man stood over Mojo and Jugo, blood swirling around him. The battle for survival had begun. Lunging at Corsaire, his hands grew sharp bladed swords made of blood, swiping at the Captain.

THWANG!!!

The blades of blood would not pierce Corsaire's metal arm. If there was one thing the captain was eternally grateful for, it was the unbreakable arm that Rat bought for him. Mojo and Juju quickly got to their feet, piercing the king from the back with their blades.

King Crimson real face started to peek through as his disguise left him to heal his back and face. He had the scent of a man of the ocean, and long, dirty hair. Distinct tattoos ran from his neck down his back. A snarl left his lips, and raising his hand, the blood in the room started to churn, and tendrils from the liquid shot out to pierce the torso's of these peasants.

Corsaire did the only thing he could do at this point. Striking the wooden floor with his hand, the ground disappeared beneath his feet, Mojo's and Juju's. It was just in time as well, for another reason he did this particular move was because of Halvar. The young prince had swung by on a rope... and dropped a bomb canister.

King Crimson growled, taking his most valuable book and retreating as his office combusted into a terrible explosion. He’d make these upstarts pay.

~

Liz was leading the prisoners to safety, when she heard a scream down the hall. She recognized it immediately as her father. She knew she shouldn't have gone alone, but she felt compelled regardless. Rushing to his aid, she opened a door to find two figures dimly illuminated in the dark. One was leaned farther away against the wall, and the other was face first in the blood. His white hair was stained by the liquid, his body as mess from some unseen torture Liz had not witnessed. Carefully picking him up, she recognized it as the face of her father. "Father. I'm going to get you out of here."

As she started to carry him out, she noticed the other man reaching out to her. As he got closer into the light, it was revealed he was also Bakura. Liz was taken completely by surprise. "Father? What?"

The man she was carrying around her shoulder smiled, and with a quick motion, took her knife, stabbed her in the chest, and kicked her to the side. Liz landed into the blood with a loud scream of pain. Seth smiled, looking at Bakura. The two of them, with the help of King Crimson's magic, had separated into two separate bodies. It left them both weakened, their bodies shocked, however, Seth was ecstatic to begin his carnage on his own. "Finally. I'm free of you and your bloodline."

Bakura rose slowly, up against the wall. Gods. He was free of Seth, but his body was so weak from the ritual. He watched as Seth was forced from his mind, with a swirl of blood to clone his body as a temple for the alter-ego. Now this monster had finally hurt one of his girls. "Seth. You don't need to kill us. You can leave."

"No. No we both know that's not going to happen."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I hate you. Like you hate me."

"I never wanted to hate you."

"Really? All I did was protect your fragile mind from threats."

"You saw everything and everyone as a threat."

"Because they were."

"You're the reason I didn't have a good life."

"I gave you a life Bakura."

"No... I gave myself a life to live for. And if I have to kill you to keep that life safe, so be it Seth."

"The purple piper plays your final tune Bakura. Can't you hear it?"

As Seth raised his knife, Liz stretched her hand as best she could, grabbing Seth by the foot to sear his leg with fire. This was enough of a distraction for Bakura to tackle Seth into the blood. Seth's body was slippery in the blood, slithering like a cobra out of Bakura's killing reach. The Shiekah battled the Yiga, giving Seth punches as they rolled around. Seth hissed, slashing Bakura's skin with deep cuts.

Bakura fought with all his will, but he was getting tired. Seth gave Liz a kick to her stab wound, causing her to keel over. With a smile, he pushed Bakura to the ground and thrust one knife into Bakura's stomach, and stabbed downwards to stab Bakura in the neck with another. The Shiekah grasped Seth's hand, losing the strength to hold him back.

"First I'm going to kill you. Than I'll kill Liz. Than I'll fuck the hell out of Lex. Beautiful thing she is.” Seth licked his lips, his eyes full of insane hatred. “Than to finish, I'm going to find Adda, and I'm going to burn her, and her whole people at the stake. One giant extermination."

"Go. To. Hell."

"I'll see you there first Bakura."

Bakura's looked into Seth's rage filled eyes and saw their history. He remembered how as a young lad he was kidnapped by a rival clan. His body was sliced open, burnt, and exposed to all manners of pain. He remembered how his mind cracked, snapped, and contorted, as all he felt was fear and hatred. Finally, the hatred couldn't co-exist with the fear, and Seth was born to cope with the torture. Seth was a part of him that he couldn't deny, because the more he tried to, the stronger Seth became. A self cycle of hatred fueled their bond. Now Bakura wondered how things could have been different. Seth twisted the knife in Bakura's stomach and the Shiekah knew that he was going to lose.

"Mojo?" Corsaire held the back of his skull, wincing. "Juju? You two alive?"

"Aye, but wish me wasn't." Juju groaned aloud. "Everything hurts."

"Hurt'in lets us know we's alive." Mojo grimaced. "Where's we at?"

"I think... we're in the basement. And I hear screaming."

"Dat sounds like Bakie."

"Pretty sure it's Bakie."

"Let's go find him before the idiot gets himself killed."

"If we rescue him, he owes us drinks."

"Fuck a drink, he owes us a whole bar!"

Corsaire, Juju, and Mojo stumbled through the dark, heading to the sound of the screams. Before the brothers rounded the corner, the captain held them back. He heard the struggling, the conversation, and knew not only Liz was in trouble, but Bakura. There were... two of him. Seth's voice, he knew the difference, he could sense the bloodlust. So he stopped, took a breath... and fired.

Seth felt the bullet go through his chest, and he looked down at Bakura, shock filling his eyes. The madman’s face shifted from wrath to pure confusion. Bakura looked back at Seth, a moment of hesitation between them. Seth didn't move, processing how a bullet pierced his lung, but Bakura did. Taking the knife from his counterpart, Bakura thrust the blade into Seth's neck, and blood oozed from his throat down onto Bakura. The Shiekah looked back into Seth’s eyes as he pushed the knife deeper. Seth fell onto his side, and Bakura kept the pressure up, climbing atop the Yiga.

Many thoughts raced through Seth's mind, but he no longer had the capacity to speak them. Bakura’s eyes were filled with conflict, guilt, and then relief. Seth followed in suit, a light smile creeping on his lips. The hate. The hatred was disappearing. Maybe he could rest now. Finally rest…

Pulling the knife out, Bakura caught Seth and set him down gently. He put his fingers to Seth's palm, not breaking contact until he felt the last heartbeat go.

"You are... a giant pain in the ass to find." Corsaire staggered up to Bakura with Mojo and Juju not far behind. "And this," He gestured to the man's counterpart. "You can tell me about later. Right now, we need to get you and Liz back to the ship. You're both wounded."

Bakura didn't hear Corsaire, closing Seth's eyes. His doppelganger was a part of him for so long and now.... he was gone. He was out of his mind, and he was dead. Bakura looked back to Corsaire, a little dazed. "What?"

Mojo leaned down to pat Bakura's cheeks, almost like he would a kid's.

"Bakie, come on back ta earth now." Mojo looked at Bakura's face. "Hmph. Think he's lost too much blood, cap'n."

"Can you and Juju get him and Liz to the ship?"

"Aye, we's hurt, but not as bad as them."

They heard Liz scream as she gritted her teeth. Using her fire, she cartelized her knife wound. "I-I'll be fine. Where's my sister? Where's Halvar?"

"Halvar was supposed to meet back up with us, so I'm guessing he was rather occupied with guards... or something else." Corsaire helped Liz to her feet. "Lex is with Scarlet."

Bakura picked himself up. With one final look at Seth, he closed his eyes on the dangers of the past. Now, he would open them to the future threats to come. "We need to find him. This King Crimson is more dangerous than you know."

~

After the blast, King Crimson channelled the blood to heal himself. Damn these people. It would take forever to rebuild his office. One by one he'd hunt these bastards down. Starting with the Direnor. At first the Crimson King was surprised when he saw it was the youngest prince of Uskar, but that surprise was quickly replaced by excitement. The royal blood would do wonders for his power.

Using his blood magic, he churned the blood around Halvar to bring smells old and new to the prince's nose. As Halvar tried to focus his senses at the sudden burning sensation, King Crimson descended from behind him. With a hard chop the pirate stabbed his hand into Halvar's side. "Little Prince. So far from mommy and daddy. So foolish to come alone. It is little wonder that your people are losing the war against the Frost King. Your rusty chains of life will now come to an end. A Dirnor Prince is no match for a Crimson King."

Pain was nothing new to Halvar. During his training, he had been stabbed before, and Frost Ones had mauled him. Luckily, he never had anything life threatening. Whirling around, Halvar sucker punched the man in the nose, then slammed his foot into the pirate's neck. Growling, Halvar's eyes looked no longer human.

"A king is not a match against sheer will."

"Yes. But my people have always excelled at one thing better than yours."

"If you're going to say 'surviving', then you're wrong." Halvar drew his blade. "Direnors fight to survive everyday. Your kind, the witch queen's kind, may have lost their home. But they never had a constant enemy."

"Yes. You can smell my secret. Than you should know the answer. Magic." Touching the flowing blood that littered his entire home, many tendrils shot forward, stabbing into Halvar's leg, torso, and his sword arm. His energy was sucked out, and King Crimson launched a hydro pump of blood to knock the prince against a wall so he could drain Halvar easier. "I like my secrets. I like learning the secrets of others. I keep to the shadows, and fill my treasure trove with knowledge. Now that you know one of my own closely guarded secrets, you should know that I can't allow you to live."

Scarlet and Rat arrived with Lex flanking them and refurbished back into her garb, and the next moment Corsaire's group joined them. Scarlet didn't hesitate, swinging her axe at the Pirate King. King Crimson had grown incredibly powerful from Halvar's lifeforce, however, and used a hand of blood to grab the axe. Another torrent of bloody water threw her into a wall. Bakura tried to make a move, but he felt his knife wound ooze blood as he took a hard step. King Crimson stabbed him with a tendril from behind, and threw him into the ceiling. With a taunt of fingers, and many tendrils swarming around him, he waved for Corsaire and his men to face him.

Magic, of course, made the Lorleidians very formidable opponents. While most of the Lorleidians did not condone violence, Halvar supposed there was always an odd one in the group. Seeing the witch queen in action always filled Halvar with awe when he was a child. He never imagined having to face on in a duel... and that was his downfall. He barely watched Scarlet and Bakura be throttled before losing consciousness from his own damage.

King Crimson laughed as he took down Mojo and Juju, slicing open the backs of their thighs and using the blood to drag them away. Rat tried to use his brute strength to break the King in half. The Lorleidian Pirate Lord used a torrent of water to grasp Rat, and throw him around like a ragdoll, smashing the man into the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. He only stopped when Corsaire furiously shot his piece at the King. With a laugh, King Crimson engaged in a mock sword duel with Corsaire, using blood to make shift a sword against him. "Tell me Captain. Do you feel in charge? Do you honestly think you will see Seer once more, let alone the light of day again?"

Liz rushed to Halvar, while Lex rushed to Scarlet. It seemed her sister was safe, so Liz poured her worry into Halvar. "Halvar! Wake up! Please wake up!"

King Crimson used his blood magic to shift his face once more, this time opting to the face of Seer to taunt Corsaire. "Let me give you a secret Captain. I gave up on seeing you so long ago."

Blood could burn. This would have to be timed just right. He hoped that Liz would get his meaning as he tossed his pipe to her from his pocket. Maybe now was the time to fight fire with fire.

"Just a note, you filthy swine," Corsaire clanged his sword against the one made of blood as he made the signal to Liz. "Seer can't see."

"I'll paint him a picture of what I did to you." A dirty move, King Crimson used the blood all around them to stab Corsaire in the back. As one small tendril pierce the Captain fully through the bottom of his lower torso, Corsaire felt a lightning bolt of pain travel through him. The King followed up by slashing Corsaire across the chest with a claw hand formed from his blood magic. Paying attention to the last two girls, he tore away Scarlet and Halvar from them. "The children of Adda. With you two imprisoned, she'll have no choice but to bow to me."

Lex saw Scarlet reach out to her, and her eyes widened with a primal fear, which exploded out into a cry of resistance. "LET GO OF MY MOM!"

Lex's hair turned icy without her realizing it, and she froze all the blood around the room. King Crimson's eyes grew wide with panic, as he felt his additional life force be suddenly cut off. "You cur! I'll make you beg mercy for that!"

Liz sprung into action, her flames igniting, and she and her sister made an unconscious joint effort, both of them hurtling a bolt of fire and ice at the Lorleidian Pirate. King Crimson launched what torrent of blood he could in the form of tendrils at the twins, but they burned and battered their way through his magic. Calling all the blood he could in his mansion, he sought to bring a typhoon down upon them, drowning them if he had to.

Lex rose her hands, and the blood froze. Liz followed in support, burning the blood to steam. Both sisters advanced towards the King, working together to stay uninjured. King Crimson rose a hand to take a hostage in the form of Rat, but Lex took the gun Corsaire gave her, and fire a shot into his eye. The Lorleidian drew a claw hand to gut this upstart. It would take a few moments to repair his eye, however, that was when he lost vision of Liz. It was too late when he spotted her inches from his face. By injuring her friends and family, he had summon back the fire witch to the court of the crimson king. Liz's hair burned like cinder, and reaching a hand to his exposed injured eye, took a breath, and, on exhale, poured all her fire into the man. Lex froze his legs so he couldn't run, and everyone in the room boor witness to the end of King Crimson.

His body combusted into flames, fire rocketing out of his eyes and ears. His outside skin was completely intact, but everything else inside burned to ash. His body fell back, and all the blood inside his mansion simmered away. Liz, upon letting go of him, fell onto the floor, colliding with her sister. They were exhausted, the traces of magic in their hair disappearing.

The group was completely astonished by the twin sisters. They had battled their way to victory through a seemingly unstoppable force. Halvar didn’t think he could find Liz anymore attractive. His waging tail told him otherwise. Scarlet gave Lex a light smile. She was so incredibly proud of the girls. “Mom eh?”

Lex didn’t have any sarcasm in her voice, and she was so tired, she barely could nod. “Of course. You’re the closest thing I have to one. Like hell I was going to lose you…”

Corsaire saw the book that held Adda’s location fall from King Crimson’s pockets. Reaching over the dead Lorleidian man he picked the book up. They finally had the final key to find Adda. “Come on. We’re leaving. And we’re not leaving without saying a proper goodbye.”

The crew helped Lex and Liz to their feet, and quickly ran out of the mansions under layers, with Mojo and Juju setting explosives at key points in the mansions structure. Bakura couldn’t help but notice another look at Seth’s body as they passed by. His alter ego always did want a grand burial. And for what little it would mean to the psychotic assassin, Bakura made a silent pray for him, and honestly hoped he’d find peace in death.

Leere’s family looked into her background, and the King and Queen themselves made recommendations for her. Sunny felt so grateful, but also a huge amount of weight on her shoulders for this meeting to go well. She wore a formal dress, but nothing like the royals had. It was more casual, but the material it was made of would speak for how rich her family was. She also straightened her hair and applied makeup as well as darkener to her eyebrows to look more appealing to the men. Sunny didn’t mind flaunting wealth on rare occasions. She and her family poured their full will and strength into their business to become so successful.

Entering the conference hall, Sunny gave a bow to the various men and woman who were seated. “Good afternoon everyone.”

“Good afternoon Ms. Ingo. Please take a seat.” Sunny did as she was told, finding a seat at a table. Her financial supporters sat in a half circle in front of her, taking notes the second she walked through the door. It seemed that they were judging her before she even spoke a word. The man directly in front of her had a curly mustache, and a big red bowtie. “I’m sure you’re anxious about today.”

“Not at all Mr. Burnaby.” Sunny’s thick accent pushed to battle against his own. It would be a battle of carefully chosen words, and having to never show a hint of weakness.

“Ah, well that’s good. Because we have very important matters to go over.”

“Quite, quite.” Another man, with a rounder belly, a white mustache took a sip of Lon Lon milk. “Did you make this?”

Sunny gave a smile, and a jolly chuckle. “I did. Along with the rest of my family. We follow the mantra of working smart and hard. That way everyone is happy with the best quality product ready to be distributed.”

One of the woman, Lorleidian, on the council gave a nod of approval. “A very great way of thinking Ms. Ingo. Can you tell us any changes you’d make if you were promoted to leading your families business? It is very Hylian oriented as I’ve noticed.”

“Well, it’s true that it’s a Hylian born business. Hard to keep up with everyone else Mamm. Kids rather see dragons and all the exotic critters Princess Orana gathers than horses or farm animals nowadays. And to be honest, Lorleidians are amazing at fishing and suppling other labour to the work economy. That said, I want to make something clear. I won’t pass up any work from other folks if they are looking for a modest living though. When I lead, I want to inspire everyone to work as a team. We help each other grow. I’d love to expand our product to the far reaches of Hyrule if we can maximize our work force.”

That answer seemed to register with the woman, and, with a quiet and slow nod, she made notes in her ledger. The council took a minute to talk silently amongst themselves, shooting glances back at Sunny as they came to their own conclusions. The lead man cleared his throat, speaking once more. “Ms. Ingo. We understand that you are a family business. Your father inherited the business from his father. Which your grandfather inherited it from his mother. Now, we understand that all of your siblings are married. Some even have kids.”

“That’s correct.”

“We also understand that you have a select taste in lovers that would make it difficult to continue your family line.” The man gave Sunny a deep look in the eyes that made her uncomfortable. “I’m sure someone as dedicated as you could fix that issue. Correct Ms. Ingo?”

Sunny was a little miffed, her brow giving a slight furl, but she kept her smile bright. “I can have you all rest assured, that I will find a way to continue the family line.”

The councilman stroked his mustache, thinking over her words. “We have your character references, as well as your work history regarding your efficiency. We’ll talk over our choice on the matter. Give us five minutes Ms. Ingo. Please stay where you are.”

The rancher watched as the council men and woman stood up and walked to another room to privately discuss their vote. She took a few deep breathes and thought back to her family for comfort. Her mother in particular brought her peace…

“Moma! Can I look at the telescope?”

A woman with hair as dark as space smiled down to her daughter. She named all her children after the entities of the grand beauty of the galaxy. Her first child had hair as bright as the sun. Her little Sunny. Lifting her daughter up on her lap, Phoebe tipped the telescope for her daughter to peer through. “What do you see Sunny?”

“I see stars! I love stars!”

“Stars are amazing my dear. It’s why I named you after the most important one.”

“The sun! It feeds everyone life! Its how Papa is able to run the business!”

“That’s right. But our galaxy is filled with so many wonders. Look over here.” Sunny’s mother adjusted the telescope, and showed off a few constellations to her daughter. “That’s the chariot of Apollo. And over here. The fire of Din. Some say the gods reward the best of humanity with new constellations in the sky.”

“Really?! What else is up there?”

“Well my dear, I was going to save this for tomorrow… but what the heck. You know how the crown prince and that beautiful water princess are getting married?”

“Yes! I saw glimpse of them while at the market with Papa! They look so happy!”

“Well, they’re going to be blessed by one of the crowning jewels of nature itself for their wedding tomorrow. Look at the moon Sunny. You noticed how its been slowly been growing bigger?”

“Yes? Is it gonna fall onto the Earth?”

Phoebe gave a lighthearted laugh at that. “No, no my dear. I certainly hope not. What’s happening, is that an event called an Solar Eclipse is about to take place. The moon travels directly in front of the sun, and for a small window of time, it will block it out, plunging the world in a small period of darkness.”

“That sounds scary!”

“It’ll be beautiful. I promise. It’s a day that you won’t forget. You’ll see such amazing sights.”

“Ok.” Young Sunny felt a little better at her mother’s encouragement. “Maybe we can get a meteor shower too!”

Her mother gave a giggle, bouncing her daughter on her knee. “Perhaps we might. May even be lucky for a small comet or meteorite to land in Hyrule. The really small ones are good luck if you collect them.”

“But the big ones go boom!”

“Yes they do. So let’s hope we can avoid that~” Phoebe set her daughter down and took her hand. “Now come along. You have a goodnight’s rest to attend. Let’s not keep your siblings waiting for a bed night story.”

“But I don’t want to go to bed.”

“Silly girl. When we go to sleep, that’s when we dream. And dreams lead use amongst the stars…”

That was the last good memory Sunny had of her mother. The day the sun went out, so did her mother. Sunny shook her head, dispelling the bad thoughts from creeping in on what came after. She wouldn’t let the bad end ruin everything good before hand and she couldn’t afford to cry right now. Those softer times of her mother and her astronomy made her feel safe and happy in her mind.

When the council returned, she sat straight, but relaxed thanks to her internal meditation. The man with the mustache took the lead speaking once more. “Ms. Ingo. I won’t waste anymore of your time. The board has made its vote. We are 9-7 in your favour. Some aren’t convinced, but I’m sure you can change their minds. When your father is ready, he may officially hand over the title of C.E.O to you. Congratulations Ms. Ingo.”

Sunny stood up, trying to not let the excitement get to her. She felt disturbed that, most likely, without the help of the royals, she probably wouldn’t have the job she worked so hard for. The rancher shook each and every one of their hands. “Thank you so much. I’ll prove I’m right for the job. You can be rest assured in your continued support of Lon Lon Ranch.”

“I’m sure our investments will be rewarded.”

Sunny left the board meeting, and ran to her family waiting for her. Her brothers and sisters had worn their best clothing for coming anywhere near the castle. She let relief wash over her seeing them all here. “I did it. I got the job.”

Her siblings and father cheered, rushing to greet her. “Yes! I know you would!”

“You got the iron will to do so!”

“That’s our Sunny. Always burning bright.”

Her father gave her a pat on the back, his wrinkles smoothing out as he smiled. “You’ve done well Sunny. How I wish your mother was here.”

“I was actually thinking about her. Maybe she’s a shooting star giving us luck now.”

From the end of the hall, Leere was running around the corner, having been given word that Sunny had finished her meeting. Seeing her family, she felt some anxiety creep up on her. What if she didn’t live up to expectations? Wearing a simple dress, she gave Sunny’s family a wave as she approached. “Hello everyone.”

Sunny turned to Leere, taking her hands and planting a kiss on her. “I did it. I’m going to be the C.E.O of the Lon Lon Milk Corporation.”

Leere’s face bloomed into ecstatic happiness, and she kissed Sunny back again. “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to be fantastic.”

Her family eyed the couple, finally getting a look at them together, and eying Leere up on what kind of woman she was. Sunny put an arm around Leere’s waist and turned her towards them. “I’d like you all to meet my girlfriend. Princess Leere.”

Leere gave a polite bow of the head. “Just Leere is fine if that makes you comfortable.”

Galaxia was the only one to not be overly cheerful, or build the façade of being kind to every royal she met. She wanted a straight answer, so she’d be straight in her tone. “So, Leere. You and my sister love each other?”

Leere looked Galaxia in the eye. The woman was about as tall as her sister. But her hair was black as the night. She had two tattoos on her neck. One of the Sun and one of the Moon. She sort of reminded Leere of her brother Ralnor in a way. They both had an aura about them that told others they couldn’t be budged. “Yes. I cherish her dearly.”

“You’ve only met recently.”

“Funny how love works, doesn’t it. It gives you life.”

Sunny was about to stand up for Leere, when Galaxia gave a smirk. “Very good answer. Just keep her happy and we’ll get along fine.”

Her sister extended a handshake to Leere, and Sunny was relieved when her lover took it. Leere liked the fire of this woman. “Of course. Didn’t get your name.”

“Galaxia Ingo.”

“Leere Dragmire.”

Sunny introduced the rest of her siblings, happy that Galaxia seemed to approve. “These are my brothers, Apollo and Cosmo. And this is my youngest sister, Luna.”

Luna gave a polite hand shake to Leere. “I’ve seen your preform. You’re really good on stage.”

“Why thank you.”

Sunny rubbed Leere’s hand. “Would you like to come back to our place to have dinner and celebrate?”

Leere looked to the family, who nodded to encourage her. “I’d be honoured.”

Sunny’s smile burned brightly, and she gave Leere another kiss. “Great! Let’s go get you to change to something more comfortable.” The Rancher snapped a finger to her family before her brothers could make a cheeky comment. “We’ll just be ten minutes.”

But that didn’t stop them anyways. “Wow Apollo. Just in ten minutes?”

“Well, they don’t call it a quickie for nothing.”

Sunny rolled her eyes at them. “Get ya families you silly men.”

Leere and Sunny walked hand in hand back to Leere’s bedroom. Sunny’s siblings looked to their father to get his opinion. He simply shrugged at them. “I’m too old to complain. If she makes Sunny happy, who are we to argue?”

“What about the whole ‘family generation’ thing?”

“I’m sure that they’ll figure it out Galaxia. Let’s head home. We’ll have steaks tonight.”

~

Leere pulled Sunny into her bedroom, giving her another deep kiss. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m glad that my families future is secured and we can keep moving forward in the business. Thank you for helping me dear.”

“I wanted to help the woman I love.” Leere pressed another soft kiss to Sunny’s lips.

Sunny held Leere’s shoulders firmly as they kissed lovingly. With a smile, she let go, heading to Leere’s bathroom. “Imma get my makeup off. Feels tacky and sticky. You get changed now.”

“Sure thing.” After Sunny disappeared, Leere was in the middle of getting changed when she heard her roof tile slide open. She nearly gave a loud yelp of surprise when she saw an old friend stopping by.

“Bonegrinder senses that you’ve been awfully happy lately. Must be because you’re finally in the sunshine.”

Leere squinted at him, something very specific bugging her about his wording. Like a buzzer, the realization rang off loudly in her head. Bonegrinder was always a cheeky being, and with him able to see into the future, he spoke in cryptic messages sometimes. It dawned on her that he knew long ago that she’d be together with Sunny. “YOU CHEEKY ASS!”

Sunny yelled from behind the bathroom door. “Everything ok?”

Crap. Leere didn’t want to spring someone like Bonegrinder or any of the Hive on Sunny without plenty of preparation. “Nothing Sunny! I’m just talking with a friend quickly who needed some advice.”

“Okay!”

“Bonegrinder told you didn’t he? He said that you’d find your sunshine.” The Anagari took a finger to play with one of Leere’s locks of hair. “The twins miss your company you know.”

“I’m sure that they’ll have to understand I’m taken now.”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Bonegrinder. You and the rest of the Hive don’t interfere in Lon Lon Ranch’s business, do you?”

“Ah! Bonegrinder loves eating their cows! So succulent and pristine in its flavour.”

“Do you mean buying cut steaks?”

“Why would Bonegrinder by small steaks when he can swallow whole cows?”

Leere grabbed his hand and gave it a light smack. “Enough of that. I won’t tolerate you stealing her cattle in the middle of the night. You can’t do that anymore. You want steak, you buy it like everyone else.”

Bonegrinder gave light pout of the brow, a small chuckle leaving his lips. “Every well. No more whole cows in the middle of the night.”

“I mean it. Or I’ll come down to the underground and give you such a thrashing.”

“Hehehehe, this old snake would love to see you do so~” Bonegrinder gave Leere a light pat on the head. “Will be sure to mark the calendar for your big day. Take care of yourself little porcelain doll.”

Leere wasn’t sure if Bonegrinder was dropping another prediction on her, but before she could say anything, Sunny opened the door, giving the old snake enough time to slither away with a giggle to himself.

“How’d things with your friend go?”

“Good. They, uh, went good.” Leere noticed Sunny’s brows were blonde again, and her hair a little more tussled. “You look natural.”

“Isn’t the line that you look beautiful?” Sunny, with the tilt of her head, eyed Leere with a grin.

“You always look beautiful, makeup or not.”

“See, it’s lines like that that make ya irresistible.” The Rancher took hold of Leere, hugging her close to her chest. Leere purred as she rest her head against her. Sunny took note that Leere hadn’t gotten changed. “What’s taking you so long?”

Leere smiled, knowing the perfect excuse. “I wanted you to watch as I got undressed.”

“Well that’s just playing dirty.”

“I know. You’ll have to get back me later~”

Sunny gave Leere’s bottom a spank for making her have to wait. “Keep making comments like that, and I’ll hogtie you to the bed.”

“Well, wouldn’t want to make your family wait now, would we.”

“No. Which makes you shaking that white bum in my face really hard to resist.”

Leere quit teasing her lover for now, and got changed into her causal attire. A simple shirt and long Hylian skirt. Lastly, because she saw Bonegrinder, she put his scale necklace around her neck. “All done.”

Sunny tilted her head towards the necklace. “That’s really pretty. Where did you get it from.”

“A friend of mine… Actually, same friend you just missed.”

“Oh. Is he one of them Lizalfos people?”

Leere shook her head. “No. Big snake man.”

“You’re friends with a big snake man?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story.”

“Well, we got a long walk and ride back to the ranch. I’d love to hear it.”

Leere felt Sunny’s smile penetrate her soul, and she felt so happy to have someone who just wanted to listen to her. Even though she couldn’t divulge the full details, she could tell her the story in some form. “Years ago, I was a party animal and an active archaeologist. I found this crypt one day that were full of monsters. However, they weren’t monstrous per say.”

“You mean how people could call Moblins monsters, but many won’t hurt a fly? That’s just rumours?”

“Exactly.” Though the Hive could and have hurt people before, some had soft layers underneath their shells if you got close enough to look properly. “They had so many characteristics that made them human. At this time, I just lost a friend of mine. I felt that everyone around me died because they associated themselves with me. So here I find these monsters bigger than the average person, and more durable too. I thought I found the perfect friends.”

“So what happened?”

Leere gave Sunny a light pat as they left the front gate and headed to the stables to reach their horses. “Well, first I had sex with twins. Reeeeeeally kinky twins.”

Sunny raised her eyebrow, than let out a chuckle. “Oh boy. Sounds like a handful.”

“Two pairs for both my hands if you know what I mean. A handful indeed.” Leere stuck her tongue out and briefly allowed herself to be immature by cupping the air with her hands. That got a strong laugh out of Sunny. Giving a sigh, Leere’s memory of first meeting the Hive grew a little more melancholy. “Down there, I also discovered an old temple. I saw things from my future that terrified me. A brief glimpse of all of time. My time. I felt so scared. Had this dread about my own life. So I talked my snake friend into having sex with me. Only male I’ve ever willingly been with. I regret that because I think I only did it because I felt like my life was one big void that needed to be filled. So I tried everything. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and even a little self pain.”

Sunny squeezed Leere’s hand as she watched her lover stare off into the distance. “No one goes through that and comes out to where you are without change.”

“You’re absolutely right about that. I was ready to slowly kill myself if my brother Ralnor did search me out. He told me how my family worried that every time I left, I might never return. Because I always held a darkness in my heart. Most of the time I left, I’d always return scarred by some terror I had to defeat. My friend in the crypt realized this too, and he convinced me to leave with my brother. Afterwards, I checked myself in for rehab and counselling to deal with all my grief and pain. One of the best decisions of my life.”

Sunny was a little surprised. She knew that Leere held a darkness in her heart. It was a little intense to know how deep things got with her, but she was happy knowing Leere pulled herself out of that place. “What you did was very healthy.”

“One cannot help others, until they help themselves. This world is full of those that are full of pain. They often lash out, or hurt themselves, and they tell themselves that its justified. No more. That no longer applies to me. I see the force I am capable of being, and I hold my pain tight, but I will no longer let it bleed me or others.”

Sunny nodded fondly towards Leere, and held her hand. “Golly. You’re a smart woman Leere. And you’re right. When people are in pain, they do often think about how they can lash out to feel better. To quell that aching heart they feel.”

Leere stopped Sunny from getting on the horse. “You speak from experience.”

“I told you once before my mother died during the Solar Eclipse. I felt… so empty that day. That when the Sun went out, and the fire came crashing from the sky like a meteorite storm, I lost my own light for a while. I didn’t know how to deal with that pain at first. I didn’t know where to put it. But I looked around me and I saw I wasn’t the only one in pain. My whole family was going through sadness and hurt. And so were so many other survivors who felt the pain that I felt. So instead of throwing my anger out towards others, everyone decided to come together. If we were going to be hurting, we wouldn’t hurt alone. We’d have understanding and love to come together.” Sunny wiped her face of tiny tears forming, giving a light smile to Leere. “Thinking about her even now gets me emotional. I wish she was here. But I’m sure she’s smiling down now as one of them stars in the night.”

Leere squeezed Sunny’s hand, her heart going out to her. “The spirits of loved ones, regardless if they are in the same plane as us, will always look out for us. I’m sure your mother is looking after you all the time.”

Sunny wiped her tears once more as she pulled Leere in for a tender hug. “Thank you Leere. For opening up and being supportive.”

“And thank you as well.”

Leere stood on her tippy toes to kiss Sunny, and both gave each other another tight hug before releasing. The princess walked to her horse and had to use a step ladder to get on top easily. Rinku made it look so easy. Sunny was a natural as she hopped on her stead. “You ok there?”

“Yep. I’m lucky Blackbolt knows how to stay still.”

Sunny laughed at that. “Without that step ladder, you reckon you’d triple your time getting on that horse?”

“Bah, don’t patronize me missy. I might be small, but I think I know how to handle a horse.”

Each woman smiled at each other, and with a flick of the reigns, they rode off to the ranch, side by side.

https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/183811908896/filling-the-emptiness-ch-4-in-love Previous Ch.