Shadow Fire

It's probably greyed out because I've already sent a request to you. I think you have to confirm the request in your list.

Riding in on a large boar, a strange armored beast glanced around, before blowing a strange horn. Suddenly, the sky began to change. Giving a grin, he took Ilia and Colin with him, leaving Kaze alone.

Bow already prepared, Link fired it. The phantom's horse vanished in smoke, and now, the monster was forced to remain in the arena. It smirked down at the two, before spinning his staff and firing a ball of energy.

Silver stopped and gave a sad smile.

"Yeah..." he mumbled in agreement. "It would have been nice."

The smaller Totodile walked beside Cynder, blinking at him.

"So..." he said softly. "What did Snappy-niichan look like as a human?"

The first course you speak of, actually was very hard. I like making levels that even though I know the layout, they test my skill as well. I've died many a time on it. I had planned to give more time at the beginning to prepare for the scroll, but I scrapped that plan, deciding I wanted to make sure people were ready for anything from the get go.

The water course, like I mentioned, was pretty much just 3-1 from SMB3, with a few different things. More enemies, and since the Lava Lotus doesn't exist (why? ), I had to resort to using the fireballs. I must admit, I wasn't expecting to be able to go through the sides of some of the floor, since you couldn't in SMB3, but for some reason you can in SMM.

Oh, and I sent you a friend request. My list was looking a tad lonely.

During this time, Colin had told Ilia the events that transpired the day before.

"I had no idea..." the girl murmured. "I hadn't heard the details about Talo's capture... But, Colin..."

Suddenly, Ilia noticed Kaze, and instinctively moved towards Epona protectively, but gave a gasp at the horse's snort.

"So you still prefer your master over me, huh, Epona?" she said, smiling, before staring over at Kaze again. "Don't worry about your horse, Kaze. Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together. But, Kaze..."

A serious look came to her face.

"Can you at least promise me this?" she asked. "No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything... out of your league. Please. Just come home safely."

The phantom reeled once again, and returned to the painting, disappearing and using a similar trick. Link glared at the phantom that was in a nearby painting.

You're not gonna win that easily...

Giving his own smile, the larger of the Totodile snapped his jaws, before chuckling to himself.

Must be a Totodile thing.

He waited for the others, before continuing on.

Link watched closely as the phantom drew closer, gasping as it quickly turned back.

It's coming from the other one!

Colin smiled and raced off ahead to try and talk Ilia down, but she wouldn't budge.

Walking through the door, Silver suddenly stopped, looking up at Ethan again.

"We need to be careful..." he mumbled. "You can't let on that you know what Pokemon are saying. People may think you've gone insane."

Reacting quickly, Link aimed his bow, firing an arrow right at the ghost. It reeled in pain, before retreating back into the painting, giving a sinister laugh. Suddenly, it vanished, and appeared in two paintings.

Only one of them must be real!

Readying another arrow, Link nodded back to Kaze, wanting her to prepare, just in case he was watching the fake.

Talo's eyes widened as he was handed the sword.

"Whoa!" he murmured, before cheering loudly. "YESSS! With this thing... I'll show 'em! Hyahh! Thanks, Kaze!"

Talo ran off to practice with the sword, Malo and Beth joining him. Colin shyly moved over to Kaze.

"Thanks..." he said softly. "Those guys are always teasing me... What's so fun about swinging something like that around, anyway? I hate it... It's scary..."

His eyes suddenly shone with admiration and he stared up at Kaze.

"But when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you, Kaze!" he continued. "I don't want to learn about swords or anything, but could you teach me how to ride a horse sometime? Can you?! You have to promise!"

Silver smirked, while the smaller Totodile looked on, before giving a giggle.

"You're funny..." he said. "Anyway, the legends say that the great mystic kitty lives near a beautiful grove."

Closing his eyes, Silver tilted his head up.

"Pledge Grove..." he murmured, seemingly entranced. "North of Floccesy Town."

Opening his eyes, the larger Totodile glanced up at Ethan again.

"It's strange..." he continued. "I feel as though I've been there before."

Jumping down to the floor, Silver grinned up at Ethan.

"There is something good about this..." he said. "We can both understand Pokemon now."

When Kaze returned to her house, Talo stopped her, exclaiming about the fun from the previous day.

Glancing behind him, the boy gasped as he saw a familiar form.

Ganondorf!

The man snickered at him, before reaching up to his face and pulled it away, revealing he was a phantom. His horse whinnied, the both of them raising into the air and jumping inside one of the paintings.

Silver felt like he'd been shocked by a Zapdos. As if he already wasn't confused enough, the smaller Totodile called him Snappy. Staring up at Ethan worriedly, he forced a smile.

"We'll figure this out..." he assured, absently snapping his jaws. "In the meantime, maybe we should go find 'the great mystic kitty'."

Ilia narrowed her eyes and glared at Kaze.

"Kaze!" she scolded, her tone harsh. "How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping fences, didn't you!"

Surprised, Bo put his hands out, trying to calm down his daughter.

And another one. :3

Noticing her, Ilia called out for her father, who came out to greet Kaze. Everything seemed to be going along just fine, until...

"Wait... What's this?" the girl said, inspecting Epona's leg. "What's happened? She's injured, isn't she?"

Pushing the walls back to the way they were, Link noticed that the hallway leading to a massive door was accessible. Glancing at his childhood friend, he nodded and began walking towards it. Taking out the large key they had found, he inserted it into the lock, watching with awe as the lock and chains vanished, the door granting them access.

I have a bad feeling about this...

"You're the best big brother ever!" the small Totodile said. "Ever since our mother... left... you've taken care of me."

Silver glanced over at Ethan.

I wonder what this means. I want to return to being human, so I can stay with Ethan, but... if I'm this Totodile's big brother...

The smaller Totodile pet Silver on the back.

"It's okay though." he continued. "Just like you took care of me, I'll take care of you... Snappy-niichan."

Hearing a cage open, but not able to see it, Link gave the wall a push, this time on purpose. He watched as the room rotated again, revealing two sections. One of them had a switch.

I guess I better press this.