buThe War of the Kings/u/b
By: Sonnet A.K.A. TALON
( E-mail me at Talonofdayyahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, Chain, Raykel, Calwots and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and, recently, writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: This story is about 52 pages long and takes place after the Hunt For the Dragonlord, so you should read that story and all the ones preceeding it before you jump into this one, or you'll be confused. Like the others, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there is violence and blood. By the way, if your confused about how I sometimes put a space between two separated parts of the story and sometimes s, you're about to be more confused by my pathetic explanation. Usually the s mean a change of setting but not time, and the space means the passing of time and maybe setting, but not always. I hope you like this one!
buSection 1
Letters from Leal/u/b
Link sat in the grass, watching the sunset like usual. Raykel sat beside him this time, surprised that he was actually enjoying watching the colorful rays of the disappearing sun.
"So, you do this all the time, Link?" Raykel asked him.
"Yeah. Yesterday I watched it with Zelda, I guess it's sort of a tradition for me."
"Well, that's interesting. I never thought watching the sunset was a very warrior-like thing to do, but now I see it's not so bad. How are you and Chain getting along?"
"Great! He's really cool now that the evil spirit is out of him. I never knew how cool it would feel to have a family...say, where's yours?"
"They live in town. I left my home to train at the castle as soon as I was old enough to do so. That was a long time ago, but I visit them now and then."
"Do you think you can take me to meet them sometime? I think it would be nice."
"Sure. How about tomorrow? I have nothing planned except training with the Royal Guard, like usual."
"Eh, maybe. I have a pretty full day tomorrow. First I'm going to train with Zelda, then when Sohran's done with his training, we were going to teach eachother magic spells. After that, I'm going to take Chain jumping on Epona. He's only been on a horse once when he was a little kid and he didn't like it, so I want to show him how fun it is. After ithat/i I'm going to visit the Gorons like I promised, and when I get back it should be about dinner time."
"Sheesh! I don't know where you find the time to do all that. I suppose I can take you the day after tomorrow, then." Raykel said, his eyes on the last vanishing rays of the gone sun.
"Okay. Well, I'm going back to the castle; you coming?" Link asked as he rose.
"Yes..." Raykel was getting to his feet as Link heard a flapping noise. He looked to the north, and saw a calwot approaching. It was a rather skinny male, but Link figured that only helped it fly faster, and that was essential for a messenger, which this cat obviously was. The black winged, tannish-grey furred calwot reached them in a matter of moments, and landed gracefully in front of Link.
"You're Link, right? My name is Leal, and I have some letters for you! This one's from iTaig,/i the idragon,/i" the young cat said, disgustedly tossing it at Link as if he couldn't stand to hold it any longer. Luckily, Link caught it. "And this one is from Saroe and Coflix," he said, handing the letter to Link. "That will be one hundered rupees for postage, please."
"What? Well I guess we are kinda far from the mountains..." Link said, and gave him the rupees.
"Thank you! Enjoy your letters!" The cat said, and flew away, towards the Stalfos Swords. Raykel turned to Link.
"Do you always carry a hundred rupees with you? Don't you think that's a bit risky?"
"No, I don't carry around a hundred, I carry around five hundred. It's as much as my wallet can carry." Link said. Raykel was silent, staring at him like he was mad. Link was already opening the first letter.
iDear Link,
How are you doing, buddy? How are Raykel, Zelda, and Chain? I finally made up with my dad, and my mom has been back for almost a month, thank you so much for saving her! I really owe you a BIG one! She brought back the fortress with her, and she said it was an ancient castle used by our ancestors! Isn't that cool? Right now it's being fixed up, and my mom says that as soon as it has some more color in it and has been suited to the Royal Dragons' needs, we'll live in it! That's going to be awsome! All thanks to you, Link! Unfortunately, I also have some bad news. The calwots are pretty mad at my dad for accusing them of stealing me, and Feelack and my dad got into a big argument! Our tribes have stopped trading, and my dad says we're probably going to WAR with the calwots! Of course their tribe is no match for ours, but my dad wanted to write to you and the King of Hyrule at the end of my letter to ask you for help anyways. See you sometime!
-The Great Taig/i
biDear Link and King of Hyrule,
Feelack is being very unreasonable and does not understand why I thought he had something to do with the disappearance of my son, Taig. The battle-loving King has declared war on the dragons, and I would like to know if Hyrule will assist the dragon clan. If you decide to help us, as I know you good humans have the sense to do, we could use some metal since the cats have stopped trading it to us. After the dragons, with the help of the humans, defeat the calwots and their unreasonable leader; the dragon clan will be proud to accept your invitation to become part of your mighty kingdom.
-The Great Cirokaal/i/b
"This is terrible, Raykel! The calwot tribe is going to war with the dragon tribe!" Link said (although the dragon and calwot civilizations are called tribes or clans, they are really much bigger than just tribes. There are a few hundred dragons and a couple thousand calwots).
"Not good. What do the calwots say?" Raykel asked.
"I don't know, there isn't enough light to read the other letter now. Let's go inside." Link and Raykel left Royal Field and entered the castle, then found some torchlight to stand under, and Link opened the second letter.
iDear Link,
This is Saroe, and Coflix is with me. We wanted to say 'hi' and see how you're doing; and we both hope that we can visit you soon. I also hope you and your kingdom are doing well, because ours isn't. Feelack is getting very old and senile, and we don't know how much longer he'll live, and to make matters worse, his son Feelock has not returned and the dragons have declared war on us! Cirokaal just could not apologize for thinking that we kidnapped Taig, and Feelack got mad, so the two had a bit of an altercation. Naturally, we aren't trading with the dragons anymore, so Feelack had Coflix and I establish trade with the griffons. The griffons are now our allies, but if you know about griffons, you know that griffons' intelligence is somewhere between calwot and animal. Most can talk, but few can read or write, and only thing they are very good at is battle. Because of this, the King thought it would be useful to have the humans for an ally, so he attatched a dictated note to this one. May you and your friends be healthy!
-Saroe and Coflix /i
iDear King Hyrule and Hero of Time,
Us calwots are very grateful to be trading with such amazing creatures as humans, and you people could be far better allies against Cirokaal than the griffons. I would be pleased if you and your kingdom would join us in our efforts to defeat the dragons. I never did like dragons, especially that stinking Cirokaal! Uh....what was I saying? Oh yeah...I have reconsidered your offer to become part of your kingdom, and the calwots have decided that we will join you if you join us against the dragons. I'm sure all of this nonsense will be corrected when my son Feelock returns! Farewell, formidable humans.
-King of Calwots, Feelack/i
"Oh, this is just SWELL! It sounds like they're going to rip eachother apart! Griffons and calwots against dragons...that will be a terrible battle." Link said worriedly.
"Not to mention both tribes want Hyrule to join them. I wonder what the King will do?" Raykel asked.
"I don't know...I guess I'll show him the letters at dinner, since it's in about five minutes. I'll talk to you tomorrow after training with Zelda, okay?"
"Alright. See you in the courtyard." Raykel walked away, towards the soldiers' barracks, and Link went to dinner.
"Link, Zelda tells me you have something to show me." King Hyrule looked over at Link, sitting a few chairs away.
"Yes, your Majesty. I need to show you two letters I got today from a calwot. Both have notes on the bottom written to you, one from Cirokaal, the other from Feelack. Here they are..." Link took them out and passed them to Zelda, who passed them to Wein (one of the King's personal guards), who began checking them for anything unsafe.
"Just give them to me, Wein! I'm sure they're not bombs or covered in poison!" The King ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" He said, giving them one last suspicious glance and handing them to the King.
"New guards..," the King muttered irritably, snatching the letters. He opened them and read them both. "This is very grave news indeed," he said quietly. "There's no way Hyrule can join either the dragons or the calwots, because whichever we join, the other will be our enemy. Hyrule does not make enemies unless she opposes them directly, and I don't see a very good reason to war with either clan. We must stay neutral, and trade to either both of them or neither of them...or maybe that's not a good idea..." The King sighed, "this will take some time to think over."
"Maybe I will dream about it, father..." Zelda suggested.
"Yes, I have finally learned to trust your prophetic dreams, Zelda. If you have any such dreams on this matter, inform me as soon as possible."
"Yes, father. What are you going to do once you reach a conclusion?" She asked.
"I'll send a letter to both the tribes. One of our trained birds can take it...no, that wouldn't work. It would be killed by those 'shiftbats' Link told me of. Didn't you say they resemble a giant keese with a wolfos head and shiftable appendages?" The King asked Link.
"Yeah, that sounds like a shiftbat." He replied.
"Keese are a bird's bane...so I guess we'll need a sturdier messenger." He looked meaningfully at Link, who had been expecting him to say that.
"Yes, your Majesty. I wanted to go visit my friends, anyway."
"You're such a good subject, Link." The King said, laughing. "I didn't even need to tell you that you were the perfect man for the job. Besides, now that Impa is here, you won't need to worry about Zelda too much."
"That's good to know." Link said, looking at the princess. "I'll go as soon as you want me to, I guess." Link said. The King nodded. Link just hoped the King didn't send him tomorrow, because he was looking forward to doing the things he had planned, especially horse-jumping with his brother.
ubSection 2
The King of Catalin, the Ethereal Forest Again/b/u
"Whhaaaaaaa!" Chain yelled, clinging to Link, as Epona sailed over a five-foot-tall fence. "Riding dragons is nothing like this!" He said, his voice bouncing as Epona landed.
"Good girl!" Link said, patting Epona's neck as she slowed. "I don't think any other horse in Hyrule can jump like you!" Epona neighed happily. Zelda, who was standing to the side watching, asked:
"So Link, how did your training with Sohran earlier go?"
"Great! I taught him Din's Fire and he taught me his tornado spell." Link replied.
"Say, do you think maybe you and Sohran can teach me some magic spells?" Chain asked. "I don't really want to use a sword anymore, since that evil black one was hidden by the King." Chain was wearing a green tunic like Link's (he had insisted that he wear clothes similar to his brother) except it was a lighter shade of green and he had no hat. He still wore his black boots, but had thrown away his gloves, since they had been stained with his brother's blood.
"No problem there, but first you'll have to go to the Great Fairy and get the ability to use magic. The Great Fairy of Magic is really nice, so I'm sure she would bless you. By the way, I think Zelda knows more spells than me and Sohran combined!" Link said, smiling over at her.
"Yes, I guess I could teach him some magic too." She said. "Hey, do either of you know if Cosha had gotten his mind back yet? I forgot to ask my father this morning..."
"I heard he's better then before, but he's still pretty crazy and can't remember a thing; the poor guy." Link said. "Speaking of memory, Chain, I've been meaning to ask you a question. Remember back when we were in the Dragonlord's Fortress and you said you remembered me? How could you remember me if you were just a newborn when you were taken away?"
"I can't explain it, really...but my earliest memory is the one I've been holding on to these past fourteen years. I remember seeing a woman holding a bundle, and I guess that was you. I don't know how I remember what happened so long ago...it's like...well, you can't remember what you had for breakfast twenty days ago, right? But you can remember defeating Ganon like it was yesterday, even though it happened months ago! You just remember important things really well, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Link said. Epona whinnied impatiently, eager to jump over more fences. "Hey Epona, do you think you can jump the six-foot fence with two people on your back?" In response, the horse began racing toward the six-foot fence (some fences had been erected in Royal Field, built specifically for horse jumping. There were ten fences, starting from one foot high, on up to ten feet high). She neighed excitedly as she reached it and sprang into the air. Link and Chain were having alot of fun, and both yelled as the horse flew over the fence, not even slightly touching it. She landed hard, but not too hard, and slowed, finally stopping. She panted as Link patted her shoulder.
"Epona is incredible!" Zelda exclaimed. "Hey, you never took me over the six-foot fence, Link!" She said, wanting to go.
"I didn't know she could do it with two people on her back! Good horse!" He patted her more. "Four extra carrots tonight!" If Epona could move her lips in such a way, she would have been grinning. "Hey girl...I'll give you six carrots if you can make it over the seven-foot fence..." Naturally, the horse began galloping towards it. She got excited with anticipation, but just as she was about to get close to the fence, it seemed to look a lot taller than it had a few moments ago, and she skidded to a stop at the last moment. Link patted her anyway. "Heheh, yeah, if I were a horse I couldn't do that either. I'll still give you five carrots." The horse was quite happy.
"I think it's Zelda's turn." Chain said, seeing the eager look on the princess's face.
"Okay, let's go get her, girl, if you're not too tired." Epona wasn't too tired, so she walked over to Zelda, and Chain dismounted. "Don't forget, we can't jump itoo/i much, because even if Epona is Ms. Superhorse, she still needs some energy to take me to Death Mountain in an hour or two."
"Okay. As long as she takes me over the six-footer I'll be happy! Hey, Link...look over there! Isn't that a calwot?" Zelda pointed to a flying figure high in the air, soaring towards the Stalfos Swords.
"Hey, it is! Why is it here, though?" Link wondered. The cat did not look like a messenger. It was large and black.
"Why don't you go talk to it and offer it a night in the castle? We need to be hospitable to our new allies." Zelda suggested.
"Okay. I just hope the dragons don't take it wrong. Hey Epona, go after that calwot!" The horse raced off, as eager to run as ever. By now the calwot had flown over part of the Ethereal Forest to the Northeast, so Epona ran towards those trees. When she was about to reach the forest, the calwot looked down and spotted her. Realizing her rider wanted to talk, he began slowly decending in a wide circle towards the tree-littered ground. Link got off of Epona as she reached the trees, and went into the forest to meet the descending calwot. Soon he reached the spot under the calwot, and it landed in front of him.
Link was surprised to see that this cat was ivery/i black. It was much blacker than Coflix, and Link thought it must be as black as Feelack! The strange cat was not wearing very calwotish clothing, either. He wore some clothes on his bottom half like a normal calwot male; however, he also wore armor, and Link had never seen a calwot wear armor before. It was made of a darkish metal, and was shiney and spikey. He had golden-yellow eyes, which looked almost menacing...
"What is it, human? For what trivial purpose have you brought me down to your level?" The cat's voice was deep yet young, and had a sharp tone of irritation. iHow rude/i...Link thought, but remembered to extend Zelda's invitation.
"My name is Link, and I wanted to tell you that the princess of Hyrule says you're welcome to stay in the castle and rest if you want. Both her and the King are glad to be allies of Catalin, but I'm just one of their servants, heheh." Link extended a hand to shake. The calwot gripped his neck with it's strong right paw, lifting him off his feet.
"Just who do you think you are, Link?! You are talking to Feelock, Lord of the Calwots! If my idiot father has established trade with some dirty little humans, I'll just have to fix that, wont I? By the way, did you really think I would 'shake your hand', after you brought me down to your level to tell me some worthless information?! That would be like shaking antennaes with an ant! How dare you treat me so direspectfully!!" The cat squeezed Link's neck harder, making Link flinch, but the Hylian had had quite enough of this. He put a hand on the hilt of the Master Sword and gave the cat a threatening look, ready to cut his arm off if need be. But before he could draw the sword, the cat released him and punched his stomach fiercely while he was falling, throwing him into a nearby tree. Link got up, holding his neck and looking more than a little annoyed.
"Ow...hey, what did you do that for? What did I do to you? You can't just go choking people because you think you're better than they are! You're no King..." Link drew his sword.
"Little imbecile! Do you think you can hurt me with that pathetic excuse for a sword? I can slice that thing to pieces!" The cat raised his paw up to his face and spread out his fingers, showing off the armor on them. The darkly gleaming, sharp-looking armor ran up his arm and onto the back of his hand, going all the way to the end of his fingers. The armor ended by coating each of his individual claws with metal, making each one much larger and sharper that normal. "I sharpen these metal claws every day with a combination of diamonds and magic. They are sharp enough that I can draw them through pure steel effortlessly." He grinned, revealing his pointed, feline teeth. "But I won't waste energy slicing you and your sword to ribbons, instead I'll test a new and experimental spell of mine on you - The Internal Blender!" Feelock raised a paw and pointed his palm at Link, then chanted a few words. Nothing happened.
"Internal what? Well, it's not very effective, is it?" Link began to walk towards the cat, who was grinning for some reason, then started to feel something move inside of him. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he stopped. "What was that...?" Link wondered, then he felt it again, only it was painful this time. It felt like his guts jerking to one side, then twisting around. "Aaaaahhhhh!....What on earth?!" He put a hand on his stomach, then his insides started twisting more, and he screamed again, the disabling pain bringing him to his knees. It felt now as if all of his insides were being twisted and blended, hence the name of the spell. It was extremely painful, and Link dropped his sword, one hand on his stomach, the other on the ground. It went on that way for a few moments, Link screaming, Feelock laughing in evil glee.
"What do you think? It's the perfect spell for torturing. It's extremely painful but although it feels like you're being torn apart, it doesn't cause any real damage except a bit of internal bleeding; but that's not so bad, right? You're lucky I'm not using the Lethal Internal Blender, which really idoes/i blend your insides. It's a good thing I'm in a pleasant mood, isn't it?"
"I can't comprehend how...lucky I am..." Link said sarcastically, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth. Feelock renewed the spell, and Link screamed loudly as the magic did its work for a few moments. Feelock was quite enjoying himself when a very mad Epona jumped over the grounded Link, charging for the cat.
"What?! What does this animal think it's doing?" Feelock said, caught off-guard. The calwot had barely enough time to jump into the air before Epona reached the spot he had been standing miliseconds ago, rearing up and whinnying angrilly. "Oh well, I was about to be on my way, anyways. I'll kill you the next time I see you, Link! Have a nice afternoon, heheh." Epona pawed the ground and snorted, and Feelock finally flew away. Epona walked over to Link, clamping her teeth onto his tunic and dragging him to his feet.
"Ugghhh....Thanks, girl...what would I do without you?" Link felt a little better now (with the exception of a little internal pain) and could stand on his own, so Epona released him. He got on her and she ran back to Chain and the princess, who healed him while he explained what had happened.
"That calwot must be insane, and is certainly not fit to rule anything, especially a whole clan! We have to do something!" Zelda said.
"Hopefully the calwots will recognize him for an evil creature and do something to him when he gets there, but somehow I doubt it." Link said sadly. "They idid/i say that Feelack would die soon, so they're in desperate need of a king...and that cat seemed to be the kind of guy who would take advantage of his kingdom's kinglessness. The calwots might share his idea of calwots being better then other creatures and willingly follow his rule! Who knows what would happen then? He made it very clear that he hates humans!" After Zelda was finished healing Link, one of the Royal Guards came out of the castle, walking over to Link.
"Excuse me sir, the King has requested that you go to his quarters immediately," he said, then left.
"Alright, the King probably has the letters for Cirokaal and Feelack, if he's still alive. I guess we'll have to finish this later, guys." Link said, walking towards the castle.
"Hey, won't Epona jump over fences with just me or Zelda on her back?" Chain inquired.
"Well, I heard she was a pretty wild horse before I won her in a race... you can itry/i to have her go jumping with just you, but I don't know if she'll do it." Link said, then went to the King's quarters.
"Okay, girl...nice horsey..." Chain, said, approaching Epona slowly. She reared up, and raced away. "Well, that could have gone better." he said, watching the horse's swift form dissapear behind a hill. Zelda laughed.
"I tried that once too, but that horse will simply not let any person ride on her alone, except Link or Malon. She likes me, but she still won't let me ride her without Link. Strange, huh?"
"Yeah. I need to get a horse sometime and teach it to jump. That was really fun!" Chain exclaimed.
"I have a white one that can jump, but not as well as Epona. Hey, I bet if you helped out the Stable Master with his chores, he might give you one of the unowned horses. He's a really nice man, and he'll probably like you before he knows you because you're Link's brother. Want to go see him?"
"Sure, that sounds great!" Chain said, and he and Zelda left for the stables.
"Okay, Link, I want you to be extra careful delivering these letters. If the two clans don't get these letters of peace from Hyrule, they may decide to war with us, too. I pray that they will find the wisdom to stop this foolish war...make sure you stop by the kitchen for provisions before you leave, and watch yourself while crossing the Ethereal Forest! Hopefully you will be back in a few days, but if you want to stay in Catalin or the dragon's village for a while and visit, feel free to do so."
"Thanks!" Link said, "I'll try to be quick. Your Majesty, Since I'm leaving immediately, would you mind telling my brother and Zelda where I'm going? I don't want them to worry."
"Of course I'll tell them, Link. Travel safely, and don't take any unnecessary risks!" The King warned.
"Okay. Bye, Your Majesty!" Link, waving, turned towards the door.
"Wait, Link. We are familiar enough with eachother that it sounds strange for you to call me 'Your Majesty'...you may call me by my first name, Daphnes."
"Cool! Bye, Daphnes!" Link left the King's quarters, got some food at the kitchen, and equipped his gear. He went back to North Hyrule, and seeing that Epona, Zelda, and Chain were no longer there, he guessed what had happened, laughing to himself. He called Epona, who came running.
"Looks like we won't be visiting the Gorons after all, girl. King's orders come first...oh well, I wasn't really in the mood to get squashed in a 'Goron Hug', anyway. Will you go with me to the Stalfos Swords?" Link asked, getting on her back. The speedy horse took Link to the forest, but not before leaping over the seven-foot fence (she couldn't resist). When the two got there, Epona slowed to a trot, since the trees were too dense for galloping.
Link experienced a deja vu, once again enjoying the beauty of the forest, which seemed to look exactly the same it had last time he was there. The canopy overhead filtered sunbeams down onto the dead leaf-covered ground. The patches of grass still looked green and pretty in the shadows, and Link heard the songs of various birds and insects. As Epona walked by a large tree, Link looked up and saw a woodpecker on its trunk, carving itself a home in the tree's bark. Link loved this part of the forest, but the back of his mind pulled up a more unpleasant memory: the dangers of the deep parts of the Ethereal Forest.
As Epona trotted on, Link thought of that evil place. The terrible sounds at night, the bones that one could trip on if not cautious, and of course, the shiftbats. Shiftbats had not really been as much of a challenge as the Queen Tree or Vux the last time Link was in the forest, so it would seem that Link had little to worry about, but he had a persisting feeling that the shiftbats were not the strongest of the creatures in the deep places of the forest.
Link enjoyed his pleasant ride in the forest for a few hours, then the sun began to set. The Hylian and his horse had passed the Jagged Beamos long ago, so he figured he had made enough progress to set up camp soon. After the sun was gone and it became dark, he halted Epona and started a camp fire with which he cooked his dinner. He did not need to tie up Epona because he knew she wouldn't run away, and if something did attack his little camp she could defend herself better if she wasn't tied to a tree.
"Hey Epona, I bet you want your carrots now, huh? You probably thought I forgot, didn't you?" In response, Epona walked over to Link, licking his face several times. "Heheh, okay, okay...that's enough of that. Here you go." Link dug the carrots out of his gear, giving them to his horse, who munched them down as quickly as possible. "How can you possibly enjoy your food when you eat so fast?" The contented horse just sat there, looking happy. "Time for bed, girl. Remember how I trained you to watch?" Link asked her. A few weeks ago Link had gone exploring deep into the Lost Woods, looking for a certain fairy. He hadn't found the fairy, but had taught Epona a new trick: how to watch over camp. All he did was train her to stay awake for half the night, keeping alert, then go to sleep while he stayed awake. Epona layed down, keeping her head up. Link sat down beside her, leaning back and resting on her soft saddle, just like they had done in the Lost Woods. For half of the night, Epona stayed awake, carefully watching over her sleeping master, then she awakened him and he sat up, watching for the rest of the night while his horse slept.
Nothing happened during the night, and light illuminated the green forest as the sun finally found it's way over the horizon. Link woke up his horse (after much shaking and yelling) and he ate some breakfast while Epona grazed on the patches of grass growing around their camp. When they were both finished, Link packed up his stuff and they left, Epona's quick trotting taking them deeper into the woods. It was a beautiful morning, and the clouds far above softened the sunlight which filtered through the branches, making the atmosphere very enjoyable. However, Link knew those branches got thicker the deeper he and Epona traveled into the forest. Link stopped thinking about branches when a pack of wolfoses appeared from behind some trees in front of Link and his mount. Link drew his sword, hoping the wolves would get the message and leave, but they looked like half-starved ravenous beasts, and didn't even give the Master Sword a second glance before attacking. He killed the first two which lunged at him, and the third was defeated when Epona kicked it, sending it flying into a tree. Two more ran away in fear, but Link had to wound the last one before it left. He slashed it's back and it ran away as fast as it's legs could carry it, yelping in pain.
Link and Epona continued on, and nothing else happened for a while, except the gradual darkening of the forest; the closing up of the canopy overhead, and the lessening of patches of green grass under spots of sunlight. The increasing silence and appearence of bones, and even a slight mist made the forest less pleasant then before. Link knew he had finally reached the end of the friendly part of the forest. Link hoped he was travelling in the right direction, because if he did not find the safe path through the forest, what would happen? He didn't know, but he did know that Raykel had almost died from being attacked while their group was on the isafe/i path, so the dangerous way must be twice as bad. Link regretted that he hadn't better remembered the best way through the forest during his previous visit.
It kept getting mistier as Link and Epona progressed, reminding Link of his disturbing visit to Ganon's Swamp. The spots of sunlight coming through the branches were almost nonexistant now, and Link knew he was probably nowhere near the safe path, since there had been no mist on or around it whatsoever. The way forward was now very hard to see, with the darkness of the canopy and the setting of the sun, plus the disorienting mist. Link made Epona stop, and since they had traveled far already, he set up his camp for the night (after marking their direction on the ground so they wouldn't get lost). He didn't say a word to his horse as he gave her the usual two carrots (she got two carrots every day, sometimes more if she was very good, sometimes less if she misbehaved, but that was very rare). He also ate his food silently, listening for signs of life in the forbidding forest. Soon the eerie sounds Link knew had been coming began. The first one, the screetching of some monster in indescribable agony, startled Epona. She jumped in fright, then ran over to Link's side, huddling up against him.
"It's okay, girl. Don't worry about the noises unless they're close." His words did not seem to comfort his horse and friend much, for she was still shivering by his side. "Oh come on, girl! How are you going to keep watch or get any sleep if you're this scared of ghost noises from far away?" The horse finally stopped shivering, realizing that she was in no immediate danger. She layed down, and Link leaned on her just as he had last night, trying to ignore the sounds of cracking bones and flesh being torn. "Wake me up if anything sounds close, okay, Epona?" Link said, covering his ears against the moaning of shades.
buSection 3
Wraiths, Ghosts, and Deceptive Monsters/u/b
Link awoke as his head hit the ground, because Epona had stood up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, trying to clear the sleep out of his head. The misty, biting, cold of deep night brought him to his senses fully, and he could not prevent himself from shivering. He turned to see why Epona had gotten up, and froze when he saw a ghost standing directly in front of her. The semi-transparent creature almost blended in with the mist, and Link was at first unsure that he was seeing it at all, but it was apparent when its blue, lifeless lips started moving, its right hand raised and pointing at his horse's face. The ghost's whiteish-grey skin was peeling off its body in many places, and eerily floating rags clothed it, as its white and pupil-less eyes stared into Epona's. Link realized the creature was chanting, hypnotizing his horse, and it was because of this monstrosity Epona had stood up without warning. Link jumped up, ready to draw his sword and repel the ghost as well as he could, when a below zero-degree, frosty white hand layed itself on his right shoulder from behind.
Link was frozen in his tracks, literally unable to move. The white hand turned him around, so that he was staring into the lifeless eyes and expressionless face of a rotting ghost. The freezing temperature spread throughout Link's body as he stared, paralyzed, into the eyes of the wraith. He could feel the coldnes slow his blood, and his heart. White mist came from Link's mouth as he was forced to exhale by the creature's sub-zero, suffocating grip on his shoulder. He could only stare into the dead face as he lowered to his knees, his strength failing. iDo something! /iHe told himself urgently, and he tried to move his left arm over his shoulder, where the hilt of the Master Sword could be reached. The ghost's paralyzing stare made it extremely difficult, but eventually his arm, shaking with the effort, reached the sword's hilt. As his hand closed around it, it glowed with white light, and the ghost gripping his shoulder shrank back, raising it half invisible arms to its face; tying to protect itself from the light.
Link could finally breathe, and his body no longer frozen, he stood and drew the sword, and its fully-revealed light sent the ghost flying away, screeching and moaning in pain and the sorrow of a lost soul. Link turned towards the ghost captivating Epona. The ghost had materialized a sword in its dead hand, and was preparing to drive it into the horse, when the light of the Master Sword hit it, having the same effect on this creature as it had had on the last one. As the ghost quickly drifted away, the sub-zero temperature left the camp, and Link put his sword away, surprised at how exhausted he was. Although it was warmer than it had been before, it was still very cold and the ghost's freezing touch had not completely left Link, so he stood shivering a few moments as Epona came to her senses.
"Are you...okay, girl?" Link's shaking voice inquired. Epona walked over to him, rubbing up against him to warm him and herself up. They were both very tired and they layed down again; unfortunately they had been physically drained by the wraiths and fell asleep before they could stop themselves. The last thing Link heard before he fell into darkness was the soft, haunting song of a maiden in the misty forest.
Link woke up just as the sun climbed over the mountains, but he could not see it due to the thickness of the forest. He was about to wake his horse, when he heard the same mistifying singing that he had heard when falling asleep last night. Startled, he looked around the trees, but the mist, although thinner than it had been last night, still covered everything twenty feet away from him in an impenatrable haze. He saw nothing as the singing continued, its soft and strangely enamoring melody making Link want to search for its source.
"Hello? Is someone lost out there?" Link called out, and the singing stopped. Link looked at the mist twenty feet away, directly in front of him, seeing some faint movement. He stopped leaning on Epona's sleeping form and stood, his eyes locked on the mist. Slowly a person appeared, walking at a leisurely pace towards Link. It was a woman of perhaps twenty years of age, with silver hair and light grey eyes. She wore some greenish-gray robes, which hung loosely about her and were rather revealing.
"You heard my singing, adventurer? I am not lost, but you seem to be. My name is Thesaya, the sorceress. Who are you?" She gave him a strange smile as she drew nearer to him, stopping when she was about six feet away. Link stopped looking at her and stared at the ground.
"I really don't know if I should tell a strange woman who lives in a dangerous forest my name," Link said, "but you idid/i tell me yours..."
"Do not worry, I mean you no harm. I live here because I am at peace with the creatures of the forest, but that does not mean I share their intent to destroy intruders. Believe me, if I wanted to kill you I would have already." Link thought a moment, still looking away from the woman.
"My name is Link." he said hesitantly. "And my horse is Epona." Speaking of Epona, she was still fast asleep.
"Why will you not look at me, Link? My face will not turn you to stone." The woman said in her quiet, calm but powerful voice.
"It's not your face I'm avoiding, it's your chest. Would you mind pulling up your shirt or something? It's almost as bad as a Great Fairy..."
"Pull up my shirt?" The woman didn't seem at all offended, just mildly surprised. "You are a strange man, unlike any I've ever met. But if my robes disturb you, I will honor your request." She tied her robes more securely, pulling the top closed.
"Thanks. That's the only thing bad about visiting a Great Fairy." Link said, turning his eyes to her face. "Even if I ask them, they wont put on more clothes! So...why were you singing? If you don't really want anything with me I have to go somewhere..." Link trailed off as the woman started laughing.
"In this forest? I saw how that ghost attacked you last night, nearly killed you, didn't it? I take it you are looking for the safe path through the forest? If you don't find it you will meet many more ghosts."
"Do you know the way to the safe path? I'm going to the mountains."
"Yes, I know. I'll take you through the forest to the mountains...but only if you will do something for me when we get there."
"That sounds fair...what is this 'thing' I must do for you?" Link asked, the woman smiled the kind of smile that makes one nervous.
"I'll tell you when we get there." she said simply.
"What? But...what if it's something I can't...or iwon't/i do?" Link asked.
"Don't worry, I will not ask an impossible task of you. I will ask you to do something that a true warrior is always prepared to do."
"Well...okay. I guess we can leave as soon as my horse and I are done eating breakfast, but first I have to wake her up...say, do you want some food? It's pretty good."
"I...do not eat the sort of things you eat. I am on a very strict diet, and I can guarantee you don't have anything I will eat in your bag."
"Okay, tell me if you change your mind." Link turned to Epona, and leaned down. He grabbed her ear, holding it open as he yelled into it, "Hey, EPONA! WAKE UP!" The horse did not move. "COME ON! TIME TO GET UP!" Epona stirred slightly, snorting and dozing. Link layed both hands on her side, and shook her. "GET UUUUUUUUP!" Finally the horse arose, looking sleepily around. "Hey Epona, it's about time! Meet our new friend, Thesaya." Epona looked over at the woman and jumped when she saw her, ducking behind Link. "Oh c'mon! I though you were a brave horse! She's not a ghost, and she's not going to bite you!" Epona came out slowly, glowering at the woman. Epona then stood between Thesaya and Link, pawing the ground. "Cut it out, girl! What, you don't like Thesaya? She didn't do anything to you! Go and graze so we can leave, she's taking us to the Stalfos Swords." With one final glare at Thesaya, Epona walked off to graze. "Sorry about that. She doesn't trust people easily."
"And you trust them very easily." Thesay observed, giving Link a strange, calm look.
"Well, wouldn't you be offended if I told you to go away because I didn't trust you? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." Link said.
"I am just telling you that there are creatures in this forest who will try to deceive you into trusting them, then turn around and kill you after you've done them a favor. But don't worry, I can tell who these monsters are, and I can see that you're not one of them."
"Nope! But hey...it's not like I'll go trusting anything ithat/i easily. I may trust you a little bit, but I'm still on my guard, so if you're one of those monsters you'de better not try anything. I have an evil-repelling sword."
"Your innocently foolish and naive personality would repel evil all by itself..." She muttered under her breath.
"What?" Link said, "I can't hear you."
"Never mind. Just eat so we can go." She said impatiently, so Link did. He waited until Epona was done eating leaves off the low-hanging branches of trees (there was no more grass because there was not enough light for it to grow in that area), and even though she didn't like their taste, she ate her fill quickly enough. The three then left, Link riding on Epona, following the strange woman of magic, Thesaya. While they walked, the mist seemed to get damper, the unpleasant and cold wetness making Link and his horse uncomfortable as it surrounded them. Thesaya didn't seem to even notice it, walking on in silence. After an hour or so, the silence began to get rather old, and Link was about to say something to the strange woman when he heard a noise. It sounded like a moan, and Link looked to the left, where the sound seemed to have come from. He gasped when he saw a ghost standing about fifteen feet away, half hidden in the mist. This one looked a little different from the ones he had seen last night. This ghost didn't look like a rotting zombie, just a semi-transparent, colorless person; with pupils in it's eyes. This one was also less visible than the horrors from last night, various body parts fading in and out of view as Epona walked heedlessly past it. It was a ghost of a little girl.
"Do not worry about ghosts which do not look like they're decomposing. They are merely lost souls, and will not even go near you if you are close to me." Thesaya said, her first words since they had left that morning. iGhosts?/i Link thought, iI only see one.../ibut then he looked around and saw many other ghosts appear, barely visible on the edges of the mist, their gray forms fading and reappearing hauntingly. The three travelers were soon surrounded by the dead people, who varied in size, age, species, and gender. Their moans reached Link's ears and their see-through hands reached out to him, as if begging him to take them along. "These are the memories of people who died in this forest. The forest keeps them, showing them to any who trespass, letting them know what their future will be if they go any further. Luckily, they should start disappearing in a few hours, when we reach the safe path." The sorceress said. The unlikely threesome kept walking, and a few hours after seeing the first ghost, Link saw something else appear out of the mist, in front of Thesaya. It was an enourmous spiderweb.
"Hmmm...this spiderweb wasn't here a week ago...no matter, it does not surprise me. A giant skulltulla (for you non-zelda-players, a skulltulla is a spider who's abdomen resembles a skull) lives to the left of this area, killing any creatures who come here. Many of the ghosts you see around you were killed by this spider of great evil. I am at peace with the spider so it will not attack me, but it would be unfortunate if it attacked you because it sees you as food." She said. They went around the spiderweb and kept walking, deeper into the mist, and more spiderwebs appeared. Soon Link noticed things on the ground, too. They looked like big bundles of spiderweb...then he saw a creature iin/i one of the bundles of spiderweb. It was a deer, sucked dry by a spider and decomposing. The next bundle was a wolfos, and the next... Link gasped as he saw that it was human. It was the decomposing corpse of the little girl he had seen. The sight of her made Link feel very cold, and the creepy feeling reached down to the depths of his soul. The sight also made him angry.
"Thesaya." He called to get her attention.
"Yes?" She halted, turning to Link and waiting expectantly.
"Thesaya, I want you to take me to the giant skulltulla. I cannot allow such an evil killer to go on living, taking the lives of innocent people to preserve its own. I have to destroy it."
"No you don't. You don't know what you're saying. It will kill you, too! This is foolishness!" Thesaya said irritably.
"It killed a little girl...and a bunch of these people, you said so yourself!" Link looked around at the dead and pleading faces of the ghosts. They no longer looked threatening, but begging, not asking Link to take them with him, but to impose justice on the foul creature which had ended their lives. "That's why they're reaching out to me. I have to kill the spider!" Link said, sure of his words.
"Human...I mean, Link...If you fight that spider, it will claim your life. I cannot assist you with my powers, for if I oppose one creature of the forest I oppose them all, and they will attack me from all sides as they would be doing to you if you weren't in my prescence. The spider will entangle you in its web and poison you, so that your insides will slowly liquify, very painfully. It will then wait until your nice and tender and half-alive, then stick its fangs deep into you, and suck away all that is inside of your body. That is what will happen to you."
"If I don't do something, that is what will happen to every other person who gets too close to this spider! Just take me to it. It's not your fault if it kills me. I can't let it live." Thesaya sighed, exasperated. She then started walking left, deeper into the area with spiderwebs. Epona stood still, not wanting to follow her. "Let's go, girl! Thesaya is just going to take me to the spider's lair, not go in herself, so you can stay outside with her if you don't want to fight the spider with me." Epona reluctantly started following the sorceress. After maybe fifteen minutes of walking, the ghosts stopped appearing, and the three companions found an area where the ground was rising up. In the middle of this small hill there was a great hole, and it was covered on all sides by sticky spiderweb. Link dismounted, sensing that this was the lair of his enemy.
"I will wait for twenty minutes. If you don't come back, or I hear you scream as the spider injects you with venom, I'm leaving." Thesaya said coldly.
"Okay. Do you mind if Epona waits with you? She's scared of spiders," Link said.
"She can stay with me. As a last tribute to your dead body, I will take her back to Hyrule so she will not meet the same fate that you are about to meet."
"Very moralizing, aren't you? Thanks for the vote of confidence! But seriously, thank you for offering to take Epona back if I die, but I won't. I'll see you in a few minutes." Link drew his sword, walking into the deep web-surrounded pit. Thesaya shook her head, thinking that Link's confidence would get him killed.
The spider hole stunk of death, and darkness wrapped closely around Link as he entered it. Link evoked the powerful light magic of the Master Sword. The darkness seemed to move as the magic on Link's sword danced up and down the blade; and the shadows, which looked almost alive, stayed back from the ring of light; crouched and ready to spring apon Link, should the light dissapear. iThis must be the deepest, blackest pit of death in the entire forest,/i Link thought. He kept walking, amazed at how big the cave-like pit was. His boots almost got stuck in the spiderweb coating the floor, and he irritably yanked his boots out of it. He was about to start walking again, but stopped as he heard a faint hissing. He saw what he had before mistaken for a stick lying five feet in front of him, move. The sharp, black, two-inch thick leg of the giant skulltulla pulled itself out of the ring of light, into the impenetrable shadows.
Link forced himself not to be scared, trusting in the power of the triforce of courage, and his will to destroy the creature which had murdered hundreds. The light on his sword grew brighter, illuminating the huge spider, with an abdomen as big as a boulder, and eight ten-foot long legs. The spider's eight red eyes glowed as they opened, and yellow poison dripped from its disgustingly long fangs.
"So you're the killer of many of those ghosts. Time to pay for what you've done, monster!" Link pointed his sword at the spider, and it shrank back from its bright light, hissing. Then it opened its mouth, spraying Link with webs. Link, very surprised (he had never seen a skulltulla build its web and had no idea the webs came out of the mouth rather than the abdomen, like a normal spider), couldn't do much but hack at the webs. Eventually he had so much web on him that it pinned him to the ground securely, despite his efforts. The giant spider crawled over to him, and leaned down, preparing to stick its wickedly sharp fangs into Link's neck. Link twisted sharply, and managed to pull enough web free to roll to the side slightly, dodging the fangs. Link then used his gauntlets to break free of the slimey, clinging webs; and jumped to his feet. He swung with his sword at the spider's nearest leg, right next to him. Milky yellow blood poured from the spider's appendage as Link severed it, and the monster backed away.
"No, you won't be appending me to the augmenting pile of deaths you've accumulated!" Link shouted (if Zelda were there with Link, she would be surprised at all the big words he was using). The spider screeched at Link, lunging for his head. Link jumped quickly to the side, severing two more legs as he swung his sword at the spider. It screetched again, this time in pain, and the now five-legged spider stumbled as it turned to Link. The hideous and enraged monster opened it foul mouth, spewing web at Link once again. Link couldn't raise his arms quick enough to prevent some web from hitting his face, and he momentarily dropped his guard as he pulled the sticky webs off his head. The spider chose that moment to jump at Link again, and this time the creature's weight pinned Link, and it quickly leaned down its ugly head, digging its fangs into Link's shoulder.
"Aaahhhhh!" Link yelled as the spider's searing, yellow poison was injected into him. It started painfully spreading immediately, flowing in Link's blood. He managed to give the skulltulla's head a good punch, and it withdrew it's fangs, backing away again. Link got dizzily to his feet, nearly falling twice. The poison was already making him drowzy, its painful burning crawling through his veins. Despite this, he raised his sword defiantly as the spider started crawling over to him. Link gave up the sword idea for a moment, drawing his bow. He knew that if anything could kill the spider quickly, it was a light arrow. Unfortunately, before he could even put an arrow on his bowstring, the spider swept one of its huge, spikey legs into him, knocking him to his back. The webs on the ground clung to him, refusing to let go as the skulltulla lunged for him one last time. Link quickly shot a light arrow into its forehead.
The monster's screetching filled its shadowy hole as it died, thick fluid spilling from the arrow wound. As soon as it was dead, Link put away his bow, sighing in relief. He tore free of the webs clinging to him, and somehow worked up the strength to stand and walk toward the exit of the spider-hole as the skulltulla's poison twisted in his body. After a few moments which seemed like an eternity, Link emerged into the half-light of the Ethereal Forest, where Thesaya and Epona waited.
"What a lucky break for you, Link. You actually managed to beat the spider! I underestimated you. But you're also lucky I'm still here. When I heard you scream I was going to leave, if your animal here didn't prevent me." Thesaya said, smiling.
"Nice work, Epona..." Link mumbled, dropping to one knee.
"It's a good thing healing the spider's poison doesn't count as opposing it," Thesaya said, walking over to Link and putting a slender hand on his shoulder. "Or you would slowly die here, in the middle of this forest." She said a few words, and the poison was gone. "There you go. Now then, off to the safe path, before you get any more stupid heroic ideas." Link agreed and mounted Epona, and they set off once more.
As they walked the ghosts showed up again, but this time there was far less moaning, and most of them were smiling, giving a strangely warm look to their half-invisible faces. The three kept walking for a few hours, and then Link noticed that the mist was starting to clear up. With the fading of the mist, came the fading of the still lost souls and their moans, and goodness knows Link was glad to see the end of ithat/i. Thesaya soon led Epona and Link onto a familiar-looking dirt path.
"We're here. It'll be about one more day until we reach the northen border of the forest, if we find somewhere to camp in four hours..."
"Hey do you know where there's a rock that resembles a like-like when it twists its mouth over to eat you? I camped there once, and nothing attacked me or my companions." Link said.
"Yes. I know of that rock formation, in fact it is just about four hours away from our current position and a great camping spot. We will go there." She said. Epona obediantly kept following her, but the horse still did not like her. Link wondered why his horse felt this way, but remembered hearing from someone that animals can sense evil...
At sunset the three reached the Shifting Like-like, and made camp. Once again, Link offered Thesaya some food.
"No, no...being a sorceress, I can go long periods of time without eating. I assure you that I will be eating a very enjoyable and filling meal tomorrow afternoon, so don't worry about me." Was her only reply. Link shrugged, eating his own food and giving Epona her carrots. The horse was still hungry, so she went and grazed on leaves while Link sat next to the fire, staring at it silently and wondering about Thesaya for a few minutes. He then broke the silence, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"How long have you lived in this forest?" He asked Thesaya. Although she had a trance-like look in her grey eyes, she responded quickly.
"All my life. I was born here." She said, staying completely still except for her lips.
"That's terrible. At least, I think it would be terrible for me. I was also raised in a forest, but it wasn't filled with killer monsters. I mean, my forest was dangerous for outsiders, but to me it was perfectly safe. What happened to your parents?"
"Nosey, aren't we?" She asked, a little annoyed. Link gave her an apologetic look. "No, don't say sorry. I'll tell you this if you stop asking questions. My parents were also raised in this forest, and they passed on their instincts to me, as well as teaching me a few things before they died. Like me, they were at peace with all the animals in the forest...except each other. They killed each other."
"Oh, I'm sorry. And I though my parents' death was bad..." Link said quietly. "I apologize for prying. I was just really curious about you."
"Didn't I tell you not to appologize? I am an unusual thing, so it is no wonder that you know nothing about me. Anyway, I think it is time to sleep. Even a sorceress sleeps. Would you like me to keep watch?"
"Epona and I can handle it." Link said, still a little unsure of this woman's intent. After all, what could she want with him? Why was she so mysterious and why was she helping him? What was the thing she would ask of him when their journey was at an end? These questions could not be answered now.
"So be it." The woman said, then propped herself up against the Shifting Like-like and fell asleep, not at all bothered by the cold of nightfall. Link waited until his horse and friend returned (shortly after the usual creepy sounds of the forest started) and she layed down, allowing Link to sleep leaning against her for the first half of the night, as usual. Link watched through the second half of the uneventful night, and was grateful when the annoying wailing and bone-cracking sounds of the forest stopped with the coming of dawn.
By: Sonnet A.K.A. TALON
( E-mail me at Talonofdayyahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, Chain, Raykel, Calwots and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and, recently, writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: This story is about 52 pages long and takes place after the Hunt For the Dragonlord, so you should read that story and all the ones preceeding it before you jump into this one, or you'll be confused. Like the others, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there is violence and blood. By the way, if your confused about how I sometimes put a space between two separated parts of the story and sometimes s, you're about to be more confused by my pathetic explanation. Usually the s mean a change of setting but not time, and the space means the passing of time and maybe setting, but not always. I hope you like this one!
buSection 1
Letters from Leal/u/b
Link sat in the grass, watching the sunset like usual. Raykel sat beside him this time, surprised that he was actually enjoying watching the colorful rays of the disappearing sun.
"So, you do this all the time, Link?" Raykel asked him.
"Yeah. Yesterday I watched it with Zelda, I guess it's sort of a tradition for me."
"Well, that's interesting. I never thought watching the sunset was a very warrior-like thing to do, but now I see it's not so bad. How are you and Chain getting along?"
"Great! He's really cool now that the evil spirit is out of him. I never knew how cool it would feel to have a family...say, where's yours?"
"They live in town. I left my home to train at the castle as soon as I was old enough to do so. That was a long time ago, but I visit them now and then."
"Do you think you can take me to meet them sometime? I think it would be nice."
"Sure. How about tomorrow? I have nothing planned except training with the Royal Guard, like usual."
"Eh, maybe. I have a pretty full day tomorrow. First I'm going to train with Zelda, then when Sohran's done with his training, we were going to teach eachother magic spells. After that, I'm going to take Chain jumping on Epona. He's only been on a horse once when he was a little kid and he didn't like it, so I want to show him how fun it is. After ithat/i I'm going to visit the Gorons like I promised, and when I get back it should be about dinner time."
"Sheesh! I don't know where you find the time to do all that. I suppose I can take you the day after tomorrow, then." Raykel said, his eyes on the last vanishing rays of the gone sun.
"Okay. Well, I'm going back to the castle; you coming?" Link asked as he rose.
"Yes..." Raykel was getting to his feet as Link heard a flapping noise. He looked to the north, and saw a calwot approaching. It was a rather skinny male, but Link figured that only helped it fly faster, and that was essential for a messenger, which this cat obviously was. The black winged, tannish-grey furred calwot reached them in a matter of moments, and landed gracefully in front of Link.
"You're Link, right? My name is Leal, and I have some letters for you! This one's from iTaig,/i the idragon,/i" the young cat said, disgustedly tossing it at Link as if he couldn't stand to hold it any longer. Luckily, Link caught it. "And this one is from Saroe and Coflix," he said, handing the letter to Link. "That will be one hundered rupees for postage, please."
"What? Well I guess we are kinda far from the mountains..." Link said, and gave him the rupees.
"Thank you! Enjoy your letters!" The cat said, and flew away, towards the Stalfos Swords. Raykel turned to Link.
"Do you always carry a hundred rupees with you? Don't you think that's a bit risky?"
"No, I don't carry around a hundred, I carry around five hundred. It's as much as my wallet can carry." Link said. Raykel was silent, staring at him like he was mad. Link was already opening the first letter.
iDear Link,
How are you doing, buddy? How are Raykel, Zelda, and Chain? I finally made up with my dad, and my mom has been back for almost a month, thank you so much for saving her! I really owe you a BIG one! She brought back the fortress with her, and she said it was an ancient castle used by our ancestors! Isn't that cool? Right now it's being fixed up, and my mom says that as soon as it has some more color in it and has been suited to the Royal Dragons' needs, we'll live in it! That's going to be awsome! All thanks to you, Link! Unfortunately, I also have some bad news. The calwots are pretty mad at my dad for accusing them of stealing me, and Feelack and my dad got into a big argument! Our tribes have stopped trading, and my dad says we're probably going to WAR with the calwots! Of course their tribe is no match for ours, but my dad wanted to write to you and the King of Hyrule at the end of my letter to ask you for help anyways. See you sometime!
-The Great Taig/i
biDear Link and King of Hyrule,
Feelack is being very unreasonable and does not understand why I thought he had something to do with the disappearance of my son, Taig. The battle-loving King has declared war on the dragons, and I would like to know if Hyrule will assist the dragon clan. If you decide to help us, as I know you good humans have the sense to do, we could use some metal since the cats have stopped trading it to us. After the dragons, with the help of the humans, defeat the calwots and their unreasonable leader; the dragon clan will be proud to accept your invitation to become part of your mighty kingdom.
-The Great Cirokaal/i/b
"This is terrible, Raykel! The calwot tribe is going to war with the dragon tribe!" Link said (although the dragon and calwot civilizations are called tribes or clans, they are really much bigger than just tribes. There are a few hundred dragons and a couple thousand calwots).
"Not good. What do the calwots say?" Raykel asked.
"I don't know, there isn't enough light to read the other letter now. Let's go inside." Link and Raykel left Royal Field and entered the castle, then found some torchlight to stand under, and Link opened the second letter.
iDear Link,
This is Saroe, and Coflix is with me. We wanted to say 'hi' and see how you're doing; and we both hope that we can visit you soon. I also hope you and your kingdom are doing well, because ours isn't. Feelack is getting very old and senile, and we don't know how much longer he'll live, and to make matters worse, his son Feelock has not returned and the dragons have declared war on us! Cirokaal just could not apologize for thinking that we kidnapped Taig, and Feelack got mad, so the two had a bit of an altercation. Naturally, we aren't trading with the dragons anymore, so Feelack had Coflix and I establish trade with the griffons. The griffons are now our allies, but if you know about griffons, you know that griffons' intelligence is somewhere between calwot and animal. Most can talk, but few can read or write, and only thing they are very good at is battle. Because of this, the King thought it would be useful to have the humans for an ally, so he attatched a dictated note to this one. May you and your friends be healthy!
-Saroe and Coflix /i
iDear King Hyrule and Hero of Time,
Us calwots are very grateful to be trading with such amazing creatures as humans, and you people could be far better allies against Cirokaal than the griffons. I would be pleased if you and your kingdom would join us in our efforts to defeat the dragons. I never did like dragons, especially that stinking Cirokaal! Uh....what was I saying? Oh yeah...I have reconsidered your offer to become part of your kingdom, and the calwots have decided that we will join you if you join us against the dragons. I'm sure all of this nonsense will be corrected when my son Feelock returns! Farewell, formidable humans.
-King of Calwots, Feelack/i
"Oh, this is just SWELL! It sounds like they're going to rip eachother apart! Griffons and calwots against dragons...that will be a terrible battle." Link said worriedly.
"Not to mention both tribes want Hyrule to join them. I wonder what the King will do?" Raykel asked.
"I don't know...I guess I'll show him the letters at dinner, since it's in about five minutes. I'll talk to you tomorrow after training with Zelda, okay?"
"Alright. See you in the courtyard." Raykel walked away, towards the soldiers' barracks, and Link went to dinner.
"Link, Zelda tells me you have something to show me." King Hyrule looked over at Link, sitting a few chairs away.
"Yes, your Majesty. I need to show you two letters I got today from a calwot. Both have notes on the bottom written to you, one from Cirokaal, the other from Feelack. Here they are..." Link took them out and passed them to Zelda, who passed them to Wein (one of the King's personal guards), who began checking them for anything unsafe.
"Just give them to me, Wein! I'm sure they're not bombs or covered in poison!" The King ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" He said, giving them one last suspicious glance and handing them to the King.
"New guards..," the King muttered irritably, snatching the letters. He opened them and read them both. "This is very grave news indeed," he said quietly. "There's no way Hyrule can join either the dragons or the calwots, because whichever we join, the other will be our enemy. Hyrule does not make enemies unless she opposes them directly, and I don't see a very good reason to war with either clan. We must stay neutral, and trade to either both of them or neither of them...or maybe that's not a good idea..." The King sighed, "this will take some time to think over."
"Maybe I will dream about it, father..." Zelda suggested.
"Yes, I have finally learned to trust your prophetic dreams, Zelda. If you have any such dreams on this matter, inform me as soon as possible."
"Yes, father. What are you going to do once you reach a conclusion?" She asked.
"I'll send a letter to both the tribes. One of our trained birds can take it...no, that wouldn't work. It would be killed by those 'shiftbats' Link told me of. Didn't you say they resemble a giant keese with a wolfos head and shiftable appendages?" The King asked Link.
"Yeah, that sounds like a shiftbat." He replied.
"Keese are a bird's bane...so I guess we'll need a sturdier messenger." He looked meaningfully at Link, who had been expecting him to say that.
"Yes, your Majesty. I wanted to go visit my friends, anyway."
"You're such a good subject, Link." The King said, laughing. "I didn't even need to tell you that you were the perfect man for the job. Besides, now that Impa is here, you won't need to worry about Zelda too much."
"That's good to know." Link said, looking at the princess. "I'll go as soon as you want me to, I guess." Link said. The King nodded. Link just hoped the King didn't send him tomorrow, because he was looking forward to doing the things he had planned, especially horse-jumping with his brother.
ubSection 2
The King of Catalin, the Ethereal Forest Again/b/u
"Whhaaaaaaa!" Chain yelled, clinging to Link, as Epona sailed over a five-foot-tall fence. "Riding dragons is nothing like this!" He said, his voice bouncing as Epona landed.
"Good girl!" Link said, patting Epona's neck as she slowed. "I don't think any other horse in Hyrule can jump like you!" Epona neighed happily. Zelda, who was standing to the side watching, asked:
"So Link, how did your training with Sohran earlier go?"
"Great! I taught him Din's Fire and he taught me his tornado spell." Link replied.
"Say, do you think maybe you and Sohran can teach me some magic spells?" Chain asked. "I don't really want to use a sword anymore, since that evil black one was hidden by the King." Chain was wearing a green tunic like Link's (he had insisted that he wear clothes similar to his brother) except it was a lighter shade of green and he had no hat. He still wore his black boots, but had thrown away his gloves, since they had been stained with his brother's blood.
"No problem there, but first you'll have to go to the Great Fairy and get the ability to use magic. The Great Fairy of Magic is really nice, so I'm sure she would bless you. By the way, I think Zelda knows more spells than me and Sohran combined!" Link said, smiling over at her.
"Yes, I guess I could teach him some magic too." She said. "Hey, do either of you know if Cosha had gotten his mind back yet? I forgot to ask my father this morning..."
"I heard he's better then before, but he's still pretty crazy and can't remember a thing; the poor guy." Link said. "Speaking of memory, Chain, I've been meaning to ask you a question. Remember back when we were in the Dragonlord's Fortress and you said you remembered me? How could you remember me if you were just a newborn when you were taken away?"
"I can't explain it, really...but my earliest memory is the one I've been holding on to these past fourteen years. I remember seeing a woman holding a bundle, and I guess that was you. I don't know how I remember what happened so long ago...it's like...well, you can't remember what you had for breakfast twenty days ago, right? But you can remember defeating Ganon like it was yesterday, even though it happened months ago! You just remember important things really well, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Link said. Epona whinnied impatiently, eager to jump over more fences. "Hey Epona, do you think you can jump the six-foot fence with two people on your back?" In response, the horse began racing toward the six-foot fence (some fences had been erected in Royal Field, built specifically for horse jumping. There were ten fences, starting from one foot high, on up to ten feet high). She neighed excitedly as she reached it and sprang into the air. Link and Chain were having alot of fun, and both yelled as the horse flew over the fence, not even slightly touching it. She landed hard, but not too hard, and slowed, finally stopping. She panted as Link patted her shoulder.
"Epona is incredible!" Zelda exclaimed. "Hey, you never took me over the six-foot fence, Link!" She said, wanting to go.
"I didn't know she could do it with two people on her back! Good horse!" He patted her more. "Four extra carrots tonight!" If Epona could move her lips in such a way, she would have been grinning. "Hey girl...I'll give you six carrots if you can make it over the seven-foot fence..." Naturally, the horse began galloping towards it. She got excited with anticipation, but just as she was about to get close to the fence, it seemed to look a lot taller than it had a few moments ago, and she skidded to a stop at the last moment. Link patted her anyway. "Heheh, yeah, if I were a horse I couldn't do that either. I'll still give you five carrots." The horse was quite happy.
"I think it's Zelda's turn." Chain said, seeing the eager look on the princess's face.
"Okay, let's go get her, girl, if you're not too tired." Epona wasn't too tired, so she walked over to Zelda, and Chain dismounted. "Don't forget, we can't jump itoo/i much, because even if Epona is Ms. Superhorse, she still needs some energy to take me to Death Mountain in an hour or two."
"Okay. As long as she takes me over the six-footer I'll be happy! Hey, Link...look over there! Isn't that a calwot?" Zelda pointed to a flying figure high in the air, soaring towards the Stalfos Swords.
"Hey, it is! Why is it here, though?" Link wondered. The cat did not look like a messenger. It was large and black.
"Why don't you go talk to it and offer it a night in the castle? We need to be hospitable to our new allies." Zelda suggested.
"Okay. I just hope the dragons don't take it wrong. Hey Epona, go after that calwot!" The horse raced off, as eager to run as ever. By now the calwot had flown over part of the Ethereal Forest to the Northeast, so Epona ran towards those trees. When she was about to reach the forest, the calwot looked down and spotted her. Realizing her rider wanted to talk, he began slowly decending in a wide circle towards the tree-littered ground. Link got off of Epona as she reached the trees, and went into the forest to meet the descending calwot. Soon he reached the spot under the calwot, and it landed in front of him.
Link was surprised to see that this cat was ivery/i black. It was much blacker than Coflix, and Link thought it must be as black as Feelack! The strange cat was not wearing very calwotish clothing, either. He wore some clothes on his bottom half like a normal calwot male; however, he also wore armor, and Link had never seen a calwot wear armor before. It was made of a darkish metal, and was shiney and spikey. He had golden-yellow eyes, which looked almost menacing...
"What is it, human? For what trivial purpose have you brought me down to your level?" The cat's voice was deep yet young, and had a sharp tone of irritation. iHow rude/i...Link thought, but remembered to extend Zelda's invitation.
"My name is Link, and I wanted to tell you that the princess of Hyrule says you're welcome to stay in the castle and rest if you want. Both her and the King are glad to be allies of Catalin, but I'm just one of their servants, heheh." Link extended a hand to shake. The calwot gripped his neck with it's strong right paw, lifting him off his feet.
"Just who do you think you are, Link?! You are talking to Feelock, Lord of the Calwots! If my idiot father has established trade with some dirty little humans, I'll just have to fix that, wont I? By the way, did you really think I would 'shake your hand', after you brought me down to your level to tell me some worthless information?! That would be like shaking antennaes with an ant! How dare you treat me so direspectfully!!" The cat squeezed Link's neck harder, making Link flinch, but the Hylian had had quite enough of this. He put a hand on the hilt of the Master Sword and gave the cat a threatening look, ready to cut his arm off if need be. But before he could draw the sword, the cat released him and punched his stomach fiercely while he was falling, throwing him into a nearby tree. Link got up, holding his neck and looking more than a little annoyed.
"Ow...hey, what did you do that for? What did I do to you? You can't just go choking people because you think you're better than they are! You're no King..." Link drew his sword.
"Little imbecile! Do you think you can hurt me with that pathetic excuse for a sword? I can slice that thing to pieces!" The cat raised his paw up to his face and spread out his fingers, showing off the armor on them. The darkly gleaming, sharp-looking armor ran up his arm and onto the back of his hand, going all the way to the end of his fingers. The armor ended by coating each of his individual claws with metal, making each one much larger and sharper that normal. "I sharpen these metal claws every day with a combination of diamonds and magic. They are sharp enough that I can draw them through pure steel effortlessly." He grinned, revealing his pointed, feline teeth. "But I won't waste energy slicing you and your sword to ribbons, instead I'll test a new and experimental spell of mine on you - The Internal Blender!" Feelock raised a paw and pointed his palm at Link, then chanted a few words. Nothing happened.
"Internal what? Well, it's not very effective, is it?" Link began to walk towards the cat, who was grinning for some reason, then started to feel something move inside of him. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he stopped. "What was that...?" Link wondered, then he felt it again, only it was painful this time. It felt like his guts jerking to one side, then twisting around. "Aaaaahhhhh!....What on earth?!" He put a hand on his stomach, then his insides started twisting more, and he screamed again, the disabling pain bringing him to his knees. It felt now as if all of his insides were being twisted and blended, hence the name of the spell. It was extremely painful, and Link dropped his sword, one hand on his stomach, the other on the ground. It went on that way for a few moments, Link screaming, Feelock laughing in evil glee.
"What do you think? It's the perfect spell for torturing. It's extremely painful but although it feels like you're being torn apart, it doesn't cause any real damage except a bit of internal bleeding; but that's not so bad, right? You're lucky I'm not using the Lethal Internal Blender, which really idoes/i blend your insides. It's a good thing I'm in a pleasant mood, isn't it?"
"I can't comprehend how...lucky I am..." Link said sarcastically, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth. Feelock renewed the spell, and Link screamed loudly as the magic did its work for a few moments. Feelock was quite enjoying himself when a very mad Epona jumped over the grounded Link, charging for the cat.
"What?! What does this animal think it's doing?" Feelock said, caught off-guard. The calwot had barely enough time to jump into the air before Epona reached the spot he had been standing miliseconds ago, rearing up and whinnying angrilly. "Oh well, I was about to be on my way, anyways. I'll kill you the next time I see you, Link! Have a nice afternoon, heheh." Epona pawed the ground and snorted, and Feelock finally flew away. Epona walked over to Link, clamping her teeth onto his tunic and dragging him to his feet.
"Ugghhh....Thanks, girl...what would I do without you?" Link felt a little better now (with the exception of a little internal pain) and could stand on his own, so Epona released him. He got on her and she ran back to Chain and the princess, who healed him while he explained what had happened.
"That calwot must be insane, and is certainly not fit to rule anything, especially a whole clan! We have to do something!" Zelda said.
"Hopefully the calwots will recognize him for an evil creature and do something to him when he gets there, but somehow I doubt it." Link said sadly. "They idid/i say that Feelack would die soon, so they're in desperate need of a king...and that cat seemed to be the kind of guy who would take advantage of his kingdom's kinglessness. The calwots might share his idea of calwots being better then other creatures and willingly follow his rule! Who knows what would happen then? He made it very clear that he hates humans!" After Zelda was finished healing Link, one of the Royal Guards came out of the castle, walking over to Link.
"Excuse me sir, the King has requested that you go to his quarters immediately," he said, then left.
"Alright, the King probably has the letters for Cirokaal and Feelack, if he's still alive. I guess we'll have to finish this later, guys." Link said, walking towards the castle.
"Hey, won't Epona jump over fences with just me or Zelda on her back?" Chain inquired.
"Well, I heard she was a pretty wild horse before I won her in a race... you can itry/i to have her go jumping with just you, but I don't know if she'll do it." Link said, then went to the King's quarters.
"Okay, girl...nice horsey..." Chain, said, approaching Epona slowly. She reared up, and raced away. "Well, that could have gone better." he said, watching the horse's swift form dissapear behind a hill. Zelda laughed.
"I tried that once too, but that horse will simply not let any person ride on her alone, except Link or Malon. She likes me, but she still won't let me ride her without Link. Strange, huh?"
"Yeah. I need to get a horse sometime and teach it to jump. That was really fun!" Chain exclaimed.
"I have a white one that can jump, but not as well as Epona. Hey, I bet if you helped out the Stable Master with his chores, he might give you one of the unowned horses. He's a really nice man, and he'll probably like you before he knows you because you're Link's brother. Want to go see him?"
"Sure, that sounds great!" Chain said, and he and Zelda left for the stables.
"Okay, Link, I want you to be extra careful delivering these letters. If the two clans don't get these letters of peace from Hyrule, they may decide to war with us, too. I pray that they will find the wisdom to stop this foolish war...make sure you stop by the kitchen for provisions before you leave, and watch yourself while crossing the Ethereal Forest! Hopefully you will be back in a few days, but if you want to stay in Catalin or the dragon's village for a while and visit, feel free to do so."
"Thanks!" Link said, "I'll try to be quick. Your Majesty, Since I'm leaving immediately, would you mind telling my brother and Zelda where I'm going? I don't want them to worry."
"Of course I'll tell them, Link. Travel safely, and don't take any unnecessary risks!" The King warned.
"Okay. Bye, Your Majesty!" Link, waving, turned towards the door.
"Wait, Link. We are familiar enough with eachother that it sounds strange for you to call me 'Your Majesty'...you may call me by my first name, Daphnes."
"Cool! Bye, Daphnes!" Link left the King's quarters, got some food at the kitchen, and equipped his gear. He went back to North Hyrule, and seeing that Epona, Zelda, and Chain were no longer there, he guessed what had happened, laughing to himself. He called Epona, who came running.
"Looks like we won't be visiting the Gorons after all, girl. King's orders come first...oh well, I wasn't really in the mood to get squashed in a 'Goron Hug', anyway. Will you go with me to the Stalfos Swords?" Link asked, getting on her back. The speedy horse took Link to the forest, but not before leaping over the seven-foot fence (she couldn't resist). When the two got there, Epona slowed to a trot, since the trees were too dense for galloping.
Link experienced a deja vu, once again enjoying the beauty of the forest, which seemed to look exactly the same it had last time he was there. The canopy overhead filtered sunbeams down onto the dead leaf-covered ground. The patches of grass still looked green and pretty in the shadows, and Link heard the songs of various birds and insects. As Epona walked by a large tree, Link looked up and saw a woodpecker on its trunk, carving itself a home in the tree's bark. Link loved this part of the forest, but the back of his mind pulled up a more unpleasant memory: the dangers of the deep parts of the Ethereal Forest.
As Epona trotted on, Link thought of that evil place. The terrible sounds at night, the bones that one could trip on if not cautious, and of course, the shiftbats. Shiftbats had not really been as much of a challenge as the Queen Tree or Vux the last time Link was in the forest, so it would seem that Link had little to worry about, but he had a persisting feeling that the shiftbats were not the strongest of the creatures in the deep places of the forest.
Link enjoyed his pleasant ride in the forest for a few hours, then the sun began to set. The Hylian and his horse had passed the Jagged Beamos long ago, so he figured he had made enough progress to set up camp soon. After the sun was gone and it became dark, he halted Epona and started a camp fire with which he cooked his dinner. He did not need to tie up Epona because he knew she wouldn't run away, and if something did attack his little camp she could defend herself better if she wasn't tied to a tree.
"Hey Epona, I bet you want your carrots now, huh? You probably thought I forgot, didn't you?" In response, Epona walked over to Link, licking his face several times. "Heheh, okay, okay...that's enough of that. Here you go." Link dug the carrots out of his gear, giving them to his horse, who munched them down as quickly as possible. "How can you possibly enjoy your food when you eat so fast?" The contented horse just sat there, looking happy. "Time for bed, girl. Remember how I trained you to watch?" Link asked her. A few weeks ago Link had gone exploring deep into the Lost Woods, looking for a certain fairy. He hadn't found the fairy, but had taught Epona a new trick: how to watch over camp. All he did was train her to stay awake for half the night, keeping alert, then go to sleep while he stayed awake. Epona layed down, keeping her head up. Link sat down beside her, leaning back and resting on her soft saddle, just like they had done in the Lost Woods. For half of the night, Epona stayed awake, carefully watching over her sleeping master, then she awakened him and he sat up, watching for the rest of the night while his horse slept.
Nothing happened during the night, and light illuminated the green forest as the sun finally found it's way over the horizon. Link woke up his horse (after much shaking and yelling) and he ate some breakfast while Epona grazed on the patches of grass growing around their camp. When they were both finished, Link packed up his stuff and they left, Epona's quick trotting taking them deeper into the woods. It was a beautiful morning, and the clouds far above softened the sunlight which filtered through the branches, making the atmosphere very enjoyable. However, Link knew those branches got thicker the deeper he and Epona traveled into the forest. Link stopped thinking about branches when a pack of wolfoses appeared from behind some trees in front of Link and his mount. Link drew his sword, hoping the wolves would get the message and leave, but they looked like half-starved ravenous beasts, and didn't even give the Master Sword a second glance before attacking. He killed the first two which lunged at him, and the third was defeated when Epona kicked it, sending it flying into a tree. Two more ran away in fear, but Link had to wound the last one before it left. He slashed it's back and it ran away as fast as it's legs could carry it, yelping in pain.
Link and Epona continued on, and nothing else happened for a while, except the gradual darkening of the forest; the closing up of the canopy overhead, and the lessening of patches of green grass under spots of sunlight. The increasing silence and appearence of bones, and even a slight mist made the forest less pleasant then before. Link knew he had finally reached the end of the friendly part of the forest. Link hoped he was travelling in the right direction, because if he did not find the safe path through the forest, what would happen? He didn't know, but he did know that Raykel had almost died from being attacked while their group was on the isafe/i path, so the dangerous way must be twice as bad. Link regretted that he hadn't better remembered the best way through the forest during his previous visit.
It kept getting mistier as Link and Epona progressed, reminding Link of his disturbing visit to Ganon's Swamp. The spots of sunlight coming through the branches were almost nonexistant now, and Link knew he was probably nowhere near the safe path, since there had been no mist on or around it whatsoever. The way forward was now very hard to see, with the darkness of the canopy and the setting of the sun, plus the disorienting mist. Link made Epona stop, and since they had traveled far already, he set up his camp for the night (after marking their direction on the ground so they wouldn't get lost). He didn't say a word to his horse as he gave her the usual two carrots (she got two carrots every day, sometimes more if she was very good, sometimes less if she misbehaved, but that was very rare). He also ate his food silently, listening for signs of life in the forbidding forest. Soon the eerie sounds Link knew had been coming began. The first one, the screetching of some monster in indescribable agony, startled Epona. She jumped in fright, then ran over to Link's side, huddling up against him.
"It's okay, girl. Don't worry about the noises unless they're close." His words did not seem to comfort his horse and friend much, for she was still shivering by his side. "Oh come on, girl! How are you going to keep watch or get any sleep if you're this scared of ghost noises from far away?" The horse finally stopped shivering, realizing that she was in no immediate danger. She layed down, and Link leaned on her just as he had last night, trying to ignore the sounds of cracking bones and flesh being torn. "Wake me up if anything sounds close, okay, Epona?" Link said, covering his ears against the moaning of shades.
buSection 3
Wraiths, Ghosts, and Deceptive Monsters/u/b
Link awoke as his head hit the ground, because Epona had stood up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, trying to clear the sleep out of his head. The misty, biting, cold of deep night brought him to his senses fully, and he could not prevent himself from shivering. He turned to see why Epona had gotten up, and froze when he saw a ghost standing directly in front of her. The semi-transparent creature almost blended in with the mist, and Link was at first unsure that he was seeing it at all, but it was apparent when its blue, lifeless lips started moving, its right hand raised and pointing at his horse's face. The ghost's whiteish-grey skin was peeling off its body in many places, and eerily floating rags clothed it, as its white and pupil-less eyes stared into Epona's. Link realized the creature was chanting, hypnotizing his horse, and it was because of this monstrosity Epona had stood up without warning. Link jumped up, ready to draw his sword and repel the ghost as well as he could, when a below zero-degree, frosty white hand layed itself on his right shoulder from behind.
Link was frozen in his tracks, literally unable to move. The white hand turned him around, so that he was staring into the lifeless eyes and expressionless face of a rotting ghost. The freezing temperature spread throughout Link's body as he stared, paralyzed, into the eyes of the wraith. He could feel the coldnes slow his blood, and his heart. White mist came from Link's mouth as he was forced to exhale by the creature's sub-zero, suffocating grip on his shoulder. He could only stare into the dead face as he lowered to his knees, his strength failing. iDo something! /iHe told himself urgently, and he tried to move his left arm over his shoulder, where the hilt of the Master Sword could be reached. The ghost's paralyzing stare made it extremely difficult, but eventually his arm, shaking with the effort, reached the sword's hilt. As his hand closed around it, it glowed with white light, and the ghost gripping his shoulder shrank back, raising it half invisible arms to its face; tying to protect itself from the light.
Link could finally breathe, and his body no longer frozen, he stood and drew the sword, and its fully-revealed light sent the ghost flying away, screeching and moaning in pain and the sorrow of a lost soul. Link turned towards the ghost captivating Epona. The ghost had materialized a sword in its dead hand, and was preparing to drive it into the horse, when the light of the Master Sword hit it, having the same effect on this creature as it had had on the last one. As the ghost quickly drifted away, the sub-zero temperature left the camp, and Link put his sword away, surprised at how exhausted he was. Although it was warmer than it had been before, it was still very cold and the ghost's freezing touch had not completely left Link, so he stood shivering a few moments as Epona came to her senses.
"Are you...okay, girl?" Link's shaking voice inquired. Epona walked over to him, rubbing up against him to warm him and herself up. They were both very tired and they layed down again; unfortunately they had been physically drained by the wraiths and fell asleep before they could stop themselves. The last thing Link heard before he fell into darkness was the soft, haunting song of a maiden in the misty forest.
Link woke up just as the sun climbed over the mountains, but he could not see it due to the thickness of the forest. He was about to wake his horse, when he heard the same mistifying singing that he had heard when falling asleep last night. Startled, he looked around the trees, but the mist, although thinner than it had been last night, still covered everything twenty feet away from him in an impenatrable haze. He saw nothing as the singing continued, its soft and strangely enamoring melody making Link want to search for its source.
"Hello? Is someone lost out there?" Link called out, and the singing stopped. Link looked at the mist twenty feet away, directly in front of him, seeing some faint movement. He stopped leaning on Epona's sleeping form and stood, his eyes locked on the mist. Slowly a person appeared, walking at a leisurely pace towards Link. It was a woman of perhaps twenty years of age, with silver hair and light grey eyes. She wore some greenish-gray robes, which hung loosely about her and were rather revealing.
"You heard my singing, adventurer? I am not lost, but you seem to be. My name is Thesaya, the sorceress. Who are you?" She gave him a strange smile as she drew nearer to him, stopping when she was about six feet away. Link stopped looking at her and stared at the ground.
"I really don't know if I should tell a strange woman who lives in a dangerous forest my name," Link said, "but you idid/i tell me yours..."
"Do not worry, I mean you no harm. I live here because I am at peace with the creatures of the forest, but that does not mean I share their intent to destroy intruders. Believe me, if I wanted to kill you I would have already." Link thought a moment, still looking away from the woman.
"My name is Link." he said hesitantly. "And my horse is Epona." Speaking of Epona, she was still fast asleep.
"Why will you not look at me, Link? My face will not turn you to stone." The woman said in her quiet, calm but powerful voice.
"It's not your face I'm avoiding, it's your chest. Would you mind pulling up your shirt or something? It's almost as bad as a Great Fairy..."
"Pull up my shirt?" The woman didn't seem at all offended, just mildly surprised. "You are a strange man, unlike any I've ever met. But if my robes disturb you, I will honor your request." She tied her robes more securely, pulling the top closed.
"Thanks. That's the only thing bad about visiting a Great Fairy." Link said, turning his eyes to her face. "Even if I ask them, they wont put on more clothes! So...why were you singing? If you don't really want anything with me I have to go somewhere..." Link trailed off as the woman started laughing.
"In this forest? I saw how that ghost attacked you last night, nearly killed you, didn't it? I take it you are looking for the safe path through the forest? If you don't find it you will meet many more ghosts."
"Do you know the way to the safe path? I'm going to the mountains."
"Yes, I know. I'll take you through the forest to the mountains...but only if you will do something for me when we get there."
"That sounds fair...what is this 'thing' I must do for you?" Link asked, the woman smiled the kind of smile that makes one nervous.
"I'll tell you when we get there." she said simply.
"What? But...what if it's something I can't...or iwon't/i do?" Link asked.
"Don't worry, I will not ask an impossible task of you. I will ask you to do something that a true warrior is always prepared to do."
"Well...okay. I guess we can leave as soon as my horse and I are done eating breakfast, but first I have to wake her up...say, do you want some food? It's pretty good."
"I...do not eat the sort of things you eat. I am on a very strict diet, and I can guarantee you don't have anything I will eat in your bag."
"Okay, tell me if you change your mind." Link turned to Epona, and leaned down. He grabbed her ear, holding it open as he yelled into it, "Hey, EPONA! WAKE UP!" The horse did not move. "COME ON! TIME TO GET UP!" Epona stirred slightly, snorting and dozing. Link layed both hands on her side, and shook her. "GET UUUUUUUUP!" Finally the horse arose, looking sleepily around. "Hey Epona, it's about time! Meet our new friend, Thesaya." Epona looked over at the woman and jumped when she saw her, ducking behind Link. "Oh c'mon! I though you were a brave horse! She's not a ghost, and she's not going to bite you!" Epona came out slowly, glowering at the woman. Epona then stood between Thesaya and Link, pawing the ground. "Cut it out, girl! What, you don't like Thesaya? She didn't do anything to you! Go and graze so we can leave, she's taking us to the Stalfos Swords." With one final glare at Thesaya, Epona walked off to graze. "Sorry about that. She doesn't trust people easily."
"And you trust them very easily." Thesay observed, giving Link a strange, calm look.
"Well, wouldn't you be offended if I told you to go away because I didn't trust you? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." Link said.
"I am just telling you that there are creatures in this forest who will try to deceive you into trusting them, then turn around and kill you after you've done them a favor. But don't worry, I can tell who these monsters are, and I can see that you're not one of them."
"Nope! But hey...it's not like I'll go trusting anything ithat/i easily. I may trust you a little bit, but I'm still on my guard, so if you're one of those monsters you'de better not try anything. I have an evil-repelling sword."
"Your innocently foolish and naive personality would repel evil all by itself..." She muttered under her breath.
"What?" Link said, "I can't hear you."
"Never mind. Just eat so we can go." She said impatiently, so Link did. He waited until Epona was done eating leaves off the low-hanging branches of trees (there was no more grass because there was not enough light for it to grow in that area), and even though she didn't like their taste, she ate her fill quickly enough. The three then left, Link riding on Epona, following the strange woman of magic, Thesaya. While they walked, the mist seemed to get damper, the unpleasant and cold wetness making Link and his horse uncomfortable as it surrounded them. Thesaya didn't seem to even notice it, walking on in silence. After an hour or so, the silence began to get rather old, and Link was about to say something to the strange woman when he heard a noise. It sounded like a moan, and Link looked to the left, where the sound seemed to have come from. He gasped when he saw a ghost standing about fifteen feet away, half hidden in the mist. This one looked a little different from the ones he had seen last night. This ghost didn't look like a rotting zombie, just a semi-transparent, colorless person; with pupils in it's eyes. This one was also less visible than the horrors from last night, various body parts fading in and out of view as Epona walked heedlessly past it. It was a ghost of a little girl.
"Do not worry about ghosts which do not look like they're decomposing. They are merely lost souls, and will not even go near you if you are close to me." Thesaya said, her first words since they had left that morning. iGhosts?/i Link thought, iI only see one.../ibut then he looked around and saw many other ghosts appear, barely visible on the edges of the mist, their gray forms fading and reappearing hauntingly. The three travelers were soon surrounded by the dead people, who varied in size, age, species, and gender. Their moans reached Link's ears and their see-through hands reached out to him, as if begging him to take them along. "These are the memories of people who died in this forest. The forest keeps them, showing them to any who trespass, letting them know what their future will be if they go any further. Luckily, they should start disappearing in a few hours, when we reach the safe path." The sorceress said. The unlikely threesome kept walking, and a few hours after seeing the first ghost, Link saw something else appear out of the mist, in front of Thesaya. It was an enourmous spiderweb.
"Hmmm...this spiderweb wasn't here a week ago...no matter, it does not surprise me. A giant skulltulla (for you non-zelda-players, a skulltulla is a spider who's abdomen resembles a skull) lives to the left of this area, killing any creatures who come here. Many of the ghosts you see around you were killed by this spider of great evil. I am at peace with the spider so it will not attack me, but it would be unfortunate if it attacked you because it sees you as food." She said. They went around the spiderweb and kept walking, deeper into the mist, and more spiderwebs appeared. Soon Link noticed things on the ground, too. They looked like big bundles of spiderweb...then he saw a creature iin/i one of the bundles of spiderweb. It was a deer, sucked dry by a spider and decomposing. The next bundle was a wolfos, and the next... Link gasped as he saw that it was human. It was the decomposing corpse of the little girl he had seen. The sight of her made Link feel very cold, and the creepy feeling reached down to the depths of his soul. The sight also made him angry.
"Thesaya." He called to get her attention.
"Yes?" She halted, turning to Link and waiting expectantly.
"Thesaya, I want you to take me to the giant skulltulla. I cannot allow such an evil killer to go on living, taking the lives of innocent people to preserve its own. I have to destroy it."
"No you don't. You don't know what you're saying. It will kill you, too! This is foolishness!" Thesaya said irritably.
"It killed a little girl...and a bunch of these people, you said so yourself!" Link looked around at the dead and pleading faces of the ghosts. They no longer looked threatening, but begging, not asking Link to take them with him, but to impose justice on the foul creature which had ended their lives. "That's why they're reaching out to me. I have to kill the spider!" Link said, sure of his words.
"Human...I mean, Link...If you fight that spider, it will claim your life. I cannot assist you with my powers, for if I oppose one creature of the forest I oppose them all, and they will attack me from all sides as they would be doing to you if you weren't in my prescence. The spider will entangle you in its web and poison you, so that your insides will slowly liquify, very painfully. It will then wait until your nice and tender and half-alive, then stick its fangs deep into you, and suck away all that is inside of your body. That is what will happen to you."
"If I don't do something, that is what will happen to every other person who gets too close to this spider! Just take me to it. It's not your fault if it kills me. I can't let it live." Thesaya sighed, exasperated. She then started walking left, deeper into the area with spiderwebs. Epona stood still, not wanting to follow her. "Let's go, girl! Thesaya is just going to take me to the spider's lair, not go in herself, so you can stay outside with her if you don't want to fight the spider with me." Epona reluctantly started following the sorceress. After maybe fifteen minutes of walking, the ghosts stopped appearing, and the three companions found an area where the ground was rising up. In the middle of this small hill there was a great hole, and it was covered on all sides by sticky spiderweb. Link dismounted, sensing that this was the lair of his enemy.
"I will wait for twenty minutes. If you don't come back, or I hear you scream as the spider injects you with venom, I'm leaving." Thesaya said coldly.
"Okay. Do you mind if Epona waits with you? She's scared of spiders," Link said.
"She can stay with me. As a last tribute to your dead body, I will take her back to Hyrule so she will not meet the same fate that you are about to meet."
"Very moralizing, aren't you? Thanks for the vote of confidence! But seriously, thank you for offering to take Epona back if I die, but I won't. I'll see you in a few minutes." Link drew his sword, walking into the deep web-surrounded pit. Thesaya shook her head, thinking that Link's confidence would get him killed.
The spider hole stunk of death, and darkness wrapped closely around Link as he entered it. Link evoked the powerful light magic of the Master Sword. The darkness seemed to move as the magic on Link's sword danced up and down the blade; and the shadows, which looked almost alive, stayed back from the ring of light; crouched and ready to spring apon Link, should the light dissapear. iThis must be the deepest, blackest pit of death in the entire forest,/i Link thought. He kept walking, amazed at how big the cave-like pit was. His boots almost got stuck in the spiderweb coating the floor, and he irritably yanked his boots out of it. He was about to start walking again, but stopped as he heard a faint hissing. He saw what he had before mistaken for a stick lying five feet in front of him, move. The sharp, black, two-inch thick leg of the giant skulltulla pulled itself out of the ring of light, into the impenetrable shadows.
Link forced himself not to be scared, trusting in the power of the triforce of courage, and his will to destroy the creature which had murdered hundreds. The light on his sword grew brighter, illuminating the huge spider, with an abdomen as big as a boulder, and eight ten-foot long legs. The spider's eight red eyes glowed as they opened, and yellow poison dripped from its disgustingly long fangs.
"So you're the killer of many of those ghosts. Time to pay for what you've done, monster!" Link pointed his sword at the spider, and it shrank back from its bright light, hissing. Then it opened its mouth, spraying Link with webs. Link, very surprised (he had never seen a skulltulla build its web and had no idea the webs came out of the mouth rather than the abdomen, like a normal spider), couldn't do much but hack at the webs. Eventually he had so much web on him that it pinned him to the ground securely, despite his efforts. The giant spider crawled over to him, and leaned down, preparing to stick its wickedly sharp fangs into Link's neck. Link twisted sharply, and managed to pull enough web free to roll to the side slightly, dodging the fangs. Link then used his gauntlets to break free of the slimey, clinging webs; and jumped to his feet. He swung with his sword at the spider's nearest leg, right next to him. Milky yellow blood poured from the spider's appendage as Link severed it, and the monster backed away.
"No, you won't be appending me to the augmenting pile of deaths you've accumulated!" Link shouted (if Zelda were there with Link, she would be surprised at all the big words he was using). The spider screeched at Link, lunging for his head. Link jumped quickly to the side, severing two more legs as he swung his sword at the spider. It screetched again, this time in pain, and the now five-legged spider stumbled as it turned to Link. The hideous and enraged monster opened it foul mouth, spewing web at Link once again. Link couldn't raise his arms quick enough to prevent some web from hitting his face, and he momentarily dropped his guard as he pulled the sticky webs off his head. The spider chose that moment to jump at Link again, and this time the creature's weight pinned Link, and it quickly leaned down its ugly head, digging its fangs into Link's shoulder.
"Aaahhhhh!" Link yelled as the spider's searing, yellow poison was injected into him. It started painfully spreading immediately, flowing in Link's blood. He managed to give the skulltulla's head a good punch, and it withdrew it's fangs, backing away again. Link got dizzily to his feet, nearly falling twice. The poison was already making him drowzy, its painful burning crawling through his veins. Despite this, he raised his sword defiantly as the spider started crawling over to him. Link gave up the sword idea for a moment, drawing his bow. He knew that if anything could kill the spider quickly, it was a light arrow. Unfortunately, before he could even put an arrow on his bowstring, the spider swept one of its huge, spikey legs into him, knocking him to his back. The webs on the ground clung to him, refusing to let go as the skulltulla lunged for him one last time. Link quickly shot a light arrow into its forehead.
The monster's screetching filled its shadowy hole as it died, thick fluid spilling from the arrow wound. As soon as it was dead, Link put away his bow, sighing in relief. He tore free of the webs clinging to him, and somehow worked up the strength to stand and walk toward the exit of the spider-hole as the skulltulla's poison twisted in his body. After a few moments which seemed like an eternity, Link emerged into the half-light of the Ethereal Forest, where Thesaya and Epona waited.
"What a lucky break for you, Link. You actually managed to beat the spider! I underestimated you. But you're also lucky I'm still here. When I heard you scream I was going to leave, if your animal here didn't prevent me." Thesaya said, smiling.
"Nice work, Epona..." Link mumbled, dropping to one knee.
"It's a good thing healing the spider's poison doesn't count as opposing it," Thesaya said, walking over to Link and putting a slender hand on his shoulder. "Or you would slowly die here, in the middle of this forest." She said a few words, and the poison was gone. "There you go. Now then, off to the safe path, before you get any more stupid heroic ideas." Link agreed and mounted Epona, and they set off once more.
As they walked the ghosts showed up again, but this time there was far less moaning, and most of them were smiling, giving a strangely warm look to their half-invisible faces. The three kept walking for a few hours, and then Link noticed that the mist was starting to clear up. With the fading of the mist, came the fading of the still lost souls and their moans, and goodness knows Link was glad to see the end of ithat/i. Thesaya soon led Epona and Link onto a familiar-looking dirt path.
"We're here. It'll be about one more day until we reach the northen border of the forest, if we find somewhere to camp in four hours..."
"Hey do you know where there's a rock that resembles a like-like when it twists its mouth over to eat you? I camped there once, and nothing attacked me or my companions." Link said.
"Yes. I know of that rock formation, in fact it is just about four hours away from our current position and a great camping spot. We will go there." She said. Epona obediantly kept following her, but the horse still did not like her. Link wondered why his horse felt this way, but remembered hearing from someone that animals can sense evil...
At sunset the three reached the Shifting Like-like, and made camp. Once again, Link offered Thesaya some food.
"No, no...being a sorceress, I can go long periods of time without eating. I assure you that I will be eating a very enjoyable and filling meal tomorrow afternoon, so don't worry about me." Was her only reply. Link shrugged, eating his own food and giving Epona her carrots. The horse was still hungry, so she went and grazed on leaves while Link sat next to the fire, staring at it silently and wondering about Thesaya for a few minutes. He then broke the silence, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"How long have you lived in this forest?" He asked Thesaya. Although she had a trance-like look in her grey eyes, she responded quickly.
"All my life. I was born here." She said, staying completely still except for her lips.
"That's terrible. At least, I think it would be terrible for me. I was also raised in a forest, but it wasn't filled with killer monsters. I mean, my forest was dangerous for outsiders, but to me it was perfectly safe. What happened to your parents?"
"Nosey, aren't we?" She asked, a little annoyed. Link gave her an apologetic look. "No, don't say sorry. I'll tell you this if you stop asking questions. My parents were also raised in this forest, and they passed on their instincts to me, as well as teaching me a few things before they died. Like me, they were at peace with all the animals in the forest...except each other. They killed each other."
"Oh, I'm sorry. And I though my parents' death was bad..." Link said quietly. "I apologize for prying. I was just really curious about you."
"Didn't I tell you not to appologize? I am an unusual thing, so it is no wonder that you know nothing about me. Anyway, I think it is time to sleep. Even a sorceress sleeps. Would you like me to keep watch?"
"Epona and I can handle it." Link said, still a little unsure of this woman's intent. After all, what could she want with him? Why was she so mysterious and why was she helping him? What was the thing she would ask of him when their journey was at an end? These questions could not be answered now.
"So be it." The woman said, then propped herself up against the Shifting Like-like and fell asleep, not at all bothered by the cold of nightfall. Link waited until his horse and friend returned (shortly after the usual creepy sounds of the forest started) and she layed down, allowing Link to sleep leaning against her for the first half of the night, as usual. Link watched through the second half of the uneventful night, and was grateful when the annoying wailing and bone-cracking sounds of the forest stopped with the coming of dawn.