"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

~Eleanor Roosevelt~

Shards of Time

An Ocarina of Time FanFiction

Chapter 2: Prophecies

~Interlude~

Dark clouds billowed across the skies without any care in the world. With every grumble of thunder and clap of lightning, the ground shook like an earthquake had struck Farore's sweet earth. Zelda hugged her body as tightly as she possibly could, no other protection around for her to pursue. The rain poured heavily down in thick, icy sheets, and she knew that something unnatural had caused such a strange reaction in what was a world filled with light.

The thick stamping of hooves, combined with swords and weapons colliding harshly was suddenly sounded, causing Zelda to spin around in the barren land of grass when cackling was heard from behind her. Two figures, hunched over from the prevailing winds, in the air joined one much larger figure with a much straighter back. They controlled the clouds billowing above, and their dark aura sent shivers down Zelda's spine.

She searched around desperately for salvation, yet none was to be found. Tears stung at the very edges of her eyes, and she began running faster than she had ever ran before –trying her hardest not to cry as she tripped over a tiny rock. A light exploded from the land north of her, and she almost cried out at the light penetrating her pupils with such a harsh concentration.

She couldn't help but look away as the figures descended from over her, cuddling her body in a tight ball as the wet mud stained her white clothes; staining her life along with it.

Yet those figures never touched her...

She jumped when a screech of pain sounded from above her, although she couldn't help but uncurl herself just a little to see what had occurred within her surroundings. From where the light had come from before, the force of the holy light had parted the dark clouds and lit up the ground; revealing three things ahead of her that her eyes could not help but fall on.

The first was a figure, walking slowly from out of a forest with a small sword in his hand. The second was a green Stone in his hand that glittered from the light that had emerged and radiated out from the forest; a Stone which Zelda knew was the sacred Kokiri's Emerald from legend. The third was a glowing orb flying above the figure's shoulder: a Guardian Fairy, Zelda assumed. She opened her mouth to call out for the figure when a shadow fell over her petite form.

She whirled around on the grassy terrain, waiting for the darkness to consume her fully this time...

~*O*~

Then she bolted upright with a cry, her thick duvet sheets following her as she moved so abruptly. A thick sheen of sweat had formed over her eyebrows, and she felt a nervous tremor in her hands already being set off from the nightmare. Her breath was drawn forth out of her body in short rasps, no where being close to her normal breathing rate. It's happening again, she told myself with a strong shudder as she swallowed thickly. Father... I have to tell Father that we are in trouble!

She wasted no time in leaping out of her bed, her bare feet colliding with the soft red carpet as she rushed over to the large door. The two guards outside of her room turned to Zelda when she opened the door, concern filling their eyes. "Your Grace, are you...?"

"I am well, thank you." She assured them. "I just need to take a walk." The guard on the right opened their mouth to object, but the guard on the left held their hand up and let her go. "Thank-you." As soon as they were out of her sight, Zelda broke into a sprint towards the staircase, her feet slapping off the oak flooring softly as she went.

She raced up the cold steps and further onward towards Father's room until she dashed around a corner and collided with someone. She gasped loudly, craning her neck up so much to see silver hair tied back in a tight bun and crimson eyes watching her in surprise. "Zelda, Your Grace, what are you doing up at such a late hour?" Zelda hugged the woman tightly, her hands beginning to shake again a little.

"Impa..." She said softly. "I had that dream again, and I just know that it means something!" She tried her best to break free so she could continue on with her quest to find Father and alert him. "I need to go and—"

"Princess." Impa held out her arm, blocking Zelda fully from moving; Impa's height compared to Zelda's not really help either. "I know that you usually have prophetic dreams, and that this particular dream has significance to this time, but—" Zelda frowned at her. "—you must not be up at this hour when you all need rest."

The Princess let her shoulders slump forwards. "But Impa, I—!"

"No, Princess." Impa cut in. "Your Father must rest, as do you. He is due to have a very important meeting with the King of the Gerudo tomorrow, and he must have his sleep. You know how much these sorts of meetings drain him." The Princess nodded slightly, not wanting to give up so easily. "I am sure that you will be able to speak with His Highness after the meeting is dismissed, all right?" Zelda reluctantly permitted her Guardian guide her back towards her bedroom, the deathly cold silence lingering around her as she thought back to her dream.

My dreams say many things, she thought to herself. There will be a saviour from the Forest, a person wishing to take ultimate power over Hyrule in the Desert, as well as a saviour in the Desert too. This makes no sense!

Impa tucked her back into bed, and she watched as the shafts of moonlight slipped in through the door onto her balcony; the thin curtains swaying from the slightly open door. Impa placed a hand on the Princess's forehead with a soft smile. "Go to sleep, Princess. You need your rest after being up so late for the past few nights. I am positive that everything will be just fine."

I wish that you could be correct, Impa...

The Great Deku Tree couldn't help but shudder as another wave of coldness and despair washed over his dark roots. Trees couldn't move, only provide for the world of humans who desperately needed oxygen to survive, which meant that trees were more prone to parasites; especially ones like the Great Deku Tree. This particular parasite had only entered his sacred Domain a few hours before, how he did not know, and attempted to pry the sacred Emerald away from his strong branches.

The Great Deku Tree obviously fought back, only to bring forth disastrous results.

The parasite, soon to be known as Gohma, injected its poison into the Tree and hid inside the core of the great piece of vegetation. He knew that his condition was slowly deteriorating, and his age did not help whatsoever. The Great Deku Tree was the sole protector of the Kokiri Forest, where immortal children lived in his Domain with a carefree life. They would not grow old like he had, so he bestowed upon each of them a Guardian Fairy to protect them in case anything happened to the Great Deku Tree.

They could not leave the Forest, as they would surely die without the deep magic of the Forest, yet there was one Kokiri who needed to. He was the only child who was not affected by the magic of the Forest, as he was not born in the Tree's Domain, and was therefore not immortal. He would not die if he left the Forest, so he was chosen by the Three to become the saviour of this land – and needed the Kokiri's Emerald to become that.

The Great Deku Tree's time was nigh, and he knew that the boy needed to Guardian Fairy that he never had to grow up with. It was his time. "Navi..." He whispered into the cold air, making sure that his voice would not wake the dear children. "Navi, where art thou? Come hither..." He had to wait for an incredibly long time before the orb of energy arrived before him, the figure of the fairy mostly concealed by the light that she gave off.

She gasped at the Deku Tree's form, a soft tear falling down her cheek as she touched the Tree's nose. "Great Deku Tree..."

"Listen to me, Navi..." He hushed her. "Dost thou sense it? Dost thou sense the climax of evil descending upon this Realm of the living? These malevolent forces of darkness even now are beginning to inject their deathly toxins into the beautiful land of Hyrule. Dost thou sense it?" He watched her tiny form in wait, patiently waiting for her answer despite his current weakness.

She sobbed quietly, knowing her answer before he had even began speaking to her. "I do, Great Deku Tree, I do..."

"My Domain has been the basis of life to the Kokiri here, deterring outsiders away from this Forest of life." He continued, feeling the evil within his core. "And even now my power is as nothing against this tremendous power that threatens this land." Navi slowly fluttered away, knowing that a horrible evil was nearly about to consume this land as well – worried for the lives of those within this Realm.

"What do you need me to do, Great Deku Tree? I'll do anything for you..."

She couldn't suppress another sob of sadness. "The time for the boy without his Guardian Fairy to awaken and save this land, and thou must aid him. He is the one to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth, and thou must help him. Find him, Navi, and bring him to me... as I have little time left in this world." He shifted his decaying branches towards the edge of his Meadow. "Fly Navi, fly! The fate of the Forest, nay, the world depends on thee!"

She wiped away her tears of despair and nodded. "I will, Great Deku Tree. Stay with us for just a little longer!"

And then she was gone, leaving the Great Deku Tree alone once again. He could hear the whispers of Gohma deep within his roots, waiting for his demise to shroud upon his breath. But he would not give in until the Kokiri's Emerald had been passed on to the child of destiny, and that is when he would allow himself to be consumed once and for all. The shafts of the morning light had begin to cut through his browning leaves, a tiny frown creasing his bark as he awaited for Navi to bring forth the child of destiny to him.

Fly Navi, I have very little time left in this Realm now...

~Ciren~

"Ciren!" Something in the far distance hisses my name, jabbing me in the side repeatedly when I don't respond at first. I wave my hand violently, begging to the Three that they would stop, somehow touching the thing's cheek with a soft slap as I groan and roll over; shoving my face into the soft and incredibly warm mattress. "Goddess Hylia, come on Ciren! We have to go before you sleep the night away; again!"

Nisah... The only one who would wake me at an Goddessly late hour. I pull the bed sheet further up onto my face, trying without avail to block the voice out. I mutter many pleas from under the sheets, even if Nisah does not stop hastily whispering for me to awaken. In the distance, I hear Nisah sigh, and then, without any warning whatsoever, a force slams into my stomach and I am sent toppling forwards off the bed, my sheets following me too. "Ow, Din's Fire!"

"Shh!" Nisah hisses, grabbing me and covering my mouth. I blink rapidly, only now noticing how angry and concerned she looks as her head whips back and forth to make sure that we didn't carry too much noise towards the other Purpura in the same chambers. "We don't have much time. The moon's all ready up and Nabooru is gone from her chambers."

She holds a hand out, but I ignore her offer and get up myself. "You went to the Coraje chambers without me?" She rolls her eyes, grinning triumphantly as I shove my sheets back onto my bed and drag my bag out from underneath the bunk that Nisah and I share. After duty, I had filled it with medical supplies for the Wasteland (or anything else that we find) and throwing knives for defence. I keep the supplies in the bag, though tie the knives to either of my sides, managing to sleep in my uniform without being caught.

I turn back to her, checking that the other Purpura haven't woken up because of us, finding that she holds her own bag up herself and slings it over her shoulder, throwing a pair of shoes at me; my own, apparently. "Ready?" She questions as I rise from jumping into my shoes, and I nod sternly, staring her down. She nods back at me, and we drop our stances.

Despite only just waking up, my senses automatically heighten, and we move out. We break out into the large cobbled corridor within seconds, moving through the Fortress quieter than ever before. Since we have guard duties ourselves in the day, working out alternating times is simple enough, and so Nisah had managed to wake me with enough time to spare so that we wouldn't be easily caught.

Alternations occur every four hours, and last eight minutes exactly for every Gerudo to return to their chambers and awaken their partner for duties. Thankfully, we have managed to sneak away during the main alternation of the night, meaning that we have eight minutes to reach the stables, mount our horses, and fly to the Wasteland so that we can follow Nabooru and Xallia. "I'm still surprised that you are coming." Nisah muses as we run silently down the maze of corridors, each of the open windows revealing the moonlight that catches her hair at precise intervals. "I swore to Din that you would Cucco out at some point..."

I narrow my eyes, glancing down at the Fortress as the Gerudo swap out as we go, making sure to keep my voice low. "I may stick to the rules where I can, but that's only so that neither of us suffer in the end. As long as I keep a good track record, I can get out of here whenever I want to, and they wouldn't even suspect a thing nor care about it."

Nisah flashes a grin at me, glancing over her shoulder as we shift closer to the Common Room to assure herself that I notice it. "So... Golden Girl has a plan, huh? Any chances of me jumping on the band wagon with you?"

I scoff. "With your track record? Of course I won't let you take the credit for my plan. If you can get out of here, then you can tag along, I suppose."

Her grin transforms into a feral smirk. "Ah, Sisterly love? What would we do without?" She halts immediately, holding her arm out so that I stop with her. Peering over shoulder, I realise why she has stopped so suddenly. We have reached the main part of the Fortress, and there will be guards around here no matter what time of day that it is. This will be the only obstacle in our way, I hope, so if we can pass this then we are set.

Darting in action, Nisah and I creep down the corridor, splitting up halfway down so we can dodge the guards present. We reach the large stairway leading down to the first floor of the Fortress, sifting our way through two more sets of corridors before reaching the Common Room. I am ahead when we reach the Room, and we had planned what we would do from the start.

Holding my finger up to her, I peer around the edge of the wall slightly, counting the different range of Gerudo in the room; all on guard. Inside are a total of eight guards in the large room: three Hierba, two Purpuras, and three Carmesi; the Coraje in more important areas of the Fortress. Looking back towards Nisah, I hold up both hands to her, representing eight with my fingers, and nod at her.

The room has two staircases leading outside, torches hanging from the walls to light up the Gerudo tapestries and insignas on the walls. Usually, the elderly Gerudo would be cooking anything from Leever Soup to Cucco if we can trade enough with the outside Villages that are willing to feed us; not many. Between those two staircases is a large rope that Nisah and I had put into place a long time ago.

We had made sure wouldn't swing about and be cut down, but then we both have to swing across in order to get through the Common room over the heads of the guards. The problem is: they all know who should be on guard, and the fact that we shouldn't, and moving around the Fortress when we are not required has a range of punishments, some of them being ones that I really don't want to have.

Swallowing thickly, Nisah and I split up and kneel down behind the crates that are stacked high before the entrance to the Common Room, and we slip through the darkness until we reach the top of the stairway. I duck behind the wall, hearing the footsteps of a guard a foot away from me. I hold my breath, Nisah beside me, and we hold back a sigh of relief when they turn and walk away.

Din above; too close...

I nod at Nisah silently, and she does the same in reply. Steeling my courage, I sidle up to the edge of the wall and peek around the wall against my back, watching as the Purpura from before makes her way down the stairs and towards the mass of people far in the distance of the large Common Room. I never thought that it would be this large, however the Common Room can fit at least one hundred people.

The rope hangs in a loop over one of the support beams, however I pick up another rope that we have stashed here earlier and hook it around the loop, tugging at it once to release the rope. Smirking triumphantly, I check the guard changes one last time and only move when the guards are no longer looking in my direction.

Rushing forwards, I take a flying leap and grab onto the rope with both hands, swinging back and forth dangerously between the two staircases. I swing back and forth once before flying high towards the opposite stairway, rolling into the corridor just as a Carmesi spins around at the ruckus. Snapping my head back up, I hug my back against the wall and twist myself back around to meet Nisah's gaze. She nods at me sternly, then copies my actions.

And yet, when she leaps to the rope, something drastically changes.

Her hands wrap around the rope as usual, of course, however the beam groans from above her, though thankfully not loud enough to catch anyone's attention. Both of our eyes widen, and she swings dangerously low to the ground. At the very last second, Nisah swings her body towards the window between the two stairways and jumps out of it, her cry followed by a sickly thud.

Nisah...!

No longer caring about the alternations of the guards, I drag myself to my feet and race outside, desperate to find Nisah only to see if she is all right. Breaking out into the night, the stars twinkle down on me, but I don't care in the slightest. My eyes spot the figure lying still on the ground, my stomach dropping at the sight. "N-Nisah...?" I fall to my knees and drag her into the shadows before we are caught, holding her close. "Nisah, come on... wake up!"

She groans, although her eyes are still shut. I breathe a deep sigh of relief, thankful that she is alive and didn't hurt herself too badly that she became unresponsive. Hooking my arms underneath her neck and legs, I grunt as I pick her up, freezing both at the sight of guards moving to where Nisah had fallen, and her grabbing my collar. "D-Don't..." She wheezes, then winces as I quieten her and lower us to the ground. "Don't... take me back..."

I stare at her, dumbfounded. "Nisah, depending on how you landed, you've broken something." I whisper harshly. "You are staying here, and I'm—"

"At most I've bruised a rib." She lies, especially with the way that her body shifts to distribute the weight away from her chest. "I don't give a damn about straining myself now, not when I have the chance to prove myself to the Carmesi and become one of them. I am not letting you move up in the ranks without me! You aren't going to do that!"

"And what if we don't either way? If you come too, then you'll get punished as well!" I retort harshly, making sure to keep my voice low and steady. "It's not like I don't want you to go, Nisah, but I don't want you hurting yourself any more than you have all ready. If this is the Three showing us that something is wrong, then why—?"

She grabs my face without warning, cutting me off as she growls: "If you don't take me with you, then I will turn you in for not only this, but everything else that you have done. I'll make sure that you get punished for all of this, but I'll stick up for you if you let me come with you." She rips open her bag and chugs down an entire bottle of Red Potion in one go. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she stares me down. "I'm fine now. I'm coming with you."

I swallow thickly, surprised at Nisah's sudden change in tone, then realise that we are too close to being caught to change our minds now. "Come on, then." I push her off now that she is under the healing powers of the Potion, then get to my feet. However, before she can run back out into the open again, I grab her collar. "If you show any ounce of pain, or even make my regret this, then I won't hesitate to go back and make you regret changing my mind."

She slaps my hand away, then smirks deviously. "We better get going before they leave, then, huh?" I shake my head, then grin as we check that the coast is clear before moving out.

A broad smile creases my face when I notice Nabooru standing by two horses – Caballo, Nabooru's white mare, and Xallia's stallion. I shush Nisah briskly and push her back behind one of the Fortress walls. She stands with Xallia, conversing so quietly that I barely hear her. "We have very little time." She whispers harshly. "Whatever ruckus was caused in the Common Room have ceased, and we must leave before we are noticed to be missing." Xallia simply nods without word, causing both her and Nabooru to mount their rides.

"Nabooru, are you sure that—"

"More than anything, Sister." Nabooru curtly responds, kicking her mare's sides before adding quieter: "More than anything."

They kick up a storm of dust as they fly towards the Haunted Wasteland, and I turn to my companion. Nisah nods from beside me and readies herself to leap up onto her horse, Luna, that we snuck out earlier in the day along with my horse too. I stand put for a few moments, lost in a trance of thoughts again. Am I actually ready to do this? What if I don't make it back? And I'll be putting Nisah in danger too... "Hey, Ciren!" I snap back into reality as the sound of fingers clicking in front of my face, noticing Nisah above me. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Are you actually ready to cross the Haunted Wasteland? I shake my head. "Oh yeah, I-I'm fine. Let's go." She raises her eyebrow at me for a moment, but a simple playful slap to her arm stops any other thoughts from being expressed. I ready myself to get up onto Luna, only to realise that I have a horse of my own.

"Ready?" Nisah questions as Luna snorts.

I nod slowly, nerves kicking in as I move my gaze to shifting sands of the Wasteland ahead. "Ready." I kick at Luz's sides, taking off into the Haunted Wasteland, not realising just what danger we are about to get into before it literally hits me in the face. The first thing that hits me is the harsh winds of the sandstorms that always seem to kick up a fuss here, then the fact that the gate has slammed shut behind us as soon as we've gotten through.

Twisting back around at the gate, a mental sigh echoes around my mind. Well, there's no going back now...

I can barely see Nisah through the harsh winds that tear at my bare sides, and I don't even want to know what we're going to be facing when we get to the eye of the storm we are facing. I pat Luz's neck in some hopes of assuring him, knowing that he must be as scared as I am right now. Lifting myself back up, I cover my face from the sand grains that threaten to blind me as I call out: "Where do we go?"

"Wherever the wind guides us!" Nisah's voice calls back to me. The shadow of her and her mare moves through the Wasteland effortlessly, as if the sandstorm is parting way for her to move through. Nudging Luz's sides a little, we swing into motion and follow the moving shadows of Nabooru and my friend into the depths of night; begging to the Goddesses that we will live through this.