The Fragile Flower
Link's sapphire eyes widened at the scene that unfolded before him. The crater that normally simmered quietly deep within the mountain had become a swollen inferno. The air itself glowed with a hot red aura, and pools of lava pitted the smoking floor. The turgid, violent sea of magma that normally covered the crater floor had risen to the very edge of the cliff where he stood, belching plumes of flame into the air. Even in his protective suit, the heat was stifling.
"Oh, Goddess! Darunia! Tell me he wasn't in the Fire Temple!" Even as Link cried out the ground rumbled beneath his feet. Less than a meter in front of him a violent explosion threw up shards of rock and sparks. Link backed up in surprise. It was then that he saw the giant wave of lava rising up from the crater...
"Run!" Link screamed, charging at full speed from the entrance. He grabbed Zelda and Ramina's wrists and jumped off the cliff without hesitation, just before a tide of lava exploded from the heart of the mountain. Ramina swallowed a cry of pain as they landed hard on the ground. Somehow Link managed to scramble up a sheer rock face ahead of the lava wave. Taking a deep breath, he leapt off the side of the mountain, plummeting into the darkness below.
Ganondorf laughed in sadistic glee, watching Link and the girls fall.
"I didn't think it would be that easy... what?" A diamond of pale blue light glowed around the three falling figures. As they smashed into the ground, the shimmering shape bounced. Ganondorf muttered every curse he could think of (which amounted to quite an impressive list.) He snapped his fingers and the window dissolved.
"The kid's good."
"Sir!" a deep voice growled. A giant blue-skinned moblin burst into the room. "It's me, Onis! The kid hacked up my Stalfos and drained every last bit of magic I had! And that's not all; he has Princess Zelda with him, and another girl--"
"Yes, the brunette. The one who could see Moa," Ganondorf said with a nod. "But my concern is with Link, and you allowed him to escape." His tone became casually deadly. "Onis, if you hadn't saved my life once I'd kill you right now."
"I'm sure Onis is very sorry, sir! It won't happen again!" a lighter voice cut in. Onis glared at the smaller Moblin.
"Imber, if you weren't my brother, I'd kill you right now." He looked Ganondorf in the eye. "I don't fear death," he growled. "But to die by your hand would be insulting, so I'll bide my time."
Link dissolved the Nayru's Love spell as they skidded to a stop. They were on a broad, flat plain. In the distance, a shimmering river wound its way through the tall grass.
"What is this place?"
"It's the north side of Death Mountain," Zelda said with a little smile. She sighed, suddenly filled with nostalgia. "I used to come out here to get away from it all. I think that river over there would be a lovely place for a town..." She stopped, raising an eyebrow. "Where's your friend?"
"You're sitting on her." Zelda looked embarrassed and scrambled away from Ramina. The girl had passed out from the shock of the fall. Link slapped her face lightly, but she fell limp. He sighed and hefted her onto his shoulder. "Now what?"
Zelda cried out in shock, the realization hitting her. "Kakariko! The lava is going to--" The Triforce of Wisdom shimmered softly on her left hand. "Oh please, help me think of something... somehow!"
Link drew his bow, pointing the arrow to the flaming horizon. Shards of ice flew from his hands to collect around the slender shaft. I know it's impossible to stop something so huge, but... The bow sang a soft note as he let the chilled bit of hope fly, over the edge of the mountain into despair.
As the arrow brushed the sky, a brilliant light flared in the clouds. It descended in a graceful arc, crystals from heaven coalescing around it as it fell. Like a frozen angel it slammed into the rocky earth, the ice scattering across the ground. Frost crept over rock and flaming river, bringing all to a slow halt as... snow began to fall! Link and Zelda watched in awe as Death Mountain was slowly covered in a blanket of white!
Zelda looked up to the clear night sky and whispered, "Thank you..."
Ganondorf stalked up and down front hall of his dark palace, mumbling to himself. There were too many mysteries unfolding here, teasing him beneath his curtain of solitude. And the most bothersome one was...
The fragile flower opens in the snow
"Fragile flower? Could it perhaps be related to the Seed? Of course! Seed and Flower! But snow... what does that mean?"
"Snow!" A husky voice cut into his reverie as the door banged open. The burly red wolf carefully brushed the white flakes from his polished boomerangs as he entered, shaking the stuff off himself. "Our spies told me of this in Kakariko! I couldn't believe it--"
"So you had to go and see it yourself. Idiot!" Ganondorf spat. "Selenis, if someone sees you out there..."
The warrior sighed; he knew. Ganondorf glared at him. Selenis had always been the inquisitive type. Constantly meddling in affairs and showing up in places he didn't belong... it was annoying, Ganondorf thought, failing to see the hypocrisy.
"Snow!" he muttered. It was just one more odd piece of the puzzle his life had become.
Ramina's eyes fluttered open. "Er... did I fall asleep?"
Relieved, Link set her on her unsteady feet. Petite as she looked, the girl was heavy. Ramina immediately brushed herself off and tried to pretend nothing had happened.
"Well," she said, looking around the group, "what now?" Zelda was more than a little annoyed to have the servant girl placing herself in charge, but decided not to start another argument.
"Where the heck are we?" Ramina was asking. "Do either of you have a plan?"
Silence.
"All right," she continued, slightly unnerved. "We obviously need to find what's causing these unnatural disasters. Monsters appearing in strange places mean outside interference, and if you ask me, that eruption was all too conveniently timed."
Zelda nodded impatiently, this having been clear to her from the start. "This was no accident. Someone is holding a grudge against one of us." She gave Link a meaningful glance.
"Yeah!" Ramina agreed. "Someone wants revenge. And that means... that means..." She paused, twirling a tendril of brown hair around her finger. "Quite frankly, I have no idea. But we're getting somewhere."
Zelda and Link were looking at each other with dread in their eyes. As much as they hated to think of it, both knew exactly what was happening. There was a tear in the Sages' seal. A new age of evil was looming over the land that was still healing from the scars of the last war. Zelda felt the undercurrent of ill will pervading the midnight air, a demon zephyr.
"Well," Ramina was thinking out loud, "I imagine the gardener at the castle has a bit of a grudge against me for that whole pepper-sauce-in-the-tea thing, but I don't think that's..."
"Ramina," Link inturrupted. "You should go home now. This is our arena."
"No," she refused. "Not till I find out what's goin' on here! I got woken up by some weird dream, chased by ghosts, and drug through a volcano! It's not like I'm gonna get a good night's sleep after this anyway!" Link blinked in surprise at her forcefulness. Zelda looked indignant at being so flatly contradicted. But she had a feeling getting rid of Ramina would be more difficult than just putting up with her, so she decided not to start another argument. Eventually, she figured, the girl would get tired and give up following them.
"All right," Link began cautiously. "Do you know the story of the Evil King, Ganondorf?"
"'Course I do!" Ramina said. "I mean, well... who?"
"Ganondorf, known to most as Ganon, was a dangerous criminal who appeared not too long ago. He came from Gerudo Valley in the west, intent on conquering Hyrule," Link explained, deliberately leaving out the part about the Triforce.
"Waitaminute! If it was not too long ago, how come I don't remember hearin' anything about him?"
"Well..." Link stammered, fumbling for a simple answer.
"Most people don't know, actually. We put a stop to his invasion before it began," Zelda filled in. It was partly true. "However, Ganon murdered my father the king." She swallowed hard. "For his crimes, we sealed him into an eternal prison, the Dark World."
Ramina seemed satisfied with that explanation. "Say," she asked after a moment. "When you say 'we'..."
Zelda nodded, looking proud and sad at the same time. "Yes. Link and I, along with the Seven Sages, were the ones who stopped him."
"You and Zel did all that when you were just kids!" Ramina squealed, addressing Link even though Zelda had been the one answering her question. Her eyes sparkled with adoration. "Wow! I didn't realize how amazing you guys really are!"
"Zel!" Zelda cried in exasperation, her patience at an end. "Ramina, where are your manners? Even I look proper next to you, and Goddess knows I'm unorthodox enough! I would think that especially toward Link, to whom you owe your world and your life--"
"Zel," Link repeated loudly. "I like it."
"R-really?" Zelda felt her cheeks grow hot. Somehow she didn't mind when Link addressed her so informally. If it's him it's all right...
Ramina's wide eyes darted from Link to Zelda. Something was passing between the two in that long silence, and she was unpleasantly surprised to find that she didn't like it. It wasn't that she wanted to break them apart, of course. They were friends too, after all. But she was disturbed by their closeness, which meant... Quite frankly she had no idea. Or so she told herself.
Aloud she simply said, "I guess we should be going now. Lead on, hero!"
Imber stood at the edge of the crumbling stone balcony, staring up into the dense blackness that pervaded the heavens, drowning all stars and sky, all sound and all prayers and all hope. There, again, where he could barely see, a single momentary point of light before all was again stifled by the darkness. He'd stood here many a night, searching for hours just to glimpse of the stars for a second. Those tiny, distant things held a brilliance he could not understand.
"What 're you looking for?" a thick voice inquired from the shadows. Imber jumped. Selenis had an unnerving habit of haunting the corners. The goriya laughed; his voice was naturally harsh but not unkind. The ability to laugh emotionlessly was another of Selenis' unnerving habits. Imber wondered if he was really amused, or just circling for the kill.
"Erm... I was only looking," Imber stammered. "At the stars."
Selenis perused the sky indifferently. "No stars there," he scoffed after a moment.
"I thought," Imber sighed, "that you wouldn't be able to see them. But Selenis, didn't you ever wonder if there isn't something more out there--"
"Nothing there you can't already see, kid." Selenis was gruff but almost fatherly. It was just another facet of the odd conglomeration of moods he was. The goriya's nose twitched, his instinctive bloodlust rising. "I'm going back through the Rift," he growled suddenly.
Long after he was gone, Imber stood staring up into the static blackness. "Nothing up there? I suppose," he mused. "Nothing. Is that our fate?"
Late that night, Link, Zelda, and Ramina made camp near the rushing stream. They hadn't had any chance to get supplies before their excursion, but luckily they had found a soft patch of grass to sleep in, and Link had caught them a few fish for dinner.
Long after midnight Link sat awake, staring into the dancing flames of their fire. Zelda was sleeping serenely, looking more peaceful than she had all day. Ramina was sprawled awkwardly across the ground and snoring loudly, muttering something in her sleep. As the light and shadows played over the faces of the two sleeping women, a strong, indescribable feeling stirred within him, something violent and yet gentle throbbing in his very core. One with eyes that danced like the flames, another whose gaze pierced into his soul. Two faces, carving out a memory amidst the smoke and flickering firelight.
Across the dark sky, twin shooting stars shot through the night, two, then two again, their paths crossing and illuminating the world for a moment before fading into oblivion.
"Did you see that?" Zelda whispered, and Link realized she had woken up.
"Yeah." On impulse he closed his eyes. "Let's wish for something!"
They were both quiet, thinking. After a second Link opened his eyes and nodded. "I wished for something special this time."
"Me too," Zelda said with a secretive smile. Neither asked what the other's wish was.
"There were four stars," Link observed.
"Are you going to make another wish?" She was still looking up at the sky, enjoying their brief flight into fancy.
"No, I think I'll save them. Someone else might need them."
She nodded in agreement. "So thoughtful. That's just like you, Link."
He laughed nervously, embarrassed by her praise. "Thanks," he said softly. Another quiet moment passed.
"We'd better get some sleep," Zelda reminded him. She rolled over and tried to get comfortable in her grassy bed. "Good night," she murmered.
"Good night... Zel."
Author's Note: Timeline Issues
As you've probably figured out, this story follows the "child Link" timeline, seven years after the end of Ocarina. So why is the Zelda's father still dead, you ask? Well, it's my theory that Ganondorf killed the king right before Zelda and Impa fled from the castle, that is, before Link opened the door to the sacred realm. (This is supported by the dialogue in the game: the villagers in Hyrule Market of the past are worried about something bad that happened at the castle.) Zelda can only send Link back to the point from which he departed, the moment he pulled out the Master Sword, so the king's death, which happened before that, can't be reversed.