8 days, 23 hours, 35 minutes until my last exam is over . . .
Send me a message if you relate right now. We can suffer together. They say that misery loves company. *smiles sweetly while tears stream down face*
I'm so glad I that made an effort to do this for you guys. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's a longer one, so buckle up as I attempt to make decent character definition and development.
Love and stuff,
Eyes Of Enigma
Chapter IV
Zelda twiddled with the feathered end of her arrows as she scanned carefully over a plain dotted with small patches of growth. Even under a thick layer of snow, she recognized every slope and landmark. This was as far as she was ever allowed to go. As far as Impa would show her. This was her land. Her people's land.
Link was crouched a few feet away from her, white puffs of breath the only sign that he was alive. In the chill, he reached up to his ears to warm them up temporarily; the cap he had been given wasn't quite the right style to have his ears covered inside. He seemed uneasy, Zelda observed. She imagined that he was reminded of his unpleasant experiences when he saw the capital on the horizon, once his prison.
The princess pulled her hood away from her face and slowly shrunk down to reach his level. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye to meet her empathetic gaze, then back to their surroundings. She waiting a bit longer, capturing his odd expression, then twisted away and up, searching for their younger companions.
"Enough frolicking," Zelda called to the twins, who were touching and tasting almost anything new to them. They had never been so far from the main camp, but that was no reason to lose their minds over it. They followed Zelda's lead smartly after her warning, blue robes fluttering in the sharp wind chill.
"Where are we going?" Viven asked, purposefully fluffing up the snow as her feet lifted periodically.
Zelda adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and pulled on the hem of her gloves. "The Temple of Nayru is closest, so that's where we are headed."
"What should we expect when we get there?" Link inquired, his eyes serious with the concern of what was in store for them.
Zelda did not meet his gaze. "Each temple is supposed to be a challenge for whoever bears the respective piece of the Triforce. Din's temple, of course, has both the challenge and the bearer, presumably. As the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, this temple is my challenge. I must prove that I am worthy of the full extent of its power." The twins exchanged looks and Link looked down at his feet. "I'm trusting you three with ensuring I can get through whatever trials the temple presents. Even if it is against my will at the time. Understood?"
"We won't hurt you," Tsarien piped up stubbornly.
Zelda halted and gripped her bow tightly, giving the young lad a glare he would not forget. "You will do as I say," she demanded coldly, kicking up snow as she soldiered forward. Tsarien's face hardened with rebellion and annoyance. Viven held his hand to comfort him, and Link gave him a shrug and a sympathetic glance. The boy was not affected by the kind treatment; he stared forward at the princess with confusion and hurt. He couldn't understand why she was suddenly being so harsh, especially since he was just trying to tell her that he would rather die than her.
The hero would do that before I would, he thought. She thinks I can't handle protecting her and Viven, just because he won that tournament.
The two older teenagers slid down a steep slope with careful control, but just before Tsarien moved to follow, his sister snatched the sleeve of his robe to stop him. Her face was slack with petrifying fear. "Do you hear it?" she whimpered to him.
He stared at her with wide green eyes and listened for signs of life amongst the muffling snow. He could hear his breathing, Viven's, Link's, and Zelda's. The hum of the earth was also there, as usual. Yet there was something else. Something strange. It seemed to be coming from the air, but nothing was around them. It was almost as if the entire sky was beating down on them with a soft and eerie drum.
"What . . . is that?" he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. Viven clutched his hand and trembled.
"What's wrong?" Link shouted from below, his hand on the hilt of his sword as if he sensed trouble was coming.
"There's no time to find out," Zelda hissed with a small curse under her breath. Her eyes were ahead, fixed on a group of bandits who had spotted them. They were far off, but not enough to make running for it worth the energy. She gripped an arrow between her fore fingers and tightened it on the bowstring, taking aim. "A hunting party," she called out so the twins would hear. All four of them dropped their travel bags and took to arms. The white cloud of snow kicked up by pounding horses thundered closer. "You two defend the high ground," Zelda ordered.
"But you're the archer!" Viven protested.
The princess loosed and killed a bandit, slowing the horse he was riding on with dead weight. "Do as I say. I can handle close-quarters combat better than you two. I need you to watch our backs."
Link nodded at them in agreement, so they gritted their teeth and obeyed. An arrow landed dangerously close to Link and was buried in snow. He flinched at the sudden movement but still held fast in his position.
As the six remaining bandits closed in, Zelda took out one of the horses and tumbled out of the way as it fell, spraying snow in its wake. Link shuffled forward and slit the enemies throat with the swift twist of his wrist before any harm came to Zelda as she pulled back up to her feet.
Five horsemen surrounded them, their mounts crying out with the tense energy of the air. They recognized Zelda almost instantly and focused their efforts on her without even regarding the children over the ridge. Tsarien whipped a knife at the bandit closest to Zelda, missing his throat but reaching a mortal spot in the stomach. The horse spooked in the violence and kicked out towards the purple-clad girl who hesitantly ended the animal as well.
As Link was busy with his own opponents, Zelda became overwhelmed with two attackers. Engaged with one still on horseback, another who was forced to dismount had full access to her blind spots. Viven did her best to aid the hero, but Tsarien knew that throwing knives would do little to better Zelda's situation. Mustering up the courage of facing the chewing out from her that he would get later, he slid down the slope and leapt toward the foot soldier with the gathered momentum.
The princess cried out as she finally found an opening in the horsemen's defense and made quick business of him. Without hesitation, she moved to take care of the enemy behind her and nearly slaughtered Tsarien, who was pulling his knife from a dead body. She jumped back in surprise, nearly falling into the path of a horse she had spared only seconds before.
Viven shrieked in fright as the last living bandit chased her off the high ground and aimed a crossbow at Hyrule's last monarch. With such a close range, there was almost no way he could miss a vital organ. Both Tsarien and Link moved to somehow save her, but it wasn't enough, Zelda knew.
At the moment the bandit was about to pull the trigger on the crossbow, the snow around him seemed to groan in protest, and his mount cried out in horrid fear. Depressing under him in a large ring, it exploded upwards to reveal the mammoth maw of a dark translucent body, almost like a serpent from the earth. It lifted upwards powerfully, swallowing the bandit, horse and all. The four surviving creatures watched in utter astonishment as the gigantic creature snapped its jaw closed and began to descend.
"Run," Tsarien said, taking a few steps back. Then he whipped his head wildly from Zelda to his sister. "Run!" he exclaimed.
As two blue, one green, and one purple dot tore across the expanse of white in a frantic attempt to put as much distance between them and his monster, the dark beast buried back under the snow and earth and began to pursue them. Zelda felt her lungs begin to shriek in the cold air and her legs became lead. As she glanced at her companion, the young man focusing all his fear and the children nearly crying in their impending doom, she prayed for fate to favour them. There was no way they could outrun that thing.
"Tsarien! Viven!" she cried over the pounding in her ears and the thundering danger behind them, "What is that?"
Tsarien nearly lost his footing but kept running, his ponytail coming loose. "Some sort of angry spirit. We have to calm it."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Link shouted, and Zelda found it strange for a moment to hear his voice so loudly.
The twins' silence implied that they did not know a solution. Zelda searched her mind swiftly. With all the books she had read, all the education she had been given, there had to be something useful tucked away. The only counter to darkness she could think of was, somewhat obviously, light.
The princess pulled out an arrow and commanded the power of her Triforce to emerge, making the little triangle of light to appear on her hand. Link's also emerged in response, and he nodded to her in understanding. Fearing that her panic would cause her plan to fail, she focused all her energy on the arrow in her hand, her legs carrying her forward, and the power that she hardly knew how to control.
I am the protector of my people, the goddess Hylia! No way this is going to end here, she insisted to herself. You are going to work, she said to the simple arrow. You will! Right now!
Viven screamed and tripped into the snow. "Zelda!"
"Do something!" Tsarien added frantically, stopping for his sister.
"With the Power of Din!" Zelda called, halting into her archer's position and placing the arrow on the string. Her hood fell off her hood to reveal a white-gold head of braided but loose hair dancing around her icy and fearless eyes staring up at her foe. The dark spirit ripped the ground and snow open to catch its prey.
"With the Wisdom of Nayru!" the princess continued, her voice overpowering all other sounds as she took aim. The beast reared its ugly head and opened its lizard-like mouth in preparation for its next meal. Despite being so close to it, her body never wavered and her will was twice as strong, even as every instinct screamed at her to flee.
She took in a calculated breath. "With the Courage of Farore," she muttered quietly so only she could hear, her frozen eyes piercing across to her target. From her right hand holding the bowstring all the way to the tip of the arrow, a delicate white and gold light trickled into the weapon, decorating it with the strong magic from her soul.
She loosed, and like a lightning flash it struck the spirit's eye socket, making it writhe and emit the most awful, ear-shattering cry in its agony. Before it fell, its body began to disintegrate from its wound to what was left of it in the ground. Slowly its substance melted away into the cold air, and a silence distilled over them until they were alone on the winter plain.
Zelda watched in disbelief for a few very long and quiet seconds until she remembered where she was. Exhaustion from the effort of running and fighting so hard, she attempted to gracefully sit on the cold earth. "Go in peace," she sighed, her eyes closed with fatigue and her bow cast away at her side. All traces of the Triforce's influence had disappeared.
Rapid footfalls crunching the snow proceeded the worried questions of her companions. "Are you alright?" Link rushed first, kneeling next to her to make sure she wasn't hurt. She just nodded at him. Viven didn't say anything, simply running over and giving Zelda a tight hug.
"That was amazing," Tsarien gasped. "Have you done that before?"
"Once," Zelda replied calmly, "during my first battle. It was by accident then; I still don't have full control."
"Maybe you will after the temple," the young boy pondered.
"Thank you, Zelda," Viven whispered up to her. "That bad sound is gone now. You healed the angry creature."
"What was it angry about?" the princess asked.
"The bandits are cruel to the land and its animals," Link offered, his tone returning to relaxed seriousness but slightly spiteful. "No doubt that the spirit was a product of that."
"It will take a long time to restore Hyrule," Tsarien added, letting out his adrenalin with a long breath.
"Hey, look," Viven said, pointing to the rounded slope ahead of them. A surviving horse that was left behind from their battle was trotting towards them. It stopped a few metres away, looking them all in the eyes and bobbing its head. "She says she wants to stay with us," Viven translated.
Zelda lifted off the ground to greet the mare, dipping her head in respect and giving her a pat on the neck. "We don't have enough to feed you," she said sadly, gazing into the bright dark eyes of the friendly creature. She shook her mane and pulled her head back to lightly bite a pack on her saddle.
"She was fed from there. There's enough, since it wasn't long since she was at the 'place of two-leggers'." Tsarien told Zelda.
The chestnut mare went around the princess and pushed forward towards Link. The hero took a step pack in surprise, but became calm when she gently sniffed his tunic and affectionately bumped her head into him. He hesitantly patted the mount, looking very surprised and confused.
"Did you meet her when you were imprisoned?" Zelda inquired. "She seems to know you."
"I never saw any horses," he replied, clearly beginning to enjoy the mare's attention.
"She says her name is Epona," Viven told them. "And she thinks you're familiar. Maybe because you still smell like bandits?"
"You know he doesn't," Tsarien snapped. "At least, I didn't notice. You smell Hyrulian to me."
"She's insisting that you are a friend of hers. Weird."
Zelda walked over and patted the beast's flank. "You're welcome to come with us, Epona. I hope you don't mind carrying out belongings and keeping them safe?"
Epona sighed happily, and the twins giggled.
"That's a yes," they said in unison.
ยงยงยง
Link dug through Epona's left saddle bag and pulled out a handful of oats. Her head picked up from the ground where she was foraging under the snow for roots, and he held out the food for her as her strong lips mowed it down. He grinned at his new companion for a moment, then returned to a stoic expression when he heard someone approach. Looking up at the diamond-encrusted night sky, he listened to the twins' muttering and Zelda's footsteps for a brief peaceful moment.
"Tsarien and Viven managed to put their heads together for a smokeless fire," Zelda informed him, stroking Epona's neck. "You should bring her over to get warm."
Link gave her a quizzical look. "You know how to make a smokeless fire. Why did you wait for them to figure it out?" Then he realized the answer to his own question. "You're teaching them to learn on their own."
"Our situation requires them to grow up quickly," she confirmed, her sky blue eyes growing a bit sad. "He couldn't even take a simple order, and Viven will follow his lead. It's dangerous."
"We made it through," Link pointed out. "He was just trying to help you."
"He let the enemy take the high ground and risked not only my life but also Viven's," Zelda protested. "He doesn't think before he acts. He doesn't have the knowledge and experience."
"Neither do you," Link rebuked fearlessly. His intense gaze told her that he was not speaking as a soldier would to his princess. "Maybe," he continued quietly, "you should consider their opinion to develop strategies instead of undermining their abilities."
"Their abilities are exceptional, I will admit," Zelda insisted, "but they need direction. I'm the one who has been on the battle this longest. I've been educated and trained ruthlessly for survival."
"So, you know what's best?" he challenged, thinking of his own experiences. He knew she wasn't thinking about the whole picture. She was being irrational.
Zelda straightened with her increasing will. "Out of all of us, yes. I have the Triforce of Wisdom, the gift of Nayru. My soul is that of Hylia."
"Nayru's other gift was the creatures of the world," Link said flatly. "You're a human being, Zelda. You can't know everything."
"You don't know what is best for us," Viven piped up from behind her. Zelda turned quickly, startled, finding Tsarien there as well. The two of them were holding hands and watching her intensely.
"You weren't even around," Tsarien said. "You were busy playing princess while we were the laundry brats honing our skills with the Sheikahs. You only started to care when we became useful."
"That's not true," Zelda returned, trying her best not to lose her temper. Why didn't they understand? She did what she did because she had to. "If you can't learn quickly how to take orders, then everything falls apart."
"Same goes for listening," Link told her. "I may not have a lot of experience with working with others, but I know that we are not a troop of soldiers waiting for your every breath. You should consider the needs of all of us before devising a strategy. Listen to what we have to say too. We might think of something that you don't."
"Doubt it," Zelda replied sharply, turning on her heel to the small flame still catching to the tinder. They don't understand, she thought. They don't get how hard I've worked. I can't risk it all just because they're feeling neglected. They'll have to step up or step away. The whole kingdom is counting on us. Counting on me.
"Link," Viven muttered once Zelda was out of earshot. "What do we do?"
"How should I know?" the older boy said, stroking Epona's nose. "She's made up her mind. I don't think she's the sort of person to change it easily."
"She thinks she can handle everything on her own," Tsarien sighed. "I remember watching her training with Impa once. The physical training was normal, but the way her she talked to her . . . it's not Impa's fault, it's just she fed the fire when she was always telling Zelda that she was Hylia, she was the chosen vessel, she was the protector of Hyrule. Even when you came, the hero of Hyrule, Zelda still didn't let go of that."
"Clearly," Link replied. "Well, just do as she says for now. Maybe this temple will help out a bit."
"Problem," Viven butted in, her voice high with increased fluster. She was pointing towards the flickering fire. No faces were lit from the warm glow. "She's gone."