Chapter Seven: The Truth Revealed
Starfire and I piloted the T-Ship through space for about an hour until we reached a planet that was about the same size as Earth. From space it looked white with purple line patterns across it. Starfire said that this was her home-planet Tamaran. It looked beautiful from here. Starfire was a little concerned by the fact that she had been unable to let any of her people know she was coming beforehand. I cheered her up by mentioning that some people like a surprise every now and then.
She piloted the T-Ship down into Tamaran's atmosphere. I was surprised by what I saw. I had expected a landscape full of color, but instead I saw nothing but rocky-colored desert stretching for miles. Though surprised, I still thought it looked nice. The T-ship flew to an immense white castle-like building and landed on an extended platform near the base of the building. When we exited the T-ship, Starfire told me that this was the Great Palace of Tamaran, where she used to live.
The main hall of the palace was incredible; it had various banners hanging from the walls; a balcony high up-top that I'm sure gave a magnificent view of the landscape; and large guard creatures chained to the walls in various hallways. The people around the palace all resembled Starfire in the fact that they had orange-tinted skin and green eyes with no white to them. Most of them were staring at me with peculiar looks on their faces. I wasn't sure whether it was because I came from off-world, or because of the strange unwelcome feeling people seem to get when they're around me; well, everyone except Starfire that is. She told me not to worry about everyone staring, merely saying that it was because they had never seen someone like me.
Starfire told me that we needed to find someone named Galfore; he was the emperor of the palace. After searching for a few minutes, we found him. He was a very imposing figure; nearly five times my size. He looked old, but incredibly strong. I was worried at first, but I calmed down after Starfire ran up to him and hugged him. She told me that Galfore was her 'K'norfka', meaning that he was her caretaker and raised her when she was a child.
"What a surprise to see you here princess. We were not aware that you were coming." Galfore said to her.
"Well… there were certain… complications that prevented me from telling you of our arrival in advance." She told him. "By the way, this here is my friend Link."
She then gestured to me. I kneeled and told Galfore that it was an honor to meet him. He told me that there was no need to bow before him, and that he was equally honored to meet me.
"I have met Starfire's friends before, but I do not recall meeting you m'boy." Galfore told me.
"Oh, umm… I've never been here before... I wasn't with the others the last time they visited. I had to do… other things." I replied.
Regardless, Galfore patted me on the back, which almost knocked me to the ground, and said that it was great to meet me. As it would turn out, Starfire had told him about me not too long after I had left on my journey three years ago. He also remarked about my green hat and tunic, and claimed that he had seen an outfit like mine somewhere before, but could not remember where. Somehow I doubted that it would've been the same outfit I was wearing, as our worlds were light years apart.
Suddenly, my stomach started growling; and both Starfire and Galfore heard this. My face turned red with embarrassment; I had forgotten that I hadn't eaten anything since I retrieved the Master Sword. Galfore let out a laugh, and offered us to join in a feast later. I was very grateful, and eager to see what kind of food they ate here. All I had ever seen of it was Starfire's cooking back at Titan's Tower; I enjoyed it, but was interested to see what else was available on Tamaran.
"We shall meet in the great hall after half an hour. I will be hoping that you and the princess will be there." Galfore exclaimed.
He then went off to prepare. I mentioned to Starfire that her people were very kind, though I questioned why Galfore called her 'princess.' Starfire sighed before telling me why.
"He calls me princess because… I am a princess here." She told me. "I am… second-in-line for the throne. I, umm… forgot to mention that before. Sorry…"
"So… you're actual royalty?! You're really a princess?!" I asked her.
When I asked her that though, she turned her head down as if she was ashamed; did she think I was upset that she hadn't told me? I assured her that it was okay that she hadn't told me, and was about to place my hand on her shoulder. Before I did though, I felt that for some reason that I shouldn't. However, what I said had succeeded in cheering her up, and the two of us went to her old room to prepare for the feast. I'm sure that she had her reasons for not telling me that she was a princess.
About half an hour later, we met Galfore in the great hall. A table had been set up in the middle of the room, and nearly two dozen other Tamaranians were sitting around it. Starfire and I took the two seats on the side of the table closest to where Galfore sat. Soon afterwards, more than two dozen gigantic goblets were brought to the table, filled with some kind of juice. The goblets were very heavy; even when I went into spirit mode I was barely able to lift it. Unfortunately, because she had lost her powers, Starfire couldn't lift it at all. Galfore questioned why she could not lift it; and after thinking for a second, she told him that she just was not thirsty. Had she not told him that she lost her powers yet?
A moment later, the main course was brought in, which consisted of a plethora of rather bizarre looking dishes. Despite the strange looks I was very eager to dig in. However, something wasn't right; well… to me anyway. Everyone was staring at the food with voracious looks, which creeped me out at first. Then without warning, Galfore pulled out a huge axe and chopped everything into one pile; after which everyone just jumped onto the table and wildly started devouring what they could get. I turned to Starfire with a confused look on my face.
"Umm… I'm guessing that table manners here are… different than on Earth?" I asked her, unable to come up with a better response to all this.
"Correct. Now we must hurry or we will not get any." She answered me before jumping onto the table.
I was still confused, but I just decided to go with it and leapt onto the table myself and began gnawing at something that resembled sausage; although I knew that it wasn't. I was able to keep up with everyone, but unfortunately Starfire was knocked off of the table several times. Without her powers there was no way for her to keep up. I felt so bad, so I grabbed a large piece of what looked like a turkey leg (but knew it wasn't) to give to her. Another Tamaranian guy attempted to intimidate me away from it, but I growled at him viciously while my eyes glowed blue. This scared him off and I took the piece of meat over to Starfire.
"Here, I got this for you." I told her. "It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get anything while everyone else did."
I handed it to her and she thanked me before she began eating it.
"My pleasure… Princess Starfire." I said as I gave a small bow.
Soon after the feast, Starfire and I were walking through one of the halls back to her room. I told her that that had been the most fun I had ever had eating dinner, and that her planet was wonderful.
"Thank you Link, but… my planet is not that great." Starfire told me.
"What? Why would you say that about your own planet?!" I asked her.
"Look at it… it is… a wreck." She told me while gesturing to one of the windows to the landscape outside. "The land is ravaged, we are forced to compete for food, and the majority of my people are limited to living in this one area of the planet! Life here is… hard."
"Well... aside from those… inconveniences, I'd say you're lucky to have lived here, princess." I commented.
"Please do not call me a princess, Link. I… dislike being called that…" She told me.
Starfire didn't like being called a princess?! From what I've heard most girls would love to be called a princess. I asked her why she didn't like it, and I was rather surprised from her answer.
"Do you remember when I told you that I was second-in-line for the throne?" She asked me. "Well… I was actually next-in-line. For some reason, my parents refused to give that right to my older sister, who was supposed to be the next-in-line. But I did not want to rule Tamaran. I had… other ideas for my future…"
I asked her what she would have wanted to have done rather than to rule the planet. As I asked this, we just so happened to pass an interesting carving on the wall; depicting what appeared to be an epic battle against some horrendous monster.
"My dream back then was to become a Klorfk'r, and fight against invaders to defend the people of Tamaran from evil." She told me.
I asked her what a 'Klorfk'r' was. She told me that it is what would be known on Earth as a 'knight'. I thought that was great, and commented that that was a wonderful dream for her to have.
"It was Galfore who had inspired me, with stories of how he had been a Klorfk'r in his younger days. But no one thought that I could ever be brave enough to be one; not even my sister." She said.
"Well, I think you can. You're the bravest person I've ever met, Starfire. You're… incredible." I told her.
She blushed when she heard me tell her that, and I blushed too. I quickly changed the subject, and asked about the carving that was in front of us. She told me that it was supposed to depict Tamaran's origins.
The story was like this: Long ago, Tamaran was full of life. But one day, a vile monster appeared from nowhere and began to devour the planet's life force. The great diety that they called X'hal did not stand for this, so she and five other great warriors stood with her against the abomination. Together they succeeded in banishing the monster off-world, and rebuilt Tamaran as it is today.
She mentioned that the five warriors in the story are the ones that gave rise to all of the people on Tamaran today. The monster depicted in the carving looked terrifying; its head was shaped like a heart, but with a serpentine body, long horns coming off of it, and tentacles sprouting from behind it. Whatever it had been, I'm glad the warriors were able to drive it off. It was strange though; somehow, it felt like I had seen that monster somewhere before.
"Actually, there is much more to the story than that, young ones." An old voice said from behind us.
We were startled, and quickly turned around. Behind us was a short Tamaranian man with a long brown beard who looked incredibly old, and was holding a staff with a winged figure on the top. In fact, the figure looked almost exactly like the Spirit Key; a strange artifact that I had spent three years trying to find, thought still had no clue what it was for.
"My apologies for startling you. My name is Nova. I am a sage of this palace of Tamaran." He informed us.
"Oh. Umm… forgive me, but I do not recall ever seeing you in the palace." Starfire told him.
"I am not surprised, as I spend most of my days in the sacred chamber deep below the palace. But when I heard word that the spirit's chosen hero had come to Tamaran, I had to see for myself." He replied.
"Hold on… how do you know that I'm the spirit's chosen hero?" I asked him.
"And what did you mean when you said that there is more to the story?" Starfire also asked him.
"If you wish to know the truth, then follow me." Nova told us.
Nova slowly began walking in the opposite direction. Starfire and I both decided that we should follow him. It was not that hard to keep up, but because he was so slow it took awhile to reach wherever it was he was leading us to. The trip took us down into the dungeon below the palace, where the Tamaranians kept prisoners of war. Eventually, Nova stopped in front of what looked like an ordinary wall. I asked why we had stopped, but Nova did not answer. He just waved his staff in front of the wall. Suddenly, a symbol that looked like the spirit key appeared on the wall for a second; then the wall opened up revealing a staircase that led even further downward.
We continued to follow Nova down the staircase, and noticed that the walls were adorned with exotic green plants, which was bizarre; shouldn't there be less life down here? At the bottom of the staircase, Starfire and I couldn't believe what we saw. It was a freshwater spring surrounded by a plethora of strange plants. It resembled the spring near my hometown back on Earth; except for the fact that it was underground.
"I am glad that you made it here young ones." A familiar voice greeted us.
It was Galfore. What was he doing here?! Starfire asked him that very question.
"This is Tamaran's Sacred Spring, one of the palace's greatest secrets." He told us.
"The spring's great spirit wishes to speak with the two of you." Nova informed us. "Please… stand before the water's edge."
We did as he said, and once we did, the water, rocks, and the very vegetation around the spring began to glow. The spring's great spirit? He didn't mean… did Tamaran have its own light spirit?
A large shining sphere rose out of the water. It was a light spirit, but what Starfire and I saw next greatly surprised us. From the spring rose a gigantic glowing serpent that coiled itself around the sphere. Both Starfire and I knew who this was; it was Lanayru!
"Greetings heroes; we meet once again." He said to us.
"Lanayru?! But… but how?!" I questioned.
"How is it that a light spirit of Earth is here on Tamaran?!" Starfire asked.
"We light spirits are not confined by the boundaries of space. We serve as guardians of many worlds. Our springs merely serve as portals from the spirit world to your world." Lanayru told us.
Nova mentioned to us that Lanayru and the other light spirits have watched over Tamaran ever since 'the great tragedy' that started it all. Neither I nor Starfire knew what he was talking about, but we were about to find out from Lanayru.
"The great tragedy is a series of events that resulted in many outcomes; such as the birth of Tamaran, and, unfortunately, the destruction of the land of Hyrule." Lanayru said.
Upon hearing this, Starfire and I were eager to hear more. We both sat down on the ground in front of the spring as Lanayru told us the story.
"Long ago on Earth, there existed a kingdom known as Hyrule, home to the hylian people. It was a prosperous and peaceful kingdom. But one day, a horrendous monster of pure evil cast its shadow upon the land. Born from the deepest darkness, it sought only to bring chaos and destruction to all who layed eyes upon it." Lanayru stated. "Zelda, the ruler of the kingdom would not stand for this monster to do as it pleased, and with the help of five warriors, banded the people of the kingdom together to stand against the abomination."
"With the help of a sacred blade crafted by we light spirits, they were able to stop the monster's rage of destruction. However, the foul beast had one last attack for them; with its great power, it tore open a rift in space, attempting to send the entire world into oblivion. With the power of the sword, the world was saved, but both the sword and the hylian people were lost." Lanayru continued.
Starfire questioned what had become of them. Lanayru went on to answer her question.
"However, the people had been spared. Through the sword's power, instead of being cast into oblivion, they were transported to a new world; and with the swords power, gave that world new life. The world was named after the sword's holder. It was dubbed… Tamaran." Lanayru finished.
Both of us almost could not believe what we had just heard, especially Starfire. She… was descended from people from Earth?!
"But… but… Link is hylian too, correct? How is it that he can be, when they all supposedly vanished from the Earth?!" Starfire asked Lanayru.
"There was one survivor among the hylian people; Link's ancestor. And over the millennia that followed, he eventually gave rise to the one that stands with you now." Lanayru answered.
So all of this happened one thousand years ago? It was still hard to believe, but if it came from Lanayru then it must be true. Galfore walked over to Starfire, who still looked very distraught from what she had heard.
"Princess, please forgive me for keeping this secret from you. But it was for your own good, and the good of the people; for if they knew the true story of our origin, it would no doubt cause great panic." Galfore told her.
Starfire was silent, still likely trying to contemplate everything she had heard. Lanayru spoke once again.
"Unfortunately, there is no time to rest. The evil forces are gaining strength, and you must act." He said.
"That's right! Our friends are still trying to fight off Ganondorf back on Earth. But… the Master Sword lost its power… and it's useless now." I mentioned.
"There is a way to restore power to the Master Sword…" Lanayru told us.
That comment caught Starfire's attention, and she immediately came back to her senses and asked how we could do this.
"You must find the sacred blade that was forged by we light spirits; the Spirit's Sword. It contains our power, and can most certainly restore not only the Master Sword's power, but your power as well, princess." Lanayru answered.
Galfore approached Starfire and questioned what the spirit had said about her.
"Princess, you never told me that you had lost your powers!" He said.
Starfire was reluctant to answer at first, but soon admitted that she simply did not want Galfore to worry too much about it. He understood, and then asked Lanayru where we could find the Spirit's Sword.
"The Spirit's Sword is located within a shrine north of here, within the Forest of Light; Tamaran's last remaining forest. The area is protected by an endless sandstorm that surrounds it, and the shrine can only be opened with sacred power. The spirit key that Link carries should be able to open it. The journey will be treacherous, but as the spirits chosen heroes I know that the two of you can overcome it." Lanayru told us.
He then vanished back into the spring. Did Lanayru just say that there were two chosen heroes? Did he mean me and… Starfire?! I couldn't think of anyone else he could've meant, so I assumed it to be true. Starfire, Galfore, and I exited the chamber of the spring and headed back up to the palace so that Starfire and I could prepare for our journey to find the Spirit's Sword. So much had been revealed to us in just the past hour; that Starfire and her people actually originated from Earth; that we were both descended from hylian people; and I now finally knew what the spirit key was for! But most importantly, we now knew how to restore power to the Master Sword. It was now only a matter of time before we would defeat Ganondorf and rescue our friends.