Next chapter is the last one~
"WAKE UP!" Link and Zelda both jumped awake at Ghirahim's shout and looked around them, gasping in surprise at fire that was closing in on them. "Come on!" They both lept to their feet and ran over to Epona, who was neighing in fear. Ghirahim grabbed Link and set him in front of the saddle before mounting himself and yanking Zelda up behind him. "Hang on. HA!" With a whip of the reins Epona took off quickly down the path that the fire had not yet consumed. Ghirahim narrowed his eyes. It was all too perfect, this path being the only one not yet to have caught fire. He looked behind them to see the path disappearing as the fire engulfed it. Magic. He yanked on Epona's reins, making her stop. She snorted angrily but did not disobey the order. "Hang on, this ride's about to get really hot."
Both of the children screamed in fear as Epona lept off the path and into the trees, which were covered in fire and were falling all over the place. Epona whinnied in fear but kept running, trusting Ghirahim to get her out of this. He turned her to face the opposite way they had come, only to be met with a wall of fire the directed them back to the path. He snarled angrily and turned her again, having her leap over some of the smaller flames and go in the other direction. Zelda clutched tightly to Ghirahim in fear and Link held tightly to the arm that Ghirahim hand over his chest to hold the young hero steady. Epona reared and whinnied fearfully when a branch landed directly in front of her. Both children screamed and Ghirahim had to reach back to grab onto Zelda so she didn't fall off. Epona balanced herself and backed up.
"Come on, girl, you just gotta trust me on this." He turned Epona and whipped the reins, glad when she took off without a second thought. There had to be a way out that wasn't the path they were trying to force him into. He looked up through the trees, trying to pinpoint where they were in the forest. Death Mountain just behind him and to his left told him where he was and he pulled Epona around, heading her towards the mountain as best he could. "Link," the boy looked up at him fearfully, "I need you to turn around."
"What?! Are you crazy?" Ghirahim wanted to glare at the boy but didn't have the time to.
"Just do it!" Link gulped and carefully started to turn around, yelping in surprise when Epona jumped and he nearly fell off, but he managed to grab onto Ghirahim before that happened. "Careful!" Link nodded and finally managed to turn around, latching onto Ghirahim with his arms just below Zelda's. "Great. Now, both of you hang on as tightly as you can and do not let go no matter what. Got that?" He felt them both nod against him and their grips tightened quite a bit. "Good." He maneuvered Epona around a flaming log and towards the edge of a small cliff. "Come on, come on." Another tree limb came falling down but Epona did not falter, she lept over the log and over the edge at the same time. "Hang on!" Epona hit the water with a large splash and struggled in surprise against the current when she surfaced.
Ghirahim fought to keep Epona as steady as possible as they went down the deep river, coming to a stop when the land rose and she managed to get her footing. Epona whipped her head around and galloped towards the land, pulling herself up onto it and shaking herself from the water. Ghirahim panted and looked down at Link, then back at Zelda, thankful when he saw them both there. He grabbed the reins and gave them a soft whip, silently apologizing to Epona when she took off tiredly. Link and Zelda stayed silent aside from their panting as Epona trotted away from the river, leaving the burning forest behind them. Ghirahim didn't force them to talk, he didn't want to talk himself anyway. When he finally pulled Epona to a stop it was on the very edge of Death Mountain by a small cave that would provide shelter for them. Link and Zelda hopped off, then Ghirahim joined them.
"Are you two all right?" he asked as Epona trotted away to munch on the grass. Link nodded and turned to Zelda, who was shivering and hugging herself. "Here." She looked up as Ghirahim slipped his cloak over her shoulders. It was thick and warm, sucking up the water that covered her. "That will help. Both of you, in the cave. I'll get some firewood." They nodded and jogged into the cave obediently. They had started listening to him more and more without question, a bond of trust being formed between them all. Link had already trusted Ghirahim, that much was obvious, but never before had he listened so readily to him. Ghirahim shrugged it off and headed back to the cave with the firewood. Link and Zelda were huddled together in the semi-darkness of twilight and watched silently as he arranged the wood, then snapped his fingers to start the fire. "There we go."
"Ghirahim?" Zelda said tentatively. Ghirahim grunted, not looking up at her as he poked at the fire carefully with another stick. "Thank you." He looked over at her with a raised brow. Why was she thanking him? Had he not saved their lives many times already? It wasn't that big of a deal. She smiled weakly. "No, not that. For staying and helping us so much. We-we really are just kids and...well, thank you, for looking after us." Ghirahim stared at Zelda. The proud Princess, admitting a fault? He never thought he'd see the day. He smiled softly and bit back his retort.
"But of course," he said and sat back against the cave wall. "You two should rest, I'll take first watch." They nodded, Zelda lying stomach down on the rocks while Link leaned back against the wall. Ghirahim sighed silently and looked at the opening of the cave. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be.
AΩ
"This isn't going to work," Ghirahim grumbled with a scowl. He stood between Zelda and Link before the Sacred Temple, his arms crossed over his chest. Zelda had suggested this, she said that to defeat Ganondorf he would need to be stronger and she said they should come here, that the Sacred Temple would help. He turned and glared down at the girl. "It wont let me in, you know that right? I've tried before, it doesn't work." He looked back at the door. Zelda took his hand and pulled him towards it. "Hey!" Link limped after them. Ghirahim squeezed his eyes shut, the field around the Sacred Temple would throw him back and he would take a few moments trying to catch his breath from the impact, that's what happened before, that's what always happened.
"Look!" Ghirahim opened his eyes and gasped. He looked around him at the Sacred Temple. He could feel the life pulsing through it and the magical aura within was so strong it nearly knocked him over from its magnitude. The ceiling was very tall and the pillars large, the windows let in just enough light to let you see but not too much so the shadows clung to the corners and the walls in a way that made the whole place mysterious. "The Temple recognizes you are the Hero's new sword!" It was actually the fact that the Goddess had lead him in there and the Temple excepted him without a second thought because of it, but he didn't need to tell her that. Let her think whatever she wished. He turned and smiled at Link, who was chuckling.
"Well, Master, it worked. Now you just have to place me where Fi used to rest," he said, gesturing to the stone that held the Master Sword. Link nodded and walked over to it, holding his hand out. Ghirahim took it and his hand turned into a sword hilt, Link clutching him with an unsteady hand. Link brought his other hand over to help carry it and raised the sword, planting it within the stone. He backed up as it glowed bright and he watched in awe as Ghirahim started to glow and his blade turned a bright, radiant silver. The dim blue light traveled up his surface, leaving a radiant glow behind as it did. His hilt glowed and turned a dark, royal purple with a green gem resting in the middle of it. The shape of the sword did not change, but the colors made it look more majestic somehow. With a final burst of rainbow color an inscription was sent upon the blade and everything went into a dim lighting again. The Temple had now truly excepted Ghirahim as the Hero's new sword.
Ghirahim floated out of the stone and hovered before them, making them both gasp in surprise. His pale skin now had a beautiful, silvery gleam on it and the bit of clothing that had blended into his skin was now green and covered more of him. It went up his arms all the way to his shoulders, from his right shoulder it wrapped around his front and from his left it wrapped around the back, meeting on each hip, the fabric then climbed down his legs to his heels to meet with bare feet. His cloak had gone from eery red with orange accents to a royal purple with blue accents. The purple around his eyes was replaced with gold and his eyes had gone from a dark purple to a lovely green shade that suited him. His hair was still white and still covered his left eye, but it looked cleaner now and with the new colors it suited him all the more. He smiled warmly Link, who beamed back happily at his friend.
"You look awesome! Wow," Link said, looking him over. Zelda clapped and grinned. Ghirahim chuckled and landed his feet on the ground, holding his arms out in front of him and looking them over. He put them down and placed his hands on his hips.
"Well then, Master of mine," Link chuckled at the joking term, "where are we off to next?"
AΩ
They rode across Hyrule field, going to look for another temple to help strengthen his and Link's powers and bond, the stronger their bond the better chances they had against Ganondorf. Ghirahim didn't like running across the expanse of Hyrule Field like this, it left them vulnerable to attack and it made him uneasy. Zelda and Link assured him that they'd be able to make it to the Forest Temple like they had with all the others but Ghirahim knew Ganondorf better than that. During every fight he had always known what the hero was up too, he had done his best to stop him from doing it, even though the hero always seemed to fight it off easily. Even so, Ghirahim knew that he would know that they only had the Forest Temple left and that he would send demons to stop them, maybe even Vaos would meet them at the entrance.
Ghirahim was thrown out of his thoughts as Epona let out pain filled neigh and buckled forward, falling to the ground and sending her riders to the ground harshly. Ghirahim held tightly to Link as they fell and rose to see what had attacked them. Link got to his feet as well and looked around, gasping when he saw Zelda lying on the ground a few feet away with blood covering her arms. He started to go over but Ghirahim grabbed him, not liking the looks of this. BAM! Vaos appeared by Zelda and smiled evilly at Ghirahim and Link, who glared back at him.
"Hello, Ghirahim," he said coldly. "Ever so lovely to see you again." Link took Ghirahim's hand and a sword appeared in his hand. He held it out in challenge to Vaos, who laughed loudly at him. "You wish to challenge me, boy? I'm afraid I haven't the time." Vaos grabbed Zelda and hoisted her over his shoulder. Link snarled and charged at him, but was thrown back by a strong wave of magic, landing on his back with a sting of pain going through his left side. Ghirahim took his other form and stood up, glaring at Vaos. "It's been fun. Ta-ta." BAM! He was gone.
"We have to go after him!" Link snapped as he got to his feet, but he stumbled and collapsed. Ghirahim ran over and knelt down, raising Link's left arm to look at his wound, which was now pulsing painfully.
"Not now," Ghirahim said firmly. "We have to get you to a Spirit Spring." Link nodded. Ghirahim stood and looked at Epona, looking away with eyes closed instantly. Epona's chest was cut clean across, her blood spilling out in a black ooze and her face contorted in her last moment of fear with her veins slowly becoming black from the magic feeding off of her. Link screamed and Ghirahim snapped his eyes open, looking down at the boy, who was staring at Epona with fear in his eyes. "We're walking." He picked Link up and walked off, heading for the forest spring.
Ghirahim could feel Link clinging to his cloak as he was carried, his body trembling weakly from the wound. Ghirahim did not look back, he couldn't bare to see that again. Epona had been a very loyal creature to the very end, having even fought to save Link and Ghirahim once. It was a shame that she had to die that way and it angered Ghirahim. He tried to ignore those thoughts, remembering that he would soon be facing Vaos in battle, and entered the Faron Woods. He took the path he knew led to the Spirit Spring and chanced a look down at Link. He stopped in his tracks.
When Ghirahim looked down he didn't see the Hero of Hyrule, he didn't see the barer of the Triforce of courage, he didn't even see Link of the Faron Clan. All he saw was a boy, a scared boy that had just seen something terrible. It was with a start that he realized Link was only fifteen, not close to being an adult yet. Link was only a child, a brave child, yes, but still just a child. Ghirahim felt something inside of him break at the sight and kept walking to the spring. He walked out into the water and sat Link down in it, sitting across from him. He took some water and molded it around Link's wound, healing it.
"Link," he said gently. Link didn't look up at him but Ghirahim knew that he had heard and was listening. "I'm sorry, that all of this had to happen. If I could do something, I would. But I can't." Actually, I could. I could have left Demise to rest and not awakened him, then you wouldn't be in this mess. Link didn't answer, staring down at the water. Ghirahim sighed. "I really am sorry, Link." He let the water drop, the wound healed.
"It's not your fault," Link said, his voice soft and tired. "It's not like you wanted this to happen, all these endless years of battle." There was a moment of silence were Ghirahim looked at Link and Link stared at the water. "I just-what if I can't defeat him?" Ghirahim blinked. "What if I fail again and this time I can't do anything about it? If I do, Hyrule gets destroyed and it's all my fault. And if I fail, I'll kill you too. Just like I killed Fi."
"Hey," Ghirahim snapped softly. "You didn't kill Fi, ok? Ganondorf did. Don't you ever think it's your fault. And you wont fail, all right? I've fought you countless times and if there's one thing I know it's that you don't fail and you don't give up. Not in this lifetime or any of the others." Link looked up at Ghirahim and there was fear there, so much fear.
"But what if I'm not brave enough?" Ghirahim chuckled softly and hugged Link close, patting his back.
"Link, being courageous and brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. It means that you are scared, terrified even, but you still do it. You are the bravest person alive, or else you wouldn't have that mark on your hand. You can do it Link, I know you can. The whole land of Hyrule believes in you," Ghirahim told him. Link clung tightly to Ghirahim in silence for a moment, taking in what he said. Link nodded and pulled back to look at Ghirahim.
"Ok," he said quietly and smiled a bit. "Now, let's go get that extra power and kick Ganondorf's ass!" Ghirahim smiled and the two stood up.
"Onward?" Link nodded.
"Onward."
AΩ
They stood before the castle doors and could practically feel the dark magic seeping through the cracks. They looked at each other with unsure looks a moment before looking back up at the doors. Link took a deep breath and walked slowly up the steps, each one feeling like he was dragging a brick behind him. When he reached the doors he looked over to see Ghirahim right beside him nervously but with a determined look on his face. He looked down at Link and nodded sharply. Link took another deep breath and pushed the doors open, looking straight into the dark entrance hall of the castle.
"And so it begins," Link muttered under his breath. He looked up at Ghirahim, who nodded in agreement. Ghirahim looked down at Link.
"Time to save Hyrule, right Master?" Link nodded sharply and reached out, taking Ghirahim's hand. "Good luck." Link nodded and Ghirahim turned into a sword. Link took one last deep breath and ran into the castle, the doors shutting behind him as he entered and ran up the stairs.
And that's a wrap!
Thanks for reading, please review and have a bow chicka bow wow day~
Petchricor, QotG, signing off ;)