Hey, folks! Bit shorter of a chapter than normal this time but it's certainly not short on action. That's right, it's time for a boss battle! This is basically a chapter-long fight, hence why it's not as long as some of the others thus far. Hopefully y'all like it!
They entered into a surprisingly well-lit room as large as the one Link had fought the Guardian in. Four large vents pointed up at angles in the four corners of the room, and on the far side of the chamber was another glowing stone console. Navi quickly flew over to investigate, looking more closely. "Hey, Link! This thing looks like it's the same shape as that Sheikah Slate!"
"Maybe that's where I'm supposed to put the pieces to bring it back together?" He shrugged before starting to cross the room. He'd made it all the way to the center when steel bars shot through the floors, blocking off any way in or out. "What the-!" Immediately the Master Sword was in his hands and he was in a defensive stance, glancing around the room to see what was coming. Hearing footsteps he turned around.
A figure was walking into the room that hadn't been there before. It was humanoid in figure, standing about as tall as Link was. It was dressed in a dull, almost faded green tunic with several leather straps going around the waist and over the shoulder. A bow was strapped to its back, crossed with a massive, dark steel blade with a blue and gold grip. There was a shield strapped to its right arm, and in its left... Link gasped. The blade that figure was holding looked like a copy of his own Master Sword. It stared at him evenly before raising the shield – which looked suspiciously like Link's Hylian shield as well. "I am the Shade of Wilds. Prove yourself." With that, he raised his sword as well but stood firm.
As if guided by instinct, Link raised his own Master Sword and touched the blades together, before jumping backwards. The duel had begun.
Slowly Link and the Shade circled each other, blades ready. The Shade was a normal, right-handed fighter; normally this would give Link an advantage, but in this case he could tell the Shade wasn't going to be as easy as he would hope. He stepped in with a quick slice, trying to feel out the Shade's defenses. It proceeded to sidestep the blow before taking a few swings at Link's unprotected left side, forcing him to block and parry and putting him on the defensive. Link finally managed to push the Shade's sword aside and came in fast, both hands grasping the Master Sword's hilt and adding more power and control to every swing he made with the heavy blade. He managed to nick the Shade's tunic, cloth tearing to show nothing but blackness and shadow within.
The Shade clearly felt it though, and reacted with his own flurry of fast sword swings. Link quickly jumped back and opened up the distance in hopes of regaining some advantage, but quickly found himself having to duck behind the shield as spinning discs of energy were hurled from the Shade's sword at him. The blasts impacting against the steel were forcing him back, his boots dragging against the stone as he tried to stand fast. "Navi! What am I supposed to do here?" He called out as he broke his guard, sliding under the next energy bolt and swinging the Master Sword in an attempt to take the Shade's legs out from under him.
This not only failed but nearly backfired catastrophically as the Shade did a cartwheel over Link's slide, trying to come down in a decapitating blow that Link only barely managed to block and push off with his shield. He scrambled to his feet and glanced over to Navi again. "I... I don't know, Link!"
"What?!" Link called out as he traded quick slashes and cuts with the Shade, each one either reflecting harmlessly off the other's shield or being deflected by their sword. "You've gotta have something here!"
The fairy was flying around between the two of them, trying to figure out what could be done, but to no avail. "You're fighting the Hero of Wilds, Link! That's all I know for sure!" Link growled softly and pushed in, both hands grasping hold of the Master Sword once more. Navi's no help in this one. He shook his head. He feinted a quick slash at the Shade's legs, forcing him to dodge and attempt a counterattack. The shield caught the blade and with a quick motion Link threw off the Shade's balance and started swinging hard and fast, brutal chopping motions aiming to take the Shade apart.
The Shade countered this quickly, bringing his own sword up and crossing it with Link's Master Sword. Sparks flew as the two blades crossed and pushed against each other, Link's blue eyes meeting the Shade's red ones. The two swordsmen struggled with each other for the advantage for several long moments before Link pulled a hand off the Master Sword and punched the Shade directly. This provided him exactly the opening he needed as the Shade tumbled backwards. Link pulled the Master Sword back, ready to plunge the blade through the heart of the reborn ancient hero.
The blow never arrived. The Shade's legs wrapped around one of Link's own before pulling, forcing the hero to tumble back and roll away. The two of them quickly got back to their feet and once more they were facing each other blade to blade. Link was now aching from the impact, and he could see black inky blood leaking from the Shade's nose. He growled before charging, this time feinting a high strike that turned into a slash for the Shade's center mass.
If Link's reaction times had been any slower, his quest would have come to an end right at that moment. The Shade saw through Link's feint and instead stabbed forwards, aiming to run Link through the middle. Link was forced to dodge and his swing lost any power it once had. Even with how quickly he tried to get away, he could still feel the blade cutting through cloth and slicing across skin, forcing a cry of pain from his lips as the Shade finally drew blood. He hissed in pain as he felt along his side. Navi quickly flew down to get a better look at his wound while he tried to grab some distance.
"It's long, but not very deep. You'll want to get it bandaged up when you get out of here but it's not gonna be fatal, just be careful!" Link nodded and stood firm, both hands on the Master Sword's hilt while the Shade shifted, his own sword held back while the tip pointed at his opponent. An idea came to Link's mind and he slipped a hand into his satchel, grabbing the bomb rune fragment of the Sheikah Slate. He quickly moved in for a quick flurry of swings and stabs before jumping backwards out of range of the Shade's counterattack... Leaving a bomb sitting at the Shade's feet.
He looked down and Link could see red eyes widening in surprise as the Shade quickly kicked the explosive away, but was still caught in the blast radius and sent flying a few feet back. Link capitalized on this opportunity, charging in with sword reared back in a powerful stabbing position. His sword came down and the Shade barely managed to dodge away, though the sword did still catch him and leave a nasty slash along his back and sides. Black ichor spilled across stone and the Shade stumbled back up to his feet. Link kept the offensive going, pushing forwards with strike after strike that impacted against the metal of the Shade's shield, forcing him further and further towards the walls of the room.
And then he heard a humming sound filling the air. Link looked away for a brief moment, just in time to see the fans surrounding the room flipping on and starting to hum, currents of air filling the room. This distraction turned out to go wrong for Link as he was punched in the stomach and shoved off by the Shade, who made a run for one of the air currents. Link took off in pursuit, trying to get a solid impact with his blade.
The Shade jumped onto one of the fans just as Link came around with a diagonal upwards strike, and pulled a rig seemingly out of nowhere. "The Paraglider!" Navi cried out, and sure enough the Shade was now taking to the skies holding onto the wood and cloth apparatus. Link swore to himself and followed the Shade's descent, trying to prepare to strike when he was in range. That was when the Shade let go of the Glider, pulled a bow, and time seemed to slow around them. The arrowhead was red in color, and there seemed to be sparks flying from the back as the Shade loosed it... Link realized what was about to happen just a second too late and threw up his shield.
The bomb arrow impacted the metal and exploded, sending him flying across the room and tumbling down. He had a few new burns and scorch marks, but thankfully the shield had taken the brunt of the explosion and left him in one piece. Quickly he tried to get back to his feet just as the Shade pulled the massive greatsword from his back, grasping it with both hands. Link managed to get up just as the Shade came in with a devastating horizontal swipe. Once more the Hylian Shield took the impact but the weight of the sword carried Link with it, sending him rolling backwards.
Instinct took over at this point and he rolled onto his feet before charging in, taking advantage of the Shade's need to recover control of such a heavy weapon. The Master Sword sliced through the air like lightning, cutting and slashing away and leaving several nasty gouges in the Shade's body. Now leaking ichor from a number of different slashes he was faltering, and Link pulled back to try and finish him with a decisive blow.
The Shade knocked his sword aside with a quick movement and followed up with a slash that would've taken Link's legs off at the knees had he not rolled with the movement. Even then, he could feel the wind from the blade as it sliced into his coat's material and sent green leather flying. Link had to come up with something to turn the tide of this fight or he'd be in trouble; the Shade was beginning to overpower him.
Navi was thinking as fast as she could. This Shade was a lot nastier than even the Guardian! She quickly went over everything they had access to while the two swordsmen fought. An idea crossed her mind quickly, one that she hoped would work. "Link! The gauntlet!" She cried out.
Link glanced up in confusion before his eyes widened. My shield could barely deflect a laser from one of those Guardians, he thought as he blocked and evaded more ground-shaking slices from the Shade's massive blade, and his doesn't look quite as durable. If this works... He dodged to the side again, feeling the wear and tear of the fight starting to play against him. I've only got one shot at this! The Shade charged him again, the giant sword out.
Link started charging up a blast on his laser gauntlet before bringing his shield up to block the sweeping strike, letting it carry him aside and get distance away from the Shade. He quickly rolled with the blow, going to one knee and bringing the brightly glowing gem of the gauntlet up. The Shade's eyes widened and he fired, the shadowed figure bringing his own shield up out of instinct–
The blast hit the shield and blew it completely apart, sending the Shade of Wilds flying to smash into the wall on the far side. He struggled to his feet again, rushing for one of the giant fans. Link turned, leaping forwards into the gusts of another. The Paragliders unfolded simultaneously, but there was one factor that put the Shade at a disadvantage in this fight.
Link still had use of his hands. As they nearly crossed midair, Link fired a quickly charged second shot from the gauntlet into the Shade's glider. The ancient wood and cloth contraption blew apart and sent fragments into the Shade's back, forcing him down to the ground. Link quickly pulled back, retracting the Paraglider before pulling his own blade out and dropping directly onto the Shade of Wilds.
The Master Sword slid cleanly into the Shade's flesh, stabbing cleanly through him and impaling him to the ground. He let out a choked gasp, twitched as Link twisted the blade, and went still. Slowly, Link pulled the Master Sword from the corpse and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "There... It's over." He turned away as the gates opened, heading towards the pedestal he'd seen when he and Navi first entered.
He stopped when he heard a coughing laugh from behind, immediately turning to see the Shade standing again. "Good fight... You truly are the Hero of Legend." He knelt before Link and rested his broken blades on the ground. "You've shown yourself worth to hold the Sheikah Slate, and to wield the Blade of Evil's Bane. The same way I proved myself worthy, so many years prior."
Link slowly dropped his guard, sheathing the Master Sword but keeping his stance even. "Who are you?"
The Shade smiled at him. "I am Link, the Hero of Wilds. Over a thousand years ago, I crossed swords with Calamity Ganon to save Princess Zelda and free Hyrule from the dark corruption he spread. I knew that one day he would rise again, and I made preparations for that day.
"All things are in a cycle, new Hero. The sun rises and sets, empires come and go, people live and die." He sighed. "Evil rises and falls. The return of Ganon was set in stone as immutable as the Temple you currently stand within. It could only be delayed, never completely ceased. It is the way of Hyrule.
"I sought to prepare the generations to come for this cycle. I left the secrets of the Guardians, of the Sheikah, for future generations to discover and rebuild. I created the Temple of Wilds to store the Sheikah Slate, my most versatile and powerful tool. And I enchanted myself, binding my spirit to the stone until a new Hero came. I was to be a final test and protector of the Slate; a trial by fire for the Hero that would rise after me. You are that Hero." He paused, before handing a piece of stone from a pocket within his tunic. "This is the final piece of the Slate. A tracker that can locate anything or anyone that you add to its database. It is already heavily populated, however you can easily add more into it." Link hesitated before taking the stone, adding it to the rest of the fragments.
The Shade smiled faintly. "Hyrule is in your hands now, Link. You must fulfill your role. Stop Ganon from ruling, and save Hyrule once again. Now..." He let out a sigh of relief. "My duty is done. May the Goddesses smile upon you." With that, the Shade of Wilds faded into nothingness.
Link stared for a long moment before turning towards the console. Navi floated along with him. "So... That's what happened, then. Do you think it's possible the other Temples have the same thing waiting for us?"
Link said nothing as he arranged the pieces in the console, stepping back. It began to glow, and on a stalactite above blue runes began running down the length of the stone. After several moments, a brightly glowing 'drop' of magic fell onto the broken pieces of the Slate. A blinding flash of light forced Link and Navi to turn away, and when they looked again... The Sheikah Slate was whole once more. Wordlessly Link took it, strapping it to his belt before starting to head out of the Temple.
"Link, did you hear me?" Navi asked again as she floated next to him. "Do you think there's more Shades waiting for us?"
"Probably." Link's mind was elsewhere at the moment, thinking about everything the Shade had told him. The rise of Ganon is in a cycle... Does that mean all I'm doing is delaying the inevitable? Is all this 'legend' stuff just the old ways and methods trying to keep themselves going for a new generation, trying to stop a change that's long overdue? Link shook his head as they left the Temple. No sooner did he step back out into the open than the Disciples of Farore were upon him.
"You did it!"
"You truly are the Hero, sir Link!"
"What was in there?"
"Is that the Sheikah Slate?! Was that what the Temple was hiding?"
Link wearily shook them all off. "I'll answer all your questions soon. Right now I'm beat to oblivion and exhausted." He turned to Tingle. "Can you help get me down to the Temple? I need a first aid kit and a good night's sleep."
"Of course, of course! Come, sir Link." Tingle nodded as Teru picked him up and carried him down, Navi flying along behind.
Link was still lost in thought. Something about all this just doesn't seem right... Maybe I'm just too tired to think, but this whole legend seems fishy. He was still thinking about it as he patched himself up and collapsed into bed, asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
And thus ends the Temple of Wilds. This was a bit of an exercise in dungeon design for me, something I've never had to do before. I'll be honest, it was fun to write and create and I'm looking forward to doing the other three Temples!
Not much to say here this time, so read and review!