biAuthor's Note(s)/i/b: Quite a bit longer than the past couple chapters. Well, at least I've found a way to keep up now, and still include the more important stuff. Chapter's 11 and 12 are already in progress (its easy to do both the odd and even chapters right now because of the way this fic is spaced out between the events in Hyrule and on wherever Link is).
Here, the four girls find themselves in a graveyard formerly called Lon Lon Ranch. Yes, they will split up eventually, but the four are sticking together right now. I know my description has a bit of a farsight, mentioning what Zelda does much later. I just thought it was easier to do it that way. In any case, enjoy the chapter. Several lesser twists are coming up soon (one in Chapter 12), along with a pretty big one soon after. Enjoy what's here. The next one should be done next week.
Happy birthday to me, as well. I'm 20, now. Cya.
The Legend of Zelda: The Demon Within
Chapter 10: Life of Death
The scene at Lon Lon Ranch was bleak. Dark clouds billowed over all of Southern Hyrule, across the plains and over the ranch as well. The smell of rotting flesh filled the air. Bodies of animals, including wolves, dogs, horses, and birds lay in the fields. The only noise was that of the howling winds, dark and fierce. Not a sound of a living thing crossed the ears of the four travelers.
"What in the world..." Relm proclaimed.
Romani gasped out. "No... how can it be... it wasn't nearly this bad when we left..."
Zelda gritted her teeth. "This is a bad omen... I foresee an evil power rising..."
Relm narrowed her eyes. "Come on, we must hurry!"
The redhead clashed her heels together and Freya raced off into the distance toward the ranch. Romani glanced at Sheila. "She's rather forceful..."
Sheila snapped the reins and Neime dashed after the other two riders sitting upon the back of Freya. "Yes, Relm is quite... interesting... I never really know what she's thinking beneath that mind of secrets."
The two horses rushed towards the ranch. Meanwhile, bony hands began to tear through the earth, crawling up from the depths. The head of a stalchid stuck itself up from the ground before being slashed away by Princess Zelda's sword. More came, though, many being trampled beneath horse hooves. However, they were numerous, climbing up from the depths, grabbing at the legs of the two horses.
Romani continuously fired her bow, sharp arrows fracturing bones of the living dead crawling along the ground. Zelda tried her best to beat back the hordes, but she alone could not keep up. Relm even began to assist with her long knives, slashing away as Freya charged on and right into Lon Lon Ranch. Neime arrived with Sheila and Romani shortly after.
Within the boundaries, all was a hollow shell. The entire ranch was torn asunder. It look almost as if it were a ghost town. Sheila gasped at the sight, for not a living thing could be seen. Holes were torn into the sides of the barn, the silo at the far end had been broken apart and collapsed in on itself, Malon's house barely stood...
Cows, cuccoos, and horses... if any horses escape, they were surely the ones outside that now lay dead. Sheila was devastated. "N-no... M-malon...everyone..." tears began streaming down her face.
Romani put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry..."
Relm quickly dismounted from Freya's back and rushed into the central coral, the fence completely torn down. Zelda followed after, with Romani and Sheila right behind her. There, to everyone's shock and horror, lay Malon.
Sheila covered her mouth and collapsed to her knees, bursting out into tears. Her hands could not hide the loud wailing that came after. Romani and Zelda, too, nearly began to cry. Relm merely turned to the sky and screamed out loud in anger.
Suddenly, all was silent. Relm gritted her teeth, slowly approaching the deformed body.
A feminine screech rocketed the entire ranch as Malon's head jerked back, moaning loudly. Relm found herself struck with fear, frozen where she stood, unable to move. Zelda gasped out. "Relm!"
More of the screeching, moaning echoed out across the ranch. Villagers of Kakariko... Gorons from Death Mountain... Link-Goro, son of Darunia, named after the hero himself... all living corpses...
Relm remained frozen in place as Malon slowly approached, brittle hair ready to fall out hanging down in a messy, mishapen form. "Relm!" Zelda called out again, instantly snapping the girl back to her senses.
Reacting swiftly, the redheaded girl whipped out her knives and spun in a wide arc, sharp blades cutting through the fleshy, living corpse of what was once Malon. Sheila burst out into tears again, despite knowing that nothing else could have been done.
More of the deathly legions approached, but still all were more clearly people that they knew and cared dearly for, unlike most ReDeads, Stalfos, or Stalchids, whom maintained no visible appearance of their original selves. These were living people transformed by dark, spiritual powers.
"You're kidding me..." Romani proclaimed, surveying the scene.
Zelda shook her head. "No, I won't believe it... There must be a way to... to..."
Relm pushed her sister aside, stepping into the front of the line, blades drawn. "There's nothing we can do... we'll all die if we don't fight!"
"B-but... I... I can't..." Sheila whimpered, tears still streaming down.
Romani walked over to Sheila and kneeled down in front of her, grasping the sobbing girl's hand with her own. "I know its hard, but... we have to accept it... if we don't fight, we're all just going to die... I don't know you all very well, and I don't know your friends well... but I'm sure they they wouldn't want you to die in vain..."
The white-haired girl nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I-I know... I'm sorry..."
Relm shook her head. "Enough of this nonsense! They're coming!"
Romani turned back to see that several of the undead had approached rapidly, with more behind. Relm slashed with one of her knives before spinning around and simultaneously swinging both hands once more, cutting away at the first ReDead. The rotting mass of flesh collapsed to the ground before another came up from behind. Relm rushed him swiftly with the knife in her right hand, following with a swift kick to the gut.
Zelda quickly spun around, lashing out with her silvery whip in her right hand at the mass of fiends approaching from the rear. She struck out twice more, lashing away at the disheveled heaps of bones and flesh. Suddenly, an arrow flew by and struck the first of the two creatures of death, followed by another into the second, both of which collapsed to the earth.
Romani stood up tall at the center of the field, her long knee-length hair flowing freely in the howling wind that had picked up around them. She turned again and fired another arrow at a monster that approached from the side. Sheila rushed in with a staff in hand, swinging it around in a wide arc. She struck high with the tip of her staff before leaning down and sweeping the zombie off its feet. As a finisher, she held the long stick high with both hands and stabbed down into the creature's belly.
The four girls quickly found themselves outnumbered, though. More of the deathly beasts came up, including several stalfos and redeads that came in to replace the living dead previously defeated.
Suddenly, a massive boulder smashed through all of the undead monsters, straight at the four girls in the center. Zelda and Sheila jumped to one side while Relm and Romani ducked to the other. The stone suddenly stopped and split apart. Sheila gasped out as the monster turned around and roared.
The white-haired girl nearly burst into tears again. "L-Link... why... why did this have to happen to you, too?"
Relm's eyes opened wide. "Link? But... that looks nothing like him!"
Sheila shook her head. "No... he's the son of Big Brother, Darunia, patriarch of the gorons... Darunia named his son after Link..."
Instead of flesh and bone, the goron appeared to be made of cracked pale stone. He was still just as deadly as the human undead, though, if not worse... Romani wanted to turn away, but could not let herself do so. She knew that she should never turn away from a foe, even if he was a friend.
"How do you damage a rock?" Zelda called out.
Link turned towards the girls and curled up, dashing along towards them. Relm rolled to the side and slashed with both knives as he passed by. Sheila rammed him with her staff, but only managed to break off the tip of it. Romani launched an arrow just to see if she could damage him, but didn't bother to waste anymore.
The four backed away towards the broken-down horse coral, again, having been forced back by the onset of enemies, and the undead goron trying to run them over. Suddenly, a feminine screech cried out again from behind. As they turned, shock and surprise came over all of them.
"She... she's alive...?" Sheila called out.
Zelda shook her head, staring at Malon, who was rising again. "No..." she proclaimed. "The dead... simply cannot die again..."
Relm sheathed her blades, shaking her head. "In other words, we're screwed."
Romani lowered her head. "No... it... it can't end like this! There's got to be a way!"
"No matter how many we defeat," the other redhead proclaimed, "more keep coming... and now those that have already been defeated are only rising back up again. It's the end. There's no way to escape, and no place to run."
"No!" Romani cried, racing towards Malon, bow in hand. "I won't let it e-"
Suddenly, the ground gave way and the girl fell beneath the earth. The last word she spoke echoed out as she fell down. "Romani!" Sheila called out.
Zelda looked around, then down at the hole. "We're dead anyway," she remarked, before jumping down after Romani.
Sheila quickly followed behind. "W-wait! I'm going to!"
Relm just shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever," she proclaimed, before diving down after them.
Above, the dead settled down once more, with nothing else to turn to. Black clouds continued to billow overhead.
Sheila slid out of the long tunnel into a deep, pitch black cave beneath Lon Lon Ranch. Romani stood at the edge of the room, looking out at the massive cavern below them. Zelda had only just stopped moments again and stood up to brush the dust off of her uniform. Hearing another voice calling out from the tunnel, Sheila quickly rolled to the side as Relm tumbled down.
The four girls stood up and stared out into the caverns, wonder and surprise filling into their minds.
"Wow..." Sheila remarked. "Who would've found such a place beneath the ranch...?"
Zelda shook her head. "I don't know... but this place gives me the creeps. I've heard tales of the crypt beneath the well in Kakariko Village. For the longest time it was covered up by the water being tunneled into the well by the windmill, but during a massive storm the water drained down. I've never been there, though... I've only heard stories about it."
Relm crossed her arms, looking around at the walls. Numerous bones of skeletons stuck out from the walls, and even from the ground below. As she was more accustomed to the darkness, Relm found it far easier to see the details of the room around them.
"Hmm... Looks like Lon Lon Ranch was built on a crypt. These caverns are clearly ages old. They were likely buried long ago, far longer than the ranch has actually existed," Relm remarked.
Sheila raised an eyebrow, turning to look at the redhead. "How can you tell? I can't see anything in this lighting..."
She laughed. "You forget, Sheila... I was raised by the Sheikah ninjas. I was taught thoroughly how to see in even the darkest nights. This place is no different."
Romani looked around some more, barely able to make out the details on the walls. She turned around and walked towards the wall to her left for a closer look, careful to avoid the large drop down to the lower level of the chamber. She examined the wall, seeing a few of the things that Relm had noted. Fossilized creatures, skeletons of humans... nearby she even saw a grave marker sticking out of the wall. Clearly this place was, in fact, a crypt.
"It'd be easier to see if we had some light..." she remarked, "but it does appear that Relm's senses are correct... we are indeed in a crypt of some sort."
Sheila walked around, following a narrow ledge along the side of the room down several feet to the lower level. Looking carefully, she grabbed a few pieces of material and kneeled down. Zelda followed, watching her. "What are you doing...?"
The white-haired girl needn't reply, though. She quickly had a fire going and was holding a torch in her hand. "There... that's better," she remarked.
The four convened and the far end of the chamber, where there was a door leading into another room. "If this place is anything to go by," Relm commented, "there may be something down here that cause the sudden monstrous uprising above. There may yet be a way to stop the horde of undead, though I don't know how likely that is..."
Romani nodded. "Yes... we definitely should watch out, though. There's bound to be more living dead down here..."
Zelda stood at the front and turned around. "You girls ready?" she asked.
The three of them nodded. The blonde-haired princess turned around and slowly opened the rotting door. They all moved into the next chamber, Sheila leading the way with her torch. Several more passages opened up in various directions. It was definitely an elaborate tomb, with numerous burial sites.
"Should we split up?" Romani asked.
Relm laughed. "Yeah, sure, that's a great idea! All the easier for ReDeads and Stalfos to come pick us off one by one, adding another addition to this tomb. No, thank you, we're better off sticking together and trying each path one by one."
Sheila walked around a bit, looking around cautiously. She went to the right and noticed a small glint along the ground. In the middle of the floor down the path was a green rupee, buried slightly in the earth. She walked over and kneeled down, gripping it with her free had and pulling it free. "Hmm... how did this get here?"
Romani gasped. "N-no, don't! Step back, quickly!"
Sheila turned up and instantly stared in horror, fear filling the depths of her mind as a loud screech called forth. She was frozen in place as the monstrous face of a ReDead approached, readying to lash out at her.
An arrow struck the beast and Sheila snapped out of it. She stood up and swung the torch around, allowing the undead monster to catch on fire and burn into ashes. Quickly she retreated into the chamber and turned to face Romani. "H-how did you... how did you know?"
Romani nodded. "I remember a story Link told me once... about his adventures... he mentioned that one time, he was traveling through a maze of caverns in a tomb. He followed a path of rupees mysteriously lying on the ground, only to run into one of those creatures of death..."
Zelda turned up, nodding. "Y-yes... now I see... I remember my mother telling me a story long ago how treasures are buried with the dead so that they will be brought into the afterlife."
Relm nodded. "In other words, the paths that contain treasure, like rupees, are where the dead have been buried... and likely where we'll find some dead who still try and linger onto life."
Sheila looked around, shining her light along each of the four paths in the chamber. After turning to the third on, directly to the left of the original entrance, she didn't notice any of the flickering lights she had seen before. Another path in the corner, beyond that entrance, had more of the gems buried in the earth.
The girl nodded and pointed to the passage she had found. "This must be the way to go..."
Relm nodded. "I'll lead this time. Sheila, follow behind me. The rest of you, keep up. Let's go."
The four girls continued down through the passageway, racing swiftly but steadily. After a few twists and turns, they came out into another room, this one partially covered in stone flooring that appeared to be wearing away. Three torches hung upon the walls, all of which were mysteriously lit.
Sheila blew out her torch and tossed it aside, looking around the chamber. Relm brushed her hair back and stepped forward, walking towards the center of the room. Zelda carefully walked into the chamber, wary of what may lie ahead. Romani turned around, eying the dark passageway behind her, before finally fully stepping foot inside the strange room.
Instantly flames erupted where the two passages opened up, blocking all escape routes. Relm spun around, staring at the walls and ceiling. "What in the world is going on here?" she called out.
Romani took a step further, but suddenly collapsed to the ground. She cried out, screaming. "S-something's grabbed my foot!"
She lashed around, kicking at the strange tentacle that had come out from the ground. She pulled out her bow and tried shooting an arrow, but the white arm-like tentacle shook her violently, causing her to shoot an arrow into the wall.
Sheila gasped, rushing over, but something starting pulling her back. She turned down and saw a bony white hand grabbing her ankle tightly. She screamed, stomping down hard trying to get it off.
Several more tentacles came out from the ground. One started to pull at Relm's half-skirt. She quickly twisted around, cutting away with her knife at the eerie tentacle. Green ooze spilled out of the core, but it didn't stop the hand. It continued to pull down at her. She swung around, smashing it into a wall. The hand finally let go and she crushed it with her foot.
Sheila managed to smash the hand before running over to help Romani as several of the hands grabbed at her, raised her up into the air. Romani was unable to break free from the masses of flesh pulling at her clothes and hair, dragged her to the center of the chamber.
Zelda tried to aid the girl, but she herself was tied up quite a bit in the corner. Wielding the mithril sword her father had given her she slashed away at the tentacles, but more rose up to take their place, holding the princess down. They pulled at her hair and she winced in pain, but refused to give up.
Relm turned around and rushed toward Sheila, but another one of the hands grabbed at her clothes, while another one grabbed hold of her right arm. The girl winced in pain as it dug into her own fleshy wound, caused by the ReDead that had tore into her shoulder not a week past.
As Sheila raced to assist Romani with her staff in hand, an enormous rotting beast tore through the ground in front of the redheaded girl trapped at the center of the room. It opened its enormous jaws, screeching out loudly. Sheila stared in horror, fear entering into her soul. She froze in place, unable to move as the deathly creature reached out to feast upon the young hunter.
Zelda struggled, continuing to fight off the waves of tentacles. She turned and saw the beast, realizing now what it was. Suddenly, she spun in a complete circle, ripping through the creature's tentacles. It roared out, distracted temporarily. It proved to be just enough time for the princess to race to the center of the room and cut Romani free of the monster's grip.
The redheaded girl collapsed to the ground. She breathed in heavily, glancing up at the other girl standing above her. "Thank you," she mouthed, before running in the opposite direction as the Dead Hand regained its composure.
Looking around, Sheila noticed that she had an opening. She raced over to the side of the room and grabbed one of the torches off the wall. Afterwards, she rushed over to Relm as the Dead Hand approached the girl, now completely wrapped up in its clutches. Sheila threw the fire into the beast's face and it quickly relinquished control of Relm, struggling to put out the fires quickly spreading across its body.
Relm gasped for breath, breathing heavily. She looked up and quickly rolled forward as another tentacle lashed out at her. The girl turned to the sight of the monstrosity, suddenly frozen in place. An arrow hit the creature's head, followed by another. She regained her composure and quickly rushed forward, both of her knives held out. With swift strikes Relm cut across the Dead Hand's face, then again up its belly. She ducked aside as Zelda rushed in, jumping into the air, and cutting down through the monster's body, tearing it right in half.
The beast fell to the ground, and with one final moan, returned to the earth. The fires went back down again, and all the torches in the room vanished.
The four girls breathed slowly, sighing in relief. Sheila walked over and lit her torch again, before heading to the next corridor. She look into its depths, seeing another room at the far end. "What could possibly be down here...?" she asked no one in particular.
Relm shrugged her shoulders, walking over to the other girl. "I'm not sure..."
Romani looked at the ground again, her entire body shivering with cold. "Whatever it is, I hope its nothing like that... creature..."
"A Dead Hand," Zelda remarked. "Its an undead monster that uses its tentacle to trap its prey before it feasts... I have heard about them through books, but I never expected to see one."
Sheila turned to the others. "So... should we attempt to proceed...? Before that monster comes back?"
"Well," Relm began, "if we go back to Lon Lon Ranch, we're as good as dead anyway. If we stay here, we're as good as dead. If we go on, we've likely got similar odds. I don't see why we shouldn't."
Zelda brushed passed her sister, shaking her head. "I don't approve of your logic, but I agree—there's no reason we should stay. Let's keep moving."
Romani nodded, racing to the corridor. "I certainly won't stay here..."
"Very well, then," Sheila commented, following the others into the passage and uncertain peril.