The Demon

by Creen

A more serious version of the Ocarina of Time, but one I hope still holds true to the spirit of the game... in which Zelda is a cunning leader of rebels, Link is an uncultured child-warrior from a magic forest, Malon the tomboy becomes her own knight in shining armor, and Navi is a useful and valuable ally... and NEVER utters the phrase "Hey, Link!" or "Listen!"

11. Chapter 11 Beneath the Ice

"Milady," Impa said, looking up from her gossip stone. "Milady?"

The princess's head was propped on her arms, as she slept in her chair at the war table. Impa hesitated in the doorway. It seemed like only a few years ago that the shadow-warrior had played nurse-maid to this powerful young woman.

Impa walked over to her sovereign, and gently touched the young woman's shoulder, "Milady."

"Wha—?" Zelda jerked upright, disorientated.

"Sheik has reported in," Impa said, holding up the gossip stone.

"What befell the Gorons?" Zelda asked, rubbing the sleep-grit from her eyes.

"Ganon resurrected a dragon, but it is dead now, and the gorons have begun to rearm. They will resume their raids within the week," Impa said, satisfied.

"And what of the sage? Was the Sage of Fire located?"

"Yes. It was Darunia, the chieftain," Impa said calmly.

"Also… Lito has something of interest to report," Impa said slowly…

Talon kept his battle axe close, standing guard over the two women. They were injured, but that didn't mean much for gerudo. The shadow demon in charge of this camp was staring at a rock in his hand, doing something spooky and unnatural, probably.

One of the women shifted uncomfortably, hissing slightly. Talon glared at her, testing the edge of his axe. The women stopped fidgeting.

Lito was Impa's son, but his mother didn't show favoritism. Responsibility was awarded based on ability, not lineage. He was the only sheikah who carried a straight sword, strapped to his back. Although not a cruel man, he wasn't by nature merciful either… so he decided to inform his mother of the captives, let her decide their fate.

Talon's daughter had found them, and captured them easily, due to their injuries and lack of weapons. Lito felt mild curiosity, but nothing strong enough to spare the enemy fighters. Prisoners consumed resources he could not afford to waste… besides, if they escaped, they would pose a significant security risk…

Malon sat on a nearby rock, in clear view of the two prisoners, her short bow strung, and resting on her lap, an arrow on the string. When Ganon had come, like a sweeping blight across Hyrule, Lon Lon Ranch had been one of many settlements to be swallowed up. The gerudo took over management of the ranch, and at first, it seemed like life might return to normal… but Talon had a temper about him, and often said things he would regret later… especially under the whip of the overseer. Talon was banished from the ranch, on pain of death, and Mr. Ingo was selected as the new representative. He did his best, but he was weak, and cowardly at heart. The treatment of the workers grew worse, as well as the poor horses… the weakest mares and stallions were… culled, to strengthen the breeding stock. Malon hated the desert-thieves for that alone, but she had been a target, because of her red-hair.

She could speak the desert-tongue, after six years of the bitches beating it into her head, so that she would serve as their translator. If the sheikah commander was told to execute the women, she wondered if he'd let her do it. She caught them, after-all.

One of the women had locked eyes with her, and refused to look away. Malon hated their golden eyes, harsh, like a hawk's.

"What are you staring at?" Malon asked sharply.

"Bracelet," the staring woman said simply. Malon glanced down. The bracelet Link had given her had slipped out of her sleeve.

"Try and take it, I dare you," Malon hissed.

The woman shook her head, curious, "Who give bracelet?"

Malon lifted her chin, and refused to answer. The women glanced between each other, and she heard one of them mention forest-demon.

That couldn't be coincidence.

The talkative woman finally asked, "Did demon give bracelet?"

Malon stared at the woman stonily, refusing to answer.

Sejuno regarded the fiery hylian's silence as an affirmation. Nikaru was also looking at the woman, (she used the term loosely: the hylian was skinny and underfed, lacking the curves of a real woman). So this is who her demon had rejected her for. It said little for his taste, but the girl possessed a warrior's heart. She was still a weakling compared to a gerudo, but less weak than her contemporaries.

The shadow-demon looked up from his hand calmly, and gestured to the fire-haired wench. The girl rose, smiling savagely, drawing back her arrow.

"Wait," Sejuno said calmly, "We join you."

The shadow-demon turned around, curious enough to call off their executioner.

"You're lying," he said, his voice cool and almost soothing. A strange quality in a monster.

"I give word," Sejuno said, indignant. She had nothing to lose. Her weapons were gone, her horse taken, her tribe missing… she was nothing.

A gerudo does not fear death, but they do not seek it willingly, either.

The shadow-demon grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his red-violet eyes. A tattoo around his right eye glowed blood red, and a red slotted pupil began to glow, forming within his eye.

"Swear it," he hissed.

"Sejuno swear, join shadow-demon," she said, without reservation. The demon squinted into her eyes, as if searching… finally his tattoo dimmed, and he stepped away.

"She's telling the truth," he said, sounding bemused.

"Can I kill the other one?" the fire-haired wench asked, annoyed.

"Nikaru swear," the other woman said quickly.

The shadow demon sighed, and walked back over. After he was satisfied that Nikaru wasn't lying, he pulled out his little stone, and stared at it intently.

Sejuno didn't understand the full ramifications of what she'd done… but she suspected she would find out, soon.

Sheik rode the horse down the wagon trail the moblins had carved into the mountains. She was still incredulous that the young man clinging to her waist was terrified of horses… but the hero was full of contradictions.

Sheik pulled up at the camp, and Link gratefully dismounted. He was looking forward to real food, not more hard tack biscuits. It was apparently breakfast here. He joined the back of the line. An archer walked past, balancing a bowl of hot gruel, lest any of it spill. An archer with red hair. Link looked over, recognizing the girl.

"I didn't realize you were at this camp," Link said mildly, trying not to startle her, and thus, waste the gruel.

Malon looked up, squeaked, and the bowl promptly slipped from her fingers. Link caught the bowl, and most of the scalding gruel. He was still wearing the goron ring though, so it merely warmed his hands.

"Link!" Malon grabbed him, and he held his arms wide, bowl in his left hand. Both hands had gruel dripping from them, which he didn't want to smear on Malon's cloak.

Malon squeezed hard enough for both of them.

Malon stood next to her demon/man, mortified. Her hair was a mess, and she hadn't bathed yet. The little blue woman sat on his shoulder, and this close, Malon could actually see her expression. She was smirking. Malon had also gotten gruel all over his beautiful leather vambraces.

"When did you arrive?" Malon asked, trying to distract him while she hastily attempted to tug (discretely) the worst of the tangles from her hair.

"About… ten minutes ago?" Link guessed, shrugging.

"How long are you staying?" Malon asked.

"Long enough to eat, and pick up winter clothing," Link grinned.

Winter clothing? This was the hottest month of summer.

They reached the front of the line, and Link received a bowl and spoon of his own. The couple found a nearby tree to eat under. The ex-kokiri wolfed down the thin gruel, his lips on the rim, drinking the thick, hot liquid.

Malon realized she was staring, looked away… and her eyes were drawn back to the ex-demon's bobbing Adams apple. She could see the steam coming off the bowl.

In the end, she realized it didn't really matter, and she was hungry. She took a scoop of gruel, blew on it, and swallowed the bland food. Link started picking at the gruel that had dried on his leather vambraces, brushing it off.

"So, where did you run off to, fast-like?" Malon asked, trying to restart the conversation.

"We went to see the Gorons," Link said, as if that were no mean feat.

Just strolled into the most heavily defended mountain-fortress in Hyrule…

"Difficult?" Malon prodded.

"Moblins and a dragon enslaved the gorons. We helped the chieftain find a magic hammer, and he killed the dragon," Link said, distracted by the stickiness on his hands.

"Oh, so nothing too taxing," Malon grumbled.

"It was hot," a small voice complained, the faerie.

"Really," Malon said politely.

"Just kiss him already," the little woman rolled her eyes, turning her back pointedly on Malon.

"That's what you were waiting for?" Link asked, sounding startled.

Malon blushed. Getting unexpectedly kissed after a dramatic rescue by a childhood crush, now grown up was one thing. Working up the nerve to find the perfect moment was something else entirely. Apparently, being an ex-demon took all the guesswork out, because he stole a kiss, and her breath.

He grinned at her wickedly, and she knew she looked like an idiot, "That's not fair," she complained, remembering to breathe. Damn it, she was a strong, independent woman who—

She forgot the rest of what she was thinking, except for the demon's lips.

"Excuse me," someone said politely, and Malon's eyes snapped open. One of the sheikah was standing expectantly nearby; a bundle of clothing secured under one arm.

"Do you want to tag along?" Link asked suddenly.

"What?" Malon asked, thrown.

"Do you want to come with us?" Link repeated.

"Where?" Malon asked.

"To Zora's Domain," Link explained. Malon glanced nervously at the sheikah, but nodded.

"I will look for additional clothing," the shadow-warrior said stiffly.

Malon had forgotten that Link didn't know how to ride… but it made her feel useful, important… not to mention, his breath still smelled of crushed leaves and rain, brushing the nape of her neck. She didn't really think about what she was doing, or where she was going. This was enough.

Sheik spotted the danger, circling high in the sky. A desert hawk. None of her weapons had that range, she signaled Link, and pointed. He looked up, shading his eyes, then began stringing his gerudo short-bow grimly, despite the jostling horse.

Eight mounted warriors burst over the next hill, bearing down on the two hylian horses. Link drew back an arrow, and fired, missing his rapid target's throat, catching her low in the side instead. Several closed with their glaives leveled like lances. Sheik pulled ahead, of Link and Malon, maneuvering her horse between them nimbly. Her chain flicked out, wrapping around one woman's neck, at the same time Sheik looped her end of the chain around her saddle horn. The gerudo had a moment to register what had happened before the two horses passed each other at full gallop, jerking the woman out of the saddle so violently that her neck fractured. Link turned almost completely in the saddle, loosing a willow-cane arrow between a passing gerudo's shoulder blades at less than six paces.

The two sides wheeled about. The odds were still in the gerudo's favor. Malon quickly used the moment to string her own bow.

Link slid off the back of the horse, drawing another arrow, ready.

The gerudo Link had wounded in the side was slumped low on her horse, the reins held by a nearby comrade.

The gerudo had an archer among them as well… Link leveled his bow at her, ready. The two sides stood, appraising each other… but with a shout, the six survivors wheeled, and disappeared over the next hill… leaving two dead women crumpled in the grass, and a pair of confused looking horses nosing the bodies.

"They won't leave the horses behind. They're circling around," Malon said firmly. The cliffs to their right ran next to a river, limiting attack from that angle.

"They'll circle and hit us from the left, or try to hit us from behind," Malon decided.

Link had his head cocked, hood back. His blue faerie flew high above, and hovered… before darting back down, "From the left!" she shouted.

Malon turned Epona, and aimed, ready to let fly…

Four horses burst into view, but only two riders. Link loosed his arrow, catching one rider in the breast, and the lung. An enemy shaft missed his throat. The archer. He drew another arrow, trying to locate the woman, but Malon had already sent an arrow through the archer's throat. By the time Link was able to visually locate the woman crouched on the hill, she'd nearly finished drowning on her own blood. Hooves thundered behind him, and Sheik's horse blew past. Link's fingers scrambled for another arrow, as two mounted gerudo crested the hill. They split wide, forcing the shadow-warrior to choose which to pursue. Malon's bow twanged behind Link, and that decision became very easy.

The only survivor was the woman Link had wounded earlier, who hadn't been able to take part in the ambush, lying near the dead archer, her eyes glassy with pain.

Link approached cautiously, and nudged her boot. She moaned, and Link realized she was younger than he was, perhaps thirteen.

"They're considered a woman at twelve," Malon said quietly beside him.

"I recognize some of these gerudo… they were part of the band that captured you," Navi said.

"I know," Link said. These women had tried, but failed. They had not harmed the forest, either, nor even entered it. The one he wished dead was not among them. He crouched, and pulled the light fabric away from the wound, tearing the cloth somewhat.

"Wait, who was captured?" Malon demanded.

"We were heading towards your ranch, looking for you when the gerudo found us. Link was injured already by stalhounds…" Navi said, trailing off when the gerudo girl grabbed his wrist, and snarled weakly. Navi flew down, and hovered in front of the girl's face, scolding her in the desert tongue.

The wound wasn't life threatening for a kokiri, but this girl was susceptible to infection.

Link looked at Navi, Could we bring her to Saria? She is not yet of age… he asked in his native tongue. Sheik and Malon looked at him strangely.

Navi frowned, looking at the girl. We could ask her, Navi answered, also in the language of the forest.

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time. His mother had taught him a magic song, upon leaving the Kokiri as an adult. It was part of her new powers as a Sage.

He played the song, and the ragged grass around him seemed to grow greener and lusher as Malon watched, and the scent she associated with him became overpowering. For a moment, she thought she actually had been taken into the heart of a forest, but she blinked, and the vision faded. In its place, a forest demon stood, but made of grass and twigs, and only half as tall as it should have been. What magic was this?

The tiny facsimile cocked its head, and jabbered at Link, who replied in the same tongue. This was becoming stranger and stranger… the tiny construct walked over and looked at the injured gerudo, causing the girl to tremble. When the sticks next spoke, it was in the desert-tongue that Malon knew.

"My name is Saria. I am the Sage of Forest. Your injury will kill you," the voice said, oddly gentle for its content.

The girl continued to tremble.

"I can save your life, but there will be a cost," the bundle of sticks and grass warned.

"What is this cost?" the girl asked.

"You will no longer be gerudo. You will be a kokiri," the image said, then waited patiently for the girl to decide. In the end, she chose to not die. The hawk that had been circling overhead came to her when she whistled, weakly.

Link moved among the dead women, stripping them of weapons and equipment. He recovered his arrows. Malon examined the dead archer's short bow, which was similar to her own hylian shortbow in size, but greater in power… but she shook her head. Power meant little, next to accuracy, especially on horseback.

The horses were taken as well, their leads tied in sequence, so that they could be led. The rebels were painfully short of horse, after losing the grasslands to the gerudo, so short in fact, that they only utilized horse archers, unwilling to risk losing an animal in melee.

The shadow warrior did not approve of their detour.

"This will cost us several days travel," she said, annoyed.

"It will do no such thing," Link said confidently.

"Then you must know something about arithmetic and geography that I do not," Sheik said acidly.

"I trust my mother," he said simply, shrugging.

Stonily, Sheik returned her gaze to what lay ahead of them. Princess Zelda had warned her that the Hero of Time would severely test her patience, but would not succeed without her. The princess had been unclear though, not explaining if it meant she must follow him blindly, or keep him in check… at the moment, Sheik was hoping it was the latter.

They stopped for the night, and Sheik warded the camp with several layers of shadow-magic: one to disguise the scent of ten horses (and four people), a second to hide them from view, and a third to muffle any noise. The final, outer layer was the trickiest, but even that was no great feat for Sheik. She was good with illusions. The fourth layer was a combination of a repulsion, as well as mild aversion. Any that encountered it would back away, sensing a trap, and congratulate themselves upon avoiding such danger, thanks to their keen instincts. It was geared towards Stalhounds, but would work equally well on any monster that encountered it. It sounded difficult, but at night, it hardly took any effort or energy on Sheik's part.

It was the reason the rebels were able to camp wherever they chose, as long as one of the Sheikah was with them, allowing for elaborate ambushes, and greater travel speed. Link was talking quietly with the skinny farm-girl, helping to pull the tangles out of her hair with his fingers. Sheik did not approve.

She had proven to be an excellent archer, but Sheik feared that the girl would distract him. Also, they were fighting a war of survival. There was no time to waste with such petty nonsense. A small part of her freely admitted that she was jealous of the farm-girl. She did not feel any attraction towards the former kokiri. No, she was jealous that the girl had someone to comb her hair, someone to laugh with, to confide in.

Sheik was singularly unapproachable. The rebels she fought beside were intimidated by her. They respected Lito, they would follow him through the far side of hell, and do it gladly. Sheik suspected it was because he was male, and fought with a straight sword, something the rebels understood.

Sheik's weapons were silence and stealth, using her tools to quietly murder the enemy. She was eighteen. Before her family had been massacred, she had been happy. Although the knowledge that she was training to eventually become a servant to Royalty was there, she still had time to play, as a child. Occasionally, Sheik missed that feeling, but there was no happiness now, only satisfaction as she returned the misery the enemy had given her. She was always a stranger at the window, out in the cold. Even in the midst of this war, she saw those around her snatch and cling to one another, love, camaraderie, friendship, trust… she saw all these things between others, but could never touch them.

And it hurt the shadow-warrior, bitterly. Sheikah bred true, whenever they intermixed with Hylians, similar to Gerudo, so although only four Sheikah had survived Ganon's purge, they would recover… eventually. The only exception were Knights, which weren't exactly Hylians to begin with. Oh, certainly some Hylians were knights, but they weren't Knights: an ancient race of warrior-heroes that had intermingled with the Hylians millennia ago, possessed of courage, and strength of arm, but they bred slowly, and they had never been a prolific race. Many had perished in the Great War, twenty years ago, when the land tore itself apart, attempting to seize the power of the Golden Land, tribe against tribe, until the Gods had sealed the power from them, and the Hylian King had forged what many had believed was a lasting peace. Fools.

Link drifted off to sleep, with Malon curled against him. Since leaving the forest, he felt… complete. The empty ache in his chest had eased, and he could breathe. Malon mumbled, and rolled, pillowing her head on his chest.

"No, keep your back straight, don't hunch over," Malon said, riding next to Link. He was sitting uncomfortably on one of the Gerudo horses. At least his boots were in the stirrups this time.

The edge of the forest came into view, and Link's heart fluttered. He had been gone three weeks. What he was seeing was… impossible. Rippling out from the Lost Woods, a fifty meter thick ribbon of saplings had erupted; each infant tree was already fifteen feet tall, obscuring the tree stumps.

"Impossible…" Sheik whispered, stunned. The gerudo girl was hunched over, trembling with fever, and did not see the miracle before her eyes.

"The Forest cannot be tamed… not while her children protect her," Link said happily.

He dismounted from the captured horse, forgetting to use the stirrups again, just sliding off and landing on the balls of his feet. He tied the lead to a nearby stump, outside the rejuvenated area. "Leave the horses, we'll proceed on foot," Link said.

"I will guard the horses," Sheik said bluntly.

Link shrugged, and helped the gerudo dismount. Her eyes were feverish, and she didn't seem to know where she was, or even what she was doing, so he picked her up, and carried her like the child she was. "Malon, hold onto my belt, and don't let go," he said sharply.

Malon tagged close at his side. She'd never entered the forest before…

Dim light filtered through the trees, a perpetual twilight. These trunks had seen millennia… gnarled and old…

A sharp whistle broke the air, and Link whistled back.

Two small figures dropped from the trees. They looked like children, but their skin was as black as ash. Their clothes were made of fallen leaves, but what struck Malon most, were their glowing red eyes and sharp teeth.

They talked with Link for a few seconds, before gesturing for him to follow.

"They don't look like kokiri," Malon whispered.

"They're not. Karr and Seun are skull kids," Link said easily. One of the creatures glanced over its tiny shoulder at her, and winked suggestively.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Malon whispered.

"To the Forest Sage," Link said, as if that told her everything she needed to know.

But their guides led them the forest, taking strange short-cuts, and suddenly changing directions at the last moment. It seemed like they'd doubled back on themselves at least twice, and gone in a circle at least once. Malon tripped on a root, but kept her deathgrip on her demon's belt, "Why are we walking in circles?" she demanded, annoyed.

One of the skull kids seemed amused by the question, giggling to its friend.

Eventually they emerged into a clearing of sorts. No trees grew here, only grass, but a massive tree stood at the center, shading the entire "clearing," although its branches were bare, and clearly dead. The tree was massive. Scattered about the clearing were lean-tos, and hovels, made from twigs, vines, and leaves. The clearing was a riot of activity. Skull kids scampered around carrying sticks and bundles between them, with a… curious air of industry, like children building stick forts.

"That's a wolf," Malon said, her eyes wide.

"No, it's a wolfos, which are larger and smarter than wolves," Link corrected her. A kokiri was clinging to the animal's back, body relaxed, and was gesturing to a skull kid in passing.

The wolfos looked like a wolf, but half again as large… more like a small pony. "I don't see any reins or bridal… do you pull on the ears, or something?" Malon asked.

"Nooo…" Link said quickly, "not if you like having both hands."

The wolf's ears pricked up, and it trotted towards the edge of the clearing, and the kokiri waved good bye.

There were so many forest-demons… More than she thought existed, anyway. She assumed two dozen, maybe… but this… some were making arrows, others spears, more were carrying sheets of bark…

"What is all this?" Malon asked.

"We prepare for war, horse-child," an amused voice said. Malon spun, and saw a female kokiri walking towards them, wearing a single strap dress/tunic of woven fibers, that only fell to mid thigh, a pink faerie sitting on her bare shoulder. She looked no different than the others, but this demon had an almost physical presence about her.

"Where's Mido?" Link asked.

"Your father's training a band of youngsters," the girl said, waving a hand dismissively.

Father?

"I assume this is the girl?" the kokiri asked.

Link knelt, so that the kokiri could look at the dying gerudo.

The kokiri's face was hidden beneath her glaring mask.

"I'm… not sure… she might be too old," the kokiri said, worried.

The pink faerie on her shoulder landed upon the gerudo's belly, cocking her head at the bandage.

She whistled sharply, and four kokiri came over promptly. The kokiri girl tersely gave them instructions of some kind, and the demons nodded, returning with a stretcher, made from two stout poles and a cloth-like weave suspended between them. Link gently placed the gerudo on the stretcher, and the kokiri quickly departed the clearing.

"So you are the girl my son encountered in the fields seven years ago?" the kokiri girl asked. Even with her face hidden, Malon could feel the appraising eyes.

"I… I am," Malon said. Son?

The girl raised her mask, revealing her peculiar white-less blue eyes. Her tattoos made her face seem… fierce, wild.

"My name is Saria. I am the Forest Sage… and the first of the Great Deku Tree's children," Link's mother said, holding out her small hand. Malon cautiously shook the girl's hand, "I'm Malon."

"I have weapons, on the horses," Link offered.

"Yes, we saw. They should be arriving… now," Saria said, glancing off to the left. A kokiri was standing atop a horse with his arms crossed, which nervously edged into the clearing. Behind him, Sheik sat painfully straight in her saddle, clearly irritated.

"My apologies, Hero. The kokiri were most… insistent," Sheik said grimly.

"My son said you are heading towards Zora's domain. We will watch the horses for you," Saria offered.

"And we will be walking?" Sheik asked sharply.

"In a manner of speaking," the Forest Sage giggled.

Malon didn't like leaving Epona with… well, demons, but Link promised they'd be safe with his people… which is why they were carrying all of their gear through a dark forest, following the Forest Sage. They came to a wide, flat stone, with a puddle of water, and the kokiri stopped.

"This is one of the Wyldeways. Its twin is near Zora's domain," Saria said.

"Why didn't you tell me seven years ago?" Link grumbled.

"Without the Deku tree, the path is useless, but I can power it for you," the Sage said calmly. It still looked like a puddle.

"Thank you," Link said softly. He whispered more, in his own tongue, and hugged his mother.

Then the Sage stepped back, and spoke harshly, green light flowed from her fingers, stirring the water into a froth, before stilling again… but now it didn't look like a puddle… it looked deep. Link double checked that his equipment was secured, then hopped into the puddle… plunging out of sight.

Sheik went next, and then it was Malon's turn. She hesitated at the edge.

"Hurry," the Sage said, her voice strained. Malon bit her lip, and jumped into the puddle…

She was surrounded by a maelstrom of water, beating against her face and head, trying to drag her away. She felt like she would drown, but her lungs weren't even burning yet…

Then she popped out of the water, and gasped. Sheik poured water from her tanto sheathe, looking as thrilled as a wet cat.

Link grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the water. When Malon looked back, there was only a stone, with a puddle of water…

She shivered, and it wasn't just from nerves. She could see her breath.

"We're near the river that flows from Zora's domain… or at least, what's left of it," Link explained. He was shivering too, and pulled a heavy gold ring off his thumb, slipping it into a pouch on his belt.

"Let's move," he chattered. The miserable trio moved away from the source of winter, and eventually, out of the canyon, onto the grasslands. Here the sun shown, and Malon began to feel as if she wasn't an icicle. Link pulled off his gloves and vambraces, arranging them so that the sun could dry them off. He unwrapped his bundle of clothes, propping them on the tall grass to dry. His faerie ran down his arm, and jumped from his hand, landing on one of the tunics. She flicked her translucent wings, drying them in the sun. He stripped down to his tan leggings, and pulled out his sword, "I will be standing over there, looking in that direction," Link said calmly, glancing meaningfully at Malon and Sheik.

"You may look in whichever direction you wish," Sheik said, and a sheet of shadow rose six feet in the air, screening the women from view.

Sheik let her weapons rig fall, and tugged at her mask. Malon undressed as well, painfully aware of how bony she was. She was curious though, as to what Sheik looked like. The Sheikah left her mask on the grass, and slipped out of her black tunic and leggings, carefully arranging her reinforced vambraces on the grass, her back still to Malon. She wore a cloth binder, and loin wrap. Her skin was pale, but still darker than her snowy hair.

Sheik was muscle, Malon saw. Wiry, hard muscle. The demon's body was a weapon, Malon decided, and didn't think the sheikah would turn around soon, as she left her leather pants to dry, next to her blouse and leather vest.

The trap was sprung. The moblins and bokoblins (small, goblin-ish creatures) looked up, stunned, as arrows flashed from the grass downwind of them. The hidden archers stood, so as to have a better firing stance, revealing their position, but increasing their accuracy and rate of fire. The enemy had a few archers among them, but those had been the first targets to fall, leaving only the monsters with melee weapons.

The moblins squealed in rage, and charged. Lito, still crouched, watched them coolly, drawing closer… he whistled sharply, and the archers fell back in good order, considering the terrain. Then the infantry rose into a crouch, and raised the spears that had lain flat in the grass, expertly couching the buttes. The moblins were large, heavy fighters, able to move with great speed, but they were slow to accelerate or change directions… much like hunting wild boar, and the spears had cross braces two feet down their length for exactly that reason. The moblins hit the spears without realizing it, trying to force their way towards their attackers… but the cross brace stopped them. Lito stepped forward, his straight blade flickered, and two of the enemy that had escaped the spears tumbled, bereft of their heads.

Rebels with swords, axes, shields, clubs... they advanced, protecting their spear wielding brethren from retaliation.

Lito grinned savagely behind his mask, clipping an enemy's carotid, and kicked the dying bokoblin into the path of a moblin that trampled the smaller monster to death in its haste to kill the enemy. Lito slapped a moblin's sword aside with his empty hand, surprising the monster with his unnatural strength, and delicately drew a smile across its throat. Lito stepped close to the dying creature, and twirled it into the path of a moblin's spear, tangling up the moblin long enough for an archer to subdue it.

In the aftermath, Lito walked among his fighters. A gray haired spearman's weapon had snapped, allowing his opponent to close, and kill both him, and the teenager who had attempted to defend his battle-partner, with a wooden shield and axe. The archers ultimately slew the moblin…

Everyday they killed the enemy… but there were always losses. Always…

And the enemy seemed more numerous than before.

This raiding band had been headed towards an isolated village, to pacify it. Namely rape, murder, and torch the settlement. Few of the other fighters had bruises, scrapes, one lucky bastard had a cracked skull, and the blow that should have killed him was mostly turned aside by his helmet.

Shadow magic couldn't heal. It could deceive, manipulate, poison, kill… but never mend. They stripped the corpses of equipment, and continued on towards the village that had been Ganon's target. His people already had weapons… but the villagers didn't… not yet.

Link checked his clothes. They were mostly dry. He had doffed his leggings after Sheik raised the curtain. As a kokiri, he wasn't shy, but Malon was. He returned his eyes to the grasslands, watching for any hawks, and listening for thunder… or any movement among the grasses that didn't follow the wind. He held the master sword against his leg, hidden by the grass, so that it wouldn't reflect the sunlight.

Navi flitted to his shoulder, her thin wings finally dry, no longer waterlogged and useless. She sat down on his shoulder, crossing her legs, chin on her fist.

She wasn't happy.

Link studiously watched the horizon for threats.

"Was it wise to bring Malon with us?" Navi asked suddenly.

"I don't carry that particular Triforce," Link said, smirking.

"This is not a joke. We have no idea what we will find within Zora's domain," Navi hissed.

"That's the fun of it," Link teased her.

"And if she dies?" Navi asked sharply, managing to sober her ward.

"I won't let that happen," Link said coldly.

"That's what I am afraid of…" Navi sighed, kneading her temples.

Sheik pulled her dry, warm uniform back on, still ignoring the girl behind her. She could hear the girl dressing hastily. She didn't turn until her mask was back in place. By then, the girl had regained her pants and blouse.

"We are finished," Sheik called.

"Oh, alright," Link replied. Sheik let the illusion fade, as the Hero finished lacing up his leggings.

The group advanced back up the canyon. The riverbed was empty, except for cold mud. Link shivered, despite wearing three heavy woolen tunics over his clothes, and additional leggings. He'd stuffed grass into his boots and pants as well, which amused Malon. He could see his breath in the chill air, but they still hadn't reached the waterfall that shielded the entrance to the domain of the Zora. If memory served, it would be around this next bend…

Link hesitated, not quite sure of what he saw. It was a wall of…

"Ice…" Sheik noted.

The stone ramp that led to the entrance was still intact, Link found, though treacherous with a very thin film of ice. He and Malon scrambled and cursed, carefully clawing their way up, while Sheik walked past, as if she were walking across a level floor.

By the time the pair gained the top of the ramp, they found Sheik regarding the frozen water fall, standing on the royal seal. Somehow, he didn't think playing the Royal Melody would turn aside the flow of water.

"I could try to… break the ice," Sheik offered.

"How?" Link asked, looking at her light-weight weaponry.

"With magic," she said coolly.

Link shrugged, curious. He hadn't seen Sheik use her magic destructively before.

The sheikah spun her hands together, fingers straining. Shadow congealed between her hands, wriggling disturbingly.

She pulled her hands apart, trembling, and the ball of darkness swelled, until it was the same size as her head. She pulled her hands apart farther, and groaned. Then the ball flickered from between her hands, and hit the wall of ice. The sheikah sagged to her knees, panting, while Link and Malon dove for cover, shards of ice hissing through the air. Despite the force of the impact, the only sound was of ice shards breaking on the frozen pool below. Link looked up cautiously, and Malon elbowed him off. He'd smashed her face against the frosty ramp when he shielded her. He grunted, pulling at several shards of ice, embedded in his gauntlet. They hadn't penetrated, but a few had peppered his elbow, piercing the cloth, and drawing blood. They were too small to be dangerous though, merely an annoyance…

"A little warning next time?" Link said. More ice hung in his clothing, stymied by the chainmail shirt beneath.

"It wasn't… supposed… to do that," Sheik panted. The right side of her mask looked wet, and she had blood in her hair… but it didn't seem serious.

"Well, what was it going to do?" Navi asked from Link's hood.

"Crumble," the sheikah said, shakily climbing to her feet. Well, the ice hadn't just crumbled… Link thought darkly. A jagged whole had opened up, revealing part of the archway. Navi flew over to the ice, and stared at it intently… before darting back into Link's hood, out of the cold.

"The ice itself is cursed," the faerie told them.

"Heroes first," Link chuckled, jumping for the hole. It wasn't far, but the ramp was too slippery for a good jump. He landed, his boots slipping a little on the hoarfrost inside. Link drew the master sword, and stabbed it into ice. He felt a flicker of pleasure from the blade, as it disintegrated pieces of the curse touching it… but that simply melted the ice, depriving him of the handhold he wanted. He sighed, and sheathed the blade, jamming his fingers into the slippery slot, "Alright, who's next?" he asked. Sheik gestured Malon forward. The girl crouched, and jumped. Her feet slipped out from under her, and she started to fall. Sheik grabbed Malon's hood, halting the girl, as if the young warrior wasn't standing on a treacherously slippery surface, but rather coarse sandstone. Sheik's arms bulged, and she levered the choking girl back up onto the ledge with her.

"Th-thanks," Malon gagged, sucking in air. Link's heart still hadn't returned to a normal rhythm. Malon jumped again, crashing into Link, whose free arm snaked around her, halting her jump, releasing his hand hold. Sheik lightly leapt into the entrance.

Link led the way deeper into the frozen place. There was no sign of the Zora. No guards, no bodies… nothing. Below the path, lay one of the primary pools of the domain, also frozen solid. As they mounted the steps to the throne room, they found the Zora… what was left of them.

Dozens of the fish-men had been cut down on the stairs, clearly a holding action of some kind. Most wore the armor and curious helms of Royal Guards, their bluish blood and wounds frozen in perfect detail, beneath a thin film of ice.

Sheik looked at the slaughter, her violet eyes missing nothing. She had seen many scenes such as this in her life. She reached out, feeling the deaths with her magic.

The Zora had not given their lives in panic. There was a purpose to this. She could not discern what it was, but the Zora had died with a goal in mind of some kind.

Curious.

Link climbed the steps, avoiding the fallen bodies. Dreading what he would find at the top. The Zora King was not sitting on his throne. Instead, he stood on the audience dais, a spear raised, as if to stab into a foe before him, his swollen lips bared in hatred. No wound marked him. He had merely been frozen. Link was impressed that the corpulent monarch's skinny legs had been strong enough to hold his bulk upright, let alone attack. The answer lay behind the monarch. A female zora was sprawled in the shallow pool, slumped against the throne. No wounds marked her either, and a coral boomerang lay in the pool, a few feet from her open hand.

"The king is not dead," Sheik said, surprised, her hand resting on the frozen monarch's stomach.

The Ice itself is cursed…

And the master sword had melted the ice…

Link looked at the blade in his hand thoughtfully. Clearly, he wasn't going to stab the king… Link laid the flat of the blade against the ice that covered the king.

"What are you doing?" Navi asked.

"Something wise, I hope," Link said.

Sheik stood back and watched. She could hear the dissonance, the squeal of magic straining against magic. With a ping that transferred over into the mundane, the spell locking the monarch in ice broke… and his spear completed the stab it had began, the point dancing off the icy floor, and the monarch fell on his face.

Link watched the zora carefully, "Are you well?" he asked.

The king moaned, a sound that made Malon's sinuses ache.

"Ruto…" he said, trying to rise, "Kill me, monster, I will not beg," he wheezed.

"My lord, we come at the behest of Princess Zelda," Link said smoothly.

"The... the princess. How could she have known—?"

"My lord, it has been two months since we lost contact with you," Link said gently.

"Two months?" the monarch had managed to roll onto his side, his eyes focusing on Link.

"But, where has this ice come from? A moment ago…" he was clearly disoriented. To him, a minute ago, he had jumped to attack his foe, and had apparently blinked.

"What happened?" Sheik asked.

"I…" the corpulent fish-man's lips smacked as he searched his memory.

"The sentries… yes, the sentries sent word of an intruder, before they fell silent. I sent my guards to the entrance… but I heard fighting on the stairs. I told my people to go, to use the tunnel that leads to the sea..." the king's eyes closed.

"I cannot swim as I used too… but Ruto would not leave," he said bitterly.

"Who did this?" Malon asked.

"I thought it would be Ganon… but instead, it was a Gerudo Witch of Ice," the fish man said with a depreciating rasp. Link pressed the master sword down into the frozen pool. It was only twelve inches deep. He traced around the frozen princess's trapped legs and waist, before he pressed the blade against her forehead.

Unlike her father, when the spell broke, there were no wild theatrics… because she was still unconscious, as she had been when she was frozen. Link had almost finished melting the water over her legs when she woke up.

Then the theatrics started.

"Ah!" Link yelped, as the princess raked the sharp fins on her arms at him, cutting through the winter clothing, stopped by the chainmail.

She tried to pull him closer, where she could get at his throat, she was still trapped at the waist, and Link grabbed her wrists. She'd caught him by surprise… but he was stronger than she was, especially considering she'd been a magic icicle for the last two months.

"Princess, stop!" Link hissed, as she dug her nails into the backs of his leather gloves. Her eyes were wild, terrified.

"Look at me!" Link roared in her face, startling her.

"You have seen my tattoo before, seven years ago!" he snarled, and the princess seemed to focus on the features of her target.

"We're here to help you, you stupid girl," Navi said, stepping out of Link's hood.

"You…" Ruto whispered, looking at Navi, then at Link. "You cannot be Link," she protested.

"If I let go, are you going to claw my face off?" Link asked grimly.

He felt her arms go limp, and let go.

"Now, I was getting you out of the ice," he said, annoyed, picking up the master sword, and went back to work.

"Father?" Ruto called.

"I am here, Ruto."

"What happened?"

"I am unsure… but two months have passed since we were attacked…" the king said heavily.

"That should do it," Link said, Ruto flexed her legs against the ice, and wriggled free. She steadied herself on Link's arm, and Malon bristled. The princess limped over to her father, and crouched beside him, shivering in the cold.

"Ruto… find our people…" the king whispered.

"I'm not leaving you here," Ruto snarled.

"I can't walk. Will you carry me?" the king asked, gently pointing out the obvious impossibility of that action.

"You'll freeze," Ruto said.

The giant fish-man chuckled.

"Go, free our people. I'll still be here… waiting," the king grimaced.

In the end, Link had to carry her… and he felt like a monster doing it.

"No! Take me back!" Ruto railed, but she didn't try to kill him. They were walking down a partially frozen tunnel, that would eventually lead to the massive chamber that held Jabu-Jabu. A tunnel he had walked before, looking for her, seven years ago.

What they found there troubled Link.

The chamber was frozen… but there was no sign of the massive whale-fish thing.

There weren't any zora either. Link looked at Sheik, "Is anyone dead here?" he asked.

Sheik knelt, placing the palm of her hand to the ice… eventually shaking her head.

"King Zora said something about the sea? What tunnel?" Link asked the princess.

"The tunnel Lord Jabu-Jabu used, to swim here, from the sea, centuries ago," Ruto said lifelessly.

"Where exactly does it come out in the sea?" Navi asked.

"In Hylia Bay…" Ruto said.

"One last question, and its important," Link said, Ruto looked at him expectantly.

"Where is the water temple?"

"How do you know—?"

"I'll explain on the way. Where is it?" Link asked.

"A few miles out to sea…" Ruto said, curious.

Lito stopped in front of the two "prisoners." He tossed a pair of swords in front of the women, and gestured, using a tendril of magic to release their bonds. He was unarmed, without any weapons at all. The older woman picked up a sword, and cautiously stood, but she did not attack. The younger one immediately grabbed the sword and lunged at him. Before the sword even came close, she fell, screaming, blood dripping from her eyes.

"You swore a binding oath of loyalty," Lito said coldly, examining his fingernails, since the tips of his hands ware bare for dexterity.

"What you done?" the older woman asked, staring at the screaming woman.

"She attempted to wound me, so her oath is… punishing her. If she ever harmed me, then she would be dead," Lito said coolly.

"You are demon," the woman realized.

"Of course," Lito agreed, "And you are mine," he hissed.

The woman who stood stared at him, her gold eyes finding only truth within his own violet gaze. She glanced at the woman in the dirt, who had stopped screaming, but was moaning softly.

She bowed her head, "What have me do… master?"

Lito smiled.

Progress.

For the second time today, Navi was drying off her wings. Saria cocked her head, at the zora princess… in the middle of a forest. "I had not expected you to contact me for at least another day," the Forest Sage admitted.

"We need the horses, to travel to Hylia Bay, unless you have another Wyldeway tucked around somewhere," Link said.

"Just the one to Death Mountain," Saria chuckled.

"You're serious," Link said.

"But it's a cave, not a puddle," Saria shrugged.

Sheik shook her head. She was growing tired of Link's compulsive conscription of followers to slow down their mission. If Sheik had to choose between the two tagalongs, she would still pick the princess, simply because at least she had useful knowledge of their objective.

It did not surprise Sheik that the zora princess had never ridden a horse… considering she had flippers instead of feet. Well, they were feet, but the toes were so widely spaced they were effectively flippers, despite being capable of supporting her weight on land. They had ten horses… but they only took three… and naturally, Sheik was the one the princess wanted to ride with, for reasons known only to her. Sheik suspected Malon was responsible somehow, sending another glower at the red-haired wench.

When they reached the great river, Ruto slipped from Sheik's horse, and swam alongside the horses, as they followed the river to the sea.

They reached the coast in less than two days, pushing the horses hard. Link's riding skills increased out of harsh necessity… and the gerudo horse was well trained, the hero admitted. Link had never seen an ocean before. Calling it a lake, but larger… didn't do it justice… a small fishing village, Bonooru, crouched on the coast to the west, perhaps three miles distant. Fishing boats had begun to shove off in the early morning, their simple white sails catching the morning light, turning the color of blood. There were a few meager fields of grain near the village, but most of their livelihood came from the sea.

Link stared out to sea… and realized he had no idea how to get to the temple. He couldn't breath underwater. He didn't realize Ruto was standing near him as well.

"Link…" she said awkwardly.

"Hmm?" he asked, only half listening.

"I need you to break off our betrothal," Ruto blurted.

"That's— wait, what?" Link asked, turning.

Sheik saw Malon's head snap up, locking in on the fish princess like a diving hawk.

"Yes, what was that?" Malon asked.

Ruto shied away slightly from the hylian, "It seemed a good idea at the time," she said defensively, to both Link and Malon.

"What changed?" Link asked, curious.

"Well, Prince Rulias turned out to be… well, he's a good man," Ruto said, blushing.

"This is the prince you claimed was snotty and stuck up," Link said flatly.

"He was…" Ruto said miserably.

Malon looked between the two, curious, and a tad hostile.

"Fine, what do you need from me?" Link asked.

"You need to declare your intent to my father, and there's a short ceremony or something, nothing serious," Ruto assured him.

"No kissing?" Link asked suspiciously.

"None," Ruto said.

"How does this help us reach the water temple?" Sheik asked.

"I… do have an idea, for that, if I can find him…" Ruto said cautiously.

Link suspected he would not enjoy this plan.

He was right.

Ruto waded into the sea, and dove. As she kicked away from the beach, she began to feel better. Of course, she was in more danger now, but she was a zora, and not without her own defenses. Below her, amid the gently swaying kelp fields, she saw the bulbs of aqua baba, lying in wait for fish foolish enough to swim close enough…

As the water darkened, Ruto closed her eyes, and focused on the receptors spread along her cheeks, which let her detect electrical currents in the water… such as from heartbeats.

Specifically, she was searching for one, massive heart…

But she could sense the disturbance of other creatures approaching her. They were larger than her, but she couldn't determine what they were. She twirled up and to the side, avoiding one creature, and in the murky, rippling twilight, she saw its teeth, and pointed head, flanked by three stabilizing fins, followed by a split tail.

Gyorg. They were essentially fish, but capable of reaching sizes larger than some Hylian fishing vessels. Most of those were ancient though, and rarely left the deeps.

The pups tended to hunt in packs, to survive, and rarely exceeded four meters in length, before splitting off as solo hunters. They were always hungry.

Ruto calmed herself as she evaded a second predator. They could sense electrical disturbances, just as she could, and sense blood in the water.

As the next Gyorg swam at her from below, she began to evade, expecting that it would have anticipated that, and adjusted, so that the Gyorg missed her… and she stabbed her fingers into the creature's gills, securing handholds on the bucking creature… and hurting it at the same time.

Her body didn't just absorb and store electricity, she could produce it as well… but the process was slow, and she hadn't eaten well for the last two days, burning most of her body's reserves to keep pace with the horses… otherwise she would have fried the pup.

So instead, she ripped out the delicate gills, and pushed away from the stricken, now drowning, creature. Instantly, its pack-mates turned, and attacked. They were always hungry… the wounded Gyorg didn't die quietly though, latching onto the tail of the brother that had bitted off a fin… Ruto swam deeper, leaving the predators to their own devices.

Ahead of her, she sensed a massive presence… and altered course.

"So… you were married?" Malon asked, glancing at Link.

"Engaged," Link corrected.

He didn't seem too serious about it; this made Malon feel better, but also threw her a little. Did it mean he hadn't been serious about the princess, or about engagement in general?

"How did that happen?" Malon probed.

"She tricked me," Link chuckled.

Malon nodded, listening.

"Her father was trying to marry her off, and she didn't like the prince, so she tricked me into accepting her betrothal. It was a technicality to let her get out of marriage," Link shrugged.

"Oh."

Link smirked at her, his amethyst eyes seeing too damned much. She looked away first.

Sheik surged to her feet, eyeing the surf, "Something comes," she hissed.

The waves had taken on a more violent quality, and then a massive head erupted from the waves… a head Link knew far better than he'd like.

"So… this is the guardian of the Zora?" Sheik said unimpressed.

"We all have off days," Link said. The smell of its innards was already coming back to him… something he wished he could forget…

Ruto advanced out of the surf like a… well, a princess of the sea.

"Shall we go?" she asked.

The massive whale opened its jaws, still a spear's throw from the beach, unable to come closer without beaching. Malon stared at the large, mouth.

The plan had made sense… from a slanted view. The sheikah was already out to her waist, until she had to swim, with a strange, spider-like stroke.

"I… I can't…" Malon said, her eyes wide. Eaten.

"Someone should stay with the horses," Link said gently.

"They… yes," Malon swallowed, "No!" she shook her head sharply. What the hell was wrong with her? The boy standing a few feet away stared at the exchange in disbelief. The strangers had offered money for him to care for their horses… but this…

"Malon, you don't need to come," Link said, offering her an out…

She slapped the horses' reins in the fisherboy's hands, and placed a red rupee in his hand. He would get the rest when they returned.

She gasped at the sting of salt water in her eyes, nothing like river water, swimming out to the waiting jaws. A wave splashed over her, blinding her momentarily. She was close she knew, her hands blindly reaching for… no, she didn't think about it. Someone grabbed her flailing hands, and hauled her out of the water.

Malon wiped the water from her eyes, ignoring how pliant the floor of the boat was. Yes, it was a big, smelly fishing boat.

Frenzied splashing made her open her eyes. Link had that determined look on his face, as he tried to swim to the fish.

He didn't know how, but it was just as obvious he wasn't going to let that stop him… just drown him.

"The fool," Sheik sighed, and her chain hissed through the air, winding around one wrist. Link's hand clenched the lifeline, and Sheik reeled him in, hand over hand.

"Almost… made it," he grinned, looking pleased with himself.

Then the jaws closed, with a meaty finality, plunging the three into darkness… until a blue light illuminated the hot, fetid hell. Malon wished she couldn't see.

Link squeezed her hand encouragingly… but it didn't matter. She was terrified, that if she let him out of her sight, he wouldn't come back… and she was terrified of this whole situation, almost to the point of losing her bladder. Link thought she was brave… but Malon didn't feel anything like that. She couldn't stop trembling. They were going to drown. Malon hoped she didn't vomit. Not in front of the Sheikah, or Link.

Ruto clung to Lord Jabu-Jabu's gilded headdress of gold, inset with a massive sapphire. Several Gyorg approached, but the lord of the sea ignored them, and they fled before his majesty. The water continued to darken, and Ruto could feel the pressure of the ocean above, pressing down on her. The water began to chill, and still the mighty guardian swam on. Five miles from shore, and half a mile beneath the waves, their destination lay…

Lost in the darkness, a proud structure of stone and metal crouched warily, a refuge against the darkness for the people of the sea. It was massive, easily as large as the entire domain… it had once been their only city… two massive stone statues of ancient Zora kings stood sentry, stoic and fierce in their timeless duty.

Lord Jabu-Jabu slowly swam forward, his massive body passing through the submerged entrance, and rose… Ruto felt her body break the surface of the water, into the antechamber of the Temple. A pocket of air was trapped within the space…

Jabu-Jabu rumbled, wishing her well, and warning her that he sensed danger within the temple. His people had entered… but none had answered his cries.

He opened his jaws, and three figures stumbled onto the stone pier, guided by a bobbing blue light. Ruto slipped from Jabu-Jabu, propelling herself to the pier with two strong kicks, and hoisted herself out of the water.

The stone was cold beneath her feet. The steamworks should have left it warm…

Steel rang, as Link drew his sword, throwing his hood back, glaring into the darkness, as if an enemy hid in every shadow. The enemy had been here… the temple was desecrated.

Malon's bow wasn't strung, instead, she drew a long dagger from her belt.

Ruto manipulated several levers, which opened a thick door to a small room, with another door, and more levers. She called it an airlock. A silly name for a room, Malon thought.

She closed the door they had entered through, before opening the other door.

"So… what was the plan?" Malon asked nervously, as something skittered in the ducts overhead.

"Beyond getting here?" Link asked tightly.

"Find the medallion, cleanse the temple, find the Zora," Sheik said calmly.

"In that order?" Ruto challenged.

"Correct," Sheik said.

Link held up his hand, halting the group behind him. Navi peeked out of his collar. Something was wrong. Sheik could feel it as well now.

"There… there is another here," she whispered, probing the darkness with her magic.

"One like… me?" Sheik said, confused. It wasn't a sheikah though.

Then one of the pipes burst overhead. Sea water rushed out,

"Breach!" Ruto said, as if it weren't obvious.

"What do we do?" Link demanded.

"We have to find the shutoff valve," Ruto said quickly.

"Sheik, Malon," Link said, point to the left, "Ruto, with me." The two parties hastily followed the pipe in both directions, to find an emergency valve, whatever that was.

The shadow watched the enemy scurry to repair the sabotage. The master had commanded it wait here, believing the enemy would come, to undo the curse the master had created. The master had promised to aid the shadow in its quest, in exchange for its services. The presence of the traitor surprised the shadow. Not fear, just curiosity, to find one that had cast aside its heritage, intentionally limiting itself. Inexplicable.

"Harder!" Ruto grunted. Link had placed a gold ring on his thumb, a strange thing to pause for, and both were straining against a metal lever, which was stiff, but not jammed. Link grunted, and she could feel the muscles of his arms trembling against her own. She felt the lever reluctantly begin to edge up.

Malon couldn't see her own hand in front of her face, but it didn't seem to slow the sheikah down, who was reluctantly pulling her along by her wrist. They came to a stone wall, which the pipe disappeared into. Sheik turned around, "Dead end," she explained, to the blind girl beside her. She shook her head, Link should have kept the girl with him, but he seemed afraid to let anyone go anywhere by themselves.

Sheik was of the shadows, darkness held no secrets from her eyes.

Navi inspected the breached piping… "This metal was weakened magically," she said.

"Ruto, where would the medallion be kept?" Link asked. He didn't think it would still be there, but it was a place to look.

"The Mausoleum."

Ruto led them through the dark, echoing, noisy corridors.

"What does all of this do?" Malon asked, gesturing at the pipes with her dagger.

"We don't know for sure," Ruto said, shrugging, "But we have maintained the machinery since the ancients built this temple. Our best guess, is it keeps the sea from flooding the temple,"

They came to a large room of vaulted ceilings, and walkways. Water filled the room beneath the walkways. Navi's glow did not penetrate that dark surface, and the group kept to the center of the walkways, leery of the water.

It was the perfect place for an ambush. They wove through the abandoned city's foot paths, trying to watch the water, and the shadowy doorways to the dwellings equally. Then something grabbed Link's ankle, and yanked him into the water. He'd just finished exhaling.

"Link!" Navi shouted. Ruto dove from the walkway, and sensed her friend's heartbeat. A sword glowed blue, far below her, something screamed in the water. Ruto propelled herself deeper, kicking frantically. Link was slashing and stabbing at something. Ruto grabbed his hood, and started kicking for the surface. His equipment was heavy, weighing him down, but she broke the surface, grabbed the edge of the walkway, and struggled to pull Link up. Malon and Sheik grabbed the shoulders of the man's tunic, and dragged him out of the water, ripping the sturdy fabric slightly. He choked and hacked, water spilling from his mouth and nose. Sheik beat him on the back with her fist, helping to work the water out. Ruto crouched nearby, her fins flared angrily, watching the water. She should have seen the attack coming, was she a Zora or not? But even during the attack, in the water, she had only sensed Link's heartbeat.

From the water, a large eye watched them, before the monster undulated away, to try again.

"I hate… water," Link choked.

"Thank you," Malon said, hugging the zora princess. Her skin was slippery, cool.

Ruto blinked, "He would do the same for me," she said, disoriented by how quickly the hylian had gone from disliking her to embracing her.

"The day I have to rescue a zora from drowning will be a sad day indeed," Link chuckled painfully.

"Stranger things have happened," Sheik shrugged. She had caught a brief glimpse of what had attacked Link, something almost transparent… like water… but thicker.

"What was it?" Ruto asked Link.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Link said, leaning against the wall of a dwelling, his knees tucked to his chest, as far from the water as possible.

"It had no heartbeat, but I never saw it," Ruto said.

"It attacks from the water. Is there some way to drain the temple?" Sheik asked.

"I don't—" Ruto frowned, the tail-like appendage on the back of her head moving slowly, thoughtfully.

"It's never been done before… but yes. There may be a way…" Ruto said, intrigued. If the monster relied on the water to attack, then draining it… she grinned.

"What do we need to do?" Link asked intently.

"Well… we would merely need to increase the water being pumped out of the temple. It won't get rid of all the water, but most of it will be drained…" Ruto said.

"Good enough," Navi said.

There were three pumping stations. Ruto described the levers, and their locations. One of the rooms was at the bottom of the temple, so Ruto would deal with that one.

The other two were at opposite ends of the temple… so they split up… but Sheik insisted Link take Malon with him, "I can see in the darkness, she cannot. She would be more use where she can see," the sheikah explained, and Link nodded.

He didn't like sending Sheik alone… but he realized she had a point. Malon would only slow her down in the dark.

Link found himself missing the Fire temple. Sure, it had been hot, unpleasant and physically exhausting… but at least it wasn't damp, dark, and they had known where the monster was… more or less.

Ruto wound through the dwellings below the water-line. She marveled once more at the architecture that had been spawned by a submerged city. Two levels under, one above, the water. It was engineering on a level beyond anything the Zora were capable of… now. Much had been lost in the cataclysm though. She found a door, another airlock, and cycled through it, spilling water into the dry room beyond. It was just as dark here as elsewhere, but she had been in this room before, with one of her attendants, and there had been lights then. The controls were at the center of the small room, cluttered with pipes and valves. She located the levers she wanted, to increase the steam, that powered the turbines. The Temple sat upon several vents that spewed boiling water. It had been explained to her, but she hadn't paid attention to the lecture, more interested in passing notes with her friends.

The pipes around her began to roar, the heavy thuds turning into a staccato drumming noise, almost like a heartbeat.

Sheik jumped from roof top to roof top, staying as far from the water, and its potential dangers, as possible. She followed the outer wall, as the princess had instructed, and saw a door with the symbol Ruto had traced on the floor with her finger. Sheik threw herself out across the span of water, landed on the walkway in a perfect roll, and regained her foot smoothly at the end. She was through the door a moment later, and closed it tightly. She'd only been vulnerable to the water for two seconds, and moving very quickly during that. Within, she saw a room, that reminded the sheikah of a spider web, or the arteries and veins leading to the heart. A block of metal rose from the floor of the room, holding a bank of levers, as well as small glass things with needles inside, that bobbed slightly, almost looking like compasses. She doubted they were though, because of the expense of such devices, and each needle was pointing in different directions. The strange devices didn't matter. Ruto had said, from the left; forward full, back full, middle, forward quarter, forward quarter, and back quarter.

Six levers.

Sheik grabbed the first, and pushed it all the way forward. The needle by it started to turn to the right.

She grabbed the second, and pulled it back towards her all the way. She left the third in the middle, and moved the next two levers forward a quarter, and pulled the last lever back a quarter. The pipes began to rattle and moan, as their contents accelerated.

Link opened the door cautiously. Navi darted inside, quickly illuminating the corners and room, before flying back to Link and Malon. Navi reminded Link what Ruto had said, and how to maneuver the levers correctly. The pipes began to rattle and moan… it sounded like whatever they'd done was working... then something exploded, violently.

Link opened his eyes blearily. The world seemed… foggy, somehow. He was sitting, with his back against a tree. Link looked up at the short, dead thing. Where the hell was this place? "Navi?" he called… but no one answered.

Shallow water rippled slowly around the tiny island. Link drew his sword, unnerved. Something was wrong here. He stepped out into the water, which rose to the ankles of his boots. Strange shapes twisted in the fog around the island.

"Hello?" he called, worried.

"For seven centuries, I have suffered, imprisoned in a war long since past," a voice said, conversationally. Link couldn't tell if it was male or female.

"It is… gratifying… to finally speak," the voice laughed, a wild, dangerous sound.

"You carry the blood of a Sheikah. It has been… diluted, somehow, by another bloodline… but it is enough," the voice whispered, sounding as if it were caressing Link's cheek.

"I am kokiri," Link said firmly.

"Oh, yes, you bear the taint of Forest magic, but it cannot twist what you are."

A shadow figure appeared from the mist, his eyes glowing a sickly red.

Link raised his sword, noting an identical blade in the other man's hand.

"Do you know where we stand?" the shadow asked, lazily gesturing to the fog around them.

"No," Link said tersely, watching the man, waiting for an attack.

"This is your mind. Well, not all of it, just the parts I turned into a prison," the figure grinned, revealing teeth as black as its skin.

"You are my jailor?" Link asked, hand tightening on his sword.

"Of course," the shadow said, bowing graciously.

Link snarled, and charged. The shadow did not simply look like him, it had his speed, his technique… as well as its own.

Their swords rang and danced against each others.

"Yes! Good!" the shadow said eagerly, hooking Link's ankle with his foot. Link rolled as he fell, regaining his feet and transferring his momentum into his counter-slash, which rang off of the shadow's perfect block.

Malon groaned. Someone was holding her. "Ah, you wake," Link said.

"What happened?"

"One of the pipes burst. I carried you out," Link explained, his fingers blindly tracing the side of her face in the darkness.

"Where's the faerie?" Malon asked.

"Unconscious, in my collar," Link answered.

"Are we waiting for Sheik?"

"Of course," Link soothed, and Malon relaxed against his chest.

The shadow had forgotten what if felt like to hold a woman. For the first time since Ganon had released him from his prison… he gloried in the sensation, soaking up the feel of her skin beneath his fingers. He had almost missed the opportunity. Not until after he sabotaged the pipe. The girl had been near the door, away from the scalding contents, but somehow, the male carried a talisman of Fire. The force of the blast had knocked him senseless… and the shadow had realized what he had nearly destroyed.

His own salvation. The boy carried shadow in his heart, like a sheikah, but had never been taught its uses. He was vulnerable, in a way no Sheikah ever was… and the shadow took the body for his own. He did not need Ganon to strip the mind of a true sheikah for him… so that he could walk again… he had a body now. What need had he of Ganon? Besides, the shadow was under no illusions. Once his usefulness was outweighed by the risk he posed, the dark lord would have expunged him, not rewarded him.

He could go anywhere. The woman loved the body he now wore, and after seven centuries, the love of any woman, no matter her faults, was like air to a drowning man. He could take her away from this, somewhere safe…

"You are beyond beautiful," the shadow whispered. To feel emotion again. To speak. The girl's face turned red but she did not pull away.

"Link," the sheikah said tersely. The shadow looked around, as if unable to see the shadow warrior.

"Yes?" The shadow asked.

"The water level diminishes."

"Then let us hunt," the shadow grinned.

"You fight with passion, and courage. Is that all you possess?" the shadow asked Link, spinning his sword in a complex weave, knocking Link's attacks away.

Link wiped blood away from a cut over his eye grimly.

"As we fight, I grow stronger as you weaken," the shadow said calmly.

They locked blades, straining against each other.

"Surrender. It is inevitable," the shadow said, his glowing eyes burning inches away from Link's amethyst.

The shadow frowned, "You hold no hope of victory in your heart. Why do you still fight?" he asked, curious.

Link disengaged from the contest, aiming the sudden release of tension on his sword to impart additional speed, at a blow aimed at the shadow's ankles. The black sword coolly caught the tip of Link's blade and deflected it off true, the shadow's fist smashing into Link's jaw.

Link's own fist lashed out, and to his surprise, connected, breaking the shadow's nose.

"A good strike," the shadow congratulated him, before renewing their duel.

Sheik kept an eye on Link. He was acting slightly… off. The impact to his head might have addled him somewhat. She would stay close, in case he endangered himself by accident. Lichen had grown along the sides of the tunnel they were moving down. The stones were thick with the slippery stuff. Although it provided scant illumination, enough to make out the outlines of the others, Malon wished for the faerie light. Link held her arm gently, as if unable to let go. She didn't know what had happened in the pump room, but she suspected she'd almost died… and now Link wasn't going to let her out of his sight. It was sweet, and she enjoyed his proximity… and she was scared, but it also rankled. She wasn't a child.

The shadow had a problem. Not much of one, but slight. He could feel the power of the sword on his back, and carefully avoided probing it. He could sense its fury at him, specifically, and its desire to purge him. If he drew it, protected by the body he wore, he thought he probably would be unaffected… but he really didn't want to test that theory, not with the Lady. They called her the Master Sword, in this era. Such an unoriginal name for so powerful and beautiful a creature. But that beauty would destroy him, if it could, so he politely saluted the sword, and stayed out of her reach.

That left him with the bow and arrows angled over his right shoulder. He wasn't sure though that such mundane weapons would harm the monster Ganon had created.

He fully intended to destroy the monster, not because it was evil (it was), but because doing so would further weaken Ganon, who the shadow now had a keen interest in disposing of, if he wished to live… or perhaps weakening… that might be sufficient.

He heard the stealthy, slithering sounds of the monster, and his shadow-enhanced eyes spotted the peculiar monster instantly in the gloom, but he did not see its core… he wasn't sure what function it performed: brain, heart, eye? Regardless it was a small globe, the size of a child's head, and lay in the center of the monster's formless, nearly invisible, body. It was the only place the shadow knew of that the creature might be harmed. The sloped tunnel ahead of them was partially submerged in water, perhaps knee height.

"Something is near," the shadow whispered. The sheikah nodded, edging in front of him, to protect him. The shadow appreciated the gesture, pretending that it was indeed meant for him.

"I believe I see it," the sheikah said, a tangle-chain spooling from her wrist.

With a burst of speed, the monster attacked, panicked by how it had been herded, partially erupted from the water, lashing with nearly invisible tentacles at the sheikah. To her credit, she did not panic, instead, she used her chain to sever the tentacles, one at a time, dancing among the others. She did not notice that the severed limbs flowed into the water, and were reabsorbed.

But the shadow had let go of the delightful girl, and drew back the string of the peculiar bow the boy had carried, sighting down the shaft, but the zora behind him pushed past, and slashed at the monster with her fins, assisting the sheikah… but further fouling his aim. The monster retreated, disappearing down the tunnel, and their best chance of killing the beast vanished. The shadow sighed, and slipped the arrow back into his quiver, slipping the strung bow across his chest.

"It's cornered, whatever it is," the zora said smugly.

"A cornered beast is always at its most lethal," the shadow warned, as the sheikah edged out into the water.

Link panted, watching the shadow… that showed no sign of fatigue. "You have spirit, I grant you," the shadow acknowledged, "But you are outmatched. Yield."

Link did not acknowledge the shadow. He ripped the hem from his tunic, and tied it around the gash in his thigh, applying pressure to stem the blood. It hurt, but it wouldn't bleed.

Then Link charged, his right leg weakened by the cut, but still able to hold his weight. The shadow shook his head, and met his charge with a beautiful lunge, followed by a blur of seven effortless parries and gambits, Link was barely able to keep up with the shadow's movements, and suffered more nicks and cuts.

"You have a beginner's understanding of the sword," the shadow scoffed, "I was trained by several masters, the like of which have yet to be surpassed."

"This grows tiresome, yield," the shadow demanded, irritated.

The group entered a room… at the heart of the Temple. The zora closed the entrance to the tunnel behind them, preventing the monster from escaping. The water had not risen much past their knees, mid thigh, no more. The monster was here, somewhere. The zora crouched, closing her eyes, clearly trying to locate the monster. Ganon had not given the creature much intelligence. It attacked, instead of drawing them out, and separating them, like the shadow would have done.

Its tentacles wrapped around the zora, and lifted her overhead, tightening around her. She screamed, and then electricity leapt from her skin, momentarily illuminating the creature, as it squealed in pain, and threw her at a nearby wall. She hit hard, and disappeared limply under the water.

The sheikah summoned weaves of shadow and death, throwing them at the monster, blasting pieces of it off… in effect, doing no permanent damage. The shadow sighted down the arrow shaft, searching for the sphere in the turbulent water.

There! He loosed the shaft, and the monster screamed, the pitch climbing. The shadow loosed two more shafts into the eye before he could lose sight of it again, using his magic to speed the man's limbs. The monster tried to suck the eye from view, but the sheikah had seen the arrows, and her tangle-whip flashed out, scything through its transparent body, wrapping around the eye, and she pulled, ripping it from the formless substance, and wrestled with it, stabbing her tanto into the sphere repeatedly. The body surged forward, engulfing the warrior, and the eye, forcibly separating them, seeking to drown the sheikah.

The shadow drew another arrow, but hesitated long enough to wrap a spell around the head, and fired. This arrow hit the eye, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then the eye imploded, followed by an explosion, hurling bits of it in all directions, including a half-conscious sheikah warrior, who crashed awkwardly into the water several meters away, moving weakly. Blue fire erupted beneath the waves as the fragments of the monster dissolved, the curse broken.

"Uh… is it dead?" the beautiful girl asked.

"It is indeed," the shadow assured her.

"The… the water medallion," the zora said, stunned, staring at the blue disk in her hand. With a shudder, cool blue light erupted from the disk, illuminating the room. The zora's eyes widened, staring off into the distance.

Ah, a Sage. All the better, she would be a major thorn in the dark lord's side.

Then the light began to fade,

"I am Ruto, Sage of Water," she said firmly, new authority ringing in her voice.

The shadow smirked, and turned to the beautiful girl, to say—

Shadows snapped around him like a vise. The sheikah.

"What are you doing?" the shadow asked, faking confusion.

"Who are you?" the sheikah demanded, holding him in her entrapment weave. It was well done, but he could break it… if he kept her distracted long enough.

"What are you doing, Sheik, its Link," the girl protested.

"That was shadow-magic. Who are you," Sheik demanded.

"I merely shot it with arrows," the shadow protested.

"In the dark, without light?" Sheik sneered.

"I used the light from the electricity to aim," the shadow said, but knew that the sheikah wasn't fooled, as she probed at his mind.

"You aren't Link," the sheikah said firmly.

"Sadly, no," the shadow agreed, finishing his counterweave, which popped the chains about him like butter, and he threw a spear of shadow at the upstart, who countered, barely, with a wedge of shadow, deflecting the spear over her head.

"Link, stop this!" the zora demanded. He tossed a globe of silence at her, but water rose, drowning his enchantment.

He needed to end this quickly, and erase the girl's memory of this incident. His plan could still work. He could still take what he was owed.

Water locked around him, and froze, encasing him in agony. He screamed, only his head exposed, disrupting his weaves, including the one that had kept the faerie comatose. She stirred, and stumbled from his collar.

"Navi!" Malon said, as she saw a glow appear in the darkness. "What happened?" the faerie asked, disoriented.

"Link's been possessed," Sheik said stiffly. The faerie spun, staring at the eyes that glared at her. She could feel the shadows intermeshed with Link's spirit.

"Yes…" Navi agreed, throwing more light off.

Malon stared at the monster she had clung to.

"Can we get it out of him?" Ruto asked.

Sheik stepped close to the mostly frozen man, staring closely at the minute shadow weaves.

"Not without killing your friend," the shadow chuckled. She confirmed it a moment later, her stomach clenching.

"What about the master sword?" Navi suggested.

"It broke the spell on the zora," Malon agreed desperately.

"The Lady will kill us both," the shadow said, shaking Link's head condescendingly, as if speaking to children.

"He's right…" Sheik admitted.

"We can't just… leave him like this," Ruto protested.

Sheik nodded, there was one thing she could do… and the shadow scowled at her, knowing what she meant to do, as she framed his face with her hands.

She was going to bind the spirit.

Link sucked in air raggedly, leaning on his sword, his knees weak. The shallow water was stained pink around him, but he did not look away from his opponent.

"You are nothing. It is time to accept that your time has passed," the shadow said, almost gently. Link forced his way to his feet, and stumbled towards the shadow.

He wasn't dead yet.

"Very well," the shadow shrugged.

Link reached deep within himself, drawing more heavily on his inner reserves, sucking them dry. After this, he was finished. He attacked high, cut left, and slammed his knee under the graceful block with his clumsy strike, doubling the shadow over, and he cracked his elbow down on the back of its neck. The shadow slammed its fist into the gash on his thigh, and Link's leg gave out, spilling him into the water. Link blocked two strikes from his back, rolled to the side, and struggled to rise, still blocking the hail of black steel.

"Interloper!" someone screamed, filling Link's mind with agony, yet perversely, clearing his vision. Another figure had entered this strange place, and a black chain spun through the air, wrapping about the shadow's black sword, and pulled. Link roared, and threw himself forward on his knees, plunging his sword into the shadow's belly, twisting savagely. The shadow screamed, shattering the chains of the figure, and tried to hack at Link. The young man let go of his sword, grabbing the shadow's wrists, halting the sword with the strength of the desperate. The shadow brought his knee up into Link's chin. He felt teeth loosen, and he bit his tongue, but refused to yield. The black chain came again, wrapping about the shadow's chest, pinning his arms to his sides.

"So do I name thee, and forever bind thee!" the figure roared, the words feeling like a scab being torn away from his mind.

"No! I will not yield to you," the shadow snarled, straining against the chains. Link grabbed his sword, and twisted it around, making the shadow scream.

Malon stared at Sheik. She was just standing there, trembling. "Is anything happening?" she asked the faerie.

"Yes," the blue woman said tersely.

Then the screaming started. She'd never heard Sheik scream before, a moment later, Link joined her, their eyes locked. Black lines wriggled under his skin, and ice around the man started to fracture as he strained every muscle in his body.

And then silence fell. Sheik collapsed, disappearing under the water until Malon grabbed her, and pulled her up. The sheikah's eyes were closed, but she still breathed… slowly.

Navi landed on Link's shoulder, and touched a hand to his cheek… "She did it," the faerie confirmed, looking at Ruto, "Let him go."

Something shuddered in the temple, and everyone stared up fearfully.

"The turbines are failing," Ruto said, afraid. They had to leave, now.

Ruto carried Link across her shoulder, and Malon struggled under Sheik's weight.

"You're the water sage, can't you just, hold it back?" Malon gasped.

"Not the whole ocean," Ruto said. Water began to trickle back down the tunnel, slowing them down, until they reached the large city. Ruto gestured, and the water around them surged, propelling them up to the top level on a narrow column of water.

"Hurry!" Navi said. The water level was rising, the rate increasing. The trickle was fast approaching a flood.

The water had already engulfed the first level.

Malon stumbled, almost falling, but Ruto's hand steadied her as they tried to run through the city. It hadn't seemed so large earlier…

The water had begun to lap around their ankles, when they finally saw the airlock ahead. Malon didn't remember the last sprint, her mind was numb, and her body screamed, but when she returned to herself, they stood within the airlock, which was half-flooded with water. Ruto cycled the doors, and Malon saw the giant fish waiting for them patiently. The water was starting to fill this room as well, and Ruto half threw Link into the fish's mouth, then helped boost Malon up over the teeth, and onto the tongue. The jaws closed, and Malon passed out.

Link woke slowly. His mind felt… burned.

He could hear the echo of water bubbling somewhere…

He was thirsty.

Link opened his eyes, disoriented by the darkness.

"You're awake," Navi said.

"What happened? I was fighting… something…" Link said. It hurt to think about it.

"The spirit was bound inside you. It can't control you now," Navi explained.

"Water would be nice," Link said, recognizing the stars overhead.

"Where are we?" Link asked, further confused.

"Two days from Kakariko village," Sheik said calmly.

"You've been unconscious for almost a week," Navi said gently.

"The zoras?"

"Ruto is the Water Sage. Their warriors are returning to the domain, the ice has melted, and they prepare for war," Navi summarized.

Zelda gasped, waking from the dream, covered in a cold sweat. She scrabbled for parchment, her blind fingers finding a quill, upsetting the inkwell. She scribbled hastily on the parchment with what was left in the pot, ignoring what was spilt, her eyes wide, unseeing, still in the grip of her power.

Her eyes burned with future possibilities, with only one path possible. She pulled the threads of destiny apart, tracing the paths, in both her mind, and on the parchment, divorced from her body.

There. This was the way.

Ser Donovan sat nearby, watching his liege in the throws of her own power. He had seen this once before, and it had terrified him, to watch a girl of ten years carve words with a knife into the table she had sat at, eating, a few moments before, her eyes white.

The queen had died the next day, and the cryptic verses became painfully clear, while the princess lay unconscious after her ordeal.

When the princess collapsed, dragging her bound hair in the ink, the knight gently picked her up, and carried her to a nearby alcove to sleep. Then he walked back to the parchment. Zelda had sealed it with wax, and written on the outside of the roll were specific instructions:

Deliver this scroll to Link, now. Link: do not open this scroll until you have met the Sage of Shadows.

Donovan frowned, but picked up the scroll, and began his search of the catacombs… he didn't think the boy was back yet…