Blackened Dawn
Chapter Eleven
"We should go in after him! Who knows what that bastard could be up to in there?!"
Nabooru slammed her hands down on the table, the depths of her eyes burning with utmost fury. They had barely been in the house fifteen minutes before she had gone on a tirade, going on about this and that, saying that they should charge into the Shadow Temple to go after 'Kage'. Ruto seemed to agree to some extent, still nursing her aching head from before.
"Nabooru, we've been over this already," Zelda said calmly, gesturing for the Gerudo Sage to keep her voice down. It was still early in the morning. People could hear them, and the last thing they needed was for Ganondorf to catch wind of their operation. "We can't just go into the Shadow Temple on a whim… it's a dangerous place, even Impa doesn't dare to go in there unless it is absolutely necessary."
"You say that after we allow some complete stranger to enter the temple anyway! The guy isn't even human! You saw that for yourself!" Nabooru gestured angrily. "He might be one of Ganondorf's minions! If that's the case, then we have to go after him before he gets to Impa!"
"…If I may speak, please."
Nabooru and Zelda both turned their heads, focusing their attention on Saria, who had finished changing her clothes and her hair, trying to pass as a regular Hylian girl. Granted, it was a little difficult with the forest-green hair, but with a little work, she'd managed to brush her hair out straight, making her almost unrecognizable at first glance.
"I think you're forgetting, Nabooru…" Saria said calmly, placing her hands on her hips, "Darunia already said that Kage was a good guy. Darunia is one of us, and tends to have fairly good judgment in character. Anyone he says is a good person truly is… which is fairly obvious in his choices of 'brothers'." She smiled gently. "The only non-Gorons that Darunia has treated like a part of the family are Link, and the late King Hyrule. It's fairly obvious that he holds Kage in similar regard through some prior experience. So we can at least take comfort in the fact that Kage is really a good person, even if he acts like a bit of a kid. He is a boy, after all." Saria giggled a bit when she said that.
Nabooru gritted her teeth, at a loss for words for a moment.
"Even if he has issues with the Gods and Goddesses, we cannot condemn him for speaking his mind." Saria waggled her finger as though chastising a disobedient child. "It is easy for people to lose faith in times of darkness and fear. In fact, many of the Kokiri and Gorons do not even know who their guardian deities are… but the Gods still forgive them and care about them."
"That is entirely different!" Nabooru stomped her foot before crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine! I won't go after him! But so help me, if I see his face again, my fist will be the first to greet it!"
"Alright." Saria giggled again.
There was a heavy knock on the door. "That must be Darunia…" Zelda said softly, rising from her seat to let the Goron in. Indeed, the Fire Sage was the one standing in the doorway. She could see an oddly-shaped bundle in his hand, and she couldn't help but stare at it briefly before stepping aside to let him in.
"Well… things have gotten a little more difficult for us, unfortunately…" he said somberly as he made his way inside.
"What do you mean?" Nabooru asked, "What happened?"
"Nothing happened," Darunia responded. "However, I will explain it when Impa gets here."
"Might as well start explaining then, Daru…"
The sudden voice of 'Kage' caused pretty much everyone to turn towards the doorway. Sure enough, the Sheikah was standing just inside the doorway, staring back at them. Nabooru was the first to act, however, practically throwing herself at him, one fist drawn back. "YOU--!!!!"
"That's quite enough."
Nabooru's wrist was caught, stopping her punch before it came within an inch of Kage's face. The Gerudo Sage growled in the back of her throat in frustration, glaring daggers at Impa, who had interceded and managed to halt her attack. "Dammit…! Why did you stop me?!"
"You know… she has a bit of a point. You didn't need to do that, Impa…" Kage gave the Shadow Sage a mildly confused look. "There is no obligation between us."
"Obligation?" Ruto echoed.
"Impa… you know him?" Zelda asked.
"I'd be surprised if she didn't," Darunia muttered.
Nabooru wrenched her hand back, stomping her foot again. "That does it! I want some fucking answers!" She pointed at Kage. "You have been nothing but a nuisance since you showed up, and people are defending you for no given reason and I am sick of it!" Nabooru clenched her fists tightly to the point that her knuckles turned ashen. "TELL US WHO YOU ARE!"
Her words seemed to echo through the entire house, and were met with only silence. All eyes were on the Gerudo Sage, whose own eyes rested on Kage. He simply stared at her for a moment, before sighing and scratching his head. "Alright then…" He lightly placed one hand on Impa's shoulder as he stepped around her, bringing himself into full view, crossing his arms over his chest. "My name is Seiryu."
"Seiryu?" Nabooru echoed skeptically. She recognized that name from earlier. Was this some kind of sick joke.
"Yes. Seiryu." He smirked slightly. "I am the God of Shadows… and we will be working together to oust Ganondorf and rescue your beloved Hero of Time."
The looks that were given to him were priceless. Zelda looked shocked, Ruto looked mortified, and Nabooru… well… he couldn't read her expression. She just gave him this blank look, as if she had trouble believing him. He didn't blame her… he was half expecting her to try to punch him in the face again.
Saria tapped Darunia's arm lightly, looking up at him. "Is this true?"
"Hard as it is to believe, yes. It's true. I've known him for some five years now… give or take a few months." Darunia chuckled softly to himself.
"Then the 'grudge' you mentioned earlier…"
"Sibling rivalry." Darunia nodded. "With a bit of self-loathing thrown into the mix."
"Can we change subjects now?" Seiryu asked, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, "There are more important things at hand right now… Like that… thing you're carrying. Just… please tell me it's not what I think it is…"
"I wish that were the case, but fate is not kind to any of us right now." Darunia carefully set it down on the table, untying and unwrapping it with surprising delicacy that could hardly be expected of the Goron Sage. When the cloth was completely unfolded and revealed its contents, there was a collective cry of shock and horror from everyone in the room.
"NO!" Zelda all but shrieked, clasping both her hands over her mouth.
Laying there on the table was none other than the master sword, completely shattered, though thankfully all its pieces were in place, giving the faint illusion of it possibly being whole.
"How could this happen?!" Ruto asked, standing up abruptly.
"I don't know…" Darunia responded, "All I know is that Ganondorf did this… and this is why he has Link now."
Nabooru sat down heavily in her chair, staring blankly at the remains of the Master Sword. "There isn't a blacksmith alive that could repair this…"
"What can we do about it?" Impa asked, "That sword is probably the only thing that can strike Ganondorf down as he is now."
Seiryu was silent, staring fixedly at the broken sword. He approached the table slowly, reaching out almost hesitantly to take hold of the handle, picking it up and examining it, running his hand along what part of the blade was still attached. He frowned thoughtfully, holding his silence for another moment before breaking it. "I think we can repair it…"
"We?" Saria echoed, staring up at the shadow god curiously.
"My siblings and I." Seiryu rested his free hand on his hip, still staring at the handle of the sword. "The Master Sword is a divine relic, like the Ocarina of Time and the Triforce. It may be beyond the skill to reforge it by mortal means… but I'm fairly certain we can repair it."
"'Fairly certain'?" Nabooru asked skeptically.
"It's better than nothing, and it's the best we've got at this moment." He nudged one leg of her chair with his foot. "It's been done before, the last time it was broken. The only problem was it wasn't so badly broken the last time."
"When was it broken the first time?" Darunia asked.
"You don't remember? That was back when we met." Seiryu smirked slightly at the memory. "I was the one that broke it. Din and the others fixed it… among other things."
"…Oh." Darunia scratched his head. Bad subject.
"Nuh uh, no secrets." Nabooru started to stand up, but Seiryu only placed his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to sit back down.
"Fine, no secrets." He tightened his grip slightly. "But let's just say your little Hero has cheated death at least twice now… and it was divine intervention that brought him back." His face was completely void of expression as he withdrew his hand, turning attention back to the blade. "The first time was by my hand." He could hear the clatter of Ruto's chair as she stood up abruptly, but she was perhaps the only one who had moved, or even that had made a sound. "Surprisingly, your friend is quite forgiving."
"…History repeated itself." Impa's voice was oddly sympathetic. Seiryu only laughed mirthlessly.
"Old wounds that will never heal. For now, let us focus on the task at hand."
His attention was caught by a tug on his sleeve, and he saw Saria standing next to him, a seemingly sympathetic look in her eyes. It was… heartbreaking to see for some reason. "How can the sword be fixed?" she spoke firmly, trying to get everyone's focus back on the subject of the broken relic. Everyone seemed to agree with her, and even Ruto took her seat again. Seiryu had to give the Kokiri girl credit… she certainly knew how to get people to listen.
A wise girl… a proper sage. Koboku had chosen wisely and raised her right.
"The last time it was broken, it was infused with the power of another relic." Seiryu turned his gaze back to the hilt, staring at it for a moment longer before setting it back down carefully. "If we do the same thing again, but with all of us, we should be able to reforge the blade."
"Using what relic?" Ruto asked, "The Ocarina of Time doesn't seem like it would be powerful enough, and the Triforce is scattered, and two pieces are currently in Ganon's castle."
"There are others," Seiryu said with a soft sigh, running his fingers through his hair, "Did you forget already? You used to own one." He tapped his chest lightly with two fingers. "Din, Farore and Nayru were not the only ones to leave a fraction of their power after Hyrule was created. We all did. The Triforce was the most powerful of them all, but was unable to exist within the mortal realm on its own. The pieces the rest of us left behind could exist in this world, but didn't grant much power, instead acting as keys to the door, allowing a righteous owner to seek out the Triforce."
"Keys to the door…" Zelda echoed softly, "The Spiritual Stones?"
"Exactly." Seiryu nodded.
"Wait… aren't there only three stones?" Darunia asked, "There's more of you than that."
"Because the rest of us never allowed ours into mortal hands. I never passed mine on due to… unfortunate circumstances…" Seiryu cringed inwardly. "Suna, however, chose to guard hers personally." He tapped the gem sitting on Nabooru's forehead, ignoring her angry swipe. "Did you think these were only for show?"
"Did you know that?" Ruto asked Nabooru curiously.
"Well… we tend to wear these in tribute to our Goddess…" Nabooru mused over it for a moment. "Legend has been passed down that she made us in her image, so we try to follow what images we have of her as our way of respect. I don't know if anybody really knows for sure the truth behind these images…"
"Well, now you know," Seiryu said with a slight smirk, "She hides the Spiritual Stone of the desert… known informally as the Gerudo's Garnet… in plain sight. Nobody would expect it to be a piece from her own jewelry." He took a step away from Nabooru. "Suna is quite vain…" He dodged the incoming punch from the Gerudo Sage. "But she has her pride as a warrior that comes before her vanity. Excess jewelry only weighs a warrior down. Hence why the only jewelry Gerudo will adorn themselves with is simple and form-fitting, so that they cannot be hindered by trivial matters in the midst of battle."
"So the five Spiritual Stones can be used to repair the Master Sword?" Impa asked.
"Well, technically, there should be six." Seiryu ticked them off on his fingers as he listed them. "The Kokiri's Emerald, the Goron's Ruby, the Zora's Sapphire, the Sheikah's Amethyst, the Gerudo's Garnet… there's one missing."
"The Hylians," Zelda stated softly.
"Exactly. Six races… six sages… six stones." Seiryu crossed his arms over his chest. "Just as the Sheikah are the race of Shadow, the Hylians are considered the race of Light. But just as there is unfortunately no Sage of Light currently amongst us, there is neither a Goddess of Light. At least, there won't be for another century or so, if she chooses to take up the position. However, she was not around when Hyrule was created, so whether or not she has actually created the Spiritual Stone of Light is unknown even to me."
"And that's why you're only 'fairly certain' that the sword can be repaired?" Ruto asked uneasily.
"Actually," came a voice, cutting Seiryu off before he could respond, "It's likely because he has no power anymore." A dark mass rose out of the ground, right in front of Seiryu, taking the form of a person as it grinned quite insanely.
"Greetings… from Ganon's castle."
Author's Notes: And once again, Seiryu manages to piss someone off. I wonder how many years it'll take Nabooru to start to open up and gradually allow a love-hate relationship rather than just pure hate. Like what happened with Daru.
Side note: I got a comment about this from a good friend of mine, but I like playing Saria as the kind of character who is wise beyond her years, and definitely beyond her appearance. The Kokiri may be children and may never grow up physically, but that doesn't mean their minds can't grow. Furthermore, Saria has obviously spent time around adults, so her vocabulary as well as her wisdom has grown beyond the appearance of her childlike form. Therefore, I can easily see Saria as being one of the wisest of the lot, in spite of being so young in appearance.
The Spiritual Stones for the Sheikah and Gerudo have been things I've been toying with for years. I was always planning on using them for this story, but I couldn't remember HOW I was going to use them. I did a lot of research on different gemstones, trying to find the right ones. In the past, the Sheikah stone was always amethyst (a popular choice amongst the violet gems, since this one is the most well-known), while the Gerudo stone used to be topaz (another popular choice). I was talking to a good friend, known as UndyingNephalim (famed for his Zelda mangas on DeviantArt as well as his games Time's Menagerie and Fallen Sage), who told me about his own choice in changing from topaz to amber since amber has a more orange color while topaz is a yellow-orange color. So I did some more research and found that garnets come in colors such as yellow and orange, even though the most famous color is red. And so the Gerudo's Topaz became the Gerudo's Garnet.