The River Dragon: Well lookie here, it's finally done, the last chapter to the Legend of Zelda, the red thief!! I'm so proud of myself for this one, I think the ending was pretty good though, i would have liked to put more in, but i think that it would have been too much. Meh, i like it this way, enjoy!!
Chapter 13 FINALE – Part 2
Zelda rode down the hill towards Hyrule but before she could make it, one of the guards ran to intercept her, Link had been right; the field was crawling with guards.
"Lady Zelda, the whole Kingdom has been looking for you!" He said, taking the reins of her mare.
"She was found riding from the Gerudo territory on a Gerudo mare. This was also tied to the saddle." The guard who had found her said to the King, holding up Link's scarf.
"Obviously, she had been found by a Gerudo, was captured and then escaped, taking the scarf as proof of where she had been." The guard continued.
"No!" Zelda cried.
"No?" Her father asked, turning to his daughter.
"No!" She repeated, taking a few steps forward. "They didn't capture me! I left to tell..." She suddenly caught herself. She couldn't tell her father that she had overheard his plans to attack the Gerudo's and that she went to tell Link, the Prince about the plans! She would surely get more than grounding for that, she might be trialed for treason!
"I went to see Link." She finished. "I'm not lying, that is why I left."
"The Gerudo Prince?" Her father asked. "Why?"
"I like him! And he was the one who gave me the scarf!" She pulled the scarf from the guards' hands. "I left to find him, when the rain started I got lost but he found me and led me to safety in the Spirit Temple. He then gave me this scarf so that I wouldn't breathe in the sand; he even let me ride his horse through the desert while he walked!" she took a breath. "Then before this guard found me and dragged me here," she pointed to the guard. "He rode with me to the outskirts of Gerudo territory and made sure that I could get back home by myself!"
Her father stared at her for a moment, taking in the information carefully.
"Why didn't he take you all the way here if he was such a good escort?" He finally asked.
"Because he would have been shot by the men on the walls and you know it!" She retorted quickly.
"Go to your room young lady. You are hereby forbidden to leave Hyrule castle until I decide your affection towards the Sand Serpent Prince has left you." The King announced, pointing to the doors. "Take her away Impa."
Impa appeared from the shadows and bowed to her King. She then silently walked over to Zelda and took the young princesses' arm. Zelda didn't struggle, the shock had only just set itself in but it left her feeling numb.
Zelda lay on her bed, her sobbing could be heard from down the hall and her tears stained her pillow. Impa sat at the end of the bed and rubbed the princesses' back soothingly.
"I'm sorry Zelda, I should have warned you." Impa whispered.
Link stood atop one of the houses in Gerudo Fortress and looked down at his people.
"My people please lend me your ears!" He yelled down. Nearly all that passed by stopped and looked up at him.
"I do not have much power, nor do I pretend to. Over these last few years I have thought solely about the safety of the Gerudo people. I thank you for always standing true to your word, and I thank you for your loyalty to both my mother and myself." He took a breath.
"What I want to ask you now is something that dwelled in my thoughts for many long hours." More Gerudo's appeared from the Fortress to listen.
"I have heard the rumours many times in my travels from the desert to the waves. I know that you too have heard them. It is true that I have begun to fancy the Princess of Hyrule, and I know that she feels the same for me." He drew another breath.
"We will go to war tomorrow with the people of Hyrule." He paused.
"I do not want the one I love and the people I love to get hurt over a petty argument!" He watched his people stare at him as the silence drew on.
"But please know this, I will not stand by and watch the Gerudo race fall to the King of Hyrule! I will take Nayru's Love with me and my arrows of fire to prove that the Gerudo are proud and unmoving in our ways!" He held his bow high in the air and slipped an arrow to the string. Link summoned the fire and lit the arrow.
The Gerudo's below him cheered, he could feel his heart rise in happiness. He had won the people over.
Link pulled back the string and let loose his arrow into the sky where it soared into the sun.
Nobooru stood in the doorway below Link and smiled. "I'm proud of you."
Zelda sat at her window, watching as the sun rose on the horizon just beyond the Lon Lon Ranch. Her tears welled up again. She could see her fathers' men march towards the Gerudo territory. There was far too many of them, the Gerudo's would lose, but she would still pray for them and for him.
She suddenly noticed a lone horse just outside the walls surrounding Hyrule, Malon stood there next to the horse, waving and trying to get her attention. Impa entered her room and pointed to the tree that Link had climbed so many times to reach her.
"Hurry, I'll keep watch." Impa said. Zelda saw the closest thing to a smile on Impa's face as she pointed to the tree.
Zelda nodded and stood on the windowsill, she dare not look down.
Link stood at the bridge between the Gerudo Valley and Gerudo Fortress, Nayru's Love in his left hand.
The King of Hyrule rode his horse up to the other end of the bridge and smiled at Link.
"Nobooru sent her son to protect the Gerudo's? Either she's gone senile or she's given up." The King said to his men.
"Ah, the Prince!" The King caught himself. "I can dispose of you and end this chaos now rather than waiting until my daughter forgets you."
Link frowned at this. "My mother did not send me, I chose this myself. I do not wish to fight, and neither do my people. So now I am going to destroy the only way you can reach my people."
He took Nayru's Love and pushed the gem to the ground, activating its power. A blue diamond appeared around him.
The King motioned for his men to protect him as Link then drew his bow and arrow. "I will not shoot you." Link added, aiming the arrow into the sky. Suddenly it burst into flame and all of the Kings men took a few steps back.
"Shoot him!" The King yelled to his archers.
They obeyed, taking their bows in hand and aiming at Link. "Fire!" The King ordered. They loosed their arrows in a single wave. Link did not move. As the metal rained down on him, Nayru's Love repelled the arrows until each and every one of them were on the ground around him.
All of the archers turned to their King in confusion.
Link pointed the flaming arrow at the bridge in front of him.
"Ah! Stop him before he destroys the bridge! Shoot again!" The King yelled. The archers obeyed once more and took aim. There was another wave of metal but just like the last time, all the arrows proved ineffective.
Link loosed his own arrow and the flame sprang forth. The bridge caught fire almost instantly and burned quickly. Many of the King's men retreated as the fire grew leaving only the King, eleven warriors and one archer.
Link pulled down Nayru's Love and watched the fire in satisfaction.
"They've got Link surrounded by the bridge at Gerudo Valley, none of the other Gerudo's are anywhere in sight!" Malon had told Zelda when she reached the wall. Now Zelda pushed Mist, the grey mare into a full run across the field.
She rose over the hill next to Lon Lon Ranch and bent low on Mist's neck to help the mare move faster. She then sat up again when they reached the bottom of the hill.
Zelda turned Mist to the right and up the narrow path to the Gerudo Valley. She reached the plank of wood and carefully rode up. Then she could see her father and his men in front of a wall of flames where the bridge had been.
She slid off Mist's back and ran past her father's men.
The sole archer aimed at Link, he pulled back the string. Zelda rushed towards him and pushed the archer over, but it was too late, the arrow flew.
Link yelled in pain as the arrow struck his leg. Zelda watched as he stumbled back, his foot at the very edge of the gorge. The earth beneath his feet gave way and Link fell.
Zelda pushed past her father and without even a moment's hesitation, jumped over the edge too. She pulled her arms close to her and fell faster, now Link was just within reach, she pulled out her arms and grabbed hold of him. The water came up under them fast; she took a deep breath and held onto Link with all her strength.
Zelda woke lying on what she thought was a beach but as she opened her eyes further she realized it was the island in the middle of Lake Hylia. Then she remembered jumping off the cliff and landing in the water. Link!
She looked around herself frantically but he was nowhere to be found. Zelda got up despite how heavy her body felt and how cold she was. She managed to walk to the other end of the island before she spotted a red hat just next to the large tree.
With the last of her strength Zelda sat down next to Link and pulled him out of the water so that he lay against the tree. The arrow she tried to intercept was lodged into his left leg but the bleeding had stopped, most likely from the water. She ripped the hem of her dress off and dipped it into the water and then took another piece off and left it to dry next to her.
She looked at the arrow once more and winced. She knew that it had to come out.
With a push, she wrapped her fingers around the arrowhead and in one swift motion, pulled it out. Link let out a muffled scream and she suddenly started to shake in fear.
"I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry." She whispered as she grabbed the wet piece of her dress and pressed it to the wound, stopping the bit of blood that she forced out along with the arrow. When she was sure that the bleeding had stopped enough, she wiped away the dried blood and tossed the cloth aside. She then took the dryer piece and wrapped it around his leg.
With that, Zelda pulled herself towards Link and curled up next to him, hoping that he would be okay when they woke.
Two guards from Hyrule came to the Lon Lon Ranch the next day. Malon had heard that the war had ended with the Gerudo's destroying their own bridge and giving up like cowards, but she knew that was just one side of the conversation.
What she was about to hear next was by far the worst news she would ever hear.
"Yeah, just as the Gerudo Prince shot the bridge, he turned away and one of our archers shot him. 'Fell into the gorge, definitely dead. But then the Lady Zelda suddenly appeared and jumped in after the Sand Serpent!" Said one.
"Yeah, I heard about that, it's a shame too, she was the only heir. What's the King going to do?" Asked the other.
Malon dropped the bucket she had been holding and her mouth gaped. The two guards stared at her.
"They're dead?" She squeaked.
The two guards looked at one another. "Ah, you used to be friends with the Lady Zelda. We're sorry, but it is believed so. All of the waterways were searched but there was no trace of them."
Malon felt tears rolling down her face. "They're dead." She muttered.
"But I don't want her to be here!" Came a female voice that didn't sound much younger than her own.
Zelda forced her eyes to open but her body was still heavy and so she could only lie there. Wherever she was, it was warm and soft and she was fairly sure that she could hear the sound of falling water somewhere in the distance.
"Oh, she's waking up." An older male voice said.
Zelda turned to the voice and looked up at the Zora King. She had only seen him once before, when she was still very young
"Ruto go fetch something for her to eat." The King rushed his daughter out of the room. "Fine!" the girl huffed.
"One of my people happened to be swimming by when she noticed that both the Prince of Gerudo's and Princess of Hyrule were lying on the side of the river unconscious. She told me and brought you here. Don't worry, you are safe here." The King explained.
"Link!" she gasped, sitting upright far too quickly and feeling the world spin before her. The Zora King gently pushed her back into the bed.
"It's alright, he's fine. He's just over there." The King pointed across the room to another bed. She let out a sigh when she saw him laying there. "He's okay." She said to herself.
"The wound to his leg is deep but he should heal nicely, it's good that you cleaned it up before it got infected. You are a fine healer and I'm sure he'll thank you when he comes to." The King added. "Now you concentrate on getting some rest." He told her, pulling the sheets up over her.
Zelda could hear the King close the door behind him but her world was already darkening as she drifted off to sleep.
"You know, if it weren't for you, he would never be in this mess." The familiar female voice accused. Zelda opened her eyes and for a second forgot where she was. She turned to the voice as her memory came back.
Princess Ruto looked down at Zelda with accusing eyes.
Zelda tried to sit up but her body would not allow that much effort quite yet it seemed, so she lay there rather confused at the anger directed at her.
"You heard me; if it weren't for you he wouldn't have any of this trouble!" Ruto motioned towards Link who still lay in his bed, unmoved. "If he had married me, there would be peace and he wouldn't be lying there unconscious!"
She felt something stab at her heart.
"Marriage?"
"What do you mean; if he married you?" Zelda asked, trying to keep the hurt from appearing in her voice but the Zora picked it up anyway.
She smiled smugly. "That's right; he was supposed to marry me!" She folded her arms over her chest and looked down her nose at Zelda.
Zelda could feel the pain increasing, she could feel her eyes begin to sting as well, but she knew that she must not cry. Her thoughts drifted to all the things that happened, all the horrible things, the war especially and his wound. If only she had been able to stop the war, if only she could have stopped the arrow, if only she had moved faster! Now she was sure that tears were forming.
"He never told me any of his problems; he never even told me that he was supposed to marry Princess Ruto." She said to herself.
Zelda looked down at the bed sheet on top of her. "Wait."
"He was supposed to marry you? Supposed to? Does that mean he isn't anymore?" She asked, feeling a smile return to her face as Ruto's fell.
"No, it's been cancelled; now please leave Ruto, I told you to let them rest." The Zora King reappeared at the door, Zelda had never been so happy to see someone in her entire life.
Ruto, though, was not as happy to see her father. She jumped and ran out the door. Zelda let out a sigh.
"I'm very sorry for that, she's just upset that something's been taken away from her." The King explained, sitting down on the bed next to Zelda's. She smiled at him. "Thank you."
He returned the smile and nodded. "I would like to tell you something of a story, one that I hope will keep you from having many doubts about Link and his intentions." Zelda focused her attention on him completely. Seeing this, the Zora King began his story.
"I've known Link since he was only a day old, his mother and I are old friends you see. But in all those years, I have never once seen him dedicate himself to something other than his raids. He never spoke to anyone unless spoken to, and never went out of his way to help someone. There were many times that I thought he would be lost like this forever.
"I think he noticed that he was different this way, so he made up a sort of politely-secretive facade to cover it up. I knew that he wanted to bridge the gap between him and others, but at the same time he was afraid and disliked that connection." The Zora King explained.
"But when Nobooru told him about the arranged marriage with my daughter, he rushed here and literally begged me to cancel it. He told me that he found something that changed his mind, and that he had suddenly began to dislike being alone." The King laughed.
"He said to me; "Uncle, I don't know how I did it before!" and started to laugh at himself." The King continued. "I knew that the marriage would not work, but it's always safer to have a backup plan for your kingdom. And I knew what, or rather who, changed his mind before hand through the rumours." The King laughed harder at the confused look Zelda gave him.
"What rumours?" She asked, suddenly both embarrassed and angry.
The King shook his head and his laugh turned into a small smile. "You need not worry about them, it is nothing against you."
He leaned closer to Zelda and lowered his voice a bit. "But I must tell you this; do not let him slip through your hands or else you may lose him."
Zelda recalled Nobooru telling her almost the exact same thing. "Don't let him slip through your fingers like the sand he was raised in."
"I won't." She replied, determination in her voice. "Thank you." She smiled.
The Zora King nodded and rose from the edge of the bed. "Get some rest, I'll send someone to bring some food up for you in a while." And with that the King was gone.
Zelda pulled herself up and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Her energy was coming back but her limbs were still heavy. She braced herself on the beds and made her way over to the bed next to Link.
She felt a tinge of guilt as she took his bag and pulled out his ocarina. Zelda touched his shoulder and with great caution, tried to wake him. It took a while for him to even budge, but that could have been because she was being far too gentle. Eventually though, he groaned and cracked his eyes open.
"Zelda?" He mumbled, still more than half asleep.
"Please tell me the songs." She demanded. He frowned.
"What? Songs?" he asked.
"The ones on your ocarina, how do I get to the Temple of Light?" she continued.
He shook his head and closed his eyes again. Zelda reached out and shook him awake, this time not nearly as gently. "Please!" she urged.
"No." He managed to groan, turning away from her.
"I promise I'll be fine, please trust me, please tell me the song." She pushed. "I need to do this!" She added.
Link opened his eyes again, with much effort and looked up at her for a moment. Finally he let out a sigh, realizing that she would continue to push him until she knew the song.
"If I tell it to you, you have to promise me that you'll be no longer than a day there." He said, trying to get his body to wake up.
Zelda nodded. "It will only take me a few hours."
Link let out another sigh and reached for the ocarina.
Zelda appeared in the Temple of Light much to the surprise of the single guard on duty there; she quickly walked over to him and hid the ocarina behind her.
"Tell my father that I wish to speak with him, now." She demanded.
Zelda still stood in the Temple of Light when her father ran inside, his arms open to her. "Zelda!" He cried, tears in his eyes. She returned his hug, despite the conflicts they had had, he was still her father.
"Father, I have to ask you something." She started.
"I can't believe you're alive! When you went over that cliff I thought I'd lost you forever, how did you survive?" He asked, ignoring her question. "And how did you get here?"
"Father, Link is still alive too, he's the reason I've come back like this." She said, ignoring her fathers' questions as well.
"What! That Sand Serpent is still alive!" He yelled.
"Stop calling him that! Father, I want to you to make a vow to never harm the Gerudo's ever again!" Zelda yelled over him.
Her father stared at her.
"If you don't, both Link and myself will leave and never come back." She revealed the ocarina. "I will use this ocarina to teleport us somewhere you have never been and will never find in a million years."
Her father swallowed.
"Dearest, can't you just come back to Hyrule by yourself? Everything will be as it was, I won't even attack the Gerudo's." He said, trying to hug his daughter again.
Zelda backed away and raised the ocarina to her face. "No."
"Stop!" Her father raised his hands into the air.
"If I agree to let you see this Sand- I mean, Link, he has to do one thing for me." Her father said, lowering his arms.
Zelda paused and nodded. "Maybe, what is the condition?"
"He has to promise to never raid Hyrule or toy with the guards." He said simply.
Zelda weighed this in her mind and she suppressed a smile.
She lowered the ocarina and offered her father one hand. He took the hand and shook it. "Deal." She said. "But why did you agree so easily?"
"I don't want to lose my daughter again." Her father replied, looking down at the ground. Zelda felt the pressure on her heart; she didn't realize that she had caused her father so much pain.
"I'm sorry." She said, wrapping her arms around him once more. He hugged her tightly.
"I know, now go tell him." Her father said, letting his daughter go and taking a few steps back.
"I'll be back, please wait for me." She said, lifting the ocarina to her lips and then playing the tune.
Zelda rushed through the Zora's Domain and straight to the medical room, Link was sitting upright in his bed and immediately looked up at her when she appeared at the door.
"Well?" he asked, but before he could get an answer, Zelda ran over to him and tackled him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
"He said he'd forgive everything if you stopped raiding Hyrule and bugging the guards!" She laughed. Link grinned.
"But you know that I don't raid Hyrule, you didn't tell your father that did you?" he sighed. "But I guess I can resist bothering the guards." He added with a laugh.
Ruto frowned from behind the door to the medical room, her father behind her with a smile on his face. "I guess your little storm only made their bond stronger my little daughter." He chuckled.
"Aw, and I put so much magic into those clouds!" Ruto complained.
Two mares ran out of the Lon Lon Ranch, followed by a third towards Lake Hylia, their laughter echoed through the grass as all three jumped the gates.
"Zelda?" Link asked.
"Yes?" She replied.
"Would you marry me?"
(The River Dragon: I was sooooooooooooooo tempted to leave it at this, but I don't want to die an early death or have curses set on me lmao.)
Zelda laughed. "Yes."
The River Dragon: Well, how did you like my ultra super special long last chapter? I hope you liked it! It took me a better part of a day to get the notes done up for it and then about two days to get all the story written up.
Thanks SilvaCat for sticking with me in the late hours of the night so that I could finish this, now that we're sleep deprived lets go crazy!! Well, I guess I'm the only one sleep deprived now lol, silvacat is too tuckered out to stay awake as I write this lol.
Thanks to all those who wrote to my old version of this story, I hope you liked the long long long awaited end to this!!1
Now REVIEW!! lol
The River Dragon is signing out!! JA BYE BYE! For now