Moonlight Walks was a beta that helped me out when I first made this story but I've been going over every chapter since I've decided to try and finish it. So, if something looks wrong it's my fault!
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Link suddenly found himself smashed face first against the door he had previously been examining, but whatever had rammed into him had quickly jumped back.
"What the hell…?" muttered Link as he stepped back from the door. He turned to see Sheik shifting nervously behind him.
"Sheik? So, you're going to smash me into every door you think I'm going through a door now?" asked Link irritatingly.
"No! It was an accident! I was…just…never mind. It's not important. Let's just move on," said Sheik hurriedly. Link frowned as he watched the Sheikah walk up to the door. He opened it and then walked inside after a quick glance around the narrow hallway.
"How did you accidentally ram into me?" asked Link once he followed the Sheikah into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
"I tripped," replied Sheik. Link was about to ask what the hell he was doing beforehand to give him enough momentum to slam him into a door, but a familiar clanking noise suddenly reached his ears. Link tensed before the bones of a Stalfos that sat unnoticed on the floor in front of them suddenly pieced themselves together and formed into the skeletal monster.
It charged at them immediately and Sheik barely had enough time to throw himself in front of Link, unsheathing his short sword along the way, and bring it up to meet the blade that aimed to cleave the hero in two. The Stalfos forced them back with Link, once again, being smashed against the door.
Sheik's eyes widened when Link suddenly slid his left arm under his right thigh and with a heave, lifted the Sheikah off the ground. What was he doing!
"Teleport us to the other side! Now!" Link hissed in his ear. His whole body was shaking with the obvious effort of keeping Sheik in the air. Sheik took a quick glance at the skeletal monster and decided it would be safe to teleport because their swords were the only things touching. They appeared on the other side of the hallway just in time to see the Stalfos swing around to face them before a blast suddenly blew it to pieces.
Link suddenly dropped to the ground, taking Sheik with him. The hero was sprawled on the ground, leaning his back against the wall for support while Sheik sat in his lap. The Sheikah quickly swung around to face him, afraid that he was hurt. Link just grinned back.
"Now that is how you blow someone's mind," snickered Link but then took a deep breath.
"Man…that was some hard work right there though. Didn't realize you boney man would make it so hard to lift you. Whatever, he got what was coming to him," said Link. He laughed as Sheik just stared at him, but the Sheikah quickly shook his head.
"Why did you…lift me?" asked Sheik.
"Oh, because I needed to throw a bomb between your legs…okay, that sounded kinda wrong. How about so I could throw the bomb closer to the boney bastard? Yeah, that sounds much better. It was a hasty decision on my part but it's the most effective thing against them. I couldn't just drop it right there because not only would we get caught in the blast but the bony bastard could have gotten away from it in time," said Link with a nervous laugh.
Sheik swung around and looked up sharply when he heard a familiar laugh. Meg appeared and hovered closer to them. She grinned at Sheik as she started to sway with her lantern. The Sheikah glared at her, but then narrowed his eyes suspiciously when she looked down curiously for a second and then laughed sinisterly. She disappeared suddenly but Sheik snapped his head around when he heard quiet smooching sounds. Meg hovered right above Link's head and she smooched at him again.
Sheik growled and lunged at her. But Link, who had been trying to twist around and look up to see what Meg was doing, unknowingly blocked this attempt and Sheik ended up bear hugging the hero instead. Sheik looked down at Link's surprised expression, and then finally noticed the position they were in.
The Sheikah leapt to his feet as if he were on fire and then quickly backed away from the bewildered hero. Abby was looking confusingly at Meg from on top of Link's hat, knowing she had something to do with Sheik's strange behavior, but didn't know what it meant. She took to the air once Link struggled to his feet.
Meg grinned at Sheik, and then turned to hover back so she was barely out of Link's line of sight. She glanced at the hero and then gave Sheik a thumbs up before turning around and pretended she was making out with her lantern. Sheik made a frustrated sound and then hurled a dagger at her. She quickly disappeared with a sinister laugh just when Link yelped as the dagger went sailing over his head to hit the wall. Abby zoomed behind his head and looked cautiously over at the heaving Sheikah.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" asked Link cautiously as he straightened again. Sheik summoned his dagger back, while cursing the Purple Poe's very existence the entire time.
"Nothing," replied Sheik shortly as he strode passed Link. The hero just shrugged his shoulders and followed the fuming Sheikah. Sheik grumbled as he held a dagger ready and then swung the door open. A bucket suddenly dropped from the ceiling and hurled its contents all over him. Link quickly jumped back to avoid whatever had splashed onto Sheik. He glanced up worried, but then threw a hand over his mouth to stop the laughter that threatened to escape when he finally noticed what had splashed onto Sheik.
"This has to be Beth," said Sheik in a deadly calm voice, "I don't know which is worse…having to fight rabid monsters that want to destroy us, or having to deal with those four prankster menaces constantly."
Link walked ahead of him and then had to summon every ounce of his will power not to bust up laughing at the sight of the Sheikah. His whole top half was now covered in bright pink paint. He tried to distract himself, and looked back at the door. He noticed that the bucket was held up by a mechanism that was tied by strings that would cause the bucket to splash whoever went through the door first.
That's actually pretty clever. Especially for a ghost.
"This is absurd! This is going to stain my shawl Din, dammit! Who knows how long before I get a chance to wash it out?...What if it doesn't wash out?! I can't go into public like this!" exclaimed Sheik as he tried to wipe the paint away from his eyes. Link turned back and couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
Wow, he may not like feminine remarks thrown at him but it's kinda hard not to when he says stuff like that.
"What? Is something funny Link? Do tell!" exclaimed Sheik as he gave the hero a dangerous look. It was slightly hard to take him seriously with the pink paint surrounding his face, but the fist that raised threateningly toward him quickly changed that. Link quickly put up his hands.
"Hey, I'm just your humble partner. Take it out on the ones that set it up," said Link. He dropped his hands when he noticed a ladder ahead of them.
"Just walk it off. I'm sure we'll run into Beth eventually. Then you can have your revenge," snickered Link.
Sheik muttered under his breath, but continued onward. They found themselves climbing up and down a few sets of ladders and after a rather long episode involving large blocks to move, where another fight almost broke out, they ended up climbing the last ladder. Sheik pulled himself up and waited for Link.
"Hey, just a thought but if you're so bothered by the new color of your shawl then why not just take it off? I won't tell anyone what you look like," said Link when he finally reached the top and pulled himself up. Sheik looked to the side and reached up to touch the material of his shawl. Link tilted his head to the side, waiting for his answer but another memory suddenly pierced his mind.
What the…?
"I do consider you a friend but I'm not comfortable revealing my face yet. Please don't take it personally," replied Sheik. He snapped his head to the right when he heard a flapping noise. A skull surrounded by blue flames came hurtling around the corner but Sheik easily side stepped around it.
"Sheik, don't touch-!" but to his dismay Link saw the Sheikah give a mighty kick that sent the now unlit skull crashing toward the wall. It fell to the ground and tried to hop away but Sheik strode after it. Link quickly tried to follow but jumped backed when another one suddenly came flying from around the corner. It snapped at Link, but then flew away toward Sheik when it noticed him approaching its unlit partner.
The Sheikah wasn't worried…until the daggers he had drawn had suddenly slipped from his fingers. His eyes widened when he realized how weak his hands had become. Sheik quickly glanced down at himself and found he was glowing with a tint of blue…what in the world did those things do to him?
He snapped his head to the left when he noticed the hopping skull suddenly burst into blue flames again and flew back into the air. He quickly backed up, trying to summon his daggers but looked in dismay as they stayed where they were on the ground. Not even his teleporting ability was responding. This felt like a curse but he never heard of a curse being able to affect you instantly before. He had always believed they took time to make. He just hoped Link got away since they now had all their attention on the helpless Sheikah.
He tensed, ready to bolt when they made a rather strange noise that sounded almost like they were trying grumble and moan at the same time. They charged, but suddenly something came crashing through the floating skull nearest to him. Sheik quickly ducked as the other skull went flying over his head and then darted away. It turned and tried following him, but Sheik suddenly froze when he saw Link point his Clawshot at him.
"Duck!" shouted Link and set his Clawshot flying toward him. Sheik quickly dropped to the floor just before it went sailing over his head and smashed into the skull chasing him. The chain retracted and brought the now unlit skull back to its wielder. Link proceeded to smash it under his foot as soon as it reached him and then quickly ran to Sheik's side.
"Are you alright?" asked Link as he crouched beside the Sheikah. Sheik nodded, and then glanced back at his fallen daggers and tried summoning them again, but they still didn't respond.
"Wait a few minutes until the jinx wears off," said Link. Abby flew off of the top of Link's head and hovered near Sheik.
"Or you could just ask your lovely fairy friend to help you out," said Abby as she zoomed back over to Link, making sure he saw the pointed look she gave him. Link smiled sheepishly at her.
"Oh yeah, sorry Abby. Didn't realize you could heal jinxes. Would you be so kind and heal my partner here so he can continue to kick ass?" asked Link. Abby rolled her eyes but hovered over to Sheik and circled around him a few times until the blue tint faded. Sheik immediately felt the difference.
He lifted his hands and clutched them into fists, enjoying the feel of strength back in them now. He summoned his daggers and sighed in relief when they quickly vanished and reappeared in their sheaths.
"Thank you, Abby," said Sheik gratefully then turned to Link, "And thank you Link. You saved my life for once. Are these things a common enemy for you?" Link frowned as he thought about it.
"I only ever faced White Bubbles. Those skulls never had flames either. I saw the memory. So, I did what my big brother had already done…these memories are appearing more often actually," said Link with a wince.
"What's wrong?" asked Sheik when he noticed the hero's wince.
"Nothing. I've just started to see my big brothers memories the second I entered this Goddess forsaken forest…" muttered Link as he stood up and offered Sheik a hand. He pulled him to his feet but Sheik frowned at him.
"Why do you sound like seeing them is uncomfortable? Does something happen when you see them?" asked Sheik. Link scratched the back of his head as he thought about it.
"Link…it difficult to believe that you trust me when you won't tell me what is obviously bothering you," said Sheik softly. Link sighed and then faced him.
"It has nothing to do with that. I just didn't want to worry you with something that wasn't a big deal. It was overwhelming at first to see my ancestor's memories. Then it was confusing. Then finally when we headed up to this temple it started to feel like a headache," muttered Link. Sheik ran a hand down his face in frustration and then approached the hero.
"This forest is where the Hero of Time had spent his childhood being raised among the Kokiri. This place shaped who he was. I'm sure memories of him will be all over the Lost Woods. You are not the Hero of Time though. I think the more you seek out these memories the more your mind will confuse them with your own. Just be careful," said Sheik. He suddenly remembered something.
"What of my map? Did it prove useful?" asked Sheik.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Link as he pulled out the map, "I was really disappointed at first but then I saw that it can update itself! And it even has this area now to!"
Link looked over the map and noticed the familiar setup it shared with the maps he used to use.
It still shows the entire dungeon, even though we've haven't been in most of the rooms yet and even highlights the room we are in right now. Too bad it doesn't work like the compass as well…it would be nice to know if there are any items to pick up in this place.
"Perhaps we should check out these chests? Even a few rupees could prove useful later," said Sheik as he leaned over and glanced over his map. Link gave him a confused look, and then squinted down at the map trying to see these chests.
"What chests? I don't see any chests. I don't see anything but the layout of the temple," muttered Link as he peered closer. He thought maybe the chests were a tiny print but then looked back up at Sheik when he chuckled.
"He's brilliant. It seems anything of value is hidden from plain view, but I'm able to see it because my eyes can see the truth," said Sheik. Link rolled his eyes.
"Yay for you. Why don't you use those eyes of yours to see if there are any monsters in the next room?" asked Link.
"All I can see are chests…and different colored spots. I don't know what those are. I don't see any kind of key to tell us either," said Sheik. Link sighed and then glanced back at the map.
"Well, it seems that there's a room that goes straight to a lower level after this one," said Link. He looked up and yelped when he suddenly saw Joelle hovering right over Sheik's head.
"Good Goddess! Don't do that!" exclaimed Link.
The Sheikah glanced up and frowned at the Red Poe.
"I swear…you best not be here to witness one of your dangerous pranks unfold. That last one could have killed us! Now what is it?" asked Sheik sharply. Joelle just rolled her glowing eyes, and then hovered over to the door and went right through it.
"Well, let's go. Hopefully the only reason Joelle came here was not just to scare the shit out of me," said Link. He walked forward but then paused just before the door when he noticed an eye switch sitting above it.
"It must be some kind of switch. Should I trigger it?" asked Sheik as he walked up beside Link.
"I don't think so. Joelle may like to mess with us but I doubt she would hinder us purposely. She would have told us to trigger it before going that door if it needed to be activated," said Link. Abby sighed and settled on top of Link's head as her traveling partners discussed how to proceed through the obvious course of action ahead.
"They've hindered you in your first life," said Sheik lowly. Link frowned at him.
"That was hundreds of years ago and you heard Abby. Ganon had to force them to oppose my Big Brother! They are nothing but tricky guardians now. So, just drop it," said Link with a frown. He then gestured for Sheik to go forward already. Sheik huffed and then strode forward to unlock the door and stepped inside.
Link was about to follow before the Sheikah came diving back through the doorway and crashed into him, causing them both to fall over. Link immediately heard something make an impact on the walls beside the door from the other side of the room.
"Huh, for once I'm on the bottom…wow, where are all these dirty jokes coming from?" muttered Link. Sheik seemed to be too distracted to hear him though.
"What is wrong with her?! That was this close from impaling me! Good Nayru! They'll probably kill us before we even reach the damn medallion!" shouted the frustrated Sheikah. His red eyes were narrowed as he glared back at the spiked log that now blocked much of the doorway. Link couldn't help but notice that he really didn't weight that much at all.
Someone that doesn't weight much would be easy to push around…Sheik doesn't seem to have that problem.
Wanting to test his theory, he immediately threw his left arm around the startled Sheikah's back and rolled so he was now on top. He brought the struggling Sheikah with him as he climbed to his feet. He eventually held Sheik up only with his left arm and it wasn't that strenuous at all.
"W-what are you doing…?" asked Sheik frantically.
"Trying to figure out how someone that weights probably not more than eighty or ninety pounds can be so…impressive? Strong? Diligent? Don't know, take your pick," said Link thoughtfully. He was quickly distracted when Sheik suddenly leaned forward and rested his upper body against his left shoulder while his head disappeared from view.
Wow. Even after all that traveling, he still smells of pine…
Sheik was having his own problems now, and tried leaning forward so he could hide his flustered face. He suddenly tensed once he noticed Meg hovering near the ceiling. He didn't even sense her!
She looked irritated for once. Like she just couldn't believe what she just saw and proceeded to make wild and angry gestures as her purple flame seemed to crackle wildly with her as if it agreed. Sheik was startled when Abby suddenly zoomed to hover near his face.
"Huh? What do you mean he missed his chance? His chance for what?" asked Abby.
Meg just pulled off her purple hat and tossed it on the ground and then jabbed a finger toward Sheik. She then spun around and disappeared and her hat disappeared along with her.
"Well, that was weird," muttered Link.
"She will succeed? With what? I don't get it. What's going on between you and Meg, Sheik?" asked Abby as she faced him. The Sheikah just glared at where the Purple Poe was last.
"She's a crazed four hundred year old ghost. How am I supposed to know what's going on in that head?" grumbled Sheik. He leaned back to look down at Link.
"As for you. I seem like I don't weigh much because my body suit is enchanted. I makes me lighter then I really am so I can be more agile. Now, are you done with examining your theory yet?" said Sheik.
"Oh yeah! Sorry…about that…" said Link sheepishly before quickly dropping him to his feet.
"You could have just asked," said Sheik as he approached the blocked doorway.
"What? And get killed? I don't think so. Especially with how you reacted after getting a new color arrangement," said Link. Sheik rolled his eyes and examined the blocked doorway.
"So that little charade you did was the remedy for that?" asked Sheik as he turned to face him.
"Well, I figured of the two choices, this was the one that I had the best chance of talking my way out of it should you have gotten mad," said Link. Sheik ran his hand down his face and sighed.
"Forget it. I'll be here forever if I try to understand your logic. I don't trust climbing over that so I'll just teleport us I guess," muttered the Sheikah as he turned back to glance at the spiked log blocking the doorway. He placed a hand on Link's arm and teleported them to the other side of the spiked log.
Link looked back he noticed that it blocked the entire doorway unlike the last log.
Damn, Joelle's getting smarter.
Link thought it was pretty fun having this whole hidden prank game happening during their dangerous quest but then again…it was actually Sheik who was taking all the hits. Not to mention that he probably would become somebody's personal puppet if they didn't get this temple cleansed soon. So, maybe he didn't like it as much as he thought…
Sheik called out to him, so he shook his head and followed the Sheikah. They walked down the long hallway aligned with red carpet. Link tiled his head as watched the Sheikah ahead of him.
That body suit makes him lighter, huh? Could it do that with anyone? Or even a heavy object?
"Hey Sheik, could that body suit make a fat person seem skinny?" asked Link curiously. Sheik stopped mid step and then slowly turned to face him. His eyes were narrowed as he looked hard at Link.
"…Are you asking if I'm fat?" asked Sheik incredibility. Link's mouth hung open in surprise but then quickly shook his head.
"What? No! That was mostly just a thought I had-"
"So, you were thinking that I could be fat?" asked Sheik irritatingly. Link covered his face and groaned.
"Goddess, this has gotten out of control. Listen, I didn't think about you at all! I just realized that suit could makes things lighter. So, I thought maybe it could make a fat person or even an object lighter as well! I never once wondered if you were fat! That would be weird!" exclaimed Link. Sheik shook his head as he just turned around and kept walking.
"Unbelievable…" muttered Sheik as Link trailed behind him.
Sheik stopped at the end of the hallway and scanned the room as Link caught up.
The hero was nervously watching the Sheikah but then stiffened when he saw a shadow below Sheik. A shadow much too large to be his own. Another memory pierced his mind and dread suddenly filled every vein in his body.
Oh my Goddess…!
Link gasped before bolting toward the Sheikah when the shadow below him started to grow bigger. Sheik spun around when he heard Link's gasp but suddenly was tackled clear off the ledge he was standing on. They both fell straight through a square hole in the ground until they finally hit the ground with a thud.
"Oh Goddess…my back. What was that for?" exclaimed the Sheikah as he struggled to catch his breath. Link rolled to the side of him, his eyes wide and lost.
"It-it was…it ah, was hiding in the shadows-!" exclaimed Link but couldn't get a full sentence out. Images clashed in his mind and he had difficult time deciphering them.
Damn, Big Brother has some serious issues with these guys…! The memory was jam packed with his fear of them and now it's messing with my mind…
"Link, what are you talking about?" asked Sheik sharply. Link leaned on his left elbow as he tried to calm down. He just noticed that he had luckily missed landing on his injured arm but ow it was still throbbing from the fall.
"It um, it was something in the shadows…of the ceiling. The memory was too shaky for me to see clearly what it was…and it just drops and, um it looked somewhat like…" said Link uncertainly. He glanced up trying to piece together a clear image of what he saw in the memory but something suddenly caught his eye.
"That!" exclaimed Link as something suddenly ripped him away from the Sheikah's side and dragged him away.
Sheik jumped to his feet as Link let out a fearful scream but before the Sheikah could even take a step, the whole area around Link suddenly exploded into flames.
"Link!" shouted Sheik as he ran franticly toward the flames. They died down as soon as he reached them and he skidded to a halt and dropped by the hunching hero's side. He paused when Link held up a shaky hand and gestured for him to stay back. The hero was breathing hard and his eyes held a feral but frightened gleam. Sheik figured the wolf must have responded to his fear. After a few moments Link straightened and took a deep breath.
"Are you alright?" asked Sheik as he came closer. He immediately started to scan Link's body for any injuries. Link nodded. Sheik noticed long cuts running down both of Link's arms and outer thighs, but they didn't look to deep. He guessed they were the result of being dragged away by a giant hand with ridiculously long and sharp finger nails. Can this place get any weirder?
"Just a few scratches," said Link suddenly. He then put his hand over his heart.
"Thank you, Valor…but I have a feeling that isn't its only purpose here," said Link.
"It?" asked Sheik as he pulled out some of the bandages to clean Link's minor wounds.
"You wouldn't happen to have any more water, would you?" asked Sheik. Link nodded then reached into his pouch and pulled out a bottle of water.
"I always have at least one bottle of water and potion on me before I go anywhere. Because, of course, I couldn't just breeze through a temple without almost getting eaten or stabbed. I also seem to get thirsty at the most inconvenient times. A force of habit that I couldn't drop for the longest time but now it isn't such a bad thing. Oh, and I never showed you what Valor gave me, huh?" said Link. He then pulled the diamond case out of his pouch and held it out for the Sheikah to see.
"It's a fire spell called Din's Fire. I wasn't used to using it…which is why I haven't used it yet because I kinda forgot about it. It's pretty clear that my big brother was used to using it though…it seemed like I was suddenly feeling someone else's fear, which obviously was my big brother's. That totally riled up the wolf within me but lucky the fire spell took care of that…hand." said Link as he gazed down at the fire spell. He looked back up at Sheik when he let out a frustrated sigh.
"That isn't a good thing, Link. That means you were reacting with his instincts!" exclaimed Sheik.
"Hey, those instincts just saved our lives!" shouted Link.
"No, they merely have made it worse!" shouted Sheik.
"What? Made what worse?" exclaimed Link.
"You!" shouted Sheik. Link just stared at him for a moment.
"You may not realize it now, but you are losing yourself! You are the Great Hero of this time! You vanquished the False King of Twilight and you defeated Ganondorf this time! Not your ancestor. But the more you rely on his instincts the more the line that separates you both will start to disappear!" shouted Sheik. He then took a deep breath to steady himself.
He "Link, look. I'm not saying not to learn from him. Or even to completely ignore these memories because I'm sure that isn't possible. There will always be something that made a big impact on him and it will always trigger a memory when you see it. That should be fine as long as you don't seek them out. If a situation occurs that suddenly urges foreign instincts then ignore them and, I can't believe I'm supporting this, but proceed like you normally would. If you had just warned me of this monstrous hand then I merely would have teleported out of the way then we would have proceeded to utterly destroy it like everything in this temple," said Sheik.
Link covered his face with his hands, trying to let it all sink in.
Has it really gotten this bad? I am myself. But…if I'm relying on my big brother to help all the time, then it's not me who's the hero anymore, is it?
Link dropped his hands and looked up at Sheik. His red eyes seemed to gleam compared to the dimly lit room around him. He was always so patient and strong. Like nothing could faze him…well, almost nothing. But, he still possessed an inner strength that, in Link's opinion, was much out of his league. He admitted to being inexperienced but seemed wise beyond his years and always knew just what to say.
Nothing like me...maybe being more like my big brother isn't such a bad thing…
"Alright, I understand. Thanks for being you," said Link as he flashed him a grateful smile. Sheik blinked, surprised that he didn't have to convince the normally stubborn hero to see reason. He stood up and watched Link approach the door but then turn and wait for him. No arguments? No excuses? Didn't Link hear a word he just said?
"Link…" but Link just waved for him to hurry.
"Come on! We've wasted enough time. Let's go," said Link. Sheik frowned but strode toward the door. He glanced down at Link's cuts as he passed to make sure they hadn't started to bleed again. As he reached the door, he suddenly thought of something. He quickly turned to face Link, who gave him a puzzled look in return.
"Why didn't Abby heal your cuts? Or warn us of that monstrous hand in the first place. Surely she would know about it if she spent time with the Poe Sister's," said Sheik. He looked around Link to ask the fairy herself but didn't spot her.
Link spun around, looking all over the room but didn't spot her as well.
"Abby!" shouted Link, but she was nowhere to be seen. Sheik walked toward the center of the room and peered up at the opening in the ceiling.
"She might still be in that room. I'll go check, but you wait here. I don't think those hands will come down here," said Sheik before he teleported away.
Link was torn between being pissed and worried. He hated having to wait while Sheik went off to do what he considered his job. Especially if the reason he was going was Link's fault to begin with. He caused the problem so he should fix it. Besides, what if something happens up there? What could he do besides stand here helpless as one of those creepy hands strangles Sheik? There wasn't any way up there as far as he could tell. No Clawshot targets, no ladder, no nothing! Din dammit all!
Sheik appeared right where Link had tackled him to the ground, but quickly jumped off the edge and landed gracefully next the wall to the right of it. He immediately started looking for the red fairy, but always kept moving. He noticed the gold and blue chest but that was not his first priority right now.
After a few minutes, he was certain Abby was not in the room they had missed. So, he climbed up the ladder that led to the ledge where he had jumped from and backtracked into the long red carpeted hallway. A screech suddenly made him jump out of his skin and quickly spun around, a dagger posed ready to throw. He stiffened when he saw Meg hovering near the ceiling to the left of him.
She flew right passed him and dropped her lantern on the floor once she reached the middle of the hallway. Sheik stepped closer and gasped when he realized Meg was fussing over Abby. Her red light was dangerously dim as she laid on the floor.
"Abby? What's wrong?" asked Sheik softy as he crouched and picked her up gently. Meg picked up her lantern and hovered over to his shoulder to look worriedly down at the red fairy.
"I…don't know…it's…like my power…is…fading. I heard…rumors… that the…lesser…fairies were getting…sick…but I…." said Abby softly but stopped. Sheik could sense her lively energy draining away. He'd never felt anything like it before. He quickly turned to Meg, who was looking worried at the fading ball of light in his hand.
"Meg, take her to Woody, alright? He'll help her," said Sheik hurriedly. He hoped the Purple Poe would listen to him. She didn't hesitate at all and just thrust her free hand out and impatiently gestured for Sheik to hand her over. He gently laid her in Meg's palm and the Purple Poe immediately spun and disappeared.
Sheik sighed and running a hand down his face. This was just getting worse and worse. What could possibly be killing all the fairies? Red Fairies were supposed to be one of the stronger kinds of fairies. Like right under the Great Fairies and even the Fairy Queen herself.
He didn't understand what was going on, but he needed to get back before Link tries to be heroic without him around. So, he turned and strode back the way he came.
Link started when Sheik suddenly dropped from the hole in the ceiling and landed gracefully on the ground.
"Finally! What happened? Where's Abby? Did you get attacked? The Poe Sisters didn't mess you did they? What-" But Sheik quickly covered his mouth.
"Link, Good Nayru. I wasn't gone for more than ten minutes. And no, nothing attacked me," said Sheik and then lowered his hands.
"But Abby…something's wrong with her. I had Meg take her to Woody. He should be able to help her. I don't think she'll be able to help us anymore though. I don't think any fairy will be actually. It seems to be affecting all fairies-" he suddenly stopped and his eyes widened when he realized something.
Link was bewildered when Sheik began to frantically search in the folds of his suit.
All the fairies are being affected…? What if…what if I can't get this quest done in time? Will the fairy race just cease to exist…?
Sheik finally pulled out a bottle and lifted it up to his face.
"No…" said Sheik softly. Link looked within to see the fairy they had caught before they had entered the temple. She lay motionless on the bottom of the bottle, her light completely gone.
"She could have been alive…when I gave Abby to Meg…I-I could have at least taken her out-!" but Link quickly grabbed a hold of his shoulders to face him.
"She could have been dead for a while Sheik but that's not your fault. You understand me?" said Link. Sheik gripped the bottle as if it were a life line. He looked back down at the motionless fairy.
"She could have been calling for help…and I wouldn't have heard her. If this hadn't happened to Abby…she might have been in there for days…" whispered Sheik miserably. Link sighed, and then pried Sheik's hands from the bottle and held it with his right hand. He pulled the Sheikah into a one armed hug.
"There was no way we could have known, alright? The fairies around this place were all fine when we first got here and there wasn't anything that told us otherwise. So don't be so hard on yourself, ok? We'll bury her outside when were done," said Link as he put the bottle gently in his pouch.
Sheik laid his head against his chest. That fairy was supposed to be there when they needed help. Most weren't even bothered that they were normally put in bottles. Some preferred it, not wanting to be near the monsters their charges were battling. But this fairy…she had spent her last moments trapped in a bottle. He couldn't even imagine finally meeting death like that…trapped in darkness and completely alone…
Sheik finally stepped back, taking a shaky breath. He would simply make sure this ended soon. This was unforgivable. Fairies have never done anything but give aid to those in need, and he had a bad feeling that short childlike man dressed in purple had something to do with this.
"Thank you. I'm fine now. Let's get this temple over with. The sooner Saria's power is restored, the better," said Sheik firmly. Link nodded and then smirked at him.
"Alright. Finally, an initiative to get reckless! And you can't say jack this time because getting reckless means going faster! Like you said, faster is better!" exclaimed Link as he punched the air. Sheik shook his head, but secretly smiled. He was just glad that Link was back to his old reckless self.
"Oh, and I got this on the way down," said Sheik as he pulled out a gold key with a red gem embedded at the top. Link didn't need the memory that flashed before him to know that was the key to the boss's room. Because the key that went to a boss's room just has to be just as flashy as the boss itself. Having a simple key for a boss's room was just unheard of.
Link paused as he realized something. That last memory hadn't hurt like the others. Sure, it was uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt. He smiled as he watched Sheik approached the only door in the room.
He was right. It stopped hurting the moment I didn't try to look at the memory.
"Awesome. Now we can reach the boss, but don't we have to finish going through the rest of the temple? I've never had the boss key this early in before," said Link.
"I'm sure there is a catch to having it so early, but we will have to find out as we go," said Sheik. He rolled his eyes as Link gave him a thumbs-up, and then walked up the small set of stairs and went through the door.
The atmosphere between them was tense, but not uncomfortable. It did cause them to overreact about several things. Such as why Link just didn't seem to understand that he has to stay away from near death falls. Even if it is necessary to jump from balcony to balcony during certain rooms. Or that there was no difference if Sheik was to teleport in a mass of monsters to attack verse if he tried to ambush them from above.
They went through the rest of the temple with little hindrance, though Sheik did get one last prank from Beth involving a hidden pit filled with perfume that made him smell like roses and vanilla. He had been this close to all but destroying her. But, he amazingly found as he was climbing out of the pit that he was too upset to teleport out of that Link was already doing it for him.
After several minutes of intense shouting from the hero, Sheik amusingly found that Beth wouldn't go anywhere near him now. Huh, Link really could be intimidating when he wanted to be.
They finally made it to a room with a raised ledge on the right and a large picture frame to the left.
"That was one of the biggest bullshit moments of my life. How was I supposed to know the damn ceiling would fall on us? And what's with the black and white checkered look? Is that supposed to confuse us before we die from being crushed by it?" said Link irritably. Sheik was torn from laughing and growling.
He had to admit it was pretty funny watching the hero eat his words right after he'd said that this temple couldn't get any weirder. Only to have the chess board ceiling come hurling down on him, and then raise back up to do it again. But he still was the one that had to fight his way past six Skulltula's that dropped from the pitch black holes of the repeatedly falling ceiling to reach him in time. Because the hero, true to his word, had recklessly charged into the area when he saw the first Skulltula. Somehow missing the five other giant spiders that Sheik had to dodge to reach him. Which is why he had to haul ass over to the panicking hero to teleport them away before they were crushed by the ceiling.
"That whole mess could have been avoided. Oh, don't you even," said Sheik as Link opened his mouth to argue, "We could have just triggered the ceiling to fall, shot all the Skulltula's down then proceeded through the door without even fighting them. But no, you just had to make it more complicated,"
They both spun toward the picture frame when an image suddenly appeared. Link saw the memory of his big brother shooting this picture of Amy with his bow but he's sure a dagger would work the same way. Just as it did for Beth and Joelle.
Now those fights had been pretty fun in Link's opinion. Though Beth wasn't nearly as tough as she could have been. He figured she was still scared shitless of angering Sheik. Something that Link had warned would cause her eternal life to end with a bang. He really hadn't meant to scare her but jeez, give the guy a break.
"Time to get crackin'," said Link as he smirked at Sheik. The Sheikah just rolled his eyes then hurled a dagger at the picture. Amy suddenly materialized from the picture with a sinister laugh.
"Alright! We haven't seen you around…Amy was it? Yeah! Let's see what you got!" exclaimed Link excitedly. Sheik stood ready to attack by his side, rather enjoying the dueling as well. Because for once, they weren't fighting for their lives.
Amy just grinned and then with a snap of her fingers, four blocks fell from the ceiling in front of them. Seeing what they were, Link pointed to them in disbelief.
"What? A puzzle? Oh, come on! Puzzles are lame! Let's do something more exciting for once," said Link. Sheik straightened to glare at Link just as Amy gave an angry growl. Then with another snap of her fingers, the four piece puzzle suddenly turned into a thousand piece jig saw puzzle. Many of the pieces even flew to hit Link in the face.
Link gawked at the mass of pieces littering the ground.
"Forget this. I'm not doing it. I've had enough of puzzles to last me a life time," muttered Link. Sheik put his weapons away and then folded his arms as he faced Link.
"We do need her green flame. But it looks like we won't get it if you don't do this puzzle. So, hopefully the world won't get too angry with you when it becomes devoured by its own shadow…" said Sheik neutrally. Link groaned, remembering that Joelle had hinted that they needed all four different colored flames each Poe Sister possessed to make the dais in the torch room rise.
"Oh man…I was just kidding Amy! Puzzles are awesome! Now why don't you change it back to that other one? The smaller one, huh?" asked Link. Amy glared down at him. Then, with another snap of her fingers, a ticking sound suddenly filled the room.
"It seems you have a time limit," said Sheik as he walked over to the raised ledge then sat on top. Link stared at him for a moment.
"What? You're not going to help me? But it will take twice as long!" exclaimed Link. Sheik merely took out one of his daggers and a cloth and started to polish it.
"A situation that wouldn't have occurred if you hadn't been so rude. You got yourself into this mess. You can get yourself out," said Sheik without even looking up at him.
"And you'd best hop to it. The ticking sound is getting faster. I assume that means you are running out of time," said Sheik.
"Oh, give me a break!" exclaimed Link as he sprinted to the middle of the mass of puzzle pieces and dropped to his knees. He then tried to hurriedly sort them out.
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The purple robed man awoke slowly and then sat up rubbing his head.
"Oh, the triumphant awakens. Mind telling me why you suddenly were sent flying clear across my library to hit a very old and now ruined cabinet hutch?" asked the Hooded Man, never looking up from the tome he was reading.
The purple robed man just glared at him before getting to his feet and slowly walked over to the couch sitting in front of the Hooded Man and collapsed on it.
"That son of a…he must have someone helping him. He must! There's no way he can just get that much power! And then just hurl it at me like it's an everyday thing! Who could be helping him? Who has that much blasted power?" exclaimed the purple robed man. He sat there drumming his fingers across the side of the couch as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that he was recently sucker punched from afar.
"What are you talking about?" drawled the Hooded Man as he finally looked up from his tome.
"Everything was going just fine. Then, something changed…like the person I was attacking suddenly became someone else. A simple shifting spell could have switched the pull of my power to someone else but I would have felt that. This new target was stronger than the 'hero' as well. Maybe they were using a ward? Hmmm…thought that arcane art had long since died out. It didn't matter though because this new target wasn't going to last much longer. Then I would just finish off the last bit of the 'heroes' free will. Oh, what a trophy he would have made…but then right when I was about to destroy whatever was protecting him a third person suddenly entered the picture and wham! This vast and energetic green energy comes out of nowhere and hits me like a ton of bricks! Who was this person?" growled the purple robed man. The Hooded Man sighed, and then put his heavy tome down and faced him.
"A simple 'I don't know' would have sufficed. There is one good thing that came out of your blunder though. I never guessed she would risk herself like that but I underestimated her…oh well. Now I know that she considers him to be more than just a vessel. Even though he's been reborn several times. Obviously he isn't the same person she had originally blessed. It matters not. I am more than happy to take advantage of another one of your weak points Goddess of Wind," said the Hooded Man as he smirked up toward the ceiling as if he were addressing the Goddess herself.
"Another weak point…are you telling me you're attacking Farore herself?" asked the purple robed man skeptically.
"Why yes, yes I am. And as soon as she can no long spare any power for the cycle of life, then I will attack her sister next. With wisdom comes experience and the knowledge to destroy a world or create a new one. That was always your mistake. You always tried taking the world with nothing but your own shadow magic. But as you can tell, it's not enough. Not only would every Great Hero beat you down, but even if you somehow managed to succeed, well, your power would never support a thriving world because it needs both darkness and light," said the Hooded Man. He leaned forward onto the table that separated his seat from the couch and laced his fingers together. He then laid his head on top of them.
"Did you know that the hero's bloodline houses a recycled power?" asked the Hooded Man. The purple robe man shook his head, his voice not really working properly now. It's not like he was afraid of the devious bastard or anything. Before he was just the guy who had freed him from his enchanted sword prison. Then he had used that to his advantage by blackmailing him with the fact that he could easily break his own seal, which would cause the sword to suck him back inside itself. The Hooded Man didn't threaten to absorb what was left of his power once the sword did reseal him but he wouldn't put it passed him. He's already gotten a taste what the bastard was capable of. Heck, the only reason the Princess of Hyrule didn't know that he was free to begin with was the fact that the Hooded Man was a master manipulator of light magic. The very thing that kept him sealed.
Now, the Hooded Man was the guy that was attacking a freaking Goddess….and succeeding. This in fact, made him hate the bastard even more. He couldn't help but give an extremely small amount of respect toward the guy though. He really needed to get his behind in gear if he wanted to stand up to his level. Heck, what's he saying? He'll just steal his power later, once he's done all the work.
"Even if we succeed, they will always be a thorn in our side because they will be reborn and oppose us later. So to remedy that, we simply need to cut the roots of the tree instead of the branches," said the Hooded Man. The purple robed man leaned forward now. This was a useful piece of information. It was possible to destroy the power of the Great Hero?
"Now, cutting the line doesn't mean that the hero's will cease to exist. It just means they will be no different from the ordinary men that they had once defended. And this will be their destruction because it will not matter how many times they will be reborn. Once they have lost the core of their power, then they will no longer be a threat to us anymore," said the Hooded Man. His smaller companion frowned as he thought about the wasted potential.
All that power…he's just going to destroy it? Hmmm…well, not if I can help it. The Great Hero best hope that I don't find out how his power operates. Once I do then it's mine! Who would destroy such a wealthy source of power anyway? The very core of the Triforce of Courage? What an amateur…
The Hooded Man suddenly glanced up at the window and noticed the sun setting.
"Oh dear me, I'm late for dinner. Well, I shall see you tomorrow then," said the Hooded Man as he got up and strode toward the door.
"What? That's it? You're just going to tell me that it's possible to destroy the power source of the Great Hero's bloodline but leave and not tell me how?" exclaimed the purple robed man. The Hooded Man rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. I'm going to reveal my entire plan and then bend over. Idiot," drawled the Hooded Man as he picked up the tome he was reading earlier. He turned and headed toward the door but paused and turned to face his smaller companion with an exasperated sighed.
"And do try to keep your blunders to a minimum. I have a tight schedule that I must keep to and it doesn't involve wasting energy healing you after getting attacked by a cat or knocked unconscious by the divine," said the Hooded Man. He then left the room.
The purple robe man just stared at where he left before finally just exploding with a string of curses. What was he supposed to say? 'I'm sorry for getting sucker punched by a goddess for doing something that you wanted me to do in the first place?' He stood up and stomped over to a random shelf and pulled out a book. Well, maybe something this wretched place will give him a clue as to what this guy was planning or who he was…
"Oh, and I almost forgot," said the Hooded Man as he walked back into the room. The purple robed man yelped and dropped the book he was skimming through. He glared at the taller man as he snatched it off the floor.
"Good Lord, can you not wreck my things? Most of everything in this library is very ancient and rather priceless. Which is more than I can say for you. So, don't mess with anything. But anyway, I almost forgot to tell you that the hero is probably halfway done with the Forest Temple by now. So, you'd best make sure whatever you sent to stop them is ready," said the Hooded Man. He then left the room again.
The purple robed man purposely jammed the book back into place and then stomped up to the balcony. He actually hadn't sent anything yet but there's no way he'd tell him that.
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"What?" exclaimed Link for the twentieth time that evening as the jigsaw puzzle pieces all reset themselves.
"I was this close! Oh come on, I've said I'm sorry a million times! Can't we just call it a draw?" exclaimed Link miserably as puzzle pieces flew around him, as if just to taunt him.
Sheik was really amused this entire hour and a half. He had already polished his whole set of knives, his short sword and even some of Link's equipment when the hero had tried using them in attempts to make it easier on himself. He found out that most of what he had actually made it worse. Especially once he either blew the pieces in random directions with his Gale Boomerang or broke them with his Clawshot, with a curse following each failure. So, he would just drop them in random places around the room as he hurried to finish what he now called the puzzle from hell. And just to piss him off more, Amy would change the image on the puzzle pretty often after Link would fail time after time.
Amy had always just ignored Link or made rude gestures to him when he tried to talk her out of making him do this but Sheik was almost ready to jump in there with the extremely frustrated hero. They did have a destiny to fulfill. On the other hand, he wouldn't mind another maybe ten minutes of Link cursing up a storm as he failed yet again to finish the middle of a castle or the end of a jungle scenery.
Meg suddenly appeared and floated right up to her sister. Link didn't notice, as he was sprinting around the room looking for…the end of a bloated green puffer fish? Wow, Amy really was getting creative. Sheik watched the sisters talk…or sign? He wasn't sure how they communicated but suddenly Amy looked worried, making Sheik tense.
Amy suddenly snapped her fingers and the puzzle vanished, making Link stop mid step. Then the sisters gestured for them to follow and disappeared through the door behind Sheik. The Sheikah quickly stood up as Link joined him. He took out his bottle of water and downed the entire thing as he walked toward the door the ghosts had disappeared though.
"Man…I just love Meg now. She is the only one that hasn't messed with us," said Link as they walked down the hallway. Sheik grumbled as they approached the door on the other side.
"The only one that hasn't messed with you…" muttered Sheik lowly.
"What?" Link asked as they entered the next room.
"Nothing," said Sheik. They walked to the balcony ahead of them and noticed they were back in the torch room.
The Poe Sisters were all huddled in the middle but quickly separated once they noticed them. Each one went to a different torch and lit it. With each torch burning with a different color, the dais at the center suddenly rose from the ground.
Sheik placed a hand on Link's shoulder and teleported right next to it. Link grinned and then hopped on the dais. It suddenly started to sink rather rapidly, so Sheik had to dive in before it disappeared from view.
Unfortunately, the dais was already a tight squeeze for one person. So, Sheik dived right onto Link and couldn't jump back because now there wasn't enough room.
"Sorry! Didn't know it would drop so suddenly like that," said Link. He leaned his back against one of the polls of the dais and put an arm around Sheik's shoulders.
"There. Still a tight squeeze but you can stand now," said Link as he loosened his hold to give the Sheikah more room.
Not really…he still had to be pressed up against the hero or he'd be scarping against the wall as it went down. Really, who was the idiot that designed this thing?
"Don't kill me for saying this but, I think vanilla suits you. Definitely not roses though. Just a little too girly for me," muttered Link against his ear. Sheik's face went beet red.
Good Nayru… right when he had settled himself down, he had to go and say something like that didn't he? But what did he mean it was to girly for him? He wasn't the one that was drenched in the damn smell.
The dais reached the bottom room and Sheik immediately leapt out of it before it even touched the ground. The Poe Sisters suddenly flew in opposite directions, but Sheik saw Joelle behind the bars that blocked the entrance to a particular room. She spun around and hit the switch near the bars with her red fire.
The bars on the opposite side of the dais suddenly lifted to reveal the hallway that lead to the locked boss door. The other three sisters rejoined them as they headed for the chained door.
Sheik frowned as he watched the Poe Sisters gesture nervously to each other. They must have done this last puzzle for us, but why? When they had made us do this entire temple ourselves? Something was wrong. And if it was bothering the Poe Sisters this much, then they definitely had a hell of a battle ahead of them.
They flew toward the locked door and impatiently waved for them to follow.
"What the heck? They'll make us do this whole Goddess forsaken place by ourselves but then turn around and do the last puzzle for us? Wonder what has them so spooked?" muttered Link as they walked down the blue carpeted hallway.
"Is Abby alright Meg?" asked Sheik. The Purple Poe turned and sadly gestured that she didn't know.
"Something isn't right Link…be on your guard," muttered Sheik as they approached the large door with an ornate lock. Sheik took out the boss key, but Link pouted at him.
"What?" Sheik asked as he looked back at the pouting Hero, his hand hovering over the lock.
"I wanted to open the door…," whined Link. Sheik rolled his eyes, muttering about him being such a baby and then handed over the boss key.
Link grinned and then posed as he stabbed the key in the lock and twisted. The door lifted once the lock fell to the ground. Sheik laughed softly as Link bounded inside like an excited child in a toy store. He quickly followed the hero as he climbed a set of stairs, skipping two or three steps at a time.
Meg hovered closer to him as they reached the arena, but nothing stood waiting for them. Link skidded to a halt near the middle of the arena, looking around the room for anything suspicious. Sheik stood just out of the arena, where the roped in arena's small opening was. He also looked for anything that posed a threat, but the room was empty.
"How lame is this? After all that, there ends up being nothing here! This isn't some kind of prank your all pulling on us is it?" exclaimed Link as he spun to face the Poe Sisters. They all immediately started gesturing that they had nothing to do with this.
Sheik frowned and turned when Meg giggled from behind him. She grinned, then hovered in front of him and once Link turned to scan the area again. She formed her purple flame into a heart and positioned it so Sheik would be looking through it to see Link.
He cursed at her. This really wasn't the time to be pissing him off…
A menacing laugh suddenly filled the room, making everyone tense. Sheik immediately darted toward Link, but suddenly smashed into something. Stumbling back, the dazed Sheikah then saw the invisible barrier that had suddenly sprung up around the arena. Dread filled him when he raced back toward the opening but frantically found that it firmly kept him out of the arena.
"Meg! This isn't funny!" shouted the Sheikah as he spun around to glare at her. She started to frantically gesture that she wasn't doing it. He tried to teleport inside but it wouldn't allow that either.
"Link! Link, come back! Something's blocking me from entering the arena!" shouted Sheik. Link spun to face him, a bewildered look on his face. He raced toward him but ran into the barrier as well.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? An impatient hero, a naive guide, and a useless group of ghosts…huh, not even trying to be intimidating are we?" drawled a voice that echoed from everywhere. Link spun around and growled.
"Why don't you come over here so I can pound the vanity right out of you, you little tyrant?" growled Link. The voice humphed.
"You couldn't defeat me even if you weren't injured. You'll be dead before you leave this room, but let's just put all these rumors to rest, hm? Let's see how strong the Great Hero really is," taunted the endless voice.
"Link, be careful! I feel dark energy building in this room!" exclaimed Sheik from right behind him. Sheik tried bashing his weapons, and even his hands against the barrier, but it wouldn't budge.
Link was hurriedly looking around the room for an unseen enemy, but the endless voice suddenly laughed again.
"Now this is entertainment! And it's just going to get better! Now, since you've made it through this temple, I'm sure these useless ghosts have tried throwing a few pranks your way? Seemingly innocent right? Well, did you all know that many actually haven't survived their pranks before?" asked the endless voice.
Sheik noticed the Poe Sisters suddenly look down at the floor. This obviously wasn't something that they were proud of.
"But I must thank you for the generous amount of angry souls that littered this forest. You'd be surprised how many of them just hated it when I so much as breathed any of your names…" said the endless voice.
"Hey! Shut up already! They aren't bad people! They've just done some bad things! Now get your little ass over here and stop wasting my time with your stupid monologues!" shouted Link.
"You-how dare you? You will suffer my wrath mortal! But…actually I have a much better idea. Since you're so fond of your ghostly friends, then maybe you can try and get some sympathy from all these angry souls that hate them!" exclaimed the endless voice menacingly.
Suddenly the dark magic crackled within the room and started to gather in the middle. Screaming souls flowed from the walls and entered the core forming at the center. The Poe Sisters all huddled together behind Sheik and watched fearfully as the core grew bigger.
Sheik tried everything he could think of but the barrier firmly kept him at arm's reach from Link. The hero turned and gave him a small smile.
"Hey, don't freak out Sheik. I got this, ok? Just cheer me on," said Link. He then turned back and strode toward his newly formed enemy, unsheathing the Master Sword as he went.
"Link! No! It's too dangerous!" exclaimed Sheik desperately, but all he could do was pound helplessly on the barrier.
"Din damn it!"