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Arc 2: On the Run
Chapter 21: Moonlight Outmaneuver
~Link~
The Zora captained the small deck boat so it would get as close to their side of the river as possible before colliding with it. Link wasted no time hopping the railing separating the sidewalk and the river, and slowly dropped down into the boat. The others quickly followed.
"They're going to recover soon!" Komali urged.
"Not a problem." the Zora said. She turned the steering wheel as the boat began moving, coursing towards the center of the river.
If they weren't going to die, Link would've probably loved this view. Going through the empty river of an empty town with millions of lights and bridges surrounding them. It was phenomenal. But a sudden gunshot told Link that was probably not what he should be worrying about.
Looking upon the shore, there was a police car driving along with them, shooting at them while in motion. Zelda put her hands up in the air to form a blue dome to block the ship from any attacks.
"Thanks, kid." the Zora thanked.
"You're welcome," Zelda replied. She continued to project the shield.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
"Who, me?" she replied.
"Yeah, you."
"My name's Ruto. I'm also a member of the Resistance. Don't introduce yourselves; Saria filled me in."
"What ca-"
"Let's save personal information when we're out of death's way, okay?" she asked, sighing. Link nodded, understanding the situation. Zelda took down the shield and fired a ball of light straight at the car. It soared towards it, and rebounded off its side mirror to hit the driver, causing him to spin into the river.
"Nice shot!" Link said, hi-fiving Zelda who weakly complied.
"We've got more company!" Ruto interrupted. Two more police cars came in, one on both sides.
"You two deal with them!" Link demanded, pointing at Malon and Komali. "Zelda's exhausted!"
Malon and Komali rushed to opposite sides of the boat. Komali outstretched his arm and ejected a few volts of electricity from his fingertips. From what it looked like, his intention was to pop the tires or incapacitate the driver.
The car went up in a fiery explosion.
"Must've hit the gas tank!" he cringed. "Never mind. Don't worry about them, they're trying to kill us!"
Malon whipped off her glove and formed a fireball in her hand. She aimed straight for the second car on the opposite side of the river... and completely missed as the fireball underwent gravity and plopped into river.
"Really?" she complained.
"Move." Komali ordered, semi-pushing Malon out of the way. He shot the second car with a bolt of electricity, and successfully popped the tires without exploding it and killing everyone. "Oh, thank Farore."
"Is that everyone?" Link asked. The two policemen in the second car got out and began running after them, pistols in hand. As they began to shoot at the boat, Link grabbed everyone's heads (except for Ruto) and yanked them to get behind the seats. Several bullets lodged themselves in the side of the boat with an audible *CLANG*
"On second thought, maybe you should have killed them, Komali." Malon said.
Komali gave her a look of disapproval, but ultimately ignored her. "Ruto," he sighed. "Are bullet holes going to make this boat sink?"
"This metal is tough enough to handle a few bullets. We'll be fine as long as they're not lucky enough to get two bullets in the exact same spot. Besides, with my power, that won't even be an issue. I could just expel the water, though we'd probably have to dock shortly after."
Komali's eyes darted towards the speedboat engine. "What if they shoot the engine? It'll explode!"
"Don't worry about that! Just focus on the people trying to kill us, please."
Geez. She's sassy.
"Komali and Zelda, you're the only ones capable of dealing with them at this distance!" Link urged.
Zelda stood up, summoning the light bow. "Fine." She pulled back the drawstring, and fired the pure light arrow towards the policemen, both lodging in their legs, causing them to collapse onto the floor as the boat cruised away.
Zelda collapsed on her knees. "Ugh. I feel like I just ran a marathon in snow gear." She fell asleep right then and there.
"Yeah, I'm beat." Komali agreed, falling backwards onto one of the seats on the boat, falling asleep. Malon and Link, who barely did any work, just sat down to catch their breath.
"I guess it's advantageous to be useless sometimes." Malon laughed. Link tried to go along with the joke, but his laughter was obviously forced. Though Malon didn't seem to catch on, a glance from Ruto seemed to tell him that she knew his true feelings.
After the shock died down, everyone was simply waiting for whatever was going to happen next. It was the middle of the night, and nothing interesting had really happened since the encounter. Since then, they had left the semi-large town of Tarrey and had continued boating upstream.
The sun had not yet risen, but Komali had woken up and was alert.
"That was a good rest." he said, stretching his wings. He grabbed a bottle of water and drank around a quarter of it.
"Komali, would you mind if I had a sip of that water?" Malon asked.
"Sure." he replied, tossing the bottle to her. "Just don't put your mouth o-"
Malon put the bottle to her lips and began drinking. Then, she pushed the bottle more into her mouth until it was halfway down her throat.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Komali asked.
"What?" Malon innocently asked. She handed the bottle back to Komali.
"No, no, keep it. Keep it, please."
"It's your water."
"Germs. I have a big thing about germs."
"Are you saying my mouth isn't clean?"
"It's covered in your spit!"
"So?"
Link watched with a happy smile on his face. He was desperate for some kind of entertainment on this boring ride.
"Just take it. Take it. I'm not thirsty anymore."
"Fine."
Komali put his hands on his head and sighed in relief while Malon finished up the last of the bottle. Link had watched them go at it for a whole half hour. And somehow during that nonsense, Zelda hadn't woken up.
"So, Ruto, where are we heading?" Link asked.
"We're heading upstream to Lake Hylia. But we're not going into Lake Hylia. We're going to dock right outside it."
"What? Why?" Link inquired. He was genuinely curious.
"Lake Hylia is on the border of three countries. Hyrule, Termina, and Labrynna. Though the lake is extremely big, I mean, Koholint Island could fit in there and still have lake to spare, there's invisible borders in the center of the lake. As such, each of these countries have to inspect each boat and flag it with either yellow, red, or blue depending on which country they're from. If a boat lands on a shore that's not for their country, they'll get torpedo'ed. But, we're more worried about inspection. They'll definitely catch us."
"What's our plan of attack?" Malon asked. "By the way, you are going to take us all the way to Labrynna, right? Saria said she had to stay in Hateno no matter what."
"Yes, I'm going to take you back to Labrynna. This is my last mission as a scout, and I should get back to home base and report to Impa. We're just going to cruise down the Lomei river for a few days, then get off and walk northeast to the Terminan border."
"Few days?" Zelda asked, shocked.
"When did you wake up?" Link asked, recoiling in the boat's seat.
"Just now."
"It should be around five days at the latest."
"Why so long?" Malon complained.
"There's a few factors..." she trailed. "The river winds a lot, we have to dock to sleep, no doubt that someone will have to use the bathroom and we'll have to stop, we're going upstream, and we'll have to find somewhere to stop and refuel, there's the chance we could run out of food"
"Why didn't we just walk?" Malon asked.
"Fine. Get out and walk the six hundred miles to the border. Then we'll see who's faster."
"Saria was so much nicer than you..." Malon said.
Ruto sighed. "I get that a lot. But, there's no doubt that I'll be able to help you. You seem a little novice in usage of your powers. You need to get creative. You get a lot of loopholes and alternative methods when you have an elemental power like that. We'll pull over in a couple of hours so we could train a bit."
"Got it." Link said, with a thumbs' up. "But, Ruto, I'm curious about you. How long have you been a scout?"
"Around a year."
"Which means, you've been with the Resistance for a year?"
"That's right."
"But, what was there to resist a year ago?"
"Ganondorf, doy!"
"But Ganondorf only rose to power around a month and a half ago. With the Civil War, right?"
Ruto was silent. There was no backstabby or snarky response from her mouth, just silence. There was something she wasn't telling.
"Ruto, do you know something?" Zelda asked.
"N-No. I'm fine." she replied.
Link leaned into Zelda. "She definitely knows something".
"She might be forgetting something, or might doubt her own statement?"
"That doesn't make any sense! How would you doubt a statement like that?"
"That is a good point. It doesn't sound like anything you would mistakenly get wrong."
Ruto turned to them, only around three feet away. "You know I can hear you, right?"
"Do Auras have super hearing?" Link whispered. Zelda facepalmed.
~Malon~
Now, the sun had risen and was high in the sky. Ruto steered the ship to the right and dropped the anchor into the water.
"What's this?" Komali asked. "There's nothing here."
"Exactly," Ruto replied. "That's why we're going to use it to train and control your powers. Especially Malon. You have a lot of problems from what I've heard."
"What?" Malon recoiled. "There's something wrong with me?"
"Not with you, but with your hands. You can't turn the heat off, correct?"
"That's right..."
"We'll start with you. Everybody out."
Everyone made their way out of the boat. Link, Zelda, and Komali walked backwards and sat down on a fallen log, while Malon stayed standing with Ruto in front of her.
"Take off your gloves." she said. Malon complied and took each glove off, revealing her glowing, red-hot hands. "Catch." Ruto said, tossing her a piece of wood. Malon caught it as it instantly ignited in flames and turned to ash.
"Annoying, isn't it?" Ruto asked.
"You have no idea. Those gloves are so irritating."
Ruto directed her hands towards the river, pulling two orbs of water out of it. She used her hands to guide it towards Malon, and surrounded each hand in one of the orbs. Instead of the heat going out, each orb got slightly smaller until all the water evaporated.
"That's not a bad power if I say so myself..." she said. "If I can't externally extinguish that heat, you're going to have to do it. No Aura power will permanently affect your body in the way that yours is."
"What do I do then?" Malon asked.
"Whenever you use your power, think of a real-world equivalent of that action. If you want to extinguish your hands, think of a light switch or a gas burner, and think of yourself manually turning that dial off."
"Alright." Malon closed her eyes and scrunched her face. Link watched closely as the glow in her hands began to fade. It was still there, just less intense.
"Just continue turning that dial." she encouraged. Malon began sweating as her hands dimmed, eventually fading away to nothing.
"You see?" Ruto asked with a genuine smile.
Malon looked at her hands in amazement. "You did it!" Malon screamed.
"No, you did it. Here, catch!"
Ruto tossed Malon a block of wood, but she wasn't paying attention and it bonked her on the head, causing her to collapse to the ground.
"Here, catch!" Ruto said, tossing Malon a block of wood. She caught it, and it didn't ignite or go into flames.
"Now that you know how to turn it off, why don't you try turning it back on?" Ruto asked. "Same procedure."
Malon closed her eyes as her hands slowly began to glow, becoming incandescent.
"Good job!" Ruto shouted. But Malon didn't stop. Her hands continued to glow from red to white, as the others, ten feet away, showed their discomfort.
"MALON! THAT'S ENOUGH! TURN IT DOWN!" Ruto shouted. Malon toned her hands back down to normal.
"For Din's sake, how hot was that?" Ruto asked. Malon shrugged.
Komali, however, seemed to know. "It was at least two thousand degrees. Possibly even more. You could definitely rip through copper and aluminum. Possibly steel if you toned it up more."
"Yeah... what he said." Ruto said. "Ahem, let's move on. Fireballs."
Ruto pulled three blobs of water out of the river, placed them around ten feet, twenty feet, and thirty feet, and shaped them like policemen. "Hit each one of them with a fireball."
"Are you sure? We're in a forest..."
"I'll extinguish the flames if they get out of hand. Don't worry about them."
Ruto constructed a wall of water right between the water targets and the trees. "Just go."
Malon cupped her hands and tossed a few fireballs at these water policemen. She hit the first one, but the second and third ones bounced a bit around the targets and dissipated as they struck the water wall.
"You see... you need to work on your aim and accuracy. The fireballs can bounce around and become too dangerous and unpredictable if they don't hit your target, and it could possibly stray and hit one of your teammates. Do you know how to make them dissipate?"
"I never tried..." Malon said. "I just kind of threw the fireballs and see wherever it lands."
"That's a terrible strategy. Let's work on dissipation first. Fire isn't quite matter, so you can make it completely vanish into thin air."
Ruto dragged a few fallen logs and placed them in a pile in front of the water wall. "It's large enough for you to hit it. Just toss the fireball at the logs and make it dissipate before it catches on fire."
"Alright." Malon created a fireball and tossed it at the pile of logs. It caught on fire as Ruto put it out. "That's alright. That's alright. Just try again. Remember to think of an everyday practice that represents the action you're taking."
Alright. I can do this. Malon thought. She formed a ball of fire and tossed it straight at the pile of timber. Just before it hit the wood, she imagined herself blowing out a candle, and projected that thought towards the real world. In real time, the fire got extinguished before it touched the pile of wood.
"Very good." Ruto said. "Again."
Malon repeated this around ten times, with seven of them successfully dissipating the fireball.
"You're doing well for a novice." Ruto congratulated. "Let's move back into aim. There's no point using fireballs if you can't hit anything."
Malon nodded.
"Just think of this as a baseball game. It's just like that. The more practice you get, the better you'll be. It's nothing extraordinary. Just toss the balls and hit each of the targets in a row. If you miss, start over."
After a few times trying, it was just like Ruto said. She wasn't doing anything extreme with her powers. She was just doing target practice. It really wasn't too interesting, but it was definitely helpful to know how to aim properly. After around forty five minutes of target practice and moving targets and whatnot, Ruto decided it was time to move on.
"Flamethrower. Let's work on that now. Just initiate the flamethrower and try to see how far you can stretch it."
She outstretched her hand and released a torrent of fiery flames.
"Hmm... Fifteen feet. Impressive." Ruto said. "Just keep it there. Go for as long as you can. Try not to let up."
She blasted the fire for as long as she could until her arms began to shake. She began sweating as her entire body seemed to be giving out like a fish out of water. She kept going, keeping herself sustained... until the fire ran out. A few more spurts came out of her hands until the entire thing died down after around two minutes and she collapsed onto the floor.
"Is she dead?" Link asked.
"She should be fine. Just help her up and let her rest with you. I'll train another one of you."
Link and Zelda slung her arms over their shoulders and carried her to the log. Walking even with the assistance was very difficult for her. Everything felt like putty.
"Which one of you should I train next... hmm... You there! Sparky!" Ruto pointed at Komali, but that was the last thing she saw before her eyelids drooped, beckoning sleep.
~Komali~
"What can you do?" Ruto asked.
"Well... I can do illusions and shoot lightning out of my fingers, but that's essentially the extent that I've experimented with so far."
"Let's focus on the lightning part. Show me."
Komali directed his attention towards a stump that wasn't surrounded by any other trees. He outstretched his fingers and released a steady stream of electricity towards it, frying it from the inside out. When he stopped, it lit on fire.
"Nice job." Ruto said. "Try to see what else you can do. Maybe you can shock people by simply touching them? Try it on Link."
"What? Me?" Link asked. "No! Have him try it on you!"
"Zora + electricity = major injury."
Link sighed. Komali walked up to him and touched his fingertip towards Link's arm, then felt a jump of charge.
"Ow!" Link complained.
"Come on. There's no way that hurt."
"It's like, you know when you slide down a playground slide, and you build up static electricity and shock someone? it's like that."
"Did it hurt though?"
"Not really."
Ruto sighed. "Were you restraining yourself?"
"Yeah. Of course I didn't want it to hurt."
"Okay, okay, try electrically charging your hands. Like how Malon did with heat earlier."
Komali had zero problem surrounding his hands in a field of sparking, charged electricity. It was less visible than Malon's, but it was clearly there.
"Great. Now zap Link."
"What? Really?" Link asked, slowly backing away. "Why me?"
"He can't zap me." Ruto said, chuckling. "He could kill me."
"Uhh... he could kill me too!" Link justified. "Humans aren't made out of rubber!"
"Eh, that might be true. Stand down."
Komali got back into position as Ruto tried to get serious again. "Now, try throwing out some punches with those electrified hands of yours."
He jabbed a few times with his left hand and did a couple of uppercuts, as it left a short-lasting tail of floating electricity.
"This is cool!" he said.
"Okay, can you funnel your powers into the rest of your body, or is it restricted to your arms?"
Komali responded by channeling his energy into his entire body, causing it to be covered in sparks and charges.
"Try a couple of kicks and knees."
He kicked the air a couple of times with similar effects to the punches.
"Alright, alright. You've got a lot to work with already, and every power is different. I'm just going to throw a few suggestions out there, so don't worry if you can or can't do some of them. Shock wave?"
He balled up his body and got on the ground, willing his power to disperse everywhere in the air.
"Shit. Everyone get back!" Ruto shouted, running away from him. Zelda and Link did the same, carrying an unconscious Malon.
He felt the electric discharge come out of his whole body, causing a sphere to come out of his body on all angles. The sphere continued to grow bigger until it electrocuted everything within a twenty feet radius before dissipating. Ruto came slowly walking back towards him.
"Damn." she said. "Are you okay? That seemed like a little much."
Komali struggled to stand up. "I need a nap."
Link arrived to take him under his arm and walk him back to the tree log.
~Zelda~
"I think it's about time we get some lunch," Ruto said, stretching out her arms. They had waited until Komali and Malon had recovered, but they hadn't really done anything except lounge around and rest.
"Why don't you two try to see how practical your new skills are?" Ruto asked, pointed at Malon and Komali. "Try to catch and cook some fish."
"I don't really eat fish..." Malon complained.
"Just do it!" Ruto encouraged.
"Fine! Komali, you catch it, I cook it."
"Got it."
Komali shot a bolt of electricity into the water, causing a few dead bass to pop up.
"Link, can I borrow your sword?" Komali asked. Link nodded and tossed it to him. He used the sword to stab the fish and pull them towards him, then used it to scale the fish. He passed it off to Malon, who held it with one hand and lit the other one on fire. After rotating the fish a few times, it was fully cooked and ready to eat. Ruto got a few plates out of the back of the boat and began to slice up the fish and plate it. They all sat down inside the boat and began conversing.
"I'm so sore," Malon complained.
"Me too," Komali said, struggling to lift the fork to his mouth.
"Needs more salt," Link complained. "It's bland."
"Shut up!" Ruto shouted. "I don't carry around holsters of salt and lemons! Just shut up and eat it, or don't eat it at all!"
She collapsed backwards on the boat's seat. "Sheesh."
"Ruto, why don't you tell us your story?" Zelda suggested.
"My- my story?"
"Yeah. How you got recruited to the Resistance, what happened, stuff like that."
Ruto put her fork and plate down. "This is going to be a long one. So, basically, I actually lived in Talus in Labrynna from the very start. I know you know that Labrynna is the safest country here for people like us, but that doesn't mean it's 100% peace and safety. Around two years ago, my parents were mysteriously slaughtered. Two calling cards were found there, with an inverted Sheikah symbol. The police arrived on the scene, but they weren't able to identify the culprits. However, they could identify one thing. The symbol. It was the symbol of the Yiga Clan."
"What exactly is the Yiga Clan?" Zelda asked. "Saria said they have a large presence in Labrynna, and they sound like people we should definitely know about."
Ruto sighed. "Later, I learned that they're an organization devoted to enforcing Ganon's rule outside of Hyrule. But they go to extremes, actions that I'm not even sure that Ganon would personally do. Of course, he's not going to stop them or tell them off."
"So what specific things do they do?" she asked.
"Well... they normlly pick off people who they see as a threat towards Hyrule and Ganon's rule. Those include resistance members, people of high political power, corporations, the military, and anyone in specific who Ganon himself sees as a threat."
"So," Malon started. "If we do join the resistance, we're going to be targeted by the Yiga?"
"Ganon's already deemed you a threat. You're not safe from them regardless. But, if you join the resistance, you'll have more people to help shield you. Though now, the resistance is kind of kaput after we lost over forty eight out of fifty of our members in a failed attack on Hyrule."
"What do you mean kaput?" Link asked. "If the resistance is broken down and non-functional, then why are we even joining in the first place?"
"After we lost most of our members, it's just scouts, two Auras, and Impa. But, that doesn't mean we're not trying to get more people. It's just kind of hard to find people who are Auras, and are willing to leave their friends and families."
"But back to the Yiga clan. Something that you should know is that they have quite a few Aura assassins. Yes, they recruit Auras too."
Komali's head sunk. "So... you mean... if we get to Labrynna, we'll have to face off against other Auras?"
"Most likely. That's part of the reason we're having you train."
"But what about me?" Link asked. "I'm not an Aura. What will I do against other auras?"
"That's why you have that sword of yours, right? You can still train, right?" Ruto asked. "Besides, once you meet Impa, she can give you some Sheikah technology to give you an upper hand."
"Uhh... Ruto?" Zelda asked. "Is Link really powerless? How would you truly know that?"
"Saria probably said this already, but we have a mole in the Aura Complex who's working to get them out as we speak. Though, they increased security after you guys escaped. We just learned from whatever they wrote down in their files. If you want a second check up by Impa, she can scan you again to test if they miswrote something or if they miscalculated something. But for now, you're almost certainly not an Aura."
Link cleared his throat. "Why don't we get back to your story?"
"Oh, right." Ruto replied. "I never learned why my parents were targeted by the Yiga. And, chances are, I never will. After my parents died, I lived homeless out on the street for a while. I didn't want the police couldn't to catch me and put me in an orphanage. I didn't want a new family. I wanted my old one back. There, in an alleyway in Talus, a man tried to kill me. I'm not sure if it was another member of the Yiga, or if it was just a drunken criminal rapist murderer, but that's when my powers awoke. Water pipes exploded outwards and created water chains around him with a bubble around his head. That was enough time for me to get away, but from then on, I was able to use my new powers. A scout found me eventually and recruited me. After a few months of training, I elected to become a scout so we could get more people. I recruited a few people, but they were all lost in the attack on Hyrule Castle."
"That's... really dark." Zelda said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry. I'm mostly over it now. I've told my stories, why don't you tell us yours?"
"Individually, or as a group?" Zelda asked.
"As a group. Whatever happened prior to the Aura Complex is kind of the same for all of you, no? You were part of a major incident and were kidnapped, thrown into a truck, and put into- i mean taken to the Aura Complex, right?"
"That's right," Link, Malon, and Komali said consecutively.
"What about you?" Ruto asked. "Did it happen differently for you?"
"N-no. I jus-"
"She's an amnesiac." Malon said. "She can't remember anything before waking up in the Aura Complex."
"Oh," Ruto replied. "I see."
"Basically, Malon was our saving grace when we left the Complex. Her power-neutralizing bracelet broke without Vaati noticing, which allowed her to use her powers to lead the escape. Eventually, we had all of our bracelets broken off and we used our powers to leave the Complex. Then, Groose followed us outside. He tried to kill us, but we kind of left him hanging in the snow. We don't know where he is now and frankly, we don't really care." Link explained. "From there, we walked to Hateno, almost died there several times because cops were shooting at us and exploding the trains we were on, changed our appearances, got on a bus to Tarrey, the bus got destroyed by monsters, we killed them, walked to Tarrey, housed with these people, cops found us, ran, and we found you."
"Did you just summarize the entire journey this far with one paragraph?" Malon asked. "I guess that's the gist of it..."
"That's great. Let's just get back to training, shall we?" Ruto said.
"You can do the shields, but what's your second power?" She asked. "The Aura Complex file listed your primary power as 'unknown'."
"From the looks and properties of it, I can control light." Zelda replied. "I mean, it goes straight through windows without shattering them and I think it rebounded off a mirror once."
"Let's work on your shields first." Ruto said. Do me simple. Project a shield.
"Alright. That's not that hard." Zelda replied. She put her hands up as a bluish-clear shield appeared in front of her. Ruto got a hammer out of the ship and walked up to the shield. She swung it and whacked the shield multiple times.
"What are the properties of it?" Ruto asked.
"They decrease my energy with each impact!" She strained to say.
Ruto continued swinging the hammer. "Try to keep the shield up as long as possible."
Zelda endured for a few more swings until she felt her arms and energy giving out. The shield ended and she collapsed to her knees, panting.
"Do you have enough energy to work on your light power, or do you want a rest?"
"I think I have enough... huff.. energy." she replied. She was exhausted, but she wasn't tired.
"Alright. Show me what you can do."
Zelda formed the light bow and aimed it towards a tree behind Ruto. She aimed, pulled back the drawstring, and fired it, lodging an arrow in the tree.
"You did something similar with a ball earlier, right?" Ruto asked. "Do that again. But on me."
"Are you sure?" Zelda asked. "I don't know how much it hurts."
"Just do it. It'll be fine."
Zelda formed a ball of light and aimed it straight at Ruto's stomach. She tossed it as the light hit her, causing her to recoil backwards onto the ground.
"Oh, are you okay?" she concerning asked, running up to her.
"I'm fine, i'm fine, it's a little more powerful than I anticipated."
Ruto pushed herself up. "Alright. Target practice."
She snapped as a few water targets popped up from the river. "Hit these."
Zelda nodded and aimed her throw towards the closest one. She aimed, and threw it. Her aim was completely on point. It went directly into the water target's chest.
But she forgot that water diffuses light in strange ways. The majority of the ball came out the back of it, but a few slightly dimmer balls came out of the target at all angles. Some came back and smacked Ruto, Link, and Malon. Komali was smart enough to fly upwards.
"Ow!" Malon shouted.
"Really?" Link asked.
"Didn't hurt as much as last time," Ruto said.
Komali flapped down to the ground.
"So, looks like you've got aim down... I don't know much about this power. I don't know how to train it. Just try to see what else you can make out of that light of yours."
She concentrated on a sword. She channeled her energy to her hands, just like always, but imagined a sword instead of a bow or a sphere. Her hands began to feel a solid object to wrap her hands around. Looking down, she saw a sword bright enough that you couldn't make out any distinct features or stare at it too long. It was skinny, like a rapier.
"Now, Zelda, why don't you duel Link?" Ruto suggested.
Oh, boy.
For the reviewer who asked about Midna, I just wanted to say that she will be relevant in arc 4. Maybe Arc 3 if I manage to squeeze her in there somewhere, as her story doesn't really fit with the theme for Arc 3, but she will be back by Arc 4 guaranteed.
And I only plan to add three more main Aura characters in addition to the ones you've met, all of them in Arc 3.
I'm really excited for Arc 3 because that's where I'll have most of the ideas for little fun things they can do.
I just felt like uploading this chapter today. There may or may not be a chapter this weekend.