Chapter no. : 24
Chapter title: For The Love Of-
Story rating: T (for now)
BETAed: Very Excellent Now-Knowing Seal (of approval) from Venks
Disclaimer: Me no own Zelda. I mean, come on - how stupid are you? If I did own Zelda , it would contain much swearing, blood, sex and rock'n'roll. And Yaoi. Don't forget the luffly yaoi. But since I don't own it, I have to settle for entertaining you guys with my stories and OCs - which is fine by me.
Warnings: Not any at the moment. Apart from that this is a shounen ai/yaoi story and contains spoilers from TP.
Thanks for the reviews...
JtheChosen1
Suigetsu Kyouka
Lil' Miss Spookiness
mahoakitti
Ryukai-MJ
Devilish Child AKA Raven
Celestial7
Notes: I've just found out, I'm going back to the quack! Yay! Well, you probably wouldn't know about my past, but let's just say I've said hello-goodbye once to the shrink and now he's welcoming me back with open arms (and possibly an open straight-jacket) because of my GP. Oh, no, sorry - I'm going to see 'a behavioralist' or whatever, because my 'panic attacks' (or so they say) have no trigger. First to the cardiologist, but then to- damn, I've probably scared you or freaked you out. Well, if you see a random spurt of jibberish on the page, that's where I've probably had a cardiac arrest and passed out on the keyboard. Kay? Kay.
Totally irrelevant quote of the update - or is it?:
"We've got to stop this penis thing NOW!" (It was on 'Have I Got News For You', in the 'Best Interruption Round'... that would certainly catch you, wouldn't it?)

The fight with King Dodongo went surprisingly fast and amazingly smooth. It was as if the thirty or so smaller lizards were in on our plan, as they went after me as soon as Midna moved the rocks away and we were revealed.

I managed to destroy about half of them fairly quickly, Hero having to get rid of one that decided that he might be a little bit more fun than I was whilst he fought with the King.

Of course, 'fighting' the King was a little bit of an understatement. It was a stubborn creature, obviously having learned to keep its mouth shut from its defeating battle with the Hero of Time. And when it wasn't trying to blast Hero with its fiery breath, it was busy rolling around the perimeter of the cavern, squashing many of its remaining children and nearly me.

It was when I killed the final dodongo that I heard a crashing sound, followed by a heinous shrieking roar. Snapping my gaze to where Hero stood, I watched as King Dodongo, with smoke streaming from its mouth and nostrils, curled into a tight ball once again and rolled around the cave one more time, before keeling over into the boiling lava.

Hero cheered, wiping sooty sweat from his brow and jogging over to me, both out gazes on the violently bubbling magma.

"That was easy…" he commented.

"Too easy…" I murmured.

Was it down to Raka's help or was there something amiss? A trap, perhaps? Or…

"That was the reason for the increase in dodongo," I suddenly said. "But…" A blast of heat, as if on cue, cut me off; it came from the molten centre. "What about the heat surges?"

"Are you saying there's another creature or something? That this was, like, the sub-boss?" Hero groaned. "Great…"

"I don't know, Hero. This battle just seems… anti-climatic…"

He shrugged. "I hope to the goddesses that this is over…"

As he spoke, the lava sealed over, cooling to hard rock. On top of this newly-formed rock, a light appeared, morphing into the shape of a box. Hero stepped forward as the light receded to show a large chest, which he opened and reach inside; he pulled out what appeared to be an oversized hammer.

He twirled it in his hands as if it were a paper weight, brow furrowed.

Midna materialized beside him, also examining the hammer. "What is that?"

"A hammer?"

"I know that, Link, don't treat me like a five-year old. I'm aged enough to be your grandmother, now have some respect."

I stepped up to them, my gaze, too, set on the strange weapon. It was simple really. Made of a dull, dark metal and unornamented, it was plain and hardly exciting; but that only hinted at the possible damage it could cause.

"What do you think, Sheik?"

"Try swinging it. Wait," I cut in, as he adjusted his grip on it. "Wait until Midna and I are out of the way? Or you could try it on those rocks over there."

"Why?"

"Because they may hide the exit to this place."

"Good point."

He walked up to a pile of rubble stacked against one of the walls, bracing his feet when he reached destination. With an almighty swing, the hammer was smashed against the rocks, disintegrating them as if they were made of sand. The hammer also struck the floor, as Hero couldn't pull off the momentum, and a small shudder ran through the earth.

Hero held the weapon up to eyelevel. "Gods…" he breathed.

"Now that's one handy hammer," Midna commented. "I just guess it's not for nails and housework." She squinted, trying to look through the dust. "And I think you were right, Sheik. That did hide the exit."

Her statement was true; through the cloud of dirt, a black arch could be seen – and when it totally cleared, I saw a dark tunnel – for some reason, it didn't seem foreboding.

We both moved over to Hero, who deposited the strange weapon into one of his magic pouches. I raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't that heavy for you? You handled it like it weighed nothing."

"It… did, to me. It felt like it should weigh a whole lot more, but…" He shrugged, glancing at the tunnel and then back at me. "But shall we?"

I paused, as Midna flew into his shadow. "You've stopped calling me 'Shadow'."

"I can't be bothered anymore. Maybe I'll use it the odd few times, but… nah, you're 'Sheik' to me, through and through. Annoying, exasperating and frustrating – not to forget nauseatingly mysterious; but everybody loves a bastard."

"Hm… that must be why everybody falls in love with you."

He chuckled and gestured to the black hallway. "After you."

Down the tunnel we went, hands splayed on the walls as there was absolutely no light; unfortunately for us, Hero hadn't topped up on oil and his lantern was empty – if only we had used one of the bottles Raisa had been given by Coro.

Hero near-stumbled on something on the floor, but regained his balance fairly quickly. He did, however, let out a curse, which in the dark, was amusing to say the least.

"Hey, Sheik?"

"Yes, Hero?"

"I think I just tripped on a rope or something… and the floor in front of me is… springy…"

"Springy?" I bent down and felt before me, fingers latching onto something I was shocked to believe. "It's a plant of some kind… judging by the shape, it's ivy… and lots of it."

"Ivy? In a volcano?"

"Let's just keep moving, alright?"

I suddenly felt something grip my arm and I tensed, reaching over to grab whatever had latched onto me. I heard Hero yelp.

"Sheik, wait! It's me!"

I relaxed. "Hero, what do you think you're doing, grabbing me in the pitch black?"

"I thought you were the wall!" he shot back. "Hey, I'm not as… Sheikah-ish as you are, remember that."

"I know, Hero," I murmured. "Now let's move. The wall is next to me."

I heard him mumble something under his breath. I only caught the word 'close' and nothing else; what could he be muttering about? Thinking about how adamant he was about our relationship actually working, he probably wanted to be near me. My heart juddered. Part of me wanted that, in that way, but the other half was telling me that now was not the time nor the place.

"Sheik, you okay?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're not moving."

I swallowed. The hand that was on my arm slipped up to my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

"I'm fine, Hero… let's just keep moving; it's too hot and we're in a confined space."

"I suppose. But, if you haven't noticed, the ivy's on the wall too; possibly on the ceiling. Whatever's up ahead, we're most likely close. I just hope it's not a man-eating plant."

"If it is, it'll go for you first, meaning I can get away."

"Me? Why me?"

"You're a hero. More of a man than me, the sidekick."

He 'hm'ed, but his tone was… perverted somewhat… bordering on the edge of giggling school girl – I didn't like the tone. Or did I?

I moved forward, feet catching on and snapping a few vines, but I didn't fall; neither did Hero. I wondered if this tunnel was long and what lay at the end, if it were dangerous or not. I could tell Hero was in the same wagon as I was, as he stayed absolutely quiet and his feet dragged along the forested floor, as if in deep thought.

Then, a light appeared at the end of the corridor, a small dot at first, but broadening out as we neared. It was a flickering light blue and, as we drew closer to the end, I could hear the melody of a harp, playing a light, plucky tune.

We stepped into the light, finding it not bright enough to blind, but just enough for us to wince slightly at first.

The ivy that covered the tunnel had given way to pure white marble, which weaved around, framing bubbling fountains either side of us and in front of us. But the walls… the walls were a different story; there were no walls. They looked endless, but waves of blue light cascaded down, echoing off into the black.

"Wow…" Hero murmured, sapphire orbs wide as he gazed around the room. "What is this place?"

I didn't reply; I only walked up towards the raised fountain at the end, eyes set on a gold symbol on the floor. It was the Triforce, the pyramid of gold triangles. For some reason, I knew what to do. Pulling out my harp, I set it in place, raising my fingers to the strings and beginning to play Zelda's Lullaby, the notes coming to me like a second nature. Hero stepped up to me and began to play with me, the sound of his ocarina mixing with my harp.

There was a soft giggle and a burst of brightness. Before us was a young fairy, her bright red, shoulder-length, spiky hair swaying in an imaginary breeze, tanned skin surrounded by fire that hid her hips and chest. She smiled, her crimson orbs twinkling in the pure light.

"Welcome Heroes of Legend. I am the Great Fairy of Power. I reign over this mountain and all those kingdoms of fire. I praise your efforts for destroying the resurrected King Dodongo, set free by evil powers. These evil ones – they seek the power I have been told to protect by Din herself." The Fairy paused. "You must stop these beings of darkness, before they obtain the jewels of the elements. I have but a shard of fire – if I had more I would have been able to vanquish the King with it, but all I could do was increase the heat… it slowed the swell of dodongo, but by not much…

"For over a hundred years, I have resided here, waiting for you to return. And so you have. My sisters reside with the other gems; hopefully, they will have kept them safe from darkness…" She once again smiled. "Battle has made you weary. Please, rest here 'til your wounds are healed…"

She disappeared in a great plume of fire, which shrunk down into the pool of water, a soft giggle echoing off the walls. Fairies suddenly emerged from the pool, floating around in the air; two moved over to us, whizzing around our bodies and healing any marks that had been made, leaving us refreshed.

I heard Hero sigh in relief. Not only had the fairies healed us, but they had reduced our body temperatures; no longer were we dizzy and boiling beneath our clothes from the heat. I glanced at Hero in the corner of my eye, through my curtain of silvery hair to find him looking at me expectantly.

"Well…?"

I cocked an eyebrow, staring blankly at him, trying to put across that I had no idea what he was waiting for. Probably for me to come up with a brilliant idea on what to do next – it was what I seemed to be doing lately. Or for me to do or say something. Comment on the Fairy's message? Our battle? The Ruby – or lack of? What to do next?

It appeared that he was waiting for any of those, but he also realised he was going to have to decide which to tackle first. Crossing his arms over his chest, he turned to fully regard me, his blue eyes rippling with the reflections from the walls, but also with emotions.

"So there's only a shard of the Ruby here…" he began. "I guess Shad's book was right about the Hero of Time giving the Ruby to his lover…"

"He must have left a piece here as it was the original resting place," I replied.

"But where did the rest of it go?"

"Let's just get the shard first, then we'll figure out where it is. Perhaps, after we track down the other jewels, we'll discover more about its possible whereabouts."

Hero nodded. "So, what do you think this darkness is? Ganon?"

"But you killed him." I shook my head. "He's gone. It can't be him."

'Can it?'

Raka made no reply.

'Is it your kingdom?'

'No.' It was a short, sharp answer that most people would have flinched at. He continued, this time less harshly, 'We have no need for the gems.'

'And what need does Hyrule have for them?'

'Sheik, I'm not a mind-reader, let alone one who can interpret the deities' plans. I may look like a fucking god, but in reality, I'm not one.'

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but in doing so, I realised Hero was staring at me yet again, almost expectantly, like a dog waiting for its master.

'Kinky…' Raka snickered in the back of my mind. 'Hero and I truly are opposites. He's a dog, and I'm a god.'

'Vanity isn't attractive, you know.'

'You love it really.'

I was once again snapped away from Raka's perverted comments when, across the fountain, a fire suddenly appeared. At first, I thought it was the Great Fairy reappearing to hurry us along or to deliver another message. If it was, my gut was telling me it was probably the former, and my mind was agreeing; spirits, whether they be gods, fairies or ghosts, seemed to have this idea that they were better than us mortals, meaning when you got a request (in reality, a demand) from one, you would do it and you would do it quickly.

But it turned out not to be the Fairy of Power. As the fire burned, it revealed another tunnel, also arched in shape and dark in colour. Hero and I shared a look, stepping into the ankle-deep water and moving towards the entrance, the fairies parting to let us through.

We stopped before the fire, both staring at it with confusion. Hesitantly, I reached out and placed my hands in the flames. I waited for it to burn me with its hot licks, but it didn't. Instead, a soothing warmth spread along my arm, relaxing my muscles and loosening up tension.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Hero asked me.

"No," I replied, stepping through the fire and into the dark tunnel. I could hear Hero behind me as we walked through the corridor, fire igniting above our heads to light the way, this time. "Phoenix fire."

"Phoenix?"

"A legendary fire-bird, created by Farore's life-giving magic and Din's potent fire." I paused, stopping in step. "Din housed her power in Raisa…"

"Yeah, and…?"

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. We'll discuss it later, once we get the shard to Din's temple."

"So we're going from an overcooked mountain-"

"Volcano."

"Volcano, sorry, to an overcooked desert?"

"We'll wait till sundown to go into the Haunted Wastelands."

"Why?"

"The desert's temperature severely drops during the night."

Hero sighed. "Good."

We emerged from the tunnel into a large circular room. Around the edge, lava bubbled and shifted, moving around boulders and lapping at its confinements. In the centre of the cave was a pedestal, not unlike the ones in Din and Farore's temples, although it wasn't encrusted in precious jewels. On top sat a golden triangle and set in the gold was the Ruby's shard.

"No monster. Good." Hero muttered.

But, as if on cue, the lava across the room erupted, sending hot molten rock up into the air and against the walls. From the magma came a gigantic snake, black in colour with bright-red eyes, pink tongue darting out as it hissed menacingly. Pearly-white teeth, cemented in huge gaping jaws, glinted with the colour of blood (how ironic).

I glared at Hero and he held up his hands in defence.

It lunged towards us. Hero unsheathed his sword and shield, ready for action, but the serpent didn't even reach the room's halfway mark. Its mouth clamped shut on the pedestal, swallowing it in one big gulp. Even I gaped in shock.

"It just ate the Ruby shard…" Hero murmured, as if I didn't know already.

Multiple things happened simultaneously. Red lines and markings appeared on its scaly skin, decorating a fiery warning on its hide. A golden hood and helmet surrounded its neck and head, its crimson, pupil-less eyes standing out like wildfire. The once-average teeth grew at an alarming rate, two fangs curving along its jaw and dripping with poison. And there the snake sat, quite contently in the lava, as if it were a hot spring, its scaly hide protecting it from the searing heat.

Hero, surprisingly, didn't show fear or determination. On the contrary, he looked mightily annoyed, his brow curving in irritation and body tense.

He growled. "Oh, for the love of-"

Demi: "Hero, what do you think you're doing, grabbing me in the pitch black?" Ha, when I reread that line I was like, '...-gigglesnort- If you think that's Link grabbing you, Sheik, ya got another thing coming...'

Ah, every review secures my sanity. Seriously.