Author's Notes: Thanks to those of you still reviewing. I really do appreciate it. Especially as we closer and closer to the final battle. Well, the final battle of this story anyway.
Najrala: Heh, you know, I never saw that angle/angel thing before now. That is amusing. And I doubt that angle would be twenty. Knowing Azrael, it'd be a much dirtier number. :)
Ch. 9
Darkness Rising, Pt. 1
"Are you feeling better?" Khealdon asks, handing Zelda a cup of steaming tea.
"Yes, much better," Zelda answers. Only a little while ago had she woken for the first time since her attempt to aid Link last night. "Where's Nabooru?"
"Out," Khealdon says. "The Shiekah here need our help. She decided to see what she could learn since you were still asleep. Were you able to help Link?"
"I don't know," Zelda replies, eyes downcast. "The darkness had taken hold in him. It had taken his form. Link said that it kept pushing him back, trying to force him to some hidden corner of his mind, so that the Shadow could gain control of his body. Link showed me the White Sword, where it's kept in the Castle in the Clouds, and then he fought that Shadow. As their swords struck each other, everything went white, and I was back here. I don't know if Link is still even himself anymore." She looks up at Khealdon, "Has there been any word?"
"We don't know if Link has lost himself or not," Khealdon says tentatively. "Saria reports that Link's body is…gone. Malon woke this morning and went to tend him, and his body was gone." Khealdon watches the emotions play across Zelda's face, letting her settle herself before continuing. "There's more. Castle Town has been attacked. A black dragon. A good portion of the city is destroyed, and many are dead. In your absence Holden has deemed the situation in Hyrule too unstable, too dangerous. All of the Hylian military is falling back towards what's left of Castle Town, and he is evacuating the people. Soon they'll be making for the north."
"More refugees," Zelda says quietly. "Father would have never let this happen."
"Your father would have done no differently than you, perhaps not even as well," Khealdon tries to console her. "As long as your people live, then so too does Hyrule. One day they'll return, and it will be a shining beacon for the world once more."
"But everything just keeps getting worse," Zelda says, almost sounding defeated. "It seems like once we get close to our goal, something knocks us back down. I'm tired of feeling so…out of control."
"We must take once situation at a time my Queen," Khealdon reassures her. "Selene has agreed to aid us in getting to the Castle in the Clouds, if we are able to help her with the Fallen. Once we've done that, we can return Nabooru's powers, then we'll worry about Rauru and Link. It is all we can do for now, and Link would tell you the same."
Zelda sighs and nods her head, "You're right. So, what do we know about the situation here?"
"The Shiekah here in the north are at war with the Fallen," Khealdon explains. "Fallen are Shiekah who have strayed from the path and now serve the dark ways. They're led by a man called Iltar. This man seeks to usurp Selene's place as the Tol'kar, the Chief of Chiefs of the Shiekah. He would lead his people south and serve Ganon."
"It always comes back to Ganon, doesn't it," Zelda replies, shaking her head. "What would Selene have us do?"
"She claims this Iltar is make overtures of peace now," Khealdon says. "He wishes to split from the Shiekah formally, so that he and his followers may strike their own path. Selene would like the three of us to accompany her to this meeting, in hopes of preventing some sort of treachery on Iltar's part."
"Why us?" Zelda asks. "I'm sure her Shiekan warriors are well trained."
"She knows who we are, or, more appropriately, who you are," Khealdon reveals. "She deems this meeting as destiny…and I would agree with her. This is no chance encounter."
"Great, destiny," Zelda says with a sigh and flops back onto the bed.
Holden, Prince Regent of Hyrule steps out onto the private balcony hidden behind the throne room of Hyrule Castle and sweeps his gaze across the once pristine city of Castle Town. Now the city lays in ruins, with clouds of smoke still smoldering into the sky even many hours after the dragon was slain. The corpse of the dragon still remains where it fell, the Sages having more to concern themselves with than the removal of a dead dragon from a city that must now be abandoned. "Look at what it's come to," Holden says out loud, though no one else is on the balcony to hear him speak. "What a mess I've made."
"That's some ego," Impa says, walking out from the darkness of the throne room beyond the stone archway. "To think all of this is your fault entirely."
"Zelda left me in charge," Holden replies, studying the Shiekan warrior. "And all those people are dead, and the city is in ruin. On my watch."
"Your sister isn't perfect either, she makes mistakes," Impa explains. "No one could have predicted any of this. It's not your fault."
"I know," Hold admits, sighing. "I guess…I'm just out of my element here. Shiek raised me a warrior. It's all I've ever known. I know nothing of ruling a country."
"My brother taught you what you needed to know," Impa says, her face softening at the mention of her brother. "The lessons can be applied here too."
"Why'd he do it?" Holden asks. "Shiek would never say."
"Your father?"
"Yes," Holden says.
"He loved you, both you and Zelda," Impa begins, shifting her arms on the railing. "You both were born after midnight, Zelda was born first. It was early morning when the attack happened."
"Attack?" Holden questions.
"An assassin attacked in the hospital wing of the castle. I was with your father at the time, Shiek was in the nursery with you and your sister," Holden explains. "No one thought…if there was to be an attack, it was thought that the King himself, or his heirs would be the targets. We were too late when we reached your mother's room. A single thrust from a blade to her heart. She never had time to cry out." Holden remains silent, focusing his attention on the ruins of Castle Town, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. "There was also one other attack that morning. A young woman who had given birth around the same time as your mother. She survived the attack, but only just barely. Her husband, a Lord Commander of the Knights of Hyrule, happened in during the attack. He managed to flee the city with his wife and newborn son. The Gerudo assassin squad followed. He was killed protecting his wife and child, giving them enough time to flee into the Old Forest. No one heard anything further from them again."
"Wait, that sounds familiar," Holden says, his face and voice curious.
"Yes, that newborn boy was Link," Impa nods her head. "His mother was wounded during the attack. She had just enough strength to get Link as far as the Great Deku Tree. He took Link in as one of the Kokiri."
"But why were my mother and Link's the targets?" Holden asks. "Link is the Hero of Time, Zelda is a Sage and the Princess of Destiny. Surely they'd be the ones wanted dead."
"They would have been next," Impa replies. "At least, that's what we figured. As best as we can tell, whoever was behind the attacks wanted the mother's dead so that no more children, possibly children with destinies could be born. You, Zelda and Link would have been next. After that nothing would stand in Ganon's way."
"Ganon?" Holden exclaims, clearly shocked.
"Who else? Who else could possibly have known about the legends? Who else could possibly want the Children of Destiny dead. And rid himself of the possibility of more children to stand in his way."
"It always comes back to Ganon, doesn't it?" Holden says quietly, his voice angry.
"Unfortunately, yes," Impa agrees. "Your father had no idea it was Ganon, but he did fear for your lives. And Rauru counseled that the two of you be separated, to protect you both. Since Zelda is the firstborn, it was decided she stay, to learn the ways of the court and Queen. Since I had often been seen by your father's side, it was logical that I remain as your sister's guardian. My brother, Shiek, is a true Shiekah of the old ways, he has always lived his life in the shadows. He took you from the country, to hide you and train you. To prepare you for the day when you'd return to Hyrule to serve as your sister's Tra'Kar, her Guardian. Only your mother, your father, the midwife and my brother and I knew that twins were born. So, the official announcement was the birth of a baby girl, and only of a baby girl."
"Thanks," Holden says. "I'm glad I finally know."
"Wow, what a beautiful moment," a voice says, and on a balcony above theirs, looking down on Impa and Holden is a black cloaked figure. "What a beautifully boring moment."
"Who are you?" Impa demands, stepping in front of Holden, twin daggers appearing in her hands.
"I'm the one who's going to save your sorry asses," the black cloaked figure says. With a bright flash of silver orbs a small figure the size of a child appears next to Holden and Impa. "Give it to them Fado," Azrael says. Fado places a silver wrist guard into Holden's hand. The guard has a large bluish silver jewel in the center of it, with blue metal gilded into patterns on the rest of it. "That, is the Wind Waker," Azrael explains. "It can be used with the Ring of Nature." Azrael disappears in a flash of dark green orbs.
"Fado, but, you're supposed to be…" Impa starts.
"I've been cured," Fado interrupts. "He…he took the taint from me."
"But how?"
"You know who he is," Fado says quietly. "He calls himself Azrael. He is Link from the shadow world. He has all the same power Link does."
"But why would he do that?" Holden asks. "Why would he help us?"
The Doom Mountains. Long have these rocky spires been devoid of any sentient life except for the Gorons. Link trudges up to a peak, coming to rest and staring up at the morning sun. Looking down into the valley below he spots what he has come searching for. There, lying under the shade of a tree is a juvenile dragon, it's scales a crimson red. As Link approaches the dragon's eyes open, and it stares with curiosity at Link. "I have been waiting for you Hero of Time," a voice calls out in Link's mind.
"You know me," Link says aloud, long since having given up being surprised by anything that happens in his life these days.
"I do," the dragon answers. "My name is Valoo. I was hatched fully aware. I am a Guardian Spirit of Hyrule, like the Great Deku Tree or Jabu Jabu. But the time is too early for me to be awakened."
"What do you mean, too early?" Link asks.
"My nest should have lain buried for another century," Valoo explains. "The Shattering prematurely uncovered it. And Ganon's dark magic has already worked it's horrible ways. There were four other eggs in the nest, my siblings. They are Black Dragons, creatures of pure evil. Ganon's disciple Kareena has taken them. I fear with the dark magics at his disposal Ganon will age them, and unleash their power upon Hyrule."
"I know," Link says with a nod. "I saw it…in a vision of sorts. That's how I knew where to come look for you. I knew I had to find you…that you could help."
"I can, with your help," Valoo says.
Saria stands atop Hyrule Castle, encased in a dark green cloak that billows around her body. Her thoughts this day alternate between dark and light. She worries at the safety of the people of Hyrule, and yet, she yearns for the call of the Forest, and the happiness she once felt there.
"What are you doing up here Little Sister," Darunia says, walking up next to the young Kokiri woman. "The wind is fierce today."
"It's time," Saria says, her voice almost cold and unemotional. Darunia looks at her with confusion, until she points. There, in the distance three black specks are visible on the horizon. Three black specks that grow large with each passing moment. "They're coming."
Author's Notes:I know, I know. The Wind Waker was a baton in the game. But, as I've always said, this is my vision of Zelda, so I change things to fit the story. And to me, for this story, it makes more sense for the Wind Waker to be something like a wrist guard. Espeically since it can be used with the Ring of Nature. How and why you ask? Guess you'll just have to wait and see.