HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yeah, I know it's a little late, but holy cow! 2012? Geesh, 2011 went by really fast! The only downside is that the world is going to end in December of this year... HA! Yeah right! If life as we know it ends on earth, it's not going to be something we're ready for. It'll be a surprise ;)
All right, I'll get on with it...
Enjoy :)
I had no idea how much time passed since Link had jumped down from the tower. All I knew was that the sun had moved across the sky, and my fingers were burning.
I was doing my best; keeping the women busy while Link saved the carpenters, and trying to keep the pain in my fingers to a minimum. But I was having a bit of an issue, now that much time had passed.
I was running out of power.
This was definitely something I hadn't suffered from for many years; I had assumed for a long time now that the limits of my powers were endless in my adult body. But my body was weakening, my powers going along with it. The pain in my fingers was slowly growing, escalating to a point that I thought I could no longer take it. I didn't risk looking down at them; I just continued to play the strange tune that my instrument had started humming to me the moment I had set foot in the desert.
I saw movement; a brief streak of green running across the rooftop of one of the buildings.
Link.
That was it; the only amount of distraction that my body needed to shut down. I literally felt the energy rushing out of my body as my limit was reached. The powers I had been using to keep the spell on the women, and keep the pain in my fingers away, fell. The pain rushed to me, causing me to actually cry out and fall to my knees, my violin stirring up dust as it hit the ground.
Oh goddess, the pain! I thought, realizing only then that my fingers were steadily oozing blood. I finally looked down and saw that each of the fingers I had used to play were cut deep into the pads.
That's what I get I guess, for playing so intensely without calluses built up.
I sighed, looking up as the women around me started shaking their heads as if coming out of a daze. They then slowly started making their way back to their posts, picking up their weapons that had been carelessly thrown to the ground.
Hope you've saved all the carpenters, Link. I can't help you anymore.
I sighed again, leaning back so that I was sitting on the ground, being careful not to jostle my hands too much. I then closed my eyes and started singing under my breath.
Almost immediately I felt the calm come over me that the song almost always gave me. No doubt it was the same calm that Link had claimed he felt when we were children. With the calm came the slow trickle through my body; my powers creeping back into my being. I sighed in relief as I felt the skin on my fingers stitch back together, taking away the throbbing. Once they were healed, I wiped away the blood still covering them in the sand underneath me. I then grabbed my violin and carefully brushed it off, putting it away only after I was sure it was clean.
I didn't wait much longer before I saw Link again; although this time he walked right in front of one of the patrolling women. I jumped up from the ground when the woman approached him with her spear pointed directly at his chest. He didn't flinch, however. Instead, he pulled out a piece of paper and flashed it at her. A few tense moments passed as she inspected it. She then smiled and nodded to him, turning around and going back to her rounds.
He was all smiles as he approached me, but despite that he looked more exhausted than I felt.
"You okay?" He asked as he stopped in front of me, his eyes darting to my still-pink-stained fingers.
I sighed, instantly wrapping my arms around him, taking in the smell of dirt and sweat lingering on him. "I am now."
I felt him chuckle. "Has anyone mentioned how good you look in that outfit?"
I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. "Why don't you tell me what I missed? Like what you did to get the guard to ignore you?"
Link smiled and held out the paper he had shown the guard a few moments earlier. "Apparently, the leader of the Gerudo was really impressed with my skill; breaking out of jail and then proceeding to defeat her best guards to free the carpenters. Gave me free rein of the fortress. Told me I am 'one of them.'"
According to the note, we were also allowed access to the deeper reaches of the desert, where the Spirit Temple was hidden.
"The leader, huh?"
"Well, more like the temporary leader. Apparently, their actual leader, Nabooru, stays in the Spirit Temple out on the other side of the desert."
I frowned. "Like, actually stays out there?"
"Yeah. Apparently she's second only to Ganondorf himself. The Gerudo I ran into was put in charge of this fortress by Naroobu, and Naroobu watches over the Temple."
I gave the paper back to him. "So, are we heading over there? Or what?"
Link smiled, but it quickly fell. "Wait... Where's our horses?"
I nodded toward the back of the fortress. "They have both of them back there, where their stables are. We can leave them here; they'll take good care of them while we're gone."
"But, can't we bring them with us?"
I shook my head. "I heard them talking about the desert out there while you were still imprisoned; it's a strange place that few can cross. We shouldn't risk bringing them along in case we get lost."
"'Lost?' It's just a desert, right? Just a straight shot to the Temple." He motioned with his hand, moving it in front of my face like a bug zooming through the air.
I shook my head again. "Not that simple. You'll see."
We walked to the gate on the far side of the fortress. Next to it was a tall guard tower, on top of which was a Gerudo. Link quickly climbed to the top and, about five minutes later, he appeared, the gate rising so we could get through.
"You were right; crossing the desert won't be that simple. We have to pass through two trials before we'll make it to the Temple."
"What trials?"
"We have to cross what she called a 'river of sand.' Apparently we can't walk on it and have to find a way to cross it."
I smiled. I could take care of that for both of us quite easily. My powers had been slowly trickling back as we had walked, and I had enough to fly us across whatever we needed.
"Easy enough. What's the second trial?"
"We have to follow a guide who's unseen without the Lens of Truth." Link then pulled out the strange lens; purple with an odd red marking in the middle of the glass, giving it the appearance of a snake's eye. "It will then guide us to the Temple."
I nodded. "Let's go, then."
It took about fifteen minutes of walking before the sandstorm started to brew. It didn't take long after that to see that there was, indeed, what looked like a "river of sand." The sand was moving; flowing as if it actually had a current. We approached it cautiously, stopping just before our feet reached where the sand flowed.
"Grab my hand," I asked, holding it out to Link. He nodded and I carefully leaned down, touching my finger gently on the surface of the moving sand.
It was an odd feeling, like placing my hand in extremely murky water. However, the current was very strong, and almost immediately I felt my hand being pulled into the sand. Link stabilized me, pulling me back when my hand jerked forward into the sand.
"Definitely can't walk on that," I said, shaking the sand off of my hand.
"She said so." He then pulled out his Longshot, aiming it at some boxes stacked on top of each other on the other side of the river. He then let it fly, and almost immediately we were yanked across the gap, landing safely on (well, somewhat) solid sand.
"Now what?" I asked after we straightened ourselves.
Link pointed toward a large wooden pole that I could barely make out through the storm, a large red flag flying on top. "We follow their flags."
I grabbed his hand and we set off. It was difficult, the flagpoles extremely hard to see through the flying sand. I had to stop myself from rubbing my eyes, knowing it would do more damage with the amount of sand currently flying into them.
We ran through the oddly cool desert for what seemed forever, the flagpoles constantly on the edge of our vision. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I saw two flagpoles set up next to each other, not much distance between them.
On the other side of them we noticed a circle of the flagpoles, surrounding what looked to be a small stone building. We ran for the building, not hesitating to climb down the ladder that led underneath.
It was just a small room, with two unlit torches on top of a small raised platform. The same thought must have crossed Link's mind when he saw the small space, because he started digging in his pouch and I saw the corner of his bed roll poke out from it: a perfect shelter to rest from the storm for a couple of hours.
I lit the two torches, relieved as the warmth that surrounded us was just the right temperature. We then set out our bed rolls and curled up in them, both of us relieved to get some much needed rest.
Sorry it took so long to update this, you guys. Skyward Sword definitely was a distraction, though in a good way XD. Hope you liked the chappy, and I'll try to go back to updating every three seconds like I did before ;) Ha, not literally
Oh, and I completely forgot! Congrats, Odnet, for the 50 reviews! I remember when I reached 50... Ah, such a good day :) Next is the big 100!
