Chapter 31: Frigid Waters
Drought of the Hylian Waters Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Neutiquam Erro" - Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Chamber of the Sages" - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Ice Cavern" - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"Severnaya Surface (I)" - Goldeneye 007 (N64) OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).
In a daring manoeuvre indeed the group of freedom fighters working within the resurrected Hylianis Militaris Ordinis use their limited resources and manpower in an attempt to infiltrate the infected Fire Temple. Formerly of royal religious Hylian lineage, the divine Fire Temple has become tainted through the evil the Dreadlord Dragmire breathes into it. In utilising his overwhelming military numbers, king Ganondorf manages to lay his oppression boldly upon the poor Goron race; kidnapping most of them he imprisons them within the divine dungeon before using his warlock powers to resurrect the fallen ancient dragon, Volvagia.
With the intention of using his ruthless methods to send a wide message to other races across the country, Ganondorf effectively manages to subjugate the once-powerful race of mountain dwellers. However, thanks to the timely intervention of Sheik's small rebellion force, the Gorons' fates are saved; not only do they manage to rescue each and every Goron man, woman and child but they even successfully beat down the resuscitated lizard-king, Volvagia.
Not all is well however for during their infiltration Link, Navi and Darunia all come into contact with Scaverin; former man of the Hylian religious cloth and right-hand to Hyrule's new usurping king Ganondorf. In utilising his latest technique to bring back from the dead the fallen Barkner, he manages to stir the pot rather well between the previously well-maintained friends that are Link and Darunia. Having revealed the horrific truth of Barkner's gruesome death at the hands of the villainous Kage Narumono the trust between the sworn brothers, Link and Darunia, is shaken to its very core.
In spite of this however the pair manage to fight through the resurrected corpse regardless and push back the hateful Scaverin back to his master's side. Now having even saved Death Mountain's inhabitants and eliminated the immediate threat to their country's safety, Sheik and his small band of heroes manage to embolden the sickened and sorrowful people of Hyrule once more and, like gears in a clock, slowly begin to tick once more...
Scene 1
Gloop... splash...
Water, Link thought to himself.
I should know where I am... and yet...
Glup...
As the inky whiteness slowly began to fade out the familiar sight of the Chamber of the Sages at last formed around him. A dull hum echoed out before him and, just like Saria before him, an adult's form began to circulate around one of the many islands in the dimension.
When Link realised who he was staring at he couldn't help but widen his eyes.
I should have seen this coming, he thought.
The firmly-frowning form of Darunia stared on back at him, seemingly similarly unamused.
"Brother...," the Goron chief greeted, a saddened frown resting on his rocky lips. "Thank you..."
Surprised by the man's words Link couldn't help but raise up his blonde eyebrows in response.
"For what it's worth...," the Goron leader chuckled lightly, a wan smile upon his expression. "My people's lives... have all been saved... thanks to you."
Though his genuine kind nature suited the wanly smiling Goron it did little to shake off the guilt hanging on the listening Link's face.
"I'm... sorry, Darunia...," he murmured out, oceanic eyes averted from his companion's own. "I should have told you..."
"It would not have made any difference...," the well-meaning, chuckling Goron man merely shook his head of the matter, a smile on his face. "He... forgave you... didn't he?"
A few seconds of uneventful and awkward seconds passed between the pair of men as the listening ex-Kokiri thought on about his words before, finally, nodding back. "He did... I wish that I hadn't-"
"Kage."
Similarly surprised by the little cobalt fairy's sudden intervention both Darunia and Link swerved their heads up to frown at the ball of blue.
"It was Kage that killed Barkner. Not you, Link." She clarified for the small group, a firm tone in her voice almost as if to discourage disagreement.
"Yeah...," the blonde chuckled back in an affirming nod, his eyes briefly shut as he did so. "Yeah I guess it was..."
"I admit... I was angry with you," Darunia at last gave voice to; the listening Link double-took in his direction, eyebrows rising up. "But that's all passed now...," the Goron chief ended in a warm smile, shaking his head lightly as he did. "Just as he did... I forgive you."
Link's eyes widened, just a little, shocked by the man's brutal honesty. "Y-You're serious... aren't you?"
Darunia merely nodded lightly, his warm smile still upon his face.
Uttering a half-relieved laugh Link shook his head back, as if in some form of disbelief. "You're a better man than me Darunia..."
"Oh, stop that...," the Goron chief smiled in return, similarly shaking his own head in response as if to dissuade the youth's claims. "After all... you're the princess Zelda's Hero of Time now! Aren't you?"
Reminded once more of the woman that manipulated him seven years previous, Link's smile soon weathered away in place of a recognisable and indignant frown.
"Yeah... I guess I am..."
"And a hero needs a medallion," Darunia smirked back knowingly, a nod upon his expression. "It contains the power of the sacred fire spirits... and my unconditional friendship..."
FLASH-SHIIIING
Just as with his childhood companion the sages' chamber lit up in a grandiose flash of light, as if to signify the end of their conversation. As the whiteness eventually began to fade Link turned his half-shut eyes up to the source of the great bright light; as it descended down, it was just as Darunia described.
The Fire Medallion.
Just as with Saria before him, Link couldn't help but feel the fiery aura of power from the ornament travel through and mingle with his own aura of Quintessence. Even as he felt it strengthen its grip to him he shut his eyes for fear of the incoming second white flash of light. As it overcame his vision only the sound of Darunia's voice, somehow far-off, stayed with him.
"Don't forget... now you and I are true brothers!"
Shivering from the deeply-cold temperature all around him, the hard-eyed Alwyn slid across the freezing floor beneath him and ran his fin-like blade on his forearm across the cold air on his left.
SLICE-SQUELCH
In a surprising turn of events the frigid oxygen actually let out a pained cry of all things before, very quickly, forming a rectangular shape.
A Freezard.
Breaking apart in a magnificent show of icy shards and other such debris it gave out one final low-toned grunt of agony before finally disappearing from view, apparently having been laid to rest. Recovering from his earlier assault Alwyn stood up straight and rose his left attacking arm vertically before lowering it, as if in re-establishment.
It's been a lonely seven years, the former Zoran captain thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes down at the Blade Trap. Watching it travel 'round in a constant never-ending circle, the Zoran warrior couldn't help but sigh through his nose before he about-turned to continue on down the Ice Cavern's many halls and corners.
Having been quite possibly the last Zoran left alive in the ruthless usurping and takeover of the country of Hyrule, Alwyn remained alive purely through running and hiding.
Through his time in the military even he knows never to challenge those with far too much power...
And king Ganondorf, the Dreadlord Dragmire, was of just one such subject.
Pressing on through one of the very last corridors before him Alwyn narrowed his eyes and forced his rising tension down when he heard the sound of the door slamming shut behind him.
DROOM
Along with the metal spikes to deny him re-entry and exit came the crushing fear that something was attempting to ambush him.
I can feel it all around me, he thought.
In spite of the growing danger he sensed the room he stood in was quite beautiful indeed; numerous sparks of icy-cobalt dust rested 'round his surroundings to match the dazzling diamond-like sculptures of ice littered 'round the corners of the room. Almost as if reading his very thoughts however the sparkly ground before him began to move and his eyes double-took in its direction as it did. Sure enough the sleek form of a white-furred wolf-like creature seemed to materialise up from the ground beneath him, perfectly camouflaged.
"AWOOOO!"
Alwyn's firmly-creased scowl twitched as the creature's echoing battle cry reached his ears. "A White Wolfos... huh...?" The former soldier began before tilting his head thoughtfully at the hostile creature. "Someone clearly doesn't want intruders in here..."
Moving on his own voice the wolf-like monster leapt for him, its right paw held back for assault. Acting quickly Alwyn twisted his body to avoid the vertical swipe before spinning 'round in a deft roundhouse kick.
SLAM
Hit with enough force to make the White Wolfos re-think its plan of action, the lupine animal grunted as it was sent skidding back across the cold icy floor. Narrowing its hellish-red eyes at the older warrior it hopped to its right side, an odd glare in its face. Surprising the watching Zoran however the Wolfos' form slowly began to phase in and out of existence.
It's using the cold air to camouflage itself, Alwyn thought worriedly.
Calm down, he countered his paranoid ruminations.
It's just an instinctual animal...
… even if it was placed here by someone else sentient enough.
Just as he had half-expected the frigid wind behind him was the very first clue that gave his enemy's position away; snapping his narrowed eyes to his far-left side the Zoran survivor ducked to evade the growling wide swipe the Wolfos behind him executed. Spinning round in a 360 degree sweep he managed to knock the lupine-like creature off its well-toed grip; acting further on his increased pressure the experienced warrior spun a second time in his sweep before stabbing his left sharpened elbow-fin directly into the Wolfos' exposed chest.
"AWOO!"
In an agonised echoing howl the snow-furred wolf screamed back at the teeth-grit scowling face of its enemy before swiftly slamming its lower paws into the man's upper chest. Successfully connecting it managed to send him grunting back to grant it valuable space and time; with it secured the hostile creature back-rolled to safety, a trail of bright boiling-red blood following on behind it. Watching carefully as he recovered Alwyn glared on wordlessly, waiting on for its next inevitable manoeuvre.
"Hmph...," he began lowly, shaking his broken-fin head in disapproving. "I can see you now..." The Zoran called out quietly, fully aware that the poor creature couldn't understand him.
True to his word he caught the super-fast sight of the Wolfos' blood trailing on after it; using it as a tracker he followed it with his eyes before swiftly moving in accordance with its own movements. In an angry growl it attempted, in vain, to lunge for him from the safety of its icy-breath camouflage, claws shining in the diamond-like light. Merely stepping to the side in evading Alwyn glared on before swiftly slamming his left lower fist directly up into the Wolfos' exposed and, already wounded, underside.
CRACK
Hearing the poor creature's bone breaking the experienced Zoran followed up with his counter-attack by raising up his right fist. Bringing it crashing down he managed to savagely increase the severity of the strike by including the sharp fin on his elbow with his deft assault.
SLICE-SMASH
Merely grunting as it was sent sprawling away from him the White Wolfos, seemingly finished, rolled across the floor before finally coming to a violent gory stop. Shakily raising up its shining clawed paws up to the sky in vain it gave out one final growl before, at last, a hot-blue aura encapsulated its form.
Seemingly the herald to end the engagement.
Relaxing his fighting stance Alwyn narrowed his eyes as the aura swiftly switched to a fierce cobalt fire, easily turning the fallen wolf-like creature alight. Even as it travelled from one world to the next the frozen ice beneath its form flashed and the watching Alwyn couldn't help but widen his eyes at the sight of something familiar.
Bright-blue earrings.
I know those earrings, he thought.
Stepping forward and kneeling down he glared over at the shocking sight beneath him.
Just as with his other comrades, there she was, auspiciously hidden far from every other Zoran and close to the surface.
Princess Ruto.
–
2
"Come now... do these people really warrant your hard-won loyalty and service?"
Asked this for what felt like the umpteenth time the frowning Raynard couldn't help but avert his eyes from the firmly confident voice.
"They... gave me a place to be; I owe them a lot."
"You owe them nothing," the man's voice shot back, venom laced through the tone of its scathing reply. "What have they done but ignore your clan's forgotten heritage?"
Unable to find some form of reply Raynard merely turned to face his back at the man, almost as if he was reading his very thoughts.
It chilled the dark-haired youth to his very bones.
"The Van Garricks were taken far too early... my son..."
Listening quietly, Raynard's narrow-eyed frown remained as constant as the firm-eyed glare.
"If only they appreciated you... as they truly should..."
"How do you know all of this...?" The hard-eyed mercenary countered, half-turning his eye to glare back at the cloaked schemer behind him. "It's not exactly public record..."
"Neither is the knowledge that I possess," the nameless voice shot back, a knowing grin in his voice. "What if I told you...," he began in a somewhat careful tone. "That they used your people to survive?"
About-turning fully now to face the foul-talking man Raynard narrowed his eyes in growing suspicion.
"W-Wha-?"
"In the coup... seven years ago...," the dark-hooded man began once more. "When the Gerudian king overthrew your monarch... who do you think was thrown to the wolves in order to preserve the royal bloodline?"
Widening his amber eyes as he listened Raynard could hardly believe his ears. Seemingly sensing his shock and suspicion the nameless voiced man chuckled in satisfaction.
"Who better to serve them than those whose morality transcends all notions of evil...?"
"Y-You're lying...," Raynard replied, shaking his head in response as if in disbelief. "Zelda would never..."
"Oh but she did my son...," the cloaked man chortled lowly as if in complete confidence. "You think that she wouldn't use you as she used that boy...?"
Knowing exactly who he was referring to Raynard couldn't help but soften his hardened frown as he thought of him.
The ally and, perhaps even friend, that he had made since Sheik recruited him.
Princess Zelda's 'Hero of Time'.
"Yes... her favourite pawn..."
Scowling in response Raynard found himself turning his eyes away in growing dislike for the young blonde.
Why him?
Why did she care so much about him?
"The question is never why, my son..."
Raising his spiky-haired head up the frowning mercenary raised his ebony eyebrows in light surprise.
"But how...?"
Quizzically, Raynard merely turned his head in response; an unsure frown etched on his expression. "W-Wha-?"
"It is time to make a choice... you have one last chance to show God your commitment..."
Furrowing his brow in a display of sincerity, Raynard gulped down a load of saliva that gathered around his throat.
"You know when we enact this... be ready by then."
With those confidently expressed words they echoed out into the distance as the cloaked man's form very slowly phased in and out of existence; seemingly disappearing.
The nameless schemer left the watching Raynard with a torn expression on his face.
"I don't much like this clothing..." Link complained for what felt like the umpteenth time, his fingers gripping the two sides of the Zoran Tunic he was gifted with broadly.
"Well it's all we have Link," Sheik sighed out back in response once more, an audibly tired tone in his voice. "You'll have to make do." He threw over his shoulder as he stuffed what appeared to be medical and sundry supplies into small bags for his belt. Turning his frown in a comical shift in response Link faced the dark-blue Zoran Tunic in his grip, as if disappointed.
"We should be grateful that we even have wonderful allies to gift us materials like these in the first place." Navi brightly added into the conversation, perched on the youth's shoulder.
"Now that's a sentiment I can empathise with very well." Sheik spoke over in an approving smile, eliciting a silly but well-meaning roll of the listening Link's eyes. As he did so however he caught the sight of the firmly-frowning face of Raynard stepping through the house in Kakariko Village that they used so often.
"Hope you got somethin' a bit nicer to look at Ray," Link shot over in a frowning greeting of his own. "Than this." The Hero of Time grimaced in an exaggerated grimace as he held up the sea-blue Zoran Tunic. In spite of their earlier discussion Sheik, although shaking his head as if in disapproval, couldn't help but chuckle; a happy and friendly tone.
"Ah...," Raynard managed out, a kind of dreamlike frown attached to his impassive expression. Quickly catching the sight of his allies' stares firmly on him he forced what appeared to be a slow, sad smile on his face before re-opening his mouth to finish his sentence. "Y-Yeah... I... should be fine with whatever."
Surprised by the odd tone of friendliness in his voice Link couldn't help but stare back at the young man. Similarly staring, Sheik shared his companion's curiosity by exchanging a look before finally shaking his head in response.
"Come on...," the Sheikah leader pressed on as he affixed his belt and marched on past the frowning Link. "Daylight's burning."
"Mm..." Link merely murmured with a half-disappointed crease in his face before bagging the cerulean tunic.
"I wonder what's wrong with Raynard?"
Surprised again Link couldn't help but raise a curious blonde eyebrow as he about-turned his head up to face the quietly-speaking guardian fairy on his shoulder.
"So I'm not just goin' crazy?" He asked in a similarly interested turn of his facial expression.
"Maybe it is nothing, but...," she began back in response before seemingly shaking her blue bulbous head. "I don't know; something seems so off."
Opting instead this time not to speak in retort Link turned one of his curious-expressed frowns upward to eye the back of his dark-haired comrade.
"Yeah...," he agreed with, narrowing his eyes. "Maybe."
–
3
"Okay... we've come far enough I think; leave the horses behind."
Although he very clearly heard the order Link couldn't help but issue out a light frown of disapproval. "Sorry girl but... them's the breaks." The Hero of Time lamented in a wan smile as he petted the snorting Epona he sat upon. Leaning to his left to leave his steed he hopped off and touched land on the lush-looking grass beneath his boots. Looking out across the distance to the beautiful land of Lake Hylia made him feel somewhat oddly homesick. Having already been here in his last stint to recover the country's sacred Spiritual Stones he remembered generally the full layout and all were in its usual place... except one noticeable thing.
The lake itself.
Just as Sheik had discussed with him earlier it would appear the Zoran people were, indeed, in quite a fix.
With his stranglehold on the country increasing since his initial usurpation in the year 709, king Ganondorf turned his attention to the fish-like Zoran people in an attempt to plunder their crystal-blue waters. In doing so he not only manages to instil yet more panic and fear into Hyrule's very citizens but even goes one step further and savagely freezes the small province over; faced with little strength to retaliate the Zoras resort to leaving their very home to survive and become travelling highwaymen.
Quite a comedown from the people I remember, Link reflected on silently to himself as he stepped down the open dirt incline beneath him after his two comrades.
I wonder how Ruto and Alwyn are doing he wondered idly, his eyes wandering down to the small pool of water far down the hill.
They're probably fine.
"You don't know that."
His own counter-attack made the youth wince.
"For all we know they're all dead."
It was probable, he added on silently.
This is a time of war, after all.
"Okay... this is close enough." Sheik spoke, bringing the blinking Link out of his quiet reverie long enough to return his attention to the matter at hand. Sure enough as the group of men descended down the open-dirt hill once filled with crystal-clear water they eventually came to the last of the liquid; a somewhat deep pool of water leading to what appeared to be another of the divine holy temples.
Link confirmed it when he clocked the symbol on the door below under the water.
The Holy Triforce.
"Link... you'll need those iron boots... and your instrument..."
Heeding his commander's instructions the listening blonde reached back into his belt for the royal-blue of the Ocarina of Time before bringing it up to his lips.
He didn't openly acknowledge the folded-armed stare that the watching Raynard gifted him with.
"A childish mind will turn to noble ambition...," Sheik began, similarly reaching back for what appeared to be the golden harp he played so well. "Young love... will become deep affection."
Listening intently Link gave the Ocarina of Time a single lasting look before turning back to face the similarly watching Sheik.
"Now... listen...," the Sheikah started before narrowing his boiling-red eye and bringing the harp up to his bandaged fingers. "To the Serenade of Water."
Stepping inside the very dungeon made within the bottom of Lake Hylia made the exploring Link feel sick in some odd sense; trudging his legs through the wavy waters of the undersea he walked through made him grimace in effort.
How do Zorans do this, he thought to himself wistfully.
What was even worse were the hard-worn iron boots that Sheik had gifted him with hanging on the edge of his normally light brown boots. Disrobing himself of the heavy wear however he gasped as he broke the water's surface. Seemingly having reached the top before him the narrow-eyed Raynard looked on down at him in his usual folded-armed expression. Reaching down to offer him a hand however, their red-eyed commander knelt down lightly; accepting it gratefully Link rose up to meet the pair, gasping through the bubbles of water that weighed him down.
"So what's the plan?" Raynard began the conversation as the trio stood within the confines of what appeared to be the smallest lobby ever. "Same as last time? We split up?"
"Well...," Sheik began in a light grunt as he pulled himself up from the ground alongside his similarly blonde companion. Dusting himself off he nodded in acknowledgement. "That appears to be the best course of action."
"What if that old prune's waiting for us here?" The dark-haired mercenary countered in a hard-eyed frown.
"Pfft...," Link shot back as he stood up straight, waving his comrade's comment off disarmingly. "I'm more worried about that dream woman." He half-joked in a comical deadpan turn of his frown. Though he was previously made aware of the subject in discussion the listening Raynard merely silently frowned back.
Link double-took in the quiet Sheik's direction however; behind the usually mysterious look the Sheikah leader possessed, an odd kind of blush appeared to be present on his cheeks.
The watching Link was interrupted before he could even point this out however.
"Shouldn't we expect them to react? I mean we've done this twice already." Navi agreed on with the firmly-frowning Raynard.
"Maybe...," Sheik conceded in a light nod. "But at this rate we'll lose our supply of water within the month; we have to move in as quickly as we can to save as many lives as we can."
–
4
"Y-You... it can't be..."
Similarly surprised by the woman's words – and all spoken underwater no less – the submerged Link widened his eyes back at her.
A Zoran woman stood before him, her left hand resting idly on her hip. The fins on her forearms were similarly beautifully formed and seemed to move in time with the deep sea they spoke under. She wore a similarly elegant pair of earrings that fit well with the deep-cobalt of the water around them. Finally her head was one of the most recognisable features of all.
In spite of all the years between them, somehow, Link knew exactly who it was.
Ruto stared back at him.
"I don't believe it...," she mouthed out, her ruby-like eyes widened. "Link?!"
Though he opened his mouth to speak back at her he found he could only manage out pure bubbles of air.
Thank Din the Zoran Tunic at least helps me breathe down here, he thought gratefully.
"Sorry... I guess it's hard for a Hylian down here huh?" She grinned back at him; a nostalgic kind of grin that reminded him of when they first met.
Oh no, he thought, widening his eyes a second time.
Didn't I promise her something?
And now... I'm older...
"You remember me don't you?" She asked, tilting her head at him; a funny kind of knowing look in her eye as she did. "You know... I never forgot those vows we made to each other... seven years ago." She finished, seemingly reading his mind.
Link couldn't help but grimace back in response.
What can I say to her?
That I did it as a necessity?
She'd kill me, he thought half-jokingly.
"You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting... these long seven years...," she claimed, her smile still apparent on her face. "But I suppose now is hardly the time... huh?" Ruto added, her smile taking a well-meaning turn with the tilting of her head.
Link merely stared back at her in a comically annoyed frown, seemingly unable to vocally respond to her.
"You've seen it, haven't you? Zora's Domain... and everywhere else."
The listening Hero of Time adopted a new serious frown to his expression as he nodded silently in acknowledgement.
"If it wasn't for Alwyn and your resistance's leader... I probably would have ended up just like my countrymen." She lamented, lowering her ruby-like gaze in a saddened frown of her own.
Link couldn't help but raise his eyebrows as the name crossed his ears.
Alwyn was alive?
"We have to save the rest of them," Ruto firmly scowled as she re-rose her head back up in what appeared to be determination. "My father... the other Zoras..."
Though he averted his own gaze in a display of insincerity Link couldn't help but agree.
His hands, after all, were tied.
"I need your help, Link...," she pressed as she stepped toward him, an urgent look in her eye. Link shot his own gaze back up to narrow his eyes suspiciously, inadvertently taking an ironed step back. "This is a request... from wife to husband..."
"Husband...?!"
Although he had remembered the deal he had made with her back in his childhood, hearing it being spoken felt shocking regardless.
How odd, he thought.
"There are certain infected rooms here that, if we clear them all, I'm sure that we'll overwrite whatever evil magic that dreadful king has imposed on our people," Ruto explained, a hateful scowl on her tone as she spoke of the country's ruler. "Are you ready?" She asked, a hopeful smile on her face as she took the young man's left hand into her own.
Sighing through the water he stood submerged in, Link couldn't help but offer the Zoran princess back a smile of his own before finally nodding back at her.
"There's no way that Hylians built this."
Just as Raynard had began in his opening statement, as the duo of adventurers entered the wide room before them, they beheld the odd architecture before them.
Strangely, no buildings of any real kind besides the door behind lay before them.
Only a single island in the centre of the wide area decorated with a single seemingly dead tree to match the beach-like sand beneath it. Dotted all around the wide open space was one wide toe-deep shallow pool of water.
"It certainly looks very strange...," Sheik agreed as he narrowed his boiling eye forward suspiciously at the tree ahead of them. Oddly, a figure appeared to be leaning against the tree, encased in darkness. "Maybe... there's a reason for that..."
Turning his amber-eyed frown 'round to face his commander, Raynard traced his gaze and soon realised what the Sheikah was referring to. Pulling out his steel halberd he narrowed his own eyes as the pair slowly began to advance. Ostensibly sensing their approach the figure leaned up off the tree and about-turned to face the pair; surprised, Sheik and Raynard affixed themselves into a battling stance. As the light at last hit the mystery-figure they got to look at the creature's odd blue skin.
"A Zoran...?" Sheik murmured out, brow furrowing forward. "What the-?"
"What the hell's a Zora doing way down here?" Raynard cursed out as he pointed the blade-end of the halberd directly at the scowling-faced Zoran.
It appeared to be a man and with a noticeable impalement across the once long fin he carried over his head.
I think I know who this is, Sheik thought to himself.
"It's... not hostile... I think...," the Sheikah began in response as he narrowed his eye forward. "Are you... waiting here for someone friend?"
"He is no friend... I promise you."
Snapping their heads 'round to source of the voice's interruption, sure enough, the cloaked form of their familiar enemy stepped out from behind the tree. Grinning behind the dark-brown shawl he wore so well the right-hand to the Dreadlord Dragmire flashed his toothy grin as he stood behind the folded-armed Zoran man.
"It is lovely to see you both again...," Scaverin greeted as he bowed mockingly at the pair of youths. "I see your travels have taken you deep into the divine Water Temple now...," he re-started as he stood back up straight, raising a curious eyebrow in obvious sarcasm. "Now... just where is that boy of yours?"
"What boy?" Sheik spat back quickly, eye narrowed in venom.
Scaverin scoffed back at the Sheikah blonde, a new half-scowl on his own face as he opened his mouth to respond. "Come now... let's stop these machinations... we're busy men after all; you know of whom I speak...," the summoner started before narrowing his hazel-eyed gaze forward. "Your 'Hero of Time'... where is he?"
Seemingly noting the annoyed look on the listening and watching Raynard, Scaverin couldn't help but turn his scowl temporarily into a lightly satisfied smirk, as if somewhat appeased by the reaction.
"We split up... if you must know," Sheik shot back, tilting his head very lightly as he leaned his body to the side and glared on back. "What's it matter to you anyway?" He batted back.
"Oh... no reason...," Scaverin began in response, folding his own arms back at the leaning Sheikah. "I'm sure Sir Alwyn would have loved to have met with his old friend again..."
Realising the name of the standing Zoran man before them Sheik could only widen his eyes and, with a similarly surprised gasp, he swivelled his gaze 'round to face him.
Sure enough, it was the hard-faced Alwyn standing before them. A firm look into his eyes gave the watching Sheikah enough time to deduce the odd look in the space around his eyes.
A rippling-like effect was present in the white space around his normally ocean-teal coloured eyes.
He's being governed somehow, Sheik thought.
This is bad.
"How unfortunate...," Scaverin began once more, one of his usual smirks ever prevalent on his face. "Forced to fight one's allies... you know this Zoran... don't you boy?" He pressed the narrow-eyed Sheikah.
He knows the odds are stacked against us.
Suddenly I wish we hadn't split up at the temple's lobby, he thought lamentably.
"All right Raynard...," he began himself as he stared firmly back at the mind-controlled form of the imposing Alwyn before them. "Same strategy as last time; divide and con-"
FLASH
Catching merely the hint of what appeared to gleam of steel to his sharp-left Sheik widened his flaming eye before making an emergency hop in evasion to his right. Skidding across the watery ground beneath him the young blonde managed to kick up blue-white drafts as he stared on shocked at his dark-haired ally.
Finding the firmly-faced Raynard staring on straight back at him, he held his halberd in what appeared to be a diagonally offensive manner.
It was most definitely just used in an attempt to cleave his commander.
"W-Wha...?" Sheik merely managed out, near unable to believe what he just witnessed. "Raynard... why...?"
The listening and silent mercenary merely glared on back at him, re-narrowing his amber-shaded eyes. Twirling his halberd up in his recovery he straightened up his stance to stare on silently back at the standing Sheikah. Watching and listening in the grinning Scaverin couldn't help but let out a boisterous laugh.
"Did you really think that your pathetic little band could actually put a dent into God's new design...?" The seemingly devoutly worshipping former bishop put forward; his smile was temporarily lost to him in favour of a serious and hard-worn scowl. "Fools...," he snorted, creasing his glare as he spoke. "It's like you require a higher mind to control you all."
Merely ignoring the folded-armed Scaverin's comments the firm-eyed Sheik repeated his earlier sentence, spoke this time with a real sense of hurt. "Raynard... why?"
Grunting back Raynard averted his gaze this time as he placed his halberd next to him via his left hand, sticking the hilt of the blade resting on the watery ground beneath him.
It would seem shame followed him, even to his enactment.
"I would be more concerned for yourself... young Sheikah."
Growling lowly Sheik swivelled his straw-haired head 'round back to re-face the scheming bald-headed summoner, fingering the throwing knives on his belt.
"How interesting that, though the Sheikah clans within this country are pushed to extinction, that you emerge... seemingly as if from no-where...?" Scaverin put toward the listening group, narrowing his hazel-coloured eyes in an obvious suspicious-toned speech. "Something within my bones tells me...," he restarted, lightly tilting his hooded head as he glowered forward. "That you're hiding one hell of a secret."
The odds were already stacked against me before and that was when I had a man on my side, Sheik thought to himself in growing panic and distress.
Now the situation truly seemed hopeless.
"Link...," the blonde Sheikah began within his mind, gulping down a load of saliva anxiously. "If you're out there... I could really use a hand..."