Heyyy what's up y'all.
Hope you all are safe from corona. Stay clean!
On another note, I have a new story up, idk if anyone's read it yet, but if you haven't, please check it out! It's a Link x Mipha tragedy, short one shot, but I like it. (Also check out the song Still Here by digital daggers, I swear it makes sense haha). Anyway, here's the next chapter!
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Zelda woke, gasping, a scream choked in her throat.
Another nightmare. Will they ever end? She hunched forward, eyes closed, willing the lingering shrieks of pain and death to fade. A chill breeze swept by, cooling her burning skin. She felt as hot as the flames that had consumed the castle in her nightmare.
The moon cast its silver light over the sands of the desert; Zelda scooped a handful of sand in her hand and watched it filter through her fingers. Something about this place . . . isn't right. She glanced up at the moon, but quickly cast her eyes away when it flashed red, the way it had in her dream.
Link and Ilayen still slept. Zelda watched Link's chest rise and fall beside her, feeling despondence fill her chest. She knew he couldn't change into a wolf with Ilayen there, but she still wished she could have laid her head on his soft belly fur and curl into his warmth. Her nightmares were never as bad when Wolf Link was there.
Zelda smiled up at the sky. Ganondorf had meant it as an insult, but she really did sleep among beasts.
Still . . . there was something about this desert that made her nightmares a thousand times worse. She'd had a night terror like this one the first time they'd crossed the sands. She sighed through her nose and curled up close to Link, feeling him shift in his sleep. The sooner we cross this desert, the better, she thought.
/
Zelda slouched in the saddle, feeling a single drop of sweat trickle slowly down her back. Beside her, Link and Ilayen had pulled shawls out of their saddlebags and hung them over their heads, but the thin fabrics didn't do much against the heat. Even with the Sapphire Circlets, it was blisteringly hot.
Raising her head--an act that required more energy than usual--Zelda squinted into the distance. Through the intense heat waves, she could make out the shape of a massive construction. Is that . . .?
She squinted harder. Tall spires rose into the sky above towering walls. Digging into her saddlebags, she pulled out an old hand-drawn image of the old Coliseum and held it up. She let out a deep breath.
"We're almost there," she called to the others. "If we keep the Breach directly behind us, the Coliseum will be dead ahead."
Their answers were nonverbal: a half-hearted wave from Ilayen, a nod from Link that may have been merely an exhausted dip of the head. Zelda took them for what they were worth.
By nightfall, she thought, her eyes fixed on that blurry, distant image. By nightfall, and the Fused Shadow will be safe.
/
The sun was setting when they finally reached the Coliseum.
Zelda tipped her head back, sweat cooling on her skin as the temperature dropped. They were several days into their journey; about five days more, and they'd be back in the castle, Fused Shadow in hand.
With that thought in mind, Zelda hopped out of the saddle, the boys following her lead. Now that they were closer, she could appreciate how truly massive the structure was. Whoever made this must have had the power of the gods, she thought.
The walls were made of bleached sandstone, broken down in many places, holes blown into others. As they climbed the steps, somehow lined with lit torches, Zelda wondered what could have happened here to cause such damage. Sure, some of it must have been the result of time and weather, but . . . something about it just didn't sit right with her.
The reason they were there, and its history, flashed in her mind. The Fused Shadow was an immensely powerful artifact; could there have been others, besides herself and Ganondorf, who had sought the Twilight heirloom?
The fear that Ganondorf had already claimed the Fused Shadow rose up in her throat, choking her. She swallowed hard several times. We would know. If he had it, we would know . . . wouldn't we?
The open doorway loomed ahead of them. Zelda glanced at Link uncertainly. "Is this the way in?"
Ilayen rummaged in the bags for the map, but Link shook his head. "Something tells me . . ." he shook his head again. "There's no time to look around, and we can't afford to get lost. Come on."
After a moment's hesitation, he led the way into the darkness.
/
"So . . . we're lost."
Ilayen's head thumped the stone ledge behind him. "I told you we should have gone left."
Link stood above the other two, staring out over the room. "This doesn't make sense," he murmured. "We should have . . ."
"Gone left," Ilayen muttered, quietly enough that Zelda, who was right beside him, hardly heard it. She sighed through her nose, feeling inclined to agree with him. Ever since she'd entered the underground ruins, her hand had begun tingling. And after her research about the Triforce, she was hesitant to ignore it.
She pulled her glove off and traced the shape on the back of her hand, watching her skin turn white under the pressure of her finger. All told, from Ruto's dream, to Zelda's own research, had her almost convinced she was the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom. Though she doubted it had a very lasting effect on her, given where she was, she was sure there was a reason she had such strong reactions to certain places. She'd had a lot of time to think about it during the trek across the desert.
Her nightmares, for instance. They occurred almost every night, but when she was in the desert, they were shockingly more aggressive. That, with the discordant feeling she got--that something was wrong here--told her the Gerudo Wastelands was a place that caused a reaction within the Triforce. With that said, could Snowpeak also have been a place of importance--a place related enough to the Triforce to cause it to resonate?
Despite her gut feeling, though, there was a kernel of doubt. Her studies had revealed that when in the presence of other bearers, the Triforce would resonate, causing extreme itching and sometimes pain. But it had said nothing about places.
Then again, she reasoned, research into pieces like the Triforce was far from conclusive. There was still so much they didn't know--so dismissing Zelda's hypotheses, even as far-fetched as they might seem, had no bearing in the realm of research.
I wonder how different my life would have been if I'd become a scientist instead, Zelda pondered, staring up at the ceiling. Sand drifted down periodically, giving her the impression they had gone beneath the desert floor.
As the arguing voices of Link and Ilayen grew louder, she forced her mind back to the topic at hand. Her hand's tingling had intensified in the last room, towards the left door. She stood.
"I think we should follow Ilayen."
The arguing abruptly stopped, leaving the two staring at her. "What makes you say that?" Link asked.
Zelda forced herself to stop rubbing her hand. "It's . . . I just think we should. Trust me," she pleaded, when Link continued to look doubtful.
He sighed. "I suppose we can't get more lost than we already are," he murmured, then lifted his bag. "Lead the way, then."
Zelda nodded, grateful he hadn't put up much of a fight. Unconsciously she started rubbing her hand again. As she turned away, she missed how Link's gaze snapped to her, but he said nothing, merely followed behind.
They made it through the first door fine. The second, however, leading in Ilayen's suggested direction, was another story.
Zelda hopped the last few blocks and stood aside at the door. Link and Ilayen stepped forward, as they had every time they came upon a door, and quickly counted to three before grasping the elaborately carved slab underneath and heaving up.
After a few seconds, it began to give, dust and debris filtering down, and when there was enough space, Zelda slipped under and quickly turned to grasp it. Goddesses. She wasn't even supporting most of the weight, and yet it took nearly all her strength to heft it up further. She braced her legs and threw her body into it. "I've got you, Link," she bit out.
"Coming through," came the response, and then the already-too-familiar sag of the door as it lost Link's support. In the few seconds it took him to come out the other side, the door slammed into Zelda's shoulder. The spikes on the bottom came dangerously close to scraping Link, and Zelda threw her weight into it once again, tears leaking from her eyes. Ilayen's voice raised in a grunt. "Zelda!"
Then Link was there on Ilayen's side, his face growing red from exertion, and Ilayen was through. As soon as his foot cleared, Zelda caught Link's eye and lurched to the side. Behind her, the door slammed down with a crash as Link let go.
She landed on the floor in a dusty cloud. Son of a bitch, she thought, blinking tears out of her vision. Who the hell made these doors, anyway?
Two pairs of hands were on her, pulling her up, and there were Link's panicked blue eyes. "Are you all right? Where are you hurt?"
Behind him, Ilayen was rummaging for the medical supplies. Zelda grimaced as her shoulder twinged. "My left," she groaned, yanking her shirt off. The Sheikah suit had armor, but it was lightweight. It couldn't take the brunt of a wound like this. "Make it quick," she told Ilayen, their purpose there weighing even more heavily on her mind. "The pain will fade, but we need to hurry."
Ilayen cleaned the scraped skin and blood and wrapped it in gauze. "Why do you say that? Has Ganondorf realized what we're doing?"
Link tried to catch Zelda's eye, but she avoided his gaze. The discordant feeling she'd had ever since arriving here had grown exponentially--along with the tingling on her hand. Whatever was wrong with this place, they were getting close.
It must be the Fused Shadow, she thought. There's no other reason.
She rolled her shoulder a couple times experimentally and stood. "Let's not waste time. Ilayen, which way now? You said go left, we went left."
If they were taken aback by her brusqueness, they didn't let it show. Ilayen took the lead. "I'd like to say that big door there, but at the same time . . ." He shrugged, lost for words, but Zelda knew what he felt.
The room in which they stood was enormous: the ceiling rose up and disappeared into a mix of broken stone and sand, and the floor was a mosaic of sandstone and tiny colored tiles. Tall, faceless statues lined the way to a small stair, along which four torches burned a strange blue color. Just beyond the last step was the door.
The other doors in this place were small, hardly taller than Zelda. And it took all three of them to lift one. But the construction ahead of them . . . it had to be at least twenty feet in height, and looked to be made of gold. How could they possibly lift that?
"Maybe it has some sort of mechanism?" Link ventured, but his voice betrayed his doubts. Ilayen shrugged, inspecting the sides. Somehow Zelda doubted it. She stepped up to the door; as she passed, the torches' flames snapped. Her hand flared up. Something about this . . .
"Link, you remember what you said about the Tower of the Gods?"
Link came up on her side. "That it was a temple of the Hero of Winds . . ."
His eyes widened. "But this place was never mentioned in his story," he argued, and Zelda could hear the grim tone of his voice.
"Maybe this wasn't during the Hero of Winds' time," Zelda murmured, running her hand along the grooves in the door. "Midna said the Coliseum--this place--was important to both Hyrule and--"
"Twilight," they said together. Link met her gaze.
"That would explain it," she said. "Why the Fused Shadow is here--all these rooms, they're part of the puzzle. The old Hero must have had to get through all the tricks to reach the end, just like--"
"The Tower," Link interrupted, his excitement growing. "Just like the Tower of the Gods--but that was from the Era of Winds."
"I don't think it matters. But--but you said at the end, there was a boss, like the one the Hero had to face. Do you think--"
"The Fused Shadow that was there was powering the boss?" Link raised a brow. "I suppose, but how? Does it have power like that?"
"I'm not sure that's the point," Ilayen cut in. "if the Fused Shadow in the Tower powered the boss, does that mean there's an enemy like that we have to face here?"
Zelda opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She . . hadn't thought of that. A new wave of defeat rolled over her, and she tried desperately to push it back. "We don't know anything for certain," she said, trying to sound like she wasn't on the verge of giving up right there. "Let's just figure out how to open this door, and then go from there."
The boys nodded, but she could see they had lost some of their mojo from before. She avoided sighing, even if all she wanted was to sit back in the dust. Her shoulder twinged again, and she winced.
Those old Heroes have all my respect, she thought, shaking her head. How they managed to overcome such places like these, over and over again . . .
She came face to face with the door, and her thoughts faded. As if to fill the space left, her hand began tingling fiercely. She raised it, and as it came closer, it throbbed more and more, as if it had its own heartbeat. She cocked her head. I wonder if I just . . .
She held her breath and laid her hand upon the surface of the door.
Sound disappeared, soon replaced with a low ringing that steadily grew louder until it filled the room, and golden light exploded from Zelda's hand. Her shout was lost in the ringing, and she could barely feel Link's hand on her, trying to pull her back.
It didn't matter; she was rooted to the spot, and her body felt so light . . . was she dying? Was this what dying felt like?
Her thoughts were dashed when the light faded, and all of a sudden her body was as a heavyweight. She dropped to her knees, gasping for air, and sound crashed in on her like a tidal wave. She clutched her chest, animal moans coming from somewhere near her. It took her several moments to realize they were from her.
Searing pain bade her to look at her hand, ignoring Ilayen and Link's calls. What she saw nearly made her pitch to the side.
Her hand had been burned, nearly black in some parts, but the worst was the series of lines, carved into her skin, in the shape of--
"The Triforce," Ilayen whispered. He met Zelda's tear-filled gaze, glanced at the door. "But why . . ."
His eyes widened, and it was then that Zelda realized Link had stopped talking, and was now standing still as death, staring past them. Zelda tried to call him, but her voice was nearly gone. Had she been screaming?
His was hoarse, as well. "The door . . . it's gone."
/
Zelda cleared her throat. Again.
"Ow! Damn this place," Ilayen snarled, rubbing his head gingerly. He glared up at the ceiling, which continued to drop chunks of stone around them. "How is it even still standing?"
No one answered him; they all knew the answer. The Fused Shadow was the only thing that kept this building together, which, when it had first become obvious, had made her realize something. If they took the Fused Shadow out, how would they escape?
It caused turmoil to no end inside Zelda, but if she tried to puzzle it out, she'd lose her mind.
As it was, she thought she was halfway there anyway.
Her hand brushed against her leg as she walked. She winced. They'd bandaged it, but the gauze still chafed against the burns.
Zelda sighed involuntarily. So now I can make doors disappear. How lovely.
She snuck a glance at Link. He was just as cranky as Ilayen, maybe more so. He'd suffered a particularly sharp piece of stone slicing his face, so now blood crusted his left cheek. The bandage around his forehead would need to be changed soon.
Is this place trying to kill us? She wondered, half-serious. As the ceiling creaked above them, Link splayed his arms in front of them. Ahead and to their right, a massive chunk of the ceiling broke away and slammed into the sand, promptly disappearing.
Zelda took a slow, deep breath, choosing her steps carefully. Actually, never mind. I can live without that answer.
The room they were in could hardly be called a room: it was more like a maze, intermittent with pits of sand and walkways of stone. All over the walls, at about ankle length, were dark lines carved into the stone. They rose up, lost amid the dim light--Zelda still didn't know how the torches everywhere were being lit, for she could find no oil or fire--and the rickety, wooden pathways.
I suppose whoever lit all these torches also built these stairs, she thought, one hand on her sword. I've no idea how we could have gotten this far without them.
Indeed, the higher walkways were hung from the ceiling, while the rest were attached to the stone walls of the temple and the architecture of the room. They rose up about fifty feet in the air; stepping off the stairs, they crowded onto the platform. Zelda lifted her bandaged hand, waited a few moments. She pointed. "That door."
Link glanced uncertainly at her. "Will you be able to handle it?"
Zelda ignored the twinge in her shoulder and nodded. She knew she hadn't convinced him, judging by the way his lips pulled to the side, but she pinched his cheek and forced a smile. "So sweet of you to worry."
Link didn't smile. He took his place across from Ilayen. "Two, one, up."
Zelda sat back on her heels and lunged forward, rolling under the door. This time she took the opposite side, a voice in her head called Reason dully stating that if she injured that shoulder too, she'd really be in trouble.
As usual, she ignored it.
Ilayen joined her and she gave a little slack, then Link was on the other side. The door thudded down, inches from their toes.
She hardly gave them time for a breather before starting forward again. Something told her they shouldn't waste time; the sooner they get the Fused Shadow, the better. She just had this feeling, deep in her gut . . .
They passed an old, black chest; it must have been metal at one time, but now it was filled with sand and half-buried under it. If this really was a dungeon of the Hero of Twilight, then perhaps that chest had held one of the Hero's famous tools, like the slingshot, or even the Spinner . . . or perhaps a key?
Zelda pursed her lips. Whatever had sat in there, it had long since been claimed.
Outside the passage, a sandpit lurked. More black lines laid along the walls, but the original stone path was broken.
Zelda tsked. It was a good thing whoever had been here before had left those walkways, then. Here it was a wood bridge, and again the voice called Reason reared its head. Zelda sighed through her nose, grabbing the ropes tightly. If this breaks, I am going to die.
As much as I appreciate the bridge, couldn't whoever made it have done it more sturdy? she thought furiously. Sweat dripped down her back as the rickety thing swayed back and forth under her; on the ground, the sand disappeared into a small whirlpool. Behind her, Ilayen fumbled for a water bottle and it slipped from his hands. It fell into the sand and vanished.
Quicksand. Great.
It seemed longer, but hardly ten seconds had passed before she was on the other side. Sliding down the short slope, she crossed the empty room at a run and came to a stop on the other side.
The boys followed seconds later.
"More bridges."
At least this chamber was more straightforward; they'd spent twenty minutes in the last just trying to figure out the correct path. Finally they'd resorted to using Zelda's hand as a guide. Though Link had been hesitant to cause more pain, even if Zelda herself hadn't cared.
Now, Link glanced at her. "Straight up," Zelda replied. She didn't need to use her hand for this. There was only one way to go, anyway.
So straight up they went: on and on and on. When they'd gotten at least a hundred feet in the air, the path--which had varied between actual, carved stone stairs and wooden bridges lodged into the wall--ended at a small platform that led up a ramp. Wide metal doors stood open, a massive lock sitting, rusted, at their feet.
"Well that's a first," Ilayen muttered.
/
"More stairs?!"
Ilayen sighed loudly. "I know this is a serious mission, but my legs are actually about to fall off."
Zelda surprised herself by laughing. "Don't tell me the Sheikah's greatest tracker can't handle some stairs."
He turned to glare at her. "If you count what looks like a million as some."
Link joined in, punching his arm. "Come on, what would Impa say?"
Zelda shook her head. "The disappointment."
Ilayen huffed and took their arms. "Well, if this is so easy, then why don't you carry me? I simply can't make it."
Link shrugged amid Zelda's laugh. "Sure, but don't blame us if we drop you halfway." He grabbed Ilayen and started dragging him towards the first stairs. "Come along."
Ilayen paled. "Uh, actually, I think I can make it. Miraculous recovery, you know?"
Zelda and Link laughed, but the mirth was short-lived. Zelda stared out at the scene before her: an enormous cylindrical structure took up the center of the even more massive room. Those black lines wound around the centerpiece, and on the walls of the room. Between the two lay a sheet of sand, far below. A wide platform wound all the way around the room; one bridge connected the middle centerpiece to the platform, on the other side of where they stood.
Link leaned over the side and whistled. "Long way down."
"Those stairs seem to be leading down, not up," Ilayen added, following Link's lead.
"Looks like your meltdown was for nothing," Zelda commented.
Pointedly ignoring her, Ilayen pulled back and surveyed the room. "We should head for that door." He pointed across the way. "It's the only other one, after all. And something tells me we're getting close."
He glanced at Zelda, his eyes following the way she rubbed her hand. "The sooner we find this thing, the better." Zelda didn't miss the note of worry in his voice.
She agreed. She knew he wouldn't say anything, but Link was getting increasingly worried about her hand. They hadn't spoken about the incident with the last door, and she certainly didn't want to any time soon. At least not while she herself had no idea how to explain it.
The pull she'd felt, the feeling deep in her chest . . . she couldn't puzzle it out. And what had been carved into her hand . . . the Triforce.
As she followed the boys around the walkway, she shivered involuntarily. For all her research had revealed, it had mentioned nothing like this. The Triforce of Courage had never reacted the way hers had--then again, she realized, if history was repeating itself as usual, and she had the Triforce of Wisdom, then it made sense. As far as the books and her own knowledge went, the Triforce of Wisdom had never even entered places like these--ancient temples, created to test the hero.
How she knew that was what this place was, she couldn't say. She just knew. And that scared her more than anything.
She was changing. She was different than the girl who'd run away, a year ago, and different still from the girl who'd come back. She could feel it in her heart; somehow, acquiring the Triforce of Wisdom had done something to her.
Though, how she'd even acquired the damn thing in the first place was beyond her; it seemed to Zelda that all she ever did proved she had the Triforce of Stupidity, if anything.
She sighed, prompting Link to glance back. She didn't know when, or how, but she had come to accept her ownership of the Triforce. Perhaps that was part of her change, she mused. Perhaps growing out of the girl she'd once been, becoming who she was, had allowed her to slip into the role she was meant to play, and accept it.
The Princess of Hyrule--no. The Queen of the Hylian Empire. She took a deep breath. The role she was meant to play . . . she didn't know what that was, but she knew it wouldn't be the same as princesses of the past. This time, she wouldn't hide in a castle and wait for the hero to save her.
This time, she would fight.
They came upon the door, and Zelda shivered again, though not from any supernatural cause. This cold feeling . . .
"Does this . . . lead outside?" Ilayen asked, sticking his head through the doorway. It was pitch black beyond the frame, betraying nothing. Zelda drew her short sword, ignoring the twinge in her injured shoulder. "Stay alert. There could be monsters, or worse--"
"Ganondorf's spies," Link said grimly, drawing his blade. Zelda didn't answer, though her mind whirled at the name. She didn't know how, but something told her they needed to hurry. Her hand burned, glowing through the bandage, as if in answer to her thoughts.
She led the way outside, keeping to the shadows, which wasn't hard. There was hardly any light to begin with--it was a new moon tonight, leaving the sky dark. There seemed to be a series of stairs, though they were broken or completely missing at some points. They hopped the blanks, Zelda's heart rate increasing. They were close. Her hand seared, glowing brightly now.
She swallowed as the three crested the last stair. The steps had led them into a large open space filled with sand, though it was not empty. A dais stood in the center, with a large mirror in a stand. It was glowing faintly, as if it had taken the moon's shining and made it its own. Zelda's sword lowered, her eyes drawn to the mirror, mesmerized. She drew deeper into the sand clearing, but stopped after only a few steps. It can't be this easy.
Besides, from what Midna had said, the Fused Shadow had been a mask--or part of one. She'd said nothing of a mirror.
Link laid a hand on her arm. "That can't be it, right?" he asked, mirroring her thoughts.
"Then where is it?" Ilayen murmured, keeping sharp watch on the surrounding shadows. "Did we take a wrong turn?"
Zelda felt responsibility crash down on her once again. After the incident with the door, they'd decided unanimously to follow Zelda. They'd all seen the Triforce, after all, and what else had they to go on? Wherever her hand had felt the strongest reaction, that was where they'd gone.
And it had led them here.
But instead of getting more intense, the burning had faded completely.
She resisted the urge to tap her foot, feeling the beginnings of panic rise. "I don't know. Let's--let's just explore some more, okay? I feel--"
She froze, her eyes beyond Link's blue gaze. She saw it narrow in her peripheral, but she was fixed on a point behind him. She strained, but . . . Did I imagine that?
She'd thought she'd seen something in the sand beside the dais, but it was dark, and she was exhausted. It was nothing.
Ilayen took a few steps into the clearing. "Doesn't look like anyone's been this way. The sand would have held their footprints."
Link followed him. Zelda kept scanning the sand--there! Behind Link, sand had spurted up, barely visible in the dark. "Not if they covered their tracks as they moved . . . Keep on your guard, everyone. We don't know what may be--"
"Link!"
He dove to the side on instinct, just a hairsbreadth from the massive spike that exploded out of the sand beside him. Link rolled, coming to his feet and swung at the spike, but as quickly as it appeared, it vanished beneath the sand. In a flash the three were back-to-back, swords drawn.
"Eyes on the sand," Link commanded.
Zelda strained, her heart beating wildly against her chest. She knew it--she knew she'd seen something. "It spits up sand as it moves," she added, tightening her grip on her sword.
They turned slowly, and all was still long enough that Zelda began to believe they were alone again when it appeared.
Across the clearing, in the glow cast by the mirror--was it shining brighter than before?--it burst out of the sand in a wild leap, jaws gaping wide.
"Hylia have mercy," Ilayen whispered, a mirthless smile on his face.
Its scales glittered in the light of the mirror, the fleshy underbelly a light brown. A truly enormous, wide spike stuck out from its mouth, and large fins rippled on its back, along with tiny arms and legs on its sides.
It disappeared back into the sand. The three stayed perfectly still, scanning the sands once again. "Well," Ilayen muttered, "you're the adventurer, Link. Any idea how to kill this thing?"
"How the bloody hell should I know that? I've never seen this before--"
"It's a molduga," came Zelda's voice, strong and clear. Her mind whirled. "I couldn't tell before we saw it, but I'm sure now. It swims beneath the sand and shoots out when it hears something on the surface. We need to get to higher ground."
Link glanced at her. "So how--"
They flew into the air in an explosion of sand and screams. Zelda's leg felt hot; she crashed down a few feet from the dais, sand flying into her eyes and mouth. She coughed, crawling to the steps of the dais. There. Now at least it can't throw us around.
Link dragged himself up the steps, swearing. "Damn this thing." He glanced at her. "How do you know what this thing is?"
Zelda ripped the fabric of her pant leg off and wrapped her shin. Behind her, Ilayen was cursing. "I read it while I was doing research. It was a monster during the time of the Hero of the Wild. I didn't know they still existed, though."
She met Link's grim eyes. Meaning, she didn't know if this was Ganondorf's doing, or if the molduga had simply survived all this time, out in the desert.
"Is this its home?" Ilayen asked, breaking through her thoughts. Zelda squinted at the sand around them; the dais was small, but it was raised off the ground. That was a point for them, but if they couldn't figure out how to kill it, they would be stuck there. And something told her it wouldn't take long for the molduga to figure a way to kill them.
But what Ilayen was asking . . . "I don't think so," she said uncertainly. "From what I read, moldugas prefer open sand. This place is too enclosed, and there's no water or food source."
"Which means it was placed here," Link finished, drawing his sword. "Zelda, what did the book say about how to kill it?"
Zelda racked her brains, but after a few moments her shoulders fell. "Bombs."
Link and Ilayen stared at her. "You're kidding," Link muttered. "Bombs again?"
Zelda sighed. "We got lucky with the squid. But there's no way we can get back on solid ground without attracting this thing. And this place has been abandoned for who knows how long; there's no way we know for sure if there are even bombs here."
Despairing silence reigned; behind them, the molduga sprang out of the ground again. Then Ilayen spoke.
"What if the molduga was distracted? Did your book say anything about that?"
Zelda stared at Ilayen's determined face. "What . . . what are you saying?"
Dread pooled in her gut as he said, "I'm saying one of us--and by one of us, I mean me--can distract the molduga while you two run for cover."
Zelda opened her mouth to protest, but Ilayen overrode her. "I'm the fastest of the three of us. I can outrun it. And I'll stay close to the dais. Once it springs up, I'll follow you."
Zelda wanted to protest, but Link grasped her shoulder. "We don't have time," he said, voice hard. "We need to find the Fused Shadow."
"It's all right, Zelda," Ilayen said, trying for a smile. "I'll be right behind you."
With blood dripping from the wound in his arm, he didn't strike a very convincing figure, but Zelda knew they were wasting time. Swallowing hard, she crouched into position with Link. "Right behind us, Ilayen. That's an order."
She could hear the grin in his voice. "Yes, sir."
She saw out of the corner of her eye as he leapt off the platform and ran into the middle of the sand pit. "Hey, ugly! Over here!"
Almost immediately Zelda felt te sand quaking as the molduga neared, and she shifted slightly. Soon . . . any minute--
"Now!"
She shot across the sand, cursing every time her feet sank into the loose ground. She could hear the rumbling even closer now; beside her, Link swore viciously. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she nearly lost her footing.
The molduga burst free, its jaws gaping. And even higher in the air than the monster, a small black figure fell to earth, slamming into the sand with a thunderous crash. Zelda screeched to a halt, inches from the stone walkway. From safety, her eyes fixed on that figure.
It didn't rise again.
"Ilayen!"
Zelda lurched toward him, but a hand held her back. She whirled on Link. "Let me go! What the hell--"
"It's not moving," he murmured, gaze fixed on the monster. Zelda stopped in her tracks. Turning, she saw the huge, hulking shape of the molduga, still laying in the sand.
In a flash, Link had his sword drawn and was sprinting towards it. Zelda was a half-step behind. Of course. How could I have forgotten that?
It wasn't dead, but it had been stunned. They reached the shadow of the beast; without a second thought, Zelda grabbed Ilayen's limp form and hauled him back to the stone walkway. Link had drawn Ilayen's bow and was aiming, taking quick steps back.
The molduga twitched, then rolled over onto its stomach. "Go faster!" Link shouted. Zelda strained, her feet sinking into the sand. She couldn't gain traction, it was too loose--
Her heel hit something hard and she tripped backward, her head cracking painfully. Ilayen collapsed on top of her. Link whirled and dragged him off, into the deep shadows. Zelda struggled onto her hands and knees, relief and adrenaline battling in her heart. She glanced up, finding Ilayen's tunic even darker with blood. A rip in the front tore through the armor; his face was ghostly white, and his chest rose and fell faintly.
Zelda's heart lurched, but as she looked around, something seemed off. Hadn't those torches been lit earlier?
It was soon shoved from her mind as Link tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and pressed it to the wound. "Hand me your canteen. I need to clean the wound first." He glanced up. "Zelda?"
His eyes widened. "Zelda, behind y--!"
She tried to turn, but hands held her firm and a rancid cloth was pressed to her nose and mouth. By the sounds of struggling, Link was suffering the same fate.
Shit. Shit! She struggled like a wild thing, but her legs were weak from the trek through the sand, and her shoulder twinged, sending sparks of pain through her body. No. I can't . . . pass out now . . .
I can't . . . let him . . . have it . . .
Voices sounded through her muffled hearing, though they didn't sound the way she'd have expected. They sounded . . . feminine.
Soon, those voices and the last of her thoughts faded into blackness.
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WHOO do I love cliffhangers XD
For those who might have wondered, this is indeed the Arbiter's Grounds from TP. Couldn't help it ;))
REVIEW REPLIES.
To Ultimate blazer: what could go wrong indeed. . . Hehehe. Disappearing doors, moldugas, ambushes. . . I'm sure they're fine XD.
Perhaps ;)
You're welcome!
To Generala: one Easter egg among many. . And I mean MANY hahaha. There's definitely some elements of that, seeing as Zelda is usually the one who's being saved—even if, often times, she is fighting as well, it's only as a helper, sort of like the champions, you know? So I tried to incorporate her in-game character's chronic inability to do anything. I'm glad it came across the right way!
Hmmm, well we'll find out ;) they def have their own secrets haha.
To Oracle of Hylia: HA. I always love my MCs bickering XD. And oh my lord; I should have put in more of his eye rolls and mimicking, because that def happens behind the scenes XD.
Hope you all enjoyed, as always read and review (you know I love it) and check out Still Here! See y'all Thursday ~
