Chapter 20: Revelation

With Darunia brooding, Impa sitting at the opposite wall and Navi having cried herself to sleep, both Tatl and Tael did some thinking. It was clear to Tael now that Tatl did have come to care for Link, her usual posture now broken due to what has transpired, while he was floating in a distant corner of the Ice Cave, contemplating things and thinking on what could be done next… or rather what HE could do to help… It was then that Tatl had noticed her brother being a bit distanced now, not even making any comments or saying anything, before she moved to her brother.
"What's up with you, brother? It's not like you to be this quiet." Tatl said to him.
"Hm? Oh, I'm just doing some thinking…" Tael replied.
"Thinking? About what?" She asked.
"I wonder what we can do to help them, sis… This whole situation is driving me crazy." He replied.
"I see…" Tatl replied, although frowning a bit at Tael's comment, "I doubt anything other than the death of the culprits could be of help though; the loss has hit hard after all."
"But there has to be SOMETHING we can do instead of moping around here…"
"And what do you suggest?" Tatl asked, frowning.
"… I don't know, but I will find something, you just wait." Tael said, before flying off, exiting the Ice Cave.
"TAEL! COME BACK HERE!" Tatl then asked, flying after him.
Impa watched this exchange, but remained silent, even as the two left. She was thinking carefully about what would be wise to do now. She sighed, before moving her head between her knees, sighing softly.
"Tael! Where do you think you're going?!" Tatl asked.
"I'm going to find something that can be of help to them and don't you dare trying to stop me; I'm taking charge of this operation." Tael said as he flew on through the forest.
Tatl sighed.
"You're impossible at times, brother… but I am coming with you whether you like it or not." She then said, knowing that even Tael likely had no idea where to start, but she had to admit that he was putting up a brave front all of a sudden… similar to when Majora's Mask discarded the Skull Kid and went on to possess the moon…

"I still don't get it how Ganondorf was able to best us, taking his alliance with Majora aside…" Impa said after several minutes, "and here I thought that the Master Sword would once more defeat Ganondorf, this time once and for all."
"Well, the Master Sword did injure Ganondorf as it struck him," Darunia replied, "however I believe that it has gotten weaker somehow; it didn't do fatal damage, or at least enough to make him weak enough for us to seal him away once more…"
"The Master Sword having become weaker?" Impa asked, now interested in this.
"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't the Master Sword connected to the power of us Sages? Given the troubles Brother Link had gone through in all those Temples from that near-Future to awaken us as the Sages…" Darunia said.
Impa immediately realized where Darunia was going with this.
"… and with us being awoken, we added our powers to Link so he could beat Ganondorf and save Zelda, weakening the Evil King enough for us to seal him away…" She said, her eyes widening with horror, "do you think Ganondorf knew about this too?!"
"We did expose his plans and sealed him away when Zelda had been able to present valid claims… and by teaming up with Majora, that strange mask must have used his own powers to weaken us enough so the Master Sword would be less effective…" Darunia then said, also realizing what this meant, "likely using that magic circle it utilized to trap us and drain us of our initial power as a whole!"
"Dear Goddesses… and now that most of us as well as the hero are gone…"
"… then the Master Sword is practically useless, until we have found a way to bring them back."
Impa shivered again, the thought of Ganondorf knowing about the Master Sword and its power was shaking her to the core. But of course, it was all because of Ganondorf allowing Link to run free so he could step in and lay claim to the Sacred Realm and through that the Triforce itself after Link was sealed inside the sacred realm when he tried to pull the Master Sword out of its pedestal…
"Oh no…" Impa said, shivering like crazy.
"The only advantage we have is that Ganondorf did not extract the Triforce Pieces of both Brother Link and Princess Zelda yet… interestingly enough it was thanks to Majora of all people, but it doesn't make sense to me…" Darunia said.
However, this new information was too much for Impa to handle right now, as she almost started to hyperventilate because of this and the situation as a whole.
"I… I need to get out of here before I go crazy!" She said, before promptly running out of the cave, leaving Darunia behind with Navi.
Darunia blinked for a moment, but decided it was better to leave Impa be, figuring that Impa needed some time to herself to calm down properly, before things would get even worse.

Rauru in the meantime managed to recover Ruto's Magical Boomerang as well as Link and Zelda's wallets as one of the last items he was able to recognize during his trip through the forest, when he spotted a small house with a bit of smoke bellowing from its chimney. Seeing no monsters or enemy patrols nearby, the elder Sage approached the house and knocked on the door. It took a few moments, but eventually the door was opened by a woman with brown hair, blue eyes, wearing a pink shirt with green dress and a brown apron over it, while on her head was a small, green cap, similar to what Link wore himself most of the time.
"C – Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes," Rauru replied, "can you please tell me who resides here?"
"Who wants to know?" The woman asked.
"Just a humble traveler whom is currently moving around to find my comrades. I used to travel in a group, but I got separated from them during an ambush by hostile forces, some of my comrades even regrettably lost their lives in the ensuing combat." Rauru replied.
It was a small lie, but also had a slight bit of truth to it in some way.
"Come in," the woman said, "my husband will be with you shortly."
Rauru entered the house after the woman opened the door fully to let him in, after which Rauru looked around, before hearing the sound of someone hammering onto a piece of metal.
"There is a forge here?" He then inquired.
The woman nodded.
"Yes, my husband is a blacksmith, are you in need of his expertise?" She asked.
"I actually might, yes," Rauru said, "I hope he can help out."
The woman nodded before moving to call her husband. About a few minutes later, she returned while carrying a tray with cups of tea, while the husband himself entered. He also had a green cap on his head, while having black hair, a moustache and beard and was wearing a brown tunic with a green undershirt and pants.
"Ah, good afternoon, sir," The husband said, "it's not every day we get visitors around here, especially not after we heard the news from another traveler that Hyrule Castle Town and Kakariko Village have been evacuated..."
Rauru nodded.
"Both mentioned towns are currently not the safest places to go to right now," he said, "even going to the ranch in Hyrule Field has gotten quite risky."
The blacksmith nodded in kind.
"So, what can I do for you? My beloved wife told me you require my services as a blacksmith?" He then asked.
"Yes," Rauru said, before producing a number of shield fragments, "these shields here were owned by a few of my comrades, but ended up broken in a battle which separated me from them; I was able to retrieve these fragments by the time the battle was over and most of my comrades were gone, but not before laying the fallen ones to rest. I was wondering if it would be possible to recreate the shields."
"Sorry to hear what has happened to your comrades," the blacksmith said, "can I have those fragments, please?"
Rauru handed the pieces over to the blacksmith for him to study.
"I have plenty of these fragments with me." He then added, at which the blacksmith nodded.
He took about a minute to study the various shards Rauru offered him, before nodding again.
"I should be able to recreate the shields using the fragments, but it would require some additional metal plates to make the shields appear as good as new, thus without any dents or cracks or anything that indicates it has been damaged before, while at the same time also making these much more durable in the process." He said to the elder Sage.
"I see, where can I find these metal plates you seek?" Rauru asked.
"Anything metal can do. I'll see if I have some more metal left from leftover work, otherwise I can work with nearly anything metal which I can melt down for this." The blacksmith replied.
"I'll see what I can do to help you, perhaps even provide you with enough materials for you to work with, should you happen to encounter more travelers." Rauru replied.
"That will be splendid," the Blacksmith replied, smiling, "I'll keep the shield fragments for now and see what I can do with them using whatever I have lying around here."
"Very well," Rauru said as he got up, "I will do what I can to deliver the materials you need. I will be back fairly soon."
"We'll be waiting for you here." The Blacksmith replied, with Rauru nodding before he departed.
Once he had left the blacksmith's house and its door closed so the blacksmith and his wife could tend to their work in safety, the elder Sage then used his light wisp form for a brief moment to transport himself into the direction of Hyrule Field. While he had to go there in order to find the discarded Master Sword, he would also look around the field to see of here were any discarded items which could be salvaged such as weapons, shields or even perhaps chunks of armor which were dropped by the brave soldiers whom made their last stand before either fleeing with the rest of the populace or ended up being captured or even killed by enemy forces. He only hoped he could get by undetected by enemy forces during his stay there.

At the same time, Ganondorf was at a different location, an unknown mountainous region on a large island, which was practically a no-man's land between Hyrule and Termina, overseeing the construction of a different tower which he wanted to use as a new place to rule from. As Hyrule was no longer enough for him, and to distract him a bit from what has happened so far, he decided on setting up a more centralized structure from where he could oversee not just Hyrule, but also Termina and potentially the lands that laid beyond them at that, places that would be interesting to have under his domain and fully settle as the evil King of the World. As for Majora, he too was in the area, working on setting up shop that would further help distribute their forces all over the world and supply them where needed, partially using captured civilians and soldiers as slave laborers to help with the construction of this elaborate base which for the most part was set up underground. He merely grumbled as he was seriously disappointed with Majora, but decided to keep that to himself for now, letting the freak do his thing and not let him get any wiser to what he was up to… Ganondorf still had some use for the Mask and its crazy ways… for now…

Tael and Tatl were still flying along, proceeding into the Lost Woods, with Tael being in the lead for once, something that unsettled Tatl to no end.
"Tael, wait up will you?!" Tatl said, hurrying after her brother.
"What's the matter, sis?" Tael asked.
"Look, I appreciate you want to put up a brave front for once and trying to help, but what are you even planning in the first place? Do you even know where you're going?" Tatl replied.
"I'm going to find the Skull Kid," Tael replied, "remember how we have helped him recover after the whole deal with Majora went down? I'm certain he will be able to help, even if it is to ambush poorly defended camps from enemies and swipe what can be useful for us and our friends."
Tatl blinked at that, remaining silent enough so Tael could continue.
"We know how the Skull Kid has an affinity for causing mischief and all, so let's try and convince him to put it for good use for once, just to let people know we're on the same side." He said.
"At times I wonder what goes into your head that make you sound this intelligent. Very well, we'll go and see the Skull Kid and hopefully convince him to fight for us." Tatl said, before both continued their trip through the Lost Woods, looking for their friend.

Back in the Ice Cave, Darunia was still brooding and contemplating things while munching on a rock he had removed from the ground outside a few moments earlier. It wasn't like the Rock Sirloin usually found in Dodongo's Cavern or on some areas under the soil in general, but it would have to do for him for the time being, taking a bite as if it were an apple to a Hylian. It was after he took his last bite that he spotted Navi still sitting on the Fairy Statue, her wings down and not having moved from her position ever since they had arrived in this hidden area. Darunia was no fool; he knew that Navi was devastated by what has happened, so he got up and went towards her, see if he could chat with her. Navi looked up as she saw Darunia coming to her, still sniffing, her cheeks red and puffy from the crying.
"I take it you miss him too?" He asked.
Navi could only nod, her voice having become hoarse from all the crying.
"So do I. Come over here." Darunia said, nodding to the spot where he was moving to sit back, wanting Navi to join him.
Navi followed, although her movements were more timid, eventually landing on Darunia's left shoulder, looking gloomy as she turned her back on the icy grave stone for now, unable to look at the corpses of her friends, whom by now were sporting signs of being frozen, as if they were put in a state of suspended animation. Upon looking around, Navi now noticed that Rauru and Impa were absent from the Ice Cave.
"It's just you and me now, Navi. Impa and Rauru are gone for the time being… just needing some personal space or trying to retrieve things from our fallen friends… but they will return…." He said to the fairy, who could do nothing but nod, remaining silent as she was currently too upset to even talk properly.

Impa was running away from the Ice Cave like crazy, needing a desolate place to just gather her thoughts, when she heard the rattling of bones at a short distance ahead. Hiding behind one of the large trees within the forest, she took a peek from behind it to see what was making these noises. To her shock, she noted about four Stalfos, three of which with a more reddish hue on the bones standing in a small clearing within the forest, with one of them being accompanied by what appeared to be skeletal dog, due to its appearance being similar to a regular dog she had seen people keeping as a pet in Kakariko Village and Hyrule Castle Town. The final Stalfos looked a bit more like a regular Stalfos, except for the fact it carried two swords with it as well as having some very basic armor. But that wasn't what was the most shocking to her however; in the skeletal dog's beak were two bits of clothing, one looking like a green cap, while the other she recognized as the hat which Princess Zelda used to wear, although both bits of clothing were stained with blood. This made Impa furious at seeing the skeletal dog holding these cloths in its jaws like that, knowing that she had to retrieve them somehow. She had to weigh her options in terms of how to approach this, noting the three Stalfos were evidently talking amongst each other; evidently the skeletal dog must have found the hats and the three were talking about this, believing that their owners should be close. Drawing her kodachi, Impa then carefully invoked her Shadow Sage abilities by engulfing herself in darkness, waiting for the right moment to strike. A sudden snap of a twig drew the attention of the four Stalfos and their skeletal pet, making them look around as if to see who or what made that sound, right as there was a sudden rush of wind blowing past them. One of the Stalfos had the foresight to jump backwards in a reflex, however, two of its comrades and the skeletal dog weren't as lucky as those shattered in a crumbling mass of shattered bones, which rapidly disintegrated in bursts of green flame. Both the dual-sword wielding Stalfos and the surviving Red Stalfos looked around, wondering who attacked it and its comrades like that, before noting a figure appearing from the shadows, holding the two pieces of clothing in her left hand, her drawn kodachi in the other, before she rose herself to full height and turning to face the skeletal warrior.
"You!" The Red Stalfos said in a crackling voice, recognizing the Shadow Sage Impa.
The Stalfos wielding the two swords immediately charged at the Shadow Sage, whom merely scowled at the incoming fiend and countered its first strikes with her kodachi, before hopping backwards to avoid its two-strike combination attack, before dashing on and striking at the Stalfos' ribcage, managing to cut a bit of it off as it had raised its swords again, leaving it open in the process. The Stalfos in question recovered and managed to hit Impa with a regular swing, but she recovered swiftly and avoided an incoming cross slash attack, at which she retaliated with her kodachi, chucking another bit of the Stalfos' ribcage away, while also using a shadow projectile to knock the Stalfos back, getting some distance in which allowed her to briefly attend to the slight injury she had from being hit, while using her kodachi to cut a bone tossed into her direction by the remaining Red Stalfos in two in reflex. This action also allowed her to take note of the other Stalfos approaching, its swords raised for another two-hit combo, but Impa made sure it could not perform this attack as she delivered three rapid strikes of her own at the Stalfos, making it now stand without a ribcage at all. Impa took advantage of this and delivered a swift strike at the Stalfos' spine, cutting the skeletal warrior in half which defeated it as it crumbled into pieces upon hitting the ground, after which Impa turned her attention back to the remaining Red Stalfos.
"How can you be so quick?!" The skeletal being asked, clearly appalled by how its comrades were slain so quickly.
Impa remained silent as she suddenly charged at the skeleton, swinging her kodachi fiercely. The Red Stalfos saw her coming however and leapt to the side to avoid it, before tossing a bone towards Impa in retaliation, whom cut it in two with a rapid swing of her blade to block it, before she leapt upwards. Not wanting to be upended so easily, the Red Stalfos chucked another bone towards Impa to intercept her, the attack narrowly missing her as she hopped on a tree branch. Impa on her turn used her new shadow arts coupled with a bit of water manipulation using drops of water from nearby tree leaves to create a number of throwing knives, before hurling two of these towards the Stalfos. The Red Stalfos chuckled as it hopped backwards to avoid these and prepared to throw another bone at her, but upon looking up to locate her, it was just in time to receive, but not in time to dodge, three more knives which promptly severed the skull from the body, and cutting its body into three more pieces, with more of its skeleton fragmenting from the force of the impact, its remains disintegrating in bursts of green flame, the skull emitting a crackling gasp at this, before spotting Impa landing beside it with an expression of pure disgust on her face.
"D… d… don't think… y… you… have won… j… just yet…" The Stalfos emitted in its crackling voice, "…there are more patrols… out there… looking for your friends… especially… that green-clothed boy… and your precious princess… once we've retrieved… their bodies… Lord Ganondorf will… take from them what belongs to him!"
"We will see, vile creature," Impa snarled, "but whatever happens, YOU will not be around to see it!"
With that, Impa raised her right foot in the air and smashed it on top of the Stalfos' skull, crushing it in the process, with its fragments disintegrating like the rest of its body before. With that deed done, Impa stood there for a few minutes, her body trembling in anxiety, almost as if waiting for other patrols to come by… but for now, this wasn't the case. It was then that she looked down towards the items of clothing she had retrieved from the skeletal dog she had done away with… which were indeed the caps from Princess Zelda and Link, recognizing the now-somewhat damaged part with the Triforce mark on it on the former. Once more being confronted with the cold, hard truth of what has happened, Impa simply fell onto her knees on the grass, clutching both blood-covered cloths to her chest… and then she wept.