The Legend of Zelda: Reconciliation
Hey all!
Sorry for the delay on this chapter. It was another one of those tricky, write-it-over-and-over-and-over-until-you-have-fifty-different-versions chapters. As per usual I'm not really satisfied with it – it was terribly hard to arrange without cheapening one of the events in particular and this is the best version to date. I also only managed to accomplish half of what I originally planned to accomplish this chapter but it was already about 12 pages long so I figured better to end it – but if I wait much longer it'll never get done and that just won't do. :-)
On an entirely different note, those of you who e-mailed me and haven't yet received a reply, if you can please re-send the e-mail. My computer contracted a virus (the as a matter of fact) which has caused me no end of trouble and forced me to reformat my computer multiple times. I thought I had backed everything up, but I managed to forget to back up my inbox so I've lost all of the e-mails I had. Sorry for the inconvenience, guys!
As always, I hope you enjoy the read and it was worth the wait!
Lady Rose
"Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not.
Time takes it all, time bears it away, and in the end there is only darkness.
Sometimes we find others in that darkness …
… and sometimes we lose them there again."
~ Stephen King (The Green Mile) ~
xxx
A Brief Interlude
Darkness.
Not solid black, translucent black, but black just the same.
She cast a look around, aware of the feeling of urgency and foreboding that dominated her awareness. She recognized the dream for what it was; not just a dream, but one of those dreams, and at that realization the dream took shape, as they always did.
She braced.
This would be a bad one.
The darkness shifted and took form, but didn't disappear. A map appeared behind it, and the darkness split itself up, aligning itself to different locations on the map.
Hyrule, she thought to herself. It's a map of Hyrule.
As though it had been waiting for her to form that thought before acting, the black spots on the map abruptly erupted with flames, spreading like lightning over the map, curling its edges and turning it black, but not burning it away. Rather changing it. Beneath the map of Hyrule was another map, almost identical as far as the geography drawn on it, but she had never seen Hyrule drawn that way before.
It was … frightening, though she couldn't really say why.
The map was dark. Much darker than it should have been, but near its center was a spot of light, flickering weakly amidst all the dark.
It was blue, shot through with gold.
She knew who it was.
Link …
Again her recognition sparked a change, this one much more violent than the last. The map rushed up to meet her and though she knew it was just a dream she cried out anyway and tried to shield herself from the impact that never came. As she pulled her arms down from her face she realized she was standing in a field of the dead. She cried out again and stumbled backwards, tripping over the bodies and falling to the ground. She closed her eyes and drew in her breath very quickly, forcing herself to remain calm.
I have to find Link …
She pushed herself to her feet and lurched forward, keeping her eyes straight ahead and forcing herself to focus on the pillar of light, not on the bodies around her. It didn't take her long.
She finally found him on his knees in a large circle, cleared of bodies and formed by a ring of seven large crystals, from within all but one, familiar faces stared out at her; some frightened, some angry, some sad. All of them were looking at Link. The one which held no familiar face, held no face at all. It was empty.
It's mine, she thought to herself. It's for me …
She blinked and when her eyes opened again she was staring at Link from a different angle, and through a layer of crystal.
Dammit …
She ground her teeth but forced herself to focus. The sooner the dream got to its point the sooner she could be free of it.
It took her less than a heartbeat to regret her impatience.
She turned her attention to Link and felt her heart stop. It was suddenly apparent why the light that had led her to him was flickering so weakly.
He was dying.
He was covered in blood which was still flowing from too many wounds to count. His left arm hung useless at his side and his right, clutching the Master Sword in a white knuckled grip was all that was keeping him from falling flat on the ground. His chest shuddered with every laboured breath he took and his eyes were screwed shut with pain. His whole body was shaking.
"Link!" She gasped. "Oh Link!"
At her words the darkness from the beginning of the dream swelled up once more in front of Link. He opened his eyes finally as it reared up, just outside the circle and looked up at it. She could see, beneath the pain, a struggle going on behind his lashes.
There was a choice.
He was making a choice.
The darkness lurched down at Link so fast Zelda wasn't sure at first it had moved. Her heart leapt into her throat.
"Link!" She cried. He looked up at the darkness, still struggling to make the choice upon which she knew all of their lives hinged as he stared at the evil lunging down at him, intending to destroy him.
"LINK!"
xxx
"Storm brewing," Bruiser rumbled quietly, staring darkly out the window at the sky as he pulled his gloves on.
"Good," Brayden grunted, tying up his boots. "It'll cover our tracks, and it might even keep the kids at home tonight." He finished off his knot and looked up at his brother. "You know Link heard us talking, right?"
"Yep," Bruiser answered. "He's gotten better at skulking. A year ago he never would have pulled that off."
"That's my son," Brayden murmured wryly. "Thief in training." Bruiser raised an eyebrow at him.
"So why don't you teach him some Sheikan techniques then," he demanded. "Keep him from becoming too Gerudo."
"He hasn't got the patience required for Sheikan techniques," Brayden answered easily. Bruiser snorted.
"You mean you haven't the patience to teach him," he pointed out. Brayden flashed him an easy grin.
"That too," he said. "Seriously, though, he's got enough 'training' on his plate. I don't need to add any more to it."
"You spoil him."
"He's twenty-one years old," Brayden retorted, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't part of his life until he was eighteen. If he's spoiled it wasn't me who did it."
"Well I sure as Hell didn't spoil him," Bruiser replied. "Must have been the Gerudo who did it. Life as a King is making him soft." Brayden grinned but let the subject go.
Link would likely have something to say about the idea of the life of the King of the Gerudo being a soft one, but luckily for them he was dead to the world upstairs in his bed.
"You think they'll stay asleep?" He asked, changing the subject. Bruiser grinned, looking terribly amused.
"I don't think they intended to fall asleep," he answered. "They're still dressed. I think they were planning on waiting, likely giving us a ten, maybe fifteen minute head start before coming after us."
"Ten minutes?" Brayden demanded, raising an eyebrow. "What do they take us for, amateurs? We'd have caught them for sure."
"It's not that they take us for amateurs," Bruiser said. "It's that they take themselves for pros. Hunter's had a cocky streak since the day he was born and Link and Neesha have done nothing for it but to make it worse. They all feed off each other's cocky streaks until all we're left with is one big bundle of over-confidence." He smirked. "At any rate, it doesn't matter because they're all passed right the Hell out and will likely stay that way until we wake them up at sunrise. All that travelling took a bigger toll on them than they expected I think."
"And if we don't make it back to wake them up before sunrise?" Brayden asked, meeting his brother's gaze. Bruiser's face hardened.
"Sen quis lodanan sen vennan," he said.
"That might work on Hunter," Brayden pointed out, "but Link and Neesha probably can't even pronounce that, let alone follow it."
"Doesn't matter," Bruiser said. "All we need to do is convince one and the other two will follow. Hunter knows better than to break the rule. He'll make sure they get to the desert."
"Here's hoping," Brayden said grimly, getting to his feet and grabbing the lantern by the door. "Come on. The sooner we do this thing, the sooner we're done and can come back. I don't like leaving them alone like this when the whole damn world's after them." Bruiser nodded and together they slipped out the door and into the growing storm.
xxx
Zelda came awake with a cry, jolting straight up in bed and staring at the diaphanous curtains that surrounded her bed with wide, terrified eyes. A frantic, uncomprehending look around, a shuddering breath, and she let herself fall back onto her pillows, ignoring the discomfort caused by her tangled blankets. She covered her face with her hands and tried to calm herself down.
She had been right.
That one was bad.
She allowed herself the briefest of moments to be angry that she had been the one, of everyone in Hyrule, chosen to be 'blessed' with the gift of prophecy. She hated it. Every time it happened she hated it more. It never quite seemed worth it. Half the time she couldn't even make sense of the things she saw, let alone act on them. She twisted around and punched her pillow, glaring down at it.
"Why is it always Link?" She hissed to herself. She refocused her anger on that before she could start to feel sorry for herself. She couldn't afford that. Easier to feel sorry for Link.
How many times had she seen Link hurt in her dreams? How many times had she seen him die? She was terrified that one day she'd see it, and it wouldn't be a metaphor. It wouldn't be a symbol, standing for something else entirely. One day, she'd dream of him dying, and it would be just that. The odds would finally catch up to him.
It had happened once already – she'd be a fool to deny it, even if he had somehow come back to them afterwards – who's to say it couldn't happen again? And permanently next time?
As much as she was a slave to her powers and her position as the Seventh Sage, there were times it seemed that Link wore twice the chains that she did and had less than half the freedom. Sometimes it seemed that the whole universe was conspiring to crush him beneath its weight. It was like it took offence to his laughing, defiant face and meant to see his spirit broken.
But Link never really seemed to notice – which was perhaps the most frustrating thing about him.
So she felt sorry for him, because he refused to feel sorry for himself and as far as she was concerned, someone had to do it.
She rubbed her eyes and rolled back over onto her back. She stared up at her canopy and tried to put the dream behind her. If it was important, this wouldn't be the last time she had it. If it was really important she'd be subjected to it every time she so much as nodded off.
Think happy thoughts, she thought to herself. Take your mind off the bad ones with happy ones. Like … Link is home. And Hunter, and Neesha too.
And Aghanim was trying to find them and kill them.
She rolled over onto her side. Happy! She scolded herself. When Brayden and Bruiser get here I'll be able to see them again. Kisses and hugs and laughing all around.
Kisses and hugs and laughing for her and her friends, and misery, death and suffering for everyone else.
Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, she snarled savagely at herself. But it was no use, and she knew it.
She hadn't been happy since the day Link left. Sometimes she wondered if she'd ever be happy again.
She growled in irritation at herself for her fatalistic line of thinking and pushed herself to her hands and knees, crawling over to the edge of her bed.
She wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight – she shouldn't have even gotten the little bit she did – and Brayden and Bruiser would be there soon, so as far as she was concerned she might as well do something useful with herself.
Like scolding someone.
She definitely felt like scolding someone.
Impa, she decided, pushing aside the curtain surrounding her bed and burying her toes in the lush carpet beneath it. I'll scold Impa. She shouldn't have let me fall asleep. Not tonight, of all nights. That's reason enough for a scolding. She was pretty sure it was a futile endeavour – the only thing scolding Impa ever amounted to was getting scolded herself for one thing or another – but she was after company more than anything else, and Impa would understand that inherently.
Impa always did.
She padded her way across her expansive room to the door at the other end, pulling it open slowly and sticking her head out into the little chamber outside it. She frowned at the draft of cold air that brushed against her face.
"Impa?" She whispered. "Are you there?" She wasn't. And the fire had gone out, which explained why the room was so cold. Zelda froze.
Where had Impa gone? It wasn't like her to leave for no reason, especially on a night like tonight.
She pulled her face back from the door and immediately took stock of her situation. There was no Sheikan bodyguard in the little room outside her own. A quick glance at the window confirmed it was after midnight, with a dark storm brewing on the horizon. Bruiser and Brayden were late. The fire in the room had gone out, which meant Impa had been gone for a while.
No Impa. No Bruiser and Brayden. And there hadn't been in a while.
Her stomach turned to lead in her gut and her grip tightened compulsively on the doorknob.
Something had gone wrong.
There was a brief flash and when it faded she had changed form, reverting to the crimson-eyed boy that had kept her hidden for seven long years, and gotten her out of twice as many scrapes as it had gotten her into. She did a quick count of her weapons – a multitude of hidden knives, whip secured at her belt, bandages in place over her hands to protect her knuckles from the damage she used them to inflict – and then slipped to one side of the door, slowly pushing it open with her foot.
"Looking for Bruiser and Brayden?" Said a dead voice to the left side of the door inside the little room. A very familiar figure separated itself from the shadows. "They're not coming." Sheik gave an unintentional start.
"Thomas?" She gasped, recognizing him instantly. It was kind of hard to miss the only person in Hyrule under the age of 25 with grey hair. "Where have you –" She took a step towards him but froze when he lifted a crossbow, loaded and ready to fire and pointed at her chest. She stared at it for a moment, several harsh realties settling themselves into her brain. "So it's true," she said flatly, looking back up at him finally. "You have betrayed us. After everything we've been through, Thomas, how could you just –"
"Put your hands on your head," he said, the half-dead tone never leaving his voice. Sheik didn't move.
"What have you done with the people you kidnapped?" He said nothing, merely held the crossbow steady. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to peer through the shadows that covered his face. Something wasn't right.
Besides the fact one of her precious few childhood friends was pointing a crossbow at her chest.
"Where's Impa?" She demanded. "And what do you mean Bruiser and Brayden aren't coming?"
"If you don't put your hands on your head, I will shoot you," Thomas said flatly. She shook her head slowly.
"Thomas … you can't possibly …"
"I broke Acqul's arm for getting in my way. I stabbed Talon. Had they kept coming after me I would have killed them. I can shoot you, Zelda. And I will." There was no doubt behind his words. Zelda lowered her head.
So that was it then.
He was longer a friend. And in times like these if they weren't your friend, they were your enemy.
There was only one thing to do.
But knowing that didn't make it any easier.
She brought her hands up at last, but she didn't do it slowly, and they weren't empty when she did. Two knives, pulled from her belt on the way up, flew from her fingertips. One went awry, but the other struck Thomas in the shoulder, impaling him to the wall. Zelda didn't waste any time. Before she was even finished the throwing motion she had spun around and behind the door again. The palace was full of secret passages and there were a grand total of three which lead out of her room. The only question was, which one should she take. The coals were still hot in her fireplace which ruled out that one. She didn't have time to shove aside the armoire blocking the other, which left only the one behind the tapestry. She bit her lips.
Thomas knew about that one.
But beggars can't be choosers and the sound of Thomas snarling as he finally ripped the dagger out of his shoulder told her she was out of time.
She bolted.
"Bel! Mel!" Thomas shouted from the other room. "She's making a break for it!" She heard the whisper of a crossbow bolt flying through the air followed by a dull thud as it embedded itself in her bedpost as she ran by it.
She had just enough time to think: I can't believe he just shot at me, before the tapestry she was aiming for was suddenly thrown aside and Bel and Mel moved out from behind it.
"Nayru," she snarled, skidding to a stop and trying to reverse direction, but she was too late. Bel and Mel were on her before she could complete the turn, tackling her to the ground.
"We got her, Thomas, relax," said Bel, forcing Sheik's hands behind her back.
"Sorry Sheik," Mel said softly, sounding tortured. "We really are … but we haven't got a choice."
"You're sorry, all right," Sheik hissed, struggling furiously against their grip. "The sorriest bunch of traitors I've ever seen. How could you do this?" Nobody answered her as Bel focused on tying her hands behind her back. "Bruiser and Brayden will be here any second," she said, changing tactics. "You might have been able to take me, but you'll never take –"
"I already told you," Thomas said harshly, walking into the room. "They're not coming." There was a pause. "Aghanim's ready for them." Sheik's heart froze.
"What?" She whispered.
"They won't be coming," Thomas repeated, then fell silent.
Sheik sagged in defeat, then shook her head as Bel and Mel hauled him to his feet.
It was too late for her. She'd been caught and she wouldn't be getting free.
Impa was nowhere in sight.
Bruiser and Brayden had failed in their mission.
It was too late.
But there was someone it wasn't too late for.
If she could just make contact, tell him to get the Hell out …
It wouldn't work, she knew it wouldn't …
How many times had she told him to get the Hell out of how many places? Too many to count.
And how many times had he listened? Too few.
But it wasn't like there was a choice.
She closed her eyes and went limp in Bel's and Mel's arms.
"She passed out!" Bel gasped.
Thomas hissed, then turned his attention inward, addressing the vile presence at the back of his mind.
She's contacting Link …
xxx
Chapter 3
"Zelda?" I frown at the haze around me. I can hear the unseen choir of the Temple of Time chanting but it sounds thick and far away. Like I'm under water. All around me vague shapes are formed of the haze but dissipate before they can grow solid.
What the Hell is this?
"Zelda! What's going on?"
This isn't right …
This isn't a dream. I know that much. This doesn't feel like a dream. It doesn't act like a dream.
But I'm not awake …
"Zelda? Answer me, dammit!"
It has to be her. It has to be. I know what this feels like. It's feels like the instant between giving in to her mental call and suddenly finding myself standing at the Temple of Time and staring at her. We do this all the time. For Din's sake, we practiced this.
It's never done this before though … it's never stopped here.
This is wrong.
Something is wrong!
"Zelda!"
"Link!" The voice is warped, and seems to come from everywhere at once, but I know it. I'd know it anywhere. "Link! It's Aghanim! He's … interfering with the connection!"
"Zelda! Where are you? What's he doing to you?" I can feel panic rising in my chest as I stare frantically around at the haze.
"Link, listen to me," she pleads, "I don't know how long I can hold this connection. You need to get out of Castletown! Go to the desert!"
"We are," I respond, still trying vainly to spot her through the haze. "Tomorrow. Zelda, what's go—"
"You have to leave now!" She cries, her voice strained. "Aghanim knows you're back! Brayden and Bruiser were supposed to come and smuggle me out, but they never came. Aghanim was ready for them. Something's gone wrong with the plan."
"What?" I gasp. "No, that doesn't make any sense. They haven't been gone that long. We were going to follow –" My voice dies off. If I'm here – wherever here is – then odds are I'm asleep.
I must have passed out the instant my head hit the pillow.
And if I'm asleep, Hunter and Neesha must be too …
"Damn!" I shake my head quickly. "Of all the … Zelda, where are you now? Hunter, Neesha and I will be there before you can blink."
"Link! You can't! You'll be caught!"
"I'm not going anywhere until I found out what happened to Dad and Bruiser," I counter. "And that means following them to the palace. We may as well grab you on our way through." She wants to argue with me. I can feel her irritation even through the haze. But she hasn't got time for it. Her voice is getting progressively farther away and the haze is getting thicker. I can feel the connection slipping. "Tell me where you are!"
"The dungeons," she relents finally. "They're taking me to the dungeons. I don't know what Aghanim's planning, Link, but I've no doubt he intends to do whatever it is tonight, you need to hurry."
"Know any shortcuts?" I ask, not really expecting an answer, but to my surprise, there is one.
"Yes. Head for the east side of the palace, there's a secret passage set into the wall near the garden, Hunter should know how to find it. It's the route your father was supposed …" Her voice fades to the point of becoming a whisper.
"Zelda!" I gasp. "Dammit. Sit tight, Zelda! We're on our way!" Her voice murmurs something I can't make out and I glare at the haze around me, fists clenched tightly.
"AGHANIM!" I shout. "You snake. I'm coming for her! And so help me Din, if you so much as lay a crooked old finger on her, there'll be Hell to pay …"
The only answer is a thickening of the haze, and the vague impression that somehow, somewhere, the old wizard is laughing.
I hope he chokes on it.
Zelda's voice finally fades completely and the next thing I know …
… I'm sitting up in bed so fast I crack my head off the top bunk.
"Farore!" I cry, clutching my head and falling back onto the mattress. "Oww … for Nayru's sake …" Hunter stirs above me but doesn't wake up at the noise. Neesha's pushing herself into a sitting position and staring at me in sleepy confusion.
Apparently we underestimated the toll all the travelling we've been doing took on us. Ten rupees says we all passed right the Hell out as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
Dad and Bruiser must have been so smug.
"Get up!" I shout, rolling myself out of the bed and fighting my way out of my tangled blankets. "Get up! Both of you!" Hunter groans as Neesha pushes herself to her feet, her eyes widening when she realizes what must have happened. "Neesha! Get him up!" I cry, flying out of the room and bolting over to Bruiser's room.
Empty. Bed's still made. No point checking Dad's room, it'll be the same.
Instead I whirl around on my heel and tear over to the stairs, leaping down them two at a time and skipping the last four altogether. I scramble to keep my balance without slowing my pace as I push through the kitchen door and out into the archery shop itself.
Coat rack's empty. Boot rack's empty.
They're gone.
But they left a note tacked to the door.
"Gone out for a bit. If we're not back by morning, get yourselves out of town and your way to the desert. We'll meet you there. Bruiser. P.S. That's an order." My eyes narrow.
"Meet us there, my ass," I hiss, glaring at the note. If they aren't back by morning odds are they aren't coming back.
Aghanim was ready for them …
I whirl back around and run back up the stairs.
"Link! In here!" Hunter calls from his dad's room. I immediately reverse direction and head there instead of back to ours. "Give me a hand here," he grunts, shoving at a heavy wooden trunk. I frown and move over, grabbing the other side and pulling. "Dad's got a weapon stash under here," he grunts in answer to my unspoken question. "How long have we been out for?"
"Too long," I answer, quickly filling he and Neesha in on my conversation with Zelda. By the time I'm done, Hunter's staring at me with a dread-filled look.
"Link, you don't think …"
"I don't think anything," I say harshly. "Not until I see it. Now hurry up. The faster we get out of here, the faster we find our dads." He nods once and then pulls up on the edge of the trapdoor set into the floor, lifting the lid and revealing the large box of well-organized weapons beneath it.
"Goddess damn it," Neesha hisses, glaring out the window at the swirling snow that's obscuring our view of the street. "Does it ever not snow here?"
"Quit complaining," Hunter says, tossing me one of the knives he took from his Dad's weapons stash. "It'll cover our tracks and keep anyone from seeing us." Neesha mutters something and moves out of the room. Hunter buries himself again in the box, which I'm staring at blankly.
I lived in this building for more than seven years and never knew that was there. I'm kind of horrified at myself.
"Do you need another sword?" Hunter asks from the box.
"Is there one in there?" I ask.
"Nope," he answers, "but there's a hunting knife."
"Pass," I say. "I'll be fine with the one scimitar."
Farore I want the Master Sword back. More so now that I know I can't have it.
"What time do you think it is?"
"Can't tell," Neesha answers, coming back in, our coats in her arms. "Too cloudy, I can't see the moon." I take my coat from her and slip it on. "Are we ready to roll yet? What are you looking for?"
"Lantern," Hunter answers, grunting as he pulls himself out of the box again, wielding the aforementioned item. "It's black as pitch out there, and as unstealthy as a lantern is, we might wind up needing one."
"Bruiser keeps the lantern in a box under his floor?" Neesha demanded, wrinkling her nose.
"He keeps a lantern in the box under his floor. The other one's gone. They must have taken it. Link, help me shove this back over." He sets the lantern to the side and shuts the trapdoor. I take one side of the heavy chest that covered it and he takes the other and with much grunting and groaning we manage to slide it back into its usual spot.
"There," Hunter says, slipping his own coat on. "Now, let's get this show on the road."
"Great," Neesha mutters, making a face as she pulls her scarf up over her face and tightens it. Hunter grabs the lantern and we all hurry out of Bruiser's room and down the stairs, slipping out of the kitchen and into the shop.
"Stay close," Hunter says, adjusting his own scarf. "Link, you know Castletown best, you take point. We need to stay out of sight and avoid people – not that there's going to be very many people out at this time of night, let alone in this weather." I nod and wrap my very own Sheikan shawl (a birthday present from Dune two years ago) around my face and slip out into the storm as Hunter blows out the candle in the house, leaving it dark, before slipping out after me. Neesha hesitates for only a moment before setting her jaw (what's sad is that she's got the scarf wrapped tightly enough around her face that I can see that at all) and plunging into the cold, letting the door fall shut behind her.
Here's hoping our fathers live up to their reputations.
xxx
"Just how many secret passages does this palace have?" I ask Hunter in a tense whisper as he slides the wall-that-is-not-a-wall-but-is-in-fact-a-door shut again, leaving no seam to give it away. He offers me an equally tense grin as he pulls down his scarf.
"Too many to count," he answers. "It was designed by Sheikah, you know. We like secret things in case you haven't noticed." Neesha and I both roll our eyes.
"I noticed," I respond flatly, turning around to take in our surroundings. We're in a cramped little stairwell with only two possible directions to go in: up or down.
"Where did Zelda say she was?" Neesha asks, glancing around. "Up or down?"
"Down for sure," I answer. "She's in the dungeons." Hunter frowns.
"Are you sure it was actually Zelda and not just a dream?" I give him the what-am-I-an-idiot? look.
"For the trazillionth time, Hunter, yes I'm sure it was Zelda. It was different, for sure, but it wasn't a dream." He makes a face back at me.
"Touchy," he complains. "And for the record, trazillion isn't a number. So if it wasn't a dream, and it wasn't your normal connection, what was it?"
"It was the normal connection. Aghanim was interfering. She couldn't complete the link is all."
It's like this: Zelda, as the seventh Sage, is unique among the other sages. For one thing, she hasn't got a temple. Her job isn't to take care of worshippers. For two, she isn't associated with anything. As in Impa's the Sage of Shadow, Darunia's the Sage of Fire and so on and so forth, but Zelda's not the Sage of anything, and if she is, it's the Sage of Sages.
Sage of Sages. I like that. That's a good way to put it.
She's technically their unofficial leader, and when it comes to 'Sage business,' she's got the final say.
And I am nothing, if not Sage business.
In her capacity as the Seventh Sage, part of her job is me. Whether it's to help me or to use me depends on your point of view and how bad of a mood I'm in. Her powers are mostly an odd combination of telepathic and prophetic, and the telepathic part applies to me (a disturbing portion of the prophetic tends to feature me as well, but that's for other reasons which have more to do with what I am, as opposed to what she is).
A few times over the years since we first met she was able to reach out to my mind with hers and forge a link. We both had to be on the same wavelength to do it, and it had to be a stormy one at that. Since then, however, and with a lot of practice, she can now do it almost whenever she wants. And, much to her annoyance from time to time, with a lot of practice, I can now say no. I can recognize it for what it is and if I don't feel like talking to her, I don't have to.
Which is good.
Because it's not as simple as you might a think a telepathic conversation would be. It's not a disembodied voice that sounds like Zelda rattling around in my head. It's kind of hard to describe. The connection is deeper than that and it takes us both away from wherever it is we actually are. When she activates the bond and I let her in the world blurs out and next thing I know I'm somewhere else and Zelda's there too. It looks real and feels real and smells real and I become completely unaware of the real world.
I don't understand it anymore than I sound like I do, which is to say not at all, but it works and that's good enough for me.
"Well … can you sense her now?" Hunter asks. I frown and concentrate for a moment before shaking my head bitterly.
"Not really," I answer. "Not enough to say for sure." Hunter sighs as well.
"Where the Hell did he get the power to block Sage abilities …"
"Hey," Neesha says suddenly, stopping in her tracks and forcing Hunter and I to stop as well.
"What?" I demand, frowning at her. She's staring with narrowed eyes at one of the torches illuminating the little stone stairwell.
"This is a secret passage, right?" She asks.
"Yes," Hunter answers with a raised eyebrow.
"So no one knows about it and no one really uses it?"
"That's generally what the word 'secret' implies," he agrees. "Are you going somewhere with this, Neesha?" She points at the torch.
"Well if this is secret and no one knows about it or uses it, why are the torches all lit?" Hunter blinks and stares at the torch, then glances back and forth at all the other lit torches lining the walls.
"Well … maybe Dad and Uncle Bray – but no, they wouldn't have. Not if they were going for secrecy …" His blinks and his eyes widen suddenly.
"Link … you don't think Aghanim was listening in when you and Zelda …" I close my eyes and rub my temple, feeling the onset of a headache.
This isn't going well.
"Aghanim was definitely listening in," I answer. "I could feel him there …" Neesha takes a step backwards, back up the stairs and the three of us exchange a paranoid glance.
"Maybe we should find another way –" Before she can finish her sentence the stairs we're standing on erupt with red light.
"Move!" I cry, and as one we twist and try to bolt back up the stairs, but we're too late. They disappear from under us and the next thing we know we're toppling head over heels down into the darkness. A line of explosive oaths erupt from Neesha somewhere above me but they're abruptly cut off. Before I can get the breath to call out to her, I land – with the expected combination of thuds, cracks, and groans.
"Farore," I push out hoarsely. Despite having no air left in my chest, I roll over onto my side and clutch the back of my head. It's not the only thing that hurts, but it's the most convenient. "Nayru and Din," I add for good measure. There's no sound around me. I take a moment to catch my breath then push myself up and look around. Fat lot of good it does me. It's pitch black in here.
Where ever here is.
"Hunter? Neesha?" I call. Nothing. No answer. "Dammit." I push myself to my feet and stagger for a moment as my head pounds in protest. I reach back and under my hat, frowning when I touch my hair and feel the thick wetness of blood.
Great.
Just great.
That's going to hurt for days.
I reach behind my back and pull out my bow, double checking to make sure it didn't get cracked in the fall. For once since I've gotten back something's gone right. It's in one piece. I reach back to my quiver and feel around until I feel the familiar, eerily smooth shaft of the light arrow (distinguishable from the other two by it's lukewarm temperature). I pull it out and nock it to my bow, releasing the magic, but not the arrow. It flares brightly with golden light and I cast a slow look around at my surroundings.
I, the great Hero of Time, saviour of Hyrule, and King of the Gerudo, the one who has made a point of being a pain in the collective side of all black magic users and politicians in general, who has told Aghanim to his face that I hate his guts, and who's tried to punch him on more than one occasion,have been locked, by said black-magic using, son-of-a-bitch politician whom I hate …
… in a cleaning closet.
Well it's nice to know that he considers me a threat.
I'm actually kind of offended.
I roll my eyes and let the Light arrow go out, slipping it back into my quiver and my bow back onto my back. There's no way out of this room except the one door – which I definitely didn't fall through – which means, without a doubt, that it was Aghanim who took the stairs out from under us because that requires magic, and although some of my allies in the palace can use a bit of magic, if it had been my ally, they would not have split me, Hunter and Neesha up.
So, that brings the list of people I need to find and/or rescue from three up to five.
And this assuming I won't soon need rescuing myself.
Without wasting any more time, I call my own magic spell to mind and let the power run through me. The little closet is suddenly infused with a soft green light.
"Farore's … wind!" I whisper. The green glow surges up me and fuses into a small glowing ball just above my head. I look up at it. "In case of emergency," I tell it with a wink.
If I didn't know better, I'd say it winked back. Shaking my head at my own foolishness and I tiptoe gingerly over to the door.
Because if they weren't alerted by the sound of me crashing into this stupid closet and swearing they're going to notice me moving to the door.
I push the door open carefully and stick my head around to see what's out there …
… but all I see is the wrong end of something round and black just before it smashes into my head and everything goes black.
xxx
A Brief Interlude
"Neesha?"
"Here," came the pained response.
"Link?" No answer. "Link? You all right?" Still no answer.
Hunter pushed himself up on his good elbow (the other had hit the hard stone floor before the rest of him had and was now throbbing like nothing else) and looked around, waiting impatiently for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.
"He's not here," Neesha said, her voice flat as she pushed herself unsteadily to her feet.
"But … then where is he?" Hunter asked, craning his neck around to look at the whole room. It was a small, square room – maybe big enough for ten people with a bit of elbow room. The only exit was to their right, and it looked like it extended into a hallway beyond. The constant drip-drip of water echoed from the corner where a large puddle had gathered, and the air was chill.
Definitely a dungeon.
"Who the Hell knows," Neesha muttered, rubbing her knee and making a face. "If he can make stairs spontaneously not exist Aghanim could have probably sent him anywhere."
"Neesha, that's bad," Hunter said, pushing himself to his feet and knitting his brow. "Wherever he is, he's on his own, and Aghanim's after him. Farore, that's probably why he split us up. We need to find him."
"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Neesha said, glaring at him. She pushed past him and headed towards the exit to the room. "Because I was planning on just abandoning him, personally." Hunter rolled his eyes at her back.
"Gerudo," he muttered under his breath, following her. "Always have something smart to say, don't they?"
"What?" Neesha asked, turning to look at him as they slipped out into the hallway.
"I said you're just bitter because you walked face-first into a trap," he answered. She rolled her eyes.
"Oh yes," she said, "and you're down here with me because you somehow didn't?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed.
"Yeah, well … point taken," he acceded. "Tell you what, how about we leave that part out when we find Dad and Uncle Bray?" Neesha nodded.
"That and the part where we fell aslee –" She froze in mid-step and held up a hand. "Wait," she said quietly, "I hear something." Hunter cocked his head to the side and strained his ears, then nodded.
"Footsteps," he confirmed in a low voice. "Headed this way." He moved as though to gesture for them to split up and hide, but just before he did there was a change in the rhythm of the footsteps, followed immediately by a loud thud and a muffled oath delivered by a familiar voice.
"Dad!" Hunter gasped. He started forward, but Neesha grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Wait," she hissed. "it might be another trap."
But it wasn't a trap. Before she had even finished her sentence, a barely recognizable Bruiser staggered around the corner. Half of his face was drenched in blood thanks to a nasty gash over his right eye. His left side was soaked as well from another deep slash and his right arm was hanging limply by his side.
"Dad!" Hunter cried again. Bruiser's head snapped up at the shout and he stared at Hunter and Neesha through one eye. He swayed awkwardly and almost lost his grip on the wall. Hunter's eyes widened in horror and he twisted out of Neesha's grip and moved forward to help, but Bruiser held up a hand.
"No! Stay where you are!" He cried, the strength of his voice belying the state of his body. Hunter froze in horror.
"Dad! What –" Before he could finish his question, a half dozen guards rounded the opposite corner of the hallway. Hunter's eyes narrowed and he drew his sword. He could hear Neesha following suit behind him.
"Sir! We've found them!" One of them shouted. Bruiser shook his head to clear it.
"RUN!" He growled. "I'll buy you time, get the Hell out!" He propelled himself off the wall with a furious cry and threw himself at the soldiers. Hunter felt his stomach clench. There was no way Bruiser could take them all, as hurt as he was.
He needed help.
"Dad, NO!" Hunter raised his sword and prepared to run down the corridor and close the distance between he and the soldiers, but he froze in shock when another familiar figure rounded the corner and slipped past Bruiser and the others.
"Thomas!" Neesha gasped behind him. They hesitated only a moment – just long enough to register the expression on Thomas's face that identified him as an enemy – but it was too long. Thomas raised his hands and chanted a short, harsh word. At the sound the shadows in the hallway surged up and around Hunter and Neesha, solidifying around their feet, wrenching weapons from their hands and holding them fast in place.
Behind Thomas, almost in slow motion, Bruiser staggered backwards and fell, landing hard and struggling in vain to get back up again.
"Dammit boy," he hissed weakly from the ground. "I told you to run …"
"Thomas!" Hunter shouted furiously, struggling against the inky bonds that held him in place. "What the Hell are you playing at?" Behind him, Neesha was silent, her face a mask of impotent fury as she pulled at the shadows holding her. Thomas didn't answer, and instead gestured for the soldiers to move forward and take Hunter and Neesha. One of them hesitated, casting a glance down at Bruiser.
"Sir, what should we do with …"
"Kill him," Thomas interrupted, waving his hand impatiently. "We have what we came for."
"What?" Hunter cried. "Thomas! You can't be serious!" The soldier looked back and forth from Hunter to Thomas and back again, but Thomas's cold expression didn't change. He winced.
"Sir … couldn't we … couldn't we at least wait until the boy's gone? To kill his father right in front of him …" Thomas spun on his heel so suddenly the soldier stepped back. He pulled the bow from the soldier's hand and ripped an arrow from his quiver.
"Thomas! NO!" Hunter shouted, throwing himself against his bonds. Bruiser turned his face to Hunter and met his horrified gaze.
"Hunter …" he said stiffly. "Sen quis … sen quis lodanan…"
"DON'T DO IT! THOMAS!" Hunter practically shrieked. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"… sen vennan …"
Thomas nocked the arrow, pulled back the string, and released it all in the same fluid motion. The arrow sliced into Bruiser's chest and embedded itself there. The big man gasped, turning his face up. A shudder ran through his body and for an instant he tensed up, then abruptly relaxed. His head fell limply to the side and his last breath shuddered in his chest.
His eyes fell shut, and Bruiser of the Sheikah lay still.
Hunter stared at his still form with wide, uncomprehending eyes.
"No," he whispered. "No!" And as fast as they widened, they narrowed again and he directed a glare full of rage at Thomas. "Why?" He hissed. "Why, Thomas, why?" Thomas didn't answer, but instead threw the bow to the side.
"Take them," he said. "Hurry it up. We've got the last three now, Aghanim will be impatient to get started."
"Hunter," Neesha said softly from behind him. "Hunter, I'm …" She fell silent, unsure of what to say. Hunter didn't respond. He wouldn't remove his eyes from Thomas.
"I don't know what possessed to you kill him," he hissed, venom in his voice as the soldiers moved to bind him so that the shadows could be removed. "I don't know what's happened to change you, Thomas. But I do know this." His eyes narrowed even further and his fists clenched so tight his nails bit into his palms. "You're a dead man." Thomas said nothing, but continued to stare impassively back at him as the soldiers finally finished tying them up and the shadows slid back to their correct places on the floor and walls.
Five plus two makes seven, Thomas intoned inwardly as the soldiers led Neesha and Hunter down the hallway. Mission complete. What next?
Guard them, answered the voice. I am not quite ready for them yet and the Hero is still loose in the palace. If he comes for them, kill him. He is not required. Thomas nodded once.
As you wish, he said, and turned to follow the soldiers down the hall.