The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.
The Voice
Chapter 85 - Enjoy the Heartburn
The Guardian made a sound best described as a mechanical roar as it bore down on the four of them, trying to slash and tear at them with its flailing limbs. One was pinned down by Buliara's spear, taken from a fallen Hylian, punching through the fragile limb. Its second claw was severed from its arm by a quick one-two from Ayla, her scimitar cleaving through the material and mechanical innards like it was paper.
Smart enough to know melee was no good, the Guardian tried to pull back, but Buliara's spear was keeping it in place. Desperate, it charged up its eye cannon, focusing on the biggest, slowest target in front of it: the Goron.
Yunobo looked up at the Guardian with wide eyes, frozen in place as the red targeting beam landed right between his eyes. The tell-tale hum of a cannon charging up grew louder and more high-pitched, and Yunobo clenched his fists nervously.
The hum stopped, and he reacted. He smashed his fists together, calling forth Daruk's Shield just as the cannon fired, the blue, sparking beam striking the shield a split-second before it was too late. The energy of the shield, combined with the angle of impact, diverted the beam backwards and to the side, hitting a tightly packed group of bokoblins that had made an attempt at building a shield wall.
The monsters were thrown in every direction as their supposed ally's cannon struck them out of nowhere.
Yunobo laughed, dropping the shield and stepping aside to reveal Riju. "Now, goro!"
Riju sprinted forward, breathing deep and controlled. She stopped a mere two steps away from touching its carapace and snapped her fingers. She felt the energy coursing through her, amplifying, and then...like it was sucked up and out of her.
"Bul!" she cried out.
Buliara let go of the spear and threw herself aside.
Fractions of a second later, a massive bolt of lightning struck the Guardian, followed by a loud boom that left everyone in the vicinity's ears ringing. The Guardian stopped moving, sparks erupting from every opening in its body, arcs of electricity travelling along its carapace, its eye glowing a bright red before fading to blue, and then to black as it shut down, burned up from the inside.
Riju stared at the now dead machine for a moment before turning to Yunobo, Buliara, and Ayla, a grin on her face.
"I think I'm getting the hang of it now!"
"Seems that way, chief!" Ayla said. "Good job!"
"Well done, everyone," Riju said. "Yunobo, excellent use of your shield."
"Thanks, goro!" the Goron said, grinning widely. He was carrying himself a little taller now, somehow.
"My Lady," Buliara said. "There are more Guardians."
"And now we've figured out the best way to take them out," Riju said. "Let's mop up the rest!"
The four yelled out a battle cry and headed for the next Guardian, followed by a group of allied fighters who'd seen the whole thing.
From the edge of the battlefield, Impa watched the combatants go back and forth, like the surf on a beach, each side pushing at the other, trying to make holes in each other's defences.
Things were going well, so far. The appearance of Guardians had caused some momentary panic in the ranks, especially when Robbie's arrows had kept getting intercepted, but young Riju and Yunobo seemed to have figured out a strategy for themselves when facing the machines.
She watched with great interest as, in a very efficient combination attack, Yunobo used his shield to reflect the cannon fire from the Guardians, sometimes directly back at the Guardian itself, in order to give Riju enough time to get close and unleash her lightning, calling down a white-hot flash from the heavens to strike down her opponent.
It was just as impressive now as it had been when Urbosa had done it.
The allied troops, bolstered by seeing the greatest threat to them being systematically taken down by the Champions, rallied and fought Ganon's forces even harder, easily stemming the tide of monsters pouring from the gates, preventing their advance.
And, most importantly, keeping them there.
She pointedly forced herself to keep watching the battle, refusing to look towards the castle, towards the third gatehouse that, according to the schedule, was supposed to have a luminous flare rising above it at the moment.
Tried not to think about how reduced the clan's numbers would be at the end of all this.
"Probably just having trouble getting through," Purah said, next to her, hands nervously wringing themselves. She had made attempts at keeping herself busy with the terminal she'd built, but her attention kept drawn back to the mess in front of them.
Honestly, Impa still couldn't get used to technically being the older sister now, and it had taken every bit of her self-control not to scold Purah into oblivion for being so stupid as to use herself as a test subject. She'd have to seriously retrain Purah on the scientific method after Ganon's defeat.
"Hmph, other teams shouldn't be far away now," Robbie, on Impa's other side, grumbled. He, unlike the other two, didn't have any problems focusing on other things. At the moment, he appeared to reading one of his journals, occasionally making notes. It might have seemed callous, not really paying attention to the people fighting and dying not far away, but Impa knew that was his way of coping.
"Wishing you were out there, Robbie?" Purah asked.
"Hmph, what do you think?" Robbie grumbled. "We'd be done by now if I were commanding things up there." He wrote something in his journal and angrily crossed it out. "No, too much dense rock."
"What are you writing, Robbie?" Impa asked, desperate to distract herself from imagining what sort of trouble Paya, Sheik, and the others might have gotten into on the castle grounds.
"Ah, just...making future plans," Robbie said, scratching his neck.
"For?"
"Where to search for tech caches, future dig sites...I saw some interesting markings in the rocks back there." He motioned vaguely towards the cliffs and woods south of the Sacred Ground Ruins.
"Markings?" Purah said. "What markings? I didn't see anything!"
"Nor did I," Impa said. "What sort of markings, Robbie?"
Robbie held out his journal, showing them a sketch he had done of a rock, presumably nearby. There were deep etchings in the surface, mostly faded with time, but definitely not natural. In fact, they almost looked like writing...
"See that?" he asked, pointing to the etchings. "That's writing, that is, and very familiar writing, too. I don't know if you two remember it, but that's what identified the caches where we found the first Guardians. Markers, if you like, left behind by our ancestors."
"Oh!" Purah exclaimed. "I remember that now! That's how we found the Shrine of Resurrection!"
"Precisely," Robbie said, looking smug. "I've marked the location on my maps. As soon as this Calamity is defeated, I'm checking it out. Maybe I'll ask young Ichigo for some assistance in analysing the area for where to start digging."
"Good luck getting Sheiky to agree," Purah said. "I don't think he'll let anyone talk to Ichi!"
"He'd better, or I'll hound him till the end of his days for standing in the way of scientific progress!"
Impa let the two devolve into a conversation about how to best convince Sheik to let them speak to Ichigo, turning around to look southwards.
A bad feeling had taken root in the pit of her stomach—had been there since the start of the battle, truly—and it had just grown worse.
The parapets only took them as far as the second gatehouse, where the walls had taken the worst of the brunt during the Calamity. Nothing but crumbling rock all the way to the third gatehouse, pure suicide to climb.
Sabotaging the second gatehouse seemed to have gone much the same way as the first. The small courtyard in front of it was littered with dead bokoblins and a white moblin that had been in charge.
Except...
Paya looked at the bodies that had been placed in a small alley off the courtyard. There were two, most of them covered in what appeared to be an old banner, its sigil and colours long since faded, replaced by bloodstains. The only visible parts of the bodies were the legs, which were clad in Sheikah colours.
Who were they?
Who had died trying to take this gatehouse?
She wanted to know...and didn't. More friends, another relative...as long as that cloth remained in place, she wouldn't have to find out, and could live in blissful ignorance.
But...
"Paya-nee," Sheik said quietly, coming to stand next to her. "We've got to go. The second team's about to reach the third gatehouse, and they're already undermanned."
"We'll bury them when this is over," Pikango added.
"R-Right," she said, forcing herself back to the situation at hand. They had a job to do. "Let's go."
"Stabby's plotted the best route," Sheik said, uncharacteristically serious. This was affecting him too, clearly, but he hid it a lot better. "I'll lead us there."
"Do it," she said.
She made a note to herself to thank Ichigo properly when this was all over, as the best route turned out to be maze-like at best due to how many buildings had collapsed over the last century in this part of the castle grounds. She didn't dare imagine how long it would've taken them if they'd had to find the way themselves.
"How are th-they doing?!" she asked Sheik, who was leading them through the ruined streets.
"They've engaged whatever the hell it was that took out the third team," he replied. "And it's not going well! We have to hurry!"
Paya clenched her jaw and ignored the taste of blood in her mouth. They couldn't afford to lose anyone else. It ended here!
It probably only took them about five to ten minutes of intense running and sprinting through the streets, but it felt like an eternity, each second ticking by at the pace of a snail. The worst part was not knowing what was waiting for them at the end of the trail, or how many were going to be left. Her chest was filled with a mix of relief and anxiety when Sheik shouted from ahead:
"Coming up on the gatehouse, get ready!"
They rounded a corner and saw the courtyard in front of the third gatehouse...and Paya's gasp was swallowed by her panting. The cobbles were littered with bodies, all of them Sheikah and in...bad condition. Whatever had killed them had done so with great force and violence.
"Oh, fuck me!"
Sheik's growl reached her just as she spotted the creature responsible.
A lynel, a giant even among its own kind, its fur a dark silver colour with black stripes, had one of the Sheikah from team two lying on the ground in front of it.
He was injured, clutching his bleeding middle, trying to crawl away from the massive creature, whose hooves were larger than his head.
The lynel regarded him passively for a moment, then the gigantic spear in its hand, looking bored. Then, painfully slow, it lifted one of those huge hooves.
Paya wasn't even aware she was moving, the scene just growing closer and closer as her boots pounded across the courtyard, willing her legs to move faster, desperate to reach her clanmate.
She was too late. The hoof came down on the Sheikah's head.
The sound was indescribable. She must have closed her eyes for a split second, because she didn't see the moment of impact. She saw the aftermath, the spreading pool of red beneath the hoof.
She screamed and drew her sword, charging right at the monster, which turned towards her, bringing its spear to bear, swinging it.
It was a suicidal attack, Paya realised. But it was too late to stop. At least she'd go out fighting—
"Paya!"
Pikango slammed into her from the side, and the world went tumbling around her as something huge swung through the air just above them, creating a gust of wind that stank of iron and blood.
"Come on, get up!"
Pikango half-dragged her to her feet, and they had to duck as the spear came in for another cut through the air that barely missed them.
There was a thrumming sound, and an arrow flew through the air and struck the lynel's shoulder. It didn't even penetrate its hide, bouncing uselessly off. It drew the lynel's ire, at least, causing it to focus on the Sheikah who'd loosed the arrow.
Dead and injured Sheikah littered the ground, and there were screams and roars echoing from within the gatehouse. Those still alive were either trying to drag the injured away from the area or distracting the silver lynel to give the others time.
"Come on," Pikango said, drawing several shuriken from his holster. "We've got to buy them time!"
And so began the deadliest game of catch Paya had ever played. She focused only on her balance, her breathing, and the lynel. If she took even one second to look at her dead clanmates, it'd be over. She knew that.
Where was Sheik?
Every now and then, she saw a flash of bright blue in the corner of her eye, a sign of her cousin fighting alongside the others, doing his best to help.
She ducked under the lynel's spear and managed to cut one of its fingers. It drew blood but didn't go deep enough to do any real damage, but it did cause the lynel to rear back a little, roaring angrily. It was so loud, reverberating deeply in her chest, nearly causing her knees to give out. Gritting her teeth under her mask, she ran towards it as it was it was distracted by Pikango throwing a shuriken at its face, nearly hitting its eye.
Lynels' legs were vulnerable, provided you struck the right way...and got close enough. One Sheikah—Mikah, a few years older than her—had the same idea, but the lynel saw him coming. The only consolation was that the blow probably killed him instantly, his broken body dashed against the opposite wall, where he lay unmoving.
It put the lynel off-balance, though, and gave Paya the opportunity she needed. She rammed her sword into the back of its front left knee, right into the bulbous part. She felt a vicious sense of triumph as the tip of her eightfold blade sank into the fragile joint...and then the triumph was replaced by dread when the blade stopped at an inch. Not even close to doing enough damage.
It got the lynel's attention, and probably didn't feel too good as it roared angrily and tried to kick Paya out from beneath it. Paya saw the hoof coming, however, and twisted out of the way.
Almost.
It clipped her shoulder with enough force to throw her through the air, crashing into the ground and rolling along it before smacking her head against the side of a building.
The world spun and she felt like she was about to throw up, her strength forsaking her as she tried in vain to get up, all the while heavy footsteps approached her slowly, a low growl deafening her to the screams and shouts of her family fighting and dying around her.
"Hey, kitty!"
Her vision, which was tunnelling severely, showed her a pair of Sheikah boots suddenly planted in front of her, the glowing blade of an ancient spear nearly touching the cobbles.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Paya tried to draw breath, but the blow had knocked the air out of her lungs and caused them to spasm painfully, tried to warn Sheik.
But it was too late. Behind the first lynel, out from the shadows of the gatehouse, a second emerged. This one's fur was golden with silver stripes, wielding a bow and arrows that were the size of spears.
"Two against one, huh?" Sheik said, sounding smug. "That's almost a fair match!"
"Sh-Sheik," she tried to speak, but he simply shook his head.
"I've got this, Paya-nee. Trust me."
He didn't give her time to argue and charged.
I don't have this, Sheik thought as he ran directly at the spear-wielding lynel, making sure to put it between himself and the golden one with the bow. He'd seen how accurate the damned things were; if that one got a clear shot at him, he was a goner.
Brother, go between their legs and keep moving!
I know, Stabby!
He dodged a thrust from the silver lynel's spear, the tip of which buried itself in the ground and sent broken cobbles flying everywhere and ran under the lynel. He tried to angle his ancient spear upwards, aiming to cut its gut up lengthwise, but the monster anticipated this and dodged to the side all the while kicking out with one of his legs, nearly taking Sheik's head off with the hoof.
He barely managed to duck in time, throwing himself forward into an inelegant roll to avoid the counterblow from its spear.
Which, in a very unhappy accident, put him directly in the line of sight of the bow-wielding lynel. Which already had an arrow nocked.
"Shit!" he shouted.
"Take this!" Pikango's voice shouted. Something glowing flew through the air and struck the bow lynel in the face...and exploded. It was just a small puff of smoke and light, made to confuse and disorient, but it was enough. It threw the lynel's aim off, and the arrow struck the building behind Sheik rather than him.
He held his spear in his right hand and summoned a bomb in his left, hurling it at the bow lynel and detonating it as it rolled between its legs. He didn't have time to see the results, as the silver lynel came at him with a galloping roar.
There was no time to catch his breath. Sheik braced himself and charged right back at it.
It was a damned circus, honestly. Every time Sheik got close enough for his spear to possibly score a hit on the silver lynel, the golden one kept him back with its arrows. When he tried going after the golden lynel, the silver one got in his away, trying to cut him in half with its own spar or trample him beneath its hooves.
His muscles were burning and he was getting a little light-headed. He hated to admit it (would never do it out loud, in fact), but he might not get through this in one piece. Frankly, the only thing keeping him alive at the moment was Pikango's occasional diversionary flash bombs, and Paya throwing whatever ranged weapons she could find, and even they were losing their efficiency as the lynels got used to them.
He lost track of time for a moment, and he was too focused to notice what was happening above them until Stabby flashed a system message to him.
Brother, something is happening! The castle!
Sheik jumped out of a spear strike, growling. "A little busy right now, Stabby! What is it?!"
It's...it's him!
"Fucking who—"
He was thrown off his feet as the courtyard exploded in a purple haze.
Link felt it before he saw it. A tickling, prickly feeling, like that of an insect crawling over his skin, but...greasy, somehow. Like the little legs left a trail of slime all over him. And where the slime was left, there was a feeling of pure evil and hate.
It was a familiar feeling. Too familiar. Like the one that struck Link whenever he was too close to Ganon's Malice, only far stronger. Deep within his chest, something twisted uncomfortably, and a sharp pain was starting to grow in his head, just behind his eyes.
He'd felt something like this before...but when?
"What's that?"
Harth was looking through the trees, towards the castle. For a second, Link was hopeful that the bowyer had seen the third Sheikah flare, signalling a successful completion of their mission, but when he saw the Rito was looking up, towards the highest towers, that hope was dashed.
And replaced with an overwhelming sense of despair as he saw the purple fog shrouding the castle, the cloud growing obscuring most of the towers and parapets and walls. Lights shone from within, like a pair of eyes watching the battle below, the fog swirling and taking on the shape of a massive swine-like face.
Ganon.
Presumably not happy about what was happening. Link's heart skipped a beat, the familiar feeling of panic trying to take root, anxiety immediately making his vision tunnel, his breath getting stuck in his throat.
No, not this time. He bit his lip so hard it nearly drew blood, the pain grounding him. No way in hell was he going to let this utter bastard ruin everything. Not even when the eyes seemed to focus on Link specifically did he look away, holding its gaze and countering with a glare into which he put all his hate and anger towards the evil being.
I'm going to destroy you, Link thought. I will take this sword and drive you back into the shadows where you belong, sealing you away forever.
Finally thinking like a Hero, the Master Sword spoke in his mind, which he ignored.
"It's G-Ganon," he said as more Rito gathered at the edge of the cliff to watch the miasma. Teba moved a little closer to him.
"Are you all right?" the Rito asked quietly.
"I'm f-fine," Link said, actually surprised at how well he was handling looking into the face of the Enemy. His hands were shaking, but not from fear.
"Are you sure?" Teba asked again, looking pointedly at Link's hands.
"I'm fine," Link insisted. "I'm j-just angry."
A century ago, this monstrous being had killed thousands, displaced even more, and taken everything from Link, even his memories. Whether Link had been afraid of this thing before, now all he felt was a white-hot, incandescent rage. His was itching to grab the Master Sword and...well, he wasn't sure what he'd do, but it sure as hell wasn't going to be pleasant for Ganon.
Teba nodded, looking doubtful but refraining from commenting. Link wondered what his bird dad was feeling at that moment, and was about to ask, but Ganon had other ideas.
Suddenly, the miasma, which had been swirling in a giant whirlwind around the castle, exploded forward. A massive wall of purple fog surged forward from the castle, blanketing first the castle grounds, then the city, and then the battlefield. The cliffs were high enough to be spared the worst of it, but even up here a few wisps of the foul smoke made their way across the ground.
"Fog?" Harth said.
"Meant to confuse the enemy, certainly," Teba suggested.
"N-No, look," Link said, pointing at the fog wall as it advanced beyond the battlefield, shrouding the allied camp, and then moving even further south. "It's g-going even f-further."
"Whatever for?" Teba asked.
The fog in the castle grounds and city was already dissipating, as was the one that had blanketed the battlefield...and from what Link could see, it hadn't done much.
Or anything at all, really.
So what the hell was the point of that display?
Riju opened her eyes once the wind subsided, suddenly feeling like she'd been drenched in muck despite the purple miasma leaving no residue...that she could see, at any rate. All she saw was purple, and she remained crouched where she was.
The battlefield had fallen silent around her, the clashing of steel and screams no longer piercing her ears. Instead, all she heard were footsteps, heavy breathing, and confused shouts from the allied soldiers.
"My lady! Where are you?!" Buliara's voice cut through the relative quiet scene.
"Bul, over here!" Riju called back, relieved when her bodyguard's large form appeared from beyond the mist.
"Are you well, my lady?" she asked.
"I'm good, Bul. And you?"
"I'm unharmed, my lady."
"The others?" She looked around. "Ayla?! Yunobo?!"
"Here, goro," the Goron said from somewhere behind her. "I'm coming!"
"A little help?" Ayla's voice, slightly muffled by something, spoke from ahead. "This moblin is really fucking heavy!"
Riju and Buliara moved forward, flanked by Yunobo when he caught up to them. They found Ayla lying beneath a huge, dead moblin, her scimitar stuck deep into its neck.
"What happened?" Riju asked as Buliara and Yunobo got to the task of moving the carcass off her.
"I was finishing this thing off when the wind hit, knocked it right over me. Good thing it was dead by the time it fell, or I'd be a goner." She crawled out from beneath the moblin, scowling at it with disgust...as well as the blood she was covered in. "Eugh, it stinks!"
The fog was dissipating quickly, and by the time they could actually see the rest of the allies, they realised they were alone on the battlefield. Ganon's minions were gone.
"What the hell happened?" Ayla asked, grabbing the arm of a passing Hylian soldier, who looked up at her with something akin to awe. Ayla was an impressive sight in general, even when she wasn't covered in armour and moblin blood.
"Enemy withdrew into the city," the soldier said after a few stunned seconds. "Fog must've been some sort of signal. We're pursuing them!"
"Is that wise, goro?" Yunobo asked. "What if it's a trap?"
"We can't let them pull back to the castle," Riju said, wiping her scimitar on her sleeve, leaving a black, sticky residue on the fabric. "I didn't see a third flare—if they manage to retreat, the plan is lost. We have to pursue and lock them in place."
"I'll regroup our warriors," Buliara said, whistling loudly and holding her sword aloft. "Gerudo, to me!"
Riju took a moment to gather herself as the warriors who'd survived the initial skirmish fell into formation in front of her. Many faces were missing. Too many.
And many more would be by the end of today.
Around them, the various Hylian and Goron formations were also gathering into something resembling order. The dead were left lying in the mud and dust as they began to march towards the gates. Yunobo didn't join the Gorons, surprisingly. He seemed to prefer sticking with Riju.
It was a comfort, having the other Champion at her side.
Riju looked at her warriors. "For our sisters," she said. It was all she had.
"For our sisters!" they replied in unison, holding their weapons aloft.
"Follow me!"
"Foul stuff," Robbie harrumphed, coughing and waving a hand in front of his face, trying to make the miasma dissipate. "Though, luckily, not the noxious kind that lingers, apparently."
"This is so gross! It smells like rotten eggs!" Purah's face had turned a little green. "Impa, are you okay?!" She grabbed at her sister's sleeves, shaking her.
"I'm all right," Impa said, pulling Purah's hands off her, grimacing slightly at the rotten scent the miasma had left behind. The smell was far too familiar for comfort, reminding her of the moment Ganon had been unleashed a hundred years before. The scent had been stuck in her nose for days—weeks, even—and smelling it again now only made her bad feeling from before grow worse.
"What even was it?" Purah said. "It felt familiar, but..." she trailed off a little, suddenly checking her terminal, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
"What?" Impa asked.
"That fog...it reminded me of the day of the Calamity! Remember? The fog was there back then too, and just afterwards all the Guardians activated, under Ganon's control! I'm just checking to make sure the Network hasn't been corrupted...doesn't look like it."
"Hmph, doesn't look like we were the primary target this time around," Robbie said, nodding to the south. "Whatever Ganon wished to hit, it's somewhere...back...there..."
He trailed off, reaching the same conclusion as Impa did at the very same moment.
"The dig site!" Impa exclaimed, just as the ground began to shake, and a massive plume of dust erupted to the south. "Robbie!"
Brother!
Sheik groaned, sitting up and blinking. The fog was dissipating quickly, but for the moment they'd earned a quick reprieve from the onslaught from the lynels.
"I'm fine, Stabby," he groaned.
No, brother, something is happening!
"A lot is happening right now..."
Seismic activity has picked up greatly to the south.
Probably the artillery, Stabby, nothing to worry about.
It is not the artillery, brother. I have detected dozens of new signatures to the south of the allied camp!
Reinforcements? That's good, Sheik thought.
No, brother, their signals are coming from underground! Analysing!
It took a few moments, and then Stabby displayed the results. Sheik felt a jolt through his whole being as he read the identified signatures.
"Oh shit..."
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to worry about what he'd just seen, nor was there an opportunity to warn anyone as the silver lynel came charging out of the purple fog, roaring and swing its spear in a wide arc that he barely managed to jump away from, bringing himself out of its reach.
Or so he thought.
Because the lynel kept charging at him, too fast for it to being the spear around for another swing...but then a lynel never really needed weapons, did it?
For a moment, all Sheik saw was a wall of silver fur...which was then replaced by thundering hooves. Something slammed into him, and the air was knocked out of his lungs as he was lifted off his feet and thrown through the air, the world twisting and turning around him in a dizzying display before he came crashing down on the cobbles, smacking his head painfully.
Everything went black for a few seconds, until he realised he'd closed his eyes. Opening them was something he regretted immediately as the world continued to spin, his stomach roiling and threatening to empty itself of the meagre breakfast he'd had with the Sheikah on the wall. Everything was a spinning blur, and the painful blow to his head seemed to have scrambled something important as his motor functions were suddenly refusing to comply with his directives.
His legs wouldn't take his weight, and he barely managed to get his knees under him when he realised everything had gone very still. There was a growl, so low and deep he felt the tremors in the ground beneath him. He looked up, and saw a silver face, and a mouth with such big teeth, and so many of them.
"Sheik!"
Paya came in from the side, trying to get to him, but one of the golden lynel's massive arrows nearly impaled her, the impact knocking her aside. Behind the silver lynel, Pikango was limping away from the golden one, which seemed to be taking great pleasure in watching him.
"Sheik! G-Get up!" Paya cried out, holding her bleeding head.
"Can't..." Sheik muttered under his breath, the world still threatening to fall over and take him with it.
The shout drew the lynel's attention, and it turned towards Paya, looking far more interested in prey that was still moving.
Oh, absolutely not!
It was almost automatic, the way he summoned a bomb to his left hand while the arm was already moving at a jerky, not very smooth, pace. His aim was off, the bomb rolling between its left hooves, but the detonation brought the thing's attention back to him all the same. The lynel did not look amused, advancing on him once more.
An idea struck him then.
Technically, the thing that powered the artificial side of him was a pretty big bundle of energy. If it could be released...
Stabby.
Brother!
Do me a favour?
Brother, I do not think—
Tell Link and Sharky that I...that I wish I could...if there was ever something I wanted to do it's...well, you know what I mean, right?
Sheik!
All Sheik could do was stare up at the silver lynel and its horrid teeth, removing several failsafes and preparing to overload his very core. Nasty and messy way to go, honestly...but worth it if it meant giving Paya and Pikango a chance to get away at the same time.
"Enjoy the heartburn—I hope you choke on my ass," he growled, ripping his mask off to give the lynel a vicious grin that matched its own.
Brother! Something is happening! I think ##%$#%$#541c6ae61fb22074e4ed5768bbaf4028!
Sheik had but a moment to wonder what Stabby had just tried to tell him when the signal was scrambled. And that was all he had time for, as everything suddenly went dark.
And he was gone.
Paya felt powerless as she watched her cousin staring defiantly up at the silver lynel, which was clearly enjoying this moment. She'd hit her head dodging the arrow from the golden lynel, and her limbs were refusing to obey her. She couldn't move, but if she didn't do anything Sheik was...he was going to...
Sheik pulled down his mask and said something, but he was too far away for her to hear his words. Then, his right eye suddenly rolled in its socket, his face went slack, and like a puppet whose strings were cut, he collapsed on the cobbles and laid there, still as a corpse. Paya couldn't even see him breathing.
The lynel growled, staring at Sheik suspiciously. It poked at his still body with the blunt end of its spear, cocking its head to the side when there was no reaction. Giving an intrigued huff, it stepped closer. For a moment, Paya's hope was ignited, thinking this was just a trick from her cousin, an attempt to get the lynel closer for a final blow of some sort...but Sheik continued to lie there, the lynel's hooves a mere foot away.
The lynel huffed again, this time clearly disappointed by the lack of play offered by its prey, and raised a hoof. Paya couldn't bear to watch and made to look away. It was by pure luck she saw Sheik's hand twitch.
The hoof continued downwards, mere inches from crushing Sheik's head. It stamped down...but struck nothing but cobbles as Sheik rolled sideways, out of its way, and then onto his feet in a motion that reminded Paya of a graceful cat.
Which was funny given his opponents, her mind supplied very helpfully.
She could only watch in awe as Sheik, moving unlike anything Paya had seen before, scrambled away from the lynel's reach and grabbed his ancient spear from where it had landed, activating the shining blade and casting a blue glow around him.
The lynel didn't seem too impressed at his sudden escape, roaring and thrusting the tip of its spear forward in a move that'd surely skewer Sheik like it was nothing. Her cousin watched the incoming strike with a perfectly blank face, which was a little disturbing, only side-stepping the thrust at the last second, making it look absolutely effortless at the same time. The lynel roared again and swung the spear aside, aborting the thrust and trying to take Sheik out with a sweep, but he simply ducked under the strike and, as it passed him by, grabbed onto the handle with his left hand, letting the momentum carry his considerable weight and bulk with it.
The lynel, surprised and not amused at the prey hanging onto its spear, brought it up in an attempt to shake Sheik off, and while it worked, Sheik seemed to have anticipated the trajectory, using the momentum to let go of the spear at the exact right time to launch himself towards the golden lynel, which hard cornered Pikango and was about to finish the old Sheikah off.
Paya gasped as Sheik brought his spear to bear and brought it down on one of the golden lynel's horns, nearly slicing cleanly through it, only stepping right near the edge. Landing on the lynel's shoulder, looking far steadier than he should have any right to, Sheik grabbed the half-cut horn with his left hand and with a twist ripped it straight off the lynel's head.
The lynel roared and abandoned Pikango in an attempt to get the annoying thing off its shoulder, but Sheik had already moved on, hurling the broken horn at the silver lynel's face, causing it to break off its attempt to skewer him again, and jumping off the golden's shoulder onto its back, spinning and letting his spear cut across the golden's face as it looked back at him, slicing its cheeks and nose.
Paya, realising Sheik had purposefully drawn both of the lynels' attention, managed to stagger to her feet and head towards Pikango, who was looking up at the display with awe. Old bastard was probably composing a sketch or painting in his head already, despite the danger he was still in.
She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the end of the courtyard, back where she'd ordered the wounded to be brought and, most importantly, away from the fight. She had no idea what Sheik's plan going ahead was, but it didn't seem to include herself or Pikango.
Handing him off to one of the few uninjured Sheikah left, she turned to watch what was happening from behind the cover of a wall.
"Should we help him?" someone asked, to which she shook her head.
"W-We'd just g-get in his way," she said.
Honestly, she wasn't sure what they'd be able to do at this point other than potentially distracting Sheik from...whatever he had planned.
That apparently being bringing both of the lynels so close to each other that their power and strength meant little as they kept banging into each other and hitting the other with blows meant for Sheik, who kept darting in and out between their legs, climbing on their backs and cutting and stabbing whatever he could reach before backflipping onto the other, turning the whole thing into a, as Sheik himself would put it, massive clusterfuck of a fight.
There was a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity as, from across opposite ends of the courtyard, Sheik and Paya's eyes met. Sheik was in mid-air, having just dodged a clawed hand from the golden lynel, nimbly causing said hand to rake across the other lynel's chest. His face was still completely empty of expression, none of the usual anger present in his eyes.
What had happened to him?
Then the moment passed, and Sheik was once more weaving his way through the lynels' attacks, their ferocity growing worse as they only kept hurting each other rather than the annoying little thing that kept giving them the slip. Every now and then Sheik's spear flashed through the air, cutting and stabbing, but the lynels' hide and muscles were too thick for his relatively small weapon to do any damage.
The gold lynel tried to kick him, but Sheik caught a ride on its leg instead and flew upwards, landing an uppercut on the silver's jaw with his left hand that broke at least one of the lynel's teeth and sent it flying, clattering against the cobblestones.
If they made it through this, Paya would personally find and make that tooth into a trophy for him.
Because who else could brag about punching a lynel hard enough to knock out a tooth?
But as impressive it was to watch Sheik basically give the lynels the run-around, it couldn't last forever. Paya's heart almost stopped beating when one of the lynels scored a lucky hit, sweeping Sheik's legs out from underneath him, but he simply twisted mid-air, turning the fall into a roll that ended with him crouching underneath the gold lynel, tapping two fingers against his left temple, left eye lighting up in a brilliant flash.
There was a high-pitched whine, immediately followed by a loud boom as the light extended for a split-second to strike the lynel's...parts. She didn't need to see the spray of blood to know he'd struck true. the lynel's reaction was enough, from the way it reared up, screaming and falling backwards, face frozen in a paralysed scream.
Sheik didn't even take a moment to gloat in what he had done, simply reactivating his spear and sprinting towards its head and, with a thrust that was practically taken out of the training tomes, thrust the tip of his spear into its mouth, up through the palate, and into its brain.
It was dead in an instant, its body going still.
And not a moment too soon, in Paya's opinion.
That left the silver lynel, which took its comrade's death with apprehension and wariness, apparently finally realising how dangerous its tiny enemy truly was.
As was Paya, honestly. Had Sheik been holding back this entire time, pretending to be clumsily adjusting to his new body only to lull potential enemies into a false sense of security, only revealing his capabilities when it was too late for them to escape?
She honestly wasn't sure how to feel about being tricked like this, especially not by someone she considered family—if slightly reluctantly because he was, frankly, an utter pain in the arse to deal with at times.
She didn't have much more time to contemplate this as Sheik was the one on the offensive this time, sprinting towards the lynel with his spear active and held at a wide angle behind him, back bent forward to give himself a low profile. The jolted the lynel into action and it once more tried to keep him at bay with a wide sweep of its spear that Sheik simply jumped over. It reared up and tried to kick him away with its legs, but he ducked aside and went straight for one of its back legs.
The spear couldn't do much to the hide and muscles of its upper body...but like with horses, a lynel's legs were vulnerable. Paya saw what Sheik was going to do before he did it. Too busy recovering from rearing up, the lynel was powerless to stop Sheik as he struck out with his spear. Thick as the hide was, the ancient spear easily cut through the flesh on the back of its left leg...and all the tendons and ligaments hidden within.
The lynel's roar turned into a screech as its leg immediately buckled under its own weight, unable to support it when its controlling strings were severed, also failing to redistribute its weight before it was too late. It crashed down on the cobbles, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Sheik attempted to repeat his action from before, finishing the lynel off with a stab to the roof of its mouth, but one of its flailing legs knocked the spear out of his hands. Still trying to right itself, the lynel would be back up on three legs by the time he managed to retrieve it. Paya swore she could see the gears grinding in his cousin's head just before he ran towards the lynel's head, bare-handed.
The lynel, its weapon gone, resorted to what it had left, trying to cut him with its claws and bite him. Sheik dodged its claws and got close to its head, barely ducking a bite that'd have taken his hand off. The air glowed blue for a moment, and a circular bomb appeared in his left hand. He waited until the lynel reared back for another bite and thrust his arm forward, shoving the bomb into its mouth.
Paya covered her ears as Sheik threw himself backwards and detonated the bomb at the same time.
Tough as a lynel's skull was, it could do little to withstand the force exerted by an explosion from the inside. It was blown apart and turned into little pieces that, with disgusting splats, began to rain over the courtyard. The lynel, a smoking crater in its neck where the head had been, collapsed and lay twitching on the ground.
For a long eon of a moment, Paya could only stare at Sheik's back as he stood there, shoulders rising and lowering as he breathed. Beside him, the bloody stump where the lynel's head had once been attached was still smoking, a small lake of blood slowly pouring out of it.
Carefully, she approached him, each step causing her head to throb sharply. She stopped a few feet away, worry creeping up on her. She had never seen him go this long without speaking. Or cursing. Or shouting.
Mostly shouting.
"Sh-Sheik...?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat, requiring a second try.
Sheik's shoulders stopped moving for a moment, and then he turned around fully to face her, his expression still blank as he looked at her for a full second.
And then the biggest, most innocent smile Paya had ever seen spread over his face, and he exclaimed, "Are you okay, Onēsan?!"
Paya wasn't sure how to handle this development. Never mind that she'd never seen an expression like this on Sheik's face (not even around Link and Prince Sidon), but that tone, devoid of any sort of sarcasm or barely suppressed anger? And the extremely, barely-used-these-days polite way of calling her sister?
Who the hell was this, and what had they done with her greml—er, cousin?!
Sheik paused, his eyes—both of them visible for once—focusing on her temple. "You're hurt," he said, stepping closer, hands raised.
Paya couldn't help it, stepping back and out of his reach. She wasn't about to let this...stranger touch her until she could ascertain what was going on. Sheik had fallen, struck his head, and then passed out...and woken up competent, cheerful, and extremely polite.
Sheik was the very antithesis of those things.
Head still throbbing, she put a hand to her temple, finding it wet and sticky with blood. The impact with the cobbles must have given her a cut.
"Onēsan?" Sheik asked, looking confused and, to her surprise, a little hurt, hands still raised. "What is wrong?"
"Who are you?!" Paya asked, pointing a finger at him accusingly. "You're not Sh-Sheik!"
Not-Sheik's face screwed up in confusion, cocking his head to the side in a way that would've been adorable had it not been for the fact that her cousin wasn't acting like himself.
Honestly, it probably wouldn't have been adorable even if it were Sheik doing it.
Paya took another step back. There was no telling how this impostor would react to being called out like this. She sincerely hoped the other Sheikah were paying attention to this, just in case they needed to run like hell, as Paya was not confident in her ability to take on someone controlling Sheik's body with the precision and skill she'd just seen.
Then, the confusion on Not-Sheik's face cleared, and he smiled even brighter.
"It's me, Onēsan!"
Paya stared, confused. "Who?"
"Ichigo," Not-Sheik said, pointing at himself. "I took over while Sheik is having a nap!"
Paya felt herself relaxing. This was...Ichigo. Stabby. Er...Stabbygo? That was...a relief. She'd been preparing herself for an even worse fight, but knowing that it was just Ichigo, the cutest little boy she had ever seen (hard to believe he was apparently a very young version of Sheik, in fact) made her body come out of its crisis mode, and exhaustion soon forced her to sit down on the cobbles.
"You're bleeding, Onēsan," Ichigo said, crouching next to her, tearing a strip from his ruined mask and dabbing at the blood pouring down her temple. "Are you all right?"
"I'm...okay, Ichigo," she said, looking at his face. "Wh-What did you mean, Sh-Sheik is having a n-nap?"
Ichigo continued dabbing at the wound as he spoke.
"Oh, the logic bomb he gave Doctor Purah and Doctor Robbie had an unfortunate side effect of knocking him offline temporarily. He is currently rebooting, but at several petabytes of data, it will take some time. I decided it was best to assume direct control in the meantime."
Paya blinked. "Logic...b-bomb?"
Ichigo hesitated. "I could try to explain it to you, but I am not sure this is the best time. You are bleeding rather heavily from your head, and you appear to be a little out of it. You might have a concussion."
"If I d-do, that's the l-least of my p-problems," Paya said, groaning.
Ichigo looked over her shoulder for a moment, frowning. "Pikango-san!" he called out. "Do you have any clean bandages? Onēsan has hurt her head!"
Pikango was there moments later, crouching beside them.
"Young Ichigo, I presume?" he asked, opening the pouch strapped to his thigh and pulling out a clean roll of bandages, as well as a small, reinforced vial of antiseptic fluid.
"How d-did you know?" Paya asked, hissing as the older Sheikah began to clean the cut on her temple with the antiseptic.
"Because Sheik is never that polite," Pikango said with a chuckle. "He asked if I had bandages, rather than demand that I bring some." He gave Ichigo a smile. "I don't believe we've formally met, little one. I am Pikango."
"Ichigo," Ichigo replied, smiling back. "My brother is...very direct. Especially when he is worried. He does not mean to insult you." He grimaced, adding in a very quiet voice, "most of the time."
Paya couldn't contain an amused snort, nor could Pikango stop himself from chuckling.
"He hasn't had an easy time," Pikango said, carefully rolling the bandage around Paya's head to cover the wound. "Honestly, I find him more amusing than anything."
"You probably do not want him to know that," Ichigo said, still grimacing. "He might take it as a challenge."
"I hope he accepts," Pikango said lightly, finishing the bandaging and making sure it was on tight. "How's that feel, Paya?"
"G-Good," she replied, only lying a little. The tight sensation wasn't pleasant, but it was better than the feel of warm blood dripping down her face.
"And the head? Everything feel together in there? Nothing rattling around?"
"I don't th-think so."
"Right, let's get you up, then. Ichigo, mind giving me a hand?"
"Of course not, Pikango-san."
Paya wasn't sure if it was the slight headache or the slight disorientation, but hearing such an agreeable and pleasant version of Sheik was throwing her for a loop. Ichigo was speaking with Sheik's voice, but it was so...different. Slightly higher-pitched and filled with none of the usual sarcasm or smugness she had come to recognise as her cousin's.
"Right, let's get her over to the other wounded," Pikango said, taking this new development entirely in stride. He'd been briefed on Ichigo's unique existence, of course, and the whole story behind Sheik's body, but still...she'd expected him to pause a little at the very least.
Those thoughts evaporated quickly, however, as she was dragged to the small alley where the other wounded had been taken. There were so many. Of the original three teams, maybe one and a quarter remained.
"Pikango," she said. "How m-many—"
"We'll save the counting for later, when this is all over," Pikango said before she could finish the question. "We still have a job to do." His eyes widened slightly. "Ah, Ichigo, could you perhaps—"
"I will take care of it, Pikango-san!" Ichigo said, carefully lowering Paya to the ground before sprinting away.
"Where is he g—"Paya managed to say before she heard an explosion coming from the lynels' courtyard, followed by another, and the deafening boom of the giant portcullis falling.
Ah, the gatehouse.
She'd managed to forget all about it in the past few minutes.
Some team leader she was.
Ichigo returned moments later, smiling. "The gatehouse has been sabotaged. Mission accomplished."
"Guess I'll fire off the last flare, then," Pikango said, fishing out the tube-like device and walking away to find a safe place to fire it, limping slightly as he did so.
"Th-Thank you, Ichigo," she said, looking at her...little cousin? Little brother? She was a little unsure of how to think of him in terms of familial relations. He was definitely precious, though, and deserved all the gratitude she could muster. "You s-saved our lives, th-the mission...m-maybe all of H-Hyrule."
"I only did what my brother would have done were it not for the logic bomb," Ichigo said, looking away, his cheeks colouring a little in a blush.
"W-Will you s-stay?" Paya asked. "F-For the r-rest of the mission?"
"Only until Sheik has rebooted," Ichigo said firmly, shaking his head. "I would not dream of stealing his mission from him. He was so excited about it. Should not be much longer, now."
"I s-see..."
She'd be sad to see Ichigo disappear again, but perhaps it was for the best. He was so young—a battlefield was no place for a child. Even if said child had just single-handedly killed two lynels like it was nothing. She'd make sure to tell Impa about how he'd basically saved them all, though, and that the entire clan should know. Her grandmother was always careful to dole out praise when it was earned, and Ichigo had certainly earned his.
She noticed he was looking at her, mouth opening and closing like he was trying to say something but failing.
"Wh-What is it?" she asked.
"I...before I go," Ichigo said haltingly. "I...was wondering if you have something to eat?"
Paya stared at him, confused. Had she hit her head too hard after all?
Ichigo must have taken her silence for something bad, however, as he quickly scrambled to explain. "It is just...Sheik always says this and that is delicious, and while I can look at the logs to get an approximate description of how something tastes, it is just not the same as experiencing it in real-time from the actual sensory organ!" He paused, blushing. "I was just...curious. I never ate anything when I was...was...in control the first time. Only power supplies, and they were yucky."
Paya giggled. The expression on Ichigo's face as he said the word yucky definitely betrayed his age and how this was definitely not Sheik.
"I m-might have an apple in m-my p-pack," she said, gesturing to the discarded pack. "If it's n-not crushed, it's y-yours."
Ichigo's smile could have lit up the world. "Thank you, Onēsan!"
She smiled back. "C-Call me P-Paya-nee."
There was a loud hissing sound, and a bright red flare flew into the air, high above them, signalling that the gatehouses were, at last, taken out.
The next stage of the battle could now begin.
If only they knew the state of the allied forces beyond the walls of the castle...