Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story, save Axel, Brax, and
Drake, belong to me. They are property of their respective owners, so now
you STILL can't sue me, MAN!!!
Chaos in Hyrule
Chapter 2
The maggot sprang from the water and leaped over Link's head, spraying odd-colored water from it's gills. As it touched his arm, Link yelped in pain, it burned a red mark in his arm. The beast disappeared beneath the water without so much as a ripple and a low groaning sound. The young hero pulled his arm into his tunic and pulled out a mask, as well as a red scale and leaped into the water after De Rol Le. After hitting the water Link pulled the mask to his face and felt a change begin in his body, his skin became smooth and pale, his feet morphed into fins, and others appeared on his back and arms. Link had become a Zora. His attire had also changed to a blue tunic and a long curved dagger instead of a sword. He grasped his new weapon and swam down into the depths.
The groaning sound became louder and louder as Link swam closer to the entrance to the water temple. Finally the murk lifted as the doorway came into view, a second later Link wished it hadn't. The temple's front gate was overgrown with a strange glowing lichen and was crumbling around the edges. The steel gate on the sides were rusted over and falling apart.
Oh man, Link thought as he drifted into the temple. Something horrible is happening here. Gannon must have done something to the sage's power again. Saria, Ruto, Impa…Zelda. What's become of all of you? How could you let this happen?
As if it were any consolation to him, Link pulled himself out of the water and into the temple's gleaming air lock. The walls actually glowed by themselves, the golden floors enhanced the setting, just like the long vertical chamber that made up most of the temple itself. The half flooded chamber was covered in jewels and seemed to shift and change every few seconds. Link looked up at the ceiling and saw something that made his blood run cold, encased in red ice were at least a hundred Zoras. All of them were in a state of suspended animation and each held a look of horror on their faces. Screaming, crying, yelling, there were even some frozen in mid-stroke, possibly trying to swim away when it happened. Whatever did happen.
He took his eyes off of the ceiling and leapt into the water. He drifted on the currents that shifted every few seconds all over the place. Soon enough Link found himself underwater, swirling in a whirlpool. Link flung his limbs in every direction opposite of the current, but couldn't escape. As Link was swept in an outside arc of the currents he thought he saw a flash of movement, the worm was in here with him. Link started to struggle against the current more and more and each time he did so his body was flung in a farther direction. Suddenly Link was slammed against a large geode hanging from one of the walls. Blood oozed from his mouth and into the water, Link's head spun ,and each movement hurt even more that the one before. So for a few moments Link stopped moving. The throbbing in his head stopped finally and he noticed that the glowing gems were sinking away and that he was floating upward. Finally free of the current, Link pulled himself out of the water and onto a ledge. He shut his gills and took a deep breath with his lungs.
When he opened his eyes, he immediately went for his dagger and slashed the enemy across the throat making a scraping sound. Link chuckled as he got on his feet.
Oh yeah, I'm a mighty hero. I've just vanquished a stone lion.
Link walked past the stone statues and into a long hallway that Link once thought he'd never get to, a Boss Chamber. The long slope that was there before was replaced by a flight of steep stairs that led to golden door. Link walked along the stairs slowly until he heard a sound, slight, but a sound nonetheless. A rush of air was his only warning as a vase from the top of the stairs fly right at him. It missed him just barely, smashing against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Link rushed up the stairway just as three more pots smacked into the stairs he'd just occupied. As he reached the top a large urn that sat in front of the door began to vibrate and spin.
"No," Link wailed as he removed the Zora mask from his face and held his sword in front of his. "No, no, no!"
The urn hurled itself toward thew hero and Link sliced upward through it, shattering it, a feat he couldn't exactly do with a dagger. Link kicked open the door and strode inside. The room was dark, lit only by three dim candles. In the center was an alter, and as far as Link could see, surrounded by water.
"Who is there," a faint voice said from the darkness.
Link stepped forward into the humid room. "Link, Hero of Time, but who or what are you?"
"Link? Don't tell me you've forgotten about me…forgotten about your betrothed. Forgotten about your princess."
"…Ruto."
Link stepped forward and removed a wand-like object from his tunic. He pointed it at each of the candles and they lit like flares in the darkness. Indeed it was Ruto on the alter in the center of the room, and then again it wasn't. Ruto was aged, withering and drained. She sat on the alter with her legs halfway frozen with red ice, her eyes were gray and lifeless.
"Ruto, what happened here?"
Ruto wheezed for a few moments and then said," I wish I knew. I and the other sages were plucked from anywhere in Hyrule we were residing and then brought to the Boss chambers in each of our own temples. Since I was brought here," Ruto stopped and started to wheeze again. "My energy has been sapped from my body, my temple, the waters in Hyrule, and drained into that."
Ruto pointed across the chamber toward a light blue gem floating above the water. It was an expertly cut diamond and rotated from left to right.
"Then I suppose I should do something about it," Link said as he removed his hook-shot from his tunic and pointed at the gem.
Link fired off the hook-shot and just as it neared the jewel, a deep groaning sound resonated from the water and a huge maggot rose from the water, blocking the hook-shot. Link retracted it and unsheathed his sword.
"I hate my job sometimes," Link said.
Link hopped to the side as the maggot leapt toward him. It landed on it's scaled belly and writhed on the ground. It was beached.
"YAH!!" Link slashed into the side and gills of the creature as it screamed and hissed impotently. "Hah! Yeah, what now? Huh? Whatcha gonna do now you stupid overgrown worm!?"
As if to answer our hero the creatures tentacles flashed through the air and smacked him across the room. He lay winded on his side as the beast pushed itself slowly back into the water. Link stood up on wobbly legs and ran to the water's edge. The creature was plainly visible beneath the surface of the water on the other side of the pool, but what was it doing over there? Suddenly it's tentacles flew from the water and wrapped themselves around the hero's legs. It lifted him into the air above the water and rose above the surface. It's entire vile body was visible, even the parts of the underbelly not protected by scales. Link stabbed again and again at the tentacles holding his feet, but they just wouldn't give.
As a flash of light came from the maggot's mouth, Link looked at it's open maw. It was glowing an eerie purple color and was gathering more light. This was not a good sign. Link desperately tried one more thing, hoping the attack it would finish him with wouldn't be too powerful.
In a low guttural growl a beam of energy lanced from the maggot's mouth. Just as it was about to collide with the hero, Link suddenly pulled a shiny mirror-like shield from behind his back. The beam ricocheted off the shield and right back into De Rol Le's 'face'. Link was unceremoniously dropped into the increasingly polluted water.
He climbed out onto Ruto's platform. After plucking off a piece of flesh or whatever that thing was made of from his tunic, he started hacking at the red ice that continued to creep along the Zora's skin.
"Link," Ruto wheezed. "Don't worry about me, get the gem."
Link reluctantly pulled away from her and walked over to the fully blue diamond. As he made contact with the jewel the triforce marking on his hand grew brightly. Soon the entire room began to glow white. The red substance on Ruto began to recede from her body, just as the darkness and other jewels were receding from the rest of the temple. In a few moments Link's eyes were overwhelmed with light. When his vision returned he was standing in the diadem circle of Hyrule. The circle of medallions around him had six differently colored gems floating atop them instead of the sages. Ruto sat atop her water seal, this time she was herself again. The curvaceous Zora princess that had given him such a hard time years ago as a child didn't seem so spoiled anymore.
"What took you so damn long to come back," she yelled, making an echo sound throughout the realm she had apparently taken them too. "Have you got any idea how long I was waiting in that chamber, being drained by that bauble in your hand. It's sickening!"
"Who put you there exactly," Link asked. "Lemme guess: A creature made completely out of water?"
"Yes," Ruto answered, surprised. "How did you know?"
"I met him, her…it on top of the temple."
"Well anyway, it won't take me by surprise this time. I'm going to stay right here until all the other sages are free."
"Wa-wa-Wait! You're telling me that you want ME to go stop that thing and Ganon? I had enough of a hard time freeing you, who knows what kind of beasts are guarding the rest of the sages and those diamonds that are draining away Hyrule."
"Are we afraid?" Ruto teased, batting her eyes.
"Well, um," Link sputtered. "No! Of course not! I-"
"Good then I guess you'll be on your way then hmm? Oh and don't forget this…"
On the hero's right arm a long shot appears. Link is just about to say something else as the Sacred Realm disappears from sight to be replaced by the newly clean Lake Hylia. As Link looks over the crystal clear water he can see outlines of dozens of Zora's swimming toward the north bank.
Oh well, I'd better get a move on.
Just as Link pulls out his Ocarina he is smashed against the chest by something hard. He flies backwards into the tree by the temple diadem. Though his blurred vision Link can see a spiky blue silhouette walking towards him.
"Now let's see what we've got here," someone said as he went through the hero's items and weapons. "Useless, pathetic, stupid, c'mon where are you?"
Upon pulling out the diamond that Link had just discovered he said," Ah- hah, I knew you were good for something."
Just as he was about to sprint away Link came to his full senses and shouted," What's this about? Ugh, who are you?"
The blue apparition with the quills protruding from it's back and the red sneakers said," The name's Sonic. Thanks for the Chaos Emerald, loser!"
With that said he ran off at a godlessly reckless speed. Able to hydroplane over the water and onto the other bank with a matter of seconds. All he left was a crumpled hero, some footprints, and a trail of flame.
To be continued…
Chaos in Hyrule
Chapter 2
The maggot sprang from the water and leaped over Link's head, spraying odd-colored water from it's gills. As it touched his arm, Link yelped in pain, it burned a red mark in his arm. The beast disappeared beneath the water without so much as a ripple and a low groaning sound. The young hero pulled his arm into his tunic and pulled out a mask, as well as a red scale and leaped into the water after De Rol Le. After hitting the water Link pulled the mask to his face and felt a change begin in his body, his skin became smooth and pale, his feet morphed into fins, and others appeared on his back and arms. Link had become a Zora. His attire had also changed to a blue tunic and a long curved dagger instead of a sword. He grasped his new weapon and swam down into the depths.
The groaning sound became louder and louder as Link swam closer to the entrance to the water temple. Finally the murk lifted as the doorway came into view, a second later Link wished it hadn't. The temple's front gate was overgrown with a strange glowing lichen and was crumbling around the edges. The steel gate on the sides were rusted over and falling apart.
Oh man, Link thought as he drifted into the temple. Something horrible is happening here. Gannon must have done something to the sage's power again. Saria, Ruto, Impa…Zelda. What's become of all of you? How could you let this happen?
As if it were any consolation to him, Link pulled himself out of the water and into the temple's gleaming air lock. The walls actually glowed by themselves, the golden floors enhanced the setting, just like the long vertical chamber that made up most of the temple itself. The half flooded chamber was covered in jewels and seemed to shift and change every few seconds. Link looked up at the ceiling and saw something that made his blood run cold, encased in red ice were at least a hundred Zoras. All of them were in a state of suspended animation and each held a look of horror on their faces. Screaming, crying, yelling, there were even some frozen in mid-stroke, possibly trying to swim away when it happened. Whatever did happen.
He took his eyes off of the ceiling and leapt into the water. He drifted on the currents that shifted every few seconds all over the place. Soon enough Link found himself underwater, swirling in a whirlpool. Link flung his limbs in every direction opposite of the current, but couldn't escape. As Link was swept in an outside arc of the currents he thought he saw a flash of movement, the worm was in here with him. Link started to struggle against the current more and more and each time he did so his body was flung in a farther direction. Suddenly Link was slammed against a large geode hanging from one of the walls. Blood oozed from his mouth and into the water, Link's head spun ,and each movement hurt even more that the one before. So for a few moments Link stopped moving. The throbbing in his head stopped finally and he noticed that the glowing gems were sinking away and that he was floating upward. Finally free of the current, Link pulled himself out of the water and onto a ledge. He shut his gills and took a deep breath with his lungs.
When he opened his eyes, he immediately went for his dagger and slashed the enemy across the throat making a scraping sound. Link chuckled as he got on his feet.
Oh yeah, I'm a mighty hero. I've just vanquished a stone lion.
Link walked past the stone statues and into a long hallway that Link once thought he'd never get to, a Boss Chamber. The long slope that was there before was replaced by a flight of steep stairs that led to golden door. Link walked along the stairs slowly until he heard a sound, slight, but a sound nonetheless. A rush of air was his only warning as a vase from the top of the stairs fly right at him. It missed him just barely, smashing against the wall on the opposite side of the room. Link rushed up the stairway just as three more pots smacked into the stairs he'd just occupied. As he reached the top a large urn that sat in front of the door began to vibrate and spin.
"No," Link wailed as he removed the Zora mask from his face and held his sword in front of his. "No, no, no!"
The urn hurled itself toward thew hero and Link sliced upward through it, shattering it, a feat he couldn't exactly do with a dagger. Link kicked open the door and strode inside. The room was dark, lit only by three dim candles. In the center was an alter, and as far as Link could see, surrounded by water.
"Who is there," a faint voice said from the darkness.
Link stepped forward into the humid room. "Link, Hero of Time, but who or what are you?"
"Link? Don't tell me you've forgotten about me…forgotten about your betrothed. Forgotten about your princess."
"…Ruto."
Link stepped forward and removed a wand-like object from his tunic. He pointed it at each of the candles and they lit like flares in the darkness. Indeed it was Ruto on the alter in the center of the room, and then again it wasn't. Ruto was aged, withering and drained. She sat on the alter with her legs halfway frozen with red ice, her eyes were gray and lifeless.
"Ruto, what happened here?"
Ruto wheezed for a few moments and then said," I wish I knew. I and the other sages were plucked from anywhere in Hyrule we were residing and then brought to the Boss chambers in each of our own temples. Since I was brought here," Ruto stopped and started to wheeze again. "My energy has been sapped from my body, my temple, the waters in Hyrule, and drained into that."
Ruto pointed across the chamber toward a light blue gem floating above the water. It was an expertly cut diamond and rotated from left to right.
"Then I suppose I should do something about it," Link said as he removed his hook-shot from his tunic and pointed at the gem.
Link fired off the hook-shot and just as it neared the jewel, a deep groaning sound resonated from the water and a huge maggot rose from the water, blocking the hook-shot. Link retracted it and unsheathed his sword.
"I hate my job sometimes," Link said.
Link hopped to the side as the maggot leapt toward him. It landed on it's scaled belly and writhed on the ground. It was beached.
"YAH!!" Link slashed into the side and gills of the creature as it screamed and hissed impotently. "Hah! Yeah, what now? Huh? Whatcha gonna do now you stupid overgrown worm!?"
As if to answer our hero the creatures tentacles flashed through the air and smacked him across the room. He lay winded on his side as the beast pushed itself slowly back into the water. Link stood up on wobbly legs and ran to the water's edge. The creature was plainly visible beneath the surface of the water on the other side of the pool, but what was it doing over there? Suddenly it's tentacles flew from the water and wrapped themselves around the hero's legs. It lifted him into the air above the water and rose above the surface. It's entire vile body was visible, even the parts of the underbelly not protected by scales. Link stabbed again and again at the tentacles holding his feet, but they just wouldn't give.
As a flash of light came from the maggot's mouth, Link looked at it's open maw. It was glowing an eerie purple color and was gathering more light. This was not a good sign. Link desperately tried one more thing, hoping the attack it would finish him with wouldn't be too powerful.
In a low guttural growl a beam of energy lanced from the maggot's mouth. Just as it was about to collide with the hero, Link suddenly pulled a shiny mirror-like shield from behind his back. The beam ricocheted off the shield and right back into De Rol Le's 'face'. Link was unceremoniously dropped into the increasingly polluted water.
He climbed out onto Ruto's platform. After plucking off a piece of flesh or whatever that thing was made of from his tunic, he started hacking at the red ice that continued to creep along the Zora's skin.
"Link," Ruto wheezed. "Don't worry about me, get the gem."
Link reluctantly pulled away from her and walked over to the fully blue diamond. As he made contact with the jewel the triforce marking on his hand grew brightly. Soon the entire room began to glow white. The red substance on Ruto began to recede from her body, just as the darkness and other jewels were receding from the rest of the temple. In a few moments Link's eyes were overwhelmed with light. When his vision returned he was standing in the diadem circle of Hyrule. The circle of medallions around him had six differently colored gems floating atop them instead of the sages. Ruto sat atop her water seal, this time she was herself again. The curvaceous Zora princess that had given him such a hard time years ago as a child didn't seem so spoiled anymore.
"What took you so damn long to come back," she yelled, making an echo sound throughout the realm she had apparently taken them too. "Have you got any idea how long I was waiting in that chamber, being drained by that bauble in your hand. It's sickening!"
"Who put you there exactly," Link asked. "Lemme guess: A creature made completely out of water?"
"Yes," Ruto answered, surprised. "How did you know?"
"I met him, her…it on top of the temple."
"Well anyway, it won't take me by surprise this time. I'm going to stay right here until all the other sages are free."
"Wa-wa-Wait! You're telling me that you want ME to go stop that thing and Ganon? I had enough of a hard time freeing you, who knows what kind of beasts are guarding the rest of the sages and those diamonds that are draining away Hyrule."
"Are we afraid?" Ruto teased, batting her eyes.
"Well, um," Link sputtered. "No! Of course not! I-"
"Good then I guess you'll be on your way then hmm? Oh and don't forget this…"
On the hero's right arm a long shot appears. Link is just about to say something else as the Sacred Realm disappears from sight to be replaced by the newly clean Lake Hylia. As Link looks over the crystal clear water he can see outlines of dozens of Zora's swimming toward the north bank.
Oh well, I'd better get a move on.
Just as Link pulls out his Ocarina he is smashed against the chest by something hard. He flies backwards into the tree by the temple diadem. Though his blurred vision Link can see a spiky blue silhouette walking towards him.
"Now let's see what we've got here," someone said as he went through the hero's items and weapons. "Useless, pathetic, stupid, c'mon where are you?"
Upon pulling out the diamond that Link had just discovered he said," Ah- hah, I knew you were good for something."
Just as he was about to sprint away Link came to his full senses and shouted," What's this about? Ugh, who are you?"
The blue apparition with the quills protruding from it's back and the red sneakers said," The name's Sonic. Thanks for the Chaos Emerald, loser!"
With that said he ran off at a godlessly reckless speed. Able to hydroplane over the water and onto the other bank with a matter of seconds. All he left was a crumpled hero, some footprints, and a trail of flame.
To be continued…