Nature Sage - Ch 9
"Here's another stone," Malon said, dropping a pearl into Zelda's hand. "Found it outside the ranch. I figure it's mine."
"Good," Zelda breathed, dropping it into her pocket. "Just a few more.."
"A few?" Link laughed, coming into the room. "We've only got four. Out of, what, twelve?"
Zelda blushed. "So what? I'm trying to sound optimistic here!"
There was a brilliant, deep blue flash, then Ruto appeared, along with a male Zora. "I found another Sage!" she announced proudly. "He's the Sage of Ice. I've already given him his power."
"Did you find your gemstone?" Malon asked hopefully.
"Yep. Lukas here hasn't got one, though. Oh, and Darunia asked me to bring this here. He's not quite finished with what he was doing."
"What was he doing?" Link asked.
"Something about a Goron food problem. He said he'd be here in a while."
Leona rushed into the room. "I heard there was a new Sage?"
"Hey, I'm Lukas," the Zora said, extending his hand/fin. Leona shook it warmly.
"Pleased to meet you. You're the Sage of Thunder?"
"No, Ice."
"Oh. Well, where's the Sage of Thunder?"
"He's in here," Link said, grabbing Leona's wrist and pulling her into the room.
"Link," Trevor said, looking relieved. "I gotta talk to you."
"In a minute, okay, pal? I want you to meet my friend Leona. Malon, come in here!"
Trevor smiled at the two girls that entered the room. "I'm Trevor; and I'm four. I'm also the Sage of Thunder."
Leona and Malon introduced themselves. Trevor cocked his head a bit.
"Are you two related?" he asked.
Leona laughed. "No, we come from different families. We even look very different." Malon smiled, and nodded. Trevor seemed satisfied, and turned back to Link.
"I thought real hard about it," he started, "and I decided that, since I'm too little to be a Sage, I want you to be one for me, Link."
Link's jaw fell opened. "You mean it?" he asked after a moment.
"Yes. Take the stone. I've already transferred my power into it."
He held out his hand, and Trevor dropped the small black onyx into it. Link's hand instantly filled with energy, and he almost dropped the stone.
"Careful!" Trevor said, smiling as Link's dream came true. Leona and Malon were also grinning like idiots, watching Link's eyes, which were wide with amazement.
"I'm a Sage!" he yelled happily. Zelda rushed into the room.
"You're not a Sage," she said, half-doubtfully. "It's not possible.."
"I gave him my powers for a while," Trevor explained, "so that he can save Hyrule for me."
Link grinned up at Zelda. "I want a kid just like him someday." She turned red and looked away. He continued, his face glowing. "You're terrific, you know that, Trevor? The best!"
"I know," he said happily. "Absolutely the best."
"Well, come on," Zelda said suddenly. "I still have to find my stone, and so do what's-his-name and Impa and Rauru and.. Is that it?"
"And another Sage," Ruto added.
"Right! Another Sage. Malon, Nabooru, take Link out into the field to practice his powers. I'm going to find my stone. Impa and Rauru are coming with me. Oh! Nabooru, nevermind, you go look for your stone. Malon will train Link with Trevor and Leona. Now go!"
"Princess," Trevor started timidly. "Shouldn't we all get our Spiritual Stones, too?"
Zelda froze. "But Navi said we didn't have Spiritual Stones."
"No," the boy corrected, "she said we didn't need them for this mission. But we do all have them. They might come in handy somehow."
She sighed with relief. "If anyone happens to come across their Spiritual Stone, bring it back here." Trevor frowned, feeling as though he had been overlooked. "Now, everyone can go."
"Try to strike that tree over there with lightning," Trevor coached. "Focus on hitting it. Ready.. build your power.. NOW!"
A bolt of lightning shot down and nearly hit Malon. She screamed and jumped away. "Sorry," Link said. "I'm trying! I guess I'm not destined for this kind of stuff."
"Obviously not," Leona remarked. Trevor giggled.
"Try it again. Don't focus so much on the object, but on the distance. Now!"
Another bold of lightning came frighteningly close to Leona. She screamed. "That was no accident! He's trying to kill me!"
"I am not," Link argued. "I'm just inexperienced! I didn't judge the direction right!"
"Oh, and the tree is exactly four feet away from you, only to the north?"
"Exactly," he said, grinning. Taking a deep breath, he successfully struck the tree for the first time out of a dozen attempts.
"See?" Trevor said proudly. "You just needed to relax a little! Malon, heal the tree." She did so. "Now, try again. Keep relaxed this time!"
Link sighed. It was hard to remember that this kid was only four. He tried again and struck the ground inches from his feet. "Maybe that's enough practice," he said nervously.
"I don't think so," Malon said. "The rest of us were nearly killed by you, I don't see why you can't come near killing yourself. Try it again, and keep relaxed, like Trevor said."
"Think about it, Link: Together with Ruto, we could have a hurricane or tornado or something!" Leona said happily. "Just in case we feel like a rainy day any time soon."
Meanwhile, Zelda and Impa were checking the castle treasury for any gemstones that felt special to them. They had gone through nearly half of the jewels already, and found nothing.
"Here's an amethyst that feels strong," Impa said.
"Or maybe it's just heavy," Zelda said, disappointed. "There's nothing in here for me. I suppose you've found your stone, though. Go ahead and put it in the circle."
After her old nursemaid left, Zelda was left in an ocean of jewels that didn't help her at all. She looked toward the ceiling. "Oh, Nayru, please help me out here," she prayed aloud. A beam of blue light appeared, containing a pink stone. Zelda's heart filled with joy, and she lifted the stone.
"Zelda, this is Nayru. Since you asked nicely, I decided to help. This is your stone, a kunzite. Take good care of it!" Zelda heard the words in her mind, and smiled.
She took her kunzite out to the circle and put it in the largest of the openings. Three smaller ones appeared in a triangle inside of the circle. "Great!" Zelda wailed, exasperated. "The second I accomplish something, it's ripped away from me!"
"Not quite," someone said behind her. The Princess turned around and saw three identical maidens, dressed in the same outfit, only different colors. They all had golden hair, their skin shining with a golden tone. Their eyes matched the color of their outfits: one blue, one green, one red.
"Our parts belong there," the one in red explained. Realization began to sink into Zelda.
"Where can we find them?" she asked in awe.
"We'll send them to you once your circle is complete," the one in blue said, smiling faintly.
"We are the Three Supreme Sages," the one in green said. They all looked to the sky, dissolved into their respective colored dust, and disappeared.
Rauru walked in and put his stone into the circle. "We're getting closer," he said. "Only four more to go. And Link even has the onyx with him."
"Yeah," Zelda said, still staring at the spot where the maidens had been. "And only one more Sage to find."
"We're back!" Link announced loudly, running into the small chamber. "And I brought Trevor's stone, although it's really mine, for a while."
"Good," the Princess said. "Put it in the circle."
"But wait - look at what I learned!" he said, grabbing her arm and dragging her outside. He held up his hand, like he was holding an imaginary softball. A yellow-white ball of power formed, and he threw it toward a tree. It hit, and engulfed the tree in a field of electricity. When it subsided, the tree was as black as coal. "Isn't that cool?" he said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Um.. yeah," Zelda said. "Why don't you get some sleep? I think you've done too much work for today."
"But this is so cool! Look what else I can - "
"Link," she interrupted, looking into his eyes. He suddenly got a serious look on his face.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I'll quit."
"Good," she said, turning and reentering the castle.
Malon rushed up to Zelda. "It's time," she said breathlessly.
"Time for what?"
"The Evil Realm is gaining control again," she explained. "We need all the Sages now."
"But we don't have them all!" Zelda said, panicked.
"We're gonna have to try with what we've got. A bunch of evil 'troops' are outside, shooting fire arrows at us."
"Fire arrows?"
"Yep. Fire arrows."
They heard a thump, and turned in time to see the door start to burn. "Oh no," Zelda breathed as the flames grew larger.
-+-chapter nine: complete-+-
Now, tell me honestly: did I rush the ending again? I have a horrible habit of doing that. Anyway, I hope you all liked it, please review my story, and chapter ten coming soon.