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Author's note: Many thanks to any people who've read on so far. My apologies to those who were confused by the end of the last chapter. Reviews appreciated Without further ado:.
Story so far: -
Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god Nura and used the power to free Ganondorf Dragmire. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, Zelda and Link awake in the alternate dimension of Nurai, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.
Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the Xi, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher Bren. While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.
Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called Nala. However, while Link is still confined to bed a Kalen (a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.
Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the Distile. The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital Asreal where they are due to meet in the Glass Temple. The night before they stay at an inn – and Link finds himself troubled by a strange nightmare…
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Seven
A dream.
It had just been a horrible, horrible dream. Better still, as his mind warmed up and his vocabulary increased, a horrendous nightmare. And yet Malon was still dead, or as good as. His faithful steed Epona had always been there, even when he travelled through time or even dimensions. But now?
Now she might as well be that skeleton from his dream. She was gone, as all Hyrule had gone. Vaguely his mind recalled to him Malon, and the other strange dream that had welcomed him to this world. Her message still rang clear in his head.
The sages, Link, the sages.
Yes, he would find the sages as soon as he could. But he needed help – this land was so gigantic that he could never have explored it all alone. His mind flung at him a new memory, or to be exact one with an even older origin. The innocent looking Goron mask that to a child would look like something of play. But it was anything but that – it was key to strength, and such speed that the memory of it made him dizzy even now. The speed would have been useful now though – he was getting tired of the slow obstinate horses that his new friend Nala had hired.
The sages, Link, the sages.
The thought again guiltily reminded him that he should be dressing and preparing for the day's work. It had always been easy for him to slip into comfortable thoughts when it was time to get up and to lull himself back to sleep again. One of his many weaknesses. Resisting the temptation he shoved the bed's blanket away and splashed his face with some nearby water. Now the bed would no more pleasures for him – at least until the evening.
Slowly he made his way down the narrow uneven steps which seemed to be designed to trip as many people as possible. He would have hated to have to attempt them after having too much to drink. He walked into the now bright bar and found that the drunkard from last night had been sensible enough not to try it; instead he lay asleep on the floor. In the corner he spotted Nala, already eating some bread.
"Good morning," Nala said cheerfully. His own city had obviously cheered him up.
Link nodded and started some of the strange food that had been placed down for him. So far he hadn't got used to the different culinary tastes, and to be honest he hated much of what he had eaten in the last few weeks. Yet, he realised that it was wise to stomach it so as not to annoy Nala.
Link looked out at the city and saw a much cheerful place than he had seen last night. It reminded him of a much bigger version of the market. A much, much bigger version of the market. Link even spotted a chicken running around in the background and a few children chasing it.
"So what do we do today?" he asked, trying to brighten up.
"We've got to visit the Glass Temple for a meeting," Nala said cheerfully, "and then I can show you around my home. There's nowhere nicer than Asreal."
Link nodded. He had heard a variant of that statement a thousand times before as Nala pointed out new landmarks, and while not all of them had been terrible places they hadn't all been perfect either. Still, it seemed like a nice enough city.
"Any chance of finding out about the sages?" he asked.
To his surprise however, Nala answered in the positive.
"Sure," he said, "I'm expecting to hear more at the Glass Temple. Trust me, this is the best place to be. Shall we go now?"
Link thankfully left his food and followed him out of the door. They were staying here this night as well and so their bags were left in the rooms. He still had a sword on him though, he felt defenceless and exposed without one. His Goron sword had not failed him yet.
They left the inn and walked along the city walls for a while. It was almost as wide as the road below. Most people came this way, only going back down again when they neared their destination. Nala took them down some old steps and they walked a short way through the city again. Link smiled as he dodged some children that were playing tag.
Gradually the class of people and buildings raised as they neared the Glass Temple. By the time they were in the now empty central courtyard it was impossible to see anything that would have not been far too expensive for any normal person to buy.
At the great doors of the Glass Temple Nala took out his crescent token again and showed it to the guards who were waiting outside. The guards bowed and moved back so they could go in. Link was annoyed when as he was going in the guards jumped back up again, waiting until Nala had passed.
But he soon forgot that when he saw the insides of the temple. Its walls stretched ten times as high as the Temple of Time's, and it was a breathtaking sight to see the huge sky above him through the opaque ceiling. He shivered once as he walked under the huge D'Ran knife which hung from the ceiling and the scenes that for a moment his imagination played through his head. It looked around half the size of him – its gigantic serrated blade thankfully not showing any signs of the blood of the victims it sacrificed long ago. He almost wished Nala had not told him its true use.
On the left was a wooden door in the side which led to the some of the stone parts of the building – which were dwarfed in size by the main glass building. Being the base of Nura's religion at many times private meetings were required – and these would be difficult to hold in a totally glass structure. As they approached it the door opened, and an old, stout man accompanied by a Xi bodyguard walked out of it.
Nala saw Link's curious look as the Xi walked over to them and said, "It's just a security measure. An Xi to everyone apart from priests."
Link nodded absent-mindedly. He had heard about the Xi a while a go, and had felt proud when he learnt that the old measure of an Xi was completing the training course. Not that he could do half the things that the Xi were supposed to do. This Xi was a pretty girl with red hair, who would have looked innocent but for the two swords that were laid in their sheathes, and bow and arrow hanging loosely on her shoulder.
Nala saw Link's curious look and said, "It's just a security measure. An Xi to everyone apart from priests."
The old man quickly hurried up to them and smiled at Nala.
"I'm sorry," he addressed Link, "but we really need to talk in an important meeting, so... I'm afraid your story will have to come later. Tanya, why don't you go show Link around the city for a while? Say two hours?"
Tanya looked annoyed at the request, but nodding at Link and walked out of the door.
Link nodded at Nala before running after her. She was surprisingly quick, yet did not lose her dignity by running like Link.
"Where do you want to go?" she asked.
Link shrugged. "Where do you normally go?"
"I normally do my duties now," she said, reflecting her annoyance.
"What are they?" Link asked curiously.
"Mainly, looking for trouble," she replied. Her manner was that of one seemingly deliberately trying not to be friendly. It was as if she had already decided that she would hate him. "But I'm not sure I should take a civilian like you with me."
For the thousandth time Link wished that he could reveal his past. If this arrogant warrior had known about his past…
"I can defend myself," he replied, pulling out his sword.
She raised her eyebrows. Then, as if to test his true knowledge she asked, "What type is it?"
"They call it a...a Big Goron's Sword," he told her, wondering if any Gorons had been heard of here.
"Can I have a look?" she asked reluctantly.
Link nodded, and she slowly pulled out his sword from the sheath and examined it casually in her hands.
"Quite strong," she commented, suddenly swinging around and letting it crash into the wall. The sword remained unchanged. Tanya nodded her head slowly. "Good," she commented, "not unbreakable, but no swords are these days."
"Xi!"
A man seemed to sprint out of nowhere, his eyes still wide open with shock and his breath almost gone. "Kidnapping…" he breathed out, and pointed back down an alley.
Tanya didn't wait to hear any more, instead sprinting off down the road. Yet again, Link found himself struggling to keep up with her.
"Do you want me to come?" he shouted forward.
Her head was on the verge of a shake before she slowly changed it to a nod. Perhaps she considered that he would be less trouble in her sight. She passed another few panicking civilians, who all pointed into one building.
She charged to the wall of the house and started to climb it. Somehow her feet managed to steadily find rests among the cracks in between the bricks. She got to the roof, pulled a rope from around her waist and threw one end down to Link. He took considerably longer than her to climb up even with the rope, but finally managed it.
Tanya tied the rope around her waist again and jumped down the house chimney. From the sounds Link heard, she hadn't got a very nice reception.
"So much for the subtle approach," he muttered, running quickly to the chimney and climbed down it himself
At the bottom the Xi had already four people tied up in strong rope. Link noticed their swords lying on the floor. Maybe the Xi's reputation wasn't so overrated after all..
Suddenly another man jumped out from behind a barrel and ran to the chimney, quickly scrambling up the rope. Link was after him in an instant. Finally he could prove himself. He reached the top and confidently poked his head out...only to get it hit by a huge club. For a moment he was too dazed to realise much, but when he could think again he found himself sprawled on top of the roof. The thug was tensing himself again, ready for the Xi. The strong kick to his chest emerging from the chimney soon showed him how futile his efforts were. He too, like Link, was thrown to the floor. However he must have been made of sterner stuff. Jumping to his feet he caught Link as he valiantly stood up, and help a knife to his throat.
"Don't," he threatened Tanya, taking a step back, "or you won't see him again."
The man pulled Link backwards, and then with incredible difficulty, up a ladder to another roof. Tanya had to wait for a moment, forced to follow far behind as Link and the kidnapper slowly got higher and higher. In those few minutes Link could have learnt a lot about Asreal's geography and its complicated interconnected roof system. He may not have known the maze, but he could tell what the general direction they were taking was. To the top of one of the highest buildings in Asreal - the Church Imperial Trade Centre, a building that was second in importance only to the nearby glass cathedral. There they stopped, the main seemingly wanting to wait for Tanya to catch up. That desperate time in the roofs had obviously given him a new plan.
"Xi!" he spat, "Give me on your honour safe passage or he goes."
But Link was properly awake now. While the man's attention was distracted he took his chance. He pulled himself downwards, pivoted on his right foot and shoved the man off the building. Or tried to - a pity it didn't quite work. As the thug fell roughly to the ground he put out his foot and tripped Link. Link stumbled for a moment and then fell - down the side of the building.
Tanya had a split-second decision. She dived quickly after Link- too late. To Link's horror he found himself with Tanya and the thug in free fall.
For a moment Link could have sworn that time slowed down to allow him a good view of his death. Below a few dozen people's heads swung skywards as they saw the fallers. Nala had thought Link would save this place. Instead he had only managed to get someone else killed. He looked up, hoping that he could catch her eye and show her that he was sorry.
But there was something wrong with her – even as she fell she had not given up, her body still taught in a combat position. Her hand shot towards him and he gladly grabbed it, thinking that she wanted them to die together. But her face remained dominated with concentration as her hand reached out seemingly desperately against the wall, her nails uselessly scraping down it. Only then did the eyes lose focus and turn to despair. Link could not have guessed the thoughts that were going on in there – the regret that she had dropped her sword in the fight. Regret that she hadn't told Link to wait. But most of all regrets that she hadn't told him the truth…
Her subconscious must have seen the wooden letters before her eyes did. Her instincts kicked back in – and not too late. Her eyes turned away as the thug's body broke sickeningly on the pavement. That wouldn't happen to her. Not to a Xi. Almost confidently, she made her last grab…
And caught something. Immediately her heart poured out a thousand prayers to Nura, her mind devoted to gratitude. Mentally she promised that she would not waste this chance fate had given her. She allowed herself a sigh of relief as she turned to see her saviour. It was the huge wooden 'T' from the carved sign stuck to the wall. She dropped down to the pavement which was just a few safe metres away. Link was already down. She walked forward to where he was standing and was about to speak when...he jumped straight at her, now his face the devoted one. Startled, she let herself fall to the floor as the rush of air above crashed into a wall. An arrow. Link had saved her live.
After a moment that seemed to last forever, she got up, and her eyes soon located the escaped prisoner who had thought killing her would be fun. He was hidden behind a crate. She was no longer picky of where she placed the stick she used to kill him.
Then checking the sun's height in the sky she turned back to Link, "Time's up," she commented briefly, even though it did puzzle her slightly. Those few 'minutes' in the rooftop chase must have been longer than she thought.
"You go on," she told him, suddenly seeing something. "I'll catch up."
Link nodded and gratefully walked away, perhaps happy to be alive. Or perhaps it was her now friendly tone of voice that cheered him up.
Tanya waited until he was out of sight and the crowd had dispersed before she turned to the shadows.
"How was he?" the hidden voice asked.
"Not bad," she finally decided.