Chapter 6: Fire and Ice
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Disclaimer: Nope…still don't own Zelda.
Didja think that Sheik was only going to appear when he had a song to teach? I think not! He has a personality! He has feelings! He has priorities just like Link and Rae! You WILL be seeing a LOT more of him!!
*ALSO* Guest appearance from Saria of Kokiri Forest!! (Actually, she doesn't appear so to say…)
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"Go, child." The old lady cackled, pushing the much taller Hyrulian out of the room. "You cannot do her any good with your dark troubles sickening the room."
Link stumbled down the steps, his forehead creased in worry. It had been a few days since the fire temple, and Rae had developed a nasty fever. She was getting worse by the hour, and she was becoming delusional. Link exited the house, letting his feet carry him to wherever they wanted to go. Navi tentatively poked out of Link's shirt pocket.
"Is she going to be okay?" Navi asked in a tiny voice.
Link patted the faerie. "She'll be fine."
"She didn't look healthy." Navi said. "I've never seen a person like that before." This was true. Because Navi was a faerie, she lived with he Kokiri, who never fell ill or sick.
"It happens." Link reassured her. The truth was, living with the Kokiri all his life; he'd never seen illness either. He himself had never been sick.
Navi escaped into the air; puffing herself up importantly. "That's good, because I didn't get a chance to tell her how stupid she was in the Fire Temple." This was what she gave him to cover up her concern. Knowing the little faerie, she wouldn't want to show any feeling towards the foreign girl. Navi froze in mid-air. "Link…" She said in a voice that wasn't her own.
"Navi…what's wrong?" The faerie seemed to be in a trance.
"Link…can you hear me? It's Saria…"
Link brightened at this. Saria was contacting him though Navi! "Saria, I can hear you. How are you?"
"I am alright…the forest is almost back to normal now…thanks to you…How are you?"
"I took on a partner…or rather, she took me on…"
"Yes…Rae is her name…isn't it?"
"How did you know that?"
"All the sages are in contact with one another…Darunia told me…he said she was hurt…"
Link looked down at clenched hands. He eased them from the feral position. "Yes…she doesn't seem to be getting any better…I'm worried, Saria."
For a moment, the light voice didn't reply. "You care for her very much, don't you?"
"Of course I don—" Link stopped, then started again, shaking his head. "Actually, yes, yes I do."
"Zora's Domain needs your help, Link." Saria changed the subject. "Since you have returned, the place has been transformed into an ice land. Go to the fountain in Zora's Domain. There is a cavern there. Retrieve the iron boots. You will need them to enter the Water Temple and break the curse that is on Zora's Domain."
"But what about Rae?" Link asked, distressed.
"Impa…I think that you know who she is…is near Kakariko…she may know of a remedy for your friend. You must help the Zoras, Link. There isn't much time before the damage that is done will be…irreversible."
~*~*~*~
Fall, Seventh year of Gannon's reign…
Just when I think that things are starting to wind down, Link suddenly shows up again. I haven't seen the young man for at least seven years, and now he's all grown up. He stopped by, not long ago, to introduce me to a new friend of his, Rae. She is a strange girl; her ears are not pointed like a Hyrulian or a Hylian, but her appearance doesn't match that of a Gerudo. Perhaps she is from a foreign land.
They left for Goron City, not five days ago, and then suddenly returned, with Rae injured. The sky over Death Mountain cleared, so I think that they had something to do with it. Merchants have started taking runs up to the Gorons now that the area is safe.
Link left for Zora's Domain five days ago. By now he should be in the icy region that once was a proud Zora hall. I do not know what he may be looking for there, but he left Rae in my care. Parts of her legs are burnt beyond belief, and she is in a delusional fever. The local healer, a woman from a potion shop, has done all she can, but Rae doesn't seem to be getting any better. There is several people that I can think of that could further help Rae, but all of them have either died or vanished. Impa may know of hidden Sheikah healing arts; she sent a letter that she would come to see Link's companion. How she knew of Rae's sickness, I do not know, but maybe she can help.
The mountain may be cured of its ailment, but not all is right in Kakariko. I think that something else may be rising in the village. I can feel it.
On a happier note, Cojiro has cheered up, thanks to Link and Rae.
…From the diary of Anju of Kakariko Village.
~*~*~*~
Link rubbed his hands together, chattering in the icy sub-zero of the cave. Following Saria's instructions, he had hopped across floating chunks of ice to enter the grotto, and now he was dodging falling stalagmites in hopes to find the infamous iron boots. Watching the rotating blade in the next room, he timed it so he could run across without being hit by it. Reaching the other side safely, Link tapped on the frosty iron poles that barred his way. One of them fell loose, and he squeezed through the narrow opening. The next chamber almost saw the young Hyrulian's demise, but an instinctive step backwards saved his life. A frigid blast of arctic wind blew past him, sending frost up the front of his Goron's tunic. The tunic did nothing to block out the chill, but it slowed the amount of heat that left Link's body.
Link faced his glacial opponent, dodging another blast of freezing wind. Link thrust forward with the Master sword and split the ice monster in two. The shards clattered to the ground, shattering like glass.
"A freezzard." Navi said in a matter-of-fact voice. "It'll reform again, because it feeds off of the environment."
"And I don't plan to be around to see that happen." Link went through the passage and into a cavity that contained a glowing blue hearth raised on a dais. It stopped neatly at waist level, and Link drew close to examine it. The blue fire flickered in and out, but gave off no warmth. On an impulse, Link swiped a hand through it. The action brought a cool feeling, like dipping a hand into water.
"Blue fire." Navi informed him. "It melts red ice."
"Red ice?"
"Red ice is used to freeze living things so that when they are melted, they will still be alive." Navi passed through the fire. "It can keep the person or animal alive because it generates heat. It's a magical fire."
"I see." Link pulled out a bottle and passed it through the flame. It gathered in the bottle, swirling around like mist. Link pocketed it, walking away from the stand. Perhaps he would need it for later use.
~*~*~*~
"Can you do anything?" Anju asked anxiously.
Standing over Rae, who was now muttering in her sleep, Impa shook her head. The leader of the village, Impa was every inch a Sheikah. With silver hair and signature red eyes, the eye of truth was printed on her turtleneck collar. The short-sleeved shirt was a metallic blue, and the skin-tight shorts were the same color. She also wore navy gantlets and matching soft-soled boots. A knife was clearly seen, sheathed on her back.
"I do not know." Impa said. "I am not the most skilled in the healing arts. Have you spoken to Doneia? She is an elder woman who runs a potions and herb shop."
Anju wrung her hands. "Yes, and she said that you knew more than she did."
Impa shook her head. "This girl is unlike anything that I have ever seen. She doesn't seem to be responding to our medicines like she should."
"Perhaps it's because she's not from around here."
Impa looked at Anju sharply. "What do you mean?"
"She doesn't have pointed ears, and yet she is not a Gerudo." Anju explained timidly. "I do not think that she is from Hyrule."
Impa thought this over. "You may be right. This could be why she is not responding." She turned to leave. "Another will come shortly. He is more skilled at healing than anyone I know."
"Who is he?"
"You know him." Impa said. "He will arrive soon." Impa stopped with one hand on the door. "I will not be around for a while, I must go to the Shadow Temple."
"But why?" Anju asked. "I thought that everything was fine."
"Something is going to happen soon." Impa's voice was serious. "There is a chance that I may be able to head it off."
~*~*~*~
Link braced himself on his knees, panting hard from moving in such a cold state. The body of a dead ice wolfos lay near-by. Link wiped a trickle of blood running from his forearm, and then went to the treasure chest. Inside he found shaped iron-plates that could be attached to his boots to make him sink in water. "The iron boots." He said in a low voice.
"Keep them close, you will need them."
Link turned to see Sheik standing by the door. When did he come in?
"Where is Rae?" Sheik asked casually. "She is still helping you, is she not?"
Link sheathed the Master sword and pulled out his ocarina. "Of course, but she was seriously hurt when we were fighting Volvagia."
Sheik's eyes widened at this. "Is she alright?" He asked urgently.
Surprised by his concern, Link nodded. A slow churning in his stomach said that her condition was otherwise, but he ignored it. "She's resting in Kakariko village. I left her in the care of a cucco lady by the name of Anju."
Sheik visibly relaxed at this. "I know Anju. You did the right thing." He pulled out his harp, but did not immediately begin to play. "As you know, all of Zora's Domain is frozen. The Zora race is trapped beneath the icy spell placed on them. I, however, managed to save the Zora princess. I believe that you know her."
"Ruto?" Link asked, recalling the fish-like princess he had met so many years ago.
Sheik nodded. "Yes. Princess Ruto has gone to the Water Temple in order to defeat the evil that lurks there. It was it that created this ice age for the Zoras." He rested his fingers against the strings of the harp. "Time passes, people change… We are a river's flow that never ends. This is the Serenade of Water. It will take you to Lake Hylia." He played a song that rose with each note. Link played it over a few times.
Sheik vanished in a flash of light so quickly that Link didn't even get a chance to look at the guy. Blinking away lasting dots of light in his eyes, Link took a swig of an energy potion before putting the boots on and dropping through the hole on the other side of the room. He went through the door he found there and preceded to leave the cavern.
~*~*~*~
It was hot. Rae was sweating, pulling at the light sheet that felt like a wool comforter to her. Her hands were on fire; so were her legs. "Put it out…" She moaned, thrashing around. She felt a pair of hands pin her down.
"…Down…take…easy…" Was there something wrong with her ears? It seemed like she was underwater, but how could that be when she felt like she was lying in flames? "Rae…Anju…" Anju? What was Anju doing in the Fire Temple?
"Dragon…" Rae said thickly. "Run…"
A cool hand positioned itself over Rae's forehead. There was a popping in her ears, like she was flying in an airplane. "Is…better?" A deep voice asked. It wasn't Anju this time; it was a man.
Rae groaned, as the man took her hands in his. She tried squinting to see who it was, but all she saw was a blue and blonde blur. "Link?"
"…Gone..." Rae felt fingers run across her palms. She sucked in her breath at the light touch. The hot blanket that covered her was lifted, and the same light touch landed on her burns; the throbbing in her legs increased, but in a nice, relaxing sort of way. Rae felt better and the flame in her limbs was dying, but her sight was no better.
"Link's not…dead, is he?" Rae managed to say.
"No, he…to…temple." The man said.
Temple? "Dragon's…dead, right?"
"Yes, you…it."
Rae relaxed, realizing that she was lying in a bed. The blonde – blue blur and the red-green blur that was Anju faded in her vision. Closing her eyes, she willingly drifted into the darkness of sleep.
~*~*~*~
Link walked through the passage, the icy darkness making his skin crawl. Now, more than ever, he regretted leaving Rae behind. A light at the end of the tunnel warmed him a bit, and he came to the end of the passage. Pulling off the iron boots and slinging them over his shoulder, he struggled to swim to the surface. When he hit the top, he pulled himself up and walked down a hall to the rest of the temple.
Link gaped up at the tall ceiling, and then down into the murky depths of the surrounding water. If it had been any other time, he would have thought that the place was a beautiful, tranquil setting, however, in the distance, he could hear a faint scrapping. He could feel a darkness leering at him and an evil beckoning for him to give his best shot.
Link explored the main level, finding water spiders, but nothing else. Deciding to take another dip (to Navi's horror) he put the iron boots on and let them drag him to the bottom of the temple. Down, he drifted, watching as three different levels passed by him. As the minutes passed, Link grew ever grateful that he had taken the time to unfreeze the Zora king and receive the tunic made by the Zoras. If it weren't for the special fabric that enabled him to breathe with the special encompassing hood up, Link would have easily drowned long ago. Navi bobbed along with him, impervious to the water; she didn't need to breathe.
Landing on the soft sandy floor, Link circled the middle until he found an open passageway with two torches on either side. It seemed to lead to an important chamber. Link strode into the passage, peeking around the corner as he did so.
"Link!" Came a light and happy voice under the water.
"Ruto?" Link said, the word exiting the transparent hood front as bubbles.
In the room, stood a Zora, one of the mer-people. It was Ruto, the Princess of the Zoras. So this was where she went when Sheik rescued her…
As if hearing a silent wondering, Ruto clarified the situation. "I came here to defeat the evil in the temple." She smiled fondly at Link. "Oh, I've been waiting for you, beloved. Where have you been all these years?"
"Beloved?" Link bubbled.
Apparently, Ruto understood. "Yes – don't think that I forgot your promise to me, 7 years ago. I gave you the Zora's engagement ring, after all."
"Engagement ring?" Exclaimed Link. He didn't remember anything about an engagement ring!
Ruto waved a fin at him. "Well, we can't talk about that now. We have work to do! We need to find the 3 places that change the water levels in the Temple. Then we can reach where the evil is lurking!" She kicked off of the ground. "Follow me!" Hastening to pull off his shoes, Link slowly followed the Princess.
"Wait up!" He burst out in a bubbling way. Ruto didn't hear, and went out of the water. A minute or so later, Link surfaced. "Ruto?" He sputtered, lifting himself out of the water. He looked around vainly. The Zora was gone.
"Where did she go?" Asked Navi.
~*~*~*~
Rae opened her eyes, thinking that she was still in the fire temple against Volvagia. She bolted upright, gasping with pain. She saw that she was in a room, fairly threadbare, except for a night table and three other beds. Where was she? Rae half-heartedly thought about looking out of the window that was directly across from her, but that would have required getting up. She didn't have enough energy to do that.
Rae peeked under the thin sheet that covered her lower body and saw that she was only in her underwear. She noticed, with a wince, that from mid-thigh to mid-calf, she sported linen wraps.
Rae recalled a hazy period of sleep and consciousness. "Anju…" She croaked, remembering. Her throat was dry. Looking to her left and seeing a tray of drink and food sitting on the night table, Rae reached for the cup.
"Here, let me get that for you."
The mug tipped, knocked over by a startled muscle spasm on Rae's part. "Oops." Rae apologized in a raspy voice.
Anju shook her head, coming over from her place at the door. "Don't worry about a thing." She sopped up the spill with a cloth napkin. "You're hurt and under my care now, so just lay back and heal." She pushed a strand of red hair out of her face. "How are you feeling?"
"Crispy." Rae groaned. "Where's Link?"
"Is the sheet too constricting?" Anju fussed, dodging Rae's question entirely. "I wasn't sure what would be cool after tromping through a volcano."
"Anju…" Rae said sternly. "Where's Link?"
Anju pushed the same strand of red hair out of her face again. "Well…he asked me to give you this." She handed Rae a note. Rae stared at the foreign symbols. "He said that he's going to the next temple, if that helps any."
Rae crumpled the paper in her hand. A boiling rage bubbled up in her, threatening to melt all reasonable thoughts and arguments. "That sonovabitch." Rae hissed. "He left without me! When I get my hands on him I am going to give him SUCH a piece of my mind…" She trailed off, an endless ramble of threats and curses issuing from her mouth. He went on without her!! How could he? They were partners!
Anju quietly slipped out, some of the swearing shocking her, while others didn't make any sense. She only came back to sneak another glass of water onto the nightstand. Rae thanked her in the middle of her endless ranting, then continued on again.
~*~*~*~
Link examined the plaque on the wall carefully. Basically it was just like the Triforce symbol surrounded with designs of water holding and flowing around it. There was an inscription of six dots at the top, written in a three-dot pattern. Looking at it closer, he realized that it was the melody for Zelda's lullaby. Pulling out his ocarina, he played it. The short song echoed in the Temple and for a moment, everything slowed to a stop. Then Link heard a rushing sound and he glanced through the hole in the floor. The water level was receding.
Hmm… Link thought, starting to climb back down. This must be one of the water level switches Ruto was talking about…
~*~*~*~
Rae glared venomously at the window, as if daring her sylvan partner to sneak in. Her arms were crossed tightly, and she was twitching, using the waves of pain issuing from her legs as a fuel for her anger. "Goddam it Link." She fumed. "I HATE YOU!"
Sheik had appeared in the window, freezing as the last part of her yell was seemingly directed at him. From his perch on the sill, Sheik raised his arms in surrender. "I'm sorry – if you want, I'll leave…"
Rae blinked, a little unsure of what just happened. "No…no, come in." Sheik did so, but did not venture any further. Rae sighed. "I wasn't yelling at you…I was yelling at Link."
Sheik managed to look puzzled, even with his scarf over his mouth. "Link? But Link's over in—"
"The water temple. Yes, I know…I was just venting anger." Rae tilted her head to look at the Sheikah. She still couldn't believe that that was a disguise! "What are you doing here, anyway?"
Sheik examined his shoes with a great curiosity. "Oh…I just came to see if you were alright. I heard about the accident with Volvagia." He looked up at her. "You are alright, right?"
Rae shrugged. "Sorta." She wiggled fingers at her legs. "I still can't walk."
Sheik was suddenly kneeling beside her bed. "That's strange, you should be almost fully healed by now."
Rae frowned. She could remember a blue and blonde blur healing her wounds. "Where you the one who healed me?"
"Uh, huh." He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "You had quite a fever; you were delirious for a while."
"Just how long have you been checking in on me?" Rae questioned. Sheik didn't answer. "Wait- I get it…"
He looked up at her, panic shooting across crimson pupils. "You do?"
"You bet." Rae said confidently. "Link asked you to keep an eye on me, didn't he?"
Sheik looked away. "Oh – of course, yes." He hesitated to examine her legs, slender digits hovering above the sheet. "May I?"
"Yeah – go ahead." What was the big deal? After all, they were both girls; Sheik was really Zelda in disguise. He lifted the sheet past her knees, stopping just above the burn's edge at mid-thigh. It left her some modesty, something that Sheik was taking into careful consideration.
"Do you remember when we first met – in the crater of Death Mountain?" Sheik asked. Rae nodded. "What was the 'secret' that you knew?"
"Oh, come on Princess," Rae admonished. "You don't have to play that with me."
Sheik stopped, dropping the sheet back over Rae's legs. "Ex-cuse me?"
Rae sighed. "Princess, princess, princess. I know that Sheik is just a disguise that you're using to hide from Ganon. You don't have to keep that up with me, okay? I know."
"Disguise?" Sheik sputtered, abruptly standing and backing into the next bed. His face was red, and he was stuttering. "You think I'm just a façade?"
Rae suddenly felt really self-conscious. "Ah – well…"
Sheik gripped the bed knob tightly. "Whatever gave you that idea?!"
Rae stared at the stricken person critically. Now, either Zelda was putting on a convincing act, or she had just made a huge mistake. "Um…Zel-Shei-er…maybe you'd better sit down…"
Sheik – or Zelda – collapsed onto the other bed, head in hands. "By the Eye…she thinks I'm a girl…" Came a muffled mantra.
"You're not Zelda…are you?" Rae asked carefully.
"Of course not." He peered at her from between his fingers. "How did you come to that in the first place?"
Rae rubbed the back of her neck. Now she felt really bad. Obviously she had almost given Sheik – a real person and not an idea – a heart attack. She couldn't feed him her 'messenger of Nintendo' reel. "Ah, well…" Rae mumbled her story – her real one.
~*~*~*~
Navi hovered around the bars of the door, her voice ringing in Link's ears. "We need to find someway to lift the bars."
"I'm the only one who can open it." A voice said smugly. "Defeat me and I'll let you pass." Link spun to see a tall gangly creature crouched in front of the weeping willow tree in the centre of the room.
"Careful, Link!" Navi twined. "It's a doppelganger! It can mimic you as if it were you, when it knows your name!"
"And now, because of you, my little faerie, " the doppelganger hissed, "I do know his name!" Before Link's eyes, it bent and twisted, morphing into a mirror image of Link.
"Eep!" Navi swirled into the real Link's pocket. "Attack him as if he were you!"
Link and the doppelganger circled each other carefully, identical master sword drawn and at the ready. Link struck forward first, but the creature was already jumping to the side like he knew it was coming. He thrust forward, then twirled for a crescent moon slice, but the dark link only danced away, smiling. This continued on for a while, as Link attacked and dark Link parried or stepped out of the way. Catching his breath, the real Link backed off slightly, shifting his grip on his sword slightly. It was in this instant that the doppelganger leapt forward, his sword hitting Link's with immense precision. The master sword was knocked from Link's hand and he swore as his arm was flung backwards by the hit. The copycat was on him in a second, suddenly clawed fingers reaching for the hero's throat.
His other self grinned evilly at him, lips grotesquely pulling back from his teeth. Hands tightly restricting around Link's neck, he pinned him under the water. Without the hood of the tunic up, Link was liable to drown. Link groped blindly in the water, first at the doppelganger's hands, then at his fingers. Losing the energy to fight on, Link let his arms drop limply to his sides. His right hand landed on his quiver, the arrows inside jostling against questing fingers. Link grasped one loosely, using one swift movement to bring it out of the water and into the doppelganger's neck. Link twisted his wrist, weakly seeing the look of horror on his other self's face. The hands at his neck slid loose, and Link bolted out of the water, sputtering and scrambling backwards.
The doppelganger clutched his neck, thick black blood dripping between his fingers. The image that he projected wavered and fell and the creature died. It collapsed to the ground, curling up in a dark ball that sank under the surface of the water.
"Are you okay?" Navi said worriedly.
Link nodded, rising unsteadily to his feet. With the doppelganger dead, the bars on the door retreated. The room flickered and the scenery changed. The tree and two stone slabs vanished and the seemingly endless lake faded away to reveal walls. Link went through the door. In this room, there was a small altar at the far wall. It was swathed in a misty light. Upon further inspection, it was a larger version of the hookshot.
"Navi?"
"It's the legendary longshot." The faerie supplied. "It has twice the range of Dampe's hookshot."
Link cautiously picked up the weapon, and the glowing light started to die. In it's place, Link left the hookshot. It didn't seem to be right to just take it. Link left the room, doubling back the way he came. Trudging through the water, he noticed that the doppelganger's body had disappeared. This only made the hero move faster.
~*~*~*~
Rae munched on a cheese sandwich, silently waiting for the Sheikah across from her to speak first. He hadn't said a word since she finished her story, and she didn't really know what he truly thought of it.
"A different world…" He murmured thoughtfully. "That explains a few things…"
"So you believe me?" Rae said meekly.
"Yes." He said. "I can see how you were…confused, but that isn't anywhere near the truth of it." He paused; inspecting the contents in-between the two slices of bread he was holding. Picking it apart, he pulled out all the pieces of chicken. "I don't eat meat." He explained, seeing her inquiring glance.
"Oh." Wow…he's a vegetarian…cool. Picking up her cup, Rae saw a crumpled piece of paper on the night table. Rae passed Sheik the note that Link had left her, feeling stupid as she did so. "I can't read your language. Can you tell me what it says?"
"Sure." Sheik said, smoothing the paper out.
"Raye,
I know that you are going to be super-mad at me, but you need the time to heal. I'll head to the Water Temple, but when I talked to Saria, she said that I needed the iron boots to get in. I'll make a stop at Zora's Domain first. You can't follow me without the boots, so don't even try. I'll see you in a little while, so please try to rest.
From, Link
PS. If you look in the night table drawer, you will find a green and tan ocarina. A good friend of mine gave this to me a long time ago. I now give it to you, because there may be a time when you will need it."
Rae pulled the drawer open and sighed. "He's trying to make me less mad."
"I don't blame him. The curse on Zora's Domain is almost permanent; he had to go now." Sheik said, handing her back the note. "He is right, you know. He's only taking your well-being into account."
"I know." Rae grumbled, turning the instrument over in her hands. "But who's going to take in his?"
~*~*~*~
TBC
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Next chapter will see the end of the Water Temple. Oh well…it's quality…right?
*Hears nothing*
????
Oh…I forgot…ya hafta review first…
*coughhintcough*
Oh, and yes, I do know that Rae was spelled differently in Link's letter. I meant it that way…he doesn't know how to spell it. (He didn't go to school…did he?)
OracleVortex
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