Repaying a Debt
Disclaimer: Eloise is mine. Alexis is mine, the others - I'm only borrowing.
Since I have been a very bad and mean author, I am here to write the Water Temple for you all, and hopefully I will actually get this done by the end of today and be able to put it up. Here's hoping anyway.
Right, in the last chapter, they basically did sod all. They got a couple more horses and are on their way to the Water Temple. I admit, it was only a link chapter so that I could get to one of the bits that I've been raring to write for ages. I have it all planned out and everything! Wanna know what bit? You'll have to wait and see [taps nose]
Also, I used some artistic license [again] and changed the mini Ice temple thing around a bit. It just wouldn't have worked very well if I'd left it the same. It's an a/u, so nya anyway! I will also being doing a little tweaking in the Water Temple, say for with the iron boots - because it would be dull if I had to keep saying they take them off and put them on again. So, a few changes, but nothing major.
[] = Alexis' thoughts
{} = Navi's thoughts
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I landed at the same time as Link, and pulled myself back to the surface with a little difficulty what with the weight of the iron boots. "Sheik?" I called, slowly rotating in the water, which had already soaked me all the way through.
"Over here," I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye, and managed to spin around to see Sheik sitting on a small shingle swathe at the bottom of the outcrop. "Swim over here, and you can change into the tunics and boots. We've got to go down to the bed of the lake - what's left of it anyway." He looked out over the almost empty lake pensively, before shaking his head and standing up to help Link get out of water.
I'm not a fast swimmer, so it took me a little while longer to reach the shingle, where he also helped me get out. A sudden thought hit me, "Hey, where's Navi?" Link turned to either side, took off his hat and looked in it, then scratched him mussed up hair. [Navi? Where are you?]
{Oh Goddesses, you're still alive!} She sniffled. {I'm still up here, where are you?}
[At the base - fly down silly!] I looked up, as did Link, and could discern the glowing orb coming towards us. It broke off, and instead of going towards Link, made for Sheik, who looked more than a little worried as her colour darkened to a ruby red.
"Never ever do that again you evil Sheikah, I thought you were dead!" she shrieked, grabbing one pointed ear, and actually lifting him off the ground by it before dropping him heavily. "Got that?" she growled, and I could hear her take deep, steadying breaths. Sheik rubbed his ear with a pained expression and nodded,
"Yeah, I got that." He stood up, still rubbing his ear, and then looked pointedly at Link and me. "Well, aren't you going to get changed?" It was only then that I noticed that he was already wearing the blue Zora tunic, and a few swathes of bandages were poking out of the top of his pack. Link hurriedly shed his own pack, and took out the tunic. He was already unlacing his Goron one when I coughed meaningfully.
"Oh! Sorry," he and Sheik said as one, before turning their backs, so that they were facing towards the water. I turned to face the stone of the outcrop, and reached down to take off the red trousers of my Goron made set. Then, I pulled on the blue ones - now came the tricky part - I had to take off the Goron tunic without taking off the Zoran one, which was over the top. After a few tense seconds of struggling with the laces, I managed to succeed, and stuffed the dripping tunic into my pack.
Running a hand over the front of the Zoran tunic to straighten it out, I was surprised to find that the material felt dry. So that was another of the properties of it then. "Hey - are you done yet Link?"
"Yep - you?"
"Yeah," we both turned around. "Hey, blue suits you," I said, and I wasn't kidding. It complemented his corn coloured hair and matched the colour of his eyes.
"Hey, thanks - you too," he grinned.
[Why do heroes always have to be so annoyingly good at everything?] I wondered.
{I don't know, but don't complement him anymore; it might go to his head!} Navi warned jokingly.
"Right, now we've just got to put these boots on and walk into the water - we'll just be able to carry on walking as though we're on normal ground," Sheik told us. "I hope these things work," I heard him mutter as he laced up his boots. As I laced my own, I wondered how it was that the boots were the right size...
{Must just be luck.} Navi thought. {What are they like to walk in?}
I took a step. [Heavy.] She laughed. "Right, so we just walk in?" I asked, reaching down and yanking the laces on the boots tighter. Sheik nodded, tying off a double bow on his own pair. I clunked my way across the shingle, and with a soft splash, walked into the water. I paused for a moment, the water lapping around my ankles, and waited for the other two to catch up with me.
I don't know what made me do it, but I reached out and took each of their hands in mine. And, we walked into the water hand in hand. Just before my nose and mouth were covered, I took a deep breath, and was submerged. I held it until I couldn't hold it anymore, and let it out in a cloud of bubbles. Sheik looked at me with a raised eyebrow, his face swimming slightly in the disturbed water. I just shrugged, and tentatively took a breath - and the water didn't cascade into my lungs in a deadly tide as I had suspected. I just breathed normally.
The water made it impossible to talk however, so we had to use hand signals to communicate. Also, hefting a sword would be pointless and difficult. I could lift my daggers, and Link would easily wield his hook shot - Sheik didn't have anything. Since we were all still holding hands, I squeezed his, and then nodded to the daggers at my waist. He made a face which asked 'you sure?' and I nodded. Slipping my hand from his, I took one out and passed it to him. He smiled, and I wondered why he didn't have his facemask off more often - he had a nice face...
{Eww! You are so into him girl!} Navi's voice cut through the silence of the water.
[No I'm not!] I protested, but she was having none of that.
{Rubbish!}
I quickly changed the subject, which I knew she noticed, but didn't comment on. [I know this is the second time in so many minutes, but where are you?]
{Under Link's hat, where else? It's waterproof, so I'm ok under here until we resurface. I just hope he doesn't take his hat off.}
[Why? Can't you breathe underwater?]
{Oh, I can, I just don't want my hair to get messed up!} I grinned slightly at that, and then felt a tug from Sheik to stop. I tugged on Link's arm, and he came to a stop as well. Sheik raised the hand that I had been holding and pointed to a blue jewel like object far above. Then, he walked at our new slow water pace past me to Link, and pointed to the hook shot in his free hand, then at the blue object. Link nodded, and I let go of his hand so that he could fire the mechanism on it.
With a soft sheen of tiny air bubbles, the hook flew through the water and hit the blue object. There was a low click, and it changed to a turquoise colour - a piece of wall before us revealed itself as actually being a gate, and rose upwards. Sheik nodded, and pointed to it, though it was more than a little obvious that that was where we were going to go. To my surprise, both Link and Sheik took up my hands again, and we walked like that to the newly opened entrance.
There was a short incline upwards, and diffracted beams of light from the sunshine outside covered the walls. The upward rise came to a dead end, and looking upwards, we could see a square of light above. Feeling the walls, I found them to be rough, and managed to get myself a grip and hoist myself upwards. The boots made it a little difficult, but eventually I reached the surface and was able to collapse onto the dry ground. Quickly, I turned around to help the other two to climb out.
*
Looking around, I could only see one level and wondered how a Temple could be this small. {Take a look down} Navi advised, and I saw her reflection in the water behind my head. Her light also reflected off of some droplets of water on my glasses and dazzled me for a minute. {Sorry,} she apologised, landing on my shoulder and the glow stopped. When I could see properly again, I saw what she meant. Link and Sheik were also peering down into the water.
At least two more levels could be seen, and a sandy floor was far below us. "Wow," Link breathed. "It's amazing!"
"And so quiet - which can't be a good sign," Sheik said, looking around eye narrowed. It was at that point that about ten blue tektites decided to jump out at us from various hiding places. Luckily, we weren't underwater anymore, so I could use my sword. Which I did and quite happily as well. At one point, my hair really began to bug me, as it decided to cling to my glasses, and almost got my hand bitten off when one of the tektites got too close. Luckily, I managed to swipe it out of the way with a guessing swing.
When the tektites had been disposed of, Sheik tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to see him holding out a thin strip of bandaging. "Here, use that to keep your hair out of the way," he said, and I nodded, taking it from him.
"Thanks," I tied my hair up hurriedly, raking it away from my face. "Ah, that's better, I can see properly!" he laughed, and ran a hand through his own hair.
"Yeah, I find it hard to see with all this sometimes as well," he admitted, and we both laughed again. He also tied his hair back, the silvery mass ending in a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck. "There - I can see as well," he grinned, and a few strands fell back into place defiantly. He pulled a face and put them stubbornly behind his pointed ear.
"Where exactly do we go?" Link asked, looking up from where he had been peering into the water.
"Umm..." Sheik just shrugged. "I guess we could just start at the bottom and work upwards?" He held out his hands for suggestions - we didn't have any. "OK, we start at the bottom then," he sat down, put his legs into the water and dropped down into it. Turning around, he managed to grab onto the ledge before he sank. "Hey, Blaise, can I have another of those daggers?"
"Oh - sure," I reached down and gave him a second one from the other side of the belt. Now we both had two, and I had them nice and symmetrical, one on each side.
"Thanks. Now, come on, let's have a look around down there and see what monsters we have to deal with." He let go, and I could see him sinking slowly down. Link and I followed quickly, and landed on the sand a few seconds after Sheik, who was looking wide eyed at a well-lit passageway, which had a torch sconce on either side of the frame. I followed his gaze, and thought I saw the flash of scales, but then blinked, and there was nothing.
Sheik looked at us both, and then pointed toward the door, raised one of the daggers I had leant him, and then pointed back at the door. 'Be careful'.
{Yeah, because we're just going to waltz in and let something kill us without putting up a fight} Navi thought sarcastically.
[Hehehe, aww, well, it's better to be ready than dead, right?] I reasoned.
{I suppose. But, really, you've already conquered two Temples and he thinks he needs to tell you to be careful?} She sniggered slightly.
[Shush you! You should be keeping a look out as well!] There was a small grumble, and then I saw a slight movement on Link's head. Navi stuck her head out and made a face as her hair was plastered to her head.
{Fine! My hair's ruined now I'll have you know!} she said sulkily, before grinning, and turning her head from side to side to keep a lookout as I had asked her to.
The passageway was empty when we reached it, but we didn't drop our guard. Sheik was right - being alert could mean the difference between life and death here. A flicker of light could just be a reflection or refraction, but it could also be some creature swimming up behind you. As we made our way through the passage, the light became dimmer. After a couple of sharp turns, the passage ended in a well-sized room, in which there were three torches.
And in front of the central torch was a silver/blue scaled creature, with aqua fins, speckled all over with purple and green. It's eyes were a deep obsidian, shining with intelligence, and surprise at seeing us appear before it. I say it - by the shape, it was in fact a she - and by the crown, she was none other than Princess Ruto of the Zoras. She raised one of her fins delicately in greeting, sweeping it through the water. Then, with a small nod, she began to swim upwards.
After a few strokes of her fins, she stopped, and looked down at us. The message was obvious; 'follow me'. She then indicated a long ladder to the left, before pulling herself upwards once more through the water. With as much speed as we could muster in our heavy boots, we moved over to the ladder and climbed up after her. I found it took all my concentration to keep my grip - the rungs were in some places overgrown by algae, which made them slippery.
The Zoran princess stood waiting for us before the end of the ladder, her face in an expression that was crossed between anxiety, surprise and relief. It was a strange mixture. Link was the last in the procession, and as soon as he had pulled himself out of the water, she seemed to loose all her self control, and collapsed to the floor next to him, throwing her scaled arms around his neck. "Oh my dear beloved Link. You've come back at last to fulfil our betrothal! I knew you would; I always knew our love was meant to be."
[Wha...?] I thought, also looking quizzically at Sheik, who shrugged.
{It's complicated,} Navi answered, and I didn't press her about it. Link looked very embarrassed, and managed to pull himself out of the embrace and stand up properly.
"Hello Ruto," he said unsurely, and crossed his arms over his chest in order to prevent her from hugging him again. He turned his head slightly to look at us meaningfully. Sheik, Navi and I backed off into a corner of the room, and turned away from the two.
{He's going to have great fun getting out of that one.}
"What's all that about?" Sheik managed to cut in before I could ask Navi telepathically.
"It's complicated," she said again. "But, it looks like those two might be some time, so I'll have time to tell you. Years ago, when Link was collecting the spiritual stones for Princess Zelda, he met Ruto in the lord Jabu-Jabu's belly. She had been swallowed by him whilst feeding him, because Ganondorf put him under a curse. So, he escorted her safely out of lord Jabu-Jabu, defeated all the beasts and was generally heroic. Naturally, she found all the hero stuff very appealing, and seemed to fall madly in love with our dear Link." Navi was grinning a little now.
She landed on the floor, and sat down before carrying on the tale. "Well, when they got out, Link asked for the Zora sapphire, as it was what he had come for in the first place. Apparently, it belonged to Princess Ruto's mother, and she was meant to give it to her betrothed. Link didn't really understand the concept of marriage, so accepted the sapphire and left."
"Ah - hence the incredibly affectionate welcome," Sheik said, glancing over his shoulder at the two. Ruto's face had fallen a little, but she was listening intently, and speaking rapidly back to Link. After a few more minutes, they hugged uncomfortably, and Ruto dived back into the water. Link walked over to us.
"So, how'd it go?" Navi asked gently.
"I think it went alright," Link answered, nodding. "She understands now why I took the sapphire - she just wants me to save her people now. And she also gave me a little tip-off," he pointed to a Tri-Force symbol on the wall. "If I play the royal melody before one of these, the water level will change, so we can access new places."
"Play away then," I nudged him forwards, and he took out the ocarina and did just that. There was a sound as though someone had pulled a plug from a drain. Looking down through the hole we had entered the room by, I could see the water lowering. The middle torch far below lit up and sputtered with a bright orange flame. Again, it was obvious that we had to follow the path of the water - that was until Link noticed a door half covered with cobwebs at the far end of the room.
Pushing them out of the way, he found the handle and pushed the door open easily. Some spiny sea urchins (Is that what they are; I'm not sure?) flicked out their formidable spikes and moved towards us. With a few sword swipes, we managed to defeat all of them, and for our troubles, we got a map of the Temple. Sheik again took it upon himself to look after the map.
We exited the room, and then climbed back down the long ladder into the room where we had met Ruto. The torch was still burning away merrily, and Navi flew over to it, going forest green. "You need to light those other two torches to open the barred door," she told us. "Sheik, Link, use your bows and arrows to shoot through the flame on this torch to light the other two." This they did, and the bars over the door slid open.
Inside were some tricky creatures to beat - as soon as you tried to slash the clam with your sword, it would slam its shell shut. Eventually, we had to use sneak tactics and have Navi distract them whilst we picked them off one by one. For all that hard work, we only got a small key, but it was something to be going on with at least.
*
After first raising the water to it's mid point, and then the highest level again, we had reached another of those rooms where the bars come down over the door to keep you locked in. However, this room was much, much different. It was incredibly odd to say the least. It seemed as though we were all standing outside, as swirls of mist curled around our feet (now clad in normal boots again), and a soft wind blew. Though, of course, that was impossible - we were inside. The illusion was cleverly constructed however, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
With a tense smile, Link decided to take the lead, splashing his way across the mist covered ground, stirring it with his feet. In the centre of the area was the black skeleton of an oak - much like that of the Great Deku tree, only much, much smaller. Then, at the far end was a simple wall, in the centre of which was a door - of course, it was locked as well. [What by demons is our task here?] I thought, looking around at the eerily empty space.
{I don't know,} Navi admitted, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. {I can't see nor sense any enemies, and there is no puzzle to solve. What are we to do?}
"I don't like this," Sheik muttered, breaking the tense silence.
"Me neither," Link agreed, re-gripping the hilt of the Master Sword nervously. I just nodded, and decided to turn around and make my way back to the first door to see if there was something we had missed. The other's turned with me. However, the sound of splashing footsteps began before we had even taken our first step. An ominous sound of metal on leather stung our ears; far in the misty distances of the clearing, I could see three shadowy creatures.
"What are they do you think?" I asked, even as I readied my own sword in my hands, and pushed a couple of unruly strands away from my face.
"I don't know - just keep your weapon up in case," Sheik advised.
"Just keep your weapon up in case?" the phrase was echoed back in a cruel parody of Sheik's voice. "Yeah, way to dish out the advice Sheikah boy." The voice came from the middle figure of the three, all of whom had paused by the oak. "In case, my brother?" The middle figure raised two scimitars, which mirrored Sheik's own. "There is no in case about it." Again, that ominous sound of metal on leather as the left of the figures took out a sword much like Link's. I moved my eyes to the third, smallest figure. Who held a sword like mine own.
As we began to advance towards them, they mirrored and did the same. [Oh Goddesses!] I thought desperately as they came into full view - a gust of wind pushed the last tendrils of mist away. They were nothing more than shadow copies of us; eyes glowed ember red in their otherwise dark grey forms. A fourth figure, a replica of Navi appeared from the shadow Link's hat and made for the real Navi.
"Aiyee!" her voice cut through the air as they tussled. "Looks like you're on your own!"
"Just the way it should be," my own counterpart agreed. I shuddered on hearing the rasping shadow's equivalent of my voice. "Let's battle," it breathed, and all hell broke loose.
Fighting oneself in hard enough when all you must do is fight against your inner self over feelings or instincts. But, when you're fighting yourself in the flesh...
You know what the other will do; you know all the moves and tricks that you keep up your sleeve.
You know when the other will strike you, when to block, when to try and strike back.
You can tell when the other is beginning to slacken because you are as well - you know when they begin to get exhausted - you know when they're ready to give up.
And you also know the very deep secrets of the other - things that you never want to see the light of day.
I could hear the soft mumble of the other's shadows taunting them, but my one's taunts rang harsh in my head. "So, I wonder what David would say?" She put on the very impression of his voice I had done at a party one time when I was young and he was still around. " 'You're a noble warrior little one, you're sure to be great one day!' "
I screamed angrily. "SHUT UP! Don't you dare-"
"Dare what? Dare to speak the truth?" my shadow was enjoying itself - I could hear the glee in it's voice. I could also see that it wasn't paying so much attention now - I had managed to back it against the trunk of the tree - and few more steps and it would be trapped. "Dare to tell your friends that you're nothing other than a murdering trai-"
"ARGH!" I yelled, cutting her off and launching myself at her. I managed to draw the first blood of the battle - it fell to the floor and pooled in dark blue rivulets. The shadow hissed, and jumped to the side, managing to score back at me with a slash across my back - right over my shoulder blades. I don't think I'd ever screamed so loud before in my life. Whirling around, I raised my shield against a flurry of new blows.
I could see that Navi had dealt with her own shadow quite quickly, and had helped Link to dispose of his. Sheik was still fighting, but with the help of Navi to dazzle his shadow, was doing well enough. That wouldn't work with my one - she was wearing the same glasses as I was. Link was striding over, but a wall of fire formed around us to prevent him from coming any further. "Blaise!" he yelled, and I managed to glimpse his worried face through the flames.
"Ah, there's no one to save you now, is there, fallen one?" my shadow taunted. In a flash, she was changing, transforming. I was conscious of Sheik felling his shadow - scrambling backwards, I watched in horror as the creature before me changed into the very person I dreaded above all. Diabola - laughing cruelly again.
"What's going on?" I could sense more than heard the terrified gasps of the others. A surge of anger washed over me, and I stood up, ignoring the fact that my back felt as though it was on fire like the wall around the battle arena.
"You won't get me again with this you bitch," I yelled. "You forced me to do many things - let me throw off one," I recklessly pulled my glasses off and threw them to the ground, where I heard the glass tinkle.
"So now we're ready to fight properly then are we?" the Diabola faced creature asked silkily.
"Give it to me," I said, gritting my teeth, and bracing myself for pain. It didn't come. "Come on, fight me bitch!" That goaded her into action - she brandished a double-ended spear now, and swung it over her head. Pah - no defence now - perhaps this creature wasn't as smart as I had thought. I rammed my sword home in her chest, and she collapsed in a pool of blue blood before disintegrating.
The firewall disappeared; the fire in my back returned with full force, and I fell over, sinking beneath the mist sea on the floor. "Ow," I moaned, dropping my sword and shield to the floor with a clatter before blackness overtook my senses.
*
{Blaise - Blaise, get up!}
"Blaise? Are you OK?"
"Sheik, have you got any of that mead on you?"
The sounds were beginning to make sense to me again. [Navi? What happened?]
{You fainted.}
[Oh.] I pushed myself up from the floor, feeling my back screaming out in silent pain. A hand was reached out to steady me, and I blinked open my eyes. There was a shocked gasp, and then I remembered my destruction of the glasses. Oops. I opened them again.
"Your eyes," Link breathed, his own wide. I looked down at the floor, ashamed of my foolishness over the battle. It was leading to difficulty.
"Aye," I answered, blinking and looking back up. "That's why I wear - wore," I corrected myself, "the glasses. They cause too many questions otherwise." Sheik was wearing the old look of mistrust, and I cursed myself. However, he didn't voice it, and it left his face quite quickly.
"It's understandable," he said. "They are rather - odd - to say the least." He smiled a little. "I suppose it makes a good mix though - blue, red and now violet."
"When you put it like that," I snorted slightly, "It sounds kind of normal." He just patted me on the back and laughed.
"Let's go - we should get something pretty damned good for fighting that lot." We made our way to the door opposite the entrance. I noticed the area become a large stone room as we walked, the mist disappearing, and the tree turning into a large stone pillar.
The door swung open, and a huge chest stood in the centre of the small room. Link kicked it open, and within it was a contraption much like the hook shot. However, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the upgraded version (known as a long shot) that could reach twice as far. "Handy," Link grinned, putting it onto his belt - he removed the hook shot and gave it to Sheik. Sheik then gave my daggers back to me, and we all had our own weapons to use underwater.
"Can we eat?" Navi whined, and after a quick scout around the large room which we had previously battled the shadows in, we sat down to eat the food Eloise had given us. Even after being through the water and thus getting a little soggy, it was still delicious. Navi flew around after eating, and returned with what was left of my glasses - one lens was perfectly fine, but the other was partially missing. I pocketed them and wondered whether I would be able to persuade Loki to get me another pair.
*
The Temple seemed to have an affinity for leaving us wondering what was going to happen next. We were in the room of the Temple Guardian, yet we hadn't yet seen a sign of it, whatever it was. All we could see was a pool of water in the centre of the room, and some vicious looking spikes around the edge of the room. The ceiling had a few small slits high above through which stars could be seen winking down.
We made a quick walk through of the whole room, but still couldn't find the whereabouts of the creature we were supposed to fight and kill. Navi was looking at the water suspiciously, and announced, "This water looks strange - come and look." We did just that - Navi was usually right about these things. And she was right now. The water wasn't clear - it was more translucent and had a blue tint. I caught sight of a small red ball in the depths, and jumped back in shock when it suddenly erupted from the strange water and flew straight at me.
"Navi, how do we kill it?" Link asked as he dodged a tentacle, and then skidded to a stop to prevent himself being impaled on some spikes. "And a quick answer would be good!" He slashed at the tentacle as it swept at him - the red ball dropped onto the floor and began bouncing around.
"That's looks kind of like one of those flare dancer heads," I said, and then what we had to do clicked. We chased after the red ball and slashed it. It managed to get back into the strange water, and a huge mass of tentacles extended to try and ensnare us. Ducking, diving and slashing our way, we managed to get to the tentacle that held the red ball again, and got it out. The tentacles all disappeared and we went after it again.
It was quite an easy guardian, especially in comparison to what we had had to fight just to gain the long shot. Perhaps the Goddesses were smiling down on their hero. Well, as per usual, we were taken away via portal, and Link went off to the Chamber of Sages whilst Sheik and I were left to wait for him.
We landed on the Tri-Force symbol on the outcrop where we had arrived. Looking out over the lake, I could see over at the far side a large cascade of water falling into it, and the water level was rising fast. I tugged on Sheik's arm, and he turned to look as well. "Wow," he sat down and crossed his legs, looking at the re-filling lake with awe. "It's amazing."
"Did you ever see it before it was drained?" I asked, awestruck as well. He shook his head, and we both just looked in silence as the water was returned to how it was supposed to be. The stars were reflected in the great expanse of water, looking twice as beautiful reflected as they did in the sky itself.
As dawn began to make itself present in the sky, and paint the water with soft purples and pinks, Link appeared on the Tri-Force symbol, and shook his head. Then, he noticed the lake, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. "That was quicker than I expected it to get back to normal," he said in amazement, spinning around to take in the full picture. "And dawn's almost here!" Even as he said it, the sun began to rise.
He hurriedly pulled out his bow and strung an arrow. He raised the bow to point directly at the rising sun, and shot it. "What did you do that for?" I asked. "You just wasted an arrow!"
"And by doing so, I've gained a powerful weapon of magic," Link said mysteriously. He then dove into the waters of the replenished lake, and swam over to a small island some distance away.
"What is he up to do you suppose?" Sheik asked, looking at the hero as though he had gone slightly crazy.
"I have no idea - but he's just picked something up - and now he's coming back."
Link pulled himself out of the water, panting slightly, and looking very pleased with himself. He reached into that never-ending pack of his, and took out a small phial. It seemed to contain the very rays of the sun itself. He unscrewed the top and then took another arrow from his quiver. He held it to the open top of the phial, and as we watched, it was coated in the shining substance. Suddenly, it clicked in my mind, and by the look on Sheik's face, it clicked in his as well.
"The Legendary fire arrows," Link said proudly, and let the arrow fly into the water, where it died in a hiss of steam. "Ruto told me where I would find them. They'll help a lot."
"No kidding," Navi said, popping out from under his hat. "No more need to flint to make fires anymore." Link nodded, and then she rapped him on the forehead. "The fire thing was a hint stupid! I'm frozen!" Link laughed, and then we set about gathering some twigs and sticks to build up a small fire. Link set one of the twigs to the phial, and then put it amongst the others. Soon, we had a roaring fire going, and sat around it to warm ourselves.
The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and soon we had no need for the fire anymore. So, we kicked some water over it to put it out. Then, we walked along the bridges from the outcrop to the shore. Link branched off and made for the water again. "Where are you going?" Sheik called after him.
"There's a portal to Zora's domain over here - we can get there quickly and check on them. And, the horses are outside Zora's domain or thereabouts, so we can find them there. Then back to Kakariko - I'm sure Eloise will be thrilled to see us again!"
[Good plan.]
{I know - and he thought of it all by himself!}
~*~*~*~
We came to the surface in Zora's domain to find it perfectly restored. The great falls were roaring away, and as I looked, someone flew off it and began diving for rupees. The Zora up there had restarted his diving game early enough. We climbed out, and I asked, "Shall we go and see the king again?"
Link thought about it, and then shook his head. "He might be angry to find out I'm not marrying his daughter," he said sheepishly, and I nodded my understanding. "Let's just get going." We made our way out of the Zoran city and back to the river.
The sun was shining strongly high above, which assured us more than anything that we had saved this place from under the rule of Ganondorf. There were still a few patches of snow dotted around in the shade, but apart from that, you'd never know there had been snow here in summer.
It was beginning to get hotter, and I hoped that I wouldn't get sunburnt - with skin as pale as mine, that was very painful. I opened the laces on the front of my tunic, and walked along with it open, showing the small black shirt I wore underneath. It was pleasant to feel a small breeze when we stepped out into the main field. And in the distance, we could see the horses grazing on the grass, still waiting for us.
"Malon has those things well trained," Navi observed.
"Of course - she's a genius with horses," Link said dreamily, and then seemed to come to and blushed slightly. "I mean - growing up on the Ranch and all, what would you expect?" he tried to cover. It was too late, and I grinned as he blushed again.
[Eurgh - you mean we have to ride again?] I moaned, remembering the stint in the saddle a few days before.
{Yup - can I ride with you, I just know Link will pull some more stunts} she sounded queasy at the very thought.
[Of course.] I hopped up onto Nostawen's broad grey back and settled myself into the saddle. Navi jumped up in a similar manner onto my shoulder. "Where to?" I called to Link.
"Kakariko - I think we deserve some rest, and we can take a better look at your back there." I made a face about that. I didn't really want anyone to look at my back - there might be awkward questions about my scars there. However, it wasn't for a while, and maybe I'd be able to concoct an excuse to get out of it on the way there.
*
We left the horses in some stables at the edge of Kakariko, before beginning to make our way to Eloise' house. However, as we travelled, we noticed the soft sounds of sobbing coming from the main field, and the acrid scent of smoke reached my nose. "There's something not right going on," Link observed.
[Like that wasn't obvious.] I hurried forwards worriedly, and entered into the main field. The sight was terrible to behold. There was a great shapeless shadow running through the houses, ripping off roofs and ripping trees up from the ground. It was like a tornado, but with purpose, meandering through and destroying everything within it's dark reach. It was moving towards a group of cowering people, who looked up and began to run away.
After a curt look back at the other two, we ran towards the shadow. Link was stringing some of the fire arrows he had been preparing as we had trotted through the field. Sheik had withdrawn a hand full of Deku-Nuts. I, having neither magical powers nor magical weaponry, just pulled out my sword and hoped for a miracle. The blade was glowing dully, which surprised me - it had not done that since Vyxennia, when I had been surrounded by demons.
Demons - so that was what the shadow must be. Oh great. I hated demons - they were incredibly difficult to kill. Like vampires for instance - metal didn't kill them, it had to be wood. For werewolves, it had to be silver - demons were so annoyingly particular in the way that they were killed.
However, these thoughts were mere flashes as we ran forwards - I didn't notice how my legs felt as though they were jelly as I normally did. My back was just a small niggling; I was focused on that shadow, and the people who were running away from it. We ran straight through them, and the stood our ground as the shadow got closer. It was colourless, a complete black, blotting out the last rays of light from the sun.
{What is it?} Navi looked up at it fearfully. She flew forwards to try and inspect it, but the shadow just swept her out of the way. I could see her tumbling through the air for a few seconds, before the shadow moved in the way of our vision. Link let fly one of his arrows. It was perfectly on target. But, instead of hitting the shadow, it passed straight through it.
"Ah," I heard him breathe, and then Sheik threw one of his Deku nuts towards it. It flashed brightly with a sharp crack, and the shadow seemed to recoil slightly, before coming back in full force. We had to retreat slightly - Sheik threw another Deku nut, and another. He carried on, but I knew we couldn't last forever. He wouldn't have enough Deku nuts to keep the shadow at bay for long.
"Damn!" I heard Sheik curse, and looked over to see him searching through his small bag for some more ammunition. He was out, and the shadow was beginning to regain itself. I didn't have anything magical, apart from the blade of my sword which was glowing more strongly now. "Your sword Blaise," Sheik was suddenly standing next to me, the glow of the blade reflected in his eyes.
I just nodded, and took it in both hands. I smiled as the familiar adrenaline rush filled me. The sword changed and reformed into a double edge broadsword, which was about half a foot longer than usual. Ah, thanks to my trainer who had advised for a Mithril sword. The blade was glowing more strongly, and I knew that Link and Sheik were probably wondering what on earth was going on. I didn't have much time to ponder it myself, as I bonded with the sword.
The shadow seemed surprised. Without a face however, it was hard to tell what was going on with the thing. I raised my sword, and sliced through the dark mass - as soon as my blade touched it, there was a high-pitched keening, and stars burst before my eyes. I could see the shadow withdraw, and move towards the village well. Then, I could see darkness reminiscent to that of the creature that had just withdrawn.
~ "You idiot. You thought that Diabola would only want to speak to him? Do you pay no attention girl; did you not know the rifts going on?" Loki was angry with me again. Which wasn't a surprise. I always managed to incur his wroth quite well. I had returned from training early, and he had found me sitting in David's favourite spot. He was of course, inadvertently angry with me.
I just nodded mutely, and then his voice softened. "Look, I know how persuasive Diabola can be. But, why did you not tell one of us she had come to you? You know better than anyone that people cannot be bought back after they have crossed the last gate." I nodded again, and he sighed and left the room. I looked at the Mithril sword in my hands, and then at the pictures on my wall. One of mother and father, and another of my brother grinning mischievously.
I shook my head to clear it of tears and memories, and then looked at the parchment Loki had left me. 'Vyxennia' I mouthed, and began to read the background information about it. He was giving the demon world to a thirteen year old? ~
I was broken out of the trance by Link's hand shaking my shoulder. I found myself on the ground, and had to blink several times to remember how I had gotten there. Then, I was on my feet again and looking around for my sword. I found it lying a few feet away, the blade lightless and back to normal.
"That was awesome," Sheik said, looking at my sword. "I never knew they made swords like that across the sea." I was glad he had said that, it helped me to remember my cover story.
"It was specially made for me," I explained, putting it upon my back. "Wait - Navi! Did you find her?" They shook their heads, and we began to search for her frantically. "Navi? Navi, where are you?" I called.
"Navi? Are you OK? NAVI?"
"Here fairy, come to beat up Link, come on now," Sheik called hopefully.
I looked around, and then noticed a slight sputtering light within some long grass. Bending down, I could see the broken form of the stubborn little fairy, her face contorted in pain. I scooped her up from the floor, and waved the others over. "Navi?" I touched her shoulder gently with one finger. A small flicker of magic sparked across my hand, and Navi's eyes fluttered open.
"Where is it, let me at it!" she looked around sprightly, and lifted off from my hand.
"You're alright!" Link practically bounced and he span around happily.
"Of course I'm alright, I'm a fairy. We can live through anything!" she said. Then, she looked at me. "You however, I'm afraid to say, look terrible."
"Oh, thanks!" I said indignantly. She just dropped me a wink, and then whizzed quickly around me. I could feel the pain leaving my back, and then she stopped before me.
"Better?"
"Yes - thanks." I looked around at the destruction the shadow had caused. "However, this place is a bit stuffed. I don't think Eloise would really appreciate having to put us up." I pointed to what was left of her house. The front had been ripped clean off, and two of the bedrooms had collapsed onto the rooms below.
"Yeah - but where do we stay now?" Link looked perplexed.
"Think you can cope with sleeping in a tree?" I pointed to the great old tree in the centre of the field, which had survived the rampage.
"I suppose so," he sighed, and we swung ourselves up into the branches.
"Night," I called, settling myself on the branch I had slept on last time in the tree.
"Night."
"Night."
[Night.]
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
Tadum! I did it - all in one day! YES! And wasn't the Dark Link/Sheik/Blaise (Alexis)/Navi scene cool? Well, even if you guys didn't like it, I did, so yay. That was my little raring to write bit.
Obviously, they will be skipping off to the Shadow Temple soon. Going back in time is going to be interesting. I don't really know how to do that - because, that would be the age when she still had her wings...maybe I'll get Loki to do some intervention there. Hmm...if anyone has any idea on that, it would be appreciated - a lot.
Until next time, let's just sit here and look at them all sleeping in that pretty tree.
Navi: [Throws acorns] Sod off!
Soda: O.o
Sheik: [Shakes his fist] We mean it, bugger off, we've had a hard day!
Soda: [Points and giggles at Sheik's mussed up hair]
Blaise: [Jumps down and walks up to Soda, brandishing sword] Now, generally, I like you, but I need sleep - kapiche?
Soda: [Gulps, nods]
Blaise: [Sheathes sword] Very good
Link: [Sniggers] Soda's scared of Blaise, la la la la la la!
Soda: [Clicks fingers, and then disappears in her authorish way]
Blaise, Sheik + Navi: [Collapse into laughter]
Link: [Looks down] Hey, no way, the drag isn't for chapters yet!
[OK, and back to the real world where Soda is actually drinking some coffee and wishing she could burn her tutor at the stake for giving her so much work.]
I can't write anymore today - but, I promise that I will TRY not to leave it so long. Luckily, none of you know where I live, so you won't come and throttle me if I don't update for a while [phew]. Until I do write more, it's good-bye from my cruel, cruel little mind and me. [Snigger] Link and Sheik in drag [snigger, snigger].
Disclaimer: Eloise is mine. Alexis is mine, the others - I'm only borrowing.
Since I have been a very bad and mean author, I am here to write the Water Temple for you all, and hopefully I will actually get this done by the end of today and be able to put it up. Here's hoping anyway.
Right, in the last chapter, they basically did sod all. They got a couple more horses and are on their way to the Water Temple. I admit, it was only a link chapter so that I could get to one of the bits that I've been raring to write for ages. I have it all planned out and everything! Wanna know what bit? You'll have to wait and see [taps nose]
Also, I used some artistic license [again] and changed the mini Ice temple thing around a bit. It just wouldn't have worked very well if I'd left it the same. It's an a/u, so nya anyway! I will also being doing a little tweaking in the Water Temple, say for with the iron boots - because it would be dull if I had to keep saying they take them off and put them on again. So, a few changes, but nothing major.
[] = Alexis' thoughts
{} = Navi's thoughts
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
I landed at the same time as Link, and pulled myself back to the surface with a little difficulty what with the weight of the iron boots. "Sheik?" I called, slowly rotating in the water, which had already soaked me all the way through.
"Over here," I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye, and managed to spin around to see Sheik sitting on a small shingle swathe at the bottom of the outcrop. "Swim over here, and you can change into the tunics and boots. We've got to go down to the bed of the lake - what's left of it anyway." He looked out over the almost empty lake pensively, before shaking his head and standing up to help Link get out of water.
I'm not a fast swimmer, so it took me a little while longer to reach the shingle, where he also helped me get out. A sudden thought hit me, "Hey, where's Navi?" Link turned to either side, took off his hat and looked in it, then scratched him mussed up hair. [Navi? Where are you?]
{Oh Goddesses, you're still alive!} She sniffled. {I'm still up here, where are you?}
[At the base - fly down silly!] I looked up, as did Link, and could discern the glowing orb coming towards us. It broke off, and instead of going towards Link, made for Sheik, who looked more than a little worried as her colour darkened to a ruby red.
"Never ever do that again you evil Sheikah, I thought you were dead!" she shrieked, grabbing one pointed ear, and actually lifting him off the ground by it before dropping him heavily. "Got that?" she growled, and I could hear her take deep, steadying breaths. Sheik rubbed his ear with a pained expression and nodded,
"Yeah, I got that." He stood up, still rubbing his ear, and then looked pointedly at Link and me. "Well, aren't you going to get changed?" It was only then that I noticed that he was already wearing the blue Zora tunic, and a few swathes of bandages were poking out of the top of his pack. Link hurriedly shed his own pack, and took out the tunic. He was already unlacing his Goron one when I coughed meaningfully.
"Oh! Sorry," he and Sheik said as one, before turning their backs, so that they were facing towards the water. I turned to face the stone of the outcrop, and reached down to take off the red trousers of my Goron made set. Then, I pulled on the blue ones - now came the tricky part - I had to take off the Goron tunic without taking off the Zoran one, which was over the top. After a few tense seconds of struggling with the laces, I managed to succeed, and stuffed the dripping tunic into my pack.
Running a hand over the front of the Zoran tunic to straighten it out, I was surprised to find that the material felt dry. So that was another of the properties of it then. "Hey - are you done yet Link?"
"Yep - you?"
"Yeah," we both turned around. "Hey, blue suits you," I said, and I wasn't kidding. It complemented his corn coloured hair and matched the colour of his eyes.
"Hey, thanks - you too," he grinned.
[Why do heroes always have to be so annoyingly good at everything?] I wondered.
{I don't know, but don't complement him anymore; it might go to his head!} Navi warned jokingly.
"Right, now we've just got to put these boots on and walk into the water - we'll just be able to carry on walking as though we're on normal ground," Sheik told us. "I hope these things work," I heard him mutter as he laced up his boots. As I laced my own, I wondered how it was that the boots were the right size...
{Must just be luck.} Navi thought. {What are they like to walk in?}
I took a step. [Heavy.] She laughed. "Right, so we just walk in?" I asked, reaching down and yanking the laces on the boots tighter. Sheik nodded, tying off a double bow on his own pair. I clunked my way across the shingle, and with a soft splash, walked into the water. I paused for a moment, the water lapping around my ankles, and waited for the other two to catch up with me.
I don't know what made me do it, but I reached out and took each of their hands in mine. And, we walked into the water hand in hand. Just before my nose and mouth were covered, I took a deep breath, and was submerged. I held it until I couldn't hold it anymore, and let it out in a cloud of bubbles. Sheik looked at me with a raised eyebrow, his face swimming slightly in the disturbed water. I just shrugged, and tentatively took a breath - and the water didn't cascade into my lungs in a deadly tide as I had suspected. I just breathed normally.
The water made it impossible to talk however, so we had to use hand signals to communicate. Also, hefting a sword would be pointless and difficult. I could lift my daggers, and Link would easily wield his hook shot - Sheik didn't have anything. Since we were all still holding hands, I squeezed his, and then nodded to the daggers at my waist. He made a face which asked 'you sure?' and I nodded. Slipping my hand from his, I took one out and passed it to him. He smiled, and I wondered why he didn't have his facemask off more often - he had a nice face...
{Eww! You are so into him girl!} Navi's voice cut through the silence of the water.
[No I'm not!] I protested, but she was having none of that.
{Rubbish!}
I quickly changed the subject, which I knew she noticed, but didn't comment on. [I know this is the second time in so many minutes, but where are you?]
{Under Link's hat, where else? It's waterproof, so I'm ok under here until we resurface. I just hope he doesn't take his hat off.}
[Why? Can't you breathe underwater?]
{Oh, I can, I just don't want my hair to get messed up!} I grinned slightly at that, and then felt a tug from Sheik to stop. I tugged on Link's arm, and he came to a stop as well. Sheik raised the hand that I had been holding and pointed to a blue jewel like object far above. Then, he walked at our new slow water pace past me to Link, and pointed to the hook shot in his free hand, then at the blue object. Link nodded, and I let go of his hand so that he could fire the mechanism on it.
With a soft sheen of tiny air bubbles, the hook flew through the water and hit the blue object. There was a low click, and it changed to a turquoise colour - a piece of wall before us revealed itself as actually being a gate, and rose upwards. Sheik nodded, and pointed to it, though it was more than a little obvious that that was where we were going to go. To my surprise, both Link and Sheik took up my hands again, and we walked like that to the newly opened entrance.
There was a short incline upwards, and diffracted beams of light from the sunshine outside covered the walls. The upward rise came to a dead end, and looking upwards, we could see a square of light above. Feeling the walls, I found them to be rough, and managed to get myself a grip and hoist myself upwards. The boots made it a little difficult, but eventually I reached the surface and was able to collapse onto the dry ground. Quickly, I turned around to help the other two to climb out.
*
Looking around, I could only see one level and wondered how a Temple could be this small. {Take a look down} Navi advised, and I saw her reflection in the water behind my head. Her light also reflected off of some droplets of water on my glasses and dazzled me for a minute. {Sorry,} she apologised, landing on my shoulder and the glow stopped. When I could see properly again, I saw what she meant. Link and Sheik were also peering down into the water.
At least two more levels could be seen, and a sandy floor was far below us. "Wow," Link breathed. "It's amazing!"
"And so quiet - which can't be a good sign," Sheik said, looking around eye narrowed. It was at that point that about ten blue tektites decided to jump out at us from various hiding places. Luckily, we weren't underwater anymore, so I could use my sword. Which I did and quite happily as well. At one point, my hair really began to bug me, as it decided to cling to my glasses, and almost got my hand bitten off when one of the tektites got too close. Luckily, I managed to swipe it out of the way with a guessing swing.
When the tektites had been disposed of, Sheik tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around to see him holding out a thin strip of bandaging. "Here, use that to keep your hair out of the way," he said, and I nodded, taking it from him.
"Thanks," I tied my hair up hurriedly, raking it away from my face. "Ah, that's better, I can see properly!" he laughed, and ran a hand through his own hair.
"Yeah, I find it hard to see with all this sometimes as well," he admitted, and we both laughed again. He also tied his hair back, the silvery mass ending in a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck. "There - I can see as well," he grinned, and a few strands fell back into place defiantly. He pulled a face and put them stubbornly behind his pointed ear.
"Where exactly do we go?" Link asked, looking up from where he had been peering into the water.
"Umm..." Sheik just shrugged. "I guess we could just start at the bottom and work upwards?" He held out his hands for suggestions - we didn't have any. "OK, we start at the bottom then," he sat down, put his legs into the water and dropped down into it. Turning around, he managed to grab onto the ledge before he sank. "Hey, Blaise, can I have another of those daggers?"
"Oh - sure," I reached down and gave him a second one from the other side of the belt. Now we both had two, and I had them nice and symmetrical, one on each side.
"Thanks. Now, come on, let's have a look around down there and see what monsters we have to deal with." He let go, and I could see him sinking slowly down. Link and I followed quickly, and landed on the sand a few seconds after Sheik, who was looking wide eyed at a well-lit passageway, which had a torch sconce on either side of the frame. I followed his gaze, and thought I saw the flash of scales, but then blinked, and there was nothing.
Sheik looked at us both, and then pointed toward the door, raised one of the daggers I had leant him, and then pointed back at the door. 'Be careful'.
{Yeah, because we're just going to waltz in and let something kill us without putting up a fight} Navi thought sarcastically.
[Hehehe, aww, well, it's better to be ready than dead, right?] I reasoned.
{I suppose. But, really, you've already conquered two Temples and he thinks he needs to tell you to be careful?} She sniggered slightly.
[Shush you! You should be keeping a look out as well!] There was a small grumble, and then I saw a slight movement on Link's head. Navi stuck her head out and made a face as her hair was plastered to her head.
{Fine! My hair's ruined now I'll have you know!} she said sulkily, before grinning, and turning her head from side to side to keep a lookout as I had asked her to.
The passageway was empty when we reached it, but we didn't drop our guard. Sheik was right - being alert could mean the difference between life and death here. A flicker of light could just be a reflection or refraction, but it could also be some creature swimming up behind you. As we made our way through the passage, the light became dimmer. After a couple of sharp turns, the passage ended in a well-sized room, in which there were three torches.
And in front of the central torch was a silver/blue scaled creature, with aqua fins, speckled all over with purple and green. It's eyes were a deep obsidian, shining with intelligence, and surprise at seeing us appear before it. I say it - by the shape, it was in fact a she - and by the crown, she was none other than Princess Ruto of the Zoras. She raised one of her fins delicately in greeting, sweeping it through the water. Then, with a small nod, she began to swim upwards.
After a few strokes of her fins, she stopped, and looked down at us. The message was obvious; 'follow me'. She then indicated a long ladder to the left, before pulling herself upwards once more through the water. With as much speed as we could muster in our heavy boots, we moved over to the ladder and climbed up after her. I found it took all my concentration to keep my grip - the rungs were in some places overgrown by algae, which made them slippery.
The Zoran princess stood waiting for us before the end of the ladder, her face in an expression that was crossed between anxiety, surprise and relief. It was a strange mixture. Link was the last in the procession, and as soon as he had pulled himself out of the water, she seemed to loose all her self control, and collapsed to the floor next to him, throwing her scaled arms around his neck. "Oh my dear beloved Link. You've come back at last to fulfil our betrothal! I knew you would; I always knew our love was meant to be."
[Wha...?] I thought, also looking quizzically at Sheik, who shrugged.
{It's complicated,} Navi answered, and I didn't press her about it. Link looked very embarrassed, and managed to pull himself out of the embrace and stand up properly.
"Hello Ruto," he said unsurely, and crossed his arms over his chest in order to prevent her from hugging him again. He turned his head slightly to look at us meaningfully. Sheik, Navi and I backed off into a corner of the room, and turned away from the two.
{He's going to have great fun getting out of that one.}
"What's all that about?" Sheik managed to cut in before I could ask Navi telepathically.
"It's complicated," she said again. "But, it looks like those two might be some time, so I'll have time to tell you. Years ago, when Link was collecting the spiritual stones for Princess Zelda, he met Ruto in the lord Jabu-Jabu's belly. She had been swallowed by him whilst feeding him, because Ganondorf put him under a curse. So, he escorted her safely out of lord Jabu-Jabu, defeated all the beasts and was generally heroic. Naturally, she found all the hero stuff very appealing, and seemed to fall madly in love with our dear Link." Navi was grinning a little now.
She landed on the floor, and sat down before carrying on the tale. "Well, when they got out, Link asked for the Zora sapphire, as it was what he had come for in the first place. Apparently, it belonged to Princess Ruto's mother, and she was meant to give it to her betrothed. Link didn't really understand the concept of marriage, so accepted the sapphire and left."
"Ah - hence the incredibly affectionate welcome," Sheik said, glancing over his shoulder at the two. Ruto's face had fallen a little, but she was listening intently, and speaking rapidly back to Link. After a few more minutes, they hugged uncomfortably, and Ruto dived back into the water. Link walked over to us.
"So, how'd it go?" Navi asked gently.
"I think it went alright," Link answered, nodding. "She understands now why I took the sapphire - she just wants me to save her people now. And she also gave me a little tip-off," he pointed to a Tri-Force symbol on the wall. "If I play the royal melody before one of these, the water level will change, so we can access new places."
"Play away then," I nudged him forwards, and he took out the ocarina and did just that. There was a sound as though someone had pulled a plug from a drain. Looking down through the hole we had entered the room by, I could see the water lowering. The middle torch far below lit up and sputtered with a bright orange flame. Again, it was obvious that we had to follow the path of the water - that was until Link noticed a door half covered with cobwebs at the far end of the room.
Pushing them out of the way, he found the handle and pushed the door open easily. Some spiny sea urchins (Is that what they are; I'm not sure?) flicked out their formidable spikes and moved towards us. With a few sword swipes, we managed to defeat all of them, and for our troubles, we got a map of the Temple. Sheik again took it upon himself to look after the map.
We exited the room, and then climbed back down the long ladder into the room where we had met Ruto. The torch was still burning away merrily, and Navi flew over to it, going forest green. "You need to light those other two torches to open the barred door," she told us. "Sheik, Link, use your bows and arrows to shoot through the flame on this torch to light the other two." This they did, and the bars over the door slid open.
Inside were some tricky creatures to beat - as soon as you tried to slash the clam with your sword, it would slam its shell shut. Eventually, we had to use sneak tactics and have Navi distract them whilst we picked them off one by one. For all that hard work, we only got a small key, but it was something to be going on with at least.
*
After first raising the water to it's mid point, and then the highest level again, we had reached another of those rooms where the bars come down over the door to keep you locked in. However, this room was much, much different. It was incredibly odd to say the least. It seemed as though we were all standing outside, as swirls of mist curled around our feet (now clad in normal boots again), and a soft wind blew. Though, of course, that was impossible - we were inside. The illusion was cleverly constructed however, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose.
With a tense smile, Link decided to take the lead, splashing his way across the mist covered ground, stirring it with his feet. In the centre of the area was the black skeleton of an oak - much like that of the Great Deku tree, only much, much smaller. Then, at the far end was a simple wall, in the centre of which was a door - of course, it was locked as well. [What by demons is our task here?] I thought, looking around at the eerily empty space.
{I don't know,} Navi admitted, which didn't exactly fill me with confidence. {I can't see nor sense any enemies, and there is no puzzle to solve. What are we to do?}
"I don't like this," Sheik muttered, breaking the tense silence.
"Me neither," Link agreed, re-gripping the hilt of the Master Sword nervously. I just nodded, and decided to turn around and make my way back to the first door to see if there was something we had missed. The other's turned with me. However, the sound of splashing footsteps began before we had even taken our first step. An ominous sound of metal on leather stung our ears; far in the misty distances of the clearing, I could see three shadowy creatures.
"What are they do you think?" I asked, even as I readied my own sword in my hands, and pushed a couple of unruly strands away from my face.
"I don't know - just keep your weapon up in case," Sheik advised.
"Just keep your weapon up in case?" the phrase was echoed back in a cruel parody of Sheik's voice. "Yeah, way to dish out the advice Sheikah boy." The voice came from the middle figure of the three, all of whom had paused by the oak. "In case, my brother?" The middle figure raised two scimitars, which mirrored Sheik's own. "There is no in case about it." Again, that ominous sound of metal on leather as the left of the figures took out a sword much like Link's. I moved my eyes to the third, smallest figure. Who held a sword like mine own.
As we began to advance towards them, they mirrored and did the same. [Oh Goddesses!] I thought desperately as they came into full view - a gust of wind pushed the last tendrils of mist away. They were nothing more than shadow copies of us; eyes glowed ember red in their otherwise dark grey forms. A fourth figure, a replica of Navi appeared from the shadow Link's hat and made for the real Navi.
"Aiyee!" her voice cut through the air as they tussled. "Looks like you're on your own!"
"Just the way it should be," my own counterpart agreed. I shuddered on hearing the rasping shadow's equivalent of my voice. "Let's battle," it breathed, and all hell broke loose.
Fighting oneself in hard enough when all you must do is fight against your inner self over feelings or instincts. But, when you're fighting yourself in the flesh...
You know what the other will do; you know all the moves and tricks that you keep up your sleeve.
You know when the other will strike you, when to block, when to try and strike back.
You can tell when the other is beginning to slacken because you are as well - you know when they begin to get exhausted - you know when they're ready to give up.
And you also know the very deep secrets of the other - things that you never want to see the light of day.
I could hear the soft mumble of the other's shadows taunting them, but my one's taunts rang harsh in my head. "So, I wonder what David would say?" She put on the very impression of his voice I had done at a party one time when I was young and he was still around. " 'You're a noble warrior little one, you're sure to be great one day!' "
I screamed angrily. "SHUT UP! Don't you dare-"
"Dare what? Dare to speak the truth?" my shadow was enjoying itself - I could hear the glee in it's voice. I could also see that it wasn't paying so much attention now - I had managed to back it against the trunk of the tree - and few more steps and it would be trapped. "Dare to tell your friends that you're nothing other than a murdering trai-"
"ARGH!" I yelled, cutting her off and launching myself at her. I managed to draw the first blood of the battle - it fell to the floor and pooled in dark blue rivulets. The shadow hissed, and jumped to the side, managing to score back at me with a slash across my back - right over my shoulder blades. I don't think I'd ever screamed so loud before in my life. Whirling around, I raised my shield against a flurry of new blows.
I could see that Navi had dealt with her own shadow quite quickly, and had helped Link to dispose of his. Sheik was still fighting, but with the help of Navi to dazzle his shadow, was doing well enough. That wouldn't work with my one - she was wearing the same glasses as I was. Link was striding over, but a wall of fire formed around us to prevent him from coming any further. "Blaise!" he yelled, and I managed to glimpse his worried face through the flames.
"Ah, there's no one to save you now, is there, fallen one?" my shadow taunted. In a flash, she was changing, transforming. I was conscious of Sheik felling his shadow - scrambling backwards, I watched in horror as the creature before me changed into the very person I dreaded above all. Diabola - laughing cruelly again.
"What's going on?" I could sense more than heard the terrified gasps of the others. A surge of anger washed over me, and I stood up, ignoring the fact that my back felt as though it was on fire like the wall around the battle arena.
"You won't get me again with this you bitch," I yelled. "You forced me to do many things - let me throw off one," I recklessly pulled my glasses off and threw them to the ground, where I heard the glass tinkle.
"So now we're ready to fight properly then are we?" the Diabola faced creature asked silkily.
"Give it to me," I said, gritting my teeth, and bracing myself for pain. It didn't come. "Come on, fight me bitch!" That goaded her into action - she brandished a double-ended spear now, and swung it over her head. Pah - no defence now - perhaps this creature wasn't as smart as I had thought. I rammed my sword home in her chest, and she collapsed in a pool of blue blood before disintegrating.
The firewall disappeared; the fire in my back returned with full force, and I fell over, sinking beneath the mist sea on the floor. "Ow," I moaned, dropping my sword and shield to the floor with a clatter before blackness overtook my senses.
*
{Blaise - Blaise, get up!}
"Blaise? Are you OK?"
"Sheik, have you got any of that mead on you?"
The sounds were beginning to make sense to me again. [Navi? What happened?]
{You fainted.}
[Oh.] I pushed myself up from the floor, feeling my back screaming out in silent pain. A hand was reached out to steady me, and I blinked open my eyes. There was a shocked gasp, and then I remembered my destruction of the glasses. Oops. I opened them again.
"Your eyes," Link breathed, his own wide. I looked down at the floor, ashamed of my foolishness over the battle. It was leading to difficulty.
"Aye," I answered, blinking and looking back up. "That's why I wear - wore," I corrected myself, "the glasses. They cause too many questions otherwise." Sheik was wearing the old look of mistrust, and I cursed myself. However, he didn't voice it, and it left his face quite quickly.
"It's understandable," he said. "They are rather - odd - to say the least." He smiled a little. "I suppose it makes a good mix though - blue, red and now violet."
"When you put it like that," I snorted slightly, "It sounds kind of normal." He just patted me on the back and laughed.
"Let's go - we should get something pretty damned good for fighting that lot." We made our way to the door opposite the entrance. I noticed the area become a large stone room as we walked, the mist disappearing, and the tree turning into a large stone pillar.
The door swung open, and a huge chest stood in the centre of the small room. Link kicked it open, and within it was a contraption much like the hook shot. However, on closer inspection, it turned out to be the upgraded version (known as a long shot) that could reach twice as far. "Handy," Link grinned, putting it onto his belt - he removed the hook shot and gave it to Sheik. Sheik then gave my daggers back to me, and we all had our own weapons to use underwater.
"Can we eat?" Navi whined, and after a quick scout around the large room which we had previously battled the shadows in, we sat down to eat the food Eloise had given us. Even after being through the water and thus getting a little soggy, it was still delicious. Navi flew around after eating, and returned with what was left of my glasses - one lens was perfectly fine, but the other was partially missing. I pocketed them and wondered whether I would be able to persuade Loki to get me another pair.
*
The Temple seemed to have an affinity for leaving us wondering what was going to happen next. We were in the room of the Temple Guardian, yet we hadn't yet seen a sign of it, whatever it was. All we could see was a pool of water in the centre of the room, and some vicious looking spikes around the edge of the room. The ceiling had a few small slits high above through which stars could be seen winking down.
We made a quick walk through of the whole room, but still couldn't find the whereabouts of the creature we were supposed to fight and kill. Navi was looking at the water suspiciously, and announced, "This water looks strange - come and look." We did just that - Navi was usually right about these things. And she was right now. The water wasn't clear - it was more translucent and had a blue tint. I caught sight of a small red ball in the depths, and jumped back in shock when it suddenly erupted from the strange water and flew straight at me.
"Navi, how do we kill it?" Link asked as he dodged a tentacle, and then skidded to a stop to prevent himself being impaled on some spikes. "And a quick answer would be good!" He slashed at the tentacle as it swept at him - the red ball dropped onto the floor and began bouncing around.
"That's looks kind of like one of those flare dancer heads," I said, and then what we had to do clicked. We chased after the red ball and slashed it. It managed to get back into the strange water, and a huge mass of tentacles extended to try and ensnare us. Ducking, diving and slashing our way, we managed to get to the tentacle that held the red ball again, and got it out. The tentacles all disappeared and we went after it again.
It was quite an easy guardian, especially in comparison to what we had had to fight just to gain the long shot. Perhaps the Goddesses were smiling down on their hero. Well, as per usual, we were taken away via portal, and Link went off to the Chamber of Sages whilst Sheik and I were left to wait for him.
We landed on the Tri-Force symbol on the outcrop where we had arrived. Looking out over the lake, I could see over at the far side a large cascade of water falling into it, and the water level was rising fast. I tugged on Sheik's arm, and he turned to look as well. "Wow," he sat down and crossed his legs, looking at the re-filling lake with awe. "It's amazing."
"Did you ever see it before it was drained?" I asked, awestruck as well. He shook his head, and we both just looked in silence as the water was returned to how it was supposed to be. The stars were reflected in the great expanse of water, looking twice as beautiful reflected as they did in the sky itself.
As dawn began to make itself present in the sky, and paint the water with soft purples and pinks, Link appeared on the Tri-Force symbol, and shook his head. Then, he noticed the lake, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. "That was quicker than I expected it to get back to normal," he said in amazement, spinning around to take in the full picture. "And dawn's almost here!" Even as he said it, the sun began to rise.
He hurriedly pulled out his bow and strung an arrow. He raised the bow to point directly at the rising sun, and shot it. "What did you do that for?" I asked. "You just wasted an arrow!"
"And by doing so, I've gained a powerful weapon of magic," Link said mysteriously. He then dove into the waters of the replenished lake, and swam over to a small island some distance away.
"What is he up to do you suppose?" Sheik asked, looking at the hero as though he had gone slightly crazy.
"I have no idea - but he's just picked something up - and now he's coming back."
Link pulled himself out of the water, panting slightly, and looking very pleased with himself. He reached into that never-ending pack of his, and took out a small phial. It seemed to contain the very rays of the sun itself. He unscrewed the top and then took another arrow from his quiver. He held it to the open top of the phial, and as we watched, it was coated in the shining substance. Suddenly, it clicked in my mind, and by the look on Sheik's face, it clicked in his as well.
"The Legendary fire arrows," Link said proudly, and let the arrow fly into the water, where it died in a hiss of steam. "Ruto told me where I would find them. They'll help a lot."
"No kidding," Navi said, popping out from under his hat. "No more need to flint to make fires anymore." Link nodded, and then she rapped him on the forehead. "The fire thing was a hint stupid! I'm frozen!" Link laughed, and then we set about gathering some twigs and sticks to build up a small fire. Link set one of the twigs to the phial, and then put it amongst the others. Soon, we had a roaring fire going, and sat around it to warm ourselves.
The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and soon we had no need for the fire anymore. So, we kicked some water over it to put it out. Then, we walked along the bridges from the outcrop to the shore. Link branched off and made for the water again. "Where are you going?" Sheik called after him.
"There's a portal to Zora's domain over here - we can get there quickly and check on them. And, the horses are outside Zora's domain or thereabouts, so we can find them there. Then back to Kakariko - I'm sure Eloise will be thrilled to see us again!"
[Good plan.]
{I know - and he thought of it all by himself!}
~*~*~*~
We came to the surface in Zora's domain to find it perfectly restored. The great falls were roaring away, and as I looked, someone flew off it and began diving for rupees. The Zora up there had restarted his diving game early enough. We climbed out, and I asked, "Shall we go and see the king again?"
Link thought about it, and then shook his head. "He might be angry to find out I'm not marrying his daughter," he said sheepishly, and I nodded my understanding. "Let's just get going." We made our way out of the Zoran city and back to the river.
The sun was shining strongly high above, which assured us more than anything that we had saved this place from under the rule of Ganondorf. There were still a few patches of snow dotted around in the shade, but apart from that, you'd never know there had been snow here in summer.
It was beginning to get hotter, and I hoped that I wouldn't get sunburnt - with skin as pale as mine, that was very painful. I opened the laces on the front of my tunic, and walked along with it open, showing the small black shirt I wore underneath. It was pleasant to feel a small breeze when we stepped out into the main field. And in the distance, we could see the horses grazing on the grass, still waiting for us.
"Malon has those things well trained," Navi observed.
"Of course - she's a genius with horses," Link said dreamily, and then seemed to come to and blushed slightly. "I mean - growing up on the Ranch and all, what would you expect?" he tried to cover. It was too late, and I grinned as he blushed again.
[Eurgh - you mean we have to ride again?] I moaned, remembering the stint in the saddle a few days before.
{Yup - can I ride with you, I just know Link will pull some more stunts} she sounded queasy at the very thought.
[Of course.] I hopped up onto Nostawen's broad grey back and settled myself into the saddle. Navi jumped up in a similar manner onto my shoulder. "Where to?" I called to Link.
"Kakariko - I think we deserve some rest, and we can take a better look at your back there." I made a face about that. I didn't really want anyone to look at my back - there might be awkward questions about my scars there. However, it wasn't for a while, and maybe I'd be able to concoct an excuse to get out of it on the way there.
*
We left the horses in some stables at the edge of Kakariko, before beginning to make our way to Eloise' house. However, as we travelled, we noticed the soft sounds of sobbing coming from the main field, and the acrid scent of smoke reached my nose. "There's something not right going on," Link observed.
[Like that wasn't obvious.] I hurried forwards worriedly, and entered into the main field. The sight was terrible to behold. There was a great shapeless shadow running through the houses, ripping off roofs and ripping trees up from the ground. It was like a tornado, but with purpose, meandering through and destroying everything within it's dark reach. It was moving towards a group of cowering people, who looked up and began to run away.
After a curt look back at the other two, we ran towards the shadow. Link was stringing some of the fire arrows he had been preparing as we had trotted through the field. Sheik had withdrawn a hand full of Deku-Nuts. I, having neither magical powers nor magical weaponry, just pulled out my sword and hoped for a miracle. The blade was glowing dully, which surprised me - it had not done that since Vyxennia, when I had been surrounded by demons.
Demons - so that was what the shadow must be. Oh great. I hated demons - they were incredibly difficult to kill. Like vampires for instance - metal didn't kill them, it had to be wood. For werewolves, it had to be silver - demons were so annoyingly particular in the way that they were killed.
However, these thoughts were mere flashes as we ran forwards - I didn't notice how my legs felt as though they were jelly as I normally did. My back was just a small niggling; I was focused on that shadow, and the people who were running away from it. We ran straight through them, and the stood our ground as the shadow got closer. It was colourless, a complete black, blotting out the last rays of light from the sun.
{What is it?} Navi looked up at it fearfully. She flew forwards to try and inspect it, but the shadow just swept her out of the way. I could see her tumbling through the air for a few seconds, before the shadow moved in the way of our vision. Link let fly one of his arrows. It was perfectly on target. But, instead of hitting the shadow, it passed straight through it.
"Ah," I heard him breathe, and then Sheik threw one of his Deku nuts towards it. It flashed brightly with a sharp crack, and the shadow seemed to recoil slightly, before coming back in full force. We had to retreat slightly - Sheik threw another Deku nut, and another. He carried on, but I knew we couldn't last forever. He wouldn't have enough Deku nuts to keep the shadow at bay for long.
"Damn!" I heard Sheik curse, and looked over to see him searching through his small bag for some more ammunition. He was out, and the shadow was beginning to regain itself. I didn't have anything magical, apart from the blade of my sword which was glowing more strongly now. "Your sword Blaise," Sheik was suddenly standing next to me, the glow of the blade reflected in his eyes.
I just nodded, and took it in both hands. I smiled as the familiar adrenaline rush filled me. The sword changed and reformed into a double edge broadsword, which was about half a foot longer than usual. Ah, thanks to my trainer who had advised for a Mithril sword. The blade was glowing more strongly, and I knew that Link and Sheik were probably wondering what on earth was going on. I didn't have much time to ponder it myself, as I bonded with the sword.
The shadow seemed surprised. Without a face however, it was hard to tell what was going on with the thing. I raised my sword, and sliced through the dark mass - as soon as my blade touched it, there was a high-pitched keening, and stars burst before my eyes. I could see the shadow withdraw, and move towards the village well. Then, I could see darkness reminiscent to that of the creature that had just withdrawn.
~ "You idiot. You thought that Diabola would only want to speak to him? Do you pay no attention girl; did you not know the rifts going on?" Loki was angry with me again. Which wasn't a surprise. I always managed to incur his wroth quite well. I had returned from training early, and he had found me sitting in David's favourite spot. He was of course, inadvertently angry with me.
I just nodded mutely, and then his voice softened. "Look, I know how persuasive Diabola can be. But, why did you not tell one of us she had come to you? You know better than anyone that people cannot be bought back after they have crossed the last gate." I nodded again, and he sighed and left the room. I looked at the Mithril sword in my hands, and then at the pictures on my wall. One of mother and father, and another of my brother grinning mischievously.
I shook my head to clear it of tears and memories, and then looked at the parchment Loki had left me. 'Vyxennia' I mouthed, and began to read the background information about it. He was giving the demon world to a thirteen year old? ~
I was broken out of the trance by Link's hand shaking my shoulder. I found myself on the ground, and had to blink several times to remember how I had gotten there. Then, I was on my feet again and looking around for my sword. I found it lying a few feet away, the blade lightless and back to normal.
"That was awesome," Sheik said, looking at my sword. "I never knew they made swords like that across the sea." I was glad he had said that, it helped me to remember my cover story.
"It was specially made for me," I explained, putting it upon my back. "Wait - Navi! Did you find her?" They shook their heads, and we began to search for her frantically. "Navi? Navi, where are you?" I called.
"Navi? Are you OK? NAVI?"
"Here fairy, come to beat up Link, come on now," Sheik called hopefully.
I looked around, and then noticed a slight sputtering light within some long grass. Bending down, I could see the broken form of the stubborn little fairy, her face contorted in pain. I scooped her up from the floor, and waved the others over. "Navi?" I touched her shoulder gently with one finger. A small flicker of magic sparked across my hand, and Navi's eyes fluttered open.
"Where is it, let me at it!" she looked around sprightly, and lifted off from my hand.
"You're alright!" Link practically bounced and he span around happily.
"Of course I'm alright, I'm a fairy. We can live through anything!" she said. Then, she looked at me. "You however, I'm afraid to say, look terrible."
"Oh, thanks!" I said indignantly. She just dropped me a wink, and then whizzed quickly around me. I could feel the pain leaving my back, and then she stopped before me.
"Better?"
"Yes - thanks." I looked around at the destruction the shadow had caused. "However, this place is a bit stuffed. I don't think Eloise would really appreciate having to put us up." I pointed to what was left of her house. The front had been ripped clean off, and two of the bedrooms had collapsed onto the rooms below.
"Yeah - but where do we stay now?" Link looked perplexed.
"Think you can cope with sleeping in a tree?" I pointed to the great old tree in the centre of the field, which had survived the rampage.
"I suppose so," he sighed, and we swung ourselves up into the branches.
"Night," I called, settling myself on the branch I had slept on last time in the tree.
"Night."
"Night."
[Night.]
~/*\~/*\~/*\~
Tadum! I did it - all in one day! YES! And wasn't the Dark Link/Sheik/Blaise (Alexis)/Navi scene cool? Well, even if you guys didn't like it, I did, so yay. That was my little raring to write bit.
Obviously, they will be skipping off to the Shadow Temple soon. Going back in time is going to be interesting. I don't really know how to do that - because, that would be the age when she still had her wings...maybe I'll get Loki to do some intervention there. Hmm...if anyone has any idea on that, it would be appreciated - a lot.
Until next time, let's just sit here and look at them all sleeping in that pretty tree.
Navi: [Throws acorns] Sod off!
Soda: O.o
Sheik: [Shakes his fist] We mean it, bugger off, we've had a hard day!
Soda: [Points and giggles at Sheik's mussed up hair]
Blaise: [Jumps down and walks up to Soda, brandishing sword] Now, generally, I like you, but I need sleep - kapiche?
Soda: [Gulps, nods]
Blaise: [Sheathes sword] Very good
Link: [Sniggers] Soda's scared of Blaise, la la la la la la!
Soda: [Clicks fingers, and then disappears in her authorish way]
Blaise, Sheik + Navi: [Collapse into laughter]
Link: [Looks down] Hey, no way, the drag isn't for chapters yet!
[OK, and back to the real world where Soda is actually drinking some coffee and wishing she could burn her tutor at the stake for giving her so much work.]
I can't write anymore today - but, I promise that I will TRY not to leave it so long. Luckily, none of you know where I live, so you won't come and throttle me if I don't update for a while [phew]. Until I do write more, it's good-bye from my cruel, cruel little mind and me. [Snigger] Link and Sheik in drag [snigger, snigger].
