[Warhammer, dressed in castle guard's gear, stretches as the sun rises.]
WH: Action without faith is drudgery. Faith without action is sloth. Be wary not to be caught in either snare.
TWHammer presents
The Force of One
Chapter 5: Battle Hymn Prelude
A work of fanfiction based on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Diablo II.
*
The sun's rays crawled to the outer donjon of the massive Hyrule castle across the floor and into Link's room in the tower. Already up, Link sat cross-legged on the floor with the book Zelda had given him the week before.
With Navi's and the help of a few others, his comprehension of reading the Hylian alphabet had grown exponentially. Now he could read most basic words and simple sentences, which was remarkable for someone who never got a chance in the first place.
Sighing, Link closed the book silently and looked up to the sun peeking through the bottom of the window. The glaring light was reminiscent of the same light that had saved his life from the Inkling that nearly consumed his mind the week before. It only led him to more questions that needed answers. Even looking through the castle's archives, the closest lead he had was to head to the East, where a civilization of spiritualists called the Zakkarum lived. They seemed to be more knowledgeable about matters of the soul than any other civilization that Hyrule had come into contact with.
It was then he decided to make his journey to Travincal, since Hyrule was in no real danger at the moment and the trip itself would not take very long. From the maps he had borrowed from the library, Link had figured that it would only take him less than a week to pass Termina, then head through the mountain ranges to the Rogue Sanctuary, and finally to the deserts surrounding Lut Golein.
From there, he could charter a boat to take him to Kurast and finally reach Travincal, which was only a day's walk from the port city. On the whole, it would take around a week and a half to reach his destination.
Hyrule didn't have much of the Travincal's history, other than the bloody civil war thirty years ago and the arduous years of recovery, they had little to nothing concerning their culture, religions, and economy.
Though flying blind was nothing new to Link, this wasn't a battle he was expecting. For all he knew, sneezing in public could offend them to the point where they'd either toss him out or kill him. He, however, had far too many questions that needed answers to fail.
"You up already?" Navi asked, fluttering in front of him.
Nodding, Link stood up and placed his book on the bed, "I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a little extra reading."
"And to think that when we were partnered, I practically had to scream at you to wake up."
Link frowned, "It's not my fault I'm a heavy sleeper. Besides, you could have been a bit nicer about waking me up."
"I tried that, it didn't work," the fairy retorted bluntly as it flew over to the nightstand. Navi could never comprehend the reason why Link felt it expedient to sleep longer that it was necessary. She knew that Hylians required at least seven and half to eight hours of sleep in order to function properly. Kokiri needed ten, Gorons needed six, Zora needed nine, and she was still in the dark as to how long Gerudo needed to sleep since she had not the chance to find out.
The fairy turned to see the door opened and one of the maids with a towel and a brush. "Sir Link, there's a tub of hot water downstairs waiting for your use. Please be sure to bring a fresh change of clothes."
Link nodded and thanked the maid as he took the towel and brush, gathered up some of his freshly cleaned clothes and headed downstairs as Navi fluttered behind him.
"Still think it's odd bathing in hot water and cleaning yourself off with soap?" Navi asked as they descended the circular stairs to the ground level.
Link smiled back, "A bit. Every time we had to wash ourselves in the forest, we had to go to the waterfall at a time no one knew. It was the only way that Mido couldn't steal my clothes when I was taking a bath."
Though Link couldn't hear her, the fairy struggled to hold back a chuckle. The thought of seeing the poor boy panicking through the forest, naked, and trying to get back to his home without being seen was simply hilarious... but at the same time too cruel. It seemed like something Tael would have done to her.
Reaching the door to the washroom, Link stopped and turned to Navi. "Ok, you can go now."
"Fine," Navi replied and flew away from her charge to explore the castle some more. Though she had no qualms about being in the same bathing room as Link, he did. Link would only bathe by himself and he had made that quite clear to Navi, the servents, and everyone else.
Fluttering through the hallways to the central courts, she nearly flew into Alyx's middle-aged face. Only a sharp veer had prevented the small fairy from knocking over the elderly soldier as he stumbled to keep his balance from the near miss.
"Oh, pardon me, sir. I didn't see you coming."
The captain of the guards waved it off, "It would not have been the first time." Noticing the fairy by herself, he continued, "If I may ask, where's Link?"
"Taking a bath. I was hoping to find the kitchen for him so he won't get lost."
Alyx let loose a small laugh, "How shall he ever learn to stand for himself?"
Navi sighed, "He will, eventually, but until then, I got to hold him by the hand."
"Goddesses willing, that day may come soon. Anyway, I wished to speak with you both for a short while. Time is not exactly the most merciful with me."
The fairy tilted itself in confusion, "What do you want to talk about?"
He gestured for Navi to walk with him as he answered, "What the Lost Woods was life before the fires. When I was but a boy, I would always be playing with my friends near the edge of the Lost Woods. Yet, our parents would always scold us for going near there, so naturally, I got curious and though life went on for me, I still wondered what it was like to live in there."
Entering the inner cloister, Navi considered telling him since there was no real law forbidding the telling others about the Lost Woods and the Kokiri forest. The only thing fairies like her could not talk about was their home, which resided in a completely different world.
"Where to start? Well, for one thing, the Kokiri village was always populated by little children. A Kokiri child could be nearly three hundred years old when it looks like a Hylian child of about twelve."
Alyx was awestruck. "You serious? What would happen if the Kokiri grew up?"
"They don't. They become trees with the rest of the forest and, in a sense, become part of the forest."
The captain of the guard considered his next question before turning back to the hovering blue light, "Did they behave different than regular children?"
"Not at all. They still learn, but at the pace of a child. So, it takes them a long time to be able to have the same comprehension of an adult." A thought then came to Navi, "What do you mean by, 'did they?' are they still around?"
"Trust me friend, the reports we've been getting of these kokiri are not the same as the ones you knew. A month ago, we were told than several cattle were slaughtered when grazing in the plains, just north of the Lost Woods," Alyx mumbled.
"But how could they be..." Navi wondered before they found themselves in the central chamber of the castle. The rows of desks were empty as was the throne room, for it appeared that no meeting had been called as of yet.
It also brought the memory of Zelda and her bodyguard, the sight of the latter brought chills to her mind and just being near Zelda... shaking her head, Navi turned to the captain and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why does Zelda need a bodyguard?"
"Though our kingdom is rather small when compared to the Beast Tribes, Guardania, the Zakkarum, Azeroth, and Stamas, there are always small groups that vehemently oppose the presence of other races. Not to mention groups within other countries that would love to promote intrigue among ourselves," the captain replied before continuing, "However, as well as Calbrena serves the kingdom, many of us do not care for her too much."
Curious, Navi pressed how the aforementioned did not carry favor with the other ministers and commanders of the government.
"I have come to this conclusion; she hates us, so we hate her. Being as stealthy as she is, I would not be surprised at all if she wanted to kill us all from the shadows. As effective as her methods are in some cases, I just don't trust them. I've served the royal family for most of my life and the last thing I wish to witness is the end of the family by such intrigue."
"Were you still loyal to the king when the insurrection took place? Or did you help Zelda?"
With a small sigh of reluctance, he answered, "I was unquestionably loyal to the king, but when I hoped to dissuade him from initiating a war with the Beast Tribes, he had my rank stripped and given to a petty yea-sayer. Zelda freed me and I felt that if Hyrule were to survive, I had to help her, though it was a difficult choice to turn against the man I esteemed highly in my younger years."
The memories of the former king's madness left a scar on Alyx's mind. Though he did not blame the king himself, the captain still could not forget the cruel and poison tipped words he had received for questioning authority. With a blink, he realized that his mind was wandering far back to the days when Zelda was but a child and the time the king had spent with her.
He then let out a small laugh and said, "Forgive me. This old soldier loves to remember the days past. I think it would be best if we fetched Link. I recall you two saying you wished to leave for Kurast today."
"It's alright, sir. Yes, we were planning on leaving, but I wonder if Link is even ready to go or not. He's spent so much time reading those books Zelda gave him, I still wonder if he's ever focused on one thing," Navi said, hovering beside him as they proceeded to leave the central chamber.
No sooner had they reached the door, it began to open. Out of habit, Navi flew behind the captain and clung to the fabric of his tunic as Calbrena stepped through.
The captain and bodyguard both stepped back from each other, clearly startled.
"What are you doing here?" the bodyguard asked coldly.
"I could very well ask you the same question. Still searching for your Hylia Hawk?"
"That's no business of yours."
"Just as long as you keep it to yourself," Alyx said sternly before stepping past her and into the hallway. While heading to the outer cloister, he could feel Calbrena's cold stare piercing his back. Though he had grown accustomed to her attitude, her glare had recently gotten far more malicious.
When Navi was sure they were out of Calbrena's sight, she flew out from behind and shivered, "I can see why you don't like her."
"I can see the necessity of hiring someone like her as a bodyguard, however, I begin to wonder the wisdom of inviting her from Termina," he said with a frown.
"What's wrong with Termina?"
"Termina was always a hotspot of one sort or another of armed conflict. If it's not the Hylians there, it's the Deku, the Zora, or bandits. Calbrena is one of the few descendants of the Ikana, a race of warriors and assassins. They killed themselves off in a civil war and the survivors moved into central Termina where they founded Clocktown with Hylian traders. It's made me biased, I admit."
Though Navi had heard differently about Clocktown's origins, she decided not to press the issue. There was a chance that interpretation of Terminain could have meant something else to Hylians.
Alyx's frown grew, "And it was because of Calbrena that I was able to escape. So, after all this time, I'm still in her debt."
Seeing this reminded Navi of the times that Ganondorf had saved Link's life. A most awkward situation if anything else.
"Well, there's little point to complaining about it. I'll have a maid send some supplies to Link's room for the trip. And be sure to inform him that the caravan heading east is leaving at mid day at the castle's entrance," he said before giving the fairy a bow and leaving to attend to other matters.
*
With a contented sigh on his face, Link used the rougher bristles on the brush to scratch his back of all the hidden itches he had grown to ignore when he was younger. As much as he liked living with the Kokiri, he could also get quite used to living as a Hylian, especially if it meant having this marvelous brush and a nice hot bath.
"Enjoying yourself?" a somewhat familiar voice asked.
Almost on instinct, Link gasped and submerged himself in the tub. Looking over the edge, he turned to the window to notice the Sheikah man that he had met when he first came to this time.
"Oh, you scared me. I'm used to bathing alone."
The Sheikah nodded, "My apologies, I had hoped to catch you before you entered. It appears that I'm not as quick as I thought."
Waving it off Link replied, "Don't worry. It wouldn't have been the first time."
Confused, the Sheikah tilted his head, "Come again?"
Again, Link waved it off and changed the subject, not wanting to recall all those pranks Mido played on him. "Can I finish up and change? I'll only be a minute."
Nodding, Link's visitor hopped out of the window and waited patiently on the windowsill as Link finally changed and called him back in. Link gestured to another seat on the other side of the room as he took another.
"I remember the big guy from Kakarikko saying that your name was something else. Um, Sheik?"
"I'm going to get you for this, Mareg," the Sheikah grumbled mentally, then continued with a sigh, "Yes, my name is Sheik. It's a name often given to boys that have no family. And whenever there are more than one per tribe, variations have to be give for clarity. It's also protocol that we never give our true name to strangers unless they've earned our trust."
Sheik sat cross-legged and grumbled more about the Beast Tribesman as Link continued to listen.
"Well, now we don't have to worry about it anymore," Link said casually.
"I had hoped to remain as inconspicuous as possible, since it is my job to be so."
"What's that?"
"Intelligence. Though I am known to do work for the aristocracy of Hyrule, I actually find information about the leaders and pass it on to the Sages and the Sheikah Elders. Only the important information to be exact, but regardless, information is just that."
Though Link had a bit of a hard time following what he was saying, he did understand the overall point. Sheik listened to stuff and that sufficed him for now.
"I heard that you are going somewhere? So soon?"
Link nodded, "Navi and I are going east. I'm not exactly sure what's there, but I'm going to find out."
From beneath his cloth mask, Sheik smiled, "I'm certain you will. It was very you."
The statement gave Link pause, "What?"
Sheik sighed, "It is not easy to explain, but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. There was another you I remember from the intervening years. He and I were brothers in arms and I was quite fond of him."
"Then... if there are two of me, where's the other me?"
"He wanted to make sure that you would figure out things on your own without his help. So he left a long while ago."
"Did he ever return?"
Link's visitor shook his head, "Since I'm confined to Hyrule, I have no way of knowing whatever became of him."
Though it was completely open-ended, Sheik's words worried Link. Now more questions were popping up and he had no idea how he was supposed to answer those ones.
Sheik's eyes searched Link's worried face and wondered if he had spoken too much. However, a glimmer out of the corner of his eye directed his attention to the pile of clothes Link brought with him. "What are those?" he said, pointing towards the glimmer.
Following Sheik's gaze, Link looked by the base of the tub and noticed that he took both of those odd pendants with him. He was not sure how they got there, but he was sure it was of little importance.
"They're pendants I found in the forest."
"May I see them?"
"Sure, but be careful. I don't know how tough they are."
Nodding, Sheik carefully removed the pendants, now with new straps to keep them around the neck longer and examined them with a careful eye.
"Do you know what they are?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. First of all; they're both Pendants of Dichotomy. An old tradition of sheikah smiths often created jewelry like this for their families, and these ones in particular were meant to show balanced opposites in loved ones."
He lifted the snake pendant up, "This is the Serpentine Angel. It was often made for those of unpredictable dispositions with a trace of nobility about them. The person could be a snake to all, but would keep his good deeds secret to ensure no one would think well of him. An odd characteristic."
He held the second pedant up, "This is the Black Sun. Though its surface was covered in darkness, its creation was born from light. This is one of the few occasions where light and darkness do not abhor each other, in fact, were it not for one, the other would not exist."
Link was awestruck, but then a thought came to him, "Wait, these were with my mother, does that mean I'm Sheikah too?"
Taking a closer look towards the Hylian, Shiek shook his head, "No. You're not, but Sheikah blood flows through your veins. Maybe an ancestor created them and they've been passed in your family. I can't say really. But what I do know is that you shouldn't wear those when you're in Sheikah territory."
Link blinked at the unusual warning, "Why?"
"Some Sheikah cling to the Old Hatreds, which is why most of them are in hiding and out of the sight of Hylians. The Hylians and Sheikah were born from another pair of races that utterly despised each other and sadly, their hatreds still live on in some of us," he turned to look Link straight in the eye, "if you were born amongst Sheikah, would have been branded a mongrel and either cast out or killed before knowing your first week of life. If Sheikah knew you carried these, they would act no different and you would still be killed."
Turning away from Sheik, he let his mind wander and began to consider if there was some secret reason why he shouldn't be around Hylians. He was never a Kokiri, in spite of what he thought of all his life, and though he had found some semblance of his past, one part of it was life threateningly dangerous.
"I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but it's better you know now then finding out during an execution."
Link supposed he was right, but it still didn't make him feel any better. A knock on the door diverted his attention, "Hello?"
"Sir Link, preparations have been made and your gear is waiting in your room," the same maid from before said through the wood.
"Thank you, I'll be out in a minute," Link said before turning back to ask Sheik something else. However, it seemed to be pointless, for he had vanished just like Mareg had when he first came to Castleton.
It was then Link came to a decision: He hated it when people did that.
*
In the outer cloister of the castle, Link and Farlin were going over the maps the latter provided as many soldiers and workers passes around them.
"Two days after you pass Kakkarikko, you're going to be heading through the Great Mountain range to get to the Rogue Sanctuary," he then handed Link a bag filled with obsidian tokens in the shape of an arrowheads, "If you need to replenish your supplies on the way back, like arrows and water, this should help."
Taking one of the arrowheads between his thumb and forefinger, he looked at the intricate designs and marveled at the skill. Wondering its purpose, he asked, "Do the Rogues use this as money?"
Farlin shook his head, "No, but they greatly prize work such as this. And these arrowheads are to be used with steel arrows so they can be used again. They prefer to waste as little as possible and we've started some trading with them on small things like this."
Link continued to marvel at the arrowhead as Zelda's advisor continued, "Oh, what a burden to be born elsewhere and not in the midst of all those beautiful women. A pox upon my foul luck."
The younger Hylian turned to Farlin, "What makes you say that?"
The advisor was taken back as if he were struck in the face, "Friend, I kid you not, there are few things in this world more precious than being in the presence of a beautiful woman. How can you not salivate at the thought?"
Link figured it would be best to simply shrug his shoulders rather than answer the complicated truth of his time-warped condition.
Farlin then looked thoughtful as he continued, "Although, I have also heard that if any man wishes to work among the Rogues, he has to be castrated."
Blinking, Link asked, "What does castrate mean?"
Zelda's advisor then looked shocked for a second, but quickly changed to a playful smile, "Oh, it's nothing important, really. I'll let you find out for yourself."
Navi held back a snort as she hid in Link's hat.
Wrapping an arm around Link's shoulder, Farlin whispered with a grin nothing short of mischievous, "Here's a bit of advice for the journey: It's very easy for a beautiful woman to resist a man. But when a beautiful woman comes to you, never resist her."
Though Link could understand how it would work for him, it just didn't make sense to Link. He gave the other Hylian a nervous nod and skittered outside of the castle grounds.
When Navi was sure they were out of hearing range, she flew out of Link's hat and hovered beside him, "Link, don't listen to that man. I don't like him at all."
Though Link could not completely understand Navi's position on him, he did have reservations that made him agree with the fairy.
"It's not just the fact that he's too eager, I can't help but feel he's hiding something."
"Everyone does, though," Link said silently.
Navi turned to Link and gave his face a hard study. She could see that though there was nothing guilty about him, however, there was a lot of uncertainty. It made honesty, being one of the highest held virtues amongst the fairies, likened unto a double-edged sword. Navi figured that if Link had something to tell her, he would do so in his own time and she had no problem with that.
Some minutes later, they reached the central marketplace where the caravan was finally loading up. Link was nearing the central square when a hand pulled at his arm.
He looked down to see a rather familiar face beg for alms.
"Rauru?"
The old sage hushed him and jerked his head in the direction of an alleyway just out of plain sight. They would be able to talk there.
*
"Sheik has informed us of what you're doing. But the rest of the sages and me can't help but get a bit apprehensive if we don't know where."
Looking around to see if anyone was hearing them, he leaned against the wall and answered calmly, "Travincal. I had a dream a short while after I came here. All I could tell is that I have to go to the East. I don't know for sure, but I just have this feeling I have to go to where the Zakkarum people live."
The blind sage raised an eyebrow. Then chuckled darkly, for those words were familiar to him, "Just like your father."
Not expecting that statement, he then stood up again, "What do you mean by that?"
Rauru sighed regretfully, "I knew your father, unfortunately, and he was only a few years older than you when he left Hyrule to the east."
Link was almost hesitant to ask, but the old sage had already begun to answer, "He was an arrogant, self-righteous thief. He despised the world and everyone in it. How he was able to woo a Sheikah girl into marrying him, I have no idea."
The hero of time subconsciously touched the two amulets in his pocket, but decided to leave them out of the conversation as the old sage continued.
"There used to be a town by Lake Hylia, but a plague came through and wiped out all the adults. The royal family at the time, quarantined the town and it left a town of orphans to die from lack of care or bandits. Your father was one of the few who survived when the plague ran its course. He learned to survive in the den of thieves that the town had become by stealing, lying, and misleading. He was also the only one to survive when the royal army came in and wiped out the bandits."
The frown on Rauru's face did not bode well for what was to come next.
"I met him and a friend of his when I was serving as a vassal for the king of Hyrule at the time. They had lied themselves into the castle by pretending to be couriers, he nearly fooled everyone, until I saw through them. They were planning on stealing jewels of the royal family and had nearly done so. I did catch them, but since they were still boys, my stronger sense of conscience bid me to let them go. However, after my show of mercy, your father told me to sit on a pike and ran off. So, I continued to watch him as the years passed. I even saw him able to sneak into Kakkariko, which was an amazing feat for any Hylian."
Link, still hungry for knowledge of the past, asked silently, "And what about my mother?"
The old sage shook his head, "I am afraid I do not know. Just as light abhors dark, dark abhors light and because of that my knowledge of the Sheikah is extremely limited, save for what the sage of Shadow has told me."
"I see... is the sage around?"
Again, Rauru shook his head, "She's been missing for quite a while, I'm afraid. When last I heard of her, she tried to confront the queen by herself."
"Great... more questions without answers," the young man grumbled.
"If the Zakkarum are as wise as word of mouth says, they maybe able to help you find the truth. Before they started on their bloody crusades and the ensuing civil war, I met a paladin that had the ability to find the truth wherever he saw it. I fail to remember the name, but I recall that he was what they called an 'auror'. If they still have one, he or she may be able to help."
Link nodded in appreciation before exiting the alleyway. Just then, another question came to mind and he was about to ask when he turned to find Rauru gone. Just like Sheik.
Link decided, he was beginning to really hate it when people did that.
*
A climbing into the back wagon of the caravan, Link settled himself and his pack near the rear latch and helped the worker close it tight to keep the supplies in. Though the sun was high, the autumn winds kept the temperature quite comfortable.
Final preparations came and went as the wagon master screamed at the cattle and started off through the drawbridge of Castleton. Watching the castle grow smaller in the distance, the hero of time sighed and figured that it was best not to dwell on small things at the moment.
A small part of him did not want to leave, mostly because of Zelda. Yes, he had heard bad things of her, he even saw them himself in those visions. Yet, how could he deny all the good things she did for Hyrule, how she had befriended him, and taught him how to read? He could not. With any hope, he could find the answers in this journey of his.
Leaning back against the side of the wagon, he noticed that he was not alone. Two cloaked figures, one carrying a staff and the other carrying a spear appeared to have had a longer journey than he did. The staff one of the travelers carried was made of an ancient wood and had several small beads and feathers. Link held back a gasp when he noticed a pair of skulls suspended from the top of the warped staff and they seemed to be staring straight at him.
"Don you be worryin, mon. Dey been dead long time and only be getting mean when you don hear de Summons," said the owner of the staff as he lifted back the hood.
Link blinked as soon as he realized that he was talking to a troll. The troll's light blue skin appeared weathered by time and harsh condition, but judging by the smile, he did not seem to mind. Everything below his nose was covered by ragged cloth, leaving only the upper part of his head, the horns protruding from the sides of his mouth, forearms, and feet exposed.
Link stared at the troll, who only smiled back.
"Wat be wron, mon? Neva be seein a troll witchdocta before?"
"Well... no, not really."
"No saprise der, mon. Most trolls be havin problems wit oters. Been livin in caves too long. Dey not be wantin to see da world, instead, dey keep whakin deir heads against each oter."
"And you?"
"Ah. Zahn Gun. He be no fool. Zahn Gun been to many lands. See people jus a crazy as trolls. Not many be happy at seein trolls, but wat can ya do?"
"Well, you're the first troll I've seen. I've only heard the name a not much else."
"Zahn Gun be guessin dat it de fairy tales, no? Always, de trolls be mean, eatin children, and such. Dey not wan de whole truth, mon. People be scared a trolls because dey don know. So dey be makin lies to make demselves feel betta."
"Does everyone do that?"
Zahn Gun shook his head, "No, mon. I be travlin trough Guardania an Travincal. Good people be der. Dey be smarta den most."
Link tilted his head, "What is it that makes people scared of you?"
The elderly troll pointed at the skulls and knick-knacks on his staff, "It be de blood magic. Dey don kno what it be, so dey tink we be usin it to hurt people dat we don like. Wat dey don know is dat blood be de force a life. Derefor, blood magic be de magic a life."
"But isn't all magic the same?"
The old troll shook his head, "It be dependin on the people dat use it. De Orcs in Durotan use Shamanism. Dey be speakin to da spirits a natua. Most people like Hylians know common magic, but notin special. Uses strengt of de soul, it does. If der be any bad magic, it be necromancy. Upset de dead much. De dead want to sleep and necros don let em."
Navi hovered out from Link's hat and over her charge's head, "You seem to know a lot. How long have you been traveling?"
The old troll blinked at the sight of Navi and let loose a small chuckle, "Jus when Zahn Gun tought he be seein everatin," he turned to the fairy, "Zahn Gun been travlin for lon time. But he still no fin wat he need."
"And what would that be?"
"Wat all witchdocta be searchin for. De perfect recipe dat anywun find tasty. It all start wit de first docta. Zunn'Jeil, was a holy mon and a cook in old troll city. Der been bad plague goin 'round. Many trolls die. It wasn till he be findin da cure in the blood un spices he be usin in his recipe. After he save da city, he been tinkin it be good idea ta lern ota recipe. Good food help cure disease an bring joy, as Zunn said. He travel lon time, but star to wonda what de point was, until de Summons be showin him what he shou be lookin fo. Outa all witchdocta, he make de best dish. Sins den, it be custom between trolls to shae recipe for findin de recipe dat all creatures love."
Both Link and Navi were awestruck by the troll's testimony. It was also then that Zahn Gun's companion woke up, "You goin 'bout dat again? Xoma'Gen be tryin to sleep 'ere."
The old troll frowned to his head hunter companion, "You neva sleep durin travl. Why you complain? De Summons speak well of de boy here."
Curious, Navi hovered a little closer to the troll travelers. Blinking Xoma winced at the near blinding light that the fairy emanated, "Wha'cha be doin, fae?"
"Well, I always wondered what it be like to see a troll up close."
Xoma smirked back viciously, showing his sharp teeth "Xoma be wonderin sometin too. Just wat a fae skull look like!"
The fairy yelped in fear and sped back under Link's hat. Link gave the headhunter a disapproving frown, while the offender only gave him a smug look in return before being admonished by his companion, "you be stoppin dat, Xoma. We los de Old Hatreds lon befo. We no need mor hates to make tings wose."
Remembering what Shiek had said, Link leaned forward, "Someone I know mentioned the Old Hatreds. He told me a bit about them, but I can't help but feel there's more."
Xoma threw an odd look towards Zahn Gun, who sighed and shifted on his seat, "I be short wit de details. It be a game o blamin. Many bad tings cam frum de past and left many ded an homless. Hylians foget de Old Hatreds, because dey lose histry in wars, but Zahn Gun knows de be burnin in Sheikah. Dey no be likin Hylian much. Zahn Gun evan met Sheikah leader. She no be likin Hylian at all. Tho she be workin for Hylian, she hides her hates well."
"Did she ever say why?"
The old troll shook his head again, "Whatever de reason be, she no be tellin."
*
On the other side of the central crossways, Ladasha sat on the fountain in the middle and strummed his lute. He had finally ceased the priest disguise and had now taken the guise of a minstrel. It seemed, fitting, for an actor.
He had also noticed the old man, Rauru speak with a young man leaving on the caravan that had just left. Though the boy looked a bit familiar, he did not give it much thought as he turned to the children that had placed a few rupees spared by their parents to play a song.
Kneeling in front of a few wide-eyed children, he asked pleasantly; "What would the young lords and ladies wish to hear about?"
A young girl, with her index finger still stuck in her mouth blinked, struck with inspiration. "Oh, I saw a woman knight pass through here a long time ago! My daddy said she was a paladin, do you know any paladin songs?"
Ladasha smiled and laughed a bit. "I know a song about what happened to many paladins some years ago. But it's not a happy one, young lady."
"Paladins!" the girl frowned in defiance.
It appeared that the young spitfire would not be deterred as he stood up and made a final tuning to his lute, "Then I shall tell the tale of the Zakkarum, before the return to their home of Travincal..."
Plucking his fingers across the strings, he slowly swayed in time to morose and serious tune of the song.
~Come on my good people and listen to my song although it's not so very good, it's not so very long and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Now concerning these good people, of now I'm going to sing for the way they have been treated, I think it is a sin. and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~They were driven from their homes and away from Travincal And while searching for assistance, they were shunned by all and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~They made their way to Kurast Docks, but they're not mean to stay While the Lord of Hatred let his fiendish servants play and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Oh, from sticks they built their houses, the dirt they had for floors with rags they clothed their children, and hid within the moors and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Many paladins discovered that they were left to roam and when they heard the truth, they led their people home and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou~
~Now concerning these good people, I've nothing more to say until they all return home in some future day and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou. and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
He continued to repeat the last two lines, letting his voice drift into silence. Bowing down to the audience that gathered around, he was met with an already standing ovation. Feigning a humble smile, he bowed once more, mentally reveling in his expertise. His hat, left open on the ground, was soon filled to the brim with green and blue rupees.
With another bow of appreciation, he took his hat and placed the rupees into his pouch. In another short while, he would plan on heading towards the merchants district where there would be more money flowing. For now, he figured a short respite was in order as he leaned against the wall in a nearby alley.
The amount he received was decent for the middle of the day, but he was hoping for a bit more. When it came time to change professions again, he needed the proper fabrics to make himself appear as an appraiser and those kinds made no secret of their wealth.
"Why am I not surprised to hear you here?"
Ladasha turned to see Rauru, still in disguise, with a disapproving frown. The actor frowned in turn, "What do you want, old man?"
"Just wondering what you're doing back here. I thought you and your friend were enchanted with the legends of Zakkarum the Holy and thought it be good to fight evil directly."
"I've long since abandoned those fools. Too self-righteous for my taste."
The older man raised an eyebrow, "And you're not?"
"Hold your tongue, grandpa! Or else I'm going to hand it to you on a plate!"
The elderly sage stood his ground, "You are not exactly the youngest of men, if I recall."
"I still got longer to live than you do, and I can still see!"
No sooner had the sentence ended, Rauru's hand appeared in from of Ladasha's face and a sphere of intense light burst. Holding his hands to his face, Ladasha struggled to keep his balance. When the afflicted minstrel opened his eyes, he saw only faint shadows with minor details.
"Not anymore, pretender. Well, at least for a minute or so."
"If I were capable of seeing, I'd be throttling you by now!"
"Consider it my way of repaying the 'courtesy' you and your friend showed me after I let you both go all those years ago."
"Hey, Borealis and I went through a lot of trouble getting that joy girl for you. Besides, it's not my fault the rest of the court didn't like you fooling around with a girl several decades your junior."
Rauru's frown grew, "I barely escaped with my name and charge intact, and you expect me to be grateful?!"
Ladasha rubbed his eyes, hoping to rid the blindness sooner, "Go sit on a pike, old man!"
A smirk developed on Rauru's features as he started walking away with Ladasha's pouch in hand, "How sad... to think you have to resort to using someone else's insult."
Ladasha snarled and made a mad dash for Rauru, but only found a wall in his place.
*
Local bars in business district of Hyrule's capital city ranged from the exquisite to the standard. The former, where only the rich had the privilege of tasting prime vintage drinks, tasted only in the far corners of the world. Then the latter, where for a few rupees, the common man could wet his whistle to his heart's content.
The latter was preferred by the infamous mercenary, Zidroam Kaneil, or simply 'Zid' by his unwilling acquaintances. In fact, he had a preference to drinking in places where the roughnecks and the lowlifes gathered. If you had a sharp eye, you could find the jobs that paid the best money. Such was the case of his currently favorite tavern, 'The Greasy Bastard'. It wasn't the worst, but it was far from the best. Wenches were saucy, the drinks were undiluted, and the tender had some of the sharpest ears that could catch gossip.
However, today was a bit unusual, for Zid's drink was filled to the brim and still untouched. Normally, he would be downing his fourth glass and ordering another on the way.
The tender, a somewhat heavy set man with enough strength to match his girth, blinked at his current reluctance, "What's wrong, boy? The drink not good enough for you?"
Zid smirked and looked to the tender, "Not really. Just waiting for a client to meet me here. This particular one prefers me sober. As much as I enjoy the ale, friend, if I don't get a job to pay for it, you're out a customer. And this client pays the best."
Nodding, the tender went to serve drinks to other paying customers. Zid watched with no small amount of fascination of how the ale swirled like a hypnotic whirlpool when it was stirred slightly. He considered taking just a sip before his client arrived to loosen up a bit, before he felt a tug on the back of his tunic.
He turned around to meet the leader of the Queen's forces, Shelia Koz, wearing an appropriate disguise for a woman her height. A thing to note was that she had purposely combed her hair in front to partially hide her eyes and face, instead of it always combed back. The slacks she wore left the bottom half of her shins exposed and the sleeves were a bit too short, considering her longer arms, but it still fit and made her attractive to him at the same time. He smiled and said, "Hey, beautiful, what brings you to a shady place like this?"
The taller, dark skinned hylian smiled scornfully at his poor introduction, "Anything but you, I can assure that. Shall we do business?"
Nodding, he took his drink in hand, stepped off his stool, and guided the taller woman to his 'office'. It was nothing more than a booth on the other side of the bar, made for those who preferred their conversations to remain private. Taking a seat, he offered his untouched drink to her as she took a seat opposite of him. She flatly refused the drink with a piercing glare.
"So then, commander, how can I serve my Queen and country?"
Shelia held back a grimace as though she was insulted to hear a self- centered mercenary say such things, "I shall skip the formalities, mercenary. Some of my operatives in the far south have reported seeing some unusual objects in the mountain ranges around the western coast, but because of the environment, it was impossible to get a detailed report. I have reason to believe that Stamas is not keeping its end of the bargain our Queen made with them some years ago."
Zid nearly spat out the ale he was drinking, but kept it inside as he placed the cup on the table and let out a controlled snicker, "Anyone could have told you that! Stamas and their love affair with their precious machines made acquisition of new materials rather difficult from other countries because of bad political maneuvering on their part."
Shelia frowned, "It is hard for me to admit that I agree, still, I need proof to show the Queen that her alliance with those fools was not made well."
"What are you planning to do? Declare war? Forgive me for stating the obvious, but Hyrule just came out of a war against itself five years ago, and now we're at danger with the Separatist Barbarians and you think we can win a two-front battle?"
Shelia sneered at the mercenary's choice of understatement, "Not if we can avert war with those barbarians with diplomacy. I may enjoy the battle, but I'm not so foolish to think that we could survive such a struggle. We need proof from both sides and I'm preparing a scouting party to head north and see if the barbarians are sincere in what they say that they are simply making a new settlement in uncharted territory."
He moved around the table beside her and whispered as he sat his head upon his hand, "And Stamas is where I come in, right?"
She nodded, "You're good at infiltration and have a better knowledge of them than my agents do. You will receive your regular price and a bonus for obtaining proof that I need to show the queen."
He smiled, "What's the bonus? If I may ask."
She smiled back, "I'll allow you to take your hand off my thigh before I chop it off at the wrist."
The mercenary smirked and moved a few of his silver colored hairs out of his face as he moved back. "Anyway, you make infiltrating the stone covered Stamas sound so easy."
At that point, she dropped a silver rupee before his astonished eyes, "This is your down-payment. You can collect the rest on completion."
His smile grew exponentially as he took the currency and placed it in his purse, "But considering the seductive tongue your money has, I'll do it."
Shelia mumbled something about 'greedy scum' beneath her breath as she stood up.
He stood up, leaving his precious ale on the table, and shadowed her, "Do you seriously think that Hyrule is even capable of waging a war? You only have about a couple hundred seasoned troops and nearly two thousand newer recruits. What chance would they stand up against expert barbarian warriors or Stamasian gun powder?"
Shelia whirled around and glared the mercenary down, "They will stand! There is no such thing as a perfect fighting force. Every enemy has a weakness and I shall find and exploit them. By the Goddesses I would sooner die that allow foreign feet to trod upon my homeland in conquest!"
Though imposing as the commander of the Hylian army was, her speech made the mercenary smile as he stood up, "Inspirational. Your troops must love you for it."
She did not appear to take the sarcasm in stride, but felt that he did seem to show a bit of admiration of her zeal. However, her mood changed once again when the mercenary brazenly reached up and kissed her as though he were an old lover of hers.
When it was over, he stepped back a pace and smiled, "Then again, so do I." No sooner had the words escaped his lips when the back of her left fist collided with his cheek and sent him twirling in mid air and to the floor. Though the commander would be lying if she said she did not enjoy it, she was not one to take such conduct lying down, though he appeared to be. With that done, she stomped out.
The other bar attendants looked in worry as the mercenary stood up and attempted to get his balance.
A voice snickered from the rafters, "Not bad. You were able to get through one and a half turns before hitting the floor." The other patrons looked up to see a small yellow light hover down from the rafters and around the mercenary's shoulders.
Though still a bit weary from the hit, he smiled and added, "Had she hit me on the chin, I think I could have flipped and landed on my feet."
The fairy shrugged as best a fairy could and continued, "Can't always choose how and when we fall, can we?"
"True."
With a confused look, the tender said with concern in his voice, "You know, boy, I'd stop doing that to her. One of these days, you're going to fall down because of her and you're not going to get up."
The mercenary was unfazed by the warning, "It'd be worth it as long as I got under her skin. Besides, if she didn't hit me, then it means that I've failed."
"Speaking of which, I never got a chance to tease Navi Gaitir with that overgrown grasshopper."
"Sorry, Tatl. She's gone. They left a short while ago. You recall that caravan that left on our way here?"
"Oh, she was on it?! Arg!" the small fairy began a string of repeated curses in the fae tongue, which left Zid snickering, and the other bar goers in confusion, "How long will they be gone? I need another fairy to tease!"
Zid smirked at his partner's distress, "A few weeks, maybe longer."
Once more, the bar was filled with the fairy's not so fair language.
*
From her study, Zelda watched the city through a window from her chair with an impassive face. Link was probably outside the city limits by now and on his way. At the most he would be gone for a month. Much could happen in that much time. It resulted in too many variables and what ifs for Zelda's liking.
In the past ten years, her own power had grown exponentially due to the triforce. Yet, she still felt quite limited as to what she could do. In spite of the fact that she could prevail over the greatest magicians in several kingdoms, all the Triforce seemed to do was simply augment her existing magical ability. Nothing new and quite stifling compared to what her expectations were.
However, Zelda was far than ungrateful. Were it not for the Triforce, the kingdom would still probably in some wretched civil war by the aristocracy who thought it was their right to assume leadership. The people in question sometimes were more of a liability than usual with some of the squabbling they often participated in.
Zelda recalled, a few weeks ago, that a nobleman had brought a farmer from the outskirts of the city in his employ, demanding to punish the farmer. And for what? Because the farmer had to tie the horse's tail to a wagon, for the nobleman failed to provide the farmer with a harness. The mare's tail was torn off and though the horse wasn't hurt all that much, it was enough to rile the nobleman to want to imprison the farmer.
Shaking her head, Zelda wanted to forget the dignified whining the lord did when she judged the farmer to take care of the horse until its tail grew back. She knew that the young man was honest enough to live up to his end of the bargain. Zelda was also planning on secretly rewarding the farmer with a few extra rupees for putting up with the nobleman.
A shift in the wind broke her recollection and she turned to see her bodyguard emerging from the shadows.
"Greetings, my lady."
Still immersed in her book, Zelda turned the page. "Tell me, Calbrena, did he encounter any of the sages on his way out?"
"I saw him speaking with a beggar, but I wouldn't put it past any of them to come to the city in disguise."
"Didn't you hear what they were talking about?"
"No, the crowd was in my way and by the time I had him in earshot, the beggar was gone."
"Calbrena, you realize that as long as he's in my city I want to know everything he does and whom he speaks to. It is a bit overbearing, I admit, but lust is such a fickle thing. Besides, the Sekorf are busy enough with keeping the infiltrators from other countries out and so I need your skill at its best."
The bodyguard huffed at her queen's chiding. "I don't understand what makes that runt so special. Why not just let me kill him and be done with it? If... urk!"
Calbrena couldn't start her next sentence when several invisible hands grasped her neck and squeezed. Though the pressure wasn't great enough to do any immediate damage, it was enough to completely cut off the air passage. The bodyguard tried to pry whatever was choking her when the same hands threw her against the wall with incredible force. Collapsing, she gasped for breath as she looked up to see Zelda standing before her, directly in front of the window.
Zelda's breathing was slow and audible. Her stance in front of the window made her appear majestic and terrible. So much that it even worried the bodyguard who had seen much death than most would. However, what terrified her most were the eyes. Though on the outside nothing appeared different, yet they had never been so focused on one object, filled with anger and murder.
The queen's voice was quiet, almost bordering on a whisper, but with every passing moment, the volume and intensity increased.
"I should have you torn into so many pieces that not even rodents would be able to find you. He is not to be touched, am I making myself clear? He's my prey. My prize. Mine, do you hear me! MINE!"
For a moment, the indomitable Zelda Harkinian appeared unfocused. Her anger clouding her judgment made her seem as vulnerable as anyone else. However, as tempting as it was for the bodyguard to exploit it, the fact that Zelda could and would make good her threat convinced her otherwise.
Zelda soon calmed down and returned to her seat where several pieces of official business would have to be taken care of. She knew that anyone who turned on Calbrena often met their end quickly, but Zelda knew she was in no danger from the Terminan. Though Zelda would have preferred Calbrena's loyalty to be more tactful, she was not one to let a careless statement go unpunished. Zelda had read of many monarch's short-lived rules because of such careless statements. She, on the other hand, would not make such a mistake.
Struggling with her breath, Calbrena knelt behind Zelda and spoke with a hoarse voice. "Forgive me, my lady. I won't be so careless with my words next time,"
"I hope the same, Calbrena, for your sake."
Feeling bold, the bodyguard continued. "Begging your pardon, your highness, but if you place so much in him and yet he finds fault in what you had to do in the past, isn't that something to be worried about? What if he becomes suspicious?"
"I am counting on him becoming suspicious. And I believe the paladins will have something to do with it."
"But what can they do?"
"In my meetings with him, I have found them to be quite auspicious ever since their civil war thirty years ago. They've buried old hatreds, re- established trust, and though they are not without their troubles, they have always prevailed over one trial after another. I believe their success has been in partial to their faith. It has driven them to prevail over enemies that would conquer them, while rooting out traitors and conspirators. The auras that they hold are powerful and something I don't quite understand yet. For all I know, they could show him everything I had to do."
"Do you fear them, my lady?"
"I do not fear them... but I won't take them lightly. Better to have them as allies and put them under scrutiny rather than engage in open warfare. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"Are they that dangerous?"
"Yes. Yet they'd never be the aggressors, considering their pacifist stance. Their zeal in the Eternal Light gives them a power that no nation could ever hope to surpass. It is unfortunate that the Hyrule as a whole has long lost her own faith in the Goddesses. It would certainly do us some good."
Calbrena noted the hint of disappointment in Zelda's voice and despite her general dislike of everyone in the kingdom could not help but wonder if the people of Hyrule ever did worship the Goddesses that created them in the first place. They still had the Temple of Time and it was still standing after several centuries. Yet, she recalled passing it a while ago and wondered if it was nothing more than an abandoned building.
It would certainly have given the Hylian people something to focus on, but she couldn't be sure. She wasn't from Hyrule after all.
*
One day had passed for the caravan as they were drawing close to the several small villages outside the capital city of Termina, Clocktown. The forests were dense, yet nowhere as dense as the Lost Woods of Link's youth. The many streams of light pouring through the cracks in the forest ceiling gave a sanctified air of peace as the caravan traversed through the path.
Walking alongside the wagon, he stretched his arms above his heads to get the kinks out of his system. Though he did not have any problems with riding in a wagon, his legs were crying at him to be used and were giving him cramps that made ignoring the pain rather difficult.
Zahn Gun, the troll witchdoctor that Link had met upon entering the caravan, was sound asleep. The previous day's conversation and travel had exhausted the old troll and now he needed some rest, much to his companion's dismay. Xoma Gen kept a wary eye on everyone else, including Link and Navi. Yet, he was always careful to avoid a confrontation since he knew that things could go bad for him and his traveling companion very quick.
Though Link did wanted to put the headhunter's mind at ease, Xoma remained silent and on the defensive. So, Link figured it would be best to keep his distance. He also hoped that Zahn Gun would awaken soon so he could tell more stories of his journeys. Though Link did like staying in Hryule, a part of him longed for the experience that Zahn Gun seemed to exude with no effort at all.
Link was silently grateful for both Navi's and Zahn Gun's company, for both of them had taken his worried mind off the troubling affairs back in Hyrule. Somehow, the old troll had sensed Link's apprehension for his homeland and gently chided him to not worry, but be happy. Worry is nothing but a waste of time, the troll said like a cantankerous old man. Despite the tone, Link knew that he was just easing his burden a bit.
Slowing a bit to walk behind his wagon, Link stole a glance to the sleeping troll and whispered a thank you to him. He then returned to the side of the wagon, not at all noticing the old troll smile from hearing Link's appreciation. It wasn't every day a troll got a thank you, and Zahn Gun certainly would remember this one.
"Hey, Warriv!" Link said, running to wagon ahead, "How much farther you think until we reach Termina?"
The aging head of the caravan replied. "We should be getting there by nightfall. Once there, we're going to stop for supplies and head out the next morning."
Though Link was eager to get going, he knew he couldn't push the caravan faster than it could go. Walking back, he was considering hopping back into his wagon when he heard several whispers from the forest.
"...eu dabe iuei hiua..." a woman's voice whispered.
"...kale gueni duin ne kulinha..." a man's voice replied.
"...hua dra leyna hunta..." a third voice added.
"...meh tellah mea chi ha lei..." a fourth voice concluded.
Link turned to what he thought was the source of the whispers, drew the master sword. Though he wasn't sure about whether the source of the voices was hostile or not, he did not want to take any chances. If they were bandits that were to try and rob them, they'd have to get through Link first, despite his apprehension of only having fought animals and monsters.
"Wait, mon!" Zahn Gun cried, jumping out of the wagon and next to Link, "Don you be tinkin of fightin 'ere. Dere be powerful tings hidin here. Zahn Gun don be tinking dey wanna harm us, if dey did, dey woulda attacked by now."
Link turned to the troll, incredulous and the revelation. "You knew they were there?"
"Yeah, mon. But de Summons don be sayin dis be bad spirits... maybe dey not be spirits... but sometin more stronga. It be best if we don strike."
Link's instinct on the matter was screaming at him to fight. It had been too long since he had been in a real fight and his skills may have deteriorated from the lack thereof. Yet, Zahn Gun's influence happened to gain the upper hand that time and relented that the old troll knew what he was talking about. With one final glance he turned to where he thought he heard the voices and went back to the wagon.
Slumping next to the crate where Navi lay sleeping, Link asked. "So, do you know what the voices were saying?"
Blinking, the troll shook his head. "Zahn Gun no be hearin voices. De Summons jus tell him sometin's dere."
"Wait a minute... how could I hear them? I mean, you keep on saying that you hear, uh, the Summons, right?"
"Right, mon. Yet, it be only witchdocta dat hear da Summons. From what Zahn Gun knows, maybe you Hylians be hearin de spirits o de forests."
Link looked back out to the forest and wondered if it had anything to do with the same miracle that allowed him to see the past from another's eyes. Though he was trying his best to be patient about finding the truth, he was really starting to get irritated at the new questions appearing. He had more than enough questions that needed answers as if this continued, he was sure he'd go mad.
End of chapter 5
[Our annoying omnipresent author is sitting on a seemingly sturdy branch as he goes through the pointless notes.]
WH: I was planning on this chapter bring somewhat longer and having it end in Travincal during the middle of a large fight, but I didn't want to drag it on longer than it already has been.
One of the things I am proud about is that I think I finally have a hang as to how the sub characters (i..e. Shelia, Alyx, Zid, and Calbrena) act. At first I was considering having them as accessories to the cannon characters, because, after all, their presence is related to the cannon characters. Yet, imagine my surprise when a friend of mine informed me that OCs have to be able to stand on their own in order to be interesting. Silly me. Now I got to go back and fix the older chapters. *sigh*
As for the bath, I find the concept of heated water in the Kokiri village to be rather unlikely. They don't seem like the kind to use fire and who in their right mind would believe that the Lost Woods actually has plumbing? Not I. Anyway,
As for the pendants, they're flimsy plot devices that I hope will work out later as Link uncovers the truth. But until then, they are just another pair of things that can potentially drive the plot to nowhere.
The Old Hatreds that are mentioned several times in the chapter are reference in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. From what I could tell, it was basically like another version of Tom Leher's 'National Brotherhood Week' satirical song.
*Ahem* ~Oh the Orc folks hate the Humans and the Humans hate the Orc Folks~ ~And the Nagas, hate the Night Elves~ ~And everybody hates the Trolls!~ (Insert Chorus here)
You get the idea. I also got the idea that the Hylians and the Sheikah are either distant relatives or deluded descendants of the High Elves and Night Elves respectively from Warcraft... I just know if I keep this up my fics' history's are going to make me write myself into a corner I can't get out of.
As for the sages and Ganondorf, I'm planning on having them in more significant roles in later chapters to thoroughly confuse the reader. And to anyone who's gotten through this far without screaming at the plot holes and grammar boo boos, deserves some praise.
And sadly, I do admit to going for the 'Link DOES have a family' idea... I can only hope that when this fic is done it'll make sense and it'll satisfy the reader, but a small part of me doubts that.
Zahn Gun and Xoma Gen are both trolls from the orcish hoarde. Though the names and characters are mine, the types of characters that they are belong to Blizzard.
As for Ladasha, if you haven't read the rewrite of previous chapters, I made his character much different than how he was originally writing a few chapters ago. After all, there aren't enough folks like him in Hyrule to make it interesting... though considering the fact that I made him in the first place, that doesn't say much.
And as for Zid and Tael. Well, they'll have their chance in the limelight, just not long enough to eclipse Link, Zel, Gannondorf, and the Sages. After all, it was for the cannon characters you came for and yes, I am being that presumptuous.
Now, as for the Diablo II elements, it originally was nothing more than just a passing reference in a previous chapter, but one thing led to another and now this is a full fledged crossover. Well, I hope it'll make more sense as the story develops and you'll enjoy it. More importantly I hope I don't confuse people with it, but enough of that.
Now, Ladasha's song is actually an old pioneer song called 'Titery-Irie- Aye', adapted with words to fit the Diablo mythos. And it belongs to the original writer, though I'm not sure who it was. Also, I would imagine that in the time span of the game, some paladins that worked for the Zakkarum church would figure out something would be wrong and would rebel, so the idea of a civil war came to mind. I mean, you'd want to rebel if you found out the very thing which you taught against had taken over the institution you worked so hard for.
Well, it looks like these notes are getting a little too long. So I'll cut if off here and say that everything Zelda related, with the exception of my unoriginal characters, belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The Zakkarum, their Paladins, the trolls, and everything else belong to Blizzard.
And finally, the obligatory request for C&C. Like all authors, we love having our ego stroked, but if there would be anything I could ask of you good folks is suggestions on how to make this monstrosity better. I put my trust in you.
WH: Action without faith is drudgery. Faith without action is sloth. Be wary not to be caught in either snare.
TWHammer presents
The Force of One
Chapter 5: Battle Hymn Prelude
A work of fanfiction based on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Diablo II.
*
The sun's rays crawled to the outer donjon of the massive Hyrule castle across the floor and into Link's room in the tower. Already up, Link sat cross-legged on the floor with the book Zelda had given him the week before.
With Navi's and the help of a few others, his comprehension of reading the Hylian alphabet had grown exponentially. Now he could read most basic words and simple sentences, which was remarkable for someone who never got a chance in the first place.
Sighing, Link closed the book silently and looked up to the sun peeking through the bottom of the window. The glaring light was reminiscent of the same light that had saved his life from the Inkling that nearly consumed his mind the week before. It only led him to more questions that needed answers. Even looking through the castle's archives, the closest lead he had was to head to the East, where a civilization of spiritualists called the Zakkarum lived. They seemed to be more knowledgeable about matters of the soul than any other civilization that Hyrule had come into contact with.
It was then he decided to make his journey to Travincal, since Hyrule was in no real danger at the moment and the trip itself would not take very long. From the maps he had borrowed from the library, Link had figured that it would only take him less than a week to pass Termina, then head through the mountain ranges to the Rogue Sanctuary, and finally to the deserts surrounding Lut Golein.
From there, he could charter a boat to take him to Kurast and finally reach Travincal, which was only a day's walk from the port city. On the whole, it would take around a week and a half to reach his destination.
Hyrule didn't have much of the Travincal's history, other than the bloody civil war thirty years ago and the arduous years of recovery, they had little to nothing concerning their culture, religions, and economy.
Though flying blind was nothing new to Link, this wasn't a battle he was expecting. For all he knew, sneezing in public could offend them to the point where they'd either toss him out or kill him. He, however, had far too many questions that needed answers to fail.
"You up already?" Navi asked, fluttering in front of him.
Nodding, Link stood up and placed his book on the bed, "I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a little extra reading."
"And to think that when we were partnered, I practically had to scream at you to wake up."
Link frowned, "It's not my fault I'm a heavy sleeper. Besides, you could have been a bit nicer about waking me up."
"I tried that, it didn't work," the fairy retorted bluntly as it flew over to the nightstand. Navi could never comprehend the reason why Link felt it expedient to sleep longer that it was necessary. She knew that Hylians required at least seven and half to eight hours of sleep in order to function properly. Kokiri needed ten, Gorons needed six, Zora needed nine, and she was still in the dark as to how long Gerudo needed to sleep since she had not the chance to find out.
The fairy turned to see the door opened and one of the maids with a towel and a brush. "Sir Link, there's a tub of hot water downstairs waiting for your use. Please be sure to bring a fresh change of clothes."
Link nodded and thanked the maid as he took the towel and brush, gathered up some of his freshly cleaned clothes and headed downstairs as Navi fluttered behind him.
"Still think it's odd bathing in hot water and cleaning yourself off with soap?" Navi asked as they descended the circular stairs to the ground level.
Link smiled back, "A bit. Every time we had to wash ourselves in the forest, we had to go to the waterfall at a time no one knew. It was the only way that Mido couldn't steal my clothes when I was taking a bath."
Though Link couldn't hear her, the fairy struggled to hold back a chuckle. The thought of seeing the poor boy panicking through the forest, naked, and trying to get back to his home without being seen was simply hilarious... but at the same time too cruel. It seemed like something Tael would have done to her.
Reaching the door to the washroom, Link stopped and turned to Navi. "Ok, you can go now."
"Fine," Navi replied and flew away from her charge to explore the castle some more. Though she had no qualms about being in the same bathing room as Link, he did. Link would only bathe by himself and he had made that quite clear to Navi, the servents, and everyone else.
Fluttering through the hallways to the central courts, she nearly flew into Alyx's middle-aged face. Only a sharp veer had prevented the small fairy from knocking over the elderly soldier as he stumbled to keep his balance from the near miss.
"Oh, pardon me, sir. I didn't see you coming."
The captain of the guards waved it off, "It would not have been the first time." Noticing the fairy by herself, he continued, "If I may ask, where's Link?"
"Taking a bath. I was hoping to find the kitchen for him so he won't get lost."
Alyx let loose a small laugh, "How shall he ever learn to stand for himself?"
Navi sighed, "He will, eventually, but until then, I got to hold him by the hand."
"Goddesses willing, that day may come soon. Anyway, I wished to speak with you both for a short while. Time is not exactly the most merciful with me."
The fairy tilted itself in confusion, "What do you want to talk about?"
He gestured for Navi to walk with him as he answered, "What the Lost Woods was life before the fires. When I was but a boy, I would always be playing with my friends near the edge of the Lost Woods. Yet, our parents would always scold us for going near there, so naturally, I got curious and though life went on for me, I still wondered what it was like to live in there."
Entering the inner cloister, Navi considered telling him since there was no real law forbidding the telling others about the Lost Woods and the Kokiri forest. The only thing fairies like her could not talk about was their home, which resided in a completely different world.
"Where to start? Well, for one thing, the Kokiri village was always populated by little children. A Kokiri child could be nearly three hundred years old when it looks like a Hylian child of about twelve."
Alyx was awestruck. "You serious? What would happen if the Kokiri grew up?"
"They don't. They become trees with the rest of the forest and, in a sense, become part of the forest."
The captain of the guard considered his next question before turning back to the hovering blue light, "Did they behave different than regular children?"
"Not at all. They still learn, but at the pace of a child. So, it takes them a long time to be able to have the same comprehension of an adult." A thought then came to Navi, "What do you mean by, 'did they?' are they still around?"
"Trust me friend, the reports we've been getting of these kokiri are not the same as the ones you knew. A month ago, we were told than several cattle were slaughtered when grazing in the plains, just north of the Lost Woods," Alyx mumbled.
"But how could they be..." Navi wondered before they found themselves in the central chamber of the castle. The rows of desks were empty as was the throne room, for it appeared that no meeting had been called as of yet.
It also brought the memory of Zelda and her bodyguard, the sight of the latter brought chills to her mind and just being near Zelda... shaking her head, Navi turned to the captain and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why does Zelda need a bodyguard?"
"Though our kingdom is rather small when compared to the Beast Tribes, Guardania, the Zakkarum, Azeroth, and Stamas, there are always small groups that vehemently oppose the presence of other races. Not to mention groups within other countries that would love to promote intrigue among ourselves," the captain replied before continuing, "However, as well as Calbrena serves the kingdom, many of us do not care for her too much."
Curious, Navi pressed how the aforementioned did not carry favor with the other ministers and commanders of the government.
"I have come to this conclusion; she hates us, so we hate her. Being as stealthy as she is, I would not be surprised at all if she wanted to kill us all from the shadows. As effective as her methods are in some cases, I just don't trust them. I've served the royal family for most of my life and the last thing I wish to witness is the end of the family by such intrigue."
"Were you still loyal to the king when the insurrection took place? Or did you help Zelda?"
With a small sigh of reluctance, he answered, "I was unquestionably loyal to the king, but when I hoped to dissuade him from initiating a war with the Beast Tribes, he had my rank stripped and given to a petty yea-sayer. Zelda freed me and I felt that if Hyrule were to survive, I had to help her, though it was a difficult choice to turn against the man I esteemed highly in my younger years."
The memories of the former king's madness left a scar on Alyx's mind. Though he did not blame the king himself, the captain still could not forget the cruel and poison tipped words he had received for questioning authority. With a blink, he realized that his mind was wandering far back to the days when Zelda was but a child and the time the king had spent with her.
He then let out a small laugh and said, "Forgive me. This old soldier loves to remember the days past. I think it would be best if we fetched Link. I recall you two saying you wished to leave for Kurast today."
"It's alright, sir. Yes, we were planning on leaving, but I wonder if Link is even ready to go or not. He's spent so much time reading those books Zelda gave him, I still wonder if he's ever focused on one thing," Navi said, hovering beside him as they proceeded to leave the central chamber.
No sooner had they reached the door, it began to open. Out of habit, Navi flew behind the captain and clung to the fabric of his tunic as Calbrena stepped through.
The captain and bodyguard both stepped back from each other, clearly startled.
"What are you doing here?" the bodyguard asked coldly.
"I could very well ask you the same question. Still searching for your Hylia Hawk?"
"That's no business of yours."
"Just as long as you keep it to yourself," Alyx said sternly before stepping past her and into the hallway. While heading to the outer cloister, he could feel Calbrena's cold stare piercing his back. Though he had grown accustomed to her attitude, her glare had recently gotten far more malicious.
When Navi was sure they were out of Calbrena's sight, she flew out from behind and shivered, "I can see why you don't like her."
"I can see the necessity of hiring someone like her as a bodyguard, however, I begin to wonder the wisdom of inviting her from Termina," he said with a frown.
"What's wrong with Termina?"
"Termina was always a hotspot of one sort or another of armed conflict. If it's not the Hylians there, it's the Deku, the Zora, or bandits. Calbrena is one of the few descendants of the Ikana, a race of warriors and assassins. They killed themselves off in a civil war and the survivors moved into central Termina where they founded Clocktown with Hylian traders. It's made me biased, I admit."
Though Navi had heard differently about Clocktown's origins, she decided not to press the issue. There was a chance that interpretation of Terminain could have meant something else to Hylians.
Alyx's frown grew, "And it was because of Calbrena that I was able to escape. So, after all this time, I'm still in her debt."
Seeing this reminded Navi of the times that Ganondorf had saved Link's life. A most awkward situation if anything else.
"Well, there's little point to complaining about it. I'll have a maid send some supplies to Link's room for the trip. And be sure to inform him that the caravan heading east is leaving at mid day at the castle's entrance," he said before giving the fairy a bow and leaving to attend to other matters.
*
With a contented sigh on his face, Link used the rougher bristles on the brush to scratch his back of all the hidden itches he had grown to ignore when he was younger. As much as he liked living with the Kokiri, he could also get quite used to living as a Hylian, especially if it meant having this marvelous brush and a nice hot bath.
"Enjoying yourself?" a somewhat familiar voice asked.
Almost on instinct, Link gasped and submerged himself in the tub. Looking over the edge, he turned to the window to notice the Sheikah man that he had met when he first came to this time.
"Oh, you scared me. I'm used to bathing alone."
The Sheikah nodded, "My apologies, I had hoped to catch you before you entered. It appears that I'm not as quick as I thought."
Waving it off Link replied, "Don't worry. It wouldn't have been the first time."
Confused, the Sheikah tilted his head, "Come again?"
Again, Link waved it off and changed the subject, not wanting to recall all those pranks Mido played on him. "Can I finish up and change? I'll only be a minute."
Nodding, Link's visitor hopped out of the window and waited patiently on the windowsill as Link finally changed and called him back in. Link gestured to another seat on the other side of the room as he took another.
"I remember the big guy from Kakarikko saying that your name was something else. Um, Sheik?"
"I'm going to get you for this, Mareg," the Sheikah grumbled mentally, then continued with a sigh, "Yes, my name is Sheik. It's a name often given to boys that have no family. And whenever there are more than one per tribe, variations have to be give for clarity. It's also protocol that we never give our true name to strangers unless they've earned our trust."
Sheik sat cross-legged and grumbled more about the Beast Tribesman as Link continued to listen.
"Well, now we don't have to worry about it anymore," Link said casually.
"I had hoped to remain as inconspicuous as possible, since it is my job to be so."
"What's that?"
"Intelligence. Though I am known to do work for the aristocracy of Hyrule, I actually find information about the leaders and pass it on to the Sages and the Sheikah Elders. Only the important information to be exact, but regardless, information is just that."
Though Link had a bit of a hard time following what he was saying, he did understand the overall point. Sheik listened to stuff and that sufficed him for now.
"I heard that you are going somewhere? So soon?"
Link nodded, "Navi and I are going east. I'm not exactly sure what's there, but I'm going to find out."
From beneath his cloth mask, Sheik smiled, "I'm certain you will. It was very you."
The statement gave Link pause, "What?"
Sheik sighed, "It is not easy to explain, but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. There was another you I remember from the intervening years. He and I were brothers in arms and I was quite fond of him."
"Then... if there are two of me, where's the other me?"
"He wanted to make sure that you would figure out things on your own without his help. So he left a long while ago."
"Did he ever return?"
Link's visitor shook his head, "Since I'm confined to Hyrule, I have no way of knowing whatever became of him."
Though it was completely open-ended, Sheik's words worried Link. Now more questions were popping up and he had no idea how he was supposed to answer those ones.
Sheik's eyes searched Link's worried face and wondered if he had spoken too much. However, a glimmer out of the corner of his eye directed his attention to the pile of clothes Link brought with him. "What are those?" he said, pointing towards the glimmer.
Following Sheik's gaze, Link looked by the base of the tub and noticed that he took both of those odd pendants with him. He was not sure how they got there, but he was sure it was of little importance.
"They're pendants I found in the forest."
"May I see them?"
"Sure, but be careful. I don't know how tough they are."
Nodding, Sheik carefully removed the pendants, now with new straps to keep them around the neck longer and examined them with a careful eye.
"Do you know what they are?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. First of all; they're both Pendants of Dichotomy. An old tradition of sheikah smiths often created jewelry like this for their families, and these ones in particular were meant to show balanced opposites in loved ones."
He lifted the snake pendant up, "This is the Serpentine Angel. It was often made for those of unpredictable dispositions with a trace of nobility about them. The person could be a snake to all, but would keep his good deeds secret to ensure no one would think well of him. An odd characteristic."
He held the second pedant up, "This is the Black Sun. Though its surface was covered in darkness, its creation was born from light. This is one of the few occasions where light and darkness do not abhor each other, in fact, were it not for one, the other would not exist."
Link was awestruck, but then a thought came to him, "Wait, these were with my mother, does that mean I'm Sheikah too?"
Taking a closer look towards the Hylian, Shiek shook his head, "No. You're not, but Sheikah blood flows through your veins. Maybe an ancestor created them and they've been passed in your family. I can't say really. But what I do know is that you shouldn't wear those when you're in Sheikah territory."
Link blinked at the unusual warning, "Why?"
"Some Sheikah cling to the Old Hatreds, which is why most of them are in hiding and out of the sight of Hylians. The Hylians and Sheikah were born from another pair of races that utterly despised each other and sadly, their hatreds still live on in some of us," he turned to look Link straight in the eye, "if you were born amongst Sheikah, would have been branded a mongrel and either cast out or killed before knowing your first week of life. If Sheikah knew you carried these, they would act no different and you would still be killed."
Turning away from Sheik, he let his mind wander and began to consider if there was some secret reason why he shouldn't be around Hylians. He was never a Kokiri, in spite of what he thought of all his life, and though he had found some semblance of his past, one part of it was life threateningly dangerous.
"I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but it's better you know now then finding out during an execution."
Link supposed he was right, but it still didn't make him feel any better. A knock on the door diverted his attention, "Hello?"
"Sir Link, preparations have been made and your gear is waiting in your room," the same maid from before said through the wood.
"Thank you, I'll be out in a minute," Link said before turning back to ask Sheik something else. However, it seemed to be pointless, for he had vanished just like Mareg had when he first came to Castleton.
It was then Link came to a decision: He hated it when people did that.
*
In the outer cloister of the castle, Link and Farlin were going over the maps the latter provided as many soldiers and workers passes around them.
"Two days after you pass Kakkarikko, you're going to be heading through the Great Mountain range to get to the Rogue Sanctuary," he then handed Link a bag filled with obsidian tokens in the shape of an arrowheads, "If you need to replenish your supplies on the way back, like arrows and water, this should help."
Taking one of the arrowheads between his thumb and forefinger, he looked at the intricate designs and marveled at the skill. Wondering its purpose, he asked, "Do the Rogues use this as money?"
Farlin shook his head, "No, but they greatly prize work such as this. And these arrowheads are to be used with steel arrows so they can be used again. They prefer to waste as little as possible and we've started some trading with them on small things like this."
Link continued to marvel at the arrowhead as Zelda's advisor continued, "Oh, what a burden to be born elsewhere and not in the midst of all those beautiful women. A pox upon my foul luck."
The younger Hylian turned to Farlin, "What makes you say that?"
The advisor was taken back as if he were struck in the face, "Friend, I kid you not, there are few things in this world more precious than being in the presence of a beautiful woman. How can you not salivate at the thought?"
Link figured it would be best to simply shrug his shoulders rather than answer the complicated truth of his time-warped condition.
Farlin then looked thoughtful as he continued, "Although, I have also heard that if any man wishes to work among the Rogues, he has to be castrated."
Blinking, Link asked, "What does castrate mean?"
Zelda's advisor then looked shocked for a second, but quickly changed to a playful smile, "Oh, it's nothing important, really. I'll let you find out for yourself."
Navi held back a snort as she hid in Link's hat.
Wrapping an arm around Link's shoulder, Farlin whispered with a grin nothing short of mischievous, "Here's a bit of advice for the journey: It's very easy for a beautiful woman to resist a man. But when a beautiful woman comes to you, never resist her."
Though Link could understand how it would work for him, it just didn't make sense to Link. He gave the other Hylian a nervous nod and skittered outside of the castle grounds.
When Navi was sure they were out of hearing range, she flew out of Link's hat and hovered beside him, "Link, don't listen to that man. I don't like him at all."
Though Link could not completely understand Navi's position on him, he did have reservations that made him agree with the fairy.
"It's not just the fact that he's too eager, I can't help but feel he's hiding something."
"Everyone does, though," Link said silently.
Navi turned to Link and gave his face a hard study. She could see that though there was nothing guilty about him, however, there was a lot of uncertainty. It made honesty, being one of the highest held virtues amongst the fairies, likened unto a double-edged sword. Navi figured that if Link had something to tell her, he would do so in his own time and she had no problem with that.
Some minutes later, they reached the central marketplace where the caravan was finally loading up. Link was nearing the central square when a hand pulled at his arm.
He looked down to see a rather familiar face beg for alms.
"Rauru?"
The old sage hushed him and jerked his head in the direction of an alleyway just out of plain sight. They would be able to talk there.
*
"Sheik has informed us of what you're doing. But the rest of the sages and me can't help but get a bit apprehensive if we don't know where."
Looking around to see if anyone was hearing them, he leaned against the wall and answered calmly, "Travincal. I had a dream a short while after I came here. All I could tell is that I have to go to the East. I don't know for sure, but I just have this feeling I have to go to where the Zakkarum people live."
The blind sage raised an eyebrow. Then chuckled darkly, for those words were familiar to him, "Just like your father."
Not expecting that statement, he then stood up again, "What do you mean by that?"
Rauru sighed regretfully, "I knew your father, unfortunately, and he was only a few years older than you when he left Hyrule to the east."
Link was almost hesitant to ask, but the old sage had already begun to answer, "He was an arrogant, self-righteous thief. He despised the world and everyone in it. How he was able to woo a Sheikah girl into marrying him, I have no idea."
The hero of time subconsciously touched the two amulets in his pocket, but decided to leave them out of the conversation as the old sage continued.
"There used to be a town by Lake Hylia, but a plague came through and wiped out all the adults. The royal family at the time, quarantined the town and it left a town of orphans to die from lack of care or bandits. Your father was one of the few who survived when the plague ran its course. He learned to survive in the den of thieves that the town had become by stealing, lying, and misleading. He was also the only one to survive when the royal army came in and wiped out the bandits."
The frown on Rauru's face did not bode well for what was to come next.
"I met him and a friend of his when I was serving as a vassal for the king of Hyrule at the time. They had lied themselves into the castle by pretending to be couriers, he nearly fooled everyone, until I saw through them. They were planning on stealing jewels of the royal family and had nearly done so. I did catch them, but since they were still boys, my stronger sense of conscience bid me to let them go. However, after my show of mercy, your father told me to sit on a pike and ran off. So, I continued to watch him as the years passed. I even saw him able to sneak into Kakkariko, which was an amazing feat for any Hylian."
Link, still hungry for knowledge of the past, asked silently, "And what about my mother?"
The old sage shook his head, "I am afraid I do not know. Just as light abhors dark, dark abhors light and because of that my knowledge of the Sheikah is extremely limited, save for what the sage of Shadow has told me."
"I see... is the sage around?"
Again, Rauru shook his head, "She's been missing for quite a while, I'm afraid. When last I heard of her, she tried to confront the queen by herself."
"Great... more questions without answers," the young man grumbled.
"If the Zakkarum are as wise as word of mouth says, they maybe able to help you find the truth. Before they started on their bloody crusades and the ensuing civil war, I met a paladin that had the ability to find the truth wherever he saw it. I fail to remember the name, but I recall that he was what they called an 'auror'. If they still have one, he or she may be able to help."
Link nodded in appreciation before exiting the alleyway. Just then, another question came to mind and he was about to ask when he turned to find Rauru gone. Just like Sheik.
Link decided, he was beginning to really hate it when people did that.
*
A climbing into the back wagon of the caravan, Link settled himself and his pack near the rear latch and helped the worker close it tight to keep the supplies in. Though the sun was high, the autumn winds kept the temperature quite comfortable.
Final preparations came and went as the wagon master screamed at the cattle and started off through the drawbridge of Castleton. Watching the castle grow smaller in the distance, the hero of time sighed and figured that it was best not to dwell on small things at the moment.
A small part of him did not want to leave, mostly because of Zelda. Yes, he had heard bad things of her, he even saw them himself in those visions. Yet, how could he deny all the good things she did for Hyrule, how she had befriended him, and taught him how to read? He could not. With any hope, he could find the answers in this journey of his.
Leaning back against the side of the wagon, he noticed that he was not alone. Two cloaked figures, one carrying a staff and the other carrying a spear appeared to have had a longer journey than he did. The staff one of the travelers carried was made of an ancient wood and had several small beads and feathers. Link held back a gasp when he noticed a pair of skulls suspended from the top of the warped staff and they seemed to be staring straight at him.
"Don you be worryin, mon. Dey been dead long time and only be getting mean when you don hear de Summons," said the owner of the staff as he lifted back the hood.
Link blinked as soon as he realized that he was talking to a troll. The troll's light blue skin appeared weathered by time and harsh condition, but judging by the smile, he did not seem to mind. Everything below his nose was covered by ragged cloth, leaving only the upper part of his head, the horns protruding from the sides of his mouth, forearms, and feet exposed.
Link stared at the troll, who only smiled back.
"Wat be wron, mon? Neva be seein a troll witchdocta before?"
"Well... no, not really."
"No saprise der, mon. Most trolls be havin problems wit oters. Been livin in caves too long. Dey not be wantin to see da world, instead, dey keep whakin deir heads against each oter."
"And you?"
"Ah. Zahn Gun. He be no fool. Zahn Gun been to many lands. See people jus a crazy as trolls. Not many be happy at seein trolls, but wat can ya do?"
"Well, you're the first troll I've seen. I've only heard the name a not much else."
"Zahn Gun be guessin dat it de fairy tales, no? Always, de trolls be mean, eatin children, and such. Dey not wan de whole truth, mon. People be scared a trolls because dey don know. So dey be makin lies to make demselves feel betta."
"Does everyone do that?"
Zahn Gun shook his head, "No, mon. I be travlin trough Guardania an Travincal. Good people be der. Dey be smarta den most."
Link tilted his head, "What is it that makes people scared of you?"
The elderly troll pointed at the skulls and knick-knacks on his staff, "It be de blood magic. Dey don kno what it be, so dey tink we be usin it to hurt people dat we don like. Wat dey don know is dat blood be de force a life. Derefor, blood magic be de magic a life."
"But isn't all magic the same?"
The old troll shook his head, "It be dependin on the people dat use it. De Orcs in Durotan use Shamanism. Dey be speakin to da spirits a natua. Most people like Hylians know common magic, but notin special. Uses strengt of de soul, it does. If der be any bad magic, it be necromancy. Upset de dead much. De dead want to sleep and necros don let em."
Navi hovered out from Link's hat and over her charge's head, "You seem to know a lot. How long have you been traveling?"
The old troll blinked at the sight of Navi and let loose a small chuckle, "Jus when Zahn Gun tought he be seein everatin," he turned to the fairy, "Zahn Gun been travlin for lon time. But he still no fin wat he need."
"And what would that be?"
"Wat all witchdocta be searchin for. De perfect recipe dat anywun find tasty. It all start wit de first docta. Zunn'Jeil, was a holy mon and a cook in old troll city. Der been bad plague goin 'round. Many trolls die. It wasn till he be findin da cure in the blood un spices he be usin in his recipe. After he save da city, he been tinkin it be good idea ta lern ota recipe. Good food help cure disease an bring joy, as Zunn said. He travel lon time, but star to wonda what de point was, until de Summons be showin him what he shou be lookin fo. Outa all witchdocta, he make de best dish. Sins den, it be custom between trolls to shae recipe for findin de recipe dat all creatures love."
Both Link and Navi were awestruck by the troll's testimony. It was also then that Zahn Gun's companion woke up, "You goin 'bout dat again? Xoma'Gen be tryin to sleep 'ere."
The old troll frowned to his head hunter companion, "You neva sleep durin travl. Why you complain? De Summons speak well of de boy here."
Curious, Navi hovered a little closer to the troll travelers. Blinking Xoma winced at the near blinding light that the fairy emanated, "Wha'cha be doin, fae?"
"Well, I always wondered what it be like to see a troll up close."
Xoma smirked back viciously, showing his sharp teeth "Xoma be wonderin sometin too. Just wat a fae skull look like!"
The fairy yelped in fear and sped back under Link's hat. Link gave the headhunter a disapproving frown, while the offender only gave him a smug look in return before being admonished by his companion, "you be stoppin dat, Xoma. We los de Old Hatreds lon befo. We no need mor hates to make tings wose."
Remembering what Shiek had said, Link leaned forward, "Someone I know mentioned the Old Hatreds. He told me a bit about them, but I can't help but feel there's more."
Xoma threw an odd look towards Zahn Gun, who sighed and shifted on his seat, "I be short wit de details. It be a game o blamin. Many bad tings cam frum de past and left many ded an homless. Hylians foget de Old Hatreds, because dey lose histry in wars, but Zahn Gun knows de be burnin in Sheikah. Dey no be likin Hylian much. Zahn Gun evan met Sheikah leader. She no be likin Hylian at all. Tho she be workin for Hylian, she hides her hates well."
"Did she ever say why?"
The old troll shook his head again, "Whatever de reason be, she no be tellin."
*
On the other side of the central crossways, Ladasha sat on the fountain in the middle and strummed his lute. He had finally ceased the priest disguise and had now taken the guise of a minstrel. It seemed, fitting, for an actor.
He had also noticed the old man, Rauru speak with a young man leaving on the caravan that had just left. Though the boy looked a bit familiar, he did not give it much thought as he turned to the children that had placed a few rupees spared by their parents to play a song.
Kneeling in front of a few wide-eyed children, he asked pleasantly; "What would the young lords and ladies wish to hear about?"
A young girl, with her index finger still stuck in her mouth blinked, struck with inspiration. "Oh, I saw a woman knight pass through here a long time ago! My daddy said she was a paladin, do you know any paladin songs?"
Ladasha smiled and laughed a bit. "I know a song about what happened to many paladins some years ago. But it's not a happy one, young lady."
"Paladins!" the girl frowned in defiance.
It appeared that the young spitfire would not be deterred as he stood up and made a final tuning to his lute, "Then I shall tell the tale of the Zakkarum, before the return to their home of Travincal..."
Plucking his fingers across the strings, he slowly swayed in time to morose and serious tune of the song.
~Come on my good people and listen to my song although it's not so very good, it's not so very long and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Now concerning these good people, of now I'm going to sing for the way they have been treated, I think it is a sin. and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~They were driven from their homes and away from Travincal And while searching for assistance, they were shunned by all and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~They made their way to Kurast Docks, but they're not mean to stay While the Lord of Hatred let his fiendish servants play and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Oh, from sticks they built their houses, the dirt they had for floors with rags they clothed their children, and hid within the moors and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~Many paladins discovered that they were left to roam and when they heard the truth, they led their people home and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou~
~Now concerning these good people, I've nothing more to say until they all return home in some future day and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
~and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou. and sing hithery avery ay, and sing hithery avery ou.~
He continued to repeat the last two lines, letting his voice drift into silence. Bowing down to the audience that gathered around, he was met with an already standing ovation. Feigning a humble smile, he bowed once more, mentally reveling in his expertise. His hat, left open on the ground, was soon filled to the brim with green and blue rupees.
With another bow of appreciation, he took his hat and placed the rupees into his pouch. In another short while, he would plan on heading towards the merchants district where there would be more money flowing. For now, he figured a short respite was in order as he leaned against the wall in a nearby alley.
The amount he received was decent for the middle of the day, but he was hoping for a bit more. When it came time to change professions again, he needed the proper fabrics to make himself appear as an appraiser and those kinds made no secret of their wealth.
"Why am I not surprised to hear you here?"
Ladasha turned to see Rauru, still in disguise, with a disapproving frown. The actor frowned in turn, "What do you want, old man?"
"Just wondering what you're doing back here. I thought you and your friend were enchanted with the legends of Zakkarum the Holy and thought it be good to fight evil directly."
"I've long since abandoned those fools. Too self-righteous for my taste."
The older man raised an eyebrow, "And you're not?"
"Hold your tongue, grandpa! Or else I'm going to hand it to you on a plate!"
The elderly sage stood his ground, "You are not exactly the youngest of men, if I recall."
"I still got longer to live than you do, and I can still see!"
No sooner had the sentence ended, Rauru's hand appeared in from of Ladasha's face and a sphere of intense light burst. Holding his hands to his face, Ladasha struggled to keep his balance. When the afflicted minstrel opened his eyes, he saw only faint shadows with minor details.
"Not anymore, pretender. Well, at least for a minute or so."
"If I were capable of seeing, I'd be throttling you by now!"
"Consider it my way of repaying the 'courtesy' you and your friend showed me after I let you both go all those years ago."
"Hey, Borealis and I went through a lot of trouble getting that joy girl for you. Besides, it's not my fault the rest of the court didn't like you fooling around with a girl several decades your junior."
Rauru's frown grew, "I barely escaped with my name and charge intact, and you expect me to be grateful?!"
Ladasha rubbed his eyes, hoping to rid the blindness sooner, "Go sit on a pike, old man!"
A smirk developed on Rauru's features as he started walking away with Ladasha's pouch in hand, "How sad... to think you have to resort to using someone else's insult."
Ladasha snarled and made a mad dash for Rauru, but only found a wall in his place.
*
Local bars in business district of Hyrule's capital city ranged from the exquisite to the standard. The former, where only the rich had the privilege of tasting prime vintage drinks, tasted only in the far corners of the world. Then the latter, where for a few rupees, the common man could wet his whistle to his heart's content.
The latter was preferred by the infamous mercenary, Zidroam Kaneil, or simply 'Zid' by his unwilling acquaintances. In fact, he had a preference to drinking in places where the roughnecks and the lowlifes gathered. If you had a sharp eye, you could find the jobs that paid the best money. Such was the case of his currently favorite tavern, 'The Greasy Bastard'. It wasn't the worst, but it was far from the best. Wenches were saucy, the drinks were undiluted, and the tender had some of the sharpest ears that could catch gossip.
However, today was a bit unusual, for Zid's drink was filled to the brim and still untouched. Normally, he would be downing his fourth glass and ordering another on the way.
The tender, a somewhat heavy set man with enough strength to match his girth, blinked at his current reluctance, "What's wrong, boy? The drink not good enough for you?"
Zid smirked and looked to the tender, "Not really. Just waiting for a client to meet me here. This particular one prefers me sober. As much as I enjoy the ale, friend, if I don't get a job to pay for it, you're out a customer. And this client pays the best."
Nodding, the tender went to serve drinks to other paying customers. Zid watched with no small amount of fascination of how the ale swirled like a hypnotic whirlpool when it was stirred slightly. He considered taking just a sip before his client arrived to loosen up a bit, before he felt a tug on the back of his tunic.
He turned around to meet the leader of the Queen's forces, Shelia Koz, wearing an appropriate disguise for a woman her height. A thing to note was that she had purposely combed her hair in front to partially hide her eyes and face, instead of it always combed back. The slacks she wore left the bottom half of her shins exposed and the sleeves were a bit too short, considering her longer arms, but it still fit and made her attractive to him at the same time. He smiled and said, "Hey, beautiful, what brings you to a shady place like this?"
The taller, dark skinned hylian smiled scornfully at his poor introduction, "Anything but you, I can assure that. Shall we do business?"
Nodding, he took his drink in hand, stepped off his stool, and guided the taller woman to his 'office'. It was nothing more than a booth on the other side of the bar, made for those who preferred their conversations to remain private. Taking a seat, he offered his untouched drink to her as she took a seat opposite of him. She flatly refused the drink with a piercing glare.
"So then, commander, how can I serve my Queen and country?"
Shelia held back a grimace as though she was insulted to hear a self- centered mercenary say such things, "I shall skip the formalities, mercenary. Some of my operatives in the far south have reported seeing some unusual objects in the mountain ranges around the western coast, but because of the environment, it was impossible to get a detailed report. I have reason to believe that Stamas is not keeping its end of the bargain our Queen made with them some years ago."
Zid nearly spat out the ale he was drinking, but kept it inside as he placed the cup on the table and let out a controlled snicker, "Anyone could have told you that! Stamas and their love affair with their precious machines made acquisition of new materials rather difficult from other countries because of bad political maneuvering on their part."
Shelia frowned, "It is hard for me to admit that I agree, still, I need proof to show the Queen that her alliance with those fools was not made well."
"What are you planning to do? Declare war? Forgive me for stating the obvious, but Hyrule just came out of a war against itself five years ago, and now we're at danger with the Separatist Barbarians and you think we can win a two-front battle?"
Shelia sneered at the mercenary's choice of understatement, "Not if we can avert war with those barbarians with diplomacy. I may enjoy the battle, but I'm not so foolish to think that we could survive such a struggle. We need proof from both sides and I'm preparing a scouting party to head north and see if the barbarians are sincere in what they say that they are simply making a new settlement in uncharted territory."
He moved around the table beside her and whispered as he sat his head upon his hand, "And Stamas is where I come in, right?"
She nodded, "You're good at infiltration and have a better knowledge of them than my agents do. You will receive your regular price and a bonus for obtaining proof that I need to show the queen."
He smiled, "What's the bonus? If I may ask."
She smiled back, "I'll allow you to take your hand off my thigh before I chop it off at the wrist."
The mercenary smirked and moved a few of his silver colored hairs out of his face as he moved back. "Anyway, you make infiltrating the stone covered Stamas sound so easy."
At that point, she dropped a silver rupee before his astonished eyes, "This is your down-payment. You can collect the rest on completion."
His smile grew exponentially as he took the currency and placed it in his purse, "But considering the seductive tongue your money has, I'll do it."
Shelia mumbled something about 'greedy scum' beneath her breath as she stood up.
He stood up, leaving his precious ale on the table, and shadowed her, "Do you seriously think that Hyrule is even capable of waging a war? You only have about a couple hundred seasoned troops and nearly two thousand newer recruits. What chance would they stand up against expert barbarian warriors or Stamasian gun powder?"
Shelia whirled around and glared the mercenary down, "They will stand! There is no such thing as a perfect fighting force. Every enemy has a weakness and I shall find and exploit them. By the Goddesses I would sooner die that allow foreign feet to trod upon my homeland in conquest!"
Though imposing as the commander of the Hylian army was, her speech made the mercenary smile as he stood up, "Inspirational. Your troops must love you for it."
She did not appear to take the sarcasm in stride, but felt that he did seem to show a bit of admiration of her zeal. However, her mood changed once again when the mercenary brazenly reached up and kissed her as though he were an old lover of hers.
When it was over, he stepped back a pace and smiled, "Then again, so do I." No sooner had the words escaped his lips when the back of her left fist collided with his cheek and sent him twirling in mid air and to the floor. Though the commander would be lying if she said she did not enjoy it, she was not one to take such conduct lying down, though he appeared to be. With that done, she stomped out.
The other bar attendants looked in worry as the mercenary stood up and attempted to get his balance.
A voice snickered from the rafters, "Not bad. You were able to get through one and a half turns before hitting the floor." The other patrons looked up to see a small yellow light hover down from the rafters and around the mercenary's shoulders.
Though still a bit weary from the hit, he smiled and added, "Had she hit me on the chin, I think I could have flipped and landed on my feet."
The fairy shrugged as best a fairy could and continued, "Can't always choose how and when we fall, can we?"
"True."
With a confused look, the tender said with concern in his voice, "You know, boy, I'd stop doing that to her. One of these days, you're going to fall down because of her and you're not going to get up."
The mercenary was unfazed by the warning, "It'd be worth it as long as I got under her skin. Besides, if she didn't hit me, then it means that I've failed."
"Speaking of which, I never got a chance to tease Navi Gaitir with that overgrown grasshopper."
"Sorry, Tatl. She's gone. They left a short while ago. You recall that caravan that left on our way here?"
"Oh, she was on it?! Arg!" the small fairy began a string of repeated curses in the fae tongue, which left Zid snickering, and the other bar goers in confusion, "How long will they be gone? I need another fairy to tease!"
Zid smirked at his partner's distress, "A few weeks, maybe longer."
Once more, the bar was filled with the fairy's not so fair language.
*
From her study, Zelda watched the city through a window from her chair with an impassive face. Link was probably outside the city limits by now and on his way. At the most he would be gone for a month. Much could happen in that much time. It resulted in too many variables and what ifs for Zelda's liking.
In the past ten years, her own power had grown exponentially due to the triforce. Yet, she still felt quite limited as to what she could do. In spite of the fact that she could prevail over the greatest magicians in several kingdoms, all the Triforce seemed to do was simply augment her existing magical ability. Nothing new and quite stifling compared to what her expectations were.
However, Zelda was far than ungrateful. Were it not for the Triforce, the kingdom would still probably in some wretched civil war by the aristocracy who thought it was their right to assume leadership. The people in question sometimes were more of a liability than usual with some of the squabbling they often participated in.
Zelda recalled, a few weeks ago, that a nobleman had brought a farmer from the outskirts of the city in his employ, demanding to punish the farmer. And for what? Because the farmer had to tie the horse's tail to a wagon, for the nobleman failed to provide the farmer with a harness. The mare's tail was torn off and though the horse wasn't hurt all that much, it was enough to rile the nobleman to want to imprison the farmer.
Shaking her head, Zelda wanted to forget the dignified whining the lord did when she judged the farmer to take care of the horse until its tail grew back. She knew that the young man was honest enough to live up to his end of the bargain. Zelda was also planning on secretly rewarding the farmer with a few extra rupees for putting up with the nobleman.
A shift in the wind broke her recollection and she turned to see her bodyguard emerging from the shadows.
"Greetings, my lady."
Still immersed in her book, Zelda turned the page. "Tell me, Calbrena, did he encounter any of the sages on his way out?"
"I saw him speaking with a beggar, but I wouldn't put it past any of them to come to the city in disguise."
"Didn't you hear what they were talking about?"
"No, the crowd was in my way and by the time I had him in earshot, the beggar was gone."
"Calbrena, you realize that as long as he's in my city I want to know everything he does and whom he speaks to. It is a bit overbearing, I admit, but lust is such a fickle thing. Besides, the Sekorf are busy enough with keeping the infiltrators from other countries out and so I need your skill at its best."
The bodyguard huffed at her queen's chiding. "I don't understand what makes that runt so special. Why not just let me kill him and be done with it? If... urk!"
Calbrena couldn't start her next sentence when several invisible hands grasped her neck and squeezed. Though the pressure wasn't great enough to do any immediate damage, it was enough to completely cut off the air passage. The bodyguard tried to pry whatever was choking her when the same hands threw her against the wall with incredible force. Collapsing, she gasped for breath as she looked up to see Zelda standing before her, directly in front of the window.
Zelda's breathing was slow and audible. Her stance in front of the window made her appear majestic and terrible. So much that it even worried the bodyguard who had seen much death than most would. However, what terrified her most were the eyes. Though on the outside nothing appeared different, yet they had never been so focused on one object, filled with anger and murder.
The queen's voice was quiet, almost bordering on a whisper, but with every passing moment, the volume and intensity increased.
"I should have you torn into so many pieces that not even rodents would be able to find you. He is not to be touched, am I making myself clear? He's my prey. My prize. Mine, do you hear me! MINE!"
For a moment, the indomitable Zelda Harkinian appeared unfocused. Her anger clouding her judgment made her seem as vulnerable as anyone else. However, as tempting as it was for the bodyguard to exploit it, the fact that Zelda could and would make good her threat convinced her otherwise.
Zelda soon calmed down and returned to her seat where several pieces of official business would have to be taken care of. She knew that anyone who turned on Calbrena often met their end quickly, but Zelda knew she was in no danger from the Terminan. Though Zelda would have preferred Calbrena's loyalty to be more tactful, she was not one to let a careless statement go unpunished. Zelda had read of many monarch's short-lived rules because of such careless statements. She, on the other hand, would not make such a mistake.
Struggling with her breath, Calbrena knelt behind Zelda and spoke with a hoarse voice. "Forgive me, my lady. I won't be so careless with my words next time,"
"I hope the same, Calbrena, for your sake."
Feeling bold, the bodyguard continued. "Begging your pardon, your highness, but if you place so much in him and yet he finds fault in what you had to do in the past, isn't that something to be worried about? What if he becomes suspicious?"
"I am counting on him becoming suspicious. And I believe the paladins will have something to do with it."
"But what can they do?"
"In my meetings with him, I have found them to be quite auspicious ever since their civil war thirty years ago. They've buried old hatreds, re- established trust, and though they are not without their troubles, they have always prevailed over one trial after another. I believe their success has been in partial to their faith. It has driven them to prevail over enemies that would conquer them, while rooting out traitors and conspirators. The auras that they hold are powerful and something I don't quite understand yet. For all I know, they could show him everything I had to do."
"Do you fear them, my lady?"
"I do not fear them... but I won't take them lightly. Better to have them as allies and put them under scrutiny rather than engage in open warfare. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"Are they that dangerous?"
"Yes. Yet they'd never be the aggressors, considering their pacifist stance. Their zeal in the Eternal Light gives them a power that no nation could ever hope to surpass. It is unfortunate that the Hyrule as a whole has long lost her own faith in the Goddesses. It would certainly do us some good."
Calbrena noted the hint of disappointment in Zelda's voice and despite her general dislike of everyone in the kingdom could not help but wonder if the people of Hyrule ever did worship the Goddesses that created them in the first place. They still had the Temple of Time and it was still standing after several centuries. Yet, she recalled passing it a while ago and wondered if it was nothing more than an abandoned building.
It would certainly have given the Hylian people something to focus on, but she couldn't be sure. She wasn't from Hyrule after all.
*
One day had passed for the caravan as they were drawing close to the several small villages outside the capital city of Termina, Clocktown. The forests were dense, yet nowhere as dense as the Lost Woods of Link's youth. The many streams of light pouring through the cracks in the forest ceiling gave a sanctified air of peace as the caravan traversed through the path.
Walking alongside the wagon, he stretched his arms above his heads to get the kinks out of his system. Though he did not have any problems with riding in a wagon, his legs were crying at him to be used and were giving him cramps that made ignoring the pain rather difficult.
Zahn Gun, the troll witchdoctor that Link had met upon entering the caravan, was sound asleep. The previous day's conversation and travel had exhausted the old troll and now he needed some rest, much to his companion's dismay. Xoma Gen kept a wary eye on everyone else, including Link and Navi. Yet, he was always careful to avoid a confrontation since he knew that things could go bad for him and his traveling companion very quick.
Though Link did wanted to put the headhunter's mind at ease, Xoma remained silent and on the defensive. So, Link figured it would be best to keep his distance. He also hoped that Zahn Gun would awaken soon so he could tell more stories of his journeys. Though Link did like staying in Hryule, a part of him longed for the experience that Zahn Gun seemed to exude with no effort at all.
Link was silently grateful for both Navi's and Zahn Gun's company, for both of them had taken his worried mind off the troubling affairs back in Hyrule. Somehow, the old troll had sensed Link's apprehension for his homeland and gently chided him to not worry, but be happy. Worry is nothing but a waste of time, the troll said like a cantankerous old man. Despite the tone, Link knew that he was just easing his burden a bit.
Slowing a bit to walk behind his wagon, Link stole a glance to the sleeping troll and whispered a thank you to him. He then returned to the side of the wagon, not at all noticing the old troll smile from hearing Link's appreciation. It wasn't every day a troll got a thank you, and Zahn Gun certainly would remember this one.
"Hey, Warriv!" Link said, running to wagon ahead, "How much farther you think until we reach Termina?"
The aging head of the caravan replied. "We should be getting there by nightfall. Once there, we're going to stop for supplies and head out the next morning."
Though Link was eager to get going, he knew he couldn't push the caravan faster than it could go. Walking back, he was considering hopping back into his wagon when he heard several whispers from the forest.
"...eu dabe iuei hiua..." a woman's voice whispered.
"...kale gueni duin ne kulinha..." a man's voice replied.
"...hua dra leyna hunta..." a third voice added.
"...meh tellah mea chi ha lei..." a fourth voice concluded.
Link turned to what he thought was the source of the whispers, drew the master sword. Though he wasn't sure about whether the source of the voices was hostile or not, he did not want to take any chances. If they were bandits that were to try and rob them, they'd have to get through Link first, despite his apprehension of only having fought animals and monsters.
"Wait, mon!" Zahn Gun cried, jumping out of the wagon and next to Link, "Don you be tinkin of fightin 'ere. Dere be powerful tings hidin here. Zahn Gun don be tinking dey wanna harm us, if dey did, dey woulda attacked by now."
Link turned to the troll, incredulous and the revelation. "You knew they were there?"
"Yeah, mon. But de Summons don be sayin dis be bad spirits... maybe dey not be spirits... but sometin more stronga. It be best if we don strike."
Link's instinct on the matter was screaming at him to fight. It had been too long since he had been in a real fight and his skills may have deteriorated from the lack thereof. Yet, Zahn Gun's influence happened to gain the upper hand that time and relented that the old troll knew what he was talking about. With one final glance he turned to where he thought he heard the voices and went back to the wagon.
Slumping next to the crate where Navi lay sleeping, Link asked. "So, do you know what the voices were saying?"
Blinking, the troll shook his head. "Zahn Gun no be hearin voices. De Summons jus tell him sometin's dere."
"Wait a minute... how could I hear them? I mean, you keep on saying that you hear, uh, the Summons, right?"
"Right, mon. Yet, it be only witchdocta dat hear da Summons. From what Zahn Gun knows, maybe you Hylians be hearin de spirits o de forests."
Link looked back out to the forest and wondered if it had anything to do with the same miracle that allowed him to see the past from another's eyes. Though he was trying his best to be patient about finding the truth, he was really starting to get irritated at the new questions appearing. He had more than enough questions that needed answers as if this continued, he was sure he'd go mad.
End of chapter 5
[Our annoying omnipresent author is sitting on a seemingly sturdy branch as he goes through the pointless notes.]
WH: I was planning on this chapter bring somewhat longer and having it end in Travincal during the middle of a large fight, but I didn't want to drag it on longer than it already has been.
One of the things I am proud about is that I think I finally have a hang as to how the sub characters (i..e. Shelia, Alyx, Zid, and Calbrena) act. At first I was considering having them as accessories to the cannon characters, because, after all, their presence is related to the cannon characters. Yet, imagine my surprise when a friend of mine informed me that OCs have to be able to stand on their own in order to be interesting. Silly me. Now I got to go back and fix the older chapters. *sigh*
As for the bath, I find the concept of heated water in the Kokiri village to be rather unlikely. They don't seem like the kind to use fire and who in their right mind would believe that the Lost Woods actually has plumbing? Not I. Anyway,
As for the pendants, they're flimsy plot devices that I hope will work out later as Link uncovers the truth. But until then, they are just another pair of things that can potentially drive the plot to nowhere.
The Old Hatreds that are mentioned several times in the chapter are reference in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. From what I could tell, it was basically like another version of Tom Leher's 'National Brotherhood Week' satirical song.
*Ahem* ~Oh the Orc folks hate the Humans and the Humans hate the Orc Folks~ ~And the Nagas, hate the Night Elves~ ~And everybody hates the Trolls!~ (Insert Chorus here)
You get the idea. I also got the idea that the Hylians and the Sheikah are either distant relatives or deluded descendants of the High Elves and Night Elves respectively from Warcraft... I just know if I keep this up my fics' history's are going to make me write myself into a corner I can't get out of.
As for the sages and Ganondorf, I'm planning on having them in more significant roles in later chapters to thoroughly confuse the reader. And to anyone who's gotten through this far without screaming at the plot holes and grammar boo boos, deserves some praise.
And sadly, I do admit to going for the 'Link DOES have a family' idea... I can only hope that when this fic is done it'll make sense and it'll satisfy the reader, but a small part of me doubts that.
Zahn Gun and Xoma Gen are both trolls from the orcish hoarde. Though the names and characters are mine, the types of characters that they are belong to Blizzard.
As for Ladasha, if you haven't read the rewrite of previous chapters, I made his character much different than how he was originally writing a few chapters ago. After all, there aren't enough folks like him in Hyrule to make it interesting... though considering the fact that I made him in the first place, that doesn't say much.
And as for Zid and Tael. Well, they'll have their chance in the limelight, just not long enough to eclipse Link, Zel, Gannondorf, and the Sages. After all, it was for the cannon characters you came for and yes, I am being that presumptuous.
Now, as for the Diablo II elements, it originally was nothing more than just a passing reference in a previous chapter, but one thing led to another and now this is a full fledged crossover. Well, I hope it'll make more sense as the story develops and you'll enjoy it. More importantly I hope I don't confuse people with it, but enough of that.
Now, Ladasha's song is actually an old pioneer song called 'Titery-Irie- Aye', adapted with words to fit the Diablo mythos. And it belongs to the original writer, though I'm not sure who it was. Also, I would imagine that in the time span of the game, some paladins that worked for the Zakkarum church would figure out something would be wrong and would rebel, so the idea of a civil war came to mind. I mean, you'd want to rebel if you found out the very thing which you taught against had taken over the institution you worked so hard for.
Well, it looks like these notes are getting a little too long. So I'll cut if off here and say that everything Zelda related, with the exception of my unoriginal characters, belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The Zakkarum, their Paladins, the trolls, and everything else belong to Blizzard.
And finally, the obligatory request for C&C. Like all authors, we love having our ego stroked, but if there would be anything I could ask of you good folks is suggestions on how to make this monstrosity better. I put my trust in you.