IN MY HANDS
By Her Worship, Phantwo J Fou the Great, the Eminence of Geniusness and Brilliance and Everything You Wish You Were But Aren't*
Thank you, kind reviewers! Thank you so much! Thanks for the suggestions, and, by the way, I changed the genre of the fic to angst—fittingly. It was drama before, if you don't recall. Anyway, Link will be fighting that ridiculous boss soon, but not before Stalfos. Perhaps I should change the genre also to Action/Adventure as a secondary. You decide. Comments and criticism welcome. Oh yes, and if it seems rushed or my stress comes out in the story, bear in mind that finals are rapidly approaching and studying makes free time increasingly rare. Not that I study much, but besides the mountains of schoolwork I suffer already. . . . Anyway, here's the "long-awaited" third chapter to a not-so-long-awaited fic. Read and review!
*Note: I'm not.
Chapter Three
Abandon Ship
Yes, floating there was a sailboat. Completely unsupported, it just drifted there in the misty hole of nothingness and took my breath away in shock.
"Link, look at that!" said Navi breathlessly. "There's a—there's—there's a sailboat!"
"Very perceptive, Navi," I replied sardonically. "And I suppose you expect me to climb up on the deck and hop onto the boat and sail away!"
"Why, of course!" she told me innocently. "There's a platform against the wall. I'm sure you can climb up—uh—with the help of that block over there."
I cast a glance hurriedly to the right and took notice of the box she spoke of, sitting near the wall I'd crawled down to get in here. Then I threw my eyes back to the platform Navi had seen and groaned. Of course the distance between the two had to be the length of the entire room—a hundred feet at least. And that block didn't look exactly light. But then, my seven years of rest in the Temple of Light after pulling that Master Sword had strengthened me considerably. With a weary sigh I hurried over to the wall and stood behind the block, throwing Navi one last glance before giving the block a jerky shove and sending it flying at least ten feet. Perhaps I had misjudged the weight of the block. . . .
Navi, at least, was impressed. She flew over to the stone, then flew back to me, settled in my hat and said quietly, "My, my, Link, you are an amazing little Hylian."
I shrugged, even though she couldn't see, and started pushing again. "Thank you, Navi. But funny you should mention that. I imagine I'd be a lot littler if I were still a Kokiri."
"When were you ever a Kokiri?" she retorted.
I stopped pushing the block long enough to ponder that for a moment; then, deciding it was an exercise in futility, I continued the journey down to the other wall. Navi seemed pleased that she had sussed me momentarily, for she fell silent and waited for me to reach the opposite side of the room before speaking again.
Indeed, it was not until a resonating thud signified that I had reached the wall that she flew out, surveyed the results, and gave a fairy nod—she darted up, then down, then up again quickly. With a half-hearted grin I climbed up onto the block and then onto the platform with her familiar blue light by my ear. Finally I reached the edge, and as I glared at the spectacle before me, Navi uttered a tiny, "Wow."
Then, of course, she added, "Now, be a good boy and hop on. We don't want to miss the boat, now do we?"
I was sorely tempted to remark, "Oh, yes, we do," as Navi zipped effortlessly into my hat, but I thought better of it and obeyed my guardian fairy like a little puppy dog in Hyrule Castle Town—before the people were taken over by those miserable zombies. Trying not to think about the consequences should I end up missing the boat anyway, I took the leap of faith and prayed desperately to the goddesses that I'd land on the deck.
The sensation of the ship's deck underneath my winged boots caused me to release my breath—which I hadn't noticed I'd been holding until now—with relief. I cast a brief glance around me to assess my surroundings, but my observations fell short of pleasing. Again I looked about me, yet with each glance I was more aware that there was nothing for me to find. The more I searched, the more apparent it became; there had been no reason to come up here.
For the ship was not moving, there was no one on it, and nothing that met my eyes could help me in any way.
Feeling an unfamiliar annoyance welling up, I pulled off my hat and threw it to the ship's deck, forcing a certain fairy to fly out quickly. Then I retrieved the limp bit of cloth from the floor and replaced it over my hair and turned to face her.
"What was that for?" she demanded irritably. "I was just getting comfortable! And you—"
I sighed. I was by nature a patient man, but Navi could push even the most quiet chap to his limits, and since I wasn't exactly in a good mood anyway, it seemed appropriate for me to cut her off before she could finish ranting. "And I did what you asked and I've not been rewarded. You're supposed to be my assistant in this quest, Navi, so you find the mechanism that starts this miserable contraption. I don't see anything."
She didn't reply immediately, and as she flew away to search, I set back to looking. There was nothing on the ship but Navi and me, and there were no adornments except for a statue at the bow and the emblem of the Triforce painted on the—
Fool! I berated myself. It's right in front of you!
"Never mind, Navi!" I shouted to the fairy, hurrying over to the golden crest. "I think I found it."
"About time," she muttered. "And what do you mean, you think? What is it? Where? How do you activate it?"
Before she could question me further, I reached into my quiver, where I kept a few small possessions for quick recall, for my ocarina. Tenderly I pulled it out, pausing for a brief moment to stare at the pale blue instrument reverently, and brought it to my lips. This ocarina—the treasure of Hyrule, the Ocarina of Time—had been granting me wish after wish, so I had very little doubt it would serve me well now. Standing on the crest, I began to play the melody of the Royal Family, Zelda's Lullaby.
As soon as I finished with the last notes, a deafening creaking issued and the boat began to shake. A hush fell over both Navi and me, and then, as I had expected, the boat began to move forward, slowly at first, but gaining momentum as it moved. Soon we were sailing almost freely over the—for the lack of a better word—nothingness below us, and Navi breathed, "Wow."
I replaced the ocarina in my quiver and turned back to Navi. She sighed. "You've really done it, Link! You've really done it!"
"So I have," I agreed, walking unsteadily toward the edge to witness our flight, or voyage, whichever it was. I hesitated to go near the edge, since the boat's rocking movements made it hard enough to stand still on my own two feet, and I'd already decided that I had no desire to fall off. Navi, being the lucky fairy she was, had no worries, and she darted carelessly over to me and hovered over the edge almost brazenly.
"I'm sorry for making fun of you," she began to apologise. "You're not worthle—"
But she was unable to finish, for there was an unpleasant war cry and an unsettling thud behind us. Even before I turned, I knew what to expect. Drawing the Master Sword from its scabbard on my back, I drew in my breath and clutched my shield in my right hand. Then I whirled and dashed toward the Stalfos behind me with my left fist clutched around the hilt of my sword tightly.
Navi flew over to the Stalfos and flew around it in dizzying circles, deliberately attempting to annoy it and drive it absolutely crazy. It was a little tactic we had devised together before I'd pulled this sword from the Pedestal of Time, and it had worked with some of the monsters we'd encountered on this foolhardy mission; by the looks of things, it was working this one as well, since the Stalfos started striking its crooked blade at Navi angrily—and unsuccessfully. She was far too fast for it and far too small to hit with the dagger, so the Stalfos gave up trying and dropped it to the deck. Then it reached out to grab Navi and missed. Running up from behind, I seized the opportunity to strike and felt my sword contact the deformed skeleton roughly.
The Stalfos cried out in pain and jerked around violently to face me, too caught up in its blind rage to notice me kick its dagger off the side of the boat until after the twisted sword had fallen. Caught off guard and unarmed, it seemed none too happy to be facing me, the Hero of Time who was sent to scatter its sorry remains all over this temple. The feeling was mutual. And I can't say that I'd blame the poor Stalfos; I'd be a little intimidated to fight me, too. Unfortunately, unlike this monster, I'd had that experience before. . . .
Though it had no sword to speak of, the Stalfos did have a shield, which it used diligently as I sped around it and tried to attack. I ran for at least a minute before an opportunity finally came. Once I found it, I didn't hesitate to take it, and I dove at the Stalfos with my sword extended. Blade met bone with a cacophonous clang. I finished pulling my sword through it and jumped back before it could jump on me. Just because the Stalfos was unarmed didn't render it harmless, after all. Again I raised my shield and started running again. One more strike should be enough to kill it, I guessed. Just one more strike!
I didn't want to wait long for that strike, so I rolled toward its ankles, figuring I could at least distract it. I hadn't even considered that I might have tripped it until the armoured skeleton came tumbling down beside me just as I straightened. But I had learned not to question my luck. Taking advantage of every second, I drove my sword through the Stalfos with deadly efficiency (if I do say so myself!) and then yanked it out to send the bones flying in every direction. At last this dreadful encounter was over!
I took a deep breath. We were almost to the other side of the room now; I could see a wall approaching out of the corner of my eye. Slowly I began to walk over to the bow of the ship, where Navi was still floating. But I had barely passed the crest when another crash behind me made me turn immediately . . .
. . . to face another Stalfos!
Cursing Ganondorf, Stalfos, the Shadow Temple, and the Master Sword for choosing me to be the Hero of Time, I reached for my sword and ignored Navi shouting at me. Only when I had knocked the sword from the second Stalfos' hand did I turn and pay attention to her mad yells.
"Link, this ship is sinking!" she shrieked. "Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Oh, in the name of Nayru's Love, Link, run!"
It took approximately a quarter-second for that to register. Then my eyes popped wide open as I felt the ship beneath me start to tremble, then quake. Frantically I made a frenzied leap from the deck of the ship to the platform off the port side of the ship. But as I fell through the air towards the ground, I realised with horror what an utter idiot I must have been to jump before at least looking at the ledge with the Lens of Truth. Even if I should land on what appeared to be solid ground, I could take a step forward only to find myself falling again—and this time I'd be falling to no end!
As the ground rapidly approached, I braced myself for the landing. Hopefully this rapidly approaching ground was real. The temple had made reality so twisted that the mere sight of land in a convenient spot was dubious, and I doubted my eyes more often than I believed them. In fact, I was so convinced that I wasn't going to land that once my feet met hard ground beneath them I went sprawling for a moment. However, sprawling a little was infinitely better than falling, and I've also learned to count my blessings! After a moment of rolling, I hopped up and looked around.
It took me completely by surprise when Navi shouted, "Um, Link, Stalfos to the rear. Li-i-i-ink!"
Would I never reach the end of this? Already I'd suffered the many battles to get where I was now, and I had to face still another. The Sword has misjudged me. A Kokiri, the Hero of Time?
No, I thought sadly, not a Kokiri. A Hylian, Link, a Hylian.
I had no time to think. The thoughts barely had a moment to race through my tortured mind. I had to spring into action immediately and finish off the second Stalfos whose sword I'd disposed of. Honestly, I was a little proud of myself for that particular feat, but I had no time nor no right to allow my ego to feed on my victories. A few clever tricks were nothing exceptionally grand or irreproducible, and besides, would the ability to disarm a Stalfos break the curses on Hyrule? Of course not.
I suppose being the boy without a fairy really affected my self-esteem. . . .
This Stalfos I managed to knock off the side of the cliff into the pit of blackness below. Each time I hit its shield, I knocked it backward a little until I finally took advantage of it and struck particularly hard. The Stalfos stumbled and tumbled, and I stood at the edge of the cliff to watch it fall. Then I had the opportunity to look around.
To my right was a door. To my left was a pillar extending from this platform all the way up to the ceiling, far above my head. And ahead of me was another bottomless pit, and beyond that, a platform much like the one upon which I stood now.
And over there, beyond me, was a locked door. . . .
A locked door for which I had the key.
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So, what did everybody think of my not-so-angsty chapter three? It's got that element, but it's mostly doing stuff in this chapter. Anyway, I'll write more when I can . . . now's the time for lots of studying and making up missed assignments, and I'm not pleased about that. Now be responsible readers and review! I need to know if I should continue, and how close to the game I should stay!
So REVIEW! It means something! And remember, ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME! Comments, criticisms, flames—I accept them all! Thanks!