Disclaimer: *is asleep and in her dream she mutters* I don't own
Zelda...*snore*...it belongs to Nintendo...*snore*...Eek lawyers! *wakes up
and bolts*
A/N: Whoa! A review boom! Cool! *sniff* I'm...overwhelmed here...you all
are so good to me. I must say I'm sorry that I stopped where I did on the
previous chap. I had to because, like before, it would have been extremely
long if I tried to finish the battle and continue to where I wanted to
stop. I shall no longer leave you in suspense...here's the continuation!
*toots French horn*
Chapter 12: Encounter with the New Evil
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This certainly wasn't a good sign...
During its fight with Link, the bird had taken off into the air, had gone into a diving bombing position, and was now picking up speed very quickly as it approached the tower from the air. It was about to perform the same move that had kidnapped Tetra, her mother, and Aryll, and had caused countless amounts of damage to anything that was unfortunate enough to be in its path. And to top it all off, the bird was raging mad and more determined than ever to destroy Link and anyone else that was on his side.
This worried Tetra tremendously. The attack this bird was about to use on Link had horrible result in the past, and present. Sure, Link had witnessed it once before, but that was a kidnapping, not an intended attack. How would he know how to dodge or stop it if he had only seen it once?
The pirate let out a worried breath, knowing the only way she would find the answer was to regrettably watch and see what happens.
By the time the bird was halfway to the tower, its speed was so tremendous that Link knew he couldn't get out of the way in time...even if he tried!
The boy in green tensed up as he tried to think of some way to possibly slow or stop the bird's approach. But nothing was coming to him at the moment...
"Come on, Link, think! There's gotta be a way of stopping that thing!" he said to himself. He quickly looked around to see if anything around him would possibly help.
Suddenly an idea struck him!
As fast as he could, the hero ran to the center of the battlefield and spun around to face the oncoming beast. He tightened his grip on his sword and readied himself as the bird drew ever closer to the small battlefield.
"What are you planning, Link?" Tetra questioned him, quietly, wondering what the heck he was doing.
Link took a couple deep breaths. He knew what he was about to attempt wasn't the safest choice...but if everything went right, his plan would not fail. It all depended on what the bird would do once it reached him.
The large phoenix let out a mighty call as it neared the tower, its mouth wide open with feathers trailing wildly behind its body.
Right before the foul reached the field, Link set his plan into action and lifted the Master Sword, suspending it vertically high above his head.
"Link, what are you doing?!" Tetra quietly shouted. He wasn't excepting to actually get a hit in while the bird flew at him at that speed, did he?
Upon seeing the mighty weapon, the bird closed its beak and switched to using its feet in hopes of hitting Link while avoiding the blade at the same time.
Little did the bird know that this maneuver was what Link expected it
to do...
With a mighty call of power, the bird extended its talons and prepared to hit the boy as it swooped overhead.
Tetra kept her eyes focused on Link as the huge bird swooped over the field at a blinding speed, directly over him!
WOOOOOSH!
Tetra suddenly heard a loud crash and suddenly felt herself fall backwards as the added wind from the bird's pass knocked her off her perch!
She yelped as she fell a very short distance down before she reached out and grabbed her still attached grappling rope. Clinging tightly to it, she slowly slid to a halt, having avoided a long fall and at the same time avoiding a nasty meeting with the ground below.
The pirate breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked her quick reflexes as she began to climb back up the rope to her position behind the wall.
After quickening her pace, she regained her spot in less than a minute...but instead of looking into the field, her attention was drawn to the area below the wooden stern of the ship overlooking the field.
What she saw surprised her very much.
The bird had smashed into the mountain of rock that supported the wooden ship and was now plummeting down toward the sea, unconscious from the impact with the mound of stone. Quite amazingly, the supporting mountain of rock did not get damaged and remained unharmed as the beast disappeared out of sight, falling pass the tower and flinging feathers everywhere as it did so.
Tetra got a look of joy on her face. It all made sense to her now! Link must have positioned himself so that when the bird passed over him, it would crash into the oncoming structure.
"He must have done that sword gesture to make sure the bird went at him with his feet instead of its head so he could dodge it better." She thought as she stared at the spot where the bird collided with the rock. She half smirked and half smiled as she added. "I guess I underestimated the kid's potential as a hero..."
Upon thinking Link's name, Tetra took her eyes off the spot and searched the field for him with a smile on her face.
Her smile suddenly faded though when she finally spotted him...
"Oh no...Link!" she shouted.
Link was laying motionless on his stomach near the edge of the tower, closes to where the bird hit with his sword and shield scattered in different locations on the field. His plan to get the bird to collide where it did had worked...but his plan to dodge its feet as it flew over him had failed...
Tetra suddenly didn't care if she was spotted or not. She quickly emerged from her hiding place and began to climb over the castle-like wall.
But...the pirate suddenly froze in her tracks when her ears picked up the eagle-like sound of the bird, hovering over the entire fortress.
Quickly looking in all directions, Tetra suddenly saw the evil beast emerge from the other side of the tower, its head flailing with large black feathers scattering in all directions.
The large foul flapped its mighty wings harder as it made circles above the battlefield like a vulture drawn to a carcass. It quickly swung around and landed back into the arena, feathers molting off its head and wings. It immediately spotted the unconscious Link and stomped over to his lifeless body, still raging mad that the boy had tricked it into flying straight into a wall.
Lifting its head high into the night air, the bird called out as it looked back down at Link and inched its head closer to him, its beak wide open.
Right when its mouth got only a few inches away from the unconscious boy, its beak suddenly snapped shut, much to its surprise.
A rope had come out of nowhere and lassoed around the bird's beak, closing it shut and preventing the beast from chomping down on the unconscious Link. Upon seeing the rope around its mouth, the bird looked over to see who wielded the other end.
It was none other than Tetra.
With all her strength, the young pirate girl yanked the rope harder to get the bird farther away from Link.
"There's no way you are going to kill him while I'm around!" she yelled through gritted teeth, pulling even harder on the rope as she did so.
Before she allowed the bird any more time to retaliate, the pirate quickly ran toward one of the bird's legs, jumped on top of it, and held on as she began to quickly tie the rope around the foul's thick ankle.
The bird finally got out of its state of surprise and tugged at the rope, hoping to yank the girl off its leg.
But Tetra had completed her maneuver quick enough so that when the bird yanked the rope, it yanked its foot right out from underneath it!
The winged creature collapsed headfirst in a cloud of feathers as Tetra quickly got out of the way. Once she landed, the young pirate ran toward the creature as it scrambled to try and get back on its feet.
With the bird's wings and talons moving wildly, Tetra ran up to one of the flailing wings and grabbed a hold of one of the large feathers on the tips of it, causing her to get flung onto the creature's back.
This was just what she wanted to happen.
Clinging to the many feathers that lined the creature's body, the young pirate reached down and unsheathed her small dagger from its sheath, then lifted it up into the air.
"This is for kidnapping me!" she shouted as she quickly brought the small weapon down, sinking it right into the bird's back.
The bird flung its head around wildly as the dagger sunk into its back, trying to call out but only succeeding in making a small screech instead of a loud squawk.
Tetra removed the dagger and lifted it again.
"This is for kidnapping my mother!" she cried out, this time slicing off a couple large feathers while cutting a deep gash into the lower portion of the foul's neck.
The winged beast once again made a small squawk of pain as the pirate held up her blooded dagger over her head.
"And this..." she began.
"...this is for Link!"
She quickly stabbed her weapon straight into the back of the creature's large neck!
The bird cried out as loud as it could with the restraint on its beak and flailed around like mad. It couldn't stand having this girl on its back stabbing it!
Thinking quickly, the bird started to roll its body in hopes of crushing her under its weight.
But Tetra jumped off in time before it was even close to finishing its
roll.
With a small puff of dust, Tetra landed on her feet and spun around to face the evil creature.
The bird called out as loud as it could and kicked its feet harder, still trying to regain its footing. It finally shifted position and got back on its feet, but it was struggling to walk straight, since its beak was still tied tightly to its leg. It planted it foot into the ground and yanked hard to try and snap the rope or loosen it from either its leg or beak.
While Tetra watched the bird struggle with the rope, she suddenly heard a small moan coming from behind her.
The pirate quickly turned around and sighed with relief when she saw Link slowly start to prop himself up, shaking his head slowly and rubbing it with one hand.
Of course, Link wasn't exactly feeling very well. His insides felt like they all got misplaced and his whole body was aching from the impact from the bird's foot. Luckily, he still had enough energy to stand up.
"Oh man..." he said quietly while still rubbing his aching head. "I hope I don't have to do THAT again..."
Suddenly, he tensed up, upon hearing the bird's small annoyed squawks coming from behind him.
"No!" he thought, lifting his head. "That thing still can't be alive!" He quickly turned around, expecting the bird to be hovering over him with an attack, ready to catch him off guard.
He was, however, very surprised to see the bird all tied up and struggling to get a rope off its beak.
"What the..." he uttered quietly with shock. "Did...I do that?" He blinked a bit with confusion.
But he didn't stay in this state long, and shook his head again to get his thoughts back on track. The bird was obviously still alive, and its head was down low enough so that he had a good shot at the yellow lobes. Now was his chance!
Quickly sprinting to the Master Sword, he grabbed the mighty blade with his left hand and spun around to look at the struggling creature. Tightening his grip on the sword's hilt, he waited until the bird slowed its flailing head; and when it did, he quickly saw his moment and charged straight toward the creatures head!
At the last moment, the bird saw the hero coming and its red eyes went wide with surprise and shock. It did one more mighty yank at the rope in hopes of getting it off before Link got too close!
With a loud yell, Link leapt into the air toward the bird's head with the Master Sword held high into the air!
SNAP!
The rope holding the bird's beak shut suddenly broke, freeing the bird's head from the connection with its foot. The bird's skull yanked sideways as a result from the sudden snapping of the rope...
...and it just so happened to head in Link's direction.
Link suddenly felt himself get hit in the stomach as the side of the bird's beak collided with his body. The resulting force flung him all the way to the other side of the field, screaming the whole way from utter shock and pain. He landed in a heap of dust and scrunched his body into a small circle, holding his stomach as if he just ate something that was not edible.
Tetra was not liking this scene one bit. From her perch behind the wall, she could only watch in horror as her careful rope trick suddenly backfired on Link, instead of the bird. She suppressed her voice low enough so no one could hear her scream out his name in terror.
The bird got her attention however since it was making such a loud racket, and she quickly looked over to see why it was making so much noise.
The huge beast was crying out with so many ear-piercing squawks that it made the whole tower vibrate! Its head and wings were flailing around like crazy, along with feathers flying all over the place and scattering under the wind the creature was causing.
As it flailed around, both Link and Tetra suddenly realized why the bird was acting this way.
The bird's front lobe was completely cut off.
During his collision with the bird's beak, Link's sword had managed to get a hit in and had cut it clean off the bird's head! A strange yellow liquid was now seeping all over its face as it flailed around in agony from the loss of one of its tender lobes.
In a crazy attempt to lessen the pain, the bird flapped its wings crazily to get itself airborne and began to lift into the air slowly, its body swaying oddly as it went higher and higher with the broken rope still dangling from its leg. Its squawks became weaker sounding as it moved away from the tower, struggling to keep itself airborne.
Then...all of a sudden...the whole field lit up with an extremely bright glow!
The sudden presence of light quickly made Tetra cover her eyes in order to keep herself from going blind! As she squinted to minimize the light entering her pupils, she saw something very bright and fast shoot out from one of the lit windows on the wooden ship. It wasn't long before she then heard a blood-curdling screech coming from the winged bird!
When the light dimmed, both Link and Tetra watched with pure amazement as the bird itself plummeted right of the air toward the ocean below, feathers flying in all directions. Whatever flew out of the ship had collided with the mighty beast, giving it extremely fatal cuts and burns from raw energy and sending it hurtling towards its watery grave.
As it fell, the dying beast let out one last cry, before it plunged into the vast waters around the dark fortress.
Then...everything fell silent...
Still recovering from her state of shock, Tetra could only stare as she quickly turned her gaze up to the broken piece of ship above her head.
"He...destroyed his own monster?" she wondered with pure shock. She knew who had released that beam of magic. It sort of surprised her that Ganondorf had killed his own servant; but she shouldn't have been surprised, knowing that this man didn't hesitate in the past when he destroyed other lives. It was almost too much destruction in one sitting for the young girl to comprehend.
As she pondered, the pirate's attention suddenly shifted to Link, upon hearing his constant moans.
Tetra took her eyes off the ship and looked over to see a very injured Link, slowly trudging across the field toward his fallen blade with one hand on his stomach. His wrist was bleeding pretty badly, and his expression was a look of pure exhaustion like the wind had been knocked completely out of him. His pace was extremely slow as he dragged his feet over to the Master Sword.
The young pirate couldn't stand to see him this way. He was in no condition to do anything effectively, and yet he was still moving around to retrieve his equipment. She really wanted to just run out there and drag him out of this horrible place.
Link had reached his blade while Tetra was debating on showing herself or not. He bent down to pick up his weapon but as he did so, he suddenly gripped his stomach even tighter and collapsed onto the cold floor, breathing heavily from seer exhaustion.
"That's it! I can't let him go and fight Ganondorf like this!" Tetra thought. She had made up her mind, and was about to climb back over the wall...
...but she stopped once she saw Link move onto his back and reach for something in his tunic.
Slowly, he pulled out what looked to be a glass bottle with something small and glowing inside it.
With his last bit of strength, the boy hero took his other hand and yanked the cork off the opening of the bottle. As soon as he finished, he allowed his head to fall back to the ground and closed his eyes, letting his body fall limp as he tried to continue breathing.
Whatever was inside the bottle quickly emerged from its small prison and fluttered around the boy's head, dropping small glittering specks of light onto his face.
Tetra watched with curious eyes as the little ball of light quickly flew all over his still body, casting even more bits of glitter all over his outfit.
Then...it flew off.
The young captain blinked with curiosity as she watched the small light vanish into the distance.
"What was that thing?" she wondered. She looked back over to Link...and her eyes went big.
Link was getting back up...and other than a torn tunic, not a scratch
was on him!
Tetra's mouth dropped open as Link got back to his feet and took a big breath of relief.
"Thank goodness for fairies." He said with a nod. He reached down and picked up the Master Sword by its blue hilt, put away the bottle, then walked over to retrieve his shield.
As he was walking over to his fallen shield, he couldn't help but glance up at the ship anchored on the stone mound near the tower. That same serious look appeared on his face as he reclaimed his shield and looked over to the path that lead up to the wooden structure.
He took two steps toward the path, but stopped when he heard a clank under his boot.
The boy took his foot off the object and peered down at it with
curiosity.
A small dagger was laying on the ground right below him, its blade being covered with blood.
Link cocked his head as he picked the weapon up and examined it. It looked sort of familiar...but it certainly wasn't his...so whose was it?
Upon seeing the dagger that Link picked up, Tetra quickly looked down to her side to see that her own dagger was missing from its sheath. She must have dropped it during her spar with the large bird.
Still not knowing who's dagger he was holding, Link took a quick glance around the field to see if the owner was still around.
Tetra quickly hid behind the wall, hoping he didn't spot her.
Link paused a bit and shrugged. He pocketed the dagger after giving it a quick cleaning, then walked on toward the path up to the wooden ship.
Tetra peeked back over the wall, and when she saw Link walk out of view, she slowly crawled out of her hiding spot and leaped over the sharp spikes onto the flat ground.
Still eyeing Link the whole way, the young pirate followed him from afar, keeping herself hidden until his image went out of her view. She heard the sound of a door creaking open, and then heard it close with a thud.
Though no one could tell from the outside, inside, Tetra did not want Link to enter that ship. She wasn't sure how he would fair against the new evil that was Ganondorf...and she hated it when she didn't know what would happen next!
She couldn't help but wondered also on how Link was feeling. She was sure he didn't want to do this...but she knew as well as Link did that it was his fate now...he had to get rid of this fiend, no matter what.
"He must have a lot of courage, that kid." Tetra thought. "But...will having a lot of guts and a legendary sword be enough?"
The pirate lowered her blonde head. She didn't want to just stand around, knowing Link was about to fight an evil man. She just had to see what was going on in there!
Immediately after she made up her mind, Tetra quickly scanned the wooden ship from where she was standing.
The ship had a couple of windows wedged into it, and there was also a very thin ledge right underneath them that snaked its way all around the helm. It would make an idle place for her to climb up to and look in on what they were doing from the windows.
As quickly as she could, the pirate climbed her way up to the ledge and began to slide across the bit of wall just below the window. Once she reached the first one, she peeked in to see what was happening.
All she could see was the mostly black armor that was making up the back of Ganondorf's clothing, plus most of the inside of the ship. Link was not in sight, since Ganondorf was blocking her view. The dark man was saying something to Link, but was speaking too low for Tetra to make out any of the words.
Not liking the view she was getting, the pirate squatted back down and continued across the ledge, passing a few windows and knocking some bits of rock off the ledge.
Just when she thought she had found a good spot, she heard someone from inside call out like they were charging to the frontline of a war! The call then suddenly cut short, after a small clanking sound was heard.
Tetra didn't like the sound of that. She recognized the call to be that of Link's, which made her look into the ship with even more haste.
As soon as she looked inside, her eyes went wide with shock...
Link had the Master Sword held toward Ganondorf...who had the legendary weapon held down by its blade! The young hero had tried a running slash at the fiend, but he had somehow been able to stop the blade by simply catching it in his hand!
"What's going on?!" the pirate suddenly thought. "I thought the Master Sword was the only thing that could destroy him? How can he just catch it without no harm coming to him?!"
Link must have been thinking the same thing, since he wielded the same expression as the young pirate captain did.
As he stood there holding the hilt of the legendary sword in shock, Ganondorf suddenly bent down and, before Link could react, quickly punched him right in the stomach!
Tetra gasped and put her hands over her mouth in horror as Link quickly shut his eyes and fell to his knees, gripping his stomach in agony. A bit of blood started to trickle out of his mouth as he knelt there, shaking a little to try and lessen his pain.
The young pirate looked on with shock, suddenly thinking it was a mistake to even think Link could defeat the King of Evil.
Looking dazed and dizzy from the unknown attack, the young boy lifted his head and looked around as if he did not know where he was.
He then started to get back on his feet, but didn't have time to complete his stand when the tall fiend quickly back-handed him across the head, sending him across the room! The boy gave a small yell as he was hit and landed in the middle of the room on his side, lying still to try and endure the sudden pain his whole body was feeling.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed quickly snapped him out of his rest, and he turned his head to look back at the evil man...
...but instead was met by the sharp end of a sword!
The boy inched back a bit with extremely wide eyes and froze, staring at the blade and hoping the man wasn't intending to drive it into him.
"You foolish boy..." the fiend suddenly said with an evil glare. "You cannot possibly defeat me with a blade that does not sparkle with the power to repel evil!"
He took a few steps forward, making Link move even farther back to avoid getting the sword through his throat.
"What you hold is useless...it has rotted in its pedestal, unmoved and untouched, for years..." The man snickered down at the boy in green and added. "It's power is gone...and its edges are dull."
Link was shocked. Of all times to realize your sword is not going to work right, now was definitely the worse time! He continued to stay frozen in his position as Ganondorf kept his sword pointed at his head.
A very sinister and half-angry look appeared on the fiend's dark brown face, sensing Link's unwillingness to move. He withdrew his long blade and began to lift it over his head as he slowly added.
"You've come all this way...for nothing..."
With his blade now fully over his head, Ganondorf prepared to bring it back down right on Link!
But suddenly...he stopped...
The man heard a sound coming from somewhere behind him and looked over his shoulder to see what had caused the noise.
There crouched down on her feet after just leaping through the window...was Tetra.
Wasting absolutely no time at all, the female pirate ran at full speed toward the dark man, having a look of anger on her small face. She quickly leaped through the air and rammed herself into the man, hoping to knock him back and make him drop his sword.
Ganondorf didn't budge however, and swatted at the girl with his free hand to get her away from him.
Tetra, knowing that her little distraction wasn't going to work any longer, quickly used his moving arm as a stand and pushed herself backwards, out of his reach. She landed on her feet a small distance away and spun around to face him.
The young pirate took her eyes off him though, when she heard the sound of Link finally getting back onto his feet. She looked over to her left to see him struggling to walk toward her, but he suddenly fell back to the ground, holding his stomach in agony.
"Link, get up!" she begged. She knew she couldn't hold off this man all by herself. She needed him to get back up so they both could run and escape this fight she knew they couldn't win!
Suddenly, Tetra realized that she left herself wide open for too long, and she quickly looked back in Ganondorf's direction to confirm his whereabouts.
Her eyes went huge when she saw one of his hands quickly reach down and grab her right around the neck!
The evil man lifted her high into the air by the throat as the defenseless pirate grabbed his hand and kicked her feet, trying to get herself loose.
Link looked up from his slouching position and gasped once he saw the scene that he was witnessing. He tried once again to get back on his feet and be of some use, but he only ended up back on the ground again from the crippling pain he had in his body.
Seeing how the pirate's attempts to free herself were failing, Ganondorf lowered his gaze and spoke in an annoyed tone.
"You pathetic little sea rat...did you really think you could save this boy?" He muttered, then humph as he added. "Foolishness...you shall suffer the same fate as this boy did for attempting such a mindless mission."
With that said, Ganondorf tightened his grip around the girl's neck, causing her to gasp loudly as she tried to take in air. He lifted his other hand and began to reach for Tetra's head.
"No...Tetra!" Link said weakly. He wanted to get up and rescue her from Ganondorf's grip, but his body wasn't letting him! He could only watch as her attempt to help him turned around and backfired in her face.
Tetra gapped her mouth and kept her eyes tightly shut as she continued to kick wildly. She could feel her heart racing as she struggled to try and get herself out of this man's clutches. But her strength was slowly draining out of her body from all her struggling, and the added pressure on her throat was quickly making it very difficult to breathe!
Ganondorf snickered again as his hand drew closer to the girl's blonde head, preparing to end her life in one short minute...
...but...his attention was suddenly drawn to the bright glow that was starting to radiate from the back of his lifted hand.
The man halted his movements and peered down as three yellow triangles formed on the back of his hand, the symbols being stacked in the shape of a pyramid. Oddly enough, the triangle above the other two was glowing brighter than usual, signaling an unknown message to the evil man.
No sooner had he seen the marking on his hand, Ganondorf looked over to see a necklace dangling out from under a struggling Tetra's bandana.
For no apparent reason, Ganondorf started laughing evilly...
"At long last..." he began to say. "I have found you!" Looking up to Tetra, he quickly added.
"Princess Zelda!"
Tetra slowed her frantic attempts to get free and peeked open her eyes. She then managed to say something back to him, through small breathes and confusion.
"What...are you...talking about?" she said between gasps. "I don't...know any...Zelda..." She quickly shut her eyes again as Ganondorf's grip on her neck got even tighter.
"Feigning ignorance with gain you nothing." Ganondorf said through an annoyed grin. He reached down and took the necklace in his hand, letting it rest in his palm as he continued. "Tell me...if you are not Zelda, then why do you hold this fragment of the Triforce?"
Tetra struggled to answer as the man released the necklace, letting it fall back across her heaving chest.
"I...I don't..." she stuttered. She suddenly got a blast of courage and quickly shouted as loud as his grip would let her.
"I don't know!"
Ganondorf got an angry look in his eyes, obviously not pleased with the remark she gave him. Not liking also the stubbornness she was showing him, he squeezed the girl's neck even harder in hopes of getting her to cooperate.
Suddenly feeling his grip get even tighter around her throat, Tetra lifted her head as high as she could and let out a weak breathless scream!
"No...Stop it! You're hurting her!" Link shouted helplessly, trying to crawl over to where the two were.
Upon hearing his weak but very concerned voice, Tetra slowly opened her glazed eyes and looked down at the worried boy.
"Link..." she said weakly.
The young boy looked up at her from his spot on the floor, his eyes locking with hers and showing the extreme pain he was getting from his invisible injury, and also from watching her get choked.
Tetra opened her mouth.
"I...I...ugh..."
She tried to finish her sentence, but was loosing her last bit of oxygen with every word she said.
But she persisted...she had to tell him. She had to let him hear the one phrase that she'd been wanting to tell him ever since they had started their journey. She found enough air in her lung, and quietly uttered the words...
"...I'm...sorry..."
Immediately after she said this, her eyes slowly closed shut and her head fell back. Her hands fell to her side as her body turned lifeless, her hanging feet and arms going limp as her small body dangled from Ganondorf's cold grip.
As everything turned dark and cold around her, Tetra slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
The last thing she heard...
...was Link...crying out her name...
Chapter 12: Encounter with the New Evil
----------------------------------------------------------
This certainly wasn't a good sign...
During its fight with Link, the bird had taken off into the air, had gone into a diving bombing position, and was now picking up speed very quickly as it approached the tower from the air. It was about to perform the same move that had kidnapped Tetra, her mother, and Aryll, and had caused countless amounts of damage to anything that was unfortunate enough to be in its path. And to top it all off, the bird was raging mad and more determined than ever to destroy Link and anyone else that was on his side.
This worried Tetra tremendously. The attack this bird was about to use on Link had horrible result in the past, and present. Sure, Link had witnessed it once before, but that was a kidnapping, not an intended attack. How would he know how to dodge or stop it if he had only seen it once?
The pirate let out a worried breath, knowing the only way she would find the answer was to regrettably watch and see what happens.
By the time the bird was halfway to the tower, its speed was so tremendous that Link knew he couldn't get out of the way in time...even if he tried!
The boy in green tensed up as he tried to think of some way to possibly slow or stop the bird's approach. But nothing was coming to him at the moment...
"Come on, Link, think! There's gotta be a way of stopping that thing!" he said to himself. He quickly looked around to see if anything around him would possibly help.
Suddenly an idea struck him!
As fast as he could, the hero ran to the center of the battlefield and spun around to face the oncoming beast. He tightened his grip on his sword and readied himself as the bird drew ever closer to the small battlefield.
"What are you planning, Link?" Tetra questioned him, quietly, wondering what the heck he was doing.
Link took a couple deep breaths. He knew what he was about to attempt wasn't the safest choice...but if everything went right, his plan would not fail. It all depended on what the bird would do once it reached him.
The large phoenix let out a mighty call as it neared the tower, its mouth wide open with feathers trailing wildly behind its body.
Right before the foul reached the field, Link set his plan into action and lifted the Master Sword, suspending it vertically high above his head.
"Link, what are you doing?!" Tetra quietly shouted. He wasn't excepting to actually get a hit in while the bird flew at him at that speed, did he?
Upon seeing the mighty weapon, the bird closed its beak and switched to using its feet in hopes of hitting Link while avoiding the blade at the same time.
Little did the bird know that this maneuver was what Link expected it
to do...
With a mighty call of power, the bird extended its talons and prepared to hit the boy as it swooped overhead.
Tetra kept her eyes focused on Link as the huge bird swooped over the field at a blinding speed, directly over him!
WOOOOOSH!
Tetra suddenly heard a loud crash and suddenly felt herself fall backwards as the added wind from the bird's pass knocked her off her perch!
She yelped as she fell a very short distance down before she reached out and grabbed her still attached grappling rope. Clinging tightly to it, she slowly slid to a halt, having avoided a long fall and at the same time avoiding a nasty meeting with the ground below.
The pirate breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked her quick reflexes as she began to climb back up the rope to her position behind the wall.
After quickening her pace, she regained her spot in less than a minute...but instead of looking into the field, her attention was drawn to the area below the wooden stern of the ship overlooking the field.
What she saw surprised her very much.
The bird had smashed into the mountain of rock that supported the wooden ship and was now plummeting down toward the sea, unconscious from the impact with the mound of stone. Quite amazingly, the supporting mountain of rock did not get damaged and remained unharmed as the beast disappeared out of sight, falling pass the tower and flinging feathers everywhere as it did so.
Tetra got a look of joy on her face. It all made sense to her now! Link must have positioned himself so that when the bird passed over him, it would crash into the oncoming structure.
"He must have done that sword gesture to make sure the bird went at him with his feet instead of its head so he could dodge it better." She thought as she stared at the spot where the bird collided with the rock. She half smirked and half smiled as she added. "I guess I underestimated the kid's potential as a hero..."
Upon thinking Link's name, Tetra took her eyes off the spot and searched the field for him with a smile on her face.
Her smile suddenly faded though when she finally spotted him...
"Oh no...Link!" she shouted.
Link was laying motionless on his stomach near the edge of the tower, closes to where the bird hit with his sword and shield scattered in different locations on the field. His plan to get the bird to collide where it did had worked...but his plan to dodge its feet as it flew over him had failed...
Tetra suddenly didn't care if she was spotted or not. She quickly emerged from her hiding place and began to climb over the castle-like wall.
But...the pirate suddenly froze in her tracks when her ears picked up the eagle-like sound of the bird, hovering over the entire fortress.
Quickly looking in all directions, Tetra suddenly saw the evil beast emerge from the other side of the tower, its head flailing with large black feathers scattering in all directions.
The large foul flapped its mighty wings harder as it made circles above the battlefield like a vulture drawn to a carcass. It quickly swung around and landed back into the arena, feathers molting off its head and wings. It immediately spotted the unconscious Link and stomped over to his lifeless body, still raging mad that the boy had tricked it into flying straight into a wall.
Lifting its head high into the night air, the bird called out as it looked back down at Link and inched its head closer to him, its beak wide open.
Right when its mouth got only a few inches away from the unconscious boy, its beak suddenly snapped shut, much to its surprise.
A rope had come out of nowhere and lassoed around the bird's beak, closing it shut and preventing the beast from chomping down on the unconscious Link. Upon seeing the rope around its mouth, the bird looked over to see who wielded the other end.
It was none other than Tetra.
With all her strength, the young pirate girl yanked the rope harder to get the bird farther away from Link.
"There's no way you are going to kill him while I'm around!" she yelled through gritted teeth, pulling even harder on the rope as she did so.
Before she allowed the bird any more time to retaliate, the pirate quickly ran toward one of the bird's legs, jumped on top of it, and held on as she began to quickly tie the rope around the foul's thick ankle.
The bird finally got out of its state of surprise and tugged at the rope, hoping to yank the girl off its leg.
But Tetra had completed her maneuver quick enough so that when the bird yanked the rope, it yanked its foot right out from underneath it!
The winged creature collapsed headfirst in a cloud of feathers as Tetra quickly got out of the way. Once she landed, the young pirate ran toward the creature as it scrambled to try and get back on its feet.
With the bird's wings and talons moving wildly, Tetra ran up to one of the flailing wings and grabbed a hold of one of the large feathers on the tips of it, causing her to get flung onto the creature's back.
This was just what she wanted to happen.
Clinging to the many feathers that lined the creature's body, the young pirate reached down and unsheathed her small dagger from its sheath, then lifted it up into the air.
"This is for kidnapping me!" she shouted as she quickly brought the small weapon down, sinking it right into the bird's back.
The bird flung its head around wildly as the dagger sunk into its back, trying to call out but only succeeding in making a small screech instead of a loud squawk.
Tetra removed the dagger and lifted it again.
"This is for kidnapping my mother!" she cried out, this time slicing off a couple large feathers while cutting a deep gash into the lower portion of the foul's neck.
The winged beast once again made a small squawk of pain as the pirate held up her blooded dagger over her head.
"And this..." she began.
"...this is for Link!"
She quickly stabbed her weapon straight into the back of the creature's large neck!
The bird cried out as loud as it could with the restraint on its beak and flailed around like mad. It couldn't stand having this girl on its back stabbing it!
Thinking quickly, the bird started to roll its body in hopes of crushing her under its weight.
But Tetra jumped off in time before it was even close to finishing its
roll.
With a small puff of dust, Tetra landed on her feet and spun around to face the evil creature.
The bird called out as loud as it could and kicked its feet harder, still trying to regain its footing. It finally shifted position and got back on its feet, but it was struggling to walk straight, since its beak was still tied tightly to its leg. It planted it foot into the ground and yanked hard to try and snap the rope or loosen it from either its leg or beak.
While Tetra watched the bird struggle with the rope, she suddenly heard a small moan coming from behind her.
The pirate quickly turned around and sighed with relief when she saw Link slowly start to prop himself up, shaking his head slowly and rubbing it with one hand.
Of course, Link wasn't exactly feeling very well. His insides felt like they all got misplaced and his whole body was aching from the impact from the bird's foot. Luckily, he still had enough energy to stand up.
"Oh man..." he said quietly while still rubbing his aching head. "I hope I don't have to do THAT again..."
Suddenly, he tensed up, upon hearing the bird's small annoyed squawks coming from behind him.
"No!" he thought, lifting his head. "That thing still can't be alive!" He quickly turned around, expecting the bird to be hovering over him with an attack, ready to catch him off guard.
He was, however, very surprised to see the bird all tied up and struggling to get a rope off its beak.
"What the..." he uttered quietly with shock. "Did...I do that?" He blinked a bit with confusion.
But he didn't stay in this state long, and shook his head again to get his thoughts back on track. The bird was obviously still alive, and its head was down low enough so that he had a good shot at the yellow lobes. Now was his chance!
Quickly sprinting to the Master Sword, he grabbed the mighty blade with his left hand and spun around to look at the struggling creature. Tightening his grip on the sword's hilt, he waited until the bird slowed its flailing head; and when it did, he quickly saw his moment and charged straight toward the creatures head!
At the last moment, the bird saw the hero coming and its red eyes went wide with surprise and shock. It did one more mighty yank at the rope in hopes of getting it off before Link got too close!
With a loud yell, Link leapt into the air toward the bird's head with the Master Sword held high into the air!
SNAP!
The rope holding the bird's beak shut suddenly broke, freeing the bird's head from the connection with its foot. The bird's skull yanked sideways as a result from the sudden snapping of the rope...
...and it just so happened to head in Link's direction.
Link suddenly felt himself get hit in the stomach as the side of the bird's beak collided with his body. The resulting force flung him all the way to the other side of the field, screaming the whole way from utter shock and pain. He landed in a heap of dust and scrunched his body into a small circle, holding his stomach as if he just ate something that was not edible.
Tetra was not liking this scene one bit. From her perch behind the wall, she could only watch in horror as her careful rope trick suddenly backfired on Link, instead of the bird. She suppressed her voice low enough so no one could hear her scream out his name in terror.
The bird got her attention however since it was making such a loud racket, and she quickly looked over to see why it was making so much noise.
The huge beast was crying out with so many ear-piercing squawks that it made the whole tower vibrate! Its head and wings were flailing around like crazy, along with feathers flying all over the place and scattering under the wind the creature was causing.
As it flailed around, both Link and Tetra suddenly realized why the bird was acting this way.
The bird's front lobe was completely cut off.
During his collision with the bird's beak, Link's sword had managed to get a hit in and had cut it clean off the bird's head! A strange yellow liquid was now seeping all over its face as it flailed around in agony from the loss of one of its tender lobes.
In a crazy attempt to lessen the pain, the bird flapped its wings crazily to get itself airborne and began to lift into the air slowly, its body swaying oddly as it went higher and higher with the broken rope still dangling from its leg. Its squawks became weaker sounding as it moved away from the tower, struggling to keep itself airborne.
Then...all of a sudden...the whole field lit up with an extremely bright glow!
The sudden presence of light quickly made Tetra cover her eyes in order to keep herself from going blind! As she squinted to minimize the light entering her pupils, she saw something very bright and fast shoot out from one of the lit windows on the wooden ship. It wasn't long before she then heard a blood-curdling screech coming from the winged bird!
When the light dimmed, both Link and Tetra watched with pure amazement as the bird itself plummeted right of the air toward the ocean below, feathers flying in all directions. Whatever flew out of the ship had collided with the mighty beast, giving it extremely fatal cuts and burns from raw energy and sending it hurtling towards its watery grave.
As it fell, the dying beast let out one last cry, before it plunged into the vast waters around the dark fortress.
Then...everything fell silent...
Still recovering from her state of shock, Tetra could only stare as she quickly turned her gaze up to the broken piece of ship above her head.
"He...destroyed his own monster?" she wondered with pure shock. She knew who had released that beam of magic. It sort of surprised her that Ganondorf had killed his own servant; but she shouldn't have been surprised, knowing that this man didn't hesitate in the past when he destroyed other lives. It was almost too much destruction in one sitting for the young girl to comprehend.
As she pondered, the pirate's attention suddenly shifted to Link, upon hearing his constant moans.
Tetra took her eyes off the ship and looked over to see a very injured Link, slowly trudging across the field toward his fallen blade with one hand on his stomach. His wrist was bleeding pretty badly, and his expression was a look of pure exhaustion like the wind had been knocked completely out of him. His pace was extremely slow as he dragged his feet over to the Master Sword.
The young pirate couldn't stand to see him this way. He was in no condition to do anything effectively, and yet he was still moving around to retrieve his equipment. She really wanted to just run out there and drag him out of this horrible place.
Link had reached his blade while Tetra was debating on showing herself or not. He bent down to pick up his weapon but as he did so, he suddenly gripped his stomach even tighter and collapsed onto the cold floor, breathing heavily from seer exhaustion.
"That's it! I can't let him go and fight Ganondorf like this!" Tetra thought. She had made up her mind, and was about to climb back over the wall...
...but she stopped once she saw Link move onto his back and reach for something in his tunic.
Slowly, he pulled out what looked to be a glass bottle with something small and glowing inside it.
With his last bit of strength, the boy hero took his other hand and yanked the cork off the opening of the bottle. As soon as he finished, he allowed his head to fall back to the ground and closed his eyes, letting his body fall limp as he tried to continue breathing.
Whatever was inside the bottle quickly emerged from its small prison and fluttered around the boy's head, dropping small glittering specks of light onto his face.
Tetra watched with curious eyes as the little ball of light quickly flew all over his still body, casting even more bits of glitter all over his outfit.
Then...it flew off.
The young captain blinked with curiosity as she watched the small light vanish into the distance.
"What was that thing?" she wondered. She looked back over to Link...and her eyes went big.
Link was getting back up...and other than a torn tunic, not a scratch
was on him!
Tetra's mouth dropped open as Link got back to his feet and took a big breath of relief.
"Thank goodness for fairies." He said with a nod. He reached down and picked up the Master Sword by its blue hilt, put away the bottle, then walked over to retrieve his shield.
As he was walking over to his fallen shield, he couldn't help but glance up at the ship anchored on the stone mound near the tower. That same serious look appeared on his face as he reclaimed his shield and looked over to the path that lead up to the wooden structure.
He took two steps toward the path, but stopped when he heard a clank under his boot.
The boy took his foot off the object and peered down at it with
curiosity.
A small dagger was laying on the ground right below him, its blade being covered with blood.
Link cocked his head as he picked the weapon up and examined it. It looked sort of familiar...but it certainly wasn't his...so whose was it?
Upon seeing the dagger that Link picked up, Tetra quickly looked down to her side to see that her own dagger was missing from its sheath. She must have dropped it during her spar with the large bird.
Still not knowing who's dagger he was holding, Link took a quick glance around the field to see if the owner was still around.
Tetra quickly hid behind the wall, hoping he didn't spot her.
Link paused a bit and shrugged. He pocketed the dagger after giving it a quick cleaning, then walked on toward the path up to the wooden ship.
Tetra peeked back over the wall, and when she saw Link walk out of view, she slowly crawled out of her hiding spot and leaped over the sharp spikes onto the flat ground.
Still eyeing Link the whole way, the young pirate followed him from afar, keeping herself hidden until his image went out of her view. She heard the sound of a door creaking open, and then heard it close with a thud.
Though no one could tell from the outside, inside, Tetra did not want Link to enter that ship. She wasn't sure how he would fair against the new evil that was Ganondorf...and she hated it when she didn't know what would happen next!
She couldn't help but wondered also on how Link was feeling. She was sure he didn't want to do this...but she knew as well as Link did that it was his fate now...he had to get rid of this fiend, no matter what.
"He must have a lot of courage, that kid." Tetra thought. "But...will having a lot of guts and a legendary sword be enough?"
The pirate lowered her blonde head. She didn't want to just stand around, knowing Link was about to fight an evil man. She just had to see what was going on in there!
Immediately after she made up her mind, Tetra quickly scanned the wooden ship from where she was standing.
The ship had a couple of windows wedged into it, and there was also a very thin ledge right underneath them that snaked its way all around the helm. It would make an idle place for her to climb up to and look in on what they were doing from the windows.
As quickly as she could, the pirate climbed her way up to the ledge and began to slide across the bit of wall just below the window. Once she reached the first one, she peeked in to see what was happening.
All she could see was the mostly black armor that was making up the back of Ganondorf's clothing, plus most of the inside of the ship. Link was not in sight, since Ganondorf was blocking her view. The dark man was saying something to Link, but was speaking too low for Tetra to make out any of the words.
Not liking the view she was getting, the pirate squatted back down and continued across the ledge, passing a few windows and knocking some bits of rock off the ledge.
Just when she thought she had found a good spot, she heard someone from inside call out like they were charging to the frontline of a war! The call then suddenly cut short, after a small clanking sound was heard.
Tetra didn't like the sound of that. She recognized the call to be that of Link's, which made her look into the ship with even more haste.
As soon as she looked inside, her eyes went wide with shock...
Link had the Master Sword held toward Ganondorf...who had the legendary weapon held down by its blade! The young hero had tried a running slash at the fiend, but he had somehow been able to stop the blade by simply catching it in his hand!
"What's going on?!" the pirate suddenly thought. "I thought the Master Sword was the only thing that could destroy him? How can he just catch it without no harm coming to him?!"
Link must have been thinking the same thing, since he wielded the same expression as the young pirate captain did.
As he stood there holding the hilt of the legendary sword in shock, Ganondorf suddenly bent down and, before Link could react, quickly punched him right in the stomach!
Tetra gasped and put her hands over her mouth in horror as Link quickly shut his eyes and fell to his knees, gripping his stomach in agony. A bit of blood started to trickle out of his mouth as he knelt there, shaking a little to try and lessen his pain.
The young pirate looked on with shock, suddenly thinking it was a mistake to even think Link could defeat the King of Evil.
Looking dazed and dizzy from the unknown attack, the young boy lifted his head and looked around as if he did not know where he was.
He then started to get back on his feet, but didn't have time to complete his stand when the tall fiend quickly back-handed him across the head, sending him across the room! The boy gave a small yell as he was hit and landed in the middle of the room on his side, lying still to try and endure the sudden pain his whole body was feeling.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed quickly snapped him out of his rest, and he turned his head to look back at the evil man...
...but instead was met by the sharp end of a sword!
The boy inched back a bit with extremely wide eyes and froze, staring at the blade and hoping the man wasn't intending to drive it into him.
"You foolish boy..." the fiend suddenly said with an evil glare. "You cannot possibly defeat me with a blade that does not sparkle with the power to repel evil!"
He took a few steps forward, making Link move even farther back to avoid getting the sword through his throat.
"What you hold is useless...it has rotted in its pedestal, unmoved and untouched, for years..." The man snickered down at the boy in green and added. "It's power is gone...and its edges are dull."
Link was shocked. Of all times to realize your sword is not going to work right, now was definitely the worse time! He continued to stay frozen in his position as Ganondorf kept his sword pointed at his head.
A very sinister and half-angry look appeared on the fiend's dark brown face, sensing Link's unwillingness to move. He withdrew his long blade and began to lift it over his head as he slowly added.
"You've come all this way...for nothing..."
With his blade now fully over his head, Ganondorf prepared to bring it back down right on Link!
But suddenly...he stopped...
The man heard a sound coming from somewhere behind him and looked over his shoulder to see what had caused the noise.
There crouched down on her feet after just leaping through the window...was Tetra.
Wasting absolutely no time at all, the female pirate ran at full speed toward the dark man, having a look of anger on her small face. She quickly leaped through the air and rammed herself into the man, hoping to knock him back and make him drop his sword.
Ganondorf didn't budge however, and swatted at the girl with his free hand to get her away from him.
Tetra, knowing that her little distraction wasn't going to work any longer, quickly used his moving arm as a stand and pushed herself backwards, out of his reach. She landed on her feet a small distance away and spun around to face him.
The young pirate took her eyes off him though, when she heard the sound of Link finally getting back onto his feet. She looked over to her left to see him struggling to walk toward her, but he suddenly fell back to the ground, holding his stomach in agony.
"Link, get up!" she begged. She knew she couldn't hold off this man all by herself. She needed him to get back up so they both could run and escape this fight she knew they couldn't win!
Suddenly, Tetra realized that she left herself wide open for too long, and she quickly looked back in Ganondorf's direction to confirm his whereabouts.
Her eyes went huge when she saw one of his hands quickly reach down and grab her right around the neck!
The evil man lifted her high into the air by the throat as the defenseless pirate grabbed his hand and kicked her feet, trying to get herself loose.
Link looked up from his slouching position and gasped once he saw the scene that he was witnessing. He tried once again to get back on his feet and be of some use, but he only ended up back on the ground again from the crippling pain he had in his body.
Seeing how the pirate's attempts to free herself were failing, Ganondorf lowered his gaze and spoke in an annoyed tone.
"You pathetic little sea rat...did you really think you could save this boy?" He muttered, then humph as he added. "Foolishness...you shall suffer the same fate as this boy did for attempting such a mindless mission."
With that said, Ganondorf tightened his grip around the girl's neck, causing her to gasp loudly as she tried to take in air. He lifted his other hand and began to reach for Tetra's head.
"No...Tetra!" Link said weakly. He wanted to get up and rescue her from Ganondorf's grip, but his body wasn't letting him! He could only watch as her attempt to help him turned around and backfired in her face.
Tetra gapped her mouth and kept her eyes tightly shut as she continued to kick wildly. She could feel her heart racing as she struggled to try and get herself out of this man's clutches. But her strength was slowly draining out of her body from all her struggling, and the added pressure on her throat was quickly making it very difficult to breathe!
Ganondorf snickered again as his hand drew closer to the girl's blonde head, preparing to end her life in one short minute...
...but...his attention was suddenly drawn to the bright glow that was starting to radiate from the back of his lifted hand.
The man halted his movements and peered down as three yellow triangles formed on the back of his hand, the symbols being stacked in the shape of a pyramid. Oddly enough, the triangle above the other two was glowing brighter than usual, signaling an unknown message to the evil man.
No sooner had he seen the marking on his hand, Ganondorf looked over to see a necklace dangling out from under a struggling Tetra's bandana.
For no apparent reason, Ganondorf started laughing evilly...
"At long last..." he began to say. "I have found you!" Looking up to Tetra, he quickly added.
"Princess Zelda!"
Tetra slowed her frantic attempts to get free and peeked open her eyes. She then managed to say something back to him, through small breathes and confusion.
"What...are you...talking about?" she said between gasps. "I don't...know any...Zelda..." She quickly shut her eyes again as Ganondorf's grip on her neck got even tighter.
"Feigning ignorance with gain you nothing." Ganondorf said through an annoyed grin. He reached down and took the necklace in his hand, letting it rest in his palm as he continued. "Tell me...if you are not Zelda, then why do you hold this fragment of the Triforce?"
Tetra struggled to answer as the man released the necklace, letting it fall back across her heaving chest.
"I...I don't..." she stuttered. She suddenly got a blast of courage and quickly shouted as loud as his grip would let her.
"I don't know!"
Ganondorf got an angry look in his eyes, obviously not pleased with the remark she gave him. Not liking also the stubbornness she was showing him, he squeezed the girl's neck even harder in hopes of getting her to cooperate.
Suddenly feeling his grip get even tighter around her throat, Tetra lifted her head as high as she could and let out a weak breathless scream!
"No...Stop it! You're hurting her!" Link shouted helplessly, trying to crawl over to where the two were.
Upon hearing his weak but very concerned voice, Tetra slowly opened her glazed eyes and looked down at the worried boy.
"Link..." she said weakly.
The young boy looked up at her from his spot on the floor, his eyes locking with hers and showing the extreme pain he was getting from his invisible injury, and also from watching her get choked.
Tetra opened her mouth.
"I...I...ugh..."
She tried to finish her sentence, but was loosing her last bit of oxygen with every word she said.
But she persisted...she had to tell him. She had to let him hear the one phrase that she'd been wanting to tell him ever since they had started their journey. She found enough air in her lung, and quietly uttered the words...
"...I'm...sorry..."
Immediately after she said this, her eyes slowly closed shut and her head fell back. Her hands fell to her side as her body turned lifeless, her hanging feet and arms going limp as her small body dangled from Ganondorf's cold grip.
As everything turned dark and cold around her, Tetra slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
The last thing she heard...
...was Link...crying out her name...