Disclaimer: Still don't own Wind Waker, Zelda, or anything related to it,
darn it! *glares at lawyers* You are shortening my life by the minute...you
do know that, right? *lawyers sip tea* ...*growls* ...dorks...
A/N: It's part two of the final battle with Ganondorf! Oh my! And who knew it would turn out to be so long! Heh, sorry I left it at a cliffhanger, but don't fret...cliffhangers build character! ...at least I think it does ^_^; I hope none of you get mad at me for what I had happen in this chapter. And if you do, get over it *laughs*. Aw just kidding. Ok, I'll stop chewing on your ear now...Enjoy!
Chapter 17: Beginning of the End
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"LOOK OUT!!!"
Over the pouring rain and slight thunder, Princess Zelda's voice was heard, echoing across the flooding kingdom and splitting through the large streams of water that poured out of the ocean sky.
The Hero of Winds didn't even get a chance to react, as a magical blast of explosive energy came careening toward him at such a blinding speed, it was virtually impossible to dodge. He watched with terrified eyes as it drew closer to him, knowing for sure that one hit could end his life in a matter of minutes. He could do nothing however, except watch the ball of doom get closer and closer with every second.
Finally, knowing that it was all going to be over very shortly, the terrified boy shut his eyes tight and merely waited for the end as his vision went pure white and heat fell upon his face.
But suddenly...his white vision turned a deep grey and he quickly felt his body lurch sideways. Before he even could open his eyes, Link hit the stone floor on his back, briefly rendering him unconscious from the sudden blow to the head, and also knocking him straight out of the beams path!
In only a few seconds time, the white ball of energy zoomed passed the boy in green...and disappeared into the distance.
Only the sound of the rain followed...
It wasn't too long afterwards before Link managed to regain his conscious and train of thought. Still keeping his eyes shut to tolerate the ache he now had gotten from his sudden fall to the ground, he tried to piece together what had happened, while the rest of him recovered from shock.
He was pretty surprised that he was still gripping his shield and the Master Sword, and also the fact that he was still in one piece was enough good news for the boy. But what exactly did happen that kept him alive?
"W...what...happened?" the young hero thought silently.
He couldn't quite remember, knowing he had been too scared to do anything during that last second. And plus, he had his eyes shut, so he couldn't see what had happened either. He only remembered one thing...and that was...
"Oh no...Zelda!" He suddenly remembered hearing her call out before the blast nearly collided with him!
The feeling in Link's body quickly returned, and he instantly felt something's weight partially on top of his chest. His eyes shot open, suddenly fearing what was laying on him.
What he first laid eyes on quickly made his breath catch in his throat...
Lying motionless partially on top of his sprawled body with her head and one arm slung across his chest...was Zelda.
"Zelda!" Link called out loud. He immediately dropped his hold on his sword and shield and quickly but carefully sat both him and Zelda up, suddenly figuring out what had happened in that split second before the blast collided with him.
Princess Zelda had shoved him out of the blasts path, but must have only gotten partially out of the way herself and possibly hit by the blast as it flew by. In that quick instant, she had risked her own safety...just so he could live.
It was now, after realizing what had happened, that Link noticed how badly injured Zelda was. Her back was covered with burns and small cuts, obvious that the beam had left it mark on the princess as it sliced by them. Blood was seeping out of the small cut areas on her dress, possibly causing her pain and feel weak if she was not unconscious.
Link could tell that she was still conscious though, for she was gripping the front of his tunic very tightly in possible agony. He could feel her chest that was against his panting heavily as well, along with the sound of her rapid breathing on his arm. It was very clear to the young hero that she was in a lot of pain.
The boy quickly grew very worried, and took hold of her shoulders while being careful not to touch any of her wounds. He gently tried to move her from his arm, lowering her across his chest until she lay over his lap. Cradling her head in one arm, he peered down into her tightly closed eyes, quickly seeing how much pain the girl was tolerating without falling unconscious.
"Zelda..." he whispered to her, hoping she could still hear him.
The hurting princess merely continued to breath heavily, showing no signs of even remotely hearing his words.
Link could barely tolerate what he was seeing. He may have seen pain and suffering before...many times in fact; but nothing was comparing to the horrible feeling he was getting from seeing someone like Zelda suffer in his place.
The poor boy couldn't take it anymore after a short while however, knowing she had risked her own safety and was now hurt because of him. He suddenly felt very guilty and closed his eyes, hanging his head until it touched Zelda's forehead. Immediately he began to secretly apologize to her, for being a coward at the worse possible moment.
From his stand some feet away behind them, Ganondorf watched with unchanging eyes the scene that was unfolding before him. Though it wasn't showing in his face, he was secretly enjoying watching this boy suffer from the princess' noble sacrifice; and to make it even worst for the Hero of Winds, he suddenly starting speaking to him with his usual low and icy voice.
"Now do you see, boy..." he uttered loud enough for him to hear. "This...all of this is what you get from taking on such a task as protecting the Triforce. Pain...suffering...that is what a hero is rewarded with for his trails and hardships." He paused and narrowed his red eyes. "Now you should know how foolish it was to even think of challenging me."
Knowing that the boy could hear him but unsure if he was listening, the evil man slowly started to pace toward the two youngsters and added. "Why not save yourself the torture of continuing this losing battle...and give up."
Link didn't respond to him and merely kept his head low in thought. He suddenly didn't know what to do...should he listen to Ganondorf and give up on everything he hoped to save? Or should he continue to fight a battle that he wasn't sure he could win now?
"...L...Link..."
Link quickly reopened his eyes and removed his head atop Zelda's. He looked down to find that her eyes were now slowly beginning to open, and a relieved expression quickly formed on his face when her tired gaze were peering back up into his.
Ganondorf must have noticed the boy's sudden change in mood, since he suddenly stopped in his tracks to observe what was happening.
Somehow managing to stay awake, the wounded Zelda spoke to the young hero in a quiet and weak sounding voice.
"A-are...you alright..." she asked weakly in between breaths.
Link's eyes grew soft upon hearing her concerned words, and a relieved but still worried smile formed on his face as he nodded.
"Thanks to you, I am..." he replied sweetly.
The wounded princess managed to make a small smile back to him. She had to strain to hear him, since her hearing had diminished from being so close to the screeching beam of energy; but never the less, she was glad she had kept him from getting injured or possibly killed, even if it meant the loss of her hearing.
Not staying in the moment too long however, Zelda quickly had to close her eyes back up, suddenly feeling a sharp pain run through her greatly injured back.
Upon seeing her cringe, Link held her closer to his chest, hoping he could minimize her hurting just by being nearer to her.
In response to his gentle hold, Zelda buried her head further into his tunic, while still breathing in short quick gasps. She tightened her hold on his shirt, in hopes of letting him know that his presence by her side was all that was keeping her from falling unconscious.
Ganondorf couldn't help but make a disgusted snicker at the young hero and princess.
"How pathetic..." he mumbled out loud. "You really are a hopeless child if you think she will live through this fight. Why don't you save yourself the misery and accept her defeat, as well as your own."
"D-don't...listen...to him." Zelda quietly commanded, keeping her head buried in Link's chest. "You...can still...win this. Even if..." she paused.
"...even if...I'm not there...to help you..."
Link lifted his head a little more after hearing Zelda say this. The most fearful look then quickly entered his eyes as he peered down at her moist face.
"No..." he replied while shaking his head. "You're...you're not going to die. You...you can't die!" Without even realizing what he was doing, the boy reached over and lightly slipped his hand into hers, and added. "...I won't let you..."
At first, Princess Zelda didn't respond.
But after only a few short moments passed, Link quickly felt Zelda's hand weakly squeeze his in return.
It wasn't until now, did Link suddenly remember what he had been saving as a last resort.
The boy didn't waste another second as he carefully shuffled his position a little and reach behind his back.
"Hold on, Zelda..." he said as he rummaged around for something. "You're going to be alright. Just hold on for a few more seconds." Just when he finished his sentence, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out from behind him.
It was a shiny glass bottle...and it had a familiar glowing object floating about inside it.
Link peered through the glass, knowing that the glowing fairy inside this bottle would be able to heal Zelda back to full health, if she could just hang on for a couple more minutes. But he also knew that it was the only thing he had with him that could do such miracles, and if he used it now, he would have nothing to heal himself with during the remaining portion of the fight.
But Link didn't care about any of that. Right now, his only thought was to get Zelda healed as quickly as possible.
"...if worse comes to worse." He quoted to himself as he bit down on the bottle's cork and yanked it off with his teeth. He spat the cork aside and watched, as the small glittering fairy emerged and floated up to his face, casting a warm glow upon his anxious face.
"Please..." he quickly said to the winged fairy as he put away the bottle and gently lifted Zelda head up. "...heal my friend...and hurry!"
The fairy made a smile and did a quick nod before it swiftly flew over to Zelda's face. It peered at her for a brief moment, then began to flutter about her head, sprinkling small bits of light onto her face and hair. It went on to the rest of her body and quickly made a couple circles over her form, all the while shedding sparkles of light onto her.
After a couple of seconds of doing Link's request, the fairy flew back over to the hero and hovered in front of his nose, signaling to him that its task was complete.
"Thank you." Link said with a relieved smile.
The fairy made another smile back, and with a gesture from its small wand, it quickly vanished into the thin but humid air.
When it had disappeared, Link immediately turned back to examine Zelda. She no longer had any cuts, blood, or injuries on her back, but her dress was still torn in some spots since a fairy couldn't heal clothing. When he saw that the injuries were gone, he looked over and peered into her face, which now had a soft peaceful look to it.
"Zelda?" he whispered with earnest.
He saw her eyelids barely twitch after a few seconds, and soon, they slowly fluttered open to reveal her still and tired blue eyes.
The most joyous expression formed on Link's face as she took a couple deep breaths, staring at nothing in particular while blinking to adjust her blurry vision and to keep the raindrops from getting in her eyes. Then her blue eyes slowly peered up at Link's face that nearly hung right over her own.
"Link." she quietly called with joy, while still sounding tired. She then peered around at their surroundings, obviously still trying to regain her senses from her very painful experience.
Quickly finding her strength returning, the young princess slowly began to sit up, while still being held and supported by Link. As he helped her get into a sitting position, she looked herself over, confused by how there wasn't a scratch on her.
"What...happened? How did I...?" she began to question, unable to finish her sentence from confusion. She couldn't really remember anything; not even what she had said while she was still conscious.
Link didn't want her to feel frightened for any reason, and calmly placed his free hand back on top of hers.
"It's alright." He reassured her. "You're healed now. And that's really all that matters."
She looked up at him. Then her eyes trailed down to his hand resting on top if hers.
"I'm glad you're ok." Link suddenly whispered.
Zelda just stared at his hand for a couple seconds more, before lifting her head to greet his sincere smile. She wasn't sure how she managed to come out completely unharmed after an ordeal like the one she was in; but despite her slight confusion, she remained calm, as she quickly found herself staring straight back into the boy's eyes, unable to remove her gaze from them.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Zelda quickly saw something move and shimmer behind Link's back...
She turned her head...and her expression instantly turned into pure horror...
...when she saw Ganondorf standing right behind Link...with one of his swords right above his head.
"Link!" she shouted.
Realizing he had been spotted, Ganon quickly brought his sword down before he allowed Link anytime to react!
CLANK!
Ganon's eyes went wide with surprise when he suddenly saw the Master Sword underneath his blade instead of the hero's head. He looked down even further to find Link using only one hand to hold his sword, and the other on the ground to keep himself from falling on an equally surprised Zelda.
And on his face...was the most angriest look he had ever seen.
Before Ganondorf even recovered from his stunned state, Link quickly put all his might into his sword and pushed as hard as he could, shoving the King of Evil back far enough from him to get back on his feet. Almost the second his boots touched the ground, the young hero charged straight at the man, suddenly unleashing a volley of sword slashes at such a speed, that Ganondorf quickly found himself having trouble blocking all of them!
"How did this kid get so fast!" he wondered through gritted teeth as he blocked wave after wave of attacks from the Hero of Winds. This boy had suddenly gotten faster than he was when he was at full health. How did he get so fast in such a short amount of time?
The evil man had little time to ponder an answer, as Link didn't halt his barrage of quick attacks on him, forcing him to keep his attention on blocking rather than thinking.
As Link kept dishing out attacks for Ganon to munch on, Princess Zelda watched from her new stand a good distance away. She had already moved out of the way even before Link started his attack, and now that she was far away from them, she took a brief moment to gather her thoughts.
The fact that she was alive was still a shock to her, since she couldn't find any obvious explanation for her having only a slightly torn dress instead of pain running all through her body. Her mind was lingering on the verge of unconsciousness just a little while ago, and because it was, she barely had any memory of what Link had done to save her. All she remembered clearly, was the seer pain she was in, and the next moment, complete relief.
Wishing she could have heard his words clearly, the princess held her hands up to her chest, knowing he had stayed by her side even with Ganondorf's presence still near.
"I don't know what you did to heal me, Link..." she whispered to the boy out of hearing range. "...but...thank you..."
Now hearing loud battle cries coming from the two fighters, she quickly got out of her thoughts, knowing that she still had a part to play in this fight.
Immediately, the princess began to scan the battlefield in search of the bow and arrows she had purposely dropped before her attempt to save Link. As she did so, her eyes inadvertently fell upon the kingdom below her, which not surprisingly was still flooding.
She was, however, surprised to find that the whole place wasn't underwater by now. But if you couldn't call it underwater yet, then you could say it was close to it. Hyrule Castle was already at least halfway underwater, along with everything else that was lower than the tall and mighty structure itself.
"We don't have much time left." She thought to herself. "We have to get this over with quick, or else no one will get out of here alive!"
Almost immediately after she thought this, her eyes fell upon what she was looking for. The bow and the handful of arrows were right were she dropped them not too far away, and she started to sprint toward them without another moments waste.
She bent down to pick up the fallen weapon, when suddenly, she heard this loud noise echo throughout the whole kingdom, forcing her head to look straight up into the watery sky.
The noise was enough to even get Ganondorf and Link's attention, and the two men suddenly paused their fight to look up at what was causing the noise.
One gigantic waterfall after another suddenly came pouring out of the sky, luckily not falling on the top of the tower and instead submerging the outskirts. Large streams of it however, splashed its way across the battlefield, making the place more aquatic and scattering a thin layer of water all across the ground.
In a matter of seconds, a wall of water had surrounded the battlefield, blocking all possible escape paths...
"No!" Zelda called in horror. Without access to the castle, or even to the inside of Ganon's Tower, her and Link couldn't escape from this soon to be forgotten kingdom!
Link must have been aware of this as well, since he looked on with worried eyes too.
This was a very bad mistake however, and Link suddenly knew he had left himself open for way too long. But by the time he looked in Ganondorf's direction, it was already too late...
The young hero suddenly screamed in pain as the King of Evil gave him a huge cut right along the arm, forming a huge gash and luckily not slicing it clean off. The man had not removed his arm intentionally though, since he wanted to see the boy suffer as much as possible.
Link quickly started to breath rapidly as he endured the excruciating pain his right arm was in. But even with the sudden and possibly fatal injury, the boy showed no sign of wanting to back down, and he suddenly leapt at Ganondorf, ignoring the pain and yelling the whole way to show how determined he was to defeat him!
Ganondorf once again blocked, and he and Link went into another slashing spree of attacking and blocking, just like they had been doing ever since the start of the fight.
Link's scream had already gotten Zelda's attention back and it quickly reminded her of what she was suppose to be doing.
Immediately she took out an arrow and notched it into the bow, which suddenly made the tip of the yellow arrow begin to shine. She looked back to the two fighters, aimed it at the taller fighter, and prepared to fire it. When Link took a leap backwards out of the way, she released her hold on the string and the Light arrow went soaring toward its intended target.
...but instead of hitting its target, the arrow swiftly flew right pass Ganondorf while he was in mid-air, just before she thought it was about hit him...
The fiend landed back to the ground and quickly resumed the fight with the hero, who shot a quick look at Zelda that could have said "You missed?!" Of course he threw his attention back to the fight once Ganondorf resumed the battle and attacked as if nothing had happened.
"Shoot!" Zelda growled. She could not believe she had missed such a large target. Blaming her miss on the short amount of time she had to practice using such a weapon, she quickly prepared another Light arrow, and this time, she made sure that her aim was perfect.
Knowing this time she wouldn't miss, she released the arrow and it quckly followed a flight path that had the King of Evil right in the way.
But once again, it missed its intended target...only this time, it was very obvious that Ganondorf had dodged it...while still fighting Link!
"What the-" the princess thought, cutting herself off in the middle of her sentence. "He...he dodged it? While fighting Link?!" She paused in wonder, and narrowed her eyes as she watched Ganondorf deal another blow to Link's raised shield, which he immediately countered once he got his balance.
Hoping she still just had bad aim however, she decided to try one more time and see if she could hit him while he was most distracted. Notching another arrow while observing the fight, she aimed at Ganondorf and waited until he looked like he was about to attack.
It didn't take long before she saw Ganondorf attempt a downward slash at Link, and she quickly fired. The Light arrow pierced through the rain and it looked as if it wasn't going to miss its target this time.
But Princess Zelda's hope was dashed to pieces yet again, when Ganondorf literally halted his sword in mid-air, and leapt backwards, well out of the way of the Light arrow as it merely passed in front of his nose.
"Oh no...this...this isn't good!" Zelda thought. She was either getting worse aim by the second...or it was becoming very obvious that Ganondorf was getting harder and harder to defeat...
"Link!" she called out, hesitating a little since she really didn't want to distract him. Even when he didn't look at her, she continued. "Something is wrong! I can't hit him!"
Both of the fighters heard this, and Ganondorf made yet another big leap backwards, as did Link. The two stood away from each other and neither made any motions to show they were about to attack.
As he glared at the evil man while making a couple deep breaths, Link listened intently to the rest of Zelda's call.
"He's somehow gotten more powerful!" she continued. "I don't know how, but he's now able to dodge my shots and at the same time fight you without any interruption!"
Link narrowed his eyes as the dark fiend made a snicker. Oh sure, he knew that Ganondorf could dodge anything if his attention was on it; but how could he know when to dodge while keeping his mind on fighting?
The King of Evil must have somehow read his thoughts.
"Don't look so surprised, boy." He said, snapping the hero out of his thoughts. He lifted his head and made an evil smile down at him. "I may not have the full extent of the Triforce's power, but even without it, I am still more powerful than you could possibly imagine!" He formed an even bigger smile and slowly added. "You probably have not noticed it yet...but I've only been using a portion of my strength ever since we started this fight."
Link's eyes went huge, as did Zelda's. He was only toying with them this whole time?!
Ganondorf slowly started to lift his swords.
"That is...until now..."
All of sudden, Ganondorf charged at the young wide-eyed hero!
Link got even more surprised than before and tensed up to try and defend. But before he even got his shield half-way up, he was suddenly hit right in the face by Ganon's elbow!
Zelda gasped, as Link took a couple steps backwards, trying to keep his balance and tolerate the soreness in his nose at the same time.
He quickly opened his eyes when he heard Ganondorf yell again, but just as he got them open, he suddenly felt the dull end of a sword hit him right in the back!
The force from the blow was enough to knock him forward and off his feet, but before he even hit the ground face first, he felt a knee jab itself right into his stomach, forcing his eyes and mouth open in sheer shock and pain.
The Hero of Winds felt a little bit of blood fly out of his mouth as he stammered backwards, trying to regain some balance and train of thought so he could fight back. But, even more pain suddenly entered his body, when he felt another blow hit his stomach, this time by Ganondorf's foot.
Princess Zelda was completely stunned and shocked by how fast the fiend was moving. In fact, she couldn't even see him at all except for a split second, and that was when his attack got a hit in. She stood there in horror as she regrettably watched Link receive one attack after another, all the while trying to figure out some way she could possibly distract or stop the King of Evil from hurting him anymore!
"There's no way I can hit him when he's moving that fast." the young girl sadly concluded. It would be nearly impossible for her to paralyze the fiend while he was literally invisible to her and kept reappearing in different spots too quick for her to keep up.
Sometime while she was planning, Ganondorf made an extremely hard slash at Link right along his side, cutting a reasonably deep gash and making the small boy cry out in pain.
The princess cringed with frightful eyes as he loss more precious blood with each received attack, hearing his painful cries and longing to somehow take it away from him.
"I have to help him!" she thought earnestly. "I can't just stand around and do nothing while he gets beaten to death!" A determined look crossed her face. "I have to try!"
With her even stronger determination, Princess Zelda took out another Light arrow, notched it, and aimed as best she could at the spontaneously reappearing form that kept reappearing somewhere around Link. She found herself moving her bow to her target, which would just disappear and then reappear somewhere else; but when she aimed for that one, it would again vanish before she could even fire.
"Shoot!" she whispered, a little frustrated. "He's moving so fast!"
Knowing that the chances of her hitting the evil king now was almost slim to nothing, she contemplated on whether she should waste her few remaining arrows and try to hit him anyways, or attempt a different method that she had no ideas for currently.
A sudden yell from Link quickly made her make up her mind.
She finally worked up the confidence to actually fire, and suddenly sent one flying toward the two fighters, unsure whether or not it would hit the intended target.
Surprisingly, Ganondorf suddenly stopped his flurry of attacks on the young boy and looked back at the oncoming arrow now coming at his back. He didn't waste another second and quickly jumped to on side, letting the arrow bypass him...
...and head straight at Link!
"NO!" Zelda screamed, suddenly realizing her arrow was about to hit the wrong target.
Luckily, the boy's attention was aimed in the right direction, and he noticed the arrow just in time to quickly lift his shield up to avoid being hit himself!
The Hero of Winds ducked his head, as he felt the arrow bounce right off his reflecting shield and shoot back in the direction it came from...
...right back at Ganondorf.
It was too late before the King of Evil even noticed what had happened, and the arrow quickly cut through his clothing, piercing his skin and sinking its magical effect deep into his nerves. The arrow itself instantly dissolved from the magic upon impact, as the paralysis quickly overcame Ganon's body, immobilizing him once again and forcing the fiend to call out in shock.
Of course, when Link saw what had happened, he didn't let the opportunity go to waste and he got back to his feet as quickly as his wounds would let him. Waving the Master Sword high in the air, he charged at his frozen opponent and began a sideways slash in an attempt to give him a large wound on his arm.
But his sword was suddenly met by one of Ganondorf's long ones...while the fiend was still partially paralyzed...
The wounded hero's eyes widened with shock, suddenly realizing that the paralyzing effect was not working as long as it should have.
Ganondorf got a furious look in his red eyes and he quickly used the hero's shock to his advantage by taking his other sword, and quickly slicing a large cut right across Link's back.
The young boy threw his head back and screamed when he suddenly felt the sharp blade cut open his skin. He quickly felt his legs give way and he fell forward, onto Ganondorf's heavily clothed arm. He dangling there for a brief second, before the man shoved him away in disgust.
Princess Zelda grew stiff with fright as she watched Link land in a puddle of cold water, which quickly grew red with blood. She had to force herself not to cry out to him, and quickly reached for another arrow before she allowed Ganondorf to give him anymore harm.
But when she reached into her stash of arrows...she quickly realized that she only had one left...
The princess couldn't believe she had depleted her stash already and searched some more...but still found only one remaining.
"No...no!" she panicked, not wanting to accept the fact that she had only one left. She took out the remaining Light arrow and looked at it, before she glanced back at the two fighters.
The paralysis had worn off long ago, and now Ganondorf was hovering over Link's trembling form. He didn't utter a word as he glared down at the greatly injured boy, finding the site quite pitiful and at the same time enjoying every minute of it.
Wanting to see this boy suffer even more than he already was, he slowly took one of his swords and lightly touched the boy's shoulder. Then in a split second, he swiftly yanked it and cut another gash diagonally right along his chest.
Once again the small hero cried out in agony, as his body lurched harshly before his figure grew still.
Zelda gasped in horror when she saw his head fall lightly into the small pool of liquids without opening his eyes. Just seeing the very site made her want to stop all this torture and she quickly notched her last arrow and aimed it at Ganondorf, who had his back partially turned toward her.
As if he was totally oblivious to Zelda's presence, the King of Evil placed the pointy end of his sword on Link's throat, which he quickly yanked sideways, forming a light but painful cut across the boys neck!
Zelda quickly found her hands begin to quake as Link managed to make a very light cry that lingered in the humid air.
"I...I can't shoot..." the princess realized. "...if I miss, then all our hopes for winning will be destroyed!" she reopened her closed eye and slowly lowered the bow. "I...I can't risk it...I just can't..."
Trying not to let tears form in her eyes, the fearful princess kept her extremely worried eyes on Link and remained frozen in her position, unable to bring herself to shoot her last arrow.
Through his sheer torture and excruciating pain, the Hero of Winds slowly began to turn his head toward the princess. He slowly forced his eyes open and looked at her with such a pale expression that it made her want to release the tears she was holding back.
"...Z...Zelda..." he stammered in too low of a tone for her to even hear. He quickly had to shut his eyes however, when he suddenly felt his arm feel like it was being crushed!
Zelda made another heartbroken gasp, when she saw Ganondorf purposely step on Link's right arm, adding more pressure until the wounded boy couldn't stand it anymore.
Then...without whispering another painful word...Link quickly grew limp and his head fell back onto the ground...
He remained motionless as the King of Evil removed his foot, examing the boy for any trace of movement. When he found none, a pitiful look made its way onto his dark face.
"It is done..." he whispered to himself.
"...the hero has fallen..."
He lowered his gaze on the still hero and slowly glanced to his side.
"...and so has the hope." He added as his cold eyes fell upon the Princess of Hyrule not too far from him.
Zelda still had her bow and arrow aimed at him partially...but from the look on her face, she wasn't about to fire it anytime soon. In fact, she looked way too frightened to even think about moving, let alone fire an arrow. She kept her eyes locked onto Link's still figure, a dozen thoughts running through her mind a little too quick for her liking.
"...no...Link..." she whispered. She knew it wasn't suppose to end this way. She thought for sure that they would win this fight together...but now she was all alone to face this evil that she knew she could not defeat.
Quickly, she found herself begin to tremble with fear; especially when she heard the sound of soft splashes coming toward her. The noise quickly forced the princess to look straight ahead at who was causing them.
Ganondorf was already halfway to her, a look of hate mixed with delight spread across his face.
Her reflexes quickly told her to lift her bow, and she quickly pointed the notched arrow at him, all the while quivering as if she was cold.
The man could sense the fear in her and a smile crossed his face.
"Come now, princess." He muttered while still pacing toward her. "You know as well as I do that I can still dodge your shots even at this range...so why even waste your arrows trying?"
Zelda did nothing but take a few tiny steps back, still keeping the arrow aimed at him with trembling hands.
An evil smile made its way onto Ganon's face.
"How pathetic..." he snickered. "...look at yourself...you don't even have the courage to even fire." His cold eyes narrowed as he took a few more steps and halted a small distance in front of her. "And even if you do manage to hit me..." he continued. "...what harm could you possibly do that could end my life now?"
The princess got a fearful look in her eyes.
"He's right..." she thought. "...no matter what I do, I won't be able to destroy him by myself..." she shut her eyes tight as she tried to hold back tears. "...I've...failed..." Squinting her eyes back open, she stared at the ground, letting the rain fall down her face as she slowly added.
"...I'm sorry...mother..."
Lifting her head partially, she set her slightly blurred vision in Link's direction, about to secretly apologize to him for failing as well.
But she quickly muted her thoughts, when she saw that Link was no longer on the ground...but on his knees with his mirror shield held in her direction.
She immediately resisted the urge to shift her expression so Ganondorf wouldn't get suspicious, and watched him out of the corner of her eye as he managed to make a very small gesture to her.
Though she wasn't quite sure what he was trying to tell her, his slow motions toward himself made it look like he wanted her to...
...shoot at him?
Zelda was puzzled, but unfortunately her thoughts were interrupted again.
Without taking her eyes off the Hero of Winds, she regrettably listened to what Ganon had to say.
"It was a big mistake to put all your hope in that boy." He stated, knowing she was looking at the young hero but didn't bother turning around to see why. "But I guess I should have known that someone your age wouldn't know what was in your best interest." He paused as he eyed the princess intently. "Tell me...do you really think that you will win this already lost fight?"
Zelda didn't answer him for the longest time, all the while keeping her head low as if she was pondering a right answer.
Finally, she slowly lifted her head to look up into the fiend's eyes...and a smirk crossed her face as she answered.
"...not by myself."
Ganondorf 's evil smile quickly faded when Zelda suddenly lifted her bow and pulled back her last arrow.
As quick as her reflexes allowed her to, the Princess of Hyrule aimed her bow off to Ganondorf's left and immediately fired her final arrow.
As it passed the evil king, he quickly looked back to see why the princess did such a stupid maneuver.
He turned just in time, to see the Light arrow intentionally bounce right off of Link's raised shield and get sent flying straight back at him...and he didn't have enough time to dodge it.
Ganondorf arched his back and flailed his head in both shock and anger, as the paralysis engulfed every inch of his body, paralyzing him once again and giving the Hero of Winds enough time to get on his feet and charge!
Almost a second after he was hit, Ganon recovered enough mobility to turn back around. He glared ferociously at Princess Zelda, and in an angry rage, the man quickly lifted his sword and slashed at the princess before he allowed her time to get out of the way!
The sword caught her right along her arm, and she let out a painful yell as she fell to the ground from the force of the blow.
The angry man quickly turned back around to face Link, and immediately lifted his other sword to slash at the oncoming hero!
But Link had seen this coming, and as soon as the fiend's sword began to come down, he quickly rolled to his left, avoiding the sharp blade and at the same time creating an opening on Ganondorf with which to attack him with.
With a loud call of energy, the hero sliced Ganondorf right along the back, forcing the man to shoot his head up again and cry out in pain. The King of Evil could then only watch as the young Hero of Winds launched himself high into the air and let gravity run its course of bringing the hero right down...
...right on his head.
The sound of a sword piercing and sinking into flesh immediately followed, along with an extremely bright light that illuminated the battlefield. It engulfed everyone that was near it, and even went on to break through the wall of water! The large beam of light quickly broke the water's surface, and shot into the heavens!
...then...
...all went completely silent...
A/N: It's part two of the final battle with Ganondorf! Oh my! And who knew it would turn out to be so long! Heh, sorry I left it at a cliffhanger, but don't fret...cliffhangers build character! ...at least I think it does ^_^; I hope none of you get mad at me for what I had happen in this chapter. And if you do, get over it *laughs*. Aw just kidding. Ok, I'll stop chewing on your ear now...Enjoy!
Chapter 17: Beginning of the End
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"LOOK OUT!!!"
Over the pouring rain and slight thunder, Princess Zelda's voice was heard, echoing across the flooding kingdom and splitting through the large streams of water that poured out of the ocean sky.
The Hero of Winds didn't even get a chance to react, as a magical blast of explosive energy came careening toward him at such a blinding speed, it was virtually impossible to dodge. He watched with terrified eyes as it drew closer to him, knowing for sure that one hit could end his life in a matter of minutes. He could do nothing however, except watch the ball of doom get closer and closer with every second.
Finally, knowing that it was all going to be over very shortly, the terrified boy shut his eyes tight and merely waited for the end as his vision went pure white and heat fell upon his face.
But suddenly...his white vision turned a deep grey and he quickly felt his body lurch sideways. Before he even could open his eyes, Link hit the stone floor on his back, briefly rendering him unconscious from the sudden blow to the head, and also knocking him straight out of the beams path!
In only a few seconds time, the white ball of energy zoomed passed the boy in green...and disappeared into the distance.
Only the sound of the rain followed...
It wasn't too long afterwards before Link managed to regain his conscious and train of thought. Still keeping his eyes shut to tolerate the ache he now had gotten from his sudden fall to the ground, he tried to piece together what had happened, while the rest of him recovered from shock.
He was pretty surprised that he was still gripping his shield and the Master Sword, and also the fact that he was still in one piece was enough good news for the boy. But what exactly did happen that kept him alive?
"W...what...happened?" the young hero thought silently.
He couldn't quite remember, knowing he had been too scared to do anything during that last second. And plus, he had his eyes shut, so he couldn't see what had happened either. He only remembered one thing...and that was...
"Oh no...Zelda!" He suddenly remembered hearing her call out before the blast nearly collided with him!
The feeling in Link's body quickly returned, and he instantly felt something's weight partially on top of his chest. His eyes shot open, suddenly fearing what was laying on him.
What he first laid eyes on quickly made his breath catch in his throat...
Lying motionless partially on top of his sprawled body with her head and one arm slung across his chest...was Zelda.
"Zelda!" Link called out loud. He immediately dropped his hold on his sword and shield and quickly but carefully sat both him and Zelda up, suddenly figuring out what had happened in that split second before the blast collided with him.
Princess Zelda had shoved him out of the blasts path, but must have only gotten partially out of the way herself and possibly hit by the blast as it flew by. In that quick instant, she had risked her own safety...just so he could live.
It was now, after realizing what had happened, that Link noticed how badly injured Zelda was. Her back was covered with burns and small cuts, obvious that the beam had left it mark on the princess as it sliced by them. Blood was seeping out of the small cut areas on her dress, possibly causing her pain and feel weak if she was not unconscious.
Link could tell that she was still conscious though, for she was gripping the front of his tunic very tightly in possible agony. He could feel her chest that was against his panting heavily as well, along with the sound of her rapid breathing on his arm. It was very clear to the young hero that she was in a lot of pain.
The boy quickly grew very worried, and took hold of her shoulders while being careful not to touch any of her wounds. He gently tried to move her from his arm, lowering her across his chest until she lay over his lap. Cradling her head in one arm, he peered down into her tightly closed eyes, quickly seeing how much pain the girl was tolerating without falling unconscious.
"Zelda..." he whispered to her, hoping she could still hear him.
The hurting princess merely continued to breath heavily, showing no signs of even remotely hearing his words.
Link could barely tolerate what he was seeing. He may have seen pain and suffering before...many times in fact; but nothing was comparing to the horrible feeling he was getting from seeing someone like Zelda suffer in his place.
The poor boy couldn't take it anymore after a short while however, knowing she had risked her own safety and was now hurt because of him. He suddenly felt very guilty and closed his eyes, hanging his head until it touched Zelda's forehead. Immediately he began to secretly apologize to her, for being a coward at the worse possible moment.
From his stand some feet away behind them, Ganondorf watched with unchanging eyes the scene that was unfolding before him. Though it wasn't showing in his face, he was secretly enjoying watching this boy suffer from the princess' noble sacrifice; and to make it even worst for the Hero of Winds, he suddenly starting speaking to him with his usual low and icy voice.
"Now do you see, boy..." he uttered loud enough for him to hear. "This...all of this is what you get from taking on such a task as protecting the Triforce. Pain...suffering...that is what a hero is rewarded with for his trails and hardships." He paused and narrowed his red eyes. "Now you should know how foolish it was to even think of challenging me."
Knowing that the boy could hear him but unsure if he was listening, the evil man slowly started to pace toward the two youngsters and added. "Why not save yourself the torture of continuing this losing battle...and give up."
Link didn't respond to him and merely kept his head low in thought. He suddenly didn't know what to do...should he listen to Ganondorf and give up on everything he hoped to save? Or should he continue to fight a battle that he wasn't sure he could win now?
"...L...Link..."
Link quickly reopened his eyes and removed his head atop Zelda's. He looked down to find that her eyes were now slowly beginning to open, and a relieved expression quickly formed on his face when her tired gaze were peering back up into his.
Ganondorf must have noticed the boy's sudden change in mood, since he suddenly stopped in his tracks to observe what was happening.
Somehow managing to stay awake, the wounded Zelda spoke to the young hero in a quiet and weak sounding voice.
"A-are...you alright..." she asked weakly in between breaths.
Link's eyes grew soft upon hearing her concerned words, and a relieved but still worried smile formed on his face as he nodded.
"Thanks to you, I am..." he replied sweetly.
The wounded princess managed to make a small smile back to him. She had to strain to hear him, since her hearing had diminished from being so close to the screeching beam of energy; but never the less, she was glad she had kept him from getting injured or possibly killed, even if it meant the loss of her hearing.
Not staying in the moment too long however, Zelda quickly had to close her eyes back up, suddenly feeling a sharp pain run through her greatly injured back.
Upon seeing her cringe, Link held her closer to his chest, hoping he could minimize her hurting just by being nearer to her.
In response to his gentle hold, Zelda buried her head further into his tunic, while still breathing in short quick gasps. She tightened her hold on his shirt, in hopes of letting him know that his presence by her side was all that was keeping her from falling unconscious.
Ganondorf couldn't help but make a disgusted snicker at the young hero and princess.
"How pathetic..." he mumbled out loud. "You really are a hopeless child if you think she will live through this fight. Why don't you save yourself the misery and accept her defeat, as well as your own."
"D-don't...listen...to him." Zelda quietly commanded, keeping her head buried in Link's chest. "You...can still...win this. Even if..." she paused.
"...even if...I'm not there...to help you..."
Link lifted his head a little more after hearing Zelda say this. The most fearful look then quickly entered his eyes as he peered down at her moist face.
"No..." he replied while shaking his head. "You're...you're not going to die. You...you can't die!" Without even realizing what he was doing, the boy reached over and lightly slipped his hand into hers, and added. "...I won't let you..."
At first, Princess Zelda didn't respond.
But after only a few short moments passed, Link quickly felt Zelda's hand weakly squeeze his in return.
It wasn't until now, did Link suddenly remember what he had been saving as a last resort.
The boy didn't waste another second as he carefully shuffled his position a little and reach behind his back.
"Hold on, Zelda..." he said as he rummaged around for something. "You're going to be alright. Just hold on for a few more seconds." Just when he finished his sentence, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out from behind him.
It was a shiny glass bottle...and it had a familiar glowing object floating about inside it.
Link peered through the glass, knowing that the glowing fairy inside this bottle would be able to heal Zelda back to full health, if she could just hang on for a couple more minutes. But he also knew that it was the only thing he had with him that could do such miracles, and if he used it now, he would have nothing to heal himself with during the remaining portion of the fight.
But Link didn't care about any of that. Right now, his only thought was to get Zelda healed as quickly as possible.
"...if worse comes to worse." He quoted to himself as he bit down on the bottle's cork and yanked it off with his teeth. He spat the cork aside and watched, as the small glittering fairy emerged and floated up to his face, casting a warm glow upon his anxious face.
"Please..." he quickly said to the winged fairy as he put away the bottle and gently lifted Zelda head up. "...heal my friend...and hurry!"
The fairy made a smile and did a quick nod before it swiftly flew over to Zelda's face. It peered at her for a brief moment, then began to flutter about her head, sprinkling small bits of light onto her face and hair. It went on to the rest of her body and quickly made a couple circles over her form, all the while shedding sparkles of light onto her.
After a couple of seconds of doing Link's request, the fairy flew back over to the hero and hovered in front of his nose, signaling to him that its task was complete.
"Thank you." Link said with a relieved smile.
The fairy made another smile back, and with a gesture from its small wand, it quickly vanished into the thin but humid air.
When it had disappeared, Link immediately turned back to examine Zelda. She no longer had any cuts, blood, or injuries on her back, but her dress was still torn in some spots since a fairy couldn't heal clothing. When he saw that the injuries were gone, he looked over and peered into her face, which now had a soft peaceful look to it.
"Zelda?" he whispered with earnest.
He saw her eyelids barely twitch after a few seconds, and soon, they slowly fluttered open to reveal her still and tired blue eyes.
The most joyous expression formed on Link's face as she took a couple deep breaths, staring at nothing in particular while blinking to adjust her blurry vision and to keep the raindrops from getting in her eyes. Then her blue eyes slowly peered up at Link's face that nearly hung right over her own.
"Link." she quietly called with joy, while still sounding tired. She then peered around at their surroundings, obviously still trying to regain her senses from her very painful experience.
Quickly finding her strength returning, the young princess slowly began to sit up, while still being held and supported by Link. As he helped her get into a sitting position, she looked herself over, confused by how there wasn't a scratch on her.
"What...happened? How did I...?" she began to question, unable to finish her sentence from confusion. She couldn't really remember anything; not even what she had said while she was still conscious.
Link didn't want her to feel frightened for any reason, and calmly placed his free hand back on top of hers.
"It's alright." He reassured her. "You're healed now. And that's really all that matters."
She looked up at him. Then her eyes trailed down to his hand resting on top if hers.
"I'm glad you're ok." Link suddenly whispered.
Zelda just stared at his hand for a couple seconds more, before lifting her head to greet his sincere smile. She wasn't sure how she managed to come out completely unharmed after an ordeal like the one she was in; but despite her slight confusion, she remained calm, as she quickly found herself staring straight back into the boy's eyes, unable to remove her gaze from them.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Zelda quickly saw something move and shimmer behind Link's back...
She turned her head...and her expression instantly turned into pure horror...
...when she saw Ganondorf standing right behind Link...with one of his swords right above his head.
"Link!" she shouted.
Realizing he had been spotted, Ganon quickly brought his sword down before he allowed Link anytime to react!
CLANK!
Ganon's eyes went wide with surprise when he suddenly saw the Master Sword underneath his blade instead of the hero's head. He looked down even further to find Link using only one hand to hold his sword, and the other on the ground to keep himself from falling on an equally surprised Zelda.
And on his face...was the most angriest look he had ever seen.
Before Ganondorf even recovered from his stunned state, Link quickly put all his might into his sword and pushed as hard as he could, shoving the King of Evil back far enough from him to get back on his feet. Almost the second his boots touched the ground, the young hero charged straight at the man, suddenly unleashing a volley of sword slashes at such a speed, that Ganondorf quickly found himself having trouble blocking all of them!
"How did this kid get so fast!" he wondered through gritted teeth as he blocked wave after wave of attacks from the Hero of Winds. This boy had suddenly gotten faster than he was when he was at full health. How did he get so fast in such a short amount of time?
The evil man had little time to ponder an answer, as Link didn't halt his barrage of quick attacks on him, forcing him to keep his attention on blocking rather than thinking.
As Link kept dishing out attacks for Ganon to munch on, Princess Zelda watched from her new stand a good distance away. She had already moved out of the way even before Link started his attack, and now that she was far away from them, she took a brief moment to gather her thoughts.
The fact that she was alive was still a shock to her, since she couldn't find any obvious explanation for her having only a slightly torn dress instead of pain running all through her body. Her mind was lingering on the verge of unconsciousness just a little while ago, and because it was, she barely had any memory of what Link had done to save her. All she remembered clearly, was the seer pain she was in, and the next moment, complete relief.
Wishing she could have heard his words clearly, the princess held her hands up to her chest, knowing he had stayed by her side even with Ganondorf's presence still near.
"I don't know what you did to heal me, Link..." she whispered to the boy out of hearing range. "...but...thank you..."
Now hearing loud battle cries coming from the two fighters, she quickly got out of her thoughts, knowing that she still had a part to play in this fight.
Immediately, the princess began to scan the battlefield in search of the bow and arrows she had purposely dropped before her attempt to save Link. As she did so, her eyes inadvertently fell upon the kingdom below her, which not surprisingly was still flooding.
She was, however, surprised to find that the whole place wasn't underwater by now. But if you couldn't call it underwater yet, then you could say it was close to it. Hyrule Castle was already at least halfway underwater, along with everything else that was lower than the tall and mighty structure itself.
"We don't have much time left." She thought to herself. "We have to get this over with quick, or else no one will get out of here alive!"
Almost immediately after she thought this, her eyes fell upon what she was looking for. The bow and the handful of arrows were right were she dropped them not too far away, and she started to sprint toward them without another moments waste.
She bent down to pick up the fallen weapon, when suddenly, she heard this loud noise echo throughout the whole kingdom, forcing her head to look straight up into the watery sky.
The noise was enough to even get Ganondorf and Link's attention, and the two men suddenly paused their fight to look up at what was causing the noise.
One gigantic waterfall after another suddenly came pouring out of the sky, luckily not falling on the top of the tower and instead submerging the outskirts. Large streams of it however, splashed its way across the battlefield, making the place more aquatic and scattering a thin layer of water all across the ground.
In a matter of seconds, a wall of water had surrounded the battlefield, blocking all possible escape paths...
"No!" Zelda called in horror. Without access to the castle, or even to the inside of Ganon's Tower, her and Link couldn't escape from this soon to be forgotten kingdom!
Link must have been aware of this as well, since he looked on with worried eyes too.
This was a very bad mistake however, and Link suddenly knew he had left himself open for way too long. But by the time he looked in Ganondorf's direction, it was already too late...
The young hero suddenly screamed in pain as the King of Evil gave him a huge cut right along the arm, forming a huge gash and luckily not slicing it clean off. The man had not removed his arm intentionally though, since he wanted to see the boy suffer as much as possible.
Link quickly started to breath rapidly as he endured the excruciating pain his right arm was in. But even with the sudden and possibly fatal injury, the boy showed no sign of wanting to back down, and he suddenly leapt at Ganondorf, ignoring the pain and yelling the whole way to show how determined he was to defeat him!
Ganondorf once again blocked, and he and Link went into another slashing spree of attacking and blocking, just like they had been doing ever since the start of the fight.
Link's scream had already gotten Zelda's attention back and it quickly reminded her of what she was suppose to be doing.
Immediately she took out an arrow and notched it into the bow, which suddenly made the tip of the yellow arrow begin to shine. She looked back to the two fighters, aimed it at the taller fighter, and prepared to fire it. When Link took a leap backwards out of the way, she released her hold on the string and the Light arrow went soaring toward its intended target.
...but instead of hitting its target, the arrow swiftly flew right pass Ganondorf while he was in mid-air, just before she thought it was about hit him...
The fiend landed back to the ground and quickly resumed the fight with the hero, who shot a quick look at Zelda that could have said "You missed?!" Of course he threw his attention back to the fight once Ganondorf resumed the battle and attacked as if nothing had happened.
"Shoot!" Zelda growled. She could not believe she had missed such a large target. Blaming her miss on the short amount of time she had to practice using such a weapon, she quickly prepared another Light arrow, and this time, she made sure that her aim was perfect.
Knowing this time she wouldn't miss, she released the arrow and it quckly followed a flight path that had the King of Evil right in the way.
But once again, it missed its intended target...only this time, it was very obvious that Ganondorf had dodged it...while still fighting Link!
"What the-" the princess thought, cutting herself off in the middle of her sentence. "He...he dodged it? While fighting Link?!" She paused in wonder, and narrowed her eyes as she watched Ganondorf deal another blow to Link's raised shield, which he immediately countered once he got his balance.
Hoping she still just had bad aim however, she decided to try one more time and see if she could hit him while he was most distracted. Notching another arrow while observing the fight, she aimed at Ganondorf and waited until he looked like he was about to attack.
It didn't take long before she saw Ganondorf attempt a downward slash at Link, and she quickly fired. The Light arrow pierced through the rain and it looked as if it wasn't going to miss its target this time.
But Princess Zelda's hope was dashed to pieces yet again, when Ganondorf literally halted his sword in mid-air, and leapt backwards, well out of the way of the Light arrow as it merely passed in front of his nose.
"Oh no...this...this isn't good!" Zelda thought. She was either getting worse aim by the second...or it was becoming very obvious that Ganondorf was getting harder and harder to defeat...
"Link!" she called out, hesitating a little since she really didn't want to distract him. Even when he didn't look at her, she continued. "Something is wrong! I can't hit him!"
Both of the fighters heard this, and Ganondorf made yet another big leap backwards, as did Link. The two stood away from each other and neither made any motions to show they were about to attack.
As he glared at the evil man while making a couple deep breaths, Link listened intently to the rest of Zelda's call.
"He's somehow gotten more powerful!" she continued. "I don't know how, but he's now able to dodge my shots and at the same time fight you without any interruption!"
Link narrowed his eyes as the dark fiend made a snicker. Oh sure, he knew that Ganondorf could dodge anything if his attention was on it; but how could he know when to dodge while keeping his mind on fighting?
The King of Evil must have somehow read his thoughts.
"Don't look so surprised, boy." He said, snapping the hero out of his thoughts. He lifted his head and made an evil smile down at him. "I may not have the full extent of the Triforce's power, but even without it, I am still more powerful than you could possibly imagine!" He formed an even bigger smile and slowly added. "You probably have not noticed it yet...but I've only been using a portion of my strength ever since we started this fight."
Link's eyes went huge, as did Zelda's. He was only toying with them this whole time?!
Ganondorf slowly started to lift his swords.
"That is...until now..."
All of sudden, Ganondorf charged at the young wide-eyed hero!
Link got even more surprised than before and tensed up to try and defend. But before he even got his shield half-way up, he was suddenly hit right in the face by Ganon's elbow!
Zelda gasped, as Link took a couple steps backwards, trying to keep his balance and tolerate the soreness in his nose at the same time.
He quickly opened his eyes when he heard Ganondorf yell again, but just as he got them open, he suddenly felt the dull end of a sword hit him right in the back!
The force from the blow was enough to knock him forward and off his feet, but before he even hit the ground face first, he felt a knee jab itself right into his stomach, forcing his eyes and mouth open in sheer shock and pain.
The Hero of Winds felt a little bit of blood fly out of his mouth as he stammered backwards, trying to regain some balance and train of thought so he could fight back. But, even more pain suddenly entered his body, when he felt another blow hit his stomach, this time by Ganondorf's foot.
Princess Zelda was completely stunned and shocked by how fast the fiend was moving. In fact, she couldn't even see him at all except for a split second, and that was when his attack got a hit in. She stood there in horror as she regrettably watched Link receive one attack after another, all the while trying to figure out some way she could possibly distract or stop the King of Evil from hurting him anymore!
"There's no way I can hit him when he's moving that fast." the young girl sadly concluded. It would be nearly impossible for her to paralyze the fiend while he was literally invisible to her and kept reappearing in different spots too quick for her to keep up.
Sometime while she was planning, Ganondorf made an extremely hard slash at Link right along his side, cutting a reasonably deep gash and making the small boy cry out in pain.
The princess cringed with frightful eyes as he loss more precious blood with each received attack, hearing his painful cries and longing to somehow take it away from him.
"I have to help him!" she thought earnestly. "I can't just stand around and do nothing while he gets beaten to death!" A determined look crossed her face. "I have to try!"
With her even stronger determination, Princess Zelda took out another Light arrow, notched it, and aimed as best she could at the spontaneously reappearing form that kept reappearing somewhere around Link. She found herself moving her bow to her target, which would just disappear and then reappear somewhere else; but when she aimed for that one, it would again vanish before she could even fire.
"Shoot!" she whispered, a little frustrated. "He's moving so fast!"
Knowing that the chances of her hitting the evil king now was almost slim to nothing, she contemplated on whether she should waste her few remaining arrows and try to hit him anyways, or attempt a different method that she had no ideas for currently.
A sudden yell from Link quickly made her make up her mind.
She finally worked up the confidence to actually fire, and suddenly sent one flying toward the two fighters, unsure whether or not it would hit the intended target.
Surprisingly, Ganondorf suddenly stopped his flurry of attacks on the young boy and looked back at the oncoming arrow now coming at his back. He didn't waste another second and quickly jumped to on side, letting the arrow bypass him...
...and head straight at Link!
"NO!" Zelda screamed, suddenly realizing her arrow was about to hit the wrong target.
Luckily, the boy's attention was aimed in the right direction, and he noticed the arrow just in time to quickly lift his shield up to avoid being hit himself!
The Hero of Winds ducked his head, as he felt the arrow bounce right off his reflecting shield and shoot back in the direction it came from...
...right back at Ganondorf.
It was too late before the King of Evil even noticed what had happened, and the arrow quickly cut through his clothing, piercing his skin and sinking its magical effect deep into his nerves. The arrow itself instantly dissolved from the magic upon impact, as the paralysis quickly overcame Ganon's body, immobilizing him once again and forcing the fiend to call out in shock.
Of course, when Link saw what had happened, he didn't let the opportunity go to waste and he got back to his feet as quickly as his wounds would let him. Waving the Master Sword high in the air, he charged at his frozen opponent and began a sideways slash in an attempt to give him a large wound on his arm.
But his sword was suddenly met by one of Ganondorf's long ones...while the fiend was still partially paralyzed...
The wounded hero's eyes widened with shock, suddenly realizing that the paralyzing effect was not working as long as it should have.
Ganondorf got a furious look in his red eyes and he quickly used the hero's shock to his advantage by taking his other sword, and quickly slicing a large cut right across Link's back.
The young boy threw his head back and screamed when he suddenly felt the sharp blade cut open his skin. He quickly felt his legs give way and he fell forward, onto Ganondorf's heavily clothed arm. He dangling there for a brief second, before the man shoved him away in disgust.
Princess Zelda grew stiff with fright as she watched Link land in a puddle of cold water, which quickly grew red with blood. She had to force herself not to cry out to him, and quickly reached for another arrow before she allowed Ganondorf to give him anymore harm.
But when she reached into her stash of arrows...she quickly realized that she only had one left...
The princess couldn't believe she had depleted her stash already and searched some more...but still found only one remaining.
"No...no!" she panicked, not wanting to accept the fact that she had only one left. She took out the remaining Light arrow and looked at it, before she glanced back at the two fighters.
The paralysis had worn off long ago, and now Ganondorf was hovering over Link's trembling form. He didn't utter a word as he glared down at the greatly injured boy, finding the site quite pitiful and at the same time enjoying every minute of it.
Wanting to see this boy suffer even more than he already was, he slowly took one of his swords and lightly touched the boy's shoulder. Then in a split second, he swiftly yanked it and cut another gash diagonally right along his chest.
Once again the small hero cried out in agony, as his body lurched harshly before his figure grew still.
Zelda gasped in horror when she saw his head fall lightly into the small pool of liquids without opening his eyes. Just seeing the very site made her want to stop all this torture and she quickly notched her last arrow and aimed it at Ganondorf, who had his back partially turned toward her.
As if he was totally oblivious to Zelda's presence, the King of Evil placed the pointy end of his sword on Link's throat, which he quickly yanked sideways, forming a light but painful cut across the boys neck!
Zelda quickly found her hands begin to quake as Link managed to make a very light cry that lingered in the humid air.
"I...I can't shoot..." the princess realized. "...if I miss, then all our hopes for winning will be destroyed!" she reopened her closed eye and slowly lowered the bow. "I...I can't risk it...I just can't..."
Trying not to let tears form in her eyes, the fearful princess kept her extremely worried eyes on Link and remained frozen in her position, unable to bring herself to shoot her last arrow.
Through his sheer torture and excruciating pain, the Hero of Winds slowly began to turn his head toward the princess. He slowly forced his eyes open and looked at her with such a pale expression that it made her want to release the tears she was holding back.
"...Z...Zelda..." he stammered in too low of a tone for her to even hear. He quickly had to shut his eyes however, when he suddenly felt his arm feel like it was being crushed!
Zelda made another heartbroken gasp, when she saw Ganondorf purposely step on Link's right arm, adding more pressure until the wounded boy couldn't stand it anymore.
Then...without whispering another painful word...Link quickly grew limp and his head fell back onto the ground...
He remained motionless as the King of Evil removed his foot, examing the boy for any trace of movement. When he found none, a pitiful look made its way onto his dark face.
"It is done..." he whispered to himself.
"...the hero has fallen..."
He lowered his gaze on the still hero and slowly glanced to his side.
"...and so has the hope." He added as his cold eyes fell upon the Princess of Hyrule not too far from him.
Zelda still had her bow and arrow aimed at him partially...but from the look on her face, she wasn't about to fire it anytime soon. In fact, she looked way too frightened to even think about moving, let alone fire an arrow. She kept her eyes locked onto Link's still figure, a dozen thoughts running through her mind a little too quick for her liking.
"...no...Link..." she whispered. She knew it wasn't suppose to end this way. She thought for sure that they would win this fight together...but now she was all alone to face this evil that she knew she could not defeat.
Quickly, she found herself begin to tremble with fear; especially when she heard the sound of soft splashes coming toward her. The noise quickly forced the princess to look straight ahead at who was causing them.
Ganondorf was already halfway to her, a look of hate mixed with delight spread across his face.
Her reflexes quickly told her to lift her bow, and she quickly pointed the notched arrow at him, all the while quivering as if she was cold.
The man could sense the fear in her and a smile crossed his face.
"Come now, princess." He muttered while still pacing toward her. "You know as well as I do that I can still dodge your shots even at this range...so why even waste your arrows trying?"
Zelda did nothing but take a few tiny steps back, still keeping the arrow aimed at him with trembling hands.
An evil smile made its way onto Ganon's face.
"How pathetic..." he snickered. "...look at yourself...you don't even have the courage to even fire." His cold eyes narrowed as he took a few more steps and halted a small distance in front of her. "And even if you do manage to hit me..." he continued. "...what harm could you possibly do that could end my life now?"
The princess got a fearful look in her eyes.
"He's right..." she thought. "...no matter what I do, I won't be able to destroy him by myself..." she shut her eyes tight as she tried to hold back tears. "...I've...failed..." Squinting her eyes back open, she stared at the ground, letting the rain fall down her face as she slowly added.
"...I'm sorry...mother..."
Lifting her head partially, she set her slightly blurred vision in Link's direction, about to secretly apologize to him for failing as well.
But she quickly muted her thoughts, when she saw that Link was no longer on the ground...but on his knees with his mirror shield held in her direction.
She immediately resisted the urge to shift her expression so Ganondorf wouldn't get suspicious, and watched him out of the corner of her eye as he managed to make a very small gesture to her.
Though she wasn't quite sure what he was trying to tell her, his slow motions toward himself made it look like he wanted her to...
...shoot at him?
Zelda was puzzled, but unfortunately her thoughts were interrupted again.
Without taking her eyes off the Hero of Winds, she regrettably listened to what Ganon had to say.
"It was a big mistake to put all your hope in that boy." He stated, knowing she was looking at the young hero but didn't bother turning around to see why. "But I guess I should have known that someone your age wouldn't know what was in your best interest." He paused as he eyed the princess intently. "Tell me...do you really think that you will win this already lost fight?"
Zelda didn't answer him for the longest time, all the while keeping her head low as if she was pondering a right answer.
Finally, she slowly lifted her head to look up into the fiend's eyes...and a smirk crossed her face as she answered.
"...not by myself."
Ganondorf 's evil smile quickly faded when Zelda suddenly lifted her bow and pulled back her last arrow.
As quick as her reflexes allowed her to, the Princess of Hyrule aimed her bow off to Ganondorf's left and immediately fired her final arrow.
As it passed the evil king, he quickly looked back to see why the princess did such a stupid maneuver.
He turned just in time, to see the Light arrow intentionally bounce right off of Link's raised shield and get sent flying straight back at him...and he didn't have enough time to dodge it.
Ganondorf arched his back and flailed his head in both shock and anger, as the paralysis engulfed every inch of his body, paralyzing him once again and giving the Hero of Winds enough time to get on his feet and charge!
Almost a second after he was hit, Ganon recovered enough mobility to turn back around. He glared ferociously at Princess Zelda, and in an angry rage, the man quickly lifted his sword and slashed at the princess before he allowed her time to get out of the way!
The sword caught her right along her arm, and she let out a painful yell as she fell to the ground from the force of the blow.
The angry man quickly turned back around to face Link, and immediately lifted his other sword to slash at the oncoming hero!
But Link had seen this coming, and as soon as the fiend's sword began to come down, he quickly rolled to his left, avoiding the sharp blade and at the same time creating an opening on Ganondorf with which to attack him with.
With a loud call of energy, the hero sliced Ganondorf right along the back, forcing the man to shoot his head up again and cry out in pain. The King of Evil could then only watch as the young Hero of Winds launched himself high into the air and let gravity run its course of bringing the hero right down...
...right on his head.
The sound of a sword piercing and sinking into flesh immediately followed, along with an extremely bright light that illuminated the battlefield. It engulfed everyone that was near it, and even went on to break through the wall of water! The large beam of light quickly broke the water's surface, and shot into the heavens!
...then...
...all went completely silent...