Disclaimer: I still don't own Zelda or anything related. When I called Nintendo up to buy it from them, they seemed pretty excited, but it turns out my undying love, devotion, and appreciation wasn't quite enough to pay for LoZ.
*
If the path you're taking is already open for you, it's definitely the wrong path. The path you want is that other path, the dark one with brambles, snakes, and swamps. You'll overcome great hardships and be a better person. Unless, of course, you really do want the sunny, pretty path. In which case, I have nothing to say.
*
Shiek woke up with the dawn. Her head had been lying by her hand, and as she sat up, she tasted a metallic, bitter taste in her mouth. She looked at her hand and saw a bloody Triforce symbol carved lightly into her flesh. "Oh, shit," she moaned.
"Language," Rhia said, giving Shiek a look from steel-blue eyes. She saw Shiek's hand. "Oh, never mind."
"What?" Lindsay asked, poking the leftover stew that was breakfast. "Oooohhh…I was watching the entire time, I swear."
"Me, too," Rhia said. She looked at Shiek's hand. "Triforce? Uh-oh? Do you think it could have been Ga—" She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oops! Do you think it could have been him?"
Shiek stared forlornly at her hand. "Yep," she said. "Only person I can think of who would do this."
Lindsay stared at it. "What does it mean?"
"He's growing ever more powerful?" Rhia said. Her mien was stern and serious. "This is bad. If he can inflict pain and draw blood from…wherever he is, he's got more magic. But he couldn't possibly be gathering it himself…"
"I know who is," Shiek said, standing up. "Damion. And through Damion, he's getting rid of me…and quite possibly getting rid of Link as well."
They ate what was left of the stew. "Through the forest?" Lindsay asked.
Rhia shook her head. "Around and away. We're going through the scrub lands."
The three packed up their things and headed south towards the Tournament.
*
Link crouched down in the grass by the Kokiri forest. Three people had slept here. The indent of one body was heavier than the other two. By the heavier indent, a few blades of grass were stained red. A tiny column of smoke still rose from the blackened logs of a fire.
Shiek was one of the people. And the magic-user who had saved Shiek and one other in the town square—and the one other in the town square. Link ran his fingers through the grass. The dew was just beginning to dry and steam away. He blew his breath out in a sigh. He knew he was doing the right thing…but then why did he ache to be home? Why did he ache to leave Shiek be?
Link pushed those thoughts aside and followed the fading trail of footprints in the grass. There were two heavy sets of prints—the magic-user and the woman—and one light one. The magic-user and the other woman carried things. Shiek, as had been seen in the market, carried very little if anything at all.
Link shifted his quiver and sword sheath on his back. He slung his bow back over his shoulder. He stood up and ran off at a fair pace, following Shiek, Lindsay, and Rhia.
*
"Can't we stop for lunch?" Rhia asked.
Shiek glanced fearfully behind her. "We have no idea how close Link is," she said. "We should probably keep going."
Rhia grumbled something inaudible to Lindsay and Shiek. "Fine," she said with a sniff. "I'll go hungry! And I'll tell you now, we mages need a lot of food! So tomorrow at noon when you find me mere skin and bones, I—"
"Rhia," Shiek said slowly, gathering patience. "I'm a mage too, remember?"
"Oh," Rhia said, cocking her head slightly. "Oh, yeah." Suddenly Rhia gasped. "Everybody down!"
Not knowing what was going on, Shiek and Lindsay threw themselves to the ground, Rhia right behind. An arrow whizzed overhead. Shiek looked up. Almost blending in with the last bits of the forest was Link. "It's Link!" Shiek cried. "You two go on ahead, I've got this covered!"
Lindsay bit her lip. "But we've all got weapons and we can't abandon you, Shiek!"
"Fine," Shiek said, taking out her needles. "Stay."
"I've got a shield!" Link called. "Your needles aren't gonna do you any good!"
Rhia held her hands up. Blue smoke burned between her hands. She held out her arms at Link. There was a small explosion. Link, Rhia, and Shiek stood unharmed. Lindsay was hit by the explosion. With a shriek of pain, she fell down. There was another small explosion which hit Rhia. Shiek took out her lightning whip and it cracked towards Link. It grabbed him around the waist and Shiek grabbed him closer.
The small explosion went off by Shiek. Shiek rolled out of the way and Link was hit with the full brunt of it. Another explosion went off harmlessly above Link. Shiek raced to Lindsay. Lindsay was struggling to get up, gritting her teeth against burns. Rhia, sitting up, looked over. "Sorry!" she moaned.
Shiek looked at Link. He was still out of it. "Run," she whispered.
"What? Aren't you going to take his weapons or tie him up or something?" Lindsay asked.
Shiek shook her head. She looked nauseated. "Run," she repeated, a little louder.
"Shiek, if we leave him here, free to go, he'll just keep chasing us," Rhia said.
A single tear spilled from Shiek's red eye. "Tie him up," she said. "Lindsay, you have rope?"
"Yeah," Lindsay said. Lindsay bent down and pulled a length of rope from her pack. She had lots. But more about that some other time. With Rhia's help, Lindsay tied Link up. Lindsay was about to take Link's sword when Shiek said, "NO."
"Why not? He'll be able to get out! He's a threat to us, Shiek!" Rhia said. "I know he's Link and I know who else you are, but still, Shiek…"
"That sword is his pride," Shiek said. "It's like stripping away his dignity. Lindsay, that sword looks like it means a lot to you. If we take that, we leave your sword here."
Lindsay's hand flew to her sword. "That's not the same!" she yelled.
"It is," Shiek said. "How much does that sword mean to you?"
Lindsay looked at the hilt; the sword was one of her last links to her father. "All right, Shiek, we'll leave his weapons," she said.
"But he's not using them to get out," Rhia said. She took all his weapons and dumped them several yards away. "And let me at least try to put a sleeping spell on him. He's waking up." Rhia put a finger on each of Link's eyelids. She whispered a few words. "Okay, that actually worked."
"Damn, I was hoping something would turn into a chicken," Lindsay said.
Rhia scowled at Lindsay. "Can we leave now, Shiek?"
"Please," Shiek said. The three ladies gathered their things and continued on the way to the scrub lands.
*
Link groaned. He opened his eyes. Shiek and the other two were nowhere in sight. Odd. They'd left him alive. Surely they knew that he meant to ? What was going on here? Shiek and her companions grew more confusing by the moment.
Link decided to focus on his more immediate problem: he was tied up. Whichever had done it had done a very good job of it. There was no way he would be able to escape the bonds without help of a preferable sharp object. A glint in the sun several yards away caught his eye. His weapons! Those girls really were something. Link rolled over onto his stomach and began shimmying over to the pile of weapons. On top was his sword. He nudged it down until he could reach it. He moved his chest over the blade lightly, cutting the bond. Once that rope was gone, he cut the rope tying his hands together, and then the one tying his legs together.
He stood up slowly. "Ouch," he said, cracking his back. He put his sword and shield back in his sheath and strapped that across his back. He put everything else back where it belonged: bow and quiver also across his back, boomerang in its pouch on his belt.
Link imediately began following the trail left to him. They were heading to the scrublands. Link cursed. All he needed, on top of Zelda's murder and Shiek, was the scrublands…
*
As the sun began to sink, Rhia, Lindsay, and Shiek reached the end of the lush grass and came to a small stream. Beyond the stream, the ground was rocky, dry, and scrub brush.
"Welcome to hell," Lindsay said. She and Rhia had both travelled this way many times before.
"Welcome to the scrublands," Rhia said. "This stream here is just about all the water we'll be seeing until we reach the Tourney."
"Special," Shiek groaned.
"The land is also totally flat," Lindsay said. "So if Link sees us on the horizon, he had a pretty damn clear shot at us."
"So basically, we have to keep a day ahead of Link," Shiek said. "Or we're screwed."
"Yeah, that's pretty much the scrublands," Rhia said. "Let's fill up our waterskins here."
They paused briefly to fill up their waterskins, then they waded across the stream, and continued on a short while more, leaving a trail that would be gone come dawn.
*
My my my, what do we have here?
He growled angrily. "SHUT UP!"
Hmmm…nuh-uh.
"Damn you!" he howled.
What? sneered the voice. Can't take a little taunting?
He didn't respond. He paced around the stone room, shaking in ager.
Ah, but wouldn't Zelda and Link be amused, the voice hissed silkily. Come has the day when the great and mighty Ganondorf can't take a little taunting. Come has the day when Ganondorf, bane of Hyrule, is subdued by a voice in his head.
"Who are you?" he cried—Ganondorf cried.
You know.
"No! I don't!"
No? You don't? Sleep on it. You'll know sooner or later. After all, you're stuck with me forever.
When the sages had brought him here, to the sacred, evil, realm, they didn't know what was inside. They didn't know where they had sent him to possibly wreak havoc.
They sent him to a realm of reality that contained a planet called Earth. If he had remained sane enough to wreak havoc upon the world, it would hardly have mattered. Earth had enough evil. One man could not make a big difference.
Even Ganondorf.
*
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Simi: Sorry about that last part! It is simply my opinion that we as a species are royally screwed. I marvel every time I think how long our species has lasted compared to how stupid we are collectively.
Lil' Blue Muse: If you're lucky we'll ignore it.
Simi: Yeah yeah…
Lil' Blue Muse: Simi's too busy being embarrassed at herself to tell you what always comes after the story! Now that you've read this chapter, don't you think it would be nice to Review? It doesn't take much time and it keeps authors like poor Simi over there sane…er, that is, if they aren't already nuts, like a *few* I could mention…"
Simi: Hey! Um…yeah, much as I hate to say it, Lil' Blue Muse is right. Please Review! It keeps me sane because I'm not crazy! Er, I think…