The Legend of Zelda: The Return
A Brief Interlude
"LINK! YOU CAN'T GO IN–" Hunter's voice died off as Link hit the barrier and passed through it without so much as hesitating. Navi was throwing herself furiously at the barrier, unable to get past it. Link's hat lay forgotten on the ground. "I don't believe it," he gasped, staring at the spot where Link had disappeared in disbelief. "Impossible!"
"What is it?" Sheik asked from his spot beside Neesha's bleeding form. "What happened?"
"He went in," Hunter said. "He passed through the barrier! Sheik! Do you know what this means?" Sheik stared at him in surprise.
"He passed through?" He demanded. "He . . . he wasn't stopped . . ." His eyes widen suddenly in horror. "Hunter! Detsu will tear him apart! I'm going after him!"
"You can't," Hunter said, quickly stepping in front of Sheik. "You can't get through the barrier." Sheik glared at him for a moment, then sagged in defeat. Hunter studied him for a moment, a look of resignation on his face.
"You really like this guy, don't you?" He asked. Sheik avoided his gaze and nodded. There were no secrets between Sheikah. "And he doesn't have a problem with your cross-dressing habits?" Sheik gave a bitter laugh but no answer. Hunter ran a hand through his dark hair and looked at the spot where Link had disappeared. His face hardened in determination.
"You owe me for this, Sheik," he said, then broke into a run, dodging fighting Moblins and Sheikah, making a beeline for the fork in the caverns.
"HUNTER!" Sheik cried. "WAIT! DON'T!" But Hunter couldn't hear him – he had already scooped Link's hat up in one hand and had lunged past Navi. He disappeared into the darkness.
Neesha groaned softly, her breath rattling in her lungs.
Sheik turned his attention to the one person he could help . . .
xxx
Chapter 13
This is impossible.
Where's the damn door?
Detsu can't have just disappeared through thin air.
I stand in a large circular room, with apparently only one exit – the narrow corridor I came in through. There's no way Detsu could have made it out past me. In a complete circle around the wall stand 7 huge, lifelike statues, each of a different Sheikah. I peer around the room in frustration as the statues stand silently, offering no help in my plight.
I know Detsu ran in here.
There was no where else for him to go.
No other way for him to get out.
So where is he?
"Detsu!" I shout, gripping my sword tightly. "You coward! Show yourself!" There is no answer, save the steady, silent stares of the statues. I glare at the one in front of me. "This is your fault somehow, isn't it?" I demand. "Where did he go?"
And so help me Din, the thing turns its head and looks at me.
My eyes widen and I take several steps backwards as the rest of the statues follow suite. There's a rumbling sound and the wall behind the statues begins to slowly spin, starting to close off the door out of here. I think I may hear someone shouting at me from back there, but whatever it is it's drowned out as the first statue opens its mouth and speaks over the rumbling.
"Ook toln reimos, Dweio Kar?" It asks me. "Nist deferti teln quisros."
Those words sound so familiar . . .
I blink at it . . .
I blink curiously up at the person. It looks different, somehow, than the other people I know . . . I think it's made out of something different. Not skin, like me . . . it looks down at me and suddenly I hear a very loud rumbling sound. I blink again – in fear this time – and take an unsteady step backwards.
"LINK!" I hear someone shout behind me. "LINK NO!"
I fall over, unable to move as the thing speaks to me.
"Ook toln reimos, Dweio Kar?" It asks me. "Nist deferti teln quisros."
"Mel nest ara cen Dweio Kar!" Someone behind me says very loudly. Strong hands grab me by the waist and pull me into a tight hug. He presses my face into his shoulder. I don't mind. I don't like that thing talking to me. I don't like this rumbling.
"I wanna go home," I sniffle.
"It's okay, Link, shhh, it's all right," he says, stroking my hair gently. "Mel nest ara cen Dweio Kar!" He repeats. "Mel polach ciar dafili mas quisros." The rumbling continues for a moment and I can't tell if it's me, him, or the room that's trembling. Still holding me tightly, he walks out of the room as the rumbling stops. I wonder if maybe he forgot that I can walk now ( kind of) but I don't think I should remind him right now. He looks like he wants to yell at something. I betcha it's going to be me . . .
We step out of the dark hallway and back into the light.
"Link! Oh Link!" Cries a voice in front of us. I turn my head and look at her, offering her my best I-Didn't-Do-It smile and reaching out with one arm. She takes me from him and hugs me even tighter than he did. Too tight. I'm breathing kinda funny . . . "Oh thank the Goddess," she whispers, kissing my head.
"That was close," he says in a funny voice. My smile goes away. I'm in trouble. I gather up my courage and peek at him from her arms. "Link . . . I've told you a thousand times . . . that place is dangerous!" He says. I blink. He's not shouting . . . and he doesn't sound angry . . . he sounds . . . kind of scared. His face is all white. "I . . . you could have been . . . if they'd let you in . . . what could have possibly possessed you to . . ."
"Detsu said!" I blurt out before he stops being scared and starts getting angry. He freezes and stares at me. "Detsu said to," I say in a rush. "He . . . he told me . . . he said I could. He said . . . said you'd be proo . . . praid . . . uh . . ."
"Proud?" He asks in an angry voice. But somehow I get the feeling I'm not the one in trouble.
"Yep, that one. He said you'd be that if I went in there . . . he told me you weren't proud of me, and that was a bad thing. He said if I wanted you to be proud of me I had to go in there . . ." His hands are clenched in fists at his sides and his teeth are locked tight together. I shrink back into her arms. "I'm sorry . . ." She nudges him with her foot and the anger leaves him – from everywhere but his eyes.
"Oh Link," he says, taking me again and looking at me seriously. "Detsu lied to you. I am proud of you. I'm always proud of you. I will always be proud of you. Nothing can change that. Ever. But you have to promise me . . . promise me you'll never go into that place again." I nod. "Say it, Link," he says sternly. "No tricks on this one. I mean it."
"I promise," I whisper, burying my face in his neck. I don't want to go in there again anyway. I think I'm going to have nightmares . . . maybe I should sleep with them tonight.
"Hey," he says after a moment. "Do you want to go visit Hunter? Bruiser says he's been asking when you're going to come to play with him next . . ."
"Really?" I ask brightly. "You mean it!"
"Sure!" He says, looking up at her. "You can stay there while your mother and I . . . take care of some things . . ."
"Link! Hey Link! Snap out of it!" Someone waves a hand in front of my face and I blink, torn away from the memory with a gasp. I stagger slightly and someone puts a steadying hand on my shoulder. That was . . . that was . . .
"Hey are you all right?" The someone – Hunter I realize – asks. I swallow thickly and look back up at the statue. That wasn't a flashback . . . that wasn't like what usually happens when something triggers one of those visions . . . of before I changed time . . . that was . . . it was . . .
"A memory," I whisper. "A genuine memory . . ."
"What? Link . . . get a hold of yourself, man!" Hunter says, staring at me in confusion. I blink at him and then look around the room, the memory clear in my mind.
"I'm not supposed to be here," I say.
"Master of the understatement as well as of Time," Hunter says wryly. "Do you even know where here is?"
"Sheikah Caverns?" I offer.
"Hmph, you're funny," he says. "Really you are." He takes his hand from my shoulder. "This is the Quisrol, the Room of Passage. Through there," he points at the new door left by the spinning wall, "is the Quisros. The Rite of Passage." He looks at me seriously. "Link, who are your parents?" I blink at him in surprise.
"I . . . I don't know," I say. "They both died . . . when I was very young. I don't . . . remember them that well." Normally I would have said 'at all' but lately . . . "Why?" Hunter gives me an odd look.
"Because only a Blood Sheikah could have entered here," he says.
"Blood Sheikah?" I ask.
"There are two kinds of Sheikah," he answers. "Blood Sheikah – Sheikah born of Sheikah – and Chosen Sheikah – those called by destiny to join us. Impa and Sheik, for example, are both Chosen Sheikah, though I suspect there may have been some playing around on Sheik's part. But anyway, neither Impa nor Sheik would be able to get in here. They wouldn't have gotten across the barrier." He holds out his hand and in it he's got my hat. I take it from him and pull it on with a frown.
"So you're saying what, exactly?" I ask.
"I'm saying, Link, that at least one of your parents had to have been a Blood Sheikah. It's the only way you could have gotten in here."
"I . . . but that's . . ."
"Impossible," Hunter confirms. "All Blood Sheikah are present and accounted for. And it's not as though we lose track of each other . . ."
"But then . . . how did I . . .?"
"I don't know," Hunter says. "But you're here. And so am I. And we're doing this all wrong but we've no choice now. We have to go through with it." He points at the door.
"No wait!" I say. "Isn't there something we can say? To make it go back? Uh . . ." I concentrate on the memory, which is once again fading back into my mind. "Mel nerst . . . uh . . . mel nost . . . um . . ."
"Mel nest ara cen Dweio Kar. Mel polach ciar dafili mas Quisros?" He asks me with a raised eyebrow.
"Sounds right," I say.
"I am not a Blood Child. I have already fulfilled my Right of Passage," Hunter translates. "That's what Detsu would have said to skip this part. It won't work for us, though. Because we are Dweio Kar – Blood Child. And we haven't completed our Quisros yet. You're not supposed to do the Rite of Passage until you're eighteen. And you're supposed to do it alone. We're neither of those."
"When's your birthday?" I ask.
"A month from now," he says. "And yours?"
"Month and a half," I answer. "Think we're close enough?"
"Guess we'll find out," he replies. "Hey, how did you know about that? To say mel nest ara cen Dweio Kar?" I shrug uncomfortably.
"I just . . . when I walked in here . . . I've been here before, somehow. And I remembered . . . someone saying that, to get me out."
"One of your parents?" Hunter asks. I shrug as we move through the door and into the narrow corridor beyond.
"I don't know," I say. "So what does this Rite of Passage thing involve anyway?" I ask, changing the subject. Hunter shrugs.
"I don't know," he says. "I didn't bother getting prepared for it because I figured I had a whole month left before I had to take it."
"A whole month for a test that could potentially kill you and you haven't started preparing for it yet?" I ask with a raised eyebrow, knowing in his shoes I'd have done the exact same thing.
"Well . . . I got distracted," he says.
"By what?" I ask. Hunter pulls distractedly at his collar and avoids my gaze.
"My Dad is stationed in Hyrule Castletown," he says. "He didn't get out when the Moblins attacked."
"Damn," I say. "I'm sorry. I've got a few friends stuck there too. I don't blame you for getting distracted."
"Yeah?" Hunter asks. "Like who?"
"Well," I say, "my girlfriend, Malon, and her family, for starters." It still feels odd to say girlfriend. I wonder if I'll ever get used to that. Hunter blinks at that, looking surprised.
"Your girlfriend?" He asks. I nod.
"And the Sages of course. And, the guy I live with." I scratch my head. "That doesn't really describe who he is to me. He took me in after I left Kokiri Forest and gave me a job at his archery shop. I . . . he's one of . . ." I pause at the look on Hunter's face. "What?"
"Archery shop?" He asks in an odd voice.
"Yeah," I say. "He owns the Castletown Archery Shop."
"What's his name?" Hunter asks.
"Bruiser," I answer. "Why? Do you know him?" Hunter laughs.
"Know him?" He asks. "I know him better than you do I bet." He grins at me. "He's my dad." I stop in mid-step and gape at Hunter.
"Woah!" I cry. "Back up! Bruiser has a kid?" Hunter raises an eyebrow.
"Nope," he says. "I'm just a figment of your imagination."
"Ha," I say. "you're pretty funny yourself sometimes. But, if you're Bruiser's kid . . . then . . . that makes Bruiser . . . a Sheikah?" Hunter nods, amused at my grasp of what to him is obvious. My mind reels.
"Hard to believe, eh?" He asks. "I grant you this much, he doesn't look like most Blood Sheikah, but that doesn't change the fact that he is one. He just . . . marches to the beat of his own drum."
"Ha!" I say. "Bruiser makes his own drum." We share a smile, this unexpected connection upping our relationship from friend-of-a-friend to something one step up on the like-scale. We both turn and frown as the hallway ends in another circular room – much, much larger than the first. The walls and floor are covered in white stone, not unlike that of the Temple of Time, and intricate pillars are set into the wall, stretching up into the roof, which extends well beyond our line of sight.
And the most interesting thing about the room?
There's nothing in it except a chest high basin – kinda like the birdbaths I've seen in Kakariko. Only this one seems to extend right out of the floor. It's made out of the same white material as the rest of the room, and there's no seam indicating where it stops and the floor begins. A gleaming gold triforce glitters on its side. The Master's Sword flashes brightly for a split second and grows warm in my hand. Hunter and I both stare down at it in surprise.
"It must be a pedestal," I whisper, staring at the basin. "But it doesn't look like the one at my temple. Is this the test?" I look at Hunter who shrugs.
"It must be," he says. "There's no where else to go." Exchanging an apprehensive look we approach the basin together. "Hey wait," he says. "Dad told me about this . . . it's . . . we're supposed to look into it I think . . . It will . . . uh . . . dammit! I don't remember!"
"Well," I say, stepping up to it. "Only one way to find out, right?"
"Link, wait!" Hunter cries, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back. He frowns. "I don't know if you should."
"What? Why not?" I ask, confused.
"Well . . . if it really is a Pedestal of Time, then . . . it's going to react differently to you than it would for other Sheikah. I mean . . . I can do whatever I want to the Pedestal of Time at the Temple of Time, and it's not going to make an inch of difference, but you touch it and boom! So there's no way to tell how this one's going to react to you." He takes a hesitant step up towards it. "So . . . maybe I should go first. Maybe that will be enough to get us out of here. If one of us completes the test."
"But . . . you're not eighteen," I say. "And you're definitely not alone. How do you know it's not going to freak out on you?" He glares at me impatiently.
"It's safer for me to try it first," he says. "Besides, I'm less important in the –"
"Don't start," I say, my expression growing dark. "I don't care who I am, there's no such thing as 'more important.' Not when we're talking about life and death."
"Look, do you want to find Detsu or not?" Hunter demands.
"No need to find me boys," says a cold voice from behind us. My grip tightens on my sword as we turn around slowly. Detsu grins maniacally at us. His right arm is soaked in blood, but he's got some cloth tied tightly around the wound I gave him. His eyes narrow. "I've found you." I struggle to keep my panic from showing on my face, fanning the rage inside of me to bolster my courage. I glare at him.
"Gee," I say, glancing at his arm, "that looks painful. Don't think you'll be able to use a sword again for a while."
"Oh," says Detsu, his face twisting with pain and fury, "I don't need a sword to take care of you two." Black lightning suddenly sparks into existence around him, leaping and cracking all over his body. "Not with the gifts Lord Ganondorf has given me . . ."
"I knew it!" Hunter cries. "You are a traitor! You rat! You've delved into the Black Arts!" Detsu laughs and raises his good hand, the lightning jumps towards his palm, coalescing into a ball of energy. Hunter takes a step back. "That can't be good . . ."
Several jagged spikes leap up from the ground behind me, barring my exit from the creepy room. The paintings on the wall all jeer down at me, mocking. Navi stares at the spikes with a flat expression on her face.
"That can't be good," she says.
"Well aren't you the master of the obvious today," I snap crankily. "'Oh look, Link! It's a big old building in the middle of Saria's secret spot! I think it's the ForestTemple!' 'Oh look, Link! It's one of the Poe sisters! I think you're going to get hurt!' 'Oh look, Link! Big jagged spikes have barred our only exit from this nasty room! That can't be good!' Thanks for the play by play, Navi! Really. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."
"Well you're certainly in a bad mood," she says huffily.
"'Oh look, Link! You're snapping and glaring! You must be in a bad mood!'" I turn back around and am fully intent upon continuing my tirade but my breath dies in my throat when I catch sight of what's floating in the air in front of me. Ganondorf . . . on a horse . . . wearing a mask . . .
Life has just not been fun since I woke up an adult.
I think I'm going to cry now . . .
"Oh look, Link," Navi says caustically. "It's Ganondorf. I think we're in trouble . . ."
"Navi!" I cry, taking a step back as I stare at Ganondorf and draw my sword. "This is serious!"
"Oh relax," she cries. "It's not really Ganondorf. It's a phantom, probably created by Ganondorf. No biggie. You've dealt with tougher."
"Like what?" I cry as Phantom Ganondorf holds out his hand towards me and black lightning swirls around his arm, coalescing in his hand.
"Uh . . ." Navi says. The ball of lightning streaks from his hand towards me. All I can do is raise my sword, close my eyes, and wait to die . . .
But yet again, I am somehow saved . . .
The lightning strikes the sword, and flies back at Phantom Ganondorf and his horse. Both are sent sailing backwards into one of the paintings.
Literally . . .
I come out of the flashback with a gasp, just as Detsu sends the lightning ball sailing towards us.
"Hunter, watch out!" I cry, leaping in front of him and shifting my grip on my sword. I swing the sword hard, praying my aim is true, and strike the lightning square on. It flies backwards.
"No!" Detsu cries as the ball strikes him in the chest and sends him flying back to crash into the wall.
"Nice," Hunter says appreciatively.
"We're not done yet," I say tensely as Detsu slowly and painfully picks himself back up.
"Stubborn children," he hisses at us, the lightning sparking again around him. He just doesn't learn does he? "You don't know what you're dealing with." I take three steps forward and raise the Master Sword.
"You want to try again feel free," I hiss. "The longer you suffer the better."
"Still angry about that Gerudo brat?" Detsu hisses at me, making my temper flare even further. "She's not all I've taken from you, you know. Or even you Hunter." Hunter freezes in his attempt to move around to the side, hoping to flank Detsu.
"What are you talking about, old man?" He demands, narrowing his eyes. Detsu laughs.
"Of course you wouldn't know," he says. "Not after I stole the memory of them. But you Link . . . I didn't steal your memory . . . I couldn't. Do you remember? Do you remember what I did to them?" My eyes narrow at him. Something tickle's my mind . . . at the back of my brain.
"To who?" I demand. "What you did to who?" He turns his gaze back to Hunter.
"Your father remembers," he says, the lightning still crackling around him. "He was too close to them . . . like Link . . . I couldn't steal all of his memory. I couldn't take his memory of Brayden from him. But I did take the memory of Brayden's wife and brat." The lightning cracks loudly and he holds out both his hands.
"And now I shall rid the world of more than just the memory!" Black lightning flies towards Hunter. I gasp and start towards him, but the distraction costs me and a second bolt flies towards me. I don't get the Master Sword up in time. Hunter flies back into the wall. I fall back against the pedestal. My sword hand lands in the clear water.
The world turns to blue around me, as Hunter, Detsu, and the Sheikah Caverns disappear . . .