WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
By Katt006
Katt006@hotmail.com
May 30th: Went through hell to get this chapter out. I wrote half of it once, then lost it. Then I wrote it all out again… and my computer crashed. HALOO!! This is my 3rd and final time! (It was a looooong night.) About time too! :D Enjoy and please gimmie feedback ^^
Thanks again to all those who told me to get off my buttocks and write this :) Can't do it without you!
Katt006
(Saga #3 The gods.)
CHAPTER 17:
The princess was locked in her mothers embrace, her head buried into the queen's shoulder. She wanted nothing more than to spend eternity here in this moment of happiness. As if reading her mind, the queen released her daughter and held her at arm's length.
"Is this what you want my dear?" She asked, looking directly into her daughter's eyes. "Is this the happiness you crave for?"
Zelda could not deny the feeling of content she felt within her mother's arms, and she nodded. The queen slid her hands from Zelda's shoulders to her hands where she clasped them tightly.
'Forever'"Then stay here." The queen proposed. "Stay here with your father and I in this beautiful kingdom…"
'Kingdom?'Zelda quickly pulled her hands away. What was she thinking? Quickly she glanced out the window, the land lay beautiful, bright and peaceful outside. "I…I cannot stay mother…" She stammered. Keeping her gaze fixated on the window. A sickening feeling was welling in the pit of her stomach. Something was not quite right here.
"So you are not happy here?"
Tears threatened the princess' eyes. "I am mother, believe me I am! I have been longing for so much… for so many years to see you again. But I knew I never could. This opportunity now… it too overwhelming for words. I cannot believe it…"
"However…?" The queen raised an eyebrow and sat on the edge of her daughter's bed.
"Yes, however," She continued. "You have died mother. Many many years ago."
The queen did not look phased by the statement. As though she already knew this fact.
"And our kingdom, Hyrule," The young royal swept her arm in an arc over the window. "Now lays in darkness and the shadow of destruction." As she said this, the landscape outside twisted and changed to reveal the present. The room grew dark as the sun disappeared and the air became thick with malice. "Gannondorf waits. It is only a matter of time, then this will all come to an end."
The queen smiled sweetly, knowingly. "Therefore, would you not prefer to stay here and be happy? Safe?"
Zelda took made no hesitation in her reply. "No."
The queen was visibly surprised.
"For I am needed by our land. This was my born duty. If there was one thing I learnt from you and father, it was to never turn my back on the people. I will help Link and the others destroy Gannondorf and restore Hyrule. I have devoted my life to the well being of this land and will continue to do so.
"But the road will be hard… you will have to face pain, tears… and loss."
'Loss? Who?'The queen continued, a hard edge on her voice. "Will you be prepared to do what is necessary? How much will you sacrifice?"
Zelda's face contorted at the question. Her heart started to race and the unease in her stomach turned to dread. "I will do everything in my power to accomplish my goal of peace and restoration." She stated with all the strength she could muster.
The queen's expression softened again. "Good… I am very impressed by you, my dear daughter." She leant back onto her elbows across the bed and sighed happily. "I can see your father's strength in you. You have become so much and will make a splendid Queen."
Zelda managed a smile. She needed to go, staying here would help nobody. "I cannot idle here any longer mother. Please understand."
"I do." Said the mother quietly, however not sadly. "We will no doubt meet again." With that the queen stood and embraced her child once more. Zelda allowed herself a long moment of her mother's sourly missed touch before breaking away and heading for the door. She swung it open, not quite sure what to expect. Beyond the door lay the stars, infinity.
She stepped through without pause. "Goodbye mother." She mouthed before disappearing into the void.
* * *
Link felt disorientated. One second he was floating through the stars, the next he was standing in the center of marked-out circle. A ring of kokiri gathered around, all yelling excitedly. The first thing that Link noticed was that he was young again. Alarmed and confused he looked about in panic. He was clad in simple set of wooden armor and in his right hand he gripped a heavy yet dainty wooden sword.
A loud thud and a hilt made impact to the side of his head, forcing link into the reality of the situation. He winced and stepped to the side, searching for whoever belted him. His eyes immediately focused on a short ugly looking kokiri. Mido. Annoyance swiftly replaced Link's confusion and the warrior began to concentrate fully on the battle.
"What's the matter Link? You seem a little lost." Mido grinned, overconfident as always.
Link returned the smile evilly but remained silent.
Mido's features darkened at his opponent's regained composure. "I'll wipe that grin from your face." With that he lunged his sword at Link's shoulder. Link stepped aside easily. Almost instantly, Mido launched into a second assault. This time he swung in a wide horizontal arc at waist-height. Link stepped back. His smile still plastered upon his features. Mido became even more aggravated. He lunged once more, then again, and again. Link continued to evade everything with ease. Infuriating Mido further.
They paused momentarily. Mido catching his breath. "You are an overconfident and careless fighter." Link stated simply. "You place too much strength and weight into your attacks, leaving the rest of yourself open to your opponent."
Mido gritted his teeth. "Well I don't see YOU making any attacks! Coward! I always knew you were one!"
"I'm ONLY trying to give you a fair chance, you should thank me." The other boy smiled and poked a hint of tongue out.
"Why you… you…" Mido was visibly shaking with fury now. How dare Link make a fool out of him! Hiking his sword over his shoulder, Mido rushed at his opponent. Bringing his weapon down into a diagonal sweep. Link sensed the move from a mile away and stepped on the inside of the strike, here he used his own sword to lead Mido's sweep through with added force. Mido stumbled forward with the momentum and Link quickly lifted his sword and used the hilt to send Mido crashing onto the ground, with a simple tap on the back. He toppled forward and landed flat on his face in the soil.
Link stepped up to the fallen boy and used his foot to roll him over onto his back before tapping his chest plate with the wooden sword.
The crowd erupted with enjoyment. A blond and orange-haired kikori pushed their way through the crowd and surrounded their once again disorientated friend, chirping praise and patting Link on the back. Now that the battle was over, the warrior's mind reverted back to its initial confusion. What was he doing here?
"Wow! You were so great!" Shiko beamed as she led Link away from the excitement of the ring , Swat close behind. "Things are always so much better when you're here."
They walked quietly for some time through the dense forest till the trees parted, revealing a small grassy hill, beyond it rolled vast plains edged with more forest. "We're so happy that you're back!" Swat said happily. "Everyone has missed you so much."
"And you keep Mido in line! He doesn't bother me when you're around now." Shiko added.
'What's going on here? How come I'm back here? Was everything just a dream? Is this a test?' Link's mind was an internal tornado of conflicting thoughts.
They sank down upon the crest of the grass hill, overlooking the Kokiri village. The day was bright and warm and Link could not help feeling a little homesick. He felt so at peace here. No Gannondorf, No evil, No burdening responsibility. "I… miss this place at times. My home." Link stated absent-mindedly.
"Then why don't you stay!?" Shiko almost leapt back up in excitement. "Then things will be as they were before!"
"I'd like to… but."
"But what?"
"Don't you like it here with us Link?" Swat asked with genuine confusion.
The other boy shook his head. "Of course I do!" He defended. "I want so strongly to be here back in the forest as a kokiri. Happy again."
"Then stay!" Shiko pulled on Link's sleeve in plea. "Stay with us here forever! You'll never have to kill or suffer again."
'Forever'
Link looked down at the grass and picked at it in contemplation. The offer was tempting… but he knew he had no choice. "I can't… I'm sorry. Hyrule is in trouble. Gannondorf returns, and will destroy everything, including this forest." As Link said this the forest around them began to change. The trees lost leaves and wilted, forming into twisted grey stumps. The flawless sky became threatening with clouds as a dark evil weighted the air.
Shiko and Swat took in the transforming environment with indifference.
"You see why I must go?" He asked his friends.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay here and protect us? Be happy with us? Things will be like old times." Shiko stood and stepped close to Link.
He looked up at her and smiled a little sadly. "I will be protecting you. I just can't stay here to do it."
As though satisfied, the two kikori relaxed and returned the smile. "We understand Link… you've chosen well." Swat said in a voice more mature than his usual self. "What awaits you and your companions won't be easy. You will both gain and lose something dear to you."
Link took all this in but couldn't help but pass a smirk, somewhat understanding the situation. It was all a test wasn't it? "That's a bit wise for you isn't it Swat?"
The kokiri returned Link's smirk. "Promise us we will meet again." As Swat said this the sky darkened to reveal a starry night.
"I promise I will return to you both safely." Link vowed, fearing his time was up. He looked up into the night immediately realizing that as he did so, the land beneath him vanished and he was once again floating among infinity.
* * *
Impa had been running too fast, it was raining too heavily, and she should have known better…
But there she lay, at the bottom of a rocky crevice. Her leg pulsed out an alarming amount of blood from a gash that stretched from the back of her knee to her ankle. She bit down hard on her lip to suppress tears but nothing would ease the pain… so the young girl wept loudly and painfully.
What was she doing here again? Why was this moment in her life replaying?
She wanted to forget all this… to forget him…
"Impa?" A young man's distant voice echoed off the rocks around her. "Impa where are you?!"
The young girl tried to stifle her cries. Attempting to go unnoticed, but the pain was too excruciating and her efforts did little to help the situation.
From high above, Impa spied a boy looking down at her. He looked around the same age as her, perhaps even slightly older. "Impa!" He cried, alarmed yet under control. "Hold on I'll be right down!" With that he disappeared.
Impa placed as much pressure on her wound as she could, however she was already beginning to grow weak from blood loss and any movement seemed to make her dizzy. Heavy and swift footsteps sounded behind her and she slowly turned her head to see the boy approach, he was breathing heavily from his hasty scramble down the rocks and one hand appeared injured and bleeding. He made his way to her side and removed the dark blue bandanna from his forehead, unfolding it to wrap tightly about the girl's open wound.
Closing his eyes, he placed a hand over the gash and frowned in concentration. A white glow appeared around his palm and extended to Impa's leg. She watched him work the magic with mixed emotions. The boy had light blonde hair, short except for a long parted fringe that framed his cheeks. His features were striking and hard for a boy of his age, and his eyes were piercing and taunted, yet not unkind.
"Impa, I have to get you out of here now." He stated as he finished the spell. "I seem to have lost my touch with the light magic arts. This small ward will not stop the bleeding for long."
He slowly hefted the young girl into his arms and Impa could not help but moan in agony. "Kodas… I don't really want you to--"
"Shut up." He said sternly, but with soft eyes. "You can't wait down here till I fetch help. You would have lost too much blood. You should st--"
"Stop being so stubborn." Impa finished off. "I know I know."
After a considerable amount of struggling, they reached the top and were making their way down a dirt trail, Kodas still carrying the young Impa.
"Why do you continue to use black magic? Even though it's dangerous." Impa asked innocently. She felt safe in his arms, yet was unsettled by the whole situation. Was this some kind of trial? Who wanted her to re-visit this part of her past? As if in response Kodas' arms tightened about her.
"Because that's what I wish to do. White magic is too restrictive. How can I protect the ones I care for with simple healing spells?"
Impa frowned then motioned to be put down. Kodas lowered her as she placed all her weight onto her good leg. "Kodas I hate you!" She said sharply and fiercely, looking him square in the eyes. "I don't know what sick game this is but I've been through all this once before. I'm revisiting my past. In the present, you are a horrible and very powerful black magician. You are about to put Hyrule and everything I've know and love to death!" She was quite angry and the strain of yelling was taking it's toll on her body. She began to feel her legs give way beneath.
Kodas caught her, his face expressionless.
"If I could kill you now…" She continued. "Would all the problems of the future be gone?! Or is this all just some phony illusion?!"
Kodas shook his head. "No Impa… the problems of the future would not be solved. Nothing you can do here now will change anything."
Tears welled up in her eyes once more. "Then how?! How can I stop you?"
"Gannondorf is the threat now. Do you really wish to kill me?"
"I…" Impa faltered. "I… have wanted to forget you, as you have me. After I had heard what became of you years after you left us, I just wanted to erase all the memories of us… because it hurt too much. I miss the friend you used to be… I looked up to you as a brother and saw you as someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with… What happened to you?"
"Look deep down and you will find me."
Impa looked confused.
"Promise me you will find another way. Bloodshed will not help here."
"I… I promise Kodas."
TBC…
Next up is Trunks and Malon. I need a really good story for them but I'm having trouble coming up with one. No matter, I'll get a good idea soon. Hope you liked the chapter. Oh and don't worry if you are a little confused. All will be revealed soon. ^^