ubHunt for the Dragonlord/b/u
By: Sonnet A.K.A. Talonclawfange
( E-mail me at Talonofday@yahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, the Dragonlord, Raykel, Calwots and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and, recently, writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: In section 8: Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain, sadistic means nothing more or less than he enjoys inflicting pain on others. A defenition in a dictionary I saw suggested something more, but I'm not using the word that way, got it?
Another Note: This story takes place after my first two: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, and Duels and Dragons, so you probably want to read them first or you'll be lost. By the way, this story is about 49 pages long (they just keep getting longer, don't they?) and is somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and blood. Enjoy!
buSection 1
Black Scar/u/b
By the time he got to the castle, Raykel's armor was so covered in blood and rain that he thought it would rust, despite its resistance to liquids. The trip from where Link had fallen to the castle was a somewhat short walk, but Link was bleeding so badly that Raykel's armor had more blood than rain on it by the time he got there. It was unnatural, Raykel thought. He looked down at Link's face, and it looked peaceful with his unconsciousness, yet he must be perilously close to death. As he opened the doors of the castle, the guards standing watch stared at him, and as he passed, he ordered them to go get Epona and Link's bow. Raykel carried Link to the infirmary and laid him on a table.
"Oh, my.....!" A gasp of shock escaped the nurse's lips as she saw Link's condition.
"Get the King," Raykel told her, "I'll get the doctor, for all the good it will do...Link is dying." The nurse somehow managed to tear her eyes away from the red and black blood coming from Link's shoulder, and went to get the King. The doctor ran into the room just as Raykel was about to go get him. His jaw literally dropped.
"What on earth happened?!" The doctor yelled.
"Don't just stand there, ido/i something!" Raykel said impatiently.
"But I can't do anything for ithat!/i What iis/i that?" The doctor, overcome with horror, pointed at Link's shoulder. Raykel opened his mouth to say something nasty, but at that moment, the King came in.
"Link! What the heck happened to him?! Where is my daughter!?!"
Link started stirring, awakened by the King's yelling. His eyes slowly opened and he noticed that it was strangely hard to breathe, and something bubbled in his throat as he struggled to draw breath. At first he felt no pain, remembered nothing, but then the pain and memories all rushed back to him at once.
"Aaahhh! No...Zelda!"
"Calm down, Link!" the doctor said, "All that yelling won't help!" Raykel glared at the useless doctor, and calmly walked over to Link.
"Link, listen. I don't think you're going to last much longer with how fast you're bleeding. That arrow pierced you very deeply. Your blood is blackish, and even thei doctor/i can't do anything."
"I have to save Zelda...where's Epona...what did you say...?" Link had calmed down, and looked like he was about to lose consciousness again by the time he had finished talking.
"What's all this about?" A loud voice demanded, and Darunia entered the room. "Why is my sworn brother, the King, in here? And what happened to my other sworn brother, Link?!" Spotting Link on the table, Darunia ran over to him, pushing aside Raykel and the doctor.
"Watch it, you rock-skull!" The doctor growled, "Do you think yelling and pushing will help your dying brother?!"
"iDying/i? Not if I can help it!! I'll take him to the Great Fairy, she can heal him, and watch who you're calling a rock-skull!" Darunia said, taking a step towards the man, who cringed in fear, backing away.
"Gentlemen, please! I have heard of a Fairy on Death Mountain," The King said, "but I don't think Link will live long enough to get there." He looked at Darunia solemnly.
"Not the Fairy on Death Mountain," Darunia explained, "the Fairy right next to your castle!"
"What? There's a fairy next to my castle? Are you sure your information is corr-"
"Yes, Brother!" The Goron interrupted. "Get Brother, eh...Link, that is...on a stretcher and follow me!" The nurse and the doctor put the half-awake Link on a stretcher. Link started muttering about Zelda and the dragon, and the King spoke to him softly during the short trip to the Great Fairy's cave. When they were inside, Darunia spoke loudly in front of the Great Fairy's pool.
"I am Darunia, friend of the Great Fairy on Death Mountain and the Royal Family. Come forth and heal the Hero of Time!" Laughing blissfully and spinning gracefully, the Great Fairy emerged from her pool. She smiled and spoke in a sweet voice.
"Darunia and Link are here to visit me...?" Her smile vanished as she saw Link, his panting form covered in blood infected by dark magic. The King, the doctor, the nurse, and Raykel all stared up at her in amazement, having never seen a Great Fairy, and she leaned down to look at Link.
"It will take a great deal of power to heal these wounds..." she said, noticing that aside from the darkened shoulder, Link had many cuts and slashes all over him, not to mention some broken ribs. His breathing was shallow, and the Great Fairy felt almost sick as she saw all the dark liquid covering him. Link choked on his blood and turned his head to spit it out, coughing. "Never mind how much power it will take, we all owe a great deal to this young man, so I will fix him up as well as I can!" She opened her arms and leaned forward, and some blue magic left her hands, spiraling down to the injured Link. It enveloped him and started shimmering as it ran up and down his body.
The men and the nurse watched as Link's wounds started to close up, until all was healed completely except the shoulder. The black arrow hole was mostly closed up, but dark liquid continued to pour from it. The blue magic vanished and the Fairy straightened herself. "That is the best I can do," she said, "I cannot heal dark wounds very well. If you take Link to the Temple of Time and have him lay his hands on the Master Sword, its pure power will get rid of the darkness. No, the weak magic of the Silver Sword won't work, have him get the Master Sword! He must take it with him if he is to defeat the Dragonlord." With that, the Great Fairy descended gracefully into her pool, her usual laughing absent.
Link, still breathing heavily, tried to get up, but lost his balance and fell forward. Darunia caught him and supported him as the small group walked to the Temple of Time. Link drew the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, and some white light came from the blade, running along his arm and going into his shoulder. Instantly, the pain from the dark magic was gone and the dark blood ceased to flow from the formerly deadly wound. Link looked where the hole had been, and saw a black scar in place of it; which, though ugly looking, was not painful at all at the moment.
"Thanks, guys..." Link said, turning to the people who had saved him. "and girl." he added, seeing the nurse.
"You need to watch it, Link." Raykel said quietly. "I almost thought we would lose you...and wouldn't that be a shame?" he grinned.
"Uhhh..." Link wasn't sure what to say.
"Enough of this idle talk, Link needs to be washed up now." The King looked him over, displeased with how many holes his clothes had, and the half-dry blood still coating much of him. "My boy, you're a mess!" Link looked down and examined himself.
"Yeah, I guess I am!" Link said dumbly, not thinking of anything else to say. With that, everyone went back to the castle, except Darunia. He said good-bye to Link and left for Death Mountain. After Link was washed and put on some new clothes, the King, Link, Cosha, and Raykel all met in the King's quarters.
"Well, the reason I've summoned you three," the King began, "is because something must be done about my daughter. Raykel has told me she was taken by a dragon."
"I'll go save her!" Link said immediately.
"I knew you would say that," The King revealed, "in fact, I was going to order you to go save her if you didn't say that, but like I told you, I knew you would. Don't worry though, you won't be alone this time."
"Huh?" Link didn't understand, because pretty much all the saving he had done in the past he had done by himself.
"I know you are probably used to doing everything alone because no one is courageous enough to help you, but now that Raykel is here, I'm sure he will be more than happy to go with you. No questions!"
"I know he's brave enough, but will he iwant/i to go with me?" Link looked at Raykel and decided he really didn't want to be alone with him...but then Raykeli had/i saved him, hadn't he?
"You're Majesty, I think Sohran should go with him..." Raykel started to say.
"Nonsense! You are going because you're the best warrior. Sohran has to command the Royal Guard while you're gone. Just as an extra precaution, one more soldier is going to go as well. Sohran and Cosha were both high-ranking competitors in the Warrior Contest but Sohran must stay here, so Cosha is going. No questions!" Raykel and Cosha looked at each other, smiling slightly.
"Yes, Your Majesty..." Link said, feeling like he was going to go on a walk with a couple of wolfoses.
"Whatever you say, sire." Raykel said with a bow.
"Good." The King said with satisfaction. "I'm sure you three will do a wonderful job. You ido/i know where to go, don't you?"
"All the dragons that have attacked have come from the north...probably from somewhere in the Ethereal Forest." Link told him.
"Well then, you three should leave immediately, so you can get a few hours' worth of land behind you before the sun sets. It is unknown how long it will take to get through the forest, or to the middle, wherever you're going, so stop by the kitchen to get provisions before you leave. If those run out, I trust you can hunt for yourselves?" Raykel, Cosha, and Link all nodded. "Good then. Be on your way, and good luck!"
After getting camping gear and provisions (and Link equipped his items), the three unlikely companions left on horseback for the Ethereal Forest. Raykel was wearing some blue clothes and some armor of his that wasn't as shiny as his Royal Guard armor, but was more comfortable. He didn't bother to bring a bracer, helmet, or shield; just his sword, his bow, and a dagger. Cosha had similar gear, except his sword was shorter than Raykel's and he carried two daggers. Cosha was about twenty-six, and had short, very dark brown hair, with green eyes. He also wore some light armor, and the metal from it and Raykel's armor clanked with the bouncing of their mounts as they galloped towards the Ethereal Forest. Link was not riding Epona, because she was still resting, and because she would probably out-distance the other horses and their riders in a heartbeat. As much as Link felt uncomfortable with Raykel and Cosha, he didn't want to leave them behind and make the King angry, so all three of them rode white horses from the castle's stables.
As the men crossed Royal Field, Link thought about his captured friend, Zelda. She had been gone for under two hours, but he missed her already. The loneliness was especially distressing because he didn't know when the next time he saw her would be, or if he would even see her at all. Link thought about the time he had spoken to his friend about loneliness...
~Flashback~ i"Hey, if the soldiers don't find Impa in Hyrule, I'll look for her while I'm exploring North Hyrule, okay?" Link tried to console his friend. "If she's there, I'm sure she'll show herself to me if I come by her."
"Thanks, Link...I think about her every time I turn into Sheik, every time I think of the contest, every time I do anything she used to help me with... I really miss her. I'm glad I have you to keep me company." Zelda smiled over at Link.
"Ah, don't go corny on me again..." Zelda's reply was laughing.
"Hey, I'm not joking! You may be a 'loner warrior' kind of guy, but if I have no one to talk to, I get very bored."
"Loner, huh? Just because I'm alone a lot doesn't mean I enjoy it. I get lonely sometimes too, y'know?/i" ~End~
Link's thoughts returned to the present as he saw the trees of the Ethereal Forest approaching. It didn't take much longer to reach the forest, and when the Hylians got there they slowed their horses to a walk, because of the dense trees.
Link looked around, admiring the beauty of the huge trees. iThey must be ancient, /ihe thought, iI can't even see the tops of a few of them.../i The light from the sun fell thought the tree tops and made and intricate pattern of shadows on the ground, which was littered with dead leaves and pine needles. Once every couple dozen feet there were patches of grass, growing under breaks in the forest's canopy where they could absorb the sun's rays. In the distance Link spotted some light glinting off of the shining wings of two yellow and green butterflies. The songs of birds and chirping of insects filled the air, and the pleasantness of the forest almost made Link forget the bad situation he was in. He lost himself in the forest until sunset. The awareness of his situation and his companions' probable intentions returned, and all of the chirping and songs came to an end for the night. Link could see that they were passing the Jagged Beamos rock formation on the left side, which meant they would soon pass the limit that the soldiers from the castle had explored when North Hyrule had first been discovered. The three men rode on in uncomfortable silence until it became so dark the horses could barely make out their footing. They had not spoken since the beginning of their journey, and Link and Raykel both started to speak at once, then went silent and looked at each other.
"Eh, sorry...what were you about to say?" Link asked politely.
"We should set up camp now." Raykel said.
"Yeah, I think so too." Link agreed. Cosha nodded, and the three of them halted to tie the horses' reins to a nearby tree branch and set up camp. After a fire was made, they each individually cooked the food they had brought from the castle, and the silence returned as they ate. Link sat down in front of the fire, and Cosha sat a little distance away from him, Raykel following. The terrible and unending silence began to bother Link, and he decided maybe he could lighten the mood with some conversation.
"So, Raykel...did you have fun in the Warrior Contest today?" He looked at Raykel hopefully. The man sat with a brooding air about him, and it seemed for a moment like he was not going to answer, but then he spoke.
"Sure." He said.
"Me too." Link said quickly. Silence once again crept over the small camp. How annoying, Link thought. He never thought he could be so uncomfortable with such lack of talking, because silence was usually a regular companion of his. He wondered if it would be this way the entire trip, but Cosha said something.
"Of course you did, Link. You won the stupid contest." He said flatly.
"Cosha, mind your manners..." Raykel reprimanded quietly.
"Well he doesn't have to rub it in our faces!" Cosha growled.
"Well, excuuuuuuse me." Link said irritably. "I wasn't trying to rub it in your face, I was just trying to talk, c'mon! You two don't have to be so quiet...do you think we're going to wake the dead or something?"
"Maybe." Cosha said, grinning mischeviously. "You afraid of the dead, Link?"
"I fight them all the time, really." he said. He was not very pleased that they were arguing, but at least it was better than the hate-filled silence.
"Well it's a good thing you are familiar with them, because soon you may be joi-"
"Shut UP, Cosha!" Raykel growled. Cosha looked at his teacher in surprise.
"Uh, y-yes, Master." He said. The three men were silent once again. Link unwilling to speak, fearing that he would start another argument, and Cosha because he didn't want to anger his Master. Link simply stared into the fire, until all of them were done eating.
"We should set up a watch..." Link suggested quietly after a while. In the distance, a wolfos howled.
"Scared of the dark..?" Cosha started to say, but was quickly silenced by a dark glance from Raykel.
"Fine then," Raykel said, "I will go first, then you, then Cosha, if that's alright with you." He looked at Link for an answer, and Link nodded, giving a small smile which was not returned. The fire was extinguished, and Link and Cosha went to sleep. It took Link a long time to fall asleep because his black-scarred left shoulder ached with a dull throbbing.i Who shot me with that arrow? /iLink wondered, his mind tiredly trying to reason it out.i It had to have been the Dragonlord...so, he finally rears his ugly head. Well, more like hides behind a cloud and shoots his enemy's back./i..He finally drifted into darkness and slept for a few hours. He was having a rather unpleasant dream, when he felt something cold and hard on his face...
He woke instantly, and heard something move quickly to the side of him. He looked over and saw Raykel.
".........." Raykel said nothing and Link looked at him expectantly. "Hm...it's your turn." He said finally.
"Oh...okay." Link said, rising from his sleepingbag-like temporary bed. He went and sat on a rock, and watched Raykel go to sleep. He then looked out into the forest. It was very quiet, except for the occasional chirping of a faraway insect or the soft nicker of a horse. This time Link felt comfortable in the peaceful silence, and enjoyed the soft darkness of the night for a few hours. Nothing happened during his watch, and when it was over, he moved to wake up Cosha. He walked over to Cosha's sleeping form, and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He woke abruptly and looked up at Link, frowning unpleasantly.
"Oh, it's iyou./i My turn already?" He asked.
"Sshhh...yes." Link whispered, ignoring the other's unkind attitude. Cosha got up and Link tried to go to sleep. He didn't feel quite safe with Cosha awake...he hadn't exactly been comfortable with Raykel awake either, but at least he knew that Raykel had the decency to not attack a man while he sleeps, didn't he..? Hopefully, Cosha would also. Link knew that Cosha might still be mad at him from the small argument earlier...but he eventually fell asleep anyway.
* * *
The energy-element dragon landed heavily on the black stone, and put down his small captive, who had long since tired out from struggling. Dakos flew in and landed next to the huge golden dragon, crounching so his master could dismount. The Dragonlord, wearing an ugly, condescending grin, walked over to the exhausted Zelda. He griped her arm and yanked her to her feet roughly.
"Okay, here's the deal, girly. You give me the Triforce of Wisdom, and you can go free." Zelda jerked her arm out of his grasp and backed away.
"You do not really think that I will give it to you, do you? You are evil." Zelda stared into the Dragonlord's young eyes defiantly.
"Haha! I didn't think you would give it up if I asked nicely. How's this: Give it up or I'll ikill /iyou?!" He yelled, expecting a submissive answer.
"iNo way./i" Zelda said firmly, and transformed into Sheik. She pulled out some darts, throwing them at the Dragonlord. He looked surprised that she transformed into a Sheikah, but didn't pay it any mind.
"Why you little...!" The Dragonlord dodged, and Sheik ran at him. She jumped into the air, kicking him square in the face with her right heel. He was thrown back, but the energy-element dragon caught him in a great paw before he fell, growling at Shiek. One of the wing-shaped black spikes on the Dragonlord's back snapped from the impact, and his cape (which was attatched to the spikes) drooped. The dragon put the Dragonlord down, and quickly snatched the girl who had dared attack its master in one great paw.
"bOrders, Master?/b" It asked. The Dragonlord, brushing himself off and mad that his spike had broken, answered:
"Make her scream." The energey-element dragon started squeezing her. She fought and kicked, futily trying to break loose of the impossibly strong grip. The dragon squeezed harder, and Sheik yelled in pain.
"That's enough. We don't want to kill her yet." The Dragonlord said, and the dragon put Sheik down reluctantly. She collapsed, breathing deeply.
"That's what you get when you mess with me, you brat!" The Dragonlord yelled, kicking her side. "Give me the triforce!"
"No!" Sheik yelled back. The Dragonlord's young face got red and he turned around, trying to cool his temper.
"Fine then..." He said in a voice low with anger and hate. "Zelda, you were doomed before I ever sent a dragon after you, since the first day I had a spy in your castle! Ever since then, you've been doomed to give up the triforce."
"A spy? How dare you! Whoever that spy was is in big trouble...and there's no way I'll ever give you the triforce!" She yelled defiantly. She turned back into Zelda so she could use her magic more easily, and raised her hand to cast a spell, thenbelatedly remembered she was out of magic. The Dragonlord shook with rage at this attempted attack.
"We'll see if you change your mind after a few days in my dungeon!" He shouted, reaching for her.
buSection 2
From Three to Two/u/b
Link and Raykel awoke the next morning to join Cosha in breakfast. It was a beautiful morning, filled with birds singing and light beaming between the branches of the trees, but somehow Cosha and Raykel still seemed grouchy. After the short meal was over, the three companions continued their trek into the forest. A few hours after they set off, Raykel and Cosha fell behind, and began to converse in low tomes with one another. Link tried to listen, but crunching of dead leaves under their horse's hooves and the noises of the forest animals drowned out their low voices. Link decided that he probably didn't want to hear what they were saying anyway, but had a bad feeling...
A while later, Link spotted a bit of forest which looked like it had been disturbed by a large animal's passing. He called a halt, and dismounted to examine a bush, which seemed to be messed up on one side. Raykel and Cosha watched silently as Link checked the area. Raykel and Cosha looked at each other, and Raykel nodded. Cosha handed something to Raykel and Raykel raised an arm...
"Hm? How strange...what's this?" Link saw odd tracks on the ground. Something shiny came whizzing through the air towards the back of Link's head. As Link leaned down to examine the tracks, the object flew past his head, inches from striking him, and smacked into a tree, bouncing off into some long grass, away from Link. He stood up instantly, oblivious to the plot being hatched against him, and looked back at Raykel and Cosha. "Hey, did you two hear something just now?" They shook their heads, and each had a strange, unpleasant look on his face. Thinking that it was a look of impatience, Link quickly explained what he had found.
"A dragon didn't pass here, but I did find some wolfos tracks." Raykel and Cosha glared at him irritably. "Not normal ones...these ones are really big, come and look!" Raykel and Cosha dismounted and went to look at the tracks. Raykel's eyes widened and Cosha gasped.
"They're ihuge/i!" Cosha said.
"They must be from a wolfos at least five times the size of a normal one..." Raykel commented.
"The strange thing is that there are just some tracks on this earth over here...then they disappear, not coming from anywhere and not going anywhere! We will have to keep our eyes open, hm?" Link said, looking at Raykel.
"We will indeed..." Raykel said, giving Link a creepy look.
"Eh...um, lets go, shall we...?" Link got on his horse and the others followed his example. iI hope we find Zelda soon...I hope she's okay.../iLink kept thinking. Link knew that it was more beneficial to get a triforce by it's holder's will, so Zelda wouldn't be hurt until the Dragonlord got impatient of asking her to give it up. But Link was certain she would not give her triforce up to an evil man, so after a few days the Dragonlord would probably get angry and torture her or something. Link shuddered in spite of himself, he couldn't let that happen! He had to reach Zelda before time ran out!
The horses and their riders kept going deeper into the forest, and it seemed to Link like it was getting quieter and shadier. The Ethereal Forest had at first struck Link as an old, beautiful place, but now it seemed almost foreboding...the bird's songs had nearly ceased, and the insects were quieting down as well. The interlocking branches of the forest canopy overhead darkehed the path, and made it difficutlt to dicern what time of day it was. A few hours passed, and it became so dark that the men could barely see eachother. Link faintly heard the sound of a peaceful waterfal somewhere nearby.
"Do you guys hear that?" Link asked.
"Yes, a waterfall, so what?" Cosha said, glancing at him irritably.
"I think Link is suggesting that we continue to the waterfall and make camp there." Raykel said boredly.
"Exactly. How did you know?" Link looked at Raykel, who pretended he hadn't heard. After a few more moments of riding, the forced companions reached the water source.
It was a small, pretty lake with a short waterfall feeding it. By now the moon had risen, and through the impossibly thick, roof-like canopy, some sparkling moonlight found it's way to the shimmering surface of the water, making it look very peaceful and beautiful. The horses were tied to a nearby tree, and Link went to see how pure the water was. He kneeled by the lake's edge and splashed some of the cool water on his face, then tasted it. It was very refreshing. He stood up to go help set up camp, but nearly bumped into Cosha, who was standing directly behind him, as he turned around. He looked up into Cosha's face (Cosha was about six inches taller than Link), and wondered why he was standing so close...
"Um, the water is clean." Link said, thinking maybe that was what Cosha wanted to know. Apparently it wasn't; because Cosha still stood in front of him, unmoving. Link thought maybe he was in Cosha's way and Cosha was standing there to be arrogant or something, so he started to move, but didn't get very far.
With an alarmingly swift maneuver, the same one he used in the Warrior Contest, Cosha put himself behind Link, and stuck his short, three and a half inch knife up to the hilt in Link's side.
"Ahhh!...Hey, you can't be serious!" Link was about to remove the blade and fight, but his arms were grabbed and held behind him by Cosha's left arm, and his attacker's other arm came up around his neck. "We have to save Zelda! This isn't funny-" His last sentence was cut off in a strangled gasp as Cosha pulled back on his throat.
"Too bad you have to breathe to use those Golden Gauntlets of yours..." Cosha said, smiling darkly and tightening his hold. Link wondered how Cosha could possibly know that about the gauntlets, and remembered too late that he was wearing them. Link struggled violently, but Cosha's restraining arms were incredibly strong, and Link began to feel drowsy from the hold on his neck. He looked in front of him and saw Raykel approaching, his dagger drawn. iThey aren't really going to do this, are they?! How could anyone..? /iLink couldn't comprehend this evil behavior and stared helplessly into the eyes of Raykel. He couldn't move, or even talk! He hated being so ihelpless/i!
"It's time, Master, to put an end to this little nuisance of a boy." Cosha said, holding Link still. Raykel raised the dagger and pressed it against the top of Link's neck (between Link's chin and Cosha's arm). Link flinched, but still could not move out of the way or defend himself.
"Good-bye, Link." Raykel said quietly. He put pressure on the dagger slowly and it cut slowly, until blood began to flow from the cut, but just as the knife was about to reach an artery, it stopped. Raykel looked into Link's pained eyes and found in them the hurt of betrayal. iWhat...what am I doing? /iHe asked himself suddenly. iWhat has Link done to deserve this? He saved us all from Ganondorf, and then spared my life when he could have had me executed, and now I'm betraying...no, ikilling/i him? /iSomething dark rose inside Raykel, urging him to shove the dagger through Link's neck, but something else spoke to him as well, telling him what he was doing was not what he would normally do, and he was being evil. iI'm not an evil man, am I? I was always determined to aim high and have integrity and mercy.../i
"Master?" Cosha looked at him expectantly, but Raykel would not be distracted from his thoughts. iLink...He's just a boy, yet he has helped so many people, and I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt me when he was given my job...he was just concerned for Zelda's safety. Why have I gotten so bitter against him, to the point of losing my values? I have been a fool! This is NOT who I am! WHAT AM I DOING? /iAn alarmed look came over Raykel's face, and he removed the blade from Link's neck. Cosha was so surprised he momentarily relaxed his stranglehold; and Link drew one breath, which was all he needed to use the gauntlets. He broke Cosha's hold on his arms instantly, elbowed him in the stomach, and turned around, giving him a nice, big shove. The force of it threw Cosha twenty feet, and he landed with a splash in the middle of the lake. Cosha emerged seconds later, coughing and sputtering. Link pulled the knife out of his side and put a hand over the wound it left open, then looked up at Raykel. Raykel said nothing, staring at Cosha, who was swimming towards them. Link had supposed that he hit Cosha hard enough and threw him far enough that he wouldn't bother him again, but he was wrong.
"I get it, Master!" Cosha yelled insanely, "You don't want to kill him like we planned. You want me to finish the job as part of my training!" Cosha had made his way over to the water's edge where Link was, and grabbed him from behind, hurling him into the lake behind him. Link hadn't expected this, plus he was wounded, so he couldn't act fast enough to prevent it. As Link fell into the water, Cosha turned towards the ripples left by his splash, determined to go drown him, but Raykel grabbed the back of Cosha's clothes and threw him onto the ground behind himself, so he was between the lake and his student.
"What...?" Cosha stared at Raykel, not willing to believe what was happening.
"Enough is enough, Cosha." Raykel went to the lake and pulled Link to shore.
"No! Link must DIE!" Cosha yelled, seeing his plans break apart before his eyes. "All must be according to Master's wishes!" Cosha lunged at Link, who was on the ground and still holding his stabbed side.
"Cosha, what's gotten into you?!" Raykel got in front of him, punching his stomach hard. Cosha doubled over in pain, and stared open-mouthed at Raykel.
"Master..." He almost looked pleading. Raykel shook his head. "Curse you!" shouted Cosha in rage, and turned, running away from Raykel.
"No! Get back here, Cosha! I can't allow my student to run off!" He ran after Cosha, but Cosha suddenly turned, and punched Raykel's face so hard he was thrown to his back. "Leave me alone! You are no longer my MASTER!" With that, Cosha ran off into the forest, and Raykel had to let him go.
Raykel rose and walked back to Link, who was rubbing an enchanted Arlia bud on his wounds. Link stopped and looked up at Raykel, smiling. Raykel was very startled by his smile, and suddenly felt indescribably guilty for trying to kill the benevolent young man.
"Link, I....." Raykel said sorrowfully.
"I know." Link replied, "You didn't really want to kill me, did you? I'm so glad you could overcome whatever was possessing you to hate me!"
"You're saying...that you'll forgive me just like that? I don't deserve forgiveness."
"Of course you do! Everyone does, if they're truly sorry." An emotion-filled smile came to Raykel's face.
"Link...I am so sorry." Raykel said, meaning it. Link simply smiled in return.
buSection 3
Wolfos Problems/b/u
Later that night, Raykel was sitting at the edge of camp, staring into the forest. He was thinking about Cosha. iCosha was so eager to train with me at first, when he joined the Royal Guard a year ago...he was always a willing student../i.Raykel looked up at the canopy of the forest, and saw a few specks of light; stars trying to shine through the thick ceiling of leaves. Then he looked over to the sleeping Link, who could sleep for about and hour more before it was his turn to watch. iEver since a few weeks before the first dragon attack...a few weeks before Link became Zelda's bodyguard...Cosha had been acting strange. I didn't notice it because the change was so gradual, and I was changing for the worst as well. What brought all this on? I wonder if I will ever see Cosha again...I want to see my old student, the Cosha who was good...maybe he will come back and be his old self. /iSuddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the forest off to the right. Raykel looked that way, straining his eyes in the darkness of the night, and still could not make anything out. He dismissed it and returned his eyes to the forest in front of him; but moments later, he heard the noise again. This time it sounded closer, and Raykel could identify it as the crunching of dead leaves under something's foot or paw. All of the sudden the horses went crazy, something had spooked them. They hadn't been tied down really securely, so in their frantic terror, they broke loose and went racing off into the forest. The noise sounded again, as if in response to the horses running away, and Link woke up from all the noise. Raykel walked over to him, motioning for him to be quiet.
"We have company at three o'clock." He whispered.
"It's three o'clock in the morning?" Link asked sleepily, not understanding.
"Sshhh! No, something's approaching us from the right!" Link was suddenly awake, and nodded in comprehension, not wanting to make a noise. He got up and put a hand on the hilt of his sword, and he and Raykel watched a bush to the right, about ten feet away from them, from which the noise seemed to be coming. When nothing happened, the two looked at each other, silently agreeing to attack if they heard the noise again (they didn't have to speak to each other to agree on it, it's a warrior thing). Suddenly they heard the crunching of a dead leaf again, much closer, and both leaped at the source of the noise.
"Hhaaaaaa!" They both yelled, and as they burst through the bush, they stopped short, seeing nothing. Then Link looked down and saw a rabbit eating from a small patch of grass, growing between piles of dead leaves. Raykel and Link looked at each other, feeling rather stupid, then they started laughing. They stopped when they heard the growling. They looked in front of them and saw what they had before mistaken for another bush in the darkness, open it's red eyes. A huge, green-furred (with black highlights) wolfos that had been lying in wait lunged in their direction. As the men raised their weapons, the beast landed and crouched down, eating the terrified rabbit in one bite. It looked up at the dumbfounded men, who were staring wide-eyed at the creature.
"What? I was hungry!" Link and Raykel kept staring at the huge, green-furred, red-eyed, italking/i wolfos. "You two got a staring problem?"
"Ehhh...s-sorry...it's just that...we've never seen..." Link stuttered.
"A giant, plant-colored speaking wolfos? Not many people who see me live to tell the tale...eh, whoops! I mean not many people see me at all because of my camouflage fur, heheh. Wolfoses from my family have evolved from the small, grey and white, unintelligent ones found all over. By the way...have you two seen any more rabbits?" The wolf suddenly turned serious.
"No." Raykel answered.
"Awwww..." The wolfos now seemed very disappointed. "I may seem happy but I have a very big problem, you know. Rabbits are the only kind of food my family and I can eat! We would go elsewhere and find better game, but we are surrounded on all sides by other wolfos clans who aren't evolved but have numbers far superior to that of my family. If we leave, they will tear us apart unless we give them food...but needless to say, there is barely enough rabbits left to feed my family and I. I was going to eat those tasty-looking horses when they went crazy and ran away, but I can't run as fast as a horse...and you probably wouldn't like that anyway."
"Well it wouldn't have mattered, because now they're probably going to be eaten by the other wolfoses! Good thing we had all of our gear off of them...Why is there so few rabbits?" Link asked, "I thought they made babies like crazy!"
"They do reproduce quickly, and there would be enough if just my pack and I were eating them, but monster trees also eat them! As if eating all the rabbits wasn't bad enough, those terrible trees eat every living thing they come in contact with, even wolfoses! I've tried to destroy the leader of the monster trees, which would destroy them all, but I can't get near it without getting whipped! Those trees are a wolfose's bane, I tell you! You two wouldn't mind helping me out, would you?"
"You seem to know your way around this forest, wolfos." Raykel said. "If you help us, we will gladly help you. First tell me this, have you seen any dragons or anything else strange around here lately?"
"Well, no...the last time I saw a dragon was a year or so ago...dragons live all the way over in the mountains, and I know where those are but I never go there...."
"Excellent. We destroy these 'monster trees', help you and your family get enough meat to escape the ring of other wolfoses, then you lead us on a safe path to the Stalfos Swords...uh, the mountains, that is. Fair enough?"
"It's a deal!" the wolfos said, grinning. "By the way, my name is Vux."
"Oh, excuse us! I am Raykel, and this is Link." Raykel stopped talking and yawned.
"Ooops...I almost forgot that humans sleep at night! You two finish your rest. I'll come back in the morning and lead you to the trees, okay?" The Hylians nodded, and after Vux left, Raykel resumed his watch for another hour. He then awoke Link and Link watched until dawn, when Vux returned.
The two men ate breakfast, sharing some with the starved wolfos, then they set off to the monster trees, which the wolf said were no more than about ten miles away. On the way, the wolfos explained the monster trees. He told the Hylians about how the monster trees were rooted in the ground immovably like normal trees, but they used vines and poisonous thorns to chase away or eat anything that came close. They all were in the same area, and on the outer perimeter of their group were the guard trees, which had more vines and thorns than the rest. In the middle of their community was their Queen Tree, and if you destroyed that tree, you destroyed every single one of them. Unfortunately, the wolfos didn't know how to hurt the trees, but said that every tree opened its eye when attacking with thorns. In three short hours, the group reached the first monster tree. It was a very large tree but looked almost normal from fifty yards away, and Vux stopped, pointing at it.
"I'm not going any closer to that thing! If you go strait past it and keep going, you should eventually get to the leader tree. Good luck!" The wolfos stood still, staring at the tree in fright. Raykel and Link put their camping gear down, and proceeded towards the monster tree. As they approached, they noticed some skeletons of wolves and rabbits and even a few birds lying around the bottom of the tree. There were many roots twisting on, over, around, and amongst the bones, and the poor owners of the bones had obviously become trapped and then had the life slowly sucked out of them; the nutrients from their dead bodies nourishing the killer tree.
As soon as Link and Raykel were within fifteen feet of the tree, large vines came down from the branches and started whipping about in every direction. The Hylians were only whipped a little bit before they backed out of range of the tree.
"Ow!" Link said, touching a whip-scratch on his forehead. "That tree wasn't even aiming for anything, but there's so many vines that it will be impossible to get through that mess without cutting a few!" Link drew his sword and raised his shield, going forward into vine-range again; and Raykel followed, his blade also ready. The vines started whipping about again, but as the first one struck Link's shield, he severed its tip. It had been a rather small vine, and now several larger ones rushed towards him.
"The tree's vines attack you more if you cut them...they know where a threat is by feeling where they are damaged!" Link said, and proceeded farther into the midst of the rope-like appendages, cutting any that came close. Soon some got cut by Raykel's sword and more started going after him as well. Link and Raykel were separated from each other, each hacking at the seemingly endless entanglement of thrashing vines around them. It was then that the tree showed that it had some remote and twisted form of intelligence.
Link was cutting numerous vines attacking from the front, and a vine sneaked up behind him, very low to the ground so it would not be detected, and wrapped itself around his boot. It yanked on Link's ankle, tripping him. He fell to one knee, trying to get the vine off and battle many others at the same time...but there were too many. A vine wrapped around Link's sword arm, while two more grabbed his shield. While he was preoccupied with those, the tree sensed it's opportunity to win the battle, and four vines curled around Link's chest, and started dragging him towards the tree's huge trunk.
Meanwhile, the tree was less concentrated on Raykel, so he easily cut up the five or so vines sent at him, then spotted Link being dragged away. He quickly ran over to Link, slashing at several vines in the process, and started trying to cut the vines holding him. He quickly cut them all, and Link rose to his feet.
"Thanks!" Link said, then more vines started closing in. They attacked from all sides in a last frantic attempt to destroy the Hylians, and Link and Raykel were pressed back to back as they fought off the vines. Eventually the attacking vine's numbers dwindled, and the attack stopped abruptly. The few vines that were still intact retreated back into the tree's branches. Link and Raykel stood ready to fight more vines for a few seconds, but then turned towards the tree's trunk as they heard its bark moving. A small bump in the middle of the tree split down its middle and opened sideways to reveal a hideous yellow eye with a triangle-shaped iris.
"It's going to use its thorns!" Raykel warned, and both of the warriors' eyes were drawn to the branches above them as red-tipped thorns emerged from them. Link raised his Hylian Shield (he had gotten a new one since the other one had broken in the Warrior Contest) above his and Raykel's head (Raykel had to duck very low to get under it, due to his tallness). The tree released its thorns and they scattered as they hit the shield. After those were shot out, more replaced them, in a continual shower of thorns.
"We can't stay under here forever..." Link said, but he could not see a way to move from under the shield without being hit by thorns. Then he looked at the tree's trunk.
"The eye!" He realized. "We have to hit it!" Link was a bit indisposed, so Raykel got out his bow and shot an arrow into the monstrous tree's eye. An odd screeching sound filled the air, and the tree instantly stopped producing thorns. It made a sort of slumping motion, and remained motionless. Link lowered his shield.
"Nice shot!" Link complimented Raykel.
"You could have done better," Raykel commented.
"Naw..." Link said, but the two stopped talking and proceeded past the monster tree. About twenty feet in front of them they saw nothing less than...another monster tree. As they approached it, it's vines came out and attacked; but it had far less vines than the tree they had just defeated. They easily cut up most of the tree's vines, and it quickly opened its eye and began forming thorns. Before the tree could shoot the thorns, Link drew his hookshot and plunged its hooked blade into the tree's eye. It shuddered and went limp like the first tree, but unfortunately the hookshot stuck, and Link was pulled over to the tree's trunk.
"Whoa!" Link said as he was jerked towards the tree by the hookshot's chain, and he slammed into the tree's trunk, about ten feet above the ground. "Ehh..." Link hung on and pulled his hookshot out of the tree's eye, then fell to the ground. He was unable to position his feet under him, and fell roughly on his backside.
"Ow! Hm...maybe arrows are better..." Link said sheepishly. Raykel laughed.
"Yeah...maybe." He went over and offered Link a hand, pulling him to his feet. Suddenly they head a noise back in the direction of the first tree they beat a few minutes ago, and vines started moving in it's branches again.
"Uh-oh! Looks like we only stunned it." Link said disappointedly.
"We had better move on before it attacks us again...or this one wakes up." Raykel said, gesturing towards the tree they just beat. Link and Raykel moved on, and encountered many trees. Each time they worked as a team, fighting back to back when vines attacked; and when the trees opened their eyes, Link took out his shield and Raykel shot the eye with arrows. The Hylians kept on fighting and progressing, and after maybe ten trees, they began to wonder if they would ever find the Queen Tree. Their question was answered after the very next tree they fought. As they passed that tree, they saw in front of them a very large tree, much bigger then the other ones they had fought. Immediately vines came from the tree, even though the men were forty feet away from it! The vines were quite large, and all attacked at once, nearly hitting the two tired men before they could react.
Despite the quickness of the attack, the men were able to get in position for fighting before the vines reached them. By now they had become very good at killing vines, so the larger ones were only slightly more challenging than the other vines. This giant tree appeared to have a larger number of killer vines than the other trees, but not as many as the guard tree, so it still wasn't very hard. Link and Raykel made quick work of the vines, and approached the tree's enormous trunk. Link raised his shield as thorns predictably started forming above the two warriors. Raykel drew his bow and aimed at the trunk, where he knew the eye would be opening any moment. iAlmost done,/i he thought, ijust this one more tree, and they'll all be finished! /iTo his surprise, one eye did not open on the tree. Many eyes opened. All down the huge trunk there was a line of fifteen golden-yellow eyes, all opening at once, except the one at the very top.
Raykel was not discouraged, however. He grinned, determined to hit them all. No stinking tree was going to defeat the Captain of the Royal Guard, he thought! As he shot an arrow at the first eye, all of the eyes closed, making the arrow bounce off the bark, and one eye in the middle of the trunk opened. Thorns rained from above, and Raykel shot at the middle eye. It closed too, and one near the top opened. Raykel growled in frustration and kept shooting. Eventually he hit three of the eyes, but the thorns were not stopping; and by the time Raykel hit a fourth eye, some vines were beginning to lower from the upper branches of the tree.
iThey've regenerated! /iLink thought, glancing back at Raykel. Raykel had seen them too, and began firing arrows at the eyes more rapidly. The continuing barrage of thorns had still not stopped, and the vines were getting lower. They reached the warriors and Link was forced to slash at them with his left hand, the right one still holding the shield. Link couldn't fight them all off, so some got over to Raykel and he put away his bow to slash at the vines as well. The men's movements were greatly constricted because they couldn't move out from under the shield (and one of Link's arms were busy and Raykel was still crouching because he was much taller than Link and he had to fit under the shield), and the vines got through their weakened defense. A thick vine grabbed Link's left shoulder, and another whipped that arm, almost making him drop his sword. A couple vines had reached Raykel's legs, and suddenly they yanked the legs towards the tree, knocking Raykel over. Having no more reason to waste thorns, the tree stopped making them, focusing on entangling Link and Raykel in its deadly vines. Link dropped his shield and soon both of the men were swordless, their blades dropped because of the repeated efforts of the tree, and vines began to wrap around them.
"Shoot!" Raykel yelled, as the vines began dragging him towards the trunk, and the vines around Link soon followed suit. In a few seconds the trapped Hylians were pulled up against the trunk by the vines, and more big vines started tying them to it. They both struggled as hard as they could, and it occurred to Link that he could use the Golden Gauntlets. He called upon their power, breaking the vines binding him, but had no shield to block a single, well-aimed thorn which shot from a tree branch and hit his right arm. Link immediately felt dizzy, and vines caught him as he fell forward. Once again they pinned him against the trunk next to Raykel's struggling form. Now that the tree had them both in it's grasp, it prepared to finish the job. The very highest eye in the line on the tree's trunk chose that moment to open. It was a great eye, bigger than the rest, and was blood red. It began glowing, and a strange power began to work on the two trapped men.
They began to feel their life-forces being drained from them. As the light radiating from the Queen Tree's red eye pulsated, more and more life was being sucked from Link and Raykel. iWe have to get out of this somehow!/i Link thought urgently, but he was drowsy from the poison and the tree's vines were slowly draining his strength. Link tried struggling one last time, but could not break free, and his head fell forward in fatigue. Raykel saw Link and tried to call out to him and tell him to hold on, but found he was too weak to yell.
It seemed the two Hylians were doomed to the same fate as the creatures whose bones they had seen, when the tree screeched. Alarmed, Raykel raised his tired head and looked up at the tree's upper branches, which had somehow caught fire. The vines released the two men, and they both fell to the ground. Raykel immediately felt energized again as the vines stopped sapping his strength, and he went to go help Link, who was struggling to his feet. Raykel then drew his bow, and aimed an arrow for the Queen Tree's red eye. He fired. The arrow bounced off the tough eye, even though it was open.
"What the?! What's with this tree?!" Raykel stepped closer to the trunk and fired more arrows, and the tree was so preoccupied with putting out the fire in it's branches that it didn't do much of anything...except aim an especially large and poisonous thorn at Raykel's neck.
"Look out!" Link said as the thorn was released, and just as the dagger-sized projectile was about to hit the back of Raykel's neck, Link shot it out of the air with an arrow. Raykel turned and saw the thorn fall to the ground.
"Wow, that was a close one...thanks." Link was about to say something, but all of the sudden thorns began forming and vines began lowering. In a second or two, the men would either be caught by the vines, or turned into living pin cushions by the thorns. An idea struck Link, and he pulled out an arrow, made it a fire one, and sent it zooming straight for the Queen Tree's red eye. The tree's red eye had resistance to normal arrows, but not magic ones, especially fire. The fire arrow hit the eye, lodging itself halfway in, and immediately the whole front of the tree's trunk burst into flames. The tree screeched once more, except now it wasn't the only one screeching. Link and Raykel had to cover their ears from the screeching of every monster tree in the area. The screeching continued for a few moments, then slowly died into silence. The Queen Tree drooped, and it's leaves withered, some slowly drifting to the ground; and the other trees did the same thing. The monster tree menace had been destroyed!
Link and Raykel, after retrieving their swords, wearily began making their way back to Vux. Link fell behind, holding his right arm where the thorn had hit it.
"Do you think the poison is deadly, Link?" Raykel asked him, "Because I have no idea what to do about it."
"I don't know...I feel very pretty tired, but it's not very bad yet. Maybe Vux can tell us something about it." Link replied.
"I hope so." Raykel said, walking slower so Link could keep up. Soon they reached the first tree they had beaten, recognizing it by the specific arrangement of bones beneath it, and expected to find Vux beyond the tree. They found him, but he had brought company. Vux was there with the rest of his giant green family, all six of them, in addition to about thirty normal wolfoses. Link and Raykel stopped in their tracks, seeing the hungry look on Vux's face.
"Vux? I thought you didn't get along with normal wolfoses? I don't understand!" Link said.
"Can't you see, Link?" Raykel shook his head. "They mean to eat us."
"Oh. We're in big trouble." Link observed.
"Yes we are." Raykel confirmed.
"Stop your yapping!" Vux yelled angrily. "Unless of course, those are supposed to be your last words, heh heh! It was so kind of you to get rid of the Wolfos Bane trees. Now that that problem is out of the way, the ordinary wolfoses only need their meat - you!"
Link drew the Master Sword, once again preparing for battle. Would it ever end? Raykel stood at his back, and drew his long sword, hoping that Cosha had not met his end at the fangs of these treacherous wolves. Vux howled, and all of the normal wolfoses rushed forwards at once. Grimly, Raykel and Link fought them off as well as they could. Every wolf that lunged at them either met its end from one of the Hylians' blades, or got injured and ran off. The normal wolfoses kept coming, and the men fought valiantly, surprising themselves with how much fight they still had left in them. For several exhausting minutes the battle continued, until there were only four gray wolfoses left unharmed. Link, who had sustained a few small wounds and a bite on his right forearm, looked back to check on Raykel. He seemed very tired and had a few slashes on him, but nothing too serious. Link looked back at the remaining wolfoses, and to his surprise, they yelped in fear and ran off. All that remained were the green wolfoses, each larger than a normal one, but none as huge as Vux.
"I can't believe you two are still alive! Grrr...family, attack!" All six of the green wolfoses attacked, three going to Link and the other three to Raykel. Link killed one of the wolfoses right away because it tripped on one of the dead wolfose's corpses. The other two bit at him viciously, but he managed to drive his sword through the second. He hated killing so many animals who were just trying to eat and live, but as a warrior, he knew that sometimes there was just no choice. Fight, or be brutally murdered. Link, in his tiredness, suddenly made a mistake. The third wolfos scratched Link's chest with its big claws, making two very long, but not very deep, slashes.
"Eaahhh!" Link was thrown back, but didn't fall because Raykel's back supported him. He slashed at the wolfos and hit it's snout, making a small slash, and the creature ran away. Link looked behind him at Raykel. He saw that Raykel was still fighting two wolfos, and fatigued as he was from poison and fighting, he turned to help fight the beasts. Vux still had not attacked, and seeing that Link was going to help Raykel drive away the last of his family if he didn't do something, he ran around behind Link, and lunged for the back of his neck.Vux grinned, imagining what it would feel like to have soft human flesh in his beartrap-like, gaping jaws. Link didn't see the wolfos and didn't turn to meet him; but luckily, he had to move to the side to fight one of the other wolfoses. Vux's teeth did not meet with Link's neck, but still found the back of his right arm, and Link screamed in pain as the sharp fangs dug into his arm.
At this time Raykel had been battling the last green wolf that had attacked him, and was distracted by Link's scream. The wolf, taking advantage of this, dug its teeth into his left leg. Raykel yelled and killed the wolf with his sword, it's form falling lifeless to add itself to the growing pile of corpses. His left hand putting pressure on the leg bite, Raykel turned and slashed at Vux with a swift, strong, stroke of his blade. He hit the wolfose's neck with the powerful attack, and the Vux's teeth released their grip as his head fell from his shoulders to the ground. Raykel sheathed his sword and looked at Link's bite wound. Immediately he knew, that however hard the other wolfos had bitten him, Vux had bitten Link much harder.
By: Sonnet A.K.A. Talonclawfange
( E-mail me at Talonofday@yahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, the Dragonlord, Raykel, Calwots and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and, recently, writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: In section 8: Final Fight of the Sadistic Dragonlord, the Beginning of Chain, sadistic means nothing more or less than he enjoys inflicting pain on others. A defenition in a dictionary I saw suggested something more, but I'm not using the word that way, got it?
Another Note: This story takes place after my first two: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, and Duels and Dragons, so you probably want to read them first or you'll be lost. By the way, this story is about 49 pages long (they just keep getting longer, don't they?) and is somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and blood. Enjoy!
buSection 1
Black Scar/u/b
By the time he got to the castle, Raykel's armor was so covered in blood and rain that he thought it would rust, despite its resistance to liquids. The trip from where Link had fallen to the castle was a somewhat short walk, but Link was bleeding so badly that Raykel's armor had more blood than rain on it by the time he got there. It was unnatural, Raykel thought. He looked down at Link's face, and it looked peaceful with his unconsciousness, yet he must be perilously close to death. As he opened the doors of the castle, the guards standing watch stared at him, and as he passed, he ordered them to go get Epona and Link's bow. Raykel carried Link to the infirmary and laid him on a table.
"Oh, my.....!" A gasp of shock escaped the nurse's lips as she saw Link's condition.
"Get the King," Raykel told her, "I'll get the doctor, for all the good it will do...Link is dying." The nurse somehow managed to tear her eyes away from the red and black blood coming from Link's shoulder, and went to get the King. The doctor ran into the room just as Raykel was about to go get him. His jaw literally dropped.
"What on earth happened?!" The doctor yelled.
"Don't just stand there, ido/i something!" Raykel said impatiently.
"But I can't do anything for ithat!/i What iis/i that?" The doctor, overcome with horror, pointed at Link's shoulder. Raykel opened his mouth to say something nasty, but at that moment, the King came in.
"Link! What the heck happened to him?! Where is my daughter!?!"
Link started stirring, awakened by the King's yelling. His eyes slowly opened and he noticed that it was strangely hard to breathe, and something bubbled in his throat as he struggled to draw breath. At first he felt no pain, remembered nothing, but then the pain and memories all rushed back to him at once.
"Aaahhh! No...Zelda!"
"Calm down, Link!" the doctor said, "All that yelling won't help!" Raykel glared at the useless doctor, and calmly walked over to Link.
"Link, listen. I don't think you're going to last much longer with how fast you're bleeding. That arrow pierced you very deeply. Your blood is blackish, and even thei doctor/i can't do anything."
"I have to save Zelda...where's Epona...what did you say...?" Link had calmed down, and looked like he was about to lose consciousness again by the time he had finished talking.
"What's all this about?" A loud voice demanded, and Darunia entered the room. "Why is my sworn brother, the King, in here? And what happened to my other sworn brother, Link?!" Spotting Link on the table, Darunia ran over to him, pushing aside Raykel and the doctor.
"Watch it, you rock-skull!" The doctor growled, "Do you think yelling and pushing will help your dying brother?!"
"iDying/i? Not if I can help it!! I'll take him to the Great Fairy, she can heal him, and watch who you're calling a rock-skull!" Darunia said, taking a step towards the man, who cringed in fear, backing away.
"Gentlemen, please! I have heard of a Fairy on Death Mountain," The King said, "but I don't think Link will live long enough to get there." He looked at Darunia solemnly.
"Not the Fairy on Death Mountain," Darunia explained, "the Fairy right next to your castle!"
"What? There's a fairy next to my castle? Are you sure your information is corr-"
"Yes, Brother!" The Goron interrupted. "Get Brother, eh...Link, that is...on a stretcher and follow me!" The nurse and the doctor put the half-awake Link on a stretcher. Link started muttering about Zelda and the dragon, and the King spoke to him softly during the short trip to the Great Fairy's cave. When they were inside, Darunia spoke loudly in front of the Great Fairy's pool.
"I am Darunia, friend of the Great Fairy on Death Mountain and the Royal Family. Come forth and heal the Hero of Time!" Laughing blissfully and spinning gracefully, the Great Fairy emerged from her pool. She smiled and spoke in a sweet voice.
"Darunia and Link are here to visit me...?" Her smile vanished as she saw Link, his panting form covered in blood infected by dark magic. The King, the doctor, the nurse, and Raykel all stared up at her in amazement, having never seen a Great Fairy, and she leaned down to look at Link.
"It will take a great deal of power to heal these wounds..." she said, noticing that aside from the darkened shoulder, Link had many cuts and slashes all over him, not to mention some broken ribs. His breathing was shallow, and the Great Fairy felt almost sick as she saw all the dark liquid covering him. Link choked on his blood and turned his head to spit it out, coughing. "Never mind how much power it will take, we all owe a great deal to this young man, so I will fix him up as well as I can!" She opened her arms and leaned forward, and some blue magic left her hands, spiraling down to the injured Link. It enveloped him and started shimmering as it ran up and down his body.
The men and the nurse watched as Link's wounds started to close up, until all was healed completely except the shoulder. The black arrow hole was mostly closed up, but dark liquid continued to pour from it. The blue magic vanished and the Fairy straightened herself. "That is the best I can do," she said, "I cannot heal dark wounds very well. If you take Link to the Temple of Time and have him lay his hands on the Master Sword, its pure power will get rid of the darkness. No, the weak magic of the Silver Sword won't work, have him get the Master Sword! He must take it with him if he is to defeat the Dragonlord." With that, the Great Fairy descended gracefully into her pool, her usual laughing absent.
Link, still breathing heavily, tried to get up, but lost his balance and fell forward. Darunia caught him and supported him as the small group walked to the Temple of Time. Link drew the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, and some white light came from the blade, running along his arm and going into his shoulder. Instantly, the pain from the dark magic was gone and the dark blood ceased to flow from the formerly deadly wound. Link looked where the hole had been, and saw a black scar in place of it; which, though ugly looking, was not painful at all at the moment.
"Thanks, guys..." Link said, turning to the people who had saved him. "and girl." he added, seeing the nurse.
"You need to watch it, Link." Raykel said quietly. "I almost thought we would lose you...and wouldn't that be a shame?" he grinned.
"Uhhh..." Link wasn't sure what to say.
"Enough of this idle talk, Link needs to be washed up now." The King looked him over, displeased with how many holes his clothes had, and the half-dry blood still coating much of him. "My boy, you're a mess!" Link looked down and examined himself.
"Yeah, I guess I am!" Link said dumbly, not thinking of anything else to say. With that, everyone went back to the castle, except Darunia. He said good-bye to Link and left for Death Mountain. After Link was washed and put on some new clothes, the King, Link, Cosha, and Raykel all met in the King's quarters.
"Well, the reason I've summoned you three," the King began, "is because something must be done about my daughter. Raykel has told me she was taken by a dragon."
"I'll go save her!" Link said immediately.
"I knew you would say that," The King revealed, "in fact, I was going to order you to go save her if you didn't say that, but like I told you, I knew you would. Don't worry though, you won't be alone this time."
"Huh?" Link didn't understand, because pretty much all the saving he had done in the past he had done by himself.
"I know you are probably used to doing everything alone because no one is courageous enough to help you, but now that Raykel is here, I'm sure he will be more than happy to go with you. No questions!"
"I know he's brave enough, but will he iwant/i to go with me?" Link looked at Raykel and decided he really didn't want to be alone with him...but then Raykeli had/i saved him, hadn't he?
"You're Majesty, I think Sohran should go with him..." Raykel started to say.
"Nonsense! You are going because you're the best warrior. Sohran has to command the Royal Guard while you're gone. Just as an extra precaution, one more soldier is going to go as well. Sohran and Cosha were both high-ranking competitors in the Warrior Contest but Sohran must stay here, so Cosha is going. No questions!" Raykel and Cosha looked at each other, smiling slightly.
"Yes, Your Majesty..." Link said, feeling like he was going to go on a walk with a couple of wolfoses.
"Whatever you say, sire." Raykel said with a bow.
"Good." The King said with satisfaction. "I'm sure you three will do a wonderful job. You ido/i know where to go, don't you?"
"All the dragons that have attacked have come from the north...probably from somewhere in the Ethereal Forest." Link told him.
"Well then, you three should leave immediately, so you can get a few hours' worth of land behind you before the sun sets. It is unknown how long it will take to get through the forest, or to the middle, wherever you're going, so stop by the kitchen to get provisions before you leave. If those run out, I trust you can hunt for yourselves?" Raykel, Cosha, and Link all nodded. "Good then. Be on your way, and good luck!"
After getting camping gear and provisions (and Link equipped his items), the three unlikely companions left on horseback for the Ethereal Forest. Raykel was wearing some blue clothes and some armor of his that wasn't as shiny as his Royal Guard armor, but was more comfortable. He didn't bother to bring a bracer, helmet, or shield; just his sword, his bow, and a dagger. Cosha had similar gear, except his sword was shorter than Raykel's and he carried two daggers. Cosha was about twenty-six, and had short, very dark brown hair, with green eyes. He also wore some light armor, and the metal from it and Raykel's armor clanked with the bouncing of their mounts as they galloped towards the Ethereal Forest. Link was not riding Epona, because she was still resting, and because she would probably out-distance the other horses and their riders in a heartbeat. As much as Link felt uncomfortable with Raykel and Cosha, he didn't want to leave them behind and make the King angry, so all three of them rode white horses from the castle's stables.
As the men crossed Royal Field, Link thought about his captured friend, Zelda. She had been gone for under two hours, but he missed her already. The loneliness was especially distressing because he didn't know when the next time he saw her would be, or if he would even see her at all. Link thought about the time he had spoken to his friend about loneliness...
~Flashback~ i"Hey, if the soldiers don't find Impa in Hyrule, I'll look for her while I'm exploring North Hyrule, okay?" Link tried to console his friend. "If she's there, I'm sure she'll show herself to me if I come by her."
"Thanks, Link...I think about her every time I turn into Sheik, every time I think of the contest, every time I do anything she used to help me with... I really miss her. I'm glad I have you to keep me company." Zelda smiled over at Link.
"Ah, don't go corny on me again..." Zelda's reply was laughing.
"Hey, I'm not joking! You may be a 'loner warrior' kind of guy, but if I have no one to talk to, I get very bored."
"Loner, huh? Just because I'm alone a lot doesn't mean I enjoy it. I get lonely sometimes too, y'know?/i" ~End~
Link's thoughts returned to the present as he saw the trees of the Ethereal Forest approaching. It didn't take much longer to reach the forest, and when the Hylians got there they slowed their horses to a walk, because of the dense trees.
Link looked around, admiring the beauty of the huge trees. iThey must be ancient, /ihe thought, iI can't even see the tops of a few of them.../i The light from the sun fell thought the tree tops and made and intricate pattern of shadows on the ground, which was littered with dead leaves and pine needles. Once every couple dozen feet there were patches of grass, growing under breaks in the forest's canopy where they could absorb the sun's rays. In the distance Link spotted some light glinting off of the shining wings of two yellow and green butterflies. The songs of birds and chirping of insects filled the air, and the pleasantness of the forest almost made Link forget the bad situation he was in. He lost himself in the forest until sunset. The awareness of his situation and his companions' probable intentions returned, and all of the chirping and songs came to an end for the night. Link could see that they were passing the Jagged Beamos rock formation on the left side, which meant they would soon pass the limit that the soldiers from the castle had explored when North Hyrule had first been discovered. The three men rode on in uncomfortable silence until it became so dark the horses could barely make out their footing. They had not spoken since the beginning of their journey, and Link and Raykel both started to speak at once, then went silent and looked at each other.
"Eh, sorry...what were you about to say?" Link asked politely.
"We should set up camp now." Raykel said.
"Yeah, I think so too." Link agreed. Cosha nodded, and the three of them halted to tie the horses' reins to a nearby tree branch and set up camp. After a fire was made, they each individually cooked the food they had brought from the castle, and the silence returned as they ate. Link sat down in front of the fire, and Cosha sat a little distance away from him, Raykel following. The terrible and unending silence began to bother Link, and he decided maybe he could lighten the mood with some conversation.
"So, Raykel...did you have fun in the Warrior Contest today?" He looked at Raykel hopefully. The man sat with a brooding air about him, and it seemed for a moment like he was not going to answer, but then he spoke.
"Sure." He said.
"Me too." Link said quickly. Silence once again crept over the small camp. How annoying, Link thought. He never thought he could be so uncomfortable with such lack of talking, because silence was usually a regular companion of his. He wondered if it would be this way the entire trip, but Cosha said something.
"Of course you did, Link. You won the stupid contest." He said flatly.
"Cosha, mind your manners..." Raykel reprimanded quietly.
"Well he doesn't have to rub it in our faces!" Cosha growled.
"Well, excuuuuuuse me." Link said irritably. "I wasn't trying to rub it in your face, I was just trying to talk, c'mon! You two don't have to be so quiet...do you think we're going to wake the dead or something?"
"Maybe." Cosha said, grinning mischeviously. "You afraid of the dead, Link?"
"I fight them all the time, really." he said. He was not very pleased that they were arguing, but at least it was better than the hate-filled silence.
"Well it's a good thing you are familiar with them, because soon you may be joi-"
"Shut UP, Cosha!" Raykel growled. Cosha looked at his teacher in surprise.
"Uh, y-yes, Master." He said. The three men were silent once again. Link unwilling to speak, fearing that he would start another argument, and Cosha because he didn't want to anger his Master. Link simply stared into the fire, until all of them were done eating.
"We should set up a watch..." Link suggested quietly after a while. In the distance, a wolfos howled.
"Scared of the dark..?" Cosha started to say, but was quickly silenced by a dark glance from Raykel.
"Fine then," Raykel said, "I will go first, then you, then Cosha, if that's alright with you." He looked at Link for an answer, and Link nodded, giving a small smile which was not returned. The fire was extinguished, and Link and Cosha went to sleep. It took Link a long time to fall asleep because his black-scarred left shoulder ached with a dull throbbing.i Who shot me with that arrow? /iLink wondered, his mind tiredly trying to reason it out.i It had to have been the Dragonlord...so, he finally rears his ugly head. Well, more like hides behind a cloud and shoots his enemy's back./i..He finally drifted into darkness and slept for a few hours. He was having a rather unpleasant dream, when he felt something cold and hard on his face...
He woke instantly, and heard something move quickly to the side of him. He looked over and saw Raykel.
".........." Raykel said nothing and Link looked at him expectantly. "Hm...it's your turn." He said finally.
"Oh...okay." Link said, rising from his sleepingbag-like temporary bed. He went and sat on a rock, and watched Raykel go to sleep. He then looked out into the forest. It was very quiet, except for the occasional chirping of a faraway insect or the soft nicker of a horse. This time Link felt comfortable in the peaceful silence, and enjoyed the soft darkness of the night for a few hours. Nothing happened during his watch, and when it was over, he moved to wake up Cosha. He walked over to Cosha's sleeping form, and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He woke abruptly and looked up at Link, frowning unpleasantly.
"Oh, it's iyou./i My turn already?" He asked.
"Sshhh...yes." Link whispered, ignoring the other's unkind attitude. Cosha got up and Link tried to go to sleep. He didn't feel quite safe with Cosha awake...he hadn't exactly been comfortable with Raykel awake either, but at least he knew that Raykel had the decency to not attack a man while he sleeps, didn't he..? Hopefully, Cosha would also. Link knew that Cosha might still be mad at him from the small argument earlier...but he eventually fell asleep anyway.
* * *
The energy-element dragon landed heavily on the black stone, and put down his small captive, who had long since tired out from struggling. Dakos flew in and landed next to the huge golden dragon, crounching so his master could dismount. The Dragonlord, wearing an ugly, condescending grin, walked over to the exhausted Zelda. He griped her arm and yanked her to her feet roughly.
"Okay, here's the deal, girly. You give me the Triforce of Wisdom, and you can go free." Zelda jerked her arm out of his grasp and backed away.
"You do not really think that I will give it to you, do you? You are evil." Zelda stared into the Dragonlord's young eyes defiantly.
"Haha! I didn't think you would give it up if I asked nicely. How's this: Give it up or I'll ikill /iyou?!" He yelled, expecting a submissive answer.
"iNo way./i" Zelda said firmly, and transformed into Sheik. She pulled out some darts, throwing them at the Dragonlord. He looked surprised that she transformed into a Sheikah, but didn't pay it any mind.
"Why you little...!" The Dragonlord dodged, and Sheik ran at him. She jumped into the air, kicking him square in the face with her right heel. He was thrown back, but the energy-element dragon caught him in a great paw before he fell, growling at Shiek. One of the wing-shaped black spikes on the Dragonlord's back snapped from the impact, and his cape (which was attatched to the spikes) drooped. The dragon put the Dragonlord down, and quickly snatched the girl who had dared attack its master in one great paw.
"bOrders, Master?/b" It asked. The Dragonlord, brushing himself off and mad that his spike had broken, answered:
"Make her scream." The energey-element dragon started squeezing her. She fought and kicked, futily trying to break loose of the impossibly strong grip. The dragon squeezed harder, and Sheik yelled in pain.
"That's enough. We don't want to kill her yet." The Dragonlord said, and the dragon put Sheik down reluctantly. She collapsed, breathing deeply.
"That's what you get when you mess with me, you brat!" The Dragonlord yelled, kicking her side. "Give me the triforce!"
"No!" Sheik yelled back. The Dragonlord's young face got red and he turned around, trying to cool his temper.
"Fine then..." He said in a voice low with anger and hate. "Zelda, you were doomed before I ever sent a dragon after you, since the first day I had a spy in your castle! Ever since then, you've been doomed to give up the triforce."
"A spy? How dare you! Whoever that spy was is in big trouble...and there's no way I'll ever give you the triforce!" She yelled defiantly. She turned back into Zelda so she could use her magic more easily, and raised her hand to cast a spell, thenbelatedly remembered she was out of magic. The Dragonlord shook with rage at this attempted attack.
"We'll see if you change your mind after a few days in my dungeon!" He shouted, reaching for her.
buSection 2
From Three to Two/u/b
Link and Raykel awoke the next morning to join Cosha in breakfast. It was a beautiful morning, filled with birds singing and light beaming between the branches of the trees, but somehow Cosha and Raykel still seemed grouchy. After the short meal was over, the three companions continued their trek into the forest. A few hours after they set off, Raykel and Cosha fell behind, and began to converse in low tomes with one another. Link tried to listen, but crunching of dead leaves under their horse's hooves and the noises of the forest animals drowned out their low voices. Link decided that he probably didn't want to hear what they were saying anyway, but had a bad feeling...
A while later, Link spotted a bit of forest which looked like it had been disturbed by a large animal's passing. He called a halt, and dismounted to examine a bush, which seemed to be messed up on one side. Raykel and Cosha watched silently as Link checked the area. Raykel and Cosha looked at each other, and Raykel nodded. Cosha handed something to Raykel and Raykel raised an arm...
"Hm? How strange...what's this?" Link saw odd tracks on the ground. Something shiny came whizzing through the air towards the back of Link's head. As Link leaned down to examine the tracks, the object flew past his head, inches from striking him, and smacked into a tree, bouncing off into some long grass, away from Link. He stood up instantly, oblivious to the plot being hatched against him, and looked back at Raykel and Cosha. "Hey, did you two hear something just now?" They shook their heads, and each had a strange, unpleasant look on his face. Thinking that it was a look of impatience, Link quickly explained what he had found.
"A dragon didn't pass here, but I did find some wolfos tracks." Raykel and Cosha glared at him irritably. "Not normal ones...these ones are really big, come and look!" Raykel and Cosha dismounted and went to look at the tracks. Raykel's eyes widened and Cosha gasped.
"They're ihuge/i!" Cosha said.
"They must be from a wolfos at least five times the size of a normal one..." Raykel commented.
"The strange thing is that there are just some tracks on this earth over here...then they disappear, not coming from anywhere and not going anywhere! We will have to keep our eyes open, hm?" Link said, looking at Raykel.
"We will indeed..." Raykel said, giving Link a creepy look.
"Eh...um, lets go, shall we...?" Link got on his horse and the others followed his example. iI hope we find Zelda soon...I hope she's okay.../iLink kept thinking. Link knew that it was more beneficial to get a triforce by it's holder's will, so Zelda wouldn't be hurt until the Dragonlord got impatient of asking her to give it up. But Link was certain she would not give her triforce up to an evil man, so after a few days the Dragonlord would probably get angry and torture her or something. Link shuddered in spite of himself, he couldn't let that happen! He had to reach Zelda before time ran out!
The horses and their riders kept going deeper into the forest, and it seemed to Link like it was getting quieter and shadier. The Ethereal Forest had at first struck Link as an old, beautiful place, but now it seemed almost foreboding...the bird's songs had nearly ceased, and the insects were quieting down as well. The interlocking branches of the forest canopy overhead darkehed the path, and made it difficutlt to dicern what time of day it was. A few hours passed, and it became so dark that the men could barely see eachother. Link faintly heard the sound of a peaceful waterfal somewhere nearby.
"Do you guys hear that?" Link asked.
"Yes, a waterfall, so what?" Cosha said, glancing at him irritably.
"I think Link is suggesting that we continue to the waterfall and make camp there." Raykel said boredly.
"Exactly. How did you know?" Link looked at Raykel, who pretended he hadn't heard. After a few more moments of riding, the forced companions reached the water source.
It was a small, pretty lake with a short waterfall feeding it. By now the moon had risen, and through the impossibly thick, roof-like canopy, some sparkling moonlight found it's way to the shimmering surface of the water, making it look very peaceful and beautiful. The horses were tied to a nearby tree, and Link went to see how pure the water was. He kneeled by the lake's edge and splashed some of the cool water on his face, then tasted it. It was very refreshing. He stood up to go help set up camp, but nearly bumped into Cosha, who was standing directly behind him, as he turned around. He looked up into Cosha's face (Cosha was about six inches taller than Link), and wondered why he was standing so close...
"Um, the water is clean." Link said, thinking maybe that was what Cosha wanted to know. Apparently it wasn't; because Cosha still stood in front of him, unmoving. Link thought maybe he was in Cosha's way and Cosha was standing there to be arrogant or something, so he started to move, but didn't get very far.
With an alarmingly swift maneuver, the same one he used in the Warrior Contest, Cosha put himself behind Link, and stuck his short, three and a half inch knife up to the hilt in Link's side.
"Ahhh!...Hey, you can't be serious!" Link was about to remove the blade and fight, but his arms were grabbed and held behind him by Cosha's left arm, and his attacker's other arm came up around his neck. "We have to save Zelda! This isn't funny-" His last sentence was cut off in a strangled gasp as Cosha pulled back on his throat.
"Too bad you have to breathe to use those Golden Gauntlets of yours..." Cosha said, smiling darkly and tightening his hold. Link wondered how Cosha could possibly know that about the gauntlets, and remembered too late that he was wearing them. Link struggled violently, but Cosha's restraining arms were incredibly strong, and Link began to feel drowsy from the hold on his neck. He looked in front of him and saw Raykel approaching, his dagger drawn. iThey aren't really going to do this, are they?! How could anyone..? /iLink couldn't comprehend this evil behavior and stared helplessly into the eyes of Raykel. He couldn't move, or even talk! He hated being so ihelpless/i!
"It's time, Master, to put an end to this little nuisance of a boy." Cosha said, holding Link still. Raykel raised the dagger and pressed it against the top of Link's neck (between Link's chin and Cosha's arm). Link flinched, but still could not move out of the way or defend himself.
"Good-bye, Link." Raykel said quietly. He put pressure on the dagger slowly and it cut slowly, until blood began to flow from the cut, but just as the knife was about to reach an artery, it stopped. Raykel looked into Link's pained eyes and found in them the hurt of betrayal. iWhat...what am I doing? /iHe asked himself suddenly. iWhat has Link done to deserve this? He saved us all from Ganondorf, and then spared my life when he could have had me executed, and now I'm betraying...no, ikilling/i him? /iSomething dark rose inside Raykel, urging him to shove the dagger through Link's neck, but something else spoke to him as well, telling him what he was doing was not what he would normally do, and he was being evil. iI'm not an evil man, am I? I was always determined to aim high and have integrity and mercy.../i
"Master?" Cosha looked at him expectantly, but Raykel would not be distracted from his thoughts. iLink...He's just a boy, yet he has helped so many people, and I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt me when he was given my job...he was just concerned for Zelda's safety. Why have I gotten so bitter against him, to the point of losing my values? I have been a fool! This is NOT who I am! WHAT AM I DOING? /iAn alarmed look came over Raykel's face, and he removed the blade from Link's neck. Cosha was so surprised he momentarily relaxed his stranglehold; and Link drew one breath, which was all he needed to use the gauntlets. He broke Cosha's hold on his arms instantly, elbowed him in the stomach, and turned around, giving him a nice, big shove. The force of it threw Cosha twenty feet, and he landed with a splash in the middle of the lake. Cosha emerged seconds later, coughing and sputtering. Link pulled the knife out of his side and put a hand over the wound it left open, then looked up at Raykel. Raykel said nothing, staring at Cosha, who was swimming towards them. Link had supposed that he hit Cosha hard enough and threw him far enough that he wouldn't bother him again, but he was wrong.
"I get it, Master!" Cosha yelled insanely, "You don't want to kill him like we planned. You want me to finish the job as part of my training!" Cosha had made his way over to the water's edge where Link was, and grabbed him from behind, hurling him into the lake behind him. Link hadn't expected this, plus he was wounded, so he couldn't act fast enough to prevent it. As Link fell into the water, Cosha turned towards the ripples left by his splash, determined to go drown him, but Raykel grabbed the back of Cosha's clothes and threw him onto the ground behind himself, so he was between the lake and his student.
"What...?" Cosha stared at Raykel, not willing to believe what was happening.
"Enough is enough, Cosha." Raykel went to the lake and pulled Link to shore.
"No! Link must DIE!" Cosha yelled, seeing his plans break apart before his eyes. "All must be according to Master's wishes!" Cosha lunged at Link, who was on the ground and still holding his stabbed side.
"Cosha, what's gotten into you?!" Raykel got in front of him, punching his stomach hard. Cosha doubled over in pain, and stared open-mouthed at Raykel.
"Master..." He almost looked pleading. Raykel shook his head. "Curse you!" shouted Cosha in rage, and turned, running away from Raykel.
"No! Get back here, Cosha! I can't allow my student to run off!" He ran after Cosha, but Cosha suddenly turned, and punched Raykel's face so hard he was thrown to his back. "Leave me alone! You are no longer my MASTER!" With that, Cosha ran off into the forest, and Raykel had to let him go.
Raykel rose and walked back to Link, who was rubbing an enchanted Arlia bud on his wounds. Link stopped and looked up at Raykel, smiling. Raykel was very startled by his smile, and suddenly felt indescribably guilty for trying to kill the benevolent young man.
"Link, I....." Raykel said sorrowfully.
"I know." Link replied, "You didn't really want to kill me, did you? I'm so glad you could overcome whatever was possessing you to hate me!"
"You're saying...that you'll forgive me just like that? I don't deserve forgiveness."
"Of course you do! Everyone does, if they're truly sorry." An emotion-filled smile came to Raykel's face.
"Link...I am so sorry." Raykel said, meaning it. Link simply smiled in return.
buSection 3
Wolfos Problems/b/u
Later that night, Raykel was sitting at the edge of camp, staring into the forest. He was thinking about Cosha. iCosha was so eager to train with me at first, when he joined the Royal Guard a year ago...he was always a willing student../i.Raykel looked up at the canopy of the forest, and saw a few specks of light; stars trying to shine through the thick ceiling of leaves. Then he looked over to the sleeping Link, who could sleep for about and hour more before it was his turn to watch. iEver since a few weeks before the first dragon attack...a few weeks before Link became Zelda's bodyguard...Cosha had been acting strange. I didn't notice it because the change was so gradual, and I was changing for the worst as well. What brought all this on? I wonder if I will ever see Cosha again...I want to see my old student, the Cosha who was good...maybe he will come back and be his old self. /iSuddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the forest off to the right. Raykel looked that way, straining his eyes in the darkness of the night, and still could not make anything out. He dismissed it and returned his eyes to the forest in front of him; but moments later, he heard the noise again. This time it sounded closer, and Raykel could identify it as the crunching of dead leaves under something's foot or paw. All of the sudden the horses went crazy, something had spooked them. They hadn't been tied down really securely, so in their frantic terror, they broke loose and went racing off into the forest. The noise sounded again, as if in response to the horses running away, and Link woke up from all the noise. Raykel walked over to him, motioning for him to be quiet.
"We have company at three o'clock." He whispered.
"It's three o'clock in the morning?" Link asked sleepily, not understanding.
"Sshhh! No, something's approaching us from the right!" Link was suddenly awake, and nodded in comprehension, not wanting to make a noise. He got up and put a hand on the hilt of his sword, and he and Raykel watched a bush to the right, about ten feet away from them, from which the noise seemed to be coming. When nothing happened, the two looked at each other, silently agreeing to attack if they heard the noise again (they didn't have to speak to each other to agree on it, it's a warrior thing). Suddenly they heard the crunching of a dead leaf again, much closer, and both leaped at the source of the noise.
"Hhaaaaaa!" They both yelled, and as they burst through the bush, they stopped short, seeing nothing. Then Link looked down and saw a rabbit eating from a small patch of grass, growing between piles of dead leaves. Raykel and Link looked at each other, feeling rather stupid, then they started laughing. They stopped when they heard the growling. They looked in front of them and saw what they had before mistaken for another bush in the darkness, open it's red eyes. A huge, green-furred (with black highlights) wolfos that had been lying in wait lunged in their direction. As the men raised their weapons, the beast landed and crouched down, eating the terrified rabbit in one bite. It looked up at the dumbfounded men, who were staring wide-eyed at the creature.
"What? I was hungry!" Link and Raykel kept staring at the huge, green-furred, red-eyed, italking/i wolfos. "You two got a staring problem?"
"Ehhh...s-sorry...it's just that...we've never seen..." Link stuttered.
"A giant, plant-colored speaking wolfos? Not many people who see me live to tell the tale...eh, whoops! I mean not many people see me at all because of my camouflage fur, heheh. Wolfoses from my family have evolved from the small, grey and white, unintelligent ones found all over. By the way...have you two seen any more rabbits?" The wolf suddenly turned serious.
"No." Raykel answered.
"Awwww..." The wolfos now seemed very disappointed. "I may seem happy but I have a very big problem, you know. Rabbits are the only kind of food my family and I can eat! We would go elsewhere and find better game, but we are surrounded on all sides by other wolfos clans who aren't evolved but have numbers far superior to that of my family. If we leave, they will tear us apart unless we give them food...but needless to say, there is barely enough rabbits left to feed my family and I. I was going to eat those tasty-looking horses when they went crazy and ran away, but I can't run as fast as a horse...and you probably wouldn't like that anyway."
"Well it wouldn't have mattered, because now they're probably going to be eaten by the other wolfoses! Good thing we had all of our gear off of them...Why is there so few rabbits?" Link asked, "I thought they made babies like crazy!"
"They do reproduce quickly, and there would be enough if just my pack and I were eating them, but monster trees also eat them! As if eating all the rabbits wasn't bad enough, those terrible trees eat every living thing they come in contact with, even wolfoses! I've tried to destroy the leader of the monster trees, which would destroy them all, but I can't get near it without getting whipped! Those trees are a wolfose's bane, I tell you! You two wouldn't mind helping me out, would you?"
"You seem to know your way around this forest, wolfos." Raykel said. "If you help us, we will gladly help you. First tell me this, have you seen any dragons or anything else strange around here lately?"
"Well, no...the last time I saw a dragon was a year or so ago...dragons live all the way over in the mountains, and I know where those are but I never go there...."
"Excellent. We destroy these 'monster trees', help you and your family get enough meat to escape the ring of other wolfoses, then you lead us on a safe path to the Stalfos Swords...uh, the mountains, that is. Fair enough?"
"It's a deal!" the wolfos said, grinning. "By the way, my name is Vux."
"Oh, excuse us! I am Raykel, and this is Link." Raykel stopped talking and yawned.
"Ooops...I almost forgot that humans sleep at night! You two finish your rest. I'll come back in the morning and lead you to the trees, okay?" The Hylians nodded, and after Vux left, Raykel resumed his watch for another hour. He then awoke Link and Link watched until dawn, when Vux returned.
The two men ate breakfast, sharing some with the starved wolfos, then they set off to the monster trees, which the wolf said were no more than about ten miles away. On the way, the wolfos explained the monster trees. He told the Hylians about how the monster trees were rooted in the ground immovably like normal trees, but they used vines and poisonous thorns to chase away or eat anything that came close. They all were in the same area, and on the outer perimeter of their group were the guard trees, which had more vines and thorns than the rest. In the middle of their community was their Queen Tree, and if you destroyed that tree, you destroyed every single one of them. Unfortunately, the wolfos didn't know how to hurt the trees, but said that every tree opened its eye when attacking with thorns. In three short hours, the group reached the first monster tree. It was a very large tree but looked almost normal from fifty yards away, and Vux stopped, pointing at it.
"I'm not going any closer to that thing! If you go strait past it and keep going, you should eventually get to the leader tree. Good luck!" The wolfos stood still, staring at the tree in fright. Raykel and Link put their camping gear down, and proceeded towards the monster tree. As they approached, they noticed some skeletons of wolves and rabbits and even a few birds lying around the bottom of the tree. There were many roots twisting on, over, around, and amongst the bones, and the poor owners of the bones had obviously become trapped and then had the life slowly sucked out of them; the nutrients from their dead bodies nourishing the killer tree.
As soon as Link and Raykel were within fifteen feet of the tree, large vines came down from the branches and started whipping about in every direction. The Hylians were only whipped a little bit before they backed out of range of the tree.
"Ow!" Link said, touching a whip-scratch on his forehead. "That tree wasn't even aiming for anything, but there's so many vines that it will be impossible to get through that mess without cutting a few!" Link drew his sword and raised his shield, going forward into vine-range again; and Raykel followed, his blade also ready. The vines started whipping about again, but as the first one struck Link's shield, he severed its tip. It had been a rather small vine, and now several larger ones rushed towards him.
"The tree's vines attack you more if you cut them...they know where a threat is by feeling where they are damaged!" Link said, and proceeded farther into the midst of the rope-like appendages, cutting any that came close. Soon some got cut by Raykel's sword and more started going after him as well. Link and Raykel were separated from each other, each hacking at the seemingly endless entanglement of thrashing vines around them. It was then that the tree showed that it had some remote and twisted form of intelligence.
Link was cutting numerous vines attacking from the front, and a vine sneaked up behind him, very low to the ground so it would not be detected, and wrapped itself around his boot. It yanked on Link's ankle, tripping him. He fell to one knee, trying to get the vine off and battle many others at the same time...but there were too many. A vine wrapped around Link's sword arm, while two more grabbed his shield. While he was preoccupied with those, the tree sensed it's opportunity to win the battle, and four vines curled around Link's chest, and started dragging him towards the tree's huge trunk.
Meanwhile, the tree was less concentrated on Raykel, so he easily cut up the five or so vines sent at him, then spotted Link being dragged away. He quickly ran over to Link, slashing at several vines in the process, and started trying to cut the vines holding him. He quickly cut them all, and Link rose to his feet.
"Thanks!" Link said, then more vines started closing in. They attacked from all sides in a last frantic attempt to destroy the Hylians, and Link and Raykel were pressed back to back as they fought off the vines. Eventually the attacking vine's numbers dwindled, and the attack stopped abruptly. The few vines that were still intact retreated back into the tree's branches. Link and Raykel stood ready to fight more vines for a few seconds, but then turned towards the tree's trunk as they heard its bark moving. A small bump in the middle of the tree split down its middle and opened sideways to reveal a hideous yellow eye with a triangle-shaped iris.
"It's going to use its thorns!" Raykel warned, and both of the warriors' eyes were drawn to the branches above them as red-tipped thorns emerged from them. Link raised his Hylian Shield (he had gotten a new one since the other one had broken in the Warrior Contest) above his and Raykel's head (Raykel had to duck very low to get under it, due to his tallness). The tree released its thorns and they scattered as they hit the shield. After those were shot out, more replaced them, in a continual shower of thorns.
"We can't stay under here forever..." Link said, but he could not see a way to move from under the shield without being hit by thorns. Then he looked at the tree's trunk.
"The eye!" He realized. "We have to hit it!" Link was a bit indisposed, so Raykel got out his bow and shot an arrow into the monstrous tree's eye. An odd screeching sound filled the air, and the tree instantly stopped producing thorns. It made a sort of slumping motion, and remained motionless. Link lowered his shield.
"Nice shot!" Link complimented Raykel.
"You could have done better," Raykel commented.
"Naw..." Link said, but the two stopped talking and proceeded past the monster tree. About twenty feet in front of them they saw nothing less than...another monster tree. As they approached it, it's vines came out and attacked; but it had far less vines than the tree they had just defeated. They easily cut up most of the tree's vines, and it quickly opened its eye and began forming thorns. Before the tree could shoot the thorns, Link drew his hookshot and plunged its hooked blade into the tree's eye. It shuddered and went limp like the first tree, but unfortunately the hookshot stuck, and Link was pulled over to the tree's trunk.
"Whoa!" Link said as he was jerked towards the tree by the hookshot's chain, and he slammed into the tree's trunk, about ten feet above the ground. "Ehh..." Link hung on and pulled his hookshot out of the tree's eye, then fell to the ground. He was unable to position his feet under him, and fell roughly on his backside.
"Ow! Hm...maybe arrows are better..." Link said sheepishly. Raykel laughed.
"Yeah...maybe." He went over and offered Link a hand, pulling him to his feet. Suddenly they head a noise back in the direction of the first tree they beat a few minutes ago, and vines started moving in it's branches again.
"Uh-oh! Looks like we only stunned it." Link said disappointedly.
"We had better move on before it attacks us again...or this one wakes up." Raykel said, gesturing towards the tree they just beat. Link and Raykel moved on, and encountered many trees. Each time they worked as a team, fighting back to back when vines attacked; and when the trees opened their eyes, Link took out his shield and Raykel shot the eye with arrows. The Hylians kept on fighting and progressing, and after maybe ten trees, they began to wonder if they would ever find the Queen Tree. Their question was answered after the very next tree they fought. As they passed that tree, they saw in front of them a very large tree, much bigger then the other ones they had fought. Immediately vines came from the tree, even though the men were forty feet away from it! The vines were quite large, and all attacked at once, nearly hitting the two tired men before they could react.
Despite the quickness of the attack, the men were able to get in position for fighting before the vines reached them. By now they had become very good at killing vines, so the larger ones were only slightly more challenging than the other vines. This giant tree appeared to have a larger number of killer vines than the other trees, but not as many as the guard tree, so it still wasn't very hard. Link and Raykel made quick work of the vines, and approached the tree's enormous trunk. Link raised his shield as thorns predictably started forming above the two warriors. Raykel drew his bow and aimed at the trunk, where he knew the eye would be opening any moment. iAlmost done,/i he thought, ijust this one more tree, and they'll all be finished! /iTo his surprise, one eye did not open on the tree. Many eyes opened. All down the huge trunk there was a line of fifteen golden-yellow eyes, all opening at once, except the one at the very top.
Raykel was not discouraged, however. He grinned, determined to hit them all. No stinking tree was going to defeat the Captain of the Royal Guard, he thought! As he shot an arrow at the first eye, all of the eyes closed, making the arrow bounce off the bark, and one eye in the middle of the trunk opened. Thorns rained from above, and Raykel shot at the middle eye. It closed too, and one near the top opened. Raykel growled in frustration and kept shooting. Eventually he hit three of the eyes, but the thorns were not stopping; and by the time Raykel hit a fourth eye, some vines were beginning to lower from the upper branches of the tree.
iThey've regenerated! /iLink thought, glancing back at Raykel. Raykel had seen them too, and began firing arrows at the eyes more rapidly. The continuing barrage of thorns had still not stopped, and the vines were getting lower. They reached the warriors and Link was forced to slash at them with his left hand, the right one still holding the shield. Link couldn't fight them all off, so some got over to Raykel and he put away his bow to slash at the vines as well. The men's movements were greatly constricted because they couldn't move out from under the shield (and one of Link's arms were busy and Raykel was still crouching because he was much taller than Link and he had to fit under the shield), and the vines got through their weakened defense. A thick vine grabbed Link's left shoulder, and another whipped that arm, almost making him drop his sword. A couple vines had reached Raykel's legs, and suddenly they yanked the legs towards the tree, knocking Raykel over. Having no more reason to waste thorns, the tree stopped making them, focusing on entangling Link and Raykel in its deadly vines. Link dropped his shield and soon both of the men were swordless, their blades dropped because of the repeated efforts of the tree, and vines began to wrap around them.
"Shoot!" Raykel yelled, as the vines began dragging him towards the trunk, and the vines around Link soon followed suit. In a few seconds the trapped Hylians were pulled up against the trunk by the vines, and more big vines started tying them to it. They both struggled as hard as they could, and it occurred to Link that he could use the Golden Gauntlets. He called upon their power, breaking the vines binding him, but had no shield to block a single, well-aimed thorn which shot from a tree branch and hit his right arm. Link immediately felt dizzy, and vines caught him as he fell forward. Once again they pinned him against the trunk next to Raykel's struggling form. Now that the tree had them both in it's grasp, it prepared to finish the job. The very highest eye in the line on the tree's trunk chose that moment to open. It was a great eye, bigger than the rest, and was blood red. It began glowing, and a strange power began to work on the two trapped men.
They began to feel their life-forces being drained from them. As the light radiating from the Queen Tree's red eye pulsated, more and more life was being sucked from Link and Raykel. iWe have to get out of this somehow!/i Link thought urgently, but he was drowsy from the poison and the tree's vines were slowly draining his strength. Link tried struggling one last time, but could not break free, and his head fell forward in fatigue. Raykel saw Link and tried to call out to him and tell him to hold on, but found he was too weak to yell.
It seemed the two Hylians were doomed to the same fate as the creatures whose bones they had seen, when the tree screeched. Alarmed, Raykel raised his tired head and looked up at the tree's upper branches, which had somehow caught fire. The vines released the two men, and they both fell to the ground. Raykel immediately felt energized again as the vines stopped sapping his strength, and he went to go help Link, who was struggling to his feet. Raykel then drew his bow, and aimed an arrow for the Queen Tree's red eye. He fired. The arrow bounced off the tough eye, even though it was open.
"What the?! What's with this tree?!" Raykel stepped closer to the trunk and fired more arrows, and the tree was so preoccupied with putting out the fire in it's branches that it didn't do much of anything...except aim an especially large and poisonous thorn at Raykel's neck.
"Look out!" Link said as the thorn was released, and just as the dagger-sized projectile was about to hit the back of Raykel's neck, Link shot it out of the air with an arrow. Raykel turned and saw the thorn fall to the ground.
"Wow, that was a close one...thanks." Link was about to say something, but all of the sudden thorns began forming and vines began lowering. In a second or two, the men would either be caught by the vines, or turned into living pin cushions by the thorns. An idea struck Link, and he pulled out an arrow, made it a fire one, and sent it zooming straight for the Queen Tree's red eye. The tree's red eye had resistance to normal arrows, but not magic ones, especially fire. The fire arrow hit the eye, lodging itself halfway in, and immediately the whole front of the tree's trunk burst into flames. The tree screeched once more, except now it wasn't the only one screeching. Link and Raykel had to cover their ears from the screeching of every monster tree in the area. The screeching continued for a few moments, then slowly died into silence. The Queen Tree drooped, and it's leaves withered, some slowly drifting to the ground; and the other trees did the same thing. The monster tree menace had been destroyed!
Link and Raykel, after retrieving their swords, wearily began making their way back to Vux. Link fell behind, holding his right arm where the thorn had hit it.
"Do you think the poison is deadly, Link?" Raykel asked him, "Because I have no idea what to do about it."
"I don't know...I feel very pretty tired, but it's not very bad yet. Maybe Vux can tell us something about it." Link replied.
"I hope so." Raykel said, walking slower so Link could keep up. Soon they reached the first tree they had beaten, recognizing it by the specific arrangement of bones beneath it, and expected to find Vux beyond the tree. They found him, but he had brought company. Vux was there with the rest of his giant green family, all six of them, in addition to about thirty normal wolfoses. Link and Raykel stopped in their tracks, seeing the hungry look on Vux's face.
"Vux? I thought you didn't get along with normal wolfoses? I don't understand!" Link said.
"Can't you see, Link?" Raykel shook his head. "They mean to eat us."
"Oh. We're in big trouble." Link observed.
"Yes we are." Raykel confirmed.
"Stop your yapping!" Vux yelled angrily. "Unless of course, those are supposed to be your last words, heh heh! It was so kind of you to get rid of the Wolfos Bane trees. Now that that problem is out of the way, the ordinary wolfoses only need their meat - you!"
Link drew the Master Sword, once again preparing for battle. Would it ever end? Raykel stood at his back, and drew his long sword, hoping that Cosha had not met his end at the fangs of these treacherous wolves. Vux howled, and all of the normal wolfoses rushed forwards at once. Grimly, Raykel and Link fought them off as well as they could. Every wolf that lunged at them either met its end from one of the Hylians' blades, or got injured and ran off. The normal wolfoses kept coming, and the men fought valiantly, surprising themselves with how much fight they still had left in them. For several exhausting minutes the battle continued, until there were only four gray wolfoses left unharmed. Link, who had sustained a few small wounds and a bite on his right forearm, looked back to check on Raykel. He seemed very tired and had a few slashes on him, but nothing too serious. Link looked back at the remaining wolfoses, and to his surprise, they yelped in fear and ran off. All that remained were the green wolfoses, each larger than a normal one, but none as huge as Vux.
"I can't believe you two are still alive! Grrr...family, attack!" All six of the green wolfoses attacked, three going to Link and the other three to Raykel. Link killed one of the wolfoses right away because it tripped on one of the dead wolfose's corpses. The other two bit at him viciously, but he managed to drive his sword through the second. He hated killing so many animals who were just trying to eat and live, but as a warrior, he knew that sometimes there was just no choice. Fight, or be brutally murdered. Link, in his tiredness, suddenly made a mistake. The third wolfos scratched Link's chest with its big claws, making two very long, but not very deep, slashes.
"Eaahhh!" Link was thrown back, but didn't fall because Raykel's back supported him. He slashed at the wolfos and hit it's snout, making a small slash, and the creature ran away. Link looked behind him at Raykel. He saw that Raykel was still fighting two wolfos, and fatigued as he was from poison and fighting, he turned to help fight the beasts. Vux still had not attacked, and seeing that Link was going to help Raykel drive away the last of his family if he didn't do something, he ran around behind Link, and lunged for the back of his neck.Vux grinned, imagining what it would feel like to have soft human flesh in his beartrap-like, gaping jaws. Link didn't see the wolfos and didn't turn to meet him; but luckily, he had to move to the side to fight one of the other wolfoses. Vux's teeth did not meet with Link's neck, but still found the back of his right arm, and Link screamed in pain as the sharp fangs dug into his arm.
At this time Raykel had been battling the last green wolf that had attacked him, and was distracted by Link's scream. The wolf, taking advantage of this, dug its teeth into his left leg. Raykel yelled and killed the wolf with his sword, it's form falling lifeless to add itself to the growing pile of corpses. His left hand putting pressure on the leg bite, Raykel turned and slashed at Vux with a swift, strong, stroke of his blade. He hit the wolfose's neck with the powerful attack, and the Vux's teeth released their grip as his head fell from his shoulders to the ground. Raykel sheathed his sword and looked at Link's bite wound. Immediately he knew, that however hard the other wolfos had bitten him, Vux had bitten Link much harder.