buThe Return of the Dark One/u/b
By: Sonnet A.K.A. Talonclawfange
( E-mail me at Talonofdayyahoo.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. Oh yeah, and Kai-ten-giri belongs to Akira Himekawa who wrote some totally awsome Zelda manga. The only things I own are the Soku Tree, Chain, Sohran, 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: This story is separated into two parts because it is so long! The first part is 40 pages long and the second is 43. This story takes place after my other stories, which are: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, Duels and Dragons, Hunt for the Dragonlord, The War of the Kings, and The Song of the Siren's Shell, so you probably want to read them first or you'll be a little confused. It's somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and blood. Enjoy!
ibPart Two/b/i
buSection 1
Reko's Cave, Home Again/u/b
"Watch ouuuut!" Sohran yelled. The sea dragon-leviathan he was riding on, Eucheso, and the one Link was riding on, Yavatan, were swimming at an amazing speed. They were headed straight toward the cliffs of Ganon's Swamp, where the sea griffons lived, and it looked like they were going to smash into them.
"bHold on, Hylians!/b" Eucheso yelled, and he and Yavatan put on the breaks. Amazingly, Yavatan and Eucheso were able to stop before they hit the cliffs. Unfortunately, Link, Sohran, and the unconscious Feelock (Feelock had been KOed by a mental shock on the island him and the Hylians were returning from) went sailing off the heads of the two dragon-leviathans, flying right over the cliffs. The tops of the cliffs were grassy and smooth, and the two humans-turned-projectiles slid to a stop on the grass, wet from the damp sea air. Link groaned as Feelock's unmoving form landed right on top of him. iWell, at least I cusioned his fall,/i Link thought. He and Sohran sat up and saw a huge wall of water coming for them. An enormous wave from Yavatan and Eucheso stopping quckly washed over Link, Sohran and Feelock, going far beyond them to nicely water the half-dead swamp trees behind them.
"bOops...sorry, humans./b" Yavatan said, looking at Eucheso. They started laughing. Link glared at them irritably, then lightened up.
"Well, thanks very much for taking us here. Say 'hi' to Remorie for us!" The giant water dragons nodded, then left without a word, swimming away even faster than they had come because they were submerged. "Well, that was fun...sort of." Link said to Sohran.
"Yeah, it was exhilerating at first, but after an hour or two you start to think your head is going to get blown off." Sohran replied. It had taken about twelve hours to cross the sea on the dragon-leviathans, which was much shorter than the seven days it had taken Link to get across it the first time. The sun was setting, and Link's gazed at its beauty.
"Well, I say we sleep here tonight and worry about crossing the swamp tomorrow. It's probably more dangerous at night," Link said, yawning.
"Good idea. Maybe we can find a tree to sleep in..."
"Um, no. My friend Cyphas slept in a swamp tree and it didn't turn out well. There are tons of caves in these cliffs, maybe we can find one that doesn't have a sea griffon in it." Just then, a sea griffon flew up and landed on the cliff in front of Link, Sohran, and the still uncounscious Feelock.
"Wow, Hylians! Did you guys cause that huge wave?" The griffon asked. It had a grey bird half and a dark blue cat half. Its long tail was bear except for a long, feathery tuft at the tip. It was about the size of a horse and a half, and had deep purple eyes.
"We didn't cause them directly, but some big water dragons we were riding on stopped very close to the cliffs. Sorry about that." Sohran said.
"Oh, it's okay. I was going to clean my cave anyway. Say, you guys look washed up...need a place to stay?" iWhat is it with my luck? I wish for a cave and this happens! Too wierd,/i Link thought. But, he was really quite tired of taking advantage of creatures.
"Naw, we don't need to take up space in your cave. We'll find an empty one..." Link said, turning away.
"No, no! It would be great to have you in my cave! My daughter has always wanted to see a Hylian, so you'll be doing me a great favor. Pleeeease stay in my cave? Pleeeasee?" The griffon asked loudly.
"....Well, okay. If you really want us to." Link said. "But, you have to allow me to catch dinner for you."
"Really? What a cool Hylian! You can catch me dinner any time you want, buddy! Just get on my back, and your friend too...hey, what's that?" The griffon pointed at Feelock.
"He's our friend, a calwot. He got knocked unconscious last night, but he's okay." Link said, picking up the limp cat.
"Okay, put him on my back, too. I'll just cast a strength spell on myself and I'll easily be able to carry you all." After everyone was on the sea griffon, he chanted a quick strength spell and took off, flying smoothly along the cliffs, searching for his cave. "Hey, everyone! A sea dragon caused the wave and is gone, so it's nothing to worry about!" The griffon called. Aparently he had been sent out to investigate the cause of the big wave. "By the way, my name is Reko." The griffon said, diving shallowly toward a hole in the cliffs.
"Oh, how rude of us! My name is Link."
"I'm Sohran. We're both Royal Guards from Hyrule Castle."
"How interesting! My daughter will probably love to hear a few war stories. Maybe my mate too, I don't know." Reko and his passengers entered the cave, which was pretty roomy and could easily hold a family of three griffons. The griffon landed gracefully, and Link and Sohran saw two griffons sitting by a fire in the middle of the cave. They dismounted and walked with Reko the the griffons.
"I'm back, and guess what I brought! Two Hylians and a cowbot!"
"Eh, calwot," Sohran said quietly.
"Oh, yeah! I mean calwot. This Hylian is Sohran, that Hylian is Link, and the unconscious thing is Feelock."
"Nice to meet you!" The smaller of the two griffons said. She was the size of a wild cat or wolfos.
"Welcome." The larger said. She was the same size as Reko.
"Hylians, this is my mate, Unia." Reko said, pointing at the larger griffon. She had a white bird half with dark blue-tipped feathers, a black cat half, and bright blue eyes. Her long tail was completely covered with silky, long fur.
"...And this is my daughter, Kosi." The small griffon had a black bird half with a faint speckling of light blue, with cloudy grey haunches. Her bushy tail twitched exitedly and her purple eyes gleamed. "Wow, Hylians! Hey, they're kinda puny, aren't they?"
"Watch who your callin' puny, smallfry!" Reko said, waving the tip of his tail in his daughter's face to irritate her. Link put Feelock down at a comfortable distance from the fire, and Sohran sat next to the calwot.
"Hey, aren't you the Hylian that released the sea snakes from Kadien and ended the starvation of our race not too long ago? After that incident we learned to eat things other than sea gulls and sea snakes, but back then they were the only things we ate. That was you, wasn't it, Link?" Unia asked.
"Yeah. I'm glad you guys have learned to eat other things. That's healthier anyway." Link said.
"What an honor to have you in our cave! Thank you for what you did," Reko said.
"Eh, ...don't mention it. What do you griffons want for dinner?" Link asked, looking around at them.
"Clams sound good." Unia suggested, smiling.
"With fried cidid on the side!" Kosi said hungrily.
"Thats fine with me." Reko said, handing Link a net that had been sitting in the corner. "This might come in handy."
"Thanks. See you in a few minutes," Link said. Giant clams and cidids were very comonly found next to shore, so he knew it wouldn't take long. He walked out to the lip of the cave, gazing down at the ocean hundreds of feet below. Using his hookshot on the cliff face, he got down to about fifteen feet above the water and dived in, putting on his zora tunic. He put on his iron boots and sunk about fifty feet to the rocky bottom of the water. After walking around a bit, he spotted eight or nine giant clams sitting between two rocks. Each clam was about the size of a three-year-old child. One sensed Link coming and snapped open. It swam at him, biting angrily (giant clams are quite aggressive). Link put an end to its snapping with his hookshot, which woke up the other clams. Blocking clams with his shield and killing them with his hookshot, he managed to get them all before getting bitten. He put them all in the net, and dragged it with him as he kept walking. He froze as he saw a sea snake swimming towards him. Luckily the snake was not in the mood to fight, and swam right past Link. He continued, and quickly found a pack of about thirty cidids (small, brightly colored, hand-sized ocean insects) hiding in the shadow of a rock. Though it was hard to see them at sunset beneath fifty feet of water, they spotted Link instantly, and tried to attack him. Link simply raised the net and caught them all, figuring the griffons could kill them themselves.
Link took off his boots but the net was weighing him down, so he had to swim strongly to reach the surface and use his hookshot. He was soon back in Reko's cave, and walked over to the fire, putting the net full of dead clams and squirming cidids next to the fire. Everyone dug in, the griffons eating their clams and cidids raw.
"Be careful of the paralyzing stinger on your cidid, honey. Us griffons are immuned to it mostly, but if a young one like yourself bites right on the stinger, it'll hurt!" Reko said. Kosi nodded. Link and Sohran cooked their clams and didn't eat any cidids, because even a small bite would have them poisoned with the paralyzing fluid in the stinger. Link had been stung once, and it was not pleasant.
After a few minutes Link moved over next to Feelock, and tried to rouse the sleeping cat, but it didn't work. Link just hoped the cat woke up before he started getting weak from lack of nourishment. When the meal was finished, Kosi started eagerly asking Link and Sohran questions, which they were happy to answer. She asked about life in Hyrule Castle, other Hylians, Hylian females, and mountain griffons. She asked about many other things as well, but it was getting late and Reko soon cut off his daughter's questions, declaring it was time to sleep. Only one more question was asked, this time by Unia.
"How do you two plan to get back to Hyrule? Us griffons can't help you because tomorrow we have an all-griffon festival that lasts all day, and attendence is mandatory. Every sea griffon in Tecavesea will attend."
"We'll just cross the swamp. Don't worry, I've crossed it before and I have friends in the swamp. We'll be fine." Link said. "What's Tecavsea?"
"That's the name of our community of caves. Kozin the King named it, of course. Goodnight, Link and Sohran." Everyone went to bed then, in the cave which was magically heated to stay at a nice temparature after the fire was put out. Everyone slept well, to the relaxing sound of crashing waves.
i-Yes! Finally, the keys are mine. It will be a simple task to get what I want now, and the only one who can stop me is days away. What? The old man is stirring in his bed as I put the keys in my pocket...curses, he's awake. Getting his sword? So the ugly old man wants to fight me, very funny. It's too bad, though, I was going to kill him while he slept...oh well, I can kill him now. I draw my Master Sword look-alike and prepare to do him in. I will enjoy this.-/i
"Thanks again for letting us stay in your cave," Link said. He and Sohran were standing next to uncouncious Feelock at the top of the cliffs, bidding farewell to Reko. The sun was about to rise, and the sea griffon and his family would soon go to their festival.
"Thank iyou/i. I don't know if my daughter would ever meet a Hylian if you two hadn't come along, and she's been bothering me about it since we formed an alliance with Hyrule! It was very annoying, so thank you. Take care of yourselves."
"Same to you. Have fun at your festival, Reko," Sohran said. The sea griffon shook hands with the Hylians, then dove off the cliff to go wake his family. Link kneeled next to Feelock, wondering when the poor cat would wake up.
"This guy needs some nutrition...maybe we can get him to drink?" Link said, looking up at Sohran.
"Well, it's worth a try. Maybe some water will rouse him. Here." Sohran handed Link water in a glass bottle, and Link poured some on the calwot's snout. He didn't move, so Link opened the cat's mouth and poured a bit of water in there. To his and Sohran's surprise, Feelock's mouth twitched a bit, and then closed.
"Hey! He's waking up..." The two Hylians waited expectantly, but the black calwot made no further movements. Link shook the cat's shoulder a bit and called his name, but still the calwot was motionless.
"Link, why don't you pet him? I had a cat once and that always woke it up." Link gave Sohran a wierd look.
"He's not a housecat, and he'll probably be insulted. He used to be a King, you know."
"Yes, but he's still a feline. Just try it." Link wondered why Sohran didn't try it if he was so confident it would work, but didn't say anything. Maybe it would work. He rubbed behind Feelock's ears, something the old hag in the potion shop's cat had always liked. Link and Sohran laughed quietly as Feelock smiled and began to purr. Suddenly his eyes snapped open, and Link pulled his hand away. Feelock gave him a surprised look.
"Link? What are you doing here? Were you just scratching my ears?" His look of surprise turned to indignant irritation.
"Um, yeah...it woke you up, didn't it?" Link said. Feelock gave him a sour face.
"I'm not a domesticated kitten, Link. But, enough of anger. It is good to see you! But, I wonder why I'm seeing you. The last thing I remember was being in a cave in the Stalfos Swords. I had just decided to do something constructive with my life and thank you for defeating me when I was being foolish. I was going to change my armor to something a little more benevolent looking when I felt this strange prescence in my mind...and now I'm here!" The calwot sat up and looked around, rubbing his aching head. "Where iis/i here? And why does my head hurt?"
"It's a long story...we can tell you on our way through the swamp." Sohran suggested. He offered Feelock a hand and the cat took it, standing up.
"I'm Sohran, by the way." Sohran said, and he and the calwot shook eachother's hand before releasing them.
"Why are we going through a swamp? Does it lead back to my village, Catalin?" Feelock asked, once again looking around.
"Yes, and it will take at least two or three days to cross, so we should get started...but wait." Link pulled a leather bag off his shoulder. It had some dried clam in it. "You must be starving, Feelock. Eat some of this." Link handed the cat some food, which he quickly ate. He also accepted some water Link handed him.
"Thank you, that hit the spot," Feelock said, giving Link the empty bottle. "We don't have to go the slow way, Hylians. I am a flying, magic-using calwot, remember? I can cast a haste and strength spell on myself and carry you two over the swamp. It's way faster than walking!"
"Really? We'll be in Hyrule by this afternoon if we fly!" Link exclaimed.
"Well then, you two guide me and tell me your story as we go, agreed?" Link and Sohran nodded, and Feelock quickly cast two spells on himself and picked up Link and Sohran (size wasn't a problem, since the cat was easily two feet taller then Link, over a foot taller than Sohran, and very fit). He then opened his sleek black bird wings and took off. Soon the three of them were soaring high over Ganon's Swamp, straight toward Hyrule. They saw some fog in the distance, so Feelock, with his amazing magical talents, cast some breathing spells on the three of them and climbed to a very high altitude (Link was horribly afraid of being that high, but managed to keep himself from complaining) that would carry them far over the mist. Link and Sohran then proceeded to tell Feelock what had happened to him.
All day the three soared thousands of feet above the swamp, talking and admiring the beauty of the half-shrouded land far below (or just staring straight ahead for fear of heights, in Link's case). Link and Sohran were getting sick of traveling so much, but were encouraged whenever they thought of the fact that they would be back in Hyrule soon. It should have been very uncomfortable to get carried by a strong, metal-coated arm of a calwot, but miraculously Link and Sohran didn't get sore. More of Feelock's magic, no doubt. He was a very good sorcerer. When the sun began to slip behind the distant horizon and the calwot and Hylians left the misty swamp behind, they found themselves flying over Hyrule. Feelock began to decend slowly, careful not to go too fast or the quick change of pressure might hurt his long-eared Hylian passengers. The experienced flyer landed smoothly in front of Hyrule Castle, putting Link and Sohran down.
Section 2
Chasing a Sword Thief
"Well, I'm really glad that's over!" Link said, and Sohran nodded. "Anyway, thanks for flying us over here, Feelock. Are you going back to Catalin?"
"Yes, I have a few things to do. I suppose I'll see you two some other time." Smiling warmly and waving to the Hylians, the large calwot reopened his wings and leaped into the air, instantly catching the wind and gliding to the north and the Stalfos Swords (Catalin is in those mountains).
"Man, the first thing I'm doing is taking a shower! I stink from all that running around two nights ago..." Sohran said as the two Hylians walked over to the castle, which was separated from Royal Field by a moat and short, flat, wood bridge over it. The Hylians walked across the bridge, which led to the huge, wooden, studded steel doors on the north side of the castle, and Link shoved one open. There were only a few guards standing around inside, so obviously Link and Sohran had not been expected. Link and Sohran came in and closed the great door behind them. One idle Royal Guardsman turned and saw Link as he apprached, and the soldier gasped in surprise. The following confusion baffled the Hero of Time.
"It's Link! Hey, LINK'S HERE!" The guard yelled, and about two dozen guards who had been standing around somewhere ran to Link and surrounded him, pointing their spears at his neck. "Don't move, Link! We have orders to do whatever is necessary to capture you!"
"W-what? Did I miss something?" Link stopped and put his arms up to show submission. "Some welcome this is..."
"Hey, why are you guys doing that? Me and Link just got home and you start threatening him?" Sohran turned to the one with the highest rank. "Explain yourself!"
"Yes, sir! It's a good thing you're home sir, and a very good thing you caught this stinking traitor! He's to be put in the dungeons at once!"
"What? I didn't do anything, what do you mean I'm supposed to go to the dungeon?" Link asked, perplexed.
"Silence, you murderous traitor!" A soldier said, poking him lightly.
"I would never betray Hyrule!" Link protested, glaring at the soldier. He was beginning to get irritated.
"Oh yeah? What do you call injuring twenty-one guards, stealing the royal keys, pushing the princess, and trying to ikill/i the King?"
"WHAT?!" Link was outraged. He was about to nicely explain to the soldier that what he had just said was completely ridiculous, but the rest of the Royal Guards' spears all got a little closer to his neck and he restrained himself.
"Have you all gone imad?!/i Link is the Hero of Time, you idiots! He would never do those things, and we've been gone for over ten days!" Sohran growled. He and some guards began shouting at eachother, and Link saw someone standing far behind them, under the archway that led to the courtyard. It was Zelda. Link was tremendously happy to see her, because he had been worrying about what the 'Dark One' had said about being in Hyrule. That meant he could harm the Princess, but she looked fine. At least, physically. The look on her face said she was not fine. Even from a distance, Link could see her pretty features twisted with many different emotions. She looked slightly happy, but also terribly sad and frightened.
"Zelda!" He called, trying to get a reaction from her. He got one, which was the princess turning and running. iWow, whatever happened, even Zelda wont talk to me. But I didn't do anything, so what the heck's going on? Whatever I do, I can't run or fight because that will make everyone think I'm guilty of doing everything that guard just said. What can I do? /i
Link was getting a little worried. These guards seemed to be serious, and Link knew very well what the penalty for trying to kill the King was. The only things he could do was try to convince eveyone he hadn't done it, or run and be outcast from Hyrule forever. Hyrule was his destiny. He couldn't just leave it.
"I tell you, Link hasn't done one single bad thing while I've been with him, you're all crazy!" Sohran screamed at the highest-rank soldier.
"Sir Sohran, if you try to stop us you'll be incarcerated too! Link will have a chance to defend himself tomorrow. Right now, we're taking him down." Sohran looked really mad, then got an alarmed look on his face as he glanced behind Link. "Hey, what are you doing? Link, watch out!" Confusion and being at spearpoint kept Link from moving, and a rag wet with some foul-smelling fluid was pressed against his face. Imediately, he thought someone was throwing him into a deep pit, and felt a falling sensation.
"He's too dangerous to be transported consciously..." Some voice said, sounding far away in the darkness enveloping Link.
Link heard a voice, calling his name. It wasn't very clear, and Link couldn't recognize the voice for another few minutes. He heard the voice clearly just as his eyes began to focus and he felt cold stone beneath him.
"Link? Oh, thank goodness. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up! But I had complete confidence that I, The Great Taig, could wake you." A horse-sized young red dragon sat outside Link's cell, tail thrashing impatiently. Link sat up, groaning and holding his pounding head. "Hm, are you okay, Link? You look kinda sick." Link looked around, discovering himself in one of the stone cells below Hyrule castle. It was dark except for a few magical torches, and had close bars and stone walls sealing it off from everything. Link sighed, he hated being in cells. But it sure was happening a lot lately. He quickly found out that all of his items and weapons had been taken from him, which was, of course, no surprise.
"I'm okay...hey Taig, its great to see you! Can you tell me what on earth is going on?" Link asked, standing up and facing the dragon prince. Taig jumped excitedly to his feet.
"I don't think you did it, Link! It's a big fat lie! You didn't do any horrible things last night!" Taig growled, smoke trailing from his red nostrils. "Whoever's framing you will be burnt to a thousand little ashes by the flames of the Great Taig!!" Taig shot a blast of flame straight up, turning the stone above him bright red. The dragon turned his head back to Link.
"What exactly does everyone think I did? Someone said I stole some keys and hurt soldiers or something..." Link said, not quite remembering everything that had happened to him before he was knocked out.
"Yeah, I just got here this afternoon to visit you and a Royal Guard told me this ridiculous story! Supposedly, you knocked out several guards in order to reach the King's quarters. Then you stole the castle keys, which are keys to all the locks in the castle, like into forbidden passages and the waterways below. Then the idiot told me that the King woke up and you did battle with him. The King gave you a slash on the arm and you tried to cut his head off. If he hadn't backed up, you would have suceeded, but you did succeed in putting a large laceration on his neck. You then proceeded to stab his lower left shoulder deeply, nearly cutting his heart and killing him, while pinning himto the ground with a boot on his neck. Reinforcements came and you pushed Zelda and injured about twenty guards before escaping the castle. But you didn't do it, Link! I know you didn't, did you?" Taig stopped raving, looking at Link hopefully.
"Of course not, I would never. That story appalls me! I have no idea what's going on here, but I hope I get the chance to talk to the King soon, and tell him this is madness. But who do you think idid/i do it? No-one looks just like me except Chain, and certainly he wouldn't go around in my clothes stealing things."
"They should know it wasn't you because you don't have a scratch on you, and the King claims he wounded you. Though that could have been healed, the soldiers didn't find the keys on you. Yes, those could have been hidden, but still! I should think your past and personality would be sure proof it wasn't you. But then, the King did say your voice even sounded normal...but he was probably half asleep!"
"Well, there's more witnesses against me than with me, it seems. Feelock and Sohran are the only two who saw me last night. Oh yeah, and the griffons but they wouldn't be included in this kind of thing. By the way Taig, do you know of anyone who calls himself the 'Dark One'? He controlled Feelock and caused the storms, but I'm sure you'll hear about that as soon as he gets to Catalin and news spreads to Dracoulis."
"No, never heard of anyone like that." Taig said, calming himself and sitting down. His red scales and almost metallic golden wings shimmered in the torchlight as he shifted uncomfortably. "Man, it's cold in here! I can't believe they're doing this to you after you saved all their butts from Ganondorf! Hylians are so unpractical and ungrateful. A proper trial would be held in Dracoulis before anything unpleasant happened to the accused."
"Well, the King runs Hyrule by the old laws, and no one argues with him because he iusually/i makes good decisions. I hate to murmur, but I think Zelda will be a better ruler. She's very wise. By the way, is she okay?"
"Well, she's not hurt, but she's very distressed. She says she had a terrible dream about you a while ago. At first she thought it meant you were dead, now the King says it might mean you have 'fallen into darkness', or turned evil. She didn't seem very convinced, though. She seems very scared and worried. She even told me it was good to see you, but when she thinks of what's going to happen to you she's not happy. What does that mean, Link?"
"It means anyone who commits treason or tries to kill the King gets beheaded, that's what." Link said, ignoring an irritating sinking feeling that forced its way into his stomach.
"iBeheaded?/i No way! I'll bust you out of here, Link! I can snap these bars like twigs!" Taig roared, flexing his muscles.
"No, Taig. I could break out myself and even find a back way out of here because I've studied a map of Hyrule castle's underhalls. However, doing that will only firmly convince everyone I really did try to kill the King, and I'd rather die than have Zelda and my friends think that."
"If they were really friends, like me, they would know you didn't do it! However, Zelda said herself she wouldn't believe you did it if she hadn't seen you close-up. She looked very sad as she described how she saw every detail of your face and the Master Sword as you shoved her aside to escape. She said she was sure it was you. It was kinda freaky to hear her describe it, Link..."
"Don't worry, Taig, I really didn't do it. I was gone last night, promise."
"Okay Link, I believe you, and so does Sohran and some others."
"Thanks, Taig. Anyway, do you have any other news?"
"Hmmm, let me think..." A loud banging was heard on a steel door in the hall behing Taig and to the right.
"Hey! You've been in there long enough! I don't care if you're a Prince, that's all the time you get!" A guard yelled from behind the door. Link then heard the door opening and the soldier walked up beside Taig. The dragon glowered at the guard, and the guard glowered at Link. "I can't believe you, Link." He said, not even noticing the dragon's glaring. "After being the Hero of Time you would almost kill the King...you know, if the physician hadn't reached the King as fast as he did, the King would have bled to death in a matter of minutes!" The soldier spit on the ground in distaste.
"Link didn't do it, human!" Taig growled, glaring spears at the man.
"I saw him myself, he ran right past me, chopping at my head! The bloody brat tried to kill the King!"
"bHe did NOT!/b" Taig roared, a piece of his mature dragon voice surfacing as his rage boiled. It was terribly deep and infuriated. The soldier backed up, frightened by the dragon's anger. "bIf you say it one more time, I'll fry you!!/b" Cringing, the soldier backed up more. A few soldiers came from behind the firghtened one, wielding spears.
"Don't make us attack you, dragon! Your father will hear about this! You promised to behave!"
"bHow can I 'behave' if my best Hylian friend is going to be killed?!/b"
"Taig, no! Don't-" Link tried to say, but then every noise in the dungeouns was drowned out by a viscious roar, and Taig sprang at the soldiers. Unfortunately for the dragon, they had been prepared for this. They stood aside and pressed themselves against the walls and Taig shot past, tripping over one's boot and sprawling on the ground. The soldiers quickly put a net over the dragon, which was made of metal links and hooks. Each time the dragon tried to move, the hooks dug into him, making him wince. The dragon went still, a feral hiss escaping his snout. "Taig..." Link watched from within his cage, determined to do something about it if the guards seriously harmed his reptilian friend. They were gentle, however, as they put a muzzle on Taig and carried him out.
"bI won't let them kill you, Link/b!" Taig declared, his words muffled by the muzzle as the soldiers carried him away. One stayed behind, and walked over to Link, examining him. Link recognized the soldier immediately, it was a man he had recently made friends with and fought against during the last Warrior Contest.
"Hi, Corb." Link said simply.
"Hi, Link." The brown-haired man replied. They simply stared at eachother for a few moments. Corb trying to decide what he should think of Link, Link wondering if Corb thought he was guilty. To his dismay, Corb did. "Why did you do it, Link?" Link sighed. It was probably useless to say anything, but he couldn't keep silent.
"I didn't, Corb. Seriously. I was in the cliffs of the Great Sea last night." Link could tell Corb wasn't convinced. It was pretty painful to see someone who had been a friend before look at him accusingly.
"Link, don't lie. See this scar?" Corb held up his right forearm and Link saw a large healed slash. It made Link mad at whoever was framing him to see his former friend hurt. "You gave it to me last night. Why?" Link closed his eyes sadly. Without saying anything, he went and sat in the corner of his cell. It was useless. There was nothing he could do! If only he had Zelda's brain, he could think of something...iZelda! I need to talk to her!/i
"Corb, listen. Can you please tell Princess Zelda I want to talk with her?" Link asked.
"Why, so you can give her a scar to match mine? Certainly not!" Link flinched visibly from the harsh words. Corb had been such a nice guy! Apparently, he felt as betrayed as Link did. Corb shot an angry look at Link, and left him in silence. Link put his head in his hands, wondering if he would ever talk face-to-face with Zelda again before he met an unlikely end to his road.
Link got no more visitors because all who asked were turned down after the incident with Taig. Chain even picked a fight with a guard who was making him angry, but didn't win and was punished. Link was growing increasingly irritated with the whole situation. Not only was he in a bad position, but all his supporters were causing an uproar. Even from in his cell, he could hear a fight break out once in a while involving the guards watching the dungeons. A meal was brought to him at some time, but he wasn't hungry enough to touch it. What a crazy siduation! While he was alone, he thought about what was going to happen. iWould I really rather die than be banished from Hyrule? Will the King listen when I explain that I didn't attack him? If I am executed, what will happen if a monster tries to destroy Hyrule? I don't think there will even be a formal trial, I'll be lucky if I can defend myself more than once according to the old rules...What the heck am I going to? Sit around and rot and die? Run away from all my friends and convince everyone I'm a villain? If I escape from here just to talk to the King, I'm sure any soldier who saw me would try to kill me, and how could I fight against another Royal Guardsman? This is so hopeless...it seems like there's a very intelligent answer to this enigma, and I just can't find it. I can't try to sneak out and talk to Zelda because she'll be with her father...the only way I'll ever get to talk to her again is if she comes down here, and no doubt the King's forbidden that. Shoot...I should just leave.../iLink shook his head. iI can't do that! This place and these people mean so much to me... do I mean so little to them? /iThe thought was very depressing.
Link worried over the matter past evening and far into night. He thought of all the possible things he could do and what he would say if the King asked him to say anything. No-one had told him, but Link knew that tomorrow at sunrise he would be taken to the courtyard and be allowed to briefly present his defense. If the King thought he was guilty, his head would part company with his shoulders. If not, he would be forgiven of all charges and everything would go back to normal. Link was thinking of who his imposter was when he started to get tired. iA shapeshifter couldn't have done it because they can only imitate bodies, not weapons, and there's only one Master Sword. Shoot, who could possibly make a sword just like mine, and look just like me,/i and isound just like me? It's impossible.../iIt was about two o'clock in the morning when sleepiness and boredom clouded Link's thoughts. He drifted into sleep, despite the cold, hard stone beneath him.
Link jerked awake as he heard metal against metal. He sat up, long ears perked, waiting for another sound. He could hear the muffled snoring of the guard who was supposed to be watching the door down the hall and to the right. Waiting a few moments, he heard the metal again. It wasn't grating, like he had thought at first. This time, it was the distinct sound of a large, metal lock being opened. Link was on his feet imediately. iThat must be the person who stole the keys from the king! I have to catch him,/i Link thought. This was the answer to his question! All he had to do was catch the guy before he escaped. Link ran over to his bars and easily bent them open with the help of the Platinum Gauntlets' strength. He didn't even stop to see if his guard had woken up, dashing down the hall to the left, which was where he had heard the sound. He quickly found a fork in the stone hall, and knew from his map-study that the right way lead to the waterways under the castle and the left led to more dungeon cells. Link heard a door closing somewhere far down the right path and ran that way. After about a minute of sprinting, he found an old wooden door on the left side of the passage he was in. Next to the bottom of the door lay a rusty lock, opened and discarded. Link quietly entered the door, not wanting the person he was chasing to know he was there.
Link walked quickly but quietly down the dimly-lit stone passage the door he had opened led to. He passed several doors on his way, but all were locked. The passage angled to the left and down some spiral stairs. By the flickering torchlight Link could see a door at the end of the stairs. As he reached the door he heard rushing water behind it, and a lock laying on the floor. Link discovered that the light was dim because a torch had been taken, so Link took another one and pushed open the old door. He emerged into pitch darkness, the only light being that of his torch. The air was damp and cold, and Link could hear water rushing all around him. After letting his eyes adjust for a few moments, Link saw he was standing on a walkway that followed flowing water down an arched hallway that curved to the right. He saw a dim light shining on the wall in that direction and followed, wondering why on earth someone would steal keys just to get to the waterways. There was nothing down here...iWait, I do seem to remember something important being down here, but I didn't think I'd have to worry about it ever again and forgot...let's see, it was something powerful...Oh yeah!/i Link broke into a run as he realized what was down there. It had been hidden down there, and the only people who knew about it was Zelda, Impa, the King, and Link. The Sword of Darkness! The King had sealed it in a concrete, locked box. Link had to stop this mysterious person before he reached it! Link remembered how it had felt to be cut by that blade...
Link was catching up to the person in front of him. He saw the torchlite, then heard booted feet running as the man discovered he was being followed. As Link ran around a bend and down a left passageway in his pursuit, he found that he was gaining on the man. Unfortunately, Link knew where they were going and just up ahead would be many turns and forks, and it might be very easy for his query to evade him if he didn't catch up more. Breathing heavily, Link increased his pace. He almost lost his footing on the slippery surface of the stone, but caught himself before he fell into the water beside him. Link ran again, and the passage he was in straightened out. He could see the guy with the torch! He was too far away to be able to tell anything for certain, but Link saw that he was wearing green before the theif dashed down a right passageway. Link followed, but by the time he got to the turn, the torchlight had dissappeared and Link barely caught sight of it going down another turn. Link wasn't tired yet, and ran quickly that way, careful not to slip. Link was catching up again, when suddenly the light in front of him dissappeared entirely. There wasn't any turns where the light had been, so the theif must have gotten desperate and doused his torch.
iGreat, now what? I'll never find him in this blackness, but how is he going to find his way around? Maybe this isn't a normal human../i.Link stopped and listened, but only heard rushing water. He then continued running until he got to the spot he was sure he had seen the torchlight last. He stopped running and looked about cautiously, knowing the guy could easily ambush him if he wasn't careful. Link leaned down and saw boot marks on the wet stone. He tried to follow them, but found that there were too many other kinds of marks in the stone and not enough light to track. Dismayed, Link tried to recall if the King had ever told him exactly where the Sword of Darkness in its case had been thrown in the water. Link didn't think so. Therefore, the only thing left for Link to do was search all the surrounding hallways and try not to get lost. He knew where he was, but his memory of the upcoming hallways were dim. He could only pray for good luck as he marched onward, all senses alert for danger.
i-Yes, this is the spot...I can feel the darkness calling to me from here! It is very hard to see in this blackness because the fool following me forced me to extinguish my torch, but I can see enough to make out a rectangle-shaped box in the water. I dive in and swim hard to resist the current. I get hold of the box and use my huge strength to lift it. Regretfully, I wouldn't have the strength if it weren't for Link finding the Golden Gauntlets. I hate owing my strength to that fool. Oh well, I will be prepared to murder him when he gets back to Hyrule.
Putting the four foot long concrete case under my arm, I swim to the top and break the surface, breathing hard. Why? This should be easy for me. Too bad I can't breath underwater. I doesn't seem quite right. I shove the heavy thing onto the stone, hoping that whoever is down here doesn't hear it. True, I could easily kill whoever it is, but I want plenty of time to examine my new sword. And, it would be a pity if I had to kill the man before I can get the sword and test it on him. I'll even maintain my disguise so that he will think that Link is killing him. I climb out of the water, taking out the keys I stole from King. Examining the concrete box, I see thick metal hinges and a secure metal lock. On the lock is a design I recall seeing on one of my keys, and I quickly get out that key. It fits the lock, and I open it...yes! Finally, the Sword of Darkness is mine to wield. It lays before me in the box, completely dry and in good condition. The red jewel in the black and silver hilt glows with power and anxiousness, and the emensely sharp, darkish blade looks hungry for blood. Soon, it will be satisfied. Why, if the Hylians fear this sword so much, didn't they just destroy it? Ever since I learned the location of the sword, I have wondered this. Now, I know the answer. The level of power eminating from this sword is such that it cannot be destroyed by any normal weapon. No doubt, the Hylians don't have anything powerful enough to break it, or, if they do, they are too ignorant to realize it.
I pick up the sword and smile as I feel its hungry power flow into my body. It thinks it will use me to kill things for it, but it will be the other way around. My will is stronger than the sword's and it submits to my ownership. I have freed it and will satisfy its hunger, and that is enough. It is time to give this sword its first taste of Hylian blood. I stalk silently into the darkness, listening for the dead man who dared follow me here.-/i
Link paused, sure that he had heard stone grating against stone. But where from? The countless halls of water distorted sound with their twisting paths. Link thought it had come from a passage to the right, so that was the way he went. He still knew where he was, but if he made a wrong turn or somehow got turned around, he would be lost, probably for a very long time. Still very alert for danger, Link walked on. For about five minutes he followed the hall he was in, not tuning or trying to jump across the water. He began to wonder if he had really heard the sound from this direction, when something appeared in front of him. He cautiously approached it, and discovered it was an open concrete box, with algea all over it. He bent down and saw that it was empty! Nervousness rose as Link realized he was under the castle without any weapon, and there was a theif/murderer running around with the Sword of Darkness, which was probably the most anti-Link weapon in Hyrule. He stood up, looking around quickly. The holder of the stolen sword had to be somewhere nearby. At the end of this crazy chase, Link knew he would either be very lucky or very dead.
Link gave up the idea of looking for the man, because all that would do is get him killed. Instead, Link thought he would go back into the castle and find the Master Sword, then escape the castle and search for the guy until he found him and was able to prove himself innocent. Link only had a few hours before morning, meaning that he had to very quickly get out from under the castle and find his sword. He turned around, knowing the way back. Of course, he was very careful not to get too involved in finding the way back, or he could not devote all his senses to watching for danger. If the theif caught him unawares, it was over. Link pictured the map of the castle underhalls in his mind, choosing the shortest path back. It amazed him that he could remember such things, but he had plenty of training in that department from the Know-It-All Brothers. As a child, he had tried to remember every thing the boys had told him; with hope that it would come in handy later, and it had.
Link slowed his pace, thinking he had heard something. Unfortunately, he heard boots on stone and stopped. Whoever Link had unwisely followed down here was very close. Link wasn't afraid, thinking that whatever happened, things couldn't get much worse than they already were.
i-What sort of trick is this? How could this man possibly be Link? Link is supposed to be miles and miles away from here. Did he somehow make it back to Hyrule in a day through a teleportaton spell? Something strange is going on...he doesn't have his sword. I grin. Ths will be very easy. I can just kill him here and be done with him! Getting excited, I prepare to attack, forgetting all my former plans of luring the hero to my lair and giving him a slow death. This will do nicely.-/i
"Show yourself!" Link challanged, turning around because he thought that was where he had heard the noise. He heard boots again, and saw a blade glitter wickedly in front of him, barely catching some light from his torch. Boots came into view, then a body...Before Link could look at the face, the man sprung at him, aiming to drive the Sword of Darkness into his heart. Link jumped aside, eyes on the eerily glowing red jewel in the sword's hilt. The blade missed Link, but cut the top of his torch off, and it clattered to the ground, nearly going out. Link made a grab for where he had last seen a man's arm, and suceeded in catching a wrist. Holding onto it with both hands, Link flung his elusive enemy into the stone wall next to him. The man hit with a grunt of pain and slid to the floor. Link couldn't really tell, but the man seemed to be about the same size as him. Link could dimly see the guy lay on the floor for a second or two, then jump up and backwards, out of the ring of firelight.
Link kicked the still lit tip of the torch in the direction the man had gone, but to his surprise, nothing was illuminated. All he could see was the empty, damp, walkway of stone beside rushing water, and the low, arched ceiling of the same grey, mossy stone. iRunning away already? Come on, this guy has a huge advantage over me! I haven't even seen his face yet, but sure enough, he's wearing a tunic like mine. What's going on here?/i Link knew the man was still close. What should he do? Leave the torch and try to find his way in the darkness, or try to pick it up and risk being stabbed? Link didn't have time to make a decision. The black profile of the theif materialized out of the darkness and jumped over the torch, straight at Link, aiming a powerful slash at the Hylian's chest. The red jewel of his sword flared up once again, sensing that it was close to cutting flesh. Link tried to back up but didn't move fast enough, and had nothing he could block a sword with. The blade found its target.
"Aaaagghhh!" Screaming in searing pain as the dark blade cut his chest, Link stumbled backward. The dark sword had given him a long laceration, and the evil blade filled him with excruciating dark magic. Link lost his footing and fell, landing roughly on cold, slippery stone. Despite his chest feeling like it was burning, he stood up as the black outline of his attacker charged again. By some twisted form of luck, Link slipped on the wet stone again and the blade missed him. His opponent slammed into him, sending them both backwards into the water.
Link's world blurred as pain blinded him. Cold water was rushed into his wound, making it worse. The black magic hadn't faded from the wound yet (the longer or deeper a wound is, the longer it takes for the black magic to fade), and Link could barely manage to keep his head above water as the strong current swept him away. Everything was black, and even if Link's eyes were working properly he wouldn't be able to see an inch in front of his face. This was complete darkness, something an ordinary an Hylian's eyes could never penetrate. After a moment of struggling to keep himself upright in the water, Link felt hands grip his shoulders and shove him underwater. iIs this the end? This black magic is taking all my strength, I know I can't fight this man any longer. If the black magic doesn't kill me, this man certainly will. I'll be remembered as a hero gone bad.../iDespite the hopelessness of the siduation, Link called upon his failing strength and tried to break free of the man holding him under. He just wasn't strong enough. The guy had such a tight grip on his arm Link thought it might break. It would have been very painful if Link wasn't going numb from the cold water. Unfortunately the numbing did nothing to lessen the pain from his magic wound, which was assaulting his spirit as well as his body. Feeling his conscious fleeing from him, Link tried once again to get the weight of the thief off him, to no avail. Then, Link saw red as a jarring impact separated him and his enemy. Aparently they had hit some stone dividing two waterways that forked off in different directions, and they floated off away from eachother. The separation was in time to save Link from dying, but it did not save him from uncounciousness. He remembered thinking that he was very irritated about how often people tried to drown him when his thoughts ceased.
i-Curses. I wasn't watching were we were going and now I'll have a very large bruise from hitting that stone devider. But as I let the current carry me and my new sword out of the castle, I think I was sucessful. I felt Link go still in my hands. Did I kill him? I won't know until I return to my lair and check the condition of my prisoner...-/i
Coughing out water violently, Link dragged himself out of the freezing water. He didn't know how long he had been out, but it must have been at least half an hour because the black magic in his wound had left, leaving him with nothing but an ordinary, if painful, slash. Expelling the last of the water in his lungs, Link exhaustedly sat up against the cold stone wall of the walkway, shivering and breathing heavily. He had been stopped by a grate and washed up on some stairs that led up to the walkway beside the water. Link couldn't see it for lack of light, but had felt it. He was extremely lucky. According to his memory, each grate had a symbol carved on the wall next to it to mark its number, and Link could navigate out of here with that information. After a few minutes of shivering and deciding that it wasn't going to get any warmer, Link got to his feet and felt along the wall for the symbol; he stoically ignored the pain of his cut and numerous bruises.
sorry this is such a cliffhanger, but if I added another section on it would be too long. I'll probably update tomorrow anyways if this gets reviewed. I hope you guys are liking it so far! Can anyone guess who the Link look-alike is? . say, I got a question. When you guys read my story, do you see the titles bold, or do you see the b/b thingie? plz tell me in your review -Talonclawfange
By: Sonnet A.K.A. Talonclawfange
( E-mail me at Talonofdayyahoo.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. Oh yeah, and Kai-ten-giri belongs to Akira Himekawa who wrote some totally awsome Zelda manga. The only things I own are the Soku Tree, Chain, Sohran, 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: This story is separated into two parts because it is so long! The first part is 40 pages long and the second is 43. This story takes place after my other stories, which are: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, Duels and Dragons, Hunt for the Dragonlord, The War of the Kings, and The Song of the Siren's Shell, so you probably want to read them first or you'll be a little confused. It's somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and blood. Enjoy!
ibPart Two/b/i
buSection 1
Reko's Cave, Home Again/u/b
"Watch ouuuut!" Sohran yelled. The sea dragon-leviathan he was riding on, Eucheso, and the one Link was riding on, Yavatan, were swimming at an amazing speed. They were headed straight toward the cliffs of Ganon's Swamp, where the sea griffons lived, and it looked like they were going to smash into them.
"bHold on, Hylians!/b" Eucheso yelled, and he and Yavatan put on the breaks. Amazingly, Yavatan and Eucheso were able to stop before they hit the cliffs. Unfortunately, Link, Sohran, and the unconscious Feelock (Feelock had been KOed by a mental shock on the island him and the Hylians were returning from) went sailing off the heads of the two dragon-leviathans, flying right over the cliffs. The tops of the cliffs were grassy and smooth, and the two humans-turned-projectiles slid to a stop on the grass, wet from the damp sea air. Link groaned as Feelock's unmoving form landed right on top of him. iWell, at least I cusioned his fall,/i Link thought. He and Sohran sat up and saw a huge wall of water coming for them. An enormous wave from Yavatan and Eucheso stopping quckly washed over Link, Sohran and Feelock, going far beyond them to nicely water the half-dead swamp trees behind them.
"bOops...sorry, humans./b" Yavatan said, looking at Eucheso. They started laughing. Link glared at them irritably, then lightened up.
"Well, thanks very much for taking us here. Say 'hi' to Remorie for us!" The giant water dragons nodded, then left without a word, swimming away even faster than they had come because they were submerged. "Well, that was fun...sort of." Link said to Sohran.
"Yeah, it was exhilerating at first, but after an hour or two you start to think your head is going to get blown off." Sohran replied. It had taken about twelve hours to cross the sea on the dragon-leviathans, which was much shorter than the seven days it had taken Link to get across it the first time. The sun was setting, and Link's gazed at its beauty.
"Well, I say we sleep here tonight and worry about crossing the swamp tomorrow. It's probably more dangerous at night," Link said, yawning.
"Good idea. Maybe we can find a tree to sleep in..."
"Um, no. My friend Cyphas slept in a swamp tree and it didn't turn out well. There are tons of caves in these cliffs, maybe we can find one that doesn't have a sea griffon in it." Just then, a sea griffon flew up and landed on the cliff in front of Link, Sohran, and the still uncounscious Feelock.
"Wow, Hylians! Did you guys cause that huge wave?" The griffon asked. It had a grey bird half and a dark blue cat half. Its long tail was bear except for a long, feathery tuft at the tip. It was about the size of a horse and a half, and had deep purple eyes.
"We didn't cause them directly, but some big water dragons we were riding on stopped very close to the cliffs. Sorry about that." Sohran said.
"Oh, it's okay. I was going to clean my cave anyway. Say, you guys look washed up...need a place to stay?" iWhat is it with my luck? I wish for a cave and this happens! Too wierd,/i Link thought. But, he was really quite tired of taking advantage of creatures.
"Naw, we don't need to take up space in your cave. We'll find an empty one..." Link said, turning away.
"No, no! It would be great to have you in my cave! My daughter has always wanted to see a Hylian, so you'll be doing me a great favor. Pleeeease stay in my cave? Pleeeasee?" The griffon asked loudly.
"....Well, okay. If you really want us to." Link said. "But, you have to allow me to catch dinner for you."
"Really? What a cool Hylian! You can catch me dinner any time you want, buddy! Just get on my back, and your friend too...hey, what's that?" The griffon pointed at Feelock.
"He's our friend, a calwot. He got knocked unconscious last night, but he's okay." Link said, picking up the limp cat.
"Okay, put him on my back, too. I'll just cast a strength spell on myself and I'll easily be able to carry you all." After everyone was on the sea griffon, he chanted a quick strength spell and took off, flying smoothly along the cliffs, searching for his cave. "Hey, everyone! A sea dragon caused the wave and is gone, so it's nothing to worry about!" The griffon called. Aparently he had been sent out to investigate the cause of the big wave. "By the way, my name is Reko." The griffon said, diving shallowly toward a hole in the cliffs.
"Oh, how rude of us! My name is Link."
"I'm Sohran. We're both Royal Guards from Hyrule Castle."
"How interesting! My daughter will probably love to hear a few war stories. Maybe my mate too, I don't know." Reko and his passengers entered the cave, which was pretty roomy and could easily hold a family of three griffons. The griffon landed gracefully, and Link and Sohran saw two griffons sitting by a fire in the middle of the cave. They dismounted and walked with Reko the the griffons.
"I'm back, and guess what I brought! Two Hylians and a cowbot!"
"Eh, calwot," Sohran said quietly.
"Oh, yeah! I mean calwot. This Hylian is Sohran, that Hylian is Link, and the unconscious thing is Feelock."
"Nice to meet you!" The smaller of the two griffons said. She was the size of a wild cat or wolfos.
"Welcome." The larger said. She was the same size as Reko.
"Hylians, this is my mate, Unia." Reko said, pointing at the larger griffon. She had a white bird half with dark blue-tipped feathers, a black cat half, and bright blue eyes. Her long tail was completely covered with silky, long fur.
"...And this is my daughter, Kosi." The small griffon had a black bird half with a faint speckling of light blue, with cloudy grey haunches. Her bushy tail twitched exitedly and her purple eyes gleamed. "Wow, Hylians! Hey, they're kinda puny, aren't they?"
"Watch who your callin' puny, smallfry!" Reko said, waving the tip of his tail in his daughter's face to irritate her. Link put Feelock down at a comfortable distance from the fire, and Sohran sat next to the calwot.
"Hey, aren't you the Hylian that released the sea snakes from Kadien and ended the starvation of our race not too long ago? After that incident we learned to eat things other than sea gulls and sea snakes, but back then they were the only things we ate. That was you, wasn't it, Link?" Unia asked.
"Yeah. I'm glad you guys have learned to eat other things. That's healthier anyway." Link said.
"What an honor to have you in our cave! Thank you for what you did," Reko said.
"Eh, ...don't mention it. What do you griffons want for dinner?" Link asked, looking around at them.
"Clams sound good." Unia suggested, smiling.
"With fried cidid on the side!" Kosi said hungrily.
"Thats fine with me." Reko said, handing Link a net that had been sitting in the corner. "This might come in handy."
"Thanks. See you in a few minutes," Link said. Giant clams and cidids were very comonly found next to shore, so he knew it wouldn't take long. He walked out to the lip of the cave, gazing down at the ocean hundreds of feet below. Using his hookshot on the cliff face, he got down to about fifteen feet above the water and dived in, putting on his zora tunic. He put on his iron boots and sunk about fifty feet to the rocky bottom of the water. After walking around a bit, he spotted eight or nine giant clams sitting between two rocks. Each clam was about the size of a three-year-old child. One sensed Link coming and snapped open. It swam at him, biting angrily (giant clams are quite aggressive). Link put an end to its snapping with his hookshot, which woke up the other clams. Blocking clams with his shield and killing them with his hookshot, he managed to get them all before getting bitten. He put them all in the net, and dragged it with him as he kept walking. He froze as he saw a sea snake swimming towards him. Luckily the snake was not in the mood to fight, and swam right past Link. He continued, and quickly found a pack of about thirty cidids (small, brightly colored, hand-sized ocean insects) hiding in the shadow of a rock. Though it was hard to see them at sunset beneath fifty feet of water, they spotted Link instantly, and tried to attack him. Link simply raised the net and caught them all, figuring the griffons could kill them themselves.
Link took off his boots but the net was weighing him down, so he had to swim strongly to reach the surface and use his hookshot. He was soon back in Reko's cave, and walked over to the fire, putting the net full of dead clams and squirming cidids next to the fire. Everyone dug in, the griffons eating their clams and cidids raw.
"Be careful of the paralyzing stinger on your cidid, honey. Us griffons are immuned to it mostly, but if a young one like yourself bites right on the stinger, it'll hurt!" Reko said. Kosi nodded. Link and Sohran cooked their clams and didn't eat any cidids, because even a small bite would have them poisoned with the paralyzing fluid in the stinger. Link had been stung once, and it was not pleasant.
After a few minutes Link moved over next to Feelock, and tried to rouse the sleeping cat, but it didn't work. Link just hoped the cat woke up before he started getting weak from lack of nourishment. When the meal was finished, Kosi started eagerly asking Link and Sohran questions, which they were happy to answer. She asked about life in Hyrule Castle, other Hylians, Hylian females, and mountain griffons. She asked about many other things as well, but it was getting late and Reko soon cut off his daughter's questions, declaring it was time to sleep. Only one more question was asked, this time by Unia.
"How do you two plan to get back to Hyrule? Us griffons can't help you because tomorrow we have an all-griffon festival that lasts all day, and attendence is mandatory. Every sea griffon in Tecavesea will attend."
"We'll just cross the swamp. Don't worry, I've crossed it before and I have friends in the swamp. We'll be fine." Link said. "What's Tecavsea?"
"That's the name of our community of caves. Kozin the King named it, of course. Goodnight, Link and Sohran." Everyone went to bed then, in the cave which was magically heated to stay at a nice temparature after the fire was put out. Everyone slept well, to the relaxing sound of crashing waves.
i-Yes! Finally, the keys are mine. It will be a simple task to get what I want now, and the only one who can stop me is days away. What? The old man is stirring in his bed as I put the keys in my pocket...curses, he's awake. Getting his sword? So the ugly old man wants to fight me, very funny. It's too bad, though, I was going to kill him while he slept...oh well, I can kill him now. I draw my Master Sword look-alike and prepare to do him in. I will enjoy this.-/i
"Thanks again for letting us stay in your cave," Link said. He and Sohran were standing next to uncouncious Feelock at the top of the cliffs, bidding farewell to Reko. The sun was about to rise, and the sea griffon and his family would soon go to their festival.
"Thank iyou/i. I don't know if my daughter would ever meet a Hylian if you two hadn't come along, and she's been bothering me about it since we formed an alliance with Hyrule! It was very annoying, so thank you. Take care of yourselves."
"Same to you. Have fun at your festival, Reko," Sohran said. The sea griffon shook hands with the Hylians, then dove off the cliff to go wake his family. Link kneeled next to Feelock, wondering when the poor cat would wake up.
"This guy needs some nutrition...maybe we can get him to drink?" Link said, looking up at Sohran.
"Well, it's worth a try. Maybe some water will rouse him. Here." Sohran handed Link water in a glass bottle, and Link poured some on the calwot's snout. He didn't move, so Link opened the cat's mouth and poured a bit of water in there. To his and Sohran's surprise, Feelock's mouth twitched a bit, and then closed.
"Hey! He's waking up..." The two Hylians waited expectantly, but the black calwot made no further movements. Link shook the cat's shoulder a bit and called his name, but still the calwot was motionless.
"Link, why don't you pet him? I had a cat once and that always woke it up." Link gave Sohran a wierd look.
"He's not a housecat, and he'll probably be insulted. He used to be a King, you know."
"Yes, but he's still a feline. Just try it." Link wondered why Sohran didn't try it if he was so confident it would work, but didn't say anything. Maybe it would work. He rubbed behind Feelock's ears, something the old hag in the potion shop's cat had always liked. Link and Sohran laughed quietly as Feelock smiled and began to purr. Suddenly his eyes snapped open, and Link pulled his hand away. Feelock gave him a surprised look.
"Link? What are you doing here? Were you just scratching my ears?" His look of surprise turned to indignant irritation.
"Um, yeah...it woke you up, didn't it?" Link said. Feelock gave him a sour face.
"I'm not a domesticated kitten, Link. But, enough of anger. It is good to see you! But, I wonder why I'm seeing you. The last thing I remember was being in a cave in the Stalfos Swords. I had just decided to do something constructive with my life and thank you for defeating me when I was being foolish. I was going to change my armor to something a little more benevolent looking when I felt this strange prescence in my mind...and now I'm here!" The calwot sat up and looked around, rubbing his aching head. "Where iis/i here? And why does my head hurt?"
"It's a long story...we can tell you on our way through the swamp." Sohran suggested. He offered Feelock a hand and the cat took it, standing up.
"I'm Sohran, by the way." Sohran said, and he and the calwot shook eachother's hand before releasing them.
"Why are we going through a swamp? Does it lead back to my village, Catalin?" Feelock asked, once again looking around.
"Yes, and it will take at least two or three days to cross, so we should get started...but wait." Link pulled a leather bag off his shoulder. It had some dried clam in it. "You must be starving, Feelock. Eat some of this." Link handed the cat some food, which he quickly ate. He also accepted some water Link handed him.
"Thank you, that hit the spot," Feelock said, giving Link the empty bottle. "We don't have to go the slow way, Hylians. I am a flying, magic-using calwot, remember? I can cast a haste and strength spell on myself and carry you two over the swamp. It's way faster than walking!"
"Really? We'll be in Hyrule by this afternoon if we fly!" Link exclaimed.
"Well then, you two guide me and tell me your story as we go, agreed?" Link and Sohran nodded, and Feelock quickly cast two spells on himself and picked up Link and Sohran (size wasn't a problem, since the cat was easily two feet taller then Link, over a foot taller than Sohran, and very fit). He then opened his sleek black bird wings and took off. Soon the three of them were soaring high over Ganon's Swamp, straight toward Hyrule. They saw some fog in the distance, so Feelock, with his amazing magical talents, cast some breathing spells on the three of them and climbed to a very high altitude (Link was horribly afraid of being that high, but managed to keep himself from complaining) that would carry them far over the mist. Link and Sohran then proceeded to tell Feelock what had happened to him.
All day the three soared thousands of feet above the swamp, talking and admiring the beauty of the half-shrouded land far below (or just staring straight ahead for fear of heights, in Link's case). Link and Sohran were getting sick of traveling so much, but were encouraged whenever they thought of the fact that they would be back in Hyrule soon. It should have been very uncomfortable to get carried by a strong, metal-coated arm of a calwot, but miraculously Link and Sohran didn't get sore. More of Feelock's magic, no doubt. He was a very good sorcerer. When the sun began to slip behind the distant horizon and the calwot and Hylians left the misty swamp behind, they found themselves flying over Hyrule. Feelock began to decend slowly, careful not to go too fast or the quick change of pressure might hurt his long-eared Hylian passengers. The experienced flyer landed smoothly in front of Hyrule Castle, putting Link and Sohran down.
Section 2
Chasing a Sword Thief
"Well, I'm really glad that's over!" Link said, and Sohran nodded. "Anyway, thanks for flying us over here, Feelock. Are you going back to Catalin?"
"Yes, I have a few things to do. I suppose I'll see you two some other time." Smiling warmly and waving to the Hylians, the large calwot reopened his wings and leaped into the air, instantly catching the wind and gliding to the north and the Stalfos Swords (Catalin is in those mountains).
"Man, the first thing I'm doing is taking a shower! I stink from all that running around two nights ago..." Sohran said as the two Hylians walked over to the castle, which was separated from Royal Field by a moat and short, flat, wood bridge over it. The Hylians walked across the bridge, which led to the huge, wooden, studded steel doors on the north side of the castle, and Link shoved one open. There were only a few guards standing around inside, so obviously Link and Sohran had not been expected. Link and Sohran came in and closed the great door behind them. One idle Royal Guardsman turned and saw Link as he apprached, and the soldier gasped in surprise. The following confusion baffled the Hero of Time.
"It's Link! Hey, LINK'S HERE!" The guard yelled, and about two dozen guards who had been standing around somewhere ran to Link and surrounded him, pointing their spears at his neck. "Don't move, Link! We have orders to do whatever is necessary to capture you!"
"W-what? Did I miss something?" Link stopped and put his arms up to show submission. "Some welcome this is..."
"Hey, why are you guys doing that? Me and Link just got home and you start threatening him?" Sohran turned to the one with the highest rank. "Explain yourself!"
"Yes, sir! It's a good thing you're home sir, and a very good thing you caught this stinking traitor! He's to be put in the dungeons at once!"
"What? I didn't do anything, what do you mean I'm supposed to go to the dungeon?" Link asked, perplexed.
"Silence, you murderous traitor!" A soldier said, poking him lightly.
"I would never betray Hyrule!" Link protested, glaring at the soldier. He was beginning to get irritated.
"Oh yeah? What do you call injuring twenty-one guards, stealing the royal keys, pushing the princess, and trying to ikill/i the King?"
"WHAT?!" Link was outraged. He was about to nicely explain to the soldier that what he had just said was completely ridiculous, but the rest of the Royal Guards' spears all got a little closer to his neck and he restrained himself.
"Have you all gone imad?!/i Link is the Hero of Time, you idiots! He would never do those things, and we've been gone for over ten days!" Sohran growled. He and some guards began shouting at eachother, and Link saw someone standing far behind them, under the archway that led to the courtyard. It was Zelda. Link was tremendously happy to see her, because he had been worrying about what the 'Dark One' had said about being in Hyrule. That meant he could harm the Princess, but she looked fine. At least, physically. The look on her face said she was not fine. Even from a distance, Link could see her pretty features twisted with many different emotions. She looked slightly happy, but also terribly sad and frightened.
"Zelda!" He called, trying to get a reaction from her. He got one, which was the princess turning and running. iWow, whatever happened, even Zelda wont talk to me. But I didn't do anything, so what the heck's going on? Whatever I do, I can't run or fight because that will make everyone think I'm guilty of doing everything that guard just said. What can I do? /i
Link was getting a little worried. These guards seemed to be serious, and Link knew very well what the penalty for trying to kill the King was. The only things he could do was try to convince eveyone he hadn't done it, or run and be outcast from Hyrule forever. Hyrule was his destiny. He couldn't just leave it.
"I tell you, Link hasn't done one single bad thing while I've been with him, you're all crazy!" Sohran screamed at the highest-rank soldier.
"Sir Sohran, if you try to stop us you'll be incarcerated too! Link will have a chance to defend himself tomorrow. Right now, we're taking him down." Sohran looked really mad, then got an alarmed look on his face as he glanced behind Link. "Hey, what are you doing? Link, watch out!" Confusion and being at spearpoint kept Link from moving, and a rag wet with some foul-smelling fluid was pressed against his face. Imediately, he thought someone was throwing him into a deep pit, and felt a falling sensation.
"He's too dangerous to be transported consciously..." Some voice said, sounding far away in the darkness enveloping Link.
Link heard a voice, calling his name. It wasn't very clear, and Link couldn't recognize the voice for another few minutes. He heard the voice clearly just as his eyes began to focus and he felt cold stone beneath him.
"Link? Oh, thank goodness. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up! But I had complete confidence that I, The Great Taig, could wake you." A horse-sized young red dragon sat outside Link's cell, tail thrashing impatiently. Link sat up, groaning and holding his pounding head. "Hm, are you okay, Link? You look kinda sick." Link looked around, discovering himself in one of the stone cells below Hyrule castle. It was dark except for a few magical torches, and had close bars and stone walls sealing it off from everything. Link sighed, he hated being in cells. But it sure was happening a lot lately. He quickly found out that all of his items and weapons had been taken from him, which was, of course, no surprise.
"I'm okay...hey Taig, its great to see you! Can you tell me what on earth is going on?" Link asked, standing up and facing the dragon prince. Taig jumped excitedly to his feet.
"I don't think you did it, Link! It's a big fat lie! You didn't do any horrible things last night!" Taig growled, smoke trailing from his red nostrils. "Whoever's framing you will be burnt to a thousand little ashes by the flames of the Great Taig!!" Taig shot a blast of flame straight up, turning the stone above him bright red. The dragon turned his head back to Link.
"What exactly does everyone think I did? Someone said I stole some keys and hurt soldiers or something..." Link said, not quite remembering everything that had happened to him before he was knocked out.
"Yeah, I just got here this afternoon to visit you and a Royal Guard told me this ridiculous story! Supposedly, you knocked out several guards in order to reach the King's quarters. Then you stole the castle keys, which are keys to all the locks in the castle, like into forbidden passages and the waterways below. Then the idiot told me that the King woke up and you did battle with him. The King gave you a slash on the arm and you tried to cut his head off. If he hadn't backed up, you would have suceeded, but you did succeed in putting a large laceration on his neck. You then proceeded to stab his lower left shoulder deeply, nearly cutting his heart and killing him, while pinning himto the ground with a boot on his neck. Reinforcements came and you pushed Zelda and injured about twenty guards before escaping the castle. But you didn't do it, Link! I know you didn't, did you?" Taig stopped raving, looking at Link hopefully.
"Of course not, I would never. That story appalls me! I have no idea what's going on here, but I hope I get the chance to talk to the King soon, and tell him this is madness. But who do you think idid/i do it? No-one looks just like me except Chain, and certainly he wouldn't go around in my clothes stealing things."
"They should know it wasn't you because you don't have a scratch on you, and the King claims he wounded you. Though that could have been healed, the soldiers didn't find the keys on you. Yes, those could have been hidden, but still! I should think your past and personality would be sure proof it wasn't you. But then, the King did say your voice even sounded normal...but he was probably half asleep!"
"Well, there's more witnesses against me than with me, it seems. Feelock and Sohran are the only two who saw me last night. Oh yeah, and the griffons but they wouldn't be included in this kind of thing. By the way Taig, do you know of anyone who calls himself the 'Dark One'? He controlled Feelock and caused the storms, but I'm sure you'll hear about that as soon as he gets to Catalin and news spreads to Dracoulis."
"No, never heard of anyone like that." Taig said, calming himself and sitting down. His red scales and almost metallic golden wings shimmered in the torchlight as he shifted uncomfortably. "Man, it's cold in here! I can't believe they're doing this to you after you saved all their butts from Ganondorf! Hylians are so unpractical and ungrateful. A proper trial would be held in Dracoulis before anything unpleasant happened to the accused."
"Well, the King runs Hyrule by the old laws, and no one argues with him because he iusually/i makes good decisions. I hate to murmur, but I think Zelda will be a better ruler. She's very wise. By the way, is she okay?"
"Well, she's not hurt, but she's very distressed. She says she had a terrible dream about you a while ago. At first she thought it meant you were dead, now the King says it might mean you have 'fallen into darkness', or turned evil. She didn't seem very convinced, though. She seems very scared and worried. She even told me it was good to see you, but when she thinks of what's going to happen to you she's not happy. What does that mean, Link?"
"It means anyone who commits treason or tries to kill the King gets beheaded, that's what." Link said, ignoring an irritating sinking feeling that forced its way into his stomach.
"iBeheaded?/i No way! I'll bust you out of here, Link! I can snap these bars like twigs!" Taig roared, flexing his muscles.
"No, Taig. I could break out myself and even find a back way out of here because I've studied a map of Hyrule castle's underhalls. However, doing that will only firmly convince everyone I really did try to kill the King, and I'd rather die than have Zelda and my friends think that."
"If they were really friends, like me, they would know you didn't do it! However, Zelda said herself she wouldn't believe you did it if she hadn't seen you close-up. She looked very sad as she described how she saw every detail of your face and the Master Sword as you shoved her aside to escape. She said she was sure it was you. It was kinda freaky to hear her describe it, Link..."
"Don't worry, Taig, I really didn't do it. I was gone last night, promise."
"Okay Link, I believe you, and so does Sohran and some others."
"Thanks, Taig. Anyway, do you have any other news?"
"Hmmm, let me think..." A loud banging was heard on a steel door in the hall behing Taig and to the right.
"Hey! You've been in there long enough! I don't care if you're a Prince, that's all the time you get!" A guard yelled from behind the door. Link then heard the door opening and the soldier walked up beside Taig. The dragon glowered at the guard, and the guard glowered at Link. "I can't believe you, Link." He said, not even noticing the dragon's glaring. "After being the Hero of Time you would almost kill the King...you know, if the physician hadn't reached the King as fast as he did, the King would have bled to death in a matter of minutes!" The soldier spit on the ground in distaste.
"Link didn't do it, human!" Taig growled, glaring spears at the man.
"I saw him myself, he ran right past me, chopping at my head! The bloody brat tried to kill the King!"
"bHe did NOT!/b" Taig roared, a piece of his mature dragon voice surfacing as his rage boiled. It was terribly deep and infuriated. The soldier backed up, frightened by the dragon's anger. "bIf you say it one more time, I'll fry you!!/b" Cringing, the soldier backed up more. A few soldiers came from behind the firghtened one, wielding spears.
"Don't make us attack you, dragon! Your father will hear about this! You promised to behave!"
"bHow can I 'behave' if my best Hylian friend is going to be killed?!/b"
"Taig, no! Don't-" Link tried to say, but then every noise in the dungeouns was drowned out by a viscious roar, and Taig sprang at the soldiers. Unfortunately for the dragon, they had been prepared for this. They stood aside and pressed themselves against the walls and Taig shot past, tripping over one's boot and sprawling on the ground. The soldiers quickly put a net over the dragon, which was made of metal links and hooks. Each time the dragon tried to move, the hooks dug into him, making him wince. The dragon went still, a feral hiss escaping his snout. "Taig..." Link watched from within his cage, determined to do something about it if the guards seriously harmed his reptilian friend. They were gentle, however, as they put a muzzle on Taig and carried him out.
"bI won't let them kill you, Link/b!" Taig declared, his words muffled by the muzzle as the soldiers carried him away. One stayed behind, and walked over to Link, examining him. Link recognized the soldier immediately, it was a man he had recently made friends with and fought against during the last Warrior Contest.
"Hi, Corb." Link said simply.
"Hi, Link." The brown-haired man replied. They simply stared at eachother for a few moments. Corb trying to decide what he should think of Link, Link wondering if Corb thought he was guilty. To his dismay, Corb did. "Why did you do it, Link?" Link sighed. It was probably useless to say anything, but he couldn't keep silent.
"I didn't, Corb. Seriously. I was in the cliffs of the Great Sea last night." Link could tell Corb wasn't convinced. It was pretty painful to see someone who had been a friend before look at him accusingly.
"Link, don't lie. See this scar?" Corb held up his right forearm and Link saw a large healed slash. It made Link mad at whoever was framing him to see his former friend hurt. "You gave it to me last night. Why?" Link closed his eyes sadly. Without saying anything, he went and sat in the corner of his cell. It was useless. There was nothing he could do! If only he had Zelda's brain, he could think of something...iZelda! I need to talk to her!/i
"Corb, listen. Can you please tell Princess Zelda I want to talk with her?" Link asked.
"Why, so you can give her a scar to match mine? Certainly not!" Link flinched visibly from the harsh words. Corb had been such a nice guy! Apparently, he felt as betrayed as Link did. Corb shot an angry look at Link, and left him in silence. Link put his head in his hands, wondering if he would ever talk face-to-face with Zelda again before he met an unlikely end to his road.
Link got no more visitors because all who asked were turned down after the incident with Taig. Chain even picked a fight with a guard who was making him angry, but didn't win and was punished. Link was growing increasingly irritated with the whole situation. Not only was he in a bad position, but all his supporters were causing an uproar. Even from in his cell, he could hear a fight break out once in a while involving the guards watching the dungeons. A meal was brought to him at some time, but he wasn't hungry enough to touch it. What a crazy siduation! While he was alone, he thought about what was going to happen. iWould I really rather die than be banished from Hyrule? Will the King listen when I explain that I didn't attack him? If I am executed, what will happen if a monster tries to destroy Hyrule? I don't think there will even be a formal trial, I'll be lucky if I can defend myself more than once according to the old rules...What the heck am I going to? Sit around and rot and die? Run away from all my friends and convince everyone I'm a villain? If I escape from here just to talk to the King, I'm sure any soldier who saw me would try to kill me, and how could I fight against another Royal Guardsman? This is so hopeless...it seems like there's a very intelligent answer to this enigma, and I just can't find it. I can't try to sneak out and talk to Zelda because she'll be with her father...the only way I'll ever get to talk to her again is if she comes down here, and no doubt the King's forbidden that. Shoot...I should just leave.../iLink shook his head. iI can't do that! This place and these people mean so much to me... do I mean so little to them? /iThe thought was very depressing.
Link worried over the matter past evening and far into night. He thought of all the possible things he could do and what he would say if the King asked him to say anything. No-one had told him, but Link knew that tomorrow at sunrise he would be taken to the courtyard and be allowed to briefly present his defense. If the King thought he was guilty, his head would part company with his shoulders. If not, he would be forgiven of all charges and everything would go back to normal. Link was thinking of who his imposter was when he started to get tired. iA shapeshifter couldn't have done it because they can only imitate bodies, not weapons, and there's only one Master Sword. Shoot, who could possibly make a sword just like mine, and look just like me,/i and isound just like me? It's impossible.../iIt was about two o'clock in the morning when sleepiness and boredom clouded Link's thoughts. He drifted into sleep, despite the cold, hard stone beneath him.
Link jerked awake as he heard metal against metal. He sat up, long ears perked, waiting for another sound. He could hear the muffled snoring of the guard who was supposed to be watching the door down the hall and to the right. Waiting a few moments, he heard the metal again. It wasn't grating, like he had thought at first. This time, it was the distinct sound of a large, metal lock being opened. Link was on his feet imediately. iThat must be the person who stole the keys from the king! I have to catch him,/i Link thought. This was the answer to his question! All he had to do was catch the guy before he escaped. Link ran over to his bars and easily bent them open with the help of the Platinum Gauntlets' strength. He didn't even stop to see if his guard had woken up, dashing down the hall to the left, which was where he had heard the sound. He quickly found a fork in the stone hall, and knew from his map-study that the right way lead to the waterways under the castle and the left led to more dungeon cells. Link heard a door closing somewhere far down the right path and ran that way. After about a minute of sprinting, he found an old wooden door on the left side of the passage he was in. Next to the bottom of the door lay a rusty lock, opened and discarded. Link quietly entered the door, not wanting the person he was chasing to know he was there.
Link walked quickly but quietly down the dimly-lit stone passage the door he had opened led to. He passed several doors on his way, but all were locked. The passage angled to the left and down some spiral stairs. By the flickering torchlight Link could see a door at the end of the stairs. As he reached the door he heard rushing water behind it, and a lock laying on the floor. Link discovered that the light was dim because a torch had been taken, so Link took another one and pushed open the old door. He emerged into pitch darkness, the only light being that of his torch. The air was damp and cold, and Link could hear water rushing all around him. After letting his eyes adjust for a few moments, Link saw he was standing on a walkway that followed flowing water down an arched hallway that curved to the right. He saw a dim light shining on the wall in that direction and followed, wondering why on earth someone would steal keys just to get to the waterways. There was nothing down here...iWait, I do seem to remember something important being down here, but I didn't think I'd have to worry about it ever again and forgot...let's see, it was something powerful...Oh yeah!/i Link broke into a run as he realized what was down there. It had been hidden down there, and the only people who knew about it was Zelda, Impa, the King, and Link. The Sword of Darkness! The King had sealed it in a concrete, locked box. Link had to stop this mysterious person before he reached it! Link remembered how it had felt to be cut by that blade...
Link was catching up to the person in front of him. He saw the torchlite, then heard booted feet running as the man discovered he was being followed. As Link ran around a bend and down a left passageway in his pursuit, he found that he was gaining on the man. Unfortunately, Link knew where they were going and just up ahead would be many turns and forks, and it might be very easy for his query to evade him if he didn't catch up more. Breathing heavily, Link increased his pace. He almost lost his footing on the slippery surface of the stone, but caught himself before he fell into the water beside him. Link ran again, and the passage he was in straightened out. He could see the guy with the torch! He was too far away to be able to tell anything for certain, but Link saw that he was wearing green before the theif dashed down a right passageway. Link followed, but by the time he got to the turn, the torchlight had dissappeared and Link barely caught sight of it going down another turn. Link wasn't tired yet, and ran quickly that way, careful not to slip. Link was catching up again, when suddenly the light in front of him dissappeared entirely. There wasn't any turns where the light had been, so the theif must have gotten desperate and doused his torch.
iGreat, now what? I'll never find him in this blackness, but how is he going to find his way around? Maybe this isn't a normal human../i.Link stopped and listened, but only heard rushing water. He then continued running until he got to the spot he was sure he had seen the torchlight last. He stopped running and looked about cautiously, knowing the guy could easily ambush him if he wasn't careful. Link leaned down and saw boot marks on the wet stone. He tried to follow them, but found that there were too many other kinds of marks in the stone and not enough light to track. Dismayed, Link tried to recall if the King had ever told him exactly where the Sword of Darkness in its case had been thrown in the water. Link didn't think so. Therefore, the only thing left for Link to do was search all the surrounding hallways and try not to get lost. He knew where he was, but his memory of the upcoming hallways were dim. He could only pray for good luck as he marched onward, all senses alert for danger.
i-Yes, this is the spot...I can feel the darkness calling to me from here! It is very hard to see in this blackness because the fool following me forced me to extinguish my torch, but I can see enough to make out a rectangle-shaped box in the water. I dive in and swim hard to resist the current. I get hold of the box and use my huge strength to lift it. Regretfully, I wouldn't have the strength if it weren't for Link finding the Golden Gauntlets. I hate owing my strength to that fool. Oh well, I will be prepared to murder him when he gets back to Hyrule.
Putting the four foot long concrete case under my arm, I swim to the top and break the surface, breathing hard. Why? This should be easy for me. Too bad I can't breath underwater. I doesn't seem quite right. I shove the heavy thing onto the stone, hoping that whoever is down here doesn't hear it. True, I could easily kill whoever it is, but I want plenty of time to examine my new sword. And, it would be a pity if I had to kill the man before I can get the sword and test it on him. I'll even maintain my disguise so that he will think that Link is killing him. I climb out of the water, taking out the keys I stole from King. Examining the concrete box, I see thick metal hinges and a secure metal lock. On the lock is a design I recall seeing on one of my keys, and I quickly get out that key. It fits the lock, and I open it...yes! Finally, the Sword of Darkness is mine to wield. It lays before me in the box, completely dry and in good condition. The red jewel in the black and silver hilt glows with power and anxiousness, and the emensely sharp, darkish blade looks hungry for blood. Soon, it will be satisfied. Why, if the Hylians fear this sword so much, didn't they just destroy it? Ever since I learned the location of the sword, I have wondered this. Now, I know the answer. The level of power eminating from this sword is such that it cannot be destroyed by any normal weapon. No doubt, the Hylians don't have anything powerful enough to break it, or, if they do, they are too ignorant to realize it.
I pick up the sword and smile as I feel its hungry power flow into my body. It thinks it will use me to kill things for it, but it will be the other way around. My will is stronger than the sword's and it submits to my ownership. I have freed it and will satisfy its hunger, and that is enough. It is time to give this sword its first taste of Hylian blood. I stalk silently into the darkness, listening for the dead man who dared follow me here.-/i
Link paused, sure that he had heard stone grating against stone. But where from? The countless halls of water distorted sound with their twisting paths. Link thought it had come from a passage to the right, so that was the way he went. He still knew where he was, but if he made a wrong turn or somehow got turned around, he would be lost, probably for a very long time. Still very alert for danger, Link walked on. For about five minutes he followed the hall he was in, not tuning or trying to jump across the water. He began to wonder if he had really heard the sound from this direction, when something appeared in front of him. He cautiously approached it, and discovered it was an open concrete box, with algea all over it. He bent down and saw that it was empty! Nervousness rose as Link realized he was under the castle without any weapon, and there was a theif/murderer running around with the Sword of Darkness, which was probably the most anti-Link weapon in Hyrule. He stood up, looking around quickly. The holder of the stolen sword had to be somewhere nearby. At the end of this crazy chase, Link knew he would either be very lucky or very dead.
Link gave up the idea of looking for the man, because all that would do is get him killed. Instead, Link thought he would go back into the castle and find the Master Sword, then escape the castle and search for the guy until he found him and was able to prove himself innocent. Link only had a few hours before morning, meaning that he had to very quickly get out from under the castle and find his sword. He turned around, knowing the way back. Of course, he was very careful not to get too involved in finding the way back, or he could not devote all his senses to watching for danger. If the theif caught him unawares, it was over. Link pictured the map of the castle underhalls in his mind, choosing the shortest path back. It amazed him that he could remember such things, but he had plenty of training in that department from the Know-It-All Brothers. As a child, he had tried to remember every thing the boys had told him; with hope that it would come in handy later, and it had.
Link slowed his pace, thinking he had heard something. Unfortunately, he heard boots on stone and stopped. Whoever Link had unwisely followed down here was very close. Link wasn't afraid, thinking that whatever happened, things couldn't get much worse than they already were.
i-What sort of trick is this? How could this man possibly be Link? Link is supposed to be miles and miles away from here. Did he somehow make it back to Hyrule in a day through a teleportaton spell? Something strange is going on...he doesn't have his sword. I grin. Ths will be very easy. I can just kill him here and be done with him! Getting excited, I prepare to attack, forgetting all my former plans of luring the hero to my lair and giving him a slow death. This will do nicely.-/i
"Show yourself!" Link challanged, turning around because he thought that was where he had heard the noise. He heard boots again, and saw a blade glitter wickedly in front of him, barely catching some light from his torch. Boots came into view, then a body...Before Link could look at the face, the man sprung at him, aiming to drive the Sword of Darkness into his heart. Link jumped aside, eyes on the eerily glowing red jewel in the sword's hilt. The blade missed Link, but cut the top of his torch off, and it clattered to the ground, nearly going out. Link made a grab for where he had last seen a man's arm, and suceeded in catching a wrist. Holding onto it with both hands, Link flung his elusive enemy into the stone wall next to him. The man hit with a grunt of pain and slid to the floor. Link couldn't really tell, but the man seemed to be about the same size as him. Link could dimly see the guy lay on the floor for a second or two, then jump up and backwards, out of the ring of firelight.
Link kicked the still lit tip of the torch in the direction the man had gone, but to his surprise, nothing was illuminated. All he could see was the empty, damp, walkway of stone beside rushing water, and the low, arched ceiling of the same grey, mossy stone. iRunning away already? Come on, this guy has a huge advantage over me! I haven't even seen his face yet, but sure enough, he's wearing a tunic like mine. What's going on here?/i Link knew the man was still close. What should he do? Leave the torch and try to find his way in the darkness, or try to pick it up and risk being stabbed? Link didn't have time to make a decision. The black profile of the theif materialized out of the darkness and jumped over the torch, straight at Link, aiming a powerful slash at the Hylian's chest. The red jewel of his sword flared up once again, sensing that it was close to cutting flesh. Link tried to back up but didn't move fast enough, and had nothing he could block a sword with. The blade found its target.
"Aaaagghhh!" Screaming in searing pain as the dark blade cut his chest, Link stumbled backward. The dark sword had given him a long laceration, and the evil blade filled him with excruciating dark magic. Link lost his footing and fell, landing roughly on cold, slippery stone. Despite his chest feeling like it was burning, he stood up as the black outline of his attacker charged again. By some twisted form of luck, Link slipped on the wet stone again and the blade missed him. His opponent slammed into him, sending them both backwards into the water.
Link's world blurred as pain blinded him. Cold water was rushed into his wound, making it worse. The black magic hadn't faded from the wound yet (the longer or deeper a wound is, the longer it takes for the black magic to fade), and Link could barely manage to keep his head above water as the strong current swept him away. Everything was black, and even if Link's eyes were working properly he wouldn't be able to see an inch in front of his face. This was complete darkness, something an ordinary an Hylian's eyes could never penetrate. After a moment of struggling to keep himself upright in the water, Link felt hands grip his shoulders and shove him underwater. iIs this the end? This black magic is taking all my strength, I know I can't fight this man any longer. If the black magic doesn't kill me, this man certainly will. I'll be remembered as a hero gone bad.../iDespite the hopelessness of the siduation, Link called upon his failing strength and tried to break free of the man holding him under. He just wasn't strong enough. The guy had such a tight grip on his arm Link thought it might break. It would have been very painful if Link wasn't going numb from the cold water. Unfortunately the numbing did nothing to lessen the pain from his magic wound, which was assaulting his spirit as well as his body. Feeling his conscious fleeing from him, Link tried once again to get the weight of the thief off him, to no avail. Then, Link saw red as a jarring impact separated him and his enemy. Aparently they had hit some stone dividing two waterways that forked off in different directions, and they floated off away from eachother. The separation was in time to save Link from dying, but it did not save him from uncounciousness. He remembered thinking that he was very irritated about how often people tried to drown him when his thoughts ceased.
i-Curses. I wasn't watching were we were going and now I'll have a very large bruise from hitting that stone devider. But as I let the current carry me and my new sword out of the castle, I think I was sucessful. I felt Link go still in my hands. Did I kill him? I won't know until I return to my lair and check the condition of my prisoner...-/i
Coughing out water violently, Link dragged himself out of the freezing water. He didn't know how long he had been out, but it must have been at least half an hour because the black magic in his wound had left, leaving him with nothing but an ordinary, if painful, slash. Expelling the last of the water in his lungs, Link exhaustedly sat up against the cold stone wall of the walkway, shivering and breathing heavily. He had been stopped by a grate and washed up on some stairs that led up to the walkway beside the water. Link couldn't see it for lack of light, but had felt it. He was extremely lucky. According to his memory, each grate had a symbol carved on the wall next to it to mark its number, and Link could navigate out of here with that information. After a few minutes of shivering and deciding that it wasn't going to get any warmer, Link got to his feet and felt along the wall for the symbol; he stoically ignored the pain of his cut and numerous bruises.
sorry this is such a cliffhanger, but if I added another section on it would be too long. I'll probably update tomorrow anyways if this gets reviewed. I hope you guys are liking it so far! Can anyone guess who the Link look-alike is? . say, I got a question. When you guys read my story, do you see the titles bold, or do you see the b/b thingie? plz tell me in your review -Talonclawfange