Oh my lord I got more reviews! My god I am happy. Anyway…
Zeldaisthebest, thanks for the comments. I didn't think I done that fight scene well, didn't turn out how I wanted it to but thanks for the compliment anyway. Likewise, Crescent-Wish-Forever and superdave, thanks a lot I really appreciate it. And in answer to your question, yes there will be more good guys later on, but not for a while. I'm going to let Zelda and Link suffer for a bit more! (Does evil laugh) And whether it will be Mario & CO that helps our heroes remains a mystery…well, for you it does but I already know!
As usual italics represent thoughts, as if you didn't know! Expect action and enough of it
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Cedric the soldier, but he's dead so that doesn't matter!
Chapter 4: Down by the River Side
Link and Zelda had got to the river, and true to Zelda's word, there was no sign of settlements or people. As the Hylians rode Epona for miles along side of the river, the day went on and darkness began to creep around the gloomy plains. Clouds were still forming. It seemed likely that there was to be a downpour.
'There's no way we will reach the forest tonight' Link said as he splashed water over himself, refreshing his battle worn face and wiping away the impurities the day had brought. 'I mean, it's getting dark, Epona is tired and I still haven't recovered from the battles.' As he said this he bought out a bottle of Lon Lon milk from the inside of his tunic. In one gulp he drained half of its contents and the magical milk began to heal away at the fighters injuries and provide more energy.
'You want some?' Link asked as he offered the bottle to Zelda, who was kneeling down with her arms around her knees.
'Please' Zelda muttered as she took the bottle and drank what was left. 'Sorry, I've drunk it all'. Zelda said as she buried her head in her dress.
'Don't worry about it. It would of gone sour anyway. And this way I now have 3 extra bottles to fill up with water. You never know when we might get thirsty.. Zelda? Why…What's the matter?' Link said as the Princess was quietly sobbing in her royal garment
'I've really screwed up haven't I? Story of my life…' Zelda said between sobs.
'Zelda, c'mon calm down its only milk! I didn't want it anyway'
'No, It's not, the milk. It's everything. This place, the reason why were here, Ganondorf. It's all my fault.'
Link didn't really know what to say. He wanted to comfort her, but he just couldn't get the words out. Instead, all he could say was 'I don't understand.'
'Link, remember when we first met?
'Remember? (Link thought) How could I not? How could anyone forget the first time they saw those intoxicating blue eyes that make the seas of Neptune envious? How could I forget when the sight of such a gorgeous being, an Angel of the Earth, was first blessed upon me? I could never forget it. When I first ran around the corner of the castle courtyard and laid eyes on you, standing there, I thought to myself, it would be an insult to call you a mere princess. Goddess would be a more suitable title.
'And then when I fought the evil of Ganondorf seven years later, there were times when I was overcome by impossible odds. On such occasions I thought of giving up there and then. But I always pictured your face in my mind, and that gave me a will power, a boost of soul and energy to fight on. You were my beacon in the darkness, Zelda. How could I ever forget?'
Link pondered on whether to tell Zelda his feelings, but thought against it.
'Of course I remember' was all he could say. 'Why'd you ask?'
The princess continued her sob; her dress was threatening to get soaked by her own tears.
'Then you remember, that I was so confident we could easily defeat Ganondorf. How wrong was I? After you got the three stones, Ganondorf entered the sacred realm, got the Triforce of power, and Hyrule suffered, because of my arrogance.
I had to wait for you to emerge from the sacred realm before we could launch an assault on Ganondorf. I was so hopeless without you Link. Then Ganondorf captured me because I screwed up with my disguise. Then, after we apparently beat him, I chose to send us back in time. Did I choose the wrong thing?'
'Zelda, you done it for me, you wanted me to get those 7 years back.'
'Yes, but I had a hidden motive Link. A part of me, wanted to recover 7 years I never had. I wanted to have 7 years of my childhood back. So I sent time back. Since me, you and the sages were not on Hyrule; we kept the knowledge of Ganon. But, because I sent time back, our imprisonment on Ganondorf disappeared, and he was free.'
'He wasn't free Zelda; because I put the master sword back the door to the sacred realm was lock. He was till trapped.'
'But not permanently Link. We knew he would arise in 7 years. Yet, despite that knowledge I didn't really prepare. I continued my life care free, thinking once again we could beat him. You would of thought I would have learnt my lesson once. But know, on my 17th Birthday, me Saria and the rest became sages again. The Ganondorf got out of the sacred realm.'
'And you imprisoned him straight away. As soon as the temple of time opened you imprisoned him, like before. I still don't see how you screwed up Zelda?'
'We should of killed him. We should of killed him, not imprisoned him. We could of done it, I know we could. The other sages decided to, but me, being the leader, chose against it. I screwed up then, as he was able to still find a way to leave his imprisonment, as I previously mentioned. Even when I found that out, I still didn't stop him. And because of that he was able to do this' Zelda gestured around the surrounding area. 'I screwed up Link, on many occasions. I could have prevented all this. But no, I starred something out of nothing, endangered more life's, bought you into a situation that you shouldn't be in. I'm sorry. I'm a failure as a sage. Surely you see Link, all the mistakes I done.' And with that Zelda started to cry profoundly.
'Zelda, what happened done so for a reason. There are too many possibilities, too many situations, and too many outcomes in life for us to see. Even for a sage, you cant be sure of what will happen. You done everything expected of you, no one can criticise you. And a situation like this is far too big to be a mistake of one person in particular. You haven't screwed up Zelda.'
The words seemed to have no effect on the crying princess at all. She continued to cry in a huddle of the floor. Link hated to see even an ounce of pain in the Princess. He walked over to her, and sat down beside her. Without a second thought, he put his arm around here. At first Zelda tensed at his touch, and the hero of time began to pull away. However, Zelda fell into him, head on his shoulder, settling down to cry into his green tunic. Link embraced her closer, trying to get as near to her as possible, trying to reassure her that he was there for her.
Link didn't know how long they sat there like that. All he knew was that, despite of the sad situation Zelda was in, Link felt a small sensation of happiness, joy that it was him the Princess was clinging to in her time of need.
Soon darkness took over the remaining beams of light. Clouds rumbled ahead. Epona, who had been enjoying herself on some grass by the riverbed, lifted her head to sky. A huge raindrop landed between her eyes, causing the mare to shake her head in aggression. More raindrops fell onto the Hylians, soon Link felt the wet patching between him and the crying Princess seem like nothing compared to the wetness now surrounding him. Zelda raised her head from Links shoulder and began to pull apart from him.
'Sorry Link. I just had to say all that, it's hard keeping thoughts like that inside.'
'I understand.' Answered Link. There was an awkward silence between the two. Link stared into Zelda's eyes, ignoring his now soaking wet tunic. He didn't notice his hand clasped around Zelda's. Her skin was soft, like velvet. Soon Link realised what he was doing and pulled away, jumping of the floor.
'So how about you say we get out of this rain then?' Link said with a grin. He was trying his best to get rid of the awkward atmosphere, and his embarrassment. Zelda smiled and nodded. Link offered his hand, which she took. He pulled her to her feet. However, due to the wet and now slippery mud, she lost her footing and fell. Links quick reactions took into effect and he grabbed the princess before she hit the floor. She landed in his arms, and as she lifted her head in thanks, her eyes met Links. She didn't alter her gaze.
As the two continued to stare, more rain fell and thunder echoed throughout the plains. Zelda breathed heavily, and smiled at Link. Soon the gap between the two was closing. Neither really knew what was happening; yet they continued to get closer, and closer.
'Sorry to break the atmosphere people but I would feel better if you were in a fighting mood rather than a…. an other mood' a voice said across the river.
Link and Zelda came to their senses, and before embarrassment set in, Link turned to see who had spoken. Across the now powerful and raging river stood a figure dressed in an even more bizarre armour then Falcons.
Standing taller than Falcon or Link was a figure in an orange suit. They had large orange shoulder pads with the same colour around their arms and legs. Around their torso there was a yellow layer of armour and the person had a red helmet.
What was most strange was that the figure had a strange object on their right arm. Link was not sure what to make of it. It was cylinder like in shape and black.
'Who the hell are you?' Link shouted withdrawing the master sword and his Hylian shield. He really didn't expect the stranger to be friendly in any sense.
'You can call me Samus Aran.' The stranger shouted.
'I take it you are in league with Falcon?' Link responded.
'Yes and no. I am not involved with that Falcon indirectly. We have the same goal but I am certainly not fighting with him as such'.
'Right…' Link said. 'I really haven't got a clue about your saying but I'm guessing that's irrelevant right now. You want to fight to me correct?' Link said in the strongest sternest voice he could muster.
'Why no, not at all. I simply want to take Zelda there back with me. Fighting will only occur if you resist.' Samus said, and even though Link couldn't see her face, he could guess she was smirking.
'Your dam right we're going to resist, and you can tell who ever is arranging all of this that no one, I repeat, NO ONE IS taking Zelda'. Link shouted. The rain was falling faster.
Samus laughed a little, clutching her side in the process. 'How dramatic, you getting stressed over her well being'.
'Please, just leave us alone' Zelda spoke up. 'We've got no fight with you, we only want to fight Ganondorf, he plagued our world with such evil, he must pay. Please just leave us alone and go back to your world' Zelda finished.
'You know, I really don't like being told what to do, and to be honest I've had enough of talk. Time to fight wouldn't you say?' and with that Samus leaped from her spot, covering the length of the river in know time at all. She landed next to Link.
The Hylian took a swipe at Samus. The Master Sword made a streak of magic swipe across the wet night sky. Samus ducked and despite her height, missed the blow. Crouching, Samus jumped up with her fist out, aiming for Links chin.
However the Hylian had already had enough blows to the jaw for a day, and responded by putting his shield up just in time. Samus's fist made contact with the shield. However, her armour prevented any damage being felt.
Link used his initiative and back flipped before Samus could counter. He landed besides Zelda, but slipped on the mud. As he fell Samus charged towards him, but in mid-fall like threw his boomerang. It made contact, hitting Samus's visor, damaging its lock-on capabilities. The boomerang, made from the bark of the deku tree had magical properties and was stronger than any other piece of wood. The impact of Links throw caused Samus to drop to floor also.
Link was the first back on his feet, and took a jump at Samus. Swinging his sword down in mid air, he made to make contact with Samus's torso. However, the bounty hunter was quick to react. She waited until the last minute and then she acted. To Links and Zelda's utter amazement, Samus rolled herself up and in a flash, morphed her suit into itself. Soon Samus was shrinking, and a second later was roughly the size of one of Links bombs.
Links attack obviously missed, and as it hit the mud Link was temporally blinded by splashes of muck to his face as a result of the impact. Sensing a opportunity, Samus rolled under Links legs; pass him and stopping a few feet away. If it wasn't for Zelda being a skilled warrior herself, Link might have been permanently handicapped.
'Link jump!' She shouted and Link done so, just in the nick of time. As the Hylian jumped to side and rolled out of the way, mud finally getting out of his face, a small explosion went of. Not enough to harm Zelda or Samus, but enough to blow the surrounding grasses away. Link didn't have to wonder what was happening, as his question was immediately answered. In her morph ball form, Samus rolled towards Link and was throwing out small energy balls at him, which exploded on impact. Link took a chance and rolled between three small bombs, avoiding damage but getting covered in smoke.
Link was quite pissed that Samus was fighting him in such a small and cowardly form. However, Samus herself was in a spot of trouble. While rolling around to face Link again, she had got stuck in the mud. The small rolled around, kicking up muck and dirt but was stuck. The memory of another small round object stuck on land came to Links mind.
'Just like Giant Aquatic Amoeba Morpha in the water temple' Link remembered. 'Wait a minute..' and then the idea came.
Link pulled out his hookshot and aimed at Samus. Releasing the chain he successfully hit the hunter and the chain pulled her out of the mud and to Links feet. Just as Samus fell by Link, he decided to play a little bomb game himself. As the morph ball fell, Link pulled out his bombs, and despite the rain, lit one through magical concentration. He quickly dropped the bomb onto Samus and flipped back, just after a wave of energy unleashed itself and burned Samus.
As Link landed on his feet he put up he sword and shield, knowing that Samus wouldn't be defeated so easily. He was right. Out of the fire jumped Samus, now at normal form and covered in burns. The fighter landed and took a run at Link. The Hylian braced himself, expecting a full on collision.
However, it never came. Samus instead leapt into the air and curled up. First Link suspected another morph ball attack but instead Samus began to glow. Soon she had became a fast moving spinning ball of energy in mid air. The screw attack. It head towards Link spinning fast in a furious fashion. Link braced himself, put his shield up and protected his face.
Samus made contact and sparks flew as the screw attack scratched and burned the shield. Link closed his eyes as the attack proceeded, pushing Link back. Link dug his feet into the mud, using its weight to stop him being pushed back, and tried to push the screw attack back. Soon Samus had to bow down to gravity and the screw attack stopped, Samus fell and landed gracefully on her feet.
Without any hesitation she took a swipe and Links head. The Hylian blocked the blow with his sword, and took a stab at Samus, who responded by flipping back right on the edge of the rivers banks. She pushed her hand towards Link and opened it wide. Link didn't attack, as he wanted to know what she was doing, immediately his question was answered.
A blue energy beam shot from the open hand of Samus. Link didn't have time to move and tired to block the beam with his shield. However, the beam winded itself around the shield and made contact with Link. However, no pain came. Link wondered what the beam was supposed to do and fund that answer out straight away. He felt himself being lifted into the air as the beam wrapped around him, and similar to Links hookshot, the beam pulled Link to Samus. When he was pulled to her in a vulnerable position, she smacked him with all the force of her helmet. Link felt dazed and confused. Samus then kneed Link in his gut as she dangled him in the air.
Soon the grappling beam stopped its effect. Link feel to floor and although he was dazed, he was also extremely pissed. Before Samus could react, Link jumped to his feet and using all his magical energy, unleashed a powerful spin attack on Samus. The force of the blow sent the bounty hunter sky high, she rocketed through the air, across the river an onto the other side. She arose in a quick anger, and Link saw she had a burning stoke across her suit. Blue electric burned around it. Link had finally breached the strength of the seemingly invincible armour.
Samus didn't attack immediately which Link was grateful for, as he needed to catch his breath. Instead, Samus spoke.
'You think I forgot about her? Frames, GET THE PRINCESS!!' Samus yelled. Zelda, who had been observing the action nervously, span around looking for the 'Frames'. Link needn't wonder what the Frames were. Immediately, the purple wire creatures that attacked Hyrule emerged besides Zelda, as if from nowhere. They took one glance at her and began their attack. All at once they leapt and punched at her.
'ZELDA!!' Link screamed as he began to run towards the fighting sage.
'I don't think so we're not done yet boy!' Samus yelled as she unleashed another grappling beam at Link. Despite the Hylians actions to dodge it, it made contact again. This time it simply grabbed Link and flung him back away from Zelda. Link landed in a face full of mud as the Frames leapt upon Zelda. Link saw her cast Nayru's Love around herself. The first few Frames that hit her were sent flying and disappeared in typical Frame fashion. However, more took their place and Link new the shield wouldn't last much longer. But Link still had Samus to deal with. He arose to see her still on the other side of the river, surprisingly. The only different about her was that the cylinder on her arm (to Link that's all it was) had a blue glow around its tip. 'I've charging my gun up just for you' Samus shouted. 'I hope your grateful that you're going to die by the attack that Space Pirates dare not speak! CHARGE SHOT SMASH!' She yelled as a blue ball of incredible power and energy was shot from her gun. In the split second before it got to Link the Hylian noted how it parted the water of the river so easily, how it singed the grass it past. By instincts, Link put his shield up, but quickly dropped this approach as he saw how a normal shield would work. Instead, he bended backwards, and even though he nearly broke his back, the energy ball passed over him, barely missing him. Link quickly saw that the energy around the ball was so strong that it completely dried Links tunic as it went over him. The ball hit a mound of dirt behind Link and a explosion sent the fighter diving for cover as debris of dirt fell everywhere. Realising this was now getting serious, Link arose to see Samus charging another attack, as the energy gathered, Samus spoke. 'Foolish boy. You really though magic could compete with science and technology? HA!' and with that she unleashed the another ball of energy. And then an idea struck Link. It was true; magic was all he had to fight her. That ball would destroy his shield with ease; no metal from Hyrule could withstand it. Unless it was magical. And remembering the fighting with Ganondorf and with his Phantom form, Link prepared himself for a repeat of history. As the energy ball headed towards him, Link took a powerful sweep at it with his Master Sword. The Sword made contact, and to the relief of its owner, didn't break. Instead, the ball was sent flying back to its creator, hitting Samus and in a blinding release of energy, hit the fighter back and exploded on contact. Link didn't have time to celebrate; he turned to face Zelda, expecting the worse. As he turned, Zelda's shield broke. All the Frames being kept back pounced on her. Soon a pile of Frames covered Zelda. 'ZELDA!!' Link yelled for the umpteenth time that day. He began to run towards the Princess. However, his services were not needed. In a display of incredible power and skill, a figure jumped from the centre of the pile, sending those around flying. (A/N Imagine Neo in the 100 man fight scene in Matrix Reloaded to see what I mean). The figure, which seemed not to be Zelda, landed with superb grace on two feet, balancing herself with one hand. The other was behind her back. As a Frame near by approach, this figure unleashed her hidden hand, sending a wave of apparently small spikes at the Frame. Upon impact, the Frame disappeared. As Link got nearer he saw a better outline of the figure. Link saw someone is a blue body suit with a face covered in a white cloth. On the torso was a sign Link recognized. 'Sheik!' Link exclaimed. In fact, Sheik wasn't a different person but Zelda dressed as a Sheikah, her alter ego, which she used to sneak around Ganondorf long ago. Zelda, or rather Sheik turned to Link and gave him a wink. Then, smacked her hand to the floor, creating a blinding flash. When Link could see again he saw how Sheik had teleported to the other side of the Frames. One ran towards her, aiming a punch. Sheik grabbed the Frames arm, and twisted around her body so she could kick. In an amazing display of flexibility, she used her leg to kick the Frame squarely in the face, causing it to disappear. Before Sheik could celebrate, another Frame pounced onto her. In a quick reaction, Sheik twisted, flipped and turned to confused the Frame, and ended up besides it. She aimed a powerful punch at its head, making contact, and then dropped to the floor, supporting herself on one hand done a twist action around and her legs made continuous hits on the Frame. Soon it dropped to the floor and Sheik leapt up and aimed a chop at the Frames neck. It disappeared. Another Frame took a opportunity to try a back attack. Sheik was having none of it, in one motion she turned and done a powerful roundhouse kick, coming to contact with the Frame and sending it into the river. Sheik used similar kicks to send more Frames flying, and then really pushed up the ante by demonstrating incredible martial arts, blocking, kicking, punching, leaping, Sheik was, according to Link, kicking serious ass! Link was bought out of his viewing pleasure by the sound of a shot. Turning round at the last minute and putting up his shield, he blocked a small missile attack. Looking over his shield, Link saw Samus, standing, with her gun pointed. Link saw how the movement of Samus showed she was breathing heavily in her suit, which incidentally was really burned up, electrical energy around severe damaged areas. Link realised Zelda was more then capable of looking after herself, so the Hylian hookshot a tree at the other side of the river, and pulled himself over. Using his falling momentum, he kicked Samus squarely in the visor, sending her flying. Link landed, pulled out his sword and shield and charged. He swiped his sword, only to find it blocked by Samus, her gun being the object. She took a punch at Link, who pulled his sword from her gun and ducked. While crouching, lick put his shield facing up and leapt, making contact with Samus's helmet. That done little damage however, as Samus sent several more missiles flying at Link. Link deflected these using his shield, and took a flying leap at Samus. The hunter dodged this and jumped onto a lower lying branch of a huge oak tree, which stood nearby the river. Firing more missiles, Samus was in a strong position. Link realised he couldn't block them all and took a run for it. Running down the side of the river, missiles exploded around Link. He kept running however. Samus kept firing, even from a distance her aim was pretty good. Link used the slipperiness of the mud to slide away from explosions. However, one explosion sent the ground he was on flying, and Link was sent out of Samus's reach. She leapt of the branch and ran. Link stood and saw his surroundings. He was surprised to see that he was near a waterfall, a big one at that. Powerful waters raged down it, Link realised he couldn't exactly go for a swim. Looking up, Link saw another huge oak tree. This one however had a absolutely huge branch at low height. Link had an idea, pulling out his hookshot he grabbed the branch, and took a run had jumped of the waterfall edge. The angel of the jump and the branch made Link head downwards in a clockwise motion. He began to swing around, further down, air brushing his wet muddy locks. Looking Link saw that Samus was following suit. Using her grabbling hook she used the branch to swing down, following Link, and shooting at him in the process. Link prayed the rainfall would work in his favour. Luckily, every shit missed. Link continued to swing downwards, finally feeling a snag on the hookshot and he realised it was at full length. Releasing it, Link fell onto a small island of land among a now massive river. Link saw this part was flooded and this small island was the only around. Landing, Link ran as far as he could, and he turned around to face the arrival of Samus. The hunter appeared immediately, letting the grappling hook go she fell towards Link at incredible speed. In mid air she shouted 'WHY WONT YOU DIE?' and she began to curl up in mid air, preparing a screw attack. As she fell towards Link, he simply muttered 'screw you bitch!' and unleashed a powerful spin attack, catching Samus off guard and sending her flying.Link ran to see if he had succeeded. When he reached where she lay, in a muddy patch nearly in the river itself, he noted the burning electrical energy surrounding her. Samus, turned round, facing Link on the floor, unable to move.
'Bastard..' was all she could say, as her body and suit began to glow a steady glow, soon, she was disappearing like Falcon before her. She vanished without a trace.
Link made his way back to Zelda, and upon arrival he saw no more Frames and saw Zelda In her normal form, leaning on Epona.
'Thank Din you are okay!' She said and she ran towards Link and pulled him into a powerful hug.
'Likewise' Link said. 'Nice fight Zelda, your martial arts were impressive.'
The princess pulled herself away.
'Thanks, but you fought brilliantly, even against all that power she had, you still won.'
'Yeah, Samus Aran is now gone, I hope anyway. I'd feel more comfortable if I saw a dead body rather than a disappeared one' Link added. 'But enough of that, its raining I'm tired, hurt, cold. We NEED shelter'.
'We should head inland a bit more. I know it's late but we can't stay here. I saw some shrubs before so I assume we'll find some further on. Least we can get shelter, and Epona cant stay here her hooves are sinking into the mud'.
'Right' Link said. 'bests head off. I really need sleep and to recuperate. C'mon' he said as he climbed onto Epona, Zelda following. Soon they were on their way, heading towards a hopefully peaceful sleep and to somewhere dry.
AHHHHHHHHHH I CANT BELIVE I WROTE THAT MUCH!! MY GOD I BETTER GET REVIEWS!
You see, action, fighting, adventure, a pathetic attempt at romance, all in a chapter. Phew, I am beat I tell ya.
I can't believe I tried some romance, what was I thinking? Just don't read that bit
I'd really really LOVE reviews after all that. Thanks in advance
Also, I gave the creatures names at last. Since as far as I know Nintendo never gave them names, I have. Frames, you like?