Isa: Hey I didn't do a disclaimer on the first chapter so here it is now. I DO NOT OWN LOZ!!! See?
Chapter Two
Princess Zelda strode down the hall with the three Gruedo guards. They said nothing to her or even met her gaze. The only sound was their footsteps shuffling against the stone floor and the chain's rattling around the guard's ankles. Soon they came to two large doors. Each was made of steel and the image of a sun was colored in yellow paint. The Gruedos pushed open the doors and lead Zelda into a wide spread room with a red carpet extending from a large golden throne. Two windows stood behind the throne but the drapes were drawn so no light could shine through.
The King of Evil sat upon this throne, his long brown cape torn here and there from Link's sword slashes. He smiled wickedly, the jewel on his forehead glowing slightly. The Greudo guards bowed low and Zelda stared at the Greudo King with malice burning through her veins. Ganon's smile faded.
"Why do you not bow my lady? Are you unaware that I am your King now?" he scoffed. Zelda bit her lower lip.
"I will never bow to you. You are no more my King, then the grass is purple! The day I subject myself to the likes of you is when the Goddesses destroy the earth. If you haven't done so already"
The smile returned to Ganon's lips and Zelda narrowed her eyes.
"Foolish child. You need not fear for your kindred and people. I will not harm them if they behave themselves. But as for you, you may yield to me sooner then you think. Whether whole or in pieces." Ganondorf snapped his fingers and instantly a blade was drawn to Zelda's throat, as if by magic. Zelda turned her head slightly so she could catch sight of her attacker. When she did her face turned white and her mind screamed in horror.
A copy of Link stood behind her, his body draped in black and his cold eyes closed to slits. A strong arm held Zelda firmly by the waist and the other held a fake replica of the Master Sword to her neck. Ganon laughed, a disturbing noise originating from the back of his throat.
"Meet my most faithful servant Zelda. I call him Dark Link. Pretty impressive eh? Almost like the real thing."
"Far from it" Zelda spat, "Link wouldn't be caught dead working with you. Besides, this man is cold and evil. I sense the same magic and energy flowing through his veins as I do yours"
Ganondorf shrugged his broad shoulders. "Perhaps you see it. But others will not. Yes I plan to use him into luring the citizens of Hyrule into a false sense of security. Then I'll enslave them all."
Zelda gritted her teeth. "Sick man." Ganondorf shook his finger back and forth.
"Tsk. tsk. You have so much to learn my lady. Don't worry I'm sure you'll see things my way soon enough. In case you were wondering, I'm going to keep you alive. So your people will respect me and I can use you to my advantage. If one of them runs away or rebels then I'll kill you as an example of my wrath."
"Sick man." Ganon shrugged again and waved a giant hand in dismissal. "Take the Princess to her quarters. Make sure she's comfortable. And guard it well."
Dark Link with drew the sword from Zelda's throat and inserted it in the sheath behind his back. He nodded to his master and took Zelda by the arm and carried her off.
Link laid back against the bars, his vision was beginning to fade out of focus but he listened carefully to Durainia's banging until everyone was starting to have a headache. Durainia brought the sword down hard and it smashed against the wall, producing a hollow clank and the Goron's eyebrows raised in surprise. Link closed his eyes.
"That's it. That wall is hollow. Some one break it down"
Durainia stared at Link blankly. "B-break it down?"
"I don't have any bombs with me, so we'll have to blow it by hand. Your strong Durania you can do it"
The Fire sage stared at the wall, blinking. His mind was filled with doubt.
"Just do it!" Link said sharply and winced a little clutching his bleeding sides, "go ahead...." Durainia stared at the wall doubtfully and clenched his hands into fists. He thrust his arm forward and the wall crumbled under his power as dust and loud rumbling exploded in the cell. Ruto covered her mouth with her hand and coughed as the dust evaporated and cleared.
Link squinted to see Duraina's work. Sure enough, just as he had expected, a decent sized passage gave way and wound away into the darkness.
"Vwa-la" Link mused waving his hand in the direction of the hole in the wall. Nabooru shook her head.
"It's amazing how he could be himself in all that pain he's in"
Link smiled faintly and Saria giggled.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ruto asked and skipped down the hall. Durainia followed and Rauru glanced towards Link.
"Can you stand?" the elder asked. Link nodded and gripped the bars once more. He pulled himself onto his feet, but his broken leg buckled under him and he fell on his knee.
"ow..."
Impa, the Shadow Sage and nursemaid to Princess Zelda narrowed her eyes and bent down next to the Hero of Time. "Put your arms on my shoulders and lean on my back" she instructed and Link did so. Then Impa wrapped her strong arms under his legs and hoisted him onto her back and stood. Link groaned and winced as she did so.
Nabooru blinked and The Shadow Sage headed off into the tunnel after the others. The Gruedo followed and walked in step with Impa.
"This was a great plan Link" The former Sheikah leader remarked.
"I only hope it leads us to someplace good." Nabooru grumbled. Link closed his eyes and sighed.
"Do you think...if I would have thought of this sooner, Zelda would still be with us?" he asked and Impa and Nabooru exchanged glances.
"My people believe that is unwise to dwell on the past and think about what one could have done" Impa replied simply and Nabooru nodded.
"Yes, besides if you would have thought of it sooner, then those other guards would have noticed the hole and reported it to Ganondorf."
"Then we would all be in his clutches." Impa finished and Link nodded slowly.
"Rest Hero of Time, you need it" Impa advised and he nodded again. The group traveled down the winding path, their hearts pulsing in their ears and sweat dripped down their foreheads. It had become oddly hot and humid in the tunnel and it seemed to go on forever.
"Do you think this could be some kind of secret passageway?" Ruto asked suddenly, "like an escape tunnel?"
"I wouldn't doubt it." Nabooru sneered, "Ganon probably has millions of these tunnels through out his castle. To use to run away from a battle he was losing." she spat on the ground, "that sick-minded fool is a disgrace to my people!"
Saria sighed, "My feet hurt. How long have we been walking?"
Durainia wiped the sweat from his brow. "Probably for hours. I'm surprised Ganondorf hasn't already sent troops to pursue us yet."
"I'm sure they'll be along. That is why we need to hurry" Rauru stated and all the sages nodded. They continued to press forward and the land started to slope upward, blossoming into a large flight of stairs. Impa's legs pumped and her tunic was drenched with sweat, from the extra energy she had to use with Link's weight on her back.
The stairs wound up in a spiral and after what seemed like an entirety of climbing they finally reached the top. Ruto gasped and fell to her knees at what they had reached at the zenith.
"Ahhhhhh! A dead end!? Why!?" she wailed and the rest of the group sighed as they stared at a stone wall blocking their path. Link awoke from his sleep by Ruto's sobbing and blinked staring at the wall. He then narrowed his eyes, it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his vision in focus and it hurt to think.
"Try banging it again..." he whispered. Durainia took the Master Sword and tapped it lightly on the wall. There was a quick, yet sharp sound of turning rock and Durainia's faint screams as he vanished from sight.
"Durainia!" Saria squealed and threw her weight at the wall. The sound came again and she felt her body being pushed forward as the wall turned her around. She screamed in surprise and when the noise stopped she opened her eyes that were squeezed shut. She blinked and found herself staring into another hallway.
The walls, floor and ceiling, were still made of stone, but they were stained a yellow color by the orange glow the fires produced, dancing in torches pinned on the walls. The hallway extended out forward but there was no sign of Durainia.
Saria jumped when a rumbling noise erupted behind her and she backed away, holding up small fists in self-defense.
"Don't come near me! I'm warning you...." All she got in response was a chorus of laughs and chuckles. She opened her eyes to see her friends standing before her. Nabooru doubled over in hysterics.
"Ha,ha, ha, ha. Oh-no,...ha...we wouldn't dare mess with you fair warrior....HHHHAAAAAAA!" Saria stuck out her lower lip and pouted indignantly. She met Link's teasing gaze as he stared at her over Impa's shoulder, a playful smile tugging at his lips.
"Don't you start" Saria warned and narrowed her eyes.
"Where is Durainia?" Rauru asked casting his eyes about. Saria sighed.
"I do not know. I suppose he came through that spinning wall, but when I went through it I didn't catch sight of him at all!"
"Then he's just....vanished?" Ruto questioned and Saria shrugged. Link narrowed his own eyes.
"I don't like this. Maybe some one found him and if they did that means there are probably garrisons of guards lurking in these tunnels searching for us."
"Well, if they want to take us back to that prison cell, they better be prepared to fight." Nabooru stated and Ruto's jaw dropped.
"Are you insane!?" she shouted, "we have no weapons! They were taken from us when we were brought here, remember?"
"We still have the Master Sword." Nabooru pointed to the ground, the Master Sword lay flat on it's side, it's metal blade reflecting the fire light.
"Durainia must have dropped it when he was recaptured," Rauru observed, "if he was recaptured."
Nabooru picked up the sword in her hands. She stared at it for awhile and swung it a few times as if in combat. She yelped as the blade sprouted into orange fire and she released her grip on it and the sword clattered to the floor.
"What the-" The Gruedo women clutched her hand tightly, gritting her teeth.
''Only the chosen one can wield the Master Sword." Rauru explained, "it only obeys the commands of the Hero of Time, and repels anyone but he."
"But Link is too weak to fight!" Saria protested and Link stared warily at her.
"No I'm not." he said and received skeptical and glances from the six Sages.
"Link, you can barely walk." Ruto whispered and Link glared hotly at her.
"I'll show you who's weak! Besides, I can walk! Watch, put me down Impa."
The Shadow Sage glanced over her shoulder and eyed Link blankly.
"Put me down!" he shouted and, reluctantly, Impa did so. The Hero of Time put his stable leg down first and twisted his boot on the stone to get his footing straight for the next one. He carefully, slowly, lowered his right leg, which was now bent at an angle from being wrapped around Impa's waist.
He bit his lower lip as he let go of Impa's shoulders and stood up right. "See, no big deal, I'm standing." Link said to everyone and Nabooru crossed her arms.
"Now let's see you walk." she said darkly and Link nodded. He took a step forward with his good leg and dragged the other one behind it. But he made his way to Nabooru and held out his hand to her.
"Give me the sword." he commanded and Nabooru picked it up once more and handed it to Link. The Hylain youth twirled it around in his fingers. The heavy and elaborately designed hilt made this difficult and it put great strain on his wrist, fingers, and forearm. But this was not known to the Sages for Link hid his pain well.
He then took a step forward, leaning on his left leg, and swung the Master sword in an overhand pass and switched legs to put the stronger, underhanded blow into play. He screamed and fell forward on his hands as the sudden movement snapped the bones of his right leg even further. He breathed heavily and stared at the sword in his left hand in despair.
The sages sighed and Ruto and Nabooru stepped forward to help Link to his feet, but he held up his hand to stop them. The water and spirit sage stared at each other in pity and turned to watch Link attempt to rise on his own. He put his weight on his left leg and stabbed the Master Sword into the ground using it to stabilize him as he pulled himself up.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and stared straight ahead. His fingers gripped the hilt of his sword once more and he tried the over/under handed swing again. Only this time, instead of switching feet for the underhand pass he brought his sword at an angle, perpendicular to his chest and swung it forward, turning his body around on his left leg still, bright blue fire extended from his blade and he jumped at little ways in the air and landed on the same foot to complete a new version of his famous Spin Attack.
Nabooru raised her eyebrows and Impa smiled. Ruto and Saria applauded enthusiastically.
"Wow! That was wonderful Link!" the forest sage remarked and Link nodded weakly before collapsing on the ground.