Legends of the Waker: Remnants of Old
Chapter XXXVII: Matters of Choice
-Zelda
Round again I went, pacing still. Practically a hole was worn in the old boards of my cabin, but what else was there to do? Pour over charts? I had any possible routes charted. Take care of Tetra? Napping. The crew? Napping.
So I was bored. And anxious. Wondering how long it would take Link to complete his quest. I'd felt strangely about him ever since our talk the night before. A little light-headed whenever I thought of him. I didn't understand why he would want to break his source of power, but I knew there had to be a reason. I was about to go get the crew up when a faint voice called to me.
"Zelda!" It was Link. I'd barely been able to hear it, but there was no mistaking the urgency. I quickly strapped on my sword-belt and ran out the door.
Without speaking a word, I pushed an explanatory note into the hands of the current lookout, jumped into a rowboat, and was soon climbing the mountain. In the rain. A heavy, cool shower began to fall blanketing the world in a shroud, as if he ocean were trying to fly into the air.
It was slow going, but I eventually stood before the dragon that had to be Valoo. He glowered over me, the behemoth taking a deep breath, the sound and smell of fire filling my head.
"Link needs me! Help out or stand aside, you bloated overgrown newt!" I glowered right back, awaiting his decision. It wasn't as if I could really defeat him in battle.
He began to laugh. "You don't carry as much power as the firefly, but you certainly carry more force of word, little dragonfly. I will take you to the lower realms."
With that he lowered his neck. I blew a long strand of hair aside and leapt onto red scales, just behind his head. The watery air seemed to move aside for the dragon. Not a single drop touched me as he spiraled upward, then with a cry of "Hold fast!" he was rocket! Downward we went, straight into the depths of the earth.
I felt every hair straining to be free, whipping out behind me. When we finally stopped, it fell over me face like a curtain, not that it mattered, as I was in complete darkness anyway.
"Keese. It's dark down here. How do we find our way?"
A gentle intake of breath was my answer. For one second I saw a sliver of the immense cavern. High stone pillars, an ornate door, a ruined city. I thought I saw something move atop a building, but I couldn't be sure.
"What is this place?" I whispered, my voice seeming to swallowed up by the immensity of it all. I was almost surprised when Valoo answered.
"This is a shard of Hyrule, a Remnant of Old. Lost in the flood. The Hero rearranged things a bit when he opened the way, but only the flow of lava to the volcano above, and the opening tunnel. Everything else is as it should be. The Gorons did much. Beyond that door they live, but it has not been disturbed. I wonder-"
A massive rumble launched me head over heals. I screamed involuntarily as I was knocked down by a massive gust of wind. When the shock faded, I stood, bruised but unhurt and looked around. I was blind. Valoo was gone.
I pulled from around my neck the Triforce shard that had been passed down to me by my mother. The room was just lit up enough that I could see the ceiling. The hole had closed, and Valoo had seen it happening and abandoned me. Wherever Link was, he and I were trapped.
-Link
Driven into the ground, I landed, unable to fly. I'd already been following the girl through a tunnel for several minutes, and a few more found me in a wider opening, lit by a river of lava flowing through. The lava created a dead end. The whole area was just a slanting bank leading into it. There was nowhere to go but past me or into the flow.
A horrified gasp escaped my lips as I heard a splash and saw through the dim light a figure sinking in. Burning flames licked over it, seeking to stretch itself over her and bring her in, but they failed. She wasn't burning. Who was this strange girl, who commanded the dead, who robbed graves, who swam through fire?
Did it matter? I had a quest already. She meant nothing to it. An image of the door and its carvings flashed through my mind. That was where I had to go. I turned, and began to head back, already trying to figure a plan to escape these underground passageways.
Then the world flipped over. The earth shook, knocking me clean off my feet and backwards, rolling down the bank and straight into the lava.
A golden orb surrounded me as I hit. I'd protected myself by reflex. I soon realized I had no control. As I sank, I was swept into the current, whipped along with an ocean of red all around me.
I couldn't see anything else. I couldn't feel anything but heat. The shield didn't protect me from the lava. Not completely. I could still feel it, like a warm, smothering bath.
I found myself pulled out of the frying pan and into the fire. I had no air. I felt a faint upward tug above me, and concentrated my sight upward. The lava grew strangely clear and I saw a passage leading straight up, back into the world I knew.
I had to make a choice. Go back defeated, or face death and find my way down here?
Then I realized there was no choice. I could only do what was best for my people. The War-Hammer had to be obtained.
I pushed downward with all my strength. Struggled to swim towards what looked like lights at the bottom of my red-tinged sight.
I pushed and pushed, and still it grew warmer, and the strangeness of suffocation came over me again. Black spots dotting and dancing across my vision. They began to grow, and my barrier began to shrink away.
I looked out through eyes that were almost blind and saw a strange sight. Mushrooms that shone. A light emitted from a ten-foot mushroom that rested right before my vision. I had no more strength. The rushing water began to turn back into lava. The clarity of sight faded with my eyesight. I reached out a hand, pressing all my remaining power into the mushroom without knowing why.
Then darkness came.
"Bring doctors! Hurry! This man is still alive!"
I looked up into the eyes of the girl that had been trying to kill me and started, drawing back. She hissed and drew a crossbow.
"Don't move! I'll shoot."
"Fat lot of good that did you last time," I muttered. Or tried to. Nothing but a groan escaped my lips. Then I looked down. Then I realized why I could barely move. Why I hadn't felt anything when I moved. I was covered with horrible burns from head to toe.
Three men came forward, one walking in front brandishing a simple wooden bucket.
I croaked, trying to speak. "Help me."
"Eh. He's just burnt. Hmmm. Down to the nerves. I thought it was something serious. What're you whining on about help for?" the other two men grunted in agreement, obviously subordinate to the tall, hawk-nosed man doing the talking.
"But he looks terrible!" The girl interjected. "Aren't you going to use that water?"
The man gasped. "Of course! Terribly sorry. He poured the water out, soaking me completely. I expected blasting pain, but instead I felt nothing but feeling. I was completely healed.
I stood up and looked around. A small city was built into a rock wall, dotted with massive, dull red mushrooms like the one I'd seen outside. Apparently I'd been looking in. The lava was kept back by what looked like a glass wall.
I had no idea what to say. "How. . .thank you. . .where. . ."
The lead doctor looked at the girl. "Fill him in." he said, and immediately walked off.
"I don't want filled in!" I called after him. "I want to return to the surface."
"Don't bother with that sort of hope. We can't allow you to leave. We can't let the others find out about us. I assure you, you will never see your home again."
Chapter XXXVIII: Unto the Last
-Fado
"Din, Nayru, and Fayore!" I screamed as I came awake. I could still feel it. The sword inside me, growing out of me. For one single, unending second, the pain had torn and chewed at me. Or had it? I couldn't remember feeling actual pain. But there had to have been pain. I'd been stabbed.
I was back on the island at last. Mako and Holly were on the other side of the golden statue. Hugging each other.
"Something wrong?" Mako asked. I smiled when I saw him. Then I turned and smiled at Holly. They'd stood with me, even when the Great Deku Tree had been ripping me apart.
No.
That had been a dream.
I felt strangely light as I stood up. "You won't believe it. I just had the mother of all night- Why are you staring at me like that?" Both Kokiri were just glaring. They stood holding hands tightly.
"You have brought us on a hopeless quest. We want to go home. We've come to this decision together. We've. . .fallen in love."
"What?! Is that even possible? When in history have two Kokiri fallen in love?"
"It doesn't matter," Holly said. Both still glared, eyes fixed. "It happened. You know we could never stop Ganondorf."
"No, I don't. We can and will. The Evil One will fall. You have trusted me this far. Why not now?"
"When did we ever trust you? You lost me! You gave Holly no hope when I was lost! You do not and have never, ever had our trust. It's time for you to go away."
Then I realized why my back had felt light. My sword. They'd taken it in my sleep. Mako pulled it from behind the statue, and both of them grasped the hilt together. I had no time to react, to make a plan or plea, and I died by my own sword yet again.
I came awake yet again, the same ghostly feeling of phantom pain. There hadn't really been any. Just another dream.
I looked around as I stood and for some reason my eyes wouldn't open. I couldn't see anything. I reached up and felt my eyelids, then started with shock.
They were open. Somehow I'd gone blind. But that wasn't completely true. I'd lost my first eyesight, but the strange power I'd gained when I'd flown for the first time I still had. It had been sitting, forgotten.
I could see the waves, the grass, the sky, but only when the wind brushed against them. I looked down at my own arm. It was glowing brightly, a lantern against the darkness. I cried out for Mako and Holly but got no answer. Not that I needed to call I would have been able to see them anyway.
The edges of my sight began to blur, and I realized I was dreaming again. I looked out at the world around me, wondering why all this had happened to me. To spur me on? To show me how important my friends were? To teach me not to put all my faith in them even so? To not put to much faith in my own power either? Maybe I would never find out.
Raindrops splashed my face, and I knew I was truly awake at last. Holly was three inches from away, screaming for me to wake up.
Mako was groaning and sitting up a few feet over. "What a dream. Wow. What a trip." He passed a hand threw his dark hair and peered up at the sky.
Holly seemed close to hysterics. "You wouldn't wake up. Neither of you. I was so worried. You. . .you're okay right?" She asked peering at me.
I responded with exactly what I'd been thinking. "I wish I knew."
Chapter XXXIX: The Sorceress
-Laruto
I looked out at the murmuring group arrayed before me, and wondered if I should say something. I'd gathered everyone back on ledge where I'd first rallied them for battle, and now. At evening after two days of fighting, the people of Outset were ragged and tired. Ripped from their homes, most of which were now piles of scattered debris. Only six of the Deku were left, counting the two I'd sent with Medli and Shiek.
Throughout the crowd I could see Jharmyne, Fala, Gris, and the two Deku that weren't guarding me scattered about. I couldn't understand why Jharmyne she was here. She'd gone into hiding with the children. She'd refused a weapon, and accepted the cowardly way even her daughter hadn't taken.
I stood on top of the bridge pillar, my preferred way of addressing the villagers, when suddenly I heard a massive whoosh of billowing water, and waves striking the sand. I looked towards the sea and saw the pirate ship lift into the air. Slowly, gently at first, and then building up speed until it was fast becoming a mere speck.
I sensed nauseating wave of hatred flash through me, and knew I had to do something. But would I have enough strength to fight something so like Ganondorf?
I couldn't fly, but I could do something almost as good. I leapt into the air, flipping end over end, and landed on the beach, but I didn't stop. The ground rippled beneath me like pond water and shot me into the air. I felt ropes wrap around my feet and realized the Scrubs were coming with me yet again. All four. After this, I was going to make it clear their debt was far past paid.
I didn't know if I had enough power for the coming battle, but I was on my way all the same.
-Medli
Gravity pressed us to the deck as we soared higher and higher, until the air grew icy and made my breathe mist. As soon as our speed leveled out, Sasuke charged forward again, sword held high.
The two clashed with an echoing ring. Sasuke swung his sword in a high arc while grabbing her other arm to slow her sword. He drew a long gash across her cheek that sprayed blood as they fought. The pirate drew him out with a series of sharp, powerful strikes, and flipped her leg out, tripping him. She then leapt forward and slashed open his throat, killing him instantly.
Shiek howled with bitter rage and raced forward, wind screaming with him as he brandished the Wind Waker. I struggled to think of something, anything I could do, but I was unarmed, and virtually powerless.
While Shiek and the sorceress pirate battled, she spoke. "Ah. The Waker of Winds. Exactly the ah..." her next word was filled with contempt, "- man- I was looking for. Ganondorf will indeed accept my proposal when I bring not only the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom, but also the Waker and a Sage."
"Don't waste your breath with empty threats!" Shiek responded, "I'LL KILL YOU!"
The air melted and shimmered around her suddenly as her appearance changed. In seconds the pirate truly looked like a witch, her clothes transformed into dark green robes, her hair turned from fair to dark. Sizzling flashes drew over the blond, eating it and making it shaded in a strange tone, but not a beautiful color like Fala's hair. It was a dull sickly black, almost the color of her clothes.
- Gepqa-
The ship rocked back and forth the sails full, then slack. I struggled to keep my feet as Shiek's sandals clacked against the wooden deck. Blasts of lightning struck here and there from Gepqa as Shiek continually battered her off her feet with wind. He ducked away from the discharges, and then suddenly stopped, and called up an odd tune with the wand.
I cried out in horror as Sasuke began to rise. He lurched forward and wrapped around her. At that moment an arrow was suddenly growing from Gepqa's left arm. Mel stood in the rigging, launching arrows as fast as his fingers could fly across the bowstring.
Still I didn't know what to do. Fear kept me rooted to the spot as Shiek collapsed to the deck under a bolt of lightning. Whatever he had done to Sasuke had distracted him momentarily from defense. Both boys, one alive, one dead, fell together in a heap on the deck and rolled against a rail. The Wind Waker clattered to a stop a few feet away.
The arrow in Gepqa's arm caught fire and she pulled it free and returned it to its sender. Mel fell to the deck next to Shiek and Sasuke, a burning ball of flame. We were getting taken down one by one.
Remembering the orb Laruto had launched long ago when we'd first met, I decided I had to try the same.
But before I could attempt anything, the sorceress charged. I felt frost lock my spine and throw my knees together. Gepqa raised her sword. . .
"Mother! I will NOT let you do this!" Zelda cried out, blocking the blade. "I have stood by too long," the soft-spoken girl whispered vehemently, anger coloring her words.
"Betrayed by my own daughter! I should have expected no less. You always were a simpering, sympathetic idiot."
The two fought and once again the ring of swords filled the air.
Gepqa fought the same as she had against Sasuke and Shiek, showing no mercy toward her daughter. I watched in horror as the two leapt, spun, slashed, parried. But Zelda was no match for the very person that had taught her to fight.
Gepqa dropped her sword and ducked underneath Zelda's strike, and punched her across the face, a jolt of lighting following her fist. She picked up the girl, and with sparks still crawling across her body, Zelda was among the other three.
I was alone.
I concentrated, pouring all my hatred, rage, fear, and despair into an orb of solid darkness. A brush of foul-smelling air rushed past as the ball of energy struck it's target.
But the witch wasn't hurt. To my horror, she began to grow. A foot taller, she laughed aloud with derision. "Thank you, you fool! Do you really think such negatives can stop me?"
Fighting back the fear, an icy and solid monster in my chest, I charged her, sweeping up the Waker and launching myself into the air. I flew over her head and raked my talons down her back. Gepqa followed after me with her blade and laid open my left wing. I fell to the deck and she stood over me triumphantly. A kick left me gasping for breath as she raised her sword high, preparing to strike me down yet again.
I saw a blue dot on the horizon rapidly closing in and realized it was Laruto. I looked up at the witch and grinned. "Your death has arrived." The woman in that instant was gone. Laruto and Gepqa went spinning out to the edge of the railing, Laruto striking, then leaping back and making the boat ripple beneath her and flipping over end she would fly after the pirate again, tiny orbs of blue flying from her fists in rivers. Gepqa pushed her skills further, flying and launching scathing fire that started the sails burning.
Four Deku Scrubs were looking about the deck, confused. Three drew arrows and pointed them at the witch. The last ran to Mel's charred body. As before, an orange glow came up from under a hand placed on his skin. I struggled to sit up and speak. "What are you doing?"
The Scrub looked at me distractedly when he was done. "I absorbed their consciousness." Before I could ask what that meant, he dashed off, drawing a bow as he went.
I looked up and saw Laruto leap off the crow's nest, grab Gepqa by the arm, and hurl her into the mast. Unable to help, I limped to Shiek and Zelda, to see if they still lived.
A wordless shout brought my head up. In slow motion, I saw Laruto pierced through the leg by a sword. Gepqa sent her into the crow's nest and the whole thing exploded into wooden fragments. I had no time to react to the debris that sent me tumbling into darkness.
Chapter XXXVII: Matters of Choice
-Zelda
Round again I went, pacing still. Practically a hole was worn in the old boards of my cabin, but what else was there to do? Pour over charts? I had any possible routes charted. Take care of Tetra? Napping. The crew? Napping.
So I was bored. And anxious. Wondering how long it would take Link to complete his quest. I'd felt strangely about him ever since our talk the night before. A little light-headed whenever I thought of him. I didn't understand why he would want to break his source of power, but I knew there had to be a reason. I was about to go get the crew up when a faint voice called to me.
"Zelda!" It was Link. I'd barely been able to hear it, but there was no mistaking the urgency. I quickly strapped on my sword-belt and ran out the door.
Without speaking a word, I pushed an explanatory note into the hands of the current lookout, jumped into a rowboat, and was soon climbing the mountain. In the rain. A heavy, cool shower began to fall blanketing the world in a shroud, as if he ocean were trying to fly into the air.
It was slow going, but I eventually stood before the dragon that had to be Valoo. He glowered over me, the behemoth taking a deep breath, the sound and smell of fire filling my head.
"Link needs me! Help out or stand aside, you bloated overgrown newt!" I glowered right back, awaiting his decision. It wasn't as if I could really defeat him in battle.
He began to laugh. "You don't carry as much power as the firefly, but you certainly carry more force of word, little dragonfly. I will take you to the lower realms."
With that he lowered his neck. I blew a long strand of hair aside and leapt onto red scales, just behind his head. The watery air seemed to move aside for the dragon. Not a single drop touched me as he spiraled upward, then with a cry of "Hold fast!" he was rocket! Downward we went, straight into the depths of the earth.
I felt every hair straining to be free, whipping out behind me. When we finally stopped, it fell over me face like a curtain, not that it mattered, as I was in complete darkness anyway.
"Keese. It's dark down here. How do we find our way?"
A gentle intake of breath was my answer. For one second I saw a sliver of the immense cavern. High stone pillars, an ornate door, a ruined city. I thought I saw something move atop a building, but I couldn't be sure.
"What is this place?" I whispered, my voice seeming to swallowed up by the immensity of it all. I was almost surprised when Valoo answered.
"This is a shard of Hyrule, a Remnant of Old. Lost in the flood. The Hero rearranged things a bit when he opened the way, but only the flow of lava to the volcano above, and the opening tunnel. Everything else is as it should be. The Gorons did much. Beyond that door they live, but it has not been disturbed. I wonder-"
A massive rumble launched me head over heals. I screamed involuntarily as I was knocked down by a massive gust of wind. When the shock faded, I stood, bruised but unhurt and looked around. I was blind. Valoo was gone.
I pulled from around my neck the Triforce shard that had been passed down to me by my mother. The room was just lit up enough that I could see the ceiling. The hole had closed, and Valoo had seen it happening and abandoned me. Wherever Link was, he and I were trapped.
-Link
Driven into the ground, I landed, unable to fly. I'd already been following the girl through a tunnel for several minutes, and a few more found me in a wider opening, lit by a river of lava flowing through. The lava created a dead end. The whole area was just a slanting bank leading into it. There was nowhere to go but past me or into the flow.
A horrified gasp escaped my lips as I heard a splash and saw through the dim light a figure sinking in. Burning flames licked over it, seeking to stretch itself over her and bring her in, but they failed. She wasn't burning. Who was this strange girl, who commanded the dead, who robbed graves, who swam through fire?
Did it matter? I had a quest already. She meant nothing to it. An image of the door and its carvings flashed through my mind. That was where I had to go. I turned, and began to head back, already trying to figure a plan to escape these underground passageways.
Then the world flipped over. The earth shook, knocking me clean off my feet and backwards, rolling down the bank and straight into the lava.
A golden orb surrounded me as I hit. I'd protected myself by reflex. I soon realized I had no control. As I sank, I was swept into the current, whipped along with an ocean of red all around me.
I couldn't see anything else. I couldn't feel anything but heat. The shield didn't protect me from the lava. Not completely. I could still feel it, like a warm, smothering bath.
I found myself pulled out of the frying pan and into the fire. I had no air. I felt a faint upward tug above me, and concentrated my sight upward. The lava grew strangely clear and I saw a passage leading straight up, back into the world I knew.
I had to make a choice. Go back defeated, or face death and find my way down here?
Then I realized there was no choice. I could only do what was best for my people. The War-Hammer had to be obtained.
I pushed downward with all my strength. Struggled to swim towards what looked like lights at the bottom of my red-tinged sight.
I pushed and pushed, and still it grew warmer, and the strangeness of suffocation came over me again. Black spots dotting and dancing across my vision. They began to grow, and my barrier began to shrink away.
I looked out through eyes that were almost blind and saw a strange sight. Mushrooms that shone. A light emitted from a ten-foot mushroom that rested right before my vision. I had no more strength. The rushing water began to turn back into lava. The clarity of sight faded with my eyesight. I reached out a hand, pressing all my remaining power into the mushroom without knowing why.
Then darkness came.
"Bring doctors! Hurry! This man is still alive!"
I looked up into the eyes of the girl that had been trying to kill me and started, drawing back. She hissed and drew a crossbow.
"Don't move! I'll shoot."
"Fat lot of good that did you last time," I muttered. Or tried to. Nothing but a groan escaped my lips. Then I looked down. Then I realized why I could barely move. Why I hadn't felt anything when I moved. I was covered with horrible burns from head to toe.
Three men came forward, one walking in front brandishing a simple wooden bucket.
I croaked, trying to speak. "Help me."
"Eh. He's just burnt. Hmmm. Down to the nerves. I thought it was something serious. What're you whining on about help for?" the other two men grunted in agreement, obviously subordinate to the tall, hawk-nosed man doing the talking.
"But he looks terrible!" The girl interjected. "Aren't you going to use that water?"
The man gasped. "Of course! Terribly sorry. He poured the water out, soaking me completely. I expected blasting pain, but instead I felt nothing but feeling. I was completely healed.
I stood up and looked around. A small city was built into a rock wall, dotted with massive, dull red mushrooms like the one I'd seen outside. Apparently I'd been looking in. The lava was kept back by what looked like a glass wall.
I had no idea what to say. "How. . .thank you. . .where. . ."
The lead doctor looked at the girl. "Fill him in." he said, and immediately walked off.
"I don't want filled in!" I called after him. "I want to return to the surface."
"Don't bother with that sort of hope. We can't allow you to leave. We can't let the others find out about us. I assure you, you will never see your home again."
Chapter XXXVIII: Unto the Last
-Fado
"Din, Nayru, and Fayore!" I screamed as I came awake. I could still feel it. The sword inside me, growing out of me. For one single, unending second, the pain had torn and chewed at me. Or had it? I couldn't remember feeling actual pain. But there had to have been pain. I'd been stabbed.
I was back on the island at last. Mako and Holly were on the other side of the golden statue. Hugging each other.
"Something wrong?" Mako asked. I smiled when I saw him. Then I turned and smiled at Holly. They'd stood with me, even when the Great Deku Tree had been ripping me apart.
No.
That had been a dream.
I felt strangely light as I stood up. "You won't believe it. I just had the mother of all night- Why are you staring at me like that?" Both Kokiri were just glaring. They stood holding hands tightly.
"You have brought us on a hopeless quest. We want to go home. We've come to this decision together. We've. . .fallen in love."
"What?! Is that even possible? When in history have two Kokiri fallen in love?"
"It doesn't matter," Holly said. Both still glared, eyes fixed. "It happened. You know we could never stop Ganondorf."
"No, I don't. We can and will. The Evil One will fall. You have trusted me this far. Why not now?"
"When did we ever trust you? You lost me! You gave Holly no hope when I was lost! You do not and have never, ever had our trust. It's time for you to go away."
Then I realized why my back had felt light. My sword. They'd taken it in my sleep. Mako pulled it from behind the statue, and both of them grasped the hilt together. I had no time to react, to make a plan or plea, and I died by my own sword yet again.
I came awake yet again, the same ghostly feeling of phantom pain. There hadn't really been any. Just another dream.
I looked around as I stood and for some reason my eyes wouldn't open. I couldn't see anything. I reached up and felt my eyelids, then started with shock.
They were open. Somehow I'd gone blind. But that wasn't completely true. I'd lost my first eyesight, but the strange power I'd gained when I'd flown for the first time I still had. It had been sitting, forgotten.
I could see the waves, the grass, the sky, but only when the wind brushed against them. I looked down at my own arm. It was glowing brightly, a lantern against the darkness. I cried out for Mako and Holly but got no answer. Not that I needed to call I would have been able to see them anyway.
The edges of my sight began to blur, and I realized I was dreaming again. I looked out at the world around me, wondering why all this had happened to me. To spur me on? To show me how important my friends were? To teach me not to put all my faith in them even so? To not put to much faith in my own power either? Maybe I would never find out.
Raindrops splashed my face, and I knew I was truly awake at last. Holly was three inches from away, screaming for me to wake up.
Mako was groaning and sitting up a few feet over. "What a dream. Wow. What a trip." He passed a hand threw his dark hair and peered up at the sky.
Holly seemed close to hysterics. "You wouldn't wake up. Neither of you. I was so worried. You. . .you're okay right?" She asked peering at me.
I responded with exactly what I'd been thinking. "I wish I knew."
Chapter XXXIX: The Sorceress
-Laruto
I looked out at the murmuring group arrayed before me, and wondered if I should say something. I'd gathered everyone back on ledge where I'd first rallied them for battle, and now. At evening after two days of fighting, the people of Outset were ragged and tired. Ripped from their homes, most of which were now piles of scattered debris. Only six of the Deku were left, counting the two I'd sent with Medli and Shiek.
Throughout the crowd I could see Jharmyne, Fala, Gris, and the two Deku that weren't guarding me scattered about. I couldn't understand why Jharmyne she was here. She'd gone into hiding with the children. She'd refused a weapon, and accepted the cowardly way even her daughter hadn't taken.
I stood on top of the bridge pillar, my preferred way of addressing the villagers, when suddenly I heard a massive whoosh of billowing water, and waves striking the sand. I looked towards the sea and saw the pirate ship lift into the air. Slowly, gently at first, and then building up speed until it was fast becoming a mere speck.
I sensed nauseating wave of hatred flash through me, and knew I had to do something. But would I have enough strength to fight something so like Ganondorf?
I couldn't fly, but I could do something almost as good. I leapt into the air, flipping end over end, and landed on the beach, but I didn't stop. The ground rippled beneath me like pond water and shot me into the air. I felt ropes wrap around my feet and realized the Scrubs were coming with me yet again. All four. After this, I was going to make it clear their debt was far past paid.
I didn't know if I had enough power for the coming battle, but I was on my way all the same.
-Medli
Gravity pressed us to the deck as we soared higher and higher, until the air grew icy and made my breathe mist. As soon as our speed leveled out, Sasuke charged forward again, sword held high.
The two clashed with an echoing ring. Sasuke swung his sword in a high arc while grabbing her other arm to slow her sword. He drew a long gash across her cheek that sprayed blood as they fought. The pirate drew him out with a series of sharp, powerful strikes, and flipped her leg out, tripping him. She then leapt forward and slashed open his throat, killing him instantly.
Shiek howled with bitter rage and raced forward, wind screaming with him as he brandished the Wind Waker. I struggled to think of something, anything I could do, but I was unarmed, and virtually powerless.
While Shiek and the sorceress pirate battled, she spoke. "Ah. The Waker of Winds. Exactly the ah..." her next word was filled with contempt, "- man- I was looking for. Ganondorf will indeed accept my proposal when I bring not only the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom, but also the Waker and a Sage."
"Don't waste your breath with empty threats!" Shiek responded, "I'LL KILL YOU!"
The air melted and shimmered around her suddenly as her appearance changed. In seconds the pirate truly looked like a witch, her clothes transformed into dark green robes, her hair turned from fair to dark. Sizzling flashes drew over the blond, eating it and making it shaded in a strange tone, but not a beautiful color like Fala's hair. It was a dull sickly black, almost the color of her clothes.
- Gepqa-
The ship rocked back and forth the sails full, then slack. I struggled to keep my feet as Shiek's sandals clacked against the wooden deck. Blasts of lightning struck here and there from Gepqa as Shiek continually battered her off her feet with wind. He ducked away from the discharges, and then suddenly stopped, and called up an odd tune with the wand.
I cried out in horror as Sasuke began to rise. He lurched forward and wrapped around her. At that moment an arrow was suddenly growing from Gepqa's left arm. Mel stood in the rigging, launching arrows as fast as his fingers could fly across the bowstring.
Still I didn't know what to do. Fear kept me rooted to the spot as Shiek collapsed to the deck under a bolt of lightning. Whatever he had done to Sasuke had distracted him momentarily from defense. Both boys, one alive, one dead, fell together in a heap on the deck and rolled against a rail. The Wind Waker clattered to a stop a few feet away.
The arrow in Gepqa's arm caught fire and she pulled it free and returned it to its sender. Mel fell to the deck next to Shiek and Sasuke, a burning ball of flame. We were getting taken down one by one.
Remembering the orb Laruto had launched long ago when we'd first met, I decided I had to try the same.
But before I could attempt anything, the sorceress charged. I felt frost lock my spine and throw my knees together. Gepqa raised her sword. . .
"Mother! I will NOT let you do this!" Zelda cried out, blocking the blade. "I have stood by too long," the soft-spoken girl whispered vehemently, anger coloring her words.
"Betrayed by my own daughter! I should have expected no less. You always were a simpering, sympathetic idiot."
The two fought and once again the ring of swords filled the air.
Gepqa fought the same as she had against Sasuke and Shiek, showing no mercy toward her daughter. I watched in horror as the two leapt, spun, slashed, parried. But Zelda was no match for the very person that had taught her to fight.
Gepqa dropped her sword and ducked underneath Zelda's strike, and punched her across the face, a jolt of lighting following her fist. She picked up the girl, and with sparks still crawling across her body, Zelda was among the other three.
I was alone.
I concentrated, pouring all my hatred, rage, fear, and despair into an orb of solid darkness. A brush of foul-smelling air rushed past as the ball of energy struck it's target.
But the witch wasn't hurt. To my horror, she began to grow. A foot taller, she laughed aloud with derision. "Thank you, you fool! Do you really think such negatives can stop me?"
Fighting back the fear, an icy and solid monster in my chest, I charged her, sweeping up the Waker and launching myself into the air. I flew over her head and raked my talons down her back. Gepqa followed after me with her blade and laid open my left wing. I fell to the deck and she stood over me triumphantly. A kick left me gasping for breath as she raised her sword high, preparing to strike me down yet again.
I saw a blue dot on the horizon rapidly closing in and realized it was Laruto. I looked up at the witch and grinned. "Your death has arrived." The woman in that instant was gone. Laruto and Gepqa went spinning out to the edge of the railing, Laruto striking, then leaping back and making the boat ripple beneath her and flipping over end she would fly after the pirate again, tiny orbs of blue flying from her fists in rivers. Gepqa pushed her skills further, flying and launching scathing fire that started the sails burning.
Four Deku Scrubs were looking about the deck, confused. Three drew arrows and pointed them at the witch. The last ran to Mel's charred body. As before, an orange glow came up from under a hand placed on his skin. I struggled to sit up and speak. "What are you doing?"
The Scrub looked at me distractedly when he was done. "I absorbed their consciousness." Before I could ask what that meant, he dashed off, drawing a bow as he went.
I looked up and saw Laruto leap off the crow's nest, grab Gepqa by the arm, and hurl her into the mast. Unable to help, I limped to Shiek and Zelda, to see if they still lived.
A wordless shout brought my head up. In slow motion, I saw Laruto pierced through the leg by a sword. Gepqa sent her into the crow's nest and the whole thing exploded into wooden fragments. I had no time to react to the debris that sent me tumbling into darkness.