Legends of the Waker: Remnants of Old
Chapter LIV: Numb
(Link)
The scattered fires below spun into lines as I fell, my body a useless cavity, streaks of blue still clinging tightly to my skin and jolting my unfeeling body with temporary bubbles of sensation.
I struggled all the while to fly and didn't succeed until I was mere inches from the rock. I landed and looked around, wondering where I was.
Bellen-Der were scattered everywhere, dancing about and moving through the fires, wings flapping moistly and voices calling softly. I was surprised that I hadn't notice them earlier. Far, far above me, I could see the bridge, and make out the figure of Trisyrt, staring down.
A harsh voice bellowed out strange words from somewhere in the dark and I turned, but saw nothing, though the Bellen-Der were now gathering to my left, what I guessed vaguely should be to the north.
Where could I go now? Amidst what could have dozens or hundreds of Bellen-Der I might find my death. Trisyrt had to know where Zelda is. Quietly I hopped upward and flew as fast as I could. In a blur of movement I was surrounded by flashing wings and whirling scythes legs. Before I needed to react, the course voice roared again and they were gone.
The boards rattled and swayed when I landed. Trisyrt was simply sitting cross-legged on the decking towards the walkway. I drew both swords and charged.
A blinding whirlwind blasted me off my feet and sent me rolling head over heels back towards the dome room. A self satisfied half-smile worked across Trisyrt's face but his eyes were tightly shut.
I stood against the driving winds and struggled to move. Their existence seemed dependant on his concentration. I tried to draw a sword and swipe at the rope, but it was driven away till it clinked against the stone wall of the dome. I dropped to the floor and crawled, holding my right arm out rigid with my sword pointing outward, sticking away from the bridge, and soon bumped into a rope.
After a few minutes and a few cut ropes, Trisyrt began to realize his wind blast wasn't working.
Too late.
With one last cut, the bridge lurched forward, shoving both of us into the darkness.
Of course I didn't fall. My only task was to keep the same from happening to my enemy. I needed him.
I peered through the darkness and began to panic. I didn't have much time, and I couldn't find him. There! I dove, hurtling like an arrow and swept him up just in time for both of us to hurtle into the ground.
Immediately we were on our feet, swords drawn and clashing. But he was out of breath. Trisyrt didn't last long, and soon he was on his knees, my blade's edge at his throat.
"Tell me where Zelda is quickly. My blade is not a tolerant thing."
His eyes burned suddenly with a deep crimson and he spoke with a different voice. It had Trisyrt's voice, but spoke with a completely different air. It didn't speak with my former opponent's confidant nonchalance, but dripped with undisguised hatred.
"I see you've bested my warrior in combat. I don't think you'll kill young Trisyrt just yet, however. I still have use for him, and what I have use for I don't give up lightly. It would be unfortunate for both of us to lose someone unnecessarily. You don't want that. . .do you?"
The scarlet-eyed man stood and pushed my blade away contemptuously. Before his eyes faded to their usual intense green, he spoke one last time. "Follow my boy here into darkness if you dare, young fool. If you refuse, the girl dies."
Chapter LV: Blind
(Fado)
The shock almost killed me.
I jerked and spasmed against my restraints so hard one of them snapped. I could feel liquid pouring down my face, tasted something sticky and metallic against my lip.
I can't describe the pain. Not really. Unless you get your eye stabbed, you'll never know. Phantom sight crossed over it and my squeezed shut left eye. Could I see the ghost? Could I see the blood pouring everywhere? The knife that kept my eyelid from closing? Wailing and screaming, I struggled to gain a comprehensive thought, but everything slid away from me. It flashed into my mind that knife shouldn't be inside me. With twitching fingers, I ripped it out.
Big mistake.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I screamed again, and again. Where was the ghost? He surely wasn't finished. All I wanted now was to drift away. . .sleep.
No! I tore a strip from my tunic and made a bandage for my eye. Looked around, panic throbbing in my chest. I saw a glint of silver in the lantern light and gave a gasp of raw terror. Not again, no please no. Not again.
The last thing I ever saw with my own sight was an evil yellowed grin.
When I was able to function again, I pulled my bandage over my other eye as well and activated my wind sight. There was the ghost, a luminescent purple. I made orbs in both hands and charged forward with a scream, ignoring the powerful, throbbing pain.
He disappeared into a cloud of lavender smoke, and I turned as a booming laugh echoed through the walls of the ship.
"You're more powerful than I gave you credit for, Fado Warrior-Sage. If you'd like your wound staunched, come to the next room." A nearby door behind the chair and a stack of crates creaked open. I sighed and walked through without looking back.
(Holly)
I stood on the deck of a massive ship. No sign of my friends. I'd made a potion to find those with blood like mine. With only three Kokiri in the world, it had to take me to at least one of my friends. I called out to Fado and then Mako but got no answer.
Shifting the sword strapped to my back, I began to look around. I brushed my fingers through the blond bush that my hair had become. I'd been pulled here. One second on the beach, the next I was wind-blasted on the deck of a ship.
I heard a boy screaming and recognized Fado's voice. He was in horrible pain. But I didn't know where to go. It had come from somewhere beneath my feet. I pulled a potion from my belt and poured it over myself. It was dangerous, but I was willing to take the risk.
My body melted like Baba jelly and I slid right between the tiny cracks in the wood. A Chu potion I'd made at Dragon Roost, it could give anyone their consistency. I plopped flat and inconsistent into a galley. I could hear a voice singing and food being chopped, as well as see knives rise and fall and a barrel rolling on its own, but no people. Another cry pierced me and I searched for a place to go.
The floor was so tight here it was some time before I found a mouse hole. I heard a squeak as I entered, but ignored it, intent on finding Fado. Following the tiny, dark tunnel, I came out on the floor of a room filled with boxes. A chair sat off to the right, with broken straps.
And blood.
Blood everywhere.
I sobbed at the sight of it. The area was stained with the mixed, reddish-purple blood of a Kokiri.
The potion was wearing off. I was slowly becoming more solid. I stood up on wobbly, legs, my arms hanging loosely at my sides, and coughed up a rat. The squeak had been the animal getting caught.
"Ima gun voma." I rapsed, my vocal cords still inconsistent. I was very glad I'd used all that particular potion.
I noticed a door nearby and heard noises through it. I ran as fast as I could, organs arranging themselves in their proper places, hair strangely wet but at least smooth again.
Nothing prepared me for what I saw. Or heard. Fado was playing his cello at his neck like a violin. A beautiful tune swam through the air, bringing a smile to lips unused to the action.
In a plain, round room with strange, bright green walls stood of course Fado. Next to him a giant man in pirate's garb was reeling as if being struck. His transparent face blackened here and there with what looked like bruises.
Fado turned to me and grinned. I gave a start when I saw that his eyes were solid black orbs.
Chapter LVI: Sacrifice
(Laruto)
The sound of busy hammers and ruffling sails overrode the cresting waves as the ship made the easy journey to our goal. It was so close now. I'd been there once before, a broken wreck then.
Shiek, Medli and I were the only ones with nothing to do. Cufell was busily making a fresh quiver of arrows. Walking the deck, I'd been lost in though, thinking of Fado. When the Great Deku Tree had mentioned his name, a faint memory had stirred, just out of grasp. I remembered an old children's tale about a boy from the forest who went on a journey died somewhere in the northern reaches of the ocean. But how did my people know about him?
-"It has been centuries since I sent little Fado to his death."- He'd been a sage on a quest, just like me. And Ganondorf had, according to the Deku Tree's self admittedly limited information, killed him. Was that my fate? I found I really didn't care. My people were gone. My life meant nothing. It was for the rest of the world that I carried on. So that others might know happiness and peace.
No.
That wasn't my only reason. Vengeance. Ganondorf had committed genocide. I fought back a wave of revulsion and disgust. Giving in to such feelings would be a victory for him. He'd taken small victories like it for centuries, and larger ones too. He wouldn't be happy until his own foul minions ruled everything and all those good and free were bound in unending slavery.
All of these thoughts dragged me back to the same haunting idea. What could a girl of fourteen winters do against such powerful hatred?
The jagged cliffs of Headstone Isle were looming close when Zelda's soft voice called out. "Laruto? Could you come here?"
I went to her and the young captain led me deep below decks, to the very keel of the ship, which she had told me was known as the -Hero's Sword-.
My eyes were drawn instantly to the center of the long, narrow room. There sat a brilliant diamond of glowing silver-blue, shaped like two pyramids stacked on top of each other, one point down, one up. It was at least three feet wide and two feet thick, but I couldn't be sure. Sometimes it seemed too big for the room, sometimes it seemed as though it would fit in my pocket. The source of the blue glow I'd seen during the battle with Gepqa.
Zelda walked towards it, the intricate golden braids of her hair lit in strange tones. "This is the defense my moth-Gepqa spoke of. Hundreds of intricate spells were woven into it to increase her power and to protect her. She ran her fingers along the side of it and stopped them in the center, pressing her palms tightly against the smooth surface. The thing cracked open revealing another, smaller jewel, this one clear with an orb of blue inside. As Zelda pulled it out, several threads unstuck themselves from it.
"The true source of this item's magical power," she said. "The bigger jewel is just an amplifier. As the story goes, this is one of three that the Hero of Time gave the Princess to show he forgave her for something. It's not clear what. They're supposed to have hadsomething to do with the gods. This one was called Nayru's Snot or something. As it is now, all it can do is surround the user with a magic shield. It's yours. I think it will help you."
Before I could reach out and grab it, a short pirate with red hair rushed in and yelled in a panic stained voice. "We got trouble, Cap. A whole wall of sea monsters block our progress. There's no going any further in this direction."
"Tell everybody to hang on! Make sure as much of our gear as possible is secured with rigging or tossed below decks!" The pirate nodded at the strange orders and took off. Zelda turned to me. "I'm going to have to hold on to this for a little longer!" she shouted as she placed the magic device back into its holder. "She's never flown before! Best hold on tight!"
"She did too fly, back at Outset!" I called back. The waves were playing with the boat and tossing us about. A storm seemed to have erupted from nowhere.
"That wasn't flying. That was hovering. This is flying!" she cried as -the Sword- blasted into the air like an arrow from a bow.
Chapter LIV: Numb
(Link)
The scattered fires below spun into lines as I fell, my body a useless cavity, streaks of blue still clinging tightly to my skin and jolting my unfeeling body with temporary bubbles of sensation.
I struggled all the while to fly and didn't succeed until I was mere inches from the rock. I landed and looked around, wondering where I was.
Bellen-Der were scattered everywhere, dancing about and moving through the fires, wings flapping moistly and voices calling softly. I was surprised that I hadn't notice them earlier. Far, far above me, I could see the bridge, and make out the figure of Trisyrt, staring down.
A harsh voice bellowed out strange words from somewhere in the dark and I turned, but saw nothing, though the Bellen-Der were now gathering to my left, what I guessed vaguely should be to the north.
Where could I go now? Amidst what could have dozens or hundreds of Bellen-Der I might find my death. Trisyrt had to know where Zelda is. Quietly I hopped upward and flew as fast as I could. In a blur of movement I was surrounded by flashing wings and whirling scythes legs. Before I needed to react, the course voice roared again and they were gone.
The boards rattled and swayed when I landed. Trisyrt was simply sitting cross-legged on the decking towards the walkway. I drew both swords and charged.
A blinding whirlwind blasted me off my feet and sent me rolling head over heels back towards the dome room. A self satisfied half-smile worked across Trisyrt's face but his eyes were tightly shut.
I stood against the driving winds and struggled to move. Their existence seemed dependant on his concentration. I tried to draw a sword and swipe at the rope, but it was driven away till it clinked against the stone wall of the dome. I dropped to the floor and crawled, holding my right arm out rigid with my sword pointing outward, sticking away from the bridge, and soon bumped into a rope.
After a few minutes and a few cut ropes, Trisyrt began to realize his wind blast wasn't working.
Too late.
With one last cut, the bridge lurched forward, shoving both of us into the darkness.
Of course I didn't fall. My only task was to keep the same from happening to my enemy. I needed him.
I peered through the darkness and began to panic. I didn't have much time, and I couldn't find him. There! I dove, hurtling like an arrow and swept him up just in time for both of us to hurtle into the ground.
Immediately we were on our feet, swords drawn and clashing. But he was out of breath. Trisyrt didn't last long, and soon he was on his knees, my blade's edge at his throat.
"Tell me where Zelda is quickly. My blade is not a tolerant thing."
His eyes burned suddenly with a deep crimson and he spoke with a different voice. It had Trisyrt's voice, but spoke with a completely different air. It didn't speak with my former opponent's confidant nonchalance, but dripped with undisguised hatred.
"I see you've bested my warrior in combat. I don't think you'll kill young Trisyrt just yet, however. I still have use for him, and what I have use for I don't give up lightly. It would be unfortunate for both of us to lose someone unnecessarily. You don't want that. . .do you?"
The scarlet-eyed man stood and pushed my blade away contemptuously. Before his eyes faded to their usual intense green, he spoke one last time. "Follow my boy here into darkness if you dare, young fool. If you refuse, the girl dies."
Chapter LV: Blind
(Fado)
The shock almost killed me.
I jerked and spasmed against my restraints so hard one of them snapped. I could feel liquid pouring down my face, tasted something sticky and metallic against my lip.
I can't describe the pain. Not really. Unless you get your eye stabbed, you'll never know. Phantom sight crossed over it and my squeezed shut left eye. Could I see the ghost? Could I see the blood pouring everywhere? The knife that kept my eyelid from closing? Wailing and screaming, I struggled to gain a comprehensive thought, but everything slid away from me. It flashed into my mind that knife shouldn't be inside me. With twitching fingers, I ripped it out.
Big mistake.
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I screamed again, and again. Where was the ghost? He surely wasn't finished. All I wanted now was to drift away. . .sleep.
No! I tore a strip from my tunic and made a bandage for my eye. Looked around, panic throbbing in my chest. I saw a glint of silver in the lantern light and gave a gasp of raw terror. Not again, no please no. Not again.
The last thing I ever saw with my own sight was an evil yellowed grin.
When I was able to function again, I pulled my bandage over my other eye as well and activated my wind sight. There was the ghost, a luminescent purple. I made orbs in both hands and charged forward with a scream, ignoring the powerful, throbbing pain.
He disappeared into a cloud of lavender smoke, and I turned as a booming laugh echoed through the walls of the ship.
"You're more powerful than I gave you credit for, Fado Warrior-Sage. If you'd like your wound staunched, come to the next room." A nearby door behind the chair and a stack of crates creaked open. I sighed and walked through without looking back.
(Holly)
I stood on the deck of a massive ship. No sign of my friends. I'd made a potion to find those with blood like mine. With only three Kokiri in the world, it had to take me to at least one of my friends. I called out to Fado and then Mako but got no answer.
Shifting the sword strapped to my back, I began to look around. I brushed my fingers through the blond bush that my hair had become. I'd been pulled here. One second on the beach, the next I was wind-blasted on the deck of a ship.
I heard a boy screaming and recognized Fado's voice. He was in horrible pain. But I didn't know where to go. It had come from somewhere beneath my feet. I pulled a potion from my belt and poured it over myself. It was dangerous, but I was willing to take the risk.
My body melted like Baba jelly and I slid right between the tiny cracks in the wood. A Chu potion I'd made at Dragon Roost, it could give anyone their consistency. I plopped flat and inconsistent into a galley. I could hear a voice singing and food being chopped, as well as see knives rise and fall and a barrel rolling on its own, but no people. Another cry pierced me and I searched for a place to go.
The floor was so tight here it was some time before I found a mouse hole. I heard a squeak as I entered, but ignored it, intent on finding Fado. Following the tiny, dark tunnel, I came out on the floor of a room filled with boxes. A chair sat off to the right, with broken straps.
And blood.
Blood everywhere.
I sobbed at the sight of it. The area was stained with the mixed, reddish-purple blood of a Kokiri.
The potion was wearing off. I was slowly becoming more solid. I stood up on wobbly, legs, my arms hanging loosely at my sides, and coughed up a rat. The squeak had been the animal getting caught.
"Ima gun voma." I rapsed, my vocal cords still inconsistent. I was very glad I'd used all that particular potion.
I noticed a door nearby and heard noises through it. I ran as fast as I could, organs arranging themselves in their proper places, hair strangely wet but at least smooth again.
Nothing prepared me for what I saw. Or heard. Fado was playing his cello at his neck like a violin. A beautiful tune swam through the air, bringing a smile to lips unused to the action.
In a plain, round room with strange, bright green walls stood of course Fado. Next to him a giant man in pirate's garb was reeling as if being struck. His transparent face blackened here and there with what looked like bruises.
Fado turned to me and grinned. I gave a start when I saw that his eyes were solid black orbs.
Chapter LVI: Sacrifice
(Laruto)
The sound of busy hammers and ruffling sails overrode the cresting waves as the ship made the easy journey to our goal. It was so close now. I'd been there once before, a broken wreck then.
Shiek, Medli and I were the only ones with nothing to do. Cufell was busily making a fresh quiver of arrows. Walking the deck, I'd been lost in though, thinking of Fado. When the Great Deku Tree had mentioned his name, a faint memory had stirred, just out of grasp. I remembered an old children's tale about a boy from the forest who went on a journey died somewhere in the northern reaches of the ocean. But how did my people know about him?
-"It has been centuries since I sent little Fado to his death."- He'd been a sage on a quest, just like me. And Ganondorf had, according to the Deku Tree's self admittedly limited information, killed him. Was that my fate? I found I really didn't care. My people were gone. My life meant nothing. It was for the rest of the world that I carried on. So that others might know happiness and peace.
No.
That wasn't my only reason. Vengeance. Ganondorf had committed genocide. I fought back a wave of revulsion and disgust. Giving in to such feelings would be a victory for him. He'd taken small victories like it for centuries, and larger ones too. He wouldn't be happy until his own foul minions ruled everything and all those good and free were bound in unending slavery.
All of these thoughts dragged me back to the same haunting idea. What could a girl of fourteen winters do against such powerful hatred?
The jagged cliffs of Headstone Isle were looming close when Zelda's soft voice called out. "Laruto? Could you come here?"
I went to her and the young captain led me deep below decks, to the very keel of the ship, which she had told me was known as the -Hero's Sword-.
My eyes were drawn instantly to the center of the long, narrow room. There sat a brilliant diamond of glowing silver-blue, shaped like two pyramids stacked on top of each other, one point down, one up. It was at least three feet wide and two feet thick, but I couldn't be sure. Sometimes it seemed too big for the room, sometimes it seemed as though it would fit in my pocket. The source of the blue glow I'd seen during the battle with Gepqa.
Zelda walked towards it, the intricate golden braids of her hair lit in strange tones. "This is the defense my moth-Gepqa spoke of. Hundreds of intricate spells were woven into it to increase her power and to protect her. She ran her fingers along the side of it and stopped them in the center, pressing her palms tightly against the smooth surface. The thing cracked open revealing another, smaller jewel, this one clear with an orb of blue inside. As Zelda pulled it out, several threads unstuck themselves from it.
"The true source of this item's magical power," she said. "The bigger jewel is just an amplifier. As the story goes, this is one of three that the Hero of Time gave the Princess to show he forgave her for something. It's not clear what. They're supposed to have hadsomething to do with the gods. This one was called Nayru's Snot or something. As it is now, all it can do is surround the user with a magic shield. It's yours. I think it will help you."
Before I could reach out and grab it, a short pirate with red hair rushed in and yelled in a panic stained voice. "We got trouble, Cap. A whole wall of sea monsters block our progress. There's no going any further in this direction."
"Tell everybody to hang on! Make sure as much of our gear as possible is secured with rigging or tossed below decks!" The pirate nodded at the strange orders and took off. Zelda turned to me. "I'm going to have to hold on to this for a little longer!" she shouted as she placed the magic device back into its holder. "She's never flown before! Best hold on tight!"
"She did too fly, back at Outset!" I called back. The waves were playing with the boat and tossing us about. A storm seemed to have erupted from nowhere.
"That wasn't flying. That was hovering. This is flying!" she cried as -the Sword- blasted into the air like an arrow from a bow.