Chapter 9: Storm of struggles and charades

The group crept forwards in silence, with Sheik staying behind until the Gerudos were over the brow of the hill so he could take the horses into the valley without giving away the presence of the warriors.

Link, at the front, waited by the slight corner under the ledge, until every Gerudo had passed by, but he was starting to grow anxious; the army was large, and it was taking time for them all to pass. With each minute that passed it was a chance for Ganondorf to enter onto the field.

Yunsung, near the back of the group, was starting to grow impatient and restless and was beginning to shift irritably.

"Yunsung," Link half whispered, half shouted, hissing as he did so "Stop fidgeting. If you carry on I'll feed you to the dragons later, if we don't get killed by the Gerudos because of your stupidity first."

"Oh, come on Link. There's no point in…"

Yunsung was cut off, mid sentence, by Raphael, who had put his hand over his mouth and pushed him to the floor in one move. It was unlike Raphael to do something such as that, but he seemed to understand the importance of keeping quiet more than anyone else. Maxi too was beginning to become bored. A few minutes later, the last few dregs of Gerudos filed past Link and up to the hill. He sent Raphael forward a bit to sneak around the corner and see if the Gerudos had moved off. Once he came back reporting that they had, Yunsung ran back to Sheik to tell him to get ready to move, then returned to the others, who were following Link into the valley.

They valley was cold, dark and silent, when the group entered, save for the quiet gushing of the nearby waterfall. Maxi shivered involuntarily at the sharp coldness of the air, and looked behind him to the others, who just smirked and carried on following Link, who led the way over the small pool of water and to the main bridge and valley.

"Hey, Link," Maxi piped up "I thought this was a desert."

"It isn't quite yet, the desert is through the gates in the fortress grounds."

"But the heat travels through to here, right?"

"Of course."

"So why is it so damn cold?" Maxi asked, shivering again

"Well for one thing, you aren't wearing much of a shirt and two, deserts always get freezing cold at night," Link answered

"Oh," was Maxi's response

"Penpiddin," Link muttered under his breath

(A.N: Penpiddin, is Welsh, if I tell you that 'pen' is 'head', I'm sure you can guess what the rest is wink wink)

Maxi seemed not to hear this comment, whereas in fact he had and didn't want to know what language it was or what it meant, he seemed to realise he had been insulted.

Walking forwards in silence the group made their way to the large bridge and walked over it, looking down at the long drop and gulping.

Behind them the sound of hooves hitting the ground could be heard, as Sheik made his way through the valley.

Approaching the stone arch which marked the official to the Gerudo's territory, Link took a deep breath and announced to the others that they were now officially trespassing on Gerudo territory, that there was no going back and that if they lost they would die a slow, painful and torturous death.

"Oh, now he tells us." Yunsung muttered to himself as he trudged up the path behind Maxi, and Raphael rolled his eyes.

Leon walked up the carpeted stone stairs, heading for the princess's room. She hadn't been seen all day, except by Sheik, who had assured everyone that it would be better to leave her to cool down. Despite the fact that it had been just over 24 hours previously, Zelda was still upset, apparently. This was extremely unlike her, she usually would have calmed down by the next morning, so for her to stay mad and locked up in her room was worrying.

He had never been very good at sensing how people felt emotionally, nor was he good with dealing with someone when they were upset, which is, perhaps, why it took so long for him and Claire to get together. Nevertheless, he felt compelled to check on her. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong, and when he did get around to sensing something, he was usually right.

He knocked on the door quietly, just in case she was asleep, when there was no answer he opened the door, centimetres at a time, and only enough to let enough light in the room to see by. Instead of seeing the silhouetted form of Zelda covered by blankets, on the bed, there was none. Leon opened the door fully, and grabbed the nearby oil lamp from outside the room, walked in and lit the room's few torches. It cast eerie shadows around the room, and he began to feel anxious as to where Zelda could be.

There was no sign of her and no sign of her regular habits either. She was incredibly tidy, all the time. The curtains would always be neatly pulled back, or hanging delicately, the bed would be neat and well made. Over the fire place there would be large portraits and unused candles to decorate the room. The books she read would either be stacked neatly on the table, or in the book shelf, her clothes always folded away neatly. So nothing could have prepared Leon for what he saw.

The room was trashed; the books were haphazardly strewn across the floor, as was most of everything else. The bed was unmade, in factthere was only the sheet that covered the mattress, and the pillows, left on it, while her usual dress was strewn over the bed and even ripped in places.

Leon picked his way between the books, curtains from around the bed, and cushions that lay on the floor. When he reached the other side of the bed, and had pulled the curtains back into place, he found the rest of the bedding.

'Oh NO! Zelda, what crazy plan have you come up with this time? And how did you manage to do this?' were the thoughts that ran through his head as he looked at the lump of bedding on the floor, with a bandaged hand sticking out from underneath

Leon pulled back the sheets and found Sheik, lying on the floor, unable to move. Leon rolled Sheik over and found him to be breathing, his eyes were open and darting around as he tried to tell Leon something. Knowing what the princess had done already, though, Leon flung the paralyzed Sheikah warrior over his shoulder and sprintedout of Zelda's room down to Impa's.

'Zelda, you're insane. You're going to get yourself and others hurt. Why are you Hyrulian women so damn stubborn? You're as bad as Claire!'

He knocked on the door loudly and repeatedly, until Impa emerged.

"Good Goddesses Leon! I'm trying to get some work done here, what's wrong with…" Impa trailed off as she noticed the body of her son, hanging over Leon's shoulder.

"Put him on the bed!" she ordered immediately.

Leon did as he was told, putting Sheik on the bed, Impa closing the door behind them.

"It's only a light paralyzing spell, if Zelda put it on him when he went in then it should fade any minute now." Impa stated, looking down at her son. Indeed, he was already starting to move his arms slightly.

"Zelda's room is trashed though, so he put up a good fight. This does, however, mean that Zelda has gone to the Gerudo valley with Link, so she could be in real danger."

"Of course. We'll have to tell the king, then you and Sheik can head to the Gerudo Valley while I fill in the sages as to the new development."

"Is it wise to make him move so soon after he's been paralyzed?" Leon asked gesturing to Sheik with his head.

"The air and movement will sort him out quickly so it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Will you stop talking about me as if I'm not in the room?" Sheik suddenly said, whilst trying to pull himself into a sitting position.

Leon smiled slightly and Impa rolled her eyes.

"Leon, get to the king and get two horses ready for you and Sheik, then set of for the valley" Impa commanded, extending a hand towards her son to help him up.

Leon nodded and ran out the room while Impa stayed behind to help Sheik get his bearings. She then disappeared in a flash of purple light, as Sheik walked lethargically down the corridor.

Link glanced around continuously, walking up the steps and then into the fortress, navigating his way through long corridors.

He suddenly stopped and stiffened at the sound of what sounded like bone clicking against the floor. The other warriors listened intently to the sound.

"Charade," Siegfried whispered from behind Link.

"Yunsung," Link hissed "Would you care to do the honours?"

Yunsung nodded and slipped to the front of the group and glanced around the corner, to see the eye of Charade swivelling around.

He waited until the creatures back was turned and then walked quietly into the room, pulling out 'White Storm' from his belt.

Link peeked around the corner, watching quietly. Siegfried was kneeled on the floor and watching the Korean. Maxi was trying to squirm his way into a position which would let him witness the fight.

Thinking he had the element of surprise, Yunsung strode forward, raising his sword to take a swipe at the fragment of Soul Edge's back. When he was a few foot away, Charade turned around, the eye in its ribcage narrowed and glaring at him.

"Oh f..." Yunsung hissed, before being cut off by the creature drawing a pair of ninja knives out of nowhere.

It suddenly leapt at him, bringing one of the knives down in an arc. Yunsung gasped and stepped back, bringing up his sword to block the attack. There was a clang and scrape of metal on metal. Yunsung retreated a couple of steps, the creature did too, then launched at him again. Blocking the attack, the Korean, moved to behind the creature and took a swipe at it. It moved, spun round and kicked at him. He backed off, and launched himself at it, swinging White Storm horizontally at the same time, lightly scraping the ribcage of the creature as it dodged the attack.

The others watched with interest as Yunsung fought Charade, swinging White Storm in an expert form. Turning away from the fight Link began to walk down the corridor.

"Are we leaving him there on his own?" Raphael asked, watching Link walk away.

"Yeah, I think he can handle himself, don't you?" Link responded, gesturing back at Yunsung. Raphael turned back to watch Yunsung for a moment, to see him grab Charade, throw him onto the floor, slam the sword through the creatures eye and then kick down on it, driving it further into the floor. The creature, lay on the floor, writhing in pain its slashed eye closed around the blade, and some sort of what seemed to be a mixture of unnatural fluids, seeping out. One of which was silver, like molten metal. Like, perhaps, a liquid piece of Soul Edge.

Raphael turned back towards Link and nodded, starting to follow him down the corridor. Maxi lingered for a second to watch the Korean for a moment longer, and then he turned away, spurred on by the desire to kill Astaroth. Siegfried was still crouched where he was before, staring at the living fragment of Soul Edge that was seemingly bleeding as it was slowly destroyed by human hands. His thoughts drifted back to when he had thrown Soul Edge into the crevasse up in the cathedral, and he suddenly wondered what he was doing here. Why he was even in his human form. The dark side of his soul, his alter ego, Nightmare, was waking up once again; Soul Edge hadn't been destroyed, only hidden. The remains of Soul Edge that was back on its feet once again, represented the evil that had gone before…but he wouldn't give into it, he assured himself, shaking his head and standing up. He meandered his way towards Link, telling himself that this was his only chance of redeeming himself.

'What's going on inside your head, Siegfried?' Link thought. He had watched the blonde knight as he had become seemingly enthralled by Charade, then stood up and slowly paced down the corridor. The soft patter of footfalls interrupted his thoughts. Turning in the direction from which the sound came, he saw Sheik trot around the corner.

"How did you find us?" Maxi asked the Sheikah warrior

"With the noise coming from their fight, who wouldn't be able to navigate their way here from the sound?" was his answer.

He looked to the room in which Yunsung was duelling with Charade.

Charade suddenly thrust one sword forwards, straight to where Yunsung's stomach would have been, had he not moved, and piercing only air instead. The Korean warrior smirked, as he back stepped, thinking he was too clever for the Taki impersonator. This was not the case however, as Charade raised its leg, kicking Yunsung in the chest, wiping the smirk off his face, and then immediately slashing at him when he stumbled, bringing the knife down into the teen's upper left arm. A torrent of crimson blood spurted out of the wound as the knife sank into the softish flesh.

Yunsung cried out slightly as the blade penetrated his arm, he stared down at the cut once the weapon had been removed, and he grimaced at the fountain of claret gushed out, then clasped his arm with his right hand, trying to hold the sword level at the same time.

Upon hearing Yunsung's cry, and seeing the blood appear, Sheik sprang forwards and stood by the entrance to the room, watching in dismay as the youth clutched at the wound, in a vain attempt to stop the rush of blood. Link eyed Sheik suspiciously; it wasn't like him to be concerned over such a slight wound, as he would usually see it.

"Sheik, c'mon, we need to find the others before they have a chance to get onto Hyrule field." Link said, quietly, glancing towards a corner.

Reluctantly turning away from the battle, Sheik jogged down to Link. Link nodded and then began to lead the way again navigating through more eerily empty corridor.

Leon pulled the horses to the front of the stable yard, having hurriedly told the king what they had suspected Zelda to have done. He looked up as the real Sheik jogged into the stable yard and over towards him.

"You ready to go?" Leon asked, steadying his horse

The Sheikah nodded in reply and swung himself up into the saddle. Leon followed suit and gently kicked Thara in the sides to get him to move. Sheik's black Sheikah war horse, Kuro-fuyu, called Kuro for short, began to move of its own accord, trotting down the path along side Thara and Leon. Kuro-fuyu was a large and somewhat wicked tempered stallion, which had been by Sheik's side since he was eight, although the horse was somewhat larger than him at that point in time. The creature's front quarters, its legs, head, neck and withers, up to about half way down its back were an extremely light dappled grey, almost white in places, which quickly darkened to pitch black. His mane was black and his tail was dark grey. It was extremely large and heavily built, even for a horse, which was perhaps to make up for his human's lack of size. The name 'Kuro-fuyu', meant ' Black winter' which was probably to complement the horses' colours, but also somehow contrast and complement its cold but fiery nature, was of Sheikah origin (A.N: as you would expect, but if you speak Japanese, you will realise that it actually well, Japanese). Kicking the horse sharply in the flank, Sheik surged forwards, his horse in a fast canter, Leon was just behind. Racing through the castle gates, they thundered through the town, towards the drawbridge and over it, before it was hastily raised again. Leon glanced to his right as they headed up the hill, and saw the Hylian army that they had just stampeded past. He had given Liam a quick salute, as he stood before the army. The Hylian army was fidgeting nervously as it stared up at the Gerudo army on the brow of the hill.

"Good luck, Liam," he whispered as the armies definition began to fade into a blurred mass.

Yunsung squeaked slightly, and fell to the floor as Charade kicked him in the chest. He was backed into a corner, which wasn't really a good place to be. He looked up at Charade, who stood, towering over him, ninja blades drawn, and ready for attack. As Charade began to descend upon Yunsung, the teen warrior burst upwards, slamming into the creature's chest and knocking it backwards. The creature stumbled, its eye wide with shock at what the teen had just done. Yunsung rolled his shoulders and stepped to the side. A slight growl rumbling in his throat, a harsh scowl set onto his face. Determined to finish the battle quickly, he thrust his sword forwards, and missed Charade by a couple of inches. Charade retaliated by bringing both knives towards Yunsung at the same time, in a lightening quick move, leaving Yunsung no time to react. As one blade sank into his left shoulder, the other scraped down the side of his face, starting just above his eyebrow and finishing half way down his cheek, the force of the attack forcing him down onto his knees as he tried to gasp, only to find himself suddenly winded and unable to breathe. He fell the rest of the way to the floor again, losing his grip on White Storm at the same time, trying to stop himself with his injured left arm and then jarring it as it slammed onto the ground. He winced, grimaced and tried to cry out at the same time, but was unable to let any noise escape because of the lack of air in his lungs. Charade's single eye seemed to stare down at him in a condescending manner, as he struggled to breathe, his chest heaving desperately. Raising its foot, Charade stamped down on Yunsung's chest leaving him grimacing in pain, it then knelt down next to him, and ripped the blade that was lodged in the young man's body out of his shoulder and then pressed it up against his neck. Blood trickled down the silver blade, coating it with hot scarlet liquid.

Struggling to get out from underneath the bony form of Charade, Yunsung squirmed desperately, his body searing with pain each time he moved. He stilled quickly when the blade was pressed harder into his neck, a hair's breadth away from spilling blood again. Yunsung's eyes darted around desperately, trying to find someone or something to help him. White Storm lay only centimetres away from his finger tips, but, as if reading Yunsung's thoughts, Charade knocked it away, and moved so that it was sitting on Yunsung, its legs pinning his arms down to the floor, one hand holding the knife to the Korean's jugular vein, the other holding his jaw to keep his head from moving. Yunsung closed his eyes, and muttered something audible only to him.

Sheik and Leon charged into the Gerudo Valley on horseback, the creatures' hooves pounding rhythmically on the floor to a furiously fast beat. Sheik, in the lead on Kuro-fuyu, glanced back at Leon who was glancing behind him. Leon turned back to see Sheik slow slightly to go over the wooden bridge, while he merely sped up to catch up with him.

Link glanced around the corner, watching for any signs of an enemy. The rooms and corridors were becoming colder with every step further into the heart of the building. A slight growling noise alerted him and the others to the presence of an enemy. Ducking behind a stack of crates he motioned for the others to do the same, and they quickly flattened themselves against more crates. Siegfried nodded as if confirming something and mouthed 'Cervantes' to Link.

As Yunsung lay on his back, feeling the cold sharpness of the knife pressing against his neck, he heard footsteps and he stiffened instinctively, his body going taut. Charade noticed this and looked down at Yunsung, before realising there were people coming and he looked up towards the exit of the room. And this was all Yunsung needed. With a sudden burst of speed, strength and pain, he flung himself upwards and forwards, sending Charade hurtling back into the far prison cell, dazed. Yunsung scrambled to his feet, and grabbed his sword that was lying nearby then rushed at the quickly recovering Charade. The creature itself glanced around desperately, as he saw Yunsung charge towards him, his sword held at waist height. Grabbing the fallen knife Charade turned, weapon in hand, at just the right time to see Yunsung's sword thrusting into the bottom of his eye and tearing upwards. White Storm ripped keenly through the thick throbbing flesh that was the only skin like part of Charade's body. Drawing his sword back, Yunsung watched as the split heart and combined eye fell out of Charade's ribcage and landed on the floor with a dull thud and slight squelching sound, ripped ligaments, that held the eye up, lying strewn around it and the light that had shone between the matt brown bones, finally faded. He smiled in triumph and satisfaction at seeing the silver metallic blood flow out from the eye organ and meld into a dull grey and eventually black, in the rough shape if an eye.

Wiping White Storm on his pant leg, Yunsung turned to the corridor, where the foot steps had come from, to see a rather hurried Sheik and Leon rush into the room.

"Sheik? Aren't you supposed to be with Link?" Yunsung questioned

"Zelda paralysed him and used her abilities to take on his form so that she could come here with you guys." Leon answered for him, his breathing heavy.

"Abilities?" Yunsung questioned

"Later, Yunsung. The fact is the princess could be in serious danger"

Sheik meanwhile was leaning over the dead form of Charade. "Impressive."

"Maybe, but he's still hurt," Leon replied, "Here." He added, handing Yunsung a cloth to press onto the wound on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Yunsung stated, before stumbling forwards a few steps and toppling to the floor.

"Looks like it." Leon smirked, then knelt down to Yunsung and grabbed his arm, throwing it round his shoulders so he could support the wounded teenager. "Which way did they go?" Sheik asked

Yunsung answered by pointing to the corridor and hanging his head, exhausted.

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Sorry this was late. I had a lot to do Monday so I forgot. Reviews will, as always be appreciated. Thanks