Thanks to: Arctic Wolf 18 (O.o Violence in the review! Oi! I think Ruto needs a time out...), T-bone (Sorry about that. I didn't give any warning for that chappie. Maybe it should have been rated R? I'll give you a heads-up next time.), lvmj (Welcome aboard, mate! Rough waters, ahead!), Tizami (Um, Manwe is the head of the Valar, which are the god-like beings who watch over Middle Earth. It's actuall a long story, but if you have the passion and the patience, read the Silmarillion. )
Legolas: Hey, a record for one chapter!
Caranril: (gasps) OMG! You're right! Keep 'em comin'!
The Dark Before The Dawn - Chapter 7: Deadly Encounters
Zelda gave him a sad smile. "Hello, Hero."
Link hopped off the stool and bowed. "I have been searching for you," he said reverently.
Zelda lost her smile. "Link, please stop this..."
Link stood. "Stop what?"
"Treating me like royalty. I am no longer the Crown Princess."
"But royal blood still runs in your veins," Link protested.
"That may be, but at this rate, there won't be a land to rule." Zelda sat next to Nabooru on the couch. She offered him another smile, one that wasn't as sad as the first.
"It's good to see you again, Link." Zelda took a draft of her wine. "When I sent you back to your time four years ago, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you again."
"People keep talking about seeing me four years ago. I'm still confused on that," Link admitted.
"It is confusing, but it works something like this: When you were ten, you traveled to the future and killed Ganondorf. You returned to your former time and continued on with life. But you had disappeared from the face of the earth after you saved Clock Town. When you would have turned seventeen, your past self came here, but you still existed as your present self. Am I making any sense?"
Link rubbed his temples. "I think so."
"After I sent you back, and I remembered everything you did when you returned to the past: being captured by Ganondorf, watching you destroy him, escaping the tower...I recalled it all as a young girl. After Ganondorf was extinguished, I created a commerce with Clock Town and the surrounding countries, believing that things would return to normal, and they did. For two years, at least. And then I got a call from Impa. She said the Shadow Temple had been destroyed and that I needed to leave the castle. I met with her, and she told me the story of Meltose and his desire to destroy the Triforce. I fled to Gerudo Valley and have been here ever since, learning the forms of combat and weaponry that are so different than those of the Sheikah, yet are quite effective. I've been hiding, knowing that one day you would return and come looking for me, since the destroyed temples and castle indicate that the Hero of Time is needed again. Nabooru helped me stay out of sight, and she would let me know when you arrived. And here we are."
"So what do we do now?" Link asked.
"Just before you arrived, and before the thieves tore through this area..." Nabooru began.
"That reminds me," Link interrupted. "Why were you and the other Gerudos unable to kill those thieves when I slaughtered all fifteen of them?"
Nabooru's eyes widened. "You did? Is that how you freed Lenina and the other three?"
"Yes, and how Epona and I returned to each others' sides."
"They were enchanted," Zelda said quietly. Link and Nabooru looked at her. "I was able to watch from a distance and could...see the evil shadows surrounding them. Much like the one that attacked the castle. Your weapons were harmless against the black magic. If that magic was indeed from Meltose, then Link, you were able to kill them because you hold the Triforce. The Triforce cannot destroy Meltose himself, but a simple piece of his work is quite vulnerable."
Link looked at his right hand, wishing he could see the mark. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes, feeling the courage it lent him. "So what do we do now?"
"Well, before I was interrupted, I was going to tell you," Nabooru said pointedly. "Just before you and the thieves arrived, I received a message from Impa. She said that eventually Link and Zelda would meet here and that I must send you to Kakariko Graveyard. Her f-... She has a relative buried there, and she knows he will be able to help you. She couldn't tell you before, Link, because you need Zelda to enter the tomb. It is protected by the Triforce and requires the Lullaby to open, but obviously neither work anymore. Zelda's presence and magic should be able to open the grave. However, Zelda, I must inform you that once you use your magic, Meltose will know it and his will to break the bonds will be even stronger."
"How much time do we have?" Link asked, belting his scabbard and quiver on.
Nabooru shook her head. "I don't know that much. The dead might know..."
A shiver went down Link's spine as he remember the dead in the Market. Hopefully, there would be no need for them to return there.
A few supplies, weapons and a cloak for Zelda later, the two set out of the Gerudo Fortress with Zelda riding a much healthier Epona led by Link. Kakariko Village was on the other end of Hyrule Field, and Link hoped they could find Malon and her father and camp there. Neither elf had the desire to encounter the red-eyed dead, or whatever else may lurk in the darkness.
They made good time, Zelda's keen eyes watching for any dead who ventured about in the daylight and Link ever mindful of the sky, praying to the goddesses that there wouldn't be another storm anytime soon.
Link wasn't accustomed to traveling with anybody besides his horse, who would also be the only being he talked to. No small talk was made between him and Zelda, but Link didn't even realize that this was making her nervous. When she cleared her throat several times and fidgeted, Link finally took notice.
"Is something bothering you, Zelda?"
Zelda sighed. "Something's always bothering me." She gazed down at him and smiled. "Every time I see you, I've got something on my mind that threatens to destroy much of the life on this earth. I almost wish you had been around when Hyrule was prosperous and you could have seen me fretting over things like what to wear that morning." She laughed lightly, then her expression turned serious. "Link, where were you all this time? I know before that you had been locked away until you became an eligible age to be the Hero of Time, but since this is another time line, I'm wondering what happened?"
Link cleared his throat. "Well, from what Jeric and Genicca tell me, I was found in the forest, gravely injured, and they took me in. I guess I've been unconscious for the past eight years. But I was dreaming...always dreaming." Link's eyes glazed as his mind went elsewhere, recalling some of the things he had seen.
"Zelda?" Link hesitated. "Were you trying to find me? During those four years?"
"Of course I was," Zelda answered, "but after the attack I never left the Gerudo Fortress to look, for I knew that being a bearer of the Triforce I would be targeted. I called out...with my mind. Why?"
"I think...I think you were in some of my dreams," Link mused. "You were crying for help, but I looked everywhere and couldn't locate you."
Zelda smiled. "Well it seems that you finally found me."
"I suppose."
They fell into silence once more, each to their own thoughts, neither noticing that the shadows were creeping up on them. Link eventually noticed and urged Epona on, telling Zelda to watch out for Malon's camp. If they didn't find a protected place to stay, they might be up all night fighting.
"No, no, this is all wrong," Link muttered, looking from his map to the stars to his compass.
"What is?"
"According to this map, we should have come across the remains of Lon Lon Ranch a league ago. So where is it?"
Zelda closed her eyes and focused. "I sense several beings nearby, but I can't tell if they're dead or alive."
"Do we take our chances that it's Malon and the ranchers or do we face Hyrule Field in the dark?" Link deliberated.
Zelda paled. "Uh, Link, I think we'd better just make it to Kakariko Village."
She pointed to the hills, where several shadows with red glowing eyes peered down at them.
Link flipped the reigns over Epona's head and hopped on in front of Zelda, who grasped her arms tightly around his waist. "Ready to take on two of us, old friend?" Epona whinnied spiritedly, then reared and took off.
One of the shadows howled, signaling the flood that followed, the writhing flood of dead things. Epona panicked at the howl, her instincts telling her that they were wild animals set to eat her. She wasn't far off, but they used to be wild animals. She quickened her pace, nearly causing her two riders to fall off.
Link's teeth rattled at the stride, while Zelda tried to keep her head from smacking into his.
"W-will she b-b-be able to ke-ep this pace up-p for long?" Zelda managed to say.
"No!" Link shouted back above the numerous howls that were drawing nearer.
Epona's pace slackened and Link could hear the grinding bones of the dead right behind them. They might not be much to look at, but this shadow magic made them strong. Link managed a peek over his shoulder, only to jerk away from a decayed human form that had gotten close enough to take a leap. It was trampled by its fellows, but another one took its place, running on all fours like an animal but glaring up at the horse and riders with a human skull. It caught Link watching and grinned up evilly, always grinning, then leaped on Epona's rump. She screamed, trying to buck the dead being off while in the midst of her terrified flight. The result made her stumble and throw all three figures from her back. She regained control of her feet and continued to run, oblivious that she no longer bore Link and Zelda. A few dead chased after her, but the rest slowly encircled the two who radiated with life, life they hungered for.
Link reached for his sword, then cursed as he found nothing and recalled that it had broken whilst battling the thieves. He pulled his bow and an arrow out, but didn't move to aim. The dead surrounded them now and were closing in, staring at them with eyes starved of life and chattering with useless mouths. Some were animals, some humans, but others were impossible to discern which species they belonged to. Their bones were barely held together by stretched skin and weary tendons, which did very little against the noises bones on bones made. There were way more dead than had been in the Market, and Link had a suspicion that every dead body ever buried in Hyrule had been summoned by Meltose to cause trouble.
Link quelled the sickness he felt from the evil magic. "Light. Zelda, do you have any light?"
"Yes, I-I think so." Zelda doubled over, then threw her arms in the air and sent out rays of light. Those that had been hit directly collapsed into piles of random bones, the rest of their bodies blowing away as dust in the wind. Others had ran out of range, while even more just fled, figuring there was easier prey to catch. Their numbers nearly halved, Link nodded in approval.
"Have anymore like that in you?"
"N-no!" Zelda gasped, sweating drops. "That t-took a lot out of me. I probably should have used it in sequences rather than all at once."
"I don't think it would have made a difference," Link admitted, watching the dead regroup. "What other magic do you have?"
"Well, I have...Sheikah magic." Zelda's eyes met his in question.
Link nodded. "Do it. I'll cover you."
Zelda nodded, meanwhile muttering the chant that summoned the soul of the ancient Sheikah hero who would aid her in desperate times. She felt her smaller muscles bulge slightly and her feminine body transform into a male figure. Her hair shortened and her eyes turned from sapphires into rubies, making her suddenly able to see in the dark. Her clothing had melted away and returned as a skintight, blue body suit with white mail covering her chest and bearing a red eye. The bottom half of her face was covered, making the change even more mysterious. Her weapons had even changed, from two short swords into the Sheikah weapons of choice: the whip and the gently curving sword.
Link glanced back at Sheik, still surprised by the appearance of a male Sheikah out of a princess. Sheik pulled out his whip and nodded to Link. Together, they cried out to their respective goddesses, Link to Farore and Sheik to Nayru, and they attacked as one. Sheik's whip tore the legs out from underneath the creatures, while Link's quick and effective aiming with his bow pinned them to the ground.
At first, the fight seemed to lean in their favour, but then dead began breaking through the ground randomly, sometimes right beneath their feet. Link nearly fell in once, but Sheik's quick reflexes snatched him before the dead being did.
"What I wouldn't give to have light arrows right now," Link commented wryly, feeling for another feather behind him. "Heh, what I wouldn't give for any arrows." Sheik didn't answer, but instead reached within his belt and pulled out poison darts. He threw them at their attackers, but if they didn't stick to the bones and because of the poison, they simply slipped right through the lacking flesh. His right arm hung limp at his side, useless to wield either whip or sword. Link fought a large hole through the swarm and dashed through.
"Come on!" he cried back to Sheik, who sprinted after him. An all-out run was all Link could think of at this point, and from the sounds of things it was pretty much futile. Because he had fled first, the dead chased him with the most glee. Hopefully Sheik would manage the rest of them.
Link ran the hardest he had ever run in his life. He barely stayed ahead of the pack, but as fatigue set in, he lost his lead and was caught quickly. Grunting in pain and gasping for air, he felt boney hands grasp his legs and yank him down hard. With an "Oof!" Link landed on his stomach, kicking out with his legs to rid himself of his assailant. No sooner had he knocked it free did ten more show up and take its place. Link held his hands up to fend off their clawed blows, crying out as his tunic was practically shred to pieces. His arms became raw meat, hacked and clawed at, while trying to protect his face. His failing arms dropped as he lost all feeling in them, and one badly-aimed swipe at his neck hit his forehead and the claws pierced the skin and cracked his skull. Link didn't even get a chance to cry out in pain as he immediately fell into the blackness.
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Caranril: (strains) I...can...almost...make it! (loses hold) "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh................................................................................................
Legolas: You're weird.
Caranril: (looks up from the floor) What? It's a cliffhanger.
Legolas: Okay, I'm going to try to explain this in a way you might understand...you don't actually hang from a cliff. It's a metaphor...
Caranril: (scratches head) What's a metaphor?
Legolas: Ai...never mind. Was anyone else's head spinning from the time paradox thing? You know, where Zelda was trying to explain how Link existed twice in the same time period? Anywho, please review.