Caranril: Ooh, the end's gettin closer...
Thanks to: Art (Yay! You're back! Too bad someone stinky made you change your account, though. Antarctica shouldn't be too bad...), Demonwolf98 (Hello there and welcome to my world. You either have to be stupid or crazy to be here, but Lego-blocks and I welcome you anyhow. o.o), and Tizami (Muwahahaha! Cruelty is my middle name! I think I'll have to try setting Legolas' confetti on fire...oh yeah!)
Legolas: Oh no you don't! (flees with arms full of 'fetti)
Caranril: Hey no fair! You legs are longer than mine!
The Dark Before The Dawn - Chapter 14: Into The Lions' Den
They were climbing a particularly steep hill, each member of the trio trudging tiredly with their heads bent. The summit appeared more quickly than any of them suspected, and then they were facing rather awe-inspiring cliffs. The sun was reflected off the white limestone, making the land look ethereal. Link looked at Sheik expectantly.
"Is this it?"
Sheik shrugged. "Well I don't know for sure. I never found the entrance, but I found this place and felt that this was it. I was hoping you'd know."
"Actually, I was looking at the stars and trying to figure out where I was rather than where I came from," Link admitted. "But you're right: if there's an underground cavern, this is the most likely place to find it."
The three split up to inspect the white rock walls for any magic doorways, which would probably be invisible. Link estimated that the cliffs ran for several miles, and he vowed that he would explore them and beyond if he came out of this alive. He hadn't really reached all the interesting points in Hyrule as he was focused on battling evil in the Temples. If he had free time, he'd know where to use it...
Link glanced at Sheik's departing figure. But then, he found himself apprehensive of being alone again, then returning to find everything ruined.
"The story of my life," Link muttered as he ran his hand over the wall. His eyes were half-lidded to cut down the glare of the sun on the cliffs, which was making it difficult to see much of anything. The cliffs were strangely smooth, almost to the point where they'd be unnatural, but a few divots here and there proved that the storms had simply taken interest in sanding the cliffs fine. His hand tingled in one spot, raising the hair on the back of his neck. Either this was the same spot he'd exited the caverns or it was another entrance. It didn't matter, for now they'd be able to get in. Unless it was more difficult than getting out...
"Sheik!" Link called, running back in the direction he had started. "Sheik!"
The Sheikah had heard his first call and was running quickly. "What is it?" he panted.
"I've found something." Link turned and ran back, Sheik right on his heels. He grabbed Sheik's wrist and pressed his palm against the "door". Sheik's expression showed that he recognized the magic in the wall.
"Go find Mirwen while I try to open it from the outside," Sheik ordered.
Link saluted smartly, then dodged Sheik's playful swing. He jogged rather than ran, saving his energy, which was severely depleted from the night before. Mirwen had been farther along than Sheik had as well.
He found her shortly, motioned for her to follow, then about-faced to return to Sheik. Mirwen seemed eager to return to Sheik's side, but Link motioned for her to bide her energy for a more useful time. She complied, though not without muttering sarcastically, "Yes, Master," under her breath. Link ignored her, as he had come to do often with Mirwen. She may be powerful and may have been neglected all her life, but she still hadn't outgrown the slightly immature stage yet.
Link had counted his paces when he went to find Mirwen, but when he returned to zero, Sheik was nowhere to be seen. Link puzzled over this, then figured his fatigued brain had miscalculated.
"Stay here," Link ordered as he followed the cliff around a corner. The last thing he needed was Mirwen to disappear too...Link jumped as a muffled shriek came from around the corner. He raced back, only to find Mirwen gone as well.
"Mirwen! Sheik!" Link called in panic. He pressed his palm to the magical surface of the cliff, hoping that they might have found a way in. Link gasped as a hand grabbed his and yanked him into the wall.
Link blinked in the dark. He hadn't collided with the wall. Had he gone through it? His eyes took a few moments to adjust to the inky blackness, but he could see glittering red eyes that shone like a cat's. The eyes were smiling at him, enunciated by a hearty laugh.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" Sheik snorted.
"Yeah, yeah," Link grumbled good-naturedly. "You had me worried, you know."
"Of course I did," Sheik retorted. "Mirwen's just fine too, if you want to know."
"How did you get in here?"
"When I touched the wall, I focused on it, and I was sucked through without even moving. A rather interesting experience: like I was a shadow..."
"Hm." Link's eyes were well-adjusted now, and he could see the corridors branching off from the room they were in, some with stairs leading deeper into the earth. Mirwen was peering down one of these sets of stairs, looking very much like she wanted to explore.
"Mirwen, Sheik," Link said quietly, gesturing for them to draw near. "These people are probably the ancient race of Sheikah who refused to leave the caverns. Dark Sheikah. I met two of them, one was all right enough, but the other...I'm sure there are more just like him. Be careful."
"You think we should split up?" Mirwen asked in surprise.
Link nodded. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"What exactly are we looking for?"
"A key," Sheik said suddenly.
Link looked at him. "How do you know?" he and Mirwen said in unison.
Sheik gave them a wry smile, his face wraps long gone, and tapped the side of his head. "Intuition. These are Sheikah matters, and I have a feeling we need to find a key, which will in turn tell us what we're looking for."
"Okay, so we're looking for a key. Let's go, and be wary. Farore lend you courage," Link finished before turning down a stairway.
"Nayru guide your paths," Sheik added.
"And Din grant you strength," Mirwen finished.
Link fumbled along the dark stair, half wishing that Zelda was at his side to provide a light. But then the Dark Sheikah would be able to see him quite clearly, and he would be in quite a rut. Link suppressed the feeling that the darkness was suffocating him and continued to descend. Even though this entrance hadn't been the same one he'd used to exit, the stairs were no fewer.
An eternity seemed to pass in the darkness before his foot found that the stairs had stopped. Link tentatively stepped forward, then, somewhat assured that he wasn't going to run into or trip over anything, semi-confidently took slightly bigger steps. His sureness lengthened his steps, and eventually the apparently long, straight corridor changed his pace into a hesitate stride. And that's when he ran head-on into another body.
Link fell to the ground, his forehead throbbing painfully, but was up again, fists ready, before the Dark Sheikah had a chance to gain an advantage over the blind intruder. He hesitated as a familiar female groan came up from the person still on the floor.
"Mirwen?" he asked.
"What? Link?"
Link knelt beside her and found her hand, hoisting her to her feet. Both held their heads as the sudden rush made the impact points complain.
"Sorry about that," Link apologized. "I honestly didn't see you."
"Same here, only I thought for sure you were one of those Dark Sheikah you warned about and that this was the end."
"I take it your passage led here?"
"Yes, and-"
"So did mine."
Link and Mirwen turned blindly towards the voice, which was undoubtedly Sheik's.
"And as soon as I reached this room, I saw you two run smack into each other," Sheik continued, a hint of amusement hanging on his words.
"Well if you can see so well in the dark, why did it take you so long to get down here when you could see the stairs?" Link retorted irritably, massaging his still-sore head.
"I found something interesting. Ancient Sheikah script. I couldn't read it, but as I traced the symbols, the power in them burned the wrap off my index finger."
Link could sense that Sheik held up his finger to prove his claim, but he knew as the Sheikah did that they couldn't see it.
"Words of magical powers carved into the walls," Link mused. "Wards of some kind?"
"I have no idea, but they certainly didn't seem too friendly towards me." Sheik paused a moment, his footsteps echoing about the stone room, making his placement impossible until he spoke again. "I wish you could see this room. It's so tall that I can't even see the ceiling. There are eroded carvings all over the walls that I'm sure were once beautiful. Perhaps they had even told a story, as do many of the relics of the lost Sheikah. Besides the three stairways that we entered from, there is a large arch over another passage, but it's dense with a black fog. An ill omen, I wager."
Link sniffed. "Is that what I smell?"
Sheik and Mirwen followed suit.
"I don't-" Sheik began. "Oh no! Gas! Run!"
"Where?" Mirwen and Link shouted together.
"Just...this way!" Sheik grabbed each of their hands and yanked them forward. The smell faded, then disappeared entirely. The air about them felt thick and wet, and just as if he was underwater, Link could hear his heart echoing in his ears.
"Where are we?" Mirwen asked. The only reason Link could tell the muffled voice was hers because it was feminine.
"I can't see," Sheik admitted.
"Join the club," Link muttered, which no one heard. He walked still blindly forward, this time his hands in front of him to prevent more collisions with his aching head. That didn't make a difference as his foot caught on a large object and sent him stumbling over it. Sheik and Mirwen heard his cry of surprise and tried to find his general area.
"Link! Are you all right?" Sheik called.
"Yeah," Link answered from Sheik's feet. Sheik felt for Link and held him stand. Mirwen's hands explored the object.
"It's wooden," she reported. "Some metal too, I think. There's a hole...a keyhole maybe."
"Oh," Link said, feeling for himself. "That's what I thought: it's a chest."
"Let's open it!" Mirwen suggested.
Link shrugged and was about to do so when Sheik stopped him.
"How do you know it's not a trap?" he asked hesitantly.
"I don't. But no chest I've ever opened has been booby trapped."
"Yes, but no chest you've ever opened has been lurking in the caverns of ancient Dark Sheikah before."
"It's not booby trapped," Mirwen announced. "It had this in it. Nothing else."
Link felt an object prodded against his arm and took it. What he took to be the handle was smooth and cold of metal, small enough for his hand to grip firmly. The handle stretched into a circularly-fashioned frame as big as his outstretched hand. The inside of the circle didn't have solid surface, but rather seemed to be made up of a liquid that had a strange cohesiveness that held it within the frame. He stuck his finger through the liquid, the tip protruding from the other side while the crystalline surface rippled in annoyance around the intrusive object. A buzzing filled his senses like that of a magically depleted object.
"Mirwen!" Sheik said in exasperation.
"What?" she answered innocently.
"I think it's the Eye of Truth," Link said finally. "Or rather, an Eye of Truth. I can't imagine this is the same one I had eleven years ago." He handed it to Sheik. "Plus, I found another one ten years ago in a floating Goron Shrine. Perhaps the Sheikah made several of them. Well, obviously they made several of them."
"It's out of magic," Sheik observed.
"That's what I figured too." Link took it back. "If only we had some magic jars...then I could replenish my fire gem too."
"I found something," Mirwen's voice called, sounding far away in the suffocating darkness.
"Mirwen!" Sheik followed her voice blindly, while Link decided he'd wait right there. There was a short period of time as Sheik found Mirwen and her discovery.
"Link! Say something!" Sheik ordered.
"Um...I can't really see anything..."
"Keep going!"
"Uh...I should be used to darkness by now...I'm now, what, twenty-one years old?...I was born in the Kokiri Forest...I haven't had much time to look at myself now so I really don't have a clear idea what I look like..."
"Okay that's good."
Link jumped as Sheik's voice came from right beside him.
"Mirwen found some pots. Three to be exact. Hopefully, there will be magic in them." Sheik handed Link a pot before breaking one open.
"Aha! Magic!" he announced.
"Same here!" Mirwen said nearby.
Link smashed his pot to pieces and grasped the long wooden objects within. "Hm. Arrows. Good." He placed them in his quiver. "Hand me one of those bottles." Someone fumbled in the dark to place a jar in his hand. Link uncorked the jar and expertly poured its contents on the Eye of Truth. He could feel the magic power charging through the handle. The empty jar fell away into dust, for the jar itself was sustained by the magic it held. Link held the magnifying glass-type object in front of his face.
"Let me See," he commanded. The Eye of Truth sparked, then revealed the room through the magical darkness. It had a pinkish hue, and Link wasn't sure if that had to do with the object or if that was the colour of the room. Sheik and Mirwen were looking in his direction, though not directly at him, for they still couldn't see. Link turned slowly, assessing the nature of the room they were in. Like the previous room, the walls stretched up into the infinite darkness above. But unlike the other room, the walls were virtually bare. Straight across from where they had entered was a door with heavy chains baring the entrance. A distinct keyhole announced that they were missing something.
"Damn!" Link looked around the room, empty besides the chest, Sheik and Mirwen, and himself. No clues hinted at a possible hiding place for a key. "Well, we know what the key belongs to ."
"Do we?" Sheik asked.
"Oh, sorry." Link described the door, then continued to muse aloud as he slowly walked about the room. "We'll probably have to go back the way we came, but with the Eye of Truth we should be able to spot any traps the Dark Sheikah may have set for trespassers."
"You mean you should be able to," Mirwen corrected him.
"Yeah, me. Let's get going."
Sheik and Mirwen stared at him blandly.
"Sorry again." Link grasped Sheik's arm, who in turn took Mirwen's hand. Sheik placed his hand on Link's shoulder so that he might maneuver better.
"By the way, I still have that other magic jar," Mirwen said, pulling the jar from her pocket. Link took a moment to pour the liquid onto the fire gem, which glowed in response, then faded away. And then they continued in the same manner as before.
Even though he held the Eye of Truth and could see quite well now, Link continued to stumble as his sights were set higher than his path. They left the muffling silence of the room and returned to the inky blackness that Sheik could apparently see through. He released Link, but his hand still clasped Mirwen's to guide her. Link didn't notice this, but he was reasonably distracted by a shape darker than the blackness that was fleeing before them. He pursued it without a second thought, figuring this could very well be one of the Dark Sheikah. Sheik called, but his voice faded as Link sped up to catch the shadow. It led him up a shorter flight of stairs, around a corner, through a narrow tunnel, and finally into a large room.
Hah, dead end! Link thought in satisfaction. He'd lost the shadow, but he could sense another presence in the room. Even with the Eye of Truth, he couldn't see through the darkness that surrounded the island-type area, which seemed to float amidst the pool of black.
Something...doesn't feel...right... Link's thought continued. He stepped forward on the foot-wide path that spanned the very long drop. As his foot left the bridge, he felt a slight rumble. When he turned to look, it was gone, and he had no way back to Sheik and Mirwen, who still hadn't caught up with him.
"I Saw," Link said authoritatively, shutting the Eye of Truth off. He could see just as much with it off as when it was on. He cautiously stepped forward, wary of the second being somewhere on the little island. Or perhaps, more accurately, underneath it; Link could almost feel it through the ground.
Link fell to his knees as the earth roiled beneath him. He was up in a flash, prepared to face anything that reared up through the mound forming in front of him. At least, he thought he was prepared. Link stepped back in horror and disgust as the fetid breath of the monster blasted him at point blank range. As he coughed the ruined air from his lungs, he assessed the roaring beast before him. A dangerously few feet away were two very large claws that dug at the earth beneath them. About the size of one claw was a very grotesque sort of body controlling the digging. The eye was huge, centered on the dome of the head. Link assumed that was its head. On the other end of the peanut-shaped body were several sets of teeth, which gnashed at him in mockery. Rubbery arms connected the claws to the narrow part of the body. In fact, the arms didn't even appear to be able to support anything, much less claws as huge as a house, but the creature proved that they were very capable as it swung the claws into the air and roared its challenge.
"Who dares annoying Carakrauko," it bellowed. "keeper of the halls of the Shadow Dwellers?" It didn't wait for Link's answer, for it seemed to know that Link was an enemy. Carakrauko roared once more, then dug into the earth. Link drew his sword, hesitating as he wondered how he was supposed to defeat such an enemy. In previous battles with large bosses, whatever item he had found in said temples would defeat them. Somehow, he doubted he could destroy Carakrauko with the Eye of Truth. So something else...
Link flipped backwards as a claw shot through the earth right in front of him.
Oh, that was too close! Link gasped mentally. He swung his sword at the claw clutching at the air in hopes of snagging him. The blow only seemed to annoy Carakrauko as it glanced of its rubbery skin. It growled and withdrew, but that only meant it would find Link again. Link groaned and held his arm, the wound from the dead opening with his efforts. He paced warily as he felt the creature moving beneath him. Suddenly, two claws shot out on each side of him, folding together to catch him firmly between them. Link cried out as his chest was struck the hardest. With wind knocked out of him and a painful bruise forming, Link almost lost his hold on Beleguial. But courage ran through his veins and convinced his aching arm to stay his grip. The claws began to drag him done to the waiting jaws below the surface.
Link's thumb somehow managed to stretch to the fire gem and press it. His arm was dead from the circulation being cut off, but he used whatever muscles were working to heave the sword into the flesh of the claws. Carakrauko howled and dropped him as the fire seared against it. Link reached for the edge and barely escaped following the claws into the earth.
He pulled himself up, despite pins and needles in all his extremities, and lay there twitching in pain. He could barely breath and his chest hurt enormously, but the rumbling earth forced him to stand up and fight. He shakily held Beleguial up and extinguished the red fire. He realized that in order to defeat Carakrauko, he would need to strike at him while he was still in the earth...
A finger reached for the ice gem. Hopefully, if this worked, he wouldn't be frozen along with Carakrauko. Link flipped the sword upside down, took a powerful leap, and shoved the blade deep into the earth. Ice immediately radiated from the sword, seeping into the ground and spreading across the surface. His feet remained unfrozen as the ice crept deeper and deeper. Link jumped as Carakrauko pierced through right behind him. It was waving its claws about in desperation and pain, nearly hitting him, but Link held his ground, for Beleguial wouldn't work without his firm grip. He dodged one particularly wild claw and was expecting another, but realized that the creature was twitching as ice climbed up it from the earth. Its body heaved to the surface in attempt to escape, but it was too late. Beleguial's magic ice was too quick to let an abhorrence like Carakrauko escape its clutches. The claws froze spread wide open, the eye closed, and the rows of teeth screaming into the air.
Link sighed and pulled Beleguial from the icy pedestal. He activated the fire gem and took a mighty swing at the frozen monster. Carakrauko shattered in pieces, and Link thought he would be done there, but the shattered traveled through to the island. Chunks on the edges and bottom began breaking off, and Link knew he was in deep...
"Shit!" Link cried as he slipped and slid across the ice back towards the doorway. He nearly didn't stop soon enough as he skidded to the edge. The edge that was no longer connected to a bridge. Link stared across, then turned to watch in dismay as the breaking up of the island quickened, almost as if it had a mind to kill him too.
"Link!"
Link turned back to see Mirwen standing on the edge on the other side.
"Strike the edge with the ice sword!" she cried.
Link didn't give this order a second thought as he complied. To his amazement, the ice formed began to stretch from the striking point across the gap of darkness.
"Go now!" Sheik called from behind her.
Link sheathed Beleguial and leapt upon the ice bridge. It was steady, at best, but it was very slippery and narrow. Twice he nearly pitched head-first into the darkness, but his well-trained muscles compensated and kept him going. He was only a few feet away...
Link felt the bridge beginning to collapse beneath him. He pushed off with his legs and reached for the edge. His eyes widened as his reach missed and he began to sink with the ice bridge into the darkness. Sheik's quick reflexes shot underneath Mirwen's legs and grabbed Link's outstretched hand. Mirwen, her control of the bridge lost as the island was completely shattered, stepped out of the way as Sheik hoisted Link to safety. Link sat there a moment, bewildered by his brush with death, before he sighed, "Thanks" to his two partners.
"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't run off like a madman," Sheik commented.
"Yes, but then if we had been with him, none of us would have made it back," Mirwen pointed out. Sheik threw her a look that said "I'm trying to reason with him". She shut her mouth, but her mind continued to work out arguments.
"I saw something," Link protested.
"With the Eye? Something we couldn't see?"
"Oh, right." Link grinned sheepishly. "Well, it went in here, and I found this huge...thing. Carakrauko was its name, apparently. It said it had kept these tunnels. I wonder if that means it created them."
"That's certainly a possibility." Sheik glanced down into the darkness of the drop-off. "Suffice to say it won't do anymore harm."
"Now where do we go?" Mirwen asked. "We kind of lost track of where we went."
"Well..." Link stood and pulled out the Eye of Truth. "We look for that shadow. If it's a Dark Sheikah, if we catch it we might be able to find this 'key' we're supposed to be looking for." He spoke and the Eye activated. A brief sweep around the tunnel revealed the dark shape not too far away from Mirwen. Careful not to alarm it, Link pretended he hadn't seen anything. He continued to sweep the room, keeping the shadow in the corner of his eye. Link saw it twitch and leapt in front of it before it pounced on Mirwen. Mirwen shrieked and Sheik cried out at Link's movements. His left hand gripped the Eye in front of him, and Link half expected the item to shatter at the force. Instead, he was blinded by a flurry of lights and felt a force press against his outstretched arm. There was an unfamiliar cry of pain, followed by a lingering light, then all went dark again. Link searched for the shadow, but it seemed to have disappeared. He turned off the Eye and massaged his sore arm. It felt like his sword arm had when blocking blows from Ganondorf's magic. His sword swings wouldn't be as effective for a while.
"Link, what did you do?" Mirwen whispered.
"I-I guess I don't know," he answered in surprise. "Could it have been the Eye, Sheik?"
"That's the only explanation I can think of, though I doubt the Sheikah could be repelled by their own creations."
"Right. So, now where do we go?"
There was a dull thud and Mirwen squealed suddenly.
"Mirwen!" Sheik cried.
"Oh I'm okay. It just startled me that's all."
"What did?" Link asked curiously.
"Um, well, I guess it's a chest. Yeah, like the one the Eye of Truth was in, only small. It kind of fell on my head."
Link winced. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, just, my heart's racing right now."
"Couldn't blame you." Link's hands sought the wooden chest and opened it. His hand grasped the cold silver inside. It fit perfectly in his hand.
"I think we found our key," he announced.
"Of course. In the past, you've always received an item or a key as a result of defeating an enemy. Can't believe I forgot," Sheik said.
"Can't believe you forgot?" Link asked incredulously. "I'm the one who defeated those enemies!"
"Let's find that room and try out the key!" Mirwen suggested excitedly.
Sheik and Link couldn't agree more, so with Sheik's night vision, Link's Eye, and many wrong turns and misguided directions, they finally returned to the inky blackness of the room they'd been in before.
Link stepped before the door and held out the key.
"Well, here goes," he announced as he pushed the key through the hole and turned it firmly.
Surprisingly, light flooded through the door; a light that hardly penetrated into the darkness. Even still, light meant sight, and that would be welcome. Link stepped forward eagerly, shutting off the Eye and blinking in the brightness. As his eyes adjusted, he could begin to make out two forms straight ahead of him. He drew near. Their backs were turned towards him, but he could see them quite clearly. The man was wearing green clothing and brown boots, while the woman wore a lavender jumpsuit. Her long purple hair was pulled back into a pony tail and held in several braids. His hair was blond, reaching just below his shoulders. Link had a strange feeling that he had seen them before. His first thought was that they were him and Zelda with a different hair colour, but as they slowly turned, Link didn't recognize their faces. He noticed the man was actually an elf, for he had long, pointed ears; and he had keen blue eyes. She, however, was not an elf. She was a Sheikah. Her brows arched gracefully longer than any elf or man's and her dark eyes beheld him with sadness.
Link sank to his knees as a pang struck his heart. He knew who these people were. He'd never even thought he'd see them in the living realm, but here they stood before him, real as he was, arms outstretched to embrace him. Tears formed in his eyes and his breath caught in his throat. They were his father and mother.
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Caranril: Ooh blackness! They can't see nothin'! Isn't that so weird when your voice doesn't sound like it belongs to you just because it's so dark?
Legolas: I wouldn't know. I can see in the dark like Sheik.
Caranril: Lucky Elf. Oh wait! I'm an Elf too!"
Legolas: But not a Green-elf. Or a Grey-elf. Or a Light-elf. Or a Dark-elf. So what kind of Elf are you?
Caranril: (proudly) I'm a Wood-elf!
Legolas: (sighs) Uh...that's kind of a Green-elf.
Caranril: Nuh-uh!
Legolas: Yeah-huh!
Caranril: Nuh-uh!
Legolas: Yeah-huuuuuh!
Both begin arguing "nuh-uh" and "yeah-huh" simultaneously.
Mum: Good night kids!
In unison: 'Night Mom!
Continue arguing.