Sage of Spirit
The wolfos howled as the sun sank below the horizon, cooling the hot desert. Soon the moon made it's way to light the night for the two travelers on the sand below. The horses plodded through the deep sands and with Link leading the way, they strayed away from the sand traps.
Soon they made it to the outcrop where the Phantom Guide waited to lead those who had an eye that could see the truth across to the Desert Colossus. Link pulled out the Lens of Truth from the depths of one of his pouches. He hadn't used the item in a while, but now he place it in front of his eyes and he steered Epona into following the phantom. Lania and Pirate were right behind as close as Epona would let Pirate near her.
Soon, Link found the red flags that marked the entrance to the colossus. He immediately made for the oasis that was located to the left of the Spirit Temple to water the horses. The oasis was empty but Link quickly cured that. Lania still refused to say anything in Link's presence. Link didn't really pay attention to her for the moment; he was still trying to figure out where Kariah had gone. She just disappeared without warning.
He pulled out the Ocarina of Time and played the Song of Storms to call on the storm spirits. The heavens poured out the rain, filling the oasis with cool water. Epona and Pirate both whinnied in appreciation, drinking their fill of water. Link smiled at them before turning to Lania.
She refused to meet his eyes, and stood there silently. Link frowned at her, she wasn't like this when he had met her three weeks ago. He wondered if it was because of the traditional ranks that held Lania silent. So he voiced his approval.
"Lania, you have permission to speak in my presence," Link said calmly. Lania looked up surprised. To her, Link had changed greatly in the three weeks that she hadn't seen him. She didn't know what his adventures had done to him that gave him such an air of confidence and calmness. Almost like a warrior that had seen many battles, and nothing could surprise him or make him feel insecure. He was nothing like the boy who worried where the guards were and where he was getting his next meal. He was the boy that had shone through when he defeated her mother Nabooru. She was in awe of the warrior that stood before her, she also knew her skills were weak compared to his. She could tell by the hilt of the blade that was on his back, that he would be hard to fight against in battle which earned her respect instantly.
"Sir, you aren't the person I met three weeks ago, you have changed," Lania said quietly, hating herself for being afraid. Link frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. He moved so that he was in front of her, he gently took her chin in his hand and lifted so that he could look Lania in the eyes. She flinched when she saw the cold look in his eyes. She remembered that look on the day she met Link, but it still startled her. In fact he seemed colder than he was then.
"Yes, I have changed, but I need your help. Your mother is in danger and I can't help her without your help, I will show you why," Link said calmly, pulling her towards the ancient temple. Lania was silently gazing at the colossal statue that her ancestors had built, she had never been to the colossus and she felt honoured to be here, even if it was with Link.
They entered the temple and Lania found the trials at hand. Only the Silver Gauntlets could move the big boulder on the right side of the temple. On the left side was the tunnel that only a child could get through.
"I don't understand why you need me to help you Link…" Link silenced her with a glare and motioned the small hole.
"Only the spirit of a child from the past my enter the hole to reach the silver treasure on the far side. And with the silver of the past may the future proceed," Link quoted from the statues on the level below.
"This temple was built with the intent that only the Hero of Time could do the trials. However, it could be manipulated by bringing a young child along that had the skills of a grown up. You Lania, have grown up in the Gerudo culture and you are still small enough to get through the hole to get to the Silver Gauntlets. The witches hold Nabooru captive here," Link explained quietly.
"How can you be sure that my mother is here and not with the man in black that visited the desert three weeks ago?" Lania asked. Link paused for a moment, before answering.
"Then we must hurry, she could be in worse danger then," Link said briskly, pushing Lania towards the hole in the wall of the temple.
"Wait, how can my mother be in the temple if you or any adult can't get in without the Silver Gauntlets?" Lania asked resisting, "and who is the Hero of Time and why isn't he doing this?" Link didn't know what to say to her.
He was the Hero of Time but there was a major difference between this time and last time, last time he had control over the stream of time because he was a ten year old trapped in the body of a seventeen year old. Now he was a seventeen year old that had no way of going into the past because he no longer had a ten year old spirit to return to. With a sigh, Link proceeded to tell her what had happened.
"Lania, I am the Hero of Time, but I can no longer return to the past to awaken the Sage of Spirit. I need you to do the part of the temple that is designed for a little kid to get through; otherwise things could get very bad. We need to awaken the Sage of Spirit to save the King of Hyrule so that Hyrule doesn't fall under the evil influence of Ganondorf. Now get going, we don't have time to argue," Link said firmly, pushing her right in front of the hole.
"The final threat before you reach the Silver Gauntlets is an Iron Knuckle. Be careful, they are nasty creatures. I will wait here for you," Link said, dismissing Lania to do her task given to her by a Gerudo that was above her rank. Link hated using her this way, but it was a small sacrifice compared to the big picture that depended on the six sages and the Hero of Time to save Hyrule, again.
Lania muttered darkly to herself as she crawled through the tight space. She was a small girl still at the age of twelve, but it was still tight for her. She wondered how the Hero of Time could have possibly done this.
Link had given her a few weapons to help her get through the tedious temple. A boomerang for hitting annoying out of reach switches and a few Deku Sticks for lighting unlit torches and a slingshot and a pouch of Deku Seeds. She was already equipped with a sword and she definitely knew how to use it. She was one of the youngest girls to make the purple ranks at the age of twelve. She was skilled enough for guard duty.
The first room was filled with Fire Keeses and Armos statues. With a quick hand, she used her slingshot to take care of the flying menaces. She also had bombs with her to take care of the statues.
She found her way through the doors and defeated enemies here and there. The most interesting battle was against a Stalfos that was twice her size, but being small also had it's advantages. It was easier to sidestep the Stalfos, and easier to attack in the spaces that are hard to reach when one is the same size.
The only disadvantage was that the battle was long; Lania's small sword was not as heavy and direct as the Master Sword. After she had defeated the annoying beast, she started to compare herself to Link. The sword strapped to Link's back was obviously earned and he had to be good to earn something like that. Lania quickly turned her mind to the next task, which was lowering a tall metal grate that lead across a bottomless pit.
She noticed the switch at hidden behind the grate and with ease, she threw Link's borrowed boomerang. The grate fell down with a clang, giving her access to the other side of the pit. With a satisfied smirk, Lania moved through the rest of the temple with ease. Lighting torches and throwing bombs at Beamos was a walk through to her. She had more of a challenge in the Gerudo Training Centre than she had in these rooms so far.
Soon, Lania reached the last leg of the trial, she found herself in the room that was housing the Iron Knuckle, the boss guarding the Silver Gauntlets. She drew her sword and slowly moved to the frozen Iron Knuckle. She tickled it to awaken it and then she quickly backed away.
The Iron Knuckle sprang to life and started to pursue its disturber. With a daft sidestep, Lania found herself behind the Iron Knuckle and slashing it repeatedly. However the Iron Knuckle suddenly swung hard at her left, taking her by surprise. He hit her with the flat of his axe and it sent her flying across the room.
Lania was not knocked unconscious, but she was really disoriented as the Iron Knuckle came slowly towards her. She tried to climb back to her feet, but she felt so dizzy. Suddenly something was in front of her, blocking the Iron Knuckle from attacking her. She sighed in relief as she fell unconscious.
Link had known that that Lania wouldn't be able to handle the Iron Knuckle yet. She was too inexperienced, and Link had a head start on her when he had defeated his first Iron Knuckle. He had defeated so many creatures that swordplay had become instinct and Iron Knuckle was not much harder to defeat than a Stalfos. Lania had gotten lucky when she had beaten it in the first place.
The Iron Knuckle looked at the newcomer fearlessly, but Link moved almost lazily and he was behind the stupid beast before it realized that it was being attacked. Eventually it came around to face Link, who was already out of range by that time.
A growl of frustration was issued from the Iron Knuckle. Link suddenly rushed the Iron Knuckle and swiftly sidestepped the blade and was behind him in a flash. Link delivered the final blows to the monster. It fell to its knees in defeat, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Link walked calmly over to Lania who was still unconscious on the floor where he had left her. He pulled a bottle out of his bag holding a fairy spirit. He opened the bottle in front of Lania, and the fairy healed the girl and himself as well. Lania woke quickly afterwards.
"Link? How did you get up here?" Lania asked, looking at the Hero of Time.
"Shortly after you had left I remembered the shortcut that Twinrova used to take Nabooru to the boss room. Come, we still have the other half of the temple to get through," Link said quietly, pulling Lania to her feet. He went outside to where the chest fell down containing the Silver Gauntlets.
Opening the chest, Link familiarized himself with the Silver Gauntlets that housed the power to lift boulders. Turning to Lania, Link motioned to the fall back to the main level. Lania couldn't believe that Link was going to jump down to the next level.
Link jumped and landed almost graciously on his feet at the entrance to the Spirit Temple. Lania closed her eyes and jumped. She waited for the hard landing but found that someone had caught her. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Link's azure eyes. They held a haunted, neutral look. He gently set her on her feet and strode for the entrance to the temple. Lania felt herself blush lightly before she ran to catch up to him.
"Thank you Link," Lania said shyly, Link grunted in acknowledgement.
Link stared at the huge stone blocking his way deeper into the temple. With a deep breath, Link placed his hands on the wall of stone and began to push. The stone moved and he began to push it faster and soon it fell into the hole that it belonged in, creating a bridge across this hole.
Link motioned for Lania to follow quietly. There was a Beamos sitting in the centre of the room and was waiting for an excuse to use its magical beam to kill something. Link lit a bomb and accurately threw the bomb straight into the monster's eye.
It exploded with a boom and Link quickly shot an arrow at the switch to unlock the doors on the sides. Link ran into the room on the left first and he made short work of the Wolfos that was running around in the room.
Lania watched Link in awe, never had she seen someone kill a Wolfos that fast and come out unscathed. He pulled a small instrument to his lips and a strange but almost familiar melody came forth, yielding a treasure chest.
Link took out the Longshot and fired at the chest and pulled the compass out of it. Not that he really needed it but he grabbed it just the same. Using the hookshot he found his way back across to Lania.
"Lania, can you find your way back to the Gerudo Fortress?" Link asked. Lania looked at him, a flicker of fear crossing her eyes.
"No I don't know the way, I've never been this far into the desert before," Lania said, avoiding Link's eyes.
"Navi?" Link asked pulling his hat from his head. The small fairy looked at Link sleepily.
"What is it Link?" she asked, slightly groggy. A look of concern crossed his face.
"Navi, I want you to take Lania back to the Gerudo Fortress. Then I want you to go home to the Kokiri Forest. You are dying outside of the forest, please my friend. Lania is in danger here. The witches don't have Nabooru, but they would use Lania as a substitute, please do this for me," Link asked quietly, almost pleadingly. Navi grumbled and then looked at Lania who developed a stubborn look on her face.
"I'm not leaving you Link, we started this together and we will finish it together," Lania said stubbornly. Link turned to her, his eyes so brutal and cold that Lania flinched slightly.
"I command you Gerudo to do as you are told and return to the Gerudo Fortress. You are in danger here and you are going now," Link said forcefully, pointing the way for the young Gerudo to go. Lania's eyes filled with shock and she remembered her rank, with a salute, she turned and marched out of the temple.
Navi gave Link a look that said he had stepped out of line, but he ignored her and continued on his way. Soon he found himself against another Iron Knuckle, which he deftly defeated and found his way to the Mirror Shield.
He moved quickly through the rest of the temple and he found himself on the platform that was straight across from where the boss of the Spirit Temple resided. He knew that Lania was not any safer in the desert, but by sending her away, he had hoped that she wouldn't be captured by Twinrova and used against him, however he somehow knew that she hadn't escaped the witches.
Using the sunlight that reflected off Link's shield, he melted away the face of the sand goddess that sat in the middle of the room. With determined eyes, Link used the Longshot to get across to the door behind the face of the statue.
Opening the door, he prepared himself for a battle against a friend that was no longer a friend.
He stepped in the room and it was just like he had remembered. The Iron Knuckle sat on his chair flanked by the hideous hags that controlled it. His eyes darkened slightly at the memory of the room and how he had nearly died here. It was only by the faithfulness of a certain guardian fairy and a healing fairy that he had survived to defeat Ganondorf.
"Let Lania go you hags, she is not yours to fool around with," Link said dangerously. Unsheathing the Master Sword. The witches were slightly surprised that Link knew who was behind the armour of their henchman, but not undaunted.
"She is a Gerudo and she has trespassed in our domain. She is in her rightful place, the useless spawn of Nabooru," Koume sneered, turning to face Link.
"Actually, you are trespassing in Nabooru's domain. She is the rightful keeper of the temple. Since Nabooru is incapable of ridding her domain of your filth, I will be doing it for her," Link said in contempt, advancing toward the Iron Knuckle that had awakened to protect its masters.
"Your cocky now young man, but we will give the pleasure of defeating you to our faithful servant," Kotake cackled.
"I will pass your slave and defeat you Twinrova, mark my words," Link said calmly, as the witches disappeared to leave their dirty work to the Iron Knuckle. Link gazed at the Iron Knuckle and all the years of swordplay pulsed in his mind.
The memories of his close to death experience reminded him that this Iron Knuckle wasn't as stupid as the other ones and quicker to retaliate. He was also having warning bells going off saying that Lania might attack differently than Nabooru did and he would have to watch her movements to a tee.
The Iron Knuckle came to life and started to advance on Link. Link carefully watched its movements and then he swung to the right when the Iron Knuckle brought its axe down in a vertical slash, giving Link the time to get in a hit or two, but he quickly moved out of range in a back flip to get away from the axe coming at him in a horizontal slash.
He repeated this movement for a while until the Iron Knuckle began to figure it out, even though Link was moving by instinct and in no specific pattern. Link dodged a sudden change in the Iron Knuckle's movements.
Link backed away to figure out a new strategy, dodging around the pillars in the room. Link was running out of ideas though, he didn't have anything else to attack the armoured beast with except the Master Sword.
Suddenly he remember a special spell that would protect him from harm for a while and he was certain that he wouldn't need his magic arrows in the battle against Twinrova, so he called forth the power of Nayru's Love. The blue shield surrounded him and he advanced without much caution to the beast.
The Iron Knuckle swung at Link, but he ducked under it and swung at its back that was vulnerable. Iron Knuckle had had too many blows to its back and it fell to its knees as the armour fell away, revealing Lania. Link caught her as she fell over and the witches appeared. Link extended the shield to protect Lania.
"Looks like I defeated your servant. Now are you going to honour me with a battle?" Link asked coldly. The witches seemed stunned at the fact that a mere boy had defeated their Iron Knuckle. They disappeared cackling and Link calmly made sure that Lania was all right.
"Link?" she asked groggily. Link nodded and then gently set her down. He would come back for her after he had dealt with the witches. The barrier would protect her for a time and if he kept the witches busy, she would be perfectly safe.
Link opened the door that went into the room that was the boss's battlefield. He climbed to the top of the platform and strode to the middle. The witches appeared for the final battle.
"One question for you little hero, how is it that you know everything there is to know about us, and our brainwashing abilities?" Koume snarled. Link glared at her coldly and kept his mouth shut.
"What's the matter little hero, is you tongue stuck to the roof of you mouth in terror?" Kotake cackled.
"We'll see who has the last laugh," Link said confidently and icily. The sisters were taken aback by his confidence.
"It will be our pleasure," Twinrova cackled together. Link waited patiently for the battle to begin. Soon the witches stopped fighting and turned to Link.
"With my fire I will burn him to the bone," Koume said, finally rising up on her broomstick in front of an unimpressed Hero of Time.
"I will freeze him to his soul," Kotake cackled, rising up into the air on her broomstick as well.
Link readied the Mirror Shield, and noted that Kotake was flying above his head and Koume was preparing to toss fire at him. Koume let it fly and Link aimed it right for Kotake that was now flying slightly in front of him. She let out a scream of frustration. Link moved around keeping both witches in sight.
Kotake was waiting for Koume to get into position to let loose her magic blast of ice. But once again, Link reflected the icy blast at Koume this time. Repeating this strategy soon the witches gave up on that strategy and came up with a new form of attacking.
They combined their forms and became the sorceress Twinrova. Link was relieved, as this was the easier form to tackle, usually. Twinrova decided that it would through ice at Link who reversed the effect that the spell was supposed to have by absorbing the power into the Mirror Shield. Twinrova ignored that and sent another beam of ice at Link. The shield was growing more intense as the power pulsed on the surface.
Again, Twinrova ignored it and sent out another beam of ice. Link smirked as the shield fired the magic back at the sorceress. It knocked Twinrova down and Link ran at her with and delivered a sharp jump attack at her. It had to be painful but Link continued to slash at her while she was down.
Twinrova was surprised by the magnitude of the attack. They decided to try fire and ice combos to see if they could kill the young man. Link adjusted to the strategy almost instantly. His shield absorbed the first attack, which was fire, and he dodged the rest of them until Twinrova threw out more fire. Soon the shield was charged with three hits of magic and Link moved in for the final assault.
Link hit the monster with a powerful jump attack and then he gave her a final slash to her middle and she broke apart, defeated. Kotake and Koume began to argue ferociously. Link ignored them until the halos appeared above their heads.
"I hope that the goddesses judge you fairly, have fun," Link said with a bit of a cocky smirk. They gave him a fearful look before they were on their way to the heavens for judgement day. Suddenly something occurred to him, maybe Kariah had to go back and pass judgement on the spirits of Koume and Kotake. Link smirked at the thought and wondered if he could find out the result later.
Lania found her way into the room and made her way up to stand beside Link as the witches fought amongst themselves. She wondered what he was thinking but was distracted when a ray of blue light flooded the room.
"I have to go to the Sacred Realm, would you like to come with me?" Link said, turning to Lania. She nodded fearfully, but followed Link into the ring of light. It brightened and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she found herself looking at her mother, Nabooru.
"Link, has she been a bother to you?" Nabooru asked, looking sternly at her daughter.
"Not really, it's good to see you again Nabooru. You now remember your life as the Sage of Spirit and the happenings of the forgotten Imprisoning War. I need your assistance again, Ganondorf has brainwashed the king and only the power of the sages will set him free. The Seventh Sage, Zelda, is also in danger. We need to hurry. When I get to Hyrule Field and close to the Hyrule City, I will call you from the chamber and we will confront King Harkinian and Ganondorf," Link said to Nabooru.
"But Link, isn't it risky to have all the sages in the same room as the wielder of the Triforce of Power? Not to mention the Triforce of Wisdom and Courage? It would be the golden opportunity for Ganondorf to strike us down," Nabooru argued.
"Under normal circumstances yes Sage of Spirit, but Ganondorf and the princess don't remember the Imprisoning War and he doesn't remember the power of the sages. You will all be safe for a time," Kariah said, coming into the Chamber of Sages. Link nodded and Nabooru accepted. Lania stood there in confusion.
"I give you the power of the Sage of Spirit. We must make haste Hero," Nabooru said formally, giving Link the Spirit Medallion. The Chamber of Sages disappeared and Link, Lania and Kariah appeared on the platform.
"So, we have finally made it to this point," Link said quietly, turning to Kariah. She nodded absentmindedly, before turning away.
"Kari, what is wrong?" Link asked concerned, pulling her into a hug. She slowly relaxed slightly but she looked out into the desert.
"Ganondorf will issue a war on the King of Hyrule after you free him. The two streams are going to merge into one and the evil will be locked away for a time. Soon there will be a time of piece and prosperity, and you will return to your destinies, all of you," Kariah said cryptically, pulling herself out of his arms.
"Would someone explain what is going on with you and my mother?" Lania butted in, glaring at Link.
"She is the Sage of Spirit and she and Link must save the King of Hyrule because he is the Hero of Time and it is his duty to protect the Royal Family. Net to the Sheikah but that's besides the point," Kariah explained, calling Arden to her side, "Now we are taking you back to the Gerudo Fortress and then we are heading to Hyrule City. I promise that you will get in on the fights later."
They headed back to the fortress with the moon lighting the way.
Zelda snuck out of the castle and headed down to Hyrule City. Ganondorf had raised the taxes and the people no longer had homes. They had moved away and now only a few remained. She smiled encouragingly to those who she saw and went on her way. She stopped at the Temple of Time to pray to the goddesses.
"Din, Nayru, Farore, please, if you are listening, send the Hero soon, Ganondorf is becoming more violent. I fear that my father's life is in more danger now than it was three weeks ago. I fear that Ganondorf will kill him at anytime and there won't be anything that I can do to stop him. Please, send him soon," Zelda pleaded in her prayer. She started to make her way back to the castle through the damp night. On the way she pondered about several things.
It seemed that her last hope was the Hero or her brother and her cousin to come to save her. She had sent them a message but she hadn't heard back. Her brother was also with them and if they knew of Hyrule's plight she knew that they would come running home. Her brother, Kael was a bastard child and was not really the crown prince to the throne but she knew that he cared for her. Her father had slept with a young woman when he was very young. She died soon after and because they weren't married the child was a bastard.
Zelda always wondered if her brother resented her for taking his place as the next ruler or not. He wanted to have an adventure and had left when he was sixteen and Zelda was fourteen. It had been two years since her brother had banded with her cousin, Conan.
With these thoughts swirling in her head she entered the castle as quietly as she could. Unfortunately Ganondorf had been waiting for her return.
"Welcome home Princess, I hope you had a good journey," Ganondorf said acidly. Zelda got the hint that she was maybe not supposed to return.
"I'm glad to see you too," Zelda said sweetly. She turned to the closet and pulled out a dry dress. Ganondorf took the hint and left the room with a snarl. Zelda knew that she was laying her life on the line every time she was disrespectful to Ganondorf. There was nothing else she could do though. She didn't want to be used by him; she would rather die.
There was a polite knock on her door and Zelda was slightly surprised. She opened the door and encountered a soldier.
"Princess Zelda, your brother Kael has arrived.
Yay! Emeralddestiny I did it! I got it up before camp! I would like to thank you Emeralddestiny, Dragon Sword Master and Hopeless Maiden. You were the only ones I received reviews from.
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Kariah