Soulless Land

As Peach and Zelda rode Rico the Dodongo over the hills toward Gerudo Valley, the Spirit Sage's activity, though subtle at first, was becoming more noticeable. The wind frequently blew toward the west. It was becoming quieter the closer they got to the valley. There were no howling wolves in the distance, no hooting owls, and no chirping crickets. It was not until nightfall, however, that they could see an increasingly visible stream of souls flowing into the valley. They were also beginning to feel the pull of the Spirit Sage's grasp. Even Rico seemed a bit distracted. He was slowing down as well, having run all evening. Eventually, the mighty Dodongo came to a stop at the bridge of Gerudo Valley. He was panting hard and seemed completely drained of energy.

"You did good, boy," Peach said, petting him as she dismounted.

"She's getting stronger," Zelda spoke in a winded voice, also feeling the effects. "I feel so tired and sleepy…"

"I feel okay," Peach said. "Would you like me to carry you there?"

"Peach, we're not going to get there until sunrise," Zelda said.

"Where is the Spirit Temple, anyway?"

"In the middle of the Haunted Wasteland."

"It can't be haunted anymore, not with this going on."

They walked across the long bridge and trekked through the valley. Zelda noticed that the waterfalls were quieting and the water was slowing down. It was another sign of Nabooru's drain. Zelda wondered what could possibly be Nabooru's reason for this. Though Zelda could not remember ever actually meeting her, she had heard from Link that Nabooru was an honorable lone wolf thief. She never stole from the weak and poor. Like the rest of the Gerudo, she also had a policy of not killing. For her to do something like this was a bit out of character. Then again, she was probably under the same influence the others had been in.

Once they finally made it to the fortress grounds, there was dead silence. The torch lighting seemed more like dying candle flames. They did not even make a sound. The cold nighttime air was really only countered by the whitish stream of souls surging overhead. The Gerudo's wielding halberds had all collapsed onto the ground long ago. Zelda checked the nearest one.

"They seem to be alive…" she said cautiously. "I think we should take this opportunity to get some new clothing."

"I don't think we have time for that," Peach said. "If we take too long, we'll give out too. You're already sleepy."

"And cold," Zelda said, wrapping her arms around herself. "And so are you."

"How can you te…" Peach asked before following her gaze. "Oh… Well, I guess wrapping up a bit wouldn't hurt. Do you know where we can find some clothing?" She followed Zelda's gaze down to the fallen guard. "…That wouldn't be very nice."

"We could always waste time searching the Fortress for their dressers and closets," Zelda said, putting her hands on her hips impatiently.

And so, the two young women "borrowed" the outfits of the unconscious Gerudo guards. Zelda wore the uniform of the common purple clothed guard. She even wore the gauntlets and veil. Peach had been fortunate enough to find one of the higher-ranking guards and wore a red outfit. She needed no gauntlets since she could shift the appearance of her Gard Gloves. However, she did take the jewel-encrusted gold clip to tie her hair into a ponytail. She also found a pair of curved Gerudo swords that neatly slipped into the back unseen. It was still rather chilly for them since their stomachs were bare and they had no sleeves, but it was still less exposure than before.

They trod through the sand of the Haunted Wasteland until they came to the famed River of Sand. Thanks to the soul stream above, though, it remained still and they did not sink into the quicksand as they normally would. They followed the flagpoles to the empty bunker. Then, they were at a loss.

"Hmm, I'm not sure what we should do now…" Zelda said. "I don't sense any spirit guide and I have no idea which way to go."

"Why don't we just follow the stream?" Peach pointed overhead.

"That's the best we can do at this point," Zelda shrugged tiredly. Peach noticed her state and lowered her back in front of her.

"Hop on. You look like you need a break."

"I wouldn't want to impose," Zelda shook her head.

"You carried me," Peach smiled. "I'm just returning the favor." Zelda smiled and climbed aboard. Peach then carried her along the path of the soul stream.

She eventually noticed that Zelda had fallen asleep on her back. As the pull of the soul stream increased the power of the wind, Peach began to float over small gaps between hills out of boredom. It was not long before she began seeing strange, green wedge-like things sticking out of the sand. She could not tell whether they were plants or creatures, but they were all completely still. She figured they were some sort of strange cacti. She came across more and more of the objects as she continued. Before long, she came upon two gigantic formations of rock. The closest one seemed to have a sort of desert oasis within its borders. The ground was filled with the motionless green things. Peach could see a massive statue in the rock face of the rock formation. There were conspicuously large pieces of stone half-buried in the sand. She could see palm trees, a small pond, and a cave between the statues feet. The souls were all moving through there.

She reached the entrance as the sun was rising and gave a shake to rouse Zelda. "Zelda, I think we're here."

Zelda sleepily opened her eyes and looked. "Good…Now we just need to follow the stream to Nabooru." She got off Peach's back and looked around. The atmosphere of this temple was a myriad of emotions. Of course anger and sadness were there. However, there was also a hint of hope and dread. Most importantly, Zelda could actually sense evil here. It had not been present in the other temples.

Peach marveled at the architecture of the temple. In her opinion, it resembled Birabuto a great deal. Everything seemed to be made of the same stone. The small staircase was welcoming and the snake statues on either side were foreboding, yet charming. She especially liked the many hieroglyphics and strange writings chiseled into the walls. It was indeed a very spiritual place. Out of all the temples she had been in, this one seemed like an actual temple the most.

"The stream is leading through that hole in the ceiling," Zelda noted. She walked up the stairs and stood in the center of the red carpet, between two Armos statues. Being careful not to touch them, she could see a Hookshot target up through the hole. She motioned for Peach to come forward. "Hold on to me."

"Okay," Peach said, grabbing on. Zelda shot her Hookshot to the target and they were pulled up through the hole. They then held onto the edge and pulled themselves up. They were in a hallway of sorts. Zelda saw a massive stone block that took up the entire width of the hall and frowned.

"We need to move this somehow," Zelda said, pushing against it to no avail.

"What about your telekinesis?" Peach asked.

"It's unreliable," Zelda sighed, watching as a few souls wisped through the cracks around the block. "Your empowered rear would probably be more effective."

"Might as well try it," Peach said, stepping forward.

"I was joking…" Zelda muttered. Peach charged at the block and then spun around, ramming her behind into it. There was a grinding noise as the block moved a few inches. Zelda covered her face in incredulity.

"Hey, it kinda worked!" Peach cheered. "Now, let's try again!" Zelda kept her face covered and merely looked at the floor as Peach repeated her action. There was a louder noise as the block slid even further. "One more time!" Zelda suddenly heard a small explosion and looked up to see Peach wiping smoke away from the smoking pathway.

"What did you just do?" Zelda asked. "Are you keeping bombs in your back pocket or something?"

"That was so neat!" Peach said with sparkling eyes. "Watch this Zelda!" The block had a very noticeable indentation in it. Zelda watched as Peach ran at it and thrust her hind parts at it. There was a fiery explosion as Peach rebounded slightly off of the cracking, sliding block. Eventually, it fell neatly into a pit and became the floor.

"Wasn't that cool, Zelda?" Peach asked, hopping with glee.

Zelda stared blankly at her before closing her eyes to calm herself.

"Something wrong, Zelda?" Peach asked.

After a moment, Zelda opened her eyes. "…No, nothing at all. Now, let's move along, shall we?"

They walked down the remainder of the hall and reached a large door. It slid open as they walked through and entered the main chamber of the temple. They were between two staircases in the dim room. Peach was most impressed by the large statue of a woman wearing a snake around her body. She looked like an ancient variant of the Gerudo people. She held her palms out face-up. The snakehead on her head did seem a bit uninviting though.

"That's one of the Great Colossi," Zelda spoke. "This temple is under the Great Colossus, the statue of the goddess you probably saw outside. I don't know why there are two of them, though…" They watched the souls circle around the statue's arms as if they had nowhere to go. Zelda's eyes were drawn to the statue's eyes. There was something not quite right about the face. She could definitely sense evil flowing from it. Suddenly the stream straightened and formed a bridge between the statue's face and where Peach and Zelda stood.

"The Spirit Sage must know we're here," Peach said worriedly. "Should we use this?"

"We might as well," Zelda said, stepping onto the bridge. "This should be easier than the others. I don't have any emotional attachments to Nabooru, whatsoever. All I want back is Malon. And right now, Nabooru is an obstacle." She walked straight to the face of the statue. Peach hesitantly followed behind. The eyes of the statue and the snakehead twinkled. Zelda began to charge her Shining Ray, despite its draining effects. She blasted it into the Colossus's face. The rock shattered and crumbled away, revealing a passageway behind it.

"Won't someone be upset with us desecrating a temple?" Peach asked, following Zelda into the passage. The rocks soon came back and reformed the face, leaving them in total darkness.

"Maybe," Zelda said, finding the door. They walked through and saw a heavily armored knight sitting in a stone chair. The room had several stone columns and torches around, making it seem almost like an ancient throne room. There were even Armos statues situated against the walls, seeming to be guards for the knight. Peach and Zelda could clearly see a door behind the chair.

"Kolorado would love it here," Peach said, walking up to an Armos.

"Don't touch it!" Zelda barked. Peach flinched away. "All of these things are touch-activated. The only one we need to activate and destroy is the Iron Knuckle sitting in the chair."

"Okay," Peach said, casually walking up to the knight and looking at its gauntlets. "I don't think this suit of armor has any iron knuckles…"

"It's the name of the bloody thing," Zelda sighed. "Stand back." Peach did as told, while Zelda took Peach's crown.

"What are you doing with that?"

"Watch," Zelda said, chucking the crown at the Iron Knuckle. The crown bounced off and clanged to the stone floor harmlessly.

"You better not have bent it…" Peach fumed, jogging to retrieve her crown.

"It was supposed to come to life…" Zelda whispered to herself. She then looked at one of the nearby Armos and tapped it with her sword. It stayed motionless. Peach watched her curiously as she tapped each of the Armos statues. She finally approached the Iron Knuckle. She tapped it and hopped back immediately, though it did not move at all.

"What are you doing?" Peach asked.

"…Stupid me…Of course she would drain everything in the temple first," Zelda muttered to herself. "But what about this door…?" She looked around behind the stone chair and could see there were steel bars covering the door. The soul stream was flowing through the room and circled around them.

"I think she's still trying to take our souls," Peach said. "I don't think she wants to fight us…"

"Well, I don't have time for this," Zelda said, standing before the bars and concentrating. She gritted her teeth and raised her arms. The bars began to shake.

"Stop trying," a female voice whispered to her coldly. "Just do it."

"Relax, Zelda," Sheik's voice spoke to her. "Swim with the river's current…not against the it."

"Sheik?" both Zelda and Peach sounded. The stream suddenly streaked through the door.

"Who was that other soul?" Zelda asked.

"That was the Sage of Death," Peach said.

"I certainly don't recall any Sage like that in my lessons," Zelda said thoughtfully. "Are you sure?"

"The bars are gone," Peach notified her.

"I did it?" Zelda said, having forgotten about them. "Hmm…well, let's move on." They walked through a very short hallway with flickering candles along the wall. More souls surged through the hall and through the next door. Zelda gripped her sword tightly and walked through the door with Peach.