GOS: Since we have been slow on the updates, we're postin' 2 chapters. So don't be mad! Chill.
Shrimpy: Boss Battle time! w00t! We're going to mangle the proper order of this, so if you don't like it, then shut up! I'm not typing out that whole repetitive thing, so NYAH!
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Chapter 5: Confessions Of Love
Darkness.
It was all around them, cold and shifty, sucking the breath from their lungs in a cold rush of musty air. Link and Zelda descended into darkness, lit from above by a bright halo of light.
"Okay, I think this whole place is creepy." Link told Zelda in a nervous whisper.
"Shut up! I'm not listening to your weird feelings" Zelda whispered back.
"What about the picture thing? Where the Poe was-"
"Okay, I got it! You're right. It's uber creepy down here."
"Hey, Zelda?" Link asked, as they both stared out into the darkness.
"Yes?"
"Why are we whispering?"
"I don't know!" Zelda said in a normal voice, which echoes frighteningly around the dark chamber. As if her voice had awakened something, a light appeared. It was a torch, burning orange in the dark, and beside it, to the left, another torch lit itself, and another, until they were ringed about with a circle of flaming torches. The room was now illuminated, showing eight identical paintings on each of the walls in the octagonal room. Each painting was cracking with age, and showed a dirt road leading into the distance, fenced by sickly, bare trees. The torches wavered crazily in a nonexistent breeze, making shadows jump around the room in a distinctly creepy fashion.
"Yep," Link said. "Creepy stuff, it's everywhere."
"Shh!" Said Zelda.
"Why? You already-" Link began, but was cut off by a loud scraping noise as the light from above was cut off. "Damn! Now we're stuck in here!"
"Mwohahahahahahaaaa!"
From nowhere, there came a deep and sinister laugh. It rumbled off the floor and echoed off the walls, sourceless and frightening. It slowly faded into silence, and the pair whirled to face the origin of the laughter, hovering behind them. It was a horseman, seated upon a midnight-black horse. The rider fairly radiated Evil, and his face was a flat, horned skull. A fearsome, frightening sight.
"It's a huge skull kid!" Link said, pointing. "...Riding a really sweet horse!"
"No, you idiot, that's Ganondorf!" Zelda cried. "The Evil One, remember?"
"Good." Link drew his sword with a flourish. "I can beat any fool with a stupid name like that."
"You..." Zelda began. "I can't even begin to tell you how stupid that sounds."
"Hey! Listen!" Navi shouted. "It's just Ganon's Phantom! I mean seriously, his horse is on fire!"
"Phantom, real thing, I don't care!" Link said, facing the Phantom menacingly. "My policy is that if I hit it with my sword, it'll probably die!"
"Oh, Goddesses, you're such a boy." Zelda sighed, exasperatedly.
As if Link's speech had been a cue, the Phantom laughed again, pulled his horse around and galloped away...into the painting nearest him.
"Ha! He must've been scared by my awesome prowess!" Link crowed.
"He's coming back!" Navi jingled desperately.
And so he was, galloping out of multiple paintings, brandishing his phantom sword forebodingly.
"Bloody hell!" Link shouted, whipping out his longbow. "Which one is real! This is as bad as that purple thingy!"
"Left!" Cried Zelda, who had actually been paying attention, and Link shot, landing a strike directly in the flank of the half-emerged horse. Both rider and horse screamed, and the Phantom turned his horse, galloping back into the painting. Link lowered his bow, scanning the paintings, panting nervously.
"There!" Zelda cried, and he turned to where she pointed, aiming wildly.
"Which one!" He shouted tersely.
"The...uh...The right one!"
Link let fly, and again his arrow struck home, but this time, only the horse screamed. Bucking wildly, the black beast turned, riderless and ran for the hills pictured in the far distance of the painting. The Phantom rider emerged, glowing fearsomely from his vantage point high in the air.
"Take this!" Link cried, and shot an arrow strait into his chest. It struck, then kept going, flying through as if there were nothing there are all.
"Shit!" Blurted Link as the phantom hurled a ball of burning light at him. Unable to dodge, he just stood there, caught in the glare of the magical attack like a deer caught in headlights. Seemingly at the last minute, Zelda leapt in front of him, her hands aglow with violet-pink light, like a shield in front of her. The light struck her, and she cried out, pushed back into Link by the force of the attack. Her knees buckled, and she fell.
"You stupid girl!" Link told her. "Why'd you do that!"
"You're the Hero, remember? You can't die..." She protested weakly. Above them, the Phantom laughed and prepared another attack.
"Got any good ideas?" Said Link, pulling his sword up in preparation for the oncoming strike.
"Your sword," Zelda ventured. "Maybe you can reflect it back at him...if you hit it right..."
"Got it," Link said, and stood above her, ready to fight. "Hit the light, kill the guy."
And then there was no more time as Phantom Ganon's attack flew towards Link, bright and deadly.
"Hyah!" Link shouted, and swung his sword. The attack bounced off with loud ringing, like a bell that's been dropped. It flew towards the Phantom, who grinned and raised a hand...and stuck the light again, reflecting it back towards Link. Desperately, Link pulled his sword through a back-handed swing, connecting with the attack again. Reflected, the attack struck the unsuspecting Phantom. He screamed and began to smoke. Like the Poes, he was soon enveloped, and faded away to nothing, defeated.
Link lowered his sword, and turned towards Zelda, who was weakly levering herself up, leaning heavily on one of the torch-bars. "Zelda? You okay?"
"Fine," She said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Don't worry about me...I can handle it. You're not hurt, are you?"
"Tired as hell, and it's you're stupid fault." But there wasn't any anger in his words, and he pulled Zelda upright by her arm. " 'Sides, it's more important that you're okay. Any idiot can swing a sword, but you're the one who knows the stupid Legend-thingy by heart."
"The legend is not a thingy," Zelda corrected, but as Link now had his arm all the way around her shoulder to support her, she didn't protest too much. She had to admit: He was being pretty sweet, for an country-bumpkin-kappa.
"Uh, guys?" Navi interrupted. "You do realize there's a random swirling vortex in the room, now? I think it's a transporter, so you should, maybe...walk through it or something?"
Link started, realizing just exactly what he'd been doing. "Uh...yeah...Let's go."
Together, he and Zelda hobbled to the vortex and stepped inside. Light surrounded and lifted them. When The light dimmed and faded away they were in a wide and distant chamber. Water was all around, and the Hero and the Princess stood, back to back at the base of a pillar of light, at the center of a ring of pedestals. Each round platform was glowing, ever so slightly, save two. The first was a platform emblazoned with the symbol of light, but by far the brightest glowed with a soft, green light, and was stamped with the symbol of the forest.
"Wow! This place is...really big!" Link exclaimed softly.
"This," Zelda stated primly, "Is the Chamber Of Sages, at the center of the Sacred Realm, home of the Sacred Triforce, whish was a gift from the-"
"Geez! I got it. Blah, blah, blah, I'm a know-it-all princess." He grumbled. "It's still big. And pretty."
'Oh my Goddesses! He is such a guy. How can he look upon the most sacred and holy of places and react on the same level as a concussed monkey? Argh! I ought to-' Zelda thought, until a bright and cheerful voice she had never heard interrupted her slightly homicidal train of thought.
"Link? Is that you?"
She spun, in unison with Link, towards the voice. It, or rather she, was a small girl, seemingly a child, dressed in green, and with hair to match. Beside her, Link gasped.
"S-saria! I can't believe it! It been so long since I saw you..." He said, his voice surprisingly soft.
"Seven long years since you left Kokiri village, Link." The girl replied, just as softly.
"Link," Zelda growled through clenched teeth. "Who is this?" 'I bet she's his girlfriend! What in the hell is wrong with him! That kappa, he was just messing with me, acting like he was worried about me, and all that! Besides she what, six, maybe seven? He makes me so angry, I'll kill him!'
"Uh..." Link said, as if he'd forgotten about Zelda entirely. "this is...my friend, Saria. We grew up together, in the forest."
Saria tilted her head to the side cutely. "It's nice to meet you."
"Uh..." Said Zelda. "Aren't a little...young to have grown up with him?"
"Oh, of course not." Saria giggled brightly. "I'm a Kokiri. We are children of the forest. We never age, and we never die. I'm really a lot older than Link."
"How wonderful for you." Zelda ground out. "Look, I know you two probably have a lot to catch up on, but we're on a kind of important mission here...you know...to save the world, and all..."
"Of course," Saria said, smiling. Her smile was not the kind of smile a child might have, it was as old at the hills, and twice as wise. The smile said 'I see right through you, girl.' Still smiling mysteriously, Saria held out the gleaming emerald medallion. It flew up magically, in s shower of right green sparks. It floated down above Link in a ceremonial fashion, just a few inches above his fingertips. However, just as Link was about to reach it, Zelda leapt up and snatched the medallion from out of his reach.
"I'm gonna take care of this for you." She said primly.
"Hey! I'm the Hero, I'll watch the fancy magic-thingy."
"Once again, magic is not a thingy! Besides, you might mistake it for a rupee or something."
"No I wouldn't!" He protested. "Rupees aren't green!"
"Yes they are!"
"Hey! That's a pretty sweet rupee you've got there!"
"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Aw, c'mon! I was just kidding!"
'Link hasn't changed one bit,' Saria thought warmly. "Link, I must stay here at the temple. I can't go with you."
Link broke off abruptly from teasing Zelda, as if he'd never even thought about that. "Saria...why? I missed you."
"I know, but I need to stay here to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm. I'm sure we'll meet again, some day."
Link smiled sadly at her, and nodded. Zelda glared angrily in the background, and Navi twinkled tiredly. "Listen! We don't have much more time for this sort of thing! Let's keep moving!"
As the light began again to glow around the three travelers, Saria waved goodbye, her face sad, though she was still smiling. when the light cleared and dimmed, they were standing in the clearing, just on top of the stone triforce symbol, just as Zelda had promised. Link immediately sat down.
"Whew! I'm so tired I could sleep for a week!" He sighed, leaning back on his hands. Zelda paced angrily in front of him, looking up to the sky. Her stance was ridged, arms crossed, and very stiff.
"Zelda? What's up?"
"Just what, exactly," Zelda questioned, venomously. "Was all that with Saria?"
"Nothin'" Link replied, clueless as always. "We pretty much are always like that. I love her."
Zelda choked, her heart constricting. "What! She's, like six years old! What is it with you, some kind of child-love fetish!"
Link just gaped at her, holding up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's nothing like that!"
"Then what is it, you pervert!" Zelda cried "Explain yourself!"
"Well...I'm an orphan." Link said, then hesitated, trailing off. Zelda gave him an annoyed-frustrated look that screamed 'oh, there better be more than that.'
"And, uh...my parents...my real parents, I mean, they abandoned me in the forest...or died...I never really found out. The Kokiri live in the forest, they've got a whole village and everything. They raised me. Saira's the one who found me, so she's...pretty much like my Mom, y'know. I love her."
Zelda stared at him, still full of righteous anger. slowly, she wilted as his little story sunk in. "Oh...right, then. That's...That's good. I guess that's not...Yeah. Hmm..." 'Well, great. Now I look like an idiot.'
Link stood there, watching her stutter with his arms crossed, smiling up at her with a cocky expression on his face. "So, Zelda?" Said he, nonchalantly.
"Er...Yes?" She said brightly, if still a little distraught.
"Why do you care?"
"I...What? About what?" she said, all innocence.
"About Saria and me."
"Saria and I."
"Don't change the subject."
"Look, I'm not jealous, if that's what you're saying."
"Your words, not mine."
"What! I said I wasn't. Do you not understand Hylian?" She shouted, exasperated.
"Uh-huh."
"Here we go again," Tinkled Navi, floating after them as they traveled through the forest.
"Oh shit, run!" Link cried. "It's that giant Wolfoe!"
------To Be Continued-----
GOS: It's short. It's sweet. Woot! Go laziness!
Shrimpy: There, you've got your stupid chapter! Shut up now!
