Chapter 61: (The Fight) Between One-Self
Meeting the Master Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda; this is just a Fan Fiction
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" – The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Termination"; Kage Narumono's Theme – YS I & II PCE OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"Last Moment of the Dark" – YS I & II PCE OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
In Link's fairly impressive run through the 'Prima World Tour', a tournament series of martial arts spread out all across Aurelia, he manages to advance to grand finals in each and every one of them – the Hylian Hyrax, the Palashian Premier, the Kaioh-Bio and the Skirmish in Stralanavia. An incredible feat for any normal man, let alone an eleven-year old Hylian boy. With all of his skills gained from his mass-adventuring across Aurelia, the former Hero of Time blazes his trail of power and martial arts across the rest of the continent he stays in, quickly and near-effortlessly gaining an impressive-level fan-base within those watching the national championships.
Only one within the near-extinct and ruined clan of the Van Garricks stand between him and final ownership of the title of 'champion'; a raven-haired mercenary and similar orphan in their homeland of Hyrule by the name of 'Raynard'.
After their near-death experience in Gylomecia, however, in dealing with their new foes Amalda and Kaius, Link very quickly comes to a despair-filled realisation; in that he has went through all roads and avenues in his attempt to locate an 'answer' to deal with the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai – the sleeping murderous force waiting and slumbering within the Aegir and magic of his holy triangle piece. It is his mentor, Impa of the Sheikah, that offers this answer though in the form of a referral; she saves his hopes and introduces him via letter to an old Draerith woman by the name of 'Sun Hui' – a legendary martial arts figure said to have taught not only Ragnar Romanov, but the world's greatest living soldier himself.
While Sun Hui is said to be extraordinarily powerful, she is extremely impatient and quick to kill; a fact that she readily and enthusiastically admits to. With little to no morals and ethics in her code, she has only one principle she adheres and holds to; respect. Link heeds Impa's words with the greatest of caution and is wise to – when learning how to fight from the greatest martial artist in the world, his 'one-inch punch' technique training is soon interrupted when a group of angered and blunted Draerith youths invade the old woman's temple, seemingly demanding an answer in their native language for having been slighted in the past.
Sun Hui confronts these young men but offers her new student Link to deal with all ten of them; an extremely challenging proposition when he realises he is fairly fatigued from his intensive all-day training period. Regardless however he heeds Impa's advice and readily obeys his new mentor's orders, managing somehow to beat eight out of ten of the talented young men. In his extreme fatigue, the two remaining martial artists deck the poor Hylian boy and the ever-hateful Sun Hui is forced to step in, though not without offering in her usual angered and bitter comments.
In great contrast, she easily and effortlessly dispatches with the remaining two young Draeriths, even killing the last tenth young man with a single slam of her foot to break his neck.
"Are you aware I kill at will?"
Words of caution, warning and near-insanity from the hateful old woman that the poor ten young men should have heeded wisely; they end up broken and near-killed on the ground, one of them having lost their lives to their ill-fated confrontation attempt. Sun Hui however merely addresses another of Link's concerns, his main one…
The Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai.
"This 'Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai' that Impa spoke of… we will confront it tomorrow."
Words of great glory and sheer music to Link's small Hylian ears escape his new mentor's lips however, soon he will learn, that not only will things not go nearly as well as his fight with Kage Narumono did in Hyrule's Water Temple…
But that in some fights with one-self… you don't come out of unscathed.
Scene 1
FSSSHHHHHHH…
The sound of a powerful waterfall, echoing almost as far as a full mile, knocked against the very walls of the beautiful Draerith meadow, leaving the wide-eyed Link in awe of its elegance.
They sure don't have sights like this, even in Hyrule, he thought to himself as he stood before its clearing.
"S-So…," Link began somewhat unsurely, about-turning his head to find the firmly-frowning form of his teacher staring back at him a few yards away, perched up on a rocky platform to his south-east. "Here…?"
Sun Hui merely stared back at him in a hardened glower of his eyes and wrinkled expression, before eventually nodding in confirmation.
He turned back his ponytailed blonde head to find a single platform of grass and rock sitting in the centre of the waterfall's beautifully-reflected pool. Realising the implications of a waterfall, and water itself, Link's similarly oceanic eyes narrowed in thought back to his experiences in Hyrule's Water Temple before leaping up wordlessly to land on the platform before him. The blonde boy shut his blue-shaded eyes and sat cross-legged, resting his arms diagonally across his crossed tunic legs.
It didn't take exceptionally long – perhaps it was the ancient powers resting within the old Draerithian waterfall, or perhaps the satanic powers sleeping within himself, but he saw a reaction almost instantly; the sound of his fiery footsteps echoed out within the recesses of his subconscious mind.
Kage Narumono's very shadow began to march from inside of the waterfall itself.
His hellfire form fizzled and burnt away at the beautiful untouched water, soon opening up to reveal his flame-tinted mirrored form of himself, grinning his demonic fangs back at him.
"Why…?" He began threateningly, his very flame-coated figure fizzling out the water as he stepped through. "Why have you come here…?"
Link re-opened up his cerulean-shaded eyes in a slow and deliberate-faced frown when he caught the sight of Kage Narumono himself; adrenaline began to course through his veins and he furrowed his brow forward back at the mirrored image of himself. Rather shockingly and yet somehow unsurprisingly, Kage's small demonic form found itself treading its boots on the very water itself; an impressive sight to most people presumably watching it.
If only they could.
"There's only one route possible I see of you coming down this road again…," Kage spoke again, chuckling lowly and malevolently as he stopped directly outside of the waterfall, listening to it rush peacefully behind him. "And the more you come down this road… the more chance I get to break free of your fucking cage…"
Link merely stood back up from his seated position, choosing to glare over at the ghost-like apparition before him, affixing himself into his Loftwing-style stance.
"Keh…," the grinning Kage scoffed out lowly, re-opening his mouth to continue. "Pathetic…," he began again, his demonically-charged baritone knocking off the walls of his mind somehow, even as he appeared directly before him. "There is nothing you can do… and nothing you can say…"
With that Kage affixed himself into a similar yet different kind of stance; he hung out his right and left arms diagonally from one another much more emphatically and in a similar style to the Fierce Deity, further complimenting their connection to one another.
"Eventually… that seal on in your body holding me will break… and when it does…,"
Kage's dreamlike demonic baritone echoed out across the walls of the very skies themselves, his hateful fanged scowl growing worse as he re-opened his mouth and leapt at his Hylian human host.
"You will cease to exist!"
Link merely shot the firmly-scowling and grit-fanged Kage with an attempt at an objective-faced frown, betraying the high adrenaline coursing through his body as he back-dashed through the air in quick attempt to gain some space from the mirror-like creature. Almost immediately did Kage react as he came within range.
SWIPE
FWIP
As Kage swung one of his angered clawed fists horizontally toward the boy, Link merely moved so quickly his small form was near-invisible in its movement. The firmly-frowning form of Sun Hui watched on from her platform high above them, unable to watch the duel; as opposed to an actual outward fight between the two, she could only watch the young blonde sit seemingly merely meditating on the small rock he sat at earlier, his eyes still shut. His watching mentor merely furrowed his brow in realisation and nodded before shutting her own eyes and waiting.
Having re-appeared to his back behind him, Link grabbed at the ground with his sleeveless arm in an attempt to somersault in recovery to a crouching position, his small Draerith shoes skidding across the grassy ground as he did. Realising Kage was immediately attempting yet another maddened offensive, the narrow-eyed Hero of Time shot through the air to his immediate right in evasion as his mirrored foe leapt at him and swiped at the air a second time before quickly and deftly following his speeding form.
As he landed once more, Kage's angered growl carried him on even as he swung a careless yet damaging haymaker across the air, prompting Link to shoot straight vertically up into the air in evasion, successfully dodging the assault. Kage darted up his scowling lava-tinted head up and narrowed his hardened hellfire-like eyes before swinging back his body in a somersault to pursue.
FWIPFWIP
FWIPFWIP
As Kage's body glided similarly across the air and the ground in chase, eventually the chaotic aspect of the holy triangle soon found himself engaged in fists directly with the narrow-eyed Link in mid-air; the pair exchanged a lightning-fast series of blows and strikes that saw them causing small shockwaves across the area around them, their similar-sized forms shooting across the skies and the ground itself as they did. Eventually however, mid-exchange, Link began to gain yet more space from his foe; even if it was slight and small, it was enough to keep from fighting back.
The Hylian hero narrowed his oceanic eyes back at the growling animalistic Kage as he kept in hot pursuit of the blonde boy, small arms risen up to both defend and attack respectively. Their little figures, full of power and speed, shot across the skies like meteors of blue and hellfire-red.
FWIP
FWIP
FWIPFWIP
The pair exchanged a quick series of blows mid-air as they continued to vanish and re-appear in common eyesight and at vastly-different points across the very skies themselves; soon however, Kage began to gain the upper hand and, as he did, he slammed his fist through the air itself – a surprisingly accurate aim that saw the narrow-eyed Link's defensive-crossed arms blocking in a catch.
SLAM
SKRRRRRRRRRRRR
As the two landed they began to skid across the grassy ground beneath them, leaving only room for the glaring Kage to growl animalistically back at the silent-eyed Link. With little warning, the demonic aspect of chaos somehow managed to break through the blonde boy's guard and widened his hellfire eyes as he swiped a quick jab across the similarly wide-eyed Link's exposed cheek.
SMACK
The scowl on Kage's face very suddenly and quickly upturned into a satisfied bellowing laugh as he immediately pressed the attack and utilised his free right clawed arm to fire off a super-fast series of strikes and punches in the blonde boy's face, sending him stumbling back as he did. As he reared his now free left clawed arm back however, presumably to finish his combination with, Link widened his oceanic eyes and swerved back through the air before vanishing to avoid the incoming haymaker, only the light blood that now appeared on the right corner of his mouth hanging in the air – the last reminder of his existence.
FWIP
Just as quickly as he disappeared did he re-appear and, as he did, Link grunted in effort as he slammed a quick mule-like kick into the lunging Kage's chest, sending him gasping and careering up high into the air. The Hero of Time followed up his initial counter-attack by back-flipping gracefully through the air, barely making a difference in his movement as he did. When he landed, almost as immediately as his small Draerith shoes touched ground did he vanish, his small form giving out a tiny sound in activation of his speed.
FWIP
He re-appeared high above the flying and unable-to-react-to Kage Narumono's form, causing the demonic aspect of chaos to dart his wide-eyed fanged-scowled head 'round to merely stare back at him in response. Link pulled back his left fist and, as Kage came within range, he shot it down in immediate counter.
FWIP
In response, Kage's similarly small figure vanished from memory before him, making the gasping Hylian widen his oceanic eyes in shock. High above him hung the lava-tinted mirrored Kage, both clawed arms gripped up and ready to strike. As he brought them crashing down, Link's own form soon vanished similarly.
FWIP
Again Kage disappeared through the air, like smoke itself as Link shot through the air with a swift diagonal punching strike, hitting nothing but air.
FWIP
Kage roared out in hatred as he re-appeared to Link's undefended left side with a quick swipe of his own, his hellfire aura of Aegir burning at the air as his host's form vanished once again.
FWIP
Link chose to scowl this time as he re-appeared similarly in mid-air, issuing out a swift and brutal diagonal upward kick where Kage once hovered, causing him to Ashura Senku directly out of harm's way. Before Kage could re-appear however and, as Link had seemingly grown accustomed and adapted rather well to Kage's 'Ashura Senku' gliding-like technique, he responded with a firm diagonal upward kick similar to his last, slamming painfully into the wide-eyed demon's chest in mid-air.
CRACCCCCCK
"GRNNNGH…!"
Link attempted to follow up his initial strike with a quick diagonal-downward right punch, eyes narrowed; when his fist even came close however, Kage's form very suddenly vanished from sight, leaving the blonde boy gasping.
SLAM
"Ngh…!"
As Link was sent hovering back from the strike in response, his teeth grit and his eyes scrunched shut he recovered fairly quickly and, as he did, the pair shot their eyes at one another in similar-faced hatred. It didn't take awfully long for them to react.
VVVWIP…
SLAMMMMM
Link attempted to keep his firm-faced frown objective but it was difficult; even as he shot his figure forward and slammed his elbow into his angry-expressed foe Kage; the demonic aspect of chaos in comparison opted not to hide his hatred for his human host, the shockwaves of their clash ringing out throughout the recesses of their mind and so strong that the narrow-eyed Kage found himself being knocked back through the air by them. Link widened his oceanic eyes and shot his body forward in a superfast spin that saw him revolving endlessly through the sky at an incredible velocity.
FWIPFWIPFWIPFWIP
CRACCCCCCK
Time slowed down for the narrow-eyed Link and Kage as they hung in the air suspended through their assault and wound before eventually Kage himself reacted; the demonic being widened his hellfire eyes and, as he vanished from sight, re-appeared high above the boy and shot down in a deft dive-kick as he yelled out in effort.
"KYAAAA!"
SMACK
VWEEE…
CRASSSSSSH
The pair, almost as soon as they hit solid ground, shot off in separate directions in rapid movements together; Kage, however, very quickly took off in immediate pursuit of his hated enemy, growling as he did. His lava-tinted mirror-reflected shoes sped along the ground roughly, coughing up dust and small sparks of flame as he slammed a superfast series of strikes and fists into Link's defensive cross; the pair began to exchange a lightning-fast assault of attacks, backing the blonde boy into the rocky wall behind him. As he began to lose out in the exchange, Link found himself gracefully gliding out of it through a small window in which Kage attempted to strike him with; a quick but devastating punch through the rocky wall.
KURASSSSHHH
As the frowning-faced Hero of Time shot his small Draerith shoes across the grassy ground in evasion, the scowling-faced Kage followed and attempted to sweep the boy's feet with a swift low roundhouse, glaring hatefully as he did. Link merely responded with a swift leap through the air to avoid it, but not before knocking his legs in a stabbing kick backward as he did, sending the wide-eyed demon staggering a few steps back. Time slowed down again for the mirrored duo and, as Link's form flew slowly back into a graceful landing with his hand on the ground and his body leant diagonally, so too did Kage react.
He pulled his body back and yelled out in growing rage before very abruptly vanishing.
FWIP
Link's eyes widened and, knowing exactly of his intentions, forced his body backward toward the ground to avoid the re-appearing Kage's lunging strike down toward him; Kage shot up a right arm to block diagonally as Link fired a quick roundhouse in defence. As he hung backward in the air, seemingly open and vulnerable, Kage widened his eyes and slammed his left muscled fist diagonally downward in response.
FWIP
Like a cat bounding backward, Link's incredibly-fast form vanished from common eyesight as he leapt back to avoid the blow before swiftly re-appearing in Kage's face; a fairly obvious incoming dive-kick assault, Kage merely did the same and vanished from sight completely as Link shot through mere thin air, landing in a light skid across the ground. He caught the ground carefully to stop moving further before widening his cerulean eyes again as Kage swiftly and without warning re-appeared directly in his face; the Hero of Time, in desperation fired up a quick diagonal kick to slam directly into Kage's face.
Although it was successful and landed at its mark, so too did Kage's; a mirrored strike that slowed down time for the bleeding pair, sending them up into the air and grunting out similarly as they did.
THWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCK
THWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCK
Their bodies tail-spun through the air brutally as time regained its normal flow, before eventually the injured pair found themselves crashing agonisingly into the ground on either side of one another.
CRASSSSH
CRASSSSH
2
Link had to groan as he pulled himself, very slowly and painfully out of the wreckage behind him, wiping away at the blood that had gathered across his chin and his mouth, eliciting the low-chuckling Kage to seemingly do the same; the low-voiced baritone that chortled out lightly soon elongated into a massive, full-blown echoing malevolent-filled laughter – one that suited Kage Narumono.
"Useless… absolutely… useless..," he laughed out knowingly, hellfire eyes narrowing back at the blonde boy. "I have lived inside your wretched human body… longer now than when we first fought together…"
Link attempted, with great difficulty, to catch his breath as he listened; his brow furrowing as he thought on, on the demonic aspect's words.
He wasn't wrong, he thought.
This thing knows exactly how I fight…
How we fight.
Is there anything I can do…?
He couldn't help but think back to his original go-around with Kage Narumono in Hyrule's Water Temple and compare the fight he just had with him.
It was eerily similar.
Two martial artists of similar styles both near-killing one another and exhausting each other to the point of crippling oneself.
"Do you know… do you know what lies ahead, and what this incredible power of ours will bring us…?"
Link shot up his oceanic-eyed gaze from his deep-seated thought, eyebrows lifting up in surprise as he did, letting out a lightly-surprised sound as he did. Kage stared back at him in yet another maddened-fanged smirk, leaning his head diagonally downward as he did.
"Words no longer have any meaning for ones such as us…," the intimidating wall of demonic energy spoke back in another open-fanged smirk, shaking his lava-tinted head back at the blonde boy. "Our hatred has made us powerful…," he chuckled on malevolently, beginning to stalk forward very slowly and carefully. "Let us satisfy it fully… and give in to the Shinzui!" He exclaimed out, hellfire eyes widening, his toothy smirk widening similarly further. "Just as we did in Gylomecia… when we became Akuma!"
"Link…"
The sound of Sun Hui's voice, so dream-like and far-off sounding, could only make the intimidated and fearful-laced Link rise up both eyebrows again in shock.
"HYLIAN!"
Link gasped himself awake, sea-shaded eyes snapping themselves open as he darted them around in swift and sudden concerned search; it was only when he saw the firmly-frowning form of Sun Hui hovering over him, somehow standing on the very water itself surrounded 'round him, that he realised he was still on the rocky platform before the waterfall. Indeed, as he swung his blonde-haired head on the rushing waves, he found his position had not changed; the former Hero of Time sat cross-legged still, his hands resting on his raised knees.
How is that possible, he thought to himself.
"At long last…," the old woman grumbled out, turning her own gaze out to the waterfall herself, robed arms ever joined at her back. "How long were you in there for?"
Link could only double-take in his brutal mentor's direction, blinking lightly as he did. "U-Um… I'm… not sure…," he responded with, shaking his straw-haired, ponytailed head at her. "It didn't feel long, but…"
"Three… perhaps four minutes," the old woman calculated for him, turning her own white-haired ponytailed head toward him. She nodded her head down at his facial expression distastefully, as if noting an imperfection. "Clean yourself up… will you…?"
Curious at first Link blinked again before uncrossing his legs and leaning toward the water before him; when looking at his reflection, he clocked the same wounds he was sporting during his seeming battle for the mind with Kage Narumono, bleeding at the corner of his mouth and carrying a new black eye.
"I…," he began, shocked before he hurriedly wiped at his mouth. "I thought that this… wasn't real…?"
The firmly-frowning Sun Hui merely turned her robed body toward the waterfall and began to march forward, her brow furrowed as she re-opened her mouth. "It may as well be at this particular waterfall…," she began speaking lowly, tilting her head at the rushing waters before her. "It is a location that intensifies one's inner demons; an Aegir so powerful that it has claimed lives in the past."
The listening Link could only widen his eyes in response, shellshocked at the words she used.
"You were lucky to leave that fight alive…," she threw over her shoulder in a lower-voiced frown, briefly turning her white-haired head to eye him before soon re-facing the front again. "In any case… we're returning to the temple."
"B-But I…"
She turned her head 'round again in mid-march, having walked across the very water itself to revolve her frown on him again as he stood to his feet slowly and carefully.
"I still haven't…," he began uncertainly and with little confidence. "Haven't…"
"Hmph…," the old woman huffed out distastefully, upturning her mouth at him as she did. "You will have your chance… one day…," she began, re-turning her head to face the front again, robed arms ever joined at her back. "I order you to return here… once a day to attempt this challenge…"
"O-Once a day…?"
"That's what I said, Hylian…," Sun Hui spat out venomously in response, her golden eyes narrowing to thin slits as she did. "You will never overcome this power of the 'Shinzui' unless you consistently try… and look for your answer…"
Link's brow furrowed and he nodded lightly in realisation.
She's right, he thought.
This is easily one of the best opportunities I've had.
"Sifu…"
"What now…?"
Link leapt lightly over to join her as she stepped back on to the grassy ground separated from the small pool of water, marching alongside her. "Is there anythin'… you can tell me to help?" He tried hopefully, a kind of creased frown to his expression, almost as if he were just waiting for her to shoot down his request as quickly as it exited his mouth.
Sadly, for him, he was correct in this particular assumption.
"Pathetic…," she spat back out, upturning her scowl down at him as she rose her white-haired head even further in a distasteful, ugly-faced glower. "No, Hylian… you'll get no answer from me…," Sun Hui responded with, shaking her head down at him as he lowered his eyes from hers in light shame. "You must find your answer… yourself."
As quickly as she had spoken her final response and she had continued marching away into the Draerithian countryside, leaving Link frowning firmly at the ground in thought and pondering, he furrowed his brow a second time before soon re-raising his oceanic eyes as he did.
She's right, he thought.
"Again…"
For him to truly conquer himself, as Navi once told him, he'd have to find his own answer.
"It's just findin' what that answer really is…"
"HYLIAN!"
He winced when he realised he was lagging behind and quite severely; Link hurriedly scurried to catch up with his Draerithian mentor, hoping with great fervour that she wouldn't punish him too firmly back at the temple.
