Battle of the Soul
What was the point anymore? Zelda felt as if they had accomplished nothing. Simply taming a single beast, what did it matter and now they were going to tame a second one? She knew it was necessary to protect Hyrule, Goron City and such but why them? The heroine and prince of Hyrule could be doing so much more energizing and helpful things than this.
A single troop of soldiers could have secured the beast easily, or Revali, or Daruk. Yet the Queen sent the heroine and the prince to do it. Zelda had not given a second thought to that choice until now. It was hot, she was tired and sick of doing this. But breaks were something neither Prince Link nor her could afford. Or could they?
Zelda had been raised to always trust the greater power, the wiser person. Though now that she thought about it, she felt more aware. She felt a growing awareness of what was occurring around her. She was more acutely aware of the action, the decision, to trust and the accompanying obligation to follow orders blindly without a second thought.
Was Hyrule's government always right? No. It was far from that. It was a monarchy, ruled by the iron fist of Hyrule's ruler. Yes, there were advisers and other officials, but they held no power. Only the ruler wielded power. The ruler was the only one in the kingdom to bend it and control it. At this time, the Queen of Hyrule was the only one who held such power.
Zelda had been told that these beasts were important, divine as their name so plainly stated. Were they though? How could a jumble of gears and wires do anything? The Queen hadn't told Zelda the end goal of their mission beyond taming the beasts. She hadn't shared enough for it to be of any significance in defeating the great Ganondorf. The journey had been a blur, much talking and running and fighting with little thinking.
Correction… there had been very little thinking until now. The reality of Ganondorf, the insane man from the fairy tales, was as alarming as it was puzzling. She'd seen it…briefly within 'The Lockup', a mane of red hair but that was all. Zelda understood now that the man with the red hair was Ganondorf. Whether it was Ganondorf's full manifestation or fragment or a dream she knew not.
The divine beasts had been taken over and this man was supposedly behind it. Or so the Queen asserted. Whether the Queen lied or merely held back information was uncertain yet Zelda strongly suspected the Queen had not been entirely forthcoming.
Zelda shook her head. No, she was being crazy, the Queen would never lie about something as important as that. It was foolish to think such a thing, it was disloyal beyond measure. Nagging doubts lingered despite Zelda's attempt to correct herself. Loyalty was one thing, blind loyalty another. Zelda felt the latter had evaporated from her mind.
When she saw Ganondorf in the lockup he still seemed like a fairytale, a scary story who was told as a child, the villain of a storybook. He was written in book after book, story after story as the villain it was no surprise. He seemed more like a fantasy of children, a scary monster that would hide in your closet. There was a true story, which she couldn't recall now, a legend that seemed to change over time about him. His origin, the path of evil that he took and the beginning of the feud between heroes and him that lasted for centuries, 'The legend of something', she guessed.
The Queen was an interesting person, a very intriguing, mysterious person. These ties between the royal family and Ganondorf ran deep. The scars of these ties were perhaps in the famous Hyrule Castle itself. So many gray areas, determining fact and fantasy. And yet through all this time Ganondorf had lived on for centuries, maybe even longer. How did he do this? Zelda recalled from 'The Lockup' those terrifying violent orange eyes in the dark and the cold within that room. Why was he in the castle?
Was he just waiting there? If so, waiting for what? How didn't the Queen know about this? Did she know? No, no, no this all wrong…the Queen is the Queen she wouldn't do anything sinister, would she? Had she known Ganondorf was within the very walls that she lived in? Had she known this was going to happen?
Zelda realized a very frightening fact.
Did the Queen know more than she let on? Was this just a wild goose chase, taming these beasts? If so, then why, would she do this? She can't be in league with Ganondorf, can she?
Zelda's head whirled with thoughts. These thoughts felt so wrong and out of place. They felt alien, unlike herself. Zelda had never felt unloyalty before…not before any of this. Not before Prince Link came into her life, the Master Sword, Ganondorf, any of it.
Was she finally starting to see or finally starting to go blind? Perhaps both at the same time.
Trust your mind or your heart. It was not an easy decision. For now her mind was too cloudy to think of anything more than the task before her.
Zelda considered carefully decided.
She trusted her mind…the heart would betray.
Zelda decided that she needed to see the facts of the mind and not the fantasy of the heart. Loyalty and beliefs resided within the heart and were warmly embraced by the naïve. The mind looked at facts and what was before them not inside. Right now she suspected she was working for a liar, a tyrant…and a power-hungry Queen…possibly. Yet, Zelda felt like she was crazy to think this. She opened her mind but closed her heart. Even through this act, she didn't think of the threats.
The mind is a delicate thing and delicate things can shatter. Now, the heart is no better for it can shatter too as the mind can. It only depends on who and what you are opening it to.
Zelda snapped back to reality as she heard a great dramatic sigh, "Stop standing there and do something!"
Prince Link was at that very moment pathetically prying at the Sheikah pedestal of The Divine Beast of Rudania which would grant them entrance into the treacherous beast. Daruk was close by, helplessly leaning over but alas Zelda knew well that he was more an encourager than a technician.
Off to the side were two silhouettes outlined by the great light that came from the lava only a few feet below them. Arnen and Misko were the two silhouettes and were making no attempt to assist Prince Link in his troubles.
They stood sulking with stares as heated as the lava below. The heat of their anger was palpable yet somehow their stares resembled the icy cold that would bite at your skin in the Hebra Mountains. It was a terrifying mix and for Zelda was yet another exercise in contrasting impressions and thoughts. Zelda felt a shiver ripple through her despite the heat that veiled her.
"Well, aren't you the 'tech guy'. I have full confidence you will find a way." Arnen's old demeanor was back despite himself looking incredibly pale and ghost-like. The word confidence slightly exaggerated, and Zelda knew that those encouraging words were shrouded in every bit of sarcasm.
"Hmph!" Link whipped around unceremoniously. His honey blonde mane was matted to his sweaty face in a very 'unprincely' way, "Well…your confidence gives me great comfort…" then he breathed loud enough for Zelda to hear "…peasant…"
Misko murmured under his breath, "This kid has no idea what he's doing." Link's ears perked up and he whipped around to narrow his eyes at Misko.
"I do know what I'm doing. It's just…we've done this before, I may be having problems with the door but…they will know we're coming…" Link spoke hesitantly, glancing back to the ominous doorway that waited expectantly, ignoring Arnen's snide comment and focusing on the more pressing matter at hand.
"What 'they?'." Daruk turned on Link, "No one mentioned a 'they'. I thought we were just pulling the plug on this thing and then getting out of here?"
Zelda stepped forward into the tense circle, "Ah, yes we did forget to mention," she glanced at Link "the 'they'."
Arnen and Misko simultaneously crossed their arms exchanging glowering looks. Daruk glanced at the other two and then back at Link and Zelda, not folding his arms but leaning away from them.
Misko spoke up, "Let me guess. There is some malicious villain terrorizing Hyrule and has been conquering these 'Beasts' in the hope to fulfill some insane megalomanic desire," he smirked as though it were funny. "And he has his menacing minions running around in the beasts doing his dirty work for him."
Zelda and Link exchanged surprised looks. Misko had exactly described their situation without a stumble or stutter. Zelda was surprised but she was somewhat impressed. To the certain extent that she was admiring a criminal who should be in incarcerated for the next 15 years.
"Yeah, I've heard that story before." Misko sighed like this so-called story was old news to him, "Am I right?"
"Yes." Zelda replied curtly then Zelda straightened and glared at him, "You've heard this story before, interesting…since this is quite new information."
"Yes, I have…" Misko kept his arms firmly crossed and leaned forward, "Bedtime stories."
Zelda stared.
How dare he? Did he think this was a joke?! Bedtime stories? This is not exactly a fairy tale was this? They were stuck in the middle of a volcano, sweating away for the good of Hyrule and he was claiming that all their good work was bedtime stories!
"You…you think that all we've done is all fairy tales? Is that what you're saying? Well, I can tell you this, Mister this is no fairy tale! We have been sweating and wasting our lives upon you and the rest of your petty folk who believe that us good people are two faced and making up this nonsense as we go along! Well, it's not like that and it will never be! We can die, we can be in pain, and I think that it's time that you learn to understand that we are leaning our necks over the line for you people every day and will continue to do it every day!" Zelda laughed hysterically and then took a deep breath, "All for good old Hyrule! Sanity, wellbeing, and happiness can all be damned."
Zelda didn't care if Ganondorf didn't or did exist, the fact still remained that something sinister was brewing. Also, that it had and most surely would deprive her of having a normal and secure life.
They all stared at her. Misko blinked and turned his head away. Was he ashamed? It was hard to tell but what was clear was the strained silence that seem to last forever. And ever and ever. The only sound was the rumble of the lava that poured into the bottomless lake of lava that lapped at the edge of where they stood. Darkness had fallen and the only light that sheltered them from the looming darkness was the glow of the fiery lake below.
"I'm sorry Zelda but…wasn't that a little of…um…an… overexaggerating…" Link hesitated, glancing at her hesitantly, perhaps afraid that she would go on a full-scale rant again as she had done with Misko.
"I think the stress is getting to me. My apologizes, everyone." Zelda murmured though more important thoughts circled in her head.
I have voices talking to me in my head. I have choked people unintentionally. I am having sudden doubt coming to mind. I am forced to work with criminals and to their eyes I am considered untrustworthy.
Link, give me a break…I probably have already lost my sanity. The quest is not even over with…we haven't even started taming Rudania yet. We still have two beasts to go, and we are not even sure if it will delay Ganondorf from attempting to do whatever horrible thing he's going to do!
We don't even have the most vital thing to succeed in defeating Ganondorf, less than taming Rudania…A SOLID PLAN!
A plan, that's what we need a plan. Okay, take a deep breath and make a plan. Rudania first and then we will think of the rest.
"We need a plan…" Zelda spoke firmly, looking up from her feet and her eyes swept over the group.
"What we know is that most certainly Ganondorf's forces will know we are here and that we need to tame Rudania. Any comments?" Zelda hoped no one would say anything. Her question was mostly directed to Link who she knew was trustworthy but instead received exactly what she didn't want.
"Ganondorf? Let me see, an ancient evil of the past who is said to have gone insane and seek immortality or some mumbo jumbo evil stuff. So, that's who were up against…cool, entirely expected." Misko tapped on his chin thoughtfully.
"You seem to know an awful lot for some bandit." Zelda grit her teeth. His voice grated on her ears. She was now aggravated beyond anyone's imagination.
"Well, you obviously don't know enough about bandits…we know stuff probably you will never know," Misko smirked and glanced at Arnen. "Anyways, back to the subject of fruitfully attempting to taking on the legendary Ganondorf's forces who is said to wield the triforce of power and is known to be a formidable foe and oh, almost forgot is rumored to hold the secrets of eternal life."
"Yup, that guy." Zelda rolled her eyes. This man that she met hours ago was proving able to push her limits beyond what Arnen or Link could ever achieve.
"Well, I have an idea…I know for sure they must know were here but for some reason they haven't attacked us yet. And that is slightly concerning." Misko's eyes slid towards the looming stature of Rudania.
Misko motioned for the group to move in closer. The group members hesitantly scuttled over and huddled around him. Arnen looked at Zelda with an indescribable stare and scuttled to move in between Daruk and Misko where he was out of the reach of Zelda's gloved hand.
"They might be listening," Misko craned his head to gaze at Rudania and Zelda nodded, that made sense but why was Misko suddenly being helpful was her question. "I suggest we take Ganondorf's forces in the beast head on. They won't expect it. Sneaking around will do us no good. They surely know were are here. We go full on swing, weapons, and everything. As long as they're dead or unconscious I'm sure we'll be able to tame it just fine. Get in, get out and don't get killed. Easy right? Let's get to it!"
Zelda furrowed her brows, pursing her lips and held a steady gaze over Misko.
"And plan B?" Link raised an eyebrow at the group.
Misko was bent down, rummaging through his traveler bag which he had taken with him, looked up at Link and simply shrugged.
"We have to have a plan B" Link urged the group, meeting them from eye to eye.
'Why don't you make one' was the words about to leave Zelda's mouth when Arnen spoke up abruptly.
"Plan B? Every man for themselves." Arnen nodded to Misko who gave a cheery thumbs up to the group. Zelda stared angrily at the pair.
"That doesn't exactly sound like a good plan B, does it?" Link frowned at the two bandits.
Zelda hoped Daruk would speak up but surprisingly he didn't. He just stood there, staring down at the two bandits puzzled, confused nonetheless he said not a word. Zelda hoped that one day Daruk would see through that veil of innocence that Arnen had so carefully placed.
One day. She promised herself.
"I think it's a great plan. If you don't like Plan B then let that be motivation not to mess up on plan A, won't you?" Misko grinned. Zelda couldn't figure out if it was benign or threating.
"Well, here's the real question, Misko. What is motivating you to tame this Divine Beast with us? What are you getting out of it?" Zelda pressed, she stared intensely at Misko, her brows furrowed, and she loomed over him.
"Oh, me? I'm just helping my old bud, Arnen!" Misko stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulder and swung an arm over his old bud's shoulder who winced, "He's called Goron City his home since he was dumped on the church's doorstep. I could never imagine just leaving his hometown to go to ruin thanks to this menace of a beast stirring up the volcano. Who would've imagined that me and Arnen, the Goron boy and the Lurelin boy would be the best of friends, you know?" Misko laughed while Arnen gave a faint smile.
Lurelin? The vacation town of all places that the most notorious bandit grew up in. Wait…no…the place that is also known to have casinos and shady markets. Ah, now that makes sense. But wait, Lurelin is quite far from here? How could they have ever become the best of friends?
"Come on! Let's stop the chitter chatter and get moving!" Daruk's voice boomed into their ear, making everyone but Arnen jump.
Zelda caught up to Prince Link, running up beside him and grabbed his left arm firmly. Prince Link flinched, then met her gaze and calmed when he realized it was Zelda holding his arm. From a distance gaze it looked as though Prince Link guided her, she was really guiding him.
"We can't trust them." Zelda leaned as close as she could to him to block their conversation from the others. She murmured so low, it sounded like a breath than words.
"Well…well…we knew that already didn't we." Link stuttered his voice louder than it should have been and he refused to look her straight in the eye for some odd reason.
"Shhhhhhh!" she hissed, "I'm just saying don't try to depend on them, I didn't like how quickly they formulated plan B, 'Every man for themselves'. You must know that if our first plan doesn't work, they'll leave us for dead."
"That part was clear," Link turned to her, staring her straight in the eye, "I know what I'm doing…trust me…please! I have some common sense. I'm not some kid that knows nothing. My mother thinks of me as that. I don't want…I just can't bear for you to think of me that way, Zelda. Okay?" he peeked sideways at her to gauge her reaction. "I'm going to try to be clearer headed and less insolent. I'll try…just…trust me. Please." Link sighed deeply.
Zelda stared. She wanted to trust him to take care of himself, but she knew that wasn't realistic. She promised herself to listen to the mind not the heart. It was just a harsh fact that he was a mess and that she was the one tasked to protect that mess. Though she felt her resolve to trust only facts weakening, she decided to trust him to make good decisions. Well, within reason. She couldn't trust him to fend for himself. She decided on a compromise as her course of action: partial trust and partial doubt.
It would be nice for a change if he was less petty and more responsible. A nice change though she knew that he wasn't the only one that needed to change. She did too. Everyone knew there was always room to improve oneself. At least her and Link were trying to better themselves. For example, the pair of scoundrels behind her were far from attempting improvement and even farther from trusting.
Trust…it was a strong word and she urged herself to try her best to trust Link. He was technically an adult. Trust was necessary part of a foundation of friendship. She should have respected that part long ago. If she found herself not trusting the Queen for valid reasons she could pledge loyalty to Link, for trust was a two-way street after all. Zelda could at least trust Link, right?
Zelda came to a halt before a looming dark door. "Ready your weapons." She heard Misko whisper.
Zelda drew the sword that was her burden and her life. The sword that she swore she would wield for as long as she lived, and she would wield it proudly. A rush of adrenaline rippled through her, this was the battleground, and she was prepared to make it her battleground. Despite all her recent doubts she didn't doubt her skills or training as a warrior. Her commitment to her role as protector of the Prince was a steady flame that still burned brightly.
She heard the familiar zing of another sword being drawn. She saw the handle of a cutlass, a handle of gold, one that pirates used. Then the zing was followed by a heavy grunt from Daruk lifting two brute weapons from his back for him and Arnen. She glanced to Link whose only weapon was his Sheikah Slate and the power of knowledge that his mother had most surely drilled into his mind.
Zelda felt as if she could fight Ganondorf himself if she wanted to! Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong, something had to go wrong, everything seemed too easily resolve.
"Charge!" she heard Daruk boom as his shoulder slammed into the door. His voice shook the ground and Zelda hoped it had Ganondorf's forces shaking in their boots.
Then, she felt in ripple through her bones. A feeling, a horrible, a dreaded feeling, one that she hated beyond all else.
I sense something. A presence I've not felt since…
She spun on her heel and strode through the door cracked open by Daruk's blows. The old man was inside. She was sure of it. The man that had condemned her to the cursed black substance that clung to her left hand…well scratch that…it was now up to between her elbow and shoulder now. Creeping slowly up, like a torturous disease that would slowly kill her or worse…
She would finish him. She failed in the lockup, but she was sure she wouldn't fail now.
Then the group plunged into near darkness. Lava let a warm gold color seep into the hueless room, leaving a sense of warmth within. She heard the hinges of the door that led back to the lava lake slam shut behind them.
Now the warm light was but the past and ominous darkness obscured their future, figuratively and literally. It covered every corner of her vision. Both the people she trusted and didn't were shrouded in darkness.
She felt it before she saw it.
The twisting of her gut, the sudden leap of her heart and the sense of a threat gripped her. The feeling that prey would feel when it scuttled along the edge of brush within a forest. A predator lurked within the darkness, with its hunger and its power she could sense it hunting and its wish to pounce upon them.
It happened quicker than a blink of an eye and more devastating than what could happen with a single strike. Zelda knew it was coming and leapt to where she thought Prince Link was standing.
It was a trap, and she was far too late.
"Link!" she shrieked, the Queen's command echoing in her head.
'Put his life before your own.'
Zelda had agreed to trust his judgement, but he had no experience when it came to the battlefield and his life was in jeopardy. Yet the predator didn't pounce where she expected it. It pounced not to Prince Link but to her.
She felt an instinct to angle her sword to protect her face and she obeyed it. Zelda felt the force of another sword clash against her own. Her holy sword slashed against one of simple steel. She squinted in the darkness, but the attacker was cloaked in the shadows. Zelda was used to depending on her vision to fight. Deprived of vision she had only skill and instinct to guide her. She suspected she would most surely pay a steep price.
Suddenly and unexpectedly the attacker broke off. Zelda had been putting all her strength into pressing into the attacker's sword so that the sudden evaporation of the force put her off balance. She tumbled down, face first onto the hard ancient floor. The clunk of her head hitting the floor was an awful sound to hear.
Zelda blinked. Her arms were sprawled before her. Her right hand, that had been clamped around the handle of the Master Sword, held nothing but air. She heard the clatter of her precious sword, yet she had no idea where it was! Dread clenched her heart. The dread squeezed harder when she heard a shriek ring out. As she sat too quickly her head began to spin.
Find the sword.