This chapter was fun to write. 'Nuff said.
RRRP:
RandomFFnetUser (FF): Yes, Groose is here. I secretly adore writing the little Malon sections because her interactions with Link are so wholesome. It's really fantastic.
ChangelingRin (FF): This isn't even the 'big confrontation'. That's in the next chapter, which is also technically the last (It's only technically because there's an epilogue and author's note after that, but I call the epilogue a chapter because I want to say that I've written a thirty-chapter story). Thanks!
Chapter XXVIII: The Tempest
Link was the storm.
Theoretically, he should have felt much less comfortable in the situation. The outcome of this night would determine their future, after all. He was also more used to fighting one-on-one, as opposed to the massive battle that had consumed Kakariko Village. Not to mention that he lacked a blade and a physical shield, and was thus reduced to the slingshot, bombs, and boomerang. Technically, he had access to Din's Fire, but the Keese flying around above his head would make casting it a very bad idea. Nevertheless, Link was having a blast stuffing high-ordnance explosives down the gullets of whatever Moblins, Bokoblins, or Lizalfos tried to storm the barricade that the knights had erected. Any stragglers could be either stunned with the Boomerang or picked off with a well-aimed deku nut. At some point, he had garnered the assistance of a Goron, who occasionally refilled his bomb supply a bit. It was never enough to fully restock on explosives. He'd have to get that sword soon enough.
The last rays of the sun's light winked out over the hill. It would have been obscured by the windmill already, had it not been collapsed by the initial wave of Gerudo cannonfire. Strangely, Link didn't see any signs of the ancient demons, or Koume and Kotake, for that matter. Surely they'd shot down the windmill to secure the airspace over Kakariko, right?
Then a wave of Lynels surged around the bend in the stairs and beelined for the barricade. Despite the pelting of arrows that they received, they managed to last long enough to completely decimate the bulwark. A few managed to burst through the Hyrulean lines, but a platoon of Gorons were enough to dispatch them due to the injuries they had already sustained.
The Lynel push was just the beginning, though, as they were trailed by a wave of Gerudo warrioresses and the occasional Moblin Chief. Link gladly pelted seeds into the Moblins, but once they had all been slain, he felt unsure of himself. Could he really bring himself to kill someone who probably didn't want to be there in the first place? He looked around at the other knights, who showed no such remorse as they continued to fire. At least the other children that were around his physical age shared a similar look of hauntedness. The Gerudo, despite their brainwashing, were still people. It was different for moblins and the other assailants, as they shared no real features with the Hylians themselves.
"Link, behind you!"
Confused and shaken from his thoughts, Link whirled around drunkenly in an attempt to figure out who had called him. He was cut off by a resounding whump, and then the sound of a body collapsing to the ground. He finally located the source of the noise; an unconscious Gerudo warrioress was strewn across the ground, with a painful-looking lump on her head where Groose had whacked her with his club.
"Don't zone out like that again, okay?" he demanded.
After assuring the page that he wouldn't let himself get backstabbed, Link's attention was stolen once again by the incoming horde. This time, it was the Kumangiriza. It also heralded a wholly new wave of Bokoblins to cover its attack. Arrows flew at the wretched beast, but due to its unnatural thinness, none of them connected.
Link glanced at Groose and nodded. "Let's go take out that Kumangiriza."
"Kooma-what now?" Groose repeated. "Is that the… that thing?"
"Yes," Link certified. "It's weak to blunt trauma. That's where you come in. I'll distract it, you go for its limbs."
Shakily, the page nodded back. And with that, they leapt into the stream of monsters attempting to break through the Hyrulean Knights' shield wall. Interestingly, they received much less of a fight than they anticipated, as most of the lesser monsters flowed straight past the pair. Only those that were directly blocked by Link and Groose deigned to attack them. This was more of a problem for Groose, who had a larger frame and build, but the page had a much easier time of besting the monsters than Link would have.
The Kumangiriza was different. It sized up the duo and evidently believed that it they weren't much of a threat. It relished the ability to get a pair of quick kills to partially satiate its bloodlust, and it charged with a speed that belied its size.
Link shot a number of Deku Seeds at the Kumangiriza. He missed horribly each and every time, but it was enough to grab the beast's attention away from Groose. With an unearthly roar, it swung its razor-sharp beak towards the Hero of Time, who wasn't quite able to dodge in time and received a shallow gash along his arm. It spurted some blood, but it was nowhere near the most egregious wound Link had been subjected to in his lifetime. For that reason, the Hylian was able to ignore it and continue avoiding the beak attacks.
Groose, for his part, was trying his best to land a devastating blow on one of the Kumangiriza's limbs, but every time he went for something, he'd get ambushed by a pack of Bokoblins and be forced to defend himself. This charade went on for some time until another wall of Lynels galloped over the stairs, firing man-sized arrows into the village indiscriminately. Link and Groose carefully led the Kumangiriza over to the Lynels as a small group of other children soldiers trailed them, doing their best to cover the Hylians' advance. They managed to use the Kumangiriza's wanton pursuit of their blood to snap the Lynels' bows, forcing them to retreat for a time.
Then a largely Gerudo force of Hyrulean Knights managed to tear through enough of the battlefield to reach Link. The un-brainwashed warrior women had assimilated quite well, and were arguably among the more effective groups on the field.
They managed to hold off the horde long enough for Groose to finally land a good hit on the Kumangiriza's left rear leg. It went down slowly, flailing about in its death throes even as the page repeatedly bashed it over the head with his club. Its beak cut down friend and foe alike before finally going still.
"They can die!" some knight hollered. The rest of the Hyrulean forces took up the cry, galvanizing them into a full offensive push to claim the stone steps.
They can die.
As if to herald their accomplishment, an Elder Skullfos finished climbing the natural stone of the mountain, thus flanking the vast majority of the Hyrulean forces. Worse, on its shoulders and in its hands were a full squadron of Gerudo, armed and ready to fight. To add to the forces, a tidal wave of red Tektites had swarmed around the Skullfos in an effort to protect it as it dropped off its female cargo.
"Groose! We have to kill that Skullfos!" Link yelled as he shot yet another Dinolfos in the face.
"How?" the page yelled back, smacking a Stalchild so hard that its deceased corpse also killed those standing behind it.
"No idea. I'll figure that out when we get to it!" Link hollered, lobbing his last bomb into the mosh pit of monsters before clawing his way back into Kakariko Village. On the way, he tripped on something and collapsed onto the dirt. He recognized the thing attached to his foot as the hilt of a longsword, but attempting to grab it revealed that much of the actual sword was broken, leaving Link with a short and jagged edge that was about three-fourths the length of the Kokiri Sword. It was light enough that even his Stalfos Hand could lift it, so he didn't mind the lack of range all that much. A full sword would have been nice, though.
He and Groose sprinted all the way across the town, picking up Groose's friend from the academy, Pipit, along the way. He said he was more of an archer than a melee fighter, so Link lent him his slingshot and whatever seeds he still had. It was better than nothing, so the page accepted it.
"Have you figured it out yet?" Groose demanded.
"Mmm… nope. No clue how to kill that thing."
"We're trying to kill it?!" Pipit squeaked, paling. "Is that even possible?"
"They can die," Link reiterated. "If they can die, we can kill it."
Pipit gulped. "W- where do we start?"
"Take out its legs, maybe? If it can't move, it won't be able to do anything," Groose suggested.
As soon as Groose said that, the Elder Skullfos fired a massive blue laser beam at one of the stucco-roofed buildings of Kakariko, decimating it instantly.
"Never mind," the page sighed.
They pulled themselves into a small huddle, brainstorming idea after fantastical idea to bring the beast low. Each idea was shot down by the other two members. Meanwhile, three of the Sages had shown up.
"... But it's got laser beams! Going inside of it would get us fried!" Link protested.
"You got any better ideas?"
"What are we talking about?" Darunia inquired, abruptly joining the group huddle.
"Ah!" the children and Link reacted, the latter involuntarily caressing the top of his head.
"Link, there's no time to be chatting! We need to fight all of these monsters!" Ruto scolded.
"We're trying to figure out how to kill the Elder Skullfos!" Groose protested.
"The same Elder Skullfos we just killed while you were talking?" Impa asked curtly, a sly grin on her face.
The two knights' jaws dropped as they stared at Impa and Ruto, who were casually standing in the empty space that the demon once resided in. Its Gerudo payload was strewn on the ground, unconscious but not dead. They would recover soon enough. Link, on the other hand, just chuckled.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I never fought the Skullfos in the future past and was kind of working on the fly. I wanted a plan, and I tried to devise one while you all just… killed it."
The Sages nodded in response before splintering off to aid the Hyrulean forces wherever it was needed.
"Who were those people?" Pipit dared to ask.
"They were the Sages of Fire, Water, and Shadow, respectively," Link replied quickly. "They're on our side."
"..."
"Don't worry about it."
Link would have said more, but he was cut off by a resounding cackle that echoed throughout the village. His ears twitched as the noise reached them, and he was instantly on his feet.
"Groose, that's them. Get that mirror ready," Link commanded. Groose dutifully revealed the reflective surface from its secured compartment behind his shield. It hadn't suffered so much as a scratch the entire battle. That was good. It would make killing Twinrova a lot easier.
"Hang on," Pipit questioned. "Why do you just have a mirror?"
"We're going to use it to turn the war around," Link explained. "Basically, we need a mirror to reflect the magic of these two witches back at them. That's the only way to kill her, and we need her dead because she's brainwashed the entirety of the Gerudo nation. That's why they attacked. Once we kill them, the Gerudo will go back to normal and should help us in the fight against Ganondorf."
"How do you know all this?"
"I'm Link," the Hero responded. "I've seen some shit in my day. But enough of that. We have some witches to kill. Come on, I can see them at the main gate!"
Indeed, the sorceress sisters were currently floating above the top of the stairs, slinging fire and ice spells into the village indiscriminately. They were covered by a wave of Stalfos that managed to force the Hyrulean forces back to the stairs leading up to the Death Mountain Trail.
And Ganondorf himself brought up the rear. He lacked a sword, but the raw power oozing off of him was terrifying enough. Arrows flew at him, but they bounced off of his skin like they were nothing but a light breeze. He would be the turning point in the battle. Already, he was cleaving a hole in the Hyrulean defenses, allowing his monstrous forces and Gerudo to get around the enemy for a devastating attack.
"Pipit, could you fire off enough seeds to get the witch's attention?" Link asked, fending off a Stalfos before chucking his Boomerang into the fray, stunning a good deal of enemies.
Pipit didn't respond verbally, instead opting to just start shooting.
"Sister dearest, it appears they caught on," one of them said. Link couldn't tell which.
"Oh ho, I see," the other replied. "Shall we show them what a real fighter looks like?"
"Of course!"
They then began flying about erratically, Kotake readying a beam of frigid ice magic. Groose was able to catch the blast on his mirror, but the page simply couldn't deflect the magic at Koume due to its force. Kotake was completely unaffected by her own beam.
"It's not working!" Groose yelled to Link.
"Aim for the other one!" Link yelled back, slashing down a Wolfos before summoning his Stalfos Shield and ramming it into a nearby Moblin Chief's groin, stopping its heavy hammer from descending onto the helmed head of a hapless Hyrulean knight. Link then threw himself wholeheartedly into the hectic battle, trying his best to help seal up the gaping hole in the Kakariko defenses. He hoped that Groose would be able to take care of Koume and Kotake for now; the agonized roar of one of the witches confirmed it. It was nearing midnight, making it difficult to separate friend from foe.
Link fought for some time, eradicating whatever enemy seemed like the biggest threat at any given time. Weaker enemies like Bokoblins were merely stunned with the Boomerang and were left to be slain by the other knights. Countless Stalfos, Darknuts, and Iron Knuckles met their end on the end of his jagged, broken blade. Interestingly, it was those enemies and not the Lynels or the Kumangiriza that the others struggled with the most. As it turned out, the Knights had brainstormed a brilliant strategy when it came to these unfamiliar beasts; they just amassed a good-sized squadron and held the eldritch demons down on the earth while a few others cut it open. Whatever Lynels tried to bust through their ranks were quickly slain with this strategy. The Maoqius were a bit more difficult to deal with, but the knights soon discovered how to grab onto and saw through all of the chains holding it together. Therefore, they weren't all that much of a problem.
Then Link locked eyes with Ganondorf.
Immediately, the King of Evil snatched the neck of the soldier that he was currently fighting and chucked their body at Link himself. The child didn't have enough time to dodge the living projectile and was nearly crushed by the Hylian's weight. Worse, due to the inherent weakness of his Stalfos Hand, he couldn't even get the knight off of him. Closer inspection revealed that the soldier was dead. A few Zora tried to take advantage of Ganondorf's lapse of attention, but they quickly found that he was completely impervious to their attacks. The Triforce bearer paid them no mind, instead just stalking forwards with hatred etched into his green-tinted face. Time felt like it was slowing down around Link as Ganondorf approached. He stopped just inches in front of Link's prone form before quickly bending down and grasping the Hylian's foot. Before Link knew what was going on, he was being yanked out from under the Hylian Knight's corpse and hanging by his foot in Ganondorf's grasp. Link hissed; that leg was where he'd been hit by the knight's body, and it was probably mildly fractured.
"You," he spat. "I will make you-"
The King then stumbled as a small golden light went out from behind him. He dropped Link while grunting in pain as a kaleidoscope of bright energy swirled around him. For an instant, Link was confused, until he realized that someone had shot a Light Arrow into him. Indeed, even in the pitch darkness, he could see Zelda's indistinct form with a bow clutched in her hands. She shot another arrow into Ganondorf, allowing Link to scamper to relative safety before chugging a red potion. He would have used a Fairy, which would have healed all of Link's wounds as opposed to just his leg, but he had sworn off using them after Ivan died. A team of Gerudo attempted to take Ganondorf down, and they were far more successful than the Zora had been. Unfortunately, the Hatred incarnation broke free before they could so much as get a good blow on their king. He tapped the place where they had struck him, and pulled his finger back to reveal a spot of red.
"All that for a drop of blood," he growled, summoning an electric ball and frying the traitorous Gerudo where they stood. "Now where is that little brat?! I want him dead by sunrise!"
!0*0!
The Hyrulean knights and their allies were forced to fall back even further, but they steadfastly held on to the various choke points scattered throughout Kakariko. They fought valiantly, desperately trying to hold back the horde of demonic assailants that were attempting to eradicate them. Meanwhile, Twinrova was still wholly enraptured by Groose, who was dutifully directing their magic beams into the enemy forces. He wasn't quite strong enough to bounce the energy at the witches themselves due to their positioning, but he was at least doing something. Pipit was also offering assistance by picking off any lesser enemies that would otherwise distract his page comrade. But on their own, they were unable to slay the sorceress sisters.
Link quickly made his way across the battlefield, darting around open flames that had been created by fallen torches. They weren't spreading to the full village, fortunately. It meant less collateral damage. He slid between the legs of a nearby Gibdo and then threw it on the back of a nearby charging Red Lynel. Evidently, it couldn't tell the difference between what sort of target it was gnawing on, because it eagerly took the opportunity to clamp its jaws on the base of the Lynel's neck.
Koume crowed as she fired off yet another fire blast. Groose hunkered down behind his polished mirror, bouncing the beam into the armies below. Link grabbed onto the edge of the shield and twisted it in the direction of Kotake with all of his might. With Groose's added brawn, they were able to direct the thing enough to hit the ice mage, who swiftly prepared an ice spell and blasted it at the pair, who then reflected it at Koume and scored another blow. This process went on for some time, enough time for Pipit to realize that Groose and Link had this particular battle under control and joined a contingent of knights defending the choke point at the top of the stairs leading to Death Mountain.
"Okay, this isn't working!" Kotake decided as she flew in the direction of Koume. "Let's get serious!"
"Oh, okay, Kotake," her sister responded as she joined the ice mage. They melded flesh as they fused into one collective being, signalling the second phase of the battle. "Kotake and Koume's Double Dynamite Attack!" they yelled in unison, just slightly out of sync. This proclamation was accompanied by a wild burst of flame and frost magic that spewed off of Twinrova's newly forged body, lighting a few of the nearby buildings on fire.
"Whoa," Groose whispered lowly.
"That's the only reaction you can come up with?" Link said quizzically. "When I first saw this, I was totally terrified."
"I mean, yeah, but they're hot now," the page replied. Meanwhile, Twinrova winked at him with a taunting aura. It felt different than it had in the future past. She then began readying a new spell, using what was once broomsticks as wands. "Also, what?!"
"Less daydreaming, more killing!" Link ordered, grabbing Groose's arm and forcing it to come into contact with the spell. Instead of reflecting the spell as it once had, the mirror absorbed the magical burst. It began flashing an angry red to prove that it had stored a fire spell.
"Why is my mirror flashing now? What does this mean?!" Groose demanded, confused at the sudden change of mechanics. Link hardly blamed him.
"You've stored one fire spell," the former Kokiri tried to explain. "Once you get enough, it'll all come out as one big old red beam. That'll weaken Twinrova enough to get some good attacks in. Oh, and don't absorb any ice spells. They'll totally reverse any progress you've made."
As he said that, Twinrova unleashed an ice beam on them, forcing the children to scamper out of range. Even still, the blast spread out along the ground, catching both of them and freezing their feet to the ground. It took them a full minute to force themselves out of the ice, but it was long enough for the witch to cast another ice spell at Groose, who was forced to catch it on his shield or risk being frozen completely. Regardless, it ruined their progress.
Twinrova shot another ice spell at them before she changed over to slinging fire spells again. They traveled slowly, so they were easily avoided. However, the collateral damage was beginning to show, as many of the nearby houses were either completely frozen or burning to a crisp. If they wanted to keep Kakariko even remotely salvageable, they would have to end this fight as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, more cannons sailed into the village and crushed more buildings. It probably wouldn't be a liveable village site ever again.
Finally, the mirror overloaded on ice spells and blasted the witches with their own white magic, prompting the fused witch to fall out of the air and collapse to the ground. "Finally!" Groose yelled, drawing his club and bashing the Gerudo sorceress in the torso repeatedly. Meanwhile, Link targeted her upper body, namely her arms and upper chest. He would have gone for the head, but his youthful body couldn't actually reach it.
The attacks they landed weren't quite enough to kill the witch, though, and she was soon back in the air and firing off more spells. At the same time, a wave of Bokoblins and an Iron Knuckle burst into their little arena, forcing Link to stave them off while Groose fought Twinrova alone. Link's broken longsword fully shattered, so he was forced to harvest a dagger from the corpse of a nearby Bokoblin and use that instead. It was about half of the length of the Kokiri Sword, but it was better than nothing.
He heard the short cry of Twinrova in the distance as well as a titanic burst of flames. Link backpedalled out of range of the Iron Knuckle he was currently fighting and turned towards the witch, who had been downed once again. The Hero of Time knew what had to be done. He sprinted forwards and, before the fused sorceress could recover, hoisted himself up along her arms, and slapped his tiny hands on both of her cheeks before twisting, cleanly snapping her neck.
Her bangles jingled as she fell.
Groose was staring at him, shocked at the brutality of the kill. "You're scary, pipsqueak", he finally commented.
"Tell me something I don't know," Link finished calmly, departing for the front lines once again.
Meanwhile, deeper within Kakariko, he could hear the sudden groans of the Gerudo as they were forcibly relinquished from their mind-control. Soon enough, a full third of Ganondorf's forces had joined the Hyruleans, sending morale skyrocketing in their favor. The knights managed to push the monsters all the way back to the top of the stairs, although Ganondorf continued to be an issue despite Zelda peppering him with Light Arrows from a safe distance. Eventually, the King of Evil realized how out of position the Hyrulean Knights had made him, and he too was forced to retreat. It was true that he could probably kill anyone who tried to oppose him, but the sheer number of opponents he found himself facing would wear out his mana and stamina eventually, even with the Triforce of Power. The combined force of Hylians, Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo gave chase until the monsters were all past the bridge over Zora's River. Only then did they call off the offensive, pledging to tend to their wounded before pursuing further.
Groose was promoted at Link's behest, on account for his bravery.
!0*0!
What had once been Kakariko Village was now a burnt-out husk; a collapsing structure full of burnt and frozen buildings. No one would rebuild here again, so a number of tents were set up to house the displaced and heal the wounded. Link, feeling worthless now that the fight was over, demanded to learn a few healing spells from Zelda, only for her to order him to look after himself first. It was only then that Link realized how much of his own blood constituted the stains covering his tunic, and he reluctantly agreed. He still got a healing spell out of it, though, although apparently Link couldn't quite do it right; instead of just healing wounds, Link would use dark magic to drain his own life force and infuse it into others. It was essentially a reverse Utarefson, but it worked.
Malon was ecstatic about Link's survival, and she was even more overjoyed when she learned that Ingo, too, had lived through the battle. Now, the three of them were standing at the lip of the stone stairs that led up to the burnt-out shell of what was once a bustling little town. The sun was just beginning to peek over the rocks and filter into the ex-village. Link positioned his Stalfos Hand to wrap around Malon's side. She shivered at the unforeseen coldness, but only shimmied closer to him in response. Ingo, meanwhile, gently placed his hands on each of the children's shoulders, a response Link didn't expect from the usually gruff ranch hand. It wasn't unwelcome, though. It felt natural, especially Malon as she returned the gesture that Link was currently proffering.
They may not have been related, but they were a family nonetheless.
Okay, next chapter is the real last real chapter. There will be an epilogue after that, and then the author's farewell. The following chapters serve to wrap Tears of Memory up in a satisfying way.
NOOTTD: Nothing.
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