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SKYWARD REMNANTS!

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Chapter 6

The Adventure Begins

Link

He hadn't had the chance before, but now that he had time, he couldn't help but realise how beautiful the surface was. The emerald grass, healthier and richer than what could be found on Skyloft. The trees, too numerous to count, creating a canopy of leaves and branches in which fragments of light fell through. There was even the glimpses of the local wildlife, some of which he had never seen before.

It was a shame he couldn't focus on such things, otherwise he might have tried to sketch the surroundings and bring them to Skyloft.

Now wasn't the time to indulge in his hobby however, he had a path to follow.

It had been an hour since he started his trek through the woods, as well as his last conversation with his guide. Though many in his place would have enjoyed the silence and calm of the forest, his thoughts were chaotic and wild. However, there was always one particular subject that came back.

That subject was of course his guide, Fi.

24-hours ago, he thought she was a loyal guide, helping him on his quest to save Zelda. Now, with more interaction with the blue spirit, he now knew what she was.

She was a completely loyal follower, to the point where she would follow practically every order.

That, honestly, scared the shit out of him. If it were up to him, he would avoid the spirit that lay upon his back like a plague.

However, he knew that he needed her on this quest. She was his only guide, the only way to find Zelda and bring her back to Skyloft.

So, for the Zelda's sake, he needed to find a way to talk to the sword spirit without causing a misconception.

Building up his courage, he turned to talk to Fi.

Only to have her end up speaking first.

"Master," She suddenly spoke up, her disembodied voice surprising him with it's close proximity. "You are approaching a hidden enemy, I request you continue with caution."

With those words, the young hero brought his hand to the handle upon the sword's handle, the light metal resting upon his relaxed palm. Using his senses, he tried to grasp the location of the enemy, but he could only see an empty clearing. He moved forward, still cautious, trying to locate the enemy Fi was speaking of.

Yet, despite his caution, all he could find within the clearing was grass, and a couple of strange wee-

If it weren't for his exceptional hearing, he would have likely been killed.

Behind him, was the sound of some creature salivating, it's jaws opening to consume the unsuspecting individual. Link quickly rolled forward, while using his momentum to quickly turn towards the new creature. Only to be shocked by its appearance.

Instead of a demon resembling a 'living' creature like he expected, he could only gaze at what could only be described as a demonic plant.

From the weeds he had gazed upon earlier, it rose like a budding flower. It's stalk was a sickly green color covered with purple thorns, they were at least as tall as he was. On top of the stalk was a bright blue bud, with a Vertical opening showing large dagger-like teeth, and a disgustingly colored tongue. There were no eyes on the creature, yet it still 'looked' straight at me.

Wanting to quickly be on his way, Link rushed the demon and slashed at it. However, as soon as he hit the blue hide of the plant demon, the blade was repelled easily. The demon shook from the force of the attack, but was otherwise unharmed.

He gazed at the plant demon, confused over how what was supposed to be a plant was unable to be cut by his sword. Using his confusion to its advantage, the demon plant pulled it's head back and tried to bite him.

Reacting before thinking, he slashed at the demon with his sword, only to hit it's blue outer shell. Once again, his sword made no damage to the demon, the only sign of it being hit being the way it shook as he did.

Using it's shocked state to his advantage, he did a backflip, putting distance between him and the demon. However, he didn't jump far enough, as the demon was still in distance to bite him. The demon lunged, it's huge jaws able to wrap around Link's entire frame should he be caught within them.

As soon as he had landed and perceived this, he immediately grabbed his wooden shield off his back and brought it forward. Forcing the shield forward, he practically shoved it into demons mouth, putting the demon into a daze. Unconsciously, the demons stalk straightened, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

Using this opportunity to his advantage, Link quickly slashed at the stalk, guessing at its importance to the demon. The second the sword met the sickly green stalk, disgusting green pus shot out of the open wound. As the demon, now with no support, fell to the ground with a thump. As soon as it did, it began to shrivel up, as if it had been baked in an oven.

Than, it exploded in an cloud of purple smoke, which took the shape of a demonic skull.

As soon as he had seen the skull, he knew that the demon was dead. Relaxing, he sheathed his sword and shield, before turning to the blade now on his back.

"What kind of Demon was that?" He asked the silent sword spirit, wishing to access her spring of knowledge.

"That was a Deku Baba, Master," She immediately responded, but she didn't stop there. "A demon commonly found in wooded areas that will attack any passerby with it's great jaws. Though weak in regard to many other demons, it's outer hide is impervious to any damage. However, the weaknesses it has are numerous in quantity, giving you plenty of options should you have to kill said creatures."

"Really?" Link asked, surprised at all the information he had just received. Deciding to walk and talk, he asked, "What sort of weaknesses?" before continuing his journey.

"With your current equipment, you are unable to exploit many of these weaknesses." She told him straight out, being as blunt as she humanly possible. "However, while Deku Baba's have a hard outer layer, the inside of their mouths are soft. Should you cut along its mouth, it would be a simple matter to kill the demon." She explained to him, her tone still dull.

Link gave her a small nod, as he looked towards the path he was taking. A thought occurred to him, so he decided to ask Fi about it.

"Do you think you can share information similar to this when I encounter a new demon?" I ask her, phrasing my words to make it sound like I'm asking her not telling her.

"Is that an order?" She asked from within the sword, her tone still bland as can be.

"It's a request." He told her simply, searching for any sign that he was close to the destination. "You can follow it if you want, or you can completely ignore it."

For a while, Fi didn't speak, as if she were trying to process what Link had said. This did not last long though, as she began to ask a question of her own.

"Would you prefer me stating all of my knowledge of Demons, or would you like me to state specific information?" She asked him with her usual bland tone.

He sighed as she completely ignored the 'optional' part of his request, quietly shaking his head as he did so. Nonetheless, he figured he should answer her question.

"Just weaknesses their and attack patterns, if possible." He told her, as kept looking for-

He stopped suddenly, as he gazed at what he may have been looking for. There, in the ground, was what seemed to be a worn and broken path. He followed the path, only to be blocked by a massive group of foliage in his way. Unsheathing the Goddess Sword, he began to cut through it.

As soon as he was finished, he saw the path continue forward towards what looked like a clearing.

"Fi, is this-?" Link asked her, letting the end of the question hang in the air.

"Indeed, Master." She said simply and honestly from the sword, bland as any voice can be. "This route will lead you to your original destination."

A part of him felt bothered by the fact that she ignored herself when she said that, only ever focusing on him. However, a larger part of him was too focused on the thought of Zelda.

So, without a second thought, he jogged down the worn path.

Hoping he wasn't too late.

Weiss Schnee

"This is a horrible idea." Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, told her team. They, of course, ignored the voice of reason and continued their vain search for any trace of Link.

It was mid-morning, perhaps two hours after they had began their search. Two hours since their 'Team Leader' came up with the idea of going out and searching for Link themselves.

An idea only she was heavily opposed to.

"If you believed that, you wouldn't have followed us into the Emerald Forest." Yang instantly responded without a care in the world, not even turning to look at her.

"I only followed to try and talk some sense into you people!" She shouted, annoyed at the busty blonde's carefree attitude. "We should be in class, studying to become Huntresses, not searching for someone who doesn't even want our help!"

"Well if you want to get back faster, than maybe you can help us search for Link." Blake stated blandly, as she too searched the area for any signs that may bring them to him. She was having none of it though, as she rose her voice once again.

"Or, we can go back to Beacon, apologize for our tardiness, and not get expelled from the school we-quite literally-nearly killed ourselves to get into!" She yelled out, trying to force sense into them.

She was ignored however, as her 'Team Leader' came rushing through the trees, excitement the only emotion on her face.

"Guys, guys, guys!" She shouted out, spinning around every member of the team like an excited dog. "I think I may have found something!"

"Really?! The young leaders sister asked, as she and Blake turned to the little girl. "Where?!"

"C'mon, it's over here!" She told them, ready to shoot off with her Semblance, leaving them all in the dust.

That's is, if Yang hadn't grabbed our 'Team Leader's' red cloak, stopping her for the second time that day.

"I know we're trying to get this done quickly Rubes," Yang exclaimed, all the while grinning like a madwoman. "But we don't want to go searching through the woods for you and Link, now do we?"

The annoying girl in red didn't answer verbally, she only gave a quick shake of her head. As soon as the busty blonde saw this, she dropped the girl on her feet. However, as soon as those feet touched the ground, she was sprinting into the woods, thankfully without the aid of her Semblance.

As soon as she did, she watched Yang give a small chuckle at the girl's actions. Even Blake, who had yet to show a single emotion to her team, gave a small smile. She, on the other hand...

"Augh." She growled in annoyance, as she quickly stomped through the forest, following the immature brat. Yang and Blake were right on her tail, though she could feel the glare of the older sister upon the back of her head.

"If you're really that pissed, why don't you just return to Beacon?" Yang said through grit teeth, her anger barely contained.

"Hmph," She huffed at the blonde, still moving to follow the little annoyance. "Shows what you know." She insulted the blonde girl, ignoring the strange heat that came from behind her. " If I had returned without any of you, not only would I be harming the Schnee family name, I wouldn't be able to continue on with the Semester." She told them, as she looked down at her scroll for the time.

11:30

"Ohh great!" She said out loud, her frustration increasing by the minute.

"What are you mad about now?" Blake asked, her tone telling practically broadcasting her annoyance.

"We have just officially skipped class!" She told them, her face turning an unhealthy shade of red.

"Really?" Yang asked, still behind her at the moment. "Sweet."

Weiss spun around faster than a top, her icy blue eyes glaring into lilac. "Not 'sweet'!" She yelled at the blonde bimbo, her voice echoing throughout the forest. "Now that class is over, Professor Ozpin will likely know that we have skipped class. He'll come looking for us, take us back to Beacon, and expel us!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little?" Blake asked, glaring at her with her unnatural amber eyes. She turned to glare at her, not affected by the girl's glare.

"I think my reaction is perfectly justified!" She said haughtily, as she turned to walk through the trees. Only to be confronted by the annoying red reaper once again.

"Over here!" Ruby exclaimed with a small wave, as she jogged forward through the trees. "We're almost there!'

"What did you even find!?" She shouted out in agitation, trying to gauge the usefulness of what the girl discovered.

"Not what but where!" She told her with excitement tingeing her voice, not even bothering to turn and look at her. Instead, she went ahead, moving through the trees with an almost unnatural ease.

"Slow down!" She shouted, her anger almost reaching the breaking point. However, the girl was already to far ahead, and all the group could do was follow her.

Groaning out of annoyance, she moved forward with her arms taunt at her side. She had wanted to continue in silence, letting the calm sound of birds and other animals within the woods resonate with herself. It wasn't meant to be however, as the B and Y of Team RWBY began to speak to each other.

"What do you think she found?" Blake asked, remaining behind Weiss as she did.

"Something that has got her that excited, has to be important." Yang stated matter of factly, as Weiss tried to ignore the two. "Maybe she found tracks?"

"I doubt that." Blake stated, her quiet voice bland compared to the emotion filled blonde.

"Okay... maybe she found…" Yang trailed off, unable to come up with with an answer. Unfortunately, this didn't last long, as she suddenly shouted out with a sense of triumph. "Maybe she found some marks Link left for us to follow!"

"Why would he want us to follow him?" She asked from behind her, her feet barely making a sound as she walked. "He didn't want help at Beacon, why would he make an effort for people to follow him in the middle of the woods?"

"Well…" It would seem she couldn't come up with anything however, so she decided to add her own two lien.

"Maybe she's just wasting our time, thinking she found something groundbreaking ." She told them without looking behind her…

Maybe that's why she didn't expect what happened next.

Before she even knew what happened, her back was pinned to a tree, and the back of her head had a sizable lump. Luckily, she was able to activate her Aura before a hand wrapped her throat, assuring she would be able to breathe. She tried to grab her weapon, but somehow her weapon, Myrtenaster, had impaled itself into the tree behind her. She tried to get some leverage, but her legs were off the ground, and she was nowhere near as strong as the blonde.

"Yang!" Blake yelped in surprise, watching with wide eyes as the blonde fighter pinned her to the tree. Though she didn't seem to upset about it, just surprised.

"Let's get one thing straight Princess!" She said, her eyes set in a glare with dangerous blood red glow. "I've had enough of your shit! My sister has done nothing to earn your bitchy attitude, yet you've nothing but insult and demean her! I don't care if you're some important big shots daughter, you make fun of my sister one more time and I'll-"

"C'mon you slow pokes, we gotta go!" Before she even knew it, she was on the ground, shaking ever so slightly. She turned her head, seeing the sight of her life saver, standing there unaware that her sister had just threatened her.

"Don't worry Rubes, we're comin'." Yang said, looking nothing like the terrifying demon a second ago. "Princess over here just needed a second." She told the Red Reaper, pointing behind her back with her thumb.

"Ohhh…" She hummed in realization, as she turned to her, who happened to still be shaking. "Do you need anything, I have some water if you want?"

Before answering, she turned to blonde demon, silently gazing her reaction.

"Uhh, n-no thanks." She said as nicely as possible in her fear ridden state. This didn't appear to be good enough however, as the blonde's red eyes glowed again. "But t-thank you for the offer!" She added hastily, signing in relief as angry red became pleased lilac

"See? Everything's fine!" Yang said, turning to her sister with her hands on her hips. "Now, about what you wanted to show us?" She trailed off purposefully, getting the red reaper excited.

"Ohh! It's just over there!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing behind her as she did. Using her Semblance, she rushed off between two trees, a trail of rose petals behind her.

With her sister gone, Yang turns to Weiss with a scowl on her face. She didn't say anything, she just kept scowling at her.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she turned and followed the path of rose petals, leaving her and Blake behind.

Blake, who was silent throughout the entire exchange, soon followed. She didn't even glance at the her as she passed, neither in pity or hate. She just ignored her and left.

As soon as she was gone, Weiss took a moment to collect herself. She took a few deep breaths, before standing up. However, instead of an expression filled with fear, it was filled with anger.

'Who does she think she is?!' She thought to herself, thinking of Yang as she did. 'Just because she caught me unaware (twice), she thinks she can tell me what to do!? The next time she tries a stunt like this…

"I'll show her just what this "Big shots Daughter" can do!" With that, Weiss began to follow her teammates, following the same trail of roses as they did.

Blake Belladonna

She wasn't surprised that the Heiress wasn't deterred by Yang's words. Hell, she expected the Heiress to ignore threat that was outright given to her. After all, she was the headstrong Princess with enough pride to crush the palace she lived in.

She didn't mean to eavesdrop, as it was the last thing on her mind to listen to the Heiresses opinion, but she had no choice.

After all, the Heiress wasn't exactly quiet when she began to mumble. Even someone without her 'features' could've heard the brat if they tried.

That was besides the point however, as there was something more important to worry about.

Mainly, the whereabouts of the man named Link.

For the single day he was here, Link could already be considered a hero to them. Not only had the man saved their new leader from the Class 2 Nevermore, he had also saved the newly formed teams of RWBY and JNPR. Than, when he woke up in the hospital, he spoke of the distant dream of all men and faunus. A world without Grimm.

To say the least, she was curious about him. Where was this so called 'Sky Island'? Who was this Goddess? Why did he come down here? Why did the person he's looking for come down here? How did he defeat a Omega Beowulf despite having no experience fighting Grimm?

What were his views on Faunus?

All these questions and more swam around her head, silent but always present in the back of her mind. As such, she wanted to ask these questions from the source itself. So, when Ruby had suggested they go out and help Link search for his friend, she had accepted without hesitation.

Though, that still didn't make it a good idea.

Nonetheless, she followed their young Leader's path of rose petals, catching up to the slightly taller blonde ahead of her.

When they had reached the end of the trail, they had found a clearing. The clearing itself, while nice to look at, was average at best. However, the clearing wasn't what she and Yang were looking at…

Rather, it was the many cuts left all around the clearings trees and grass.

Yang whistled, looking at the sight around them in appreciation. "Damn, when he fights, he does not hold back!" She exclaimed, an excited grin upon her face.

She nodded silently, gazing upon all the marks that disfigured the landscape. Walking up to one of the many scars on the trees, she studied it, trying to grasp whatever secrets it had to offer.

Running a hand across the tree, she felt how smooth and deep the scar was. It was almost unnatural how smooth it was, suggesting that whatever did this was just as unnaturally sharp. The mark was also too small to be from any type of Grimm, as it was too thin and too deep. However, whoever did this had to have been strong, as the old trees wood was tough and dense.

Taking a step back, she decided to test something. Unsheathing Gambol Shroud from the magnetic plate strapped to her back, she made a quick but powerful slash into the old tree.

What was left was a shallow, and rough cut, stuck halfway through the tree. Pulling Gambol Shroud out of the tree, she was surprised to find it barely budged. Putting her her heeled boot against the tree, she tried again to pull her weapon out of the tree. Finally coming free from the the tree, she compared both of the cuts.

She wasn't surprised to find the cut she made was inferior to the other. Meaning that whoever did this either had a weapon of superior quality, greater strength than she did, or both.

Turning around to discuss what she had found, she was surprised to see that Weiss had caught up with them. Unfortunately… she was being her usual bratty self.

"How do we know this was all made by Link?" She asked Ruby, her hands on her hips as she did so. "This could've been easily created from a Grimm, or even one of the participants from yesterday's initiation."

"Ohh, well-!" Ruby began, only to be interrupted by her sisters impulsive attitude.

"She was one of the only person who saw his weapon, maybe she saw similarities in the cuts all around the clearing." Yang stated, glaring at the Heiress in anger but making no other outward movement.

Weiss scoffed at that, before rebutting Yang's statement altogether. "Please, even if she's a weapons nerd, she couldn't possibly identify a weapon by a scratch alone. That requires many complex machines, machines that she couldn't possibly have on hand."

"Umm, actually-" Their young team leader started to say, but her voice was too quiet for the two girls to hear.

"Well maybe she saw how there were no bullet holes anywhere, and since Link doesn't have a gun, she assumed it must've been him!" Yang said through grit teeth, signifying her anger.

"There are plenty of Huntsman who don't use a gun." Weiss stated simply, swatting Yang's argument away as if it were a fly. "It could've been anyone."

"Well maybe-" Yang started to shout, trying to argue for her sister.

That is, she would have, had she not been interrupted by a Beowulf jumping between them.

Before the Heiress and the Blonde knew what was happening, she and Ruby already brought out our weapons. Before the Beowulf knew what hit him, Ruby cut it in half with her scythe while she shot it in the head.

The Beowulf, now dead on the grass, started to disintegrate into the usual black dust.

Looking around, she used all of her stronger senses to locate any other Grimm in the area. Fortunately, it seemed that this Grimm was a stray, attracted to the hate the two arguing girls were emitting.

Turning to said girls while sheathing her weapon, she saw that Yang and Weiss were stunned. So shocked in fact, they forgot to be angry at each other.

Which is just the opportunity their young leader needed to explain herself.

"It's because I saw him!" Ruby told her team, as everyone's eyes widened in shock. "This was were Link saved me yesterday! So I thought that since he was able to see that I was in danger, where ever he was originally going has to be around here!" She quickly stated, making sure to us her given time as much as possible.

All we could do was stand in silence, processing what our leader had just informed us.

"Huh," Weiss began, a look of shock gracing her usually angry face. "That's… actually not a bad idea." She admitted, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

She couldn't help but smirk at such a sight. Neither could Yang, as she elbowed the shocked Heiress, hard.

"See, told ya it was important!" The blonde brawler stated happily, giving a small, almost imperceptible glare.

The Heiress openly glared back, her anger forgotten for only a moment.

It was than she decided to cut in on the two stubborn girls.

"Well then," She said out loud, putting everyone's attention on her. "We should probably get searching for any tra-"

She didn't know how or why, but at that moment, she froze up like a statue. It was involuntary, something she had no control over…

Yet she felt it was the only keeping her alive at the moment. Like there was some large predator breathing down her neck, waiting for her to start the hunt.

She couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't even twitch under this powerful presence. Her very thoughts froze, as if even they were too afraid to move, less they gather the attention of it.

Than, she felt it's gaze draw back, not completely her leaving her but giving her enough space to freely collapse on the dirt and grass.

As soon as she could move, she greedily drunk in the the air that she had denied herself. She was so busy on taking in as much air as possible, that she failed to notice her new teammates had surrounded her in worry.

"-lake! Blake! Say something!" Yang shouted out, trying to get her attention while simultaneously shaking her.

"Issheokayissheokayissheokay?! Ruby said quickly, hovering over her worriedly, like a mother would a sick child.

"Of course not you dolt!" She shouted at their short leader, throwing a pointed glare at her. "She passed out, something is obviously wrong!"

Calming herself down and slowing her breathing, she began to ask the obvious question of her teammates.

"D-did any of you feel that?!" She asked desperately, trying to find out what had just occurred.

"Umm… feel what?" Yang asked, tilting her head to the side a little, before shaking it all together. "That's not important, are you okay?!" She asked again, trying to get to the heart of the issue.

"Fine," I said simply, standing up as I did so, shifting her eyes to look around. "I just felt… something." She told them, unable to describe what she went through.

"Something?" The Heiress echoed, raising an eyebrow as she did so. "Like what?"

"Like…" She trailed off, trying to find the correct words. "Like something was… watching me. No, not watching, it was more like… something was-" She would've continued to describe the strange phenomena, but she was interrupted.

Before she even knew what was going on, several animals started to run through the clearing. She saw many animals, squirrels, deer, foxes, even some wolves. Some birds were flying overhead, to many to count in fact. However, the strangest thing of all was not that they were running together…

They were all running in the same direction, no, it was more accurate to say they were running away from the same thing.

We all watched with wide eyes, gazing upon the majestic animals running away in fear of something. None of them came close to us, to scared to face any sort of confrontation. After all the animals finally left the clearing, the forest was unnaturally quiet. The forest that was once filled with the quiet sounds of the animals, now was deathly silent.

It unnerved her, if she were to be honest with herself. She had always been used to hearing… something wherever she went. Whether it be the peaceful sounds of the forest, or the bustling sounds of the city. Yet, at this very moment, it seemed like even the wind was too scared to blow through the the trees.

"That was...creepy." The youngest of the group stated, slowly moving to her sister for some support. "What made them…?" She asked them, leaving the question in the air for them all to answer.

"Whatever it was," Weiss stated, turning to us with a contemplative look. "it can't be good."

"Obviously." Yang exclaimed, crossing her arms under her chest, while standing near her sister. "But what caused it? A Grimm?"

"Couldn't be." She told them, still feeling her nerves tingle from… whatever had happened earlier. "Grimm are known not to cause any harm to animals, so they have nothing to fear from them. The only thing they hunt is us."

"So whatever caused this, wasn't a Grimm…" Ruby repeated, bringing her hand up into an-honestly- adorable thinking pose. "Hmm…" She hummed, the gears in her head turning to try and find an answer.

"Well, whatever caused this isn't important right now." Weiss stated, closing her eyes as she walked to the center of the clearing. "If we want to continue this insane mission, I suggest we start searching for Link." She told us, as she herself began her search.

She couldn't help but glare at the Heiress, as she began to piece together what the girl was trying to do. Or, more accurately, what role she was trying to take.

"What do you think we should do Ruby?" She asked their real leader, who popped out of her daze when she heard her name.

"Ohh, umm…" She began to think, as she gazed around the clearing. "Well, maybe we could… spread out and look for any signs. We all have our Scrolls, right?" She asked them, as we all nodded, with some more agitated than others. Seeing that, Ruby smiled happily and pulled out her own Scroll.

"Great! So, after we share our numbers, we should go out, and look for any sign of Link. If you discover anything, call us and we will meet up back here, and make our way to follow Link's trail!" She exclaimed excitedly, jumping up in the air at the well thought out plan.

Her excitement was contagious, everyone smiled at the young girls excitement. Even Weiss's lip had perked, but only for a millisecond, before we all nodded.

We quickly shared our numbers, before heading out in search of any sign of Link…

As the feeling of being looked down upon by a superior being only grew stronger.

Link

When he had begun to follow the old paved road, he hadn't known what to expect on the end of it. It could've been anything for all he knew, a shrine, a small house, hell maybe he would've found another castle like Beacon.

What he had not expected to see, was a humongous hole in the ground.

Play "Sealed Grounds" -Skyward Sword-

In the center of a large clearing, lay the greatest hole he had ever seen, so much so that he couldn't even begin to comprehend it's rival. It's shape was just as strange, with a large slope going down the edge of the hole, making it slimer the further it went down. The bottom was too far down to see accurately, but he felt some strange sense of dread as he looked down, even though he wasn't afraid of heights.

He saw all this through an iron spiked gate, one that barred him from going down, as if warning him of the dangers below. So instead of focusing on places he couldn't go, he focused on the path he could walk.

Which at the end, lay an ancient Temple of some kind, with cracked bricks and ivy growing upon its walls..

Before he could even ask, Fi had jumped out of the Goddess Sword accompanied by the usual sound of wind chimes.

"Master, by my calculations, we have arrived within our intended destination." She told him blandly, her pale blue eyes staring into his own. "Though the place you stand upon has been forgotten for many centuries, its importance cannot be questioned."

"As such, I welcome you personally," she stated with a deep bow, her light blue cloth moving over her chest. "To the Sealed Grounds." She spoke in her bowed position.

As she did, Link stared wide eyed at the blue sword spirit, surprised by her sudden bow. What surprised him even more was the sudden warmth that came from his Adventurer's Pouch. Quickly sticking his hand inside of his he pouch, he felt around for the object that was emitting such heat. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not find the object that was emitting the warmth.

"Is something wrong Master?" The sword spirit asked, gliding closer to him as she did.

"N-no," He answered with slight hesitation, before he turned his head to look at her. "It's just that I feel something… warm in my pouch is all." He told her, as he turned to the pouch and tried to search for the source once again.

While this was happening, Fi floated there and watched as he continued his search. It was growing uncomfortable, making his search for the object all the more embarrassing. Just as he was about to ask her politely to stop staring, she spoke.

"It appears that you are unable to locate the object in question, Master." She stated in a matter of fact tone, her unblinking eyes still staring at him.

"Wait...Ahh-ha!" He shouted out in glee, as he pulled the object out of his pouch. Only for his expression to shift into one of confusion. "Huh?"

In his hands, still oddly warm, was a yellowed, thick sheet of paper. On it, was a hand drawn map of the Sky, given to him long ago.

However, instead of the usual white clouds with bits of land among them, there was a completely different picture.

Now the map showed an extremely aged picture of what seemed like the Surface. The entire map was faded, making it difficult to tell what the land masses were.

That wasn't a problem for long though, as the map slowly began to fill itself with color!

The map had turned from brown to a multitude of colors, over a section near the center. When it was complete, it gave an extremely accurate map of his immediate area. Some parts of the map still lay blank, but something told him he wouldn't have to worry about that.

"Master, it would seem that your map is reacting to the area around you." Fi said, her voice filled with no emotion once again. "We can now advance forward to find Her Grace with greater efficiency." With that, she jumped back into the Goddess Sword, the sound of wind chimes following closely behind.

He barely heard any of this however, as continues to look at the map. Memorizing his new locations surroundings, he placed the new map into his pouch . After walking a few more feet forward, the path suddenly ended.

Looking down, he saw that the only thing that remained was dirt a grass.

"Strange." Link thought out loud, looking at the end of the pathway, seeing its wear and tear. He stayed as far away from the end of he path, fearing it's destruction from his steps.

If this place was as important as Fi made it out to be, why was it experiencing such wear and tear? Moreover, why is it that this place looked abandoned?

Perhaps he was over thinking things, but if this place was truly important, shouldn't there be someone here?

He shook his head, metaphorically shaking all of his thoughts away. Right now wasn't the time to be distracted, he had to move forward and find Zelda… wherever she may be.

So, following what he remembered from the map, he trekked down the only path available to him. He stopped however, as he viewed the path he would take.

There, contrasting with the emerald green grass, was another hidden Deku Baba. Though the Demon itself was completely hidden from view, the weed it grew from was out in the open. Further ahead, he could see more weeds just like it, hindering his path forward.

Unsheathing his sword, he moved with cautious steps towards the hidden demon, observing how close he could get until the Demon attacked. As soon as he got within five feet of the plant, the Deku Baba shot up with it's mighty jaws! Seeing as how it's mouth was a Horizontal slit, he decided to follow Fi's advise.

Preparing himself for a Horizontal slice, he watched and waited for the demon to open it's largemouth. As soon as it did, he swung his sword at the creature, taking careful aim as to not hit the demons shell. It was met with success, as the sword met the soft and unprotected flesh within the demon. Before he knew it, the Deku Baba was cut in half in a gruesome fashion.

Once again, the Deku Baba quickly shriveled up before disappearing into purple smoke, leaving no evidence it was even there.

With that, he moved forward to face the next Deku Baba, quickly cutting the abomination of nature in half as soon as it came up.

As he continued down the path, he couldn't help but feel this was a little too easy. When he heard of the legends of what was down below, he suspected armies of powerful, undefeatable demons razing everything in sight. Instead, he was cutting down the occasional moving plant.

Don't misunderstand, he was happy to defeat these demons, making the Surface a safer place as he did. He was also glad that he would be able to reach Zelda relatively quickly, as that was his mission in the first place. He was just…underwhelmed by their strength.

Which was why he was able to quickly dispatch the last two Deku Babas with such ease. They were underwhelming, never posing a true challenge to him and his skills. Not to mention that the Goddess Sword was an extremely powerful blade.

As soon as the corpses of the demons quickly decomposed, he moved forward towards the Temple. At the end of his current path, he noticed a sudden drop. However, instead of slowing down, he sped up towards the edge. At the last possible second, he pushed himself off of the edge, experiencing the one second of flying.

It didn't last long however, as gravity brought him back down rather quickly. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he rolled across the soft grass, landing without a scratch.

With a sense of wonder, the young hero looked around him, gazing upon all the new sights to see. The light from the sun shining down upon the Surface with an undeniable warmth. The small birds, so different from the large Loftwings from the sky.

All of that was ruined by the sudden dark, malignant surge of energy. The birds, once peacefully minding their own business, flew away in fear from the demonic strength of the energy. Quickly going on guard, he searched the distance, looking for any sign of the source. He found it, but not where he was expecting.

There, within the hole at the center of the Sealed Grounds, was the very source he was searching for. He wasn't given enough time to examine it however, as the surge of energy hit him again, only this time far stronger.

So strong was this energy, that it could be physically felt, as Link tried to keep it away from his eyes. As soon as he blinked, no longer was he within the great warmth of the sun, nor could he feel the soft grass beneath his feet.

Where he was now was a cold and dark world, the once blue sky now a shade of blood, and grass now scorched black.

He gazed at the world around him in fear, as the malefic energy only grew stronger. Steeling himself once again, he gazed back down upon the the source…

Only to see an endless black void below him, ready to consume him whole.

He flinched at the sight, and went to turn away from the endless darkness below. Yet, not matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do anything but stare into the abyss.

He should have tried harder.

Something moved beneath that abyss, something large, something….horrifying.

Like a fish jumping for prey, it shot towards him with slow but purposeful movements. It was there where he finally saw something he had only seen in nightmares.

Standing before him, it's foul energy lite ablaze, was the same horrifying creature he had seen in his dream two days ago. It's massive form covered with black scales, it held his sight no matter how hard he tried to look away. Even without eyes, the monster looked down upon him, making him feel like a bug to it as it did.

He grabbed his blade, preparing to defend himself, but he knew it would be useless. Just looking at the creature caused his hands to shake so much that he couldn't properly hold the weapon.

It opened it's massive jaws, and gave out a horrible, unrelenting roar. It felt as if the very earth and sky bent from the sheer force it let out from it's jaws. It caused his bones to echo the very same roar, as it reverberated throughout his entire body. His blood froze, his heart stopped, and his body quaked under such force.

The demon, whose roar had been enough to stop him in his track, went to attack. It's teeth were the size of a man, and were as thick as the trees that once surrounded him. He knew he couldn't fight back, the beast was too strong to ever hope to face.

So, with what seemed like fear incarnate in front of him, he turned away and covered his eyes with both his hands. He waited for the inevitable attack, feeling the force of it's malefic energy assaulting every inch of him. He shouted in fear and pain, as the energy seemed to eat through him, devouring his very soul.

Only for the energy to disappear as quickly it appeared, the once cold air filling with warmth once again.

Opening his eyes, he had to squint to block all of the light that suddenly struck his retinas. As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he found he was back in the Sealed Grounds, the eerie silence haunting him as he contemplated what had just occurred.

'W...What was that?!' He thought to himself, as he finally felt the cold sweat on his brow. 'Was it an illusion? No, it was far too real to be one.'

With extreme caution, he looked down towards where the monster had appeared in the vision. It was no longer the endless abyss it once was, which eased his fears somewhat. However, there was still that… energy being spawned from the center of the huge hole. He could still feel it on him, as if it were trying to taint him with it's very presence.

And it terrified him.

In this dazed state he found himself in, he noticed a leaf fly by his ear. Determined to find any sort of distraction whatsoever, he followed the leaf with his eyes. As he did, his eyes were brought back to the aged Temple, and the large door in front of him.

Part of him wanted to leave this terrifying energy alone, let it slip from his mind during his search for Zelda. Leave it for someone else to deal with, make it not his problem.

It was tempting, so very tempting to just leave and be done with it. So very tempting to just ignore all of the terrible things that would come this way.

Yet, a small whisper inside of him told him the exact opposite. Despite the softness of this voice, it spoke the loudest and echoed the most. It echoed through his very soul, as if it demanded to be heard.

'If you can't face this terror today, can you truly walk the path fraught with peril?'

The words shook him, if he were to be honest. Not because of how deep their meaning ran, or how they required him to face such a terror. No, if anything it was…

It was how much these words resonated with him, as if… as if they were words created for him.

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he turned back toward the tainted energy. His hand tightened into a fist, as he silently shook his head.

"This is probably be the dumbest thing that I will ever do." He told himself silently, as he looked down at the source of the malefic energy. Before he had the opportunity to second guess himself, he quickly jumped down into the gigantic hole.

As he fell he prepped the Sailcloth Zelda had given him, to ensure he would take no damage from the fall. He looked down, watching as he quickly went to meet with with the ground he thought never existed. At the last second, before he crashed into the brown dirt below, he pulled out the soft cloth.

As soon as he did, he suddenly stopped within midair, as if he had landed on the air. The force of his fall transferred into his arms, causing his arm to strain under such force. He had to grit his teeth, as the wound on his shoulder screamed out in pain. However, that quick second of strenuous force disappeared, as he floated gently down to the ground.

As soon as he came closer to the ground, he prepared his legs for the inevitable landing. As soon his feet touch hard dirt, he went down to one knee and caught himself with his hands, letting all of the force collect into the ground. He quickly stood up, feeling the the corrupting energy assault his form, only stronger.

He grimaced as he walked toward the new edge in front of him, and looked down. Their, he saw something quite peculiar, something he hadn't seen from the top of the hole.

There, in the center of the hole, was a strange black circle filled with stranger black inlays. The black markings seemed to drink the light from their surroundings, as if it were swallow it whole. In the center of these markings, was a strangely shaped pillar. He couldn't see much else, as it was still too far to get all the details.

With that, he jumped again, reaching ever closer to the foreboding markings. Quickly, but safely, landing deeper into the hole, he stopped.

From here, he could practically taste the malicious energy, a foul, gagging taste. Nonetheless, he continued forward, weary of what he may come.

With one small leap, he had reached the lowest part of the pit, finally on the same floor as those strange markings. There, he could finally see the coulomb with greater detail.

Only to be shocked at what he found.

The spike was wasn't in the ground like he had originally thought. Instead, it was floating a foot in the air, and from under it came a visible energy. The same energy that was causing him to feel sick to his stomach. Despite that, he moved towards the dark circle, the feeling of malice growing ever stronger.

Moving with great caution, he slowly walked towards the spike. Everything in the world seemed to stop, as if it was watching him with bated breath. He stopped before he entered the circle, the energy in front of him practically palpable. He took a deep breath, calming his racing heart, before he stepped into the circle.

The energy, impossibly so, grew stronger upon entering the circle. It was as if he were stepping into the jaws of the very nightmare he had seen, as it prepared to devour him. He turned around, ready to race out of th-

'You've done well…' A soft whisper echoed, the voice belonging to a woman.

"Thanks F-"He froze, as he realized the voice didn't belong to the spirit of his sword. Frantically, he looked around for the owner of the voice. Yet no matter how hard he looked, he could not find a single trace of the owner.

Than he heard a slight chuckle, like small soft bells ringing against his ears. He drew his sword and turned around, but all that was their was the strange spike in front of him, still releasing the dark energy.

"Young one… Child of Destiny descended from the sky…" She spoke, as he continued to look around for the voices owner. "Raise the sword of the Goddess skyward… Take aim at the evil aura and unleash its power…"

"Who are you?!" I shouted, continuing my search for the voices owner. "Show yourself!" He demanded, as he brought himself into a battle stance.

The woman didn't respond, instead she stayed as silent as his surroundings.

He looked around for the woman one last time, before turning to the spike. He saw the black energy spill out from beneath it, growing by the second.

He decided to trust the woman's words, though he didn't know who she was. He didn't know why he did, but he knew he could.

So, with the sword already in his hands, he rose the blade skyward. He could feel the sword charge with a brilliant light, soothing him as faced the dark energy.

The sword signaled it was fully charged, as if the light sung from the blade. Strangely enough, he could feel the dark energy around him quiver. As if it were avoiding the light from the sword.

He shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He quickly swung the blade towards the spike, and the Skyward Strike appeared. As soon as it hit the Spike, it absorbed the energy, shining as brightly.

It blinded him for a second, but that was the least of his worries.

After all, the disgusting black energy began to move.

Those who forge their own path...

Are those who change the world around them

-Anonymous

BloodyAbyss: Why the hell do you keep ending these chapters like this!?

*You see the Author slowly pet Kuren on the head, smiling maniacally all the while.*

Author: Why, whatever do you mean?

BloodyAbyss: You know exactly what I mean, you keep writing these cliffhangers, never fully giving what your readers want! How can you be so Heartless!

Author: Hey! Don't capitalize heartless, the readers are gonna get the wrong idea.

BloodyAbyss: *Sigh* Fine, whatever. I'm still mad at you though.

Author: Look, you know very well why I leave cliffhangers, but right now I have something I want to talk about.

BloodyAbyss: Oh?

Author: I'm thinking about releasing that.

BloodyAbyss: ….Oh! You mean, that?

Author: Yes.

BloodyAbyss: Well, I better get to realising my chapter so we can work on that, huh?

Author: Yep.