Sorry this is a day late, but I just really busy. But knowing my procrastination habits, I guess I'm lucky it was only a day and not another week.
HUGE THANKS to WolfenAmphithere and ultima-owner for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Well, I think everyone knows the answer to this by now... I wish I owned it, but I don't. Shame.
By the way, for those of you who are Naruto fans... Shadow is channeling his inner Shikamaru! And, since I've only just gotten to the part where Naruto gets bijuu mode for the first time, I can only say... EPIC!
Ahem. Fan-moment over. Enjoy the chapter!
Yeta-turned-Blizzeta was hovering in the center of the now entirely frozen room, encased in a veritable mini-fortress of solid ice. It looked to be at least a foot thick all around. Oh, wonderful.
"Well, time to break out the big guns," Link said grimly as he swung his ball-and-chain over his head, steadily gaining speed as it whistled through the air. He released and let it fly, aimed directly towards Blizzeta. Direct hit. Shards of ice exploded from the impact point and rained down on us, ranging in size from about a fist to nearly the size of our heads.
Once the large spiked ball made contact, Blizzeta then began to rapidly spin around the room to avoid further strikes. Link, who was unable to aim and throw the ball and chain that quickly, growled in frustration.
"Gah, I just can't hit it!"
I quickly created a large bomb in my hand, much lighter than the solid steel ball, aimed, and threw. "Duck!"
He obliged and the bomb sailed over his head, impacting directly onto the Ice Mass's body. More chunks of ice flew. Blizzeta kept on spinning, seemingly unaffected.
After the third time, however, she stopped for a second and, while Link took the opportunity to get a strike in, released a swarm of mini-freezards. Then she continued around the room once more.
"Guys! I'll get Blizzeta, you guys get the freezards!" Link called out, impacting the creature once again. I felt a brief flash of guilt, but dismissed it. Yeta wasn't the one in control at the moment. Blizzeta was a completely separate enemy.
Dark nodded and turned towards the nearest mini-freezard with a savage grin. "Now," he said, hoisting his sword like a club. "Who's up for iceball, round two?"
Vaati lifted three at once in a swirling tornado and launched them through the air. Dark swung and hit two at once while the third whizzed by his head, impacting and exploding into dust on the wall behind. The two he hit were apparently damaged enough so that they died in midair, ashy remains floating down lazily.
Just then, as we finished off the last of the little monsters, a remarkably smaller Blizzeta shot past, speed definitely increased. Link, who had at this point just about mastered sliding and fighting on ice, moved to intercept.
SMASH!
The ice armor was finally shattered, and Blizzeta was out of her shell. She panted, back against the wall, as the four of us made a semicircle around her warily. Her face was still transformed, so it looked as if Yeta was still corrupted. D***.
Suddenly, she let out a gurgling scream and her entire body shook, rising into the air. A cloud of freezing air surrounded her body, and her form was obscured for a few brief seconds. When it cleared, another shell of ice formed around her, but this time it was more like a tiny mobile room than the massive walls she'd been hiding behind before. Windows in the sides allowed us to see her, but unfortunately she was also surrounded by massively thick ice spears/pillars. They were thick, like pillars, but short and pointed at the bottoms, like spears.
I gulped nervously. Oh, this was not good. Those spikes looked like they were thick enough to kill almost instantly if they hit, and if you didn't die from the impact force, you'd probably bleed out soon after. Not the most pleasant of ways to go.
All the pillars suddenly moved to hover over us and my eyes widened.
"MOVE!"
I'm still not sure who shouted, but I remember that it was those words that sent me into motion. We all leapt back, and not a second later they had all crashed down exactly where we'd been standing before.
"Dang, that was close," Vaati eeped in a high voice, eyes widened enough so that you could see a ring of white all around the pupils.
The pillars rose, adjusted their position, and tried again. Like before, we all scrambled out of the way, but this time, I was ready. Before the pillars rose I tossed an extra-large giant bomb right into their midst, reducing two at once to shards of ice.
They tried a third time, but instead of attempting to impale us, instead they surrounded us in a large circle. I looked around in confusion, then glanced upwards.
Blizzeta was hovering above us, ready to smash down and crush us into bloody pulp.
As one we all dove out of the way just as she slammed down into the ice, completely pulverizing it. Link rolled to his feet and twirled the ball and chain, landing a hit on her even as I quickly launched several small bombs in quick succession. The last one missed, but Vaati was able to catch it in a swirl of wind and send it flying back towards the Ice Mass.
The pattern continued twice more. Try to stab us, we dodge. Try to crush us, we dodge and fight back. Dark managed to turn ghostly and phase directly into the tiny ice room, right next to Blizzeta just long enough to land a punch on her after the third time we managed to hit her shell of ice.
She screeched again and all the ice in the room disappeared, as the Mirror Shard separated itself from Yeta's body. She returned to normal and lay on the carpet, stunned.
Midna popped out and grabbed the Mirror Shard with her hand-hair. "Well, we have two mirror shards now… Two more left, guys. Still... I feel bad about the way we treated that girl. To think the Mirror of Twilight has the power to change people like that… This world… ALL worlds… can be cruel… Let's hurry and collect the rest of those pieces! We have to, before more innocent creatures have to endure the suffering this poor girl did… Well, let's go search for the two that remain." Then she dove back into Link's shadow, taking the Mirror Shard with her.
As she melted back into the ground, Yeto suddenly burst through the door and made a beeline for his wife. The four of us were quite unceremoniously knocked out of the way by his large bulk, and lay on the floor for a few seconds, completely stunned. For such a peaceful guy, he sure could hit hard. And that was by accident. Yeesh, if he ever got into a fight… I would feel sorry for his opponent.
Yeto cradled Yeta in his arms gently. She looked up at him, dazed and confused. "Uh... Uh... What... What wrong with me?"
"Very strange... You just dreaming, uh," he responded.
Her eyes widened, and she gasped in realization, "Yeto! Mirror you gave…"
"Forget mirror, Yeta… No. Look into eyes of Yeto… Look in reflection of Yeto's beautiful eyes. There true beauty! Who need mirror?"
"My love, uh!"
"Love you, uh…"
"Uh, love you, too…"
They hugged, and little recovery hearts popped out of nowhere to land scattered on the floor. Then a heart container materialized, restoring all our health. I glanced over at the pair. They were still hugging. I resisted the urge to gag at the sappy scene. Gah, too much fluffy sweetness…
All of us breathed a sigh of relief when Midna warped us away from Snowpeak. Sure, the yetis were nice, but that was just a bit too sappy for me.
"Oh, nice and warm, no snow and no ice!" Dark cheered as we landed in front of the gate to Castle Town. Since Midna's warping had automatically pushed us into our beast forms, we probably made a very odd sight to any of the people who happened to glance through the open gates. Three wolves, one forest green, the other with red eyes, and the last with a purple mane standing at the foot of the stairs with a purple panther? Not something one sees every day. Or at all, for that matter.
We transformed back, and I tipped my head to look at the sky. It was getting dark. Dusk had fallen, and shoppers were already beginning to head back to their homes. Stall owners and shopkeepers were packing up their wares for the day, or closing the door and locking the windows.
"Ah, it's getting late… why don't we just stay at Telma's or something for the night?" Link suggested. We were all tired and worn out from that fight with Blizzeta. The freezing cold didn't help either, and Link's arms were probably aching from constant use of that ridiculously heavy ball and chain.
"Yeah, good idea," Dark agreed with a jaw-cracking yawn. Now settled on a plan, the four of us meandered slowly towards Telma's Bar.
While the walk usually would be nothing worth talking about, one thing of interest did happen this time. Apparently being in and out of town wasn't so good for our reputation, 'cause some kid tried to pickpocket me. Ameteur. But since he couldn't have been much older than ten or eleven, I decided to be nice and let him off with only a warning. He was lucky.
Other than that, there was nothing else worth mentioning. We got to the bar, Telma fussed over us like usual, and we crashed in the guest rooms. Man, sleeping in a regular bed sure felt good.
The next day, Midna reminded us that the next Mirror Shard would be "in an ancient grove," to quote the sages. Telma chose that moment to helpfully inform us that Rusl was checking something out in North Faron Woods- incidentally the same place that housed the entrance to the Sacred Grove. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out.
Except… weren't they usually hidden in dungeons full of dangerous traps? The Sacred Grove was just that- a grove. A grove with ancient ruins, yes, but a grove. Well, maybe we'd just missed something the first time. Couldn't hurt to go back and check it out.
"It has been a while since we took a walk in the forest, huh? Yes, and how our
world has changed… Say… Do you know about the far side of this deep gorge? Some say there is an ancient temple deep in the woods that guards a sacred power. The ancestors of the Hylians created the temple... Signs of their civilization-
ancient, but very sophisticated-are everywhere. If someone could obtain the power of those ancient people... Well, I am sure it would go a long way toward saving Hyrule."
I was surprised. I hadn't known Rusl knew about the Sacred Grove. I wondered if Link would tell him that was where he'd gotten the Master Sword. However, when Rusl pulled out his method of transportation…
"Yeah, no thanks. It's fine, I can just have Midna help me target-jump across," Link flat-out refused. We had taken one look and all of us instantly knew that Rusl's method would only be used as an absolute last-resort.
Rusl looked slightly disappointed for a moment, then his expression changed to one of interest. "Target-jumping? What's that? And how does Midna help? How do you know it'll work? The gorge is very wide, and very deep…"
"It'll work. It's what we used last time to get to the grove, and I didn't fall then. Besides, if I slip Shadow or Vaati can catch me. And target-jumping is when..." Link explained to Rusl as best he could. Meanwhile, since my brothers and I were still in animal form, the annoying song that stupid cucco sang translated into words rather than just clucking.
After what seemed like the millionth time hearing "Twinkle, twinkle, little Cucco... I am gold and not for you-oo…" being sung under that feathery *#$ #'s breath, however, Dark finally snapped. Actually, I'm surprised it was him instead of Vaati. The younger of my two brothers was usually the one with a shorter temper. Hm.
"Okay, that's it! One more word and I'm having raw cucco for supper!" he seethed angrily, advancing on the ridiculously sparkly golden cucco with fangs bared and a feral glint in his eyes. Inwardly I cheered him on, and fantasy of fried cucco with all the trimmings appeared in my mind. I could almost feel my mouth start salivating.
We'd had cucco once, back in Castle Town, after some rich merchant ordered it but only finished a little before throwing it out. A huge waste of money, but it made for a good meal. We were so lucky to have gotten to it before anyone else, though we did have to fight off a few who wanted it for themselves. That was the first and only time I've ever eaten fried cucco.
Dark crouched and prepared to pounce on the golden poultry when a sharp exclamation stopped him.
Rusl was hurrying towards us, shock evident on his face. "Hey, don't eat my partner!"
Link just sighed and facepalmed, then transformed into his wolf form and target-jumped across the roots like before. Dark grudgingly left the cucco alone, and the three of us followed the green and grey wolf across. Rusl, who had rescued that sparkly mass of feathers, watch watching keenly as Link made his way from tree root to tree root until he reached solid ground.
Once he was safely on the other side, the older teen's mentor called out, "That was amazing! After you get back, would you mind if I asked you some questions on how you managed to make your jumps so precise?"
Link, still a wolf, nodded. Rusl flashed a grin, then turned and headed back, probably going to Ordon.
The four of us turned back and retraced the route we'd taken previously. It seemed so long ago now, when we'd first come here to find the Blade of Evil's Bane to break the curse of our animal forms. It seemed like years had passed since then, but really it had only been a month or two.
We made our way across the moving bridges, avoided the keese, and found ourselves once again at the entrance to the maze that we'd chased Skull Kid through last time. I hoped we wouldn't have to do that again. That was f****** annoying. And I hated losing my sense of direction. I swear those woods changed themselves every time we circled through. One minute there's a tunnel to a new area, and when you go through it's gone. How… troublesome.
Wait, where did that come from? And why do I have the sudden urge to act lazy and watch clouds all day?
Anyway, once we entered that annoying Skull Kid dropped from the sky and blew that Goddesses-d***** trumpet thing, summoning four of his creepy puppets before giggling and running off.
"Ah, great. Does this mean we have to chase him down again? That was so annoying last time," I growled irritably.
Link's fur bristled slightly, but he forced it down and sighed. "Yeah, I think we have to. Come on, let's just get it over with."
"What-?! How the heck does he just vanish like that?!"
"How should I know? Look, that way! I see the lantern light!"
"That's a poe soul you idiot!"
"Whoops. At least we got another one for that crazy rich guy."
"Gah. Come on, Skull Brat went that direction."
"Yeesh, no need to get your tail in a twist…"
"Ooh, treasure chest!"
"Man, who rigs these things anyway? I swear, they're scattered randomly all over the kingdom in completely unexpected places…"
"I'm more interested in how they managed to rig it so that they would appear after a certain event happens, which most commonly appears to be lighting torches."
"Of course Vaati, of course. You're starting to sound like Shad, y'know."
"What?! Hey!"
"How are those bombs even still usable? And how is the wood of the chest not rotted through?"
"Magic, of course. Preservative spells, if applied correctly, and allow whatever it is cast on to stay in the same condition as it was when the spell was cast for decades, even up to a century depending on the strength of the spell and the item it was cast on."
"...I'm not even going to ask how you knew all that, or how you talked like you were reading out of a book."
"Oh come on! We have to fight this guy again?!"
"Yeah, I know. At least this time we can just keep hitting him with arrows. Man, when did Link get so vicious? He's not letting the little Skull Brat get in a single hit!"
"Huh, I think we're rubbing off on him."
"Of course. We have been traveling together for almost a year now. He doesn't even need our help for this one."
"I think the fact that the little monster pretty much drove us all insane with that freaky giggling, creepy puppets and annoying chase through the forest doesn't hurt either."
"That's for sure."
"So, is this another one of those 'trigger spells' you were talking about earlier, Vaati?" I asked as the statue previously blocking an old stone door dissolved into nothing after Link put the Master Sword back into its pedestal. He then removed it again and sheathed it, starting towards the now open area.
"Yeah, but this one's way more complicated. First, the trigger was most likely keyed to the Master Sword itself, so if you just stuck any other sword in there I'm guessing it wouldn't work. Secondly, whoever rigged all this somehow managed to make the statue dissolve instead of just moving. Lastly, he probably used a completely separate spell to stick the statue in front of the door so that it couldn't be moved without the trigger, which is what I would have done. Very clever," Vaati replied.
I nodded in agreement. Yeah, whoever had rigged all these things must've been a genius.
Our short chat, however, was interrupted by the arrival of several twilit beasts. At least after we'd be able to come here without having to chase down Skull Brat, since we'd be able to commandeer the warp portal.
"No way…"
"How the h*** does that even work?!"
"What. The. F***. If I'm right, this doorway is a portal to… the past."
"..."
"..."
"You've got to be frickin' kidding me."
"Ah, no."
"Dang."
"...So, portal that causes time travel. How does that work, exactly? I was under the impression that time travel was impossible."
"Theoretically, yes. But if you stabilize the portal through some sort of anchor, and somehow manage to find the insane amount of energy required to power it…"
"Erk."
"Whoa…"
The four of us gulped, feeling a heavy sense of trepidation for some reason. Then Link took the lead and entered first, the rest of us passing through the portal to enter the Temple of Time.
