AN: Update 3 of 3! If you missed the other two, go back!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Link
Kagome
It took a while, but they finally found Auru. He was standing atop the tower at Lake Hylia.
"I thought it was about time for you to arrive... Master Link and Miss Kagome, is it? Please forgive my rudeness in the bar the other day. You do know Telma, don't you? I am Auru. I am part of the group that Telma kindly allows to meet at her bar. I have heard all about your deeds from her. Now... You being a courageous youth... You have likely heard of the strange events in the desert and come to investigate, no? Or am I mistaken? You do know, don't you? The Gerudo Desert once held a prison built to hold the worst criminals this land has ever known... The criminals who were sentenced to death were sent directly to the underworld by a cursed mirror that was kept in the prison... Now that prison is condemned, and even the road leading to the desert is impassable. This desert at world's end... It still holds the cursed mirror and the malice of the doomed inmates... These old bones know that the evil currently plaguing Hyrule is related to this wicked place. So I have come to learn the truth... I must ask... What will you do now? Don't tell me you plan to enter the desert and confirm my suspicions with your own eyes?!"
"Seems to be the most logical solution," Kagome shrugged.
"Ah, is that so... Then let good old Auru help you out... You see Lake Hylia below us? A man named Fyer runs an amusement ride of sorts there. Give him this. See, long ago, I saved this man Fyer's life, and now he cannot refuse me if I ask a favor. If you leave the rest up to Fyer, all should go well. Just give my note to Fyer, the man who runs the amusement ride in Lake Hylia. If you leave the rest to Fyer, all should go well."
Link snickers at Kagome's paling complexion.
"It won't be so bad."
Kagome glares at him.
"If I get sick, I'm aiming for you."
Before long, they made it back to the cannon happy man and give him the note.
"Hrrrm... From old Auru, huh... Ah well, I guess I oughta do what the old coot says...Oasis flight...right? So here you go, one of our secret options not available to the general public... This time's all paid for...so whaddaya say? You wanna go?"
"Yes, sir."
"Heh heh... All right, buddy of mine! Let's get you zooming! Yeah, this time is free just 'cause I don't need to be getting an earful from the old fella later on. So then... Two for the oasis flight! Heh heh... Hurry up and hop on in..."
Kagome nervously backs up.
"I think I'll wait here."
Link looks back at her with a raised eyebrow, which made her nervous.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Link walks over to her with a playful smile on his face.
"You get away from me," she threatened. "I mean it!"
Link ignores her and runs at her before she has chance to bolt and throws her over his shoulder. Ignoring her threats, he turns his attention back to an amused Fyer.
"Oasis Flight, huh? Sounds fun!"
"If you think for one second that I am getting in there, you need to have your head checked! Are you listening to me Link?"
Fyer chuckled as he shut the door.
Humming to himself, he cranked the cannon and prepared it to fire. With a giant boom, the two Hylians soared through the sky.
"I hate you."
"I know."
"I mean it this time."
"I'm sure you do."
"See if you get any back rubs from me again."
"That's kind of harsh."
"I don't think so."
"At least I'll get to kiss you," he said optimistically.
"I wouldn't count on that if I were you."
Before their banter could continue, Midna appeared before them. She didn't seem like her usual self though. She seemed almost subdued.
"Wait, Link…Kagome. Before we go on, there's something I want you to hear... Do you remember what the spirit said about the Fused Shadows? What do you think happened to the magic wielders who tried to rule the Sacred Realm? They were banished. They were chased across the sacred lands of Hyrule and driven into another realm by the goddesses. It was another world entirely... The antithesis of Hyrule, where the sun shines bright. Its denizens became shadows that could not mingle with the light. Eventually, most came to call it the Twilight Realm, and from it, none could return to the world of light... They were forever doomed to live in the twilight, flitting in the half-light of dusk, mere shadows of Hyrule... This is the history of the Twili as it has been passed down from our ancestors... Do you now understand what I am? I'm a descendant of the tribe that was banished to the Twilight Realm! It was a peaceful place...until Zant took control of the Twilight Realm and transformed all of the Twili into shadow beasts. It's clear to me now that he somehow gained a great evil power previously unknown to our tribe... In any case, I was sent from there, and could no longer get into the Twilight Realm without his power... But there's another tale told by my people. Though the goddesses forbade us to return to the world of light, they left one link between the light and the darkness. Something called the Mirror of Twilight was passed to the protectors of Hyrule... It's our only path to the Twilight Realm...and we must get there! You'll come with me...won't you?"
Midna was shocked when Kagome drew her into a hug.
"We've all come this far together, we'll continue to the end."
Link just smiled his acceptance.
The trio began to walk around before finding a tall island amongst the sea of sand. Reaching into his pack, Link brought out his hook shot.
"Where did you find that?"
"The water temple."
Without warning, he wrapped his arm around Kagome's waist and drew her close before shooting the hook shot and bringing them both to the top.
His noble efforts were rewarded with a smack to his arm.
"Warn a girl next time."
He just laughed at her. Rolling her eyes, she turned her head and blinked in surprise.
Midna popped up when she saw it.
"What is this thing? It does seem to be man-made. I wonder what it is. Why is it there? It doesn't look like it's been there long, does it?"
Link walked up to it, still rubbing his arm.
"I think it's the piece of Eldin Bridge that was taken."
Kagome nods her head.
"We should probably take it back."
"Probably, are you up for it Midna?"
"Yeah, who's going this time?"
Kagome looks at Link.
"I think it's my turn, we'll be right back."
In a flurry of magic, Kagome was once again a wolf and they disappeared with the piece of bridge. Link took the time that they were gone to observe the desert and saw the abandoned prison that Auru had mentioned. Only, it didn't seem so abandoned at the time. Kagome and Midna came back and came to stand with him as he watched the bulblins across the desert.
"So what do you think?"
Kagome thought a bit.
"We should wait until its dark; it'll give us some cover against their scouts. Besides, once we get close enough, I can pick them off with my bow."
"How close is close?"
"See that pit halfway through the desert?"
"Yeah."
"Just beyond that."
"Impressive."
"It is, isn't?"
Following Kagome's plan, they waited until dark to move through the desert. Using the bow, Kagome made quick work of the bulblins guarding the outpost. They were halted in their journey when they came upon the boarded up entrance. Link walked up to it tried to wiggle the boards.
"These are on there pretty good. It would take too long if I tried to use the sword on them."
"So what do we do?"
Letting out a breath of air, Link brought his hand up to the back of his head and looked around for a clue. His head did a double take as he caught sight of something and a mischievous smile slowly spread across his face.
This caused Kagome to raise an eyebrow.
"What do you have planned?"
Without losing the smile on his face he walked past her and out of sight. The girls looked at each other and shrugged. A loud pig's squeal caused both to give a little jump and look wide-eyed in the direction Link took.
"What in the world?!"
The question was answered as a still smiling Link came around the corner riding one of the large boars. Without stopping, he grabbed onto Kagome as he passed by and brought her up with him.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Hey! We needed to get through and this was the quickest way."
Kagome just buried her head into his back and held on tight; prying to whoever was listening that this ride would end soon. Preferably with them alive. Her wish was granted as they burst into stable and the pig dropped in exhaustion. Laughing at how tightly she held onto him, Link hopped off the pig and turned to help her. Kagome was about to start yelling at him when she noticed that he stopped laughing and was staring behind her.
"What are you staring at?"
She soon got her answer. Standing in the shadows was King Bulblin, and in his hands a giant axe. Quickly drawing her bow, she moved to set it when Link stopped her.
"With a weapon that big, it'll have to be close combat. He'll easily bat away your arrows."
Understanding what he was saying, she lowered her bow and stepped back as he drew his sword and shied and moved to attack. The fight was evenly matched, each getting in a few shots on the other. But Link finally got the finishing blow. Knowing when he was defeated, King Bulblin limped out of the stable. Shortly after his departure, the entrance to the stable was blocked and the building was set on fire. Link ran to Kagome and pulled her out of the way as one of the beams fell right where she was standing. Clutching him in shock, she looked at where the beam fell, before looking around.
"What are we going to do?"
He held her closer as he too looked around. She looked up as he gave a relieved laugh.
"The boars awake, let's go!"
Pulling her behind him, he jumped onto the animal and brought her in front of him. With a kick, the boar was sent running and they crashed through the doors and various barriers until they reached the door leading into the prison. Helping her of the boar, he gave it a swat to its hide to send it off. Drawing her close to his chest, he slid down the wall, just holding onto her as they caught their breath. He looked down at her as she let out a breathless laugh.
"What?"
"I just remembered, Midna could have teleported us out."
It took Link a moment to think about what she said. Letting out a bark of laughter, he briefly tightened his hold on her.
"You ready to go in yet?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Standing up, they walked hand in hand into the darkness that led into the Arbiter's Grounds.
As dark as it was entering the Grounds, they were able to see a small patch of light just ahead. Carefully walking along dimly lit path, they soon entered a large room. On the far side was the door leading to the next room. But between them and the door was a giant sand pit. Following the spaced stone ruins, they made it across. Walking through, they found themselves in a large hall. In front of them was a set of grand stairs that led to a large door. On each side of the stairs were two lanterns, four in all. On each side of the hall was a door. Making their way towards the large door, they were stopped as the four lanterns moved. Three spread out the other doors, and the fourth remained in the hall.
The two Hylians looked at each other.
"Wolf?"
"Wolf."
Having Midna change them into their animal forms, they honed their senses and saw what was hold the floating lanterns.
A transparent figure floated before them. On his 'body' it wore a light colored robe. Over its head, a dark hood clasped together with a small skull. Its face was barely visible beneath its hood, but what they could see was a decomposed skull with a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Talk about ugly!
It's called a Poe.
Don't care, it's still ugly.
I'll get it.
It took Link a few tries before he figured that he could only hit the thing while it looked solid, otherwise he went right through it.
Picking up the scent coming from the lantern, they easily found the remaining three Poes.
The prison was full of traps and secret passages, but they were able to continue on. Entering a dark room, they heard the door slam shut behind them and continued forward. In the middle of a large circular room, a sword was imbedded in the floor. As if the sight of a large, black sword wasn't a bad omen already, there were ropes attached to the handle. On each rope were many pieces of paper.
"What's these for?"
Kagome walked up behind him and studied them.
"They're paper wards."
"Wards?"
"There are two types, the ones that contain and the ones that deflect. These are the kind that contain. This sword is a prison."
"I don't think we're getting out of here until we set whatever is in there free."
"I'm thinking the same thing."
"So, shall I get to cutting?"
"By all means, cut away."
As soon as the last rope was cut, writing the color of blood began to appear in glowing letters. They weren't too shocked when they saw the sword move on its own.
"Wolf?"
"Wolf."
Once more as wolves, they were able to see the swords owner.
Before them was a large figure dressed in black robes. The visible feature, besides his hands, was his head. It had the skull of a bull and the horns of a ram. Much like the Poes, they had to wait for the phantom to become solid before attacking. Before long, it too, was defeated. With its defeat, the doors to the chamber opened, and our heroes continued on. Upon exiting the chamber, they were faced with a large chest.
"I wonder what little goody we're going to get this time."
Link shook his head with a smile and opened the chest. In his hands, he held the spinner.
Kagome looked at it.
"What does it do?"
"You see those indentions on the wall."
"Yeah."
"You see how this looks like a gear?"
"Uh-huh."
"When you step on it, it moves along a track on the wall like two gears moving together."
She looked at it again.
"Can we both fit on it?"
Link studied it.
"I don't think so."
The two sat in silence as they tried to figure out what to do.
Finally, Kagome had an idea.
"Those gates always show up in convenient places, right?"
"Right."
"So if the mirror is here, then a gate should show up when you get there. When it does, have Midna come and get me and we'll just teleport to wherever you are."
Link though about it for a bit.
"That seems to be the only option available to us."
Kagome smiled.
"You have fun with all the little beasties and I'll just sit right here."
Link laughed at her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Alright, see you soon."
Hopping onto his new toy, Link made his way away from Kagome and onto the Mirror Chamber.
~* Time Skip *~
Kagome had been sitting there for about an hour when Midna showed up right in front of her.
"He made it up, let's go."
The two dematerialized and went back to Link.
When they arrived, Link was sitting on some stairs that led up to a frame that held a single piece of glass.
"Is that…?"
Link looked up.
"The Mirror of Twilight? Yes it is."
"What happened?"
Link took the time to tell her what the sages told him.
"So now what?"
"Now we find the other pieces."
"Sounds fun."
"Yep."
"Any clues?"
"They said something about a mountain, an ancient grove and the heavens."
Kagome frowned in thought.
"That sounds familiar."
"It does?"
"Yeah, remember in Telma's bar? Ashei was talking about something happening to the mountain?"
"She did, didn't she?"
"We seem to be spending a lot of time at the bar."
Link laughed as they were transported, once more, to Castle Town.
