A/N: I own nothing except a copy of this great game. Second note: His singing lines are demarked "like this," and her lines are demarked "like this." Them singing together is demarked "like this."
It was almost impossible to see in the haze that had come up from the continued artillery strikes, but in the distance they could see that the armies of darkness (or rather, their silhouettes) were hastily shuffling through into basic defensive positions. They could hear the sounds of pikes and shields setting up, and the more auditorily-able of them could hear the fainting sounds of nocking bows and arrows.
"This is no good." Gawain muttered. "We're charging into certain doom."
There was suddenly a bellow, and a blast from a bugle. Out riding in front of the line, back and forth, was Romulus astride his mighty warbeast.
"Arise! Arise, damn you!" He bellowed. His voice carried across the battlefield. "Is this not the fight that we have waited for our entire lives? Is this not the fight where we have pledged our sacred honor? Do not falter! Stand fast! Arise, bannermen and women of the light! Let it shine!"
He drew his spear, a long and gnarled-looking weapon that had clearly seen decades of combat. He twirled it once, and started to ride down the front of the line. Swiftly, the Bulblins put forth their spears for him to smack his weapon against, and everyone else in the front of the line followed suit. The sounds of the clattering down the line seemed to spur everyone, and soon the doubts and fears were melting away.
"Ride with me now!" Romulus roared. "Ride for the life of you and your kin! Ride so that one day, the history books will say, either in victory or in defeat, this was your finest hour!"
He stopped pacing his warbeast directly in front of Zelda and her troup, and raised his spear.
"Your highness! Take your strongest men and follow directly down the center of the line, behind my berserkers! Balrok!" He pointed his spear down the line towards the right flank, where the aforementioned Bulblin was. "Lead the flank and then veer outwards towards the edges of the battlements! Chase those mongrels into the waters of the moat, and butcher all before you!" He then pointed to Impa to the left. "Sheikah warrior! Take everyone on the left, and follow behind the main assault! You are the swinging gate that will slam shut on their heads! All shall fall before you!"
He finished pacing, and raised his spear one last time.
"This is the end, my friends! The only question is: whose end is it? Is it ours? Or is it theirs?"
There was a roar down the line, as first the Bulblins and then the rest of the force joined in the bellowing. Zelda thought she was going to go deaf. She then drew her rapier, and held it high. Somehow in the gloaming, it caught the perfect remnant of the sunlight, gleaming like a beacon. And then she made the decision.
"Forward!" She shouted. "CHARGE!"
Romulus let out a cackle of delight, seeming to grow younger by the decade with every passing moment. He slammed his bony helmet over his head, and raised his spear high. Then, he spurred his warbeast forward, and led the charge.
…
The Bokoblins and Moblins and other forces steadied themselves. They could not see their enemy coming. They knew that only madmen would proceed towards a heavily defended position, without the proper intelligence to know how many were defending, and how many archers and pikesmen were defending the proper chokepoints.
But soon, they could feel the ground rumbling beneath their feet. Loose dirt and rocks began to rock and vibrate on the ground, and they could feel their teeth chattering as the coming earthquake only grew louder and closer. Somewhere, the command was given for archers to fire. And yet the arrows seemed to disappear into the haze. Still, that many arrows should have halted even the craziest of attackers. And yet the earthquake still came. The command to fire came again, this time with a greater sense of urgency. Somewhere, they heard that fateful order: "Fire at will!"
They felt the panic building in their chest. The arrows into the gloam had done nothing to stop the coming earthquake. The coming storm was nigh. Some of them were brave or stupid enough to hold their ground, intending to hold to the last man. Still others came to that horrible realization: all their lives they had lived for plunder of others, relishing in their superiority and in being the hunter.
But as the first of the insane horsemen, Bulblin and alike, came crashing through the mist of smoke and fire, they finally realized the horrible truth: no longer were they the hunter. Now they were the hunted.
And it was too late to run.
…
Even from the castle, Lord Grantham heard the initial contact of forces. It was a titanic sound, of metal and wood and screams and shouts, practically creating a shockwave that nearly knocked him off his feet. Two Bokoblin guards, who were ordered not to let him out of their sight, flanked him to his left and right. Their master had retreated into the castle, stating that he had important things to take care of. Why he was not in the middle of the battle, Grantham was unsure. But he stood there on the battlements of the castle, watching as the battle for the world unfolded in front of him, and felt nothing but a sense of bitterness in his mouth.
Some good he was. Simply sitting on the sidelines, as the world was decided around him. And there he was, forced to watch.
He felt a boiling, impotent rage in his stomach. It was like he was going to burst. And then, suddenly, it was gone. In its place an eerie calm. He turned to the Bokoblin on his left. He gestured to the mug of alcohol that the Dark Lord had left him, perhaps as a snide gift in the wake of a terrible fight. He reached it out towards the creature in a friendly manner.
"Excuse me." He said. "Would you like a drink?"
"No. No want drink!" The Bokoblin snarled. It looked away in annoyance from Lord Grantham. Lord Elijah Grantham cocked his head to the side, as if confused.
"Sure you do."
He caved the side of the creature's head in with one swing of the mug.
Swiftly and hastily, he grabbed the creature's scimitar, and only barely managed to deflect his friend's enraged stab. He winced and snarled in pain as the blade scraped along the side of his bicep, and then thrust sloppily forward. The blow was enough to get the Bokoblin to wince and recoil in pain, clutching at its side wound. Elijah lunged forward, tackling the creature to the ground. He sat astride the creature's chest, and grabbed its head and began to slam it against the ground as hard as he could and as many times as he could. He kept slamming, letting out weeks of frustration and rage and fury at having been used like little more than a toy at the whims of a tyrant on this pitiful creature.
Eventually, he finially realized he was doing little more than mashing wet bone chips against the stony ground. So he stopped.
He sat down, and shakily put his bloody hand to his mouth as what he had done finally registered. He felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't look at the two corpses beside him. He looked around, making sure that no one had seen him. Then, shakily grabbing the scimitar and clutching at his stomach as if it would prevent him from throwing up, he staggered off towards the town.
…
Link let out a roar, and with one swing cut off the head of a fleeing Lizalfos. The front line of the enemy had broken with relative ease in the center, while the left and right flanks were stouter and had bogged down their forces. He felt himself surrounded by Bulblin riders and Ravagers and some brave Hyrulians, the Twilight Wolves at the front, and spurred his horse even harder so that he could retake the lead at the front of the pack. The bridge to Castle Town was down, and like rolling thunder he and his riders made it across and into the town square.
There was a furious hissing sound, and Link barely managed to leap off of his horse before it was felled by arrows.
"Archers!" He roared, shouting as loud as he could through his mask. He felt one of them bounce off of his armor, and thanked whatever fabric it was that had blocked the projectile so easily. Almost immediately, those that weren't felled by the archer counterattack were racing for cover, either behind buildings or pieces of debris that had been kicked up by the bombardment.
Link dove forward, and rolled behind a large piece of wall that had been knocked off by a mortar shell. He stood upright, his back pressed against the stone, and looked eye to eye at Ryu.
"Where the fuck is everybody?" Ryu shouted.
There was an explosion as a Goron missile slammed into the building directly above them. They ducked down low as dust and dirt and plaster rained down on them, and then stood up.
"I have no idea!" Link shouted back. He peered out from his spot, and swiftly drew his head back as a few arrows came his way.
"Well, what did you see, hero?" Ryu shouted. Link cleared his head. While the majority of the fighting was going on out in the fields, he was clearly part of the select few that had managed to breach the inner defenses. He had seen the princess and a few royal guardsmen, Uhaa included, taking cover in a corner shop. He thought he'd seen Itami and Lana across the square, but he wasn't sure. There were scattered soldiers hiding under cover, throwing rocks and other debris at the enemy archers, but other than that they were all pinned down.
"Shit!" Link growled. "We're all stuck all over the place! And there are archers pinning us down from the buildings across the way." He noticed that a few Hyrulian soliders were with him and Ryu, and motioned them over. They all huddled in close to maximize cover, and Link started sketching in the dusty ground. He drew a crude diagram of the town square, and pointed to the building that was right in front of them. "We're gonna have to go building to building!" He shouted. "Starting with that hotel that got nailed by that last artillery strike! Any one of you an archer?"
"I am, sir!" One of the dusty-faced soldiers shouted. Link pointed at him.
"You stay on my rear. We're gonna need you when we secure the building. Everyone else? Only close quarters! Fists, knives, gauntlets, whatever you've got for close encounters! We're fighting hand-to-hand through that hotel!"
There was an explosion as another round of Goron artillery slammed into the square. Link winced, and then looked up at the motley band in front of him.
"Wait for the next volley!" He shouted.
There was a pause. Then, another horrific series of bangs as the rock shells burst through the square.
"Go go gooooo!" Link barked.
The five of them raced towards the hotel. Link heard a scream, and barely managed to turn back and see one of the Hyrulians had been felled by an arrow. The rest of them managed to slam back against the hotel, their backs pressed against the wall. Link turned towards the door, and then towards the men (and Ryu) lined up to his left.
"Stack up behind me, then fan out through the room!" Link shouted. As soon as they were pressing up against his back, he turned towards the door and kicked it open.
The Bokoblin that had been holding it in let out a scream as he was knocked to the ground. Swiftly, Link stabbed the creature through the neck, and yanked the Master Sword up and out. He almost immediately parried a lunging strike from a Lizalfos, countered, and then grabbed the creature by the scruff of the neck and threw it into the hotel bar. It slammed against the multitude of wine bottles and shelves of alcoholic beverages, bringing it all down behind the bar with a cacophony of shatterings. Ryu leapt behind the bar, and they heard the Lizalfos screech and then gurgle as the Ravager found its windpipe. The other Hyrulians were fighting less like soldiers and more like drunken bar regulars, putting their enemies through the tables. One of them grabbed a Bokoblin by the back of the neck and the seat of the pants, and threw it out the plate-glass window at the front of the store. In a manner of moments, they had cleared the hotel bar of any resistance. Link was panting heavily, scanning the room for anything else. Finally, he shouted.
"Anyone hurt?"
"No sir!"
"Negative!"
"Just some scratches!"
"Perfect!" Ryu shouted, popping back up from behind the counter. She was holding up an unblemished bottle of Goron fire-whiskey. "Lookee what I found!" Trying not to smile, Link cleared his throat.
"Hide it, Ryu, and then come back for it after we clear the building!" He shouted. He gestured to the stairs. "Everyone stack up behind me! We're going to the second floor!"
…
From across the town square, Itami had watched the Hero and his motley band of soldiers force their way into the hotel bar, and tried not to smile when a Bokoblin was sent flying out the front window in a manner similar to a drunk. He turned towards the folks he had.
"Stack up! Let's one-up those fuckers on the other side!"
He had Lana, a Goron carrying a large backpack, two Ravagers, and a single Zora that had been separated from his unit. The creature had a large bow strapped to his back. He whistled, and was relieved when he heard Uhaa whistle back from the safety of their corner store. He then turned towards Lana.
"Can you throw up a small shield for us to get to that store?" He pointed to where he could see Uhaa signaling from inside. Lana nodded, and frantically started to chant a spell. They watched with awe as a wall of runes formed up to their left, effortlessly deflecting arrows. "Get behind that thing and start running!" Itami barked. Making haste, they all ran alongside the rune-walls, as Lana continued to summon new ones to replace the old. Finally, they managed to make their way to the corner store, right as an exhausted Lana's last rune broke.
"Get her some water!" Someone, probably a Ravager, shouted. As Uhaa helped Lana sit down, Itami crouched low to the ground nearby Zelda.
"Princess! You okay?"
"Fine!" She shouted. "Where's Link?" She asked.
Itami peered out towards the hotel on the other side of the town square, and witnessed the hero in question literally throwing a Moblin off of the second-floor balcony. He turned back towards the princess.
"He's fine!" He gestured towards the general direction of the castle. "We have to get up to the castle!" He shouted. "But there's no way to make it safely across the town square until we take out the archers hidden in the temple!"
"In the temple?" Zelda asked, aghast. "Ganondorf stashed archers in a house of worship? That is blasphemy!"
"So write him a ticket!" Itami shouted, exasperatedly. "There's a series of markets directly next to this store. Do we have any way of getting through them?
"I have bombs, sir!" The Goron shouted, taking off his backpack and letting them all see its contents. It looked like a whole lot of machine parts and wood. The Goron swiftly put them all together, and rested the creation astride his shoulder.
"What in the name of the Goddess-" Zelda was cut off.
"Bombchu launcher!" The Goron shouted proudly. "My own invention! Name's Pyroo, ma'am! I'm part of King Petra's demolitions unit!"
"Where's the rest of your unit, Pyroo?" Zelda asked. The Goron shrugged. He was a sturdy-looking chap, with a lot of scars on his face, perhaps from previously failed explosives.
"Don't know, ma'am!" He said. "I got separated when the center flank broke! Figured I'd stay close to you all! Seems to have worked so far!"
"Can those things burst through walls?" Itami asked. Pyroo grinned.
"Easy, sir! Just get me to the roof, and I can fire at anything within this side of the town square." He said. Itami nodded.
"Great! Princess!" He said. "Have Uhaa go up to the roof with Pyroo here, and you can push forward with the rest of the squad you've got. As soon as I've got Lana taken care of, we'll come up with you." He waved away Uhaa and Pyroo, who both bolted to the top of the building. There were stabbing sounds and screams, and a few Bokoblins were tossed lifelessly to the ground. Itami turned to the princess. "Whistle whenever you need a place bombed. Uhaa will hear it, and relay the instructions to Pyroo."
"How will Uhaa know what I need?" Zelda asked, getting ready to run outside. Itami smirked.
"Uhaa was trained by Brudduh Denbe, the best tracker in the Ravager army…now, who do you think trained Denbe?" He gave her a wink, and practically shoved her out the door.
…
Out in the fields, fighting had broken down. Lines had been broken and were re-forming, and archery had long been abandoned for a slow and steady grind of hand-to-hand combat. Territory that was won was lost, and places changed hands so many times that it was clear that tactical victory was out of the question: the only winner would be the one with the last men and women standing.
Impa let out a bellow, and thrust her naginata forward. She skewered two Bokoblins on the end of it, and then forcibly yanked the weapon back out as they slumped to the ground. She saw Fi pirouetting through the ranks of the enemy, smacking anything that came close in the face with her foot. Directly behind the sword-creature was Midna, sitting astride a mighty-looking wolf that seemed to be summoned from another dimension.
"Impa!" She turned to see Lord Gawain running up towards her. He ducked a charging Bokoblin, letting it flip over his shielded back, and then he stabbed downward with his short sword.
"Gawain! Thought we'd lost you!" Impa said with a smirk. Gawain smiled.
"Hardly! Who would be around to give you grief if things went poorly? Who would be around to show you a proper SWEEP?" He punctuated that last word by sweeping out the legs of a charging Moblin, and then stepping hard on its face. Impa rolled her eyes.
"Who taught you everything you know?" She shouted. "You teach me a sweep? Goddesses, it must truly be the end times!"
She only heard laughter. A row of Hyrulians came forward, shields forward, and Gawain safely melted back behind them. Fighter or not, he was the Hyrulian Lord of War. He had to be protected.
Impa had no interest in such honorifics. She was out here to fight.
She charged forward towards the sounds of screams, seeing Meathook pinned by several Lizalfos. A frightened Agitha was clinging to her friend's back, throwing rocks at the advancing Lizalfos.
Planting her Naginata in the ground, Impa pole-vaulted over the quartet of enemies and landed in between them and her two allies. She slashed once, cutting a Lizalfos down at the knees, and then countered one of their strikes and sent the creature stumbling forward rowards Meathook. The Goron roared, and slammed his fist down, crushing the creature's head like a watermelon. That left two. Impa felled the first, putting her naginata through its sternum, and then wrenching upwards as she pulled the blade free to do a number on its internal organs. That left one. It stared at the three in front of it, before dropping its sword and turning tail and running.
It managed to get about three steps in before a Megaton Hammer sent it flying into the air.
"Dah hah ha!" Darunia bellowed. "They fall like cards before me! YOOOOOO!" He turned to Impa. "Sister Impa! The night is young, and I wish to fight more! Where would I best be of service?" He asked. Impa nearly said something, then stopped. But then she realized who she was talking to.
"Go for the town square." She said. "There are archers pinning my men and the princess and the hero down, and as soon as they clear that they're going to need some muscle to make their way up to the castle." Darunia grinned and cluntched his hammer tightly.
"Will do, sister! See you at the castle! CHAAARRRRGGEE!" He raced off towards the Hyrulian castle, slamming and throwing anything that came in his way. Impa thought she saw a Darknut get tossed by his charge. She tried not to laugh.
There was a roar, and she barely managed to move out of the way of a Darknut as it slammed its sword into the ground towards her. She sized the creature up. Bigger than the rest, armor that was almost impractically spiky and ornate, a massive broadsword…no doubt about it. This was a field general.
She smiled darkly.
"Good. I have been growing bored out here." She said.
The creature roared, and charged towards her.
…
"EEK!" Ruto shouted, as she dove out of the way of two Bokoblin. "Matthew, help!"
The two of them had been knocked off of their warbeast, which was then slain by several enemies. They were now separated from a large portion of the force, and were currently beset upon by all sides by several Bokoblins. Matthew Grantham had taken off his helmet so that the enemy could see his warpaint, but that psychological freak-out was only going to last a short while before the enemy realized that it was more for him to feel brave than for them to be scared. He stabbed one Bokoblin in the gut, and then turned towards Ruto.
"Ruto! Stay by me!" He shouted. The Zora cartwheeled toward him, and threw a Zora scale at one of the enemy. It lodged in the creature's carotid, and the Bokoblin went down gurgling. Ruto reach in her pouch, and then panicked whe she came up with nothing.
"That was my last scale!" She shouted. Matthew reache into his pocket, and felt only one throwing knife. There were at least five Bokoblins and two Moblins in front of them. He felt surprisingly calm in the face of these impossible odds.
"Eh, one left. Why not?" He muttered. He pulled out the knife, and prepared to throw.
There was a cacophony of roars, and they watched as the enemies in front of them were slaughtered by a charging column of Bulblins. The Bulblin riders formed a protective ring around the duo, and one of them broke ranks to ride forward.
"Bwa hah ha! As fearless in battle as I would have imagined, Red-Demon!" Balrok Stone-Crusher shouted. "Such a man must be saved." He whistled, and a riderless warbeast lumbered forward. "Go on, you two lovebirds! Get astride this one, and stay by my side! We're gonna push those bastards at the left flank all the way back towards the breach, and force them to drink their own blood in fear!"
"That sounds disgusting…" Ruto muttered as Matthew helped her get on the warbeast. Balrok laughed.
"Welcome to life with the Bulblins, princess!" He pointed to Matthew, and turned towards his riders. "In the name of our blood brother Red-Demon, CHAAAARRRGGEE!"
…
"Is it just me, or is this getting easier?" Midna mused, as she hacked off the head of a Aeralfos. Beside her, Fi curbstomped a Bokoblin in the next with her sharpened heel.
"It is not just you, friend Midna. I calculate that this part of the battlefield is going exceptionally well."
Midna laughed.
"That's the first thing you've said that hasn't been completely batshit crazy!" She cackled, and proceeded to throw a knife towards a fleeing Lizalfos. It hit the mark. "Is this all that Ganondorf has got?"
"I would not advise making comments of that nature, friend Midna…"
"Why not?" Midna asked. "What's he gonna do, throw his soul at us?"
…
Sitting deep within the bowels of Hyrule Castle, Ganondorf slouched on the throne. He knew that the last man to have this crown was a man named Daphnes. The very thought of that name made his blood boil, as he thought back to the time where one man not destined to do battle with him forever over the ages had outsmarted him. He sat on the throne, and listened to the chaos outside. He would love to go out there himself…but he was in the middle of something important. Something that could not be interrupted.
Still…the enemy deserved a little…reminder that he was not to be trifled with. He chuckled, and felt the dark energy building up in him. He watched as his shadow started to warp, and then split into three pieces. He smiled, and whispered.
"Go forth."
The shadows took to the air, and flew towards the battlefield.
…
Impa leapt over the Darknut's sword, and flipped over the creature's back. She stabbed her naginata into the small of the creature's knee, and when it stumbled down to one knee, she drew a small hunting knife and slashed it across the creature's neck. With a mighty gurgle, the Darknut fell to the ground to bleed out. Impa was panting heavily. That fight had taken a lot out of her. She rested against her naginata, and surveyed the battlefield. It seemed like things were starting to go their way.
At that moment, there was a screeching sound, and she barely got out of the way as three black blobs of dark magic slammed into the ground. Shaking herself, she looked over to see the blobs growing in height and becoming more crystallized in form. They were getting tall, and armored and…
Aw, shit.
"A gift from me to you, Sheikah…" The three shadowy figures spoke in unison.
From across the battlefield, Midna resisted the urge to facepalm.
"Ugh, I was fucking kidding!" She howled. "Impa, watch out! Those are Phantom Figures!"
Impa could have put two and two together. She started backpedalling, noticing that the three of them were locked on her like she was the only thing in the world. Several brave Hyrulians and Ravagers threw themselves in front of her to slow their advance, but they were easily cut down by these phantom Ganondorfs. It was clear that they were trying to cut down on the enemy morale by killing her in front of all to see. The rest of the battle was still raging on. There was no one to save her.
"I'll see you soon, father." She whispered to herself.
As the first demon lunged forward, she rolled out of the way, and thrust her naginata forward. The being hissed in pain as the fiery blade grazed its shoulder, but then it leapt out of the way. Impa rolled out of the way as one of them swung a sword, only to just avoid getting skewered by another. The second one managed to prick her shoulder. She yelled in pain, and backpedalled some more.
There was a blast of white light, and one of the Phantoms was knocked back. Impa looked over to see that Midna and Fi were running forward towards it. They continued to drive it away from Impa, clearly trying to even the odds. But Impa was getting her ass kicked by two. Removing the third was a meaningless gesture.
At least until she heard a bugle, and watched as Lord Gawain and the rest of his personal guard rushed forward towards the second Phantom Ganondorf. Impa thought she saw a wave of Bulblins coming in with them, with Ruto amongst them. That left her alone with one. She liked those odds.
"Bring it, freak." She said defiantly.
"It is your funeral." The Phantom intoned. It charged forward.
…
"Surround it!" Gawain roared. There were about twenty of them forming a circle around the phantom being. Arrows and spears were thrown at it, and the Bulblins rode in a circle to keep the "cage" from breaking. And yet, no matter how much energy was expended, they could barely make a scratch in the creature's magical armor.
"Worthless." The Phantom Ganondorf muttered. It then started fighting back, and slowly but surely it started to whittle down the number of forces keeping it held back.
"It's no use!" Matthew Grantham shouted from his warbeast, as they kept circling the Phantom Ganondorf. "Unless we've got something magical, nothing is gonna work!"
"Magic?" Ruto asked. She peered into her handbag. "Wait, I still have a Zora Scale left! If I can just…" She lit up. "I need your help, Matthew!" She said.
"Whatever you need!" He said. She grabbed her by the cheek and kissed him. It was so passionate that it nearly knocked them both off of the warbeast. Then, she pulled back from the kiss, and kissed the Zora Scale. It started to glow in a rainbow color.
"Hold it steady!" She shouted. Still somewhat reeling, Matthew Grantham kept the warbeast steady. Holding the Zora Scale like a horseshoe, Ruto sensed her opening and threw. The shimmering scale arched through the air and slashed across the cheek of the Phantom Ganondorf. The creature's wound started to shine brightly, and the phantom howled with pain. It seemed a little bit more tangible, and it fell to one knee.
"GUT IT!" Lord Gawain shouted.
They closed the circle in tightly, and descended on the phantom with spears, swords, and fists and feet. It was a bloodbath.
Matthew and Ruto watched the gruesome display in front of them, wincing slightly.
"Oof. Not a pretty way to go." Matthew commented. He turned back to Ruto. "Uh, glad to be of service back there, your highness."
"What?" Ruto asked. "Oh, that! Hee hee, I didn't actually need your help or anything; I had the spell ready and everything. I just needed the proper…motivation." She gave him a sultry look.
Matthew felt his cheeks burning, and he knew it wasn't the war paint.
…
"By the Twilight, hold still!" Midna snarled.
The Phantom Ganondorf was swirling around them like a wraith. Each and every one of Midna's light spells were flaring off aimlessly through the air and smashing against the ground. It seemed like it was smirking.
"Friend Midna, I can be of assistance if you need it."
"By the Twilight, PLEASE!" Midna shouted. "If this idiot doesn't stop flying around, I might just try fighting it hand to hand!"
"Actually…"
Midna watched as there was a flash, and Fi disappeared. In her place was was a blue-hilted sword. It clattered to the ground. Midna, scarce believing her eyes, walked over, and picked up the blade. She stared at it, her eyes wide with disbelief. Somehow, she managed to speak.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
The Phantom Ganondorf lunged towards her.
It was as if the sword was alive in her hands. Midna gave a yell as the sword practically yanked her arm out of its socket as she started running towards the Phantom Ganondorf. The phantom drew a sword and began to duel Midna…or, rather, Midna's arm, as the sword in it was clearly dictating the pace of the fight.
"What-is-going-ON-right-now!?" Midna managed to gasp out between strikes.
"Trust me, friend Midna. Do not think; feel."
Midna heard the voice in her head, and scarcely believed it. But this was hardly the time or the place to question what the hell was going on. So she began to relax. And soon, it was like every move that the sword made, she was willing it to make it. And soon, the phantom was beginning to lose ground. Midna had never used a sword before. This was kind of fun.
Finally, the phantom lunged forward, swinging the sword downward like an axe. Midna raised her sword horizontally, and blocked the attack. She pushed forward, trapping the phantom in the blade cross-lock. Swiftly, knowing she had no time to spare, she thrust her free hand forward and up into the phantom's face. Her palm began to glow as she felt the spell charging within her.
"…Light…" The Phantom Ganondorf hissed in pain and awe.
"Walk towards it." Midna said.
The blast vaporized the dark entity entirely.
…
She hit the ground hard on her back, moaning as the wind was knocked out of her. Struggling to breathe, she rolled out of the way and staggered back to her feet. She was cut and scraped in several places, and was bleeding out of the corner of her mouth. The phantom was standing in front of her, battered-looking but not in nearly as bad of shape as she was. It seemed like it was becoming more corporeal in front of her; surely its two copies had been defeated. But that was of little use to her. She was so exhausted she could barely lift her naginata.
"This is the end, Sheikah." The phantom said. "Make peace with your goddesses."
It flew forward.
She heard him roar long before she saw him. One moment, the phantom was flying towards her, and the next it was tackled back to the ground. There was a rolling ball of violence between the phantom and her savior, and soon they both managed to get back to their feet. If it was possible, the phantom looked smug.
"You." It said.
"Tha's right. Me." Ishaka snarled. He drew his black knives, and engaged the enemy. He tried for a cross stab. The phantom countered.
"You did that last time." The being chided.
Ishaka went for a leg sweep, only for the shadowy being to hop over it and then block the incoming stab to the leg.
"As you did that!" Phantom Ganondorf said. There was clear condescension in its voice. Finally, Ishaka thrust upwards and forwards in an x-block strike. The phantom trapped the blades, and laughed.
"Familiar!" It taunted. "Surely my shadow has a new move or two?"
Ishaka suddenly smiled.
"How 'bout this?"
Impa watched as a blade emerged from beneath both of the Ravager's wrists. He then made a criss-cross motion, raking the blades across the eyes of the phantom. It hissed in pain, its corporeal form registering that attack perfectly. Ishaka then stabbed the hidden blades into the eye sockets of the phantom, and then wiggled them around as much as he could. He could hear screaming, and knew that the Gerudo was feeling that excruciating pain from wherever he was hiding. He only wished that the effects carried over to the host of the phantom.
"A prequel o' thin's ta come, shadow!" Ishaka roared. He yanked the blades out, retracted them, and then swung both of his knives at the base of the phantom's neck. It slumped to the ground, and then faded away.
Ishaka holstered his blades, and rushed over to Impa. He helped her up to her feet slowly, and then tossed her her naginata.
"Thanks, Ishaka." She said. "Always have a knack for showing up at the last minute, don't you?" She asked teasingly.
"Wha' can I say?" Ishaka said. "Tha's part o' me charm." He said.
"Indeed." Impa said. "I have to say though: after that last bit of fun, I doubt there's anything left that you can do to surprise me."
Ishaka had turned to run off when she'd said this. He stopped, and slowly turned to look at her. The look in his eyes and on his face was unlike anything she'd seen of him before. It was the look of a man who had finally decided on something.
"There's one more thin', Sheikah." He said. Impa smiled, not noticing that he wasn't smiling back.
"Yeah? And what's that? What could you possibly say to surprise me now?"
There was a pause. And then he spoke.
"I love you."