Chapter 6

"Ugh… my head…," Raven moaned. His skull was filled with a strong throbbing sensation that caused him a great deal of discomfort. Grunting against the pain, he got up from his position and was surprised to see that he was lying on stone ground. He frowned and looked around to observe the rest of his surroundings. He was in a place, dark, foreboding, that resembled an abandoned castle almost. The boy got up to get a better look. The ship hadn't crashed, surprisingly, and was lodged between a rock and a stone wall.

"Hey! Hey are you guys alright?" The Royal Guard called out as he ran to the rescue of his shipmates. Sighing with relief, he saw that the crew of sailors was alright and each head was accounted for.

"Captain! You're alive!" Gonzo called. The burly man jumped from the ship and waded over to Raven. When he got near enough, he balled his eyes dry.

"It's okay. Everyone's fine… Everyone… Where's Malon? Malon? Malon!" The blonde pushed passed Gonzo's large, sobbing form and ran towards the ship. He jumped aboard in one fell swoop and looked amongst the faces of his crew.

"Where is she? Have you seen her?" He questioned frantically. His crew just looked between one another sadly and offered Raven no reply to his inquiries. The sailors' gloomy faces gave Raven a pang of sorrow in his gut.

"No… No she… didn't… drown…," he stuttered. He clenched his fist angrily and punched a hole in a nearby wall.

"She's not dead!" His heart was full of different emotions at once: grief, sadness, regret, anger, etc. There was only one emotion that he could feel the best out of all the rest and that was anger. Immense anger filled him. He was angry at Malon for not listening to what he had said and involved herself in a dangerous battle that could have cost her life. He was angry at the monster for endangering Malon's life. But most of all he was angry at himself for not being able to protect her. It was the thought of him not being able to protect her that cut him deep to the bowels of his soul. What had he been training for the last five years of his life? What good was it if it couldn't protect the people dearest to him? The boy's fist slowly returned to his side. What good was he?

"Shit…," Raven muttered.

"Umm… Captain… If I may say so… I do believe that it is a possibility that the girl survived. I mean, you too flew from the ship and you are unscathed …," Mako, the smartest and smallest of the sailors explained. Raven looked at him with hopeful green eyes.

"Yeah… We'll all spread out and look for her."

"What? Sir! It was she that caused all this trouble in the first place! Didn't I tell ya? Didn't I say that it was bad luck to have a woman onboard? Didn't I? I say we're better off without her!" Gonzo cried. His resolve died a slow miserable death when he saw the cold look Raven was giving him. Even from a distance, his green eyes were beastly and very frightening. The bulky sailor huffed and crossed his arms.

"Now, if there are no more objections… I want half of you to come with me to look for Malon and I want the other half of you to stay here and try to break that boulder," Raven told. He jumped from the ship and landed on his feet gracefully. He looked at Gonzo one last time before starting on his way. Just as he had asked, half of the sailors stayed behind, Gonzo among them, and half went with Raven. Of course, the half with Raven was the weaklings of the group since the larger men stayed behind to conduct the heavy work, but the boy wasn't deterred. He wasn't planning on finding anything dangerous here. It was an abandoned castle on the outskirts of the Great Sea. What could possibly be here? Unbeknownst to him, trouble was afoot. In the distance, hiding in the dark depths of the shadows, two witches watched the young man gleefully.

"Look Koume, there he is. The sacrifice we need to revive Lord Ganon," one of the witches exclaimed in a shrill voice. Her sister, Koume, laughed.

"Yes. How misfortunate for him, Kotake. Now how about we bring out the Phantom to deal with the little pests that Vaati forgot to destroy?"

"Yes! What fun that will be Koume! Let's!"

As Raven walked out into a clearing, a bone chilling sensation snaked down his back. He stopped, mid-stride, and gestured for his three companions to mimic his actions by putting up a hand. Mako, Zuko, and Niko stopped in their tracks, suddenly petrified with fear.

"Uh… C… Captain? Why are we… s…st…stoppin'?" Niko asked. Raven pulled his sword from its place at his side.

"There's trouble." No sooner had the words left his mouth was there a black sword cutting through the air towards the man. Raven side stepped and avoided serious injury. Niko screamed. A black figure hovered before them threateningly, and the large black sword that had tried to strike Raven only moments before, now lay lazily at the monster's side.

"What the hell is that thing?" Niko questioned. Raven shrugged.

"Just stand back and I'll handle him." Raven got into his fighting stance and eyed his opponent before he ran towards the shadow, sword raised. He jumped up to deliver a fatal blow, but his sword cut through air. Gasping, he realized that his enemy had somehow managed to get behind him without Raven noticing it. The creature used its mighty blade and swung at Raven, who lifted his sword instinctively and deflected the blow. Raven landed on his knee and kept his sword up. The Phantom hovered over him mockingly.

"Oh hohohohoho! My, my, what a brave little boy Koume!"

"Yes, brave and stupid Kotake!" Raven looked around confusedly for the owners of the voices. His eyes widened when the two witches materialized before him out of thin air. They studied the boy delightedly.

"Ooooooh he will make a great sacrifice to Lord Ganon!" Kotake squealed. Her sister slapped her hardly across the face.

"Don't put our business out like that!"

"I'm sorry… But you didn't have to hit me that hard!" Raven watched the exchange with a disgusted look on his face. The two looked like an identical pair of bigheaded, long nosed hags arguing on their broomsticks, which was more unappealing then frightening. He stood stiffly and exchanged looks with the three members of his crew who shrugged.

"Look what you did now Koume! He's not even listening to us!"

"Well that can be easily remedied Kotake!" Without hesitation, Koume released a fireball from her palm and it flew directly at Raven's feet. The man jumped back and watched the fire singe the ground he'd once been standing on. Now he looked at the two witches with interest.

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"We want you boy!" Kotake shrieked. Her voice caused Raven to flinch involuntarily.

"I'm sorry, but I'm busy at the moment. Now if you don't mind…"

"Ha!" Kotake blew a breath and a chilly wind blew at Raven. He gasped when he saw his lower body was covered in freezing ice.

"If you don't cooperate with us then we'll have Phantom destroy your friends over here!" Koume said. She motioned for the creature to attack the three unsuspecting crewmen. The shadow lifted his sword threateningly and flew at them. Raven couldn't break the ice that was anchoring his body to the ground and so he yelled, "Stop! I'll cooperate!" Koume smiled evilly and with a snap of the fingers, the phantom disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"That's a good boy," she cooed. Raven grunted angrily and his teeth chattered. The ice was beginning to take its affect on his body. Kotake dipped low to the ground on her broom and pointed to Raven's feet. The ice shattered and the boy fell from his loss of balance.

"Get up and follow us," she ordered. Raven didn't argue and got up. His legs still felt frozen, but he walked behind the witches obediently.

"Captain!"

"Don't do it Captain!" Looking back at his men, Raven smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. Just find Malon and get out of here. I'll be fine." The two witches exchanged cruel smiles. The smiles were for the secret knowledge that they both shared. None of them were leaving there alive.

The wooden doors opened, creaking on their hinges, and Raven entered the twin sisters' dominion. The inside was dimly lighted, and was only so from the assistance of torches. Had the torches been put out, the whole place would be pitch black save a few patches of sunlight here and there, courtesy of the windows and cracks in the walls. Raven walked on bravely. He ignored the ghouls that mocked him with trifling snarls of disdain as he walked deeper into the home of the demented. More of the witches' pets, monsters that used to torment the land of Hyrule in a time gone past, became visible and were in large quantities in this place. They seemed to be thriving in this place of gloom and doom.

"Where is this?" He asked finally, "What is this place that it houses the evil that had once been destroyed?" The sisters laughed.

"This is the Forsaken Fortress," Koume answered. They stopped at what appeared to be a dead end and the monsters blocked Raven's path to the way he'd come. The honey haired man looked around cautiously and drew his sword.

"It is the last place you will see alive in this world!" Kotake hurled a large fire ball at Raven, who brought his arms to his face instinctively, and a ring of flames blazed around him.

"Feast upon his roasting flesh my pets! Make him bleed!" One after another the creatures of darkness jumped through the flames and attacked Raven. Some scratched at him while other's tried to take a bite out of him. Raven fended them off with the use of his blade until a giant Moblin slapped it from his grasp. The Moblin pulled Raven by the collar of his shirt and head butted him, knocking the sense from him temporarily. The witches' laughed enthusiastically at the carnage ensuing before them.

Elsewhere, Gonzo and the rest of the crew that had stayed behind were getting desperate to find a way to dislodge the ship from its place between the boulder and wall. They each heaved and hoed as they tried to push it back into the opened waters. Unfortunately, even their brute strength wasn't enough to make the ship move.

"It's hopeless! This ship is going nowhere!" Gonzo concurred wholeheartedly with his crewmate, but he couldn't stop himself from trying. If not for the captain, or the rest of his crew members, he wanted to have the ship mobile soon rather than stay any longer on this goddesses' forsaken fortress. Telling the men to rest, he decided to go on in search of something to help them better in their hopeless venture. Instead of finding something valuable, he stumbled across an unconscious body laying against the shoreline. Water crashed against her and her skin was paler than death. Gonzo hurried over to Malon's side and called for his friends to assist him.

Meanwhile, the other half of the crew waited patiently for a sign of their captain. Niko made invisible swirls on the ground with his index finger to distract himself from the plaguing idea that maybe their captain wouldn't be returning.

"We can't just wait around here doing nothing! He could be in trouble!" Mako declared angrily. Niko looked at his companion and snorted indifferently.

"And what do you suppose we do about it? We're stranded here and if anything, he's probably done for by now! Those witches weren't joking around. We don't have anything to defend ourselves with and… and… fuck! It's so frustrating!" None of them spoke anymore after that and continued to idly waste their time until Zuko stood with determination. Mako and Niko looked at him expectantly.

"And what do you think you're on about all of the sudden?"

"I was just thinking… What if everyone else managed to get the ship freed? Perhaps we oughta get outta here and tell them what's happened. Maybe we can use the canons to help the captain. And anyway, what if that phantom thing comes back? I don't want to be around for that…"

"… What a well articulated argument. I'm with you my man. Lead the way!"

However, the three were unaware that the "phantom thing" was already upon them, sword raised and killer intent evident in his form. Niko, after feeling the hairs on his neck rise inauspiciously, turned and saw the monster.

"It's too late! It's here!! Run!!" The three of them took off with the phantom following them dangerously.

Concurrently, Raven was amidst his own troubles when the screams of his fellows reached his ears which were ringing after being pounded mercilessly by his enemies during their brawl. He was pinned against the ground while the monsters tore at his clothing and his skin. Raven screamed and socked the monster holding him down. The creature snorkeled and backed away confusedly. The others proceeded to get Raven unguarded but he was already up and jumping out of the ring of fire. He rolled along the cold stone ground to put out the fire that hung onto the fabric of his clothing and then he came across his discarded blade. He grasped it tightly and went on a swinging frenzy, tearing the beasts apart limb by limb. The witches watched in horror at the sudden turn of events.

"Stop him! We need the hero's blood to revive the master!" Raven frowned a little to himself and turned his blade towards the witches who shrieked in fear before he ran away. He hadn't put one foot down and the monsters were already close at his heel.

"Blood of the hero? I'm no hero!" He thought, "I'm no hero if I can't protect my crew… If I can't protect the most important person to me! Even now I'm running instead of taking a stand. I'm useless! I'm nothing great!"

"But what is true greatness? Who's to say? And what of it makes a hero a hero?" The voice was foreign a mere whisper in the depths of his mind and Raven didn't understand what it was saying.

"For you, the answer is easy. With a simple drop of your blood… greatness… heroism… is not so far." Without realizing it, Raven's footfalls had become lax; he'd begun to slow down. And during his moment of hesitation, a four legged creature who had managed to keep up with him, jumped at him, sharp teeth bared and bit his wrist. Raven howled, a drop of his blood fell, and he wretched his arm free then continued to run.

The sunlight was blinding as he exited hell's domain but Raven kept running. His arm was burning. He gripped it, grunting a little as his tender flesh burned in compliant from his touch. The man's vision blurred but he kept running until the ship came into view.

His crew had already boarded the marooned vessel and had engaged the phantom monster in battle. Raven stopped to look on in curiosity until he noticed the monsters on his back were still chasing him. Without another thought, he jumped into the ship, and simultaneously, the phantom swung its large blade, consequently shattering the boulder that kept the ship aground. The force of the impact was enough to send the ship into the open waters once again and the monsters all fell into the water gurgling for air. Raven grunted and held his shoulder, which he had landed on when he crash landed onto the ship.

"Take that you scallywags! To Davy's Locker with the lot of ya!" Gonzo cheered. His crew joined him in voicing their happiness for their lucky getaway and the Royal Guard couldn't help smiling a little at the way things had managed to work out. But then he thought about Malon and his heart grew heavy.

"We have to go back! We can't leave yet!" The sailors were aghast at their captain's sudden outburst.

"Why in all of Hyrule would you be wanting to go back there for? It was lucky that all of us managed to get outta there in one piece as it is!" Niko cried. Raven frowned and stood on his legs.

"But that's just it! We all aren't here! Malon! Malon's…"

"Safe and sound captain. She's right here." Raven's emerald eyes fell onto the sleeping beauty in Zuko's arms. Her face was peaceful though slight bruises were visible.

"Gonzo found her." The brawny sailor blushed shyly and rubbed his neck.

"It was nothing really…"

"…No…It's everything. Thank you…" Raven took Malon from Zuko and carried her to his cabin. The crew watched with interest when he closed his door.

"I say that little lady is more trouble than she's worth."

"But she did save us…"

"And the captain seems very fond of her. Maybe she isn't all that bad."

"Yeah. Maybe…" All conversing aside, the men went back to their posts and some tried to salvage some of the materials onboard that weren't lost or ruined.

Raven proceeded to care for his injuries and Malon's, whose weren't nearly as severe as he had originally guessed they would be, and he sighed a sigh of relief. The weary man sat at her bedside and watched her sleep peacefully and undisturbed for the most part. There were times when the amber haired female groaned and turned in her sleep but other then that her sleep was amicable. Raven lovingly touched a hand to her cheek and smiled when she leaned into his touch.

"I'm sorry… that I wasn't able to protect you… Malon. I was so scared that I had lost you. Maybe I'm not nearly as great as I had originally thought… Maybe I'm not worthy of you after all… Perhaps I should stop pretending to be something I'm not. This task… is too great for me." He continued to hold her face until he felt an uncharacteristic self loathing take hold of him and then shame prevented him from further contact from the person who he'd nearly left for dead. He leaned forward and cupped his face in his hands. Why was he so worthless? His fists clenched and pain erupted from his left hand. He looked at it and saw blood had begun to stain his freshly wrapped bandage.

"Greatness… heroism… is not so far…"

Even though Raven doubted his existence was made for a purpose, others knew otherwise. Koume and Kotake had long since taken the fang that was stained with Raven's blood from the mouth of the creature that had bit him. Now they stood before a cauldron boiling with other putrid ingredients, smiling wickedly.

"Even though they got away… we still did good didn't we Kotake?"

"Yes Koume. We did. No one will be able to escape the wrath of Ganondorf… And with this last piece of the potion, let the King of Evil rise to once again take residence in this land!" Kotake let a single drop of the crimson liquid fall from the fang and once it landed into the potion, a giant explosion occurred and the sister's laughed maniacally.

As though immediately after Raven's blood touched the concoction and finished it, the sky's once cool hue turned a violent shade of vermillion. Black clouds covered the bleeding firmament over the kingdom of Hyrule and from these dark clouds, monsters fell. As their cries of joy erupted from their mouths, and their feet rumbled against the ground, more monster's emerged seemingly from the bowels of hell itself as they came up from cracks in the earth. The people ran screaming for their lives and Zelda watched it all from safely within the castle walls as it happened.

"Let the testimony of his return wreck havoc in the land that damned him to oblivion! Let them, the people of Hyrule, feel his wrath! Oh hohohohohohohohoho!"