AN: I am very, very, very sorry for the huge wait. For those who are still with me after my negligence: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm not going to make excuses, but I will tell you my reasons. One) I've been running dry on motivation. But I heard some awesome Zelda songs that got my blood pumping. Two) I've started university and it's kinda more troublesome than I thought! BUT it's given me some more ideas that I might incorporate into this fic, or another one. As for this fic, there is only an epilogue left... Thank you for coming this far with me! And I apologize for the lack of a proper battle... The main theme is really reuniting friends... Ah! Enjoy the story!
Twilight Rain
Chapter Four
Coughing, Saria's eyes widened, and Link could sense her fear. "We have to cut the reunion short then." Link started to object until he followed the green headed girl's stare. Midna gently swore under her breath. "I think those myths were right." Saria muttered, as the crowd of four stared at what looked like a body forming out of the darkness of the twilight; the body of Zant returning for revenge.
Link reached for his sword, but to his amazement, found that his arms could not reach. Glancing at the two girls he brought with him, he noticed they were becoming extremely taller than him. The fear in their eyes told him enough. The power of Zant's rebirth had sent his own body into the Beast he once was. In this moment in time, would that be enough to protect those with him? The shining triangle on his paw gave him hope and courage.
"Link!" A childish voice called out – Midna. He cocked his head to the side, his jaw hanging open, and saw the imp the beautiful princess once was. She was staring at her hands, her huge eyes full of fury, the Fused Shadow she possessed sitting like a crown on her head. With a shriek of disgust, she lifted her head to face the resurrecting demon that was the Twilight's previous ruler: Zant.
The creature inhaled its breath, a screech so inhuman that the Dark Lord Ganon would have been proud of escaped it's not yet visible lips. As the screech was let out, the figure was slowly forming from the particles of Twilight. The darkness flocked to him, helping his shape materialize.
Doing what he could do, Link dashed in front of his group, crouching in a fierce position. Even in wolf form, he had enough fight in him to take down a threatening evil: as long as he had someone to protect. And right now, he had three. Midna: his old, beloved friend. Malon and Saria: two girls who did not know him who had offered their services to aid him. Besides, if he did not try his best, Zelda would kill him when he returned.
After staring helplessly at the forming shape, Saria glared at it from behind the shield of Link. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" She scowled, throwing her hand into the green tunic she was wearing, "This isn't right! You can't come back from the dead just because we crossed worlds!" Her hand returned from her tunic, and she was holding a green coin. Curious, Link turned to stare at it. Saria raised it above her head, and kept her angry stare. "This is a powerful Medallion, I think I can send this... this thing back to wherever it came from!"
Malon gasped in joy at the green haired girls revelation. But Midna raised her tiny hand in protest. "Look. There's something unnatural about it." Everyone turned their attention to the reborn ex-ruler, Zant only to see that it looked uncomfortable in its body. "I don't think that's an actual rebirth." She muttered, her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "If it's possible, it's just something that happened when the worlds were rejoined."
With looks of sheer confusion, Malon and Saria stared at Midna as she twirled mid air and landed on top of Link's canine back. Much to their surprise, the Sacred Wolf simply nodded, as if understanding Midna's silent action.
There came a minute's silence when the not-actually Zant was examined closely by Link and Midna. The only audible sound was a deep hissing, which seemed to escape the hideous reincarnation. "Saria." The green haired girl blinked at the sudden mention of her name. "You are a magician of a sort, right?"
"Actually," The red headed girl interrupted, "We just make music!"
The trademark grin of the Twilight Princess spread across her face, the tiny fang giving away her eagerness. "Powerful music, right? When I say now, I want you both to play something that can heal spirits. Just give it a shot."
More confusion followed, yet Link leapt into the fray ready to defend and protect.
Being in wolf form again threw off Link's fighting ability – he had remained in his human shape for far too long. Yet he was still agile. Which was more than could be said for the lopsided imitation of the serpent like ruler of the Twilight. The creature moved as if it was a ReDead in a Dodongo's body. It looked very uncomfortable. Midna too, seemed to be suffering in her old form.
The agile wolf sunk his teeth into the dark form of Zant, viciously forcing his way past whatever the creature's skin was made of. He growled when he realized it had little effect. The creature swung its left arm, knocking Link off balance.
"Drat..." Midna hissed, forming a red coloured sphere between her hands, "This might be tougher than I thought. We need to weaken whatever it is before it can gain all of Zant's abilities." Link shot her a look that asked if that was even capable. Shrugging, Midna released the ball. It collided into the creature, momentarily paralysing it. "Link! Quickly! Strike!"
Pouncing, Link threw himself over the creature, striking with his tail. The creature screeched, causing everyone's blood to freeze. "N-now!" Midna screamed out, alerting Saria and Malon to their part of the plan.
Saria nodded and held the Ocarina to her lips. The battle between the wolf and the demon had given Malon and herself to organize what they had to do. Saria glanced at Malon, who gave a quick nod. The Ocarina was pressed against her lips, and she began to play. The notes filled the air, and in the darkness of the twilight, became nearly visible. Malon, instead of singing, hummed along with the melody.
The music filled the throne room from ever corner. Link closed his eyes in amazement. The song felt nostalgic to him, bringing back memories of past times. And of course, it should have. It was a song that had been passed down from warrior to warrior: he, himself, learning it from the ghost of a powerful warrior. The Song of Healing. A simple name, perhaps, but nothing better could explain the power of the song. At the touch of the song, Link's heart lifted. Maybe everything would be okay...
He opened his eyes wearily, expecting to see the creature standing, waiting for the next strike. Instead, he was surprised to find small clouds of silver mist floating in front of him. He reached out to touch one, and found that he could – his body had returned to its human shape.
"Well, well..." Midna muttered in surprise, now in her full form. "I didn't actually think that would work." Her eyes were wide with amazement, clearly not hiding her disbelief.
The green haired musician noticed Midna's reaction and crossed her arms. "Hey! Did you doubt the work of an ancestor of the Sages?" She snapped.
"That reminds me," Midna pondered, her finger on her lip. "I didn't know Sages could breed. I thought that in becoming immortal, they gave up any chance of a normal life. That is how the modern Sages work after all."
This caught Saria off guard. With a quick glance at Link, and Malon, she tapped her pocket where she had returned the Medallion and moved closer to Midna. "The Ancient Sages of Hyrule can't breed. Instead we evolve to suit our surroundings. It's easier to say we're ancestors though." She finished with a wink. Midna returned the gesture with a smile that promised the secret was safe.
To Midna's right, Malon was staring misty eyed at the silver clouds. "It's so pretty Saria! Did we do this?" She raised her arm to catch some of the floating powder in her hand.
Saria nodded , and embraced the Ocarina. "Yes." She looked sorrowfully at the mist that everyone else found beautiful. "But the majority of the power came from the Ocarina of Time. And Link." Sighing, she turned away, heading to the portal that had been forgotten about. "We best head back. The quicker we close this portal, the better." Midna followed her retreating back, wondering if Saria had too much to think about. Perhaps the newest Hero with the Triforce of Courage brought back painful memories?
Malon pouted and mimicked the sigh, "But Saria, I wanted to hang around this new world a bit. It doesn't seem any different from ours, but... I want to see if it is!" The response the red head got was a direct glare from her green headed companion. "Oh, fine. Link, speak to us when you're ready to go!" And she darted off to the other end of the room to join her older friend.
Using the free time, Link turned to face Midna and opened his mouth to ask so many questions. Yet with the raising of her hand, Midna silenced him easily. "You want to know why I left and why I broke the mirror. I know you do." She smiled. "But that story can wait for another day. Tell me, do you know of the Mirror of Dawn? The sister to the Mirror of Twilight?"
Link nodded, words failing him.
"When I returned, I considered destroying that mirror in the same way." A painful look spread across Midna's delicate features. "I considered destroying my last tie to you. But something stopped me. Maybe I knew you would play a crazy stunt like this?" She grinned, her face lighting up. "I still have that mirror, and I'm going to give it to you Link."
With a huge gasp, Link felt his heart swell up with pride. So Midna wanted to be with him too! Well, to an extent. He grabbed her in a tight embrace, which took her by surprise. "Link!" She snapped, "What got into you? Have you gone insane?"
"Well, Twilight Princess," the Sage of the Forest, Saria smiled, "This is goodbye."
"For now, anyway!" Malon grinned. "Can we come back with Link sometime?"
Midna chuckled as she stood with her new friends, and her old companion by the portal that would return them home. "Sure, as long as Link doesn't mind!" Link grinned and shrugged, his arms tightly holding onto a round shaped object wrapped in cloth. "Now Link," Midna warned, "Only beings with strong powers can destroy that mirror. So avoid running into evil demon lords, or sorcerers on your way back home, okay?" She giggled, and stepped back from the portal. "And now this is goodbye, a second time, yet not the last time."
Saria nodded, and stepped through the portal. Next to go was Malon, who turned and stuck out her tongue, "It was nice to meet you! I hope we see each other soon!" With that, she too disappeared into the shining portal that had directed them to the world.
Smiling in awe of the slight madness that was Malon, Midna shook her head. "I would give you a long goodbye Link, but I know how eager you can be. I assume we shall meet soon." With that, she gave the Hero clad in green a gentle shove into the portal, waited until his figure had completely disappeared, and let the tears of joy fall from her eyes. That was the first time the land of Twilight ever had rain.