Chapter 10: Creating a Soldier
For nearly an hour now Link had carefully traversed the root-covered pathways and long, grassy slopes upwards. It was certainly obvious that any deku would have a much easier time getting to the temple than any human, but Link would have to stay in control and although he would never admit it, blocking out Dreek from moving was a tiresome thing to do. He needed to keep control. He had to keep control or once again feel that others control him and make him seem useless. Saving Hyrule had made him feel that way many times for a long time.
To keep control, something had to be done about Dreek. In Clock Town he was the best comrade he could have asked for. Not caring about any others who got in his way, simply pushing them aside if they threatened the mission. That was the Dreek Link liked, but since he had confessed to someone of his current condition he hadn't been the same. He needed the old Dreek back but the only question was how.
While taking the time to think of the helpful process, the Woodfall Temple had peeked over the canopy of trees and soon revealed itself to the boy and his fairy in all of its tainted glory. Whilst normally a wonderous sight to see, the swampy water and decaying trees gave the ancient architecture a desolate and dying feel to it. It was almost as if the forest had become a tomb.
"Look at this place, Dreek. Even if you did possible have people to live for, your land is dying and so, too, shall your people with it." Link displayed.
No. You're wrong. Once we break the seal on the giant's spirit the curse on this land will be lifted and my people will be allowed to live.
"But you won't. You are already dead and there is nothing that can change that. Learn to accept it."
Link didn't know it, as he wasn't able to read Dreek's mind at the time, but the order had finally managed to get through and the process of total control was already in motion. There was no way for Dreek to be revived and it was about time he faced it. He thought he had when he spoke to the professor, but it turned out he was only deluding himself in the possibility that there may still be a chance to make something with the Princess.
Still taking the time to think everything over, the temple was waiting right in front of them ready to be explored. At a distance it looked dead, but up close it was a wonder to know if it was ever alive at all! The colour had seemingly vanished from the stone making it blend in with the rotten tree roots that had wrapped themselves all around the ancient shrine. The smooth surfaces had many fallen chunks while the rest had become sharp and brittle giving it way to crumble to pieces at any given time. Truly this place had died and this famine was continuing to spread.
Walking slowly up the long, equally as dead, stone pathway, Link allowed the inky blackness of the inner temple to swallow him in and show him the way forwards. Surprisingly the inside of the huge temple was in less disarray than the outside. Being very Deku friendly, there were large tree trunks growing through the walls and out through the ceiling. On these were torches used to help light the way further into the sacred home of an older tribe.
Exactly who built these ancient temples was something that occasionally came up in Link's mind whenever he had to enter one and how a civilisation can make such incredible buildings, then somehow decline into a state that bland castles are the most extravagant buildings to be made. What happened to them to cause a decline or perhaps what happened to the people who made these temples? Whilst it was impossible to know, it was somehow always interesting to think about it.
Admiring the structure of the temple and the fusion of nature to human design was Tatl the fairy, floating just ahead of Link as another source of light. Tatl, unlike Link, had never been in such an architectural wonder as this before so to begin with she was stuck for words to describe it. Soon realising that a need to describe it was not entirely necessary she continued to admire the well built surroundings and to lead the way onwards.
Just ahead was a large wooden door that looked remarkably similar to the one underground when Link first entered Termina. Pressing his hand to it to channel the flow of magical energy, the door magically lifted upwards much like any other Link had encountered in other temples. Only now did it occur to him that the passage from Hyrule to Termina may have been created by a similar people who made these temples. Such a thought didn't last long, however, when the remarkably large and extravagant room beyond the door filled the room of all thoughts in his mind.
One of the better words to describe it was spectacular. Having seen the size of the temple from the outside one would have to question if this room would actually fit in such a place simply by the size of it. There were a number of levels to the room all connected by sloped ledges and in the middle was a large wooden flower taking up a large majority of the room. Standing at the second highest floor, Link looked around for a preferable direction to go in while Tatl flew around to investigate on her own. Her lack of light made no real difference as the amount and size of the torches were enough to illuminate the whole room.
If the assailant came here, then he knows where to go so getting to him won't be easy. Dreek suddenly mentioned.
"Are you saying you know where to go?" Link answered
I'm saying I know what to do in order to find the way. Dreek answered.
"And what must we do?"
There are two switches hidden in the temple as the room is used as a final defence. No doubt he is using it for cover in case we attacked. We will need to find them and activate them, and I can lead you to them. Dreek explained.
"You can guide me to them. For obvious reasons I don't feel I can trust you with this body just yet." Link replied.
Dreek didn't say anything afterwards, knowing that any more words would be shot down and ignored. Instead the two waited shortly for Tatl to return from her short scouting mission.
"Well, I saw a large door opposite us on the level below, but it looks like it's locked and won't open easily. I also saw a smaller door on the level above us which looks like we can enter so I'd say that's our best bet." Tatl reported.
That's the way to one of the switches. We should head that way.
"Alright. We head that way." Link said.
Walking around the large room to the upwards ramp, Link soon found the way to the door Tatl had mentioned. Upon opening it, they were met with a relatively large spiral staircase going downwards. Tatl flew down to the bottom to check it out and waited for them there, which gave the two boys plenty of time to talk between themselves.
Link didn't feel like most kinds of talk, though. The only thing that interested him right now was trying to turn Dreek back into the mindless soldier that he so wanted. Exactly how to do it was unknown, but attacking the mind seemed like a good idea to start with.
"Dreek, what do you fear?" Link asked.
My fear? You did not look for yourself? Dreek asked back.
"It slipped my mind." Link casually answered.
My fear is failure. Constantly dreading the idea that my failed actions could lead to injury or death while successful actions could spare those people. Dreek answered.
"Ah, I see. A justifiable fear." Link commented.
Neither said anything for a moment after that. The silence bordered that of an uncomfortable one which urged both of them to break it soon. Against the natural behaviour of a soldier, Dreek was the first to snap under pressure and spoke first, but also out of curiosity.
What do you fear?
"Me? Well after what I've been through I've learnt to fear only one thing. Freedom." Link stated.
You fear freedom? From what I've seen, you've done nothing but try to achieve your freedom!
"My aim is control of my own life, not freedom." Link replied quickly.
So what is it about freedom that scares you? Dreek slowly asked.
"The consequences of world-wide freedom. If every man, woman and child was free to do whatever they felt like, the world would fall into utter anarchy. We need monarchies and parliaments to help keep order while spreading the delusion that their subjects are free. The bare truth of it all is that they are being controlled by those with more power than them. That is why I seek control."
In the short time Dreek had been forced to be with Link, he had never had a reason to feel nervous or scared of something, but Link was now something to be nervous about. Despite that, his reasoning was right. A free world is a destructive world and it is a level of control that helps keep order amongst the people. How much control did he have over his life? All Dreek ever did was follow orders and do as he was told. This would be something he had to think about. Fortunately he still had about half of the staircase and however long Link wished to stay out to think.
Link, having spoken truthfully, smiled to himself knowing he had had some effect on the Deku and discovered that mind tactics were the way to go. He would leave it a while before he tried again, but try again he would do until it worked.
Another minute or so later and Link had rejoined Tatl at the bottom. Acknowledging each other but saying nothing, Link pressed on the door to open the way to a reasonably big room. It was obvious to see the switch that Dreek had mentioned of in this room, but it was also obvious to see the few traps surrounding and protecting it. Hidden amongst the stone walls and occasional creeping vine were small holes which looked just big enough to allow an arrow through them. The same holes were also in the ceiling and quite possibly in the floor too, but they could just be cracks developed from being so old.
Tatl, not knowing of the switches but guessing their purpose, scanned the room similarly to Link and soon spoke up with a light-hearted, yet serious tone.
"So we want to get to that switch, huh? Well I doubt I'm strong enough to do anything to it so it looks like your on your own. Have fun!" Tatl said before finding a safe corner to stay in.
Content with letting her go to be quiet, Link cautiously took a step forwards making sure not to be in the path of too many of the holes. He noticed that they seemed to have been perfectly round at one point but had eroded away over time and had become just mouldy holes in the walls. Not the best idea for an arrow to come out of which gave Link a little reassurance. Walking more confidently to the large switch on the other side of the room, he stopped next to it and gave the room another quick glance before he pressed down on the switch with his boot.
Oddly enough, nothing happened at first. There was no whoosh of an arrow or slow grinding of a closing wall to crush him. This seemed relatively easy, until the dripping began. The first drop of water landed on Tatl who fell to the floor and shook it off as moisture from the ground. Then more drops came from all over the ceiling and with it a repulsive smell that made Link gag very badly. It wasn't long before he realised and saw that the holes in the walls were allowing the swampy water to flood in and quickly fill the room.
Wasting no time Link immediately ran back to the door, already being slowed down by the amount of water that covered the floor. The holes in the floor that Link hoped would be draining the water were also spouting water up, helping to fill the room even faster. After what seemed like a minute Link managed to reach the door, Tatl having managed to get up quickly and follow, and opened it to retreat up the staircase. Sadly for them, this also allowed the water to drain into this area and even when the door closed behind them the water level began to creep up towards them.
"Hey, you do realise it's still coming up, right? Running might be a good idea about now!"
Despite the obviousness of Tatl's cry it somehow managed to revive Link's legs and make them run up the long spiral staircase as the water level continued to rise faster as the original room had been filled. All the while the horrid stench of the swamp water wafted up creating more gags from Link, almost ready to keel over again. Very fortunately his speed got him back up to the top with time to spare as he pressed the door open and shut before the water had a chance to reach his feet.
"Phew. Just made it. Now let's just hope that water can't get through this door." Tatl gasped, slightly relieved at their current safety.
Both waited for the water on the other side to rise and possibly leak around the edge of the door but after waiting for some time such a thing never occurred. It seemed that they had escaped death for now but as Tatl had said, only just. Once the two adventurers realised this as well, they began to walk down to find any other doors that could lead to the other switch.
Why didn't you use me to get out? I could have done it so much easily than you could. Dreek commented.
"I didn't need you. I got out fine by myself and that proves it." Link plainly answered.
Come now. I heard you gagging all those times. I could practically feel your nausea! You would go so far as to risk your life just to retain your human form?
"If it was the other way around, would you have let me take control if it was easier?"
Dreek began, but stopped when he realised the answer wasn't that straight-forward. If he had control of his body once more, would he have let Link take that control away from him? Most other, nicer people would have trusted him with the control but someone more of a realist would see that it may not be worth the risk.
…No
"Exactly. Now where do we go for the next switch?" Link asked surprisingly quickly.
The bottom floor. We need to do something else beforehand.
---
"Explain this to me again." The Deku King ordered.
In the time it had taken Link and Tatl to get to the temple and past their first ordeal, the Butler had finally managed to gather himself and report what he had seen. A rarely seen fairy come out of his son's hat then the magical transformation from a deku to a human.
"So you mean to tell me that one of our chief commanders is not who we think he is?!" The King asked loudly.
"Well, sire, it could be that Dreek managed to obtain this ability on his own." The Butler replied.
"Preposterous! As much as we yearn for it, we dekus are unable to use magic of any kind! This Dreek must be a fake and most likely plotting against me. Why else would he know of our location and come with such secret knowledge?"
"Um, sire, aren't you jumping to-"
"Soldier! Send word to General Berrin that I want his most elite team to surround the Palace walls and capture anyone on sight!"
"Yes sir!"
As ordered, the soldier ran down the now-open hallway to send the message to the general. The King had a smug look in his eyes as if he knew he was about to win. The butler simply sighed at the rashness of his King.
"General Berrin and his squad has never lost a fight, even without his command. This imposter stands no chance of getting back in."
The trek to the bottom floor took a little while, but eventually the open door was found right in the corner. Upon opening it, Link froze at the sight of a small ledge followed by a seemingly endless gorge with another ledge and a door on the other side.
"Well, how do you propose to get across this Mr. Hero?" Tatl asked sarcastically.
I can get you across. Wear me, jump in that flower and I can glide across. Dreek answered.
Link looked to his side to see the flower Dreek had mentioned. It was a very big flower which surprised Link as to why he missed it. It looked a lot like the one they had slept in back at the Palace, except it was puffing out more pollen and the hole in the middle seemed a little tighter. Looking at it, then thinking about it for a moment he eventually turned to the fairy.
"Tatl, go fly around and see if there's a loose vine or something that I can use to swing across." Link requested.
Obediently, she nodded and scouted the roof to find anything that matched Link's requirements. There were a number of vines creeping over the roof, but they were either tuck too far in or it all came out in one tug. After a few minutes she gave in, finding nothing that Link could use.
"Sorry, I got nothing. Looks like we're stuck." Tatl pointed out.
Desperately trying to think of an alternative, the truth of the matter managed to become obvious as the only course of action to get across. Very reluctantly, Link reached back into his pack and pulled out the deku mask. Enduring the short, but explicit, pain the transformation gave, Dreek the deku now stood before them all.
"It's about time. Now watch the skills of one of the flying dekus! Tatl, go wait for me on the other side. I'll be there in a minute." Dreek simultaneously said.
Marching over to the flower Dreek elegantly stepped into it, allowing the inner bud to wrap around the small deku body with no room for him to move. Taking a firm hold of two strong stalks, Dreek waited for the build-up of pollen below him to build making the pressure rise with it. Teasing Link slightly by saying a countdown, on the surprising count of 0, the pressure grew too great and spat them out at a great speed along with the large-leafed stalks Dreek had grabbed a hold of.
Using them in a similar fashion to wings, Dreek allowed the thrust of their launch and his tilted body weight to take them to the other side of the gorge with plenty of space to spare. Landing gently on his feet, Dreek let go of the stalks which dropped to the floor and turned to the amazed fairy to his side.
"I always love doing that." Dreek said happily.
Still amazed at the incredible feat, and glad to hear a happy tone in Dreek's voice, Tatl silently followed behind the deku into the short corridor behind the door. She just couldn't bare to see other people as miserable or sad as she was right now. Oh sure she managed to hide it well, but she still always felt bad for leaving her brother with that evil mask with no one to help him.
But, for some reason, seeing the smile on Dreek's face made her smile as well. Almost as if it was telling her that everything is going to be alright. Sadly, though, once they were to cross through this corridor, Link would have reason to speak with Dreek again and that happiness would soon be gone.
On the other side of the door was a small room branching off to a much larger room behind it. The large room had quite a bit of height to it and had a recently developed ring in the centre with room around the sides for spectators. The reason for this became obvious with the small room as it had a number of racks all full of specially designed weapons made for deku soldiers.
Walking slowly to one of the racks, Dreek took a long, dual-ended spear off the wall and spent a moment simply admiring the craftsmanship and how well it fit his grip.
An armoury? Why would there be an armoury in an ancient temple? Link asked.
"My people decided to convert this temple into a final form of defence if we were to be driven from our homes. We wished to prepare for every scenario, even the loss of our weapons so spares were made and stored here just in case." Dreek explained.
The amount of weapons here was something to be admired, but the range of different weapons was the thing to be amazed. There were spears, single and dual ended, smaller spears in pairs, short swords and daggers, bows and quivers, crossbows and even a few clubs. Dreek's compartment contained only the spear and a dagger but they in themselves were impressive for their, obviously, custom built size.
"So, good with a spear, huh?" Tatl inquisitively asked.
"Most dekus are. The swords and clubs are only given to those who seem best fitted with them. I could have either the spear or the bow so I chose the spear." Dreek mentioned.
"Close combat over long range. Not the choice I would have made, but I'm just a fairy and I'd never have a need for weapons."
"Hmm. Want a demonstration?"
"Alright."
Seeing your skills would be beneficial.
Ignoring Link, Dreek moved into the sparring room to get some extra space to practice in. What wasn't obvious at first, but became easier to see as you entered, was that there was another large flower in the middle of the ring. Stepping into a stance so as to begin, Dreek held the staff across his body so that a direct blow would be difficult to get. Before he could begin his practice, though, there was a sound that was obvious to all in the room.
"What was that?" Tatl asked immediately.
Giving no answer, Dreek stood silent and waited to see if he could hear the sound again. A few seconds later and he did. In an instant, he had snatched Tatl from the air, thrown her under his hat and dived down into the flower so as to be out of sight. Tatl's angry muffling stopped instantly when the door from the other room opened.
The being that walked through the door, unseen by Dreek, was a creature known as a Lizalfos. Large reptilian creatures with a human-like stature to its frame. A long scaly tale protruded from it's back as the only part of his body not covered in some kind of armour. The rest of his body was encased by a dark silver coat of metal that reflected the light, but in an oddly murky way. In it's hands were a pair of long, sleek swords that seemed to be made to work together instead of individual weapons.
The Lizalfos slowly patrolled the room looking for places a human could use to hide. The flower was deemed irrelevant in its search so all Dreek had to do was wait for it to leave, but the pollen amassing beneath him gathered pressure and he knew that it wouldn't be too long before he would be spat out and forced into a fight. It was just a matter of how he could use it to his advantage.
Grabbing a hold of his spear, Dreek waited until he could hear the close footsteps of the Lizalfos, indicating he was right next to them, before leaping out to surprise the Lizalfos with a large scratch across its breastplate. Confused and staggering from the sudden blow, the Lizalfos stepped backwards to regain his footing and use his weapons to guard any additional aerial blow that came with the large leap from the ground.
Tatl had also been thrown out of the flower with Dreek and had flown back to give herself some space and protection. Staring at the ragged monster and the neat armour she wondered how the two managed to fit together, but the most pressing matter on her mind was to simply scream.
"Gaaah! What is that thing?!"
Both combatants were, quite surprisingly, just standing there staring at each other. While most others who had started with a surprise attack would continue to beat them down, Dreek allowed the Lizalfos to stand his ground and give him the chance to fight back. What came next was not what he would expect of a monster such as this.
"You are a deku of the Woodfall realm. My master, the keeper of this temple, advises you to turn back now or your princess will be killed." The Lizalfos stated in a raspy voice.
"Who is your master?" Dreek asked, ignoring the threat.
"You will only find out if you continue, but to do so you must defeat me."
"Fine."
Raising his spear to show his acceptance of the challenge, the Lizalfos raised his twin swords in response ready to strike or guard at a moment's notice. Fortunately for Dreek, a strike to the armour took less than a moment due to his speed and another scratch emerged near the first one. Batting the spear away with one sword the Lizalfos continued to step forward aiming to strike the head with the second sword and the added momentum of his steps. The light deku managed to jump back in time to avoid the jab and to push the sword down with his spear, protecting him from another step and jab movement.
The dance of battle waged on with both gaining ground and losing ground. Dreek had managed to carve a few more scratches thanks to his light and nimble feet which also helped him dodge any fatal ending blows. The battle took a turn for the worst, though, when a jab to the helm of the Lizalfos angered him to the point of fury. Opening his mouth wide he waved his head above him releasing an inferno of flames to the roof of the room.
Taking the risk of trying to wound him, Dreek leaped towards the Lizalfos with any chink in the armour as his target. Finding one in the arm, Dreek's spear swung down and across it creating the desired wound and the undesired spurt of dark maroon blood. Roaring in pain, the Lizalfos turned to look at the deku and let loose a torrent of fire blasts in the hopes of burning it to a crisp. Dreek's speed meant he was able to dodge most of the fireballs, but it still didn't stop him from feeling the intense heat as it passed by which certainly raised some worry.
Getting irritated at constantly missing, the Lizalfos took a deep breath and let loose a massive orb of flames at the deku giving him no room to jump away. By instinct and intuition, Dreek spun his spear around as if it were a staff in an attempt to blow it away, or at least lessen the flames, and spare himself from a dangerous blow. Despite his valiant attempt, however, the fireball still hit its target at a power high enough to send Dreek on the floor and across the room to the edge of the ring. Not moving immediately after, the Lizalfos closed in on his opponent while showing him mercy.
"I will give you one more chance. Leave now or you and your princess dies." The Lizalfos reminded.
"I will not leave without her." Dreek weakly stated.
Wasting no time on extra talk, the Lizalfos drove both of his swords into Dreek's sides creating a loud screech of pain as what appeared to be sap leaked out. As the Lizalfos prepared for another fireball with the intent of finishing the duel then, Dreek found the extra strength to grab his spear and swing it around so that it hit the side of the Lizalfos' armour and sent the fireball towards the wall. Clearly angered, the Lizalfos attempted another slice to make him weary enough to dodge no more attacks, but to his surprise Dreek had managed to stand up with his weapon in hand, ready to fight.
Your fighting style is impressive, but now I must intervene and end this battle.
Accepting the compliment and the obvious sense to relieve a weary warrior by replacing him with a stronger one, Dreek submitted to the control of the Hylian to which he instantly sheathed the spear into a holder on his back. Before the Lizalfos had the chance to ask if he was giving up, Link had reached for the deku face and had taken off the mask in order to revert to his human self.
"You are the human?" The Lizalfos asked in obvious surprise.
Link simply smiled while unsheathing his sword from the scabbard on his back.
"Hi."
Throwing the sword with such precision and power, Link's blade met the Lizalfos' unguarded neck with no resistance or thought to move as it now dropped to the floor, dead. Lazily walking over to the body of his newest victim, Link pulled his sword out of the Lizalfos' neck, wiped the blood off with the central flower and returned it to his scabbard.
Tatl had flown out of the corner she had hid in to hover over Link's shoulder and look at the fresh corpse made by his hand. Even if he couldn't see it, Link could feel her body shaking in the way anyone new to the idea of death would when witness to a duel. Tatl remained tough, however, and did what she could to hide the shaking of her voice.
"That was a bit…harsh." Tatl said, still a little shocked.
"I did what I could to save our lives. No matter what, one being was going to die in this room and it happened to be him." Link reasoned.
"Well, yeah, but still." Tatl replied, pointing out the large stream of blood coming out of the Lizalfos' neck.
"Tell me, how often have you been in a fight?" Link asked.
"Uhh, a few times with Tael, but that was only playful fighting."
"And of all those times when you could have won, but didn't, why do you think you showed him mercy?" Link asked, sounding slightly more aggressive.
"That's easy, because he's my brother. I love him and I would never want anything bad to happen to him."
"Or in a single word, compassion. Compassion is what stays the hand and prevents it from committing acts the self deems to be wrong. The reason why Dreek nearly lost and why I won so quickly is that he still feels compassion whilst I do not."
"Yes, I've noticed." Tatl dryly stated.
The conversation seemed to end there with points made to everyone so why Dreek felt a need to speak seemed unnecessary. He didn't do it immediately but instead waited a moment to think over his words before saying them in the hopes of making it go his way.
Tatl's right. That was a bit harsh. Dreek finally said.
"You wish for me to cushion the blow next time?"
I would like it better if you kept that sort of thing just between you and me. My problems are not excuse enough to bring others into it.
"Perhaps you're right. I still stand by my claim to be true, though." Link responded.
The two walked out of the arena where Link stopped for a moment at the rack of weapons. Eyeing a well-made bow belonging to a General Berrin, Link took it off to give it a feel then proceeded to take the quiver with it and place it on his back. Link always preferred close combat with his sword and whatever else he could find, but he was also skilled with a bow to some extent and knew when it had its uses.
Leaving the room Link freely put the deku mask back on knowing he would have to do so in order to get back across the pit. Dreek, or even Tatl, may have made a comment on how he did not even question the thought of being a deku again but after that battle and conversations, neither felt like raising the minor point. For some, there were larger points to be raised.
"Why do you speak of my compassion as a bad thing?" Dreek asked.
When we first met you had no compassion for others and I liked you that way. Link answered.
"No, there's more to it than that. Why do you consider my actions to be incorrect?"
Link thought for a moment on the answer he would eventually give. He already knew it the instant the question was asked but the idea of making him wait occurred to him so Link delayed telling Dreek until he felt it was time.
Compassion has more than one meaning. It can also be the strong feelings of affection one has towards another. Link paused. You still love her, don't you?
A cold silence fell upon the group as the realisation came to him. By this point the gorge had been crossed and they were back in the large central room with the giant wooden flower in the middle. In the hopes of trying to distract himself from these thoughts, Dreek asked Tatl to fly up a few floors and look for a door with a particular marking on it.
"I cannot deny it. But this time, when next I see her, I shall tell her this." Dreek said, attempting to sound brave.
To what point and purpose? I remind you again of the fact that you are dead! Link replied loudly.
"But…how can I be dead? I breath, I see, I move, I even feel pain! I must be alive!" Dreek shouted in a reassured excitement.
Is it really living if your existence is a false one?
"It's not false. I exist, I am alive! I can do what I want!" Dreek shouted again, throwing his arms up as a sign of his freedom. Before getting the chance to lower them again, Dreek quickly discovered that he could no longer move them himself.
It is false. You no longer have full control of yourself and you only live by my will. Rest assured that there is no point for as soon as we are done here, I will have no further use for you.
The conversation ended there with Tatl soon coming down after saying something about a door with strange markings half way up and to their left. Link followed her up there with Dreek forcibly hiding in the shadows of his own body. He had lost control and was slowly giving up on all hope. He had no future, so he had nothing to be joyful of, he had now lost everything so there was nothing left to be sad of and the lack of hope also seemed to create a lack of anger making rage towards Link impossible.
What was the point of fighting? Was it worth trying to resist against Link and regain his freedom? Was Link truly right when he said freedom is nothing more than self-control? Just thinking of these and the many more questions through his mind was almost enough to resign himself to the gutters, become the soldier-boy Link so desperately wanted but one thing still drove him to keep himself. His love for the princess.
---
Floating down from the rainy skies, Kotake returned from the mushroom run in the forest while Koume stayed back in the shop to rest and keep an eye on it. Opening the door from a distance with her magic, Kotake glided right in and closed the door behind her to prevent more rain from covering her.
"I may be the ice witch but I still hate rain." Kotake stated, shaking her robes dry of the water.
"A good stash I see?" Koume said, eyeing the full bag of mushrooms attached to the broom.
"Yes." Kotake replied, taking the bag off and placing her broom against the wall. "I went further in so the ones closer had more time to ripen."
"And the dekus?"
Kotake sighed heavily before finding a towel and a comfy chair to sit and dry herself in before starting.
"They're all in a panic. It seems they've finally figured out that little deku boy is Link and now they've set up the guard to try and capture him if he comes back."
"And yet how easy would it be for him to get back in?" Koume sighed. "That boy is wasting his talents being good. I can easily imagine him as a dark lord. A shame he sealed Ganondorf away."
"A horrid shame."
Both witches sighed, thinking of all the chaos they once created. The son they raised to conquer the world and their confusing base of headquarters in the desert that Link got through with little trouble. Through all this they did not notice the knocking on the door, but when it became louder it became apparent they had a visitor.
Hobbling over to the door, Kotake answered it to see a spindly little skull kid wearing a strange mask, obvious malice in his eyes.
---
One level below the locked door was the well decorated entrance to the final switch and the group who intended to press it. Having established that this was the only other door in the room it was certain that this was the way to go and that after this it was straight to this beast holding the princess and the giant hostage.
While still in the deku form, Link remained in control while Dreek lay still in the dark recesses of his mind allowing despair to consume him.
Upon opening the door, a delightfully long corridor came into view with a box shape stretching down for some distance. Tatl glided down to see if there were any obvious traps, as was her role now, and noticed holes similar to that of the ones in the first switch room.
"Uhh, Link? Look to the walls." Tatl suggested.
Link did look to see the same holes that Tatl was seeing, already slightly filled with dread.
"More holes. More water?"
"No. These ones are loaded."
Arrows. Great. This would mean they were most likely activated by pressure tiles which also meant that no step was a safe step until he took the next one. Figuring he would be walking down up to the point of running to avoid arrows, Link decided to have one last go at Dreek before their confrontation with this guardian monster.
Do you believe in a Divine Grace, Dreek? Link asked. It took a moment for Dreek to realise he was being spoken to, but answered quickly when he heard the question.
"No." Dreek simply answered.
Why not?
"Because when I look at the world, there is so much pain and suffering in the hearts of so many. If there was a God, why do they allow this suffering?"
Perhaps it is meant to be? Link suggested.
"Any God who finds this amount of pain to be necessary isn't worth believing in. Why? Do you believe it is?"
I don't need to believe in anything. I know the answer to be yes.
"And what gives you that certainty?"
Link paused for a moment both to think and to check his surroundings quickly. He didn't want to step on something by accident whilst he spoke as the idea of being impaled by an arrow through his head didn't appeal to him.
Our worlds are in a constant form of balance. When one force is created, so is another to give it balance. When light was created, shadow was also formed as a result so when happiness and joy was made, so was pain and suffering.
You say it is cruel for a God to allow this pain, yet without it there would be no such thing as joy and taking that away would be the cruel thing. The bottom line is, sometimes you have to lose something in order to gain something. Link finished.
With Dreek's question answered, and more, Link got back to focusing on the hallway and eventually getting out of this place. It's not that he didn't like this place, more the fact that the sooner he could finish this stupid quest the sooner he could be free.
Dreek was still thinking over Link's final words. Lose something to gain something. Currently Dreek had lost pretty much everything, so what had he gained? His feelings for the Princess? He didn't even know if she would return those feelings so right now they may be useless, meaning he would have lost everything. Perhaps his total loss was the balance to someone else gaining everything. If so then it didn't make him feel any better about it. Maybe it was best to fall back into the slump of not caring anymore. To just give up.
Link wasn't paying attention to this as the hall had finally come to an end. Instead of the switch there was a door leading to another room. Not hesitating to open this door, Link walked right through to see nothing more than an empty room with the switch stuck to the ceiling. It was smaller than the previous switch, but still too big for Tatl to push and too high for deku or Hylian to jump and touch.
Taking a moment to think and study the whole room, Tatl looked around for any traps in here just in case. She gave up quickly when it became apparent it was just an ordinary room and sat down on a brick jutting out of the wall slightly.
Link saw this and noticed the other bricks jutting out as well, realising he could use them. Telling Tatl to move out of the way, Link had a go at jumping up at the wall and jumping off again to try and reach the switch. At first, he missed by only a little bit but after practicing a few more times and learning how to jump off two walls in the corner he managed to touch it.
Eventually he managed to push it all the way down and land right next to the door, which was a good thing seeing as the middle of the room collapsed at the pressing of the switch revealing an unfriendly drop beneath it.
"Whoa. That…was close."
Did you know of this? Link angrily asked Dreek. When he received no answer, he gave up and turned to leave back where he came, knowing he was almost done here.
Walking back down the long hall was unfortunately not the same experience as it was on the way up. Two steps in the whistling of an arrow narrowly past over the deku boy's head while, in an attempt to dodge another that followed behind it, ducked down to see the floor behind him give way and fall.
Going back would be a race against his death in two forms, both of which didn't seem likely to avoid as a short and light deku. Ripping off the mask and quickly throwing it in his invisible pack, Link began charging down with his head lowered so that he may avoid the arrows being shot at him. Tatl caught up quickly and flew by his side to see if he was ok, to which she was shouted an order at.
"Tatl, go down to the end and open that door. All you need to do is channel your energy through it. Go, NOW!"
Not bothering to question him, Tatl did as she was told and darted down the hall towards the door at the other end, triggering a few arrows on the way. For Link the run was much harder as with every step the floor buckled under the pressure and fell into the chasm beneath it. This did no good for his grip and on a number of times nearly caused him to trip and fall.
Seeing the end in sight and also noting Tatl had made it and had the door open for him to run through, Link added what else he could into a final dash for the end praying that he wouldn't make a mistake and fall.
What Tatl hadn't discovered on one of the arrows near the exit was that it was arched in such a way that it would hit the side of the hole on it's way out which, in turn, would deflect it and send it shooting down instead of straight. Undiscovered, that is, until Link ran past it and felt it lodge itself in his leg.
Silently screaming in pain, Link stumbled forwards and fell however fortunately out the hall just as the last of the floor gave way.
"Link, are you-" Tatl began, before noticing the arrow piercing Link's leg. "Oh my god! You got hit! Here, let me help you."
"No! I'll be fine. I just…can't move on it for a while." Link replied quickly, then sighed in defeat. "Dreek, you take over."
Donning the mask one last time in the temple the wound and arrow vanished from his leg as it was replaced by the wooden leg of Dreek, along with the rest of his body. Soon realising that Link had actually given him full control instead of watching over him, Dreek wasted no time in moving up a floor to the now unlocked door leading to the unknown assailant and his captives. He was still nearly ready to give up on everything, but he still wanted to know if the princess was alright, or at least alive.
"Dreek, is that you this time or Link?" Tatl cautiously asked.
"It's me, Tatl." Dreek replied.
"Oh, phew." Tatl sighed with relief, which Link took immediate note of.
"This is it. We're going in to be one step closer to saving this land." Dreek stated.
"No pressure there then, huh." Tatl giggled.
Dreek did what he could to smile at the fairy, but he was too drained to attempt such a feat.
"When we get in, I'd like you to try and find the princess and keep her calm about the situation. And don't tell her about my current condition. It would only raise issues." Dreek requested.
"Gotcha. So, we ready to tackle this thing or what?"
Again Tatl smiled and again Dreek failed to return it. All he did for now was concentrate on the door in front of him and the conflict that would occur once they had crossed to the other side. Withdrawing his spear, Dreek readied himself to fight whoever this assailant was and to see the princess again which would help him understand if his life had a meaning or not.