Hyrule Castle Town was dying, or so it seemed to the young soldier.
It was as if the town itself was fading away to nothing-where once there stood a lively, bustling market-place, there was now a desolate, barren wasteland standing in its place.
How had this happened? He thought foggily to himself. He could still picture things how they once were; the castle, so lovely and proud, standing above the town…children playing in the streets. The people who had lived in the town weren't overly-rich, but they were happy.
And then Ganondorf came, and with him he brought an invisible poison that decayed at the town and the people, and now, finally, this had happened.
The young soldier ducked, his mind springing back to the present. He thrust his sword forward, straight into an eye socket of the Redead that was reaching for his neck.
The creature snarled and fell backwards, wrenching the sword from his hands.
Now unarmed, the soldier hastily looked around at the battle that was raging.
Redead were everywhere, swarming all over the courtyard of the town, and even more of the creatures were starting to appear out of alleyways, from behind buildings, and even from some of the soft parts of the earth itself.
Around him, what remained of the rag-tag group of fighters-mostly villagers, really-fought on bravely, but they were quickly becoming surrounded by the undead, and they numbered only around ten men now.
The soldier cursed, as more Redead shuffled forward towards him quickly, cutting him off from his dropped weapon. He tried to back away, but even more of the creatures were behind him, hungrily reaching towards him with their rotten hands.
So this is it, he thought. This is how I die.
He looked up, glancing at the castle that stood framed against the night sky for one last time, and he cursed Ganondorf's name. His only wish was to somehow be able to see the day when Ganondorf's rule would finally be brought to an end.
It had been foolish to rally what small force he could find, and lead an assault against the Redead, he knew. He was a soldier, and therefore could afford to retreat to the castle and remain safe, while the villagers-those who remained-were slaughtered.
But he hadn't been able to do it, of course, and had come to the conclusion that he would not allow himself to serve under Ganondorf's name.
One of the creatures grabbed his arm, its nails cutting into his skin painfully. The Redead leaned forward, opening its mouth wide, emitting a foul stench that turned the soldier's stomach.
I die with a clear conscience. He thought, as the Redead's head lowered on his neck.
There was a flash, and suddenly the creature stumbled away from him, and the soldier saw that there was a dagger protruding from its forehead.
He felt a hand-a human hand-grab his arm and pull him back away from the rest of the creatures, into the centre of the courtyard where the survivor's-just eight now-still fought.
He looked into the grinning face of Rupert, a fellow soldier who had (much to his surprise) agreed to help him fight off the Redead. The two hadn't been friends or anything, so his loyalty had surprised the young soldier.
"Are ye that keen to die, Scray?" Rupert joked, his face grim. "Stick around for a few more minutes-you'll still get your chance to die, don't ye worry!"
Scray nodded, feeling weak, and Rupert pushed a short sword into his hands.
"Here-I always carry a spare." Rupert said.
Rupert lifted his own sword and took a swipe at a near-by Redead that was advancing upon him, cutting its head clean off. The body kept coming though, and Rupert cursed and kicked it away from him.
Scray joined in the fighting once more, and it began to rain, softly at first, and then with increased vigor.
"Perfect!" He heard Rupert shout over the rain. "What next?"
Another man fell, the Redead overcoming him, and Scray and the rest of the men bunched together, forming a circle that faced out onto the oncoming hordes. They were out-numbered perhaps three-to-one, now.
Scray found himself next to Rupert once more. The two soldiers looked at one another-Rupert was the older, with a thick, scraggly beard, and dark, twisting hair. The look that they gave each other confirmed that they both knew they were about to die.
"'Tis been a pleasure." Rupert mumbled.
"See you in the after-life, Rupe." Scray responded, blinking rain water out of his eyes. His heart was pounding wildly. He hoped that the Redead would finish him off swiftly.
There came a sound to the men then, a clattering noise of a horse's hooves pounding against cobblestones.
"Someone comes!" One of the villagers shouted over the rain, a faint shred of hope in his voice.
Scray didn't even allow himself to hope, but still the noise grew louder.
The Redead had all paused, and were looking around stupidly, distracted by the unknown noise.
"Over there!" Someone yelled, and Scray looked towards the entrance to the courtyard, where two horses burst from around some buildings and into the open.
Scray's jaw dropped, as his eyes were drawn to the lead horse, or more specifically, to its rider. He could see that it was a man-a youth- but, peculiarly, he seemed to be clad all in a fiery red; a long bow was in his hands and had already been fitted with an arrow.
The rider moved through the sheets of rain like a fireball, circling the mass of Redead and soldiers. Scray kept waiting for him to loose the arrow, but for some reason he didn't.
What is he doing? Why not attack? He thought, confused. Still, he figured that even when he did attack, it would do no good. They needed another twenty men to have a hope of survival against the Redead.
To his surprise, as the youth passed by a lit torch that was hanging next to a door, protected from the rain by an over-hanging roof, he pointed the tip of the arrow at the flame, and the arrow was engulfed by fire.
The youth then stopped his horse some distance away from the Redead, and called out in a voice that they could all hear, "This is how you stop Redead!"
And he loosed the arrow.
The arrow thudded into one of the Redead, and immediately, impossibly, the creature went up in flames, growling in pain. The fire leapt to any Redead that was standing near-by, and after a few seconds half of the creatures were alight, staggering around in agony, and bumping into other creatures, who in turn caught alight.
Scray could not believe what he was seeing. Above all, he could not make himself believe that he might somehow survive the night.
Rupert, thankfully, was not so unsure.
"Aha!" He laughed in triumph, lifting his sword into the air. "Come on, drive the bastards back!"
With a roar, the remaining men rushed at the Redead, cutting them apart and forcing them to retreat. Scray dodged a flaming creature and swung his sword, and his eyes went to the figure on the horse, who now appeared to be doing something else.
He watched as the youth quickly took out a bottle of green liquid from a bag and sloshed some of the stuff onto the tip of an arrow. He then held the arrow out to another torch, and the flame leapt up once more. He sighted the arrow, closing one eye, and let it fly, straight into another group of Redead, who were quickly engulfed in flames.
Scray's attention was forced back on the battle, as the remaining Redead, angered by the fire, set themselves upon the survivors with renewed aggression.
He had no more time for thoughts, and could only concentrate on defending himself. Minutes passed, and suddenly Scray realized with a shock that all the Redead were either retreating, or were burning on the ground, incapacitated.
He blinked, looking around at the men who were still standing. At first he thought that seven men were left, but realized that one of the people standing in the courtyard was the red youth, panting heavily and holding a sword in his hand that Scray recognized as belonging to one of the slain. He obviously must have joined the battle on foot, but Scray had been too occupied to notice.
So, six of them had survived, including Rupert, he realized. To him, that seemed impossible. They should all be dead.
Suddenly feeling dizzy and sick, he fell to his knees, his vision blackening out. The last thing he remembered seeing as he slipped sideways to the ground was the outline of the fiery youth, standing firm against the down-pouring rain like a candle in the wind.
Link allowed himself to slump against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground, his body still dripping wet from the rain.
He was inside one of the houses of Hyrule Castle Town. Apparently the rebellion factions of the town were using the house as a base of operations, but he was almost too exhausted to care.
He tried to remember when he last had a proper sleep, or a proper meal for that matter, but couldn't.
Voices, some raised-angry, crying; others soft and relieved, flooded in from the next room over, as the survivors who had fought against the Redead were reunited with their loved ones…and as the loved ones of the slain sobbed and mourned.
Link closed his eyes, feeling a pang of anger and guilt. He had arrived too late, he knew. Too many had died. Before the boy, Zane, had led him to this house, he had learned from one of the fighters that they had started out with fifteen men. So, nine had died before he could get there in time. More than half.
A noise made him open his eyes, and he saw Zane enter the room with a plump woman, who was wiping at her tear-stained eyes with a hanky. Upon seeing him, the woman smiled kindly.
"You must be the one…who saved my husband. I don't know how to thank you. It was awful what happened out there tonight. So many…dead. But if you hadn't shown up when you did, there would be no survivors at all." She said, choking back more tears.
Link bowed his head, more from sadness than out of etiquette.
"I did what I could," was all he could find to say.
More people entered the room-a middle-aged soldier, and another villager, carrying the body of another soldier between them.
Link managed to stand up, and he glanced at the unconscious soldier's face. He was clean-shaven and looked to be pretty young for a soldier, and had his eyes closed.
"Is he…" He began, as the bearded man and the villager laid the soldier on a bed.
"Dead? Nah, he just passed out. Can't really blame him…I wouldn't mind doing the same, right now." The soldier joked, grinning.
Link couldn't help noticing how pained his face looked, despite his efforts to conceal it.
"Ah…I think we need to have a quick word, before I tend to the fallen." The soldier said to him, beckoning with one hand.
Link nodded and followed the man into another room, which was so small that the soldier and he took up all the space.
The soldier shut the door behind them.
"This'll give us enough privacy, I suppose." The soldier mused.
"Um…it's a closet." Link pointed out dryly.
"It'll do." He repeated.
The soldier sat on a dusty box, and Link sat opposite him.
"Well, I should introduce myself. I'm Rupert, ex-soldier of the King of Hyrule. That all changed when Ganondorf took over, of course. And you would be Link." The solider said.
Link blinked. He really needed to get used to being so well-known, he figured.
Rupert went on talking. "Link, what you witnessed tonight was the last desperate struggle of the town people to defend their homes. Obviously, we failed. It is clear to me now that we cannot stay here any longer. Nor should we. It is a foolish thing to try to live right under Ganondorf's shadow."
Link nodded. "So, does that mean you will all evacuate now?"
"I wish it was as easy as that. You see, even with everything that has happened, half of the people left here will still refuse to leave the town." The soldier said with a sigh.
"What? That's insane! What reason do they have to stay?" Link cried.
"Before the Redead appeared, Ganondorf's soldiers-traitors, the lot of them-controlled the town. Laws were strict. Anyone who so much as sneered at Ganondorf's name was arrested. So, at the moment, the prisons of the Castle are filled with innocent men and women, who did nothing but question the new 'king's' rule. Those who are still staying in the town mostly have loved ones in the prison, and they are doing their best to free them." Rupert said, sighing.
"Can't they see that they cannot be freed? You'd need an army, virtually. Why not convince them to move on and gather more forces? They'd have a better shot that way." Link pointed out.
"No-one here would listen to any reason. They don't see the point of moving to another town, and don't even want to try to get on with their lives. Not without those who are most important to them." Rupert explained.
"So why are you telling me all this? On one hand you're saying that you need to get the people out of here, or else they'll die. But on the other hand you're saying that they refuse to go. I can't really see what we can do about that." Link muttered, brushing his wet hair away from his face.
"No, there's nothing that can be done about it. Apart from freeing the prisoners from the castle, which is an impossible task. I just thought you should know the situation we're facing here. We all appreciate your help tonight, of course-I owe you my life. But my advice to you now is to leave this place as soon as you are able. We cannot afford to lose you to the Redead-Hyrule needs you." The soldier said grimly.
Link thought for a moment, letting his words sink in.
"I think I am needed here. I wouldn't be able to ride away from this place with a clear conscience, so I think I'll stick around for a bit, and see if there's anything more I can do to help." He said.
The soldier shrugged, standing up. "If that's your wish. Now, if you'll excuse me, I go to bury the dead."
Rupert opened the door to the closet and walked away, and Link, feeling hopeless, put his head in his hands. He had had no idea that Hyrule Castle Town was in such a bad shape. It would be so much easier, he thought, if the people just left for Kakariko Village or some such place, but he supposed that that would mean leaving behind their families to rot.
He looked up when a shadow fell across him, to see the boy Zane standing there, hesitating.
"What is it, Zane?" He asked.
"People are saying that…that you're going to help us rescue our families. Is this true?" The boy asked hopefully.
Link frowned. "Who's been saying that?"
"Just…people."
He sighed. "Zane…I'd love to be able to rescue everyone from the prisons, but I don't think it can be done right now. I'm sorry."
The boy, who Link had learned was just eleven years old, bowed his head, the hope dying from his eyes. "Oh…" he muttered. "I just thought that, if anyone would be able to do it, it would be you. My parents were captured a while back, so I'm alone now."
"Just try to hold yourself together, okay? One day your parents will be freed, you'll see." Link said, feeling like he was letting the boy down.
The boy gave him one last look and scampered off, and Link sighed.
What was he supposed to do? March into the Castle -weaponless-and simply free all the prisoners?
The thought reminded him that he still had to get his hands on a sword somehow. He had discarded the sword he had used against the Redead, as he had barely been able to use it properly, since the weapon was too long and heavy for him to wield.
Where would he be able to get a good sword in the crumbling town? Surely not in any of the shops or anything. His mind went to the Temple, which stood on the outskirts of town. There was a sword in there, he knew-The Master Sword. For some reason he had never picked it up, even though he had collected all three of the items needed to unlock the door that guarded the sword.
So what was stopping him from going there right now and retrieving the sword? He thought.
Then he realized something: he didn't actually have the three jewels he needed to unlock the sword. He had left them in his old home, the Kokiri Forest, for safe keeping.
There goes that plan, then, he thought miserably.
He stood up and left the closet, figuring that he might as well go and check out the Temple anyway. Not that he expected to find anything, but the walk might do him good.
When he walked back into the main room of the house, he found it deserted, apart from the soldier who had previously been unconscious, and who was now groaning to himself on the bed.
"How are you feeling?" Link asked him.
The young soldier blinked his blue eyes at him. "Like crap. But that's good, I suppose: let's me know I'm still alive. You're the guy who saved us." He said, matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I guess I am." Link said, not really used to being complimented so much.
"We owe you so much for that. I mean, I was ready to die. Oh, I'm Scray, by the way. Just a lowly soldier, and the idiot who convinced everyone that we had to fight the Redead." He said, shaking his head sorrowfully.
Outside, lightning crackled near-by. Link had just about had enough of rain.
"I can't blame you- I would have done the same thing. You just didn't know that you need fire to properly finish off Redead, or they'll just keep coming back." He told Scray.
The soldier nodded, but he still looked like he blamed himself.
"Anyway, since no-one else seems to be around, I need to ask you something." Link said. "How safe would I be if I quickly went to the Temple right now?"
The soldier frowned. "What do you want to do that for? Never mind. If you must, I see no real danger in doing that. The Redead usually attack us only once per night, for some reason. You might run into a couple of them, but I suppose you could out-run them easily enough."
Link nodded. "All right, I'll do that then."
He walked over to the door and pulled it open, where a blast of cold air and rain blew in.
"Wait! Before you go, what's your name?" Scray called.
Link smiled to himself. At least not everyone knew his name yet.
"It's Link." He said, without turning around.
"The Link?" Scray exclaimed. "I thought he- er, you, wore green?"
"Usually. I thought I needed a change," he replied, and stepped out into the rain.
He ran through the town, and everywhere he looked he saw destruction. The buildings were all crumbling; the streets were littered with rubbish and in a state of neglect. Here and there he saw shadows of Redead shuffling between buildings, or feeding on something on the ground which he didn't want to get a good look at.
As he ran past yet another building, he heard a sudden shout, so he stopped running and looked around for the location of the noise. Soon enough, he spotted a figure waving him over from an alleyway.
Link jogged over to the alleyway, where he saw that the figure was a middle-aged man, who looked frightened and skittish. With him stood a younger woman, her eyes wide and alert.
"Thank the sages! We haven't seen another living soul around all day!" The man whispered.
"What are you doing here?" Link asked him.
"We've been holed up inside our house for days, too afraid to go outside for fear of being attacked by one of those…things. But now we're out of supplies, and Redead started to break in through the windows! We have to get out of here…we don't want to leave the city just yet, but we need to find somewhere safer." The man explained rapidly, his eyes searching for danger.
"There's a small rebellion group that has set themselves up near the entrance to the town," Link told the man. "That's about the only safe place that I know of."
But the man's expression grew hopeful. "Near the town's entrance, you say? That would be perfect. Come on, Sharla, we need to leave at once."
"Will you be okay to get there?" Link asked, before the two of them could move off.
"I have a sword with me- don't worry, nothing's going to get past me to harm my daughter." The man said, a glint in his eye. He nodded his thanks to Link and the two of them quickly moved away.
Link, shuddering slightly from the rain, took one last look at the retreating pair and then moved on towards the Temple of Time.
He could see the Temple of Time clearly now, standing tall against the town's backdrop. The buildings of the town disappeared as he rounded a corner, and he felt eager to finally be almost there.
Abruptly however, he skidded to a halt, as he found himself standing in the town's Cemetery. He gazed around, panting, the rain thudding down on him, and his heart fell.
How had he forgotten that the graveyard was situated just before the Temple? This was not good. Redead were always attracted to cemeteries, and in fact usually came from cemeteries in the first place.
And he was weaponless.
I'll just run through quickly, he decided. He didn't want to have to go all the way back to the town's entrance, after he had come so far.
With a burst of speed he ran past the headstones and mausoleums, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. The rain made his progress treacherous, and he chose his footing carefully, not wanting to trip and fall down in the dangerous place.
He turned his head as he went past one of the mausoleums, gazing into the dark opening of the structure, out of morbid curiosity.
He slowed, and then stopped completely. He stared into the opening, transfixed. A dark breeze seemed to waft out from the mausoleum…it smelled dank, fresh, but not putrid or rotten, like he would have expected.
Feeling an unexpected and over-whelming desire to look inside suddenly, he stepped closer to the entrance. The dark place seemed to be singing to him, luring him in. It was promising him delicious secrets, a different world of earthy delights.
Link knew he should turn away and continue on to the Temple, but he could not seem to help himself: he needed to look into the mausoleum. He reached the entrance, his hand resting on the side of the open doorway.
Turn away, now! He told himself. But instead he walked through the doorway, into the dark, small room of the mausoleum.
The place seemed empty, the stone walls cold and dark. In one corner, up on a ledge set in the wall, a coffin lay, thankfully unopened.
Link shuddered. What had convinced him to enter this horrible place? He thought. He should be on his way to the temple!
He turned back towards the entrance of the mausoleum, and came face to face with a red-eyed specter, its eyes a dark red, its mouth opened wide, revealing long, pointed teeth.
Link screamed, backing away from the ghost, his heart hammering in his chest. The thing was blocking the exit! He was trapped!
The ghost advanced on him, floating eerily across the ground. It was a girl, he saw, maybe his age. She stretched a transparent arm out for him, towards his neck.
Suddenly, he felt something grab his arm from behind. He jumped, and spun around to look right in the face of a Redead, its disgusting mouth opened wide, ready to bite down on his flesh.
Link shoved the vile thing away, wondering to himself how things could possibly get any worse. He noticed that the coffin's lid was ajar-the creature must have come from the coffin!
The Redead snarled and sprang forward once more, and Link was helpless to stop it.
"Sssstop! He's mine!" The apparition hissed, gliding in front of Link. "My meat! My soul! Be gone!"
The Redead growled angrily, but to Link's surprise it stalked away slowly, walking out of the mausoleum and into the rain.
The spirit spun around to face Link, grinning nastily.
It reached out a hand and stroked the side of his cheek with it-Link felt an odd sensation; he could feel her hand, but at the same time it was almost like a gentle breeze was against his face.
"P-please," Link managed to say. "Let me go. I'm needed elsewhere."
The ghost laughed, her red eyes flashing mischievously.
"You really think I'm going to harm you? Good! The only other person I've tried to scare ran off before I could ask him what he thought of me." The ghost said, grinning.
Link felt confused. "What are you talking about? And are you going to…you know, take my soul, or not?"
The ghost giggled once more, looking pleased with herself. "Oh no, I don't want to hurt you. I only said that to get that nasty Redead away from us. I just lured you in here so that I could try and scare you."
"So that's why I was drawn in here? What's the point of scaring me, anyway?" Link asked, feeling himself calm down slightly.
"I'm a ghost!" The girl said. "That's what ghosts do, right? Scare people. I just…haven't been one for long, so I'm not really good at it."
"Well, you're…you're very scary." Link said. "I'm sorry, but I really need to be going. I'm kind of in the middle of something."
The specter slumped her shoulders, her blonde hair falling in front of her face. "No, don't go!" She begged. "I think…I need help. Only a few people can see me, you know. Mostly young people-those who still have their innocence."
Link frowned, feeling uneasy. "I'm young, but…I've killed, you know. I shouldn't have any innocence left."
"You must have killed in the name of good, then. You still believe in yourself." She responded.
He shrugged. Maybe barely, he thought.
"What do you want, then?" He asked.
The girl looked pained. "People become ghosts when they have unfinished business left in this world. I was killed recently…I don't want to say how. I need to tell someone something, but he can't see me. But, maybe you can tell him for me. And I want to see him, too."
Link bit his lip. "All that? I really don't have time right now. But I'll do it," he added quickly as the girl's face fell, "right after I check the temple for something."
The ghost grinned. "Thank you! I'm Renna. Before you tell me, I don't want to know your name. I shouldn't become attached to anything living; it will just make my passing on to the next world more difficult."
Link nodded, but he still felt slightly uneasy, helping a ghost. She seemed to be harmless enough, but he kept his guard up regardless.
"Well, okay Renna. You wait here, and I'll be back after I visit the temple." He told her, and exited the mausoleum quickly.
He had only gone a few steps, his boots squelching in the mud, when he felt a presence, so he turned around to find Renna floating there. He jumped.
"What are you doing?" He asked, somewhat brusquely.
"Following you. I don't have to stay in the graveyard, you know. I was only hanging around there because it seemed fitting, what with me being dead. You don't mind if I tag along, right? That way I can be sure that you'll keep your promise." She added, meaningfully.
Link sighed. "Sure, why not?"
They walked the remainder of the Cemetery, Link sighing inwardly. He had a ghost following him now-nothing in his life could ever be simple, could it?
They reached the entrance to the temple, and he pushed the massive doors open with a heave.
Inside, all the candles had been lit, but there wasn't a soul in sight. Link walked down the aisle until he reached the podium, where there lay three indentations for the Spiritual Stones to be set. Link gazed up at the wall where he was pretty sure that beyond it, the Master Sword stood, and sighed.
For some reason he had hoped that the wall would somehow already be open, and that he would just be able to grab the sword and leave. Of course, that wasn't the case. He could see no other way that he could get to the sword without the stones, either.
Renna floated around him, looking bored. "So, why are you here? You religious?" She asked.
"No…I was hoping to get beyond that wall there to this sword, but now I can see that I won't be able to." He sighed.
Renna looked up. "Beyond that wall? Do you think there's a room past it? I had to come to this temple every week when I was living, and I never saw the wall open or anything."
"Normally, you need these three stones." Link muttered. "If you don't believe me that it's over there, just…glide through the wall, or whatever. Ghosts can do that, right?"
Renna grinned. "Yeah, that's just about the only good thing about being a ghost. Fine, I'll go check. And if there's a sword there, I'll bring it back with me."
Link snorted. "Right. Too bad you can't really interact with things, and even if you could, the sword wouldn't be able to pass through the wall."
"I can interact with things! And, if I'm holding something, it can travel through objects with me." Renna told him, looking smug. "Wait here and you'll see!"
With that, she flew into the wall, passing right through it.
Link waited, feeling doubtful that what Renna planned would work. Sure enough, there came the sound of Renna cursing from the other side of the wall. Link smiled to himself.
The ghost reappeared into the room, frowning.
"See?" Link said. "Nice trick with the wall, though."
Renna glared at him. "Okay, so there was a sword back there. I can touch it, but for some reason I can't lift it out!"
Link shook his head, feeling stupid. "Sorry, I forgot that only the Hero of Time can take out that sword."
"So how were you going to take the sword out, smart-guy?" Renna asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was just going to lift it out."
"But you just said that only the Hero of Time could lift it out!" Renna cried, exasperated.
"Exactly."
"Exactly? What's that meant to mean?" The ghost snarled, and then her expression went blank. "Oh. So you're saying you're the Hero of Time…that you're Link. Argh, now I know your name! I should have guessed though, but normally you're wearing-"
"Green. Yeah, I know. Come on, let's get out of here." Link said.
"Hold on," Renna said. "Come over here for a second."
"Why?"
"Just do it!" She snapped.
I see you don't get any more relaxed after you become a ghost, he thought sarcastically, but he walked up to Renna anyway, who was standing next to the wall.
"Okay, what do you want?" He asked.
"I've figured out a way to get the sword. You and I are about to become really close, Link…" She said, winking.
"What's that supposed to-" He started, but stopped as Renna suddenly flew at him, passing right through him and then hovering at exactly the same space that his body occupied. It was like being covered by a cold, invisible sheet. He shivered.
"Okay, now move into the wall." He heard Renna's voice say, from somewhere inside his head. Or was she on his head? He was too confused to tell.
Link did as he was told without questioning her-anything to get rid of this melding of bodies that Renna had set up. It made him uncomfortable.
He reached the wall, and continued into it. To his shock, his body seemed to slip straight through the wall, and soon he was seeing the wall from the inside. He passed through quickly, and popped out the other side, into a room.
He shivered violently. It had felt so wrong! Like, his body kept telling him that it couldn't be doing what it was doing, and it had even hurt him a bit.
"Okay, get out!" He cried, and to his relief Renna unfolded her spirit body from his.
"Now wasn't that easy?" She beamed at him.
"No, actually! Ugh, and I'm going to have to do that again to get out of here." He moaned, but then the Master Sword caught his eye.
It was standing in the middle of the room, and a blade of moonlight coming down from a window illuminated it. Link walked over to the sword, his palms sweaty.
"Take it!" Renna cried, when he hesitated.
He nodded slightly, and reached out a hand, settling it on the hilt of the blade. The tip of the sword seemed to be embedded in a strange pedestal.
With a heave, he pulled with all his might, and straight away the sword slid out, the sound of metal against stone echoing in the room.
Link suddenly felt a strange sensation, and his eyes fluttered as a white light overcame him.
He glimpsed a figure in front of him for a second, and had the sensation that he was somehow in a different place now. Then he heard a voice calling his name urgently, felt something on his arm, and before he registered what was happening he was falling backwards. He hit the ground and his vision cleared-he was back in the empty room of the temple.
He looked up at Renna, who had pulled him back.
"Thanks," he muttered. "What just happened though?"
"I felt some sort of energy pulling you away from this world! I thought you were somehow dying, so I just panicked and pulled you away," Renna explained, her red eyes wide.
Link struggled to his feet, and realized that he was still holding the Master Sword. He looked down at it, and gave it some experimental slashes through the air.
He grinned. When he wielded the sword, it seemed to him that nothing had ever felt so right in his life.
I know this chapter ends sort of weirdly (though I do like the last sentence), but I just didn't want to write any more of this chapter, or else it would contain too much.
Since the Ocarina of Time actually doesn't have many characters I can use, I ended up creating a lot of originals: Scray, Rupert, Renna, Zane...so yeah, not my fault. :p
Also...(and I shouldn't be saying this, really), there is one thing in this chapter that seems to be a mistake, but is actually a clue of something that will happen. I didn't want to say it, because I didn't want people to try and find it, thus pointing out all the unintentional mistakes in this, but I couldn't help myself. Just...just be gentle. :p
After I wrote the part about Renna, the ghost, I realized that it reminded me a lot of this game I played for the DS, called "Another Code", or something else in America. You know the one with the girl, and she meets that ghost, and then they both solve puzzles? I might have accidentally borrowed some ideas from it (though I don't think I did...). Anyway, just wanted to throw that in there.
The green liquid that Link used on the arrow was of course, magic potion. I wanted him to have fire arrows, but in the storyline he hasn't recieved the fire arrows yet, so I worked my way around the problem. Besides, since its magic potion, it explains how the flame can survive the rain and stuff.
I also used Renna as a way for Link to get the Master Sword without using the Spiritual Stones (sneaky...), and I also wanted to deal with the fact that, once Link tried to get the sword, the Sages would try to grab him and hold him for, what, seven, five years? Something like that. I didn't want that to happen, so I had Renna use her...erm, ghostly powers (haha) to brush off the Sages. Take that, sages!
Oh, and yes, this chapter is sort of like a zombie movie. But I had Redead in it, which are-let's face it-basically zombies, so I couldn't really avoid that. You also get a ghost, huh? So it's a bit like a Halloween special chapter, hehe. All I needed was a mummy and a warewolf. :p
For those who may not know, a mausoleum is a small crypt, or burial chamber. They're often just built on their own, and are fairly small. Yes, most people would probably already know this, but meh.
I won't lie to you-this chapter was hard to write. So I hope you guys like it. Chapter 7 recieved ten reviews, and chapter 8 got nine, and I would just like to say thank you very much for that! Well, please leave reviews for this chapter-I want to know what you guys think. The story will hopefully start to get pretty interesting (not that I'm bored with it right now), with a few twists and turns. So stay tuned!