As promised, I've been trying to keep this baby alive. My other story, Into the Rabbit Hole, however, seems to have become far more popular, and has also demanded much more of my time. Though I am glad that this story has reached over 10,000 hits. Thank you all, those who have stayed with me over the years, and those who are only just joining us in this journey beyond the looking glass.
I hope everyone's having a great holiday season. My Solstice was spent huddled around a giant bonfire with a few good friends and some even better beer. My family's Christmas went off without a hitch, though I'm getting a little tired of the 'Practical' gifts.
Sorry it's taken this long to get this chapter up, but Life reared it's ugly head again. My Ex-girlfriend's lease on her apartment ran out, and, since I'm not okay with people living out on the street, I'm letting her stay with me right now. Not an easy arrangement, as one might guess, but I'm managing.
Now, let's get on with the show. I'm eager to see what happens next.
Still don't own LoZ or Nintendo. Still DO own Alexander, Mina and Blood Crusade.
"Where did what go?" Midna asked as Mina frantically searched the room.
"My Kris. It was Master Alexander's long before I was even born. CrapcrapcrapCRAP! If I lose it, I won't be able to face him ever again. That blade means so much to him." She crawled over to a stack of pots and started flinging them across the room. "Where are you? Please be here, please." A pink-tinged tear streaked down her cheek as she got deeper and deeper into the pile.
Link ducked one particularly fast projectile and saw something sticking out from underneath the knapsack Midna had been digging around in during the match. Midna noticed it too, and dodging and weaving through the air to avoid the ceramic missiles, she scooped the missing blade up. "Mina, stop. We found it."
"Leave me alone, I have to-What?" She ran over to Midna and hugged the little imp. "Oh, !"
"You're welcome. Now please let me go." Midna wheezed, trying to scramble out of the vice-like grip of the diminutive Vampire. When Mina finally let go, Midna handed the long dagger to her. Mina looked it over with shining eyes, and kissed the single small ruby that was embedded in the hand guard before slipping it back into it's sheath.
Link looked around the room for anything that could be used. The ground was littered with pot fragments and rupees. A few more years of training, and she could be a truly formidable opponent. He looked up to see a small ledge and a clawshot target. Mina, having finally regained her composure stood next to him and followed his gaze. "Yeah, that's the way that Master Alexander went. I think that he's really looking forward to this chance to fight someone so skilled."
Link nodded, having already had similar thoughts. He pulled the Clawshot out.
"Wait a second, Mina." Midna was seething. She hated not being in control in a situation like this. "You expect us to believe that you just want to test our strength?"
"His strength." She corrected. "And Master Alexander doesn't expect you to believe anything, Midna. Link is a warrior, though, so he understands what this is about. Besides," She winked. "don't you want your hero to be the strongest in all Hyrule?" With that, Mina quickly scaled the wall and stood on the ledge.
"Are you sure about this, Link? It could be another of Zant's tricks." Midna's voice was lightly coated with worry as she tried to ignore the girl's last statement. Link, however, simply smiled, nodded and fired the clawshot at the target. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to answer me once in a while."
The trio made quick progress. Skirting any unnecessary battles. They noticed two Dinalfos guarding a large door. "He said he'd be in there." Mina whispered, not wanting to gain their attention yet. "Wow, these guys sure are ugly. Let's kill 'em already." She was about to jump off the ledge and into battle, but Link put a hand on her shoulder and pointed to the piece of pillar hanging over one of the giant lizards. "Ooh, I like it. But how are you going to get that to drop on him?"
Link pulled out his bow, slipped an arrow from the quiver, and tied one of his remaining bombs to the tip. He took aim, waiting for the wick to get short, and loosed the shaft. The explosion from impact caused the Dinalfos to look up, just in time for a ton of rocks and dust to crush the one to the left of the door. The other beast looked in the direction of the companions. It charged forward and Link heard six rapid, yet distinct sounds; like a spoon into pudding. The Dinalfos fell backward, five daggers piercing its chest, and another stuck in its throat.
Link couldn't help but gape as Mina walked toward the liquefying creature and put each of the blades back into their respective sheathes after cleaning them on the grass. "I didn't think it was possible, but I think their blood gets nastier as they get bigger." She giggled, heading toward the door. "Come on, Link. My Master's right behind this door. He's really looking forward to this, I can feel it."
Link jumped off the ledge and joined Mina at the door, a steel masque of determination on his face. He nodded to the girl, and she opened the door. The two walked through, with Midna reluctantly floating behind them. 'Why does he have to go and do this, now?' She thought to herself. 'I know he likes to fight, that's part of why I've kept him, but I don't think this is going to be as easy as taking out a camp full of Bokoblins.'
Alexander sat in the middle of the room, facing away from the door. His long black coat unfurled on the ground behind him, and large bastard sword driven into the stone on his right. "Welcome, Link. I am glad you made it. I saw your fight with my Apprentice, and I am impressed. Your style is highly unorthodox. This will be an honor."
Mina ran forward and knelt down in front of the old Vampire. "I'm sorry, Master. I wanted to show you how much I learned, to prove that I'm still worth your time, but-"
"That is enough, Mina." Alexander interrupted. His voice was calm and warm. It caused Mina to look up from the floor, and Midna could see the flood of tears that the girl had let loose, truly terrified her Master would abandon her for a poor showing. "You did well, my dear, and there is no need for the thoughts flooding your mind." He reached out and wiped the pink tears from her face before grasping the pommel of his sword, using it to lift himself up. "Take my coat and go sit down, Mina. It is my turn to test myself against our young friend." He turned around, pulling the sword from the floor, and Link couldn't help but return the smile on his face. "I would like to change the rules slightly for our match, Link, if your Princess has no objections." Mina took his coat and walked over to the wall, wrapping herself in the warm leather that smelled of her Master.
"I object to this whole thing, but there's really no point in trying to talk you octorok-headed numbskulls out of this, so what did you have in mind?"
"Basic rules still apply; no killing blows, first blood wins. However, I would like you to use whatever weapons you have. Is that acceptable?"
Link nodded and readied the Master Sword and Hylian Shield for what he knew would be a fierce battle. Midna, sighing in defeat went and sat against the wall as well, sparing a sideways glance at a dreamily happy Mina.
"Excellent. Shall we begin, then, Hero?" Alexander set himself into a relaxed two-handed grip, smile broadening until his fangs were clearly visible.
Link nodded and the two warriors began to circle each other, inching closer. Link twirled the Master Sword in his hand, waiting to see any sort of strange movement from Alexander. Link dashed forward, left arm up, using the shield to cover his body, and came at Alexander with a thrust aimed for his left shoulder. The leather-bound warrior stepped to his right, and used his sword to deflect Link's blade, and before he had a chance to launch a second attack, Alexander drove his shoulder into the shield, pushing the Hero away. He quickly followed with a downward swing. Link rolled to the right just in time, causing the blade to wedge itself into the stone again.
While the Vampire dislodged his blade from the floor, Link decided to take out the Ball and Chain, twirling it over his head. He launched it at his opponent the second his sword was free.
Alexander turned to see the giant weight hurtling toward him. Using his momentum, he twisted his body, the ball barely grazing the back of his vest. 'My, that could have hurt.' He thought to himself.
Link, not wasting any time, charged in directly behind the giant projectile. If he could by chance catch the aged warrior off guard and end the battle quickly, he would be able to continue with his quest to help Midna. He noted that Alexander was still spinning, trying to regain his center of gravity. He leapt forward, slashing straight down, hoping to catch the man's unprotected shoulder.
Alexander noticed the green blur and raised his own blade just in time to deflect the attack, but before he could counter-attack, Link had rolled out of the way. 'Hit and run, is it boy?' Alexander thought to himself.
Link smiled as he regained his feet. The Vampire's reaction time was amazing, and his speed made him seem like he was one step ahead of anyone he fought. Link refused to lose, however. If anything, those realizations made him want to push himself to an even greater height. He didn't know it, but the Triforce on the back of his right hand was glowing dully.
Alexander decided to initiate the next clash, coming in low with a fierce two-handed stab that glanced harmlessly off of Link's shield. The force made Link take a step back, and he was barely able to duck the heavy boot that came flying at his head. Link saw him spinning around, preparing another attack, so he slashed at Alexander, angling the blade slightly.
Alexander noticed and shifted his weight, barely getting his weapon up. The sound of steel on steel reverberated through the room as the swords locked together. Both warriors had smiles on their faces as they fought for the upper hand.
Mina, still wrapped in the coat, watched the match with increasing excitement. "Wow, Master and Link are moving so fast. He didn't move this fast in our fight." She pouted slightly. "Was he holding back? Afraid to hurt me?"
Midna, finally settling into the match, herself, eyed the young girl curiously. "He wasn't holding back. At least I'm pretty sure he wasn't. But he's got a weird look on his face right now, as if something in him opened up for this fight."
"That's one of the great things about Master, he always pushes me beyond what I think I can manage." She said, beaming again.
"Beyond his limits?" Midna pondered as she watched the battle continue.
Link had just thrown a bomb into the air as he dodged another of Alexander's swings, watching intently as the fuse burned down. Alexander, realizing the danger of the blue-black sphere, slashed out with a small dagger, cutting the lit end of the fuse off, then kicking the now harmless object back at Link. Link slapped the bomb away with his shield and tried to imagine a way to break Alexander's defenses. Even though both his hands were usually occupied with the cumbersome weapon, his speed and experience more than made up for the apparent handicap. It was obvious to link that he could use the bastard sword with a single hand, and he often did so, like with the bomb, when he had cut the fuse with a dagger.
The fight continued for quite some time, the sound of steel nearly deafening the spectators. Link noticed suddenly that Alexander had gotten fairly close to the wall, and he began to formulate a plan. Tightening his grip on the Master Sword, he stepped forward, releasing a flurry of horizontal slashes that left Alexander no choice but to begin moving back.
'This kid's blade is moving faster than I've ever seen it.' Alexander thought to himself. He quickly realized that Link was trying to back him against the wall, so he began to move slightly to the side, trying to run the fight parallel to the wall. All the while, his weapon moved in earnest to keep the Sword of Evil's Bane away from his flesh.
Link had gotten him exactly where he wanted him. The Hylian Shield burst forward, pushing Alexander backward. Before he could recover, Link ran up along the wall and kicked off, becoming a forest green torpedo, sword and shield as the warhead. He felt the shield slam into Alexander's chest, and his sword nearly sang as it scraped against the bone of his opponent's forearm. Link's momentum pushed them both to the ground, his own body going into a roll, away from Alexander.
Midna jumped up from the wall and cheered, completely caught up in the moment, and went over to link, wrapping her arms around Link's neck from behind. "Ha, knew you'd win. That's why I chose you to be my Champion!" She had nearly kissed his cheek when she realized how close she was to him, quickly separating herself from his body.
Mina had run over to Alexander to help patch his heavily bleeding arm and give him some blood from her flask. She saw a dagger in his hand that had very bright blood on the tip.
"I would call it more of a draw, Princess." Alexander laughed, slightly out of breath. "Although your 'Champion's' blade did carve much deeper than my own." He held up the dagger so that Link and Midna could see it before licking it clean. "Seems even more potent than the last time, Link."
Link looked at his arms and noticed that a small hole in his white tunic had blossomed with a vibrant crimson color. Midna looked it over very carefully. "When did you..?"
"At the same time he struck me, Princess. It was a daring charge, Boy. Using the shield to force me off balance, and the well-placed sword to carve me up. However, you blinded yourself with the shield and were likely unable to see that I had pulled the dagger out and was trying to circle around you and ensure victory myself." Alexander drank nearly half of the contents of Mina's flask. "Unless you plan on dying with your opponent, Link, never ignore defense in favor of offense." He pulled out the familiar tin of salve and tossed it to Midna. I think you remember what to do. Would not do to have him injured before we slay this dragon."
Once both warriors had healed and rested, Alexander reached into his coat and produced an item that Link immediately recognized. "Here, the creature in this room dropped it after it died. I believe it to be the item you need to continue, yes?"
Link nodded and took the second Clawshot, thoughts immediately coming to mind about how to use it. He smiled at Alexander, finally ready to resume his arduous quest.
The party quickly found themselves back at the place where Link had been unable to cross the first time. This time, however, he pulled out the twin Clawshots and fired one at the first Peahat. In no time at all, he found himself hanging out over nothingness. He aimed the second Clawshot and fired, latching onto the second creature, swinging his way carefully across the chasm. Landing quietly on the other side, he turned around, curious to see how his companions would cross.
He was not disappointed when he saw Mina, always light on her feet, hopping across the tops of the Peahats, and landing silently beside the stunned Hero. Alexander, not quite the fleet-footed gymnast that his apprentice was, backed through the door before charging forward, kicking off on the very edge of the platform, he leapt, nearly flying through the air. His coat whipped behind him, and Mina thought that he looked a lot like one of the superheroes from the comics she had read at the Coven a few years ago.
Mina and Link stepped to either side of the platform, not wanting to get in the way of what would likely be a hard landing. They watched as he came down, both feet skidding along the tile, and nearly into the door before he stopped. Alexander stood up and adjusted his coat. "Perfect. It has been some time since I was required to jump quite that far." He rested his hand on the mechanism to open the door. "Shall we, then?"
The rest of the journey through the Sky City was fairly uneventful. The fan traps held no challenge for the group, nor did the growing number of Lizard Warriors. Before long, they found themselves in front of the final locked door, behind which was likely to be the giant dragon. Link looked back to his Vampiric comrades and smiled when they signaled they were ready. He placed the key in the heavy lock and turned it. The chains fell away and the door opened, revealing an expansive area that was fully walled in. The group walked in to the center of the area and looked around. There was no sign of the great beast they had all seen when they arrived. Mina was about to head back to the door when they heard a distant roll of thunder and a very unnatural roar. They all looked up to see the dragon lowering itself from the darkening cloud mass. It was a fierce shade of red, and covered in strange armor.
"It has been a long time since I have seen a dragon." Alexander stated flatly. "What do we call this one, Midna?"
"This is the Twilit Dragon, ARGOROK. Hell of a wingspan, don'tcha think?"
"He's huge!" Mina gasped, mouth agape. "And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came." Midna and Link gave her a set of confused glances.
"It does resemble the poem, does it not? Does anyone smell smoke?" Alexander watched as Argorok took in a great breath. "Out of the way, hurry!" The group scattered to opposite ends of the field, Midna deciding it would be safer to hide in Link's shadow for the time being. Link heard Alexander call to him from the other end. "We need to find a way to get that armor off of it. A dragon only covers up its weakest points."
Mina decided she would try to get its attention, and began throwing her daggers at it. "Hey, ugly, over here! We're gonna kill you!" Argorok turned and readied another blast of fire, intent on its next meal being well-done.
It never got the chance. Link fired both Clawshots at Argorok's tail, tearing off large chunks of armor. at the same time, Alexander jumped up, slashing at the straps that held most of the armor together. They all watched as the steel rained down, clattering on the stones.
Argorok let out a primal roar as it lost its only defense. It quickly turned on the two swordfighters and released the stream of fire it had been about to spew before. Link used a Clawshot to escape, latching onto one of the walls. Alexander, however, ran to one side. Argorok followed Alexander, a trail of fire following the crimson-haired warrior.
Link noticed, as it began to rain, that Argorok's back was covered in either fur or feathers. it was definitely not scaled, like the rest of its body. As it chased Alexander around, Link took aim with the second Clawshot and fired, latching onto the beast's back. Once mounted, Link began to slash and stab at the beast's back, barely noticing another pair of feet joining him.
Mina giggled as she began to stab with her Kris. "It's like poking a marshmallow, except this marshmallow will roast us if we're not careful!" Link gave the girl a quizzical look and held on tightly as Argorok lost altitude and crashed into the ground. They both kept stabbing, hoping to hit a vital organ before it tried to get back up.
"Mayhap you should cut the beast's head off, Hero." Alexander offered as he dragged his blade through the leathery wings of the dragon. Link jumped off its back and slashed through the dragon's neck in a place where the scales were very thin. The head rolled away from the body before the whole thing began to dissolve.
"…One, two! One, two! And through and through. The Vorpal Blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head, he went galumphing back." Alexander recited, an amused lilt to his voice.
Midna popped back out of Link's shadow and put her hands on her hips, glaring at the smiling Vampires. "Just what the hell are you two going on about? Jabberwock? Vorpal Blade? Snicker-snack? What does that last one even mean?"
"It's from a poem that was written almost a hundred and fifty years before I was even born. It's really popular in our world." Mina laughed, remembering the time that Alexander had given her the books by Lewis Carroll and told her that she would not be able to leave the Coven until she had read every single one of the poems, and could recite 'Jabberwocky' word for word. She recalled how hard it was, because many of the words in it weren't even words at all.
"Whatever. I've got the Mirror shard, now let's get the hell out of here." Midna opened a portal and waited for everyone to gather round.
"Might we head back to Kakariko, Princess? I am not sure how long it will be before dawn, and the girl and I shall need sustenance." Alexander's grin widened at the mention of food, and Link quickly realized what he meant. he decided that he would make sure the girl hadn't been harmed by the last snack those two had before he let them near her again. Outwardly, he just nodded, thinking a slight rest might be in order before they put the Mirror back together.
"Oh, fine." Midna sighed. "I was hoping to get this over with quickly, though."
"All we ask is a day's rest, then we shall finish this business of yours." Alexander promised as he stepped forward into the pillar of light with Mina close behind.
They all reappeared outside the inn just as dawn was beginning to break over the mountains. Alexander and Mina ducked inside as quickly as they could, not wanting to tempt fate. Link, however, stood there and watched the sky brighten from purple to red, then from red to orange, and finally golden sunlight streamed into the valley, seeming to refresh it. He saw the villagers beginning their daily routines and smiled. This was why he fought, he thought to himself as he entered the Inn. he noticed the slight blush on the girl's cheeks, likely due to her memory of the last time the Vampires had been there. She looked unharmed otherwise, so he smiled and nodded when she asked if he needed a room, handed her the twenty rupees and went up to rest. Once he had gotten into his nightclothes, he lay on the soft bed and stared at the ceiling, barely noticing that Midna had floated onto the bed next to him.
"We're finally going back to my home, to take it back from that coward Zant!" The anger that was usually in her voice when referring to Zant was tempered by the realization that as soon as that final battle was over, she might never see Link again. "Hey, Link?" Her voice softened suddenly. "If, if we didn't need to fight any more, would you stay with me?" She took a deep breath, but instead of waiting for a response, her voice regained its bluster. "I don't mean like that, you know, I just think that you'd get bored being around here without a reason to swing your sword, and while I'm ruling over my people, I could always use a court jester." She kicked herself for having to add such a blatant lie to cover for how she really felt. But she knew deep down that he would have seen past it.
Normally, he would have, but this time, the only sound that escaped the blonde teen was a soft snore.
"Idiot." She sighed as she curled up against him, falling asleep herself.
(A/N: Lots of fighting in this one. I was a little worried about how I was going to do the Argorok battle, because it is such a specialized fight. I hope you all were satisfied with how it turned out, because I am. Not sure how long it will be until I get the next chapter finished, or even what it will comprise of. My brain had been fried by too much egg nog, Christmas music, and sugar, and I will need a short period to recharge. Odin willing, I'll have at least one more chapter before Valentine's Day. [Not looking forward to that day, this time around.] As always, I look forward to reading everyone's reviews.)
Until next time, Kitties.