Provision Revision
The sun had not yet finished peeking over the horizon, but Marickiya was already awake and felt no urge to continue sleeping. Before waking, and not completely in the realm of clarity, her dream-like thoughts were weaving in and out of her mind. They had mostly been remnants from the past few weeks.
Training had been tough for her and everyone who volunteered for the battle for Kakariko. It wasn't something she was unaccustomed to, but the style of fighting she was learning from Link was vastly different from what she had grown up with. At first his teachings were a little all over the place, but once he got a rhythm for what she needed to know, he came up with a bunch of different scenarios where she'd be surrounded and have to fight her way through. She was getting better, but it was definitely not her strongest skills.
As these memories were running laps in her barely conscious mind, something she hadn't spared a thought for in several days suddenly jumped out at her, causing her to awaken suddenly.
Looking around the small tent she and Nabooru shared just outside Malon's ranch house, she noticed the other Gerudo woman had also awoken early and wasn't present. She expected it from the woman. Link was staying inside the house in the downstairs room where he'd been put up by the insistence of Malon. She smiled at the memory of her all but begging him to stay in her house. Marickiya, seeing as there was no one to disturb with her rummaging, pulled two items from her packs. One was a book. It was the one she'd, on a whim, taken from Link's house because something about it was familiar to her. The second was a sheet of paper full of notes.
This sheet of paper wasn't that interesting to her initially. It only revealed its significance when she pulled the book from the top shelf of her loft a few weeks back. The day she and Link had gone to scout out the village, when she had gone to retrieve her newly altered Kokiri garb, the old Sheikah lady pulled out a roll of tied parchment from within her cloak she seemed to always be wearing and handed it to her.
"What's this?" She had given the woman a puzzled look, and received a toothy grin in response.
"A friend of mine asked me to give this to the one who had previously owned the newly acquired blue dress in my shop." She stated matter-of-factly as if that were explanation enough. Marickiya simply stared blankly. "She said you would be needing it soon." She wrapped up with an all-knowing smug look. Marickiya, not truly wanting anything more to do with the strange woman, merely thanked her and waved good-bye. As the woman turned to retreat back into her large tent, she shook her head while laughing lightly to herself. As she made her way to Link's meeting place, she unrolled the parchment. It was a full-length page of translation notes.
As fascinating as old Hylian was, she did not see why this woman, whom she'd never met, felt the need to give these notes to her. Unless this second, presumed old, woman could see into the future, Marickiya was stumped by what would make her believe she needed them.
After skimming through the page for a second longer and taking in the cipher, she rolled it back up and stuffed it into her bag where it would most likely be staying for a long while before she decided to simply throw it out. She met up with Link and they made their way to Kakariko. She thought nothing more of it, or the older Sheikah woman, until awakening that particular morning.
With the two items in hand, and grabbing a quill with ink on her way, Mari hopped back down onto her cot where she had been sleeping. She turned over the tome in her hands searching the cover for anything significant. The only thing that stood out was the single symbol on the front and side binding that had caught her attention in the first place. Other than that, there was neither a title nor an author. Discerning nothing else useful, she moved over to the notes she'd been given and poured over them looking for something similar to the symbol. After skimming the several rows of letters and runes a few times, at first quickly, then going back and being more thorough, she didn't find anything that matched. She hummed in minor annoyance and looked away from the notes. Her eyes lazily trailed between the two items before her as she began to wonder if the notes were even a match to the book she found. She had seen the symbol on the front cover before, and she was so sure it had been in these dumb notes. She kept looking between the two with the thought to just give it up, when she finally spotted it. Well, part of it anyway.
It didn't take her long to find the other half when she realized what it was she was looking for. The two halves together formed two parts of a word. The symbol was the title and the title was 'Truth'. Interesting. She speculated that this book was some religious literature as she opened the front cover. She turned a few pages in to find a single page with some more of the unfamiliar lettering positioned in the center. With her notes in one hand and the quill in another, she began slowly writing the translation of the subtitled page. After a few moments of going back and forth between the two texts and fitting together the parts of different words, Marickiya had a second, handwritten title below the old Hylian passage. It read, 'The Legend of the Triforce.'
She put down her quill and thought for a moment as she stared into the black ink she'd put on the paper. She knew that the Triforce was the symbol for Hyrule's Royalty, but nothing more. She raked her mind for any other small details about this Triforce, but could think of nothing. And yet, at the same time, she felt it was something of absolute importance…
"Hey girly! I see you're awake," Nabooru had entered the tent in the midst of her train of thought. She looked up at the older Gerudo woman.
"Yeah," she folded up her notes and placed them inside the front cover, "I woke up a little while ago and didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep." She stood up and started to stretch her limbs. Her loose undershirt made it easy to stretch out all her muscles to their fullest, several popping noises could be heard from her joints.
"I see you still have that nasty habit." She snickered as the young girl stuck her tongue out at her. "Link sent me in here to see if you were awake yet. I told him you wouldn't be."
"What does he need?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"He wants to begin today's training. Like," Nabooru made a mocking gesture, "'As soon as possible'."Marickiya gave a disbelieving scoff.
"Already? Does he know what time it is?" She complained and pulled her boots closer to put them on.
"Hence why I said you'd still be sleeping." Marickiya rolled her whole head with her eyes this time, making sure Nabooru could see. "Speaking of that boy, have you told him?" The young Gerudo stopped lacing her shoe to turn and give her a look. She had told her what she'd learned at the Kokiri Forest and instantly regretted the decision to do so as Nabooru simply would not shut up about it.
"Nab, if you're going to ask me that every time we have a conversation, I'm done talking to you." The elder woman laughed at her and sat down on the bed. Marickiya ignored her and continued on to her second boot.
"I don't mean to pester you. I'm just so excited. You've wondered your whole life about your family and you've finally found it." There was a happy gleam in her eye that made Marickiya drop her incredulity.
"I know, I know," she sighed and gave a smile of her own. "I'm happy, too, believe me." Then the smile faltered a bit. "I just don't know that it's the right time to tell him. And even when the time comes, I'm not sure I'll know what to say." She tightened the last knot on her boots and sat up with a downcast expression.
"You're worried about what he'd think." Marickiya's shoulders hunched.
"He'll ask about what I know. And I'll have to tell him. I'll have to tell him what that sorry excuse for a human did to…" she couldn't finish her sentence. She shook her head, her short hair flying about her face. "I can't right now. Not under these circumstances."
Nabooru set a firm hand on her shoulder and Marickiya looked up.
"I'm sure you will figure out what's best for the two of you. For now, you should stick together." Marickiya smiled warmly. Nabooru smiled back and gave her a brief hug. Then she jumped up off the cot with a bounce. "Alright! On to today's training!" She declared energetically. Marickiya groaned.
0000
They found Link speaking to a group of burly looking men. He waved them over as they neared. He was giving different examples about how a battle might play out and the men would bounce off of him. They were making several back up plans in case their first one didn't work. Link was good about thinking ahead like that. They wrapped things up soon after the two Gerudo women's arrival. Most of the men left except for one older looking man with a dark beard and calloused hands.
"You ready for some training today?" Link asked of Marickiya enthusiastically with his hands on his hips. She gave him a thumb's up and a grimace. "Good." He dropped his overly enthused manor, "This is Orin," he gestured at the bearded man and she and him shook hands. "He's been helping out a lot with the battle plans and is a great strategist. He's going to be training with you and me." She nodded. That made the day's exercise s seem more interesting to her.
"How many people have we got volunteering for this now?" Nabooru asked out of curiosity.
"More than enough, I think. A little over fifty." Link's hand went up to his chin in thought. "I'm not too sure about a few. The Moblins are going to be tough."
"We can hold our own," Orin assured the Hero. Link nodded in agreement.
"Sounds good. Don't dawdle too long on conversation; Marickiya isn't too keen on training today." Nabooru teased. Marickiya shoved her a bit and she giggled.
"Alright, then. Let's get to it." Link said.
The groups that were all volunteering for the battle were set up outside the Ranch town's outer wall. They had dummies where several men were practicing the sword with. There was a shooting range for the archers. There was another quieter area where Marckiyai saw the men Link had met with earlier relaying new battle strategies to a few groups. Link led her and Orin through the practicing fighters, receiving a few 'hello's' on the way. They stopped a little ways away from the sword-fighters and their dummies. On the ground were three swords of differing lengths and a leather chest-plate. Marickiya knew that was for her.
"Okay, today we're going to try something a little different. We are using real swords." He lifted them up and handed one to Mari and Orin, keeping one for himself.
"Yaaaaay," she said quietly.
"And this is for you," he hefted the leather piece from the ground which seemed to have some weight to it.
"I gathered as much," she sighed as he lifted it over her head. With it resting on her shoulders, she could definitely feel the weighty protection it was supposed to offer. Link tightened a couple straps on her side and took a step back.
"We're both going to attack you." 'Figured that out, too,' she said internally. Link twirled the short sword he had kept for himself in his hand for a moment then looked up. "Let's go," he said and without any other warning, lunged forward. Marickiya easily blocked his oncoming attack, though she was driven into an unfavorable stance. She wouldn't be able to knock him off of her easily.
Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of her as the blunt side of a blade made contact with her rib cage. She was thrown to the ground with a sorry sounding 'oomph'.
It hadn't been hard enough to completely disorient her. Orin had dropped to a knee and was asking if she was alright with a hand outstretched for her to take.
"You have to be aware of all your enemies." She was agitated by Link's voice and they were only a few minutes into the day's work-out. "I told him not to go easy on you."
Mari took Orin's hand and stood to face her two opponents. "Are you ready this time?" So he knew she hadn't been ready? The only thing she responded with was a determined scowl pointed directly at Link. He gave her a twisted grin. "Good. Again."
It went on like this for a few hours. Marickiya was getting a bit better at keeping an eye on both Link and Orin's blades. She was mostly intent on not letting Link getting any hits in as his were most assuredly harder. After a while, Orin was only able to graze her as she jumped out of the way of his attack while keeping him in her line of sight. She was still knocked down quiet a lot, but they weren't hearing any complaining from her. Although she was progressing, it was like juggling knives. You can only go so long before you get cut.
After getting hit three times consecutively, Link called for a break. Marickiya sat down on the grass with a heavy sigh. Link plunged his blade into the grass in front of him and set himself down easily, leaning back on his hands. She started unclasping the leather straps from her armor as it was getting hot and hard to breath under it. With it loosened, she took in large gulps of air to try and steady her heartbeat.
"That was pretty good," Link offered. It was sickening how unfazed Link looked after an entire morning of intense sword play. She decided no response was the best response.
"Link, it's about time for me to tend to the others. I need to get going." Orin, who hadn't sat down, said as he laid his practice sword next to the Hero.
"That's fine. Thank you for your help this morning." Link said as Orin began to wander off with a polite wave. Link was watching him walk away when Marickiya had finally finished evening out her breathing. She leaned forward and sat cross legged.
"Link," she said. He looked back at her. "I…" Nabooru's words from earlier wormed their way into her thoughts right then.
She could just say it. Her heart fluttered uncomfortably at the thought of how easy it could be for the words to just come spilling out of her mouth. It was what came after that made her so uncertain. And it was a situation she wasn't ready to deal with.
All these emotions raced around her heart for merely a second. She took a deep breath.
"I want to know about what's happened to Hyrule." She said evenly. She let out a discreet breath.
"You really have no idea about any of it, do you?" Link asked as he laid his sword down next to him and mimicked her sitting position. He interlaced his fingers and rested his elbows on his knees.
"Nothing really changed in the desert." She shrugged. "We were just without our leader. Only the higher-ups knew what was going on, and even then, their information was limited." Link nodded.
"Ganondorf came from the desert nearly eight years ago to swear fealty to the King of Hyrule." He started.
"That was the last thing any of us really heard before his disappearance." She affirmed.
"Well, as you probably have guessed, peace wasn't what he was after. He was looking for something that Hyrule has kept safe in the Sacred Realm. He came to Hyrule to obtain it."
"What was it?" She asked.
"The Triforce." He stated simply. Marickiya kept her features even, though it was difficult. She'd just read a line of text in an old book about the Triforce and now it was relevant. She felt her stomach bubbling with excitement.
"What is the Triforce?" she asked.
"It is the symbol of the Hyrule Royal Family. But it is also a powerful relic. It was created by the Goddesses and anyone who touches it will have their wish granted." Mari's eyes widened at this revelation. So there had been more to it. There was apparently a 'Legend' about it.
"That's amazing." She said in awe.
"Yes, it is pretty interesting. The start of the Seven Year War began when Ganondorf went into the Sacred Realm to steal the Triforce." She exclaimed loudly.
"Ganondorf has the Triforce?" Link smiled at her exhilaration.
"Not exactly. When he attempted to take it, an old Sheikah legend came true. It states that when someone who has an unbalanced heart touches the Triforce, the three pieces which represent power, wisdom, and courage, will split and enter into those who most stand for each trait. He was only able to obtain the Triforce piece of Power." Link finished. Marickiya frowned.
"That's not good. He still has it, doesn't he?" Link nodded. "Where are the other two pieces?" Link smiled at her question.
"The Triforce piece of Courage entered the Hero of Time who helped to defeat the King of Evil." He continued smiling almost smugly.
"I'm guessing that's you, then?" She knew it was, from what she was told by the Sprout, but she didn't want to let on. As a plus, Link's smile dropped to a pout at her indifferent tone.
"What, you're not impressed?" She couldn't help but laugh at his change in attitude. She waved him off.
"So who has the last piece? Wisdom was it?" She continued, ignoring Link's hurt expression.
"The last piece belonged to the Princess, Zelda…" Something seemed to hit Link just then. He face contorted into an indiscernible expression. Then he stood up so quickly, Marickiya blinked and missed it. She was about to ask what was wrong when he bolted off towards the Ranch. She called after him, but he ignored her. She swore and pulled the leather armor over her head and sprinted after him.
0000
Link burst into the meeting room, which also happened to be Malon's bedroom, and spotted Impa.
"Impa," she seemed appalled by his outburst but remained quiet as an invitation to continue, "Do you know what happens to a piece of the Triforce when someone who has it dies?"
He was met with silence. Link noticed there was another in the room with them, a boy, a bit younger than him and dressed in Shiekan garb. Impa stood from her chair which was sat across from the Sheikah youth.
"Link," he almost shrunk back because of how tall and menacing he had forgotten that she was. "This is Aine." She gestured to the boy she'd been conversing with. That wasn't really what he was expecting. The boy stood and crossed the room to shake Link's hand. "I've been telling him all about you."
"It's great to finally meet you," Aine said excitedly. Link decided he liked the kid.
"It's nice to meet you, too." He smiled, then turned back to Impa. "Impa, do you-" she cut him off.
"I am presently looking into this matter as it had already crossed my mind before today." He seemed abashed at her commanding tones. Marickiya chose that moment to burst in.
"Link, what's the rush. Oh," she noticed Impa and Aine standing beside Link. "Pardon my intrusion."
"It is nothing to be sorry about." Impa gestured to Aine again. "This is Aine." She and Aine shook hands. She turned back to Link. "As I was saying, I've selected him from an elite group of our finest youths. He will be Princess Zelda's new caretaker." Link nodded in understanding, deciding to just allow Impa to speak. "As a last test of his skill, I've been sending him to the village for reconnaissance.
"He has reported that last night, there was a brawl between a large portion of the Moblins stationed there and they are disorganized." Link's face lit up.
"You mean…" Impa nodded.
"Yes. It is time to strike."
0000
Night was beginning to fall by the time they'd organized the troops and made their way to the stone steps that led up to the village. There was a great amount of both excitement and fear rippling through the groups of volunteers. They decided horses wouldn't be necessary for the battle so Epona and Marickiya's horse, Trysting, stayed behind in the care of Malon. She didn't seem to mind though.
Marickiya followed Link as he wound through the men giving words of encouragement and helping with some practicing techniques. Soon, they had met up with Impa and Orin, the two who had been doing a lot of the battle planning.
"Ah good, you're here Link. I need to speak with you." Link nodded and he followed Impa to a somewhat secluded spot where others wouldn't be overhearing anything. Marickiya and Orin had trailed not far behind. The four stood in a group at the outskirts of the would-be soldiers.
"There has been a small change of plans." Impa began. "You will not be joining us tonight." Link exclaimed loudly.
"What do you mean?" He got over his initial shock and remembered they were away from the others because Impa didn't want this to be overheard.
"To the credit of Orin," the big man gave a grin through his beard, "We've decided now is the time to reclaim the Master Sword." Link 'oh'ed quietly.
"You want to use this siege as a distraction." Link had to spell it out for himself. Impa confirmed.
"Correct. I'm sure you'll agree that it is the best strategy."
He had to owe it to the man to come up with the most interesting ideas.
"Do you know how well-guarded the Temple of Time is? Should I consider bringing a small group with me?" Link questioned.
"It is up to you. If you think it is necessary." Impa said solemnly. Orin had something different to say.
"If you don't mind me saying, we are probably going to need everyone who came out here tonight." Link was quick to agree.
"I understand," he turned to Marickiya, "You and I will handle it."
"We've got this," she said with determination.
"Alright, we leave it to you," Impa said as she clasped him on the shoulder and made her way to begin organizing the troops for an advance. Orin bid them one more farewell before he too was off.
"I guess we make our way to the market." Link said as he started to hurriedly make his way in that direction with Marickiya was on his heels.
0000
Vaati sat alone on the shore of Lake Hylia in a meditative position.
Ganondorf. The name swirled in his mind's eye for a moment.
'He is the great threat to the land you must vanquish.'
That one was easy to figure out. It was the second great 'threat' that eluded him thus far.
There was that one woman. He sensed a strange power from her. He knew she was keeping an eye on the Hero and his companion, and he was also sure that she was dogging him as well. He could always sense her presence nearby even when he could not see her. She disguised herself a little too well for it to be completely natural. He had decided to stay out of crowds for this reason. For now, he was camped out at the southern lake.
Link was the 'Hero' he'd not yet met. When the girl he'd met at the ball asked him if he knew the 'Hero of Time' he almost said yes, but he was sure it wasn't the same Link he knew. She had caught his eye more than the Hero. He could not place it, but he thought he recognized her from somewhere before. Other than the odd feeling and her connection to Link, she wasn't very remarkable.
'Now, if you keep having thoughts like that, you won't make any friends,' a voice in his head said. He scoffed aloud.
"No, I am not allowed that luxury." He said with displeasure. The voice didn't give a reply.
Deep in concentration, he felt a great movement from the other side of the kingdom. A mass of consciousnesses was formulating in the north. This was intriguing. He focused on it, though his magic could not determine exactly what it was from this distance.
He honed in enough to tell that there were in fact two large masses developing in the north. One was at the village he knew to be infested with a brainless mob of Moblins. He ventured a guess that the mass there was most likely the villagers attempting to take their home back. The second mass was at the Castle Market. He couldn't come up with any guesses as to what that could be.
He decided it was not outside of his plans to go ahead and check it out. In other words, he had nothing better to do. He summoned forth his power.
0000
"Well, we can't say we couldn't see this coming." Marickiya laughed nervously.
She and the Hero of Time were back to back completely surrounded by a rather intimidating number of skeletal swordsmen. Link grit his teeth.
"Ganon sure was prepared." He eyed the flood of enemies in front and behind him warily. They seemed to be guffawing at their prey but not moving in on them just yet, like predators eyeing their defenseless prey . Link had an idea. He slowly put his shield away.
"What are you doing?" Mari asked anxiously. Link whispered through his teeth his instructions.
"I'm going to clear a path and we're going to make a break for the temple." He said slowly so she wouldn't miss a word.
"Great. How are you going to do that?" She asked in the same hushed voice he'd used.
"Just wait. Let them in a little closer."
As if accepting his invitation, the Stalfos began to close in on the duo seeing as they weren't going to make the first move. They were a few yards away when Link whipped around and grabbed his companion.
"What the-" she exclaimed in surprise as he brought her close to his chest where he held something in his hands. Then that thing began to glow. She was a little more than shocked to see a fire growing in Link's palm and expanding outward. At first she feared the flames were going to envelope her too, but she guessed by Link grabbing her like he did, he was trying to prevent that from happening. The flames grew in intensity as it fanned out and knocked all of the surrounding enemies off their feet in surprise. Many of the closer ones were crying out in pain as the fire burned away bits of their bones to dust.
Just as quickly as it had appeared, the blaze was gone, leaving a crater of charred skeletal remains. They were very quickly being replaced by more Stalfos that weren't in the line of fire, though.
"Go!" Link had yelled pulling Marickiya out of her reverie. She blinked and got up quickly to follow after Link who had already sprinted off towards the Temple entrance. The other Stalfos who hadn't seen what was happening within the dome of fire were quick to notice the two running quickly towards the thing they needed to keep them away from. Gathering their wits, they started to regroup and cut off Link's path to the doors. He wasn't about to have that though. Without missing a beat, Link had leapt into the air and plunged his small blade into the crevice beneath one skeleton's skull and separated it from the thing's torso, and then kept going.
Marickiya was having a hard time keeping up as she had to side step quite a few of the monsters that were attempting to separate her from Link. He's was already so far ahead and he hadn't noticed she'd fallen behind. The Stalfos were closing in on her fast…
'Wham!'
She felt the thinness of a blade connect with her shoulder and knock her to the ground.
'Always the back!' she grit inside her head. Greatly annoyed, she looked up to see no sign of her green clad hero nearby. They were divided among the throng of grinding bones and armor.
She heard a ghastly chuckle from behind her and only had time to turn over from her position on the ground to see a Stalfos looming over her with its jagged sword raised. In a small panic, she raised her blade weakly over head to try and parry what was coming. She gave a small squeak of fear.
There was a clash of metal that badly startled her.
It took her a second to realize she was still alive and that she had been protected. She looked around but couldn't spot Link anywhere near. The bewildered Stalfos that had tried to attack before had regained its composure and went in for another blow. Marickiya was looking up at it when a deep violet blur zipped in and out of her sight, knocking the Stalfos back once again.
"Get up!" The demand came from the blur. She blinked in surprise but wasn't about to squander a second opportunity. She quickly picked herself up and began muscling her way to the Temple entrance.
It wasn't long before she could see Link standing at the stone steps, fighting off his own monsters. He spotted her.
"Hurry," he gestured after throwing a Stalfos off of him, making it trip down a few steps and exploding into a hundred or so bone fragments. As Mari punched, kicked, and used her sword to ward off most of the adversaries in her way, Link noticed something flash around her a few times. There was no way to tell what it was; just a blur and then a skeleton she wasn't even facing would drop. It was moving too fast to tell what it was. Whatever it was appeared to be on their side of the battle and he didn't have the time to wonder about. Once Marickiya returned to his side, they hurried past the giant wooden doors and started to close the portal behind them.
"They're going to bust it down!" Mari shouted tensely. Before the entrance was closed, they could see a massing of the Stalfos hurrying up the steps after them. The two pulled the double doors closed. It didn't take long for the Stalfos to start pulling at their side. Link and Mari tried to hold them.
"We can't hold this forever," Mari said in a strained voice. Link looked back frantically.
"Can you hold it for just a few seconds?" He asked of her. She gave him a pained look, but nodded. He let her grab hold of his handle and backed away. Before running off, he shoved his short-sword through the two handles.
"Hold it for just a bit longer." He sprinted towards the other end of the room where an altar and another set of doors resided.
Marickiya was pulling with all she had, but even with the help of Link's small sword, the skeletons were pulling harder and inch by inch, a crack was growing wider. When the split became wide enough, one of the Stalfos' jagged blades plunged through. It couldn't be wielded properly from the angle it was held, but a blade's a blade and it made contact with her arm slicing down the side of it. Marickiya gritted her teeth anxiously from the pain.
"Hurry, Link," she said.
"Mari, jump out of the way and let the doors open." He told her while he climbed up onto the altar. Before she could question Link's sanity, she felt a great tug pull the handles from her grasp and the sword began to splinter. She, without a second glance, dove headfirst to the side and rolled away from the burst of metal shards and an influx of skeleton monsters. Then, all at once, they all stopped to stare in fright at the Hero of Time who held the Master Sword above his head.
"Guess who's back?" He taunted with a maniacal looking grin. In the heat of the moment, he decided to coat his sword in Din's Fire. There was shriek from somewhere in the throng which caused many of them to panic and trip over themselves in an attempt to flee. Marickiya stood and holding her cut arm walked to the double doors and watched as the frightened bony brutes scattered around the courtyard and beyond. She gave Link a grin.
"Little melodramatic, don't you think?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Link quipped back and he hurried over to his companion. He had noticed a great deal of blood escaping from the wound on her arm. "Sorry I wasn't quick enough," he said with a sad tone. She shrugged it off.
"It just stings a lot." She said trying to mop up the continued flow of blood. Something she saw a ways past Link made her breath catch in her throat.
"What is it?" He said, his grip tightening on the hilt of the Master Sword. He watched her gaze trail behind him and he turned to face whatever had startled her.
An elder man in sweeping copper robes was walking towards them at a determined pace.
"Rauru," Link sheathed his sword. He had never seen the guy smile so he truly didn't expect it when he was greeted with one through his bushy white beard.
"It is good to see you've retrieved that which is rightfully yours," Rauru stated simply. He kept his sight fixated firmly on Marickiya as he approached however. Link stepped back as the Sage got close enough to touch, but stopped just short of doing so and held one of his hands to her injury.
She really had no idea what exactly was going on. Some guy Link apparently knew had waltzed right up to her and… a brilliant glow radiated from where he held his hand. Surprised, she looked down to see the slice she'd received not moments earlier was now scarring over at a rapid pace. The bleeding had stopped. Then, a closed scar was even more quickly replaced by new skin. She couldn't even tell there had been a gash there at all. She remained quiet however while he did it and took in the old man's tired looking features. The idle wondering of just how old this man was, was interrupted by him finishing healing her arm.
She looked up breathless. Between Vaati, Link's pyrotechnics outside, and this, she started to feel like maybe everyone outside of the desert was able to use some form of magic.
"Thank you," was all she could manage as she ran her fingers over the flawless skin in amazement. Link cleared his throat.
"Rauru, this is Marickiya. She and I have been traveling together for a while." Rauru gave solitary nod.
"Where are you from?" He asked. Mari was only slightly taken aback by his abrupt question.
"The Desert." She said.
"This must be your first time visiting Hyrule." He said with a small grin that she could only see because his mustache twitched a little whenever he did it.
"Yes." How on earth did he know that? Her confusion must have shown on her face for the elder man laughed lightly.
"Link forgot to mention that I am the Sage of Light. I see many things that happen in Hyrule. Many faces…" he trailed off.
"Speaking of which, Rauru, I've never seen you outside of the Sacred Realm before."
"I am merely a projection, here to speak with you."
"Of course," Link said quietly, though he grinned to himself.
"It is good that you have retrieved the Master Sword from here, Link. It is a great move against the enemy. One he will not take lightly." Link nodded. "You should get back to where you will be staying quickly."
"Right," Link remembered his conversation with Impa earlier. "I spoke with Impa about something earlier and she didn't have an answer for me. Maybe you might." Rauru had a pensive look about him.
"She and I are both fervently searching for the new holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. You need not concern yourself with that matter just yet. Be wary of your surroundings," And with that, there was a flash of light and Rauru had vanished. Link turned to Marickiya who shrugged.
"He's right about us needing to get back quickly." Link said as he made his way outside again. There were remnants of a battle, but not a single Stalfos remained to take on the Hero of Time.
"I wonder how the villagers are doing." Marickiya said as they quickened their pace out of the Temple's courtyard. Link stopped and looked up as something had splashed onto his face.
"I don't know. But I hope they wrap it up before this hits." He gestured at the darkened sky where they could see, in the distance, a few faint flashes of lightning. Marickiya's eyes lit up.
"We get to walk home in the rain?"
0000
Well, that had certainly been entertaining. He hadn't had the chance to really perform any of his offensive magic since arriving in this Hyrule. He'd been mostly using his power of stealth to keep a low profile. But it sure did feel great to let off a little steam. Those skeletal beings didn't stand a chance. Vaati chuckled to himself.
He had warped back to his campsite after watching the horde of monsters flee from the temple. Whatever those two had done to frighten them had worked. He decided to call it a night. He was walking back to his hidden belongings when a voice spoke from behind him.
"Just here to 'observe', huh?" He whipped around.
Standing a small distance away was Lana. She had a steely look to her, telling him she wasn't there just to chat. He straightened up and faced her.
"What are you talking about?" He said in his feathery tone and shrugged. His act he'd used on Ganondorf didn't seem to be working on her though. She'd obviously been sent after him and she looked like she'd taken a beating very recently. She had a lot to lose for disobeying the Gerudo King. She held an drained expression and readied something in her hands.
"I do not want to fight you," Vaati said, dropping his nonchalant front and adopting a defensive position. He really didn't want to fight her, as much fun as he had firing off magic earlier. He didn't know what she was capable of besides stalking and melding with shadows. The magic she had twisting in her cupped hand was already looking pretty threatening. She smirked at him eyeing her spell worriedly.
"I wanted to thank you for stopping him that night we first met." The spell grew and began flashing different colors. Her grin turned to a snarl. "Sorry to say I won't be returning the favor."
The ball of pure energy came at him fast. So fast he almost didn't have time to react. He's leg muscles tensed as he readied to leap out of its path. It was only then that he noticed her second spell, this one to keep him firmly in place and unable to avoid the attack. He had completely underestimated the situation and there was no time to regret it. In his last panicked seconds, he subconsciously began to warp away from the spot. But he couldn't get out in time. The magic hit. Hard...
Lana watched the sorcerer try and escape. Just before successfully warping away, she felt her power collide with him. She winced as he disappeared from her view entirely. Everything returned to the semi-quiet of the lake's waves washing up onto the shore.
"Too bad you won't be surviving that," she said out loud wistfully. Her disappointed gaze fell onto his pile of belongings. "Huh. I thought you'd be more amusing," she said and with a snap of her finger, the pile of possessions was set ablaze.