AN: This chapter starts a bit slow, but I like to think it picks up for the second half. It's also long, some of you may be happy to know.
Responses:
Outofstategrl: Yeah, Ganon did make it eternal night there, I sort of left it out of the story because I saw no point to it. It was really only there in the game to ensure you couldn't fail. Just wanted to mention that. Thanks for the review!
Herooftimes: No problem, I like questions for some reason… On to your new ones! I think Jabun is more a descendant of Jabu Jabu, but a reincarnation could work too. They're definitely connected somehow. And uh… have I ever been to where? I think maybe you forgot to type the last word there…
Dragon Alchemist: Jabu Jabu is indeed his name, and yes I remember him. I don't think he is the SAME as Jabun, but I'm almost positive they're related, or maybe he's a reincarnation. Thanks for the review! Oh, and yes, I do get a happy feeling from shooting that stupid fishman thing.
"Well met, Hyrule King." Rang out a deep voice in ancient Hylian. Naito of course, was left confused while Link listened intently. In front of them, the water bubbled and swelled, rising up in a big lump. A giant blue fish revealed himself from beneath, resting at the surface to watch them. He had a lantern dangling from a horn on his forehead. Link instantly thought of Jabu Jabu, although Jabu Jabu was greyer and couldn't talk.
"Well met indeed Jabun. I am pleased that you are safe." The King of red Lions said.
"It is just as we feared, isn't it." Jabun said. Link began whispering a translation into Naito's ear.
"Yes. Ganon has returned. There is no other explanation." The king said. Link found it odd that the king was speaking the modern Hylian language, but Jabun could understand him.
"If you have sought me out, you must have found the descendant of the Hero of Time… Which one is he?"
The boat looked back at Link, who was listening intently. He whispered into Link's ear, "Do not tell Naito what transpires from here on."
"The older one… he is unexpected. He is in fact the very same Hero of Time from the legends, although why is here is unknown to me. The other one bears no direct relation, but… I sense great courage in him." The boat finally said to Jabun.
"This is unusual. It is unclear what the goddesses want. I advise you to be cautious from here on. But if you truly think this is the only way… I will grant you the guidepost to the goddesses." Jabun said, giving the lantern on his forehead an almighty shake. A glowing blue pearl flew up, floating down to the boat. Link bowed his thanks while Naito stowed it away in the boat's compartment. They started to cruise out when Jabun asked a final question.
"Have you found the other whom you were searching for?"
The boat looked thoughtful, and said only "I believe I have." With that, they left the cave, out into the fresh morning light.
"Hmm… there is one more trial you must endure before we can confront Ganon. First, you must bring the pearls to their resting places. Get that chart out, I will tell you the coordinates." The boat said. Link did as he was told, marking the spots the King of Red Lions read to him. That done, he and Naito set off.
They reached an island with a reddish, abstract looking statue. It held its arms out, and Naito took the pearl over to it while Link watched. He placed it in its hands, where it began to glow brighter. The statue's eyes began to pulse a faint red. His duty done, Naito stepped back from the statue, turning and climbing back aboard the boat.
They delivered Nayru's pearl with equal ease, and arrived at the third island with no trouble. Naito again put Farore's pearl there, waiting for something to happen. For several seconds, nothing did. Until suddenly, extremely bright light emanated from the statue. Naito swore, and dove for cover. The statue exploded, or rather, the outer layer did. Behind was left an extremely intricate and realistic statue of a beautiful woman garbed in clothes made from leaves. She still held the pearl out. Naito stood slowly, and then ducked again when a beam of green shot from the pearl and off into the distance. It stayed that way for about ten seconds, until a red beam suddenly came from another angle, slamming into the pearl. The statue suddenly radiated a burst of green energy, which swept up Naito, Link and the boat. When it faded, they were gone.
They were brought to an empty patch of ocean. There was a rumbling noise from within the depths of the ocean, which began to swell ahead of them. Water was pushed out, which they gently rose up with. A giant white tower broke the ocean's surface, rising into the heavens. The water around them swelled too as a giant white ring rose up around, made up of many arches that would allow their boat to leave. The tower finally finished rising, revealing an entrance the boat could sail in. They did so at the King of Red Lion's command.
They were in a large water filled chamber. Straight ahead was a ledge under a golden statue spouting a waterfall that blocked it. They sailed over there, stopping right in front of the waterfall. Link drew his bow, aiming an ice arrow at the mouth. It was an easy shot, and the mouth froze over, granting them access. Naito hopped out first, and Link was about to follow when the King of Red Lions spoke up.
"No Link. Do you now know what this place is? It is the Tower of the Gods! The training grounds for the hero. Naito must go on alone."
Link sat back down. Naito hesitated.
"Go forth Naito. If you wish to save your sister, it is the only way. I trust in your skills. You should too." The boat said gently.
Naito nodded, a determined look settling on his face. It made him appear years older, somehow. He nodded grimly, turning and stepping towards a large door. It opened automatically for him, slamming shut behind him. He had never felt so alone.
The room he was in was circular, and had moving platforms at the back that he could use to get up. The interior of the tower was white as the outside, with gold trimmings. The platforms were gold, and hovered up and down over a VERY deep looking pit. He was about to jump to the first one when he noticed an inscription on the wall.
It read: Ye who would undergo the trials of the hero, listen well. You will be tested on everything necessary to prepare you for the trials ahead. Failure means death; success will see you adequately prepared for the future.
"Thanks for the encouragement…" Naito said to no one in particular. "And now I'm talking to myself. I haven't done anything yet and I'm going crazy already." He added as an afterthought. He then hopped onto the first platform. He hopped to the second when it was close enough, and managed to work his way to the top with no difficulty.
As soon as he was on the second floor, which looked much like the first, he was attacked. A stone statue with a hammer came to life, hopping after him. He drew his sword and back flipped to avoid a hammer blow. He slashed at it uselessly, jarring his arm. He jumped to the side to avoid another swing, and noticed a large red protrusion on its back. He followed his jump with a roll to the side, bringing himself behind it. He stabbed his sword into the red spot with both hands. The blade went a quarter of the way in before hitting stone, but that was enough. The statue began flashing red, and hopping around with Naito still attached. He was half dragged around, trying to yank his sword free. It finally came loose and sent him flying back just before it exploded.
A pink pillar of light appeared in the middle of the room. Seeing no other option, Naito stepped into it. It lifted him up and through the ceiling to the next floor. He was in a room with a large suit of armour at the outside of the room. It held a large sword up over its face. Naito watched it cautiously, remembering the "statue" from the last room.
Finally deciding it wasn't going to attack, he looked around for a way out. There was a weird statue of an eye on the roof, but it was out of reach. He again turned back to the armour, which still hadn't moved. He walked over to inspect it… it was indeed empty…
On instinct, he ducked. Turned out to be a good thing too; a giant sword sailed over his head and smashed the armour to bits. He spun to see another suit of armour, only this one was occupied. He didn't know where it came from, but he wasn't about to ask it.
He drew his sword and shield, and back flipped to put some distance between him and the knight-thing. It made an inhuman grunting sound, and stepped towards him. He darted to the side as it swung at him, trying to remember what Orca had taught him. It thrust at him and he rolled forward under it, stabbing at the creature's stomach from the floor. His sword glanced off the armour, and it gave him a swift kick. He slid across the floor, clutching his stomach in agony. It stepped over him, preparing to finish it…
He leapt to his feet, sword fully charged. He grinned, unable to believe it had worked. It used the spin attack, which knocked it right over. It slid across the floor, orange energy dancing across its armour every now and then. It stood, and its armour fell off in one piece. A very inhuman thing was left, wearing thin leather armour. Its face was dark under a hood, with red eyes. It readied its sword, charging at him with new agility.
It swung at him horizontally, at neck height. He leaped up, managing to clear the blade. Then, an odd thing happened. Naito felt a slight breeze, and a roaring wind seemingly from nowhere threw the monster off balance. Naito landed, and used the opportunity to leap at its unguarded face. He plunged his sword through its forehead, dropping to the ground. It staggered around, with the sword still in its face. It finally let out a pained roar, and fell backward. Naito retrieved his sword, wiping the black coloured blood on its leather armour with a look of disgust in his face. Just as he finished, the monster exploded into purple flame, vanishing.
He sheathed his sword in triumph, looking over to the other side of the room where a bright light had appeared. A chest was left behind as the light faded. Naito ran over to the chest, opening it carefully.
Inside were a small bow and a quiver full of arrows. He picked it up carefully, having no idea how to use it. For some reason however, it felt natural as he picked it up. He nocked an arrow expertly, suddenly feeling as if he had been an archer from birth. On a whim, he shot at the eye statue. Clearly he wasn't quite as god as he felt, because he missed. He got it on his second shot however, and it closed. Another pink pillar of light appeared, bringing him to the next floor.
He went up several floors of puzzles and platforms, with nothing much happening. He figured he must have been near the top by now, as he entered yet another floor. He was attacked again, by a strange entity. It appeared to be a cloud of dark fog, moving toward him. As it got closer, the air felt cooler and damper. Tendrils of fog reached out as if to grab him…
He snapped out of it, back flipping. The wisps of dark fog furled back into the main cloud. He thought he could make out some sort of figure inside the cloud, but he couldn't see it clearly. Drawing his bow, he took aim at the thing inside. He fired, and the arrow whistled into the fog, which began to disperse. He could see the figure inside, which now seemed to be almost human.
The fog began to reform. He shot another arrow, and another, placing them well so as to keep the fig split apart. It began to fade, and he could clearly make out the shape. It was a woman, floating a bit above the ground. She had brown hair, which floated unnaturally and wore a green dress. She looked at Naito sweetly, who put his sword away, unable to attack. That was when she changed. In an instant her beautiful face was that of a snarling gargoyle, her body some sort of twisted demon. She leapt at Naito, arms outstretched with sharp claws aimed for him.
With lightning quick reflexes, Naito leaped sideways and drew his sword, slashing at it when it flew by. He took off an arm, which flopped around uselessly on the ground before rotting away. The one arm demon was looking at him, appearing not to notice its missing limb. It flew at him again, dodging his swing and slashing him. It caught his arm, leaving four slashes through his tunic and skin. It didn't seem deep, but he could check that after. First he had to finish this thing.
It was looking at him again. This time it extended its arm, and vines sprouted rapidly from the fingers. All five wrapped around Naito, drawing him in close. He was held, suspended in front of the beast. It grew another arm, which had even bigger claws then before. Naito struggled, trying to free his left arm in which he held his sword. The hand reared back, aiming for his vulnerable stomach. He managed to wrench his arm free, and slash the other vines despite his lack of leverage. He fell to the ground, ducking as he landed to dodge the swipe. He then thrust his sword forward, this time piercing the monster's chest. It screamed, although that wasn't a good way to describe it. It was more like it opened its mouth, and a thousand voices screamed from within. It began to turn to sand, starting with its feet and working its way up to its head. The scream lingered for a few seconds after it was gone.
"You have defeated the earth spirit. You are ready for your final challenge. Go through the door, and come face me." A deep voice called through the chamber. A door that had been covered by bars was opened. Naito took a deep breath, checking his wound. It was even shallower than he thought, so he continued on through the door to see what awaited him.
AN: There. I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review, and I actually have a question for you. I assume you've beaten Wind Waker, and already know what I am telling you so it isn't a spoiler. But at the part with the Master Sword, I don't know whether to give it to Naito or big Link. I have a scenario in my head for either one, so please let me know what YOU want to see. Thank you.