AN: Yay, no more school! Things will hopefully come a bit more quickly now… although I am getting a job, so…
"Wow…" Naito breathed as they stepped to the edge. Link had to agree; he'd never seen anything like it in his life. They were in a giant circular room, easily two hundred feet from roof to floor, probably more. They were near the very top; it stretched deep into the earth. It was brightly lit, and the ledge they were on was covered in grass. There was an updraft from below, but a fog below prevented them from seeing what was creating it. Link could see another ledge with a door opposite them, and there were a few other offshoots further down.
"Not that this isn't impressive, but we can't stand here ogling it all day. What now?" Naito piped up after a couple of minutes.
Link crouched by the edge, peering down. The walls were smooth, beige stone, and definitely impossible to climb. He was about to ask Naito for suggestions when they heard a cawing sound from below. Link stood quickly and backed up. The temple rumbled slightly, and there were echoing screeches from below, drawing closer and closer. Link peered over and then flipped back, keeping his hands on the ground. He landed, drew his sword, and crouched into a fighting stance. Naito watched and then drew his own weapons.
There was a loud rush of air, and thousands of large, black birds burst up from beneath. They obscured the other side of the temple from view, trapping them on their ledge. Bars slammed down over the door behind them.
"KILL THE INTRUDERS." A voice rumbled from the birds, the ground, and the temple itself.
There was an explosion of feathers, and the giant black birds plunged forward. Link and Naito hit the floor as the black cloud swooped overhead. Claws tore at them, scratching their skin and trying to grab hold. Link stood suddenly, used a spin attack to make some space, and cast Nayru's Love. The brilliant blue diamond sprung into existence around him, its blue walls stopping any bird that tried to hit him. He began slashing at random, taking down bird after bird. He took the head off one and it fell nearby. The skin rotted, leaving behind a skeleton. A small, green worm with tiny horns crawled out of a hole in the skull, and died as it tried to crawl away.
Link spent a little too much time noticing this. A few birds clustered together and rammed into him all together. He gasped and stumbled forward. One of his feet went over the edge and he desperately tried to backpedal, but his weight pulled him forward over the edge. He grabbed for the ledge and found it, but the position was too awkward to hold on and he fell from Naito's view with a cry.
"NO!" Naito screamed. The birds had stopped attacking him almost as soon as Link fell and were now rushing back down below. Naito scrambled to the edge and looked over, but all he could see was the cloud of birds fading into the fog.
Makar, who had curled into a ball in the corner, waddled over with sad eyes. "I am sorry about your friend." He said softly. Naito didn't reply.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Naito heard the faint sound of wings again. His eyes narrowed, and he stood up, taking out his deku leaf. He gauged the distance between them and the ledge opposite, and decided it didn't matter anyway.
He ran at the edge full speed and jumped, unfurling the deku leaf above his head at the peak of his leap. He felt the odd tug as he defied gravity, and began gliding across the massive room. The updraft helped, it pushed him up ever so slightly. He looked down and saw the black shape begin rising from the fog.
"You are not going to kill me, you bastards!" He screamed down in fury as he touched down on the other side. Makar landed beside him, using a leaf as a propeller. Naito sent him through the door, and then turned around with his bow drawn, backing up against the door.
They once again filled the center, thousands of beady little eyes watching him. With a single cry, they rushed forward again. Naito infused the arrow with ice, released it, and several birds were frozen together. Naito quickly opened the door and ran through, slamming it behind him. There was a series of THUD sounds and bird cries, which eventually dropped off and plunged them into eerie silence.
They were in a small, circular room. It was completely empty except for a metal disk leaning against the wall. There was also some sort of opening in the floor opposite them. Naito checked it out, and realized it was the beginning of a ramp, the biggest ramp he had ever seen. Below the room they were in was a straight drop into fog, probably all the way down to the bottom floor. The ramp followed the outside in what looked like an endless spiral. He put his foot on the ramp, which didn't look too steep. But it was narrow, so he'd have to be careful… and it would take forever. He was about to start when he noticed the thin groove running down the middle of the ramp; a square indentation that was obviously there for a reason.
He turned and looked back to the metal disk. It was slightly plate shaped, and seemed about the size of the ramp. There was also a small, square nub of metal in the middle of the rounded edge, sticking out two inches or so. He dragged it over to the ramp, and set the nub into the groove, which he realized was a kind of track. There was a clanking sound and the disk suddenly fastened to the track; Naito couldn't get it off no matter how hard he tried. He let Makar on the front and then stepped on, crouching low and kicking off the floor. They began to slide surprisingly smoothly, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed. It made a loud, metal clanking noise as he picked up speed, but the ride was hardly bumpy at all. He figured that the room was fifty feet in diameter. Pretty big, although the main room was at least four times that.
After about a minute of sliding down the wall, he heard a loud shriek. He swore under his breath, crouched lower and edged over to the side of the disk and looked down. A giant black bird was rising up toward him, screeching. It was more human than the others; it had arms as well as wings and its overall shape was more human than bird; it was almost like a rito covered in black feathers. And it was headed straight toward him. He flopped backward just as it streaked by where his head had been a second before and he watched it bank sharply to avoid hitting the wall. It wheeled around for another swoop.
Naito drew his bow. As it flew straight for him he put an arrow between its eyes and hopped to the side. It braked sharply, screeching in pain. The arrow had barely gone in; definitely not a fatal wound. It tore the arrow out with a four-fingered, clawed hand, and began flying after the disk, gaining on Naito and Makar rapidly.
Link put away his bow and drew his sword, crouching low at the rear of the disk, careful not to let the wind push him off; they were going dangerously fast now. It cried out, and as it drew within swinging range it banked up, avoiding his vicious slash. It dipped back down and grabbed his shoulders with its claws, sinking into flesh. Naito screamed with pain as it tried to lift him up. He thrust his sword up into the underbelly of the beast, thrusting half of the blade into its gut. Blue blood ran down the blade, and the bird creature shrieked, pulling up off the blade. It wheeled around, trailing droplets of blood from the wound, and came at him again.
Naito had his bow ready. He infused the arrow with ice, and took the shot. He missed, freezing a section of the wall further up. He swore and tried to ready another arrow, but the bird didn't let him. It wheeled to face him, and opened its beak. A ball of fire appeared there, and launched toward Naito. He yelled with surprise and hopped back, sliding off the disk and onto the track. He managed to grab the back of the disk with both hands, and was being dragged along the metal track at high speed. He gritted his teeth against the pain as it burned his stomach, and tried to pull himself forward onto the disk. He couldn't manage it, however, and Makar was too weak to pull him up.
He changed tactic quickly. Seeing no choice, he let go of the disk and yelled for Makar to stay on. He slid to a painful stop, grimacing at the pain in his stomach as he stood. He could see the disk at a lower track on the opposite wall, speeding further and further with every second. The bird was circling above, gauging the distance between them in preparation for a final dive. Naito drew his grappling hook, and stood ready. He had no doubt Link could pull something like this off, but it felt near impossible right now.
It dove. Naito waited, crouched as it drew near, closing the gap between them with impressive speed. Just as it drew close he stepped sideways, grabbed its neck and dragged himself onto its back, feet dangling in front of the wings. As it turned away from the wall he flung the grappling hook around its neck, allowing the bird's own momentum help it swing around and back up the other side of the neck. He pulled tight, and prayed for luck now, at the most crucial part. The rope pulled tight into its wide open mouth and he sighed in relief as he pulled it snug, gripping his makeshift reins tightly.
He tugged the left side back, forcing its head to turn. As he hoped, it followed the direction with the rest of its body. He forced it into a dive, roaring down and catching up to the disk. He leveled off as he reached it, and began gliding over it. The bird was fighting his control, trying to buck him off; he kept it in line by tugging on the rains, but knew he would lose control soon. Finally, directly over the disk, he released the grappling hook and drew it back to him, and stabbed an arrow into the back of its neck as deep as possible. The wood splintered, but he got it in halfway before it did. Finally, he leapt off and crashed ungracefully onto the disk.
He could see the bottom now. The bird shrieked, and dropped down. He watched it land on the ground, sway slightly, and then waddle ungracefully over to the bottom of the ramp. It spread its wings and took flight again, this time hurling up just above the ramp straight at him. Naito crouched with his sword and shield drawn, waiting for it. They charged at each other at high speed. Naito waited as it charged for him, forcing himself to stay calm… it felt almost as if time was slowing down. As it drew close he jumped into the air and spun a hundred and eighty degrees, slashed its back as he dropped down onto the disk. It slowed and paused upright in midair after he slashed it. Naito drew his grappling hook again as landed. He tossed it up at the creature, wrapping around its neck a few times. He crouched low and braced himself as the rope pulled taut. He was almost pulled over by the bird's weight, but he managed to stay on. The bird was pulled ungracefully back through the air behind the speeding disk, which was rapidly approaching the end of the line. Naito jumped free of the disk just before it hit the end, and the bird was pulled toward him rapidly by its own momentum. Naito ducked low and slashed up as it passed overhead, wounding it deeply. He also pulled the grappling hook free and it slammed into a wall. Naito heard some shattering bones, and the bird collapsed to the ground in a mangled heap. Naito sheathed hos sword, and sat down tiredly.
"Good work… Link would have been proud." Makar said with a small smile, waddling over. Naito thanked him, fighting back tears.
Without further talk, they opened the door in the room and stepped back into the main chamber. As Naito had guessed, they were now at the very bottom. He saw the source of the updraft: a giant fan set in the ground. However, something had shut it off while he was gone. He dreaded seeing Link's body, but the birds seemed to have carried it off... or else it was below the fan. Deliberately not looking down there, he headed around the fan to the door opposite him. He opened it and stepped through into a short hallway. He ran through, waiting for something to attack him. Nothing did. He stepped through the large door at the end of the hallway, and entered a giant, sandy chamber. He was on a ledge overlooking the sand below. Sand cascaded down the walls, and there was a giant window at the roof that let in lots of light. There was a stone platform with the triforce painted on in the middle. Naito ordered Makar to wait here, and hopped down.
AN: Review. Now. Please?