The Bleeding Effect
Chapter XVIII
Surprisingly, the poe held up its side of the bargain, no skullduggery involved. Before long the company was at the foot of the Spirit Temple. Link craned his neck to look at the enormous statue carved from desert rock. It's a Gerudo woman, hands regally upturned. Link knew without a doubt that it was meant to represent the Goddess of Sand.
"I have done my part," The specter hissed. The eight Gerudo that had joined Link on his travel couldn't see the ghost, but they had begun to sense its cloying, wretched presence. When it spoke, they tensed and grimaced. The poe leered at Sheik, who remained unflappable. "Now you must do yours. Your toll is your immortal soul!"
It lunged for Sheik, arms outstretched as if to snatch out the Sheikah's still-beating heart. Sheik nimbly jumped back out of its reach. Quick as lightning, he withdrew his bow and an arrow, already nocked, from his item pouch. As he pulled it back, the arrow was enveloped in golden light. Sheik let loose the light arrow. The poe hadn't prepared for such a possibility; it remained paralyzed with disbelief as the arrow sunk into its chest. With an unearthly sheik, the poe vanished in a puff of smoke.
Link stared at Sheik, mouth agape.
"What?" He said, replacing the bow back in the pouch.
"You…you just…"
Sheik rolled his eyes. "Did you honestly think I would've ever trusted the poe if I knew I couldn't find a way out of its bargain?"
"You're brilliant!" Navi enthused.
"One of us has to be." He quipped.
"Yeah, yeah." Link dismissed it in good humor. He then grew serious. "It's time to pay Nabooru a visit."
Two of the Gerudo darted forward, holding open the double door for Link and the rest of the company. As he walked past, the thanked them. Their raised eyebrows had him flushing; a king wasn't supposed to thank his subjects for such minor things. He didn't have much time to sulk over the downsides of being king, however, because next thing he knew pots were flying at his face.
He recoiled and covered his head out of instinct, but the two Gerudos who had held the doors open burst forward and shattered the pots before they could do him or anyone else any harm. This time Link was careful to not thank them. Sheik seemed impressed with their quicker-than-quick reflexes.
"It seems Lady Nabooru does not want any visitors. There are bound to be more, far less tame traps ahead." There was an edge of suggestion in the thief's voice; they should turn back now.
"To leave would be to waste the time and risk we took to get here. I will not leave without seeing her." Link infused his tone with as much power as he could muster.
He opened the door to the next room and immediately shut it. On the other side, a bombchu exploded. The door shuddered at the blast, but held.
Cautiously, Link opened the door a crack. When no further explosive devices came hurtling toward him, he opened the door all the way. He took two steps when a wallmaster dropped down in front of him.
"Oh come on," Link complained, drawing his sword. "I thought I'd seen the last of you guys in the Shadow Temple." The monster was infinitely less frightening in daylight. It scuttled forwards to snatch Link, and he dropped it with three efficient slices. "If this is all she has to challenge us with, we'll find her in a manner of minutes."
Link walked into the third room with confidence, but also with a touch of caution. Sheik was at his side (Navi perched on his shoulder) and the Gerudos clustered behind. The room was supported by tall, elegant pillars. At the very end of the room was a throne, and upon it, a massive iron knuckle. Before the monster were two huddled forms. They stooped so low, Link had no idea who or what they were. He took one step into the room. One turned their head to look at him. From the front, it was apparent she was an old Gerudo woman. Judging by the way her bronze face twisted in disgust, she was not an ally here. In her hand was clutched a broom—a witch? A spell caster? The glowing blue gem on her forehead could signify a water or ice affinity.
She cackled at the sight of them. "It appears we have guests, Koume." Her voice was high and grating.
The one called Koume swiveled her head around to look as well. She looked exactly the same as the other witch, down to every last wrinkle—they must be sisters. Exactly the same, save for the gem on her forehead, which instead glowed red.
"Looks like it, Kotake!"
They heaved their old bodies onto their brooms and hovered closer to Link. The hero drew his shield up, ready to fight.
"We weren't expecting any guests, were we, Kotake?"
"Indeed not, Koume. Indeed not."
"Link," Navi whispered urgently in his ear. "Koume and Kotake are Ganondorf's surrogate mothers! You can't fight them. The Gerudos we brought with us will side with them!"
"What an outrageous group this is, to intrude so boldly into our temple…"
To Link's surprise, one of the thieves stepped in front of Link, scimitar brandished.
"This is not your temple. It belongs to the Goddess of Sand. You presume too much simply because you raised King Ganondorf."
"Such impudence!" Kotake screeched.
Koume thrust one warty finger at them. "We should teach this outrageous group a lesson!"
The sisters retreated back to the iron knuckle's side.
"Oh, loyal minion!" Said one of the crones, as she stroked its metal breastplate. "Destroy this intruder on our behalf."
Cackling, the sisters vanished in a puff of magic.
The iron knuckle rose, drawing from behind its throne a hefty, two-handed axe.
"The medallion!" Said Navi, and sure enough, resting atop the monster's armor was the Spirit Medallion.
"This doesn't make sense—Nabooru would never part with the medallion." Said Sheik.
The iron knuckle drew closer. Link braced himself. The thieves fanned out around him and Sheik, waiting for Link's order to attack.
"Do you think they took it from her? You think she's held captive somewhere?" Link asked quickly.
"That's possible. Or, perhaps…" Link could practically feel Sheik's mind working furiously. "Whatever you do, subdue this monster. Don't kill it."
Link's eyes widened. "You think that she's—"
"Watch out!" Screamed Navi, as the iron knuckle charged towards them.
It had some speed, but not enough to cause major concern; Link and Sheik easily evaded its attack. The iron knuckle's axe crashed into one of the stone pillars, and the stone gave way under the force of the blow. Link gaped at the chunks of stone. The monster wasn't fast, but its strength was like nothing Link had ever dealt with before.
"We need to cut away its armor!" Said the king to his subjects. "Aim for the straps that connect the pieces together. Do not slay it!"
As one unit the eight Gerudos attacked the iron knuckle, coming at it from every possible angle. The three heading for its front were sliced open at the stomach by its axe. As they collapsed to the floor, the thief behind the iron knuckle climbed onto its back. She raised a dagger high to plunge it into the monster, but the iron knuckle roughly shook her off.
It then tossed its axe towards another Gerudo; she fell to the floor, gasping. The iron knuckle raised its hands, and from the medallion shot jets of sand, fashioned into spikes. The monster lowered its arms, and the sand spikes ran through the Gerudos that were still alive. After, the red sand came to pile at the iron knuckle's feet.
Link watched, horrified, as everything went wrong in a mere moment. He stepped forward to attack, to avenge, but Sheik bodily hauled the hero away by the crook of his arm.
"Link, we need to get out of here!" There was an edge of fear in his voice.
Link still dragged his feet. "But we have to—"
"They're dead! There's nothing we can do for them now! Just run!"
They were halfway into the second room. The iron knuckle hadn't pursued them. It just stood there, waiting. Daring them to breach the temple again.
Link tore himself from the other's hold.
"I can't just run away! They—they were all slaughtered! Because I ordered them to attack that thing." Sheik remained impassive. Link turned his back on him. "Fine. Leave if you want. I'll defeat the iron knuckle with or without you."
He was almost back to the iron knuckle's room when Sheik's arm wrapped around his neck, pressing hard against the side of his throat.
"Sheik!" Navi shrieked, aghast.
Link clawed at the Sheikah's forearm to no avail.
"Why—Why are you—Sheik!"
Link felt himself being lowered to the ground, and then, nothing.
When Link awoke, he was in the desert no longer. He was surrounded by white brick walls, and before him, an altar with three glowing stones on it. He was back in the Temple of Time. He touched a hand to his throat; it was tender and bruised.
He scrambled up and approached Sheik, who was leaning against the wall nonchalantly.
"Why did you warp us away?" Link nearly roared.
"Those women were trained to fight all their lives, and they were all killed in an instant. What chance do you think you had?"
Link was still fuming. "Why are you so calm? Do you really feel nothing for them?"
"It doesn't matter."
Link started towards him. "It doesn't—!"
Sheik held up a hand to stop him in place. "You're misunderstanding. Let me finish. It doesn't matter, because we're going to go back and fix it."
That made Link pause. "What?"
"Come." Sheik led him past the altar, further into the Temple of Time. There are some small steps leading up to a pedestal with the Triforce emblazoned on it.
"I was hoping we could have avoided this, but it's now apparent that we can't." Sheik pointed at the pedestal. "When you sheath the Master Sword there, you will be transported back seven years, right before any of this mess began. Impa is spiriting Zelda away to Lorule. Ganondorf hasn't made his move against Hyrule, but he's about to. You'll be in the last moment of peace before war erupts. You must use that time to travel back to the Spirit Temple. Find out what happened to Nabooru; stop it, if you can."
"Wait, 'you'?" Link interrupted. "What happened to 'us'?"
"I can't go back with you. I wasn't in Hyrule when the other Link was a child, and I wasn't present when he first pulled out the sword to instigate the time travel. You and Navi will have to handle this alone. Think you can handle things without me there to guide you?"
"Navi and I'll be great. You'll be surprised at how much we can get done with you not there to drag us down." Link teased.
"Is that so? Well. I've given Navi instructions on how to play the Requiem of Spirit. That'll warp you instantly to the Spirit Temple. That is if you can learn how to play it properly, of course."
Link winced.
"I will miss seeing the look on your face as you flounder through the piece."
Link unsheathed the Master Sword, and held it over the pedestal. "So I just…put it in?"
"Yes." He sounded amused.
Link sheathed the blade. At first, nothing happened. Then, a swirling blue mass of magic swallowed Link up, cutting off his view of the temple. When the magic dispelled, Sheik was no longer standing beside him. And he was no longer looking down at the Master Sword, but right at it.
"Ah." Link looked down at himself. He hadn't been in such a tiny body for, well, years. It was jarring, to say the least.
"How am I supposed to wield any of my weapons when they're as big as I am?" Link complained.
"Oh, you don't have them anymore." Said Navi. "You have what was on you when you—er, when the other Link first pulled the sword out."
Link rummaged through the pouch and, sure enough, all of his adult weapons were gone. He pulled out one of his new weapons and made a face.
"A slingshot?" He pulled the tiny strip of rubber back. It felt weak and slack in his grip. "This is a child's toy!"
"And you're in a child's body."
Link reached for the Master Sword. At least there was one strong weapon left in his—
"Stop that!" His fairy scolded. "You can't just pull the sword back out. We'll warp back to the future!"
His hand dropped. "But what am I supposed to use as a sword then?" He couldn't not use a sword. Sure, occasionally he liked to switch things up a bit with different weapons, but when it came down to it, his sword was always his primary weapon.
"There's one strapped to your back, right behind your shield."
Link reached back and gripped the hilt, bringing the blade around so he could look at it.
"What is this?" He said flatly.
"That's the Kokiri Sword!"
"More like Kokiri Knife!" Seriously? The blade was about as long as his child forearm. He was expected to set things right with this tiny toothpick?
"Why are you so sour all of a sudden?"
Link sheathed his 'sword' and made his way to the entrance of the temple. "Sorry, Navi. It's just a strange change."
He pushed open the door leading out of the temple, and to his relief, instead of a wasteland stuffed with reanimated corpses, he saw a bustling, lively town.
The sun was setting on the horizon, casting the town in a warm orange glow. Merchants were hawking their wares loudly, desperate to get in a few more transactions before closing time. A little girl ran through the square, chasing after a small yipping dog. Near the fountain, a couple twirled happily.
One of the stores made Link stop short. The mask shop! The owner was the one who had whispered in the king's ear, the one who had succeeded in killing off the entire Gerudo race. He didn't know exactly what his plan was—his stomach roiled at the thought of killing the man—but at the very least, he needed to get a look at him.
So Link swerved away from the main path, ambling over to the mask shop. He tried the door, but it wouldn't budge—had the salesman locked the shop for the night? He scrubbed at the windows and peered in, but aside from a few scattered masks, there was nothing and no one there.
"You'll have to wait for that mask, kiddo." A large hand patted Link's head patronizingly. He looked up to the sight of a burly, hairy Hylian.
Biting off a retort, Link asked, as pleasantly as he was able, "And why is that?"
"No one's seen the owner for weeks now. He always opened every day, nine on the dot, but then he suddenly just locked up and left. No explanation, nothing."
It was suspicious, and frustrating, but for now, there was nothing more Link could do. Maybe, before he somehow went back to his own time, he could warn the adult Zelda to persuade her father faster. He thanked the man and brushed through the crowded marketplace, making for the town's exit. He just couldn't understand Ganondorf. These people weren't doing harm to anyone—at least, not now. It was true that they had committed atrocities during the war, but so had everyone else. But they had grown from that into a passionate, peace-loving people. Why did Ganondorf desire to ruin that peace? As far as Link could recall, trade relations were going swimmingly between the Hylians and Gerudos until Ganondorf launched his takeover.
As Link neared the drawbridge that led to Hyrule Field, he was stopped by a soldier.
"Whoa there, little boy. It's going to be nightfall soon. You shouldn't wander too far; the monsters come out at night."
Link puffed himself up as much as he could in a child's body. "I've handed many monsters before. These'll be no trouble."
"Right, right." The soldier laughed Link off. He pressed a hand into the hero's back, steering him away from the drawbridge and back into Castle Town. "Where are your parents, lad?"
"They're—they're back at the inn." Said Link, thinking fast. He stepped away from the soldier. "I'll go to them now. Bye!"
"Hey, wait!" The soldier called after him, but Link had already turned a corner, running further into the town. Once a safe distance away from the soldier (he was well-meaning, but if he took Link to the inn and found out he didn't have parents there or anywhere else in Hyrule Castle Town, it would cause complications he didn't have time for) he stopped and asked Navi where the inn actually was.
She directed him to it, and in a matter of minutes they were inside. The man behind the counter raised an eyebrow when Link requested a single room, but he took the money anyway, and that was good enough for Link.
He passed through several doors on the way to his own assigned room (a maid was going to bring up his dinner later) when conversation from one room made him pause. He quietly sidled up to the door, pressing his ear against the wood.
"…was supposed to meet here to speak with a representative from the House of Skulltula, to discuss further shipments."
"Why do you even bother with those recluses?"
"Their silk is some of the finest—no—the finest I've ever seen. It still astounds me that they use real skulltulas; they're not afraid of the curse at all! But it's been three days now, and their representative hasn't shown up yet."
"Bet they're too busy counting up all those rupees, eh?"
"Link," Navi whispered in his ear. "Someone's coming!"
Link smoothly detached from his eavesdropping position and innocently continued on his way to his room.
"In all that's happened, I'd nearly forgotten about them. Navi, we have a detour to take before we return to the Gerudo Desert."
The duo spend the evening working on Link's ocarina chops. By the time the bedside candle was burnt down to its end, Link had gained, if not anywhere close to mastery, some small manner of skill in playing the instrument. the Requiem of Spirit wouldn't sound amazing, but he could play it well enough to summon the warping magic.
The next morning, as soon as the town's drawbridge was lowered, Link strode out and made his way to the neighboring Kakariko Village. He made good time; the sun was still high in the sky when he climbed the steps into the village.
The first thing that caught his eye was a red-headed girl chasing a cucco. The bird was clearly whipped up into a frenzied state; someone must've provoked the poor thing into such a state. Link doubted it was the girl, even unintentionally—she seemed far too gentle.
She was right behind the cucco, but now Link was right ahead. He decided to give her a hand, and when the spooked animal neared him he swooped down and picked it up.
"Oh thank you, thank you," Said the girl, panting, as she reached Link, who now had an armful of squirming cucco. "I have no idea what set him off! I left them alone in the pen for just a few minutes, and when I came back, this one was out of the pen and kicking up quite a fuss!"
"Where is the pen?" Link asked, as the cucco dragged its clawed feet against his bare arms.
"Oh—sorry—this way!" The girl—he felt as if he'd seen her before, but struggled to place where exactly that was—led him up the some steps and turned a corner, where they ran into a small, bristling boy. A boy with a shock of violet hair and glaring red eyes.
"You ruined my plan!" Kafei, fuming, stabbed an accusing finger at Link. "I was supposed to be the hero!"
"Kafei!" The girl exclaimed. "Were you the one who frightened him?"
Kafei's emotions flipped instantly when he went from staring at Link to the girl. His anger evaporated entirely, replaced with bashfulness. "Anju, it's not like that. I—"
"Did you frighten him or didn't you?"
The boy shuffled his feet. "Well…"
Link closed his eyes. He couldn't very well scold Kafei as an adult when he himself was in a child's body. But he didn't know where toe pen was, so he was stuck listening to the awkward situation. When he tuned back into the conversation, Anju was on the tail end of a huge scolding. Kafei was apparently at his limit, having suffered enough humiliation for one day, and tore past them both, glaring daggers at Link. The hero hoped this wouldn't affect much later on.
Anju sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Kafei can be such a jerk sometimes." To Link's great relief—the yelling had only panicked the cucco further—they began to again move towards the pen. Once they arrived at the mesh square, Link, as hastily as politeness would allow, placed the bird back with the others. It settled down almost instantly, giving out a few more indignant clucks before it strutted back to join the others.
Link looked at Anju's frowning face. Should he tell her why Kafei was acting out? That he only wanted her attention? He was sure they'd work it out eventually, but to spare the rest of the village some grief, he elected to speak.
"Kafei didn't do it to be a jerk."
"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously.
"You heard him. He wanted to be the 'hero'. I think he released the bird so he could catch it and bring it back to you, in order to impress you."
Anju's face colored, nearly matching her hair. "O-Oh…"
"Do you know where the House of Skulltula is?"
The girl, glad to be off the topic of her love life, quickly gave him directions.
After thanking her, he asked, "What can you tell me about them?"
"They don't fraternize much." She admitted. He was impressed a girl her age would know a word like 'fraternized'. "They mostly remain in their house, coaxing web out of skulltulas to sell it. Most villagers don't like them much. They say they're too greedy."
"And what do you think?"
She shook her head. "I don't know enough about them to say much. But I do think being secluded from everyone else is a rather lonely way to live."
At last he was there, just outside the door. He gave it three strong knocks and waited for someone to answer, impatiently rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
"What are you going to say to them?" Navi asked.
"I don't know. I don't even know how they got cursed in the first place. I don't know if they'll believe what I tell them, but I've got to try."
Minutes passed, and no one came to the door. Link rapped again three times. He then tried to look in the window, to see if anyone was home, but it was too dark inside to tell.
"Maybe they're not here." Suggested Navi.
"If they weren't, at least one of them would've been meeting with that merchant."
Link tried the door handle. The door itself was unlocked, but it seemed stuck somehow. He gave it a hard shove with his shoulder, and with a shudder it opened for him.
A thin shaft of light illuminated the middle of the room, but all else was dark. Link shut the door behind him and drew his sword and shield. The house gave him a bad feeling. If his intuition proved correct, he didn't want whatever enemies lurking in here to escape into Kakariko. Navi compensated for the darkness by heightening the glow around her body. It was no substitute for a lantern, but Link made do with what he had.
"Hello?" Link called out, into the dark, drafty room. "Is anyone here?"
He heard a muffled noise from the outside of the room. Link cautiously made his way there, eyes constantly flicking right and left in case anything was trying to sneak up on him. The muffled noises persisted, along with a strange, sticky sound Link couldn't place.
Navi gasped as they reached the wall, and they could see what was happening. A huge web stretched across the wall. Within the web, tied up in clusters, were the red-headed men Link had seen seven years later. They were all still completely human; not a one had a skulltula leg on them.
"Listen!" Navi commanded, and Link pricked his ears. Something large was moving around the room. But where was the noise coming from? Behind? He whipped around, but nothing was there. Suddenly, something wet dripped onto his shoulder.
"It's above us!" Cried Navi. Link scrambled back until he felt the stickiness of the wall behind him. Found out, the monster drops from the ceiling right in front of him. It was an enormous gold skulltula, and it was furious.
"Holy Hyrule," Link murmured. "This is why I need something bigger than a dagger to fight with!"
"No time for jokes—move!"
Link charged at the skulltula and drew his sword down into its carapace.
Hissing, the monster drew back. It spit a wad of web at Link too fast to dodge. It hit his right hand, encasing the sword and most of his arm in tough webbing. Cursing, he tried to pry it off with his other hand, to little avail. The skulltula would be on him again before he could get free.
As he let out a continual stream of curses, he flung his shield aside and started digging through his item pouch. Boomerang, slingshot—neither were powerful enough.
"Come one, come on, there must be something—aha!" Link pulled out a bomb. Navi quickly lit it for him, and he wasted no time in lobbing it at the gold skulltula.
The bomb exploded, and the monster let out one more cry of agony and then fell silent forever.
Link sighed with relief, and then started to pick at the web attached to his arm. He had almost gotten through the thing when the door to the house slammed open, startling him. At the door were Mutoh and the rest of the carpenters. They all brandished axes, though everyone but Mutoh looked frightened.
"What was that noise we just heard?" Called the boss. "What's going on in here?"
"They must have heard the bomb go off." Said Navi. Link was glad they were here; they could help get the family and Link himself out of the webs faster.
"Help us! Over here!" He said. The sound of a child's voice was all the incentive the carpenters needed. They rushed through the room to Link's side.
The brothers all started pulling the skulltula family out of the webs, and Mutoh crouched down and started on Link's.
"Did you kill that skulltula?" The older man asked. Link nodded. Mutoh clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good lad." He said warmly, and the name didn't have a hint of patronization in it. Link knew he had to find a way to save this man from his gristly fate. Once done here, he had to head to Gerudo Valley right away.
"From now on, we'll be sure to better look out for our neighbors." Continued Mutoh. Then he turned and barked over his shoulder at the family: "You hear that? No more hiding out alone. You're a part of this village too."
The oldest member of the family inclined his head in acknowledgement of Mutoh's words. Tears sprang to the eyes of some of the red-heads. They clung tightly to each other for comfort.
Link collected his shield and quietly left the scene.
-TBC-