Salutations, my good readers! I hope you're all well!
Moriko: What's wrong with you?
Me: Oh, nothing...I'm just happy!
Moriko: Dare I ask what has made you so happy?
Me: Well...oh, not much! It's just that the Renaissance Festival starts tomorrow, and I'm going in costume!
Moriko: How suiting. You're going to be a wench.
Me: No, silly! I'm gonna be a wench in Converse shoes!
Moriko: ...you aren't serious...
Me: Says you! Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda or any Zelda characters! Now enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 23: The Temple of Farore
Moriko kicked a dead branch out of her path as she trudged through the woods. She'd been walking for a long time in her current direction, and she wasn't getting anywhere. It was strange. The woods that she had grown up in were friendly and full of life. But these were almost…threatening. Like they would reach out and grab her. It almost seemed like a bad dream, but she knew it would become a hellish nightmare after night fell. The monsters would come out, and they'd be attacked every few minutes.
She shuddered at the thought, then focused on her fairies.
"So, Navi, have you ever been here before?"
Navi, who was flying a few feet ahead, shook herself. "Well, I was born here a long time ago, when the Deku Tree first partnered me with my little Link."
"So you know the way to the temple then?"
"I never said that. The woods changes over time. It grows new paths and covers its old ones in foliage."
"So, in a sense, it's alive," Taiki said, bumping Navi as he flew higher. Navi righted herself and glared at him.
"Yes, but in a sense. The forest cannot speak to humans. It only spoke to the Kokiri."
"Kokiri?" Moriko asked, tilting her head to the side.
"My Link grew up with them, so he knew of their ways," the blue fairy explained. "He told me about them over the time we spent together, and he mentioned that they spoke to the woods."
"Can we meet them?" Taiki asked, flying back down.
Navi shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. The Kokiri died a long time ago."
"When the darkness reawakened 10 years ago and swept over the land, the Kokiri were wiped out."
Moriko turned to her left to see Link walking next to her, staring straight ahead. He wore the hero's tunic again, but his outline was wavering. Moriko resisted the urge to reach out and touch him.
"The Kokiri were dying to begin with, and the unnoticed wave of evil killed the last of them off," he continued. "I'm sad. I never got to meet one."
Moriko looked up at the forest canopy with a sigh. The poor things had died. Had they been stronger, would they have survived? She wondered, could their fate have been prevented? Was their death necessary for the world to continue living? She bit her lip out of habit and looked down.
"Link, why do the heroes exist?"
Link glanced at her and looked up the sky peeking through the trees. "Why do you ask?"
"I dunno. I just…I was just wondering." She rubbed her arms, though she wasn't cold.
"Well, we heroes exist to protect those who have no one to protect them. We vanquish evil-"
"I don't mean like that. I mean, why do we keep reappearing in the world?"
Link opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated. He thought about for a minute, then sighed.
"Do you remember the carvings in the cave by Kakariko Village?"
"Yes. What about them?" she replied.
"They've been there ever since the first hero appeared in the land of Hyrule, and they were only discovered recently. Before you found them. The place was about to be destroyed-"
"Link, you're avoiding the question."
"Oh, right. Sorry," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, they said that the reason history repeats is because of the Triforce."
"Oh…so, because the Triforce chooses a hero, it also chooses a villain as well."
"Don't forget a princess known as Zelda."
"Of course," Moriko said with a laugh. Link grinned, relieved to see Moriko happy, as well as thankful that she dropped the subject. Bad things always accompanied that subject. A world without order. That's what would happen if one lingered on the Triforce for too long.
They reached the gate Tabatha mentioned after a few more meters and - using the key Moriko had - unlocked it carefully. Link had warned her about a key's tendency to break, but it was too late. The key snapped in half just after its purpose had been served. Moriko glared at the piece she held and tossed it behind her before she pushed on the iron wrought gate. Its hinges groaned audibly and the entire thing almost seemed to push back, but Moriko took a deep breath and pushed harder. The gate shuddered and - much to everyone's surprise - broke off it's rusted hinges, dragging Moriko along with it. She nearly screamed, but managed to keep her mouth shut long enough to get up.
"I'd help you up, but I'm just a ghost," Link said. Moriko nodded and brushed herself off.
"Yeah, I know," she grumbled, rubbing a scratch on her cheek. Not deep enough to need healing, she noted, making her careful way off the vine-covered gate. She looked ahead, then scrunched her eyes shut. "Oh, hell no," she grumbled.
Ahead of them, covered in a dense fog, was a labyrinth of hedges. Navi fell to the forest floor with a thud as Taiki bounced up and down in excitement.
"This'll be fun!" he said. Moriko stomped over to him and brought her fist down on top of him, silencing his mockingly happy comments with a loud smack. Taiki faltered in the air for a second, then dropped like a rock.
"Will he be okay?" Link asked. Moriko scooped up the unconscious fairy in her hand, then tucked the little ball of light into her collar.
"He'll be fine," she said with a groan. "The real question is about our survival."
"Why?" he asked, tilting his head. Moriko did a double take.
"Are you serious, Link?! Do you not see the giant maze of shrubs in front of us?!" she shrieked, her voice increasing in volume over the course of the question. Link grimaced.
"Alright, alright! Let's just get this over with!" he said, his mood taking a nosedive. Navi sighed along with him, quickly followed by one from Moriko.
"Tallyho!" the fairy said with sarcasm. "I think I remember the way through, though it's been a along time since I've been here."
"Yippee!" Moriko said in mock happiness. She could feel the mood of the entire group take a huge plummet with her comment, but she was in too much agony to try and bring it back up. She looked ahead at the labyrinth with tired eyes, then trudged her way through the entrance, her friends close on her heels.
Link walked up ahead of the group, acting as a sort of lookout, in case there were monsters within the leafy walls. He didn't like the plan at first, but since he was an apparition, he was the logical choice. He wouldn't get hurt unless he solidified himself, which he wasn't planning on doing anytime soon.
Navi settled herself on top of Moriko's head where she could see over the tops of the hedges. She ignored the fact that she couldn't see the end of the labyrinth, she just wanted to try and get them through as fast as possible. She knew they were bound to run into a few dead ends, but they would make it through here in one piece.
The end finally came into view after a few hours of wrong turns, keese attacks, and random falling-in-giant-puddle moments. Moriko was soaked by the time they came to the last part of the maze, and she was not thrilled to see what was there.
A large, deep abyss stretched out at least forty feet in front of them. There were no small ledges running around the sides, so they couldn't sidle along the edge of the crevice. There was no bridge to cross on. The only thing they could possibly use were a few too-small, extremely-far-apart platforms that floated aimlessly over the huge hole.
Moriko got on her knees and crawled to the edge. Her gut sank when she saw there was no bottom to the pit.
"Oh, hell no," she said as she scooted back towards the bushes. "I am not crossing that!"
"Unfortunately, you have no choice," Link said.
"What about you? And the fairies?!" Moriko cried.
Link shrugged. "The fairies will fly across. I will jump."
"How can you jump that distance?!" Moriko asked disbelievingly. Link smiled and went down on his hands, shifting into the form of a blue eyed wolf in a flash. He leapt onto one of the platforms in a blur of black and grey fur, then across the abyss in a few bounds. He shifted back and turned back to Moriko, who was gaping like a fool.
"Come on, Moriko! Hurry up!" he shouted. Navi flew across the huge hole and joined Link in cheering Moriko on.
Moriko, on the other hand, was less than excited about jumping. She was terrified of the Flight-by-Fowl game back at Lake Hylia, so how exactly was she supposed to feel about this drop? There was no way she could jump that! Not with her scrawny human legs!
She kept inching back until her hand sank a few inches into a loam covered hole. She almost screamed, but stopped when she realized she'd uncovered a treasure chest. She flipped over so she was on her knees and unlocked the small box, but she frowned at its contents.
"What, exactly, am I supposed to do with this?" she shouted, holding up a large, translucent leaf. It looked like it was just the supportive skeleton of a leaf, but when she touched it, she could tell it was made of some kind of spongy material. It jiggled every time Moriko poked it, and it made a humming sound when she gripped it.
"Moriko, that's a Deku Leaf!" Navi shouted. "It lets you blow giant gusts of wind when your on the ground, but when your in the air, it allows you to float on the wind! Try it!"
Moriko threw the fairy a disbelieving look, but a voice in the back of her head told her to jump. Gripping both ends of the leaf in her hands, Moriko bit her lip, took one last deep breath, then jumped off the edge.
She waited to feel the rushing air that uaully accompanied a fall, but it never came. She opened her eyes to see that she was floating a few feet above the first platform. She let go of the leaf before she could think, and dropped onto the platform.
"Yeouch!" she cried, rubbing her back. "Is it a good thing if I can't feel my spine, Link?"
"Moriko, get over here, or we'll run out of time!" Navi shouted. Moriko groaned and stood up, then, gripping the leaf again, took another jump towards the next platform. Everything was peachy until she landed on the last platform. That one was at least twice the normal distance from the ledge, and Moriko felt her arms beginning to give out.
"I don't know if I can make this one!" she shouted.
"Do you have any potions?" Link asked. Moriko pulled out her red potion and sipped it, but it did little good. Her arms still felt rubbery, and she was beginning to see things. She saw giant green globs advancing towards Link and Navi.
"Link, Navi, what are those?" she asked, pointing to the amorphous creatures advancing towards them. Link turned and sighed.
"Those things are called ChuChus. They're an odd sight these days. I figured they'd stick to open fields, but I'd heard from one of the past Links that they once attacked the Deku Tree in an attempt to get a Pearl of the Goddess." He shook his head and turned his head slightly, but just enough so Moriko could hear him. "Moriko, shoot it with an arrow. You have the strength to do that, right? As soon as you kill it, Navi will scoop up some of the jelly for you to eat."
Navi grumbled at the idea, but Moriko was more than happy to do it. She took out her bow, notching an arrow aimed at the glob of green. She let the arrow loose and struck the creature right between the eyes. Utilizing the time it took for the creature to die, she tossed an empty bottle at Navi. The fairy caught it and scooped up as much jelly as possible before it dissolved into the ground.
Moriko held out her hand as Navi flew slowly towards her, struggling to keep the bottle from slipping out of her hands and into the dark abyss below. Everyone relaxed when the blue fairy finally reached Moriko's hand, where she immediately collapsed in exhaustion.
"I will never…do that again!" she wheezed. Moriko nodded and helped Navi secure herself in her tunic collar before downing the bottle's contents in one huge gulp. It tasted sour, but it had the same earthy texture of red potion. It was slimy, disgusting, and it had to worst aftertaste imaginable! It reminded her of celery with a sour aftershock.
Moriko wanted to gag and spit it out so badly, but she choked it down and stood up, the Deku Leaf grasped firmly in her hand. This jump was going to be tricky. Especially with both Navi and Taiki resting in her collar. She needed to be extra careful not to drop them, but she needed to get enough momentum going so that she jumped farther.
She took a deep breath as she walked to the opposite edge of the platform. She bit her lip and looked towards Link, who was watching her with anxious eyes.
"You can do it, Moriko!" he said encouragingly. Moriko took one last deep breath, then ran at the edge with every bit of strength she could muster.
Time seemed to slow down for a split second, then flashed by in a blur. Moriko felt herself gliding through the air again, then felt herself falling as the leaf's spongy membrane suddenly disappeared. She grabbed the ledge in front of Link and hung there for a bit, scared out of her mind. She resisted the urge to look down as she struggled to pull herself up onto the ledge without bumping the fairies loose.
Link tried to grab her hand, but he went right through her. He sighed and watched her finally hoist herself up onto the ledge, practically hyperventilating. He could tell she was terrified, but she'd overcome that and had done what she'd thought she couldn't do…once again.
He offered her a smile when she looked at him. "Good job, Moriko. You did it. The Temple of Farore awaits you."
She just stared at him for a second, then grinned almost childishly.
"Thanks, Link. Let's get going," she said, though she was still catching her breath. She stood slowly and stumbled to the large stone staircase in front of them.
"We need to get this over with, so I can find Laura!"
Link blinked at the mention of Moriko's friend. He'd almost completely forgotten about her. Had her friend's safety been driving her since they left the village? Or was it to protect those she knew in her village? No…she had the drive of the hero in her. Her bright blue eyes spoke of everything she stood for. She stood for her friends, those she loved, those who needed protection, and those who knew what was right. Link shook his head and smiled. She was turning out to be a better hero than he'd expected.
Moriko, oblivious to Link's inner thoughts, marched up the stairs, her eyes glued to the door ahead. She knew in her gut this was going to be different than the other dungeons. From here on out, the challenges were going to be harder and more painstaking than the others, and she'd have to overcome everything, just to save the world.
She reached the top and placed her hand against the crest of the Triforce embedded in the door. There was a deep rumbling as the door opened, revealing a temple long forgotten. She gripped the Master Sword for encouragement, then turned back to Link.
"Come on, Link! Hurry up!" she shouted in mock payback for his earlier remarks. Link sighed out of pure frustration.
Forget what he thought earlier. She was still a long ways off from becoming a true hero.
Kaiser paced his throne room, his fury keeping everyone at a distance. No one dared disturb him now, not while he was in a blind rage. After Suzume's escape, he'd been teetering on the edge of insanity, and was very close to falling off the deep end. When the guards informed him of his little sister's escape, he'd punched a hole in a nearby column, smashing it to bits afterwards.
He watched the sands twist outside one of the windows, his eyes staring intently in the direction of Hyrule Castle, which was just barely visible from his current location. He was in the highest room, but it was not where he wanted to be. He wanted to be below ground, farther down than the dungeons, in the Dark Room. That was where he was.
Kaiser stopped pacing, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He needed to find Suzume. He already had her servant friend in the dugeons. A few days of relentless work would loosen his tongue. And if that didn't work, then a taste of his personal dark magic usually did the trick. It always did.
But even if that little brat didn't talk, there were few places left to search. He'd had his shadows comb every inch of the land, except for Hyrule Castle. All he had to do now was wait until the royal family was at its weakest, then strike quickly and mercilessly. He'd also gain a very powerful piece to his grand puzzle. The Princess Zelda. He grinned at the thought of striking her down himself. She would be the first to go, and he would steal her piece of the Triforce while everyone had their eyes trained on the hero.
He stopped pacing again, punching the wall with his gloved fist. That brat Moriko. She was always getting in the way of his plans, just like any other hero of the Triforce. He remembered them well. Every memory had been burned into his mind when the King of Thieves had first met him. They'd seen eye to eye; they held the same ideals. They both wished for a dark world, where everyone obeyed one and only one ruler.
He took a seat on his throne, thinking back to the first time he'd seen Ganondorf, when he was sixteen. It had been in a dream, though some might call it a nightmare. He saw fire ravaging the lands, shadows devouring people, and all in the light of a red moon. The kingdom cried out for help, but no one came. He saw only pain and suffering, as far as he could see. Everything was slowly being consumed.
After many other dreams like that one, he began seeing a man standing in the middle of it all, grinning as though he was consumed by insanity. He wore the garb of a warrior, but had the air of someone who loved being in command, with no one above him to boss him around. And in the dream, this man would be standing on the top of a hill, his left hand radiating a blood red light. Kaiser was immediately drawn to the man, so he searched for a connection to his dreams, with only one word to guide him.
Triforce.
Kaiser had spent his teenage life searching for that man ever since, and his searches weren't in vain. He learned everything there was to learn about the Gerudo man, and when he turned eighteen, he summoned the spirit of the evil king. Ganondorf had generously shared his knowledge, his memories, and his power with Kaiser. Everything was grand.
Until that fateful day, when the Goddesses found him. That day, those three shining goddesses sealed both of them away in a wall mural, far below, in the ruins of an earlier Gerudo Fortress. He knew for a fact that the entire kingdom was rejoicing for the many years he'd been sealed away, and he despised them for it. He'd never believed in the power of the Goddesses, so why would he have feared their power? He practically allowed himself to be sealed away, knowing that one day, he would break the seal.
And he had. After a thousand years, the seal became so weak that he broke free, but only him. Ganondorf was still sealed in the mural, but he told him only one thing could free him again. Kaiser must obtain the Triforce of Wisdom, and bring it to the mural.
After his escape, Kaiser had found Suzume and her family. Adopting a wounded expression, as well as inficting several non-fatal wounds upon himself, he joined her small family. He claimed he had no memory of his life, and the fools had accepted it without so much as a second thought!
Living with them had been nice. They'd jsut moved to the desert from Hyrule Castle Town, and they were explorers, htough they were mor elikely to be called treasure hunters. They'd brought everthing they'd owned with them, even their servants. Eventually, they talked a whole bunch of Gerudo from the Arbiter's Grounds, which lay to the eastern edge of the desert, into becoming servants. The tan-skinned humans, knowing well what lay below the fortress, agreed.
After five years, when Suzume turned seven - and he twenty two -, he took his foster parents aside and suggested they take a permanent vacation. When they had questioned him, he slew them on the spot. He'd blamed it on one of the Gerudo servants, just to give Suzume a reason to believe him. It worked. She was none the wise. He had the servant "executed", but secretly sent them to guard the lower levels.
Unfortunately, Suzume grew older, and slowly began questioning him. She'd begun noticing his constant trips to the lowest levels of the fortress, but never got farther than the first dungeon level. There were four levels below that, and that's where he'd disappear to for days at a time.
And now, she was causing more trouble than she was worth. He glared at the tile mural of his "family" above the doorway. He'd blackened out his "mother" and "father" with a bolt of magic each. Now, he lifted his hand and pointed at the smiling Suzume, blackening out her entire face.
The next time he saw her, he'd kill her on the spot.
Oh, snap! I AM GOOD! I totally jsut made that up on the spot!
Moriko: You mean his entire past? Are there any inconsistencies?
Me: I dunno. I don't think there are.