That night, Ike, Marth, and Link were ready to begin their exploration. They stood outside of Hyrule Castle Town, waiting for Roy and Pit to arrive. (Roy wanted to come along because he wanted to aid them. Pit insisted on joining the exploration because he was greatly curious.) Four pegasi roamed around their owners, waiting for them to mount them.
Link, Ike, and Marth were each dressed in tunics, as Link told them they provide more comfort in traveling. Link was wearing a simple forest-green tunic and a cerulean scarf. Ike was wearing a dark blue tunic with gold trimmings and a dark red scarf. Marth's outfit was similar to Ike's, however his tunic was sky-blue and his scarf was dark blue.
Ike was greatly excited. What would he and his friends discover? He dearly wanted to learn more about Hyrule's past because, for most of his life, he was cooped up in the underground city's tiny bird cage. Now that Ike the sparrow was freed from his restraints, he was allowed to fly freely around the world.
"We're here!" Roy cried out as he and Pit hurried to their friends. The redhead was garbed in an azure tunic and a purple scarf.
"Good." Ike replied. "So Link, are we going to fly directly to Mount Prism?"
"No." Link opened the map and showed it to his friends. "We are going to travel through the forest and rest. Tomorrow morning, we will finish our journey to Mount Prism and return to Hyrule Castle Town."
"Are we going to run into Risen or any dangerous Pokemon?" Marth asked. He was still a bit traumatized by the sudden encounter of the zombie-like monsters.
"I don't think so." Link answered. "The only like roaming around the forest. Still, we must put our guards up just in case." Link turned and mounted Epona. "Let's go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we will return!"
With that, the travelers boarded their pegasi (Flapped his wings in terms of Pit.) and set off to the sky. As his pegasus soared higher and higher into the air, Ike tightly clutched his mount's saddle and held on for dear life. His heart beats increased rapidly as the world below quickly grew smaller. Hyrule Castle Town transformed into a series of geometric shapes and blurs of colors surrounded by green.
"Ike? Are you ok?" Marth asked his friend as he flew next to him.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Ike answered with a convincing smile. "It's just that, I had never been up so high!"
Pit flew next to Ike and Marth. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it!"
"Says the angel." Roy, who was flying behind the three, said mischievously.
Marth and Ike laughed at the redhead's sudden statement while Pit comically scowled.
"Link, you know where we are going, right?" Ike asked.
"Yeah!" Link replied. "As long as I can see where we are going!"
Ike nodded in response and began to look around his dark, yet mystifying surroundings. He chose not to down at the patches of trees, grass, and a tiny pond, but up at the night sky instead. Sparkling, white specks known as stars glittered and danced above his head. It turned the dark realm above into a tiny world filled with mysterious things to discover. Admittedly, he was tempted to fly higher to the tiny world and look at the tiny specks much closer. Yet, he decided not to. His pegasus could only fly so high.
On the other hand, Marth looked down at the earth below. Now that he was up in the air riding his pegasus with his friends, he no longer felt tiny and helpless, like he did when Ike and the others were traveling through the woods in hopes of returning Link back home. He felt powerful, like a god. Every living thing was now insignificant, like dust.
Link, who was riding Epona and reading his map at the same time, immediately looked up as puffs of white fog began to roll in. Like pea soap, it greatly clouded the travelers' visions and began to cause confusion. The cool air slowly dropped; its temperature matched the climate of a freezing rainy day.
"What is this?!" Roy asked, squinting to see where he was going.
"It's fog..." Pit sighed in frustration.
"I can't see through the fog!" Link yelled, hoping that his friends could hear him clearly. "We have to fly down, where the fog's less thick!"
Understanding the Hylian's orders, Ike and the others obeyed and followed Link, who dived down. As the travelers went closer to the earth, the cloudy fog slowly ceased, clearing their visions. The temperature slightly warmed. Ike looked up; much to his disappointment, the fog covered the dancing stars.
"Can you see better, Link?" Pit asked.
"Yes!" Link replied loudly.
"How far are we from our destination?" Marth questioned. The bluenette felt a bit sleepy.
"Halfway through." Link said as he browsed through his map.
Marth nodded and held on, as he did not want to fall asleep and slip off his pegasus.
Ike, who was carefully watching his friends, suddenly got an abrupt, nervous feeling. His body slowly beginning to tremble, he wryly glanced around his surroundings. Why was this? Was there a flying enemy heading towards him and his friends? Ike did not see anything soaring towards them.
"What's wrong, Ike?" Marth asked worriedly.
"I sense that something's wrong." Ike anxiously replied. "I think something dangerous about to happen."
"Something is going to attack us in the sky?" Roy questioned, joining the conversation.
"I don't see anything..." Ike said, shrugging his shoulders.
Wait, nothing in the sky was preparing to attack the travelers, right? The source of Ike's fears and concerns might be at the... Ike looked down at the earth and gasped in horror.
"MARTH! LOOK OUT!" Ike screamed loudly.
Luckily, Marth's pegasus had great reflexes and managed to dodge the swift arrow, which shot up like a sudden flash of lightning. Pit flinched in fright. Roy and Link began to quickly look around for the source of the lethal ammunition.
"W-What was that?!" Marth exclaimed in shock, peering around.
"That was an arrow." Link said, his face turning white as he looked down. "No, it can't be...!"
Through the thick forest, Link saw specks of glowing red eyes glaring back at him. A dreadful aura tugged at his heartstrings, triggering his fight-or-flight response.
"Risen archers!" Pit cried out, feeling adrenaline wash over him. "How do they know that we are here?!"
"I don't know and don't care!" Ike replied, starting to panic. "Link! Do we fight or flee from the Risen?"
"We need to flee!" Link answered, trying to stay calm.
"How?" Roy asked fearfully.
Before Link could answer, he glanced down again and shouted. "Arrows! We must fly up!"
A storm of arrows swiftly shot up towards the travelers. Most of them were aimed directly at both Marth and Link for a strange reason. The pegasi quickly jolted further into the sky and avoided the pointed sticks of destruction, which barely missed them. Pit managed to barely dodge an arrow, which nearly hit his precious wing.
"We need to go faster!" Link said.
"Why?!" Ike shouted. "We can't see! We might crash into something!"
Link's pointy ears, which were more sensitive than his friends' caught a slight echo. "Ike, please shout again." Link ordered.
"Why?!" Ike shouted again.
Link heard Ike's voice bounce back to him. "Everyone, shout as loud as I can. You probably can't hear it, but I can hear your voices echo. This tells me how close the mountains are."
"What about it?" Marth asked.
"There's a small mountain cave located on top of one of the mountains." Link quickly explained. "That's where we are going to stay for the night!"
Pit looked down and spotted the Risen firing arrows at him and his friends. "Arrows incoming! Look out!"
The travelers flew their pegasi higher into the air, where arrows zipped by them, nearly striking them.
"What the—!" Ike exclaimed, panicky looking around.
"Link! The Risen are now armed with Longbows!" Pit shouted, keeping a sharp eye on the zombie-like creatures.
"Shoot, that means they have a higher shooting range!" Link mumbled to himself before yelling. "Everyone! We're close to the mountains! I can hear it! So, fly faster!"
Like quick shooting stars, the pegasi raced through the sky, willing to project their riders. The wind whistled in their ears. This was a matter of life and death! If a single arrow struck them, it was the end!
"The Risen are gathering close to the mountains!" Pit warned in a panicked voice, squinting his eyes to see through the fog.
"Faster! Faster!" Link only exclaimed back.
Hissing lividly, the Risen took their Longbows and took aim at the travelers.
"At this point, if they fire, we'll be done for!" Pit added.
"We're almost there!" Link responded, trying to stay cool. "We need a few seconds!"
"We don't have a few seconds!" Roy cried out, pointing at the Risen, who just released their arrows. The jagged sticks flew up at them in a fury.
"Look! There it is!" Link pointed to a large cave engraved in a mountain. "Full speed everyone!"
Shutting his eyes shut in anxiety, Ike held on to his pegasus, hoping desperately that he and his friends would make it. C'mon, they traveled so far for this and this was how it was going to end?!
"Closer...!" Link spoke through gritted teeth.
Whoosh! In a gust of wind, the pegasi zoomed into the save, just in time. As his pegasus came to a complete stop, Ike shakily got off it and turned around. He flinched as he watched hundreds of arrows swiftly zip up into the air.
"That was close..." Marth sighed as he got off his pegasus.
"Yeah, it was!" Roy panted, shakily jumping off his mount.
"Is everyone ok?" Pit asked, looking at his friends for any signs of injuries. His question was answered by a "Yeah.", "Yes.", and a nod.
"That's good." Link said before turning to the pegasi. "Good job, everyone." he gently whispered, giving Epona and the other pegasi a pat on the head.
"Can the Risen reach us here?" Marth asked in concern.
"No." Link answered, giving Epona a small snack. "The mountain is too steep for them to climb. Just relax, ok?"
"Y...Yes." Marth answered, taking a bottle of water out of his bag and offering it to Ike, Pit, and Roy. "Do you guys need some water?"
"Sure!" Pit and Roy answered at the exact time.
"No, I'm ok." Ike answered.
"Are you sure?"
With a wearily nod, Ike turned and looked outside. The fog slowly cleared, revealing the dancing, twinkling stars. Ike's cobalt orbs sleepily gazed at the silvery specks before they slowly closed and brought Ike into the subconscious world.
"Drats!" Ghirahim yelled angrily at the Risen, who trembled in fright. "We nearly got them! Nearly!"
Ghirahim looked up at the mountains and scowled.
"If it weren't for Ike warning his little friends, Marth and Link would be in our hands now!" Ghirahim exclaims to the Risen, before he began to pace around nervously. "Oh, what should I do now? If I don't return with Marth, he won't be pleased! Without Marth, we wouldn't be able to perform the ritual! Also, Link is the only one capable of defeating Master!"
"Did you just mention me?" a low voice growled.
Ghirahim jumped and turned around. He saw a tall, bulky man slowly stomp towards him. Not wanting to stand in his way, the Risen quickly cleared a path for the demon king-like figure.
The demon king had skin that was made of dark scales and bare with gray. A belt and a cape hung around his waist. In place of hair, his head was covered with orange flames. A scar was sliced along his forehead.
"Ah! Master!" Ghirahim exclaimed in surprise. "What a surprise to see you here!"
"Silence!" Demise bellowed. "You failed to seize that little blue-haired prince and demolish that blond Hylian! I wanted to see the prince in our hands and the Hero's body impaled by thousands of arrows! You failed me!"
Ghirahim's face slightly turned pale. "Don't fret, Master! We have allies! They will aid us!"
Demise glowered at Ghirahim.
"They promised to snatch Marth in exchange for Link!" Ghirahim continued. "Does that sound convincing?"
Demise paused for a minute before nodding, much to Ghirahim's relief.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the late update! *Gets hit with rotten tomatoes*
I finally managed to finish this chapter! Again, hopefully the pace of the story is well and the late updates aren't bothering my readers. I'm currently busy with studying for an important test in May, so don't be to surprise if I suddenly disappear from the earth of the internet.
As for the last chapter, welp, I accidentally got Epona's gender wrong! It should be corrected now! Feel free to notify me if I make a mistake!
I hope I described Ghirahim's and Demise's relationship correctly. In Skyward Sword, the two were only shown together for a few moments.
Also, if you're wondering about the webcomic poll, Lone Flame won. If I get lots of free time, I'm going to quickly sketch the comic as soon as possible. I reopened the next fanfic poll, but I replaced one of the choices, since I felt that it was a better story idea. (I'm going to get flamed for this...)
Story Questions:
Do you think Marth is actually Prince Marth himself?
Why do you think Demise wants Link dead?