NEW CHAPTER YAY! XD We don't own Zelda...ONTO THE STORY!
Chapter 9: Plans
A small fairy danced among the icicles of Death Mountain, she watched as a young goron shivered slightly form the cold snow; it had been like this for sometime now, the mountain used to be filled with red rocks that the humble tribe found deliciously tasty, she frowned as a water droplet almost caught her by surprise.
"The tribe master is thinking of sending the strongnest warriors into the cavern..." The young fairy turned overhearing an interesting conversation between two adult gorons. She flew closer curiously hiding herself in a frozen tree.
"Hasn't he already tried that yet though?" The second goron asked.
"Yes, but ever since the training among the tribe's children, many have become stronger and he thinks possibly strong enough to survive to take down the beast that's causing this never ending ice age."
The second goron looked unsure, clearly he must have been around when others failed and he knew it probably wouldn't work which meant others would be sacrificed when they could have lived years longer. He sighed and stretched, newly fallen snow falls off his hard back onto the ground.
"Come on, it's cold. Let's find some food and head back to the caves." He begins walking further up the mountain looking for anything that might feed the tribe for tonight. The little fairy touches her cheek, the cold didn't bother her as much as them since she was an ice fairy, but still, she shivered at the thought of sending more warriors into the treacherous depths of the mountain.
"Natalia, i'm back!" Another ice fairy comes whizzing through the light snowflakes, she was a little bit smaller than Natalia, but she wasn't as good at dodging the random water droplets from the ice covered trees. One hits her dead on sending her face first into the deep snow, she pops up, a large pile of snow sitting on her head. she shakes it off flying back into the air her little orb light bright against whiteness of the ice.
"Tahiri, you took quite a long time." Natalia said.
"I know and i'm sorry, but something weird happened near the Great Fairy's shrine!"
"What!" Natalia followed the little fairy back to the large statue in a hidden area on the mountainside, other fairies were gathered around circling something that had appeared in front of it. She flew up looking down at the mysterious object.
"It...looks like a music box..." A fairy somewhere near said, others began chattering about the reason it appeared here, sadly no one had any clue or suggestion as to why it did.
A music box? Natalia thought. What's going on? She fluttered closer, she came right up to it and touched the golden surface. As she flew around it she noticed it was a octagon looking shape with black etchings in the ancient Hyrulian language, no of the fairies around here knew how to read it so it made her even more curious.
"Is it a gift from the goddesses?" Another fairy asked, again many others murmered to eachother.
This wonder caused alot of drama the next few days, the snow still fell even after the goron warriors were sent into the caverns. Obviously they had died either in battle or by some surprise attack from the frightening beasts.
One night when Natalia was paying her respects to the Great Fairy, the statue shook as an earthquake began, she flew over to the music box hoping to steady it with her magic, but it ended up slamming into the shrine. Sparks shot upward as the two objects clashed and the entire area was shrouded into mist.
Lief and Malon left early the next morning, Llia and her father waved them off as they led the beautiful horse out of the village. It took hours before they actually began speaking complete sentences to eachother; they had only been mumbling random things that didn't make sense for the longest time.
"Have you been to the shore?" He asked as they past under large oak trees.
"No, but my father has told me stories about it. He says that you can see forever and taste the seasalt on the wind." she smiled and patted the horse's neck.
"He's right."
"You've been there?" New admiration appeared in her eyes.
"Not for years, but I used to live on a small island with my family. I would swim in the sea every single day, taste the freedom it gave to all the creature who were lucky enough to live in the vast underwater world."
Malon smiled then closed her eyes trying to imagine what it might be like to walk along the soft warm sand. Rani sat on the horse's head with one hand holding up her chin as she lay on her stomach. One of her small feet kicked up, then the other until they were kicked past eachother one going up the other coming down.
Rani looked down the horse's mane into it's eyes. "So why is it this horse that creep wants?" Malon looked at the small glowing orb on the horse's head.
"It's a she, her name is Epona, and because he saw that she would grow to be a very strong horse. A smart one too." Malon frowned, she was worried about Epona still. The horse's hooves made a clapping sound as she clambered over a rocky ridge.
"What's that?" as they came over the mountain, Lief could see a large mountain covered in snow, the wind seemed to chill as it blew from the direction they were looking.
"That's Death mountain, also know as Snowpeak Summit...gorons, ice wolves, and other beings live there. Some i'd rather stay far away from." Malon said quietly. Rani sighed irritably.
"You say this guy's soldier might be coming after you correct?" She asked. Malon nodded. "Then i'll scout ahead, i'm bored aleady and we've only been traveling for four hours."
Lief smiled, "If you're really that bored Rani...but shouldn't we all stick together?"
"Nah. Don't worry, i'll be back soon." She flew off without Lief's answer. "I'd rather not stick around when their giving eachother googly eyes." She was jealous of Malon, but she wouldn't admit it. Lief had never given a girl so much attention besides hersef that is.
"Is she mad at me?" Malon asked stopping.
Lief shook his head, "No, she gets restless sometimes and needs to go fly somewhere, or pull a prank on someone. But I don't think she's mad at you." He smiled, "Should we stop?"
"Yeah, but lets stop over by that river." She pointed ahead, it was far, maybe a few miles, but the terrain was flat enough to see a large river near the base of the mountain.
Ganondorf told a servant to halter a horse for him, he then left the stables headed to the upper library of the castle. A soldier stopped him at the door telling him the king was not to be disturbed. He only chuckled at that comment and looked directly into his eyes like the other guards.
The soldier bowed and and let him through, his eyes were dull and confused. Ganondorf unsheathed his sword as he came up behind the king.
"I told the guard specifically not to let anyone enter, how many times must I tell him?" He turned looking into the red eyes of the man he had trusted.
"Such a fool." Ganondorf's sword plunged through the king's heart. All was silent as he stood there watching the king's face as his eyes drained quickly of life.
"Ganon...what-what have you done?" He coughed and toppled over in his chair. Ganondorf didn't say anything, his eyes caught sight of a scroll on the table. He picked it up, along with some others and hid them in his cloak.
"I simply ridded the kingdom of your pitiful reign." His laugh echoed throughout the halls, no one tried to stop him because every single guard had been put under a spell. They now served their new king. Ganondorf.
Zelda ran through the halls trying to reach the upper library, something had happened to the guards. One had tried attacking her, her body guard, one of the legendary Sheikahs, had come to her rescue and was still fending off soldiers. Something has happened, Whatever it is, my father must have the power the put a stop to it. She burst into the library and gasped, her father lay dead on the floor. His eyes were set on nothing, he just lay there. She ran to him kneeling at his side and touching his face. Cold. She looked around the dimly lit library.
"I can't call for help. The guards have all gone crazy." She made sure she kept her voice a whisper just in case the murderer was still somewhere close by.
"Mi'lady! we must leave." Impa came running into the library, she only paused for a moment when she saw the dead king then took zelda's hand. "If the king is dead, you'll be next." She turned the head of a dragon statue and a wall turned, leading into a secret hallway.
"No!" Zelda pulled away from the sheikah. "I can't leave, I'd be abandoning the kingdom."
"I understand your reasoning, princess, but if you stay you'll be killed, then you won't be able conquer what has done this." Impa took Zelda's hand again and this time she didn't pull back, she followed her friend into the passage the wall closing behind them.
Ganondorf entered the stable again and mounted the horse that had been prepared for his departure, his sword was attached to his belt at his side, and the horse's saddle bags were filled with important necessities.
Soldiers awaited him outside in a large field wondering what their orders were. Different thoughts rushed through Ganondorf's head; he had multiple things he need to take care of. For one, he needed to find the girl who had stolen his horse, second, he wanted every boy with blonde hair, pointed ears, blue eyes, and a sword at his side, to be brought back to his dungeons. Each one would die, he would make sure no one, not even the boy who haunted his dreams, could take away his goal. This time, he would reign victorious, and he would make sure he got his way.
Within the hour, he gave three assignments to three different groups of ranks of soldiers. The highest rank, would look for his enemy, the middle ranking soldiers would search for the girl, and the third rank would take possession of the nearby villages in Hyrule.
He didn't ride with any of the groups. Instead he made his way to the most fearful places in all the lands. There were some things that needed to be taken care off. Dark magical artifacts had been lost within the world; that's what the scrolls said at least. So Ganondorf was going to search for them and build up his power.
Lief fell asleep on the lush grass, the day was still new and the sun hadn't risen to it's highest point yet, so why not take a short nap before traveling on. His sword was laying next to him; drops of dew landed on it from the grass making it cold and wet. Epona stood tied to a tree nearby grazing on the sweet long grass that had grown there. She whinnied at Lief, she was bored and wanted attention from the nice boy who had given her an apple along the way.
Malon walked down to the river, it was a short ways from where they decided to stop and rest. Lief told her that being too close might, in some ways, cause problems if something were to happen. She bent down and set the three canteens on the grass, taking one she dipped it part way into the water, the liquid trapping itself into the flask.
After they were all filled, she took off her sandals and dipped her feet in the cool water. We will have to leave the river sometime to take the different routes to the Zora's domain. I may not get another chance...She looked back to where lief was sleeping on the hill. She took the canteens and walked to a nearby pool the water had created behind a boulder. Before long she was happily cleaning herself in the cold water.
Lief turned slightly in his sleep, something kept nagging at him, but he didn't know what it was. Images flickered through his mind, visions more like it.
"Link." A voice whispered through Lief's head as if it were the wind speaking. "Big Brother!"
Lief suddenly found himself watching through the eyes of an enormous masked bird. His heart pounded as he saw a little girl running across the swaying bridge.
He opened his mouth to yell, but no sound came out except for a loud screech. The bird glided sideways for a moment eyeing the little girl with interest. For a moment Lief panicked, his mind seeing his own little sister Aryll. When he looked at a different angle it was a different girl, she had a resemblance to Aryll, but her eyes were a different color and she had a more incocent look to her. On the other side of the bridge he saw a young boy in green, just like the boy he had seen in other dreams, along with a different girl that looked like a pirate and a taller man behind her.
The bird's talons stretched out and in an instant Lief could hear the sound of yelling and the little girl's screams. His mind raced, what was this supposed to mean?
A moment later, he found himself in front of a tall man. His face was hidden, but a large grin was planted from ear to ear. He was speaking to the bird, who sat in a large nest in a tall tree in a garden.
"Bring me all the young girls who have hyrulian pointed ears and blonde hair." The man's voice was a hiss, and made the air go cold. A second later the bird swooped into the sky taking off into the clouds.
Lief stirred slightly, Rani came flying through the air as fast as she could, she had to warn them. She had to or it might be too late.
Lief lay in warm water, it was dark around the edges of the pool, but a small glow came from the water. He came to his knees, his hair soaked and dripping, looking into the clear water.
"Lief..." A soft voice spoke to him, there was no one there, but it sounded really familiar. "Lief wake up..." The water rippled and images flickered through them, "Lief, find Malon." Lief looked deeper, for a moment he thought he saw the Fairy Queen's face, but it quickly went still until another drop from his hair disturbed the water again.
A picture flickered again and this time it wasn't the Fairy Queen's beautiful face. Instead it was the same red eyes from before. He felt his lungs close up, as a dark shadowy hand clutched his throat from the water.
"Your fate is death. I'll make sure of it." The same voice shot through the water, Shadow grinned, the reflection became more and more real. Lief's arms sank deeper into the water even though it was shallow. His mind sank deeper and deeper into the image of the water. Shadow's eyes lured him closer to his heart.
"Lief! Wake up!" A girl's voice cleared his vision slightly. He tore his eyes away from the pool looking into the darkness.
"Lief, don't listen to her. Come back. Merge with me." Shadow's hands clutched to Lief's wrists pulling him further into the water.
"Lief!" He searched the room around him, "Lief, please! we must leave now!"
Rani slapped his nose, and tried opening his eyelids. He didn't move, "Epona!" She whizzed over to the rope, untying the horse. "Come here," She calmly, but very quickly brought Epona and whispered confident words to her, "Bend down, please." Epona kneeled onto the ground and with alot of magic, Rani was able to slump Lief onto the horse's back, she latched his sword onto the saddle bag then once again spoke to the horse calmly.
"We need to hide. Soldiers are coming this way and fast, I overheard their captain speaking to them too, they are looking for you. You need to hide, I'll find Malon, now go please!" The young fairy slapped epona just above her tail sending the animal galloping away towards the snowy mountain.
Rani flew to the river, knowing Malon must have went to fill their canteens. She found Malon ringing out her wet hair. She must have taken a bath in the river before they were to head out again.
"Malon, we must hide! NOW!" She said frantically, she pushed Malon into the water again before she could ask why. Rani noticed an underwater cave and led Malon blindly towards it, when they entered she struggled to go to the surface, but finally, they both were able to come up for air.
"Rani what's wrong!" Malon demanded an answer when they layed on the stone floor in the cave. It was right above the water, small, but enough room to stay hidden. The water was their only light source, which was dim anyway; so they could barely see eachother. Rani's wings were wet, so she tryed to dry them out while they were in there so she could fly up once and awhile to stretch her wings out.
"Soldier I saw them coming our way," She explained.
"So Ganon did send them to find me." She suddenly realized something, "What about Lief! and Epona!"
"Don't worry, Epona rode off with Lief on her back towards the mountains, they won't think of looking there, i'm sure of it."
Malon relaxed a little; she thanked Rani for what she did then went quiet. They didn't know when the soldiers would have passed them, so just in case they agreed to stay in there over night, both hoping Lief and epona would be okay.
Epona rode hard, snow began falling, and the wind became cold. Mist came from her laboring breath as she worked up the steep mountain slopes. Lief shuddered slightly at the wind, the falling snow landed in his hair and onto his face begining to make him wet, his cloak became heavy soon, but he didn't notice. Everything that had happened he hadn't noticed.
Lief's eyes dulled as he watched the water overcome him. He didn't understand what was happening around him, it all felt like some calm slumber to him.
Shadow smiled, closer and closer his plan was coming to success. When he saw Lief traveling in Hyrule Field he had thought up the best plan to rid himself from Ganon's power over him. He planned to merge himself with Link then trade bodies with him, then Lief would be him and he would be Lief.
Shadow set his hands firmly on Lief's chest then whispered an ancient incantation. Lief's eyes became heavy as shadow began his spell. His hands sank into Lief further and further his mind merging more and more with his victim.
Hehehehehe and the plot thickens! R&R!