CH 1-1 Part 4
Blue was prone in the shallow water, not moving, but breathing deeply. He felt like just moving a single muscle would cause him to throw up. So he didn't. He just listened to the pounding water from the falls and bid his time. He allowed himself to close his eyes and relax a moment, Red would have a fit if he caught Blue sleeping, but it had been a long day so far and the arrow wound in his leg was certainly not motivating him to walk on it. The only thing on this adventurer's mind was resting for just a bit, he would move when he was ready.
Coughing sounded from nearby, the splashes of someone moving through some shallow water by taking unnecessarily high steps. "You alright?" the voice was Link's, but Blue didn't really want to respond, so he flapped a hand in his direction. Speech reminded him of his lungs; his lungs reminded him of his turning insides. So did groaning, but he felt it was worth the effort anyway.
"So... is that a maybe?"
Blue's eyes shot open, he gazed back up at the sky above him. The sun was starting to set to the side of the mountains. A rainbow shone from the spray reflecting off the light. Beautiful. Blue allowed a smile to cover his face... it drooped a little as he remembered how strange and foreign it felt to move his muscles.
"Can you stand?"
He remembered Link's presence, felt obliged to respond. Someone once said to him "Actions speak louder than words", and words didn't feel good right now, Blue had already thought that through. His mind ran over it again anyway though. He felt moving a single muscle would be like carrying the weight of the world. Blue took on the self-imposed 'challenge' and raised one hand high with his thumb even higher while staring towards Link with the question playing through his head, gimmie a lift? If you think about what you want them to see in your eyes, they'll see it he thought absently, it was an idea his subconscious might have contracted, it was silly too, that would mean Link could discern this whole monologue by watching me. The only response he got was Link obliging and lifting Blue to his feet, no stares of confusion, which was perfect since Blue didn't feel like explaining himself. Talking and all that.
Blue took an unsteady step forward and tossed his hands to the sides to keep balance. Link reached out and grabbed onto Blue's shoulder to steady him.
"I'm good, I'm good." said Blue finally Damnit it felt just as weird as I thought it would
"So where's Red and Purps? I don't want to split the party so soon." asked Link. These questions were making Blue angry, but at whom?
"I dunno, floated downstream I think..." Blue murmured, he coughed a little and held his stomach. Link looked over in a slightly concerned manner.
"You sure you're alright?"
Blue nodded in response, "I just need a bit..." he said while he slumped next to the rock wall and closed his eyes, feeling the boomerang push up against his back when his shield was pressed against the rocky wall. He adjusted his position to something more comfy "They should be on their way back up here or something, they left their hats. Tell me what the plan is while we wait". Was it really so long ago he was so eager to keep moving? Didn't matter, he really did only need a few minutes
"Well, we're being hunted by the Hyrulian Army for terrorizing all of the land for two days of absence since Shadow was operating while we weren't. The person in charge wants us gone obviously, and even though Shadow is dead, he still had plenty of time to set us up."
"So if Zelda is gone, that leaves the King in charge? I thought he was just a senile old coot."
"He is, but like how Zelda took charge because she's royalty, some higher up military man or advisor must be seizing the opportunity to manipulate the King. Anyway, I think if we go into the castle peacefully and surrender we can negotiate something with the King. Doesn't matter how crazy he is, you just don't accuse someone who gives himself in that easily, we might even get a trial."
"A trial? That's our goal?" came an excited if angry call from the river bank. Purps waded through the shallow water and picked up his hat, squeezing it dry and tossing Red's back to him. "Link come ON that is so lame! The princess has been kidnapped by a monster, the people are scared and then a hero arises! He comes in and saves the day? NO! He goes to directly to jail! He does not pass go, he does not collect 200 rupees, he loses by free will! WEAK!"
Red nodded and put on his hat. "I filled him in on it and I agree, feels like a stupid shoddy plan. But it gave me an idea… We could do something better. Remember last time this happened? You freakin jumped to the call and we were charging right into the fray to get some keys Vaati left under his various rugs to get into his home and kick his ass!"
Link crossed his arms angrily "Red those were temples! Not rugs! Each was guarded by an incredibly powerful monster!"
Blue mumbled quietly from the side "Ohh, that's a terrible metaphor..."
Red disregarded both their statements "And we kicked their asses too! Look, all I'm saying is I don't want to go in there and get sent to jail, or executed, or put back into the pedestal. Especially when we've still got an opportunity to save Hyrule again, and maybe we should remind the people who they really rely on."
Blue opened one eye and stared cooly at Red "What are you saying?"
Red smirked and gave a flashy grin "Lets be heroes again, the people need something to rally around that isn't an oppressive government or some kidnapped spoiled bitch" (Link opened his mouth to interject, but Red didn't give him the chance) "If we solve the problem on our own, the people remember who they need: what really keeps Hyrule running: Us."
Link crossed his arms "So how do we get to this godly hero image of yours?"
Purps picked up the argument with gusto, "Presentation! Walking up and surrendering is one thing, kicking down the doors screaming 'WHERE IS SHE!' looking like a badass is another! We trounce the guard, walk into the castle and make a huge show of how little we know: people realize we've been framed and they also get to be reminded firsthand who their Hero is by our ass kicking style! Plus, Red has a point, in desperate times like this, the people need something to root for, they need a champion in this dark hour. It's a win win."
Blue raised a hand and put up two fingers in a peace sign "Two problems: one, how does killing the entire guard remind people about how we're heroes and two, how would we get in without dying?" his hand fell to his side when he had finished presenting his points.
Red crossed his arms and adopted an angry face "Have you even seen that guard? We could totally kic-"
Purps put a finger to his and Red's mouth, looking at Blue and Link with his cheeks full of air. Link gave him a questioning look until he heard the snap of a dead branch on the banks behind him. Purps eyes filled with a look of dread and he dived into the river, followed quickly by Red. Link pulled Blue off his feet and tossed him into the river as well; he took a deep breath and dove after them without looking back.
He squinted his eyes under the water and saw the figures swimming into a dimly lit hole in the side of the banks. Link kicked his feet and swam after them
9
He tried counting the murky figures as they swam through an underground tunnel submerged in water, all three were there and moving. The light seemed to be coming from the other end of the tunnel, an exit?
8
Link wondered how long the tunnel was and if he could make it to the other end. He sunk a bit and kicked off the grainy sand floor to propel himself towards the exit.
7
Another kick off the floor and upwards, towards the glow directly above him. Link broke the surface of the cave and took in a deep breath. ~Not too bad at all~. All his team mates were assembled and bobbing in the water, the light was pretty dim and there was a crackling of a torch mixed with the clanking of wood very nearby. The soft clank clank came from a rope ladder dangling into the pool of water bumping against the rock face. It had some moss clinging onto it, but it looked like it could support their weight. Purps shrugged and started to climb the ladder.
"Go on Red, you were talking, had said something about us being able to take them on?" asked Blue in a rather snarky manner as he bobbed in the water.
"Shit, hold that thought, my hat fell off!" Red hissed. He took a deep breath and went back under the water. A brief silence of words while the ladder kept clambering about until Purps gave a low whistle from the top, their all clear sign. Link looked over towards Blue "You first?" he nodded weakly and put his hand on the first rung and began climbing.
"So... about that plan?" asked Blue from over his shoulder. Link looked up. "Oh... Well it looks like we all want to go to the castle for whatever reason, so we're hopefully gonna take a shortcut through this place nearby called the Cave of No Return if no one has any objections."
"Well, that sounds pleasant as hell."
"What's taking Red so long?" asked Purp's voice from above.
Link swam over to the ladder to make room for Red's return and put a hand on it to steady himself. There were a few bubbles coming from beneath the surface, then more, and more. Finally, Red breached the water, so did his guest.
"HELP! HELP! SEND BACK UP! AMBUSH!" yelled the guard in the blue helmet with the first lick of breath he got in his lungs while he flailed around in the water, trying to escape.
Red yelled over the cacophony and splashed around to try keeping his captive in a choke-hold position. "Like I said, we can take them on!"
"RED!"
"What? He had my hat!" he said as the body in his hands stopped struggling and slipped into unconsciousness.
"Red... The HELL were you thinking?"
Link gasped for air, bringing a limp body up a one man ladder wasn't an easy task, but now they had the unconscious guard up onto the ledge. Purps was holding a torch he found on the wall while Blue was walking about. Red was face up and smirking while he caught his breath, obviously proud of his work.
"Well, you said we couldn't take them... so I did it myself... heh heh heh." he chuckled. Link clenched and unclenched his fist with anger rising. "Hey, that's not all." Red continued, "He was by the bank and had my hat, evidence we came through here."
"Also , y'know, YOUR hat" chimed in Purps
"Thank you."
Link sat up. "That doesn't justify KIDNAPPING a solider! What'll we do with him now? We can't just kill him!"
Blue walked over from the ledge of the pool "Let's just talk with him."
"Interrogations! NOW you're speaking my language!"
"No! We just need to know what is happening at the castle. The cannon guy was helpful, but he seemed out of the loop. Someone with orders might know what's going on." defended Blue. The guard in question was being slouched against a wall while he recovered. He had been armed with nothing but a short sword and some light armor, and currently Red's belt tying his arms together behind him. Definitely a low ranking soldier.
"So how should we go about this?" asked Link. He had never interrogated anyone before; he wasn't even sure what information they should get.
"Good cop bad cop?" suggested Blue
Red grinned wickedly and opened his mouth "Tortu-"
"NO."
"Hey, we're all the same." said Purps; all he received were blank looks of how obvious the sentence was.
"Nonono, I mean couldn't we trick him out? Like one of us walks forward and says something then hides and someone else says something... he might totally think he's hallucinating the whole thing, like his subconscious talking to him!"
Link pondered... "You might be onto something there..."
There came a groan from the helmet, the man was starting to come to. "Oh deku nuts, still planning!" mumbled Purps. Red gave him a look that seemed to say 'deku nuts? what are you, four?' but no one caught it, they were all scrambling to hide.
"Huh... What? What am I... Ugh..." the armored man said. There was a dim light coming from the rocks in the corner of the room, and a soft clunking noise echoing throughout the cave. He sat up and tried moving his hands only to find them bound.
"Huh? Uh... what is this?" he mumbled "Captain? What are your orders?"
A billow of flame burned over his shoulder and Red walked forward from behind a rock, he tried his best to boom his voice, but its higher pitch made the effect lacking, "SPEAK." he commanded.
"What- AUGH!"
"SPEAK!" shouted Purps from behind a boulder to the man's left. His deep bass voice almost shook the caverns with its vibrations. Red dove behind another rock to contain his snickering, he wished he could have seen the poor sap's face!
"The- The Fugitive!" he stammered, his glowing white eyes darted around from beneath his helmet as they scoured the room. Back and forth and back and... HOW LONG HAD LINK BEEN STANDING THERE?
"Tell us what you know, WHAT'S UP?" said a Blue clad Hero, inches from his helmet. He pushed it back and knocked the man onto his back. By the time he had scrambled back up the hero was in green now.
"What's up?" whispered Red mockingly at Blue, who was sharing the rock. "I panicked." he shrugged as he lay back across the floor.
Link squatted in front of the kneeling man "Relax, you said something about a captain? There's a leader around here then?" asked the green hero. The guard shook his head violently, his helmet rattling around. Link sighed and stood up. He walked over to the darkness' edge till he was but a faint silhouette against the shadow. He spun about quickly, dashed forward and kicked the blue helmet in the side of the head. A faint voice in the cavern called out over the ringing of the helmet "RED!"
The Red hero knelt next to the solider, "That helmet must be all sorts of ringing right now, why don't we just take it off?"
"NO! NO DON'T! I'm under strict orders not to remove my helmet!" stammered the guard.
Red made sure his grin was visible to the hostage "Oh, well no one's going to report you..." he said as he lowered his hand to the cool rim of the helm.
Link walked back from the shadow's edge "Red, this is going too far..."
The helmet clattered to the floor, and even in the dim lighting, the face was easily identified as not natural. Purps stepped forward and Blue did as well to view the disfigured face in the torch light.
All secrecy went out the window; curiosity took charge over the Heroes.
The strange man turned and recoiled as Purps brought the light closer and the guard found himself surrounded by four different Links. He scrambled away from the danger towards a corner, but Blue flipped him onto his back and face up. He gasped, "There...There are four of you! But the scouting party said..."
"Forget about the scouting party, what ARE you?" asked Purps, confounded by the man's appearance. The creature before them looked like a man; his eyes glowed a white light instead of having colored retinas, his face was pale and dim, his skin drawn across his face, it looked as if his skin had never been touched by the sun's warm rays and he hadn't eaten in days. He squinted his eyes against the torch light and turned his head away. Blue nudged his stomach with his foot. "You never answered the question." he reminded the beast.
The mannequin before them gulped visibly, "I... I'm not allowed to answer that..."
"Not allowed or not going to?" asked Red with a malicious grin on his face. He placed a booted foot onto the soldier's chest and leaned forward with the faintest evil chuckle.
"If I told you I would be betraying the Royal Guard and all of Hyrule. I won't talk."
Link raised an eyebrow, "Betraying your...? That's nonsense; anything you tell us will help save Princess Zelda!"
"You know..." muttered Blue, "He looks kind of like Shadow..."
"Damn it Blue, will you drop this Shadow craziness?" snapped Link angrily, his patience fading.
"Think there's a connection?" asked Purps
"Hmmm, could be..."
Red leaned forward, "Only one way to find out; we kill him and completely remove any doubt of his fate and if no one shuts up about it, he's got to be related somehow."
The solider gulped.
"Red, this isn't a joking matter! We are not killing him!" said Link
A sigh of relief.
"Well, remember what you said Link?: "Magically created minions die in a smoke explosion, normal monsters die regularly, but Shadow left no trace... nothing."" recited Blue.
"Nice memory, ace. Are you suggesting what I'm thinking?" asked Red.
"Now I'm not suggesting any-"
CRACK!
"OOOWWWWWWW!"
"Hey! That was a pretty good idea! Let me know if you get any more, except actually don't." said the ever violent Red.
"RED!" roared Link
"Hey, don't hurt the guy TOO much!" said Purps, but he lost interest as they all examined the bludgeon on the whimpering creature's head. A faint trail of dark blood trickled down his cheek, but upon hitting the floor, it sizzled into a dark whisp of smoke and drifted into the air. Link stared at the mock man before them "So, magic monster it is, eh?"
"uhh... No?" suggested the "monster".
"Well, so you're a lying minion? Wow, that is low, now I've got no qualms if you live or die." said Link coldly, arms crossed.
"WHOA! Farore out man, that's pretty harsh!" said Blue in a rather rattled manner. "I mean, he might be magically created, but come on, everything is based on something!"
Purps nodded. "Moblins are mooks, but they're based on pigs and men, but more pig, so they're not that bright. But this guy is... somewhat intelligent. Copying a man like this... I don't think it's possible. Even if it is, it's a bit much for Vaati, don't you think?"
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa, hold the fuck up, did Link just say he's totally cool with killing people all of a sudden?"
"Shut UP! ALL OF YOU!" Link screamed. He drew his sword and pointed it at the quivering man's exposed face. "Answer the damn question! WHAT ARE YOU." he commanded with furious determination set in his face.
Something that looked like tears welled up around the man's eyes. "I'm... I'm a solider of the Hylian Army... I'm ordered to capture the fugitive Link... I'm also captured... by the fugitive Link..."
"Enough bullshit. Do you have a family?"
"Wha- what?"
Link pushed Red out of the way and punched the questionable man in the face with his right hand. "Do you have a father? A wife? Is there anything you care about? ANSWER ME YOU BITCH!" his grip on the Four Sword's handle tightened, his knuckles turned white.
Purps, Blue and Red all moved back and stared at each other. What was all this? They had NEVER seen this side of Link before, especially jarring since they technically were Link. The solider stammered, completely flabbergasted by the question. Link brought his sword up and to the creature's throat and looked him in the eye. "Well? What do you care about?"
White spittle came from his moving mouth, but his lips shut themselves tight. He seemed to struggle to fight his next words from behind his sealed lips.
"The... The Dark Mirror... Hyrule castle... G... Blue Maiden... Phantom...
Link...
Save... Us..."
The torchlight gave it away, his eyes were no longer glowing white, they were a soft hazel brown, the eyes of a man; but the white shimmering was flickering behind his true colors, he broke out in a sweat.
"Wait... What do you mean? Talk to me, are you still in there?" asked Link, but the solider made his move as the bright white glow creeped back from out of his pupils and started gradually overtaking his eyes. He pushed his body forward and shoved his neck onto Link's still outstretched blade, slitting his own throat. The light in his eyes died out and white gas poured from the gash in his neck, as he slumped over all of the Four Sword bearers gathered around him.
"See... You... There...
...
...
He...ro..."
Link leaned against the wall and stared at the Four Sword he had placed by small fire they had erected. He was deep in thought. The only noise was the rhythmic 'step... step step...step step...' of Blue's limping as he paced about and the omnipresent clank, clank of the wooden ladder. Purps was staring into the fire, he took short looks over at Link and tried to conceal them, but Link found it obvious he was trying to study his face. Red was just sharpening his sword on a rock as quietly as he could, even though the Four Sword almost never dulled. They were all musing about something.
Blue was tossing the guard's words over in his head again, the REAL guard, as he limped across the room. Something was definitely wrong at the castle, but the subject that always came back to Blue was Link's reaction to the knowledge of the guard's identity.
I've no qualms if you live or die
Blue shuttered. The real reason that phrase shook him was because in a sense, he was a creature of magic as well. He would not be around if Link had not drawn the Four Sword. And what set him apart from that guy? Would he just poof out of existence if his body were to completely shut down? Who would even care? Would Link? He thought they were at least friends... Another shudder. Best not to dwell on these things. He reminded himself he was just tired and he could have caught something in the muddy river, but...
"You should sit down Blue, your leg won't get better if you keep walking on it like that." suggested Purps quietly. His voice echoed softly in the cavern and died out, yet the fire continued crackling.
Blue just stared at him for a moment and then limped over the wall opposite Link's. Purps kept staring and thinking, never taking his eyes off the dancing flames, his own thoughts focusing on the guard in it's self. Copying a human life; he just saw it was possible, just unheard of. He wondered how they did it: did Vaati study some new magic? Human transmutation? It was probably that Dark Mirror thing; but why do it? Vaati had seemed content with moblins, the man pigs, or just controlling roaming monsters, less magical energy consumed to control than to make anew, so why switch to imitating humans? It was obvious he couldn't match the soul, but that man was still under complete command by someone, and the only answer he could find would be within the castle walls. Still, the creatures undying loyalty to follow its orders, it was like a slave. But he had broken free, he had helped them, there was still some hope ...for both of them.
Red was weighing the words he heard from the man and was dissecting them for all their worth, running over the facts the possessed solider had let slip. He mentioned a commanding officer and a scouting party, so they were organized in their hunt but he was at the riverside alone. He wasn't part of the scouting party obviously, since he referenced them in a distant manner, but he was so close to the heroes, not scouting. Going to the bathroom or looking for some food maybe? The bulk of this force was probably near them, very near them. They would have to prepare to fight as soon as they left the cave, and the sooner they made their move the better, they would be less aware and less prepared. He put down the whetstone and sheathed his sword, but did not move from where he sat, he just kicked his legs back and waited, resting while he had the chance. The guard had told him a lot, but there was one thing that stuck out to him, one word. hero . Those people were counting on them. Someone needed saving, and the Blue Maiden was one of them. He gave a wide grin; this would be fun.
Link stared intently at the Four Sword before him. Its cutting edge no longer stained with the slain... man's blood. He wasn't sure what happened back there, and he didn't want to think about what he did, but his mind kept straying back to the topic. Had he just killed a man? Something told him no; he had no trouble cutting down Vaati's minions and whatever monsters entered his path, they were dangerous animals trying to harm innocents or tools that worked to service evil, but a man? Man had free spirit, he chose his actions. That creature with the glowing eyes had no will, it was doing what it was told like a tool, but for the smallest time, it was a man with free action and choice. It was a man with freedom, and it chose to take its own life.
Its parting words sealed his decision though. They had to go to the castle; Link had invariably started a promise to the dying man. He would go to the castle and figure out what he meant. But first he had something to attend to.
"Guys... I'm sorry if I... startled you..." Link stood slowly, his words rung hollow through the cavern "I thought I could try what Blue suggested, good cop, bad cop, right? Scare the information out of him." he looked over towards Blue in affirmation, and Blue nodded, not taking his clear eyes off the hero. "We got what we needed to know, and we have to go to the castle now, for whatever reasons." he felt Purp's penetrating gaze on him and repressed a shudder.
"Agreed" Red stood up, putting his scabbard on his back. "We should probably hurry too, if we can make it to the cave by night we might be able to avoid the guard." he walked forward and picked up a burning log from the fire and walked ahead with his torch. "We'll have to be careful though; the rest of them should be near."
Purps smiled and got up, grabbing a torch of his own. "Well then, we've got a castle to liberate or what?" he asked nobody in particular. He too followed Red into the darkness. Link turned to Blue and offered a hand up.
"Come on, we still owe them one over your leg, right?"
Blue chuckled and pulled himself up on Link's arm. "Yeah, let's get going then... That's not how good cop bad cop works though." he joked, taking a torch of his own. Link followed behind him chuckling, "Yeah, well scaring possession out of a guy works just as well" he commented as they began to regroup and ease up from the tense moment. He breathed a sigh of relief.
They all took the bait. He hated lying, but there was no way to explain his actions in a wholesome manner, what happened back there wasn't heroic, it was... it was despicable. He hadn't tried any acts there. He just lost his temper; he had just lost his patience. Link just snapped. He snapped and might have killed a man because he couldn't hold back. If he couldn't keep better control of himself...
It will never happen again.
Blue, Link and Purps jumped off the platform as it approached the far end of a large gap. Red took a single step forward, but he felt the floating walkway lurch and begin to pull away from the dock and start to return to the other end, the way nearest the water hole. The group had encountered a gaping pit just as they started to move out, but a quick push on a block and some minor squabbling and they managed to activate a floating walkway. It was shaped like a large 'L' and floated on it's own timed mechanics, so while the three others managed to reach the solid ground at the lift's end, Red had to wait for an extra round trip. He waved the other three off as the platform floated across the abyss and into the darkness.
Blue took notice without so much as a nod goodbye and moved forwards with Link, towards the light shining down from a staircase. Purps had volunteered to wait on Red, shouldn't split the party too much, he had insisted.
Purps paced about and stretched his limbs, limbering up for whatever rigorous physical challenges waited for them up the staircase. He pulled his sword from it's sheath and gave it a few experimental slashes at the air, an upper cut with the sword held backhand, finished by dropping the point down into an imaginary foe's neck and bashing the supposed corpse away with his back. Purps was fighting an imaginary battle though; he dropped to the floor since nothing caught his weighted slam except the cold hard stone beneath him.
"OOF, hahaha whoops!" he chuckled as he pushed himself off the ground. He saw Red approaching through the darkness with another force gem in his hands, a large green one, the most common one it would seem.
"Hey hey hey! Look who's bringing home the bacon!" announced Purps joyfully. Red held it over his head and bounced lightly off the platform as it approached the ledge. "Can you believe it? This one just floated over towards me, just like that!" he said as he threw the force gem at Purps while waving his hands in a sorcerer like manner. Purps giggled as it fell to the floor in a manner that was not very magical at all.
"So, you want this one?" Red offered, Purps shook his head and picked it up, tossing it back to Red. "Nah, I'm not so big on the sword, plus it might be best if someone good with the sword overspecializes in stabbing things."
Red drew his sword quickly and brought the handle down on the gem as it came towards him, spiking the gem with his handle. It shattered into a hundred pieces and was sucked into the pommel of the mystic blade that Red sheathed in a flashy display of twirls. As it clicked into place he gave a hearty chortle, "Good, I wasn't gonna share anyway!" a flash of disappointed betrayal crossed Purps face, but it was quickly dispelled and replaced with a playful grin when he remembered who he was dealing with.
"Aww, you douche! Lets go catch up with the others." he chuckled as they started moving towards the steps leading out of the cave, still echoing from Blue and Link's passing.
While Purps was practicing and Red was floating, Blue and Link were ascending the staircase and, naturally, talking.
"So... you seem kind of rattled about that whole killing the soldier, yeah?" Blue cautiously prodded. Link gulped and nodded. "I'm going to run under the assumption that if that one solider wanted to die rather than be re-possessed, they all would seek the same fate. It's the only way I'll be able to take the castle with a clear conscious about killing them." he didn't want to be talking about this.
Blue absorbed the ultimatum, recalling and reciting the guard's last words. "See you there... Hero" Link visibly winced at that last word. "Do you think he meant it? That he'll see us there? I don't see how he would do that since... well, y'know" he made a slitting motion with his finger across his throat and let his head flop onto it's side with his tongue lulling out of the side of his mouth and eyes shut. Blue heard a vehement snort from Link and he gave a chuckle.
"Stop laughing! I feel bad enough what happened, I don't need you rubbing it in with lame jokes!" Link snarled "He musthave had a reason for saying that, so I think he's still alive."
"Yeah yeah, I'm just messing with you, that body must have just puffed into smoke and floated back to the castle to get fixed up and fighting again." Blue said reassuringly
"...Are you serious?"
Blue pondered for a moment "Nah, they die and that's that for our friends" he saw Link getting somewhat furious "BUT I don't think this story is so simple, that dark mirror thing he mentioned, sounds kind of... important."
Link gave a grunt of approval, "He was breaking words up though: dark mirror, maiden phantom, who knows what he could really have meant." he said as they reached the top of the staircase "The only thing I'm certain of is that his death will not be in vain."
"And that we'll save the princess!" came the echoing voice of Purps from the bottom of the staircase. Blue gave a chuckle and even Link spared a smile.
Of course they would save Zelda. They had to.
The staircase led out to the top of a grassy knoll on the side of the river, near where they had landed after the plunge, and close enough that Link thought he could make out the telltale glimmer of the cavern's light shining from beneath the glistening water, but it could have just as easily been the orange creamy reflection of the sunset across the water's surface, glistening like molten gold rushing off in it's own way down the brambling creeks. Their perch was pretty steep and it seemed to be blocked from behind by the forest's seemingly impenetrable barrier on the east and south. You could almost see the child's backyard which contained the already broken fire rod, but that place seemed so far away with the dense trees separating connection with the distant scene. The north and west gave clear view to the falls and also the bridge where they had been ambushed, and a clear view meant clear vision for any eyes seeking to find, which Blue began to feel the moment the cave stopped providing a roof. Red bounced up the staircase and motioned Link to lower himself after forcefully shoving Blue's head below the grass line. Purps came soon after and they all began to search for the way the path continued westward by pushing over rocks and snipping away at tall grass with their swords. Eventually, Red picked up the trail by slashing a plant aside and revealing the false roots it had 'planted' which were covering a rotting trapdoor. Red flipped the lid while casting a quick look to either side and drew the Fire Rod as he slid down the ladder's railing and into the passage below.
He landed in total darkness on his feet, but coaxed the rod to burn at least enough to turn the tip of the rod into a searing red poker which scarcely illuminated the disappointed frown he wore. What was once a powerful and mighty flamethrower, now just a magic cattle brander.A glisten in the corner of the small corridor leading down. Red moved forward and away from the ladder as he spied a metal chest's burnished enforcements half buried in the corner of the room, with the chest intact to boot. He bent over and lifted the lock close to the dull red glow of the Fire Rod to reveal the traces of time's damage across the rusted lock's brown surface. He gave it a tug and heard a creaking snap as the metal clasp the lock was fastened to broke free of the chest and clattered to the ground. Red flipped open the lid and peered into the black chest and saw a glittering gem begin to float up from the chest's depths. A red force gem zipped up past his head and he stretched his hands up above his head to try to catch the enchanted gem. It stopped directly above his head once his hands got close to the triangular pyramid, he wasn't even touching it, but it floated calmly above his head. Red lowered his hands and the force gem followed their path, as if it was suspended by a length of invisible string he held in both palms. He bent his elbows and brought his hands behind his back and the force gem followed until it softly clinked against the ruby of the Four Sword. A crack ran across the Gem and it was broken, the shards absorbed into the pommel of the Four Sword like so many other fragments before it. Red heard a cough from behind and saw Link standing with his arms crossed, tapping his toe against the rough stone.
"Are you done being greedy or can we proceed?" he asked coldly. Red sneered at him and didn't waste a breath with a response, but he walked past him and began ascending the ladder with the glowing speck of red light held near his mouth.
"Dead end" he muttered from around the weapon. Link's expression remained hard and callous as he watched the speck ascend ahead of him.
"Hey guys! Take the ladder, don't hop down!" he yelled above as he started climbing the rungs after the speck of red had kicked off the wall and out of sight.
Purps was the last to hop onto the stone bridge that probably went under the lake and brought them closer to the bridge. Faint trickles of water resounded all around them as though the tunnel itself was leaking, the constant dripping noise echoing off the walls and coming from all around them. Blue scanned the passage nervously and looked for the faint sparkle of water leaks across the walls; he even thought he heard a splash from below. He reached behind his back and gripped the boomerang for good measure, reminding himself that it was still there. He put a hustle in his limp... at least his leg had stopped bleeding.
The faint glimmer ahead hoped onto what seemed to be another ladder, and the red dot started to ascend up the wall. Link followed, and Blue took a hobbling hop across the gap and slammed into the wooden sticks and started pulling himself upwards. The ladder gave a rattle and a creak as a final Purple Link landed on the strained wood. Blue hoped the ladder wouldn't give out as they ascended it. A light shone down from above and one by one the Links emerged near a worn path, bringing them very near the bridge they were shot at. Blue gulped and reached for his shield, getting a bad feeling already.
"I've got a weird feel on this..." said Purps quietly, voicing aloud both his and Blue's thoughts.
Blue gulped loudly and drew the boomerang and shield "same... and it's not just because I got shot here..."
Link walked forward next to Red, but checked over his shoulder to look at the team. He had to make a double take though "Whe- Why do you have my boomerang?" he exclaimed unexpectedly as his hand strayed to his belt where the spinning weapon normally rested. Confusion splayed across his face when he felt it there, but also saw it in Blue's hand.
"... I found this one..." he murmured "do you think you could lower your voice a bit thou-"
"THEEAAAARRRREEEE!"
Energy filled the air, Link and Red already had their swords flashing across the setting sunlight and ready before they even knew who was yelling. A wave of blue clad foot soldiers like the one in the cave rushed from across a meadow and towards the bridge, almost all with swords already drawn and hollering. A giant of a man covered head to heel in heavy armor stood in a meadow with a broadsword pointed at Link and murderous glowing white gaze boring into the green hero as he shouted and barked out almost incomprehensible commands, pointing with his free hand and making wide gestures with his broadsword while 6 grunts scrambled to meet his orders. He raised his broadsword high over his head with one hand and dropped its point straight towards the heroes with a single command: "ATTACK!"
The blue soldiers had reached the bridge and were in full sprint to reach the Four Sword bearers. Link was slightly taken aback and startled by the ambush, but he drew his boomerang and hurled it at the approaching horde of steel. "Purps, catch that on the way back! Blue, see if you can help guard the flank while Red torches the bridge! Ready set go!"
He drew the Hylian shield off his back and charged into the fray. His boomerang struck across the helmets of three of the mooks up front and they stumbled to a daze while the rest of the troops swarmed around them. As the boomerang came arching back, Link rolled beneath it and swiped the nearest soldier's legs from beneath him, cutting his knees and bashing across his chest with the shield as he rolled up, knocking the crippled solider into the air and slamming down into the heavy wood before the mannequin dissipated in a puff of smoke and his dust was scattered by the stampeding soldiers. Link blocked a blow coming from above and neatly countered with a slash across his assailant's throat; white dust poured from the wound of the defeated solider as he fumbled to the ground. "Red! Turn up the heat!" he shouted over the fray as he took a step away from three ferocious blows that would have ended a less agile and alert warrior.
"Not gonna happen, Hero!" he heard from somewhere to the left. Red was twirling between the guards with his sword gashing across the foes that were still crippled by his right hand's assault with the bright red hot Fire Rod. Sparks flew as the hot iron skipped across light armor and found new holes made by the Four Sword to bring it's blistering pain to; the sword carved a hole in a blue helmet and the fire rod's searing tip would smash into the exposed face, both burning and bludgeoning the poor solider till he could take no more harm and scattered in the warm evening breeze, tainted with the scent of death and the clang of steel.
Red dived through the fray and brought his sword across all three of the stunned guard's stomach's and reversed the grip on his blade to decapitate them as they fell to their knees. Red felt it was time for a necessary display of danger; and while not very efficiently conserving energy, he used much of the Fire Rod's remaining power to loose a fireball at several of the guards that were clustering together. The billows of flames scorched around and across its victims, its tendrils inflamed the armor that covered the soldier's taunt and pale skin, effectively turning their armor into ovens to bake baddies in. The burn victims collapsed to the ground screaming as they were roasted alive until their ashes on the wind were all that remained of the group of hunters. Red had no time to admire his weapon's devastation though, he was quickly becoming swamped in bodies and swords driving at him from every angle trying to spill his blood. Many of the blades in the steel forest were battered away, knocked from the soldier's hands or deflected into another's way, but Red was tiring; he was slowing down and becoming vulnerable. There was only so much a full offense could do in a time like this. A heavy ringing noise resounded from behind him and Red spun around to cleave through a stunned guard's helmet; he pushed the dissipating body into another mook, knocking one of balance while the dead one faded into the air. A boomerang looped in from the side of Red's vision and bounced from helmet to helmet, chaining together a chorus of clanging. Red dove as the boomerang passed over his head, and he readied his sword for a Hurricane Spin to strike at least five of his opponents to the ground.
"HIYAAAA!" he shouted, bringing his blade arcing through the air and gashing across several of the guard's stout necks as he pivoted on his heel in a circle of death. They fell one by one around his feet, the fight and life taken from the mock humanoids. Red placed the Fire Rod behind his back, giving the boomerang thrower a thumbs up. When he saw that Blue had caught the boomerang and was readying to throw it again, Red also added his middle finger to the hand gesture and saluted with a laugh. Blue caught the look and gave him a silly looking sneer in response as they both focused back on the combat at hand.
Purps had his own hands full. He was taking opponents one by one with a strange mixture of martial arts and sword play. He would dodge a heavy overhead smash and deliver three quick blows with his whirling limbs; uppercut with his left hand to knock the helmet off, twirl and use the momentum to drive an elbow to the stomach and complete the spin by driving his knee into the exposed face. The guard stumbled away, but Purps didn't let him get far. He sprinted forward and ran up the sturdy body, putting an extra spring into his final step on the guard's face to launch himself into the air. He landed with his sword point first plunging into the neck of a guard sneaking up on Red, using both hands to drive the blade home with a mighty downward stab, decapitating the solider with his momentum and weight. He crashed into the body and it crumpled to the ground as the lifeless head rolled towards three remaining guards, the light briefly flickering in his eyes before he dissipated. Those soldiers took a terror filled step backwards, giving the dangerous duo a bit of room.
Red and Purps breathed heavily for a moment, giving the guards a spot of hope, "Look! They're tiring, we can't loose now!" one cheered confidently as he rushed in yelling with his sword flailing. Purps tossed his sword into the air so that it lingered in place for about two seconds while he dived between the legs of the offender. Those two seconds were more than enough for Red to pivot and catch the Four Sword in his spare hand; he diced the fool to beef with both his hands wielding the deadly relics. Before the guard could even lower his sword to block, his arms fell off, followed by half his torso and a section of his head while his limbs sizzled into nothingness on the wind as they clattered onto the wooden planks. Red laughed madly and ran after the two soldiers nearest Purps while they switched targets.
Purps dashed at a bumbling guard that stood near the lip of the bridge with his sword held shakily in his hand as if preparing for a cavalry to stampede him into dust. Purps gave the weapon a kick from the hip with his protected boot and a follow up with the same foot to the man's wrist to send the short sword spiraling into the water behind him. The guard took a few steps back and to the bridge's edge, his hands held pleadingly before him "Please, your omnipotence... have mercy!" Purps' face grew contorted with confusion at the odd title, but he gave a happy chortle and shook his head "Hahaha, Mah Boi!" he laughed as he lunged forward and knocked the helpless guard off the bridge and into the water with a flurry of blows. Whether the fighter floated or sunk, Purps wouldn't know; he was eyeing up the commander across the water. Armed with a billowing cape and now a heavy looking shield the size of a tiny person, he thrust his sword into the ground and held his position; and now his lackeys scrambled to ready themselves for the Heroes to finish with the bulk of his forces. Purps gave a low whistle of admiration, they were staying in the path of certain death; Link would only keep moving forward and anything impeding his path would only be... well, removed. Very resilient indeed, Purps could respect that.
If only he saw the sweat rolling down the General's face, he wouldn't have thought so highly of a false man following orders.
Link's eyebrows shot up as he saw Purps performing some rather impressive combos, he wondered how his exact copy could perform such an impressively quick flurry of moves. He felt his arm rattle as a short sword pinged off of the shield and he jumped back to reality. The last remaining solider stood shaking, his sword held loosely in his hands. He gave an awkward chuckle/growl and challenged Link, "C'mon, you're not even trying! You'll be dead by the time I'm done!" he threatened. Link blinked hard and sidestepped the next stab.
"Oh... Sorry..." he muttered as he chopped the soldier's hand off with a distant look in his eyes. A boomerang wacked into the side of the screaming man's head and he was dazzled as Red confidently walked forward and with two swords, with which he easily slaughtered the helpless servant. Link stared as the body drifted away on the wind... He had to wonder if these troops shared the same face as the guard in the cave as a wave of guilt coursed over Link's consciousness. He shook his head and reminded himself of his goals and why this was alright, We'll see who's right soon enoughhe thought as he twirled the dust off the Four Sword and sheathed the blade, remembering he'd need to re-draw the weapon in just a few short moments.
He breathed out a gust of air, and so did Red and Purps. Blue walked forward and offered Link back his boomerang, which he stared at for a moment before taking it back. "Thanks for the assist, but you should have followed my orders."
Blue cocked an eyebrow, "Orders? I wasn't aware I had to listen to those, sounded like suggestions to me"
"Some shitty orders" Red piped in, "if I had lit the bridge on fire, how would we get over to that big nasty blocking the Cavern?"
Link shook his head, "Whatever, just... do it next time, alright?" he asked the whole party as he trudged forward. There was no response, but he heard the hollow footsteps from both sides that let him know that his group was with him for now.
The four heroes walked into the meadow, the setting sun turning the white pedals a vibrant shade of orange while the trees rustled with a final sigh as they caught the lingering rays of nourishing sunlight. The giant armored man shifted in place, and several tall stakes rose from behind both groups, trapping the two sides into the serene arena. The only noise for a moment was the shuffle of the three blue and three, more well equipped, green guards as they readied themselves for the coming massacre. The general turned his head towards the nearest green clad solider, the steel of his helmet grating across his shoulder plates. He paused for a moment, and then took in a deep breath that even Link could hear from across the clearing.
"... I thought you said that you had killed at least one of them." he stated. The nearest guardian shuffled a bit, making an awful lot of noise with his armor rattling about.
"Sir... I said I thought..."
"We. Don't. Think." he said, very loudly and clearly. "Should we survive this battle, you can report of you error to the current ruler of Hyrule Castle, unless you can... correct your miscount for me." he declared, gesturing with his heavy helmet towards the heroes. The green guard gulped and took a step forward, raising his shield.
"... Sir." he said with affirmation, his glowing eyes scanned the party of one for the weakest Link as he slowly walked into the middle of the meadow. Red leaned over and nudged Blue in the elbow and helpfully whispered "hey pansy, you could use the practice".
Blue stiffened up, "naw, I think I can pass on this one..." he started, but he saw a hip quiver dangling loosely at the soldier's side. Blue gulped and took one step forward.
"You're pretty brave for staying here... Why not run? Or just shoot me again from the bushes?" he asked the green scout. The solider in question just gave a steely chuckle and kept walking forward, "Who's to say we're not just the bait?" he asked. Blue pulled the shield from his back and scanned the forest's nearby shrubs for any sign of a sneak attack, when he looked back the scout was looming over him with the sword rushing forward for a stab. Blue's shield intercepted and knocked the blade off course, and Blue threw his weight into a push with the shield against his assailant. The guard stumbled backwards and rushed in again, "that was a nasty trick!" he snarled as Blue drew his sword awkwardly, gripping the boomerang in the same hand and blocking another attack with the clang of his shield. He took a step to the side and brought the shield and a bit of distance between him and his combatant, "I could say the same thing!" he retorted. "Downright deceitful."
The guard slowly approached Blue with his sword before him, taking the strides of a practiced swordsman. Blue brought his own weapon between himself and the scout's blade, taking limping steps backwards. The scout made a strange noise and lunged forward with a side swipe. The sapphire Four Sword took the weight if the swing and was knocked away from Blue's arm, his boomerang tossed with it.
"HA HA! I have you now!" the scout said triumphantly. Red shook his head and let his palm catch his forehead, reaching for the sword on his back. He felt a green sleeved hand weigh on his shoulder and lower his arm, "Wait for it," Link said "I think I see what he's getting at..." he said with a faint smile tugging at his mouth. Blue took light steps to keep the bloodthirsty scout from getting a hit, either evading or blocking several potentially lethal strikes while he danced back to where his sword landed. He rolled towards the weapon as the boomerang swung back over his head and across the guard's face, causing him to stumble backwards. Blue grabbed the blade's handle mid-roll and moved quickly to strike the dazed solider across the belly. He gasped and was pushed backwards by the crafty move, he even stumbled a bit as white whisps trailed from the wound, but he did not collapse like so many others that day.
Blue retrieved his boomerang and nestled it into his belt, "That's for the leg you bastard." he taunted as he brought his weapon before him in a more proper (but still awkward) stance. The guard coughed out a billow of smoke, "Downright deceitful indeed." he sputtered as he charged back into combat. Blue blocked his initial slice, and went for a stab to the leg, but his blade found a shield blocking his attack. He ducked and narrowly avoided a chop that might have decapitated him. He kicked out with his good leg, and the solider moved away from him, but he toppled to the ground by putting too much weight on his injured leg.
"Grr... Damnit" Blue swore as he stood up. The scout was already balanced and approaching with his sword leading the charge.
"Enough games, Time to DIE!" he shouted as he rushed forward. Blue let the bulrush glance his shield and spun around in a pivot as the guard knocked him for a loop. The point of his sword dug into the tough troop's shoulder as he stumbled towards the three observing adventurers. He fell flat on his face and slowly started to fade away, Blue sheathed the sword and grinned with the shield on his arm "You lost the game." he declared as a final parting insult to the dead guard.
"Ugh... HWAAOOOOO!" he heard from behind him. All five of the remaining troops rushed forward while the general lifted his sword with deadly purpose and the murderous command echoed through the meadow. A frightened look covered Blue's face as he skipped back to his group, taking out his boomerang as he hobbled away from the front lines. "Well that was exhilarating! Duel time's over though!" he huffed as he set himself behind the more ferocious fighters in his company. Link stepped forward and jabbed into a blue mook's chest and ripped his blade out of the tear in the weak metal armor he made, bringing the sword up to deflect the scout's sword as it dove in for a quick KO. Purps' amethyst encrusted sword cut across the green one's helmet and his palm striked him in the chest, a blow that pushed the solider away. He nodded to Link "Me and Red got the little ones; You and Blue think you can take Mr. General?" Link nodded and turned away from the short slaughter to focus on the looming boss.
"Hey Blue? Wanna lend a hand here?" Link yelled without looking back.
The monstrous guardian gave a throaty laugh laden with malice, "What's the mater, Hylian? Afraid you'll lose?" he challenged, swinging his wide sword above his head so it caught the final blood red rays of the evening light. This sunset was lasting an exceptionally long time.
"What, you got something against Hylians? Why don't you take of that helmet and show us your real face, you big ugly monster!" Blue bantered as he walked forward. Link was taking quick and sharp breaths, a scowl forming across his face.
The General gave a booming laugh, "As if I'd fall for that! I take the helmet off, bad thing happens, but enough talk!" he said, banging his sword's flat edge across his shield, "Let's see if I can't get a bonus for your head on a fuc-"
CLANG!
Link had already dashed ahead before Blue could get ready; He delivered a flurry of cuts across the large tower shield and stomped a foot onto the behemoth's toe while slamming himself against the shield, an opening presented its self as the general stumbled back from the ferocious offense, Link took it and jabbed his point into the officer's thigh, causing him to emit a deep howl of pain as he took a step away from the pointy blade. Link danced back and flipped his sandy hair from his eyes and scoffed, "Thanks for the help Blue."
Blue looked oddly at him and blinked heavily, readying the boomerang, "... Geez, give me some time, will ya?" he threw it directly towards the boss' head, but it was blocked by the tower shield. The barrier lowered, only to reveal Link's sword arcing down through the air towards the General's pale eyes. He twitched his head out of the way, but the sword still dug a chunk out of the man's breastplate. Link landed and rolled to the side as the enormous sword dug a small trench where he was moments ago.
"Too slow!" Link shouted, but he found a heavy iron boot connecting to his stomach and knocking him away and tumbling across the field. Link slowly pulled himself up and sucked air back into his lungs, he sputtered out a bit of blood and caught it in his hand. He clenched the dark red spot and curled his hand into a fist, looking up at the approaching giant.
"BLUE!"
DIIING!
The boomerang slammed into the aspiring general's head and left his senses shaken. The only thing he heard was a high pitched ringing in his head and his vision was blurred. He raised his shield hand to adjust his helmet, but a sharp pain sparked in his left flank. He roared and dropped the shield onto the small man, grabbing his broadsword in both hands and swinging it in a wide arc across the battlefield. He cleaved the heavy blade through the air, but the Hero was not a victim of the massive weapon. He had appeared near his Blue counterpart; Link breathing heavily with sword and shield and the blue one clutching his shield. The general took a step back; letting a hand roam over all the places he had been jabbed or slashed during this fight. Both his hands strayed to the broadswords handle and he raised it above his head, and roared as he rushed forward with surprising agility. The giant blade was over Link before he could even blink, and while Blue had tossed himself out of the way, Link caught the full force of the strike on his shield.
CRRRACK!
"AUUGHH"
Link was pushed back several feet, his boots sending a scatter of daisies into the crimson air where he was driven through. Two deep gouges were trenched where his feet had been dragged through the dirt, and he collapsed to his knees when he finally stopped. He grimaced with pain and lifted a hand to his right shoulder, at best, it was dislocated... broken at worst, but this fight wasn't over. He slowly stood up and the officer gave a grunt of surprise.
"Still at it then? I thought I was going to drag you back alive... but if it's a fight to the death you want, so be it..." he readied his large sword again. Link said nothing, he dropped the Four Sword to his side and threw the boomerang he possessed between the man's legs, skipping it off the ground and letting it bounce out of sight. The man chuckled and snarled "You missed!" as he rushed forward over the slumped hero.
Thunk.
"HURK"
The boomerang came back and slammed into the general's neck, and a sickening snap was heard throughout the blood-soaked meadow. The man collapsed to his knees at just before the hero, his eyes darting around, seeking for help. "My... My legs... I can't feel them..." he stammered. Link slowly stood up and took the sacred blade in his left hand, driving the point of it up the man's chin and ramming the blade through his head.
"HUUOOOOooooouuuggghhhh..."
They froze like that for just a moment before Link dislodged the sword and yanked it out of the general's skull, allowing silky powder to flow down the helmet and over the dissipating armor. He said nothing as the figure slammed into the ground and vanished in an explosion of smoke, rising to the sky.
Link flicked the dust off the sword and sheathed it. "Twenty at the bridge, six here, one general, and one in a cave..."
Purps and Red walked near the fallen General and stood there, until a green triangle plopped on top of Purps' hat. "owww" he bemoaned, until several more of various colors and sizes started dropping down from the sky and into the heroes. Blue moved to the side and Purps helped Link off the hailing battlefield, but Red stayed under the torrent of gems with his sword drawn.
"ow, ow, ow, whoa, ow, ow, sweet, ow, ow, ow, nice, Whoa, damn, ow, ow, cool, owch, shit, ow, ow, ow, ohhh, ow, ow, pretty, ow, ow, fuck, ow, dibs!" he called as the torrent of Force Gems bounced off him and his sword equally.
Purps couldn't help himself from laughing at Red's mixture of pain and delight, and soon the peaceful meadow was left only with coming night and four young adventurers, and almost no trace if the skirmish that had transpired.
The wooden gates that had risen from the ground to wall off the battle had burrowed themselves once again after the general was defeated, so the Four Sword bearers could carry on. The path beneath them slowly became less worn with tracks, but more destroyed and dead with... something. They followed the path for a short while before they reached the foot of the mountains at dusk. There were four large black eyeballs in front of a heavy door, the door built into the mountain's face and guarded by two statues with lit torches in their stone claws.
"What is this place?" asked Purps in amazement and awe.
"Congratulations Heroes," A voice came from their right "you have reached The Cave Of No Return." said a massive grey horned owl resting on a post. The bird rustled his feathers and flipped his head upside down.
"Kaporea Gora! What are you doing here?" Link asked the Guiding Spirit, the owl waggled its head back and forth and answered, "I came to check on Hyrule's last hope... Now what happened to you and your companions? You look as though you've already made quite a mess of things."
Blue stepped forward "Wait a second, Link, do you know this talking owl... alpakagora was it? or have I just finally lost enough blood to start hallucinating?"
Link filled them in on the pleasantries and told the advisor of what they had decided about taking the castle, he nodded his head up and down and eyes closed the whole time to the point Link wasn't sure that the old owl had heard him.
"Did you get all that?" he asked once he had completed monologue. The owl nodded wisely and ruffled his feathers into a more comfortable position. "Quite an adventure so far." he mentioned.
Purps interjected, "Mr. Kaporea, what are those weird eyeballs in front of the Cave?" he asked, gesturing towards the humming and searching eyes.
Kaporea Gora sighed, "Heroes, those black spheres form a barrier of darkness! The darkness that Vaati created is syphoning the power from the land." he said, a gasp came from a few of Link "If these barriers are left intact across Hyrule, Vaati will grow ever stronger."
"Look! Already the green fields that once grew here have withered to dust." he exclaimed while gesturing to the eyeballs. Closer examination revealed that the four f them were connected by a chain of dark purple lightning that would flicker down to the zap the ground they hovered gently above. The eyes may have been painted onto the spheres of shadow, but they seemed to move and take in their surroundings. Link shuddered the longer his eyes lingered on the black magic sight. "It is unforgivable what he has done to the land!" the owl exclaimed, continuing his rant.
"How can we stop them?" asked Red. His hand already reaching for the Fire Rod. The owl closed his eyes and shook his head, "The power of the Four Sword can destroy the barriers! Link, you must bring your light and pierce the darkness!" the owl hooted emphatically. Red walked near an eyeball and all four fixated on him as he drew the Four Sword, raising it up and thrusting the blade into the eyeball, shattering it. He proceeded to do so to each of the four sockets of evil till the dark presence had been cleaned away from the field. "Hey, Papa Gora! How do we... huh?" Red had started to ask, but upon turning, he realized that the owl was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Gora?" he asked.
Blue shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Who?" with a tiny smile. Red gave him a rotten glare and spit to the side, "Puns aren't funny, Blue." he said in the coldest voice he could muster, but Purps was snickering as he followed Red towards the door, it wasn't until Link arrived that they realized they had no idea how to open the gates. They mused for a moment, and Purps shouted "Mellon…", but all he was rewarded with were odd stares and his own echo. "Ehh, worth a shot." he said, walking away from the heavy oak slab.
Blue took a few steps from the door and realized there were four pressure plates where the barriers had guarded. Blue called the team over and they all stood on one. They were surrounded momentarily in a soothing ray of light; but the lights faded and the door slid open, leading to the darkness inside. Link took the first step forward into the shadows, followed by Red, Blue, Purps
...and a rather stealthy pair of booted feet.
So, 5 chapters and over a year later and our heroes have beaten the first level within an inch of their lives!
Yay!
In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to keep the scenery and map layout almost perfectly accurate to the game to a near strategy guide level, but there are some things that I think many real people would at least attempt given the chance, and I'm trying to express the Four Sword Bearers as more than palette swaps of Link, and more than characters, but as people.
I encourage you to review, as it makes me feel good about my work and makes me write faster; since every review is a person with opinions and feedback that I really wanna hear!