A/N: Sorry I took so long to get this up, but I was short on ideas for a while... ^.^; Most of this chapter was written today, in fact. My writer's block is horrible sometimes. Also, I have a request for you readers. I know it's kinda spamming to be advertising for another fic, but we haven't gotten ANY reviews except ones we posted ourselves so far... Please check out the fic "Four Swords: Legend of the Sealed Mages" by FiveLinksJourney. It's a collab between i-wish-799 and I. Anyway... Enjoy~!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned LoZ, but I don't. Nintendo does, and whoever makes the manga... I just own my plot, made-up monsters and items, and OCs...
Many Thanks To: SoulDea, i-wish-799, and LittlePidgey~!
The Links' personal Weapons (other than their swords and shields, of course!)
-Red has an ice rod, a fire rod, and a slingshot!
-Green has a boomerang, and he's pretty good with it. At the moment, he also has his weird half-dragon-ness, including a tail, wings that he can use to fly, very strong legs, and a clawed right arm with the strength of a dragon.
-Blue has a hammer, of course, which suits his personality perfectly!
-Vio has a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and of course, his ever-present book.
-Shadow has his epic shadow abilities... Also has the Dark Mirror Shield and a dagger. And bombs!
Chapter 26: The General of Darkness
A week and a half passes in relative peace as Green, Vio, Shadow and Vaati rest and recover from their injuries in the safe haven of Zora's Domain. While there has still been no word of the missing Princess Ruto, there also haven't been any more sightings of the mysterious monster haunting Lake Hylia's waters either. This long stretch of peace has Vaati tense and worried about what Veran could be plotting, while Vio, the "smart one" of the Links, is a bit wary, knowing that it can't possibly last. Meanwhile, Shadow seems bored, while Green, as always, is a bit impatient to get going. Shadow teases him daily about this, saying that he's scared Ruto will show up. Green of course denies it.
Meanwhile, at Lake Hylia, Ruto's sprained ankle has finally healed enough for her to manage the strong water currents surrounding the island and she's currently preparing to leave. She's also getting along a teeny bit better with Blue. Having promised him to take the kitten he calls Red with her, she heads down to the lagoon to say farewell.
"(Ruto) Hey! Monster boy! Rise and shine, zora!"
Bubbles race up to the water's surface as Blue comes up into the shallows.
"(Blue) What do you want, tomboy Princess?"
"(Ruto) I just came to pick up the kitten and to tell you I'm leaving, zora. And how do you do that, anyway? You're so big, but you're in shallow water right now, zora."
"(Blue) How should I know? I'm no smartypants bookworm like Vio. All I know is that if I come out of the water, I can't breathe!"
"(Ruto) Hey, no need to snap at me this early in the morning, zora. Who's Vio?"
"(Blue) He's another "Link," like Red, Green and me. He wears purple clothes and he's always carrying some book around with him."
Ruto tilts her head to one side, thinking.
"(Ruto) So then there are four of you, zora? How strange! It must be confusing, to have four where there used to be one, zora."
The water ripples in an odd way and Ruto guesses that Blue is shrugging.
"(Blue) Not really. Anyway, there are five of us if you count that weirdo Shadow Link. Dunno what Vio sees in that guy, even if he was right about him not being evil."
Blue says these words with great distaste, hating to admit that Vio was right about something, as always.
"(Ruto) I'm not following you. You're making even less sense than usual, zora. Mind explaining?"
"(Blue) Yes, I do mind. Anyway, didn't you say you were leaving? *pointedly*"
Ruto sweat drops. The strange "monster boy" obviously isn't going to tell her anything else concerning this "Shadow Link" character.
"(Ruto) Yes I did, zora. Where's the kitten, then?"
"(Blue) Over there, by that bush."
She thanks him, picking up said kitten and turning back to face the water. She takes a deep breath, doing her best to be polite and properly "princess-y". Since this kind of thing makes her gag even in a normal situation, it's even more of a challenge when speaking to Blue, who she tends to argue with a lot.
"(Ruto) Look, uh... Annoying as you are, it doesn't feel right to just leave you like this, zora. I-"
"(Blue) Get to the point. You're terrible at acting like a princess."
She sticks her tongue out at him.
"(Ruto) And you're terrible at acting like a decent hero, zora. Anyway, as I was saying, I promise on my honor as both a Princess and a warrior to get word to the other "Links" about your condition, or at least to the Princess Zelda of Hyrule, zora."
"(Blue) Hmph. What makes you think I need your help? I can manage just fine on my own!"
"(Ruto) Sheesh, you're way too stubborn, zora. Is it really that hard to just say "thank you?""
"(Blue) ..."
About a minute passes in silence, then Ruto sighs impatiently and turns away from the water.
"(Ruto) You're so rude, zora. It's a wonder I'm even helping you."
"(Blue) I didn't ask you to help me in the first place! Girls are so STUPID, always having to stick their noses into everything... *grumble*"
"(Ruto) Well, see you later, zora."
She makes to leave the lagoon, but stops short when a bolt of crackling black energy strikes the ground right in front of her, creating a small crater.
"(Ruto) Ack!"
"(Blue) What the?"
A series of loud, clanging footsteps are heard, accompanied by the shifting and clinking of metal as a menacing figure makes his way through the bushes. He towers over Ruto by at least two feet, clad in golden armor and holding an immense ball and chain in his hands with ease.
"(man) Hmph, I missed. Let me remedy that."
"(Ruto) Wh-who the hell do you think you are, zora? Get away from me!"
Ruto bravely brandishes her spear at the man, standing protectively in front of the lagoon where Blue is and the red-furred kitten, who is currently hiding in her rucksack. The man laughs, leering at the Zora girl with a malicious fanged grin.
"(man) Hahaha! Bravery will get you nowhere, little girl. I am Onox, the mighty General of Darkness! Hand over the cursed Hero and I just might spare your life."
"(Ruto) What? I don't know what you're talking about, zora. All I know is that you just attacked me! Don't you know who I am? *using her Princess Voice*"
'How does he know?', she and Blue think simultaneously, neither one having any intention of backing down.
"(Onox) No, and I honestly don't care. It matters not who you are, only that you are in my way. I know the one I seek is here. Surrender or die!"
He swings his ball and chain, narrowly missing Ruto and knocking her off her feet. She falls with a yelp, her rucksack flying off her shoulder and spilling open on the ground between Ruto and the menacing General. The water thrashes wildly behind Ruto as Blue spots something on the man's armor.
"(Blue) Why you! That symbol on your chest, it's the same as the one on that witch's shoulder guards! You're with her, aren't you!"
Strangely enough, Onox hears him.
"(Onox) Hmm? Oh, what luck! Both of my targets are in one place, it seems."
Ruto gets up, determined not to be caught off guard this time. The kitten, somehow aware of the danger, scoots out of the rucksack and takes cover in the shallows, instinctively relying on Blue for protection.
"(Ruto) If you want them, you'll have to get through me first, zora!"
"(Blue) Stay away from Red or I'll rip you to pieces!"
"(Ruto) Blue, don't! You can't breathe above water!"
"(Blue) Ill be fine, I can hold my breath for a bit. Whooping this guy good is way more important right now, and by the Goddesses I'm going to give it to him!"
Small waves race across the surface of the lagoon as Blue shows himself for the first time, very much POed. He's a giant stingray of some kind, pure white in color with tattoo-like dark blue markings swirling all over his pale skin as he rears up out of the water. A large, smooth crystalline growth covers his stomach like a shell, noticeably out of place in regards to the rest of his appearance. Letting out a loud roar, Blue crashes back down with a huge splash, a lethal-looking stinger streaking forward to strike Onox. The General steps back with a cruel chuckle, the attack narrowly missing him.
"(Onox) Hahaha, you're both quite feisty! How amusing. However, you have no chance of winning against me. Play time's over, brats!"
"(Ruto) For you, maybe! Take this, zora!"
She rushes at Onox, undaunted even in the face of his immense size and strength, and unleashes a quick barrage of stabs and parries as he blocks and counters her assault with the chain of his weapon. Blue tries to use the man's distraction to attack again, but is easily blocked time and again even while Onox holds Ruto at bay, much to both children's frustration.
"(Onox) Grrr... I've had more than enough of this foolish resistance! I will not be defeated by the likes of you!"
He swings his ball and chain at Ruto, breaking her spear as she raises it to defend herself and knocking the Zora girl to the ground. She struggles to remain conscious, but knows she can't hold on for more than a few minutes at most.
"(Ruto) Unngh..."
"(Onox) Hmph. You should be grateful I didn't fight seriously from the start, little girl. If I had, you would be dead. Now, as for my task..."
He walks towards the water, heading straight for the kitten.
"(Blue) I SAID stay away from Red, you monster!"
Blue rears up out of the lagoon and shoots an intense stream of water at Onox, following up with an ice ball. The General simply spins his ball and chain to deflect the attacks as if they're nothing, then launches the business end of his weapon, a cruel spiked ball, straight into the stingray's sensitive stomach. The crystalline growth covering Blue's stomach cracks a little from the impact as Blue slumps back into the water, knocked out by the force of Onox's brutal strike.
"(Blue) Nngh!"
'Run... Red... Hu...rry...'
"(kitten) Hissss!"
The kitten, proving its identity beyond a doubt as Red with its current behavior, darts between Onox and the fallen "monster boy" and plants itself firmly between them in a protective stance, its fur sticking up in anger and agitation as it glares up at the General of Darkness from the ground. Small embers swirl into life around the kitten's split tail, growing to wreathe its small body in an aura of flames as it launches itself at Onox.
"(Onox) Hmph. Is that all you've got? Pathetic."
Onox grabs the kitten by the scruff of its neck, handling it somewhat roughly. His thick metal armor protecting him from the flames, the evil man is completely unaffected by Red's struggles as the kitten desperately tries to break free. Ruto watches helplessly as Onox shoots a beam of black energy at the unconscious Blue, who lets out a pained sound somewhere metween a roar and a scream, then walks away triumphantly with Red dangling helplessly from one gloved hand.
'I... I have to get back home and get word to Link... I have to... Unnnh...'
Even as she thinks this, Ruto's eyes slip closed and her consciousness fades to black...
A/N: Woot, dramatic cliffy. Next, Green & Co. finally head to Lake Hylia to investigate, but of course they're already too late. After all, as they said, it's never easy unless they're going the wrong way. And if everyone got together too quickly, this story would be over way too soon, wouldn't it? For those LoZ fans who don't know the Oracle of Seasons/Ages series, Veran is the antagonist of Ages while Onox is the antagonist of Seasons. As Blue guessed, they're working together in this fic. Anyway... Please review! I don't even care if it's flames or not any more, just please review! I even allow anonymous reviews, too! Pleeeeaaaase? *puppy dog eyes*