DARKNESS UNVEILED
The crew, though groggy from the previous night's activities, rose early and begun making preparations for the return voyage to Castle Town. Meanwhile, Link made himself ready for his lone expedition up the face of Mother Isle. He had brought with to the island all the supplies needed for the journey: the Master sword, his bow and quiver, climbing gear, an inordinate amount of rope, his thickest leather boots, and a small amount of food. As he gathered up his things into his pack, he realized that Kin was nowhere to be found. Sighing, he approached the captain and requested that some of the crew row him to Mother Isle.
"I'll get two o' me boys to take ya' out," the captain replied, lounging on the beach while the crew loaded up the empty barrel of mead left over from the night before. "How long ya' imagine this venture ought take?"
Link looked up at the imposing cliff face and sighed. "A good few hours to climb and find what I'm looking for. The climb down will take even longer." Link thought for a moment. "Send the men to fetch me as the sun begins to set. If I'm not yet back, send them again at daybreak."
The captain nodded in acquiescence and whistled for two of the crew to row Link ashore. As they began to push the rowboat out into the surf, Link turned again to the captain. "Do you know where Kin's disappeared to?" He asked, worried she might try to follow him.
The captain chuckled. "I'd say she's like to be wherever she wishes. There's no keepin' track of a gal like that. Rather reminds me of my first wife." With a hearty laugh the captain clapped Link on the shoulder. "Should I see her I'll lock 'er in the brig 'til you're back aboard." Link almost smiled at the thought.
"Ready to go there sir," one of the men called out from the shore. With a nod to the captain, Link strode down the sand and leapt nimbly into the small craft as the two crewmembers, waist deep in the surf, held the boat steady. Casting off, the experienced seamen quickly fell into a steady rhythm while Link sat in the bow of the dinghy, his things propped up against a pile of cloth, musing over the events to come.
Within half an hour they were nearing the rocky beach of Mother Isle, and Link jumped out into the surf to help the crewmen haul the boat onto the shore. As the wooden craft scraped along the jagged stones, the sailors cringed.
"Captain's going to be madder than a drunk octorock when he sees the hull's been shredded," the taller man said. Telun, Link thought his name was.
"Aye, and we're going to be tarring the rigging as penance," the other replied, clearly unexcited at the prospect. Link kept his mouth shut as they settled the boat into place and trudged up the beach, but he felt a little regretful that the two men might be punished for helping him.
Link bid farewell to the unlucky duo and began searching for the path up the cliff he thought he had seen the night before. He couldn't move very quickly; large jagged rocks — pieces broken off from the cliff above — were scattered along the beach, and several times Link was forced to swim around an insurmountable outcropping that lay across his path. With all this, it was nearly midday before he found the entrance to the mountain path hidden behind a pile of dried brambles.
Waves of heat emitted by the sun-cooked mountain washed over Link as he begun to climb, causing sweat to pour from his body. He quietly thanked his own foresight as he took another swig from the water skin dangling around his neck.
It was slow going; not only did Link feel a need to slow his climb so as to conserve energy and water, the path was uneven and narrow — sometimes less than two feet across. One misstep could send him tumbling to a gruesome death on the rocky beach nearly fifty feet below. He cringed imagining it and helped himself to another mouthful of water.
With a sigh, Link found a seat in the shadow of the mountain and dug out the small amount of food he had packed away in his bag. The cliff face still stretched several hundred feet into the sky above him; he hadn't expected the climb to take this long. At this rate he would be lucky to make it back to the beach in time to rendezvous with the captain's men in the morning, and in this heat he might kill himself should he try to hurry. He briefly considered waiting until nightfall to continue his climb, but Link knew that at night the temperature dropped below freezing and trying to hike such a dangerous trail in the dark was no far stretch from suicide.
Link finished off the last few bites of food and hoisted his pack over his shoulder, shrugging off his discomfort like an old coat. There was still a long ways to go.
The rest of the day passed slowly. Link's hands were beginning to blister from grasping onto hot rock, the muscles in his legs felt like they might give out at any moment, and it seemed like no matter how far the sun crawled toward the horizon, there was no shade to be had. Link shuffled sideways across another narrow ledge and noticed Zephos floating far below him, seeming no larger than a marble. His stomach muscles tightened involuntarily as a few pebbles fell away beneath his boot, the following clatter as they fell echoing into the late afternoon air. Pushing aside his vertigo, he continued until the path again widened.
Breathing heavily, Link pushed onward, determined to climb as far as possible in the remaining hours before the sun began to set. Only a half hour later, the path around the mountain reached its end. It veered right, turning into the heart of the mountain itself. Link stared into the cave mouth warily.
The sun had climbed low, and its dying light stretched deep into the tunnel, dimly illuminating the charred remains of a torch hanging upon the smooth cave wall. Link dug out his flint and steel and, pulling the torch from its socket, set it alight. Shrugging his pack onto the ground, he belted on his sword, hoisted his bow and quiver over his back, and entered the cave.
The temperature dropped almost immediately. Dry, stale air, undisturbed for hundreds of years, was stirred up as Link walked. Small pebbles littered the uneven floor, and whenever his boot brushed up against one, it would skitter away noisily like a spider caught in the torchlight. Within minutes, the path began sloping downward into the depths of Mother Isle. As he walked, he could hear the eerie, uneven echoes of his own footsteps behind him, tempting him to turn and face some impossible tail. In the darkness, Link found it difficult to gauge the passage of time, but he thought the sun have nearly set by the time the passage leveled out again.
Suddenly the walls, as they flickered in the torchlight, disappeared as Link entered into a cavern—a cavern so large the torchlight could find neither walls nor ceiling. He had to stifle the unsettling feeling that the room went on forever. Strangely, Link thought he could make out a soft hum, like that of a hummingbird's wings.
Taken by impulse, Link put out his light. The darkness that greeted him was absolute, as was the silence that so contrasted with the hiss of the torch. For a moment, Link forgot to breathe.
Just as he was about to dig out his flint and steel, something strange in the darkness made him pause. Slowly, almost so slowly that Link had not noticed, a soft glow began to emanate from the far side of the vast cavern. A shallow pool of water — so still it looked like a mirror — was the source of the olive-green light.
Approaching the pool, Link was so struck by its beauty that he found himself at the water's edge in what seemed like no time at all. Instinctively, he spoke his name out into the stillness. "I am Link, the Hero of Time" — there was a sudden itching in his head, like a memory trying to resurface, and his tongue continued of its own accord — "and the Waker of Winds." Waker of Winds? Where the hell did that come from?
Immediately, the water began to glow with increased vigor. Link's words echoed off the walls, vibrating through the pool and rippling across the surface. Even after the sound of Link's voice died out, however, the ripples continued to appear, spreading outward slowly from the center of the pool. The glow intensified, pulsing out in waves of golden-green. The center of the pool bulged upward, forming into the shape of a young girl rising out of its depths. The mirrored sheen of the water clung to her as she hovered above the pool like a film of molten silver glistening in the golden light.
"Link." Her satin voice flowed out like water from a spring. It was a woman's voice, but when she laughed, it was the giggle of a child. "Link, you have traveled a long way in your search for answers, have you not? I fear though, that you may leave here with still more questions to ponder, and less answers put to rest than you might have wished."
Unsure of how to respond, Link bowed. "Princess Zelda sent me in hopes that you might be able to unveil the new evil that plagues Hyrule."
The fairy giggled, her bright laughter chiming out among the cavern. "I might, but what use would that knowledge be if you do not see how to act upon it?"
Link pondered her words for a moment, but soon gave up on their meaning. "What?"
"Malon is not yet lost to you, Link."
Time seemed to stop for a moment. Link's mind numbly tried to fumble through the fairy's words and his heart began preforming confused acrobatics in his chest. For some seconds, Link saw nothing of the world around him; his eyes were cast inward at a part of himself he thought to be long dead.
"The paths to both her and Hyrule's salvations are one and the same for you, Hero of Time." Her words barely broke through Link's shocked silence.
He was still reeling, not quite believing the fairy's impossible words.
"Ah," continued the fairy with another sunny giggle, "here is the first of our interruptions."
A sudden scrape of rock along the cavern floor, followed by a muffled thud behind Link made him jump and fumble for his sword. Still giggling, the fairy raised her arms, extending the light from the pool outward until it illuminated Kin, still cursing where she had tripped and fallen onto the cavern floor. Judging by the numerous scrapes along her hands and knees, the journey down from the surface had been full of such tumbles.
She looked up at Link with an apologetic look on her face, but that was quickly replaced by awe as she pushed herself to her feet and approached the fairy's pool. Apparently affected in the same way Link had been, she curtsied. "I am Kin."
"Well met Kin, daughter of the Rito and Bard of the Ryū," the fairy replied graciously. "I am Venus, Queen of the Fairies." As if prompted by her words, soft orbs of light began to float out of the mysterious pool at her feet. In the darkness of the cavern, Link found it difficult to look straight at these new arrivals, but several times he thought he could make out little wings fluttering above them.
Fairies, Link thought, watching them float about lazily. Tiny fairies. Even as he gazed upon them though, some part of his mind was still floundering in confusion. Malon's not dead? How is that possible? How did Kin get here? Next to him, Kin's eyes were open wide in wonder, and Link had to admit, the scene before them was beautiful. The fairies seemed so innocent — peaceful.
"Link," Venus again addressed him, "the answers all lie within the Sands of Time. You must follow that path unto its end."
The Sands of Time? Link struggled to keep up. "Wait! We must know: who is it that threatens Hyrule?" Kin, never having been privy to the details of Link's mission, looked almost as confused as he felt.
For the first time since her appearance, the fairy queen's smile disappeared. Turning away from Link and Kin, she looked up sadly and said, "He is already here."
Immediately, the cavern began to shake. A loud rumbling filled the air, and the fairy queen's pool sloshed around as the mountain lurched violently from side to side. Beside Link, Kin was thrown to the floor. Rocks, shaken loose by the mountain's antics, began to fall from the distant ceiling above.
The earthquake continued its crescendo, then climaxed. Suddenly, dim light from the dying sunset flooded the chamber, momentarily blinding Link and Kin as the side of the mountain crumbled away into the Great Sea. The spasms died off, and through the settling dust floated a creature like nothing Link had ever seen.
It was a man. Or...it looked like a man, though the purple tint to both his skin and his long, wild hair suggested otherwise. He stood rather too tall for a Hylian as well, and his eyes shone ruby red in the dying sunlight.
Link's sword flew to his hand in a blur, and he carefully sidestepped in front of Kin.
"Venus," the man began in a warm voice that seemed at odds with the malicious aura surrounding him. His dark cloak swirled about as he floated eerily above the rubble. "And the Hero of Time! What a pleasure it is to finally meet you in this age. I have been meaning to acquaint myself for some time now."
Link heard a small gasp from behind him.
After a moment — as if he were waiting for applause — the man continued. "I am Vaati" — he flared his cloak dramatically and bowed — "the Wind Mage."
Link momentarily felt a deep longing for some semblance of sanity in his life. "You are the one who has been causing the surge of evil in Hyrule." Link didn't bother phrasing it as a question. "Why?"
Vaati laughed warmly and spread his arms wide. "Why, to set the stage of course."
Link tightened his grip on the Master Sword. "Explain."
"I see we have dropped the pleasantries," Vaati noted with a theatrical grimace. "Very well, since you are so eager I shall tell you." He closed his eyes. "In an age long past, I obtained power beyond reckoning. I was nigh invincible — a god, you might say." Pausing, Vaati opened his eyes and affixed his cold stare upon Link. "It was one of your many predecessors who unscrupulously robbed me of my destiny. I was sealed away in the Four Sword — that hateful little device — for a millennia. Twice did I escape, and twice was the Hero of Time to stand in my way.
"My second defeat nearly cost me my life. Dispossessed of my power, I was thrown back into the land of the Picori — those self-righteous busybodies who created and upheld that infernal Four Sword.
"I spend many hundreds of years in hiding, mastering what little magic I could still harness." Vaati smiled warmly as it caressing a fond memory. "Then I systematically destroyed every last Picori, robbing the Four Sword of its power and inadvertently releasing Ganon from its prison."
A seething hiss escaped Link's lips. This man released Ganon?
"Ah," Vaati remarked. "I see my actions have caused you pain. Good." He smiled. "After destroying the Picori, I used my newfound magic to return to the land of men."
"Monster!" Kin cried out from behind Link.
"Perhaps," Vaati mused. "But that is the way of the world, is it not? For the strong to triumph over the weak." His red eyes bored into Link. "Are you not the same, young hero? Your victories too are gained through your great strength."
"I do not seek power," was Link's scornful reply.
"A poor choice." Vaati reached his right hand toward the fairy queen. "Did you know, young hero, that the fairies are simply manifestations of power that have trickled away from the Goddesses?"
Link's grip on his sword tightened even further. "Yes," he said.
"Impressive!" Vaati said with a laugh. "Did you also know that immense power can be tapped into and borrowed? Even the Hero of Time has been known to, in ages past, make use of fairy dust to heal wounds and replenish stamina."
Link was silent — cautious.
"Or," Vaati continued, "if you are strong enough, that power can be wrenched from them entirely."
Link tensed, expecting danger, but silent seconds passed without event.
Suddenly, Kin began to cry out, "No! You're killing them!"
Confused, Link hesitantly let his gaze fall from Vaati to the fairy pool. He gasped. One by one the small fairies floating around the pool were fading away, their brilliance growing dimmer and dimmer until it finally disappeared. Nothing was left behind; it was as if they were made of nothing but light. Within seconds, the pool stood empty except for Venus, and even her warm glow was beginning to fade.
Horrified, Link leapt forward, charging toward Vaati with a roar.
"Link, no." The fairy queen's calm voice made Link hesitate. "The Sands of Time" — her voice was growing faint as if she were speaking from further and further away — "you must unlock the Sands of Time." Her light was nearly gone, and her with it. "...the Sands of Time..." she called out softly one last time. Then she was gone, faded away into nothing.
Link stood in stunned silence. Behind him, quiet tears poured down Kin's cheeks.
A warm laugh bubbled out of Vaati's chest. "Ah!" he exclaimed, stretching his arms wide. "What power!" At his words, the mountain again began to tremble, quickly growing even more violent than before. Rocks fell once more from the ceiling, smashing into gravel around Link and Kin and pelting them with debris.
Vaati floated backward through the side of the collapsing mountain. "I fear that even without the Four Sword, I cannot risk your survival," Vaati called out over the noise. "I will give your final farewell to Princess Zelda, shall I?" With that, he disappeared.
Link roared unintelligibly out after him.
A sudden scream made him spin around. "Kin?" he yelled out. The rubble was everywhere; he couldn't see her. A stone collided with his shoulder, nearly knocking him to the ground, and he barely managed to dive away as a boulder the size of a car crashed into the dirt beside him. "Kin!"
"Swordsman!" The reply was faint.
"Kin! Augh!" he yelled out in pain as another stone struck his leg. He collapsed, disoriented by the constant shaking. Rock and dust were filling up the air around him. He could not see through the darkness. He could barely breath. Dirt, knocked loose from the quaking, pelted him as he lay there. They were being buried alive.
Everything blurred.
Suddenly, all was water. Link gasped, inhaling liquid as the icy seawater rushed over him. His lungs cried out in pain. He flailed violently.
Then: darkness.