Author's note: Thank you to all for being patient with me. I had Finals in school and then I had to reevaluate my plot and chapter length. This chapter is at least twice as long as any previous chapter. AND there is some action finally. Well, without further adieu, here it is Chapter IV. Enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters unless otherwise noted. All rights belong to Nintendo.
IV
A Treacherous Path
The light vanished immediately as the narrow cave beneath the Hylian Peaks swallowed all light. Their eyes would not adjust to the darkness and getting lost would take no effort.
Link produced his lantern and a map of the caverns, both of which he set on the rocky floor and studied. Ike and Meta Knight joined him as Kirby looked anxiously. Sheik observed from the edge of the light.
"So, how long is the tunnel?" Ike inquired impatiently.
"Long." Link replied distantly. His eyes followed a twisting line on map muttering to himself to himself. "Hours."
Ike scowled, "Hours? But the mountains aren't that wide, look." He pointed to the scale on the map. "According to this we should only take maybe two or three hours. If we move slowly."
Link shook his head. "No, it doesn't work like that. The tunnel twists and often doubles back. See?" He traced the squiggly line with his finger. "When they built the tunnel they had to dig out only the softest." Meta Knight moved closer to the map. "We're lucky to even have a tunnel at all."
"Can't we just go over the mountains?" Ike asked in desperation, he did not want to spend our underground.
"Did you look at the mountains?" The enclosed space made Link's voice sound louder than he meant. He made a vertical line with his arm. "Straight up. No path." He leveled his arm. "Fall to your death." Ike surrendered the argument. "The only other option is going by sea, and that could take a month or more."
"And the Mushroom Kingdom needs our help now." Meta Knight spoke for the first time today. "It will take seven hours, at best." Even Link's heart fell at this announcement: he had never actually been going to figure out how long it would be. He wanted not to discourage anyone. Now Meta Knight ruined it.
"That's the way it is," Meta Knight took no notice of their distress. "Sorry." No one spoke for several minutes until Link felt a light push on his back. Sheik was saying that Link was to lead them. He understood.
"We'll let's go." Link announced authoritatively. Everyone stood up and looked to him to lead them. Sheik took Epona by the reigns.
"Lead the way." Ike acknowledged Link as the leader. Link retrieved the lantern and map and led the diverse group into the blinding darkness.
They moved slowly in the darkness. The tunnel was narrow, about the width of two men. They stopped every three-quarters of an hour or so. When they did so, Link did a head count to make sure they were all there. No one ever wandered off, but Link had to be sure. He also wanted to make sure no one had snuck into the group. Bandits were known to do that.
The tunnel was built in one direction with no branching tunnels. The width fluctuated from that of one man, to that of least six. The darkness made it hard to tell. The tunnel twisted often and often made u-turns because the diggers were only able to excavate the softest rock. The rest areas however, were all the same. They had been built uniformly even into the hardest rock, for the builders and travelers alike.
Not that anyone used the tunnels.
Link led the group in silence. The darkness around them was oppressing, and, after the first two hours, no one attempted conversation for tear of losing their temper in this extremely claustrophobic environment. Not even Epona made a sound. The claustrophobia was further made worse by the fact that everyone huddled in the small radius of the dim lantern light.
All they wanted to do was reach the other end of the tunnel.
The hours dragged on, but without a timepiece, knowing the time was impossible. They could very well have been in there for days and not know it. But they pressed onward lying to themselves saying that the next curve would be the last one. Only Link knew just how far they had gone.
Finally Link and the group came around one more curve, and Link stopped dead. The rest stared at him confused, and then followed his gaze down the tunnel. Ike saw it first and Link lowered the lantern and they all saw it.
They saw the light at the end of this tunnel.
Ike and Kirby raced towards the light cheering the whole way. It was evening now, just after twilight. The sun had sunk below the horizon and the light was fast fading. The stars were beginning to show themselves. Link, Meta Knight, and Sheik and Epona joined the two at the mouth of the tunnel.
Then they saw the mountains and realized that they had been going uphill gradually in the tunnel. The thinning of the air went unnoticed due to the extremely gradual slope and the seven hours spent inside. From the mouth of the tunnel extended a path that skirted the edge of the mountains and went all the way to the ground.
A sudden weariness overcame all of them and Link announced, "We'll rest here until morning." Everyone was relieved. They all sat collapsed where they stood and Link sat the lantern in the center of them. Sheik untied the food from Epona's saddle and brought it to the group.
Ike and Kirby devoured what little ration they were allowed. Sheik slowly slipped tiny pieces beneath her scarf, while Meta Knight turned away and shifted his mask to eat. Link was unable to eat anything. Something troubled him and he was unable to talk to anyone about it.
Link stared into the lantern for a while dreading what to do tomorrow. He glanced over his shoulder at Ike who sat at the mouth of the tunnel. Finally he made up his mind and stood up to speak with Ike.
Link tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey." He said.
"Ike jumped then turned to face Link, "Hey."
Link exhaled heavily. "Look, about yesterday, I was really rude to you and, I shouldn't have been." Ike was now standing and facing Link. They were about the same height. "I'm sorry." Link finished. He waited as Ike studied him.
Ike smiled. "We all have bad days, eh?" he extended a hand and Link shook it.
"I suppose so."
Ike's eyes fell on the hilt of the Blade strapped to Link's back. "So, is that really…the Blade…of Evil's Bane? The one that killed the Dark Lord Ganondorf?" He whispered the last question as thought the very mention of Ganondorf was taboo.
"Yeah, yeah it is." Link unsheathed the Blade and brandished it in front of him.
"May I?" Ike gestured at the Blade. Link agreed and handed him the Blade. It was an honor for Ike to hold it. Link used to worry about it being stolen until he learned that he could make the Blade return to his hand if he so willed it.
"It's perfect." Ike weighed the Blade in hand and sliced the air a few times. "Not a scratch on it, perfectly balanced. No blood stains either." Link felt like showing off and made the Blade dematerialize out of Ike's hands and rematerialize into his hands. "Clever."
Link sheathed the Blade and looked out at the mountains. The light was almost completely gone. "It's getting dark, we should turn in." Ike nodded in agreement and they returned to the makeshift camp inside the tunnel.
No one inside was talking. Link was not surprised: Sheik would not talk in order to keep her identity secret, Kirby could not speak anyone's language, and Meta Knight just plain refused to talk.
More excitement in a graveyard, thought Link. Then he remembered the Kakariko graveyard and frowned. Well, most graveyards.
Ike bumped Link and nodded in the direction of Meta Knight. Link sighed understandingly and walked over to him. Meta knight did not acknowledge Link at all except for his eyes that immediately shifted and fixed on Link's face. Lin's muscles tensed as if anticipating conflict. It not helpful that Meta Knight's eyes showed no emotion. None.
What do you want?" Meta Knight half-asked, half-demanded in his cold emotionless voice. Not for one second did his eyes leave Link's.
"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday. I was rude to you and to Kirby and I shouldn't have been, and that is unacceptable. I apologize."
"Accepted." Meta Knight turned to translate for Kirby who promptly rushed over and violently shook Links hand. "He likes you." Kirby finished and returned to his earlier spot and fell asleep. Meta Knight's eyes turned away from Link back to the lantern indicating that the conversation was over. Link blinked a few times in bewilderment then left, unsure of exactly what just happened.
Ike had fallen asleep as well by now and Sheik was nodding off. "I'll take the watch tonight." Link declared unenthused since he would be unable to sleep anyway.
"No…no, I'll…I'll do the…the…" Ike tried to argue sleepily, but fell back to sleep. Link ignored him and took a seat by the mouth of the tunnel. His thoughts centered on the presence that had attacked him when they warped. It felt similar to Ganondorf's but that could not be. He had killed him a year-and-a-half ago. Zelda was there. He was dead, right?
His thoughts turned to Midna, as she was the only other likely candidate. But she would not do that, would she? Midna was his friend. Link continued to wrestle with this problem the whole night.
Sometime during the night Sheik awoke and moved to the other side of the mouth of the tunnel, across from Link. Sometime later he noticed her, but said nothing.
"How are you?" she inquired about his current mental state.
"Fine." Link's mind was still in deep though as he stared out at the mountains. Sheik got up and sat down next to Link. She sat on his left and laid her head on his shoulder, bringing Link back to his senses. He wrapped his left hand around her waist and held her. She soon fell asleep and Link watched her.
He would regret not talking to her now.
They set out the next morning down the narrow mountain path with a renewed enthusiasm. The sunlight, the fresh air (though thinner) all lifted their spirits. Link could tell that even Meta Knight was happier to be out from underground.
Ike was beginning to think that bringing Ragnell was a waste of time and energy, since he had to carry it in his hand the whole time, and he had not had a chance to use it yet. Meta Knight, too, was itching to give Galaxia some action. Even Link was ready for some action.
And it came none too soon.
A single rock rolled down the mountain in front of the group Link instinctively drew the Hero's Bow and scanned above him for a target, found it and released an arrow. A wolf-like creature tumbled down and landed between Link and Ike, dead.
"An ice wolf?" Ike half-hoped. Link shook and the creature vanished in a puff of black smoke.
"No, a Twilit Hound." Link scanned the cliffs for more. "We need to go." He told the group seeing none. "Now."
They raced across the path as fast as they could without falling off or losing Sheik and Epona. A low horn sounded somewhere and dark shapes appeared above them. "Twilit Birds!"
Meat Knight yelled something to Kirby then leaped off the ledge. His cap became wings and he raced up to meet the birds. Kirby followed closely on his Warpstar.
"Move, move, move!" More horns sounded. Arrows fell all around them. Sheik immediately began climbing (rather adeptly) up the cliff face to where the Bokoblins were stationed. At the top she unleashed a fury of needles she had prepared on the way up. Many fell. Those who survived brandished morning stars.
Sheik produced a fine, chain-link whip, which had been previously coiled around her wrist. As the Bokoblins charged her, she moved around them like a dancer whipping the chain every which way. With every whistle of the whip an arm or leg was severed and soon only dismembered corpses lay around her. She re-coiled the whip, readied another salvo of needles and headed back down the cliff to Link and Ike.
By this time, Meta Knight had felled several of the Twilit Birds and their Bokoblin riders. Kirby had copied a Bokoblin and was brandishing a morning star. Many a Bokoblin was knocked off of their mounts with a sickening thud. Soon the skies were clear and the two citizens of Dreamland descended to the rest of the group.
Link and Ike were fighting virtually back to back, with only Epona between them, as Bokoblins and Twilit Hounds came at them from both sides of the path. The only positive was that the enemy was forced to fight single-file, preventing them from overwhelming Link and Ike.
Several thundering footsteps came from the direction of Ike. All other enemies retreated in fear of this new threat. A six-foot tall armored foe lumbered up to Ike and, without warning, slashed downward with an enormous blade. Ike managed to stop the blow with Ragnell, but was unable to completely parry the blow.
As Ike struggle, Link let several arrows fly from the Hero's Bow, but to no avail. The arrows bounced off harmlessly. Sheik then appeared and unleashed her needles at the foe, all of which ricocheted off the armor endangering Link and Ike. Thankfully, the renegade needles did not hit them. Meat Knight and Kirby hovered above the rest, unable to do anything with out hurting Ike.
Sheik returned to Link's side and they watched in horror as Ike was reduced to his knees under the power of the armor-clad foe. Suddenly, a small figure leaped up from behind the foe and delivered a powerful whack with a mallet to its helmet, spinning the helmet around on its head. It was forced to back off of Ike to fix its vision. A second figure appeared and, along with the first, froze the armor-clad foe. Yes froze it. They then shattered it with simultaneous strike from their mallets.
Kirby and Meta Knight landed near Link and Sheik as they helped Ike to his feet. The two newcomers approached the five and everyone readied their weapons just in case. The tow were about four-feet tall and wore parkas, one blue and one pink. Each carried a rather large wooden mallet. They looked as though they should be off climbing icy mountains. They stopped in front of the group and…smiled.
"Hello!" The blue one exclaimed. "I'm Popo!"
"And I'm Nana!" the pink one said.
"Uh, hi. We are Link, Ike, Sheik, Meta Knight, and Kirby." Link was surprised by there friendliness after how easily they destroyed that enemy.
"Thank you for your help," Ike bowed to them, "I owe you my life."
"No problem!" they exclaimed simultaneously. "Where're you headed to?"
"Mycelia."
"Us too!" Popo informed them excitedly. Link and Ike looked at each other. "Can we go along with you? We're going to visit a friend."
Ike looked to Link who nodded. "Sure you can come along with us."
"Hooray!" The two jumped up and down. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Popo and Nana started off down the path.
And just like that, they had picked up two new companions.
