Cimar, Well of Wisdom
Hello and welcome all! I present to you another chapter! *insert confetti here*
Disclaimer: Guess what? Don't own a thing! My life sucks…
Buuuuurp!!!
"Gross!" Pit said indignantly, wincing a bit at the extremely rude belch, "Can't you be a bit more courteous in my presence?"
Psyche laughed, tossing the emptied soda can into a rather large pile not far away. "What's the matter? The big bad Smasher can't take a few burps?"
A flash of annoyance surfaced within Pit's voice as he spoke, failing to keep it form shaking with his mounting disgust for his guardian. "W-Well… I thought girls were supposed to be, you know, all prissy about manners and stuff…"
Psyche burped again as she used her sleeve to wipe her mouth. "I don't know about however many girls you've been with in the last century, but this girl doesn't give a Smash Coin for how good she looks. Times have changed. It's all about survival of the fittest now…"
"Survival of the fittest or not, you shouldn't be drinking all those sodas!" Pit told her, "They're killer for your immune system and-"
He was interrupted by another one of his guardian's laughs which quickly turned into another belch. "Seriously!?!? I haven't eaten a proper meal in days and you're concerned for how many of these… these…"
"Sodas," Pit said slowly, as if he were talking to a five year old, "S- O- D- A- S… The yucky sugary stuff that's bad for you… B- A-"
"I get it…" his guardian answered, rolling her eyes, "Thanks for the life lesson I'll never need…"
"W-Well…I don't!" the angel retorted, trying his best to regain the upper hand in the argument, "It's just that we have to remember that my life line's tied to yours, so…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" she huffed, rolling her eyes, "If I die you die. Thanks, Mom."
Pit summoned his voice to respond, but decided against it. There was no use in arguing with someone as ignorant as his guardian. He cringed in disgust as the sugary carbonated liquids ran down her chin like there was no tomorrow, creating a river of sticky fluids. It did not help that he too was able to feel the never ending moisture that came from the sodas running down her chin, past her collarbone, and right onto her rather flat br-
No, no, no! What was wrong with him?!? Luckily, his young guardian was all too cut up in her little soda party to hear his thoughts. He had almost allowed himself to think things… things that he never thought he would think at all in his life. He shuddered as he remembered what he had almost done, his breathing coming in deep, ragged pants. He had to concentrate on something else, anything else! Closing his eyes, he summoned forth his memories of the past few days.
They had made reasonable progress, trekking through the great forest that surrounded the strange building in the distance. But as time wore on, both Pit and Psyche soon thought that with every step they took, the building seemed to move farther and farther away. Indeed it had been an exhausting journey for the young former slave girl and when they finally found the abandoned building they were in now, she had immediately collapsed on the nearest table.
The building, Pit assumed, had once been a restaurant. With its many (upended) tables and silverware all over the floor, it was hard to doubt that this had once been a popular cuisine. Even with the five inch thick layer of dust that covered every surface, Pit could just barely discern intricate designs on the walls and carpet. If he squinted just enough, he could almost make out pictures such as a beach with soft white sand and an ocean with crystal clear waters. For the first time in a long time, Pit smiled as he took in the familiar view of the restaurant. He knew which one this was.
It was once called Calypso's Cove, a fine tropical cuisine. Though quite expensive, its Caribbean- style food and wonderful atmosphere was to die for. It used to be quite a normal thing to see Peach and Mario sharing a romantic candlelit dinner at the place, as well as Marth dining with his wife, Sheeda. Toon Link was particularly fond of this place as it reminded him of his travels at sea and it was not an uncommon thing for him to go up to a fellow Smasher and beg them to come with him until they agreed to get him out of their hair. Then again, most of the Smashers usually agreed right away, so his begging was quite unnecessary.
Pit was so immersed in his thoughts that he did not notice when his guardian stopped belching long enough to pick up the leather bound book she had carried with her all this way. He did not hear the delicate rippling of the pages as she flipped from one page to another, trying to decode the fancy script into words. It was only when the words written in the diary were read aloud by her did he stop reminiscing and take notice.
I, Master R. Hand, hereby shall record what possibly has been one of the greatest burdens I have had to carry in my long existence. Though I did not wish this to happen, I was forced to do this for the sake of my Smashers. Everything started many, many millennia ago…
**
The sun was a curse, a horrid reminder of the cool island she had been forced to leave behind. Its hot rays beat down on her, taunting her, cruelly reminding her of the shade she could not have. But still she paddled on with her little oar, knowing full well that the sooner she got to the mainland the better. The sunburn on her arm certainly did not help as an almost unbearable pain shot up her arm with every stroke she made in the water, dipping her paddle in and out. But still she held on, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out.
Though she did her best to hide her pain from the Smasher who lived within her mind, she was unsuccessful. Right at that moment, Yoshi was frantic with worry about his guardian, asking her almost every five minutes if he should take over for her. And every time, Mah would refuse, saying that it was best that she do the hard labour to build up her strength for the impending battle against Tabuu.
"Are you sure you're fine, Mah?" the little green dinosaur asked for the umpteenth time, "Because I can take over for you if you're tired…"
Mah shook her head, sending her maroon tipped curls flying. "Sorry Yoshi, but we both know that when you take over you drain a lot more energy. I think it's best that I should stay in control because then if real danger comes I'll have enough energy reserved for you to take over and fight."
"Alright…" Yoshi said uncertainly, "But if you need anything…"
"I know," Mah told him with a small smile, "You're here."
A period of silence passed between the two as Mah shielded her eyes from the sun's awful rays and gazed out to the horizon. In the distance she saw a strange shape, dark as night. It seemed to be moving closer and closer to her as she simply allowed the little raft to bob up and down on the ocean's gentle waves. The shape approached for a few seconds more before both guardian and Smasher heard a truly strange sound: the crackling of electricity.
Mah's eyes widened in terror as she saw the tiny flashes of white upon the approaching shape. At first, she thought that a storm cloud was approaching and braced herself for the onslaught of treacherous waves and howling winds. But what truly made up the dark shape was worse, much worse than a storm.
A stab of fear swept into her heart as the strange shape continued its approach, gaining definition and color. Before her very eyes the shape turned from black to pure white. Yoshi too felt fear grasp his heart in its ice cold grip as he saw the approach of a danger far more evil and powerful than a mere storm. He had no doubt that he would rather take a storm at sea over this swarm of dangers any day.
"Spaaks!" Yoshi cried, his eyes widening at the sight of the powerful cloud- like enemies he had fought with long ago, "Mah, look out!"
She didn't need to be told twice. As the first Spaak sent a whirling ball of electricity in her direction, she managed to dodge it just in time, the horrid electrical sphere just barely missing the top of her head. Another three balls followed it, two of which hit her.
A horrible electric shock coursed through Mah's veins, causing her to cry out in pain. Yoshi's heart raced ten times its usual pace as he felt the jolts of electricity hit his guardian.
Just as he was ready to take over, Mah began throwing her explosive eggs, taking down a couple Spaak at a time. Unfortunately, they seemed infinite in numbers as they simply revived themselves and came at her again. The Subspace Army had grown even more powerful than they already were in the past hundred years. It was as if nothing could stop them.
"Brace yourself!" Yoshi shouted as Mah launched a few more eggs at the oncoming clouds.
The Spaak came in an endless swarm, attacking the girl like there was no tomorrow. Though Mah was able to dodge most of their attacks, Yoshi could sense that her energy was slowly draining away to nothingness. Fear overtook reason as Mah was hit by at least ten jolts of electricity at once, sending blinding pain through her body and shaking the very foundations of her mind. There was no time to lose now. Yoshi closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, feeling himself slowly stretching out and taking over, just as his guardian collapsed down on her knees.
**
She hadn't wanted this to happen, never dreamed it would happen. War. The beautiful fields of her kingdom, once lush and green, painted a horrible crimson red. War. If she had her body she would do something, anything to stop it. War. So many lives were lost, so many families torn apart. All because of war.
The young woman's spirit, represented only as a small cloud of lilac colored smoke, trembled with fear and sorrow at the sight of her once glorious kingdom. What were once the four great fields of Hyrule were now nothing more than canvases, splattered with the red paint they called blood. The Zora River was a river no more. It was a waste filled crevice full of disgusting murky water and muck. As if the copious amounts of garbage that littered the field weren't enough, the bodies of the dead and dying were everywhere.
Princess Zelda Harkinan of Hyrule wanted nothing more than to shed tears over the loss of her people. She had felt this sad once. It was when she was forced to give up her throne and her power to save her people. When Zant had come from the Twilight Realm in all his power and grandeur, it was she who was forced to give up everything she had to prevent the slaughter of the entire kingdom.
How many years had passed since that invasion? She remembered that not long after Link was named her Personal Body Guard, both of them had been invited to attend the Melee Tournament. Link had already gone to the first tournament and it was no surprise that he was extremely excited that Zelda would be coming along as well. Indeed, the days of the Melee Tournament were what Zelda believed to be the greatest days of her life.
That summer, when both she and Link had come home from the tournament, her father began searching for suitable husbands for her. All summer, it seemed, her time was taken up by overcourteous and stuffy princes trying to woo her instead of fishing and having fun with Link like how it was when she was a little girl. She was never happier when the invitation came for her to join the Brawl Tournament, for leaving the stuffy princes behind never made her happier.
It was during the Brawl tournament that Tabuu began his first attack. Every Smasher in the ranks at the time had fought their hardest, but it was Pikachu, one of the most unlikely of them all, who scored the final blow on the menace from Subspace. After much grandeur and celebration, the Smashers returned to their own worlds for the summer where Zelda was forced to go through yet another couple hundred of failed wooings from stuffy princes. Of course, the invitation to the fourth tournament made her heart soar with joy and she happily left Hyrule once again with Link by her side.
But just as suddenly as the invitation came, her joy had stopped. Tabuu had returned and was attacking once again. A group of the veterans, compromised of Kirby, Link, Pikachu, and the great Super Mario himself, was sent to face off with the Lord of Subspace. They never returned.
Zelda had been frantic with worry when her hero did not return. And it was she who was the first to volunteer for the second group to go search for the first group. Marth, Ike, Samus, and Metaknight came along as well.
It had happened so fast. Zelda remembered that she was rushing through Tabuu's Primids, ignoring their many arm thrusts and dodging every one of their lasers. She only had eyes for the blue man in front of her as she quickly transformed into Sheik and readied her powerful throwing knives. After launching them at the Lord of Subspace, she followed up with a high jumped kick aiming at his face. She had seen Tabuu smile once with his nonexistent mouth before he raised his hand and directed a powerful white blast at her. She was engulfed in white light for one moment and trapped in a jar in the next. She didn't know what hit her.
Creak! The sound woke Zelda from her trance, causing her to jump slightly in fright. She was in a strange dark room, illuminated only by a single candle that cast its tiny golden glow on the wooden table on which it was placed. Her great blue eyes darted back and forth as she took in her surroundings, trying to figure out just where she was.
The walls were patched and made of what looked like dirt. The floor was packed dirt as well, the ceiling extending miles high and disappearing into the darkness above. There was furniture, but all of it was made of dark oak wood and absolutely covered in cobwebs and dust. It took a bit to figure it out, but it soon dawned on the Wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom where she was. She was in an underground base of some sort.
The creak was made by a dark figure seated at the head of a long table leaning forward in their seat. Two sea green eyes glittered out from beneath a hood of dark green, scrutinizing another figure dressed in the same way that kneeled on the floor in front of him. Zelda then noticed that the long table was set up like a judging table, with five "judges" on either side of the head one. All of them were dressed in cloaks of dark forest green with hooks to shield their faces. The eleven people seated at the high table also wore medallions forged into the shape of a single triangle. On this triangle was engraved the letter "W". The Triforce of Wisdom.
Zelda then turned her attention to the young man kneeling on the floor, who had his hood off in the presence of the eleven hooded ones. He was of average height and build, with some muscles rippling up and down his arms. A mop of brown hair topped his head and as he lifted his head to gaze up at the panel of judges before him, his blue eyes twinkled slightly in the dim candlelight.
He was dressed similarly to the eleven people before him, only his forest green cloak looked newer than theirs. He fidgeted slightly as he continued to be scrutinized by what Zelda took to be his superiors, and as he moved she caught the glitter of light chain mail concealed under his cloak. Unlike his elders, he did not wear the strange medallion around his neck.
The man seated in the very center of the table made a small movement, shuffling a few papers set before him. After searching through each document one by one, he drew out a single sheet of paper written in beautiful script. He glanced over it once before clearing his throat and addressing the young man who kneeled before him.
"So you are Cimar of Turalis," he said, his voice old and cracked.
Cimar raised his head and nodded, causing his light brown locks to swing. "Yes, sir."
"Son of Sir Uther of Hyrule and Lady Allora of Termina?" the rightmost elder asked, leaning forward as he did so.
"That is correct, sir," Cimar gulped, diverting his eyes.
Zelda sensed the rising tension in the room as Cimar was being questioned by the council. Though the elders were oblivious to his behaviour, Zelda could quite plainly see the nervous tension that ran through his veins. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead as a few of his superiors leaned in and began speaking to each other in hushed whispers. She saw the blood drain from his rather flushed cheeks as they considered throwing him out. The whispers soon rose into a rather heated argument over whether or not they should put the young man to death if he should decide to dispel their whereabouts. All the while Cimar grew paler and paler.
Finally, the argument stopped and one of them, the left most elder, rose and cleared his throat. "Cimar of Turalis. The great goddess Naryu has smiled upon you today. We hereby welcome you with open arms to the Disciples of Order."
At the sound of the good news a smile broke out on the young man's face, his blood returning to his cheeks. With slight stuttering he bowed to each elder in turn, thanking them for his admission. The middle elder presented him with a medallion that was much smaller than his and sent the young man on his way.
A strange force tugged on the Princess of Hyrule as she watched Cimar dash out of the room. Curiosity overcoming her, she followed him through a great many twists and turns until they came to a pair of great oak doors. She watched with slight interest as Cimar fumbled a bit with his medallion before pressing it to what looked like a scanner on the wall. The doors opened at his touch, revealing a large room.
Zelda couldn't believe her eyes. All around her were shelves upon shelves of books. Many of the shelves extended up into the ceiling thousands of miles above their heads, disappearing into the darkness that no candle can reach. There were large books, small books, old book, new books… everything that a lover of wisdom would need to keep themselves content for life. Her eyes widened as she passed over the titles of each of these rare volumes. Here was a book on magic spells, there was a volume dictating the life of Hyrule's first king.
Cimar walked over to the nearest shelf and ran a single gloved hand along the spines of each of the books, breathing in their musty scent. "Finally…"
With a swift flick of his wrist he snatched a book off the shelf and opened it, bringing it close to the light of the single candle to read. Zelda floated over and peeked over his shoulder to read the title. The book, she noticed, looked quite new, despite the many signs of use. Squinting slightly, she was just barely able to make out the title: A Hero's Creed.
Cimar handled each and every one of the delicate pages carefully as he turned them again and again, reading each and every line. Occasionally, he would give a start of surprise, his breath coming in excited little pants as his eyes darted back and forth on the page. But he would always calm down right afterwards and continue his reading. Looking over his shoulder, Zelda could just barely make out the words on the paper. "Link", "Zora", and "Midna" were among them. She smiled in spite of herself. It was a retelling of their adventures in the Twilight Realm.
"There must be a clue somewhere," Cimar murmured, running his fingers through his hair, "There just has to be…"
Heaving a heavy sigh he leaned back and unintentionally brushed the cloud of lilac smoke that hovered behind him with his arm. Before Zelda knew what hit her, she was hurtling along a darkened passageway, going at what seemed like hundreds of miles a second. Finally, she saw a great light in front of her, so bright that it would have blinded her had she not averted her gaze. There was a great flash of light.
His mind was a library. Everywhere there were rows upon rows of books, all of them holding the knowledge the young man possessed. Here and there his memories floated by in the form of picture albums. In the center of the library stood a writing desk with a book opened and ready. A quill pen hovered over the book and as Cimar read each and every word in A Hero's Creed, the quill pen would record what he read down in the large book. It was an interesting sight indeed and Zelda could not help but walk over to it and touch the quill pen. It stopped writing at once.
Cimar blinked in surprise as his train of thought was suddenly snapped. He did not understand what had happened just then, but whatever it was, it was unwelcome. He set down his book, taking care to keep it away from the flame and looked about, his blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was at that moment that Zelda knew it was now or never.
"Greetings," she said in her most regal voice, "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"
She was accustomed to the way she was raised. Of how the male was to always introduce himself first. She waited patiently as her new guardian gathered his bearings and found his voice.
Cimar's heart rate raced at the sound of this voice, but he was just barely able to keep his voice from shaking. "I believe that I will be more comfortable if you were to introduce yourself to me first, milady."
"Come now, Cimar!" Zelda said with a tinkling laugh, "You're wise! You should know who I am!"
She watched in amusement as Cimar's brows furrowed in concentration. A smile appeared on her lips as he finally came up with her name, realization dawning on his features. She knew his answer even before it reached his lips.
"Princess Zelda!" he gasped, sinking down to one knee out of habit, "Your Highness, please forgive my rudeness!"
Another bell- like laugh sounded in his mind as the princess gave another chuckle. "Rise, Cimar! There is no need for formalities here."
"V-Very well, Princess," he said awkwardly, standing up, "But there is much I must learn from you! Why did you disappear? What was it like being in the tournaments each year? Who-"
"There will be plenty of time for those things later," the princess told him gently, "But for now, I just wish to know exactly how long it has been since I've gone missing."
Cimar's face fell at her words. "It has been almost fifty years, milady…"
A lump appeared in Zelda's throat as her guardian said those words, tears pricking her eyes. "F-Fifty years…?"
Cimar nodded, his face an ashen grey. "Yes, milady. Your father died a few years ago and it was he who helped form the Disciples of Wisdom. He grew frantic looking for both you and Link when neither of you returned and to his dying day he never gave up. He dispatched a group of knights to go off in search of you while others fought in the war against the Usurper King Sorius."
Within his mind, Zelda collapsed to her ghostly knees, her chest heaving. "Fifty years… it's been fifty years in-"
She was interrupted by a wild crackling. The putrid scent of smoke filled the air as both guardian and Smasher directed their attention to the very back of the library. A wild fire had begun and it was quickly spreading, its flames licking every single book in its wake. In the split second that they had gawked at it in shock, the fire had spread from the very back of the room to about an eighth of the way in. Zelda was the first to recover her sense.
"Cimar, we have to get out!" she shouted, "We have to make it out of here alive if we need to help the others!"
She watched in horror as her guardian still stood there in a slight daze, ignoring the putrid fumes. "T-The books… all those books…"
"Cimar!" Zelda screamed, "We need to get out NOW!!!"
Her last bellow snapped the Disciple of Wisdom out of his trance. Taking care not to breathe in the acrid smoke, he ran over to the nearest shelf and began shoving book after book into a leather satchel he had managed to grab off the table. Despite the princess's protests, he began heaving as many old and rare volumes as he could into the little sack. Once the satchel was full, he swung it over one shoulder and covered his mouth with the collar of his cloak before heading toward the door.
Suddenly, he skidded to a stop. A strange being made entirely out of fire leaped from the flames, waving its flaming arms threateningly in the young man's direction. Another being soon joined the strange creature and then another. The three creatures of flame stood before the surprised young man, cackling at his start of surprise. They did a few movements which seemed like dance moves before rushing at him, their fiery feet licking the ground.
Zelda gawked at these creatures as Cimar dodged them, searching the vast library of wisdom in her own mind to figure out just what these were. Though the constant dodging of her guardian was distracting, she eventually found the sacred piece of information that could save both their lives.
"What are these things?" Cimar asked desperately, drawing out a long steel sword.
"They're Flare Dancers!" the princess answered, "They are made entirely of fire and will burn anything they touch!"
"Gee, what was your first hint?" Cimar asked indignantly as he swung to avoid a dancing flame, "the book burning or the fire?"
If the princess had been offended by his comment, she made no sign of it. "Their weakness is the core of their body. We must somehow separate the core from the flames and strike it while it's still weak."
"Strike the core, sounds easy enough," Cimar said distractedly, parrying a blow from one of the dancers' legs, "No problemo…"
It was then that he saw it, a shield made of obsidian. He made a dive for the precious item just as all three flare dancers gained up on him at once. With a hard swing he hurled the shield from his hand right through the body of the nearest dancer. He saw a strange black object fly through the air as he did so and he immediately charged at it and stabbed it with his sword. The black thing gave a small squeak of despair before exploding into ash.
The other two dancers saw this happening and gave a cry of dismay. Both rushed towards him at lightning speed.
Cimar was able to stab one of them in the core, but he was unable to stop the other from striking him right in the chest. A horrible burning sensation surged through him as the white hot hand of the Flare Dancer made contact with his chain mail, heating it up until it was red hot. His agonized scream was drowned out only by the high cackling of the two Flare Dancers.
"Cimar!" Zelda yelled, "Let me take over for you!"
When her guardian did not answer, she took it as a yes. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to slowly melt into the young man's body, ignoring the blinding flash of pain that came with it. When she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with two murderous Flare Dancers and inhaling horribly putrid smoke.
She inhaled a whole lungful of smoke as one of the Flare Dancers jabbed its arm towards her, flashing neon orange in midair. She rolled out of the way just in time, but was unable to prevent the hem of Cimar's cloak from being singed. Gritting her teeth, she directed a blast of Din's Fire towards her nearest foe. It had no effect, despite her best efforts.
She dodged again as they came at her, her mind racing. She couldn't harm either of them with her magic, but that meant unleashing the Sheikah within her. But it took a few minutes for her to transform into Sheik and even then, would there be enough time for her to get herself and Cimar's bag of books out of the library safely? She had no more time to think as the Flare Dancers began throwing flaming books at her.
After deflecting a few with Naryu's Love, she began her transformation process, slowly transforming from Princess of Hyrule to Last Sheikah Survivor. Her transformation was complete just as the Flare Dancers reached her again. Sheik was reborn.
Cimar's eyes flashed crimson as Zelda became Sheik and it was quite a spectacular indeed when he grabbed a few sharpened quill pens off the desk and hurled them at lightning speed towards his foes. Five of the quills stabbed one of the dancers in the chest, causing it to explode into a cloud of ash. The final dancer was dancing wildly now, throwing a great many flames at the lightning fast Sheikah only to have them dodged over and over again. Sheik used her cunning Sheikah skill to grab the nearest chain off a wall of books and send it swinging right through the dancer, forcing out its blackened core.
The core gave a small squeak of surprise as it was revealed, jumping high in the air. Before it had time to run away, Sheik had already grabbed Climar's sword and leaped at it with a powerful jump strike. With a final dying squeak, the core of the dancer exploded.
Sheik fell to her knees, panting heavily. It was at that moment that she chose to transform once again into Zelda and as the Princess of Hyrule stooped down to pick up Cimar's singled bag, her guardian began applauding her.
"Wonderful!" he said happily, "You are truly an extraordinary fighter, princess!"
Zelda smiled, her vision fading just a bit. "T-Thank you… I'm exhausted…"
Before she knew what happened, she was standing in his mind again. Cimar was stooping down and picking up the heavy knapsack, even though his arms and legs felt as if they were made of jello. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and it did not help that the fire was still raging. It was almost upon him now and he knew that if he did not leave soon, he would never leave again.
Using what was left of his strength and energy, Cimar heaved the knapsack onto his back and began walking out. He stopped once more to look forlornly at the destroyed pieces of literature. A single tear fell from his eye as he closed the great oak doors that led to the library. Forever.
**
"Rinku… hey man, you okay?"
The young knight slowly opened his eyes and winced as a sudden pain flashed through him. He was being dragged somewhere, his hands bound behind his back. Gone was the Mask of Truth and the Master Sword. Gone was the blue chain mail he so proudly wore into battle. He was dressed in blood red chain mail. The color of his father, the Usurper King.
"Lookie here," a voice said, "Little Prince Rinku's awake…"
Rinku glared up at his captor, a rather skinny man with a skimpy beard. He was pale as death and looked as sickly as can be. His coal black eyes glittered menacingly at his victim, his thin lips curved up into a smile. Link felt Rinku's blood boil at the sight of the man, his teeth clenched in anger.
"Izia, I should've known," Rinku whispered angrily, his voice shaking slightly.
Izia smiled, though it never reached his eyes. "Why my dear prince… your father has been worried sick! After all, those big bad Warriors of Courage kidnapped poor Prince Rinku and forced him to fight for them! Nasty people they are! But now little Princey is safe and-"
"Kidnap me, my arse," Rinku spat, "I joined them of my own free will!"
Link felt an intense dislike for the man who spoke to his guardian in this manner. His dislike only grew as the man gave a high, cruel laugh that reminded him so much of Ganondorf's.
"Poor Prince Rinku!" Izia said in mock concern, "The mean little warriors brainwashed him so now he thinks his daddy is a bad man! Don't worry, Princey! Daddy will make you all better… very soon…"
Before Rinku could retort, Link intervened, his eyes widened in surprise. He had just glanced up at the sky and saw something he knew would bring the Smashers one step closer to their freedom.
"Rinku, shut up and look up," he urged.
Despite his doubt, Rinku raised his eyes to the heavens. In the blink of an eye he saw a sudden flash of ocean blue streak across the sky, turning circles in midair. It was then that he knew what was happening. Another guardian had appeared.
**
He remembered happier times. There was the Golden Age of his kingdom, his loving parents, and his wedding. He remembered how he and his beloved younger sibling used to play around in the knight's training grounds, fooling around with silver weapons like they had no care in the world. He remembered those days and his heart ached a thousand times with the knowledge that those days were long gone.
He looked up and found himself gazing upon the horizon. A dark shape loomed ahead. A cave. Before he had time to draw breath, a great gust of wind picked him up and carried him over to the mouth of the cave, throwing him in. he raced through the impenetrable darkness for what seemed like hours until the cave spit him out.
Bright sunlight met him. Blinking a bit in the sudden light, the young Smasher could not help but smile as he saw the beauty of his homeland. From the greatest kingdoms to the smallest towns, he loved them all.
But then he saw the graves. As nothing more than a cloud of ocean blue smoke, he could do nothing more than gaze at the graves of his beloved and his sibling. Another lump formed in his throat at the sight of the names. Both graves were worn with age, almost to the point of crumbling away forever. Though he wished nothing more than to stay with those graves forevermore, a force tugged at him, telling him it was time to go. He sighed and turned back to the graves, unable to cry in his spirit form, but wanting very badly to cry.
"Goodbye…"
Flare Dancers are annoying. There, I said it.