Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda
A/N: Well, I'm not exactly thrilled with parts of this chapter, but overall I think it turned out okay
Paradise
Their hands clasped together, they turned to face the rising sun. Whatever challenge the new day brought them, they would overcome it. Together.
Chapter 6
She had decided what to do. Somehow, it seemed like it should have been obvious. Predictably, they came out to stop her.
"Midna!" Ilia called out. "Wait!"
Midna sighed, slightly irritated.
"For the last time, you can't stop me from going-"
"That's not it, Midna," Mayor Bo interrupted.
She looked up. They were all there.
"We're going with you."
She smirked at them. She tried to resist the urge to laugh, and failed.
"Now we're talking! Come on, no time to waste. Let's go!"
Midna turned and left with her family, to protect the only home they had.
Word had reached Kakariko that Ganondorf's forces had begun to move. It would be a few days before they reached the field that was to be the battleground. The Resistance was using what time they had to prepare. Kafei was running around performing any small task that was needed of him when he spotted Mido and his group. His curiosity getting the better of him, Kafei walked over.
He asked them why they had decided to fight. Mido studied him for a while, and began to tell a story.
He spoke of a stranger who had helped them in a time of need, and then vanished.
A stranger dressed in green…
Ganondorf smirked in his private tent as the rest of his men prepared to rest for the night. This would be so deliciously simple. They would march across the world, and claim it all under his name. Any who submitted would be spared. Those who resisted would die. With his full force of men now returned, his army was now close to two hundred men.
They had superior numbers, superior weapons, and superior training.
Nothing could stand in his way.
A crowd had gathered to listen to Mido's tale. When he had finished, they erupted into a loud mass of chatter. Could it be? Was it the same person? What were the odds?
Kafei remained silent, mostly because he was surprised.
"Geez, you're all acting like you've met this guy," Mido stated after a few minutes.
The crowd quieted, and Kafei spoke up.
"Not met, exactly. He was here, too. A few months ago."
Kafei began to retell the story of how the stranger had miraculously healed his daughter, and then disappeared. The Kokiri looked stunned. Quickly, stories began to spread throughout the village…
Two days before they arrived at their first destination, Ganondorf was made ware of a rumor moving amongst his men. They told of a strange man who could perform miracles. They said that wherever he walked, the grass and trees came back to life. They said that he could cure any illness, heal any wound.
The next morning, Ganondorf rounded up the small group of soldiers that had been responsible for spreading the stories and had them all shot.
Impa looked out at the field, if it could even be called that anymore. It was more like a graveyard now. Collapsed structures lay across the entire expanse, clearly the remains of a long forgotten city. She quickly glanced at the sky, where grey clouds had begun to form.
Tomorrow, Ganondorf would be here. Tomorrow they would fight. Impa hoped that her people were prepared for what was likely to be a terrible and bloody battle. No matter what happened, they would not submit to that madman. She had long ago given up trying to understand why he even wanted to rule over a dead planet.
Her eyes were drawn by something off in the distance. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat.
'No! Is he here already..?'
Her fears were quickly dispelled when she noticed that the group of people was too small to be Ganondorf's. They were also coming from the wrong direction.
Soon, she was approached by a teenaged girl with bright red hair. Impa noted that she had a very unique skin color.
"Hey you. Which way is Kakariko from here?"
Impa blinked, taken aback by the girl's less-than-respectful tone.
"Midna! That was rude! You should be more polite to people!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever old man."
"Old man? Why you-"
"Um," Impa started. "Pardon me for interrupting, but why exactly are you headed to Kakariko?"
The girl, Midna, gave her a strange look.
"What, haven't you heard? Anyone who wants to fight against Ganondorf is supposed to meet up at Kakariko Village."
"Why do you all want to fight? You don't exactly seem like the fighting type…"
"That idiot is spouting some crap about, what, taking over the world? It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Midna sighed, as if she were annoyed. She looked at Impa, her eyes fierce and determined. "Even if he's serious… I don't take orders from anyone."
The rest of her group laughed at that, even the old man. Impa smiled.
"I think you'll fit right in. Come with me, I'll show you the way."
Impa walked off, and the new group followed. Midna lingered for a few seconds, her gaze fixed upon the sky.
"Looks like it might rain for once…" she muttered, and then hurried after her family.
When the people of Kakariko awoke, the sky was dark with rain clouds. Ordinarily, rain would be a cause of celebration. But today, no one felt like celebrating. The people walked around, not speaking, looking upon their friends and families. They wondered if they would ever see each other again.
No one mentioned that their numbers were fewer than they had been the previous day.
Most of them were nervous, others strangely calm. When the time came, they marched out to meet their fate.
The first drops of rain began to fall as the Resistance soldiers set up at their individual locations. Their goal was simple: they would not let Ganondorf pass. His forces would come, and the Resistance would hold him there, down to the last man if need be. After an hour or two of unbearable stillness, a messenger approached.
"The gracious Lord Ganondorf has asked me to-"
He was cut off as Sheik fired a bullet directly into his face.
And so it began.
What had started out as a light drizzle had turned into heavy rainfall at some point in the last hour. Sheik wasn't exactly sure when, but he hoped that it would stop soon. Being shot at was bad enough when you weren't soaking wet. He glanced to his right yet again.
That red-haired girl had definitely surprised him. She had claimed that this was the first time she had ever handled a gun before, but…
She popped up out of her cover and quickly fired off three rounds, and scoring three head shots. She was safely behind cover again before any of the enemies noticed what had happened.
Sheik shook his head in disbelief. She had either been lying, or she was a natural. He supposed that it didn't matter.
Quickly checking his surroundings, Sheik hurried over to the two people that had stumbled upon him a while ago.
"How is he?" Sheik whispered to the green-haired girl.
Saria was crouched next to Mido, who was holding a ripped piece of cloth against his arm. Blood was clearly beginning to seep through.
"I'm fine," Mido growled stubbornly. "I can still fight, god damn it…"
Saria smiled a bit at her friend. However, it quickly faded.
She had killed people today, and seen some of her friends die. It wasn't something she would ever forget. She watched as Sheik calmly checked Mido's wound.
"Aren't you scared?" she finally managed to whisper.
Sheik shook his head.
"No. I figured it would turn out like this from the start." he said tonelessly.
He was tired, so tired. Death and pain everywhere. And the blood…
Sheik just felt numb. Physically as well as emotionally.
He found himself wishing for it all to end, so that he wouldn't have to feel this way anymore.
There was silence, save for the continued downpour of water.
The three of them looked up as Midna approached.
"Hey. It looks like they're heading back."
That explained the lack of gunfire… but what were they doing? Why retreat when they were so obviously winning?
Sheik frowned slightly in thought.
Mido sighed, and rested his head on the concrete slab that he was sitting next to.
"This is hopeless…" he voiced what they were all thinking.
"Sheik!" a familiar voice called.
They turned to see Impa and Kafei running towards them through the rain.
"I'm glad you're okay. Where's the rest of your group?"
Sheik gestured silently to the three people he was with. Impa's face fell.
"Damn it... I knew it would be bad but…"
"Knowing something is going to happen doesn't always help you to be prepared for when it does," Sheik muttered quietly.
"I don't think we should stay here," interjected Kafei. "I have a bad feeling…"
Everyone nodded in silent agreement.
They all stopped cold at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.
"I wouldn't move if I were you," it said.
The group looked up to realize that they had been surrounded.
'Shit,' thought Sheik. 'When did they…?'
The man who had spoken earlier smiled sinisterly.
"You're coming with us."
They were led to a clearing near the edge of the battlefield. A rather large piece of concrete jutted out of the ground at an angle. This had effectively turned it into an overhang, keeping a surprising amount of ground dry.
Sheik gritted his teeth in anger when he saw Ganondorf standing under the overhang, smirking arrogantly.
'It figures that he'd watch everyone else freeze while he stays warm and dry.'
The group was shoved forward, and they realized that there were many of their comrades gathered already. Ganondorf spoke.
"Well, it would appear that you are the last. Take a look around you. This is all that remains of your precious Resistance."
Midna grimaced, and her heart fell. There were barely even half of their original number here…
"I think," said Ganondorf, "That we can assume this little squabble has ended with a victory for me."
Face contorted in anger, Sheik quickly turned, punched one of his captors in the face, and grabbed his gun from the ground. He pointed it straight at Ganondorf and emptied the entire clip into his chest.
The others watched in shock as the bullets impacted, green blood oozing from the wounds. Ganondorf looked over at Sheik, pulled out a handgun, and fired a single bullet into his leg. Sheik yelped in pain and fell to the ground.
The wounds on Ganondorf's chest then began to close, healing at an unnatural rate.
"You'll never learn, will you, little assassin?"
Midna dropped on her knees next to Sheik, tore some fabric from one of her sleeves, and pressed it against his leg.
"Why did you do that?" she muttered.
"It made me feel better," was his pained reply.
She almost smirked.
"Let it not be said that I am without mercy," said Ganondorf. "I have no use for insubordination, but any who acknowledge my rule will be spared."
His eyes roamed the small crowd of survivors, before coming to rest on Impa. He smiled a sick, twisted smile.
"Impa, it's been far too long."
She merely glared at him. Ganondorf motioned for his men to bring her forward. She came to a stumbling halt before him, and looked hatefully up at his face.
"Come, there's no need for this anymore. Surely you want to live? All you must do," his voice lowered to a whisper.
"Is bow before your ruler."
Impa continued to look up at him defiantly. She answered in a loud, clear voice.
"You are no ruler of mine. And you never will be."
Ganondorf's arrogant smirk quickly changed to an angry glare.
"So be it."
Suddenly, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground. She gasped and clawed at his hands, desperately trying to free herself. He simply laughed.
Impa's vision began to fade, her lungs were burning, begging for air…
Time seemed to slow. She noticed that something had changed. The rain had lessened…
Something outside her peripheral vision caught her interest…
Still fighting to free herself, her face shifted, looking to the side…
Her eyes widened in shock. She ceased her struggle.
Noticing this, Ganondorf followed her gaze.
Midna felt the tears come to her eyes, as she pressed down harder on Sheik's leg wound, staunching the blood.
"You're late..." she whispered.
Kafei too, was staring.
Sheik looked on, and felt something stir within him. A long forgotten feeling…
It spread him, bringing warmth back to his numb heart. It awoke a desire to never again give in to despair, to always move forward…
The field was completely silent.
The rain finally stopped, and a stranger stood before them.
Ganondorf took in the sight of the stranger.
His clothes were faded and worn.
His shoes were caked with dirt.
He looked so very feeble.
But his eyes… What was it that burned within them? Ganondorf could not quite place it.
He sneered, and tossed Impa aside. She fell to the ground, gasping and taking in deep gulps of air.
"What do we have here?" Ganondorf asked. "Yet another fool who thinks himself a hero?"
He laughed a deep, evil laugh. He signaled his men, who had been dumbstruck by the stranger's appearance.
"Kill him."
Saria and Mido looked on, along with their friends.
"He came…" Saria said, as tears began to fall from her eyes.
"That idiot! What does he think he's doing?" exclaimed Mido.
Ganondorf's men were roused from their stupor, and began to take aim.
Mido screamed as loud as he could.
"RUN!"
The stranger looked out on the battlefield. There was blood. There were pools of muddy water.
There were bodies.
The stranger's hand rose to the thin, white object on his back. The wrapping material fell away.
He drew the object from his back.
It was a sword.
The hilt was a deep purple, and the grip was wrapped in the white material that had once covered it in it's entirety. The blade shone with an unnatural light. It was almost too clean, as if not a single speck of dust had ever dared to land upon it.
It was beautiful, and yet it held an aura of terrible power.
As the stranger brought the blade down, the clouds began to part. Rays of sunlight shone down upon the field.
Ganondorf's men aimed their weapons at him.
A split second before they fired, he moved.
He ran forward, a flash of green and white.
The men fired.
It wasn't that they missed. It was more like their bullets refused to hit this strange man.
He ran through them, unscathed, untouchable.
His blade cut through the bodies of his attackers with ease. They fell before him in droves, their blood spraying everywhere as he passed.
Ganondorf glared at the stranger, a burning fury in his eyes as his men began to turn and run.
"Do you know who I am, boy?" he yelled.
Ganondorf leveled his pistol at the stranger, firing several shots.
At the last second, the bullets curved away, not even grazing him.
Ganondorf didn't seem to notice that every single one of his soldiers had thrown down their weapons and fled from the field.
"You cannot kill me! I AM GANONDORF! I AM A GOD!"
The stranger appeared before the destroyer, the liar, the Bandit King.
He thrust his blade forward.
Ganondorf looked down as it pierced his body. He felt... Pain. He looked on in disbelief as red blood began to flow from his body.
'Red...?'
The blood of a mortal.
The stranger pulled the sword from Ganondorf's body, and the wound expelled more blood.
The blade was still clean.
Ganondorf found himself unable to understand what had happened. He, the King of Evil, wielder of unstoppable Power, defeated? By an insignificant little child?
Vision fading, he thought back, back to the force that had burned in the stranger's eyes when he had first appeared. Suddenly, Ganondorf remembered what it was.
'The ability to never give up, to never lose hope… Courage… Not mere bravery, but true Courage… It cannot be…'
He looked upon the stranger one final time.
Ganondorf fell to the ground, dead.
The free people of Hyrule stood in an awed silence.
The stranger looked sadly at the body of his fallen enemy.
He took his sword in both hands, and stabbed it into the ground.
It would stay in that spot forever.
The wind started to blow, and the stranger turned and left, leaving footprints in the sand.
This time, they were not erased.