Thanks for reviewing, they were awesome. I have nothing else to say…
Chapter 9
Ghosts and Goriya
"Wake up!"
…
"Wake up dammit!"
…
"Wake up before I knock your Nayru-damned head off!"
The darkness retreated, revealing a blurry dark world.
"Why is it I always get the useless one?"
There was someone there…hovering…glaring…
"I mean, come on Lana, you're supposed to be a zora!"
Lana's eyes flickered and with a jolt she sat up. The room was dark, her spear and knives were gone. In front of her stood a zora. But she wasn't like any zora she knew. Her skin was the colour of the lake, a beautiful turquoise that shimmered. Her scals were so fine, the reflected the light of the torches like water does sunlight. Her eyes were a deep fathomless blue, and the light rippled them forming swirling patterns. Her head was more wedged shape, with purple pearls growing on each side. Delicate sapphire earrings hung from the coral like fins on either side of her head. Delicate shimmering fins grew from her arms, giving her the appearance of a marine angel. From her neck hung the zora sapphire.
"The hell?" Lana said.
"Oh and hello to you to? I pray not all the zoras are like you!"
Lana suddenly noticed the jagged shape of the zora. A fin floated up, revealing "Oh Nayru-" Lana muttered. A jagged rib had torn through the skin. Dried blood crusted the wound. Her entire torso had been crushed.
"What are you- Oh…yeah. Did I mention I was ghost?"
Lana went pale.
"Oh no…oh no oh no oh no…"
"What, I'm only a ghost!"
"First the queen turns into a ghost! Then Silver's an evil talking wolfos! Then Link's a bloody werewolf! And now I'm being haunted by a ghost!"
The zora watched Lana have her mental breakdown.
"The world's gone mad! What did I do to deserve this? What is life?!"
"Uhh….excuse me!" the ghost ventured.
"WOE IS ME!" Lana wailed.
"excuse…."
"WHAT IS MY LIFE?!"
The ghost narrowed her eyes…her eyelid twitched angrily.
"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?!"
Lana stared.
"Thank you! I mean seriously, if you'd been through trauma then yeah, I'd understand the whole mental breakdown thing but you've been in one fight. If anyone should be having the breakdown it's me, I'm the one whose dead!"
Lana stared.
"Now, I'm a ghost, I'm a several thousand year old zora, I'm a princess and I'm here to explain some things to you."
Lana stared.
"Will you stop doing that? It's slightly terrifying."
Lana stared.
The ghost sighed.
"Ok, let's do this slowly. My name is Ruto, princess of the zora people. Why don't you tell me you're name?"
"…Lana…" she squeaked.
"I knew that, but good, it's ok. We're off to a good start. Now, can I sit down?"
Lana nodded meekly.
"Good."
Ruto crossed her legs and floated down so that she was level with Lana.
"Ok, now care to fill me in on the past couple of years."
"You're a ghost."
"Yes I am."
"A walking, talking, breathing ghost."
"Yes, minus the breathing part. My lungs are a little less than mincemeat at moment."
"How did you die?"
"Good job I'm not easily offended eh?"
"How did you die?"
"You already asked me that. My spirit projection was destroyed by Ganondorf when he was first banished thousands of years ago. That revealed my existence to the darkness. So it came knocking. I was an old woman by this point, it didn't take much."
"Did it hurt?"
"What dying?"
Lana nodded.
"I was crushed to death, how do you think it felt?"
"Oh…" Lana said, looking down like a scolded child.
There was an awkward silence.
"Ruto…"
The ghost cocked her head to one side.
"What's going on?"
"That's a very big question. You're talking to a thousand year old ghost in a dungeon, waiting to be rescued by a certain hero and his wolfos. There's an evil psychopath trying to conquer the world. The list goes on."
"No I mean. What's going on? Why are you here? Why is our saviour our monster?"
"If I had some form of mass, I would slap you. What's going on, is Link and Silver are trying very very hard to find the sages' heirs to restore the balance so they have some hope at combatting this evil. But, to stop you're precious monarchy from falling to pieces, he's saving your behinds from the Goriya invasion. You betrayed them and things went horribly wrong. If you'd just done as you were told everything would be fine." Lana opened her mouth to speak, but Ruto was on a roll. "Then there's Silver. A half wolf, half wolfos who has helped Link destroy countless evils despite being viewed as technically half monster. She wasn't asked, she wasn't forced, no-one close to her was taken hostage. No, she did it of her own violation, on her own terms. Because she genuinely wanted to help. Finally, there's Link. Our little hero in green. He's the seventh incarnation of a boy who has been protecting Hyrule long before it was even named so. When evil first walked the land. He has given his life countless times to protect those he loves. And, why has it, that a single boy, a child has been able to defeat this evil? Because Lana, he is not altogether hylian. To be able to do what he has to do, he must be greater than that. And so he is more than hylian. He has all the determination, skill and courage of a hylian. And all the cunning, agility and strength of a wolf. He is a grey, Lana. A race of people who dance between the light and shadow. They maintain the balance between worlds, both in the animal and human, light and shadow. That is their purpose. Why can Link turn into a wolf? That's because he doesn't, just as he doesn't turn into a hylian. He is a both, a reflection in the blade of a sword. The same, yet different. Luckily for you, he is also very forgiving."
Lana stared.
"You're doing it again."
"He's a grey…" Lana muttered.
"I did just say that."
"But they're myths."
"Says the girl who's talking to a ghost. Honestly Lana, are you always this thick is it just trauma?"
"I need a cup of tea…" Lana whimpered.
"Well, you'll have to wait until Link gets here. Try not to die between then and now."
"You forgot her." The zora queen said, her voice even.
I hate it when they don't shout. Silver's voice came in Link's head.
"You actually forgot her." Her voice was like the eye of a storm, holding back a torrent of anger.
The two wolves were sat in front of the ghost on one of the islands hidden from the Goriya's view. The zora queen was floating in front of them with a face of stone. It was terrifying.
I think I preferred the Goriya.
Link agreed.
"You had better go and get her right this instant."
Both wolves whined.
"Say that a little louder, I didn't quite hear you."
"Yes miss."
"Good, off you go." She said.
The two canines got to their paws and slunk away.
"Oh, and before you go." The froze mid-step. "There's some heart flowers behind that outcrop. Make sure you're injuries are healed."
They grinned and slunk off. As they did, the dead queen rolled her eyes.
"Children these days."
Link and Silver crouched behind the ruins of a fence. The fires had been quenched and the rubble cleared as best as possible. But the craggy bones of splintered wood gave for treacherous footing. The ashen debris could give underfoot or, and a sharp stake could easily spear an unknowing paw.
Link reached out with his senses, he heard nothing but the groan of wood, smelt nothing but the stale scent of Goriya and ashes…no threats.
"She'll be in the central complex where the fires didn't reach, right?"
Link nodded.
"I swear, we need a new hobby. Like stamp collecting."
He raised one furry eyebrow.
"Yeah, it does make for a strange picture doesn't it."
Jumping up onto the remains of the wall, the two wolves ran low and fast towards the centre.
They paused behind the smouldering remains of a watchtower close to the centre. Goriya patrolled around the squat complex. Their paths intersected on several occasions, and the stationary guards had a wide field of view. The compound itself reared above the ashen debris like an island surrounded by the black waves of a dark ocean. The campfires within, gave it the impression of a volcano.
"How do we get in?" Silver asked.
Link scanned the area, looking for a break in their vision. The only place where the might not be seen would be from the west edge. The fires had battered against the walls there, so the Goriya were forced to patrol on foot around it. The wood too weak to support their weight. They might be able to burrow under. The walls themselves hid the Goriya patrols from the sight of the other guards.
The mist curled, returning Link to his hylian form. He withdrew his bow and took aim. Silver followed his line of sight to the western edge.
"Clever."
With a whine the arrow cut through the air and buried itself under a guard's chin. It sank without even a gurgle. Two more arrows sent its comrades the same way.
Silver looked through the debris at their path will Link became a wolf once more.
"Ready?"
The wolf dipped his head.
"I swear, when this is all over, I never want to set eyes on a Goriya again."
The wolf nodded. Then, with that they crept from their vantage point and towards the west wall.
Silver scrabbled at the dusty earth, and squeezed under the fence. While Link struggled with his larger frame, Silver explored their immediate vicinity. She could smell Lana's fear, coming from the right. With a groan, the wood relented its grip on Link and he shot forward. The wolf sat up and shook his head to dispel the lights dancing in his eyes.
"That's what you get for eating too many pies."
Link whined.
"Well, it's not my fault I can keep my figure better than you."
He growled at her. She flicked her tail in his face and set off down the corridor.
The complex was arranged in a simple layout. Four squares inside each other with a room in the centre and small room branching off. By Link's calculations, the dungeons would be on the south side where the cliffs were as that would mean escaped prisoners would have nowhere to run. The south cliff base, for the majority of the day was exposed. Jagged tooth-like rocks lined the base of the cliff. But, at precisely noon each day, the natural tidal forces of the lake caused by the lake's source beyond the zora's domain, meant that the water level rose high enough to allow for a safe dive. But only for a very small time window of about 20min. That was less than an hour from now. It was their only escape route. Din this had better work.
Link grabbed Silver's scruff and dragged behind a stack of crates as a Goriya rounded the corner. It stopped and looked around for one heart-stopping moment. Its musty scent weighed heavily on the hidden canines. All it had to do was look down and they'd be caught. Then the moment was over and it walked on, unaware of the intruders literally right under its nose.
"Heh…my bad." Silver muttered.
The wolf rolled his eyes and walked on.
Link led them to a locked door in the third square from the outside of the building. The door was made of thin planks of wood. A simple yet textbook mistake. The wolves began scrabbling at the bottom edge of the door. It gave beneath their claws and they managed to tear off a sizeable piece. Silver padded through.
"Uh…Link…"
The wolf looked back from his search of the corridor.
"You're not going to like this."
He abandoned the search and followed Silver into the cell. The wolf's tail dropped.
"Hello sweetheart." A zora ghost said.
Oh hell.
Sorry I didn't upload this over the weekend. These mock results and tshirts are driving round the bend. I'll try upload again over the weekend. Note the world try. Anyways, enjoy. ^-^
