Why is it being attacked by a goose has given me some serious inspiration? And I need to stop procrastinating again, Colin the evil goose or not.
Chapter 33
Once hidden and protected at a terrible cost
Defeat the Dark.
Nayru's law pulsed in the oni's being. It could not disobey her. Her word was all. All was her word. It dragged the oni back to consciousness.
It was lying on a small bank, downstream of Eldin's bridge. The twili and wolfos were lying nearby. The wolfos wasn't bleeding anymore, but she needed medical attention if she hoped to live. The twili was nearby, but she was different and the oni could smell the darkness on her. She looked the same as she had in its hazy memories. Small, no more than an imp.
But even though she was small and weak now, all it felt in her presence was safe.
It was enough to stop the oni leaping away to find the Dark. It was safe right now, and it needed to protect the wolfos.
All these instinctual, primitive thoughts rushed through the oni's brain, as it took stock of its surroundings.
The oni's mist rose up, standing before it like a mirror image. It was still connected to the wolfos. It couldn't leave her. So neither could the oni.
It could smell Hylia's kin at the top of the ravine. She radiated fear and sorrow. She could take care of them. She could protect the imp and the wolfos.
Slowly, carefully, the oni approached the wolfos. She didn't move and her mist pooled around her, formless without her will. Gently, gently the oni picked up the injured canine and placed her over its back. Her wounds left red stains on its fur.
This was his fault.
Link slipped away a little more.
The oni picked the imp up next, draping her beside the wolfos.
A memory flashed before his eyes. Darkness. Pain. Couldn't save her. Must get to Zelda. Rain makes it slippery. Enemies try to hurt her. Must get her to Zelda. Must save her. His fault. Not strong enough. Must get to Zelda. Faster. Need more time. Run. Don't die. Please. Save her.
The oni froze. What was that?
"Link's fine. He doesn't need to be an oni to save me." Those were the twili's words.
He didn't need one. Not then.
Not now?
"You murdered the one you loved the most. You are the monster here."
Link retreated ever further, hiding in the burning remains of his memories with Nubia. He didn't trust himself anymore. He'd rather be Heartless then a monster. The oni could stay.
The oni growled as the momentary power struggle ended. Shaking its head, the oni called its mist. It flashed green, whirling into a tight ball. Without a moment's hesitation, the wolf stepped through.
Zelda couldn't stop crying. They were dead. She didn't move, even long after her tears ran dry she sat curled up by Zoran sobbing hard.
"I'm so sorry love. Link's gone. They're all gone."
"Where did they go mummy?"
"To where nan ad grandpa are."
"When will they come back?"
"They won't love."
She hadn't understood it back then. But now, that crushing despair she'd lived with in the absence of her guardian returned.
Zoran nickered a warning to her as something formed behind her.
Zelda didn't care anymore. She knew she should. But she just wanted to cry, to mourn in peace.
"Zelda. Zelda you might want to take a look at this."
A whuff of wolf breath blew the hair out of her eyes. She looked up slowly, meeting the gaze of the oni. Its block-white eyes stared at her, devoid of any emotion.
But she could see Link in there too. In the way the oni flicked its ears and cocked its head to one side ever so slightly.
"Link…" She lifted up a hand to stroke his muzzle, but the oni recoiled.
"Link?"
The oni shook its head as if berating itself for getting so close to her. It reached around to take a hold of Silver and gently lay her on the floor. Then it did the same with Midna.
"Sweet Nayru." Zelda carefully touched the fur on Silver's cheek, eyes looking at her wounds.
The oni looked at her, its meaning clear. Help them.
"Zoran, run back to Kakariko and get Renado. A cart too."
The stallion obliged, galloping off across the field.
The oni turned to leave, tail twisting and untwisting.
"Don't go." Zelda called, standing up. "They need you. Nubia could come back at any moment."
The oni paused, before turning back to look at the princess.
"Protect. That's what you need to do."
What Callum had told her all those years ago resurfaced in her memory.
"Protect." She pointed at the two of them. "Stay."
She treated him like a dog, giving him simple commands.
The oni watched her for a moment, as if looking to see if she would back down. She didn't.
It stayed.
Zelda bandaged Silver's wounds as best she could. The wolfos whimpered a little but didn't wake. She'd lost a lot of blood by the look of it, her gums were pale and so were her eyelids. But her breathing was even, and she didn't cry out. By the time Zelda had finished, her dress was barely knee high. All their supplies had been in Epona's saddlebags.
Epona.
"Where's Epona?" Zelda asked, looking round to see the oni.
The oni didn't respond, the only movement was the constant twisting and untwisting of its tail.
"Epona. The mare that brought you to Midna." Zelda said a little louder.
If the oni understood her, it didn't let on. She would have to wait for Midna to wake up.
Next Zelda turned her attention to Midna. Nubia had somehow replicated Ganondorf's curse, shrunk Midna to the size of an imp. She looked strange without the fused shadow on her head.
Zelda lifted her hand, using the triforce of wisdom to locate the darkness.
Not a perfect replication after all. Ganondorf's curse had affected Midna's blood, effectively covering her whole body and thus preventing her from changing back until the source of the magic had been destroyed. But here, the darkness was more concentrated. It seemed to originate in her chest. In a similar way to how Zant's curse had affected Link. But that didn't make her curse any easier to reverse. Midna couldn't just take the master sword. It would reject her instantly and probably vaporise her for trying. Zelda couldn't remember the exact legend for what would happen if the blade rejected its wielder.
So, how to reverse Midna's curse without killing her. Light was lethal to twili's, Zant had showed them as much when he had cursed Link.
She needed to talk to the others about this.
There wasn't much more she could do for the both of them, so Zelda sat down between them.
Something moved off to her left, and Zelda fought every instinct not to turn and look.
A shadow loomed over her, and a breath of warm air ruffled her hair.
The oni sniffed both Silver and Midna, as if assessing her work. Then it just stood there, behind Zelda.
Slowly, Zelda turned around to meet the oni's eyes. It stared, expressionless. But the Link in his movements showed her he was curious, in the way his ears were trained on her and his head was tilted ever so slightly to the side.
Zelda didn't say anything this time, she just lifted up a hand. The oni looked at it, wary. Zelda could practically see her Link battling to make the oni accept her.
For a brief second, the oni's nose touched her hand then it was gone. Turning around he leapt so that he was a good few metres away. His mist formed up beside Silver. It couldn't leave her until she was strong enough.
Then the oni would just have to face Nubia alone. It turned to leave.
"Link." Midna's voice was quiet and rasping.
The oni froze. It remembered that voice. It came from the memories that were good, that didn't smoke with darkness.
Zelda watched as the oni stopped and one ear flicked back to the imp.
"Link, its ok. I'm ok." Her spirit was tired from being compressed into such a small body. "You don't have to be an oni for me. You can just be you. We got by, together, didn't we?"
The oni was having a power struggle again. It hurt Zelda a little, that Midna could make him stop but she couldn't.
She, and the rest of his memories as a grey were tainted. Whenever he thought of her, he thought of Nubia too and what happened. She pieced it together, fighting tears as she did so. It saddened her, that she might never get the little cub she used to play with back.
"Zelda!" She could hear Renado's voice calling.
The oni froze, looking at the hill and turned to leave again.
"Link." Midna was pleading with him, it tore the princess' heart to see her like this.
The oni turned once more, and Midna lifted her arms up. Like a small child who wanted to be picked up. For a moment, the oni hesitated, then padded up to the imp utterly dwarfing her and lowered its muzzle for her to grab on. Grasping the fur on his face in her tiny hands, Midna clambered up until she sat between his ears. The act left her breathless and she hunched her shoulders as she rested. The oni was restless to leave, but Midna convinced him to stay a second longer.
"I'll look after him Zelda." Midna said. "I don't think he can take his mist back until Silver's better. I'll protect him until then."
"Midna…" Zelda began, ready to convince her she wasn't strong enough to go around riding fierce deities.
"I couldn't help Ciara, I have to help him." She patted the oni's head. "When Silver's strong enough, send that falcon. We'll come."
As soon as Midna let him, the oni was off bounding across the field faster than any horse Zelda had ever seen.
Zoran crested the hill, him and Aaron pulling the cart together for extra speed. Renado jumped down before the cart had even stopped and knelt beside Silver.
"What happened?" he asked as he checked her vitals.
"Nubia, she caught up with the rescue party."
Renado had been on stand-by in Kakariko ready to help Link the moment they were clear or come and collect them if he was things went downhill. Well things hadn't just gone downhill, they'd down-right plummeted into a bottomless abyss.
"What about Link and Epona?"
"Epona, I don't know. And Link…" How could she tell him that he had turned into a heartless creature programmed to destroy the Dark?
"The hero's curse?" Renado prompted.
He was referring to the bloodlust greys were prone to if pushed too far.
"Worse. Midna is with him, to stop him doing something stupid."
Renado said nothing for a while, focusing on his patient.
"Help me lift her."
Between the two of them, they lifted Silver onto the cart. She whimpered at the movement.
"Shhh, it's alright." Zelda soothed as she climbed in beside her.
Link's mist curled around her, formless. The oni's last order was clear, protect her.
Midna hurt. She'd almost forgotten the pain of Ganon's curse. She'd never had time to dwell on it after she found Link. It had become a distant painful memory, a nightmare she'd long forgotten.
As they ran, Midna's mind wondered back to the happier times.
She had been so happy to see Epona again, she remembered her from when she was little. She used to accompany Ciara when there was a big event. Midna hadn't recognised her at first, she had grown so much. From a leggy filly the colour of burning amber to a mare standing taller and broader than most other horses. And then there was the curse, Midna wondered what Epona would look like had she been allowed to grow up still human.
She remembered little Link too, when he was a cub with too big paws and wide blue eyes. Her father told her that most creatures were born with blue eyes that slowly changed colour as they grew up. Midna had thought her guardian Ciara was the sacred beast of legend when she first met her.
To think it was her little brother this whole time.
And now…now she understood what the legend had meant by sacred beast. Not a hero, but a fierce deity devoid of emotion, leaving a trail of carnage in its wake.
She had to turn him back. She owed Ciara that much.
Ciara.
If only she'd looked harder for her. She should've fought her father, and gone after her. But no, she had been a coward. And now Ciara was gone. Well, Midna vowed she would bring Link back, a small recompense for her past sin.
And to do that, she needed Zant.
"Link."
The wolf was following a scent. She recognised it in his body language, from the days of tracking children and fish back when things were simple…well simpler.
"We need to go back to the Twilight Realm."
She said it matter-of-factly, like Ciara's mother had taught her, in case her guardian ever came under the curse of the hero.
The oni growled, he'd let her tag along but she wasn't ordering him about.
"You can't beat Nubia head-on. Surely you realise that. You need the master sword, and that is in the twilight realm."
It was a long shot.
The oni growled, shaking its head as the remnants of Link's spirit tried to convince it to listen.
"Now. Nubia could go after Silver and Zelda at any moment."
Hopefully he wouldn't make the distinction between Ganon and Nubia.
With a snarl, the oni obeyed. It was still within Nayru's law. Defeat the Dark. To do that it needed the master sword.
The oni changed direction, heading towards the lost woods.
"Good boy."
She patted his neck like she used to. He didn't yip happily in reply like he did before.
It was as if Nubia had heard them, for at that precise moment she launched a counter-attack.
A shriek split the air as something came hurtling towards the oni.
The oni dropped to the ground, and whatever it was rocketed past overhead. It hit the ground and turned around.
The creature was a huge black bird, like a crow only with a beak like a spear and tiny wings. How had it flown? The bird opened its beak and filled up with air, until it was the size of a pumpkin. Oh, like that.
The oni growled and leapt on the bird. It exploded in a cloud of dust like a burst balloon.
Another shriek came, then another and another.
It was raining torpedo birds. The oni growled and tried to snatch as many from the air as it could, but while every blow claimed lives, for every one it killed five more took its place. Midna screamed as the oni suddenly bucked, dropping her on the floor. Then it stood over her, snarling and taking the blows. As beaks tore gashes in his skin, they just as quickly healed back up.
The ground rumbled and through the barrage of birds, Midna saw something coming out from under the ground.
"LINK!"
The oni grabbed Midna by her hair and leapt out of the way as a large serpent burst from the ground.
The oni snarled, letting Midna down. She wisely hid in his shadow, things were going to get rough, and her scalp hurt from his man-handling.
The serpent was large, with a frill around its head that flared up like a crown. Its fangs dripped with poison and fire snorted from its nostrils. Its acid yellow eyes glittered with malice.
The birds pulled back, going round for a second attack. With attacks from above and below, they were in trouble. The oni snarled, eyes narrowed. To him, these little darklings were nothing.
With a single roar, birds dropped from the sky dazed. Magic charged up in its dual tail, hardening the fur until it was sharp and strong as an axe. The serpent attacked, lashing forward with fangs bared. The oni swept its tail, releasing an arc of magic. The serpent dropped to the ground, but not fast enough and a good hand's width of its tail was sliced off.
The oni roared, and a swipe of its claws threw aside the birds attempting to blind it. It ignored the others, the wounds would heal up and it couldn't feel the pain. It was heartless after all.
The serpent dove underground. The oni leapt down the hole in an attempt to follow, but flames shot up from the opening. The oni staggered back as the burns healed. But the window was enough from the birds to get in close, pecking its eyes in an attempt to keep the oni blind long enough for an attack.
Enough with the hiding.
Midna rose up out of the oni's shadow, a ball of roiling turquoise energy swirling above her bound in words of power. Her hair held the ball above her head, glowing orange with twili magic. With a cry, she threw the ball at the birds where it exploded in front of the oni's face. It didn't harm him much. Twili magic wasn't very effective on creatures from the world of light, only momentarily blinding him with the resulting blast of light.. Zant had cheated using Dark magic. The serpent however attacked in that precise moment.
Fangs buried themselves into the oni's leg, injecting poison into the oni's bloodstream.
The oni staggered, the veins in its skin, eyes and mouth turning acid yellow and popping out from the skin.
"LINK" Midna screamed.
Her blood boiled with anger and no doubt if she'd had the fused shadows she would've been on the serpent in a half a second. But today she would improvise.
Her hair grabbed the serpent by the throat, crushing it tight. The oni fell, the ground reverberating from the impact. Steam rose from its skin as the poison took hold.
The serpent thrashed in her death grip.
Pain blossomed on her back as a bird dive bombed her.
Midna's hold lessened as she fell a few feet in the air and cried out.
The serpent ripped itself free and leapt at her.
Silver was unconscious, she knew that much. Last thing she remembered was being on the bridge, Nubia attacked and…they had fallen.
But she wasn't dead.
Because if she was, then the afterlife was seriously overrated.
She was in a forest, a pine forest locked in the grip of winter. Snow fell all around her. Blocks of ice stood here and there, in which images of her life played out. The wind howled a melody she knew, one that spoke of the ice and snow.
Suddenly, the wind shifted and the falling snow swirled tighter and tighter in front of her. The snowflakes began to clump together in front of her eyes. Until the form of a lioness, the colour of the blue moon stepped forward.
"O-k." Silver muttered. "That's it, I'm dead. I'm dead and this some messed up afterlife that is nothing like Snezhana told me it was. I swear I'm going to haunt her. I can haunt people can't I?"
The lioness glared at her, bright blue eyes narrowed.
"You're not dead." She said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, goodie. So I've gone mad then?" Silver replied tartly.
"You're not mad either."
"So I'm dreaming? Or is this some messed-up post-traumatic stress disorder induced hallucination?"
"For the love of Hylia will you shut up." The lioness snapped. "This is what your mind looks like."
"Oh what, like FI's? There aren't any puppet doll men around are there?" Silver couldn't help looking around for any sign of Kuklin.
"No. I'm your ancestor. The first hero was my brother. You can call me Selene."
"Ok, so why are there dead people in my head?" Silver thought about it for a moment. "Wait, that lion dude had a sister? How the hell are you two related?"
"For one, my brother is not a lion dude. And of course we are related, do you really think I would make that up?"
"Fair point." Silver conceded.
"And as to why I'm 'in your head', it's because just as your Link is an incarnation of my brother so are you an incarnation of me."
"I'm not a lion." Silver told her.
"Neither is Link."
"Ok, so what do you want?"
"I came to warn you. The way Link is going now, he will be destroyed. The goddesses will have no choice but to lock him and the Dark-incarnate away for ever."
"Right…" Silver said, unsure whether or not she should be buying this.
"To get him back to the Link you knew, you need to get into his head. Use the mist to find his real spirit and bring it out. Help him fight whatever darkness is hiding inside him."
"So I just say: 'excuse me Mr fierce deity sir, could I just climb into your head and lock you away again?'. Yeah, he's really going to buy that." This was insane, she shouldn't even be believing this.
"He has to come to you to get his mist back. And when he does, you can be ready."
"Ok, but then what?"
"Even if you can get Link back, the path destiny follows means you will lose him all the same."
"So are you telling me that if we turn Link back, he'll die anyway?" Silver growled angrily. "How is that any better?"
"You know the story of the sun and the moon correct?"
"Yeah, the sun fought the darkness, while the moon evacuated the people. But the sun was mortally wounded, and that's why it sets each night. The moon survived and watches the people, providing enough light to keep back the dark until dawn and the sun is revived by the chorus of birds. What of it? It's an old fairytale. I mean, I found a more detailed version in Fi's mind and used it to revive Link but…what are you saying it works in real life too?"
"No, what you did in Fi's mind was not revive Link, because he never died in the first place, not really. His spirit was merely cleansed by the blade of the hero to make him a suitable wielder for the master sword. The song was a way of connecting him back to his body. No, that story refers to me and my brother."
"You mean, the guy in the flames was the first hero for real."
"Yes and no. It's a portion of his spirit. Link took on the Demon Lord to give me enough time to get the humans to the castle. If I hadn't of left him, he would probably have survived." Selene looked down for a moment, as if fighting tears, suddenly she looked up and shook her head. "When you get to Link's mind, my brother will explain. I'm just warning you, don't let Link leave your sight. If he goes after the Dark, he'll be killed. Don't make the same mistake I did."
"Wait, what do you mean? Hey!"
The lioness smiled at her, showing her canines. Before dissolving into snowflakes and being blown away on the wind.
"You have to wake up now. If you need help, seek out the gold wolf. He can explain."
The forest disappeared as the wind picked up, the snow blinding her. She was a wolfos, she shouldn't get blinded by snow. Yet the world was washed white.
Her eyes fluttered and the white light resolved itself into recognisable shapes. Zelda was asleep in a chair beside her. It was morning.
"Link. I have to get Link."
Yeah, writing this on holiday. I'll try get another one up sometime tomorrow or day after. I am also working on a backstory for Selene and the first hero. Which is taking a while, cause I'm prioritising this. But hopefully I'll finish it before school starts.
