Chapter 3: The Legend of Jusenkyo~

Ranma gave a cry, as he is blasted by hot steam, coming from the pool of Drowning Fire.

"What? What the? What HAPPENED to me? One minute I'm with Akane, the next minute I'm..."

He looked around, and realized he was in Jusenkyo. Inwardly, he sighed.

"You'd think I had a directional curse or something. Gonna have to find P-chan, and beat the crap out of him."

He was imagining all the different ways he could dole out blows to his rival ,Hibiki Ryoga, when a voice startled him momentarily mindless, and he stood, yes, even Saotome Ranma stood petrified, heart beating like he'd seen a kitten, or heard a ghost. It was the latter.

Son of Genma...His warrior child...she says.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" he shouts, and his voice is so loud, it makes the waters of Jusenkyo tremble with his fear that is turning to anger.

She laughs, her voice is like music. Suddenly, he actually does hear music...like a harp.

Is the great warrior boy and slayer of Phoenix afraid of a Drowning Girl?

And Ranma understands.

"You...are my other form..."

Come to my Spring, Ranma-san...

He follows her voice. She is not far from the pool of Drowning Fire. The pool of Drowning Ice is closer to her, and on her other side, parallel to her pool from the path, is the pool of Drowning Wolf, the second of the two Bleeding Eyes, as they are called in the legends of the Sheikah. Ranma knows nothing of this, of course. It all ended long ,long ago, before Jusenkyo even was, and long before the history of our world, though only a span of 1400 years lay between the boy and the girl he was about to come face to face with.

Spellbound-he wanders back to the place where he first was cursed. Looks down into the pool, surprised when it suddenly freezes over solid.

Suddenly, there she is as if she were his reflection. The red-headed girl form that he's come to call his own. The woman warrior that lead him to believe maybe females could perform martial arts, if only because he performed them himself whilst in her guise.

But suddenly, with a great effort, she stands up , a pillar of light, like a hologram ,on the face of the ice, and there suddenly is a frothing white fire about her feet, and she transforms, the same way that she did before Akane. And she is hollow, but clear as a diamond before him now.

Hair of white gold, eyes deeper than ocean blue, like living sapphire. Leaf-shaped, blade like ears. Dressed in the ninja armor of the Sheikah, purple trousers that come to her knees, a katana at her hip, breastplate made of steel, one that has the Truce-Gold emblazoned on the center, 3 triangles, standing on top of each other in a pyramid shape.

Ranma's jaw drops, and suddenly ,the crown of Din's fire circles her head, like a halo of twilight.

"You-you-you, don't look...nothing like...like me-like me when I'm you...errr..."

Zelda laughed, voice like music again, and he shut up and stared at her, and she smiled graciously on him.

"At last we meet, son of Genma."

"Why do you call me that?"

She laughs, " In my country, children were called by the names of their fathers until they had proved themselves in battle."

"HA! I KILLED THE PHOENIX GOD! WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED?!"

Zelda held up a hand, "Peace, son of Genma. That is exactly the reason why I believe you worthy for the task I am going to give you."

"Task? Pshh...assign me a job? You act like you're some kind of princess!"

"I am, indeed. I am Princess Zelda of the Hylilians. The female Peace Child. I was sacrificed to end one of the spirit wars before the creation of man, in this exact spot. That was the last and the greatest of the Wars, and after it, the Dark Sleep fell upon Eternity, till the High God spoke and remade the worlds. And so it was ,that He fashioned your kind, and gave spirits to be your protectors..."

Ranma stared, blinking stupidly at her, and she laughed again.

"All in due time, human child! Yes, I have a mission for you. A challenge, if you like. Or call it a favor, a peace offering. Some of things you've used my body for haven't been to my liking..."

Ranma shrugged, "Well,technically it was my body at the time."

"technically it has always been my body. If you don't help me, I will force-revert to my form with you trapped like before, and eat Akane's cooking. Great piles of it. You might never recover."

"Holy! Ok, ok, -I'm in! Who am I taking down?"

Zelda smiled, foxishly.

"Farore. The Goddess of Courage...once. The witch, the dragon hunter, that botched the sacrifice. Look to your left hand."

Ranma turned.

"What am I looking at ,princess?"

"That is the Spring of Drowning Wolf. Originally, it was the left of the Bleeding Eyes. The Bleeding Eyes were two pools of water, that the Three Hylilian Queens, that were great spirits and were thus called "goddesses" dug. The lesser king of the Hylilians, my father, who ended the Brother's War of Hylia, at the command of the Three Queens, took his children, twins, a boy by the name of Link, a girl, that's me, Zelda, to the two Goddesses Springs. There before the entire kingdom, his warriors, the Sheikah, guardians of Hylia, bearing witness, he sacrificed us, causing us to fall from great gallows into the two springs. Our hearts were pierced, so that when we fell and drowned, our blood would fill the two pools. And the pools would run over bloody tears, and from that day forward they were called the Bleeding Eyes, the cursed spring. If any of the people were to try and break the truce, they would be forced to drink of the Bleeding Eyes, and they would feel the death of Link and of Zelda, and so they would wander lost in the Void in the death agonies of others, and their suffering, being not their own, would never end...

Farore, who had called the Peace Counsel, and had determined that the sacrifice would be the only way to truly end the War...cheated and lied. She is a witch, and cannot be trusted-unworthy of her throne! She cast a wolf into the Eye before you, my brother's pool, and when he drowned, his soul was bonded with the wolf-creature, not so very different, but not exactly the same as the creature of that name in your world. His blood filled its teeth,and she made him her slave. When he is struck with cold water, wherever his spirit roams...he will become the Wolf, and must do her bidding...It was she who sent him after my father, King Ganon, to destroy him. For she has always wanted our family power..." she pointed then to the emblem on her breastplate.

"The Crown Gold of Hylia, a mystical gold that has the essence of creation woven into its metal. Because there were 3 pieces, it was often called the "Triforce". My father, Ganon, had the "Golden Omnipotence" also known as the "Triforce of Power.". I was given the "Crown of Love", also known as the "Triforce of Wisdom". My brother owns the last piece, the Crown of Sacrifice, also known as the "Triforce of Courage".

My brother's soul may be captive of the Witch-Queen, but his heart does not belong to her. Even though she sends him on foolish missions to hunt my father, (whom she cursed into the form of a wicked dragon creature, sometimes walking in the form of a pig), he works against her, when he can. He has found, by sheer grace, the Flute of Time, that the Spirit of Time had woven into creation, should the balance be too greatly disturbed for the current day to bear. Using this weapon, he has cursed himself to wandering throughout time, always hunted by her, always under the fear of her sword, that she calls, the Master's Sword. But he will not strike the Dragon, and rather, draws the curse into his blood , that is animated with a dark and a twisted version of his life, and roams the earth in a wraith form. This form is called "Shadow Link" not even you could beat him! But we may have to try and capture the Shadow, if we are going to find his creator, my brother, the "Curse Binder" the "Hero of Time"."

Ranma stared, trying to process all that he had just been told.

"So...we're going on a mission to...find a werewolf guy, a huge pig, and a witch? And which one of them do I get to kill?!"

Zelda sighed, "The Witch. We have to kill the Witch, haven't you been listening?"

Ranma smiled, "Got yourself a deal, princess! Now where do we go first."

"Into Hell."

"Alright...wait, WHAT?!"