Born a Weapon

A Twilight Princess Fan story

Chapter 30

Castle Town

Link was slightly jealous of Midna's ability to fly after having to climb down the wall, but it didn't tire him. He didn't pay it any mind, but to any viewer such as Midna, he climbed with remarkable speed and always seemed to find a handhold where there didn't seem to be any. When he finally reached the bottom, it didn't take long for him to notice fewer people in the area than there should have been, and the few people he saw looked dreary. Either they were dead, injured, or somewhere else.

After walking down the path for a while, Link found a massive crowd gathered in the central square. He could easily move through the crowd since they were ghosts to make it to the center to see some soldiers with a stack of barrels. There seemed to be some paperwork that each citizen had to go through before heading to a soldier who gave them…

Water.

"Oh no…" the hero said under his breath.

"Why is everyone getting water here?" Midna asked, floating above the crowd. "I know you said pumping isn't everywhere in this world but is this really how you light dwellers get your water? And shouldn't such a big place have plumbing if Kakariko does?"

"No, Midna. This is not how we get our water. They're rationing it. There must be a problem with the water supply." Link saw the look of shock on Midna's face as she realized what that meant, but he quickly turned when he saw an approaching soldier with a mop of brown hair and blue eyes.

"Captain," He said to a man with blond hair and brown eyes. "Sir, we need to do something-"

"Not here," The captain grabbed the man's shoulder, and they walked through the crowd.

"I recognize those voices," Link said as he followed them, "they're the soldiers we found in the sewers." Link followed the soldiers as they moved far from the square before turning a corner and descending some stairs to finally reach an area with no people. A sign next to the door in the building they stood by read Telma's Bar.

"Sir, we need to get the water flowing! Let me take some men and free the Zora!"

"Lieutenant, you know we can't do that. Going outside is suicide! Anytime I send anyone beyond those walls, they're lucky to return!"

"Sir, if we don't do something, we'll die anyway. You know what I can do. Let me do this!"

"You might be the best fighter I know, but you're just one man. You can't make enough of an impact to win that battle." The captain ran his hand down his face. "If I let you do this, you're just going to get yourself and your troops killed. We've lost too many people. If we lose any more, we might not be able to hold out. Besides, I have orders."

"Bryon," the lieutenant said. If he was dropping the formal titles, he must know his captain personally. "With the Major stuck in the hospital, you are the highest-ranking one left. You can go against that order."

"Dammit, Sean, I know! But I have a whole damn capital to look after! And I'm trying my best to keep them alive!" Byron snapped before taking a deep breath. "I know our water is dangerously low ever since those masked ninja bastards ruined most of it." Masked? Link's mind returned to the day in Kakiriko when he was attacked. His assassins wore masks. Could they be the same people? "Besides, I haven't just been sitting on my hands. I have people trying to find a way to get more water." The two men turned their heads towards the door as they heard footsteps approaching. "Don't try anything without my permission. That's an order." Byron quickly said. The door creaked open, and a familiar face from Ordon appeared in the doorway.

"Is everything all right? I heard shouting," Ilia asked. Link sighed in relief. He had finally found all the missing people from Ordon. He feared not all of them would have made it, but he was thankfully wrong.

"Fine," Bryon said, "Just a small disagreement."

"How's the kid doing?" Sean asked. Kid?

"He's still unconscious," Ilia responded sadly, "would you like to come inside?" Link slipped inside when Ilia opened the door for them and examined the inside. Despite having many tables, the bar was devoid of life aside from one group. A tall woman stood next to a smaller one with a sword sheathed at her hip, an older man, and a young man with glasses. Link idly noticed Ilia and the shorter woman with the sword were the only ones without pointed ears like Link. The man with glasses looked at a small humanoid fish lying on boxes while the rest watched him.

"What is that?" Midna asked, looking at the creature.

"That's a Zora. He must have come from Zora's Domain. The soldiers were talking about it, remember?"

"I am no expert on Zora," said the man with glasses, "but from what I can tell, his condition has not worsened. However, it does not seem to have improved either."

"What's the holdup, huh?" the younger woman asked the soldiers who had entered with Ilia. "There's got to be one doctor you can spare!" The soldiers said nothing, but Byron sadly shook his head.

"It's that bad?" the taller woman asked.

"This is truly our darkest time," The elderly man spoke, "I pray we survive it."

Link set out from castle town with three missions. Restore the light spirit, get the last Fused Shadow, and solve the water crisis. He marched across the field towards the light spirit, which was luckily on the way to Zora's Domain. After a surprisingly uneventful journey, Link came across a large bridge with a sign next to it. Great Hylian Bridge, the sign read. This large bridge spanning Lake Hylia is the largest in Hyrule and offers excellent lake views.

"Not anymore," Link mumbled, glancing over the bridge's edge, and seeing barely anything remained of the lake. Link walked across the bridge, thinking about many things. He was worried about the people in Castle Town. Their water was dangerously low, and they were attacked anytime they tried to get more. Speaking of attacks, why hadn't he run into any enemies yet? He was so distracted that it took him too long to notice the peculiar floor he was walking on. Something with a strange scent was coating the bridge, and he swore when he realized what it was. Oil.

He turned around and sprinted across the bridge as fast as he could, ignoring a confused Midna's questions. A flaming arrow flew overhead, striking the ground in front of Link and engulfing the bridge's edge in a massive flame wall. Link turned around to see a bulbin archer at the bridge's other end. He wondered how the bulbin didn't turn into a spirit, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. The archer shot another flaming arrow at the floor in front of him, engulfing it in another burning wall, trapping Link on the bridge.

"It's a trap!" Midna shouted as Link ran away from the closest fire wall to buy himself as much time as possible. "Do something!" Midna shouted when Link reached the middle of the bridge and stopped running. She watched as he looked around the bridge for anything useful., but there was nothing. Midna began to panic. Was this it? Would she be forced to watch Link burn to death, unable to escape the flames? Out of options, Link ran to the edge of the bridge and looked at the remaining water below him. "You're not seriously thinking of jumping, are you?!"

"Do you have another idea?!" She did not.

Link climbed onto the ledge of the bridge and looked down. He couldn't tell how deep the water was, but he hoped it was deep and that he didn't die the second he touched it. Link stepped off the bridge, spreading out his body to keep his descent as slow as possible, and twisted his body at the last second so he would hit the water feet first.

The impact sent pain through his body, and he instinctively let out a cry of pain. Link floated in the water, stunned and slowly sinking before he regained his senses. Once he did, he sped to the surface as fast as his pained limbs could take him. His vision began darkening, but he broke the surface in time. He saw Midna's panicked form rush to him and start pulling him to shore by his right arm. Link used his remaining limbs to swim and finally pulled his weakened body out of the water. He lay on the ground, his entire body numb, and could hear Midna shifting through his pack. He pried his eyes open to see her retrieve spring water. She pulled the cork off, and Link tried to sit up to drink it, but his body was too numb. Midna lifted Link's head and held the bottle to his lips until it was empty. She gently set his head back down and looked him over. He could see his face was bruised from the impact, and she assumed the rest of his body was too, but his clothes covered any other signs of injury. Midna sighed in relief when Link's pained grunts stopped, and she put the bottle back in his pack.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Link grumbled, "that. Hurt."

"I can tell. Rest here for a bit. I'll keep an eye out for any more surprises. Sorry that happened."

"Not your fault." Link whispered as he slowly drifted to sleep. "I should've paid attention. Nothing you could have done."

Lies,she thought, there was something I could have done. I could have carried him down. She shook her head, trying to banish the thought. She wasn't powerful enough to do that. I'm wearing a power source on my head. That's no excuse. But the Fused Shadow is dangerous. I'm barely containing it after using it once. But look at Link! He's hurt! Again! And I could have prevented it. Midna sighed at her internal debate. Link's been through so much on his journey. And all I've done is yell at him. But I'm trying to be better. But I still haven't done anything to help. How long until he gets an injury he can't recover from because all I do is hide in his shadow and watch?

Once Link had awakened, he was in good enough shape to continue. After climbing up to it, he entered the last spirit's spring and received the vessel to store the light in. The hero ran around the area for a long time, climbing everything to get to the bugs and kill them. Once he cleared the area, Link walked along the bottom of a small canyon created by the water before it stopped flowing. He hoped to reach Zora's Domain to fix the water crisis and save the Zora. The last of the light was up there as well, so he would have to head there anyway. Eventually, Link saw what seemed to be the canyon's end and climbed out.

"It's getting cold," Midna said as she wrapped her arms around herself. Nearby a spirit of a woman with a massive afro complained about the same thing, but not to the same extent. Link noted the drop in temperature as well, but it didn't bother him too much. Midna raised her eyebrow when Link held out something green to her before she grabbed and examined it. It was the thick green shirt from the treehouse. "No!" Midna said, throwing it back into him, "you seriously kept that thing?"

"Yeah. In case it got cold."

"All right," Link said, though he did not put it away. The two proceeded forward, walking along the bottom of the empty riverbank. As he continued, the temperature dropped rapidly, too rapidly to be natural. While he was pondering this, Midna snatched the shirt from him and quickly shoved it onto her body, struggling to get it past the Fused Shadow.

"Shut up," Midna demanded, pointing at Link with a scowl.

"I didn't say anything."

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!" Link laughed. With Midna warmer than before, Link continued on his path until he spotted something sparkling on the ground. Link identified the substance immediately. "Ice."

"Ice? You mean that stuff people use in their drinks to cool them down?"

"Uh, yeah? Don't know what it is, though?"

"I know what it is! Its… uhm…" Midna was silent for several seconds. "Solid water! It's turned solid by magic, and it cools down drinks!" Link facepalmed. "What?!"

"It's frozen, Midna. Water turns solid when it gets cold. But Zora's Domain doesn't get that cold. Someone must have used magic to freeze the water." Link followed the ice trail until he turned a nearby corner and saw a shocking sight. "I think I know what happened to the water…" Link said slowly.

"Holy shit…"

In case it wasn't clear, the people with Ilia examining Ralis were Telma, Ashei, Auru and Shad.