This story has a cover now!

This story has been going on for a long time, and there's so much more I need to write and not a lot of time to do it, so its going to take a while. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who stayed to read it and let you know I really enjoy reading the reviews, so don't hesitate to leave one.

Born a Weapon

A Twilight Princess Fan story

Chapter 31

Zora's Domain

Ice.

There was ice everywhere.

From what Link's frustratingly fickle memory told him, Zora's Domain was a sight to behold. Expert craftsmanship should be everywhere the eye could see, with water that was a perfect temperature flowing soothingly through the domain and Zora always ready to offer kind smiles to any visitors.

Now, all water was frozen solid, trapped midway through its journey to Hyrule. The beautiful architecture lay shattered on the ground, and what remained standing was stained with blood. The kind Zora people were being led out of Link's sight in shackles or lay on the floor unmoving in puddles of blood. Shadow Beasts and Bulbins escorted the few Zora he could see, and countless more patrolled the area. Zora's Domain was no more.

After standing in stunned silence, Link finally processed the fact that he was in the open, grabbed Midna's arm, and dashed behind cover. He ran through everything he just saw in his mind and summed it up in one word.

"Fuck."

"What are you going to do now?" Midna asked, peeking around the corner, "the last of the light has to be up there somewhere."

"Well, I can't just walk in there. There's way too many of them, but I won't be able to touch the bulbins. Wait, the bulbins were solid, but they were leading away prisoners, and they weren't solid. How can they do that?" Link looked to Midna, hoping for an answer, but she shrugged with a confused expression. "Well, whatever the reason, I have to worry about the bulbins and the Shadow Beasts." Link stayed where he was for several minutes before finally forming an idea. "Water!"

"What?"

"Zora's Domain is supposed to be full of water, but someone must have used magic to freeze it. I don't know how that would affect this, but when you try to stop water, it builds pressure. If we can free all that water at once, it might flood the domain and take all of them out at once. The Zora will be fine. They're half aquatic and can breathe underwater."

"I didn't know water worked like that. That's clever… and scary. You're scary, you know that, right?"

"I wish they'd be scared of me. It might make things easier."

"but how are you going to free the water?"

"I'll need your help with that. I remember a giant rock near a portal on death mountain. It came from a volcano, so it should be hot. If you can warp it here, it might work."

"I can try, but I can't promise I'll be able to do it if it's too big. A portal here would help."

"Then we'll have to find one," Link said as he slowly approached the domain, moving slowly and staying low. Zoran architecture gave Link something to hide behind, but patrolling bulbins and Shadow beasts made staying hidden challenging. Despite their brainless demeanor, the Shadow Beasts patrolled in a nearly perfect formation, covering almost every spot Link could hide. The bulbins spread out across most of the domain, patrolling as well but surprisingly less organized. The hero had to take advantage of the smallest openings to make any progress, such as walking sideways between two bulbins when one happened to look the other way and hugging the back of a Shadow Beast as close as possible without touching it, and quickly spinning around it when the beast turned. Finally, Link reached a frozen waterfall and used the gloves given to him by the gorons to protect his hands as he climbed it. After climbing to the second floor, Link spotted a familiar figure wearing black armor and a mask. "Things just got a lot worse."

Watching Link try to sneak through Zora's Domain was one of the most nerve-racking things Midna's ever done. Bulbins and Shadow Beasts were everywhere, and Link had to move around constantly and make multiple close calls. But those masked people were by far the worst. Midna swore they must have some kind of super hearing. Link had to spend a full fifteen minutes trying to get past the first one and almost got seen five times, and Midna had seen four others when Link asked her to scout from the shadows. He had barely beaten two, and that was only because Renado saved him. If five attacked him at once, Midna doubted he would survive.

After over an hour of sneaking around, Link finally found the end of the ice. He saw what seemed to be the throne room and had to be the water's source since it stopped there. A portal dropped off some Shadow beasts and Bulbins, and Link allowed them to pass. Once they passed, Link quickly killed a bulbin near the portal, allowing Midna to claim it.

"Ok, head to Death Mountain, get a big rock, and bring it back here."

"Got it. Make sure to get out of the way before the water's released." Midna advised before claiming the portal before and disappearing into it. Link dragged the bulbin's body behind a pillar to make it harder to spot and noticed a strange bracelet on its wrist. Curious, Link removed the bracelet to examine it, and the bulbin's body faded into a spirit.

"So that's how they do it," Link mused as he placed the object into his pouch.

"Should've kept your mouth shut," a male voice spoke. Link spun around just before a small dagger embedded itself into his right shoulder. One of the masked men stood before him, but this one seemed to have more armor, and the armor and his mask had a silver tint. When Link turned to face him, the light vessel pulsed, and Link noticed a glowing glass container on the figure's belt. "Rookie mistake. I expected more." Link clutched at his wound and stared defiantly at his attacker. "Nothing to say after all this time? I'm hurt."

"You know me?" Link gasped.

"Confused? Yeah, he said you'd be. Don't worry," the figure drew two daggers from his waist, "you won't be for long.

"Who are you talking about?!" Instead of answering, the man charged Link swinging his daggers at him. Link stepped out of the way and drew his sword and shield, ignoring the stinging pain of the blade he didn't have time to remove. The sound of clanging metal was sure to attract attention, so Link hoped he could end the fight quickly, but his opponent was fast, dodging his attacks. When Link tried to slash his legs, the man used Link's shoulder as a pivot point and flipped over him, grasping his arm and throwing him onto the ground once he landed. Link tumbled across the ice and slid to the middle. He struggled to scramble to his feet on the slippery surface as the man threw dagger after dagger at him, barely being blocked by Link's shield. Once the hero finally managed to stand, the man charged, unobstructed by the ice. Glancing at his feet, Link noticed something metal that was undoubtedly allowing his foe to run across the ice without slipping. Blades flashed through the air, and Link had to fight to stay on his feet and his opponent. Realizing it was only a matter of time before he slipped up, Link made a blind and desperate tackle that sent both combatants tumbling to the floor, their weapons sliding across the ice.

Link scrambled to solid ground and barely made it before the man attacked again with a new dagger. Link seized the man's wrist, and the fight became a wrestling match as they both tried to wrench the knife from the other. Link was forced to kneel after he was kicked in his knee, causing it to bend. Thinking quickly, Link rolled behind his foe, twisting his arm and making him release the knife. Link tried to drive the blade into the man's eye, but he grabbed his arm and quickly slid the blade back into his. Both men seized the knife multiple times, giving each other cuts and bruises, but neither doing significant damage. Just when Link was forced to his knees and grabbed from behind, desperately trying to stop the knife from slitting his throat, a massive rock appeared.

"Oh, shi-" Link tried to say but was interrupted by the ice cracking under the rock's weight, freeing the water that immediately sent the combatants tumbling over the side. Link tried to keep his head above the water, but it was nearly impossible with the force of the water smashing him into walls and pillars. Eventually, he finally managed to push himself into an area without water. Unfortunately, the area only had no water because there was no floor.

Link screamed as he fell before slamming into the ground and hearing something inside him crack. He tumbled until he slammed into another pillar and was faintly aware of gasps. He raised his bloody face to see cells filled with Zora nearby. He could also see Midna rushing to him and the room beginning to flood, but everything looked blurry. The masked man landed before him with a slight crouch, seemingly unharmed by the water.

"I underestimated your creativity. Congratulations, Link, you've freed Zora's Domain." The man turned his head slightly to see the zora. "You stole one of the bulbin's bracelets, didn't you? Good. Now they get to watch Hyrule's hero die."

"I'm not… dead… yet," Link gasped as he shakily stood. "Midna, open the cages." His vision was too blurry to see if she listened, and all the sound was muffled, but he stood. Somehow, he stood.

"You were dead since the fight started." Fear gripped Link's heart, and he weakly pulled the torn fabric on his shoulder away from the knife and saw his veins filled with a sickly purple. "Recognize that? You should. It's a poison derived from the Deku Baba species that poisoned you back in that giant tree. I could have used something stronger, but I wanted to fight you one last time." Link's knees buckled, and he barely braced himself with his arm as the man drew another dagger. "Some hero you turned out to be." Link heard muffled footsteps as the man approached, and Link summoned all his remaining strength to make one last move.

"Get back in my shadow!" Link screamed in his mind before tearing the dagger out of his shoulder and plunging it into the masked man's chest. He cried out in pain and staggered back, but not before Link reached out and grabbed the glowing container from his belt. Praying Midna had listened to him, he crushed the glass in his hand, drawing blood but freeing the light to enter the light vessel, and the hero disappeared in a bright flash.