Link is the stong, silent type (heroingreen) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-02-19 15:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, link, zelda |
Who: Zelda and Link
When: On a recent night...
Where: Termina - Dream Sequence
What: Link and Zelda are transported once again to Termina
Rating/Warning: PG - Battle stuff, romantical stuff
Status: Complete
The sound of the ocean was in Link’s ears. This was odd, because his farm was nowhere near the beach. The first solution his groggy brain came up with was that he’d fallen asleep on the sofa with the TV on. Then, he opened his eyes and saw the sun and realized he was outside. There was sand between his fingers.
Link sat up. The sea stretched out before him and to his back was endless white sand. His clothing was green and his boots were leather. He was dreaming, at much was certain, but knowing that he’d recalled the farm and television left him with the same eerie feeling that had been present last time his dreams had been…different.
“Zelda?!”
Zelda thought she could hear her name being called from somewhere in the distance. It wasn’t as warm and cozy as she remembered falling asleep last night. Something was wrong. Thankfully, she felt well rested, and the wrong-ness of it all brought her about quickly. Her eyes flew open and she sat up abruptly--only to kick up some of the dust and sand around her. Sand? Her hand came down beside her to take a handful of the stuff--and that’s when she noticed what she was wearing. Not the baggy t-shirt she’d been wearing the night before, but a dress. A long dress. One she recognized well.
“Link?” She spoke the name aloud, before she even realized she was doing it. But she didn’t see him. “Link?!” she said again, feeling her heart start to thump stronger and faster in her chest. She climbed to her feet to look up and down the beach, and saw him a ways off. Perhaps fifty yards away, sitting in the sand. “Link!”
His head spun around in the direction of the voice. Their strange, joint dream seemed to be starting all over again. At least they weren’t locked in a dark stairwell this time. He scurried to his feet and began to kick up sand as he ran toward her.
Overhead, the moon was visible, in spite of the sun, though it was too far away to see it’s nasty face, twisted in hate. That meant this was the dawn of the second day. “We’re back in Termina!” he shouted, while he was still a little ways off.
Thankfully, Zelda was much more graceful in the Dream World than she was in the regular one. She was able to turn and lift her skirts without stumbling, then begin to run toward him, too. Her little, velvet-like shoes weren’t much good in the sand, and her progress was slow. “I know!” She called back. “Why? What’s going on?” She added. This wasn’t from one of her dreams. She didn’t think, anyway. Another one of their shared dreams?
“Remember when I said it was a three-day mission,” Link replied. He lifted a finger and pointed skyward, where the moon loomed overhead beside the sun. Slowly, he turned and took in the entire vista that surrounded them. Somewhere, there was a temple nearby; Link tried to recall if it was technically underwater. “This is called the Great Bay.”
“So, this is Day Two?” Zelda asked, now reaching a more appropriate distance from Link. Being closer to him made her feel safe enough to finally take a look around. She followed his pointing with her eyes and saw the moon hanging in the sky, lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she studied it. “...I don’t know if I’ve ever been here before.”
“Well... the good news is that this area is one of the final places I have to visit,” he said. The water temple was the last of the four. For good measure, Link check the bag strapped to his back. His weapon count had increased, as though he’d been traveling for a long time. “But I think the temple is underwater.”
“Underwater?” Zelda asked, looking surprised. She was just noticing how Link’s ears were long and pointed here--though they were in the real world, this was amazing. She’d almost reached a hand up to touch them when he said the word. “How will we breathe??”
Good question. At the moment, Link was distracted by a large number of seagulls circling over the water, not far away. He was still collecting his bearings, but the memories of this place were coming back quickly. He bit his lip and sighed, knowing what he would find in the water. Or who.
Link waved Zelda onward and walked into the surf. Face-up, he found the Zora, Mikau, white as a sheet and struggling to breathe. “Actually… you can stay back, if you want,” he said to Zelda.
Her eyes moved up to the gulls flying above the bay, and she nearly missed it when he started to walk forward. Zelda moved along to follow him, but stopped when he said she could stay back. She saw something in the water, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. White? She stayed back.
“What is it?” She asked, sounding alarmed. She wished she had more protection. A sword, or a bow and arrows… something. Now that she was in this world, she felt confident she could use them.
Link knelt down beside the Zora, already knowing his time would be short. Mikau told him the same story he’d shared before: that he was a member of a band, that the female lead singer had visited the temple and afterward laid some strange eggs, that Gerudo pirates had stolen them and beaten Mikau within an inch of his life...a rope he was still slipping down.
Link glanced at Zelda every so often, wondering if she was close enough to hear.
At first Zelda wasn’t close enough to hear. But she edged closer, taking small steps. Once she realized this was safe, and that the white thing in the water (which she could see better the closer she got) wasn’t going to attack her or Link, she came even closer to them both, and caught the end of the story.
Link pulled out his Ocarina and began to play the Song of Healing. Light began to shimmer around Mikau’s body. And then… he was gone. Link knit his brows. Gone? There was nothing left in the water. “Um… he’s supposed to leave behind a mask. At least, he did before. It would help us breathe underwater...”
Zelda closed her eyes, and a smile crossed her lips at the sound of his playing. She opened her eyes slowly when he spoke. "Oh. Um. Well, we'll have to find out another way?" A nervous suggestion. "You need to play music for me back in our world." It was sexy.
Sexy or not, Link was still scowling. He rolled back on his heels and sat in the water. Crap, now what were they supposed to do?
In the distance, back close to where he’d woken up, was the only structure on the beach. Link remembered that he was some kind of laboratory. Hopefully there would be someone smart inside with an answer for them. “Let’s check that out,” he said, rising back to his feet. he was dripping wet now.
Zelda turned eventually, saw the structure, and nodded at his suggestion. She turned and headed in that direction up the beach. "I'm a fair swimmer, but I can't hold my breath for long."
Trudging through the wet sand, Link’s mind was locked in on his goal: to get the both of them through the second day, so that they would wake safely in their bed when morning arrived. His eyes were steely with purpose.
The laboratory was built atop a platform on the water. In fact, it was shaped like a bubble, and accessible only by climbing a ladder. There was to avoiding swimming out to it.
Zelda had heard that people died in their dreams before. But this wasn’t like those dreams. This was lucid, realistic, and she had a feeling that whatever happened to them here would have repercussions in the real world. Lifting up her skirts a bit higher so she could trudge through the sand, Zelda turned to look over at Link. “...it’s gonna be okay,” she said, softly. “Just… don’t look up my skirt, all right?” She said, then reached up to take hold of the ladder. Climbing ladders was one thing she could do.
For the first time since they arrived, Link felt a smile crack his lips. “I’ve seen more than just up your skirt,” he replied as he followed her up. His armor and weapons clattered against each other, as if they were chuckling.
“Well, not here. Not like this.” Zelda said, shaking her head. Though, she was smirking now, too. She reached the top of the ladder, then stepped aside so he could climb up. Was it a trick of the world, or her imagination, or was Link even more handsome here than in the other world?
Link didn’t know handsome from handsome, but in his opinion, Zelda looked beautiful in her Hyrulian dress, even if it was more difficult for her to get around. When he got to the top, he took a moment to kiss her, reminding himself of the real reason why he was so driven in his dreams.
The wind picked up a little as they kissed, making her dress rustle and their hair wave. Zelda knew that so long as they were together, everything was going to be okay. Her hand raised to rest against his cheek, and she reluctantly drew her mouth away from his. A moment passed with their foreheads together as she connected with him. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's go."
--Time Lapse--
Entering the laboratory proved to be a smart decision. The grizzled old scientist inside showed them a passage to and underground pipeline, which, although it smelled of week-old fish, was a direct route to the Great Bay Temple. A dizzying gush of water sped Link and Zelda to the other end and before they knew it, they were gasping for air on the temple’s stone floor.
Zelda was dripping wet, gasping and coughing, and freezing. The sound of Link coughing and gasping near her was reassuring, though, as she sat up and tried to look around. Her head was still reeling from that whirlwind. “...did we make it?” She asked, and slowly climbed to her feet. Her dress was sopping, and heavy. She started to ring it out. Her slippers were useless now, soft and soaked.
“I think we’re still alive. And here.” Link pushed himself to his feet and took in the sights of the temple entrance. There weren’t many. It was dark. He could only make out a single door.
Zelda was noticing the same thing. It was dark. She moved some sopping hair out of her face, and finished ringing out her skirt as best she could. “...Is that the way?” She asked, then took a step over closer to where he was standing.
“It’s the only way I see…” Link murmured, but when he tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. There were cold torches on either side. Sometimes when they were lit… “You don’t know any fire spells, do you?”
Zelda moved over, starting to feel cold. If only they had some sunlight. But that was pretty much out of the question, wasn’t it? “...a fire spell?” She asked. Maybe the Zelda from her Dreams knew one of those, but she didn’t feel much like that Zelda right now. “...I don’t think so. There must be some other hints…” She said, then moved along the wall, feeling around with her hands.
Link knew that Zelda could occasionally do magical things, as could he, but he’d been reaching with the fire spell suggestion. Those abilities hadn’t yet been acquired in this dream-waking adventure-teleportation…thing. He scratched his jaw and looked around. There was a lot of water around, the enemy of fire.
Then, without warning, the two torches by the door suddenly burst into flame. The blast of heat was so abrupt that it sent Link back on his rear. The stone door itself rolled open.
Zelda was far enough away from the torch now that she wasn’t knocked down, but she was blown into the wall and stumbled sideways. It was hot. A good kind of hot. Her clothes dried considerably, just from the power of the wave.
A moment passed as she was regaining her composure, then she rushed to Link’s side to help him up. “...I guess we didn’t need that spell after alL."
Link was already exploring the cavernous room that had opened up before them. It was full of pipes and geysers of water, not really like a temple at all. It was almost industrial.
He glanced back to make sure Zelda was following and quietly continued on.
Zelda moved along behind him, slowly, matching his pace. She lifted a hand after a moment and touched one of his long, pointed ears. Gently. Then she gave him a smile. If there was anyone in the world that she’d want to be with in a situation like this, it was Link.
Link halted at the feeling of pressure on his ear. He looked back again, this time more than a glance, with a little smile on his face. “Did you just touch my ear?” he asked.
Before them now, the floor ended, and there was a large gap to the other side which was filled with water. Something pink sparkled down below, as well.
Zelda went rather pink, smiling warmly and somewhat sheepishly, and nodded. “I did. It’s different here. But I like it.” Her hand trailed down his arm to take hold of his hand. “I like you.”
It occurred to Link that maybe the reason why Zelda seldom accompanied him in the dream world was that she was too much of a distraction. The path always led to her, but if she was already here, was there any point in taking another step? Except closer to her, which he did. “Just like?” he asked, lifting a playful eyebrow.
Zelda might have thought something similar if her thoughts weren't already occupied. She stepped in closer to him, too, bringing her other arm up to wrap up and around him. They could take a moment and be distracted, right? It wasn't like they were in immediate danger. "Okay, maybe a little more than like."
“We’re going to run out of time,” he murmured, but he was also kissing her now, and it was difficult to tell what he said at all. In the shadow of the temple, there was no moon staring them down at the moment.
Dammit. But it was still there. If it crashed while they were dreaming, what would happen to them? Link pulled back, telling himself he was doing so to save their lives. He sighed. “We have to keep moving…”
Kissing Link was possibly better in the dreams. Possibly. It did nothing to quench her thirst for him, only made her want more. But when he pulled back, she knew he was right. "Let's go," she whispered, still breathless from the kissing.
Zelda took hold of his hand once more for a squeeze, then let go. "Okay, water. Pink, sparkling water."
Ending the kissing early left Link wholly unsatisfied, almost like there was a rumbling in his stomach. He forced himself to gather his bearings with regards to the room and push away all other thoughts as much as he could. The pink, sparkling thing that was discoloring the water…that was a tiny fairy, he recalled. There was some importance in collecting them. So Link hopped into the pool and swam over. When he was close, the fairy met him halfway and flew into his backpack. Easy enough.
The next doorway was on the far platform. In this new room, there was a large water wheel, spinning like a turbine, most likely a power source for the temple. There was also a very large chest within easy access.
Zelda knew that Link was an expert at these sorts of things. She didn’t really want to get into the water again, as the torches had only just dried her skirts and things--her dress was heavy when she was soaking wet!--but she splashed in after him. She watched the pink, sparkling thing fly into his backpack, and then followed him through the next doorway. This seemed easy so far. She wondered if it was harder in the regular dreams.
There was a chest. Zelda moved across to it, and knelt down to fiddle with the lock. It sprung open after she gave it a frustrated whack, and a Map hovered in the air where the lid had just been. She reached forward and took it, and thought she could hear some strange chime in the air. No matter. “Link, it’s a map,” she said, standing up and turning around to show him.
A map! That would be very helpful, since below the turbine, Link could see at least three different tunnels they had to choose between. The memory of being here before was slowly becoming clearer in his mind, as well.
He pointed to one of the tunnels on the map and then to the corresponding doorway in the turbine’s tank. Back into the water. Link wasn’t fazed by it. They collected more pink fairies along the way.
Zelda nodded. She rolled the map up carefully and slipped it into Link’s backpack, then carefully secured the backpack closed. Hopefully if they had to go through more water, it wouldn’t get soaked through and disintegrate. Or become unreadable. Or both. She took a turn collecting a pink fairy herself, just swimming toward the pink light. Then she watched it zoom all the way into Link’s backpack with a look of glee on her face.
Traveling through the tunnels was a little claustrophobic, or it would have been to some. Link didn’t mind. All he had to do was just keep swimming. Occasionally a fairy would catch sight of them and fly over of their own accord. Eventually, they came to another door on a platform… but the second they crossed over, a grating of bars slammed down behind them, blocking the exit. That was never a good sign.
“Crap… that usually means there’s something in here… some creature… something bad...”
Just keep swimming… Just keep swimming… Great minds think alike. Zelda was thinking the same thing, only she was singing it in Ellen Degeneres’ Dory voice. She came with Link through the doorway, then jumped a little closer to Link and grabbed onto his arm as the bars came down. She looked at him as he spoke, then nervously around the chamber.
It was round, with some pots scattered around the outside. “Those look like my pots. At my house. The ones that break then reform.”
That was, in its own way, another bad sign. The pots were usually filled with spare weapons, meant to replenish what Link lost during a battle. But there still didn’t seem to be anything odd or dangerous in the room. “Do you have anything on you for protection?” he asked Zelda.
“No.” Zelda said, shaking her head a little and looking down at her hands. “Nothing besides… these guns.” She joked, holding her biceps up and flexing them. “You think maybe there’s something in one of these pots I can use?” She asked, and moved around the edge of the room to the closest one to carefully look inside. It was dark. She reached an arm way down in as far as she could, but couldn’t find anything. Perhaps it had to be broken to get at what was at the bottom.
Link watched her out of the corner of his eye as he circled the room himself, looking for indicators as to what might appear before them. There was an odd gurgling noise coming from somewhere. Any minute, something threatened to pop up from the floor. Or...
Cautiously, Link lifted his eyes, and he found he was staring into one himself. It was an enormous, green-lidded eyeball, watching their every move.
Zelda finally looked up when she saw Link looking up toward the ceiling. She gave a gasp, and took a step backward, bumping into the wall. A large, green eyeball, must have been three feet in diameter, was surrounded by smaller, pink balls--like fuzzy beach balls, or something. Zelda could see it was watching them, but mostly watching Link. She turned around to head cautiously back toward him.
“Link!” she whispered loudly, “Link! What do we do??” If only she had a bow and arrows to protect herself. Or a sword. She was fairly confident she could use either of those weapons.
The creature was was pretty disgusting to look at, and now that it had been spotted, it’s pupil sharpened on them. Link scrambled back toward the wall for safety, back toward Zelda and the pots. “Here, I’ve got weapons to spare!” What did she want? A bow? A blade?
Zelda turned to Link and glanced through his bag quickly. She reached for the bow and sheath of arrows, then pulled those up over her shoulder. She found that the moment she had it in her hands, she felt like she knew what to do with it. She knew how to use it. Some sort of muscle memory from her Dreams, maybe, or… something. She lifted the bow and set an arrow against it, drawing it back and poising to strike. But paused like that, breaking into a little smirk. She bet she looked really hot right now.
She did, but Link stole a second to kiss her before taking the time to look her over. There was a monster to focus on. His lips found her cheek only very briefly. The bow and arrows was a good choice. Link drew his sword.
There was no Tatl to guide the way, and there was certainly no Navi; all Link had was his memory. The giant eye dropped from the ceiling in the center of the room, with the smaller, pink balls following, which moved at once to cover the eye like a protective layer of bubbly goo. Link shouted over the increasing din, “We have to clear off the little things, first!”
Zelda couldn’t help a little color that came to her cheeks, and a grin to her lips. She turned to give him a wink. Even though they were in a life threatening situation… well, they were still Link and Zelda. She was still head over heels. She couldn’t help herself.
Right. Eyeball Monster. Zelda turned her attention back to the monster that was floating up at the ceiling--no, it dropped down! She pulled back the bowstring and aimed for one of the pink things. Then she let her arrow fly.
The arrow sunk into the bubble, but rather than popping, it only fell from its station to the floor. It began hopping toward Link and Zelda, moving quickly. When it was close enough, Link sliced at it, and at last the bubble exploded. His memory sparked. “Okay, you clear them off, and I’ll burst ‘em!”
The bubble bouncing toward them made her heart thunder even faster. She hadn’t expected that to happen! Another arrow came out of her sheath, though not nearly in time to dispatch it before it was upon them… though Link took care of that and made Zelda’s heart calm just a little. They could handle this together.
Zelda glanced over at Link. “Got it.” She said, and lifted the bow again to let another couple of arrows fly. She made sure not to clear too many of those bubbles off, and keep an eye on how Link was doing before she let more go.
It took a long time to burst them one after another. Link began to worry there weren’t enough arrows in the pots to sustain them. He started to comb through his weapons bag for more ideas. The hookshot wouldn’t make much difference. Neither would his boomerang. But bombs? That was a good way to do a lot of damage at once…
“Gonna try this!” he announced. “Stand back!”
Zelda turned and took a few steps back, moving mostly behind Link as he readied the bomb. She hadn’t noticed, but she was nearly out of arrows now. And with Link taking a moment with the bomb, she had that moment to glance into her sheath and wince. Then she put her fingers in her ears and waited for the explosion.
Link waited until the last possible second, when the fuse was nearly burned up. It was all a matter of timing with these bombs. He threw it at the eyeball and when it exploded about half of the pink bubbles shook off. He took a second for a quick fistpump.
The bubbles hopped over and Link returned to thrashing with his sword. Another bomb and another round of thrashing…
Zelda hid behind him for the bombs, and took a couple more pink bubbles out with an arrow. She only had two left now, and was frowning a bit. All the pots were gone, smashed, and all the arrows were taken. The floating eye was becoming a little more… frantic? Zelda stepped out behind Link, brought one of the arrows into the bow, pulled back the string, and let it fly. The arrow shot straight into the giant eye, and it seemed to get even more aggressive and angry. Zelda pulled out the other arrow and waited for it to open for the next shot…
The eyeball was now lined with red threads, as if it was bloodshot. Link reached for his hookshot, ready in case Zelda’s next arrow missed.
Zelda wasn’t about to miss if she could help it. She lined up the shot, still waiting, poised to strike… and the moment the eyelids opened, she let the arrow fly.
In the end, Link didn’t need the hookshot. The eyeball glowed red with fire and imploded upon itself, shriveling away to nothing. Soon, the room was empty, just as it had been when they entered. The locked door opened.
“Nice shot,” he said, placing his hand on Zelda’s arm.
Zelda was both a little proud and a little guilty over the last arrow’s flight. She finally breathed when it was over, and turned to Link as he put his hand on her arm. “...thanks. I didn’t know I could…” It all came instinctively once she had the bow in her hands. “I’m out of arrows now, though.”
Link was really proud of her. So often, in his dreams, she was relegated to the role of damsel in distress, when he knew Zelda was capable of so much more. He gave her a kiss. Thanks to all the adrenaline in his system, it was a pretty strong one, too. “Don’t worry. We’ll probably find more.”
“Okay.” Zelda was grinning after the kiss, slightly winded, but happy. Exhilarated, actually. Her hand found his and she laced their fingers together. “All right. Through the open door, then.”
The open door took them directly to a very small room that contained a large chest. There was another door that would take them through to whatever was next in store for them, but first it was important to see what was locked away in the box. Link kicked the rusted lock and the lid flipped open, revealing something glittery inside. There was also a burst of frigid air.
Link reached in and pulled out what would have been a normal bundle of arrows, except for the glittering and the flakes of snow that had collected on their pointed tips. “Oh! Ice arrows!” He turned to Zelda, who was still holding the bow. “Here. You can be in charge of these.”
“Ice arrows?” Zelda accepted the bundle and examined them, then slipped them into her sheath to have at the ready. “Got it. Ice arrows. I love it. Okay, where next?” She asked, repositioning her sheath strap across her chest and hefting her bow in hand.
Now that they both had weapons, Link felt a little more secure; and Zelda had proven herself to be adept with the bow. They were officially making a good team, now. He smiled, kissed her cheek, and opened the next door in front of them, which led to (guess what?) another room filled with water. On the far side was a ledge, a little higher than they could reach by just swimming across. Link jumped into the water and dove, looking for another pathway. There wasn’t one.
Gosh, that smile. That wonderful smile. Zelda found herself blushing even before his kiss reached her cheek, then she gave a little nod and followed after him. She looked around before jumping into the water after him, and frowned. “How do you think we should… wait, the ice arrows? If I shoot them into the water, will they freeze it? Then we can walk on it and climb up to get to the platform?”
Link thought for a moment before the imaginary light bulb appeared over his head. He swam back to the ledge and hoisted himself up. Pulling off his green cap, he wrung it out. “Yeah, I remember something like that working…” He smiled again, somewhat sheepishly for forgetting.
Zelda gave a soft chuckle. “All right. Here goes.” She lifted the bow and arrow and started shooting. Hopefully she’d be able to make this work. She didn’t want to run out of arrows and embarrass herself. But once she had the first arrow in place to fire, it came back to her. Almost as if she’d done this before--as if she knew what she was doing.
The arrow hit the water and created a chunk of ice on the top, like a flat iceberg, like a stepping stone. They’d need more that one to reach the other side, but they could build as they go. Link hopped on the first to test it. He skidded a bit and stabilized, before turning and waving Zelda across.
Zelda climbed on after him, sliding a bit across the smooth, slippery surface. She had to grab hold of Link’s arm to steady herself. “I’m liable to slide right off the edge of this thing.” But after taking a moment to get her balance, she pulled the bow out and slipped another arrow into place. The second iceberg was formed the same as the first.
It took four ice platforms to get them across, the final one leading to a quick climb to the ledge with the door. The sound of gears grew louder as they moved onward, as though they were getting closer and closer to the heart of the temple. Pink fairies were collected along the way.
Thankfully, Zelda didn’t have to waste any arrows. All of the platforms worked, and they were able to use them successfully to get to the ledge with the door. She couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of herself. She knew that Link did this sort of thing, but now she’d done it, too. Her hand found his as they moved along collecting fairies and she gave it a squeeze. They finally got to do this together, and she wasn’t just the prize at the end.
They followed the path where it led them, collecting pink fairies along the way. Now that the temple weapon had been obtained, the journey was nearing it’s end. Link wondered how much time had passed, since they couldn’t see the moon from inside. They arrived at the golden “boss’s door” and he hoped there was enough time left to battle whatever lay waiting inside.
Zelda stepped up to the door, her bow and arrows at the ready. She took a deep, steadying breath and gave him a nod. Whatever was on the other side of that door, they could face it together. They were stronger together than apart. Zelda was more convinced of it in this world than in the other. She knew they made a fantastic team. "Let's do this."
“Whatever’s behind that door,” said Link, “Is probably going to be enormous and terrifying. It’s definitely going to be deadly.” There was some trepidation in his voice. His main goal, as always, was to protect Zelda, even to lay down his life for her.
Zelda turned to look at him, and suddenly felt terrified. Whatever was behind that door was scary enough to make Link pause. And that was enough to make Zelda freak out a little bit. Her breathing came a little faster, her heart was thundering now. What was conviction and bravery melted quickly into trepidation and fear. She nodded once, trying not to let it show on her face. “Okay.”
The key was in Link’s hand. As he fiddled with it, he realized his palm was sweaty; but if Zelda wanted to enter the chamber with him, he wasn’t going to stop her, not when she’d already come this far. He reminded himself that whatever lay on the other side, he had defeated it once before.
He lifted the key and placed it in the lock. Gears began to spin on their own and chains fell, then the door opened.
Zelda took Link's hand. His was sweaty, hers was cold and clammy. She gave it a squeeze, then together they walked through the doorway.
But the room on the other side was totally empty, other than a strong fishy smell. It reeked like a seafood market. Link covered his nose and scowled, walking forward to examine the chamber. That was when he saw it. No, not the demon creature that had possessed the temple, but a huge, gaping hole in the center of the floor. Looking down, it appeared to descend for miles.
Zelda lifted her hand to cover her own nose, too. It didn’t do that much good, though. The air even tasted like a fish market. She fought back a retch at the smell, and followed Link in. But she stopped abruptly at the huge hole, then leaned forward just slightly so she could look in. She couldn’t see a bottom. Just down and down into blackness.
“...I thought we’d have to kill a bad guy.” She said.
Link kicked a chipped piece of tile with the toe of his leather boot and watched it fall. He could remember taking a leap and plunging to the bottom. He’d landed safely on some sort of special platform, but it had been terrifying all the same. He looked sideways at Zelda, trying to communicate what he was thinking.
Zelda turned to look at him. Her eyes went wide as she realized what he was trying to communicate. Then she looked between the open trench and his face, feeling a little panicked. Her hand reached out and groped for his. If they were going to do this, she’d need his hand in hers.
Her hand wasn’t quite enough. Link wrapped his arm around her before jumping. Sure, his arm wouldn’t provide a whole lot of protection if they hit the ground and went splat, but it was still an added comfort.
It was a free-fall. The stinky wind whistled past his pointed ears.
Zelda’s heart was thundering in her chest as they fell. She didn’t scream, didn’t flail. Link’s arm around her made her feel safe. If they were falling to their death, there was no one else in the world she’d rather fall with. Her only regret was that she hadn’t kissed him once more before they jumped.
The drop was long enough that his life had time to pass before his eyes twice on the way down; but despite every reason why they should have gone SPLAT, Link landed neatly on a white pillar of light, with Zelda safe in his arms.
As they were about to land, Zelda wrapped both arms tight around him, preparing for the SPLAT. But it didn’t come. Instead, she was safe in Link’s arms, breathing hard. She turned to look around, slightly confused.
There had been a tiny splash when they landed. It was on a large platform in the center of the room, which was coated with water, but a deeper pool surrounded them. Slowly, Link relaxed his hold on Zelda and caught his breath. Unfortunately, the smell was worse down here, and there was something darting around in the water.
Zelda slowly unwrapped her arms from around him and turned to look… then gasped and jumped at the sight of something moving in the water. “What is it?” She asked, then fumbled for the bow and arrows she was wearing, to point one down into the water.
No sooner had she pointed that the something in the water made it’s terrific appearance. It was shaped like a shark, except for a what looked like a horn on its head. A second look revealed that creature was wearing a mask...why? Link had no idea. It was weird and creepy. The monster jumped high into the air, clearing the platform completely and splashing down on the other side.
"Oh my God!" Zelda had followed the thing with the tip of her arrow. "OhmyGod. Oh my God!" She cried out, eyes now searching the water for sight of the thing. "What was that? "
Link remembered the beast from his dreams, but he felt unprepared for how massive the fish monster was, as if he’d downplayed the memory. Or maybe it was possible that his dream self was a little less easily freaked out by evil horned sharks. “That’s the thing we have to kill, probably in order to wake up again.” He drew his sword.
Zelda pulled the bowstring taut, an arrow at the ready. She nodded once, knowing that she had to be brave. She was wet, and tired, and cold, but this was it. This was the final task. Not only did she have to prove to Link that she could do this, but she had to prove it to herself.
The next time the creature appeared, she let the arrow fly.
It was like the shark beast was studying them, chancing an arrow to get a closer look, as if it had more than some rudimentary intelligence. As it splashed down on the other side, Link considered his other weapons. Maybe the sword was the wrong way to go, since he wasn’t sure if he could get much closer.
Meanwhile, the monster rammed it’s massive head into the side of the platform.
The platform seemed to shake terribly, and Zelda threw out both arms to try and keep her balance. “...Any ideas, Link?” She asked, pulling another arrow from her sheath and readying it at the bow. She was absolutely terrified.
All Link had to do to keep his balance was softly bend his knees. He scratched the back of his head in thought. Getting much closer didn’t seem to be an option. He reached for his weapons bag and started to dig through it. It was then that he found an odd object he hadn’t noticed before. It was another mask, pale blue in color, resembling a Zora.
While Link was digging through his bag, Zelda shot off another arrow at the fish monster. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be doing, but it felt like it prevented the beast from slamming into the platform again. Even if that wasn’t the case, Zelda felt a little better about it.
The monster took some clear-cut damage that time, groaning loudly. Link looked at the mask in his hands, bringing it closer to his face, when it suddenly seemed to leap toward him. It covered his eyes in darkness and he struggled to breathe, because there didn’t happen to be any air holes. In fact, the whole ordeal with quite painful.
But then, a light flashed. Link could see again.
“Link?” Zelda asked sounding concerned. She drew another arrow and trained it on the giant fish. “Link?!” she added, glancing back at him before turning her eyes back to the monster. “Talk to me, Link…” She said, now sounding terrified. What if Link was possessed by that thing?
The blue color of the mask spread down Link’s neck and arms. Beneath his clothing, it coated his torso and legs, too. His height increased as his body became elongated and slender. And, finally, fins sprouted from his forearms. He had become a Zora. It was as if the mask had possessed him, but he was still himself. He examined his new form and turned to Zelda. “I think… I think this is somehow supposed to help us.”
Zelda turned to stare at him for a moment, now looking slightly horrified as her boyfriend was taken over by… something. She raised both eyebrows, getting distracted by the sight. “...okay.” She said, breathing hard. “...okay, let’s just…” She sincerely hoped that thing would come off when they were finished. “...let’s get this over with.”
With a nod, Link ran toward the edge of the platform and dove off. If he was a Zora, it made sense that he was supposed to be in the water. It was a pleasant surprise that he could see really well when the water was dark and murky with who knew what. He circled around to find to fish monster.
Zelda was a little more than freaked out, but she turned her attention back to the giant fish underwater. She slipped another arrow into her bow and pulled back the string. This was shooting time. After aiming carefully, she took another shot.
Link’s new fins were sharp as razors. So, while Zelda struck from above, he attacked from beneath the water, which meant he had to get very close to the creature. It worked pretty well, until the shark started to chase him around the moat. Luckily, his new form made Link very fast, even capable of turbo-like boosts of speed. He dashed ahead and climbed back onto the platform. “We’re making progress.”
Zelda could see most of what was happening down there in the water. She took a couple more shots, missing once, and striking again. When he climbed up onto the platform again, it gave her a moment of surprise. She calmed quickly, though, and nodded. “...let’s get this overwith as fast as we can. What do I need to do?”
“Use your arrows to stun him with the ice. I’ll--” It was then that the beast rammed the platform again. Link, who was standing too close to the edge, toppled back into the water.
“Link!!” Zelda cried out. She put another ice arrow into her bow, and pulled the string taut. “Link!” She cried again, training the tip of the arrow on the beast as it moved through the water. “...God, don’t be dead.” The water was nearly black, she couldn’t see more than a foot deep into it. “Don’t be dead, Link!” She yelled, and then set another arrow free.
The fall had disoriented him, as did the ensuing chase of the fish monster. Zelda’s screaming was too garbled to discern. Link found himself swimming erratically. Funny thing, so did the monster. The creature’s rage and fear were palpable. It had taken a great deal of damage.
Zelda pulled out another ice and put it straight into her bow, then took aim. “...Link!?” She cried out once more. The beast was close enough to the surface for her to take another shot. So she took it. Praying. She was almost out of arrows.
WIth a loud cry of pain--a roar, really--the enormous shark broke the surface of the water. He shook his ugly head from side to side, until the horned mask flew off. It shattered on the platform. Murky water flew in every direction as the creature thrashed, until it slowly died down; and finally, the beast was floating on his side like a dead goldfish in a bowl.
Zelda watched with horror, still holding up the bow with her last arrow poised to strike. She was breathing hard, still finding it hard to believe that this all just happened. “Link?”
Link surfaced on the other side, gripping the platform and gasping for air. He’d returned to his human form. In all the action, his own mask had been dislodged as well. The way it floated face-up in the water was decidedly creepy.
Zelda dropped her bow and arrow and rushed over to the side of the platform where Link was gasping. She reached both hands down to help him up out of the water. “Is that it? Is it over?”
Through hazy, waterlogged eyes, Link squinted at a pillar of light taking shape in the center of the platform. He continued to cough as he pointed. He’d be fine, provided the water was filled with deadly bacteria, but words weren’t working just yet.
Zelda turned to look, and saw the light taking shape. This must have been the kind of thing he encountered a lot in the dreams. She was still getting used to it. She paused, staring, trying to find beauty in the weirdness.
Link dragged himself to his feet, reaching out for Zelda’s hand for support. “Nice...shot,” he said between coughs. “We have to...head toward the light.” He wondered if their dream objective had been met, or if there was more in store.
“Head toward the light?” Zelda asked, taking hold of his hand. She brought her other hand around to hold onto his arm. “...are you sure? We’re not dead, are we?” She asked, but then moved to let him lead the way.
“It should teleport us out of here.” He limped alongside her, not quite taking the lead. His body had taken a beating, more than he could remember in the dreams. In those, he always seemed to bounce right back.
They entered the pillar of light and it began to sparkle around them. The air turned warm. Link felt like he was floating upward. He held on tightly to Zelda.
Zelda felt like the world was slipping out from under her. She clung tightly to Link’s hand, then moved her other arm over to take hold of him with it. Both of her arms came to wrap around his, hanging onto him for dear life.
After a minute or so had passed, Link began to feel himself move downward again, and much to his dismay, he heard his feet splash into shallow water. But when the light faded, they were no longer in the dark, dank temple, but a beautiful, marble room with a domed roof. It was a fairy fountain. No sooner than they touched down at the pink fairies they’d collected burst out of Link’s magical item bag. They began to flutter wildly around the room.
Her breath held in her chest as she felt them lowering once again. Zelda jumped when the fairies burst from Links bag. She slowly released him, and turned to watch them.
Bit by bit, or tiny fairy by tiny fairy, they flew closer together, until they had become a cluster overhead in the center of the dome. A starburst of light appeared, casting rays between the empty spaces. Suddenly, the individual pink fairies were no more, replaced by a single large fairy with wild red hair, clothed in nothing but leaves and moss. This was the Great Fairy, Link knew, or one of the great fairies--they all looked alike, at the very least.
Zelda’s eyes followed the fairies up until they were at the center of the dome. She glanced at Link, then back again in time for the starburst. One of her hands lifted to shield her eyes from the bright light, and suddenly she wished she was holding Link’s hand again. She couldn’t help but give a low, gentle, “woah,” at the sight of the fairy. She was beautiful.
Beautiful, yes, but also enormous and a little frightening. When she spoke, even her voice was booming. “Thank you. Thank you both for your help. Now, that I am back in one piece, I would like to repay you for your kindness.”
Link exchanged a look with Zelda.
“Do you have your ocarina?” asked the Great Fairy.
“Uh… one minute.” Link pulled his bag over his shoulder and began to dig through it. Bombs...swords...other swords...masks… Finally, the ocarina. He pulled it out and held it up to her.
“In order to continue on your mission, you will need to awaken the Four Guardian Spirits. I will teach you their song.”
Zelda gave a big gulp. She couldn’t remember ever having played one of those little flutes before. Did she have to do it? Or him? She wasn’t sure how good she was going to be at this part, so she stayed quiet, folding her hands in front of her politely.
Link exchanged another glance with Zelda before lifting the ocarina to his lips. He blew a couple of flat notes to test it as the fairy started to sing. The song was low and haunting. It took Link a few tries to get it right. Finally, the Great Fairy smiled. “That is the Oath of Order. It will remind the Four Guardians of their promise to protect this land.”
Link nodded. It was a swift, singular motion of his head, and he placed the ocarina back in his bag.
Overhead, the Great Fairy began to glitter and...look staticy?--like she was a bad TV signal breaking up. The shimmery, pink specks swirled around her. “Good luck on your quest...” Her voice was fading, too. As she disappeared altogether, although it looked more like she was dissolving, the glitter fell on Link and Zelda like snow.
Zelda was torn between being excited, and still being nervous. They were finished with this part of the quest… did that mean they were going to wake up now? She reached for his hand as the glitter started to fall, breaking into a shy smile and ducking her head as it rained down over her hair.
Once the Great Fairy had vanished, the dome overhead began to break up, too. Not with cracks in the stone, but with more sparkles and glitter. Soon, it was like there was a blizzard uin the room, only it was warm instead of cold.
Link looked at Zelda, holding her hand tightly. Maybe they would wake up, maybe they’d be transported to another part of Hyrule, but he felt prepared for whatever happened next.