Saven Years 15

Here is the long awaited section. If everyone is nice and leads some comments I will treat you all to a few selections of poetry I have been working on. You have all been waiting so long that I really shouldn't keep you waiting any longer... HERE IT IS!

As Shiek exited the Scared Realm and her chat with Rauru it was hard to keep a wide school-girlish grin from sweeping her face.

“Princess Zelda, thank you for coming so quickly…”

“Of course Rauru. What’s up?”

“The time has come. Link has reached the age where he is ready to accept his role as the Hero of Time. I will be awakening soon. Could you please wait for him in the Temple of Time?”

It was, perhaps, the dumbest question anyone had ever asked her. The man she had been dreaming about every night for the past seven years was returning. No one needed to ask her to hang around; she’d like to see someone to keep her away. Shiek caught herself tapping a foot again. What in the name of Din’s Furry was taking so long? It had been nearly thirty minuets since Rauru had called her to the temple. Why didn’t he just wake up Link and get on with it?

And then there he was.

His back was to her, but she could already tell he looked exactly like she thought he would. He stood almost exactly as tall as Draq had, his thin frame obviously housing tremendous power in the sinewy muscles that stood out enough to be noticed but not enough to be grotesque. His clothes were the same, only larger, with the long white pants, shirt, and Kohria boots, and he still sported that odd green hat that was so boyishly cute.

Goddess, he was fine.

Navi still floated around his head, chattering incessantly. Shiek wondered if the little fairy ever actually shut up, and figured it answered the question as to whether or not fairies needed to breathe. Link took a step towards the exit of the temple, when suddenly stopped. Obviously sensing that something was watching him, he whirled, drawing the Master’s Sword in a fluid motion. His light blue eyes sparkled with a reckless gleam, his long forelocks waving quite dramatically. She’d forgotten he was left handed…

Rauru had strictly warned her not to reveal herself this early, even to Link. Gannondorf was constantly on the lookout for any traces of Princess Zelda, and it would be wise to avoid abandoning the Shiek guise until Link had awakened all the remaining sages. It was a request she knew she’d have difficulty with, but it was wise and made sense. Stepping closer, Shiek smiled and began the speech she had spent years preparing.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Hero of Time,” Shiek started, trying to sound as official as possible given that she was ready to swoon over at any moment, “I am Shiek, last survivor of the Shiekah,” with Keef gone that was about as true as it got, “as I see you holding the mythical Master’s Sword you really do look like the Hero of Time…”

“Hey man, don’t sound so surprised…” Link replied, sheathing the sword and grinning. His voice was a lot deeper then Shiek had remembered it, but Link was only 13 the last time they had met. She noticed he had also picked up a small earring somewhere along his seven-year absence. She liked it; it looked cute, but not girlish.

Link gave her a quick look up and down. Crossing his arms over his chest, he raised a critical eyebrow.

“So are all Shiekah men, um, midgets?”

“No… and don’t underestimate me. I can fight too you know.”

“Whatever,” his broad shoulders shrugged unconcernedly, “so why are you here anyway…”

“I said, I’ve been waiting for you,” for only about seven freaking years, she threw in mentally, “I’m here to help you on your quest to awaken the remaining sages. Rauru told you about them I assume.”

“Well, yes… but he was kind of vague.”

“Really?” this surprised Shiek greatly. Generally speaking Rauru didn’t know how to shut up. Vagueness was a new thing for him.

“Well, not really,” Link confessed, blushing slightly, “actually he was just so damn boring that I didn’t give him much attention. I had other things to think about. I got the basic picture that once I left, Hyrule went to Hell in a hand basket. Probably that princess’ fault. What was her name, Zelrock or something?”

“Zelda,” Shiek growled.

“Yeah her. Sorry about forgetting such an important thing, but man, I still feel kind of out of it. I guess seven years of sleep will do that to you. And she was a nice enough girl I guess, really cute as I remember… So, you seem to know the answers around here, what exactly am I supposed to be doing?”

Shiek sighed. Fortunately, she had prepared something in case this happened, but she had really hoped to spend the few spare moments talking to Link, not giving him objectives.

“Yeah, ahem… When evil rules all, an awakening cry will go forth from the Temple of Light to the other sages who dwell in the five temples. One in a deep forest, one on a high mountain, one under a vast lake, one in the house of the dead, and one inside the goddess of sand. Together the sages and the Hero of Time will bind the evil and return light to Hyrule,” Shiek trailed off, noticing that Link was eyeing her strangely. After a pause he spoke.

“Um, Shiek, right? One question; you gay or something?”

Shiek felt frustration building inside of her.

“Link! That is not important right now. Look, the first sage is awaiting awakening in the Forest Temple,” whoever the heck it actually is “unfortunately you can’t even get in the temple right now. You’ll need to head to the village and find equipment that will allow you to enter the temple. Got it?”

“Yeah,” he cracked his knuckles and tugged at the leather bracers on his wrists, “go to village. Go to Forest Temple. Kill bad things. Awaken good things. That’s it in a nutshell, right?”

Sighing, Shiek pointed to the door. Her first meeting with Link had not really gone like she had always dreamed it would.

“Yes, now why don’t you get busy…”

“Hey, watch the tone man. I’m a hero, remember?” he laughed, turning and jogging out of the door. Watching him go, Shiek felt her heart skip a beat. She had to admit, he was undoubtedly the best-looking man she had ever seen.

Shiek waited a few minuets to recover before jogging out of the Temple. Link was back! Everything was going to work out! She nearly swooned a second time.

I can’t wait to tell Toran! she thought , quickly running through the eerie remains of Castle Town. Then it struck her that Toran might actually be less then thrilled to learn of Link’s awakening. In their last conversation, he had dropped a major ‘jealous of Link’ hint, and she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen now that Link was here. Link might be her destiny, but Toran was her closest friend, and he had been there for her over the past seven years. She was actually disappointed in a way to know that as she and Link started their relationship, Toran would probably become more distant and less connected to her. The feeling was made worse by the fact that she knew she really should have told Toran about Link at the first sign of his growing affection for her; that might have helped to prevent this issue completely.

Shiek wasn’t far out of Castle Town when heard someone following her. Turning, she saw Impa quickly coming up behind her. The Shiekah must have just arrived at the temple and ran out to find her.

“Shiek!” this close to Gannondorf’s vile tower, Impa generally took greater precautions, “Something terri-” she stopped, noticing the wide grin on Shiek face, “um, Shiek?”

“I’ll give you one guess Impa, just one!” Shiek exclaimed, still grinning widely.

“Does this have something to do with what Rauru wanted?”

Shiek nodded, the girlish smile still all over her face.

“Then I am going to assume that The Hero of Time is awakened…”

Shiek cocked and eyebrow. Impa didn’t seem as thrilled as Shiek thought she would be.

“Is something wrong Impa?” she asked, regarding her guardian closely.

“Well, I had hoped that things…” Impa trailed off, obviously not really wanting to finish her thought.

“Impa! What is it? Come’on, I’m not a child anymore, you don’t have to hide things from me…” Shiek pressed, stepping closer and looking pleadingly into her large eyes.

“It is just that I did not expect Link would return this soon. In all honesty Shiek, I am afraid you’re going to get hurt.”

“I’ll be careful Impa, just like always…” Shiek said, brushing aside the worry with a dismissive wave.

“That was not exactly what I meant,” murmured Impa looking almost dejectedly at her ward.

“Well, he is here now, and so the Goddesses must have felt everyone involved was ready,” Shiek answered, feeling a twinge in her gut at Impa’s words, “now, what were you saying when you ran up?”

Impa returned to her original message, but it was clear she wasn’t thrilled with how the prior conversation had went.

“Gannondorf has used Keef’s treachery to find a secret path to Gordon City. He attacked it earlier this afternoon and has imprisoned most of the Gordons in the Fire Temple to feed to a dragon. When the dragon is fully restored, Gannondorf will probably unleash it on the rest of Hyrule. You should probably travel to see the Zoras and request they raise their forces to help liberate the Gordons. I will go assist Toran, who is already at Gordon City assessing the situation.”

“Toran went to Gordon City alone?” Shiek a flash of worry and concern gripping her heart, “Impa, why did you let him go? It will be very, very dangerous!”

“Shiek, calm down! Toran is not only strong and brave, but quick-witted as well. He will avoid detection if he thinks it the most prudent course of action. I think you underestimate your friend, Shiek.” There was a hint of accusation in the tone that caused Shiek to do a double take.

“What do you mean, Impa?”

“I am not alone in thinking Toran possessed the caliber to be the Legendary Hero of Time. The prophecy is not clear on whom exactly the hero is, Shiek, and you would do well to remember that…”

“But Rauru-”

“Has a tendency to believe what he wants to believe. I will admit that the return of Link certainly places him as the likely candidate for the Hero of Time, but don’t forget that Toran is a hero in his own right as well,” Impa’s eyes softened, and her arms uncrossed, falling to her sides. Abandoning her normal stern demeanor and cautious language, the guardian leveled with her ward.

“I must admit princess, I had hopes that you would see Toran for who he is before Link returned, but I suppose that is your decision. It is just that Link was born to fight, as was your friend Draq… I am afraid you might find yourself falling for a man who is not what you imagined him to be.”

Impa gave a quick nod to indicate she had just said everything she intended to, and turned to go.

“I will go to check on Toran… I suggest you hurry to Zora Fountain and speak with King Zola,” she said over her shoulder, before disappearing with a flash and crack, leaving Shiek standing alone near the entrance of the town.

The Zora nation was the smallest of the four major races, but they made up for it with more courage then the tenacious Greudos, more vigor then the hardy Gordons, and twice the arrogance of the aristocratic Hylians. It had taken Shiek’s father many years of strife and negotiations, some of which was at the point of a spear, before the before the proud aquatic race swore allegiance to the Hylian empire. The Zora had retained a great deal of sovereignty under Hylian rule, and had kept Gannondorf at bay when the empire fell into his clutches. Shiek had been instrumental in convincing the Zora king to join the alliance against Gannondorf’s rule. Shiek had to admit that deep down she did have a soft spot for the proud fishy people who, for all their posing, had often sacrificed their own self-interest in an effort to save Hyrule.

Now she was about to call on them to do so again.

There was no musical warp point to Zora fountain, which meant Shiek was left with three options. A nearly day-long jog across Hyrule Plains to the source of Zora River, or a quick warp to Lake Hylia, where Zora River emptied, and a brief swim to the warp point, or a warp to the Forest Temple, followed by jog over to the secondary warp point to the river’s source. The first option was out of the question, given how important time was. The second was actually the quickest, however it took her right by the lakeside laboratory, which wasn’t a place Shiek really wanted to see right now. So she decided on the third, which, as an added bonus, might inadvertently cause her to cross paths with Link again as he enter the Forest Temple. She also was really hoping to get a look at temple courtyard. Scela had been a great friend, and she needed to give her respects.

The courtyard was unoccupied as Shiek formed again on the warp pedestal. There was a feeling of evil seeping ever so faintly from inside the temple, causing Shiek to shudder. She glanced up to the Temple, and remembered that Saria had been in the temple for several days now. Shiek gulped and looked away. There was no reason to believe anything was left of the poor forest girl by now. She only knew one thing for sure; the Forest Sage already had to be in the temple if Link was back. Maybe Draq was the sage. It would explain why he wasn’t dead in the courtyard with Scela. Maybe Draq had awakened as a sage, defeated the Phantom Gannondorf and found a way into the temple to help Saria. That was a lot of maybes, but she could hope after all…

After spending some time with the grave and small marker for Scela that Toran had placed at the far side of the courtyard, Shiek headed to the warp point to Zora Fountain. A brief swim brought her to the waterfall that was the source of Zora River, but something was wrong. The instant she pulled herself out of the small pond the warp point ended in, she felt a VERY unseasonable artic chill. Never before in the history of Hyrule had it actually gotten cold enough to freeze Zora River, and certainly never during the spring. But now, rather then the flowing beauty of the water rushing over the edge of the cliff and down to the distant Lake Hylia, there was nothing but a sheet of ice. Down below her where the river should have been there was only a frozen path of water that still had ripples and waves, as though it had been flowing rapid one moment and frozen solid the next. If she didn’t know better Shiek would have guessed that someone had frozen the river through magic. There was only one person she knew who would possess the will and power to pull something like that off. First Gordon City, now Zora Fountain…

Gannondorf must have had a busy day.

As Shiek walked into the frozen cavern that of ice that Zora Fountain had become, she noticed a strange absence of Zoras. Generally once could hear their garglely voices call to each other echoing around the large cave, but the frozen spring was deathly silent as she approached the stairs that led to King Zola’s throne room. Looking down, she studied the ice, and soon gave a cry of shock and horror. There were figures trapped inside the thick layers of solid ice, unable even to move. Whatever Gannondorf had done, it had frozen the water so quickly the poor Zoras had not even had time to exit the pool. Shiek got the impression that the victims were still alive; sure they were trapped unmoving under the ice, but given their aquatic nature, they would still be able to breathe. Of course, there was the problem of starvation, but this couldn’t be more then a day old or she would have gotten wind of it. Quickening her pace, Shiek rushed over the frozen fountain to King Zola’s throne room. Gannondorf might be powerful, but King Zola was the Sage of Water. Sure he had been able to withstand the magic and could do something about it at the Water Temple at Lake Hylia.

Fate, it seemed, had other ideas.

King Zola was frozen solid in a block of ice on his throne. He wouldn’t be going anywhere. Shiek felt her heart grow colder then the frozen pool all around her. If Zola couldn’t get to the Water Temple, then Link couldn’t awaken him as a Sage, and without the help of all seven sages it would be impossible to defeat Gannondorf. Her hand reached out and rested on the block of ice, gazing in at King Zola’s sad eyes staring mournfully back at her. The ice around him was at least a foot thick at the thinnest parts, and Shiek knew there would be no way she could break him out without risking killing him. Trying hard to think of someway to fix the situation, Shiek felt her feet walk out the secret back entrance behind King Zola’s throne to the spring that actually was the source of Zora River.

Shiek stood on the small pier where the Jabba Jabba fish used to be tied down before Gannondorf’s minions killed it in a secret raid and looked out over the small lake. The pool wasn’t frozen, but there were large chunks of ice floating around in it. A freezing wind was blowing all around with a chilling howl. As she looked over to her right, Shiek noticed two of Gannondorf’s henchmen on a jut of land near the Great Fairy cave. It was a Lizardman and a Moblin, and they were standing over some kind of small bundle at their feet. Shiek looked closer and saw that it was a Zora, curled into a ball on the ground, trying to shield itself from vicious kicks from the Lizardman.

Time for a little hero work of my own, she thought, diving silently into the cold water and swimming over to the two villains.

She surfaced behind the big Moblin, and snuck up behind it. The Moblin was easily seven and a half feet tall, and very broad, so he totally blocked Shiek’s approach from the Lizardman standing opposite him. Moblins were big an immensely strong, but also decidedly stupid, and Shiek decided to use that to her advantage. She quickly jumped up placing a foot on the Moblin’s back, just above its waist. Pushing off the her foot, Shiek propelled herself high enough to vault over the Moblin’s thick shoulders, twisting and landing on her feet between the two thugs. The Lizardman gave a high-pitched screech and lunged at her, striking forward with its short sword. Shiek had been anticipating that the quick reflexes, but less then quick wits, of the Lizardman would give rise to this course of action. Ducking the blade, Shiek grabbed the Zora at her feet by the arm and rolled to the left, dragging her prize with her. As Shiek had hoped, the lunking Moblin had reacted a few seconds slower then his fellow. Bringing its club down in a whirling arc at where Shiek had landed, it connected smack onto the head of the lunging Lizardman. The reptilian villain crumpled with a bewildered squeak, undoubtedly not planning to get back up.

With the Lizardman gone, only the big Moblin remain a threat. Shiek left the unconscious Zora’s side and rolled over back in front of the Moblin, hoping to distract it from its former prisoner. The hulk of a minion was still staring dully at the crumpled Lizardman in front of it, obviously trying to figure out what had just happened. Shiek decided to enlighten it by flinging a few rocks of the Moblin. The grunted in surprise and pain as the few small rocks bounced off its head. Giving out a low bellow, the Moblin charged her, bringing down its club at her. Shiek rolled beneath the descending club stopping between the Moblin’s thick legs. The Moblin was totally confused, glancing about trying to figure out where its target had suddenly disappeared to. Moblins were not the sharpest tools in the shed. Jumping up behind the Moblin’s thick back, Shiek darted over to the fallen Zora. A young female looked to be around her age, Shiek couldn’t help shake the notion that she should remember who this was. Looping her arms around the Zora’s body, Shiek slipped into the water and began to kick her way to the far shore. Moblins might be stupid, but they were still big and too strong to take down without weapons; Shiek knew she could have punched at the big thug till doom’s day and would never have phased it. It stared dully at her over on the pier for a full two minutes before it figured out what had happened. Shiek drug the young Zora back into Zora Fountain to the very satisfying sound of the Moblin’s howls of rage.

The Zora was just starting come around as Shiek pulled her down the frozen stream. Apparently, the cold water had shaken her from unconsciousness, but she still looked a little dazed. Squatting down, Shiek helped to prop up the young Zora, who was still shaking her head to clear it.

“What happened here?” Shiek asked, still thinking she remembered the Zora from someplace.

“What happened? I’ll tell you what the-” her she inserted an interesting sting of words, “-happened. First off, Gannondorf shows up with like only a handful of minions and demands father’s allegiance. No respect what so ever, the-” here she inserted a colorful string of adjectives followed by a less then complimentary noun. Shiek realized that this must be Princess Rutto, daughter of King Zola. That would explain why she thought she recognized the young Zora. They two of them had met when their fathers were celebrating the new peace nearly eleven years ago. Apparently, Rutto hadn’t gotten the memo about the new Hylian-Zora peace treaty, or decided to fight the final battle of it herself at the dinner in any rate. Shiek had never seen a ruder, more arrogant, attention demanding little snot in her life. Shiek had been forced to invite the Zora princess to every party she held, thanks to her father’s concern for diplomatic procedure. She had often felt that Rutto hated been there as much as she did inviting her. Probably King Zola was afraid it would seem rude to refuse to send his daughter to Princess Zelda’s countless balls and sleepovers.

“Second,” continued Rutto, obviously unaware that Shiek was thinking more about the past then the present, “he goes on to say some-” stuff? What’s wrong with the word stuff? “-I didn’t understand and slam his fist onto the ground. Next thing I know the whole damn place is covered in ice, including father. Well, naturally I started screaming at them to-” why didn’t she just say ‘get out of here’? “Third, those two-” well, I guess that IS an applicable word “take me out back because Gannondorf is-” do I curse this much? “-that I didn’t freeze over or something and start working me over. Then I guess you showed up.” Shiek was almost surprised the list of wrongs didn’t end with a curse. Rutto looked her up and down as she sat up straighter.

“Who are you anyway… I’m Princess Rutto by the way.”

“Name’s Shiek. You could say I’m a bit of a rebel fighting the Gannondorf regime.”

“Yeah, father’s mentioned you…” she gave Shiek a sidelong glance, “and don’t even think about it. I know a courageous, adventurous, and good-looking guy like you must have women throwing themselves at you all the time, but I’m already engaged.”

Shiek gagged, and tried desperately not to vomit. Having Malon hit on you was one thing, having a psychotic fish woman who had gone out of her way to ruin your tenth birthday sleepover was another issue altogether.

“Um, well… speaking of him,” began Shiek gesturing out towards Zora Fountain, “he is probably frozen under the water.”

“Nah, he’s not a Zora, and he hasn’t been around in about seven years…”

Sounds like a vaguely familiar relationship, Shiek thought with a bit of a smirk. Standing she looked back at the frozen figure of King Zola and felt her heart sink again. Clever banter aside, they were still in a bad way.

“Well-” she emphasized with another less then princess-like word, “-this, I’m not sure what Gannondorf did, but I know where to fix it… the Water Temple!”

Shiek tried her best not to start in surprise.

“Uh, you go to the Water Temple?”

“Oh, all the time… I know all the secret rooms and stuff like that… there’s this one spell for thawing the ‘the ice of evil’… I think that it might be able to break the curse Gannondorf hit us with. By the way, if my fiancée shows up and want’s to help, tell him he can find some lead weighted boots to help him get into the temple.”

Shiek nodded and watched as Rutto pulled out a small flute and played the Water Temple warp song. Rauru had always contested that King Zola must be the water Sage, and Shiek had just assumed he always knew. But maybe, as Impa said, Rauru had a tendency to believe what he wanted to believe.

All’s that she knew was Rutto struck her as a very weird Sage…