Seven Years Part 16, and 16.33 and part 16.66

Hey everybody... one of the longer entries, thought you all earned it. Here it is!

Shiek was jogging back across Hyrule Plain, along the by now very low Zora River, trying to decided where she needed to head next.

She needed to report to Impa about the ice problem, she needed to see how Toran was doing in Gordon City, and she needed to catch Link before he actually got inside the Forest Temple. All three objectives lay more or less in the direction of the village, so that was the direction she had decided on. The sun had set soon after she had left the frozen waste of Zora Fountain, and Shiek was betting she would arrive in the village around midnight. She wondered where Link was operating out of, and wished she still had the cave to offer him; Keef had picked a very inconvenient time to stumble onto their hideout.

The jog to the village was entirely uneventful, and Shiek hit the village within her estimate. Absorbed with her thoughts about Link, Shiek lost her normal awareness of her surroundings. As she crossed the bridge over Zora River to the village entrance, Shiek ran smack into the last person she had expected to encounter: Indigo, owner and head of Lon Lon Ranch.

The short, thin, man was leading a large horse by the reins, and Shiek figured he must have been returning from attempting to sell it in the village. He weasel-like eyes narrowed as Shiek quickly dodged out of his way. It had been many years since Shiek had last seen the ranch owner, but she noticed her impression that Indigo looked like a skinny overgrown rat was still accurate. He was obviously in a bad mood, grumbling under his breath as he brushed by her.

“Stupid drunk…” Indigo muttered, more to himself then her, “I turned that ranch into the respected establishment it is now… it’s mine by Gannondorf’s order… why do I even bother with that worthless louse of a drunk Talon… besides, you’d think Gannondorf could pay for all the beer that sluggard downs, he needs me in that ranch after all…”

Shiek watched as Indigo swung into the saddle of the horse, still grumbling. Without so much as a word to her, he headed off in the direction of the ranch at a quick clip.

Ok, THAT was random, Shiek thought, staring after the cold-blooded Indigo. Shrugging she turned and headed into the village.

As expected, no one was actually about at one in the morning. Reaching a tree near the center of the village, Shiek noticed a tall lanky figure strolling towards the entrance gate. His path would bring him right by her, so Shiek slipped behind the tree to wait for the stranger to draw near. As he approached, Shiek felt her heart skip a beat. It was Link! Maybe she would have some alone time with after all. Waiting until Link had just past her, Shiek jumped out behind him. He looked so cute when he whirled around, all dramatic in his “god of righteous vengeance” pose.

“Shiek! What the hell are you trying to do? Do you want me to cut your head off?”

Laughing lightly, Shiek took a step closer to him and crossed her arms.

“You might not find me so easily beaten, hero. I am a feared warrior too you know.”

“Whatever,” Link said shrugging again. Holding up a small strange object, he looked questioningly at Shiek, “this hookshot thing I got off of Dampe’s ghost, is this what I need to get into the Forest Temple?”

Shiek gazed in wonder at the ancient object. The small half magical half mechanical tool had been fashioned by the earliest of the Hylian alchemists, and no one had ever been able to duplicate it. It was indeed what he would need to enter the temple.

“Yeah, this is what I sent you here for,” Shiek said whishing that she had such an item too.

“Great, then I guess I’ll be seeing you,” Link said turning to head for the village gate.

“You aren’t headed to the temple right now, are you?”

“Um, yeah?” the sapphire eyes glanced back at her as though it was the dumbest question he had ever heard.

“It’s the middle of the night Link!”

“Suppose I should be sleeping, huh? Well, no thanks… I’m already seven years behind cleaning up somebody else’s mess…” he paused, then gave Shiek a critical glace, “and why are you out here again? I think I missed that part…”

“I came out here to check on a friend,” she said gesturing towards the entrance to Death Mountain.

“Wish I had time for that, but some of us have jobs to do,” Link replied, a harsh edge to his sarcasm for the first time.

“Link,” Shiek began, feeling a blush creep across her face under her mask, “this is a close friend of mine who might be in danger…”

“You think my friends aren’t in danger?” Link exploded, an angry flush sweeping over his face. Shiek was visibly taken aback, and Link’s deep blue eyes softened somewhat.

“Sorry Shiek… it’s just I haven’t seen her in seven years and I’m worried sick. I shouldn’t snap at you though, you’re doing the right thing for you…” sinking into a squatting position he stared glumly into space, “I dreamed about her for seven years, and I don’t even have time to look for her. Honest man, this hero gig sucks bad…”

Shiek looked down at him and felt a surge of countless emotions. Link was worried about her! It was wonderful. It was also sickening, because Link wasn’t really worried about Shiek, he was worried about Princess Zelda, and she couldn’t let him know she was standing right there next to him. Giving a weak smile, Shiek sought to say something helpful.

“Look, Link, I’m sure everyone you’re worried about is fine. A guy like you hangs out with resourceful people, right? They’d find a way to lay low or stay alive even under Gannondorf’s very nose…”

Shrugging, Link rose to his feet.

“Whatever man… Look, I really need to get on with this, so see you around, ok?”

Part of Shiek wanted to grab Link and pull him down next to her again. To rip off her ludicrous disguise and tell him she was alright. To press herself into his arms and never let him go. But part of her couldn’t, and so she wavered, and in that moment he was gone. She was saddened that he had left, but then Impa’s words came back to her.

Link was born to fight, as was your friend Draq… I’m afraid you might be falling for someone who is not what you think…

Shiek shook her head to clear it. Link was right; he had to stay focused on defeating Gannondorf, and when that was done things could settle down. It wasn’t like he was destined to led the solitary life of a hero forever, just until he had awakened the sages and she had sealed away the vile wizard.

Yeah, just like that. Right? Right…

But it didn’t really feel right at all…

****

Toran exited Gordon City around midnight. He had spent several hours combing the large carven for survivors of the attack, but it seemed that Draq was every bit as thorough under mind control as he was under his own judgment. Looking out over the cliff to the lights of the village far below at the foot of the mountain, Toran felt a stab of despair. Gordon City had been the last bastion in every worse case scenario. Zora kingdom falling, village controlled, Greudo nation turning to Gannondorf, their plans had always ended with holding up in the fortress that was Gordon City and preparing for siege. But that was shot to piece now. Gordon City was a ghost town, and its former inhabitances were about to be fed to a very hungry dragon. Toran had to hand it to Gannondorf; he sure knew how to hit where it hurt the most.

As he overlooked the sleeping village, Toran became aware of a presence behind him. Given that an enemy would have rushed him by now, it wasn’t hard induce who the person might be.

“Now what Impa…” he murmured, still giving over the village, melancholy in his voice, “Gannondorf was able to take our stronghold…”

“And this makes you doubt?” her tone was level, voice soft as she remained behind him.

“That fortress was are last hope Impa,”

He felt her hand rest on his shoulder, and glanced back at her. Her large violet eyes looked him square in the face, and her voice held the sound of steel.

“The outcome of a war does not depend of how many castles one has, or how many men fill the ranks, but rest solely what manner of men fight. I would rather storm Gannondorf’s tower with Toran the Swordsman at my side then sit inside it with every Moblin and Dark Knuckle in Hyrule at my call if it meant he was my foe.”

Toran felt his heart rise at Impa’s words. It was ludicrous and insane, but for some reason Impa’s words made sense. He couldn’t help a wry from spreading over his face as he looked back at the last Shiekah Hyrule would ever know.

“I might just take you up on that someday, Impa…”

“The offer is always open, Toran,” she replied, letting an uncharacteristic smile play at her lips in response.

“The city is totally sacked,” Toran said, returning to the subject at hand as he turned back to the path down the mountain, “there’s no point in searching for survivors, I already swept the caves and known hiding spots. There is no one left.”

Impa nodded, falling in step behind him.

The two walked in silence for a bit each absorbed in their own thoughts. Toran kept coming back what Impa had told him. Dark and stoic, Impa was not overly given compliments; she was also one of Toran’s secret idols. Her words meant a great deal to him. After thinking along this line for a bit, Toran decided to break the silence with something he had always wanted to do, but had always been afraid of; ask Impa directly for advice on an issue. She had always seemed to high and lofty above him that he never had wanted to bother her with his little issues, but after tonight he felt she was telling him that he had earned enough respect to converse more as equals.

“Impa, there’s something I’ve been wondering about…”

His words seemed to jar her out of some inner world of thoughts because she almost started in surprise.

“What? Oh, um, yes?”

Toran felt a flush run across his face, and was glad the dark hid it so well from Impa. Now that he had actually started the conversation, he felt foolish over the topic. After hesitating for bit, he stumbled on.

“I know you’re really close to Shiek, and that she looks up to you a lot, almost like a mother, and I was just wondering,” he paused, taking a moment to work up some courage, “what you thought of the two of us… like together I mean…”

It sounded as thought Impa sighed, and she most certainly avoided looking directly at Toran.

“Well, Toran,” she began, and from the uncommon hesitancy in her tone, Toran could tell she was picking he words carefully, “to be honest, nothing would afford me more joy then to see you and Shiek strengthen your friendship, moving to the next level as it were, and I have done my best to sway her in that direction. However, you should know that Link, the Hero of Time, has returned to Hyrule just today, and Shiek has always held a place for him in her heart.”

Toran nearly fell over in shock. Not only was Impa in favor of his desire, but had even thrown her weight in behind it. He also was more then slightly disappointed to hear her confirm his fears; Shiek would probably never be swayed from Link’s side, especially now that he was here.

“Maybe it’s for the best though, I mean, he’s a legend after all and I’m just a punk. Link will be able to give her a much better life then I would.”

“That would not be a huge issue,” Impa said in what seemed to be a reassuring voice, “neither of you would be providing that much…”

“You mean because she’s the princess right?”

Starting, Impa turned and grabbed Toran’s shoulders.

“What did you say?”

“I just thought that you might have been saying since Shiek is really Princess Zelda that it doesn’t matter who hooks up with her because she is rich,” Toran explained, thrown off balance by Impa’s reaction.

“How did you know that?” she asked, with almost a harsh hint to her voice.

“Well, it wasn’t that hard to figure out,” he replied, thinking it might be best to cover for Shiek, “I mean, missing princess sought by vile tyrant, rebel girl who pretends to be male so no one will find her… you do the math…”

Impa considered this for a few moments, then nodded thoughtfully.

“You are insightful young Toran… perhaps too insightful,” she added with a wry grin. Turning back towards the village, she released his shoulder and started walking again. Toran kept pace, wondering if he was expected to say anything. As they reached the foot of the mountain and the village, he decided to at least offer some reassurance.

“Hey don’t worry Impa… I know Shiek secret is very important, for a lot of reasons. I would never say something that would cause word to reach Gannondorf oh where the last of the royals could be found.”

Impa smiled slightly and nodded. It was obvious there was no one else’s hands she would rather put Shiek into.

****

Shiek ran into the two people she was looking for near the entrance to the path up Death Mountain.

“How are things at Gordon City guys?” she asked as soon as they were close enough to talk quietly; no sense in cause panic among the villagers.

“Bad,” replied Toran in the same hushed tones, “we might want to let the Zoras know they don’t have to come… there’s nothing left up there.”

“Well, that’s my bad news,” Shiek replied, not surprised that things were lost in Gordon City, “The Zoras won’t be coming to Death Mountain, or this village, or anywhere until something drastic is done. The entirety of Zora Fountain, complete with all its inhabitances, is frozen under the ice.”

“What! Gannondorf doesn’t know any spells like that!” Toran cried, shock plain on his face.

“There is an old Shiekah spell that we used to preserve food by freezing it,” Impa explained, “augmented by the Triforce of Power it could produce effects similar to the ones Shiek describes.”

“Shiekah spell…” Shiek whispered.

“Boy, Keef sure gets around,” Toran growled, cracking his knuckles.

“There is some good news though,” Shiek went on, “Link is already on his way to the Forest Temple to awaken the first sage. If we can hold out just a little longer the seven sages will come together and seal the vile king away for good.”

“So what do we do in the mean time?” Toran asked. Shiek wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought she picked up a twinge of jealous frustration in his tone.

“I will go to Zora Fountain and see if there is anything I can do. You two should probably find a spot to lay low until this is over,” Impa said crossing her arms and obviously waiting for the protests she knew would follow.

“Impa,” Shiek felt a flare go off in her mind, “if you think I’m gonna sit back and wait the most critical stage of the battle out you’re more insane then Keef! It would be an insult to Draq, Scela, Plarth, and everyone else that gave their lives for my resistance.”

Impa couldn’t hide the proud smile that swept her face, and Shiek felt like she had finally won her guardian’s full approval. It was a good feeling.

“Very well then. I have many things I need to see to, but you two cannot help me. Princess, do what you must, but please be careful. Toran, I leave the guarding of her highness in your very capable hands. Right now though I order both of you back to a safe place for rest. It has been a very long day for all of us.”

Shiek was going to protest, but felt her legs scream their agreement with Impa. She had run all over Hyrule, fought Keef to the death, and run all over Hyrule again, and Toran looked positively wiped. It had been a busy day after all, she was forced to admit.

“Ok, we’ll go to Lon Lon. Be careful Impa, please… I don’t want to lose you so close to the end.”

Impa nodded and disappeared in her usual flash. As Shiek found herself suddenly alone with Toran, she felt slightly awkward. She knew full well it was because of Link, but was unsure of what to say to break the hanging silence.

“Well, um, we need to get on to Lon Lon if we plan on making it there before morning,” she finally offered. Toran nodded in agreement, but Shiek noticed the absence of verbal more then anything else. Not talking wasn’t like Toran at all.

Let’s just get back to Lon Lon and rest up, that’ll help a lot.