Seven Years part 23
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Link was headed to Zora Fountain, but he would need to follow Ruto to Water Temple in order awaken the Water Sage and unfreeze the Zora nation. As much as she might like to give him some room right now, Shiek needed to give Link the hunt down Link in the iced over caves and give him the Water Temple warp song. Pulling out her harp, she pulled the first few cords of the Forest Minuet to whisk herself to the Lost Woods and its warp point to Zora Fountain.
As Shiek entered King Zola’s throne room, she heard Navi’s voice echoing out from the back of the room in the hall that led to the caves that surrounded the lake where she rescued Princess Ruto. She had figured he would beat her here, but that would make it easier to locate him anyway. She darted after the sound, trying to stay close without actually entering view; and, given what she knew about Link’s combat ability, that meant not staying close at all. She walked out on the dock that jutted out into the lake just in time to see Link leap from a large chunk of ice floating in the lake to the entrance of the caves. Leaping to the first ice block, Shiek made to follow. When her feet hit the ice, Shiek felt herself begin to slide. Cursing, she flailed desperately, seeking something to grab, but there was nothing to grab and the ice began to slip down on her side under the added weight.
Sheik hit the water with a splash, and felt it instantly soaked her with its chilling rush. Gasping in a sharp breath, Shiek nearly struck out for the far wall where Link had disappeared. She had only gone about half way when she realized that there was no way she could scale the wall up to the cave… she was going to have to swim back to the dock and try jumping from one frozen chunk of ice to another again.
The processes of reaching the cave eventually took three soakings and a good thirty minutes. Shiek was sopping and cold by the time she entered the cave, teeth chattering in the near artic chill. She walked cautiously through the cave, glancing at her strange disfigured reflection in the ice-covered walls. Shiek had never been in the caves before, and it was a bit unnerving to venture into one of the only places in Hyrule she had yet to explore; especially with the ice distorting everything. After following several twisting passages, and completely losing all sense of direction, Shiek happed upon a large cavern that looked like it housed what must have been a sizable pond before the freezing. At the far side of cavern stood Link, pulling something out of a large chest. Swallowing hard, Shiek stepped closer, wondering how things would go this time.
“Hey Link,” Shiek said, voice catching slightly; given the circumstances it seemed better that she refrain from her usual entrance.
He turned and gave a half-smile, as though his mind were really on something else.
“Yeah, hey…”
He was wearing a Zora Tunic, a magical cloth that gave a regular Hylian the ability to breath under water. It was pretty much the same deal as a Gordon Tunic: vastly useful, vastly rare, and vastly overpriced. Shiek was glad Link had found one somewhere, because he’d be needing it for the next temple. And besides, its dark blue coloring set off his sapphire eyes quite vividly.
“These boots have iron on them. Any idea why I was supposed to come get them?”
“HEY LINK,” Navi broke in “WASN’T THERE SOMETHING YOU WERE GOING TO SAY?”
Link sighed, and nodded.
“Yeah, I remember Navi… I was going to wait for a more opportune moment, but since you ruined it; Shiek, I’m sorry about the whole fight thing, you didn’t deserve it. As you said, you’ve lost a lot too, and I don’t really have the right to come back after seven years of absence and say the things I said. I told Navi as we were riding over here that I feel horrible for all the things that happened to people like you while I was gone. See, Princess Zelda and I started messing with things we really didn’t understand… we caused all this, and then neither of us were around to help clean it up. I mean, she probably has a good reason, she’s the last of the royal line and needs to be alive when Gannondorf dies after all, Impa’s probably got her under lock and key. But me, I just slept through it all. Damn, I’ve been such a loser, and then I try to make up for it by ridiculing good people like you who’ve had to live through this hell. I really blew it man… sorry.”
Shiek was taken aback. Maybe Navi was right; maybe Link wasn’t that horrid. After all, it couldn’t be easy to go through the guilt Link was obviously feeling. Moreover, going to sleep at thirteen and waking to find yourself twenty had to be a shock to the system, on a hormonal level alone…
“It’s ok Link… just forget about it, ok? You wanted to know about the boots? They’ll help you in a lot of ways. For starters they will pull you to the bottom of Lake Hylia which, in conjunction with your Zora Tunic, will allow you to enter the Water Temple.”
“Is that around here?” Link asked, gesturing back towards the cave entrance.
“No, but-”
“But you have a ga- uh- a song to get me there…”
“Right,” Shiek smiled slightly. He might suck at being less sarcastic, but at least he was trying.
“Time flows on unendingly. Fate is like a vast lake, yet even-”
“Goddess! Shiek look out!”
Shiek ducked under Link’s blade as it slashed above her in a level sweep. She heard bone snap behind her, and realize Link must have just decapitated a Skultoid. Whirling in her crouched position, Shiek watched two more of the skeletons drop to the floor, brandishing heavy weaponry and armor.
“You want to take the ugly one?” Link asked, holding the large Biggeron out in an open fighting stance.
“Uh, neither of them seem overly pretty-”
“Good, let’s go!”
Link darted at the Skultoid on the left, sword back for a strike, hands at waist level. Being unarmed, Shiek was less willing to just throw herself at the remaining minion. Skipping in, she tossed a left jab at the Skultoid. Predictably, it jerked up its shield, to guard itself from the blow. Shiek pressed the advantage by ducking in and stamping hard on the skeleton’s ankle, and was rewarded by a terrific snap. Jerking back up with the knee of the same leg she connected solidly with the side of the Skultoid’s knee, fracturing it easily in its off-balanced position. Heedless of the fact that both its legs had just been incapitated, the Skultoid swung out with its scimitar as it sank down to its knees. Shiek quickly rolled out to the way of the stroke and darted behind the big skeleton. Wrapping her arms around the skull, Shiek yanked hard, snapping the neck. The Skultoid’s body crumpled to the floor, and Shiek quickly glanced to see if Link needed help. She gasped in surprise.
“Wha?”
“Nice moves, very cool!”
He was standing in the wreckage of not one, but three Skultoids. A wide grin was on his face, Link was leaning causally on the handle of his sword.
“I take it you fought these kind of things before?”
“Uh, yeah,” Shiek said, still wondering where the other two Skultoids had come from, “you can’t spend much time fighting Gannondorf without meeting bonies sooner then later… where the other two come from?”
“Dropped down from the ceiling just as I killed the first one. Sorry that I didn’t leave you one, but hey, you snooze you loose, right?”
Shiek flushed slightly, and shrugged.
“That’s ok… I’m better when I sneak up on things, so I don’t care.”
“More the assassin ninja type, eh?” Link asked, bending to pick up a few rupies the skeletons had dropped.
“Something like that,” Shiek said, beginning to smile. It was nice that Link was starting to recognize her contributions.
“Well, like I said, I’d love to have you around for the next temple… Obviously you know how to handle yourself in a fight, even if you are a little slow…” he finished with a smirk.
“Sorry, only someone with a Zora Tunic could manage to navigate the Water Temple. And mine was destroyed in a most unfortunate accident about two years ago.”
Shiek taught Link the Serenade of Water and watched as he warped off to the temple. Turning, she walked out of the cave unable to repress a small smile. It was a shame that Scela had unwittingly trashed her Zora Tunic; she would have loved to continue on with Link.
Shiek wondered what she might do while waiting for Link to figure his way through the virtual maze that was the Water Temple. The most pressing thing seemed to be helping the newly liberated Gordons get their city back in order; also, Impa would probably be in that area. Strumming a few strands on her harp, Shiek whisked herself to the Fire temple.
As Shiek entered the throne room of Gordon City through the hidden entrance the sound of quite a hubbub assailed her. Obviously the restoration on Gordon City was already in full swing. Stepping out into the mass confusion that was going on in the main cavern, Shiek couldn’t help but wish that her team was there. This thronging mob was going to be quite a handful, and extra crowd control numbers would be sorely appreciated before the day was out. Gordons were everywhere, pushing, jostling, grabbing; all in all the rioting mob seemed to be doing more damage to the cavern the Gannondorf’s armies. After spending a good twenty minuets worming her way through the crowd, Shiek reached the second level, where things seemed slightly more organized. After walking along the crowded street for a bit she saw why: Impa was shouting directions from on top of a crate.
“I SAID RESIDENTS ONLY ON THE LEVEL AT THIS TIME!”
“MISTRESS IMPA! WE NEED TO GET THROUGH OVER HERE!”
“MISTRESS IMPA! SHOPS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE LEVEL NEED TO REPAIR!”
“RESIDENTS ONLY! SHOPS LATER!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
Shiek skillfully dodged through several hoarding bodies to the box Impa was standing on. Reaching up, she tugged at her guardian’s ankle, realizing that there was no way Impa would hear her over the roar of the crowd. Impa growled, and glared down at her newest tormenter, but her face softened when she saw Shiek grinning back at her.
“Shiek, thanks the goddesses you are here!” she shouted, trying to be heard over the hubbub, “the lower levels are utter chaos right now, we can not do anything about it at this time though; we would need an army of crowd control to stop the riot going on.”
“I know,” Shiek shouted back, having to grab onto the crate to keep from being swept away and trampled in the masses, “I just came from there. I’d give anything to have my team back right now… Plarth’s too, actually.”
“Well, we can not bring back the fallen, but Toran is desperately trying to help the hoards of Gordons flooding into the residential level upstairs. They are coming both up from the lower floors and in through the main city entrance on his level. See if you can help him.”
The top level was not as chaotic as the lowest one that Shiek had entered, but it was close and looked close to spiraling quickly downward. Toran never had been known for his organizational skills, and the top level was the by far the largest, which lent to the growing confusion. Toran was waving franticly, trying to be heard over the mob.
“Uh, hey guys, uh, could we all calm down a bit?”
Toran’s words bounced off the crowd like water off a rock. Groaning, his arm fell limply to his sides, hazel eyes displaying complete loss and frustration. Shiek thought he actually looked on the verge of tears.
“Toran, for the love of Narue, get the hell off of that box,” Shiek said, jumping up next to him, “do us both a favor and do something you’re actually good at, like getting the Gordon kids out of this mad house and entertained. Or better yet, help move some of these people back into their homes.”
Toran’s arms wrapped around her, a quaver in his voice that belied his near hysterical state.
“Oh Shiek! Oh thank Naria! We so needed someone who knew what they were doing up here. I was about to lose it!”
“Yes, I see that, now we need a plan… is there any system to this?”
“No, they won’t listen… they’re on the verge of rioting and there’s nothing we can do about it!”
Glancing around the chaotic masses, Shiek quickly assessed the situation for what might be the best course of action.
“Toran, find five or six of the larger Gordon who seem to be in control of themselves. Have two of them block off the entrance up from the lower level and two block off the main entrance to the city. We need to deal with the people already here before more come in. Take the other ones and start helping people get in their homes and situated. Tell them once they get there that they are not allowed to leave their homes until an all clear is sounded. We HAVE to get people off the road and into their homes. Go now!”
Toran nodded and darted off. Shiek stood straighter on the box and began to shout out some direction. Sealing off the level might back up Impa a bit, but they could deal with the second level later, and if they didn’t get this crowd under control the job would be impossible.
It took about an hour for Shiek to bring a semblance order to the crowd. Within three hours the level was moving quite efficiently, and Toran’s little moving team was making real headway. Shiek gave the order to slowly let more Gordons trickle in, and before long the upper level was in a reasonable order, its families tucked into their homes.
Shiek, Toran, and a few of the Gordons that were helping move people trekked down to Impa’s level and began the process all over again. With the aid of extra Gordons and Impa, the smaller second level was over relatively quickly. After conferring with Impa, Shiek determined that the lowest level, which was mostly a commercial area, was a lost cause for the day. The mob on the lower level had reduced itself to a riot. Shiek ordered the level sealed off, and left Toran in charge of overseeing the guard. The whole process had been exhausting, and the sun was setting as Impa and Shiek exited Gordon City.
“Goddess!” Shiek half groaned half yawned as she stretched expansively, “That was a job and a half, and it’s gonn’a all happen again in the morning…”
“True,” Impa said, standing in her usual ramrod position, “but Toran will be a massive help with the clean up. He might not be able to bring a crowd to order, but he is always willing to clean and is good enough at leading a small group. A tireless worker too…”
“He sure is,” Shiek nodded, “I could always count on him to keep going when most people dropped… like now, no way would I be able to deal with heading up the guard detail.”
“Speaking of dropping, there are a few things more I must do before I can retire. You will be coming to my house tonight correct?”
“Yeah, but I wanted to go de-stress a bit…”
“Certainly princess, though please return before it gets too late.”
“Uh, ok… why the concern?” Impa generally didn’t generally go out of her way to offer this command.
“Well, we started a chat this morning, and it seems like forever since, well…”
Shiek couldn’t resist a giggle at Impa’s uncharacteristic un-poised and hesitant manner.
“Are you trying to say you miss talking to me?” in all honesty Shiek was missing it too; it had been a good three weeks since they had shared a discussion on anything.
Impa made a show of pulling herself straighter and crossing her arms, putting an unconcerned look on her face.
“I merely think it would be good for us to get on the same page about things that are going on. For tactical purposes of course…”
“Of course Impa… See you around!”
Turning Shiek jogged happily out of the village.
Link was headed to Zora Fountain, but he would need to follow Ruto to Water Temple in order awaken the Water Sage and unfreeze the Zora nation. As much as she might like to give him some room right now, Shiek needed to give Link the hunt down Link in the iced over caves and give him the Water Temple warp song. Pulling out her harp, she pulled the first few cords of the Forest Minuet to whisk herself to the Lost Woods and its warp point to Zora Fountain.
As Shiek entered King Zola’s throne room, she heard Navi’s voice echoing out from the back of the room in the hall that led to the caves that surrounded the lake where she rescued Princess Ruto. She had figured he would beat her here, but that would make it easier to locate him anyway. She darted after the sound, trying to stay close without actually entering view; and, given what she knew about Link’s combat ability, that meant not staying close at all. She walked out on the dock that jutted out into the lake just in time to see Link leap from a large chunk of ice floating in the lake to the entrance of the caves. Leaping to the first ice block, Shiek made to follow. When her feet hit the ice, Shiek felt herself begin to slide. Cursing, she flailed desperately, seeking something to grab, but there was nothing to grab and the ice began to slip down on her side under the added weight.
Sheik hit the water with a splash, and felt it instantly soaked her with its chilling rush. Gasping in a sharp breath, Shiek nearly struck out for the far wall where Link had disappeared. She had only gone about half way when she realized that there was no way she could scale the wall up to the cave… she was going to have to swim back to the dock and try jumping from one frozen chunk of ice to another again.
The processes of reaching the cave eventually took three soakings and a good thirty minutes. Shiek was sopping and cold by the time she entered the cave, teeth chattering in the near artic chill. She walked cautiously through the cave, glancing at her strange disfigured reflection in the ice-covered walls. Shiek had never been in the caves before, and it was a bit unnerving to venture into one of the only places in Hyrule she had yet to explore; especially with the ice distorting everything. After following several twisting passages, and completely losing all sense of direction, Shiek happed upon a large cavern that looked like it housed what must have been a sizable pond before the freezing. At the far side of cavern stood Link, pulling something out of a large chest. Swallowing hard, Shiek stepped closer, wondering how things would go this time.
“Hey Link,” Shiek said, voice catching slightly; given the circumstances it seemed better that she refrain from her usual entrance.
He turned and gave a half-smile, as though his mind were really on something else.
“Yeah, hey…”
He was wearing a Zora Tunic, a magical cloth that gave a regular Hylian the ability to breath under water. It was pretty much the same deal as a Gordon Tunic: vastly useful, vastly rare, and vastly overpriced. Shiek was glad Link had found one somewhere, because he’d be needing it for the next temple. And besides, its dark blue coloring set off his sapphire eyes quite vividly.
“These boots have iron on them. Any idea why I was supposed to come get them?”
“HEY LINK,” Navi broke in “WASN’T THERE SOMETHING YOU WERE GOING TO SAY?”
Link sighed, and nodded.
“Yeah, I remember Navi… I was going to wait for a more opportune moment, but since you ruined it; Shiek, I’m sorry about the whole fight thing, you didn’t deserve it. As you said, you’ve lost a lot too, and I don’t really have the right to come back after seven years of absence and say the things I said. I told Navi as we were riding over here that I feel horrible for all the things that happened to people like you while I was gone. See, Princess Zelda and I started messing with things we really didn’t understand… we caused all this, and then neither of us were around to help clean it up. I mean, she probably has a good reason, she’s the last of the royal line and needs to be alive when Gannondorf dies after all, Impa’s probably got her under lock and key. But me, I just slept through it all. Damn, I’ve been such a loser, and then I try to make up for it by ridiculing good people like you who’ve had to live through this hell. I really blew it man… sorry.”
Shiek was taken aback. Maybe Navi was right; maybe Link wasn’t that horrid. After all, it couldn’t be easy to go through the guilt Link was obviously feeling. Moreover, going to sleep at thirteen and waking to find yourself twenty had to be a shock to the system, on a hormonal level alone…
“It’s ok Link… just forget about it, ok? You wanted to know about the boots? They’ll help you in a lot of ways. For starters they will pull you to the bottom of Lake Hylia which, in conjunction with your Zora Tunic, will allow you to enter the Water Temple.”
“Is that around here?” Link asked, gesturing back towards the cave entrance.
“No, but-”
“But you have a ga- uh- a song to get me there…”
“Right,” Shiek smiled slightly. He might suck at being less sarcastic, but at least he was trying.
“Time flows on unendingly. Fate is like a vast lake, yet even-”
“Goddess! Shiek look out!”
Shiek ducked under Link’s blade as it slashed above her in a level sweep. She heard bone snap behind her, and realize Link must have just decapitated a Skultoid. Whirling in her crouched position, Shiek watched two more of the skeletons drop to the floor, brandishing heavy weaponry and armor.
“You want to take the ugly one?” Link asked, holding the large Biggeron out in an open fighting stance.
“Uh, neither of them seem overly pretty-”
“Good, let’s go!”
Link darted at the Skultoid on the left, sword back for a strike, hands at waist level. Being unarmed, Shiek was less willing to just throw herself at the remaining minion. Skipping in, she tossed a left jab at the Skultoid. Predictably, it jerked up its shield, to guard itself from the blow. Shiek pressed the advantage by ducking in and stamping hard on the skeleton’s ankle, and was rewarded by a terrific snap. Jerking back up with the knee of the same leg she connected solidly with the side of the Skultoid’s knee, fracturing it easily in its off-balanced position. Heedless of the fact that both its legs had just been incapitated, the Skultoid swung out with its scimitar as it sank down to its knees. Shiek quickly rolled out to the way of the stroke and darted behind the big skeleton. Wrapping her arms around the skull, Shiek yanked hard, snapping the neck. The Skultoid’s body crumpled to the floor, and Shiek quickly glanced to see if Link needed help. She gasped in surprise.
“Wha?”
“Nice moves, very cool!”
He was standing in the wreckage of not one, but three Skultoids. A wide grin was on his face, Link was leaning causally on the handle of his sword.
“I take it you fought these kind of things before?”
“Uh, yeah,” Shiek said, still wondering where the other two Skultoids had come from, “you can’t spend much time fighting Gannondorf without meeting bonies sooner then later… where the other two come from?”
“Dropped down from the ceiling just as I killed the first one. Sorry that I didn’t leave you one, but hey, you snooze you loose, right?”
Shiek flushed slightly, and shrugged.
“That’s ok… I’m better when I sneak up on things, so I don’t care.”
“More the assassin ninja type, eh?” Link asked, bending to pick up a few rupies the skeletons had dropped.
“Something like that,” Shiek said, beginning to smile. It was nice that Link was starting to recognize her contributions.
“Well, like I said, I’d love to have you around for the next temple… Obviously you know how to handle yourself in a fight, even if you are a little slow…” he finished with a smirk.
“Sorry, only someone with a Zora Tunic could manage to navigate the Water Temple. And mine was destroyed in a most unfortunate accident about two years ago.”
Shiek taught Link the Serenade of Water and watched as he warped off to the temple. Turning, she walked out of the cave unable to repress a small smile. It was a shame that Scela had unwittingly trashed her Zora Tunic; she would have loved to continue on with Link.
Shiek wondered what she might do while waiting for Link to figure his way through the virtual maze that was the Water Temple. The most pressing thing seemed to be helping the newly liberated Gordons get their city back in order; also, Impa would probably be in that area. Strumming a few strands on her harp, Shiek whisked herself to the Fire temple.
As Shiek entered the throne room of Gordon City through the hidden entrance the sound of quite a hubbub assailed her. Obviously the restoration on Gordon City was already in full swing. Stepping out into the mass confusion that was going on in the main cavern, Shiek couldn’t help but wish that her team was there. This thronging mob was going to be quite a handful, and extra crowd control numbers would be sorely appreciated before the day was out. Gordons were everywhere, pushing, jostling, grabbing; all in all the rioting mob seemed to be doing more damage to the cavern the Gannondorf’s armies. After spending a good twenty minuets worming her way through the crowd, Shiek reached the second level, where things seemed slightly more organized. After walking along the crowded street for a bit she saw why: Impa was shouting directions from on top of a crate.
“I SAID RESIDENTS ONLY ON THE LEVEL AT THIS TIME!”
“MISTRESS IMPA! WE NEED TO GET THROUGH OVER HERE!”
“MISTRESS IMPA! SHOPS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE LEVEL NEED TO REPAIR!”
“RESIDENTS ONLY! SHOPS LATER!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
“MISTRESS IMPA!”
Shiek skillfully dodged through several hoarding bodies to the box Impa was standing on. Reaching up, she tugged at her guardian’s ankle, realizing that there was no way Impa would hear her over the roar of the crowd. Impa growled, and glared down at her newest tormenter, but her face softened when she saw Shiek grinning back at her.
“Shiek, thanks the goddesses you are here!” she shouted, trying to be heard over the hubbub, “the lower levels are utter chaos right now, we can not do anything about it at this time though; we would need an army of crowd control to stop the riot going on.”
“I know,” Shiek shouted back, having to grab onto the crate to keep from being swept away and trampled in the masses, “I just came from there. I’d give anything to have my team back right now… Plarth’s too, actually.”
“Well, we can not bring back the fallen, but Toran is desperately trying to help the hoards of Gordons flooding into the residential level upstairs. They are coming both up from the lower floors and in through the main city entrance on his level. See if you can help him.”
The top level was not as chaotic as the lowest one that Shiek had entered, but it was close and looked close to spiraling quickly downward. Toran never had been known for his organizational skills, and the top level was the by far the largest, which lent to the growing confusion. Toran was waving franticly, trying to be heard over the mob.
“Uh, hey guys, uh, could we all calm down a bit?”
Toran’s words bounced off the crowd like water off a rock. Groaning, his arm fell limply to his sides, hazel eyes displaying complete loss and frustration. Shiek thought he actually looked on the verge of tears.
“Toran, for the love of Narue, get the hell off of that box,” Shiek said, jumping up next to him, “do us both a favor and do something you’re actually good at, like getting the Gordon kids out of this mad house and entertained. Or better yet, help move some of these people back into their homes.”
Toran’s arms wrapped around her, a quaver in his voice that belied his near hysterical state.
“Oh Shiek! Oh thank Naria! We so needed someone who knew what they were doing up here. I was about to lose it!”
“Yes, I see that, now we need a plan… is there any system to this?”
“No, they won’t listen… they’re on the verge of rioting and there’s nothing we can do about it!”
Glancing around the chaotic masses, Shiek quickly assessed the situation for what might be the best course of action.
“Toran, find five or six of the larger Gordon who seem to be in control of themselves. Have two of them block off the entrance up from the lower level and two block off the main entrance to the city. We need to deal with the people already here before more come in. Take the other ones and start helping people get in their homes and situated. Tell them once they get there that they are not allowed to leave their homes until an all clear is sounded. We HAVE to get people off the road and into their homes. Go now!”
Toran nodded and darted off. Shiek stood straighter on the box and began to shout out some direction. Sealing off the level might back up Impa a bit, but they could deal with the second level later, and if they didn’t get this crowd under control the job would be impossible.
It took about an hour for Shiek to bring a semblance order to the crowd. Within three hours the level was moving quite efficiently, and Toran’s little moving team was making real headway. Shiek gave the order to slowly let more Gordons trickle in, and before long the upper level was in a reasonable order, its families tucked into their homes.
Shiek, Toran, and a few of the Gordons that were helping move people trekked down to Impa’s level and began the process all over again. With the aid of extra Gordons and Impa, the smaller second level was over relatively quickly. After conferring with Impa, Shiek determined that the lowest level, which was mostly a commercial area, was a lost cause for the day. The mob on the lower level had reduced itself to a riot. Shiek ordered the level sealed off, and left Toran in charge of overseeing the guard. The whole process had been exhausting, and the sun was setting as Impa and Shiek exited Gordon City.
“Goddess!” Shiek half groaned half yawned as she stretched expansively, “That was a job and a half, and it’s gonn’a all happen again in the morning…”
“True,” Impa said, standing in her usual ramrod position, “but Toran will be a massive help with the clean up. He might not be able to bring a crowd to order, but he is always willing to clean and is good enough at leading a small group. A tireless worker too…”
“He sure is,” Shiek nodded, “I could always count on him to keep going when most people dropped… like now, no way would I be able to deal with heading up the guard detail.”
“Speaking of dropping, there are a few things more I must do before I can retire. You will be coming to my house tonight correct?”
“Yeah, but I wanted to go de-stress a bit…”
“Certainly princess, though please return before it gets too late.”
“Uh, ok… why the concern?” Impa generally didn’t generally go out of her way to offer this command.
“Well, we started a chat this morning, and it seems like forever since, well…”
Shiek couldn’t resist a giggle at Impa’s uncharacteristic un-poised and hesitant manner.
“Are you trying to say you miss talking to me?” in all honesty Shiek was missing it too; it had been a good three weeks since they had shared a discussion on anything.
Impa made a show of pulling herself straighter and crossing her arms, putting an unconcerned look on her face.
“I merely think it would be good for us to get on the same page about things that are going on. For tactical purposes of course…”
“Of course Impa… See you around!”
Turning Shiek jogged happily out of the village.
posted by Czar at 12:24 PM
5 Comments:
Well, I am interested by this section. It seems a tad non sequitor in the sense of Link spontaneously being nice. Whenever that happens in reality, you get the feeling they could turn back to being mean just as easily.
I was also dissapointed in Toran's seeming inability to lead during the crisis, leaving Shiek (more or less) to have to do everything. This is clearly deliberate in the writing, and it seems we have passed the high water point of Toran's stature in Shiek's eyes. Link is inching up while Toran is shrinking. What does it mean??
Do you like how I always comment on the relationship aspects and not the actual story development, per se? :-P I guess that my ignorance in Hyrulian history draws my thoughts to more universal concepts.
Didn't read it.... but i'll leave a comment anyway.
Glad to hear you and the family weren't blowed away (or up) by any tornadoes. Call me sometime.
Your Roommate
You already have my thoughts on this section, but I shall also put them down here. I would encourage you to write a scene previous to when Link and Shiek have their "talk". It was hard for me to believe that Link was not just out-right lying when he said he was a fool.
Also, why did Shiek go into the caves unarmed??
Shiek is never armed... so that should not be new... Shiek was trained in combat by Impa, a shiekah. The Shiekah believe that primary combat training should be without weapons as a warrior cannot always count on having them. The more traditional Shiekahs never train or travel with weapons, prefering stealth and hand skill. There was a branch of Shiekah that dedicated them to armed combat do to a growing role for them in the Hylian military, Impa's husband was one such of these. However, these Shiekah trained and prefected a blend of Shiekah millitary arts and Hylian weapons, not develop actual Shiekah weapons. I was going to put all this in the story about Impa's earily life that runs up until when Princess Zelda is born.
BTW Leeann
I see your concern about Toran, but think, would Link do any better? Only if better involved killing something (Link's speciality) Shiek even says that Toran is good at leading a small group, he's just not intemidating enough to get hoards of people to listen. Link has never lead a team of ANYTHINg, and it not really in his nature to do so... Different people have different gifts...
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