Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living ❯ Eternal Waters Flow Nought ( Chapter 5 )

-The mighty Zora…

Endowed by the sacred Goddesses with the most scenic and beautiful of all terrain, this marvelous race wields unknown powers. Powerful swimmers, they are believed to have evolved from tropical fish, and are very graceful and smooth in the way they carry themselves.

Many Zoras have become great warriors.

Some have become politicians.

Still others have become famous in local entertainment.

Customs of the civilization have survived for many hundreds of years.

One lone Zora sits in wait for her dream to come true, and for her hero to make his re-entrance into her life.



Chapter Five: Eternal Waters Flow Nought


Fields of Hyrule

As they galloped across the wind-swept field, the Hero of Time began to turn a sickly green. Only a few shades darker and it would be as green as the stylish new tunic Malon had given him as a farewell present.

The fresh smell of grass sprinkled with the dew of the morn was more then enough to make Link feel better and right at home.

Even though there was no battle, he still felt an eerie calm. A calm that he felt every time he rode across the plains. This moment of serenity could only come to him when the breeze whipped by his face softly.

This quiet calm that almost certainly meant he was about to have another one of his adventures.

"So Zeta, seems we are going back to your home," Dreck called from behind the aquatic female.

Poor Dreck was holding on for dear life as the steed galloped across the field. Lon Lon Ranch did not breed small ponies, only work and race horses. He was forced to sit behind Zeta and hold onto her waist as she whipped the reigns again and again.

It was quite uncomfortable

"Yes it does doesn't it?" answered the Zora. "I haven't seen it in so long I wonder if anyone will recognize me?"

Link's stomach again churned. He didn't want to be remembered. His only wish was to suddenly turn course and gallop away with Epona until he reached his old village.

But Zelda was going this way, and he would follow her till the end of time.

He had done that once before.

"Link, you're also very well known in Zora's Domain. Your valiant efforts have not gone unsung in our history," Zeta said, riding along side him.

"Yes…well I doubt I'll be remembered," he replied, slowing down Epona.

They were fast approaching the lake, and the horses were starting to get tired. In just a few more minutes they'd be there, and Link would have to live a nightmare.

He knew she would not forget. She had tricked him into that vow long ago. The girl had waited seven years for him before.

He knew she'd wait seven more.

That didn't really matter now. The past few days had been blissful since Zelda came back into his life, even though he had nearly died several times. She had saved him, helping him cheat death once more, and would help him through the coming ordeal.

Link would find a way to strive.









Gerudo Fortress

"YOU FOOL!" Gorkhan bellowed as he struck the young assassin hard with another shock of lightning.

"Sire, please stop! AHHHHHH!" A'lto screamed in agony as she felt the pain sear her flesh and sizzle her hair.

"You have failed me! The hero is now on his death bed because of your inadequacy as an archer!"

"My lord, he's not gonna die! AHHHH! The Princess Zelda is with him and she will not let the hero fall!"

The pain suddenly stopped and the Gerudo woman was momentarily spared to recuperate.

"Zelda…" whispered the evil king.

When he thought of the snide little princess, a devious grin curled his lip as he thought of how easy this had all become.

"You are spared. Enlist your fellow sisters and bring me the hero and the Princess alive!"

"Yes my liege," A'lto groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, trying to avoid the sensation to fall to the floor and into a coma.

She reached the door and vowed that once her duty was done, she would have her revenge. A'lto opened the huge wooden doors and slammed them tight, bracing herself against the doorframe.

"Wait and see Gorkhan, my sisters may pledge allegiance to you now, but I shall not be your lackey much longer,"she thought to herself. "If I can help it, you will die by my bow."









Lake Hylia

The beautiful mist from the water sprayed against the shore as the fish swam around the bottom, attempting to dodge any hook or large predator that might scoop it out of the water.

Above them, the bright sun beamed its heat upon the travelers. The sweltering temperatures made them yearn for the simple pleasures of a dip in the lake. Unfortunately, there were things that needed to be done.

Surveying the area, Link noticed that everything was in its place. The laboratory with the old scientist in it was lazily belching blue smoke from the chimney, a result of the elderly man's experiments.

Across the way, the entrance to the fishing pond stood on an outcropping. There he had whittled away much of his time, rarely catching anything of any size or importance.

Even further away, in the background, was the island that held the Water Temple. The hero was quite glad that they were not headed there, as it was just another place of pain for him.

Feeling uneasy Link stood near the shore, pacing back and forth as the rest of the group tied the horses to a tree.

Gonga, who had no horse, rolled into one of the trees.

He was unhurt.

"So how do we enter this place?" Jade asked, rather puzzled.

"We just swim under the rock formation and pop up on the other side," replied the hero.

Link remembered it all too well. The curved slope filled with water that would take them to the Zora kingdom. The tunnel entrance had now been evened out on the bottom so it was smooth. If there were any rocks jutting out from the top of the crevice, they would slide along the bottom and not injure anyone.

They were all ready to go when Dreck pointed out something very important, Gonga could not swim. The enormous giant would sink, and would never have enough energy to drag himself up from the depths of the cold water.

Jade then got an idea.

"Hey Gonga!" he shouted

"What?!" the Goron bellowed.

"Think you could roll underneath really fast? You might come out the other side okay."

"I doubt that will work lad."

"No harm in trying."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that."

For a moment or two, Gonga took a long hard look at the water before him. It was crystal clear, and he could see all the way to the bottom. Dreck latched on to the Goron's stomach as he knelt down and curled up into a ball.

"If you let go, I'll shoot straight up to the surface you know? We Scrubs hate the water! Are you sure this is safe?" said the Deku.

"Nope. There's a slim chance though that we'll make it," answered Gonga. "Everything hinges on faith, and whether or not you trust me."

Dreck swallowed hard, and prayed to Din for safety.

"Hurry and go before I throw up!" he yelled to the rock man.

The Goron did just that.

Attaining maximum rolling speed, Gonga plunged into the water towards the tunnel. A tremendously large plume of water billowed up, then quickly subsided. Both of them had disappeared under the tunnel, and by now were on their way to Zora's Domain.

Everyone hoped they made it there all right.


*****


"Do we really have to swim twenty miles?" asked Jade in his most irritating tone of voice.

"No, not at all," answered Link, who was busy putting on a blue tunic.

The boy seemed puzzled as to where the Hero of Time had pulled the tunic. As they carried few saddlebags, most of which were filled with food, it was quite a mystery as to where the tunic had come from.

"Oh, you have a Zora tunic," said Zeta, rather delighted. "That makes everything easier for you. What about Princess Zelda and the boy?"

"Yes Link, what about us?" Zelda added, her hands on her hips.

The two ladies frowned at Link, making his life miserable. Women seemed to do that a lot to him.

"Well…umm…umm…" he stuttered out, "they were three hundred rupees a piece and I…and I only had enough for one. Plus I...I couldn't get a discount."

The hero put his hand behind his neck and chuckled nervously, hoping this would end soon.

"Excuses, excuses…" the Zora archer finally said. Without another word, she rudely stormed past them and jumped into the lake. She swam underneath the rock formation and vanished.

Good riddance.

"Okay, uhh…tell me again how this is going to work," said the Sheikah. "I'd really rather not drown."

Princess Zelda sighed under her breath and turned to her new attendant. She brought her arms out to her sides, gesturing to the majesty of the lake and the surrounding land. With birds chirping in the bright blue sky, giving off a very serene quality, the Princess prepared to deliver her lecture.

"Hyrule…is a very magical place," she began in a soothing voice. "People are connected in such mysterious ways that it baffles the mind. The connections themselves are deep, rooted in our subconscious. Everyone in the empire speaks the same language, uses the same currency, and is subject to the same laws. As we are joined in this way, so too the lands are joined together by powerful magic incantations. Journeys of hundreds, even thousands of miles can be made in just a few moments."

Jade interrupted the Princess's ramblings.

"And this tunnel is one of those connections?"

"Yes, exactly. The forest, the lake, and the mountains are interconnected by a series of magic conduits that can whisk a person far away in a very short period of time."

The boy nearly fell over.

"Your Highness! Why couldn't you have said that in the first place?!"


*****


After Jade dove in, Princess Zelda was left alone with Link. She was next in line to take the plunge, and was very hesitant to do so. Standing knee deep in the water, Zelda simply gaped at the dark entrance to the tunnel some twenty-five feet below her.

As she was staring, the Princess felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders.

"Zelda, what's wrong?" asked Link.

The hero could not see it, but she cringed when asked that.

"Link…I…I…" she sputtered.

"Come now, you can tell me what it is. I promise not to reveal whatever it is to anyone else," he said, rubbing her arms.

"Do you swear it?"

"I swear on the Master Sword, on the Triforce, and to the Goddesses that I won't tell a single soul."

"Okay…I don't know how to swim."

Link had to exert every ounce of his self-control to keep from laughing. The Goddesses must have been looking kindly upon him, for he was able to do it.

"That…umm…such is no matter," Link finally said. "All the gold and silver you are wearing will surely weigh you down. You'll be able to walk along the bottom."

"The question is, can I hold my breath long enough?" Zelda retorted.

"I hope so, because this tunic won't fit you. Nevertheless, I shall guide you down the path. No harm will come to you."

"Thank you Link…"


*****


Slowly but surely, they dropped into the frigid water and swam into the tunnel. Link grasped Zelda's hand firmly as they traveled into the darkness.

The freezing, inky black water suddenly became tropical and sun-filled. As the hero popped up on the other side with a slight pressure headache, he realized something.

The Princess was missing.

Her hand had slipped from his, and she was nowhere to be found on the surface.

Link looked back into the water, and to his horror, saw Zelda at the bottom, struggling to get to the top. He then realized her armor was weighing her down, and that she was losing oxygen fast. Bubbles were coming from every part of clothes, increasing her weight even more.

Zelda was drowning.

The hero dove back into the icy water. He reached the struggling princess and quickly grabbed Zelda's staff and began to unclasp the armor on her body. As each piece fell off she slowly rose in the water until she floated to the top, gasping for air.

Link surfaced with pieces of the armor and Zelda quickly replaced them on herself, feeling totally embarrassed.

"Are…you okay?" asked the hero, laughing loudly.

"What's so funny?" the Princess demanded.

Unable to answer, Link simply continued to laugh at Zelda. A gooey layer of green seaweed covered her normally shimmering golden hair. It was one of the most comical sights he had ever seen in his life, and he was likely to have a seizure.

Zelda quickly discovered the source of her ridicule, and disposed of the unwanted adornment.









Zora's Domain

The surroundings of the great Zora kingdom had changed only slightly from the last time Link had seen it.

During his previous visits, even the rocks had been tinged a shade of blue. The once totally aquamarine landscape was now decorated with splashes of green. It blended well and was pleasing to the eye. However, still in place was the area's main attraction, the giant waterfall. It was a hundred-foot drop into the chasm of churning water below.

Link remembered jumping off the top again and again, cheering with childish delight.

A great pool of water lie in the center of the city. The water inside was so clear and pristine that one could easily see hundreds of Zora swimming around. There were tenements both above and below the water line here, with people bustling about here and there, going about their daily business.

Zeta too remembered this place well. She had been born and raised here, along with her brother Mikau. Coming from a long line of pround, military Zoras, she wasn't interested in girlish things at all. A tomboy all her life, she was much more intrigued by swords and shields than by dresses and dolls.

Walking through the streets of Zora's Domain, the archer felt she had been transported back in time to when she was a child, swimming in the deep waters with her brother.

The two of them had always been very close, and played together in the surf all day long, often coming home well after sundown. But Zora law stated that one person from each family must give a minimum of five years service in the Zoran Army. Mikau, being very musically talented, especially at the guitar, refused to sign up.

He moved to Termina and joined a band, leaving his sister to carry the burden of military service.

While her brother fell into dishonor, Zeta received much praise from her superiors, distinguishing herself in archery. By the time she had risen several ranks, they had not spoken to each other in over three years. Even then, the two of them wanted to be together once more, and when her enlistment had ended, Zeta set off for the Great Bay in Termina.

By the time she arrived he was already gone.

Gerudo pirates had killed Mikau.

Someone had the decency to bury him in the sand of the beach. They left his guitar as his tombstone, the only testament to his existence. She sat there, at his grave, and simply cried. For days, that was all she could do, all she would ever do.

It got to the point where she had no more tears left, and after that the archer never did shed a tear for anything or anybody. She grew cold and distance, with a temper and a mean streak to match.

Zeta, like Dreck before her, vowed revenge.

Someday, she would have it.


*****


As the party headed up a flight of stairs, they realized that they were surrounded.

Only upon closer inspection did Link realize that the splotches of green in Zora's Domain were actually paintings of him in his tunic.

The Zora people, now aware of the outsiders, started to flock to them, pushing and shoving their way through. Young and old, rich and poor, everyone suddenly surrounded the strange people who had wandered into their realm.

Some of the closer crowd started to whisper, "It's Link!".

"No, it can't be," said an older Zora.

"He could be anybody! Why should we care?" another said loudly before walking away.

"It has to be! Look at his clothes! There's a reward if we bring him to the King," a woman Zora exclaimed. "The Princess will be so pleased!"

At the end of that sentence, the Zora lady bolted out of the crowd towards the upper level. Link knew just where she was going and was powerless to stop her.

The crowd simply continued to ask questions, mumble to themselves, and generally impede the progress of the travelers.



*****


When the crowd had dispersed, they continued down the long halls of rock until they had reached the inner chamber of the Zoran High Court.

At the entrance to the throne room stood two burly looking guards. Dressed in elaborate body armor and carrying very large broad swords, they looked to be knights. They were in fact, Grand Knights of Hyrule, sent to guard King Zora and the High Court.

They did not look pleased.

"There is no admittance here," said the one on the left.

"Please turn back the way you came," said the one on the right.

Suddenly becoming very angry, Princess Zelda ran to the front of the party, knocking Link out of the way.

"Listen to me," she growled, "this is no time to procrastinate! Move aside!"

The knights did not move a single inch, and since they had never met the Princess, had no idea that she was royalty. Instead, they rammed the points of their swords into the ground to cement their authority.

Again, they had never met Princess Zelda.

"Pay attention, I am your sovereign and you WILL obey me!" she yelled. "Now stand aside soldier!"

The knight on the left, Sir Jeison, peered suspiciously at the young woman in front of him. She was totally drenched, her hair matted and damp. But she was wearing a lot of gold and silver, and she carried herself in the most regal manner.

What stood out most was the symbol of the Triforce embossed on the front of her armor.

It proved her identity.

"Oh, forgive me Highness!" the knight apologized, kneeling before her. "I should not have spoken to you in that manner. It was only a precaution, as we must protect the King from assassins."

"It is of little consequence," Zelda replied. "Is His Majesty present in the throne room?"

"Yes, Princess, I will show you in."

That was a good thing. Pity his soul if she were to throw a tantrum.









The Court of King Zora XVI

The great Zora king was seated atop a humongous throne. A humongous man, it had long been determined that he would probably be unable to walk any more than a few inches.

In truth, he could not walk at all, only slide along the base of the chair he called his throne.

Link chuckled to himself as he remembered the giant fish man frozen in a block of ice. Due to his heroism and journeys through time, that had never happened, but it was still a funny recollection.

The hero and his group were announced to the King, who awoke with quite a startle.

"Who is it that dares to disturb me without my consent?!" the King boomed.

Zelda cleared her throat and readied an impromptu speech.

"Hello great King Zora, I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule. I believe you know Link, so I shall dispense with the usual pleasantries. We wish to warn you of…" was all that she could get out before a great force slammed her to the ground.

From the King's side, a flash of blue darted out and knocked Link clear into the other wall. Whatever it was certainly had some motivation to rush and tackle him so quickly. Dazed, he tried to sit up, but something was attached to his body, holding him down.

When the hero looked down, he noticed it had two arms and two legs and was nuzzling its head against his chest like a kitten.

Drawing their weapons and immediately being encountered by the Hylian knight, Jeison, they noticed that the strange blue flash was in fact one of the Zoras.

It was the King's daughter.

"My love you have returned!" an all too familiar voice rang inside the ears of the hero.

This was painfully embarrassing.

So too was the nightmare unfolding before him.

"Ruto please get off me before…" the hero said before being cut off. A hand grabbed the fish-woman and ripped her from Link's body.

Stumbling for a second, Ruto was pulled to her feet by a very irate Princess Zelda. Their faces were no more than an inch apart.

"Princess Ruto control yourself! You are a disgrace to your title!" Zelda hissed.

Just like Malon, Ruto was not one to take insults very lightly. She had known Zelda as a child, and they had been fast friends for a time. But now, here she was, dictating to Ruto in her own kingdom, what she could and cold not do.

The Zora princess steeled her nerves, and walking back over to Link, gave him a big hug.

"Well if I'm around my Linky-pooh I don't care what title I am given!" she yelled while trying to hold on to the squirming Hylian.

"Your 'Linky-pooh'?!" Zelda chuckled. "What kind of retarded fool are you?!"

A certain Sheikah boy was unable to resist taking a crack at Ruto.

"I'd say the freaky kind," Jade whispered to the others.

Snickers could be heard from just about everyone in the throne room.

Indeed, Princess Ruto was a very strange young woman, but she was still royaltly. Zeta decided that she would personally instruct the boy on how one should act in the prescence of someone of regal bearing. Of course, she did this very loudly, dragging Jade over to the other side of the room to further lecture and yell at him.

The Sheikah boy promptly shut his mouth and rubbed the side of his face. It had been a pain-filled lesson in humility, and he found himself promising never to speak against any Zora on the pain of feeling the backside of the archer's hand.

As this was going on at the east side of the room, Zelda and Ruto were still bickering on the west side.

"Who do you think you are?! No one speaks to me like that!" the Hylian princess yelled.

"Damn you and your neurotic self! I'm the one in charge here, not you!" the Zora princess screamed back.

"I swear it Ruto, you're delusional if you think he loves you!"

"Oh yeah, well he doesn't have to. I own him, every single part! He accepted my engagement stone and there will be a wedding! I'll have him all to myself!"

"What are you talking about?" Zelda said, her voice quavering all of a sudden. "You're…you're lying!!"

Zelda backhanded her fellow princess and started to push the Zora back into a corner. Ruto cowered in a ball, trying to deflect Zelda's blows. She obviously was not a fighter, and screamed like a little girl with every slap.

As if a beacon had gone off, Zeta dove into the fray and was swinging back. It was her duty to stand up for her princess, but perhaps she had gotten in a little over her head.

Zelda had sensed the archer charging at her, and swiftly knocked her to the floor. Without thinking, the Princess of Hyrule grabbed her staff, which had been laying on the ground the entire time. Swinging it around, Zelda was prepared to bash Ruto's head in for the way she had been slobbering over Link.

A second before it would have collided with her skull, it stopped.

The staff wouldn't move.

Link had caught it in mid-air.

"Let go of it!" Zelda yelled, tears streaming down the side of her face. "I'll kill her! Let go!"

"No," was all he said.

"What did you say to me?!" the Princes replied, disbelieving.

The hero could see the anger burning like a fire in the eyes of his princess, but he refused to back down.

"I said no Zelda…no more of this."

At his last statement, Zelda slapped him hard across the face, leaving a handprint where skin and glove met. It hurt the Princess more than it did him.

Link didn't even flinch.

So she slapped him again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Her last blow was a pitiful attempt at best. The weeping Princess dropped the staff and it clattered as it hit the ground. She'd been reduced to what Ruto was just moments before, a frightened little girl.

"Can I speak now?" the hero spoke softly not even attempting to rub his now beet red cheek.

Zelda felt guilty, and sick, and tired, all at the same time.

She collapsed into the arms of her hero a sobbing mess, and he did his best simply to comfort her.

"What…what have I become?" Zelda sniffled. "She's right, I'm nothing but a petty, jealous, neurotic weirdo. Oh, Goddesses what have I done?!"

It was a strange sight to see.

Here was the Crown Princess of Hyrule, a woman who was supposed to have the utmost sense of grace, crying her eyes out. This was the second time Zelda had let her emotions get a hold of her, and for the second time she felt unbelievably sick to her stomach.

Ruto had left in disgust, and most everyone else went about his or her separate ways.

They were alone together.

"Link?"

"Yeah Zelda."

"Is it true? Do you really have to marry her?"

"I accepted the Spiritual Stone, yes."

"Oh, Link, how could you?! You know how I feel about you…"

With that, she buried her face in his chest and sobbed heavily. She truthfully believed that it was over, that Ruto had won and she would have to return to the horrible isolation of castle life.

Zelda thought she had lost him

"We needed it to stop Ganondorf. I would have said anything to get it from her," Link told the Princess. "I…I lied to her Zelda. Ruto said she would give me the stone only if I would come back and marry her. I...I…I just wanted to see you again, so I nodded my head and she gave me the stupid thing. You know my thoughts, my mind, but most of all you know my heart."

Princess Zelda looked deep into his cobalt blue eyes. In them, she found the truth. His soothing gaze put her fears to rest, assuring her that there would be no wedding. For the moment, Zelda wanted nothing more than to stand there forever with Link, but she knew in her heart that there were more important things to be said and done.

"Link?" she asked, unsure of herself.

"Yes?" he replied unassumingly.

Zelda lowered her voice so no one remaining could hear. Before she could speak, Link placed two fingers over her scarlet colored lips.

"I know Zelda, I know what you're going to say."

She pushed his hands away and stared at him.

"Then what's the answer?" asked the young maiden.

He smiled at her, the same childish grin he had used so many times before. It was the secret to his charm, and it melted her heart every time she saw it.

"Yes. I always have, always will."

Zelda put her arms around him and brought him close, sighing quietly.

"Oh, Link…"









Ten to fifteen minutes later

After the fight, the Zora king, his advisors, and Zelda talked about the new threat to Hyrule. The Princess had no idea where Ruto was, and hoped she would get a chance to apologize. It would be a shame for her to lose their friendship.

They used to play together all the time when she accompanied her father to Hyrule Castle on official visits.

But that wasn't the most pressing concern right now.

Zelda needed to inform the King of the recent Gerudo treachery.

They were conversing in a large room where all the Zoran Army's battle plans had been made.

The room was decorated with many different flags of war and the emblems of all the great Zora warriors' crests. Indeed, this was the very room from which the great Zora generals of the past had fought the Fierce War.

It was Ganondorf who provided the spark that ignited the Fierce War. He had claimed that the Hylians were bogarting the sacred Triforce for their own selfish gains. While this was untrue, it reignited long standing feuds between Hyrule's many races.

The fifty years of civil war that followed were horrible and bloody.

Everywhere outside one's dwelling was dangerous territory. Villages and towns were unsafe no matter what the time of day, and only Hyrule City was never breached by Zora and Gerudo forces.

Overwhelming Zora armies clashed with the Knights of Hyrule almost every day. The war quickly became a stalemate, with each side's resentment of the other growing exponentially.

Each faction had claimed that the other had posession of the sacred Triforce. They both twisted rumors and said that the other was refusing to share it with the rest of Hyrule, and massive civil war was the result.

Ganondorf's rumors had quickly gone out of hand, and the true purpose behind the war was lost.

When it finally ended and the peace treaty was signed, the Hylians found it in themselves to forgive their enemies and realize their own wrongdoings as well.

Most of the Zoras, however, had not.

In the twenty years after the war, they had become increasingly antisocial. They spent their time caring only for themselves and worshipping their bloated Zora deity, Jabu-Jabu.

One man had kept the dialogue between the Zoras and the Hylians open.

He was Lord Bartgen, the Zoran Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"Now what are we preparing for?" the King questioned.

Zelda was now starting to get annoyed since she had already explained the story seven times.

"Lord Bartgen please explain it to the King!" Zelda screamed to the king's advisor.

A bespectacled Zora of rather slim build, he was an able politician.

"Your Highness, a general from the Hylian Army has joined forces with King Gorkhan of the Gerudo," he said slowly so the King could understand. "They've attempted to kill this young man and have placed the Princess Zelda in considerable danger."

"What does it all mean Bartgen?" asked King Zora.

"It means that Zora's Domain is in danger as well," replied the Prime Minister.

The King grew visibly disturbed, almost like he didn't believe it.

"Balderdash! We held off the Hylians for years, and just one of them can lift twenty Gerudo girls," said King Zora. "Why should we give assistance to our former enemies? They showed so little mercy on the battlefield, so why should we give any to them?!"

"My king, we cannot fool ourselves into believing everything is safe," Lord Bartgen replied. "We have a treaty of alliance with the Hylian Empire that we must uphold! The Gerudo king knows much of dark magic, and can surely conjure up armies of creatures to oppose us. But if we act now Your Majesty, he can be stopped."

His eloquent statements seemed to have an effect on the King, and he was ready to have private conference with his prime minister.


*****


As the King and his advisor talked over and over about the growing evil, Link and the others readied themselves to leave. It appeared that they had gotten the message across, and were eager to continue on their journey.

They all started to walk towards they front gate when the King suddenly burst out that they could not go through the entrance.

"You can NOT go through the gate!" he exclaimed. "It's been blocked!"

"Well, why can't you just move the barricade?" Link questioned.

King Zora twiddled his thumbs for a moment before answering.

"Oh, there's no barricade so to say. There are about eighty Moblin-type things waiting outside trying to burst in though," he said matter-of-factly.









Th e waterfall in front of Zora's Domain

"Destroy the gates! We shall not be held back this time! All of them will die!"

This was the voice of a man whose heart knew only darkness, the kind who would betray his friends for a taste of true power.

The voice of a man who knows no shame.

He had not always been that way. Trebla' had been a good man once, a loyal soldier of the Hylian Empire. Of noble birth and lineage, he was given the title of General Lord Commander of the Army of Hyrule, and the power that came with it.

Bold strategies and cunning decisiveness were his standout traits, the ones he had used against the Zora and the Gerudo during the Fierce War. Seeing his knights die and peaceful hamlets burnt, he was determined to pay back those who had dared to challenge the King.

General Trebla' very quickly went too far.

Taking the Army on the warpath, he broke his way through Gerudo and Zora lines, smashing all those who opposed him. Anyone captured was tortured in the most horrendous ways for information, then flayed alive after they had given it. Trebla' placed their skins along the roads the Army traveled on as a warning to the local population.

The Hylian Army went on the rampage, killing anything its its path..

Somewhere along the way, Trebla' began to enjoy war. He reveled in the unbridled destruction of life and property. Many of his men thought he'd gone mad, and tried to stop the General, but they failed miserably. He forced his men to randomly kill innocent men and women, simple villagers who cowered in fear at the sight of the general.

But Trebla' didn't care.

He was expanding the Empire, and there was no substitute for conquest.

When that bloody chapter of history had ended, the glorious general found himself under intense scrutiny. The Hylian Army regards honor above many other things, and as a Hylian, Trebla' had sinned terribly.

He was tried before the King, and found to be guilty of hundreds of war crimes. Harkanian stripped him of his rank and title, casting him into the pits of dishonor and banishing him from the City.

For ten years, Trebla' and a few of his lieutenants wandered Hyrule as outcasts. A powerfully built man, he took what he wanted from the people he stayed with, frequently stealing from them.

Eventually, he and his last surviving follower, a lieutenant by the name of Basse, stumbled into the Gerudo Valley.

Trebla' was captured of course, and imprisoned in a dirty, sand encrusted jail cell. Nevertheless, he quickly strangled the woman guarding him through the bars, took her keys and escaped. As he was running away, he slammed hard into what seemed like a brick wall.

It was not a wall.

It was Gorkhan, recently crowned King of the Gerudo thieves.

Trebla' never could understand why he didn't die right there, on his feet. Somehow, Gorkhan must have seen the last of the military skill left in the broken man, and took him in. He personally trained the Hylian and his lieutenant in the swift fighting techniques of the Gerudo.

When he came out of the training, General Trebla' was ready for revenge.

Standing now on a ledge near the waterfall that led to Zora's Domain, he heard the footsteps of one of his Gerudo warriors approach.

"General sir, we have found a way inside. Would you have me investigate?" So'Prano asked.

"NO! You fools have ruined our plans one too many times!" he snarled back.

Trebla' tended to scream a lot, but it rarely had any effect on the Gerudo, as they were well accustomed to it. He himself had little faith in the human girls, but decided that this one might be correct.

"Wait, I think you and your sisters should check it out…but I shall accompany you!"

With the same fear that had plagued So'Prano's eyes when Gorkhan had unleashed his power, she bowed and agreed.









Back in the throne room…

"So when were you planning on telling us this you bloated piece of…" Jade started to say before being silenced by Lord Bartgen.

"Mind your tongue when speaking to the King!"

"So, we're being attacked and our only exit is blocked. Can this get any worse?" Link pondered aloud.

"Well, it isn't the only way out. The Princess Ruto has access to the secret back door behind the throne," Bartgen explained to the group.

Link's face lost its color in a second as the Ambassador's voice resounded in his mind.

"It's just gotten worse!"he thought, hanging his head low.

Zelda saw this sudden loss of color and before letting him speak cut in.

"I will go ask the Princess," she announced.

Every eye turned towards the steelclad beauty and immediately they too lost the pigment in their faces. Link couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another ploy to get even with Ruto for the proposal.

He wasn't about to stop her though.









Ruto's bedchambers

Her room was much more different then one would expect of a princess. Everywhere there were drawings and pictures of vague images faded with time. The marine rock walls were almost a pale combo of green and blue. Crude letters, never sent, were piled in the corner. Stuck above the humongous canopy bed was a faded green tunic.

It seemed the Princess had more then a crush on Link.

She was infatuated with this man.

Ruto lay on her bed, staring up at the once brilliant green tunic, remembering the day she had first found it.

It was years ago when she was still young. A little while after she had met Link, and made that all too sacred vow, Ruto had found the tunic lying on the side of the road.

She had picked up the dirty piece of clothing and immediately knew it was Link's. The smell and design was that of the young boy whom she had vowed to marry.

Link had never known she had this, and she didn't care. Ruto was happy just having a piece of her love with her.

Now as she stared up at that piece of cloth, she started to cry. In the deepest reaches of her woman's heart, she began to wonder if he really loved her or not.

"NO!"Ruto cried out in her mind. "He loves me, not that stuck up bitch Zelda!"

As she reached up and gently drew her hand across the worn out material, a knock came at her door.

Ruto assumed it was Lord Bartgen coming to make amends for the rude treatment she had received earlier. Without a second thought she told the person behind the door to enter.

Princess Zelda walked in without a word or a sound, dumbfounded at the surroundings in which the royal heiress to the throne of the Zora kingdom lived.

Even now, as Zelda looked at all of the things hung from every inch of every wall, she felt sorrow for the poor thing. It was not Ruto's fault she fell in love with Link. In fact, the blame fell squarely upon the hero.

Link had dragged Ruto out of Lord Jabu-Jabu's belly at her father's request. Along the whole way, he gave the naïve Princess false ideas, making her believe he really loved her. But that was just Link being heroic, living up to his destiny.

He was always doing that.

Zelda silently cursed herself for even thinking badly about her love and accidentally knocked over a nearby table, dropping a little Hylian doll with a familiar green tunic.

Ruto whipped her head around and glared at the audacity of the Princess of Hyrule. They had both been in a fight not fifteen minutes ago and already the Princess was back for more. However, this time she wouldn't have the upper hand.

The Zora vowed that when Zelda got close enough, the fight would resume.

Ruto started quickly towards the Princess, ready to start swinging her fists in rage. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she stopped dead in her tracks, unable to move.

She saw in Zelda's face the same warm glow that had been there when they were children, playing in the fountains of Hyrule Castle. As a child, Ruto had been the only person to even attempt to teach Zelda how to swim.

But the Hylian princess could never find her natural buoyancy, and nearly drowned in the shallow fountain several times. Now, eight years later, she looked Zelda in the eyes and saw tears welling up inside of them.

Something clicked then, and Ruto's eyes also began to tear up as they both giggled and then laughed aloud.

"You love him more than anything don't you?" Zelda questioned the young lady before her.

"Yes, and I always will," replied the Zora.

The two of them embraced, happy to be friends once more.

Zelda vowed to herself not to say a word about her and Link but to let this bluish-green girl hold on to the one hope she had in life.

Even if it was a false hope.

"Do you know an alternate way outside?" Zelda asked, changing the subject to the matter at hand. "The main entrance is blocked and we need to get out to warn the other races."

"Yes. I know where it is. I'll take you there."

Zelda was taken aback by the sudden agreement to take them to the exit.

She had expected a big argument.

It seems Zelda made one mistake, this princess was not as childish as she had assumed.

Ruto was quite mature, except when it came to Link.









Deep within the hidden cavern

Ruto led the way holding on to Link's arms the entire time. It had been an agreement between Zelda and Link. Princess Zelda was not always as stubborn as she seemed. She had told Link to let Ruto play her little games so she could keep her sanity.

After all, they were not double-sided.

As the group walked down the dank corridor, Jade perked up his ears in case of an ambush. Lord Bartgen was complaining the entire time, and Gonga kept wanting to stop and sample the stalactites that were hanging a little low to the ground.

Zeta was tutoring Dreck in the Zora heritage, while Zelda kept two steps behind Link and Ruto.

"Um, where are we?" inquired the Hylian princess.

"Behind my father's throne," Ruto answered. "This will lead us to the Zora Fountain. From there you should be able to get to the forest and such is such is such…"

Ruto was in pure bliss. She trailed off with Zelda, and would not stop talking to Link about how she missed him and wished he could stay with her forever.

He did his best not to squirm.

Ruto kept asked him questions that he never got a chance to answer. Once she finished a question, Link was quickly silenced by another row of words spilling from his obsessive "fiancée's" lips.

"We are coming to the end of this corridor. Once we reach the end we must turn back Majesty," Lord Bartgen piped up from behind the group.

Ruto didn't hear a thing. She was much too busy clinging to the muscular arm of Link.

The cave was a small and winding, seemingly leading to nowhere. Cold, billowing mists from the river whipped into the faces of the group. The stalactites hanging from the top of this narrow passage were now becoming higher up then they were before, letting the party know they were reaching the end.

As they trudged through the now brightening corridor, the ground became harder then the murky, muddy terrain they had to walk through.

The walk went without a hitch and they were within reach of exiting without a single problem.

Just then, all hell broke loose.









The top of the hidden corridor

"ATTACK!" Trebla' shouted, as the Death Knights broke from the wall just in front of the group.

Fifteen armored Death Knights charged at the band of travelers, ready to smash their skulls into tiny fragments.

The mutant monsters were now fitted with stronger weapons and armor, and as a new surprise for the heroes, there was a new species to deal with.

From the lakebed of Zora's Fountain, ten deep blue, fish-like monsters arose.

Suddenly it was clear how these things were made.

They were mutated Death Knights bent further into darkness by the force of Gorkhan, a nasty cross between Moblin and Zora.

Trebla' laughed as he watched the Death Knights pour into battle with an ear-splitting roar.

Perched above in an alcove carved high in the rock face, the three Gerudo warriors watched as Trebla' commanded his evil army.

As the army of blackness spilled out its forces onto the battlefield, the General's glare met that of Link's. They were locked in a death stare when Trebla' pulled out his axe and prepared for the conflict between him and Link, the Hero of Time.

The young man before him was the only obstacle to Evil's conquest.









In the shallow water of the Fountain

Link withdrew the gleaming Master Sword from its scabbard and prepared for hand-to-hand combat. Jade stood still, eyes closed as always, gripped his dagger tightly. Zelda pulled her staff out and stood at the royal stance taught to the Knights of Hyrule.

Zeta, Gonga, and Dreck simply withdrew their weapons and stood ready for the onslaught.

Lord Bartgen hid in a corner, pulling the Princess Ruto beside him and tried to avoid the battle.

The battleground exploded with furious blows cast at each other by the forces of good and evil.

Dreck was moving quickly across the ground, tripping the humongous beasts and bringing them to the ground as Zeta filled the backs of the Moblins with her arrows.

Gonga, with his mighty hammer, was smashing the heads of these new enemies and marveling at how strong they were. An aquatic Death Knight charged at him, and he hit it in the side with a mighty swing.

The hammer impacted on the creature's torso with a loud bang, causing it to split in many places. Another blow of equal strength shattered it armor completely, but it kept charging. He had to wait till it was nearly on top of him before curling into a ball, which the Knight then stumbled over. Gonga took advantage of the opportunity and shattered its spine in one last, super-powerful blow.

Princess Zelda gracefully flipped over one of the aquatic Death Knights and jammed her staff into the back of the creature. It staggered a bit, but only a bit, and quickly spun around, slashing her already tattered dress into even more pieces.

Jade, now moving swiftly between the black and blue enemies, stabbed as many as he could through the chinks in their armor while running full speed towards the perches of the assassins.

It did not seem as if these things would die easily.


*****


Trebla', seemingly forgotten from this battle, drew his battle-axe up and leapt at the hero. In a powerful stroke, he buried the axe into the ground where Link once stood. Water and dirt particles filled the air as the shock wave resonated throughout the surrounding area.

Link was rolling up from his dodge when he saw the crater left by the General's attack. It was huge and gaping, so much so that the hero could barely believe what he saw with his own two eyes.

"You like that? I can do better than that, boy! Come on hero, show me the true power of your precious Master Sword!" Trebla' boomed as he swung at the nimble Hylian.

Link was already on the move again, ducking under the blow and swinging the now glowing steel blade up in a devastating slash attack.

The General countered the blow, and swung again, missing Link by only a hair's breadth. Axe and sword were locked together, the two men's faces only inches apart. The harder Link pushed, the stronger Trebla' seemed to get.

"You and your Princess will die here today," the General taunted. "I shall greatly enjoy spitting on your corpses!"

"NEVER!" yelled Link, unlocking his blade and launching himself at Trebla'.

Though swift, Trebla' was a step too slow. A cut from the razor sharp Master Sword sliced across his face and left a gash in his marvelous tunic.

In addition to that, a glowing red gem flew from his pocket.

It sailed through the air majestically, almost like it was floating. With a soft plunk, it landed in the shallow water at the feet of Princess Zelda.

Trebla' screamed in rage, and continued to attack the Hero of Time.


*****


Zelda, who had four Death Knights closing in on her, noticed the glint of the ruby in the crystal clear water. She had just enough time to pick it up and stare at it for a moment. The precious stone looked to be very valuable, its many facets sparkling in the afternoon sun.

The edges were very sharp, and Zelda cut her finger on one of them. Hoping that it would give her at least a piercing attack to shatter the armor of the Moblins, the Princess quickly attached it to the end of her staff with a piece of loose thread from her dress.

Zelda swung her staff at the oncoming foes, and screamed as they froze in their steps, incased in a solid block of ice.

A beam of blue energy emanated from the gem, striking several Death Knights and the water around them, freezing all in a single action. Only a few seconds later, they all shattered into a trillion little fragments, which then vanished in a haze of purple smole.

The Princess stood there, stupefied as to what had just happened.

She had found the Omega Ruby, a mystic stone enchanted with magic powers. Zelda now had the ability to summon the forces of nature. Though the gem was powerful, the Princess was not skilled in its attacks, and would be unable to tap its true potential.

Zelda would be certain to remedy that in the near future.


*****


Trebla', now angered by the blood streaming down his face, unleashed a huge torrent of axe blows. One by one, Link blocked them with his Hylian Shield, the iron straining from the incredible force.

It was all he could do just to stay standing, and wouldn't be able to protect anyone.

A stray Death Knight, drawn by Ruto's scent, started towards the hiding spot of the Zora princess and Lord Bartgen.

The deadly blade swung down at full force towards the helpless princess and her ambassador.

It stopped only a few inches from their heads as another sword blocked it. The two sturdy blades ground against each other, carving deep gashes in each other. At that moment, another blade the exact size as the first cut the Death Knight down with one quick slash.

The two Hylian knights, Sirs Yozefu and Jeison, stood ready to fight for both Ruto and Bartgen's lives.

"Princess, Ambassador, leave at once!" Sir Jeison shouted above the resounding vibrations of blades and arrows.

Lord Bartgen got up and ran at full speed towards the corridor's exit.

It was the one place he should not have gone.

"No! Stop! It's not safe there!" Yozefu yelled towards the Zora diplomat.

It was much too late though.

His Eminence was struck down by an arrow shot from the bow of a Gerudo archer.

Leaking blue blood, he gazed up through tear filled eyes just as a broadsword was swung, cutting his head off.

His body collapsed in a heap, his blood coloring the water a sickening shade of purple.

Silence then.

Complete silence.

The battle seemed to stop for a moment. The death of Bartgen was all so sudden and gruesome that it seemed to go by in slow motion. Sir Yozefu was running towards the murderous Death Knight, while Jeison was screaming, cutting down foe after foe in his way.

Nevertheless, it was as if there was no sound.

When the shock subsided, the battle returned at full force

Jade, a little too late, jumped from the ground and slammed his foot into the side of A'lto's face. She spun out of control and landed in a crouching position on the ground below.

She was about to rebound and teach the little punk a lesson, when a gigantic warhammer crashed down in front of her. The concussion launched the hitwoman into the air, and she slammed into th eground several yards away.

In a split second, the massive Goron was on top of her again.

"You killed Lord Bartgen! Now I'll kill you!" Gonga roared as he drew his hammer up and swung it down in a bone-crushing megaton bomb.

A'lto was already flipping to the side, drawing her bow and firing arrows at the humongous rock man. They were excellent shots that would have killed any normal man.

But Gonga was in no way a normal man, and the arrows bounced off the hard, rock-like skin of the Goron.


*****


Dreck, now bleeding slightly from his head, was panting heavily from being knocked clear across the field by one of the Moblins. He drew a small pouch from his sack and threw it at charging Death Knight.

A great flash erupted, followed by an intense, loud boom.

He dove to the side as a large explosion erupted from the tiny sack. Dreck had used a special explosive created from Deku Nut powder and Bombchu parts, which gave it quite a kick.

The Deku stood up and smiled, shooting his hookshot into a rock formation way high up above.


*****


Link stood holding his shoulder. He had caught a slight gash from a Death Knight attacking him while fighting Trebla'. The hero now wondered if they would make it out alive or if they would die on their feet.

"Are you worried? You see the power I wield?! Gerudo woman, watch as I accomplish what you could not!" Trebla' yelled at So'Prano.

Teno'r, the third Gerudo assassin, was battling back and forth with Dreck. It seemed that the Deku had caught his hookshot around her chain mace, and she struggled desperately to free it. The shout from Trebla' drew her attention, so Dreck released his weapon and fired around her legs.

He swept her off her feet, and Teno'r hit the ground hard.

A'lto had been trying to pierce the skin of the rock hard Goron and was not phased by her general's yell. She did not really care, as the young Gerudo had too much on her mind.

So'Prano was exchanging blow after blow with Jade and was also not influenced at all by Trebla'. She quickly swung her sword in a downward arc at the young Sheikah. He blocked the blow, eyes closed all the time, and parried with his own attack.

No one seemed to care that Trebla' was about to end the life of the young Hero of Time. The general laughed haughtily as he lifted his axe above his head, prepared to deliver a fatal blow.

Before he could do that, Sir Yozefu knocked the General clear off his feet. He had charged into the duel and slammed full force into the evil commander.

Jeison was now free of Ruto. She had run back to her father with the help of a few Zora guards in terror. The Hylian knight was now finishing off the last remaining evil Moblins along side the archer, Zeta.

Contrary to the General's beliefs, the battle was being won by the forces of light.

Trebla' raised himself up and surveyed the area. He was losing, badly. His face grew red and his eyes dimmed, burning with rage and hatred.

"You have NOT won yet! I WILL be back! You wait and see!" Trebla' screamed as a flash of powder exploded in front of him, covering his escape.

Just like that, he was gone.


*****


"Well it seems our battle is cut short. We shall return," So'Prano said. "It is then that you will die little boy!"

She and her sisters disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Jade with only a few slashes here and there.

They stung as a frigid wind whipped over what was once a peaceful lake.

His wounds would forever be painful reminders.









Twenty minutes later: Outside the secret corridor

The battle had been won. They had protected the Zoras from an oncoming genocide and staved off Evil's victory once more.

But it was not a time for celebration.

It also was not a time to mourn.

Everyone was wounded, and Lord Bartgen, the Zoran ambassador to Hyrule, was dead.

The murder of a highly praised diplomat and noble Zora would not be easily forgiven

Gorkhan had made yet another enemy.

Right now, the air felt fresh and sweet against their overworked bodies. They were happy they had won the battle, but with the death of Lord Bartgen, a dark pall had been cast over the land of Hyrule.

As a peacemaker, he would be always remembered.

As a friend to Princess Ruto, he would be missed dearly.

"I know it's tough, but we…we have to move on. If we stay here too long they'll be back for more," Link told the others.

They all agreed, but were still sad from the tragic loss.

Zeta bent down and finished wrapping the ambassador's body in linen. A group of Zoras, dressed in long ceremonial robes, emerged from the corridor. They bore the fallen one on their shoulders and took him inside to begin the funeral rights.

Just to break the deafening silence, Princess Zelda spoke up.

"He's...he's with the Goddesses now," she said quietly.

"Yes…that's true..." Link solemnly replied.

"So...on to the forest now, right?"

"I suppose that would be the best place to go..."

Before they could take a single step forward, the two Hylian knights appeared in front of them.

"If it is not much trouble, I would like to accompany you," Sir Jeison said to Zelda, standing at attention.

"I would also like to follow the Princess Zelda in her fight," added Sir Yozefu.

For a moment, she just stared at them. This wasn't her fight really, it was everyone's. If Gorkhan and his generals were allowed to run rampant, then it would be the end of the Hylian Empire.

Zelda looked at the Omega Ruby attached to her staff. She hoped it would aid in their quest, but if she couldn't master its power, then they would need all the help possible.

The Princess gave a quick glance at Link and he nodded his head in agreement.

"The more the merrier..." Zelda absently replied.

Lord Bartgen's unfortunate death had finally given their cause legitimacy, something it sorely needed.

It was the only good thing to come of such a horrible situation.

And so the group of six became eight. They had increased their numbers, and set off for the winding green maze that was Kokiri Forest.



End Chapter Five



Proceed to Chapter Six...