"It's gotten worse," Ghirahim muttered, his dark eyes glued to the sword he inhabited. He looked tired, especially after what happened earlier when Ni threw a fit as they were about to leave, wanting to stay with Ghirahim; his dark eyes appearing to be unable to reflect any light. His movements were slower than usual, almost as if he was in that shiny, steel form and gravely injured again.
Link knew what he was talking about. The space between his brows creased with worry. "How much worse?" he asked.
"It's barely noticeable. But it will build up over time." He sighed, looking up at the orange sky. In the east, dark clouds loomed over the land. Lightning flashed within their deep, dark forms. "I don't know what else to do, although perhaps you could try actually using the sword."
Link was silent, but he nodded. He wasn't sure that he would be able to use the sword the way that it was intended, but at the moment he didn't think that mattered. He had promised to do everything he could to keep Ghirahim alive-this bond wasn't about to be created only for one of them to die a couple of days later.
An hour of silence passed. Link was bored, extremely bored, which didn't help with his pained feet. The others traveling with them, mostly Sheikah, didn't appear bothered, so he refused to complain. Ghirahim had grown bored as well, resorting to doing everything in his power to annoy Link. Link could be certain that the others were furtively watching in pure amusement; he'd already caught Zelda snickering. However, after so long of being ignored almost impossibly well, Ghirahim grew bored and started a rather one-sided conversation.
Link still didn't pay him any attention, zoning out until Ghirahim gasped and unintentionally struck Link in the back. Hard, hard enough for him to stumble and nearly fall.
"Ow! Fuck!!" Link yelled out as he rubbed his back where Ghirahim had hit him. It would surely bruise.
"The scabbard!" Ghirahim exclaimed, seemingly unaware that he'd just given Link a bruise. "That might fix it!"
Link looked up at him, shooting him a glare though his curiosity was piqued. "How?"
Ghirahim wore a wide grin. "The scabbard might be able to fix the sword, since it's sort of connected to it. It shouldn't be too far from here." As those last words came out of his mouth, he glanced at the other Sheikah. "I know where it is. We can probably get it within twenty minutes."
Once the one with Impa's cape stopped, all of them stopped. She turned to Link and Ghirahim, her expression that of a rock. "Twenty minutes?"
"Twenty minutes."
The Sheikah woman frowned, but nodded. "Then go."
Ghirahim looked at Link, who shrugged and said, "Lead the way."
The two males broke off from the group, the shorter jogging to keep up with the taller. There seemed to be nothing for miles and miles save for a small bump in the earth, barely noticeable until you walked on it. Why was Ghirahim going this way? What could possibly be here that could hold a sheath for a sword. Ghirahim, glanced back, grinning when he saw that Link was frowning.
"It's well hidden, isn't it?" Ghirahim said as he stepped near the bump and a hole opened, revealing a staircase that spiraled down into whatever hell that lay below the earth.
He followed Ghirahim down the steps in silence. The climb was quite long, and it took them six minutes to reach the bottom.
The room they stepped into was large. There were bits of rock lying around from where they had fallen from the ceiling, but other than that it was mostly empty. Torches that burned with purple fire were lined up perfectly along the wall, illuminating the room.
Above these torches, various weapons had been hung up on hooks, including axes, bows and arrows, and some Link didn't even recognize. He even saw a rapier that was strikingly similar to Ghirahim's and wondered if that was where he'd gotten it.
"And this is where I slept until either you or your goddess was born,"Ghirahim said, walking ahead as he turned to face Link and held his arms out as if he was presenting his own home. He probably was. "And there is the sheath." He motioned towards the end of the room.
Sure enough, a sheath sat against the back wall, collecting dust.
Link glanced at him as he began walking towards the sheath. "You spent most of your life sleeping?"
The question didn't seem to please Ghirahim too much; his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, I did, much like your sword spirit Fi is doing now." Link winced as the last memory he had of the sword spirit, tucked away safely inside his mind, resurfaced.
But it also brought about a thought. Link looked up at him. "Do you think you're rusting because you failed to fulfil your...purpose?"
"No. I should have died, but not like this. The rust is something else."
Link frowned. "Then why aren't you dead...?"
Ghirahim shrugged. "I don't know. Just get the sheath."
Link turned his head and carefully picked up the sheath once he got close enough, then brushed the dust off so he could actually see it. The entire thing was black, while the designs were red. It featured a Triforce, similar to the Master Sword's sheath, but this one was a pure white, like it was made of pure aquamarine. Two demonic eyes stared from just inches below the Triforce, then below that were designs that resembled spikes. This really didn't seem like the type of sword that Link would wield, especially after seeing the sheath.
Frowning slightly, Link took the sword off his back and unhooked it from the strap. Once he had it secured in the scabbard, he hooked the sheath up and got to his feet. Both of them began back up the staircase and eventually reunited with the group. It had taken them nineteen minutes to go get the sheath and head back.
Quickly, the day closed it's midnight blue curtains and stars twinkled in the sky as the moon came out, though the storm clouds threatened to block it out. The group slowly came to a stop in front of the mouth of a cave.
The blonde woman with Impa's cape motioned towards two Sheikah and Link. "You three, make sure there are no monsters."
Link sighed as he stepped towards the cave with the two Sheikah behind him and moved towards the side of the mouth, partially concealing himself to anything that could be hiding in those dark shadows, and peered inside. Ghirahim naturally followed after him. No one appeared to have heard any sound nor see any movement. Link looked up at Ghirahim, the one with heightened senses and a dowsing, and the demon shook his head. Link gulped. Why were there no monsters? Where had they all gone?
"Clear," Link called out as he stepped inside. Not eager to go very deep like the others, Link only went far enough that he couldn't be seen from the outside and laid down, using his hat as a pathetic excuse of a pillow. Just before he slipped into a dreamless sleep, he felt weight on his stomach.
--
Ghirahim awoke two hours later to pounding rain and quiet snoring coming from Link. Thunder boomed. If Ghirahim didn't know better, he would have thought a powerful bomb had gone off. But that wasn't what woke him. If not that, then what?
A headache. A pounding headache that made him want to grind his teeth.
Silently, he glanced around the room, probing the cave with his dowsing ability, his sixth sense of sorts. Even though it was considerably weaker since the sword was in the sheath, he could still tell that there was something, someone missing from the room. There were supposed to be nine Sheikah, whose auras were the weakest, Link, that red-haired oaf, then Zelda. Zelda had the strongest aura of the ten. Link was the second-strongest, most likely since he was associated strongly with the goddess.
And Zelda's was missing. All that was left was the fading remnants of it, barely discernable from the rest of the auras within the cave. She'd left a good while before he'd woken up, perhaps.
But that wasn't the cause of the headache. No, the cause was another presence in the distance, a strong one, a malevolent one that seemed to be doing everything in his power to make him join it or them, have him become part of this effort to kill perhaps everyone. Perhaps it could have been multiple beings, maybe only one. But he had a headache. And he wasn't going to listen to their callings.
He was going to stay with Link. He'd earned that respect in their battles, with the amount of strength, intelligence, and bravery when faced with a challenge or threat. And Link was trying to help him, something Ghirahim was sure Demise would never bother himself to do.
He slowly lifted his head from Link's stomach, and glanced around. Vaguely, he made out the sleeping forms of the Sheikah scattered about the cave, though some were hidden from view. Then he turned to Link. The male had features softer than many other men his age, even with the growing stubble making it evident he was either an older teen or in his twenties. But that wasn't important now. Ghirahim lightly grabbed his shoulder, shaking him.
"Link, wake up."
The voice echoed around the cave as if several other people had said it as well. This gave Ghirahim even more of a headache.
The sleeping man didn't stir.
He shook him harder, frowning. His headache was increasing in intensity; he felt clammy, something thankfully not out of the ordinary and usually happened when he was around very, very large amounts of life forms. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Link rolled onto his stomach, but didn't wake. I'm not dealing with this.
"Wake up, dammit!" he snapped, his voice near a yell.
Link flinched as he opened his eyes, blinking rapidly in the darkness. Along with the hero, nearly everyone else in the cave woke up, save for the only other Hylian currently in there. The Sheikah sat up, their hair in a mess and their weapons and extra articles of clothing scattered about them, not at all looking pleased.
"What is it, demon?" one of them asked, sending him an exhausted glare.
"It wouldn't hurt to call me Ghirahim," he said, returning it.
When he noticed the hero was about to fall back into the sweet embrace of sleep again, he gripped his sleeve and yanked him up so that Ghirahim could whisper in his ear. "I can't sense your goddess through the possible horde of monsters," he hissed, effectively pulling Link out of his sleepy state; his blue eyes went wide, though his fear was barely visible in the darkness of the rainstorm.
He jumped to his feet, grabbing the spiked blade. Several other Sheikah did the same, grabbing crimson and black scarves as well to make them less visible in the night.
Three long shadows were cast on the people within the cave. These shadows quickly scattered and jumped into hiding when everyone turned their heads, but Link got a glimpse of the short, pudgy forms of bokoblins and held the blade ready. While wielding the thing with one hand would prove to be impossible, he was sure he'd be perfectly fine with two.
"We need to get out of this cave," Link whispered as he took a cautious step towards the mouth, "or we'll be cornered."
Even outside he was hardly spared from the shadows. His eyes simultaneously watched both sides of the cave. Ghirahim stepped beside him, holding the rapier. The other Sheikah stood guard; everyone was aware of the bokoblins' presence despite their attempts to hide it.
Suddenly an arrow struck a rock next to Link. Both the demon and the hero sprung into action.
Link went for the bokoblin on the left. The thing was grabbing another arrow when he was on top of it. It managed to stab his shoulder with it, but moments later he swung the large sword in his hands at it. As it came into contact with the beast's side, ripping through wrinkly, hairy blue flesh, it let out a horrible scream. The spikes on the side of the sword caught onto bits of flesh, bringing many other things with it. When the sword finally left the bokoblin, bits of intestine and various other internal organs along with some skin went flying. The bokoblin fell to the ground, its mouth still open in a silent scream. With a sickening lurch of his stomach, Link realized that the sword's purpose wasn't just to kill.
It was to make the victim suffer, to feel indescribable pain right up to the moment their heart beat for the last time.
Ghirahim, meanwhile, went for the bokoblin to the right. He easily cut his down within seconds, the bokoblin dying silently, much to his disappointment. Suddenly, screams of agony filled the night air and Ghirahim's head turned. The bokoblin Link had went for was dead in front of him, the body in two pieces and surrounded by blood. The thing's insides were practically spilling out.
A wide grin decorated his features, there even when he noticed that Link looked horror-struck. It was his fault for agreeing to use the sword anyway.
The third bokoblin was taken down by a Sheikah. Quickly, the group rushed outside, each one with weapons held ready. Groose was the only one that didn't have a weapon raised; instead, he had a single fist held ready to pound into anything that threatened him or someone around him.
"Didn't you say there were more?" Link asked as he looked around.
"Well three bokoblins aren't going to give me a headache and drown out the aura of your goddess," Ghirahim answered.
All Link saw was a vast desert with the Triforce and other various figures standing, barely visible, in the night. Dead, leafless bushes rustled and sand scattered in a constant wind, but that was the only movement he saw. Other than this group of twelve, nothing was alive for possibly miles-a result of most of the population at one time being robots.
"Then where are they?"
Suddenly, a loud shriek ripped through the peaceful desert air, the shrill sound reaching Link's head and sending searing pain through his skull. He opened his mouth for a scream that either never came out or could not be heard. He couldn't move; his head was in too much pain to command his body, to get his muscles to work. Link was sure he was permanently blind and deaf then.
A horrid stench filled his nostrils as soggy skin grabbed onto his face, pulling him back towards whatever it was. Suddenly he could move, though his head pounded. He fought to get away from this mysterious attacker as his senses slowly returned to him. The smell only became nostrils. Gradually, he could hear the sounds of moans and shrieks become louder and louder as his hearing returned.
His attacker latched onto his arm as its other hand grabbed the thick fabric of his tunic and pulled him closer. He let out another silenced scream as he managed to kick them off, but as he began to run he was tackled, his head hitting the ground hard enough to leave him dizzy. A hand grabbed his face again as thick nails dug into his skin. He tried to shove them off, but their hold was tight. Tears came into his eyes as that horrid stench became stronger and his stomach flipped.
Suddenly, the assailant, whatever was thrown off him. A quite literally steel hand grabbed his softer one and he was yanked to his feet. He turned to look at his attacker. His eyes, so full of life, met nothing but black holes carved into an eerie wooden mask. Link stared in shock at the rotting mask, certain that he should have been able to see its eyes. But all he saw were those black holes that consumed any light that entered them.
Quickly, he slashed at the attacker. That mask was too unnerving; it spoke of death, murder, and pain. It was only when the thing was dead did he see the messy, red hair with bits of blood sticking to the strands, then the torn, tattered neon yellow tunic and the vague, sky blue outline of what Link had always believed was the sun.
Karane.
Another scream bubbled up his throat as his hands trembled. He forced his mouth closed, though his eyes became wide, the red veins in them visible in the night. Had she been dead? What had that mask done to her?
He glanced around at the others. They were all people, some he recognized as people that had fallen off Skyloft during his lifetime, others he was certain were Hylian soldiers, their bodies and armor preserved by the dark magic within that mask. Most walked, but some crawled since half of their bodies were missing. Every one was different, and the only thing they had in common was that every single one of them wore a simple wooden mask that was filled to the brim with dark magic; even Link, someone who hardly understood magic, could feel it, acting as an unnerving chill that reached into his soul.
"What are these things!?" Ghirahim exclaimed as he sliced through three of these people. His free hand was over his ear, as if that would help drown out their horrible shrieks.
Even Ghirahim didn't know. This was bad.
Link grit his teeth as he heard the beginnings of a scream within one of the monster's throats and slashed, quickly cutting through the thing like it was a cake.
He glanced around, noticing the monsters converging around the other people among the living. They were outnumbered twenty-to-one. Unless they ran for it, there was no chances of them surviving. He didn't need Fi to tell him that.
"RUN!!"
Link's voice ripped through the din of the screaming undead as he whipped around and began tearing through the small crowd that had begun to form. Ghirahim blinked in confusion but followed after him, slashing his way through the monsters. The other Sheikah trusted his authority and did the same.
He broke away from the hands that attempted to grab him, to pull him back into their rotting crowd, and sprinted away, coming to a stop twenty feet away. Ghirahim and the Sheikah joined him, all panting and some injured. Link was sure that he had something beside his mouth where the masked, dead Karane's nails had dug into his skin.
"Split up and find Zelda," he breathed. "Killing everything is impossible. Don't even try it." The Sheikah followed his order and scattered, searching for the goddess.
It felt as if a brick had been dropped in Link's stomach; the realization that, if Zelda was to die, he would be the one left in charge sickened him.
Ghirahim was the only one left with him. Of course. The demon gave him a questioning look, waiting for him to decide what to do.
"Come on," he said as he whipped around. The masked undead had vanished into the freezing, night air, but he was certain that that wasn't the end of it. With that thought in mind, he broke into a sprint, Ghirahim close behind. If the monsters were going to return, he had to get to Zelda as soon as possible.
Soon, he reached the "lake" of quicksand and he knew that he was close. He just had to get across this. The only thing was, every muscle in his body burned, including his windpipe. He hunched over, hands on his knees and panting, wheezing. Adrenaline had begun to wear off; everything hurt, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down for a few minutes.
But he needed to find Zelda. She was their top priority, as any goddess should be.
"Link." Link turned his head to look up at him. Blood flowed steadily down the side of his cheek, but he didn't seem to care. Ghirahim, too, seemed out of breath and tired. But not nearly as bad as Link. Of course it would be like that, so long as Ghirahim was a demon and Link was a human.
"What?" he breathed.
"I think there's a horde ahead. Might want to proceed with caution."
"But can you sense Zelda?"
Ghirahim opened his mouth to reply, but he quickly shook his head. "Not through whatever is near that temple."
"Then I'm going."
Ghirahim glowered at him as he jumped into the quicksand, kicking his feet as he ran to get across. A moment later, the demon simply jumped the way across, joining him. Link sent him a sharp glare; Show-off.
Link felt quite certain that if he tried to go the rest of the way, he would collapse and wind up getting swallowed by the thick sand. His limbs felt weak at this point. Every muscle burned.
He stared out at the quicksand, trying to muster the strength and will.
Noticing his pause, Ghirahim asked, "Need any assistance?"
"I'm fine."
He'd tormented Fi the entire journey with that simple statement. Even if he was about to fall over, even if he felt like dying, he would utter those two words. He tried to stop the habit, knowing that it would be the death of him, but he often found himself unable to ask for help.
Ghirahim narrowed his eyes slightly as he crossed his arms, most likely seeing through the barrier those words created. "Whatever you say then, Link."
To prove a point, Link jumped into the quicksand. Despite his body's protests, he made it to the other side, though he stumbled and fell when he reached solid ground. He lay there for a few seconds, gritting his teeth.
Pain. That was something he was going to have to get used to again.
He pushed himself up, wheezing quite loudly. Again, Ghirahim jumped to join him. Link wondered why he didn't just jump ahead.
"Are you still fine now, boy?" Ghirahim asked with a sneer. Mockery dripped from his voice like the acidic saliva from those gohma babies.
Link said nothing, didn't even look at him. Didn't act like he heard him. Link let his head hang as he hunched over once more, greedily inhaling the air.
"I'm taking that as a no." He stepped closer, reaching to grab Link's arm, but the hero flinched away. The glower that ensued convinced him to let Ghirahim do his thing, though, and soon Link was being held like an oversized pillow, looking absolutely repulsed. Maybe to Ghirahim he really was an oversized pillow. But Link didn't know that.
"Three seconds," Ghirahim hissed before he bent down, then jumped.
As soon as they landed on the other side of the "lake", Link was fighting to get out. After five seconds of holding him, Ghirahim dropped him. Link jumped away, shivering and rubbing his arms. "Your arms are too cold."
"It's what happens when you're made of metal, Link."
Link rolled his eyes and began walking down the narrow passageway carved into the rock. When he noticed that he didn't hear Ghirahim's footsteps, he turned around and found the demon standing where he had landed, his face contorted slightly in pain; it could almost be confused for an expression of disgust.
"What is it?" Link asked, worry shining like the sun in his voice. "Are you coming?"
"There's something there," Ghirahim said. "Thankfully not a horde, but whatever it is, the closer I get to it, the more my head and chest hurt."
Link frowned as he took the sword off his back and carefully rested it against the stone wall. Faintly, he could see paint, but it had faded so much over the years that it was impossible to tell what it had once depicted.
"Here," Link said as he stood upright once more. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out the Sacred Bow, something he felt he could always rely on. "Stay here. I'm going ahead."
"Better not kill yourself!" Ghirahim called as Link went around the bend and out of sight.
Link took in a shaky breath as all went silent. He continued on, hoping with his entire being that Zelda was in the Temple of Time or close to it, alive and unharmed. That was more than likely too much to ask, but there was nothing to stop him from hoping.
Soon he reached the familiar tunnel with the robot head carved into rock over the top. He half expected Ghirahim to talk, to say something, anything, but there was nothing but silence.
Being alone felt odd now.
He walked through the tunnel, which stretched about twenty feet, before he stepped out. Here was the place where numerous mine carts, all broken now, carried timeshift stones around. Once, this place had technology far more advanced than anything Link could imagine. Now it was nothing.
Among this nothing lay Zelda, limp. She had fallen dangerously near a pit, with her head hanging off the side. Her violet tunic was torn in several places, but as Link stepped closer, he realized that the only physical injury she seemed to have sustained was a bloody nose.
"Zelda?" he whispered, his voice carried away by the gentle breeze. She was pale, dangerously pale. Her eyes and cheeks seemed sunken with the emphasized shadows. Fear stabbed Link's chest as he bent down and placed two trembling fingers on her neck.
It was faint, but Link felt a pulse.
Then why was she unconscious?
"Hey! Your sword wants to know if you're dead!"
Link turned his head to see three Sheikah running towards them. All of them still had their scarves up, concealing their mouths and making it difficult for Link to tell who had said that. They all came to a stop once they noticed who Link was with.
The one with Impa's cape stepped forward. Link cursed himself for not knowing her name, especially since she held something so important. "Is she alright?"
Link shrugged, earning a glare from the Sheikah. Quickly, he said, "She's alive."
A moment of silence. All of the Sheikah stared at the person they considered to be their goddess, worry written in all of their eyes except for the one with Impa's cape. Something about her made Link uneasy; she seemed too...formal.
Then the one with Impa's cape stepped forward and gently picked up the girl bridal style. "We need to find someplace else to rest. Perhaps she will awaken tomorrow. By the way, Link." She adjusted Zelda so that the girl was held by one arm, then held out her other. "My name is Tirai, great granddaughter of Impa and the leader of the Sheikah. Forgive me for not introducing you earlier."
Link looked up to meet her red eyes. The storm appeared to be clearing, allowing him to see the faint reflection of the moon within them. Reluctantly, Link stretched out a hand and grabbed hers, shyly shaking it.
As he stood up and began leading the Sheikah back towards the path that he'd left Ghirahim on, he wondered what was hidden behind those crimson masks.