"Well, this was certainly disgusting," Ukyo remarked.
"You got that right," Ranko nodded. "Hopefully, this will put an end to the drought in Lake Hylia and more importantly, gets rid of the ice in Zora's Domain."
"Does that mean we finally can get out of here?" Tatl asked hopefully.
"Wait a minute!" Ruto protested. "What about Link?"
Just then, the door opened, and a wet, exhausted, but smiling Hero of Time entered the room. "Hey, guys! Looks like I finally caught up."
"Well, about time," Ukyo frowned. "Where have you been all this time?"
Link smirked. "Oh, I just had a run-in with some red-eyed troublemaker."
"You met that creep who looked like you?" Ruto gasped. "What did he do?"
"Oh, he just said some weird stuff and then wanted to kill me..."
"Yeah, but Link showed him that there's a reason why he's the Hero of Time," Navi smiled.
"So you made short work of him?" Ranko grinned. "Wish I were there to see it... I'd have loved to taught that guy a lesson for messing around with my sister..."
"He won't hurt anyone anymore, I made sure of that," Link assured them. Still, he didn't mention the tiny picture he had picked up from the ground...
"Oh, I knew I could count on you!" Ruto squealed and hugged the Hylian boy around his waist. "My fiance is the strongest of them all!"
"Hey, and what am I?" Ranko asked in a mocking tone of voice.
"You're family, so you don't count!" Ruto said and stuck out her tongue at her sister.
"I see you were busy as well," Navi remarked. "So that's it? The Zoras are saved?"
"I know they are," Ruto shouted. "Now everything will be fine."
"Still... I wonder..." Ukyo murmured.
"What spatula girl mean?" Shampoo asked.
"I mean... why did Ganondorf do this? Why did he let Link's dark double and that tentacle monster drain the lake and freeze the Zoras?"
"Duh, because they were resisting him," Ranko spoke up. "I thought that much was obvious, Ucchan."
"Yeah, but if that's all... why did they kidnap your sister?"
"Um, hello? I'm the Hero of Time, remember?" Link reminded her. "They obviously wanted to lure me into a trap."
"They could have done that without Ruto," Navi pointed out. "You would have gone to save the Zoras even if Ruto wasn't kidnapped, right?"
"I can tell you the reason," Ruto said quietly.
"Huh? What do you mean, sis?" Ranko asked.
Ruto looked at her friends seriously. "While I was escaping from Dark Link, I noticed something... I somehow was able to feel anything that happened in this temple... especially in the water. And I could feel the thoughts of every Zora. Most of them are sleeping a deep sleep, but... when you woke up Mom and Dad, I was somehow able to feel it. And when I was trapped by Dark Link, I was thinking of you..."
"Now I know!" Ranko suddenly shouted. "That's the reason why I could feel that you were in danger, back on Death Mountain."
"But why Ruto have these abilities?" Shampoo wondered.
"Because... I am the Sage of Water," Ruto explained.
"Say what?" Ranko gasped.
"Are you kidding?" Ukyo blurted out.
"How do you know THAT?" Link asked.
"I don't know, I just... know," she tried to explain. "This temple is a holy place of Nayru... and as the Sage of Water, I can feel her presence, as well as the presence of the Sages in the Temple of Light... but there are still two missing."
"Does that mean... you won't come home for dinner?" Ranko asked jokingly.
Ruto giggled. "Don't be silly, sis! I have to go and do my duty like all the other sages, that's true, but... after Ganondorf is defeated, I will be able to come back home."
"Ah... and Ryoga can return to Goron City by then?" Ranko asked.
"And Saria to Kokiri Village," Ukyo smiled.
Ruto nodded. Then, she pulled both Ranko and Link close to her. "I'm gonna miss both of you during my stay at the Chamber of Sages... but I'll be thinking of you all the time."
Link sweatdropped. How was he going to make Ruto understand that he couldn't be her fiance? After all, there was another girl he was thinking of right now... but concentrating on her was becoming difficult when the younger Zora princess pressed him even closer against her ample bosom.
Rnko chuckled. "Hey, leggo of the poor boy already, sis! Yer giving him a nosebleed."
"Oops, silly me!" Ruto giggled. She let go of them in embarrassment. "Well, I guess I'll be off, then... I will watch you from the Chamber of Sages, Link, Ukyo! Shampoo, Ranko... thanks for coming for my help."
"Anytime, kiddo!" Ranko smirked.
"Shampoo happy to help. Ruto is strong Zora, almost as strong as Gerudo warrior."
Ruto smiled at everyone, then she turned around, touched a wall... and the solid stone surface began to ripple and waver like the surface of a clear lake. Ruto stepped through the water-like wall, the water closed behind her body... and turned back into a solid wall.
Eveyone stared.
"Um, I just take a guess and say that's how the Sage of Water can enter the Chamber of Sages from this temple," Link assumed.
Sheik was standing at the edge of the small island and watched how the lake was being filled with clear, fresh water.
"That means the curse of Morpha is broken," she smiled underneath her mask. "Well done, Ukyo, Link..."
Suddenly, she heard something... something that approached her current position.
Knowing that Ganondorf's spies were everywhere, she quickly hid behind the tree that was growing on the island.
She narrowed her eyes when she recognized one of the three old hags that worked with the King of Evil...
Cologne dismounted from her broom stick and looked around. "Well, things are starting to get wet around here again," she muttered. "That means son-in-law and that hero boy will be here soon..."
Sheik watched how the wrinkled elder took something out of her robes, a pair of long, thin items, with pointy, glowing tips...
Cologne walked up to the tree. "They won't miss it when I place them here," she said.
Sheik wandered what the Gerudo was up to. Did she lay a trap for Link and the others? And who did she mean when she said 'son-in-law'?
She decided to go for it. After all, she knew that the witch wouldn't be able to recognize her as long as she wore this outfit and mask.
"What are you doing, old hag?" she asked as she stepped out of her hiding place.
Cologne was surprised, but didn't show it. "Ah, the young Sheikah warrior who gives my master so much trouble... weren't you the one who fought the sorceress Veran?"
"That's me! I am Sheik, survivor of the Sheikah."
"One of the survivors, you mean," Cologne pointed out. "Don't play dumb, child, I know of the Sheikah that are hiding in Kakariko... not that it would matter to the great Ganondorf. You will all fall before his might." She turned around. "You are lucky that I have more important matters to worry about... but your time will come."
She wanted to mount her broom, but a thin chain got wrapped around her body.
"Do you believe I'm going to let you leave like that?" Sheik asked.
Cologne didn't move yet. "Don't be foolish, child! You wouldn't be ready to face me in years."
"I'll be the one to judge that," Sheik shouted. "What did you place underneath that tree? A trap for the Hero of Time?"
'Ah, so you are helping him,' Cologne thought to herself. 'I had my doubts, but now you proved it to me.'
"It's not a trap," she finally said.
"Why should I believe you?" Sheik asked.
The elder of the winds was getting annoyed. "I'm getting tired of this..." she grumbled. With one swift movement, she freed herself from the chains, jumped high into the air and dove straight at the young warrior.
Sheik gasped and raised her arms to counter any attack the hag would throw at her.
Her reaction was swift, and admirable, and against anyone else, she would have succeeded.
But Elder Cologne was the oldest of all Gerudo... and maybe one of the oldest beings in Hyrule, second only to the goddesses themselves and sacred creatures such as Jabu-Jabu.
Sheik could do nothing when the elder suddenly vanished from her sight. And just a second later, the handle of the broom was being pressed against the back of her neck.
"Tag, you're it!" Cologne chuckled. "Will you now stop this foolish game? I'm not here to harm you."
Sighing, Sheik realized that the Gerudo was right. If she wanted to bring her to Ganondorf, she could have done that much earlier.
Cologne nodded when she saw how the Sheikah relaxed. "Very good! Now, if you would just take a look at your so-called 'trap', you'd see that these items are completely harmless."
Sheik turned around to look... and a confused look appeared on her face. She was just glad that Cologne couldn't see it underneath her mask.
"Arrows?" she wondered. "Magical arrows?"
"A gift for the Hero of Time," Cologne explained. "And if you are the honest young person I believe you to be, please don't tell any servant of Ganondorf that I just did this."
It all began to dawn on Sheik. "You are... a renegade," she realized.
"I am still serving Ganondorf," Cologne snapped. "I am not weary of life. It's just that... well..."
Seeing a Gerudo elder shuffle around and glance at her feet in awkwardness was a rare sight, and that alone proved Sheik that her assumption was right.
"My... great-granddaughter has left our tribe," the elder finally explained. "I know that sooner or later, she will have to pay for her crimes against Ganondorf... and the only way I know about to save her is by helping the Hero of Time."
"You couldn't just protect her yourself?" Sheik asked.
Cologne glared up at her. "I am a skilled fighter and desert witch, but Ganondorf is still to dangerous for me. I'm better off as his servant... even if I have to feign loyalty. For now, these presents are all I can offer to the hero's quest."
"Are you sure you can fool Ganondorf?" Sheik asked her. "What if he already knows about your betrayal?"
"Then my life is already forfeit," the wind witch stated grimly.
"It doesn't have to be like this. Other refugees are hiding from Ganondorf as well. You can join them in..."
"Do you honestly believe that Ganondorf doesn't know about your little hideout, rebel?" Cologne asked. "General Onox has been in Kakariko several times over the past few weeks, and since the graveyard is a place where the power of evil is strong..."
"Not evil," Sheik glowered. "Just darkness."
"Whatever..." Cologne sighed. "Let me give you one piece of advice, child: If you value your life, you better stay away from Kakariko."
The way the elder said this made Sheik feel uneasy. "Why? What's happening in Kakariko?"
Cologne hesitated. She was about to give a very valuable piece of information to the enemy... this would seal her fate as a renegade.
But it already was too late, wasn't it? The young Sheikah would tell Link that something was wrong in Kakariko, and if son-in-law and her great-granddaughter heard as well, they could decide to help as well. And Shampoo would, once again, be in danger...
Wasn't it better to make sure they would know what they are up against?
"The Shadow Beast from the bottom of the well..." Cologne muttered. "It made a pact with Ganondorf and is now willing to serve him. It will come back to Kakariko very soon... to take revenge on the woman who sealed it away in the well... and her offspring."
'Oh no!' Sheik thought. 'Impa! Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi! I have to warn them! But, I also have to tell Link...'
"When will it attack?" Sheik asked.
"Pretty soon," Cologne replied. "That's all the help I can give to you, girl! Make use of it as you wish... and don't forget to make sure that hero boy receives those arrows." She pointed at the Fire and Ice Arrows still in Sheik's hands.
She then mounted her broom and wanted to fly away.
"They might kill you if you return now," Sheik said.
Cologne lowered her head. "Maybe," she said quietly. "But I have to return... at least one of the Gerudo elders must try to bring her people back on the right path."
And then, she flew off.
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(Posted Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:48)
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