The Faded Triforce Prologue Part 3



The morning cuckoo woke Link first. Warmth of the blanket and that of Impa surrounded him. "Mmm." He spoke sleepily, "Where am I?" Careful not to disturb Impa he cast of the blanket and stood up. The comforter fell over the shadow sage with ease as he discarded it. "Hmm? I'm wearing the all night mask." He blinked at the mirror, "How was I sleeping then?" Memories of last night struck him like owl flying at top speed into a window. "Impa! Impa wake up!" He cried, jumping towards the shadow sage and shaking her violently, "It's morning. We slept until morning!' he wailed.
Impa lifted one eye open sleepily. That noisy racket was all Link after all. Her eyes blinked open as she remembered the task at hand as well, "Oh! Yes well," she yawned vigorously and stood up quickly. The girl was still stable to their relief. Whatever Link had done had held her through the night. "C'mon, Link. I'll carry her." Gentle hands supported the girl's neck; Mishcana's neck. Another arm supported her under the knees allowing Impa to carry her with ease, "She's still not waking, but, she's looking much better, I think." said Impa with forced cheerfulness. "I'm sure the great fairy will be able to help her."

A beautiful fountain filled with magical water lay in the middle of the cave. In the walls brilliant crystal lights danced to and fro in time with a soft relaxing music that always filled the fairy fountains. Laughing welled up from underground. Link tensed beside Impa. He had always found these great fairies to be a little scary especially when they would stare at him expectantly. They all knew his footsteps by heart now and no longer waited to hear the song of the royal family. A flash of light and a large wingless fairy dressed in vines appear to float midair. Pink hair floated out behind her. "Good day, Link, hero of time and fairy friend, and to you as well Queen Regent Impa the shadow sage. I sense you could use some restoration young one. Come forth." Link hesitated a moment. He could wait but the girl, he feared, might not be able to. A flash of red light enveloped him and he was drawn closer to the fairy, "Do not be afraid Link, you have been through this many times." The power of a great fairy was overwhelming. The world around him spun like crazy and swooned backward landing on his rear. His hair flew as his head shook to restore his wits. Bloody fairies, always surprising him like that.
Impa stepped forward; the girl held tightly in hand, "Great fairy, it is for this girl that we have come. Some sort of curse has been laid upon her and she will not recover on her own. We need your help and seek it, or if you cannot help us with your power, we ask for your wisdom to show us a solution."

The fairy's light swiftly reached out and shone over the girl. The great fairy seemed disquiet and spoke simply, "Lay her on the alter, on the triforce mark, so that I may have a better look."

What seemed like hours to Link passed by. The great fairy and Impa were in long discussion, studying the mark upon the girl's chest. The great fairy had healed all of the wounds but could not remove the mark and feared its evil. "Young one, I fear I cannot remove it. The good news is it appears the spell you used last night had a strong positive effect. The girl's healing trance has become active and is balancing the damage being done by the curse. I have heard of this mark and this curse from a friend of mine who lives near the desert colossus. It is a specialty of the Gerudo witches who curse the temple there, though in this time they are not the demons you faced as an adult. There is a cure, if I remember correctly. A white flower that blooms in the Oasis at night may be able to remove it. Go quickly to the land of the dry sands with the requiem of spirit and return here as fast as you are able. I will guard the girl until you return so that Impa may proceed with her duties.

Link ran quickly outside and brought out his fairy ocarina. The notes of the song echoed around him. Soft orange light surrounded and transported him across the spaces of Hyrule until he reached the hot desert area. The sun beat down on him from above. The oasis was on the other end of the protected area and time was not on his side. He had several hours until night and it would take at least an hour to reach the oasis. The sun was too hot for him to travel now without any protection. Not far away he could see the colossus, the Spirit Temple, rise out of the sand. It would be darker there and cooler. He slipped on his furry bunny ears and began to push through the resistant sand. It was so hot that even through his thick leather boots the heat would occasionally cause him to wince in pain. Annoying monsters kept attacking him until he reached into his sheath and pulled out his gilded sword. Fighting was exhausting and the sun's light continued to beat down upon him. He didn't remember the desert being so hot. Flump. The hero collapsed upon a white rock, out of the reach of the monsters in the sand. The heat overwhelmed him and he began to feel dizzy. Darkness enveloped him and the world disappeared

Rough hands had seized him when he regained his consciousness. Shadows embraced him as he listened to the voices of his captors.
"I can't believe she's still alive!" exclaimed the first voice. It was thick with heavy female Gerudo accent.
Another seemed equally in disbelief, "I know, it seems impossible. Looks like today's horrible heat found her in her hiding spot. See? Her hair's gone blonde now. She must have been out in the sun a lot."
"She must be really strong. Overwhelming the guard like that and stealing her keys and bow. Tricky, too." said a third.
"What do you expect? Ganondorf told us to keep close watch upon her. He said she was of unusual strength and he wanted her treated well, but not nicely. I helped train her, I should know; she's as fierce as a dragon in a pinch. I just can't believe that after lasting that long, she's gone and got caught by us. It seems too easy."

Torches began to appear along the wall as the guards proceeded in silence. Dimly, Link could make out many prison cells along the corridors of what appeared to be the part of the temple he'd seen as an adult. Odd, there had been no cells there then. The Gerudo paused and he could faintly her the jingly of keys, "This cell ought to hold her. C'mon, let's get these weapons off her. Where could she have found these? And this disgusting Hylian shield . . . Ugh."

At this moment Link flashed open his eyes completely and flipped out of the hands of his captors high into the air. He landed with his back towards them. With a piercing squeak as his shoes rubbed on the smooth sandstone he turned and faced them, shield ready, sword drawn. "I am Link, Friend of Nabooru and member of the Gerudo thieves. If you doubt my membership, I have it with me. Nabooru and her second in command signed it. Or we could do this the hard way and I will prove it to you. There are four of you, one of me. I believe that qualifies as a fair test for a new comer?"

The Gerudo stood stunned a moment staring at Link. "A male claiming to be a member, how can this be?" exclaimed the first.
Link smirked in answer, "It would be rather fun for me to demonstrate why; however, I prefer not to hurt such skilful warriors without reason." He lifted his sword arm upwards towards the ceiling and the pale green light began to shine through his hand and through his sword. It was easier for him to use the triforce's magic in conjunction with his weapon though he was never really sure why. "Behold, I am Link, hero of time," he began loudly, "Look to the triforce of courage, and remember the truth." Slowly the Gerudo began to blink off their confusion. Link spoke again, "Remember that Ganondorf is gone, imprisoned in the evil realm. Remember your future promises of fealty to the king or queen of Hyrule. Remember your promises to me." With Ganondorf gone Link had become the only male member of the Gerudo. Tradition stated that the lone Gerudo male, born only once in a hundred years was destined to become the leader. Though Link was not a Gerudo and therefore would never be king the Gerudo still respected him greatly.

The Gerudo knelt before him, and begged his forgiveness. He looked puzzled, and asked the guard nearest to him, "Has Nabooru not returned to you yet?" The guard shook her head. Amazement filled Link. They still hadn't finished restoring the Sacred Realm? No wonder the guards did not remember him. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Mishcana. Maybe they could help him. "I am looking for the white flower that blooms only at night here in the valley. A terrible curse has been placed upon a girl, and she needs my help. Can you help me find the flower?"

The fourth Gerudo who had not spoken stood up and bowed, "I will accompany you, Hero of Time." Slowly she led him through the labyrinth. In the future it was truly different then it was now. Outside, the sun had begun to set. As the reached the exit to the colossus Link began to question the Gerudo woman. "Who was it you mistook me for?"
The woman sighed as she led him over the cooling sands, "A girl. A young Kokiri girl Ganondorf kidnapped from the Kokiri forest. Pardon our mistake hero but we have not seen any Kokiri save you and her here before. I was her guard and one of her trainers. You see, Ganondorf sensed something in the girl, and told us to train her in the art of fighting. The girl was amazing with the spear and the bow especially. One day, that evil man forced her to fight him with a sword. She hated him so much you could nearly see the steam rise from her boiling blood. She rushed him and he merely lifted his hand and deflected her. A gold shot of light hit her in the chest and flung her back against the wall of the training room. He said he had figured out what she was. Who she was. He never told us. As she lay moaning on the floor he stepped on her chest and brought out some sort of blood red stone. He held it over her."

The woman seemed disturbed and gazed with unseeing eyes upward to the rising moon, "I've never heard anyone scream like that. Not in a torture chamber, not even from Ganondorf's secret quarters where dangerous experiments were often carried out. Not even from the witches' lair when they curse his enemies. The jewel glowed while the girl fought twisting and jerking until she went limp. The jewel remained glowing and Ganondorf licked his lips and stuck it in his pocket. He was very excited, and laughed on his way out. He told us to return her to her cell as he may have need of her in the future. Hero, it was a week before that girl recovered completely. What ever he did to her it zapped her energy completely. Later that week he moved his lair to an unknown location, but he took that stone with him, I guarantee it. Later that month he and you were thrown forwards in time, I guess, and we've kept the girl because we lacked any other order. Say, it's been a year since then, hasn't it? It's a shame. The girl must surely be dead. Three nights ago, no, it would be four now, she hit me over the head and tried to escape. She got out of colossus alright, but I've never known anyone to escape the desert."
Link listened patiently to the woman as darkness covered the valley, "Did you know her name?" his voice was intent and to the point and suspicion clouded his eyes.
The Gerudo spoke slowly, "Mish, hmmm. Mishcana I believe. She often talked of the forest and a girl named Saria. Why, she must've been here for at least three years, maybe four now. I wish she were all right and safe here. If only you had come sooner, you could've taken her back to the forest safely with you."
Link shuddered; the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end again. "Well, now, there's some good news and some bad news. The good news is a Kokiri girl showed up in Hyrule and saved the Princess's life. We're not sure, but we think her name may be Mishcana."
The Gerudo woman's face lit up with elation, "Really? She's alive? She made it out of the desert alive? She truly is amazing."
Link nodded solemnly, "It looks like she survived well without much water, too. A bunch of Stalchildren attacked my friend Princess Zelda. Around thirty of them." The Gerudo gasped, "But they never travel in groups larger than two!" she interjected, "In this case they did." He responded calmly. "They beat the life force shield almost completely off the princess and launched a magic attack. Mishcana jumped in its way and received full blast in the chest. I believe it is called the Gerudo curse, and that is why I have been sent to find the flower."

The Gerudo woman groaned in horror. "Only the witches know how to cast that spell." She whispered hoarsely, "It has been said that they could control other evil people and cast it through them, but a stalchild? She must be still living, or you would not be searching."
Link nodded again, his eyes welling up with tears that dried quickly in the heat of the valley, "She is, but barely. You see, she didn't enter the healing trance. She stopped it from coming and instead, stood up a fought and destroyed all thirty of the stalchildren. I saw it with my own eyes."
"The pain must have been immense how could she of . . .?" The Gerudo's eyes were blank and she shook her head in awe, " Come. The flower is just over here."

At the edge of the oasis the little gleaming white flowers lay shining brilliantly their petals just unfurling in the moonlight. Its petals blew in the breeze like flags on flagpole, elegantly hanging on while floating midair. Link's eyes widened in wonder. Such a flower he had never seen and yet here were many drinking deeply of the oasis in the moonlight. Dewdrops fell lightly upon their edges and collected in the middle form gooey nectar near the pestle. The Gerudo woman leaned town towards the flowers, examining them carefully avoiding touching them. "We Gerudo guards all know the way of the remedy. It is not uncommon for the witches to hit us instead of the prisoner and they never cared much for us. Fortunately, they seem to have left the Colossus. At any rate, it is good that you found the name of the victim."
Link blinked and turned his gaze from the flower to the woman. "Why is that?" he asked in a high, slow and puzzled tone.
The woman replied slowly with heavy stare, "Because you must be able to call the person to help the flower's power break the curse. No one really knows how or why it works, but you must call the person's name until whatever it is that must happen, happens." Link stared at her in utter confusion and the guard sighed, "Alright. Here's what you do, Hero. Let me explain."

The moon rose high in the sky by the time the guard had finished her explanation. "Be sure to only take what you need. Only one flower, and do not loose it. Now hurry, and good luck." Link carefully chose a flower full of the gooey nectar and held it cautiously between his forefinger and thumb. With great difficulty the Ocarina played its song and Link was travelling in the midst of coloured lights. Fascinated he watched as swirls of orange intermingled with flash of yellow light. The beautiful colours reflected on the flower and gained its shine. Swoosh! The temple of time appeared around him. He stretched as though awakening from a dream, and then blinked in shock. "Oh! Mishcana . . . this is no time to be enjoying the lights." Quick as a jackrabbit - for he had reequipped his bunny ears - he ran for the fairy's fountain.

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Go to Part four of the Prologue.