Part 9

The voice was laced with death, entering their minds rather than their ears. Orca and Tobias both shuddered, feeling the shade’s thoughts rather than words. Still, Tobias would not falter, determined for answers that only the Draken shade could yield. “I wish to know what you want me to do, Draken shade,” Tobias answered. “I took the Toraero Sword from Shadows One, and sent Ne Ella and Hailey to Earth. Now I must know what you want of me, and what I’m supposed to do to end this.”

The shade was silent, looking down at him. -You already know what you must do, Madra Knight. Nothing has changed in the time that has passed since I left this realm. Your duty still remains the same, to destroy Shadows One, and return the Master Sword to its former glory, as the blade of evil‘s bane-

“How?” For everything Tobias had been told about who and what he was, and his responsibilities, he had not once been told how he was to forge the Master Sword anew. The Crests of Aurias and the Madra Medallions were needed, but the Toraero Sword refused to accept the addition of the Water Medallion, and he didn’t even have the fourth Aurias Crest. “The Gilla Blade and Toraero Sword refuse to reunite, no matter how much magic I pour into them.”

-They are not yet complete. Only that which the Goddesses left behind can make your wish come true-

Tobias was preparing to protest from the lack of information, but Orca raised his palm. “Balmung-sama,” he whispered. “Your hand…she…”

For the first time, the shade’s presence lessened, as though the warrior that the Hero of Winds had returned, rather than his shade. -I could not stop myself, Skate-kun. You are protected from his darkness, but I was not as lucky- The shade bent its head, the shadows over its face looming ever more. -Know that if I could have, I would have given my life for her. But the pact made with the Draken had different plans-

“I know, Balmung-sama,” Orca answered. “Since her passing, it has been…so hard for me…”

-The boy by your side carries her spirit in his sword. She gave herself to save the world- The shade lifted its head. -You wish to know, Madra Knight, why you cannot forge the sword? The two pieces you have are naught without the force that created them. Both were part of one sword created by the deities, now they are two swords made by Hylian hands. Only when the Aurias Crests are returned can the Goddesses aid you. Protect the worlds, Madra Knight-

The shade began to recede, its time in the world almost over. Tobias understood that; it had been the same when the Hero had died. The Hero of Time had been summoned, with the Triforce of Courage, and had taken the Hero of Winds away, into the dark void of the Draken. It was that day that the Horus in his arm had stopped speaking to him, leaving the shadow power behind. Tobias had sought for an explanation to this, and had come up with the simple truth that the Horus had been Link’s soul, banished to the ether-world between Hyrule and Earth, which had stolen enough of Shadows One’s abilities that a new Hero wouldn’t be corrupted again. The powers the Horus had given him, along with its instincts, were there, but there was no longer a voice to guide him.

-She misses you, Skate-kun- the shade said, as it vanished into the void. -I shall send your love to her in the nether realm-

The figure vanished, and the overbearing presence disappeared.
***
“Her name was the same as your blade, Madra Knight.”

Orca sighed, resting his muscular frame against one of the trees, his long head fin slinking across his chest. “Once, I had a wife. A woman who I loved so much it ached me. When we were married, it was the happiest day I can ever remember, even though we traveled with Balmung-sama. When it ended, me and my wife returned to Zora Lake, where we lived happily.

“One night, several years later, she awoke after a horrible nightmare. She decided that she would travel into the far north, above the mountain of the Rito.” He took a deep breath, looking down at the ground. “That was the last time I saw her or Balmung-sama, until now. Even though I am not a Sage as they were, I still wish I could have…done anything.”

“It’s not that simple, Orca,” Tobias replied, resting a hand on the Zora’s shoulder. “Sometimes, things just happen that we can’t prevent, no matter how much we want to. And even though those things happen, life has to go on, right?”

“That doesn’t make the pain any easier.”

“But that’s what makes us human, isn’t it?” Tobias lifted his hand, and touched his face. “You still have a body, and a heart, left. You can still feel, even if it is sadness. I’m sure that, wherever she is, she still loves you.” Tobias unsheathed the Gilla Blade, its azure steel glittering in the night’s sky. “She’s still trying to save this world, just like Link.” He held out the sword, and Orca took it in his transparent blue hands.

“This sword cannot even begin to match her beauty, Madra Knight,” Orca sighed, looking the blade over. He saw the studded hilt, the four oval holes that were supposed to hold the symbols of the Crests. Only three were filled, golden for Courage, green for Honor, and crimson for Love. The last one was vacant, a dull pearly white. “But it was made from her hands, all the same.” He gazed over the Medallion of Water on its blade. “Avon constructed this, didn’t he? The Sage of Death?”

Tobias nodded.

“Aye, he is a good man.” Orca gave the weapon one final look, before handing it back to the Dark Knight. Tobias took it, and sheathed it once more. “You are too. You can do a lot of good for this world, even after everything that has happened. The Knight of the Madra is a destructive weapon, but he was made to be an instrument of good, like the Zora Knights. Remember that.”

Neither moved until the sun rose hours later. Tobias enwrapped in the memories of his adventures and of his friends, Orca of a very beautiful Zora who he had loved once, and still did, no matter how much time would pass in this world.

Word Count- 1094

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Signature by the Sinfully Delicious Lady Knives