Re: (Fan/Act/Rom) The Legend of Zelda: Empire of Darkness [T]
Author's Note: In response to Dark Side: Yes, Khaz is my most developed character, or you could say most complex. You'll see more of his insane behavior as the story continues.
Chapter Twelve:
Heroes
Link stopped dead when he heard it; cries of battle. He could recognize it anywhere and just as before, it was a deafening sound that made your insides freeze. Link cursed under his breath, Kira and Kai must have already brought in the army. To make things worse they had not found the others or the way out. However, he was not one to give up so easily. As long as his heart kept beating in his chest he wasn’t going to stop.
Link caught Khaz’s eye. The elf was completely covered in dark, sticky blood. Link tried hard not to remember the screams of the guards in the station. Why had Khaz done that? He was the person Link least expected to do such a thing. His eyes had been so ruthless, not a drop of mercy had been in them. It was the least he could have done to put the sobbing Dark Elf out his misery. But he hadn’t. He let the man wraith on the ground like an insect he was dissecting. The elf had meant nothing more to Khaz than an insect. Yet, his eyes were filled with something else right now. Worry, kindness, and stress; how could those eyes switch to that after having such cold and empty texture? Those eyes … they continued to haunt Link’s memory.
“What is it, Link?” asked Khaz, making Link realize he was still staring at Khaz.
“Listen …” answered Link. “Kira and Kai have led the army in.”
He couldn’t ask questions now. They have to focus on getting out alive before he can question Khaz’s actions.
Khaz gave Link a desperate glance. He was worried just as much as Link was. Malon stared at the both of them, waiting to be told what to do. The children were waiting too and were staring hopefully at their leaders. Link noticed as the rain started to fall harder and begin to soak his red tunic. The alley way was as cold and wet as they were, and dark with no sign of hope. Link gazed down at the wet stone of the alley.
Maybe if they went out into the open streets they could find their way out. This was extremely dangerous of course, a battle was taking place and one of the children could easily be left behind. Soon the battle would spread to even the dark alleys of the fortress and they would be running that risk either way. Not only would they find there way out of here, they might even find the others if they were looking for them. Staying in the alley way would keep them safe longer, but would take longer to find their way out. Link thought for a moment before making his decision.
“Okay, we’re going into the streets,” announced Link. Khaz gasped in disagreement.
“What? Do you know how dangerous that is gong to be!”
“I know it’s dangerous, but we need to find our way out of here and fast,” said Link. “The battle will come to the alleys soon and will be just as dangerous and possibly more. These alley ways are so narrow it makes it more difficult to fight. We have to take a chance with the open streets.”
“Well—all right, but nothing better happen to these kids,” said Khaz, grabbing Link’s shoulder, almost in a threatening grip.
Link stared straight into Khaz’s midnight eyes. He couldn’t believe this was the man who had killed three guards mercilessly just ten minutes ago. Link mentally shook off this thought and nodded. Malon told the children to stand up and they started to navigate their way to the streets by listening to the thunder of battle becoming louder.
They stopped at the entrance of the ranch; the guards stared at Rontu in confusion. Rontu jumped off the wagon and Blaze kicked open the cage door. The guards gasped in shock and immediately went to push them back in. Tila slid her blades out from her rags and instantly brought them to the ground with a thud. They moved no longer. The rest emptied out of the wagon, stripping off their rags and charged into the ranch. The moment they ran out into the streets they could hear the army right behind them. Rontu whipped around and saw the army was no more than fifty feet away from the entrance.
“Get out of the way!” he called to the group.
They all immediately scattered to the sides of the wet street. The huge army of Hylians and Gerudos stampeded into the streets. The crash and clank of battle rang out into the silence of the moist air. Ren, Blaze, Trisa and Sheik somehow managed to find each other in the battle, for they were on the same side of the street. Rontu, Leita, Tila, Impa, and Nabooru were on the other side. Blaze’s group dodged and fought their way across the street. Trisa was guarded by Ren and so didn’t get to do much of the fighting but they found the others on the other side.
They sank back into the shadows of an alley way so they could talk without being disturbed. “Okay, so what do we do now?” said Trisa looking fearfully over her shoulder at the battle raging behind them.
“We must find Link and the others of course,” answered Nabooru. “My guess is that they are in the alleys. It would be much safer than the streets and they must have heard the attack by now. I say we search the alleys.”
“No,” said Rontu, immediately disagreeing. “Link wouldn’t do that. He knows the best thing to do is to find a way out as quickly as possible and the alleys are just a maze. No, he would go into the open streets where the exit will be as clear as day light. Besides, the battles will spread to the alleys eventually and make them just as dangerous as the streets.”
“Oh,” said Nabooru coldly. “And what makes you think you know more about Link than I do?”
Rontu’s expression hardened into a glare.
“Excuse me, but I have fought beside Link in a war myself and know better than you how his mind works. You, on the other hand, haven’t seen him in seven years and don’t have a clue how much he has matured into the warrior he is now. He is a different man than you knew seven years ago.”
Nabooru flinched at his last words. She glared at the Dark Elf but couldn’t find anything to say. His last words hurt her more than she dared to show. Maybe it was because she knew he was right and that she probably didn’t know Link as well as she used to … and hated the fact a Dark Elf was the one to know him better. Nabooru kept her thoughts to herself and nodded in agreement. She paused for a moment to stare into Rontu’s golden eyes.
“Okay, but we need to stay together or we will only get more lost from each other,” began Nabooru. Rontu was still staring at her. He knew exactly what that look meant. He had seen it too many times to mistake for anything else. But this was no time to think of those he knew that hated him. He had to find Link and the others. He had no time to be concentrating on anything else.
“So, we should stay on the edge of the battle. Fight only when you have to and keep an eye out for Link and the others,” added Impa.
With this said they marched out into the open battle field in the streets of the fortress. Scanning the open area for the red tunic of Link, blood-red hair of Malon, and the jet-black hair of Khaz; their lost friends.
Link poked his head around the corner of the alley. They had finally reached the open streets which were filled with Gerudos, Hylians, and Dark Elves battling each other. It appeared as if the Gerudos and Hylians were winning for the Dark Elf forces were being pushed back into small scattered groups. Khaz and Malon where waiting behind Link to see if he could find a way out of the ranch. Link spotted a Hylian who was being pushed back by five Dark Elves. She had short, brown hair, dark blue eyes, and familiar blue armor.
“Kira!” gasped Link and smashed down one of the elves attacking her. Malon started to go out to help too, but Khaz stuck his arm out to stop her. She gave him a demanding look.
“They can take care of themselves, we need to watch after these kids,” said Khaz. Malon nodded and back away from the street. Link and Kira fighting together dispatched them easily. Before they could say anything to each other Kai came running over. Unlike Kira, he chose not to wear any armor. Kai’s dark eyes found Khaz and Malon in the shadows of the alley on the other side of the street. Link gestured to the alley and they followed.
“What happened?” said Kira, looking behind them at the children awaiting the next decision.
“We had a bit of an accident at the station,” said Link, he couldn’t go into the whole story at the moment. “We need to get these children out here as soon as possible. Can you help us find the quickest way out?”
Kira looked up at Kai, who nodded in reply.
“Okay, the quickest way will be through the open street,” began Kira. “So we need to form a circle around the kids and make sure to kill any who threatens them. Kill them as quickly as possible and then move on. Make sure not to leave any behind.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and like Kira said they form a protective circle around the Hylian children. Malon held her breath as they walked out into the battle in the streets. She could feel the cold gripping her stomach with the iron hand fear. The rain was pouring harder than ever and it was beginning to get harder to see as they continued their march toward the exit. So far everything was going well. The group was able to keep the children out of harm and was coming so close to the exit Link could see it over sea of battle and even through the pouring rain.
There was a sudden out burst of many loud and painful screams when the crowd was parted by a group of Iron Knuckles. Their armor gleamed with rain and the blood of many. In each of their hands were axes, dripping with the red fluid of those recently murdered by their sharp edges.
“****!” swore Link. “They have Iron Knuckles here!”
“They kept them in one of the barns in case anything like this happened!” shouted Malon, through the cries and deafening noises of battle. Lightening split the dark sky and the thunder shook the earth as the five Iron Knuckles began to plunder through the battle field and closer to them.
“Don’t get involved with them!” yelled Link. “Avoid them as much as possible. We need to get out of here fast!”
They all nodded, faces wet with rain and fear. Kira bit down on the shiver of cold as she watched the dark knights kill twenty Gerudos and Hylians in one swing of their powerful axes and moved forward. She had never encountered anything like this in Ranelu. Kai, focused on the children more than the closeness of the Iron Knuckles. Their safety was more important than fear. Malon felt her legs starting to turn to jelly as the fighting around her started to become too much for her to handle. She forced them to move, keep walking. She had to be strong to make it through this. Khaz gulped down the cold fear of those dark knights, who mercilessly killed many people. It didn’t even faze him that he had done the same to the guards back in the station. Link was at the head of the group and killed most of those who got in their way. He kept one eye on the Iron Knuckles, constantly noticing how close they were getting each second.
Link gasped as one spotted them. There was no way out of it; it charged them, Link leapt at the Iron Knuckle. He dropped down on his back and slid between the knights legs with the help of the wet bricks of the street and his mirror shield. He jumped up to his feet and shoved his sword into a gap in its armor.
“Go on without me!” cried Link as he ducked a blow from the Iron Knuckle’s ax.
Kai nodded and moved to the front of the group. He began to lead them toward the exit when he spotted one of the children and fallen down. An Iron Knuckle noticed this too and went to bring down its ax on the poor child. Kai felt his stomach jolt as he sprang after the kid. Kai grabbed the small boy in his arms as he knocked him out of the way. There was a huge crunch of stone breaking. Kai got up to his knees with the child still in his arms, he looked behind them. A hole was crushed into the stone where the knight’s ax had met the brick. It lifted its ax from the ground and aimed again. Kai grabbed a needle from his belt threw it in a crack in its armor. The knight slowed down giving Kai time to run out of the way. It again hit the stone and was getting slower from the poison on his dart. Kai threw another and the knight stumbled and then fell to the ground.
Kira, noticed Kai rushing off to help the child, but they couldn’t stop and wait for him. She led them to the gates of the ranch but when they were exiting an Iron Knuckle heaved its ax at her. She stepped back to miss it and drew her out sword.
“Go on!” cried Kira. Khaz nodded and lead the rest out into the muddy field of Hyrule and to the Hylians waiting to take the children off of their hands. Khaz and Malon stayed behind to wait for the others. Khaz looked over at Malon; her face was pale and wet. Malon felt a hand slip into hers. She looked up at Khaz, who stared back. The rain had washed most of the blood from his body and he was starting to look like his normal self again. She squeezed his cold, wet hand tightly in hers; forgetting their argument and praying silently to the goddesses for the others to make it out.
Kira dodged into a building as the Iron knuckle brought his ax down. It smashed into the ground, missing her by inches. These Iron Knuckles are nasty, thought Kira as it cut through the wall with another strong swipe of its ax. She ran into the building hoping to get some space between them. Kira barely had time to notice she was in a cold and damp basement.
There were many pillars holding up the floor above her. The knight smashed the pillars as it entered the building, making the building quake. Kira quickly hid behind a pillar, hoping it would miss her. The Iron Knuckle stopped in the middle of the room trying to sniff her out. Everything seemed deafly silent, even when a battle waged outside. Kira held her breath, she was sure its hearing was prefect. She made sure to hold completely still so that her armor would not clank and give her location away.
Most would find this hard to manage, but her Wood Elf blood skilled her in the ways of the hunter, even when being hunted herself. The knight struck a pillar so suddenly it made Kira gasp; the creature heard this exhale of air. It charged at the pillar where the noise had come from. She immediately leapt from her hiding place just as its ax made contact with the stone structure.
The knight was surprisingly fast for having so much armor on its body, but Kira was still faster. When it heaved its weapon at her again she rolled out of the way, making it hit another pillar. The building shook again as its support was being taken away from it. The Iron Knuckle struck another pillar, but this time purposely missed her. This came to Kira as odd, but soon what it had meant to do became suddenly clear. The ceiling above Kira began to crumble. She turned her head up at the ceiling, her dark blue eyes became wide as she watched it fall faster than she could respond.
Kai trudged on the spongy ground of Hyrule field and peered through the pouring rain, trying to see where the others had gone. In his arms was the boy he had saved, who was gripping onto Kai with the after fear of what almost happened to him. Kai sloshed through the mud of the watery grounds toward the spot where Khaz and Malon stood. However, Kira was not with them. Kai silently noted this as he approached them.
“Where’s Kira?” said Kai, still cradling the frightened child in his arms.
“She got attacked by an Iron Knuckle and told us to go on without her,” Khaz shouted through the howling winds and loudly pouring rain. Kai stared at Khaz silently for a moment. Kira …
“Take him,” said Kai, handing the small boy to Malon.
“Why? Where are you going?” asked Malon.
“I’m going to find Kira,” he answered, and walked at first and then a sudden surge of urgency found its way into his heart and he began to run.
Link delivered the final blow to the last Iron Knuckle and it fell loudly onto the stone brick of the wet street. He scanned the battle ground for the others but it appeared that they had made it out.
“Link!” cried a voice, making Link turn around. His heart leapt when he saw nine familiar figures running up to him. It was Rontu, Leita, Nabooru, Impa, Sheik, Ren, Tila, Blaze, and Trisa; and they all were soaking wet.
“There you are!” gasped Blaze. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Where are Khaz and Malon?” asked Sheik, noticing their absence.
“They went with Kira and Kai while I dealt with an Iron Knuckle,” answered Link.
“Good, then they made it out,” said Nabooru. Link nodded.
“Let’s get the heck out of here!” growled Rontu, all nodded in agreement.
When they got out into Hyrule field they found Khaz, Malon, and a small child with wet, brown hair and fearful, green eyes. They noticed at once that Kira and Kai were not with them.
“Where are the others?” Link asked immediately, hoping nothing happened to them after he left them.
“Kai had went back to save this kid and Kira got attacked by an Iron Knuckle and told us to go on without her. Kai came out to drop off the kid but then went back for Kira,” explained Khaz.
“They should be back any minute now,” said Malon.
“Well, then we shall wait,” said Sheik.
They all seemed to agree to this and waited for Kai and Kira to return. After several minutes went by the rain began to die down and soon the clouds were disappearing from the blue sky. The sun was shinning brightly as Link began to worry for they had been gone for an extremely long time. Anxiety squeezed his heart as he feared something may have happened to his dear friends.
“Look!” cried Nabooru, pointing at the gates of the ranch.
It looked as if the Rebellion had won the battle for their forces came spilling out of the fortress. They marched right past them and back to Gerudo’s Fortress. Soon the stomping of many feet died down and all that could be heard was the wind blowing through the field. There was still no sign of either Kai or Kira. Link began to fill with panic. What could have happened …?
“Link,” whispered Rontu. “… Let’s go find them.”
Link looked over and into Rontu’s eyes; they held the truth that he didn’t want to see. Link slowly nodded his head; he could feel something squeezing his heart, sucking the air from his lungs.
“Me, Rontu, Khaz, Blaze, and Ren are going back in to find Kira and Kai,” announced Link, turning to look at them all; their faces holding fear and fatigue, looking at Link as if they were looking at their only hope.
‘They look for hope in the wrong places …’ it whispered.
“The rest of you go back to the Fortress and we will be back before night fall,” said Link, managing to suppress the fear in his voice.
They all nodded without argument; slowly they turned their backs to them and walked in the direction of Gerudo’s Fortress. The ones coming with him gathered around, the same hopelessness pouring from their eyes in nonexistent tears. Link tried to ignore the fear slowly increasing its hold on his heart strings. He had to show strength, he was their leader and if he showed any weakness they would lose hope in everything.
‘Maybe there is not even a hope to lose …’ suggested the whisper in his head. ‘Don’t try pretending that they aren’t dead.’
They are alive, Link answered, trying to believe it himself but apart of him knew what the voice said was true.
‘Will you think the same thing when you find their bodies?’
Link chose not to answer this and started to walk across Hyrule field and to the ruins of the ranch. The others followed closely behind, and silence crept after them. Link kept his head up and on the huge walls of the fortress, and away from discouraging thoughts. However, with a voice whispering words of doubt in his ear, with each step he took his heart choked. He knew what Rontu meant to say before, Let’s go find their bodies … that’s what he really meant.
Kira gasped and covered her head as she fell to the ground and the rubble of the ceiling collapsed on top of her. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, ready for the weight of the debris to crush her but then she felt something hovering over her; protecting her from the falling stones. Pain suddenly slammed into her leg, something fell on it. Kira choked back a cry of pain and slowly opened her eyes.
“Kai!” she gasped.
Kai was leaning over her body protecting hers with his own. His face was twisting in pain as he strained to keep the stones from crushing them. Sweat was beginning to form on his stressed face, his arms and legs shaking but not giving into the weight.
“Your leg … its hurt,” he whispered.
“Kai, what are you doing?” she cried. “Y-you’re going to get yourself killed!”
“You’re hurt,” he said, ignoring what she said.
“I don’t care!” said Kira. “Why are you doing this?”
He didn’t get to answer because there was a dull pain, throbbing in his side. He grunted as the pain increased and he felt his hot blood begin to soak his clothes. Kai gritted his teeth and continued to hold against the rocks. Kira looked down to see a red liquid dripping from his side and dyeing his blue shirt.
“K-kai …” whimpered Kira, not even trying to resist the tears burning in her eyes. “S-stop … you’re going to get killed.”
“It’s too late to reconsider,” he gasped, his breath being sucked away from his mouth. His breathing became shallow and gasping with each surge of pain. He could feel it trying to steal his strength, but he forced the pain from his mind and focused on Kira’s face. It was staring up at him, cheeks covered in tears and her eyes filled with fear. Such beautiful eyes …. His vision was beginning to blur, even if he could ignore the pain he was still losing too much blood.
He could hear Kira sobbing his name, but it sounded somehow distant. His body began to sink lower and lower, the weight of the rubble was starting to over power him. Soon his face was barely an inch away from Kira’s. He felt her hand touch his face. She was saying something, but he couldn’t hear properly. His head sank down and they were cheek to cheek. He could feel her moist tears; they were still sliding down her soft face.
“Kira …” breathed Kai and darkness consumed him.
Link, Rontu, Blaze, Khaz, and Ren walked into the ruins of the streets they had been fighting in only fifteen minutes ago. They should start looking for Kira and Kai at the last place they had seen them. Khaz told him he had seen Kira running off somewhere near the entrance of the ranch. Link immediately noticed a building with a large whole in the wall. Khaz had informed him that she had been attacked by an Iron Knuckle, which would explain the enormous whole. The only thing was that the building’s second floor had collapsed into the first floor. Nothing was moving among the rocks and debris.
“Come on,” said Rontu. “There’s nothing here.”
For some reason Link didn’t want to. He knew that Rontu was right, there was nothing here, but there was feeling in his gut that made him keep staring into the rubble. Rontu touched his shoulder, giving him a look that told Link he was being stupid. Link nodded and was turning to walk away when he heard something moving. Link spun around and ran right into the building, Rontu and the others followed closely behind. He stopped when he reached a large pile of rocks, where he was sure the noise had come from. He heard it again, it was quiet but it sounded like crying. Link’s heart jumped into his throat and he began to throw rocks off the pile, his golden gauntlets making it an all-too-easy task. The others began to quickly pull away stones and rock until they had uncovered two people. One was moving and one wasn’t. Kai was lying on top of Kira, looking like he had been covering her body and unconscious. Kira was underneath him and was sobbing silently.
“Link!” she gasped when she looked up to see who had found them.
“Link, Kai is hurt.”
She managed to sit up with Kai still in her arms; holding him tightly as if she was afraid that if she let go that she would lose him. Link, gazed at Kai’s body and found a large wound on his side. It was still bleeding profusely; Link felt his breath catch in his throat. He motioned to Rontu and they both grabbed Kai. Link grabbed him under the arm pits and Rontu pulled him up by the legs. Khaz and Blaze helped Kira to her feet and tried to help her walk, but she pushed them away and stumbled after Link and Rontu; not wanting to let Kai out of her sight.
They walked down the streets and as quickly as they could, exited the ranch. Ren held Kai up while Link played Epona’s song to summon his horse. She was galloping toward them in no time and they put both Kai and Kira up on her. Kira held Kai on as Link guided Epona toward Gerudo’s fortress. She held him close to her as his chin sagged to his chest. Kira pressed her face into his back and cried without a sound, but her shoulders shook with each sob.
No one said a word as they walked across the bridge and up to the huge gates of the fortress. They showed their member ship and the gates groaned as they were opened. Link led Epona into the fortress and quickly navigated their way to the sand stone buildings. They had to find Leita immediately; Link cursed himself for not thinking to bring her with them.
‘Another misjudgment,’ commented the voice. Link didn’t have time to argue with it and so focused on finding the others.
“There they are!” cried a voice that sounded like Malon.
Link looked behind him and spotted them by a doorway into a building. They were all still in the clothes they had been fighting in. They appeared too worried to bother with changing into clean ones. Leita must have known she was needed because she came rushing forward. Rontu and Blaze pulled the injured Kai off the horse and laid him on the ground. Leita fell to her knees and placed her hands over his wound. Blue light covered it and soon Kai’s black eyes were fluttering open.
“Kai!” cried Kira as he sat up.
Kai looked over at her and gave her his half smile that hung on the right side of his face. Kira flung her arms around him and squeezed, never wanting to let go. His strong arms, that had held even when tons of rocks had been pushing on them, hugged her back with a gentle pressure. Link smiled at the two, relief sank comfortably in his body as he finally realized how tired he was. He had been too busy worrying about Khaz and him getting the slaves out, and Kira and Kai, to notice how much he had been pushing his body to kill Iron Knuckles and lift rocks.
Khaz let out a cheer and everyone smiled at each other. They made it through their first battle and didn’t even want to fathom their next one. Kira and Kai finally stood up after Kira had finally allowed Leita to heal her leg. Malon suddenly pulled Khaz into hug, as she laughed in relief. Impa and Nabooru stared at the young warriors as they celebrated their first success.
“Look at them,” whispered Nabooru. “They’ve done something amazing and are barely over the age of eighteen.”
“Yet they have much to learn,” said Impa. “They have many more battles ahead of them and some will be more difficult than this one.”
“Ah,” sighed Nabooru. “Let us not think of the future. Let us bask in the present.”
Impa nodded and said no more. Once they had all cheered and hugged, Nabooru motioned for them to follow her. She led them in the doorway they had been standing next to and down a few corridors and to another doorway. There was the sound of many chattering voices behind the door and when they walked through Link nearly fell over at the shouts that erupted in the room. It wasn’t actually a room it was a platform looking over the training grounds where all the slaves had been gathered. Everyone’s gaze went to Nabooru. She smiled slyly and walked to the front of the platform.
“People of Hyrule,” she shouted to the crowd, they all went silent to hear her words.
“I give you your heroes!” and she looked behind her at the group as if she wanted them to walk forward.
They walked shyly up to the front and stood before the people they had rescued from the ranch. Cheers erupted and applause echoed in the canyon. Khaz smiled at them all and stuck his hands in his pants' pockets, Malon blushed and shuffled her feet, Blaze smirked, Tila smiled softly, Trisa waved at the people, Kira stood with her arm around Kai’s waist, Kai with his arm around her, however, both Ren and Rontu stayed back into the shadows not wanting to be seen. Zelda stepped closer to Link, who was staring at them all. He looked shocked and embarrassed but still kept his head high.
“Link,” said Zelda, he glanced over at her. “Look … you’ve become their hero again.”
His sapphires eyes held on hers, and then to the ground. In spite of her words he did not look at all pleased with himself. If anything he looked ashamed, his eyes were unfocused making Zelda think he must be else where into his deep mind. Link had never been the type to boast, but he at least looked a little more proud of himself. Link … what has happened to you …? thought Zelda but choose not to say this out loud, not right now.
Nabooru noticed the Rontu and Ren were reluctant to come forward. She walked in front of them and stared at them, obviously waiting for them to go join the others. Rontu stared at her as if he was waiting for her to tell them why she was there. Ren’s jaw tightened and he stared at his feet as he crossed his arms over his chest. Getting impatient, Nabooru grabbed both Rontu and Ren by their shirts and shoved them up to the front with the rest. Ren stumbled, but then quickly stood up trying to regain his pride; Rontu glared and stared moodily into space ignoring the people below him. Leita looked thoughtfully at Rontu, studying him. She knew he was aware of her stare, but he still pretended like he did not.
Finally, they were allowed to leave the room. Faces flushed and tired, they thumped back up to the lounge room; without speaking to each other, separated to their rooms. Falling onto their beds, drifting off into a peaceful sleep; not thinking of the hard ships ahead, only of their loved ones and how close they had come to losing each other.