The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ A Ruby Surrounded By Sapphires ❯ The Fall of Kakariko ( Chapter 13 )

A Ruby Surrounded By Sapphires

 

Warnings: Um...Angst, yaoi, angst, cute little girls, angst, inner monologues..Oh, did I mention angst?

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. No more places to hide bodies.

 

Chapter 13

The Fall of Kakariko

 

I sat for a long time in that cell, hardly moving from my slouched sitting position. It seemed that finally, although too late, my emotions were back under control. I could feel them rallying below the surface, but remembered how to keep them back without locking them away completely. It had been a stupid thing to do, truly. As I sat in the cell, my mind was a blur of things. Star, taken by Ganondorf. Slade, the same. And Zelda.

It physically hurt me. I had failed her. I had failed both as a Sheikah and as a man. My Queen, my Zelda…. I stopped the thought as another occurred to me. There had been no redness like before. Her blue eyes had been clear. Had she…. betrayed us? No! Never! There was something else at work beneath the surface.

I was there only an hour before there was a commotion near the entrance of the dungeon. There was a cry, then the sound of a body hitting the ground. I would have given anything to have my blades then. Moving to the shadowed corner, I waited for the trouble makers to come forth.

"Where is he?" I blinked, recognizing her immediately.

"Nabooru!" She whipped around when I went to the bars. Hurrying to me, she unlocked the cell.

"Hurry! We have to flee immediately!"

Together, we escaped the dungeons. We didn't have time to go to the armory, so my weapon came from one of the downed soldiers. Nabooru and I moved stealthily along the hallways, trying to keep as little evidence of the escape as possible.

"This way!" I hissed to her as we ducked into a passage. I remembered a faster way out, further down the tunnel. We hurried on our way and nearly passed the passage. I moved about, feeling the bricks under my fingers before finding the right one. Shoving it inward, I stepped back as the bricks pulled away with a grating sound. Nabooru and I were through it a moment later, plunged into a winding path of black. The door closed behind us.

My hand stayed on the wall, feeling my way through. Nabooru's lay on my shoulder. It was a long path, taking us safely out of the castle and into the Field. I heard a splash as my foot came down. It seemed we'd gotten closer to the exit. A few more steps more and I felt the water seep into my pants where my boots ended at my knees. It hit a sudden and strange fear within me, making my body tense. Nabooru made an annoyed sound, quite unhappy with the fact that her own pants were now sticking tightly to her legs. Ah, the pains of thin material.

I anticipated the drop off, but not so soon. One moment, I was standing in the water and the next, completely submerged. Before I knew it, my mind was in a total state of panic. The air in my lungs was expelled in a scream that none could hear, limbs fighting to get upwards. A hand reached out and grabbed onto the back of my clothes, ripping my up from the water prison to the surface. I gulped down air as quickly as I coughed water out. Nabooru pulled me back from the drop off and held me tightly, her voice saying gentle, soothing words as her hands stroked my hair. The panic receded, leaving me feeling quite stupid.

"Are you all right now?" she asked me softly. I nodded and pulled away from her embrace.

"I was…. surprised."

She looked at me with worry but didn't press me. I was glad for it. Again, we plunged into the water that rose above our heads, but we were ready. The panic tried to come, but I shoved it back again.

We made it to the lit end of the tunnel but a grate held our way. Nabooru fell behind, treading the over-head deep water, as I grabbed onto it with both hands and braced myself against the stone wall. I jerked back, muscles straining as I clinched my teeth and pulled as hard as I could. The metal buckled and screeched, years of being half submerged having taken most of it's strength. One last burst of strength ripped the grate away, throwing me back with the sudden lack of resistance. I was plunged under the water once more. The panic crept back for only a split second before I got a hold of myself and let the metal fall, my body floating back to the surface on it's own.

"Come on, let's go!" I called to Nabooru, who looked upon me with worry. I ignored it and swam out, climbing from the river as soon as I could onto dry land. The cooling air made goose bumps raise on my wet skin. The night would be over soon, but it's coolness wouldn't be gone for a few hours more.

"There you are!" I whipped around and found Link running towards us from the other bank. He looked agitated, hair tussled about. I scowled as he went on, his words bringing unease to my heart. "We need to leave here immediately! Slade has told all the guards to kill the three of us on sight!"

I turned away, a pang going through me as I remembered about Slade, anger rising of myself. Almost falling into a pit of self-hatred, I almost missed the strange smoke on the horizon. Brows furrowing over slowly widening eyes, I raised my gaze over the mountain walls, scanning over the billowing smoke coming from the other side. It took me a fraction of an instant to note exactly where it was coming from.

With a cry, I ran across the Field to the Stair. I tripped over my feet once and plunged forward onto the first landing, slamming hard into the rock wall before I could regain my senses. Shoving myself back up, I ran up the second set, coming upon a grim sight I had already witnessed once.

The air burned at my skin, heat rolling in harsh waves from the fires. I could barely breath through the smoke, billows of black raising high into the sky. Everywhere, fire raged over the houses and trees, even the Windmill succumbing. Bodies lay all around, some burning and others simply staring lifelessly at the sky. I ran past the front entrance into the middle of the square, shielding my face. My wild eyes jerked about to each house before I found my own, and I found Aridine.

She laid there so very still, her hair barely moving in the wind and body slack. Her beautiful face was blank of the tenderness and love that always enveloped it. Blood splattered her dress and apron, both ripped and torn from sword strikes. The blood pooled around her, soaked into her clothing and the ground as well.

I sunk to my knees beside her, my stomach clinching until I would have retched, had I anything in my stomach. I reached out to touch her face, my hands shaking so badly that I nearly missed. Her skin was not cold, not with all the heat there, but it held no life. A sob rose from my throat. My arms wound about her still body as I brought her to me, clutching the woman who had become a mother to me for two blissful years. I hadn't even started giving my thanks to her and now she was…. she was….

"Sheik." Her voice was quiet, hesitant. Nabooru's hand slowly came to sit on my shoulder, as if she expected me to shake her off. I was shaking badly, overwhelmed by the grief. I couldn't speak to her, tears and cries taking my air as I buried my face in Aridine's shoulder.

Everything was always taken from me. Someway or another, everything was taken away. And now, Aridine, the woman I loved as a mother, dead. I cried until I felt I would die from dehydration.

In all, there were thirty-eight bodies, all villagers I knew. The three of us took each to the graveyard and buried them, constructing wooden grave stones with the names painstakingly carved by my hand. By the time the last headstone was carved, the fires had died and a soft rain had begun to fall. We didn't know where the other villagers were. Either they were run off or killed somewhere else; we hadn't a clue.

Rain soaked hair fell into my face as I knelt before her grave. I felt I could have simply lain down and wasted away, to be rid of this suffering my life seemed so very prone to. It was little comfort that Kiris was not among those we buried.

Only he could have brought me out of that depression, which he did. With very little sound, he came and sat beside me, staring down at the grave.

"Who was she?" he asked softly, hesitant.

"My mother," I responded in kind. He lifted his gaze to my face. "She took me in two years ago. Cared for me. Called me her son."

"I'm sorry." He sounded awkward, regretful, but also genuinely apologetic. I turned to look at him, eyes scanning over his face. Slowly, I lifted one hand and slid it around his head, gently cupping the base of his skull. He didn't flinch, didn't react at all as he held my steady gaze. Then, gradually, he leaned into me and brushed his lips to mine. I went with the action, allowing the languid kiss to last as long as he allowed. I savored the feeling, the warmth of his skin burning against my cold flesh. He pulled away and looked at me, raising a hand to stroke my cheek softly.

"Do you love me?" he asked suddenly. I sighed softly and turned away from him, refusing to let him see the defeat in my gaze.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know." A humorless laugh left me as I thought back. "I… it started when I first met you, in the Temple of Time. You were one of the only beings Zelda and I communicated with. I was obsessed with you to begin with. She never let on of it, but I fell for you then. After we separated, those feelings didn't go away. They just got stronger when we met again. I have never met anyone who intrigued me as you do."

"I see."

I forced myself to look at him, searching his expression. His face was soft, almost sad I felt the defeat creep back and settle in my chest, tightening my chest so much that it hurt.

"But….you do not feel the same. I know. I've known."

He tried to speak but I hushed him, laying my fingers upon his beautiful mouth.

"Don't lie to me, Link. I know you will never love me. It's all right. All I want is for you to be happy someday with someone who will devote themselves to you. I'm happy with the little time you gave me."

Slowly, I rose from the ground and turned away from him. It was time to go on and get revenge. I had taken only a step when my feet suddenly left the ground by way of a well executed foot swipe. His strong arms caught me easily and I jerked my head back to look at him, only to have his mouth capture mine and refuse to let go. A groan escaped from the electric pulse of his touch, his fingers sliding across my rain soaked skin as his tongue invaded my mouth. Mine entwined with his, arms clutching at his clothing and hair as we fought to get as close to one another as possible. Only the need for air drew us apart, breathing in panted breaths as our eyes locked.

"You're a fool," he murmured, nibbling at my lower lip. I gave a soft sigh and responded with a more gentle kiss, the simple gesture sending bolts of pleasure down my spine. His lips moved across my jaw, soft, butterfly kisses trailing to my ear. "Can't you see? I'd have not lain with you if I didn't feel the same."

"You can't," I breathed, turning my head into him.

"I can," he responded in a whisper to my ear, his breath sending shivers over my cooled skin. "I'm suppose to be the idiot, Sheik…. but it's foolish of you not to realize how I feel for you."

Soon after, we left the graveyard, but didn't reenter the village for a while as we reacquainted each other with our bodies. It only occurred to me much later that it was probably bad manners to do that in the vicinity of a graveyard.

We met back up with Nabooru near the Stair. It was an unspoken agreement not to look at the burnt out husks of houses. The three of us were exhausted and had little trouble sleeping in a hastily constructed tent, bodies wound about each other to conserve warmth. It was the safest I had felt in a long time.

We slept the rest of that day and most of the night. Though time was precious, going into battle without strength to back us up was suicide. Then again, three against the entire Royal Guard was suicide in itself. When we rose finally, dawn was a mere hour away. We packed up our things, noting the rain was still falling, and made our way back to the Field.

There was no actual plan except to sneak into the castle and find our targets, eliminating them. Too many people had died for us not to slay the wicked one. Slade and Star were innocent but necessary martyrs. It pained me to think of harming my little Star, but I had no choice. I could not allow anyone else to die because of that madman.

I didn't even want to think of what we were about to do to Zelda.

The open waterway gave us the way back in. We followed it closely without a word until the stone wall pressed us. I ran my hand over it, concentrating on the subtle difference in one single brick, then grabbed and pulled it towards me. The wall shifted and groaned, but moved to give us passage.

Once inside, chaos ensued. The entire castle was filled with soldiers and Eye Sheikah. My blade came from a soldier Link felled, my own having been confiscated the day before. Just getting out of that hallway left us covered in blood. I grabbed a tight hold of the ethereal river and pulled, giving myself enough power.

"Duck!" I cried as I threw my hand towards the thickest bunch of our enemy. Nabooru and Link hit the floor just as deadly flames ripped through the air. Screams filled my ears as the stench of roasted flesh filled my nostrils. I could see a sudden fear in the living's eyes; the soldiers now knew us to be a greater threat and the Eye Sheikah found another of their skill. We plunged headlong into the fury of battle. The other Sheikah were too numerous around us to use their magic. It would only hit more of them. Being a three man team helped us. I kept the back and was free to use as much magic as I wished.

We fought on into other hallways, leaving a trail of bleeding and burnt bodies behind. The castle was desecrated with the dead. Together, the three of us managed to make it to the throne room, a well placed fire bomb clearing our way. We ran through the doors, only to skid to a stop. The throne room was lined with Sheikah, their hands poised and glowing in wait for a spell. At the end of it sat Zelda in all her splendor, Slade sitting at her side and Star to the other. Each had an identical smile, cold and deadly. Upon both Slade and Star's foreheads now lay a blood red stone, surrounded by gold. The stones themselves were radiating energy in controlled waves. It felt so strongly of Ganondorf that I wanted to vomit.

"I'm glad you could join us," said Slade, his voice a purr of pride. I grit my teeth so that I would not scream at him. His eyes found mine, dark enjoyment dancing within the green and red depths. With a smirk, he left the Queen's side and walked towards us.

"Drop your weapons or your precious Zelda will suffer," he purred, drawing his own. Star leaned against my queen's side, a small dagger residing in her little hand. The cruel enjoyment on her face was heart wrenching. I felt my hands relax a moment before the sword hit the floor. Link and Nabooru's weapons soon followed. Slade's face was a mask of pride, having so fully beaten his opponents. He meant to break us completely, I could feel it.

"I knew you would come," he murmured as he closed in on me, reaching up a hand to grab my chin roughly and move my head to stare back at him. "You're very predictable now, Sheik. I admit, I should have known who you were all those years ago when we first met. Alas, hindsight and all that."

He chuckled and let go, glancing over my companions. "Nabooru of the Gerudo, come forth."

Scowling, she came forward, brushing past me. The split second of skin contact between us wasn't all for her, but it soothed the two of us enough.

"I expected better of you. One of mine betraying me so utterly and going into alliance with my enemies." He stared at her face impassively. Nabooru glared at him, her ruby eyes flashing in fury.

"The only betrayer is you!" she cried angrily. "You were suppose to lead our people, not try to take over Hyrule! We don't need all of Hyrule to survive, but you were a stupid boy with stupid pride!"

He laughed before turning a dangerous grin upon her. "You are walking a very fine line, Nabooru. Another word and I will slit your throat myself."

"I am not afraid to die," she growled.

"Is that right?" I saw the movement a moment too late. My voice cried out her name, but the spray of blood preceded me. I watched as my childhood friend fell to the ground, trying desperately to breath as blood ran down her neck, the throat severed cleanly. It was only afer her movement stopped that I watched no longer. Then, I lifted my gaze to meet his. The villain had straightened, watching red drip from his blade with morbid fascination. He grinned.

"Most satisfying," he purred.

"Monster," hissed Link from behind me. His voice was choked and I turned my head to see tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. It was then that I resolved something in myself. I had to destroy the threat and I had to make sure he was safe. As I slowly looked back at Slade, meeting his gleeful expression with an indifferent mask, I tapped into the river. It was subtle, weak. I knew it would take some time for me to gain enough power for what I wanted to do, but it was the only way to not top off the other Sheikah.

"Why did you infest both?" I asked suddenly. One slim, violet brow raised, but I had given him a chance to brag about his endeavors.

"They serve my different purposes," he responded with a smirk. "The boy, he has very little magic potential to speak of. Barely enough for a simple teleportation spell. However, he is strong and he carries my taint, the Triforce of Power. The child has nothing in the way of strength, but her skill with magic is astounding! She, too, carried my taint, but only one can hold the Triforce piece."

I looked past him at the others. Zelda's face was as masked as mine and Star kept the blade at her neck, her gray and red eyes still sparkling with mad glee. Then, I turned back to him once more.

"And the lady queen? How is it you control her?"

"You ask many questions for one who will only die moments later," he observed. I said nothing nor did I drop my impassive gaze from his eyes. "Tell me, Sheik…. Do you remember in Ranch hand, Ingo? I enslaved him much in the same manner as I did her. The stones carry my power and do my bidding. Your queen is powerless next to my might."

Again, I nodded and stared at Zelda. I felt more pity for all of them as my energy reached it's peak. Already, my body was beginning to shake with the overwhelming power I now held.

"This talk has bored me," he said, but I scarcely heard. "It is time for more blood."

SLASH! Pain filled my being as my breath left my lungs in a sudden gust, eyes wide and staring at the length of metal now embedded deeply in my body. I heard the scream of my name, hopeless and sorrowful. Another wave of pain rolled over me as he jerked the blade from me. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. I couldn't breath or see through the pain that encompassed my entire being.

I lifted my hand with the last of my strength and let go as my body began to fall backward.