That Was Not The Wind...

<---Index

The four warriors traveled through the blowing sands, taking a rather long time and far too many turns to travel a straight line. Link called to Sheik, “Are you sure you're reading that map properly?” After a moment, his companion yelled, “I'm not reading it at all!” The group immediately stopped. Saria and the two Links yelled, “WHAT?!?” In defense, he said, “You try reading a map with your eyes closed!” The group crossed their arms and glared at him, noticing that something very important was missing...

“That and the map blew away about an hour ago...” Saria let out a yelp of pain and the others looked at her. “Are you okay?” asked Shadow. Rubbing her head, she explained, “The wind blew the seed back at me...” The group let out a frustrated chuckle at the sheer irony of the incident before returning to the matter at hand. “Why didn't you tell us the map was gone?” Sheik shook his head. “Give me a break! I've had sand blowing in my eyes since we got in this place. I can't see properly and it bloody well hurts to keep them open.”

Sighing, the green garbed warrior said, “Well, That's fairly valid. This is a pretty awful place. How can anything survive in here?” Shadow replied, “They shouldn't. It's impossible to support life in this place. So if there is anything living here, it can't be anything that we should be eager to run into.” After a moment, Link said, “What about the Armos? They're stone, which means they are able to survive in this chaos.” Thinking about the possibility, he said, “And if something can use the power of the slain Majora, it's very possible that this is not a monster we should be too eager to run into.”

Link nodded. “If this Anaroch guy has similar powers to Majora, we can expect a lot of trouble from him.” Saria called from a fair distance ahead, “Hey, Guys! There's shelter over here!” Running in the direction of her voice, the group came to a stop in a grassy field that beautiful flowers and lush green grass that was fairly well kept for a desert wasteland. In the center of the breathtakingly beautiful field was a slab of stone with a sword in the center, buried halfway up to the hilt.

They four warriors looked at the majestic scenery and smiled as they looked at the spring, filled with crystal clear, clean, sparkling spring water. The group quickly went to quench their thirst with the sweet liquid that flowed from the ground. When they drank their fill, Link said, “I can't believe there's an Oasis in this place.” Shadow, looking a little distracted, replied, “Yeah. It's convenient... Like we were meant to come here...” Saria smiled. “Of course! The Goddesses made Sheik lose the map so that we could find the Oasis. It makes perfect sense.”

Shadow added, “If the Goddesses had any reign here. This is the Dark World, Governed by the Dragon Gods, who are not nearly so forgiving.” Sheik wrapped an arm around the Dark Elf's neck and started rubbing his knuckles against his head, saying, “Aw, Is the Little Dark Link afraid of a little grass and water?” Shadow broke free of the grip and replied, “That's not it. It's the sword in the middle of this place. I've seen it before, and I don't think that it was a good thing.”

Link nodded. “I think he might be right. That sword does seem to be conveniently placed for being in the middle of nowhere. Plus, there's something about it that gives me the chills.” Saria replied, “It's called awe, bonehead. Something like that must have been left by the governing spirits of this world . One day, there will be someone worthy of pulling it out of the stone. I bet whoever can do that is considered royalty!!!” Rubbing his head, Link muttered, “That concept sounds eerily familiar for some strange reason.”

Sheik replied, “I read it in a book somewhere. I was told to get rid of it for decency issues. Too much Saxon violence.” Shadow looked around and muttered, “Did you hear groaning just now?” Disregarding the rather horrid attempt at humor, the group looked around the oasis for any sign of the missing Sprit. After a few minutes, Link said, “Something doesn't feel right. It feels evil... and it's close...” The others looked at him concerned. He was not one to make paranoid comments without reason.

Saria looked at him and said comfortingly, “It's probably just the wind.” Link nodded. “Yeah. Nothing can survive this wasteland, so what's to be afraid of?” Sheik shook his head. “Sorry, Link, but I have to agree. Something's off here. Something dark and evil...” Looking around, he pointed to the blade in the slab, saying, “And it's coming from that.” Shadow headed towards the blade and looked at it. “You're right. There's something weird about this sword. I can feel it now that I'm close.”

Saria shook her head. “Like I said. It's probably just the wind. We've been in this pit for hours. The heat and blowing sand is just getting to us. Making us paranoid.” Turning, Shadow muttered, “Yeah. You're probably right about that. It's been a long day. We need to rest.” Agreeing with the Dark elf, the group took place next to the spring to get some much needed sleep.

As they lay there, Link said to the sky, “You can't sleep either, can you?” Shadow's voice replied, “I figured you were still awake. You were breathing too heavily.” Link smiled. “Yeah, no doubt about it. You were meant for battle.” They lay there in silence for a bit when shadow said, “What about you? What's your greatest skill?” Laughing, the forest elf replied, “Oddly enough, I can't remember.”
“Can't remember?” shadow asked stunned. Link nodded. “That's right. I can't remember a thing about myself. I can fight, I can raise plants and animals, I can even speak the language of all the races in Hyrule and look down a blade without fear, but I can't remember anything about myself... except the name Link.”

Shadow smiled. “I figured about as much. You seemed to be a little ignorant in the way of fear.” Link chuckled. It's not that I don't get scared. It happens all the time. It's just that it doesn't stay for long. Before Shadow could answer one of the elf's longest questions, Shadow said, “Something's here!” Saria mumbled in her sleep, “It's probably just the wind...”

A loud crashing sound shook the area and the four of them got to their feet. Looking at the source of the noise the group saw the sword floating above the and assuming four forms. Two were Link, one garbed in red, the other blue, one was Sheik, garbed in black and one of Saria in a dark Violet. The four copies stood there chuckling evilly. Sheik turned to Saria and said, “I hate to say this, But that was NOT the wind...”