The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time part 8



House of the Dead



The bright sunlight shone down on the earth below, casting dark shadows across the land where the rays were obscured by walls and trees. A young man on horseback basked as the horse briskly made its way across the vast field, heading for the north, back to the small Sheikah village. The horse’s pace slowed as it moved up a hill and its rider cast his eyes around the landscape, looking for any signs of danger. Seeing nothing the horse and rider began to move again, galloping swiftly downhill and over a small wooden bridge and next to a flight of steps.

Link dismounted Epona and led her over to the only tree standing nearby and tied her reins to it, before petting her and walking up the steps. Link trudged up into the village all the while with his eyes cast downwards, as he thought to himself. His head however shot up as he heard the unmistakeable roar of flames and smelt the stench of heavy black smoke. He looked around and saw that nearly every building was alight and engulfed in flames. He could see people frantically trying to put out the fires and save their homes. Link walked through the chaos and smoke after seeing a lone figure standing near the well he approached the man.

“Stay back Link” Sheik warned

Link quickly looked behind him to see that there was suddenly no one about. A rumbling startled Link into turning around to look at the well. As he did a large purple cloud-ish looking thing shot out of the well, it cast around wildly in the air before turning and seeming to spot Link and Sheik. It seemed to become enraged at the fact that they were not showing the slightest hint of fear. It let out a screech and charged for the two humans. Both tried to dodge it but only Link managed to evade it. Sheik was knocked into the air and then landed with a dull thud on the floor, then continued to lie perfectly still. Link was about to run over, but the creature had turned and started to head for Link. He held up his shield and drew his sword to fight the creature, but a few seconds later it slammed into his shield with full force sending him into unconsciousness.

Link’s eyes slowly opened and he found himself lying on the floor, with Sheik kneeling by his side, apparently after Sheik came back to consciousness he had knelt by Link to make sure he was OK. Link sat up, wincing at the pain in his stomach and shoulder from his fight with dark Link, he noticed that it was raining and that the fires had been extinguished by it. He looked over to Sheik.

“Did you stay with me all the time I was out?” Link asked

The Sheikah nodded.

“Thanks”

“You’re welcome. What happened Link? All I remember is being hit by that evil spirit and when I woke up I saw you laying on the ground, on top of that your shoulder is bleeding and so is your stomach”

“Where do you want me to begin?”

“How about with what happened while I was unconscious”

“Well, I was about to go and see if you were OK, just after you got hit, but that spirit turned around and headed for me, I drew my shield and sword to see if I could get it to leave, but it slammed into my shield and knocked me out”

“Yeah, he’s really thick enough to think he can frighten a spirit” Navi piped in

“Oh, shut up, Navi. It’s more than you did, I could feel you shaking” he replied

“Yeah, but you Link, a boy dressed in tights, not to mention a blonde, I mean come on!!”

“I DON’T WEAR TIGHTS!!!!!!” Link replied angrily

“What are they then?”

“They’re leggings”

“Excuse me for interrupting your argument… but I need to discuss our current situation with Link” Sheik said politely, but there was a commanding tone in his voice. The Hylian and the fairy looked at Sheik and Navi immediately hid from him, ashamed of the way she had been so childish, whilst talking to Link. Link quickly stood up and he and Sheik walked around the silent village, while Sheik explained to Link the problem.

“Looks like I’m going to have to take a trip back to my childhood, doesn’t it?” Link said, not sounding particularly thrilled about it.

“Yes it does, I’ll wait for you in the Temple of Time, Link” He taught Link the Nocturne of Shadow and with that the Sheikah disappeared. Link slowly walked out of the village, down the steps and mounted Epona, travelling the short distance to Hyrule Castle Market Town. He dismounted and walked over the broken drawbridge into the dilapidated town and ran past the redeads that lurked there. He entered the Temple of Time and it seemed to be a lot lighter than the first time he had been in here as an adult. He paced slowly towards the chamber where the master sword was kept. There he found Sheik waiting for him, just as he said he would be.

“How does he do that?” Navi whispered to Link

“He’s a Sheikah it’s in his nature to do this; he obviously has his ways” he replied.

“You have destroyed wicked creatures and awakened three sages. But there are still more that need your help. In order to awaken the remaining sages you must become even more powerful. You have travelled over mountains, underwater and now you must travel through time. If you want to return to your original time return the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time. By doing this you will travel back in time 7 years. The time has come for this to happen and you have returned here quickly, I will teach you this song now. The song to return you to the “Temple of Time”, “The Prelude of Light”.”

Sheik brought out his golden harp and played the melody.

“As long as you hold the Ocarina of Time and the Master Sword, you hold time itself in your hands…. Link, we shall meet again” and then once again the Sheikah disappeared.

Link walked over to the pedestal and look down into the narrow slot where the Master Sword was to stand again. He drew the Master Sword looked the blade up and down and then taking the handle in both hands, plunged it into it’s resting place. A blue light encircled Navi and Link and took them back 7 years.

Link opened his eyes to see himself standing in front of a very large looking Master Sword. He let go of it and turned around to see the Temple of Time filled with light again. He walked out of the round chamber which held the sword and into the main part of the temple and out of the door.

A bright light met his eyes as Link stepped outside and into the sun. Instead of a horrible howling wind and a dark landscape, it was sunny and bright with the sounds of birds filling the air and a bustling town a little way away. He slowly walked down the steps and past the pools of water, into the town and made his way towards the exit of the town. He said nothing as he walked towards Kakariko village, with Navi bobbing and flitting behind him. He reached the village and was greeted with the soft music as he ran towards the well. Contemplating whether he should actually carry on, he brought the Ocarina up to his mouth and regretfully played the Song of Storms.

The skies turned dark and cloudy, the wind picked up and the heavens opened pouring rain onto the earth. Up the flight of steps the windmill began to turn faster and faster, as it happened the water began to drain out the well, it started slowing down and finally returned to its normal speed after emptying the well completely leaving at the bottom a small black doorway. Link jumped down the well took one look back up at the village and walked into the darkness.

It was cramped, dank, damp, and dark and a disgusting stench that smelled like rotten fish filled the air inside the well. The walls dripped with water and there were skeletons littered around the small passage, most were animals, rats and such, but in one corner a human skeleton leaned against the wall. Link began to walk, eyes straining against the almost physical darkness. He made his way along the winding passages until he became completely engulfed in darkness. He brought out a deku stick, using Din’s fire to light it. He encountered many redeads along the way and skirted around them, vividly remembering the pain one of them had caused him once. Inside his tunic Navi was shaking in fear, he chuckled lightly at this, but even he was nervous and it was comforting to have another live, friendly (and I use the term loosely) creature with him, even if it was Navi. He eventually reached a room containing row upon row of pure white hands sticking out the ground. As he approached them they began to twitch and flail around in an attempt to grab him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see something white on the ground; he took a step back in case it was dangerous. That was a mistake, as it he stepped back the closest white hand grabbed him from behind. The white patch in the corner became a sort of melted human looking monster. White/grey slime dripped off its bony body, it approached Link as he struggled to escape from the cold clammy hand that was closed round the back of his neck. As the creature drew closer the hand let go and the creature lunged at Link, he drew his sword as quick as he could and performed a strong vertical strike on it. It reared back and screeched in pain and then disappeared into a white puddle again. After five minutes of luring the creature out again and again it fell to the floor with an ear piercing shriek. The hands behind him became still and a chest appeared. He walked over to it and opened it, finding inside a kind of magnifying glass, the lens of truth. Its outside was purple with three red spikes on the top, not unlike the ones seen above the Sheikah eye symbol, the lens itself was a blood red colour. He made his way out of the well and played the Prelude of Light and warped to the Temple of Time and transformed himself into an adult again and then warped to the Shadow Temple.

He entered the dark Shadow Temple, situated behind the graveyard and slowly made his way through battling against redeads, keese, stalfos and the like walking through dangerous traps, like a guillotine above your head about to drop. He eventually reached a Viking longboat kind of platform, which began to move as he stepped on it, a few Stalfos dropped down which he dealt with quickly.

He entered the boss room, still wearing the hover boots he had found in the temple. The room was dark, with the only light coming from Navi. The boss then appeared and Link stepped out onto what appeared to be a drum. The boss itself was a large purple ghost, composed of two hands and a large red eye, and it was called Bongo Bongo (of all things). It began attacking Link by trying to hit it with its huge hands. He fired the longshot at the hands to incapacitate them and then ran forwards and slashed Bongo Bongo’s eye, which had sank lower down due to the incapacitation of its hands. He did the repeatedly until he got hit and thrown across the room by the ghosts hand. He landed with a thud on the surface of the drum; he quickly got up as it started to pound its hands against the drum. Link started to attack it again until it collapsed and disappeared. He collected the heart and stepped into the blue light and was transported to the Chamber of Sages, where he met Impa and was told by her that she was the Sage of Shadow. Link was then transported out of the Chamber back down into Hyrule to continue on his quest to save Hyrule…