Season 2
Episode 8
Acceptance-The Final Sprite!


The grave yard was filled with the claps and roars of thunder and lightening. The flickering lights from the lightening cast an eerie glow over the man in the middle. The man turned all the way around to truly face Link. His eyes haunted Link, those flashing lights coming from his face…Link was overwhelmed. The man brushed his now wet curly hair out of his face, and gave Link a threatening grin. Link’s fists clenched, the tips of his fingers dug into his palms.
Link had been stunned so many times in his life, and had grown used to being betrayed, but this was worse then a stab in the back. In front of Link, the offender’s smirk began to grow wider and wider, and the anger in Link grew. He could expect this from any other Palinon, but not him. The new King of all Palinons, Garibal, now stood, with the unconscious Lena at his feet.

“Garibal…how could you…do something…like this!” Link spat. Garibal gave a small sigh, which seemed like a slap in the face to Link.

“Well, maybe it’s because I’m a Palinon? I don’t know…It seems like it was the love of battle which caused me to push this to such extremes…” Garibal said, still grinning, “ Well, are you mad? Are you angry enough to attack me?” Link clenched his fist, his eyes narrowing and his eyebrows raising.
“Lena…had the last sprite…and you killed her!” Toray yelled. He clenched his axe-hammer weapon, while his entire body began to shake.
“Oh, calm your self, bro! You’re not my target! You still haven’t hit your peak....but there is one who has, so I have come to awaken his newest limit!” Garibal laughed. He pointed at Link and gave him a sign that said come foreward.
“If you think that you can start a fight with me by going through a physically defenseless woman, then you’re sadly mistaken! You’re not worth my time!” Link yelled turning his back.
‘So, you truly believe that you can simply turn your back on me…Well, if I were you, I would check that Sprite Map again,” Garibal smirked. Link rolled his eyes, and checked the zoomed map of the graveyard. The blinking light where the sprite hadn’t changed, but when Garibal leaned back on a gave, the blinker would move too.
“Oh…my…Goddesses!” Link gasped as he realized the truth. The Dragon Sprite was not in Lena, but in Garibal the whole time.
“Ahh, so realization dawns on the foolish hero! I had to knock Lena out so that she wouldn’t interfere with my plans. I mean, if she knew that Haku would begin his attack on Hyrule this early, then she probably would try to stop me, and that would be disastrous.” Garibal said with his grin.
“Damn you!” those were the only words that the Hero of Time could muster, “Why are you trying to stop me?”
“Were you not listening to a word I said? I have to open your eyes to the truth about your own power! I have to awaken the strongest of the Hylians!” Garibal shouted, raising his arms in a declarative manner.
“Awaken…Link? Foolish…Garibal, for a king, your are very foolish!” Deity roared.
“I am? Well, Deity, you of all people should know more about Link’s true self than anyone alive! He’s as if possessed by the devil himself in the heat of battle! The only problem that the time he’s sent bogged down by Malon and his son, he’s strayed from that devilish form!” Garibal explained.
“Garibal, I know what you mean. You think that there is more to me then what you see…well, I’ll show you what I truly am. Toray, give Garibal your regular sword. I’ll give him the fight he wants,” Link said solemnly. Toray reached behind his new weapon, and grasped the Iron Sword. He ruefully gave Garibal the moderate strength sword, and stepped back by the hut as Garibal unsheathed the blade.
“I didn’t want to unsheathe my blade, but you have left me no choice…You came to see if I could take down Haku if I fought him like I did Deity…well, this is my answer to your request,” Link stated. Link closed his eyes, almost sorrowfully. He reached for his blade, and when his hand tightened around the elaborate hilt, his eyes opened, showing a kind of fierceness that Deity and Toray were only lucky to see and live to tell about it. Link pulled the sword from its scabbard, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he pointed the blade at Garibal, while his body settled into a battle stance.
“Well, let’s begin!” Garibal yelled. He gave a loud war cry, and dashed into battle. His sword rose into the air, and when he brought it down, the lightening exploded across the vast sky. Link pulled his sword in front of the shot, and jumped backwards. He slid his finger down the side of his blade, and settled into the position for his next attack. Link then leapt high into the air, and when Garibal looked up, Link fell upon him. The initial strike missed, but when Link landed, he cleverly kicked Garibal in his knee, and when Garibal began his descent, Link gave him a mind-blowing spin kick to the side. A smirk slithered across the face of Garibal as he rose to his feet. Garibal rushed forward at Link, and when Link slashed down, Garibal swayed to the left, sneaking to Link’s side. Garibal swung at Link as hard as he could, but the Hylian Hero ducked the shot, and slashed Garibal’s cheek slightly. A small stream of blood fell down Garibal’s face, and his smile increased. He then raised his blade high over his head, and yelled to the sky.
“Link, do you understand why I called you out now?” Garibal yelled as a wispy black aura grew around the sword.
“All I understand is that I’m beating you!” Link replied, while, for the first time in a long while, placing his shield in front of him.
“Link, no matter how old you are, the blood which flows through your veins never reaches a peak! You’re nothing more then a Palinon in a humans body! But, no matter how much this factor affects you and your team…” Garibal yelled while the black aura grew and grew. Garibal nodded, as if he was ready, and he swung the sword, and all the energy at Link. Link hid behind the shield as the energy overtook him. Link clutched his sword even tighter as his shield broke into pieces, and when that occurred, Garibal rushed forward and stabbed at Link. Link pulled his sword up in time to block. When the blades connected, they clung together, as sparks of black and green covered the area.
“Link, No matter how many limits you break, it will never be enough to defeat Haku!” Garibal yelled. In that instant, Link’s body froze in realization. Were all of his nightmares and feelings of fear so imminent because of the thought that Haku could not be defeated? Was the power of this god so great, that even Link knew , in the back of his mind, that he wouldn’t win? His sword fell as Garibal broke from the hold, and made a shallow gash across Link’s chest. “You will never defeat the God of Darkness!”
As Link fell backwards, a instead of flashed of pain, a huge sadness took over him. He saw visions of things he didn’t recognize, like the vision of a brown haired child sitting over a grave, while a man with blue hair walked away. He saw visions of Toray and himself looking at each other in shock, and finally, he saw a vision of Toray showing a look of hate, one so deep, that it could plague the dreams of grown men. As his body landed, it finally dawned on him. He figured out the real reason why Garibal chose to fight. With all of his remaining strength, he rose to his feet, clutching his chest.
“So, that’s what it was…it was all a test…that attack…that blackened blade attack was created by your memories…your memories…showed me your test…” Link spat.
“A test? I came to give you a lesson about survival!” Garibal retorted.
“No. No, that’s not your only reason. You came…because…even through the all knowing gaze of the King of Palis, you’re nothing but a tormented soul! You haven’t been able to rest since the day your father abandoned your mother! And what makes it worst for you is that your own brother hates your very soul!” Link said, his voice very scratchy.
“Shut up…” Garibal said while stepping back.
“No, I will not! It also proves that you came here to show Toray that even though people must earn your respect, you still wish to be accepted! By him and me! You want us both to accept you! Garibal, I have no problems with you,” Link began to place the blade back in it’s scabbard, “ My blade is made to destroy evil, but now, I must not use it, because your heart is not wicked. I will, instead, fight with my fists!” Link proclaimed.
“All right, but that injury, it will slow you down!” Garibal laughed.
“Even so, I will fight until my death! Even when the odds were against me, I could continue to fight, for I never gave up! I can never give up my hope to survive!” As Link uttered those words, a green glow began to surround him. He removed the battered green tunic, and threw it to the ground. Now all he had was his white long pants, and his cap. Link raised his arms in front of him, and settled his hands into fists. “I can never…give up my will to live!” And the moments that declaration left his lips, the green glow exploded into a wave of green energy. It twirled and twisted in every direction, filling the graveyard with emerald light. The glow slowly settled into an aura around Link, one which licked around him like a fire of emerald. Link exhaled slowly, and the energy began to collect around his hands.
“Then let’s begin round two!” Garibal yelled. Link leapt into the air towards Garibal, and tried to clench his fist on Garibal’s head to free the dragon sprite. Garibal moved to the side dodging Link’s attack, however Link lunged to the side, and delivered a powerful strike to Garibal’s jaw. Garibal faltered and Link began to attack again. He struck Garibal in the chest, and when Garibal’s body fell forward, he sent an earth shattering punch to Garibal’s cheek. Garibal rose to his feet, and rushed towards Link. When Link tried to sidestep, Garibal stopped, and executed a jumping spin kick. The kick caught Link in the back of his neck, and sent him sprawling into a nearby headstone. Link arched his back in pain, and yelled in his agony. He slowly stood, and when he was back on his feet, Garibal was waiting. He head butted Link, and Link fell on his bottom. Garibal stood over him, and, in a show of strength, picked Link up by the throat. He hung Link over the ground for a few minutes, and when Link began to gasp for air, Garibal tightened his grasp. Link, in desperation, positioned his hands on Garibal’s chest, and drew energy to them. With one ear breaking yelled, he fired all of the energy, which resulted in a Din’s Fire attack. Link was launched backwards, and he collided with a nearby tree. The tree trunk broke in half on impact, and the top barely missed landing on Link.
Link stood, and shook his head. His eyes were half shut, both of them had swelling around them. The gash on his chest was still bleeding, but the pain was numbed. Link began to walk back to the group, believing that he had claimed victory. As soon as he reached the middle of the graveyard, though, Garibal appeared right behind Link. He hit Link in the back of the head, and when Link spun around, He struck Link in the wound on his chest. Link cried out in pain, but Garibal showed no remorse. He picked Link’s body up and threw him across the grave yard again, into a mud puddle. Link got on is hands and knees, but when he tried to rise completely, His foot got stuck in the mud. Garibal took advantage of this, and booted Link in his gut. Link flailed around, almost helplessly after the attack.
“He doesn’t stand a chance!” Jabrow sighed.
“Yes he does…He still has two attacks…just that one, I’m the only one who’s ever seen it…” Deity mumbled. “He’s fighting for Toray, but in a way, his fight is letting me see…see if Garibal is someone who can take care of Zelda. Thanks…Link,” Deity said, quietly enough so that no one can hear him.
Link stood once he caught his breath, and leaned back into his fighting position. His hands then began to glow red, like a ruby. Heat began to circulate around Link, and his hands became warmer and warmer. Suddenly, his hands became like two huge flames.
“Darunia’s greatest attack! Goron Fatal Fury Fist!” Link yelled as he unleashed the punch. The punch headed straight for Garibal’s face, but Garibal spun to the side. The punch still seared onto Garibal’s left cheek, but it wasn’t enough to beat him. Link tried to jump out of the way of Garibal’s counter attack, but he foot began to sink in the mud. Garibal smirked as he struck Link once again. Link was thrown back, and began to think of another attack that he could use. Link’s eyes widened, as he realized that he would have to resort to using his most dangerous attack. Once again, he closed his eyes, just like he did when he charged up for the Goron Fatal Fury fist. But this time, it took much longer, and the energy was green. All of the light around them dimmed, and Link’s hands began to glow brighter and brighter. Garibal ran forward, cockily, while Link finished preparing the attack. With one final yell, Link fired the punch, and this time, Garibal didn’t dodge. The attack struck Garibal in the right cheek, where the sounds of crushed bones echoed, and Garibal’s body flew lifelessly into the large Royal Family Head stone, smashing it into thousands of pieces of gravel. Link then threw his hands in the air, declaring victory.