TLOZ Chatroom

PREVIOUSLY..............

Shadow ran off with Veran, Ronnie and Tet brought Peach to the Gorons on Death Mountain, Midna passed out in the middle of the street, poor ol’ Sheik got stuck with Ganondorf’s haggy mothers; meanwhile, Marth and Nasty are still in the dungeon, and everyone else has yet to be heard from for the most part. That was an incredibly long run-on sentence... ON WITH ZE STORY...

Someone was slapping Rabia’s face -- not hard enough to hurt, but firmly enough to annoy her. She swatted the hand away and slowly opened her eyes. She narrowed her eyes and looked to the clock on the wall. “Do you know what time it is?! What do you want?” Rabia hissed. Ganondorf smiled at her and helped her sit up.
“I want you to see something,” he said anxiously. “Come on, get out of bed.” She groaned and threw the blanket off.
“Lead the way,” she sighed. He led her out of their bedroom and down many long corridors. “Are we almost there?” she whined. Before her question could be answered, they turned a corner and bumped into someone. “Whoops, sorry. Sheesh, Ganondorf, watch where you’re directing us.” The man they bumped into blinked at her, and it took her a moment to look him over. Ganondorf motioned to him.
“Guess who I’ve appointed to take Veran’s place?” he said. Rabia gaped. Without his bandaged mask and usual suit of blue, she didn’t recognize him at first.
“Sh-Sheik?!” she cried. He bowed slightly to her. He was dressed in a red coat and gold pants, his usual braid replaced instead by a long ponytail. Rabia raised her eyebrows and turned to her husband in disbelief. “WE need to talk. Excuse us, Sheik.” She grabbed Ganondorf by the arm and dragged him back down the corridor. He spoke first.
“I think he’ll do much better than Veran did,” he stated. “He doesn’t have an attitude like she does.” Rabia hit his chest.
“What did you do to him? Did you threaten him? He doesn’t look right...!” Ganondorf rolled his eyes.
“Why are you always so distrusting?” he groaned. “You should be happy I chose Sheik. My mothers were up for the role otherwise.” Rabia continued to stare at him.
“I swear, if you do anything to hurt Sheik, I’ll kill you.” Ganondorf nodded.
“Got it.” He gave her a thumbs-up, earning another smack.
“Stop being like that! You’re weirding me out.” She walked back over to Sheik with Ganondorf close behind. Still glaring at Ganondorf from the corner of her eyes, she pat Sheik on the shoulder. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, Sheik.”
“Thanks, Rabia,” Sheik said with a small smile. Rabia waved her husband off with her nose in the air.
“Bye Ganondorf,” she said, dismissing him and turning to walk the other way. “Come on, Sheik. Let’s go for a walk.” Sheik followed behind her, and Ganondorf walked away in the opposite direction. He straightened and adjusted his vest, making his way for the throne room. He soon reached it and entered. Before the throne was a small group of women, sitting in a circle on cushions on the floor. They waited for Ganondorf to take his seat in the golden chair. He waved them on expectantly.
“Report to me about Link’s whereabouts,” he said boredly, resting his head in his hand. A blonde, curly haired Hylian was among the other Gerudo women, and she was the first to speak up. She stuck out like an elephant on the beach, chunky and dressed in teal blue desert wear. He looked unimpressed. She jumped forward with a bow.
“We have news on his location!” she chirped. He remained unmoved.
“Well?” he questioned. She smiled.
“We’ve heard that he’s hiding out with the princess in the Lost Woods.” Ganondorf paused before he laughed loudly.
“He gets denser by the minute -- how predictable,” he said to himself. He was about to speak again when he suddenly stopped. He motioned a young woman on the far end of the circle over to him. She stood from the floor reluctantly with a gulp and walked over to him. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “...Where is my second in command?” She hesitated.
“Uhh, well... She informed me that she... refuses to help you locate Link or the princess,” she whispered. Ganondorf remained unresponsive for a moment.
“And... it didn’t occur to you that that information may have been pertinent to tell me earlier?” The Gerudo girl kneeled, avoiding eye contact.
“I-I apologize... I wasn’t thinking...”
“And her reasoning?” She didn’t respond, staying rooted in complete silence. “Her reasoning,” he repeated. “Tell me word for word; I’m prepared for what she said.” The girl hesitated.
“She... said that she has a personal interest in Link and his safety, so she won’t help you find him.” She paused. “And that your ego... is bigger than your brain.” The whole room was silent for a long time before Ganondorf suddenly let out a booming laugh, causing the others to jump.
“She never helps me when I need her!” he said. He rubbed his beard. “Nabooru is becoming less and less helpful as time goes on, isn’t she?” The other girls said nothing. After a moment, he shrugged before looking at the others again. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go to the Lost Woods and bring those two fools to me.” Without another word, the group leaped from the floor and exited the room.
Ganondorf stared at nothing, straight ahead, for some time after that. He continued to fidget with his beard in thought.
“The group is on standby and is ready when you are,” another Gerudo guard said. He shrugged and ran a hand over his hair, flattening a stray piece.
“If Marth was that easy, I can only imagine how easy the rest of his kingdom will be,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll need much help after all.” He stood from his seat and crossed the room, his guard following close behind. “Dismiss the others; I’ll just take Aveil and Kabira with me.” They exited the room, his cape billowing behind him as they trod through the carpeted corridor.
“Aveil is already awaiting your orders downstairs,” the guard said. Ganondorf nodded in understanding. Soon, he met with the two outside the castle. They bowed, and Ganondorf stood before his daughter. Their eyes met and Ganondorf frowned slightly.
“You’re sure you want to come with us?” he asked. She nodded immediately, tightening her grip on the guard spear in her hand.
“I’ve been preparing for this all week,” she responded eagerly. Ganondorf smiled fondly.
“Let’s get to it then, shall we?” He mounted his horse and led the way out of the grounds, the other two following close behind.
~
Rabia and Sheik sat together in the former’s music room. Rabia looked him up and down, then sighed.
“Sheik, what did they do to you?” she asked. He tilted his head before taking a sip of his tea.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You don’t seem right,” she said. “You took off your cowl. You NEVER do that. Even when we had to travel through the desert!” He shook his head.
“I take it off plenty, especially at night. It’s just too heavy to wear around the castle.” She looked at him suspiciously.
“... You wear it in the castle all the time, Sheik.” He frowned.
“Hm.... I guess you’re right.” He shrugged. “I just don’t feel like wearing it.”
“Well... I’m at least going to braid your hair again. Then you’ll be... slightly less weird,” Rabia said. “Maybe.”
“Okay,” he said. He allowed her to turn him around and brush his hair out. “How is the baby doing?”
“Oh, he’s alright I suppose,” she said. “I’ve picked out a name; Zaide.” Sheik smiled.
“I like that name, good choice. You must be due soon.”
“Yeah, pretty soon,” she said. “I was thinking of visiting my parents...” He raised his eyebrows.
“Really? You should! Where do they live -- Gerudo Valley?” Rabia’s eyes narrowed, her suspicion continuing to grow.
“Oh... yes, of course,” she muttered.
“I can accompany you there, if you’d like.”
“No, I think... I think I can get there myself.” She finished up the incredibly long braid. “There. Now you look... a little more like you.”
“Thank you.” He took another sip from his cup. “Take Dark Link with you if you leave the castle. He’ll watch out for you.”
“No, no... I’ll be fine, Sheik. I promise.” She smiled reassuringly at him. He set his cup on an end table and stood.
“I’ll leave you to it then. Thank you for the tea, Rabia.” He shut the door behind him as he left. She waited until his footsteps had faded away before sneaking to her room, grabbing some clothes, and leaving the castle.

sdhfdjkhfdkjhfsdkjhfsjkfhs

Vaati sat in an unlit room deep inside the Palace of Winds. The room was empty, save for a massive mirror on the far wall. Strange noises came from the mirror, but this didn’t seem to bother him. Vaati stood before it in his silk pajama robe and stared blankly into it’s dark depths. Shadow had been gone for days now without contacting his master, and Vaati was growing apprehensive. He stepped closer to the mirror.
“Shadow Link, come out,” he commanded firmly. Nothing happened, and the longer he waited, the angrier he was getting. He focused on the darkness behind his reflection, leaning closer with squinted eyes. Still, nothing came out from the mirror or the shadows. He growled. “Show me where Shadow Link is,” he called into the mirror. The black space around his reflection began to swirl, creating an image of a decrepit stone tower. It stood in isolation above a small black lake.
He blinked and took a step back from the mirror. “Where is this?” he stuttered. Soon, realization washed over him. “He’s with Veran...?” he said quietly, staring into the mirror, hurt. He stood in silence staring at the tower for a long time. He stayed there for so long that, eventually, the door to the room opened and light peeked through. A slouchy, pale preteen boy poked his head through the door.
“Is that where Shadow is?” the boy asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. Vaati jumped, unaware he had been there. He quickly turned away from the mirror, causing the image to vanish. Vaati stood in front of it awkwardly, as if he was trying to conceal the gigantic object.
“I-I thought I told you this room was off limits,” he stammered, quickly pushing them outside of the room. He shut the door gently behind him. The boy looked up at Vaati with his steely blue eyes, frowning.
“Mom is looking for you,” he said simply. Vaati stared back at him.
“...Okay,” he answered. He watched Yaphet and he slowly stepped away from the door, snapping his fingers to lock it. Soon, he was around the corner and out of sight. Yaphet stayed where he was for a moment, watching the corner his father had just turned. After a minute, Vaati slowly peered around, having apparently waited to spy on him. Yaphet just stared back, unfazed.
“....Stay away from that door,” Vaati warned. “Go, er, read a book or something.”
“The door is locked, Dad. I don’t have a key.”
“That’s right!” He grinned. “And there is no key, only magic can unlock it.” Vaati giggled maniacally to himself. “You’ll be old enough one day to learn how to unlock it.” Vaati continued to watch him for a moment before nodding and disappearing once more.
This time, Yaphet waited a short while before turning to the door. Unfortunately for Vaati, he had told his son to “go, er, read a book or something’ on multiple occasions; by now, he had studied almost every spell book in the mage’s collection. Truthfully, Yaphet had learned how to unlock this door ages ago, but he didn’t plan on telling his father that anytime soon. He held his palm over the handle, checking his surroundings for others, and briefly muttered something in a strange language. With a click the door unlocked, and he crept in.
He shut the door silently behind him as he entered, staring up at the mirror. He approached it and peered in, watching the swirls that danced around his reflection. He touched it gently and muttered more gibberish, summoning the image once more. He pushed against the glass, opening it like a door, and stepped inside. His bare feet sunk into the mushy ground, at which he grimaced. He continued on past the swampy water until he reached the tower. A large wooden door seemed like the only entrance into the windowless building, so he pushed it open with his knuckles and stepped inside.
Inside, it was cold, quiet and dry. He trailed up a spiral staircase nearby, leaving damp footprints behind as he ascended. Eventually, he made his way to a room at the top of the tower. He knocked twice.
“Come in,” a voice from the other side called. Yaphet did so and shut the door behind him. He leaned up against the door and stared at the other boy in the room. He was reclined on a satin couch with his feet propped up comfortably on a table before him. He smiled, his pointed teeth glinting in the darkness.
“You seem to be in a much better mood,” Yaphet commented.
“I’m glad you made it over here so quickly. Did Vaati see you?” Shadow Link asked. Yaphet frowned.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep him off your trail,” he said, stumbling over his words a bit. “Are you going back soon? Don’t you miss being home?” Shadow laughed.
“Go back? I feel so liberated! I have no one to answer to; I can finally live my own life,” he answered with a wide grin. He motioned to a chair in the corner of the room. “Come on, sit down.”
“No thanks.” Yaphet reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. “I brought the potion. What are you trying to do with it?” He walked over to hand the bottle to Shadow.
“Well... it was going to be a secret, but I guess I’ll tell you. I trust that you won’t tell anyone,” he replied with a devilish smile. He took it in his hands and looked it over before looking back up at the redhead. “This little potion will enable me to come out when the sun is out. I’ll really be able to do whatever I want once I drink this.” Yaphet squinted.
“Do you know for sure if it will really work or not?” Shadow shrugged carelessly.
“Worst case scenario, you can just bring me out of the Dark Mirror again.”
“I’m not certain if I can bring you back though, Shadow.” Shadow ignored this and uncapped the vial. He downed the dark liquid in one long gulp, making a sour face as he swallowed.
“Gross...” he muttered to himself. He smiled up at Yaphet again after a moment. “Veran should be back soon. Would you like to stay for a while?” A tone in his voice sounded desperate. Both heard it, and Shadow quickly continued uncomfortably. “I-I mean, if you’re not busy. Maybe you should go back... if your parents find out where you are, you’ll--”
“I’ll stay for a bit,” Yaphet interrupted. He slumped into the chair Shadow had offered him earlier, picking his cold, wet feet up under him. Shadow looked over at him, pleased.
“Great!” He reached over onto the table before him and tossed the other boy a large, dense book. “I finished this one the other day. Did you bring the next one in the series?” Yaphet reached into his pajama shirt and pulled a much smaller book from it’s depths.
“That was the last book in its series.” He handed Shadow the new book, and the latter looked it over with a frown. “This one is similar; it has the same setting and author. It has a lot less romance than the other series does.” Shadow studied the back with a nod.
“Carlot is in this one too?” he asked.
“He makes an appearance, you could say.” Shadow set the book down on the table after a moment.
“I’ll have to read it when I get a chance.” He uncrossed his legs and dropped them onto the floor. “You know, you could always even stay the night sometime if you wanted. Just tell Master tha-- Vaati that you’ll be spending some time in the library and you don’t want to be disturbed.” Yaphet simply nodded, saying neither yes or no to the other. Shadow continued to converse with the boy for a while longer, and nearly an hour had passed before the door to the room opened. Veran sighed, rubbing her neck before dropping onto the canopied bed in the corner. She seemed to take no notice of the other two in the room. “Would you like a neck rub?” Shadow offered. She only answered with another sigh and laid out on the bed. He motioned to Yaphet. “Yaphet is here.”
“Who?” she answered, uninterested.
“Vaati’s son, Yaphet. He brought me the potion.” Suddenly she sat up, an eyebrow raised.
“Vaati’s... son?” A vile smile crossed her face. “Malon’s son...?” She stood from the bed and glided over to join them. She looked Yaphet over before taking a seat on the couch beside Shadow. He set his hand on her inner thigh with a flirty gaze.
“We were waiting for you to come back so you could meet him.” She grabbed his wrist and tossed his arm away, then resumed ignoring him. She continued to smile at Yaphet.
“Interesting, I pictured you being much more...” She paused, examining him further. “...well, much healthier. Do you spend all of your time in that freezing tower?” He looked back at her plainly.
“I don’t like the sun much; I burn easily,” he answered. Veran paused before laughing shortly.
“This is too good,” she muttered with a shake of her head. She continued to watch him with her cat-like eyes for a moment longer before she spoke again. “I’m glad you came. You brought the potion for Shadow?” Yaphet nodded. The shadow of a smile crossed her face, and she stood from the couch abruptly. “It’s been a pleasure.” She made way for the door. Shadow looked over his shoulder after her.
“You’re leaving already?” he questioned. She shut the door behind her without a single word in response. He turned back to Yaphet, who had stood from his seat as well. “Don’t tell me you’re gone too.”
“I should get back now. I’ll find you and visit again sometime soon.” Shadow jumped from the couch and scrambled around in a nearby closet.
“Let me give you a pair of boots before you go! Your toes are going to freeze off.” He tossed the boy a pair of worn out boots, which he barely managed to catch. He donned them and left the room with a small wave. Veran was nowhere to be seen, despite having just left the room herself. He made his way out of the tower and trudged through the slop of the swamp to reach the spot he had originally come from. He muttered some words and was whisked away in a blink. He popped back up in the same dark room as earlier. The mirror had grown quiet, leaving the room in an eerie silence. Yaphet quickly exited the room, and locked the door behind him with another spell. He thought Vaati still seemed to be away with Malon, for he had not returned. He pushed a piece of fallen hair out of his face and sauntered down the hallway as if nothing had happened.
Little did he know that his father was shut away in his study on the other end of the tower. He desperately searched through his cabinets for ingredients for an anti-nausea potion when he came to a screeching halt. The vacant spot on the very far end of the shelf caught his eye, and he crawled closer. He smoothed over the peeling label and read the barely legible print with a squint. Ex nocturna. Diagonally above was another empty slot. He neared this as well with a frown. Pro doppelmorph. He looked between the two spots and gulped. He jumped up off his knees and scampered over to where a pile of books lay. He shuffled through them hastily until he neared the bottom of the pile, where a thickly bound black book lay. He froze.
“No... no no no no no,” he whispered to himself. Panic swelled inside him as he raced over to another cabinet with the book in hand. More ingredients were missing, confirming his theory. He stumbled over to his desk, nearly panting as his heart raced. He slammed the book on his desk and looked around the room with narrowed eyes. “Who’s helping you, Shadow?” He snatched the lantern beside him and stormed out of the room.