Chapter Text
Ah, the first battle of the story! I've had this chapter completed for a while now, and I'm so eager to send it out into the wild! I hope you all like it. I made sure to keep it intriguing. The mystery of how this specific foe got to Hyrule in the Era of the Hero of Time is a big plot detail for the story. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
-Joost
A Terminian and the Twilight of Danger
Chapter 5: The Bombastic Thunderball
Dusk had finally passed and that was the signal for Link to leave the house to meet Zelda at the bridge. The teen's instilled confidence had waned slightly, all because Jim, Romani and Skull Kid insisted on joining him. They all held their weapons, making the few onlookers who were still wandering around town stare at them with bewilderment.
Although the most uncomfortable detail of their short journey was the fact both Navi and Tatl had elected to stay with Link during the battle. Both ladies hovered through the air in silence, not looking at each other.
Walking down the street, away from the market, the squad approached the princess of Hyrule, who was standing by the Guard House. She was accompanied by a group of five guards, all waiting by the drawbridge.
"Good evening, princess." Link stated obediently as soon as he got to Zelda.
"Hello, Link," Zelda said. She took a look at Romani, Jim, and Skull Kid behind him, noticing their weapons. "I assume your friends are here to assist us?"
Link nodded with a smile. Zelda then grew a smile as well. "Wonderful. Sadly, we were only appointed five soldiers to help us with dealing with the Thunderbird."
"Just great. A terrible burden on this kingdom is only backed up by five measly soldiers…" Tatl grumbled, crossing her arms. Link's only reaction was to roll his eyes.
"Now, we need to form a strategy," Zelda waved her hand to the five across from her, and they marched up to join Link and his cohorts. "From what we have seen of the beast, it attacks with an orb of electricity and can summon a bolt of lightning at will. The way it flies is usually in a wide swooping motion."
"Any kind of weakness?" Jim interjected as soon as Zelda paused. The Hylians thought for a moment.
"It seems to hardly fond of arrows, but they don't seem to truly hurt it. Our own foot soldiers have only been able to strike it with a blade a couple of times, but it appears to be effective." One of the guards told. He had been personally involved with dealing with the lighting beast, and he took great pride in letting Link and his friends know of its vulnerability.
"Arrows… I think if Romani and two of your guards could take places on the turrets of the gate, you can provide some distraction against it while Jim, Skull Kid, your soldiers, and I take it on from the ground." Link said, using his hands to point to the places he wanted Romani and the two to fire from. His strategic mind had been racing, thinking of any and all ways to tackle the Thunderbird.
"Good idea, Grasshopper!" Romani beamed at Link, and he smiled in response. The interaction made Zelda briefly feel something strange, but she brushed off the foreign emotion.
"Alright, let's get started!" Skull Kid chirped, brandishing his staff. Zelda needed to only signal to the guard closest to the drawbridge before a clank thud was heard, and then it slowly began to lower. It'd only be about twenty minutes until they expected their adversary to appear.
The scene was actually quite nice. Hardly any clouds in the sky. The chirps of crickets and grasshoppers filled the air as the group walked out in the field. The stars were dotted across the sky just how Link remembered, and the only light other than the moon were the torches lined along the wall of the gate and the faint speck of light coming from the far-away building in Lon Lon Ranch.
Link, Jim, Skull Kid, and three of Hyrule's finest stood just meters from the drawbridge. Zelda, much to the chagrin of the soldiers and her father, remained on the bridge. She felt the need to be there with them.
Link closed his eyes and made sure to keep his breathing steady. He didn't know how long it'd be for the Thunderbird to appear, but every stray sound caused his hand to twitch. He had to fight the urge to reach for his sword when he realized that the sounds were just the fauna.
Skull Kid and Jim stood side by side, weapons in hand. The image of themselves, Link, and a few guards reminded them of the great battle they fought in Termina just a few years ago. Since then, their skills had increased greatly.
Romani and the Hylian archers had climbed up to the turrets, and one of them noticed the Terminian crest adorned on the metal gauntlets she wore. It was a lot like the Hylian one printed onto their own armor, signifying they were protectors.
"You're a guard?" The man to her right asked.
"Yep! Romani's the first female guard in Termina!" The woman stated cheerfully. The fellow next to her smiled in astonishment.
"It's near…" Sweat started to bead down along the forehead of one of the guards on the ground. Link's eyes shot open, and he turned to meet the other's gaze. The expression on the teen's face was all the guard needed to point towards the sky.
Heavy clouds were rolling in. A low rumbling started in the distance, and the wind picked up. Link's golden hair flowed in the wind, but he stood strong against the breeze. His fists scrunched up into balls and the leather of his gauntlets made a small squeaking sound. There was no more time to laze about. No more stalling.
Reaching over his shoulder, for the first time in what felt like millennia, Link unsheathed his sword and shield and held them together. He thought his hands would be shaking, but when he looked down, they remained still. Some of his instincts had returned.
Then the sky illuminated for a brief moment, and a bolt of golden lightning struck the ground. Then again, and again. The clouds parted, and the Thunderbird was finally visible. Romani and the guards that stood by her readied their bows.
Both Navi and Tatl alerted Link of the beast's presence. Navi shouted her trademark, "Hey!", and Tatl began ringing like a bell. Link preferred the ringing. At times he found Navi's constant yelps to be insufferable.
The image of the Thunderbird was immediately engraved into Link's consciousness. The deep blue color of its sheen glimmered with each strike of electricity that descended upon the ground. The way its feathers were patterned reminded the hero of formal attire. Just above the creatures three eyes was a green jewel, placed on its crest as if it was on a headdress. Its mouth had been concealed by… something. It looked metal, and the coloration of whatever it was clashed with the rest of the beast's appearance. It shined a brilliant yellow compared to the ocean blue of the rest of it.
Link lifted the Gilded Sword into the air and the Thunderbird emitted a deep screech, hardly muffled by what was across its face.
Link and the beast from another realm gazed into each other's eyes, almost sizing the other up. Then the Hero of Termina bolted forward, towards the Thunderbird. The creature wasted no time in soaring down to the ground. Every step Link took was almost in sync with a lightning strike. When the combatants finally met in the middle, Romani fired her bow, soon followed by the others.
A steady stream of arrows sailed through the air and made the Thunderbird look towards the turrets. The beast distracted, Link stopped and let himself go into a slide. The dirt and grass scraped on his boots as he swiped with his sword, cutting one of the mighty eagle's talons.
A loud howl came from the Thunderbird and Jim followed Link's actions, running to the creature, sliding, and swinging his sword. By then, the beast knew it had to gain some height, and one of the guards attempted to take a swing at it. He whiffed the blade and fell face-first in the dirt.
Skull Kid helped the soldier up and was pleasantly surprised to see the man smirking. He drove his weapon into the ground for a moment and cracked his knuckles. The imp felt all too empowered by the confidence in the Hylian warrior.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbird directed the seemingly random lightning towards the wall holding the turrets. Unlike the rest of the energy, this lightning didn't exist for only a fraction of a second before vanishing. Instead, it struck the wall and stayed there. Chunks of brick and stone was blasted off, and the three archers were forced to cease fire and keep steady.
Swooping down towards the ground to launch a volley of plasma at the fighters on the ground. Link was infatuated with the energy. He'd never seen something like it before; it was like an orb of lightning. The low crackle it made caused him to consider the attack more akin to physical thunder. A thunderball. Sadly, his curiosity didn't let him dodge it, and he was sent flying a few meters, tunic singed.
"Link!" Jim hollered as he witnessed Link fly through the air. When the teen landed, he was greeted by a concerned friend just a second later. "Are you alright?"
Link grunted as he got to his feet. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine…" said Link, dusting himself off. The tunic wasn't damaged too badly.
"Why the hell didn't you get out of the way?" Jim berated Link as he helped him to his feet.
"Sorry, just I… never saw anything like it," Link mumbled, staring at the Thunderbird. When it started to launch a pair of thunderballs at the turrets, he knew he had to distract it. Just how though?
"Skull Kid, throw your staff," Link ordered.
"What?!" Skull Kid looked at Link, baffled.
"I said throw your staff! We need to distract it somehow!" Link said. The look in his eyes told the imp that he had to do it. Pulling his hand back, he threw the staff with all his might. It soared through the air and struck the Thunderbird in the back of the head.
When the eagle turned to face the group, Link smiled. Tatl chimed in as soon as she saw they had caught its attention. "It worked!"
Then it charged towards them at blistering speed, dangerously low to the ground. Now Link's smile was gone and Tatl's expression turned to one of horror. "It worked too well!"
Link, Jim, Skull Kid, and the soldiers jumped out of the way. The trail left behind by the Thunderbird filled the air with the smell of burning grass. The smoke rose from the ground and blinded the five warriors, making their eyes water. Thankfully, Tatl's ringing alerted the hero to sprint a few feet and stand defensively with his shield in a certain spot.
A bolt of lightning emerged out of nowhere and it was blocked by the mirror shield. Link's body began skidding backwards at the effort. When the energy finally stopped, the hero looked at his shield. It began pulsing yellow. Of course! He had forgotten the mirror shield could absorb energy! Perhaps a few more hits to the shield by the Thunderbird's power could allow him to deflect it back at it.
The Thunderbird flew high into the air and gazed down at its opponents below. It wrestled with itself and could almost recognize the boy in green. However, Link was the only thing it could recognize. The world it found itself trapped in was completely foreign to the place it hailed from, aside from feeling a little familiar.
Its prolonged thought was broken when a set of six arrows plunged into its side. Roaring in pain, the lighting beast frantically looked for where the arrows came from, as did Link. Romani and the guards on the turret were already reaching for more arrows, all preparing to fire two at a time. He never knew how she did that.
More arrows were fired, and they were swiftly disintegrated by thunderballs. Suddenly, an arrow bringing the power of ice was shot, and caused the rightmost part of the Thunderbird's torso to freeze solid. It didn't stay frozen, the sheer power of the bird's movement causing the ice to shatter. Ice rained down on the ground like glass, and Link fired another ice arrow.
The side of the Thunderbird froze, shattered, froze, and shattered over and over again. When Link shot a fifth arrow, it connected instead with a bolt of lightning, freezing it solid for a moment until it simply vaporized.
Before Link could fire another arrow, Navi moved his arm up that held the mirror shield. The other worldly power hit his shield and then vanished, the pulsing yellow glow of the mirror shield growing in intensity.
"Thanks!" Link said. Navi just smiled.
Growing enraged, the Thunderbird flew ever higher. It wrapped itself in its wings. Link, Romani, Jim, Skull Kid, Zelda, and the Hylian soldiers watched with awe as the beast began to emit a brilliant blue light. A few seconds after, it unleashed a horde of electricity, striking the earth, making grass and dirt go flying, and getting everyone to the ground.
Ducking underneath a nearby rock, Link hid from the endless fury of lightning. His ears were ringing, and his sword and shield fell to the ground as he curled up into a fetal position.
Explosions rocked the earth for a good long minute until it all went silent. Everyone who hit the deck rose to their feet, seeing what could have distracted the great Thunderbird. A blinding light was coming from the drawbridge, and they could all see Zelda, holding back the creature with a mysterious power. Her sealing magic.
Unfortunately, Zelda couldn't hold it for long. As much as Romani and the guards tried, their arrows and Zelda's magic wasn't enough to keep the lightning creature at bay. Link mused how her opponent wasn't the King of Evil. Perhaps her magic could only vanquish something if it was purely evil. Both the princess and the Thunderbird were brought to the ground, Zelda left in a state of extreme exhaustion, the beast in freefall, eventually crashing into the earth, a large cloud of dust being brought up as it landed.
Link ran to Zelda's side and helped her stand.
"I thought… I could dis-distract it." Zelda panted, struggling to catch her breath.
"It's alright, Zelda," Link consoled her, "You did great!"
"But it hardly worked!" Zelda retorted.
"Just have faith. We can stop it," Link smiled warmly.
Zelda gazed into Link's crystal blue eyes. How he still had faith they could win blew her mind away. Before she could say anything in response, he took off, towards the settling dust.
"How… How is he so…" Zelda muttered. Tatl hadn't followed her companion yet. She smirked at the confused face the princess wore. One of almost baffled amusement.
"He's like that. He can be reckless, but…" Tatl paused as she watched her friend run with unwavering determination. "He's a hero at heart."
Then the cloud finally dissipated, a large crater was present. Right in the middle was the Thunderbird. Its eyes had changed, and it fought an unseen force, its head waving around wildly. It was as if it was battling its own mind. But as soon as it saw Link, its eyes turned from white back to red, and it summoned more lightning. Blocking with the mirror shield once more, the sound of crackling sparks hinted to Link that he had to do something with it.
When the Thunderbird began to flap its wings, he wasted no time. Moving his arm back, he threw the mirror shield like a frisbee. It spun through the air at unbelievable speed and decked the Thunderbird in the face, dislodging the covering protecting its mouth. What was under it was surprising.
Instead of a beak, there was a gaping maw. Four sharp fangs were visible, and its snout was more akin to a wolf than anything like a bird.
Then a deafening howl came from the Thunderbird's exposed mouth. It rang throughout Hyrule, audible all the way atop Death Mountain. The ear-shattering sound alerted all of Castle Town and Lon Lon Ranch. Link felt as if his eardrums would burst.
Suddenly, four bolts of lightning wrapped around Link's arms and legs, and he was hoisted up into the air. He was at the complete mercy of his opponent now, but the searing hate in the creature's eyes told him there would be no mercy. Electricity surged through his body, and his groans turned into to yells of agony. His grip on his sword failed him and it clattered to the ground. He fought against his body's urge to faint.
Skull Kid knew Link couldn't handle something like that for much longer. Readying his weapon, he ran towards the Thunderbird and swung his staff as soon as it was in range of its right leg. A loud crack was heard, and it stopped its assault on the hero.
Link, finally released from the lightning, crumpled to the ground. Smoke rose from his body, and he struggled to get up. His smoldering tunic reeked of a campfire, and everyone gasped when they saw him cough up some blood.
"Hang on, Link!" Skull Kid was about to run over to his friend, who was still lying on the ground. However, when the beast above him swatted Skull Kid away with its wing, he was up and back in action in an instant.
The imp could swear he heard something close to him crack as the Thunderbird's wing made contact with him. As soon as he recovered, he got a look at himself, and he started to reconsider being in the fight.
The Thunderbird took to the sky as fast as it could. Link knew he had to follow it up there somehow. It swooped around in a pattern that he took a minute to analyze.
"Jim!" Link yelled to his friend. He turned his head to the rubble that had piled up on the right side of the wall to Castle Town, then back to the boy in the red bandana. He nodded and was received one just a second later.
The boys ran to the pile of stone and Jim gave Link a boost. Climbing up to where Romani stood, he gave her a smirk as he continued, reaching the top of the turret. Unlike the turrets on Hyrule Castle, the roof of the right turret was flat. Without the fear of slipping, he readied himself and took out his hookshot.
He aimed carefully and when the Thunderbird drew closest, he fired. The chain rattled at it flew through the air and dug into the left side of the beast. Link was flung from the turret and began swinging. He pressed the button to retract the chain and he began to soar.
Link was reminded of when he was training in Great Bay all those years ago. Firing the hook again, when he started to ascend, he yanked the handle of the hookshot, and his speed increased. He flew upwards and above the Thunderbird. When his altitude began to drop, he landed right on its back.
Meanwhile, the howl of the beast brought a certain ranch girl outside from her home at Lon Lon Ranch. Sprinting out into Hyrule Field, Malon watched the Thunderbird fly around, mouth wide open in shock. She could hardly believe what she was seeing.
Her fiery hair immediately caught Romani's eye, and the Terminian woman lowered her bow and stared at the Hylian. It was like looking in a mirror. An uncanny, impossible mirror.
"What the…?" Romani mumbled, unheard by the archers next to her. When the sound of arrows being loosed broke her out her trance, she could hardly aim at the Thunderbird. Her eyes kept darting back to the woman in the distance.
"Ma'am?" The guard to Romani's right spoke. Romani stuttered and looked at him.
"Everything alright?" He asked. The ranch woman from Termina hesitated before nodding. She didn't really know if she was alright. Forcing herself to stop looking at her counterpart, she watched as Tatl and Navi struggled to keep up with Link, still atop the Thunderbird.
"Come on, you've got this, Grasshopper." Romani said to herself.
In the sky, Link held on for dear life. The hookshot had detached from the Thunderbird's hide, and a slow stream of blood dripped from the gash. The hero swung his sword and sliced into its back, making the creature stumble while in the air.
Link then slammed the hilt of his sword into the creature's neck, unknowingly hitting something. He prepared to stab his blade into the beast, right where he guessed its heart would be. When it turned its head and looked him in the eyes, he was frozen, and all the willpower he had to defeat it washed away.
There was no malice in those eyes now. Just confusion. Link was far too familiar with that look. He slowly lowered his sword and placed his left hand on the back of the Thunderbird, gently caressing its feathers. They didn't even realize they were gradually making their way towards the ground. Both combatants just stared at each other, coming to something close to an understanding of what had been going on.
Link had no clue if the beast could even understand him, but he still followed through speaking to it.
"You're lost… aren't you?" Link asked, his words smooth and calm like Anju's. A soft coo came from the bird's mouth, and it closed its eyes. Moving its head forward, it revealed a small red jewel that had been grafted to its neck. It had been cracked.
Link hesitated for a minute, before bringing his sword upward again. He swung carefully, and chopped the jewel clean off. A wave of red energy enveloped the Thunderbird for a second. Link had never heard anything like the sound it generated. He could only describe what he saw the power as was 'snow'. Red, electrical, snow.
"Look out!" Link shouted, pointing at something unseen to the Thunderbird. It turned its head to see it careening towards the left wall of the Castle Town gate.
The beast flapped its wings hard and brought its talons forward to shield itself. While their speed had diminished, it still slammed right into the wall. Link went flying and landed on the ground nearby.
Sounds of falling debris filled the air and a cloud of dust erupted from the impact. There was no sound from the Thunderbird, and Link began to fear the worst. He ran right to where it landed and began to frantically move rubble out of the way, searching for the creature. Jim, Skull Kid, and the soldiers assisted him, but they only assumed they were making sure it was dead.
Link finally saw feathers. The only difference now was their color. Blood red. He reached out and touched one and sighed with relief when it discovered that the red wasn't a result of blood. Clearing away more of the stone, he was able to see the face of the beast, still breathing.
"Ah! It's still alive!" Jim yelled. He rose his sword in the air, and his strike was stopped by Link. The teen grabbed ahold of Jim's arm and fought against his strength.
"Wait!" Link shouted, making sure none of the others would get any ideas.
"Wait?! What do you mean, wait?!" Tatl screamed. She had been left panting alongside Navi, never having to fly so fast. "It's still alive!"
"I know, I know, but I think it's ok!" Link said. He let go of Jim's arm when he knew he wouldn't try anything.
"I think…" Link said in a huff. "I think I calmed it down."
"Huh?" Navi asked.
Link took a second to collect himself, and slowly turned towards the Thunderbird. "I saw this strange bead on its neck, while I was on top of it. I think it was being controlled…"
One of the soldiers had witnessed the jewel fall from the Thunderbird while it was in the air. "You mean this?" He asked, the jewel in his hand.
"Yeah… T-Take that to the king. See if anyone can find out what it is…" Link said, pointing to it. He was met with a firm nod, and he finally smiled. He gazed at the Thunderbird. It slowly rose to its feet and shook, getting the dust and rubble off itself.
"What happened?" Zelda asked. She was relayed the information Link had gathered by the guard who held the red jewel.
"Grasshopper!" Romani shouted as she ran as fast as she could towards her boyfriend.
"Romani!" Link said just before he got tackled. Again, he landed on the ground, but now he was assaulted with a flurry of kisses to the cheek from Romani.
Zelda froze as she saw Romani peck Link on the cheek repeatedly. Something unknown welled up inside her heart, but she forced it to the back of her mind.
"You did great, Grasshopper!" Romani cheered.
"Thank you… Romani." Link chuckled as he gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips. She didn't even care that she got a bit of his blood on her lips, she was just happy they had won.
The embrace between Link and Romani was put on hold when the Thunderbird rose. It looked at all the people before it carefully as Link got to his feet. Everyone backed away a foot, leaving the hero in green the only one close to it. Keeping his breathing steady, he had no idea what to expect.
The Thunderbird bowed before Link. A small smile made its way onto his face as he gently pet the beast's head. "You're alright now, I promise."
The moment lasted for a while until Link backed away. He had a feeling he had to, and his hunch was proven correct when the red electric snow returned, covering the Thunderbird. The glitch in reality finally mended as the creature slowly disappeared, finally being sent home.
"Safe travels…" Link said solemnly as the essence of the Thunderbird vanished into the sky.
Suddenly, cheers erupted from Castle Town. The citizens who had been observing the battle were at last free. Zelda took it upon herself to take Link's elbow and raise his arm high into the air.
"Everyone, I give you, Link, the Defender of Faith!" Zelda hollered. The applause grew louder and everyone surrounding Link joined in.
Link thought about that title. The Defender of Faith. He kind of liked it.
"Curses!" One of the figures screamed. Their connection to the Thunderbird had been lost, and they could only assume they'd failed. Enraged, she held her wand high and blasted a nearby wall, blowing a layer of it apart. As the chunks of orange stone fell to the floor, she huffed in frustration.
"Sister, come take a look at this." The other beckoned towards her telescope. Her companion peered into the glass and caught a glimpse of the teen who had won.
"That boy…" She hissed.
"Indeed. It seems he's back."
"Is the next window ready to be opened?!" The onlooker barked. Her question was met with a sinister nod, and she smirked devilishly.
"Let us find a more suitable adversary for the hero. Perhaps the one hailing from that ocean world we came across?" The one by the looking glass turned to her friend. She immediately knew what creature the other was suggesting.
"Wonderful idea!" The figure next to her cackled. "A being of a matter most dark…"
She waved her arms in the air, and the pedestal bearing the door to another reality opened on command. The pair dashed towards the portal and disappeared. Just minutes later, they returned to their realm, now in custody of a peculiar dream demon.
"Get another bead! And reinforce it! We can't have it removed off this time!" The eldest ordered.
She held her palm out and waited to be handed the next bead. When it was placed into her hand, she smirked and connected it to the creature's side, just next to its eye.
"Rise, Bellum."
The demon rose to the attention of the one before it. It's eye, normally a sickly yellow, became a deep red. It couldn't move, act, or anything. It's long tentacles, usually always moving, remained stiff.
"We need you to use your power of dream manipulation to lower the… sense of righteousness of a certain boy," she said.
The creature was then allowed to move, and all it could do was nod. For the first time, it was confused. Almost frightened. All it could hear was the terrible cackle of its captors. With a blast of magic, its body was suddenly consumed by darkness. Its physical form was not one to be seen by the eyes anyone, so now, it would only exist in shadow.