The Legend of Zelda:

Kat’s jaw literally dropped when she realised that it was Rin! Of all places, here she stood in this secret chamber, staring Kat down innocently, when she should be down, washed up at Lake Hylia. But here? No, something wasn’t right.

“I-”

“How did you find this place? I thought you were dead! Who sent you here?” Kat said sternly, now stomping over towards Rin and grabbing her by the throat. “What are you doing here?!” she screamed in her face angrily.

Rin had never seen Kat look so mad, and she was shocked when she felt her nails digging into her neck. “Kat…!” she said, wincing. “Stop it!”

The last tiny but of trust she had for Rin was finally gone. Unless she had a reasonable explanation as to why she was down there, then she would put Rin in her place. She had had enough of her little tricks. She was up to something. There was no way she could have known about this place.

Kat pushed Rin over and she fell onto the cold, hard floor. She glared down at her in such a hateful way. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!”

Rin’s eyes rushed full of tears and she turned away, ashamed, unable to face her. “We… Dace and I were washed down the canyon. I passed out when I hit the water, but he managed to bring me to at the lake… A horrible storm was forming above us, so we came back to the fortress as soon as possible… We had nowhere else to go… and when we got back we were told to come out to the temple…”

Kat wasn’t satisfied. “How did you find me here?!” she asked, eyes on fire. “How did you know about this place?!”

Rin closed her eyes, still turned away, but said nothing.

She felt something hard hit her in the side of the face, knocking her fully onto the ground. She sobbed loudly now, horrified that Kat was being so violent.

“HOW DID YOU FIND ME HERE?! ANSWER ME, RIN!! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?? WHAT KIND OF SHIT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!” she screamed, shaking violently, barely being able to control her anger.

Rin stood clumsily to her feet and whirled around, facing Kat. “KAT!” she said, her face pink and damp from her tears. She looked at her in the eyes, seeing Kat look at her questioningly.

“Listen to me.” She took a deep breath and sighed, relaxing her body, trying to show that she didn’t want anymore violence. “I know you don’t trust me, I know that.” She frowned, finding it hard to look at her. “I can’t help that, because I can’t tell you why I’m here. I can’t tell you. And I know you think that’s crazy and I’m full of crap, but I swear on my life that I am here for your well-being.” She lightened her frown. “Please, trust me Kat. If this all turns with me against you in the end, then I will stand before you and let you take my life.” She took another breath. “It’s up to you to either trust me, or not. But if you kill me now, then this will all end up against you in the end, and that is a promise as well.”

Kat narrowed her eyes, examining Rin carefully, pausing for a long moment in silence. Countless questions rose to her mind; What do you want with me? How did you know about this place? Why can’t you tell me anything? Who are you really, Rin? Who are you really? How she wished she could look into people’s minds, into the future, to see what would happen if she did this or that. What if she took Rin’s life right now, only because of suspicion, without any proof? How important was she really? What if she believed Rin? Would it come back to stab her in the back in the end?

But did she really need to trust her? No. Which is what she would do, she decided.

“Rin,” Kat said leaning down over her. “I’m sorry.” She grabbed her gently by the hand and helped her to her feet. “I overreacted. I trust what you say strongly, and respect your motives, even if I don’t know what they are… But I have my motives as well, and you do not know what they are either.” A good way to show that she hadn’t let down her guard, she thought.

“Fair enough,” Rin agreed with a smile, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Kat gave her a final warning look before turning to the chamber. “Now, what exactly is this place?” she said to herself, wandering down the rug towards the statue.

Rin followed closely after her. “I don’t know.”

Kat gave her a funny look; it was like a game now. Did Rin really know what this place was? Was she supposed to find out on her own? Well, whatever this kid was up to definitely couldn’t be that bad for her. She was unhappy as it was, death couldn’t be much worse.

They continued their way through the centre of the chamber, thinking out loud to try to draw a conclusion of where they were.

“Those torches lit up on their own; there’s got to be some sort of magic essence in here, but coming from where?”

“Well this was clearly once a place of worship; the statue of the woman at the front, the scrolls along the wall… her subjects would probably kneel down in front of the statue, sing songs in her honour… but who is she exactly? And what is this place doing down here?”

Kat was eager now. The question was obvious in her mind; was this her mother’s temple? Was the woman standing high above her the image of her mother? If it was, then finally she would have her proof that her mother indeed was the sage.

The two approached the statue finally after a few minutes of pondering their surroundings. They stood side by side, looking up at the woman. Her features were truly beautiful, her skin so smoothly carved, as if the sculptors of it had wanted that to be noticed above all.

Impatient, Kat looked to the base of the statue.

Just as she’d thought there’d be, there was an inscription at the base on a plaque. She rushed over to it and quickly began reading what it said. She felt Rin step up quickly behind her, peering over her shoulder.

Kat stared at the words, blinking, making sure they were there. She moved her fingers over the grooves of the letters. The name she had been hoping would be there was the first thing she saw. Written above a small paragraph, etched into the stone, was Drusilia Rilmora. The rest was written in what she guessed was the traditional Gerudo language, spoken in ancient times.

But that wasn’t important right now. A great sigh of relief filled Kat’s lungs. She finally had the proof she had been wishing for for a long time. Her mother had been the Spirit Sage. Her dreams were right. She could finally prove to everyone that Nabooru was a fraud… but she couldn’t tell anyone about this, could she? It was clear now, why this temple was down here. Nabooru had built a new temple over top of hers, to drown her out from history, the witch. She would keep this to herself for now, until the time was right.

“Drusilia Rilmora?” came Rin’s voice from behind her.

“My mother…” Kat said, bewildered.

She stepped back, looking up at the statue, a new personal connection now there. “Drusilia Rilmora was my mother. This was her temple. Nabooru had a new one built over top of it to hide the fact that she’s not the true sage… And this statue is her.” Kat’s vision became blurry from tears.

At last she had been right. But now there were new questions to think about. Where was the line defined, where a sage’s powers could be taken? Nabooru had managed to do it with the help of Ganondorf, but if Kat herself were to try to take them from Nabooru, if she were to kill her, would she gain them back? Would she even be able to kill her? Would the power of a fraud be stronger then the power of one with the true sage’s blood? But Nabooru shared her blood as well; she was her mother’s sister. Would that stop Kat from being able to take them, or do the opposite?

A new goal formed itself in Kat’s mind, although it was impossible at this current point in time. She would attempt to reclaim her mother’s powers as the Spirit Sage. However, Ganondorf, the king who had the power of the Triforce at his side, would surely kill her. The only way she would be safe would be to have the Hero of Time claim the Spirit Medallion and have her sent to the Chamber of Sages where not even he could reach her. She had read about this sort of thing in the books of Hylian lore the Gerudos had stolen over time, making up their own “library” back at the fortress.

And here she was again, stuck between the lives of others around her, questions, wonder, filling her mind. But this could not ruin her mood right now. She felt a serious feeling of accomplishment, to have found this place. She now knew that she could trust her dreams. She now knew her mother had been the true Spirit Sage. This only rose new hatred towards Nabooru; her mother had not deserved to die.

“Kat, look at this!”

Rin had discovered a small doorway behind the statue. Kat quickly made her way over, her heart pounding with excitement. “What is it?”

Rin pulled out an armful of old books from the hole and dropped them onto the floor in the open, a small cloud of dust forming around them. “The temple wasn’t the only thing Nabooru wanted to hide. These books were probably written in Drusilia’s honour.”

Kat bent down and spread the books out, admiring their decorative covers. Ever since Nabooru had been in power, she ceased in having the ancient Gerudo language taught. She thought it was a waste of time and only one language should be spoken that everyone can understand, so Kat had no way of reading what they said; still, the evidence was piling up.

She took a moment to glance through some of the books, admiring their surprisingly colourful pictures and intricate text. She put herself in the times of when these books were written, imagining what her mother must have been like as a sage, imagining the once glamorous, joyous temple.

Rin stood against one of the chamber’s walls, scanning a long scroll that shot up towards the ceiling. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing that Kat was busy with the books. Rin looked at the odd figures on the scroll strangely.

“Drusilia Rilmora, the Sage that led our people to their glorious era of riches and superiority. With her gentle touch and the flame of the Spirit in her palm, she has given light to those who have been cast down by their enemies. Leading us to victory at every waking moment and giving us hope, we will all forever be in her deepest of debts, and support her with our everlasting faithfulness.”

Rin closed her eyes. “Drusilia…”

She felt a warmth inside of her and saw an image come forth from the blackness of her eyelids. It was the caring image of Drusilia, as she came into clearer view.

“Rin…” she spoke, her gentle words echoing through her mind. “Thank you for bringing my dear Katrina here… I see that she’s come a long way since I last saw her so many years ago…” She smiled, long black hair flowing around her softly. “It will soon be time for her to make her decision, but she has much to learn yet…” She paused. “Although she has that natural violent nature about her, I have faith in my daughter, and feel that she will make the right choice, which will help restore Hyrule to it’s former glory… You should try to get her to use her inner powers soon… Good luck Rin, you‘re doing a fine job… Stay strong…”

Drusilia’s image vanished and Rin opened her eyes. She looked back at Kat, who was thankfully still looking through the books.

She gazed around the hollow chamber, knowing her spirit was present. She knew what she had to do.


--------

Rin and Kat had barely made it back in time for the ride back to the fortress. They had re-entered the chamber just as the Gerudos were filing out, and had taken up the rear without any suspicion. Upon arrival back at the fortress, Nabooru was eager to get the celebration started. Within an hour after the sun had set, several seating areas had been set up around fire pits and the music and dancing had begun.

The Gerudos were in a very good mood and were happy that they were getting time to celebrate. Most of the group sat around the fire pits, drinking and telling selfish stories of their travels all over the land. After a few hours of dancing and singing, Kat joined Rin near a fire, listening in on conversations and telling some of her own.

Kat took a gulp from her mug of ale, Rin watching her sceptically.

“You know, Kat, alcohol is not good for the body. It impairs your judgement and can make people act even more foolish than normally,” she said, looking around as everyone drank from their mugs.

“You want some?!” Kat said with a laugh. “There’s no such thing as underage drinking here!” She slapped her knee and took another mug from a nearby stool. “C’mon!” she said shoving it in front of Rin’s face.

Rin raised an eyebrow. “Uhm… No thanks… You go ahead though…”

“Hah! You Hylians are all the same!” She took another sip of her drink.

It was clear that she was drinking excessively and Rin therefore didn’t take the comment seriously. She rolled her eyes as Kat laughed and overly exaggerated on a story about how she took one of the Hylian king’s soldiers and robbed him of his armour in his own castle before Ganondorf had taken over. Rin could only hope that she wouldn’t spill about her mother’s temple. That reminded Rin of what Drusilia had told her to do.

Rin looked over at the fire pit across from them, and waited until Kat had finished her tale. The Gerudo’s face was bright red, dimples etched into her face from laughter. “This has been the best day ever!!” she wailed.

“Hey, Kat…” Rin mumbled. “Put another log on the fire, I’m freezing!”

“Yeah…! Okay!” Kat looked at the fire woozily, but something caught her eye. The flame was an icy blue colour. However, Kat was aware that she was sloshed, and knew well that you sometimes saw things that weren’t really there. She widened her eyes, staring at the blue flame, waiting for it to return to it’s normal red glow, but it didn’t.

Kat frowned and leaned forward, narrowing her eyes on the fire. “What the hell?”

Then suddenly an orange flame burst from where she had been staring, and the blue flame was engulfed. Kat moved back slightly. “Whoa…!” she said cheerfully.

The blue flame burst back to life and took over the orange flame. Kat watched carefully, waiting for it to do it again. Which it did, the orange flame burst from where she had been looking and the blue flame withered, but it stayed and began flickering quickly, as if attacking the orange flame. Kat concentrated more, discovering that she could control it. She stared and stared until the orange flame once again drowned out the blue flame, but it came back and then the fire was purely blue.

Kat’s eyes widened fearfully and she blinked several times. She took another sip of her drink frantically, and looked back to the fire. It was now back to it’s red hue. She gasped dramatically. “Did any of you see that?!” she shouted, pointing to the fire and looking at the group sitting around her.

They looked at her oddly. “Uhh, nope.” They shook their heads.

“Rin?! Did you see that?!” she gasped looking beside her at the Hylian.

Rin shook her head and raised her eyebrows. “I think you’ve had way too much to drink, Kat. Maybe you should pack it in for the night. It’s getting late,” she said, laughing mockingly at her.

Kat stood and looked at her, wobbling as she did so. She was about to say something, but decided that Rin was right. She stumbled over the seating log and tumbled towards the fortress, eyes still wide as she sipped one last time from her mug. “How much have I been drinking??”