The Legend of Zelda and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Toki no Cardo
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Wai! ^_^ Eighteen reviews! I can't believe it! ^_^
Well, anyway, sorry this came so late. I (finally) got a new Swiss Army Knife, and I nearly sliced my finger off try to close one of the knives. Try typing like that. Owie!!
Anyway, Q and A time. ;)
MillenniumDreamer: Nope, it's not just going to be Yugi and Yami Yugi, though they'll be the only guy/guy couple. Yeah, yeah, the usual shounen-ai-ness between the two; subtle, except when the tomb robber's around.
Eternal Dreamer: Now, if I told you what happened to Link, that would defeat the purpose of the story, now would it? ;)
Zera: Yup! The title DOES mean "Card of Time". Congrats, you were the only one that pointed that out in a review. ^_^
fishkisser: I do have one picture of Yugi and Yami Yugi from this story drawn. I'll put up another section on my website when I get more pictures done.
MollyJean: XD Yeah, I know, I'm evil taking away Yami Yugi-sama's leather. ^_____^
Menolly: @.@ Whoah, lotsa questions. Well, like most of my stories, this is based on the manga, so there was no DOOM arc, and this takes place after the Egyptian arc... which has taken a strange twist, but I'm not worrying about that right now.
Link02: Okay, so I used Deku Nuts ONCE; in Jabu Jabu's Belly, against the Stingers, so I could get them to come out in a position that I could easily jump attack them from.
Lady Silver Dragon I: It's going to be Link/Zelda, because I've been playing LoZ since the first Nintendo game came out in the 80s. In my eyes, they've always been a couple, even though it's always a different Link and Zelda in almost every LoZ game. ;) Seniority rules, here, hun. ^_^
Chibizoo: *is glomped* o.O Zoo-chan, no stealing my writing ability. If you did that, I wouldn't be able to write anymore, now would I? ^_^
All right, you know the deal. Read, enjoy, and then review!
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CHAPTER TWO
Picking out the weapons that best suited them was a bit of a challenge for Yugi and Yami Yugi, though they had both come to the conclusion that staying away from the Deku Nuts would be a good idea. In addition to the small sword and bow and quiver of arrows, Yugi had settled on a boomerang as his third weapon. He used to throw one when he was younger, and though he knew he was a little rusty, he had a feeling he would pick it up again quickly.
Yami Yugi had a bit more trouble picking his weapons. He was used to weapons of the desert: shamshirs and Egyptian sai and other such items. After a long moment of debating, he settled on a long sword that looked oddly similar to the Master Sword, a hook shot, and a bag of bombs. If there was one thing he knew from watching his aibou play that infernal game, was that anything that did not get smashed with a sword or pegged with an arrow got blown to bits by a bomb. The hook shot would help them get around, especially if they ever ended up in any of those strange dungeons. The sword... well, he would have preferred something a little more curved, but when his aibou had seen the Master Sword look-a-like, he made all cute puppy dog eyes at him.
Yami Yugi did not stand a chance.
Afterward, the man that was standing guard outside their room led them through the labyrinthine castle, to the courtyard outside. Down at the main gate to the castle, a harassed looking Princess Zelda was waiting for them. On either side of her were what had to be the two strangest women the pharaoh had ever seen. One had a sharply featured face and was dressed in a pink outfit reminiscent of a harem girl, while the other looked like a human fish that obviously thought clothing was only a human necessity. Both of them were arguing with the Hylian princess, and judging from the expression on Zelda's face, she was about to strangle one or both of them any minute.
"It is NOT fair, Zelda!" the fish girl exclaimed, stamping her webbed foot. "You're not the only one who loves Link! Why should only YOUR champions rescue him?!"
"And how do you even know he's in trouble?" the harem-like woman asked. "For all we know, this could just be you being over anxious to get into his pants."
That comment was apparently Zelda's breaking point. She got in the other woman's face, making her back up in surprise.
"How dare you speak to me like I'm some two-bit Gerudo whore!" she snapped. The harem-like woman growled at that.
"Just WHAT are you implying?!" she demanded. Yugi and Yami Yugi sweatdropped; they could literally see the sparks flying between the two women.
"Looks like what you say is right, mou hitori no boku," Yugi said, his voice flat. "Royalty and thieves don't mix."
Either Yugi said that too loud, or the harem-like woman had superb hearing, for in the next instant she was in his face, practically seething in rage.
"I AM NOT A THIEF!" she exclaimed, emphasizing each word.
"Of course you're not, Nabooru-san!" Yugi squeaked, before dashing to hide behind his other half.
Nabooru followed him with her eyes... and suddenly those eyes were roving all over Yami Yugi. The pharaoh got the distinct impression - at least judging from the look on her face - that she was picturing him withOUT the annoying clothing. He just gave her a bland look, though it took a supreme effort to do so.
"May I help you?" he asked in a low tone, resisting the urge to either hit her or blush.
Nabooru just smiled a predatory smile. "You're kinda cute..."
"Back off... he's mine..." Yugi muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Yami Yugi to hear. The pharaoh smirked at that, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by an annoying, whining voice.
"Not only are they your champions, but you dress them up like Link?!" the fish girl practically squealed. "That does it! I DEMAND my own champion!"
Zelda gripped her hands at her sides, looking like she fighting against the urge to hit her, and loosing miserably. The Hylian princess took a few calming breaths, before she spoke in a cool collected voice.
"Princess Ruto, Chief Nabooru, you do realize that the only way you could summon your own champions were if you were to do so from your respective temples," she stated. "These things take time; time that we might not even have."
"So?" Ruto, the fish girl, asked. "It's not like our temples are loaded with monsters anymore!"
"That's not the point -"
"What is the point, your highness-ness?" Nabooru asked, finally looking away from Yami Yugi. "I don't think its much trouble for us to 'borrow' one of your champions to 'escort' us in summoning our own."
Zelda sputtered slightly, what little grace she had left after the argument between the three of them absolutely gone now. After a moment, she hung her head in resignation.
"I suppose so..."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Yami Yugi exclaimed. "Don't we have a say in this?"
"No," Nabooru replied casually.
The pharaoh made a face. It was bad enough that he and his hikari had been transported to this strange world in the middle of the night, given strange and - in his noble opinion - absolutely tasteless clothes to wear, and expected to save some former hero. Now they were expected to escort these two so-called ladies to summon more poor souls on this stupid quest? With anyone else, maybe he would not have minded, but given their personalities, he was almost afraid of who they would summon.
"Well then!" Ruto exclaimed, walking over to him. "Considering that my temple is under water, and they only make Zora Tunics in adult sizes, I suppose I'll have to take this one."
She grabbed Yami Yugi by the arm and tugged him toward her rather rudely. The pharaoh was about to snap at her for it, but he thought against it. Better to keep this princess in what qualified as a good mood.
"Guess that means I'm stuck with the kid," Nabooru replied, looking down at Yugi with slight disdain. Yugi made a face; he may have been short, but he was by no means a kid.
Zelda gave the two of them truly apologetic looks. "I'm sorry you two."
Yami Yugi sighed. He knew they would not be able to get out of this palace alive...
/_\ /_\ /_\
A few hours later found Yugi on horseback, clinging to Nabooru as she plowed her white stallion through the Gerudo sands. He felt a little strange; it was the first time in a long time he was such a distance away from his darker self, the last time being when they had traveled to the memory world to recover Yami Yugi's memories. He felt... lonely without him; he hated feeling that way.
"So, where exactly are you from?" Nabooru asked, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Domino City, in Japan," Yugi answered.
"Domino City? Japan?" she replied, confused. "Never heard of it."
"I didn't think you would..." he muttered under his breath.
"Hunh?"
"Nothing."
Nabooru gave him a critical look over her shoulder. "Forgive me for saying so, but you don't look like a fighter, despite the clothes her highness-ness stuck you in. Do you even know how to use that sword on your back?"
Yugi sweatdropped. "Uh... if I said no, would you be mad?"
Nabooru suddenly brought the horse to a quick halt, nearly sending Yugi flying off. She turned slightly in the saddle, giving him a disbelieving look.
"Are you serious?" she demanded. "What the hell is that princess THINKING?! Throwing a kid who has no idea what he's doing into obvious danger... GAH! What an idiot!"
With that, she hopped off of the horse, dragging Yugi down with her. Not expecting the move, he lost his balance and fell face first into the sand. Shaking the small grains out of his cap, he rolled over on his rear end and glared at the Gerudo tribe leader. Of course, Yugi had never really mastered the art of glaring, so all that came out was a somewhat sour pout. Nabooru was ignoring him anyway, so it did not really matter what it came out as. She rounded her horse, and pulled out two shamshirs from matching sheaths before turning back to him.
"Get up," she ordered. "You're about to get a crash course in swordsmanship."
Yugi blinked, caught off guard. "Are you serious? I thought we barely had time to figure out what happened to Link?"
"Yeah, and knowing how danger prone he is, once you do you'll have to fight your way through swarms of enemies and other such vile things," Nabooru countered. "Not knowing how to fight won't help him any, you know."
Yugi glared/pouted again; no matter how much he hated to admit it, she was right. He stood up and brushed himself off, before reaching behind his back for his sword and shield. Hesitating a moment, he readied the two before him like he had always seen the Link sprite in his video game do, only in reverse seeing as he was right handed and Link was left handed. Nabooru paused a moment, looking him up and down, a small smile on her face.
"You know, that's what he looked like when I first saw him," she said, a bit nostalgic. She snapped out of it then, readying her swords. "I've gotta admit, you look a lot like him. Now lets see if you have any of his fighting talent!"
/_\ /_\ /_\
Yami Yugi wanted to know what he did that made the Gods want to punish him so. He was riding on horseback, making his way across the Hylian fields, with Princess Ruto seated behind him. Not two minutes after they had left the castle gates did she start complaining about how bumpy the ride was and how the saddle chaffed her scaly skin. All he could think was that if she did not shut up, then he was going to give her something WORTH complaining about.
Not soon enough, they arrived at their destination: Lake Hylia. The pharaoh spurred the horse to a stop next to some scarecrows, and waited with strained patience for Ruto to get off. When she did not budge, he looked over his shoulder at her.
"Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?"
Ruto scoffed. "It's proper for a gentlemen to help a lady off of a horse."
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes. "I don't SEE any ladies around..."
The princess huffed. "You may look like Link, but you have absolutely NO manners!"
The pharaoh pulled on the pieces of his blonde hair that were sticking out from under his cap. "I look nothing like him!" he exclaimed, his patience snapping in half. "Now get off the damn horse!"
Both Ruto and the horse scoffed at his use of language, but the annoying fish girl finally complied, sliding off the saddle that supposedly was chaffing her skin. Yami Yugi followed, landing on the ground with ease, before stepping toward the lake. Squinting slightly, he could just make out the faint outline of an entrance to something under the clear blue water.
"And HOW am I supposed to get down there?" he asked.
Ruto put her hands on her hips, before reaching into a saddlebag on the horse and pulling out a blue tunic and matching cap. It looked like the set the pharaoh was already wearing, just a different color. He raised a critical eyebrow at it.
"And how precisely is that supposed to help me breathe underwater?"
Before he knew what was happening, the princess had jumped him and was wrestling the tunic over his head. Then, before he could throw her off, she jumped off on her own, leaving him glaring at her (he was much better at it than his hikari was) while smoothing out the rumbled tunic. Once he had accomplished fixing it to his liking, however, Ruto had once again grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him toward the lake.
"Now wait just a minute!" Yami Yugi managed to protest, before he found himself flailing through the air, landing in the water with a loud splash. Somehow, he had managed to gulp in some air before he landed, and held onto that precious commodity as he watched Ruto dive in after him.
She giggled at the sight of him. "Try breathing, silly!" she exclaimed, her voice slightly garbled by the water.
Glaring, Yami Yugi complied... only to nearly gag. A confused look crossed Ruto's face, quickly followed by a shocked expression.
"I forgot the cap!" she exclaimed, swimming toward him, the blue hat that went along with his new tunic still in hand. She pulled his old cap off and rammed the blue one on in its place.
With the completed outfit together, it suddenly felt like a bubble had encompassed Yami Yugi's entire body, allowing him to breathe in the water like he would air. He gulped in a few relieving gasps, before shooting another glare in the princess' direction.
"Next time you drag me somewhere, make sure I'm not going to DIE first, okay?" he requested, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ruto returned his glare, before shoving the green hat into his arms.
"Let's go, 'hero'," she ordered, mocking him. "We don't have all day to play games."
With that said, she swam off, leaving Yami Yugi grumbling about different ways to cook a fish in her wake. Never having been one for swimming - he grew up in a desert after all, and could not float in the water even if he wanted to - the former pharaoh walked along the lake floor after her, tucking the green hat into his belt as he did so before pulling out his hook shot. In that video game, the hook shot was the only weapon that could be used underwater. It did not make sense in his opinion, but then again he was not about to attempt to use his sword, or anything else for that matter, to find out otherwise.
After a short distance, the two of them arrived at the entrance to Ruto's temple, the Water Temple. Just inside the entrance, they reached their first of many problems; while Ruto swam up to get to a patch of dry land, Yami Yugi just stood there, following her with his eyes. It took her a moment to realize he was no longer following, and she turned around in a huff.
"What are you waiting for?" she demanded. "Get up here!"
Yami Yugi just gave her a bland look. "You have yet to realize that I can't swim, hunh?"
Ruto put her hands on her hips and started to yell at him for not telling her sooner, but he was not paying attention. A shadow was hovering above the water surface, and it was getting bigger...
Not bothering with any kind of warnings or apologies, Yami Yugi reached up and grabbed Ruto by the foot, pulling her down toward him as a large fish with a painful looking fin splashed into the water. In the next instant, he had the hook shot up and aimed, and before the creature could get any closer, he fired. The hook and chain shot out, tearing into the fish's body and making it dissolve away into nothingness.
Ruto stared at where the monster had been in stunned silence, while Yami Yugi gave her a critical look.
"I thought you said there were no more monsters?" he asked after a moment.
"Well... there shouldn't be!" she exclaimed. "Ganon was sealed away in the Evil Realm, so his monsters should be too. Maybe it was just one that got overlooked."
Ruto grabbed him by the arm, but this time he did not protest as she swam the both of them up to the surface of the water within the Water Temple. Inside the temple proper, walls the color of the deep seas glimmered slightly in the faint torchlight reflected off the water. A tall central tower reached up above that water, expanding up farther than the two of them could see.
That was not what held their attention, however. In the water below them, surrounding the central tower, dozens upon dozens of fish fins prowled the waters. On a narrow walkway that encircled the tower, a handful of spider-like creatures lurked, bouncing slightly as if daring them to come in their direction. After a long moment of staring, another bland look crossed Yami Yugi's face.
"Just overlooked, hunh?"
/_\ /_\ /_\
Yugi and Nabooru both managed to have the same disbelieving looks on their faces as they stared at the entrances to the Spirit Temple. One of those was not really an entrance, but a small crawl space that only Yugi was small enough to fit through. A huge granite pillar blocked off the other one, the main entrance. They stared at the blocked path for a long moment, before the Gerudo tribe leader smacked herself on her jeweled forehead.
"I forgot!" she exclaimed. "Technically, Link never met me before, which means he never went to get the Silver Gauntlets, which means he never moved this stupid pillar to open up the temple!"
"Well, I guess that means I'll have to go get the gauntlets," Yugi replied, making toward the crawl space.
"Whoa, kid, are you sure?" Nabooru asked, alarmed. True, the kid proved to be okay with a sword, but he had absolutely NONE of Link's talent. If he were to run into serious trouble, she doubted he would be able to take care of himself.
"Sure I'm sure," Yugi replied cheerily, dropping to his hands and knees. "Besides, Ruto-hime said that there were no more monsters, so this should be a breeze."
Nabooru sighed, not feeling nearly as confident. "Well... just take this with you," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small crystal that glowed red with an inner light. She tossed it to him, and he caught it easily.
"Is this what I think it is?" Yugi asked, inspecting it.
"If you're thinking it's Din's Fire, then yes," the tribe leader replied with a smirk. "Nothing like a little help from the Goddess of Power to crispy fry anything that might give you trouble. Just be careful, kid, that's all I ask."
Yugi gave her a thumbs up, deciding not to ask her how she got the magic crystal (he had a feeling he knew anyway), before crawling on his hands and knees through the small opening that led into the Spirit Temple. As soon as he was able to stand up straight again, however, he realized he was in for a lot more than he bargained for. All along the room, small bats called Keese dotted the walls and alcoves. In the very center of the room was a statue holding a sword and shield, and he did not have to have played the game to know that the statue would come to life if he touched it.
"Knew I shoulda grabbed some bombs," he muttered to himself, taking in the rest of the room. There were two doors and one more crawl space in the room. The doors were blocked off with steel bars, and he knew from experience that the narrow opening led to a locked door.
First thing was first; he had to get rid of those Keese and seeing how using fire magic only turned normal Keese into Flaming Keese, he had to do it the hard way. Taking his bow from behind his back, he held it up and cocked an arrow, trying to remember the lessons he had in gym class. First was to hold the bow as perpendicular to the ground as possible, second was to keep both eyes open, and third was to sight the target along the arrow shaft. He followed those three simple rules, bringing the bow and arrow to bear on the bat closest to him. Taking a moment to make sure he had a perfect shot, he fired straight at the bat.
The Keese did not know what hit it. It let out a squeal as the arrowhead tore through it, before disappearing into nothingness, leaving the arrow behind. Yugi proceeded to do the same to all the other Keese in the room, making sure to steer clear away from the Armos Statue in the center, so as not to bring it to life prematurely.
Once that was accomplished, Yugi was left with the daunting task of trying to figure out how to get rid of the statue. He gathered up the arrows he had used as he thought; he had always planted a bomb near the Armos, and then pegged it with something to bring it to life just in time to die. How was he going to do that without any bombs?
When he collected his last arrow was when it clicked. Back in the glory days of the old sixteen-bit Super Fanicom, there was also a Zelda game for that system, and in it were enemies known as Armos Knights. In order to kill those things, a person had to wait for the Knight to come alive, before pegging it in the eye with an arrow. It was a long shot, and required split second timing, but it was the only option he really had at the moment.
Grabbing up his boomerang, Yugi chucked it at the Armos Statue. It came alive instantly, its beady little eyes glaring red in anger. Not wasting a moment, he cocked an arrow and let it sail at the creature just as it started to hop around madly. The arrowhead tore through one of the eyes, making it stop its hopping to let out an enraged howl, giving Yugi a chance to hit its other eye. The creature let out another howl, before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the two arrows behind.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief as a click echoed through the room. In the next instant, the bars that had prevented access to the two doors in the room slid up into the doorframes. He collected his arrows and boomerang, biting his lower lip in apprehension; he was sorely tempted to go back and tell Nabooru that the place was loaded with monsters still. If he did that, however, it would just make him look like a coward; if he could not handle a few monsters, how was he supposed to help Link?
Making up his mind, he grabbed his sword and headed for the door to the west, already knowing he was going to be in for a fight with a Stalfos skeleton warrior.
Toki no Cardo
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Wai! ^_^ Eighteen reviews! I can't believe it! ^_^
Well, anyway, sorry this came so late. I (finally) got a new Swiss Army Knife, and I nearly sliced my finger off try to close one of the knives. Try typing like that. Owie!!
Anyway, Q and A time. ;)
MillenniumDreamer: Nope, it's not just going to be Yugi and Yami Yugi, though they'll be the only guy/guy couple. Yeah, yeah, the usual shounen-ai-ness between the two; subtle, except when the tomb robber's around.
Eternal Dreamer: Now, if I told you what happened to Link, that would defeat the purpose of the story, now would it? ;)
Zera: Yup! The title DOES mean "Card of Time". Congrats, you were the only one that pointed that out in a review. ^_^
fishkisser: I do have one picture of Yugi and Yami Yugi from this story drawn. I'll put up another section on my website when I get more pictures done.
MollyJean: XD Yeah, I know, I'm evil taking away Yami Yugi-sama's leather. ^_____^
Menolly: @.@ Whoah, lotsa questions. Well, like most of my stories, this is based on the manga, so there was no DOOM arc, and this takes place after the Egyptian arc... which has taken a strange twist, but I'm not worrying about that right now.
Link02: Okay, so I used Deku Nuts ONCE; in Jabu Jabu's Belly, against the Stingers, so I could get them to come out in a position that I could easily jump attack them from.
Lady Silver Dragon I: It's going to be Link/Zelda, because I've been playing LoZ since the first Nintendo game came out in the 80s. In my eyes, they've always been a couple, even though it's always a different Link and Zelda in almost every LoZ game. ;) Seniority rules, here, hun. ^_^
Chibizoo: *is glomped* o.O Zoo-chan, no stealing my writing ability. If you did that, I wouldn't be able to write anymore, now would I? ^_^
All right, you know the deal. Read, enjoy, and then review!
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CHAPTER TWO
Picking out the weapons that best suited them was a bit of a challenge for Yugi and Yami Yugi, though they had both come to the conclusion that staying away from the Deku Nuts would be a good idea. In addition to the small sword and bow and quiver of arrows, Yugi had settled on a boomerang as his third weapon. He used to throw one when he was younger, and though he knew he was a little rusty, he had a feeling he would pick it up again quickly.
Yami Yugi had a bit more trouble picking his weapons. He was used to weapons of the desert: shamshirs and Egyptian sai and other such items. After a long moment of debating, he settled on a long sword that looked oddly similar to the Master Sword, a hook shot, and a bag of bombs. If there was one thing he knew from watching his aibou play that infernal game, was that anything that did not get smashed with a sword or pegged with an arrow got blown to bits by a bomb. The hook shot would help them get around, especially if they ever ended up in any of those strange dungeons. The sword... well, he would have preferred something a little more curved, but when his aibou had seen the Master Sword look-a-like, he made all cute puppy dog eyes at him.
Yami Yugi did not stand a chance.
Afterward, the man that was standing guard outside their room led them through the labyrinthine castle, to the courtyard outside. Down at the main gate to the castle, a harassed looking Princess Zelda was waiting for them. On either side of her were what had to be the two strangest women the pharaoh had ever seen. One had a sharply featured face and was dressed in a pink outfit reminiscent of a harem girl, while the other looked like a human fish that obviously thought clothing was only a human necessity. Both of them were arguing with the Hylian princess, and judging from the expression on Zelda's face, she was about to strangle one or both of them any minute.
"It is NOT fair, Zelda!" the fish girl exclaimed, stamping her webbed foot. "You're not the only one who loves Link! Why should only YOUR champions rescue him?!"
"And how do you even know he's in trouble?" the harem-like woman asked. "For all we know, this could just be you being over anxious to get into his pants."
That comment was apparently Zelda's breaking point. She got in the other woman's face, making her back up in surprise.
"How dare you speak to me like I'm some two-bit Gerudo whore!" she snapped. The harem-like woman growled at that.
"Just WHAT are you implying?!" she demanded. Yugi and Yami Yugi sweatdropped; they could literally see the sparks flying between the two women.
"Looks like what you say is right, mou hitori no boku," Yugi said, his voice flat. "Royalty and thieves don't mix."
Either Yugi said that too loud, or the harem-like woman had superb hearing, for in the next instant she was in his face, practically seething in rage.
"I AM NOT A THIEF!" she exclaimed, emphasizing each word.
"Of course you're not, Nabooru-san!" Yugi squeaked, before dashing to hide behind his other half.
Nabooru followed him with her eyes... and suddenly those eyes were roving all over Yami Yugi. The pharaoh got the distinct impression - at least judging from the look on her face - that she was picturing him withOUT the annoying clothing. He just gave her a bland look, though it took a supreme effort to do so.
"May I help you?" he asked in a low tone, resisting the urge to either hit her or blush.
Nabooru just smiled a predatory smile. "You're kinda cute..."
"Back off... he's mine..." Yugi muttered under his breath, only loud enough for Yami Yugi to hear. The pharaoh smirked at that, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by an annoying, whining voice.
"Not only are they your champions, but you dress them up like Link?!" the fish girl practically squealed. "That does it! I DEMAND my own champion!"
Zelda gripped her hands at her sides, looking like she fighting against the urge to hit her, and loosing miserably. The Hylian princess took a few calming breaths, before she spoke in a cool collected voice.
"Princess Ruto, Chief Nabooru, you do realize that the only way you could summon your own champions were if you were to do so from your respective temples," she stated. "These things take time; time that we might not even have."
"So?" Ruto, the fish girl, asked. "It's not like our temples are loaded with monsters anymore!"
"That's not the point -"
"What is the point, your highness-ness?" Nabooru asked, finally looking away from Yami Yugi. "I don't think its much trouble for us to 'borrow' one of your champions to 'escort' us in summoning our own."
Zelda sputtered slightly, what little grace she had left after the argument between the three of them absolutely gone now. After a moment, she hung her head in resignation.
"I suppose so..."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Yami Yugi exclaimed. "Don't we have a say in this?"
"No," Nabooru replied casually.
The pharaoh made a face. It was bad enough that he and his hikari had been transported to this strange world in the middle of the night, given strange and - in his noble opinion - absolutely tasteless clothes to wear, and expected to save some former hero. Now they were expected to escort these two so-called ladies to summon more poor souls on this stupid quest? With anyone else, maybe he would not have minded, but given their personalities, he was almost afraid of who they would summon.
"Well then!" Ruto exclaimed, walking over to him. "Considering that my temple is under water, and they only make Zora Tunics in adult sizes, I suppose I'll have to take this one."
She grabbed Yami Yugi by the arm and tugged him toward her rather rudely. The pharaoh was about to snap at her for it, but he thought against it. Better to keep this princess in what qualified as a good mood.
"Guess that means I'm stuck with the kid," Nabooru replied, looking down at Yugi with slight disdain. Yugi made a face; he may have been short, but he was by no means a kid.
Zelda gave the two of them truly apologetic looks. "I'm sorry you two."
Yami Yugi sighed. He knew they would not be able to get out of this palace alive...
/_\ /_\ /_\
A few hours later found Yugi on horseback, clinging to Nabooru as she plowed her white stallion through the Gerudo sands. He felt a little strange; it was the first time in a long time he was such a distance away from his darker self, the last time being when they had traveled to the memory world to recover Yami Yugi's memories. He felt... lonely without him; he hated feeling that way.
"So, where exactly are you from?" Nabooru asked, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Domino City, in Japan," Yugi answered.
"Domino City? Japan?" she replied, confused. "Never heard of it."
"I didn't think you would..." he muttered under his breath.
"Hunh?"
"Nothing."
Nabooru gave him a critical look over her shoulder. "Forgive me for saying so, but you don't look like a fighter, despite the clothes her highness-ness stuck you in. Do you even know how to use that sword on your back?"
Yugi sweatdropped. "Uh... if I said no, would you be mad?"
Nabooru suddenly brought the horse to a quick halt, nearly sending Yugi flying off. She turned slightly in the saddle, giving him a disbelieving look.
"Are you serious?" she demanded. "What the hell is that princess THINKING?! Throwing a kid who has no idea what he's doing into obvious danger... GAH! What an idiot!"
With that, she hopped off of the horse, dragging Yugi down with her. Not expecting the move, he lost his balance and fell face first into the sand. Shaking the small grains out of his cap, he rolled over on his rear end and glared at the Gerudo tribe leader. Of course, Yugi had never really mastered the art of glaring, so all that came out was a somewhat sour pout. Nabooru was ignoring him anyway, so it did not really matter what it came out as. She rounded her horse, and pulled out two shamshirs from matching sheaths before turning back to him.
"Get up," she ordered. "You're about to get a crash course in swordsmanship."
Yugi blinked, caught off guard. "Are you serious? I thought we barely had time to figure out what happened to Link?"
"Yeah, and knowing how danger prone he is, once you do you'll have to fight your way through swarms of enemies and other such vile things," Nabooru countered. "Not knowing how to fight won't help him any, you know."
Yugi glared/pouted again; no matter how much he hated to admit it, she was right. He stood up and brushed himself off, before reaching behind his back for his sword and shield. Hesitating a moment, he readied the two before him like he had always seen the Link sprite in his video game do, only in reverse seeing as he was right handed and Link was left handed. Nabooru paused a moment, looking him up and down, a small smile on her face.
"You know, that's what he looked like when I first saw him," she said, a bit nostalgic. She snapped out of it then, readying her swords. "I've gotta admit, you look a lot like him. Now lets see if you have any of his fighting talent!"
/_\ /_\ /_\
Yami Yugi wanted to know what he did that made the Gods want to punish him so. He was riding on horseback, making his way across the Hylian fields, with Princess Ruto seated behind him. Not two minutes after they had left the castle gates did she start complaining about how bumpy the ride was and how the saddle chaffed her scaly skin. All he could think was that if she did not shut up, then he was going to give her something WORTH complaining about.
Not soon enough, they arrived at their destination: Lake Hylia. The pharaoh spurred the horse to a stop next to some scarecrows, and waited with strained patience for Ruto to get off. When she did not budge, he looked over his shoulder at her.
"Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?"
Ruto scoffed. "It's proper for a gentlemen to help a lady off of a horse."
Yami Yugi narrowed his eyes. "I don't SEE any ladies around..."
The princess huffed. "You may look like Link, but you have absolutely NO manners!"
The pharaoh pulled on the pieces of his blonde hair that were sticking out from under his cap. "I look nothing like him!" he exclaimed, his patience snapping in half. "Now get off the damn horse!"
Both Ruto and the horse scoffed at his use of language, but the annoying fish girl finally complied, sliding off the saddle that supposedly was chaffing her skin. Yami Yugi followed, landing on the ground with ease, before stepping toward the lake. Squinting slightly, he could just make out the faint outline of an entrance to something under the clear blue water.
"And HOW am I supposed to get down there?" he asked.
Ruto put her hands on her hips, before reaching into a saddlebag on the horse and pulling out a blue tunic and matching cap. It looked like the set the pharaoh was already wearing, just a different color. He raised a critical eyebrow at it.
"And how precisely is that supposed to help me breathe underwater?"
Before he knew what was happening, the princess had jumped him and was wrestling the tunic over his head. Then, before he could throw her off, she jumped off on her own, leaving him glaring at her (he was much better at it than his hikari was) while smoothing out the rumbled tunic. Once he had accomplished fixing it to his liking, however, Ruto had once again grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him toward the lake.
"Now wait just a minute!" Yami Yugi managed to protest, before he found himself flailing through the air, landing in the water with a loud splash. Somehow, he had managed to gulp in some air before he landed, and held onto that precious commodity as he watched Ruto dive in after him.
She giggled at the sight of him. "Try breathing, silly!" she exclaimed, her voice slightly garbled by the water.
Glaring, Yami Yugi complied... only to nearly gag. A confused look crossed Ruto's face, quickly followed by a shocked expression.
"I forgot the cap!" she exclaimed, swimming toward him, the blue hat that went along with his new tunic still in hand. She pulled his old cap off and rammed the blue one on in its place.
With the completed outfit together, it suddenly felt like a bubble had encompassed Yami Yugi's entire body, allowing him to breathe in the water like he would air. He gulped in a few relieving gasps, before shooting another glare in the princess' direction.
"Next time you drag me somewhere, make sure I'm not going to DIE first, okay?" he requested, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ruto returned his glare, before shoving the green hat into his arms.
"Let's go, 'hero'," she ordered, mocking him. "We don't have all day to play games."
With that said, she swam off, leaving Yami Yugi grumbling about different ways to cook a fish in her wake. Never having been one for swimming - he grew up in a desert after all, and could not float in the water even if he wanted to - the former pharaoh walked along the lake floor after her, tucking the green hat into his belt as he did so before pulling out his hook shot. In that video game, the hook shot was the only weapon that could be used underwater. It did not make sense in his opinion, but then again he was not about to attempt to use his sword, or anything else for that matter, to find out otherwise.
After a short distance, the two of them arrived at the entrance to Ruto's temple, the Water Temple. Just inside the entrance, they reached their first of many problems; while Ruto swam up to get to a patch of dry land, Yami Yugi just stood there, following her with his eyes. It took her a moment to realize he was no longer following, and she turned around in a huff.
"What are you waiting for?" she demanded. "Get up here!"
Yami Yugi just gave her a bland look. "You have yet to realize that I can't swim, hunh?"
Ruto put her hands on her hips and started to yell at him for not telling her sooner, but he was not paying attention. A shadow was hovering above the water surface, and it was getting bigger...
Not bothering with any kind of warnings or apologies, Yami Yugi reached up and grabbed Ruto by the foot, pulling her down toward him as a large fish with a painful looking fin splashed into the water. In the next instant, he had the hook shot up and aimed, and before the creature could get any closer, he fired. The hook and chain shot out, tearing into the fish's body and making it dissolve away into nothingness.
Ruto stared at where the monster had been in stunned silence, while Yami Yugi gave her a critical look.
"I thought you said there were no more monsters?" he asked after a moment.
"Well... there shouldn't be!" she exclaimed. "Ganon was sealed away in the Evil Realm, so his monsters should be too. Maybe it was just one that got overlooked."
Ruto grabbed him by the arm, but this time he did not protest as she swam the both of them up to the surface of the water within the Water Temple. Inside the temple proper, walls the color of the deep seas glimmered slightly in the faint torchlight reflected off the water. A tall central tower reached up above that water, expanding up farther than the two of them could see.
That was not what held their attention, however. In the water below them, surrounding the central tower, dozens upon dozens of fish fins prowled the waters. On a narrow walkway that encircled the tower, a handful of spider-like creatures lurked, bouncing slightly as if daring them to come in their direction. After a long moment of staring, another bland look crossed Yami Yugi's face.
"Just overlooked, hunh?"
/_\ /_\ /_\
Yugi and Nabooru both managed to have the same disbelieving looks on their faces as they stared at the entrances to the Spirit Temple. One of those was not really an entrance, but a small crawl space that only Yugi was small enough to fit through. A huge granite pillar blocked off the other one, the main entrance. They stared at the blocked path for a long moment, before the Gerudo tribe leader smacked herself on her jeweled forehead.
"I forgot!" she exclaimed. "Technically, Link never met me before, which means he never went to get the Silver Gauntlets, which means he never moved this stupid pillar to open up the temple!"
"Well, I guess that means I'll have to go get the gauntlets," Yugi replied, making toward the crawl space.
"Whoa, kid, are you sure?" Nabooru asked, alarmed. True, the kid proved to be okay with a sword, but he had absolutely NONE of Link's talent. If he were to run into serious trouble, she doubted he would be able to take care of himself.
"Sure I'm sure," Yugi replied cheerily, dropping to his hands and knees. "Besides, Ruto-hime said that there were no more monsters, so this should be a breeze."
Nabooru sighed, not feeling nearly as confident. "Well... just take this with you," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small crystal that glowed red with an inner light. She tossed it to him, and he caught it easily.
"Is this what I think it is?" Yugi asked, inspecting it.
"If you're thinking it's Din's Fire, then yes," the tribe leader replied with a smirk. "Nothing like a little help from the Goddess of Power to crispy fry anything that might give you trouble. Just be careful, kid, that's all I ask."
Yugi gave her a thumbs up, deciding not to ask her how she got the magic crystal (he had a feeling he knew anyway), before crawling on his hands and knees through the small opening that led into the Spirit Temple. As soon as he was able to stand up straight again, however, he realized he was in for a lot more than he bargained for. All along the room, small bats called Keese dotted the walls and alcoves. In the very center of the room was a statue holding a sword and shield, and he did not have to have played the game to know that the statue would come to life if he touched it.
"Knew I shoulda grabbed some bombs," he muttered to himself, taking in the rest of the room. There were two doors and one more crawl space in the room. The doors were blocked off with steel bars, and he knew from experience that the narrow opening led to a locked door.
First thing was first; he had to get rid of those Keese and seeing how using fire magic only turned normal Keese into Flaming Keese, he had to do it the hard way. Taking his bow from behind his back, he held it up and cocked an arrow, trying to remember the lessons he had in gym class. First was to hold the bow as perpendicular to the ground as possible, second was to keep both eyes open, and third was to sight the target along the arrow shaft. He followed those three simple rules, bringing the bow and arrow to bear on the bat closest to him. Taking a moment to make sure he had a perfect shot, he fired straight at the bat.
The Keese did not know what hit it. It let out a squeal as the arrowhead tore through it, before disappearing into nothingness, leaving the arrow behind. Yugi proceeded to do the same to all the other Keese in the room, making sure to steer clear away from the Armos Statue in the center, so as not to bring it to life prematurely.
Once that was accomplished, Yugi was left with the daunting task of trying to figure out how to get rid of the statue. He gathered up the arrows he had used as he thought; he had always planted a bomb near the Armos, and then pegged it with something to bring it to life just in time to die. How was he going to do that without any bombs?
When he collected his last arrow was when it clicked. Back in the glory days of the old sixteen-bit Super Fanicom, there was also a Zelda game for that system, and in it were enemies known as Armos Knights. In order to kill those things, a person had to wait for the Knight to come alive, before pegging it in the eye with an arrow. It was a long shot, and required split second timing, but it was the only option he really had at the moment.
Grabbing up his boomerang, Yugi chucked it at the Armos Statue. It came alive instantly, its beady little eyes glaring red in anger. Not wasting a moment, he cocked an arrow and let it sail at the creature just as it started to hop around madly. The arrowhead tore through one of the eyes, making it stop its hopping to let out an enraged howl, giving Yugi a chance to hit its other eye. The creature let out another howl, before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the two arrows behind.
Yugi breathed a sigh of relief as a click echoed through the room. In the next instant, the bars that had prevented access to the two doors in the room slid up into the doorframes. He collected his arrows and boomerang, biting his lower lip in apprehension; he was sorely tempted to go back and tell Nabooru that the place was loaded with monsters still. If he did that, however, it would just make him look like a coward; if he could not handle a few monsters, how was he supposed to help Link?
Making up his mind, he grabbed his sword and headed for the door to the west, already knowing he was going to be in for a fight with a Stalfos skeleton warrior.