All Things Come to an End

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. All of the characters in this story belong to Nintendo. I have written this for entertainment purposes only, and am not making any sort of profit for it.

Pairings: Malink

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Water.

He was beginning to loathe it.

Swimming had been one of his favorite past times back in the forest. There was a calm, quiet place deep within the Lost Woods where he and Saria would go on the warmer days. How he had loved those afternoons full of warmth and laughter. The liquid had felt refreshing and cool on his skin as he played with his childhood friend.

He'd noticed the difference from the time he'd entered this place. The water here was cold--unnaturally so. It didn't help that the air was always moving, slicing through his tunic like a sword whenever he got out of the still waters. The weary hero couldn't even escape the chill when he wasn't submerged.

Navi sat upon her charge's shoulder, shivering slightly. Even she could feel the unwelcoming chill of this place. Sure, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Ice Caverns, but there was something different about this cold. It was as if something were literally draining the warmth from them.

"Link-kun, l-let's hurry and get out of h-here," Navi insisted through chattering teeth. The green clad Hylian nodded in agreement. Up ahead he could see the large, chained door. He easily recognized the shimmering blue and gold pattern worked into the metal. It was the door that led to the final chambers, where there would surely be some type of creature waiting to have his head on a platter.

The Hero of Time couldn't help but sigh. This temple had tested him more than any other thus far. He recalled the battle he'd had perhaps four hours ago. The creature he'd faced had been nearly identical to him, mimicking him in looks, equipment, and fighting style. The only noticeable difference had been the doppleganger's black clothing, cobalt hair, impossibly dark skin, and sharp red eyes. He may have looked like the Hylian in build and stature, but beside one another they seemed as different as night and day.

The battle had lasted longer than Link would've liked, and though the Hero had won, he'd barely managed it. The battle had left him weary, and had forced him to sit down and recover for a few minutes as the red potion he'd brought healed some of his wounds.

He could only hope that the creature he was about the face didn't turn out to be even more of a challenge.

The blue and gold door slammed shut behind him. He didn't bother looking, or trying to open it again; he knew it was sealed tight.

There was no turning back.

He unsheathed the Master Sword; the harsh sound of the steel scraping leather echoed around him.

The chambers were simple--a large, seemingly vacant square room with a pool of water in the center, four small platforms within the pool. Lethal looking spikes lined the bottom of the walls, the points pointing toward the inner room. Link took a mental note to avoid walking into the sharp points.

Nothing moved. Light shimmered off the water in front of him, casting wavy, moving patterns on the walls and ceiling. Cautiously he stepped forward, sapphire eyes focused sharply for any sign of danger. Navi hovered around him nervously.

"Link-kun, I don't like this."

The teen fought against the urge to roll his eyes. Navi had a nack for stating the painfully obvious.

His footsteps echoed off the walls as he started towards the water. He paused at the edge of the pool.

Again, nothing happened. There was complete and utter silence.

Navi and her charge exchanged a confused look. Where was the creature? Surely there was one in here . . .

Link shrugged and jumped to one of the platforms. He looked down into the water, wondering if there was something in there that he just hadn't seen yet. The silence was getting on his nerves.

A prickling sensation crept over his spine. He started, and spun around. Eyes widened in surprise at what awaited him.

A long tentacle of what appeared to be water had risen up behind him. It tilted slightly, as though looking him over. Inside the fluid like creature, Link could see a pulsing, yellowish ball.

The hero of time backed away a few steps, holding his sword defensively in front of him. It was purely instinctive--he seriously doubted the blade would actually harm the creature.

"Din, nothing is ever easy . . . "

"Link-kun, behind!"

Link spun and fell back as another tentacle swung down after him. It barely missed the teen, but unfortunately the boy had jumped back too far and toppled over the edge of the platform. He landed in the thick, cold water with a splash.

Navi shrieked and buzzed around the creature as her charge fell in, hoping to distract it. It seemed unimpressed and simply sunk back into the main body of water.

Link surfaced, coughing and sputtering. He swam as fast as he could toward a nearby ladder, not wanting to chance staying in the water.

The yellow, pulsing blob seemed to appear out of no where as the Hylian was pulling himself up on the ladder. It bounced at him, barely missing as Link flattened himself against the wall. Hurriedly he finished climbing and got to his feet.

Tentacles reached out for him from several directions. He ran and jumped, landing on the far side of the room.

"Navi, any ideas?" he called, panting faintly. Thick drops of water dripped from his hair and tunic; he felt weighed down by it.

"I think that yellow thing controls it! If you destroy that, it should take care of the rest!"

Link nodded. It made sense.

He sprinted to the side as another tentacle rose up and reached for him. He didn't want to know what would happen if one managed to grab him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yellow blob rise up in the stream.

An idea came to him suddenly. He twisted around to face the groping creature, barely out of its reach and pulled his hookshot from his belt. With a clang, the pulley released. It flew at the tentacle, splitting through the water and impaling itself on the yellow ball. Link couldn't help but smirk in triumph as it was pulled out of the water and right to his feet. In a flash the Master Sword was out, and Link swung as hard as he could. The yellow blob seemed to squeal in anguish; blueish blood splattered the wall and floor. Link went to strike again, but faltered at Navi's cry of warning.

"Link-kun!"

He turned to look, but was too late. The wind rushed from his lungs as a watery tentacle wrapped tight around his mid-section. Link dropped his blade as he was roughly lifted into the air.

For water, the creature seemed quite solid as it held him now. It squeezed like a python trying to crush its prey. A strangled cry of pain escaped the Hylian's throat. Suddenly, the tentacle plunged him into the water below, holding him there. He struggled against its grip, desperately needing to breathe. Several agonizing moments passed. Just as the Hero of Time reached the verge of passing out, the creature wrenched him out of the water and threw him at the wall with unbelievable force.

The teen could do little but gasp in sharp pain as his back slammed into the cold brick. He then fell into a heap on the spikes. Navi screamed his name, partly in relief, partly in concern, and flew to him.

"Thank the goddesses the spikes aren't pointing up," Link whispered hoarsely as he pushed himself to his knees. He could feel blood trickling down the back of his neck. From the pain in his head, he figured he'd hit the wall so hard the skin had split somewhere.

Slowly he pushed himself to his feet. If there was anything good about this monster, it was that it couldn't reach him where he was. There was no need to jump up and move right away.

"What's this thing called, Navi?" he asked softly, his eyes searching for the dropped sword.

"I think it's called Morpha, though I could be wrong."

"Sounds like a decent enough name to me," he mused quietly. It wasn't important really, but in a way, Link liked to know what to call the thing he was fighting. He watched a tendril of water snake out and grope around for him, before continuing to look for the sword.

Light glinted off the steel. It was straight across from him, on the other side of the room.

As soon as the tendril in front of him gave up and sank back, Link straightened and ran for it. He jumped across, first to one platform, then the next. Water grabbed at him from all sides, barely missing as the creature miscalculated the speed of his movement. He managed to reach his sword before a tendril finally figured it out and grabbed him. Link yelped, managing to grab the sword in his left hand before getting dragged beneath the water again.

'Dammit!' his mind fumed as he struggled. He couldn't seem to kick himself lose, though. A pain shot through his abdomen, and he peered through the frigid water to see the yellow blob swirling around him like a child eager to play with a toy. Link gritted his teeth, and swung his sword as hard as possible while under the water. He managed to catch the creature. The water immediately clouded with blue blood.

Link thrashed again. It was no use. The tendril was tight around his ankle. The blob appeared through the bloody cloud again, going straight for him. Out of instinct, Link swung. It was more sluggish that he would've liked, but the goddesses were on his side. The blade cleaved the creature in two. Link suddenly couldn't see, the blood clouded thickly around him. The grip on his leg loosened, then seemed to go completely limp. Desperate for air, he kicked away and pushed up off the ground for the surface.

He broke the surface, gasping deeply for air. Navi's light briefly blinded him as she squealed and flew around his head in relief. "I think it's dead," Link gasped out after a moment. It was then he realized the water seemed to be getting lower. He looked up and noticed a tall, thick stream of water seeming to drain into the ceiling.

"wha...?"

Navi seemed to shrug as she watched with him. It wasn't long before Link was standing on the bottom of the drained pool, blinking a bit in confusion.

"C'mon Link-kun! There's a portal! Let's go!"

Link started faintly at her statement, but nodded in agreement. He was sick of feeling chilled, and his head was now pounding on top of it. His brown leather boots squished as he walked to the portal that had formed nearby, and stepped into the warm, calming light.

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A/N: I hope it's decent so far. Don't worry, there WILL be some tasteful action later on, and hopefully it'll start to flow once I get back into the swing of writing.

Please please PLEASE review...it'll keep me motivated enough to continue and finish this. It doesn't matter if it's critiqueful or not, or if it's just one or two words, just please let me know that people actually want me to continue. Thanks.