The Legend of Zelda - Tears of Light and Darkness

"What were you talking about? "inquired Paya, taking a seat beside the sages.

"The sages and Link have been filling us in on their journeys through the various temples. Right before you arrived, Riju and Link were recounting details of their encounter before they managed to enter the Lightning Temple "answered Purah in a solemn voice.

"That's right, Riju" confirmed, a spark of intensity in her eyes. In a nutshell, Riju summarized to Pay how, due to the storm, she had to implement measures to protect her people while heading towards the ruins halfway to Kara Kara Bazaar and that a book they'd found had given them clues about what they might discover there. She also mentioned how poor Link, after getting lost in the sandstorm while searching for the Gerudo Town, finally arrived only to find it completely desolate, with no idea where to go or what to do since the rest of the townsfolk were hiding underground. She decided to leave out Link's little mishaps, knowing how shy Pay could be and preferring not to make her feel uncomfortable with those details.

"Exactly. "Link continued from there" Fortunately, I found the entrance to the catacombs where the poor citizens were hiding, and they soon informed me about where the Chief was. There, I ran into an archaeologist who told me about some Gerudo ruins and showed me a new Zonai artifact: a mirror. This item turned out to be key to unraveling the secrets of the ruins. After gathering all the information, I headed to Kara Kara Bazaar as soon as I could slip out... ahem... quietly.

If Pay noticed Link's cheeks turning red and the others chuckling under their breath, she didn't say anything. Riju cleared her throat a couple of times to keep from bursting out laughing and continued her story.

"We were in some ruins halfway there, "Riju began, her voice low, charged with tension". We had taken shelter there because those cursed Gibdos had us cornered. Not knowing how to defeat them, we had to hide in one of the crypts. That's when we discovered how to fight them. I went outside, got ready, and it was easy; they fell one by one. Afterward, I decided we'd stay there a few more days, wanting to be fully prepared in case of another attack. And that's when Link showed up, fresh from the citadel."

She paused, her gaze drifting as if caught in the memory of him standing there, outlined against the storm light. The calm confidence he radiated lingered in her thoughts, a faint smile touching her lips before she quickly continued, brushing off the moment as if it had been nothing at all.

"How did you defeat them? "interrupted Robbie, surprised". I remember running into them in the Depths, and even with an extermination squad, we couldn't hold them off. We had to retreat.

"At first, we were just as lost "Riju admitted". But while we stayed in the ancient crypt that served as our shelter, we went through the writings of our ancestors. There, we found a reference to the Eighth Heroine, who managed to hold off the Gibdos briefly by summoning a source of elemental energy with a foreign instrument. I decided to use the power of lightning… and it worked. When Link arrived, I told him about this, and together we set out back toward the Citadel to warn the others in case they attacked. But before we could reach it, a horde of Gibdos appeared out of nowhere. They emerged from hives we hadn't noticed before, as if lying in wait within the very dust itself."

She paused, her eyes reflecting the intensity of the moment.

"But we were ready. Despite the fear, each of us knew exactly what to do. We struck with precision, and the horde fell in seconds. It was as if we had trained our whole lives for that moment. Without wasting time, we regrouped and set off. We knew this was just the beginning and that the real challenge was still to come."

"By the time we arrived "she said gravely", the citadel was already under siege. Black, twisted hives appeared out of nowhere, as if some dark force had summoned them. The Gibdos were lined up, ready to attack."

A heavy silence settled as Riju continued.

"It was then, alongside Link and my warriors, that we charged to defend the citadel. Each strike I landed seemed barely enough to hold back that endless horde… and although we managed to hold them off, I was wounded myself, bleeding onto the sand while my warriors finished repelling the attack. I spent days in bed after that, but we did it."

During her recovery, something unsettling tormented her. In her sleepless nights, Riju heard a persistent, whispering voice calling her, urging her to seek out ancient murals hidden in the citadel's catacombs, left by one of her ancestors ten thousand years ago. Once she had healed, Riju could no longer ignore the voice. Accompanied by Link, they descended into the depths of the citadel's catacombs, and after an exhausting search, they found them.

"It was a day full of discoveries," she said, nodding solemnly. "The murals spoke of an ancient light that had to shine upon the throne to awaken a hidden power. But… I couldn't do it alone."

Riju looked at Link with a mixture of gratitude and determination.

"I needed Link help to decipher it. As Chief, I had to remain at the Town, but without understanding that mystery, we knew something far darker was approaching."

Link went straight to the throne hall, and from there, he ventured out into the desert, pushing forward through the relentless sandstorm. Each gust of sand whipped against him as the fierce wind raged, reducing visibility to mere steps and turning the desert into a churning sea of golden dust. Link advanced with determination, the weight of ancient secrets echoing in every step. Finally, through the sand and the wind, he spotted three towers, each crowned with a mirror, covered in centuries of sand and neglect.

Following the mural's cryptic instructions, Link began cleaning the mirrors and adjusting them, shifting each until the beams of light formed a perfect triangle in the air, as if the very light were calling to something deeper and more powerful than the desert itself. Silence fell for an instant, as if even the storm held its breath. And then, the ground trembled.

With a thunderous roar, the dunes began to shake and part, slowly revealing a colossal structure emerging from the heart of the sand: the Thunder Temple. Ancient stone blocks and carved columns rose from the desert like a giant waking from a millennia-long slumber, as the echo of its awakening reverberated throughout the valley.

The air charged with energy, and Link felt the electric pulse of the place on his skin, as if a powerful, contained force was waiting to be unleashed.

"A quake shook the entire citadel, and suddenly, a colossal temple emerged from the sand like a god rousing from its slumber." Riju's eyes widened as she recalled it. "The Thunder Temple rose slowly, grand and imposing, like a fortress sculpted by divine hands in an age of power and legend. Its structure bore serpentine engravings that looked like petrified lightning, captured in the stone. The columns flanking the entrance were massive, adorned with reliefs of dragons and mythical creatures that seemed to come to life under the desert's trembling light. And at the top of the temple, an enormous lightning symbol crowned the structure, glowing supernaturally as orbs of energy crackled around it."

Unfortunately, time had not been kind. The walls were eroded, as though the desert's sand and storms had tried to consume them without success, leaving scars that spoke of ancient battles and latent power.

"We rushed toward the temple," said Link. "When I activated the Zonai terminal, suddenly, this giant moth appeared, though not the pretty kind, wrapped in second-hand cloth like something you'd find at an antique fair."

"Is that how you describe a queen?" Riju interrupted, laughing heartily. "Her name is the Queen Gibdo, Link."

"Whatever. It was some kind of giant moth with a terrible temper," Link joked, trying to downplay the situation. Although, truthfully, his first encounter with her had been a complete disaster, Queen Gibdo had knocked him out in the blink of an eye, leaving him at the mercy of the beast and wondering if he'd ever see daylight again.

"Come on, Link, do you really think a creature that looks like it crawled out of a horror museum would be a threat?" Riju said, reveling in the irony.

"Well, she did beat me up..." Link admitted, scratching his head with a look of sheepish amusement. "But honestly, who can take a moth seriously if she's probably just trying to steal my pants? With that outfit, she's clearly got no sense of style!"

"I think you two would get along famously, from what you're saying," chimed in Purah, delighted to get another jab in at Link. "One who wants pants, and the other who doesn't mind going without them."

Laughter erupted from the group, and Link's face turned a shade of red brighter than any that could be found in Hyrule. Despite his embarrassment, he couldn't help but join in, knowing his friend was partly right.

"Alright, enough about me and my wardrobe choices!" he exclaimed, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"As Link was saying," Riju continued, doing her best to stifle her laughter, "when we tried to enter the temple, Queen Gibdo ambushed us. Her strength was overwhelming, and her attacks were brutal. Though she retreated before we could finish the fight, she left us with a clear sense of just how powerful she was. "

Once inside the temple, things didn't improve. They encountered countless puzzles and traps that seemed designed by a particularly unkind group of people. The collaboration between Link and Riju became essential.

Soon, laughter and shouts echoed through the temple, filling the air with camaraderie as they faced the challenges ahead. With each puzzle solved and each trap evaded, their confidence grew, as did the certainty that, although Queen Gibdo might be a nightmare, they were ready for whatever the desert threw at them.

The room of mirrors proved especially difficult, where the two had to work in perfect sync, as if performing an acrobatic dance, though more than once they ended up bumping into each other and against the walls.

"Come on, Link! The mirror to the left!" Riju shouted, dodging a beam of light that shot out from one of the mirrors.

"No, no! The other left!" Link replied, trying not to laugh as he jumped aside to avoid another trap.

Positioning the mirrors seemed simple at first, but it quickly turned into an exhausting challenge. Each had to turn at an exact angle for the beam of light to hit the next mirror; any mistake would deflect the ray, forcing them to start over. On top of that, the constant vibrations of the ground caused by Queen Gibdo didn't help at all. More than once, a mirror teetered and fell to the floor below, bouncing without breaking but causing them to lose all their progress. Link sighed and wiped a hand across his forehead, wondering if Hylia herself was testing them. At that moment, Riju joked:

"I'm starting to think these mirrors are almost as stubborn as you, Link."

"Hey!" Link protested, though he couldn't help but laugh. "At least I don't fall down every two seconds."

The intense reflections forced them to take turns and pause to avoid being blinded, which also slowed their progress and frustrated more than one of them. As Link straightened the fallen mirror once more, he couldn't help but think of Zelda. "I'm sure she would have found a quicker way to do this. Am I really going to be able to face what's coming without her?" Doubt coursed through him, but Riju's smile and her confident gaze dispelled his fears for a moment.

Finally, after several attempts and one last adjustment of the angle, the beam of light hit the button, opening a door that led to the room where the last mechanism Riju needed to activate awaited. Riju unleashed her power into the lightning-shaped feeder, and in that moment, a sharp crack echoed through the air, signaling that the mechanism was active. At that instant, laughter erupted between them, celebrating their hard-won victory that seemed to have resisted until the very last second.

"Finally!" Riju exclaimed, striking a triumphant pose. "If we keep this up, I'll have to consider you my new personal assistant, Link."

"Only if you pay me well!" Link shot back, grinning as he approached the Zonai terminal and placed his hand on its center. At that moment, a deafening noise echoed, signaling that the door leading to the Queen Gibdo's nest was open. In that instant, Link and Riju exchanged an intense look, their hearts beating in unison like war drums. The time for the final confrontation had arrived. "But this time we know our enemy," Link thought, recalling how they had devised an attack strategy during their journey through the temple.

The battle began with an explosion of tension. Link moved forward with determination, dodging the sand traps like a dancer on a treacherous stage, his agility tested with every step. Riju, by his side, unleashed her lightning power with relentless precision, each flash of light illuminating her resolute figure.

The imposing Gibdo Queen, wrapped in her grotesque majesty, swayed under their assault, her enormous wings vibrating with an unsettling sound. As Riju's attacks landed, the air filled with energy and a resonant echo announced her fury.

But it was not all easy; the enraged Queen countered with a deafening howl that reverberated across the desert. A tentacle of sand shot towards Link, who barely managed to dodge it, feeling the air brush against his face. However, in an unfortunate turn, one of her sand traps activated, momentarily ensnaring him and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Link! "Riju shouted, her voice filled with anguish. Without hesitation, she unleashed a precise bolt of lightning that struck the Gibdo Queen, forcing her to retreat and giving Link time to get back on his feet.

With his heart racing, Link shook off the sand and rejoined Riju. They exchanged a glance, knowing they had to collaborate to the fullest. With synchronized movements, Link distracted the Queen with a frontal attack while Riju concentrated her power, ready to deliver the final blow. At that moment, the world seemed to slow down, and together, they launched their offensive with fierce determination. The Gibdo Queen, trapped between the strength of her allies, began to sway, her grotesque figure on the verge of falling.

Finally, with one last strike that resonated in the air like thunder, Link and Riju succeeded in defeating the Gibdo Queen. As she fell, the sandstorm that had ravaged the desert ceased instantly, as if nature itself applauded their victory. The wind calmed, and silence enveloped the battlefield, creating a stark contrast to the whirlwind that had reigned moments before.

At that moment, a glow began to shine on the horizon. The ancestral spirit of the Sage of Thunder appeared, radiating light and power, her presence enveloping the heroes in an aura of hope. She leaned toward Riju and began to speak to her, and at that moment, Riju realized it was the voice she had heard in her dreams during her recovery. The ancestral Sage spoke of the events of the Imprisoning War and conveyed Zelda's wish for Riju, as the new Sage of Thunder, to collaborate with Link in his battle against the Demon King.

"I name you the new bearer of the ancient wisdom of Thunder" she declared, her voice resonating in the air like an echo from the past. " Promise me you will help Link in his fight against the Demon King."

Then, the ancestral Sage, with a solemn gesture, turned to Riju and, raising her hand, bestowed upon her the secret stone that had presided over the main altar. The stone shone brightly, as if it contained within it all the ancient wisdom of her people. Riju, astonished and filled with emotion, felt the weight of her new destiny as she received the legacy of her ancestor, knowing that she was destined to lead and protect her people in the difficult times to come.

Link observed with respect as the legacy was sealed upon his friend and leader. Riju, with her eyes shining with determination, nodded solemnly, and together they swore their pact. At that moment, the fate of Hyrule intertwined with that of its brave heroes, promising an epic battle against the darkness that lurked.

As they returned in silence to Gerudo Town, Link felt a deep gratitude for Riju, whose courage and determination inspired him.

After that, he stayed in the town for several days, recovering from his injuries and enjoying the tranquility that Riju's company provided. In those moments, Link sometimes gazed toward the horizon, remembering Zelda. "I wish Zelda were here, seeing all that Riju and I have accomplished; I'm sure she would be proud of her."

During his stay, he shared some races on sand seals with the matriarch and enjoyed the spice-filled dishes he liked so much. Amid laughter and anecdotes, Link felt that he had found an ally and friend in Riju, someone with whom he shared much more than battles, while his heart, in silence, held onto its yearning for Zelda.