Destined to Fight (GhiraLink)

Black Smoke

Ipal the Mogma sighed and stopped digging for a moment to wipe his forehead clean of the sweat that drenched his dirty fur. Then he continued on, muscles burning and aching every time he moved. 

He'd been underground for a week, taking an old tunnel to the desert. He'd heard of the technology there, all the lost knowledge, and knew immediately that he had to go there, had to retrieve that lost information, those ancient, unknown contraptions, maybe even snag a timeshift stone. However, he hadn't been prepared for the long journey towards Lanayru Mining Facility, where he would look first. Everything was dark, and his muscles were on fire. The past week had been miserable.

Sunlight poured through a small hole in the ground, just big enough for him to wiggle out see where he was, maybe rest for a minute. It was the first light he'd seen in days, and its gentle yellow light filled Ipal with joy.

At the thought of being able to rest, Ipal was renewed with sudden energy as he scrambled towards the hole. He then jumped up, grabbing onto the sides and pulling himself out into the sunlit Hyrule Field. Dust and dirt flew everywhere as he emerged, but there was nothing there to complain about it.

In fact, there nothing there that was alive. Like a scene from a horror story, the dead bodies of various littered field around Ipal. Even the grass was turning brown and dying. There was no blood. None of these animals appeared to have been beaten to death. The only possible culprit was the dark smoke that surrounded the Mogma, closing in on him quickly. Suddenly he could no longer see the sunlight as the smoke blocked it out, and he was left in a darkness not unlike the prison he'd been in within the Fire Sanctuary. The only difference was that this place was eerily silent, whereas the prison had been filled with the fearful cries of various other Mogmas.

Within the smoke, Ipal thought he could see two glowing, red eyes staring at him, their stare resembling that of a predator that just caught its prey. This was worse than that prison. At least the green kid had been there to them all. Here, nothing could save him.

Then, suddenly, he couldn't breathe. It was as if the smoke had went inside his mouth and down his throat, filling his heart and lungs and pushing out any oxygen. He couldn't move or talk, just helplessly sit there as the smoke suffocated him.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as blinding pain spread throughout his body. He slipped back into the hole, no longer possessing the strength to keep himself aboveground, and hit the ground. He squirmed, twisted, and cried out in vain, hoping that it would stop, begging for it to stop. In the darkness, he could see the faint trail of light, swirling and twisting as it flowed out of his mouth. Realizing what it was, he no longer cared for ancient technology and timeshift stones. He just wanted to live to see the next day.

Alas, no smoke would ever have mercy. It continued to suffocate him as it sucked out his very life force. It was all over when his vision went black and he could no longer hear the low chuckle within the smoke nor see the light. Ipal was dead.

--

"You're bleeding," Ghirahim said as he dragged Link outside and stopped near a dirt-filled, broken minecart. As a quick response, Link spat out a glob of blood and wiped his mouth. Ghirahim grimaced with disgust.

They were outside in the morning sunlight, by the crumbling robot statue. Ghirahim noticed that the skin around Link's left eye was turning a deep purple and blue. One side of Link's face was scraped from where he'd hit the ground and it appeared that he'd bit his tongue when he'd fallen and it was bleeding.

"So...how do you feel?" Ghirahim asked, although he was certain he knew the answer. He just wanted to make sure nothing serious was wrong.

Link shrugged casually, as if he hadn't just gotten knocked off his feet. "Fine."