I wasn’t really feeling the fights at the beginning of this chapter, so they’re kind of lame. : / But I had some fun trying to reconcile OoT Hyrule and TP Hyrule. Also I may have to increase my target word count because I am so not even half-way through and I’m already almost at 50,000. Pretty sure this story is going to come in at 100,000+ words. That would be interesting. I don’t think I’ve had a story so long before. Not that long stories are better, but I’m not writing this story to be concise. I went into it thinking ‘this time, I’m just going to write as much as I want to about side characters and stuff’. There’s still more action in it than I thought there would be, and I’m still not fully loose and writing without feeling boundaries on how much rambling is appropriate. Which is probably good for you guys. XD
Next chapter is for Franz! Whoo!
I went for another run today. I’m pretty sure that what I’m going through right now is the opposite of depression. Like, in the winter I get Seasonal Affective Disorder, and this last winter I had extra issues that made life difficult, and I couldn’t do very much on my own. Well, now I’m doing things (on my own, even) and feeling… not always happy, but positive. I wonder if it’s caused by being solar-powered now that it’s summer and there’s more daylight, if this is a natural annual bio-rhythm thing, or if it’s something else that I don’t know about yet, or if it’s something that I’ve always had and am just becoming aware of it now that I can slow down and listen to it.
Kind of want to start drawing things again. So I can do fantastic fanart of all the things I am a fan of.
I really like this new band I’m listening to, Genticorum, and I really like the Zelda TP OST… I like Zelda music… I must acquire more of it. Legally, if at all possible. But that assumes I have money. I must acquire money (by making music!) so I can acquire more music. Yesssss.
Chapter 8: Bad Timing
Link flailed with all four paws at the air as he and Midna fell together to what was left of the lake beneath them. Then he managed to get straightened out to dive properly.
They plunged into the water like a knife, and he paddled frantically to reach the surface again. He could see the Water Temple entrance, and thanked Nayru he wasn’t going in there. At least, not yet.
He looked up to the cliff face above him. “I don’t think we’re making it to the shrine from here,” Midna said, following his gaze. “We’re going to need some help.”
What was with the water level? Back when Ganondorf ruled, the lake had sunk because Zora’s Domain was frozen. Had something like that happened again?
Well, he certainly wasn’t making it up to Zora’s Domain from here. He wasn’t even sure where the secret passage was anymore.
“Look out!” Midna cried, as he crawled onto shore and shook the water from his fur. He jumped away, but not in time. Large claws clamped onto his body and raised him, struggling, into the air, before casting him back down to the ground. He tumbled for a few metres before climbing to his feet and looking to see what had attacked him.
It was a bird, like the kind that had attacked him at Hyrule Castle, but it was being ridden by a Twilight Bokoblin. He growled.
“We can use this,” Midna said. “I’ll grab the bird, and you knock off the rider!”
He nodded, and dodged a pair of fire arrows. The bird swooped in, and he jumped back. Midna grabbed at it, but missed.
He had to dance around for a few minutes while the Bokoblin shot arrows at him. One grazed his shoulder, and he yelped. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any other monsters sneaking up on him at all.
Midna finally got a hold on the bird’s claws. “Now! Go for it!” He launched himself upwards, as high as he could jump, and found himself clinging to the bird’s shoulder with his teeth. He met the gaze of the warped Bokoblin for a second before he kicked, trying to get further up.
He lost his grip and fell back to the muddy lake bottom, but so did the Bokoblin. Link was on it in a flash.
Midna had floated up to the bird’s back, and was now sitting on it the way she sat on him. “Hey! Stop that squawking! I’m your new master now. That means you do what I say and I don’t hurt you, got it?” Well she had spoken to him considerably more gently when they met. That was probably a good sign.
The bird quieted down and let Midna fly it in a circle. “Hey, Hero-boy, want a lift up the cliff?”
He nodded, and Midna’s mount seized him in its claws again. She deposited him at the shrine. “I’ll just circle around the lake until you’re ready to go somewhere else, okay?”
He nodded again and entered the shrine, shaking more of the mud off his fur.
The shrine was dark and quiet. “Hero…” a weak whisper came out of the pool. “Hero, you must restore Zora’s Domain. Follow… the dead river… Find my Light…”
He yipped in answer, and ran out to the Lake again.
Midna was just coming back. “That didn’t take long. You need more flying?”
He nodded vigorously. Where was the dead river?
The bird grabbed him up again. “Just show me where to go.”
The sensation was a little bit like hang-gliding, but it wasn’t his own weight directing them. He saw where the river normally poured into the lake and leaned towards it. After a few moments, the bird followed suit. “We’re going up the river, right? All the way up? Bark once for yes, twice for no.” He barked once and settled down for the flight.
Midna was pretty good at steering them up the canyon. Bokoblins were burrowing on its sides, and they shot at the bird, but missed. Link looked around at the river. When there was water in it, it must be fast and noisy, the same as the one that looped around the other side of Hyrule. He had never seen the whole thing. He abruptly wondered if the rivers came from the same source and just made a complete loop of Hyrule before both ending in Lake Hylia. He wouldn’t be surprised.
The air was blowing cold, and Link’s suspicions were sharpening. They were confirmed when they came out into an open space, a familiar rocky bowl, and saw a huge frozen waterfall.
“Down here?” Midna asked, and Link barked once. He tumbled a little roughly to the ice below and Midna thumped into his back a moment later. The bird, freed, flew off into the purple-black sky.
“Huh,” his rider said. “I guess this makes sense. Not what I was expecting, though. Lead the way, Hero-boy! I’m assuming you know this place better than I do.”
He did know it pretty well, and was soon climbing the cliff face to reach the tunnel. The frozen ice helped him in its own way. It was slippery but provided ledges that he sorely needed to climb higher.
He pulled himself up into the tunnel and trotted forward, his tail low at the thought that the Zoras had suffered this misfortune yet again.
“Hero!” came another ghostly whisper, and he looked up to see a ghost. But there was something different about this one. It was a female Zora, wearing many ornaments and a sweeping dress. He didn’t recognize her, but she looked a bit like Ruto. Except she didn’t look like a Twilight ghost. She looked more like a spirit. She led them up the stairs, past the throne, and out into Zora’s Fountain, where she turned to them with ghostly tears in her eyes.
“Hear me, please! In life I was Rutela, wife of King Zora and mother of Ruto and Ralis. I know you have met them. When the evil one, Zant, came to demand our surrender, I sent my son to beg for help from Hyrule Castle. Zant beheaded me in front of my people and froze them in ice again. From my unquiet place on the edge of death, I have seen my son’s bodyguard destroyed, and Ralis is ill, still alive only by the kindness of one of your people.” She clasped her hands. “Please, help us!”
“I’m sure we’ll do all we can, lady,” Midna said. “Though it’s not polite to ignore people, particularly if they’re currently capable of talking.” Link snorted.
“I apologize, Twilight one,” Rutela said. “I only know of the Hero, although we never met.”
“How’s that? You may call me Midna, while we’re at it.”
“While my husband, King Zora, was alive, I was often away on diplomatic business. My husband, despite our best healers, died soon after the curse was lifted from Zora’s Domain three years ago, and I was left to rule in his stead. My daughter has vanished, but before she did, she told me of the Hero’s valiance in the Water Temple.”
Ruto was missing? Darunia was on a journey… At least Saria was still safe. Link wondered where the other Sages were, Impa, Nabooru, and Rauru, and if he really was correct that Zant had no interest in the Triforce.
“All right, so what do you want us to do first?” Midna asked Rutela, and Link fixed the dead Queen with an expectant look, because that was a very good question.
Rutela waved vaguely at the frozen state of Zora’s Domain. “Can you not melt the ice?”
Link’s ears twitched, and he did his best to communicate his thoughts on that suggestion to Midna.
“We could bring over something from Death Mountain,” Midna said thoughtfully. “I have the power to do that. But wouldn’t a sudden change in temperature harm your people?”
“I don’t know. But… perhaps I could use the last of my power… to shield them. Please, do it.”
“Wanna do it?” Midna asked Link, patting his shoulder. He nodded and barked. “Right, here goes. We’ll be back in a little while.” Link felt a tug on the top of his head, and felt that strange teleporting sensation again.
They coalesced near the top of Death Mountain, looking down on Goron City. “All right,” Midna said, transparent again, and hiding from the sun beneath his body. “We need a rock that’s still fairly solid, so I can still carry it, but that’s been spit out of the mountain recently, so it’s still hot enough… Although, anything just lying around here would probably be hot enough, pouf… Whoa! You see one?”
Link saw one, and his ears were pointed forward as he padded as close as he could to it. Heat radiated off it in waves, and his fur was drying rapidly. The mud was starting to mat in it, and it itched. He sat down for a moment and scratched at his side.
“Hey, what are you sitting around for? This looks like a good rock. Good job. I’ll just take care of that!” She flew up into the air, and with some effort, raised her hands skyward. The rock evaporated at her gesture into black squares that flew up into the blue sky, and Link felt himself following.
He came back down on a ledge on one side of Zora’s Fountain, and saw the rock falling like a blazing meteor into the centre of the pool. The ice hissed as it vaporized and great billows of steam went up. There was a series of deafening cracks, and Link heard a roar as the Falls began to move again.
In only a few minutes, water was lapping the edge of the island on which he stood, covered only with thin flakes of ice. The water was still icy cold, but at least it was water now and not ice.
Midna floated down beside him. “Eeeheehee, that was fun! I bet the Lake’s full of water, now. We should do that Light-restoring thing you like to do now. What else was it we had to do? Help Prince Ralis? I still think you’d be better able to help in human form.”
Link dipped a toe in the water. It was very cold. Even with his fur, he wasn’t looking forward to swimming across it.
Midna sighed. “It’s just water, you big baby.” She jumped on his back and kicked him forward. He entered reluctantly and swam over to the entrance to the throne room.
Zora’s Domain was now full of ghostly Zoras, flopped around on rocky ledges, breathing hard. There was a rising sound of anxious chatter. “Dude, did you see what happened?” “No, did you?” “I’ve never been so cold in my life.” “That’s because you were one of the first ones out the last time it happened.” “Shut up.” “Dude, just saying.” “Who’s going to lead us? Our whole Royal Family’s dead.” “No, the Prince isn’t…” “He may as well be, lost out in the wilds of Hyrule. You can bet he never made it to Princess Zelda.” “Yeah, no help for us.”
“Guys, no, seriously, we can get through this.” Link started, for the Zora who had spoken looked familiar. He was sitting propped up on one arm. “I bet the Prince is still rocking somewhere out there. We just have to be patient. And we can clean this place up for when he gets back, no? And maybe set up some defences in case that jerk-face comes back?”
“You’re such an optimist, Bitu,” said another, and Link snuffed. Of course, Bitu was Shoza’s friend. So where was Shoza? He liked Ruto. Was he with her?
“You never met my buddy Shoza, did you?” Bitu returned, crawling to his feet. “Oh, geez, I need a nap.”
“Haven’t you had enough sleep the last few days?”
“Forced cryogenic suspended animation does not count as sleep! And my bones hurt. Anybody know where we can get some blue fire?”
“Friend of yours?” Midna asked, watching the exchange with interest. “What odd people!”
Link snorted a laugh and nodded. It was probably time to go, anyway, so he turned to the tunnel and jumped out into the river.
The river was still freezing, and very swift. He quickly lost control and concentrated on keeping his head above water, but then he was buffeted against the side of a cliff. He missed the place where he usually climbed out, and lost consciousness.
He regained it sprawled on some stone steps. Midna’s magic hand was clamped around him, dragging him out of the water. He staggered to his feet and shook himself. He was very cold and the Lake was dark under the Twilight, though the sky was now glowing a sort of flaxen colour.
“Hey,” Midna said. “You all right?”
He shook himself again and sneezed.
“You’re all wet. Yuck. But you’re still alive. How you feeling?” He padded to the side of the steps and curled up, resting his nose on his tail. “Need a rest?” He sneezed again and nodded. Water was coming out of his nose. Gross.
He wasn’t sure how long he slept, but it couldn’t have been more than a few hours. He cleaned up most of the stray bits of Light around Lanayru Province when he woke, but there was one in the Lake somewhere, right under his nose, and he wasn’t finding it…
He was paddling right out in the middle of the Lake, peering under the water in a futile attempt to see anything at all. It was pretty murky, and he hoped it was more the force of the sudden flood from Zora’s Fountain had stirred up a lot of mud, or that it was an effect of Twilight rather than a problem with the water.
His only warning was a buzz and a splash, and he looked up in time to see a wake leading straight at him. He was knocked sideways by something invisible and prickly.
He howled in pain and tried to swim for the closest bit of debris he could find. The invisible thing was charging him again and he tried to dive to avoid it. He couldn’t move very fast through the water. It struck him side-on again and he whimpered.
“Come on!” Midna yelled at him. “You’re almost there!” He reached the debris, the remains of a wooden bridge, and scrambled out on it, dripping. All he could hear was a malevolent buzz, but he couldn’t tell from which direction it was coming. He crouched, snarling with his ears back, ready for it to come back.
There was a trough carving through the water to his left, and he waited for it to get a bit closer… then he pounced.
He landed on something hard and plated and vibrating. He scratched at it, found a softer part that tore under his claws, and fell off into the water. He emerged again, squirted a stream of water in the air, and paddled as fast as he could for his bridge.
He could see something faintly now, a giant transparent purple insect. Perhaps it became visible when it was wounded? Its front end was festooned with legs and claws, but its eyes were there as well. Maybe he could tear out its eyes and then it would be easier to kill. He wished to be human with his sword in hand, or with his bow. Or a bomb.
It charged him again, and before it reached him, it heaved itself up in the air and swung its blobby, sack-like abdomen at him. He dodged back and his back legs slipped into the water. Hastily, he pulled himself up and lunged for it. He clamped onto it with his jaws and clawed at it, tearing long gouges in its soft belly until it managed to throw him off into the water. When he looked around, it was a lot more solid than it had appeared at first. So his hypothesis was correct. It would probably be completely solid by the time he killed it.
It was moving slower now, and the buzz it was making had strange harmonics in it. Encouraged, he swam after it, trying to latch on to its abdomen. He was surprised with it thumped the water with its abdomen, knocking him away with little waves. He went back to his bridge and waited for his chance.
Midna had spent most of the fight just clinging to his back, but as he paused on the floating platform, he saw her hair unfurl into the large hand she used for grabbing things. He must have been moving too erratically for her to do it before.
The bug charged, and Midna grabbed it, swinging herself and Link over its head onto its back. He found the joint where the head met the body and chewed on it until it broke.
They fell in the water in a thrashing pile of bug parts, but a drop of Light popped out of the bug and Link caught it. Finally, his task here was done. He sucked in some lakewater and swished it around his mouth. He hated the taste of bugs. Yet another reason he preferred being a human, then he didn’t have to put his enemies in his mouth to hurt them.
He paddled over to the Spirit’s Spring and climbed out, soggily, before going inside. He was bleeding from a deep cut in his side, one he hadn’t noticed until now. He supposed it was from the bug.
“I’ll see you around?” Midna said, pausing at the door. He turned to look at her and grinned. “Right, then. Have fun. Don’t forget about that Fused Shadow!” She tumbled away, sank into the ground and vanished from his sight.
The Spirit rose from the pool to meet him in the form of a water-snake as he changed from a wolf back into a man. “Well done, Hero. My name is Lanayru. The Twilight has been eradicated from Hyrule. But your task is not yet over.”
“Your companion’s intentions are true. You will never defeat Zant without a greater power than you now possess, and the Fused Shadow that she wields is the best hope for Hyrule. But before you seek its final piece, you must bear witness to something… and never forget it.”
“You must know why this power was locked away by the Goddesses, why this hour is even more desperate than you know that you can even think of turning to such a thing as the Fused Shadow.”
“You know how the Goddesses created Hyrule and returned to the heavens, leaving behind only the Triforce as both our protection and our vulnerability.” Link blinked and looked around. He was in a great black void, with a vision of the Triforce on a green hill before him and three lights, red, blue, and green, vanishing upwards. It was so beautiful; he had never seen anything more beautiful. He heard a sweet laugh and saw Rana beside him. He grinned at her, happy that she was sharing this with him.
Lanayru continued. “For ages the people dwelt in peace. Each time evil threatened the Triforce, always a Hero and a Spirit Maiden rose to protect it. The Spirit Maiden’s line has become the line of the Royal Family, as no doubt you guessed. But one time… Civil war split the land.”
Rana, her eyes white and blank, lunged at him with a fierce cry with her sword. His sword was in his hand, and passed through her body like water. She fell to the invisible ground and faded into nothing. And he was running, running, sword still firmly grasped in his hand, towards the golden, shining Triforce.
“A dark tribe of interlopers appeared,” said Lanayru, as he saw three dark-clad figures standing between him and the Triforce. “They were skilled in sorcery and tried to seize the Triforce with evil magics.” A giant, terrifying thing rose from the ground between the figures and the Triforce, covering its light, and he recognized the thing instantly as Midna’s helmet. “The Hero fought valiantly against the dark ones. But in the end he was defeated and slain.” The figures raised their hands to cast some spell, and Link flinched before he felt himself blown away into nothingness.
But he was still watching, only now his view was from one of the dark figures. “Yet his sacrifice was not for nothing. He had joined our power to his and taken up the Master Sword, and with this, he was able to make a crack in the Fused Shadow. Even as he fell, we three Light Spirits were able to intervene and shatter the Fused Shadow, though we could not destroy it wholly.” And the green hill was empty, no Triforce, no Fused Shadow, no dark figures. “Instead, we each took a piece to guard secretly with our power, until Zant’s assault on us activated the pieces once more. The Shadow Tribe must have retained a fourth piece when they were banished from this world.”
“Beware this magic,” Lanayru’s voice droned on. “Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before long, be ruled by it. It will twist your mind to its will.”
A thousand copies of Rana, Ilia, Zelda tumbled before his eyes in the void, laughing innocently. He smiled vaguely. It was nice they were happy… happy for the power he held… the power he could hold over them… and all of Hyrule…
His eyes snapped open in horror. The Spirit’s Spring was silent and empty and his wounds were healed. Was that the power of the Fused Shadow? He glanced at his left hand. Not even the Triforce of Courage helped with such a thing? He would have to guard carefully against its temptation. Never again did he want to have a vision like that.
The full impact of what he had just seen hit him in the chest like a physical blow, and he fell to his knees, tears starting in his eyes. If he were to fall to the Fused Shadow, Hyrule would be in worse danger than it ever could be from Zant. Everyone he knew and loved, who still lived, at least, would die, and probably by his hand.
Was that the part of the vision with Rana? Had the past Hero been forced to kill the woman he loved? Never mind the part that he wasn’t sure where he and Rana stood anymore. But the Hero had still been on the side of the Triforce. Had the woman he loved fallen to evil?
If he fell to evil, Rana would be forced to kill him. Rana and Zelda and Navi. He would break their hearts.
He couldn’t let that happen. His hands curled into fists, and he got to his feet with determination. He would help Midna get her Fused Shadow, but for himself he would only fight with the power of the Triforce. He would protect Hyrule from Zant, not endanger it further.
It was mid-morning by the time he emerged from the Spirit’s Spring and saw Lake Hylia placid and blue and beautiful, but it took him most of the day to go back to Hyrule Castle Town.
The drawbridge was down, which he took as a good sign. Music was playing, and the air was generally festive.
He tapped a guard on the shoulder. “What’s the occasion?”
“Well, it’s the Princess’s birthday tomorrow, and, well, haha, we just felt like it. There’s been a bad feeling in the air the whole last week, you know? So today, with the sun shining and all, I guess everyone just feels happy! Although…” he lowered his voice. “No one’s seen the Princess in a week, either. I hope she’s just busy with preparations for her party, and not, y’know, sick or anything. Castle’s been locked tight, too. I bet it’s a party.”
“I see,” Link said. “Good day to you, then.”
“And to you, sir!”
He made his way quickly to Telma’s, hoping to find Ralis still breathing. As he opened the door, he was bumped roughly by a small, elderly man with huge eyeglasses.
“Zoras are not my area of expertise!” the man snapped, glaring back at Ilia and Telma. He turned and saw Link, and shouldered roughly past him to get out the door with a humph.
“Yeah, fine, so we’ll do without you!” Telma barked at the door as the doctor slammed it behind him. Her gaze passed over Link without interest and returned to Ilia, who was staring at Ralis with an expression of despair. “Now don’t fret, honey. There’s always another option. I didn’t want to suggest this one, because it involves quite a bit of travel. But there’s a shaman in Kakariko Village – my ex-husband, actually – and he’ll know what to do. Very talented man, that Renado.”
Ilia looked up. “Let’s take him there immediately! You said earlier you have a cart, right?”
“Ahem!” Telma and Ilia were interrupted, and looked over to see the soldiers who had been in back earlier, all lined up and brandishing their spears. “Now, not to put a wet blanket on things, but that’s a very dangerous trip! But now that our investigation has been stalled, we’re off duty, and we’ll gladly offer our services as an escort! Right, boys? We can’t leave a pretty lady in trouble!”
They began to cheer and pat each other on the back.
Telma smiled with amusement. “Well, isn’t that nice, honey? These brave soldiers will protect us from all the monsters out there. I’ve been told there are so many out on Hyrule Field, it doesn’t even bear thinking about! All those sharp teeth and claws and nasty crude weapons! But we’ll be safe now.”
She turned back with a smirk to the soldiers, and found four of them had tiptoed out the door while she was talking to Ilia. The fifth quaked for a moment, looked to his fellows for support… and didn’t find them. He squawked and bolted for the door.
“And don’t come back!” Telma growled at his retreating back. “Huh, the state of the Royal Army, these days… I remember back before Ganondorf was around… Well, there were blockheads then, too. But listen to me, I sound like an old lady.” Her gaze settled on Link again, appraisingly this time. He was staring at Ilia, wondering why she wouldn’t look at him. “Well, look, honey, there’s a swordsman still willing to help us. And our wandering swordgirl, too!”
Link blinked and looked around. Rana had snuck up behind him, with a pair of fairies. She gave him a sheepish little apologetic smile and he smiled back.
“Link, this is Telma, the owner of this bar. She’s a wonderful lady and super nice and helpful. Telma, this is Link, the Hero of Time, so of course he’ll be willing to help you and…”
“Ilia,” Link finished. “And Ralis.” He stepped forward. “Are you all right, Ilia?”
She started and looked at him. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”
He blinked. He wouldn’t have thought he looked so different in his adventuring clothes. “I’m… well, you knew me as Green. I took a false name when I lived in Ordon because… well, I had some issues. But anyway, I’m back in Hyrule now, and…” He trailed off when it became obvious that she had no idea what he was talking about. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
“Poor girl’s lost her memory,” Telma said. “She could barely remember her own name when she arrived here, dragging this boy. She found him collapsed in the road. Such a selfless girl! I take it you know her?”
“I lived in her village for some months. Her father will be very happy to know she’s safe…”
Ilia was staring listlessly at Link. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Link. I really can’t remember you. Or… did you call it Ordon? It’s a place, right?”
Telma moved in and hugged her. “There, there. It’ll sort itself out eventually. Now, let’s go get the horse ready. We need to get this boy to Renado by tomorrow. I don’t think he’ll last much longer. Is that all right with you, Link, Rana?”
Link nodded. “The sooner, the better. He’s Prince Ralis, the last surviving member of the Zora Royal Family.”
Rana stepped up beside him. “What about Queen Rutela and Ruto? I know Ruto’s missing, but…”
“Obviously you’ve been learning a lot of things,” Navi said. “Fill us in, please?”
“There’s not much to fill in,” Link said. “King Zora is dead, and has been for a while… Queen Rutela was killed by Zant, and her ghost appeared to me and asked me to protect Ralis. Ruto is missing, but I’ve been getting that feeling for a while now. Which reminds me. Rana, have you seen Impa or Nabooru or Rauru? Is Kakariko safe? Renado promised me he would look after the children, but I’d feel better if you were also guarding it.”
“Impa I sometimes saw, so she’s around,” Rana replied. “I haven’t seen Nabooru in a long time, but last time I did she said she was going to go back to the desert and lead her people in the way they should live. Rauru, I don’t even know. But I’ve met his brother, Auru! Auru is pretty cool. You’ll like him, I think. Kakariko’s all right for now. But I can look after it if you’re worried.”
“That’s good to know. I was getting worried, wondering if this was a more subtle attack on the Sages.”
“I don’t think so. Besides, Saria’s fine. But next time I see Auru, I’ll ask about Rauru. Oh, I brought Epona here for you.” She fixed him with a glare. “You didn’t even say goodbye. The first thing I knew you were gone was Epona coming back alone.”
“Sorry,” Link said. “I didn’t think anyone wanted to say goodbye.”
Navi nuzzled him. “You idiot. Just because none of us can come with you doesn’t mean we don’t want to see you off. And… if the… unthinkable… happened, none of us want our last memories of you to be a fight!”
Rana was staring at him with open hurt, and turned away a little, closing herself off from him. She gave a little frustrated sigh. “What is going on? You pull me close, and then you push me away. And you’ve been doing a lot more pushing away than pulling.”
He sighed back and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know. Rana, believe me, I don’t know how to interpret what I’m feeling. It just… doesn’t feel right, somehow.”
“Oh.”
He ignored Navi, who was hissing “Just hug her!” in his ear. “Anyway, is this the right time to be having this discussion? The fate of Hyrule is hanging in the balance and if we’re this distracted…”
“I’m not going to be any less distracted, but I’m fine!” Rana snapped. “I love you, you know that! I’m also perfectly competent and able to take care of myself, and help you!”
“But do you really?” he plunged on recklessly, subconscious thoughts forming themselves spontaneously into words. “We’ve shared a childhood and a grand total of two weeks as adults together. That’s not a lot. We don’t even really know each other.”
She was shaking, with hurt or anger, he couldn’t tell. “So our relationship is built on wishful thinking and air. So what? That doesn’t exclude the possibility that we can have a good relationship…” Her voice shook and broke. She turned to him, her eyes bright with surprisingly unshed tears and a heart-breakingly hopeful smile. “We could start again, you know. Just be old friends and see where it goes.”
“Shouldn’t that wait until after Hyrule is safe?” Link said gently. “That doesn’t sound terrible -”
“Doesn’t sound terrible, does it? I’m so glad you think so highly of my ideas.” She brushed past him hastily and began to head out the door.
“Rana! Wait!” And she waited, her back still to him. “I…” He took another deep breath. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea right now. It’s too dangerous. I know you’re a good fighter, a great fighter, even. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be this emotionally messed up. At least, I know I’m messed up. I don’t even know how I feel anymore, about you, about anything. And I don’t want to go into anything I’m not sure about.”
“Yeah,” she said miserably. “That’s fair. I’ll be around if you need me.”
“Rana,” he called, even more gently, before she could go even further. “I want to protect you as much as anyone else in Hyrule. I don’t want to hurt you. Please believe me.”
“Yeah,” she said again. Then she wasn’t there anymore, Naeri tagging after her.
Navi let out a long breath and didn’t say anything for a long time. He stood there, staring at the door, as if it would bring Rana – or at least answers – to him.
“Well,” Navi said after at least a solid minute of silence. “That went well.”
“What’s wrong with me, Navi?”
“I don’t know. But you have been acting weird for the last three years, so it’s probably a more long-term thing. It’s just never been a significant problem before.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, what did you want me to do about it? I couldn’t stop the nightmares, but those seem to have gone away since you saw Rana again and realized you didn’t actually want her.”
“I don’t… It’s just… I…”
“Well, at least you’re coherent about it,” Navi snarked. “That’s promising.”
He looked sadly at his fairy. “Navi, I’m sorry for us getting in a fight… two days ago. Can you… please… be a little less sarcastic about everything? I… I could use your support.”
She paused, and for a moment he thought she was going to make another crack at him. But instead she said, “All right. How was your adventure?”
“It was all right. Midna really improved. I think your comments made her realize that she should really be nicer to us. She doesn’t want to seem like it, but she was supportive all the way through. Also, I need to tell you about the Fused Shadows.”
“Oh, good, I was worrying about those.”
“I’ll tell you while I get Epona ready. Can you take me to her?”
“Yeah, follow me!”
Thirty minutes later, a small caravan was heading west out of Hyrule Castle Town. The road east among the mountain foothills was too rough for the cart, so they were taking the long way around Hyrule. Telma said it would take them the rest of the night, and had given Link a hot bitter drink that she said would keep him awake.
Telma was at the reins of a small cart with a canvas top, within which Ilia was sitting with the unconscious Ralis. Link rode alongside them, his sword loose in its sheath and Navi sitting on his head where she was supposed to be.
Partway on, he sent Navi ahead to scout, and she reported in great consternation that the great Moblin they had fought before was still alive and guarding the bridge across Lake Hylia. She hadn’t seen Rana, and guessed that she had gone back by the eastern road.
“Ilia, honey, we’ve got a great guard,” Telma said as they came to the forest before the bridge. “The Hero of Time himself! Even if you did remember the stories about this guy, they’re well worth hearing again. And just look at his eyes, so proud and wild. He’s like a fierce animal.” Link snorted, because he was sure Telma had no idea how true her statement was. “Nothing will get close to us tonight, we can bet on that.”
They came within sight of the bridge. “Telma, stay here for a bit,” Link said. “There’s a fierce enemy up ahead.”
“All right, you go take care of him, dear,” Telma said, and blew him a kiss.
He rode forward with Epona. They would have to do the same thing as last time, although the Moblin was sure to have repaired his armour and would guess at his strategy.
As his horse cantered onto the bridge, he saw the Moblin at the far end, and found his guess half right. The Moblin had not bothered to repair his armour; he had only added two gigantic shields to his outfit, one for each arm. He wasn’t using his axe, but that really only meant that he was planning to run Link into the ground with his boar.
Link gritted his teeth. He would have to try it anyway. He urged Epona up to full speed, and shot towards the Moblin like a hawk on the attack.
Epona dodged the boar’s tusks. His sword bounced harmlessly off the giant shield, and then it was coming at him, a giant solid wall of metal, and he slid off Epona from its impact and cracked his head on the stone of the bridge…