Looking for Joy

The damn thing was still alive.

Technically, the "thing" was called a bokoblin, but Link only knew that from the King of Red Lions. The bokoblins themselves had never told Link what they were called. They'd never mentioned their individual names, if they had any. All they'd done was attack. And fight. And fail in both aspects repeatedly, whether they were on sea or land. And the bokoblin on the raft was no exception to this rule. Like many, it had failed. Like many, it had found itself impaled by the Master Sword.

It's still good for that at least.

The sword had lost its power. But as far as Link could tell, that only meant that Ganondorf was immune to its touch. His servants were just as vulnerable as ever. Including this one.

The boy withdrew the blade. Blood never seemed to accumulate on the Master Sword, or even on his tunic. But the bokoblin had blood in ample supply, provided the supply lines extended outside the body. But it lay there. On the raft. Dying. Looking up at its attacker. And…Link's eyes widened…it began to laugh. It became a gurgle, then a rasp, then silence, but still, the image and sound remained. The damn thing had been laughing.

"You done, m'boy?"

Link remained silent. He was good at that, he reflected. Being silent, and making other creatures fall silent as well.

"Link?"

He wondered if he should have spoken up more. He'd had all that time between the Tower of the Gods and the Forsaken Fortress to ask his 'friend' what he'd found below. Why he'd done this. Why he hadn't started to realize that the King of Red Lions had been manipulating him from the start, more interested in toppling his foe than helping Aryll.

"Link!"

The boy turned. The king just floated there in the sea. Beside the raft. As always.

"Too much salt in your ears, m'boy?" the king asked.

Link shook his head.

"Well, hurry up then! We've got no time to lose!"

There was never any time to lose, Link reflected. No time to lose when he'd gone after Aryll. No time to lose when he'd been searching for the pearls. No time to lose when he'd returned to the Forsaken Fortress, only to find out that his haste had broken the Master Sword's seal on the kingdom below the sea. Tetra had been right, Link thought. He did rush into things. Perhaps the king had been egging him on every league of the journey, but he'd been the one doing the sailing. It was only in these outposts he could take his time. To go through the creatures' supplies, take them for his own, and continue on again.

So he began searching. As in, destroying all the pots that had rupees in them and adding them to his stash. Why rupees were kept in pots he didn't know, but he'd long since given up asking. Casting a look back at his boat, currently in the midst of trying to get a seagull off his head, Link wondered if the lack of such a question was because of his own nature, or a result of the king encouraging him to follow his directions without question.

"Link, we must hurry! The temples await! There's a seagull on me!"

My heart weeps for you.

There wasn't much left to go through by this point. Only a chest that contained a range of trinkets. Link quickly dug through them. Most of them were useless. Some of the goodies, like the extra arrows, were useful. And among them was-

A joy pendant.

Link lifted it out, holding the trinket in his hands. It wasn't unexpected by this point, he reflected. As moblins were to skull necklaces, their smaller cousins were to joy pendants. Why, he had no idea. Why in the world would these creatures hang onto pieces of jewellery that were said to spread joy and all that? Still holding it, he turned around to face the king. The boat faced him in turn, along with the seagull.

"Link, really, we must be going."

The seagull didn't seem to agree, but Link barely noticed. He just held the trinket. And met the king's gaze.

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

"Hmm?" the king asked, staring at him. Perhaps he wasn't used to hearing his sailor speak too often, Link reflected.

"I mean, these joy pendants," the boy continued. "I keep finding them on bokoblins. Wonder why they hang onto them?"

"What does it matter what monsters hold onto?" the king asked, shaking the seagull off his head. "Really m'boy, we have to get going."

Link's gaze narrowed. "Get going. Get going. That's your order for everything isn't it? Get going."

"Link, I-"

"I could end this, you know," Link murmured. "My sister's safe, along with the other girls. Ganondorf can't find Tetra, and if the Triforce of Courage pieces are as hard to find as you suggest, he won't be finding them anytime soon either."

"Link…"

The king fell silent.

"But don't worry," Link sighed. "I'll do it. Again."

Part of him wondered why. Apart from the fact that doing what the king wanted him to was the only way he could see Tetra again. Provided any of her old self remained in her 'true persona,' as the king called it.

"So let's go," the boy said.

Link got into the boat. But as he did so, he glanced back at the bokoblin's body.

Why did the monsters do what they did, he wondered? Because they wanted to? Or because Ganondorf told them to? If Ganondorf had stayed beneath the sea, would he have even learnt what a bokoblin was?

We'll never know I guess.

Silently, Link raised the sail. Silently, he continued his journey. Silently, he fingered the joy pendant, wondering what it was actually like for his foes to spend their time alone in these outposts, serving a madman. Why they hung onto such things.

Maybe, in the end, they were looking for some happiness too.

A/N

Been playing through The Wind Waker recently. And, as per my want to overanalyze things, I was left wondering why bokoblins hang onto joy pendants? Those things Ms. Marie wants so I can get the cabana deed, so I can get a Triforce chart, so I can get a Triforce piece, so I can...gah! Luckily I've still got the two remaining temples to visit in the meantime. But also in the meantime, I'm wondering why such creatures would hang onto jewelry in the first place.

Made for a oneshot idea at least.