EDIT DATE: 12/30/16
Chapter 1
He should have seen it. He should have noticed the change when he crossed the bridge, but he was too late. He was too excited about returning home, and he was too late.
Ordon Village was burning. It wasn't the bulblins this time either. He could still see the tracks in the ground resembled horses, not bullbos. These were either hylian, or human riders. One thing was certain, though: they were long gone by now, and if he'd had the foresight to return when Ilia had first sent her letter, he could have stopped them. But no, he and Rusl had decided to stay another day to catch up with their old 'resistance' friends. Even after he'd decided to go up ahead of his companions, it was still too late.
Why did this happen? Link thought, but no clear answer ever came. Ganondorf's forces were all but annihilated in Hyrule, and there was no civil unrest among the populace. That only left the wild lands to the south, past the open ranges and into the deep forests of Ordon. Perhaps...there was an unknown evil lurking in the woods.
As painful as it was to admit, it would be necessary for him to look for survivors. Link searched through the wreckage of each building. He burned his hands numerous times, prying away wooden beams still engulfed in flames, and nearly coughed up a lung from inhaling the smoke. No matter the costs, he would find everyone he knew if there was even the slightest possibility one was still alive. And if they were all dead, he'd find them just to ensure they got a proper burial. It took nearly an hour, but to his despondency, each person he found had already past. Only one person was missing from the village, and that was Ilia.
Link prayed that it meant she was alive. He called out her name, just in case she'd hidden herself, but there was no answer. Either she had run far away, or she was taken away. The hero shuddered to think where she might be, or what suffering she could be going through. To have been captured a second time, and by people far worse than those before, was more than just bad luck. It was as if fate had conspired against her. And me. The young man reminded himself. But it will take more than fate to keep us apart.
Rusl and the others were likely to catch up with him, but he would not wait for their arrival. There were at least a dozen graves he'd need to dig, and the sooner he finished them, the sooner he could search for Ilia. Thankfully, there were a few tools still in workable condition, including a shovel. Digging the holes was a far more difficult task than any of his battles. Every moment he sank the head of the shovel into the soft dirt, he'd see the faces of everyone he'd pulled out from their homes, and his throat would close up. He did all he could to stay strong, but he knew it'd eventually come out. Giving into the pain now would only make him weaker, and the task at hand would slow to a crawl. He must show his courage now just as he had done slaying Ganondorf.
It was the anger inside him, however, that was really putting him on edge. Unaware, the hero would slam the shovel head into the ground each time with more force than the last. Then he hit a rock, and it all backfired, as his grip slipped and caused him to fall. Link rose back up, examining his burnt hands covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. He'd pushed himself far too hard, and it was more than clear that he no longer possessed the strength necessary to finish.
"LINK!" A distant feminine voice hung in the air. For a moment, he thought that it might be Ilia, revealing herself from her hiding place, but as he heard it again, closer than before, he noticed the lower tone of it. That cry belonged to the warrior-woman, Ashei. She'd dismounted from her horse near his own burning treehouse, and was rushing over to him expeditiously. The constricting plate armor she wore made her sprint a bit on the slow side, but she had more than enough endurance to make it. As soon as she reached him, Link spotted the others behind her. Auru led his horse in by the reigns with one hand, while waving the others behind him forward. Rusl was some distance behind him, but it was obvious that he wasn't quite strong enough to look upon the scene. He may not have seen it yet, but something inside told him that he'd just lost his wife and two children in the attack.
"We rode at a gallop the moment we saw the smoke," Auru said as he approached. Link grunted, wishing he hadn't been so absent-minded as to assume they wouldn't. He tried to smile in appreciation, but it was impossible. He simply nodded in acknowledgement before turning back to his work. Ashei stopped him, grabbing hold of his shovel. "Your hands are shot. I'm sure you feel that you can't stop, and that this is the least you can do, but you'll soon regret it if you don't get them treated and healed up first."
She was right, but he refused to let go. It wasn't until the tingling sensation in his fingers became too much and he ultimately lost to her. Wordlessly, he slunk back towards his horse, Epona, to take a drink from his canteen. By this time, the last of the travelers, Shad, had caught up with the others and had also dismounted. The scholar placed his glasses back onto his face, as they were oft to fall when he rode, and began to examine the remains of the village.
"Who could have done this?" Shad started to ask. "It doesn't make any sense at all. Why destroy this village? There was nothing of significan-"
Auru nudged him along his shoulder, reminding him to choose his words carefully. He tactfully tried again. "There weren't any resources produced here that could be considered valuable, outside of the goats, and I can still hear many of them baying from over the hill. None of this makes sense!"
"Does a man's actions always make sense, Shad?" Auru guided the young man over to assist with the burials. "For all we know, they could have been a roaming band of madmen."
The heat was really beginning to get to Link. Within a couple of minutes, he collapsed, exhausted and dehydrated. Shad, being the closest, tried to catch him, but found himself falling alongside of him. The bookworm stood himself up while Ashei helped to drag the hero over to a nearby tree. She felt his forehead, recognizing the first signs of heat stroke. His strength had finally left him.
"We'll get Rusl to take your place." Auru said. "He needs to overcome his anguish just as you did." Link appreciated the small praise he was given, but he still could not show it. He simply laid there, resting and drinking water. He had seen tragedies before, but they always had happy endings. This...what happiness or good could come from death?
The justified death of the perpetrators.
Link was familiar with revenge, but it was never the fuel in his veins. His was a more somber tone, rarely letting his emotions dictate his actions. Yet, with this being a far more personal tragedy than he'd ever encountered before, it was a challenge to let go of his feelings. There was a knot in his throat, and it needed a release. He tried his best to hold it in, but it only became more painful. He soon didn't have a choice.
Link began to cry. At first it was in small tears, but it soon felt like rivers drifting down his face. As soon as he let it flow, the emotions began to consume him. Guilt, anguish and sorrow. They all began to cloud his judgment until he finally passed out under the sun.
Everything was hazy for Link as he slowly awoke to find himself next to the Ordona Spring. His friends, realizing he'd passed out, moved him there in hopes that it would rejuvenate his strength. It worked, but it actually took longer than they'd anticipated. Now they were circled nearby a small campfire, discussing something he could not hear. Link pulled himself up, noticing that night had finally fallen. They were already losing a lot of time if they were to follow the marauders. He slowly made his way over to the others. Shad strained his neck to the side, noting the hero's recovery first. He waved his arm, and moved over to make space for him.
"Link! I'm glad you're okay. Please sit. We have much to discuss." Link did so obediently. Auru, being the elder, continued the discussion. "I'd just received word from Queen Zelda. She'll search through Hyrule to see if these raiders are still in Hyrule, but if they turn out to be from the south, she will be unable to send troops after them."
"Do we not pay tribute every year to the castle?! Are we not privy to the same protections as any other province?!" Rusl was clearly infuriated as well about the situation.
"I'm sorry, but Ordona is a territory, and not actually part of Hyrule. There are lots of politics that go into it. This means that if we intend to catch them, we will have to go ourselves."
"Besides," Ashei inputted. "After the Shadow Invasion, we've been short on troops; good ones in particular. Going in with a small group will help us to appear less threatening to those we encounter."
Shad now was getting nervous. "Uh, do we have to go into that kingdom? From what I've read it's not the nicest place to be. I mean, isn't that why we don't have open commerce with them?"
"Ugh! Is that really where you are going to draw the line? Storming Hyrule Castle when it's filled with monsters is okay, but an unknown kingdom isn't, yeah?" Ashei glared at Shad as if to freeze him. "Besides, I don't think it'll be a problem for our hero here, at least. He did practically save all Hyrule by himself."
Auru didn't like where this was going. Shad and Ashei had recently been getting into fights more often, occasionally exploding into short brawls leaving Shad in pain, giving him a bruised ego. "Link has done a great job in the past, but this is something we are all doing together. I want to emphasize the teamwork necessary to accomplish this so that we won't have to rely on him every time."
Link just sat back. He wasn't too thrilled how Auru referred to him almost as if he wasn't even there. He'd gotten used to it, though. He supposed it was side-effect of being hailed as Hyrule's champion. While he was eminently approachable for many people, there was a sort of reverence that they would sporadically act upon by referring to him in a similar manner. Even some of his friends had been known to do it, likely out of habit.
Auru's tact fell on deaf ears. The argument only heated up more when Shad piped in again. "I'm not trying to be a pessimist, but it would be prudent of us to take this one step at a time instead of diving in head first. It's a whole new world over there. What if we can't find them? All we have is a two hundred year old map. Who knows what changes have been made since then? Who knows if-"
"That's enough Shad!" Auru was losing a bit of his typical stoic composure. "We must try. Those men have slaughtered an entire village, and we cannot let them go unavenged!"
"That's right, we must avenge them all!" Rusl exclaimed, already brainstorming on how to catch the bandits. "Now we might need some disguises. They'll recognize us as outsiders and may be less likely to help. They might even attack us."
"No point." Ashei popped in this time. "We simply don't know enough about the kingdom to even pretend we're from it. Speaking of which, does anyone even remember what it's called?"
There was silence for a couple seconds. "Koholint?" Shad asked.
"What kind of kingdom would call itself 'Koholint'?" Ashei replied, just before bopping him on the head.
"It's called Silidan." That was Rusl, finally speaking. "But that's about all I know."
"The point is, Shad," Auru regained control of the situation, "that there isn't anything we can really do to make us more prepared for this journey. Either we go, or we don't. Now are there anymore questions that need answering?" There was only silence. "Well, if that's it, then we best call this informal meeting adjourned. I'd like to leave tomorrow just after dawn, so we're going to need a lot of rest if we are to travel to Silidan."
The others nodded, Shad looked as if he was about to speak again, but Ashei gave him that stare again, and he declined before he even began. Everyone prepared themselves for a short rest, but Link was not inclined to follow suit. Already well-rested, his choice was to watch the campfire slowly burn. He observed all the others crawl into their sleeping bags before drifting asleep. Rusl was about to do the same, placing his bag furthest from the fire, but he stopped to look up at Link.
"Link, are you going to be all right? You haven't spoken a single word since we got here."
Link murmured to himself before replying. "I...I'll be okay. What about you?"
"I'm...recovering. Slowly, that is." He laid himself back down, staring up at the stars, and reflected upon everything. "My wife and kids gone in an instant. I don't think I'll ever be the same without them. And yet...I have to put it behind me if I'm going to be able to face the ones who did this."
Link nodded. He knew that he was going to need to do the same, but it was the most difficult of steps to take. Maybe it was his youth, but something was telling him to ignore all reason and just go after the murderers himself. He needed to resist the temptation. He needed to let it go.
Link had learned early in his adventure when Ilia and the kids were kidnapped that his emotions made him irrational. He made more mistakes, and had more faults in his stance. When she was finally rescued, his opponents never stood a chance. Now, they had not only taken what he held most dear, but had slaughtered everyone else. She might be alive, but she could just as easily be dead. That was what was killing Link; the thought that she might be dead just like the others. No, she wasn't found with the others, but it was not very assuring, knowing that she was now a full-grown woman, and was more pleasant to look at to others. It's possible she was being terrorized by the brutes before they decide to finish her.
"Link? Did you hear me?" Rusl was trying to get his attention again. Link must have begun dozing off as well, despite his earlier reluctance. "I said this will all turn up. We're going to make things right."
Link sighed. He only wished it were true, but the depression was not letting up. He decided to sleep with the rest of them. He thought that it may perhaps help him keep his mind off of everything. With his eyes closed, he let his thoughts drift to the times he had spent with Ilia. Eventually, when sleep finally took him, a smile came over his face.
