The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, obviously. Please enjoy!

The Meaning of Courage - by Pseudo Twili

Part I: The Child Meeting

Ebony fingers stretched across the sky; the red-winged blackbirds had ceased their serenades and slept with heads resting on inky plumage. The animals that daily roamed the broad expanse known as Hyrule Field were safely burrowed in their homes, sleeping away the darkness. Bits of faraway light filled the firmament, the winds whispered secrets of the morrow, and the lady of the night rose gracefully over the horizon.

Hardly a sound disturbed the peace of the field. An owl soared the sky on silent wings, searching for a his next meal. The mice scurried about less than they usually did and the wild cats kept their nightly prowls to a minimum. An evil presence was in the first stages of infecting Hyrule Field, leaving the animals uneasy and reluctant to roam because of the things that surfaced at night.

In the northwest portion of the field, a boy garbed in green strove to keep at bay the skeletal children who reached for him with bony fingers. These creatures were the stalchildren that came out to play when darkness fell; they wanted to drag the live boy into the depths of the earth that was their resting place. The little hero fought them as they surrounded him; when he spied an opening in their numbers, he scampered through it and on towards his destination. He shivered as his sword cleaved the skulls from their vertebrae; the bones of the undead children melted into the grassy plain.

Hovering around him was a miniscule winged girl surrounded by blue luminescence. "Watch out, Link!" she cried.

He ducked, just as a bony hand swiped at him and missed. Link made one last sweep with his sword and dashed up the stairs to the safety of Kakariko Village. Thankfully, the stalchildren were afraid to enter an area with torchlight and people; their tactics were to ambush lone travelers. They let the ground take their bones again, disappointment showing in their glowing crimson eyes.

A guard faithfully keeping his post glanced at Link as the boy tore through the gateway. Safe at last in the security of the townlet, Link let his sword fall to the ground and flopped down beside it, his breath escaping in great, ragged gasps.

"Link, are you all right?" the guardian fairy questioned anxiously.

He nodded, too exhausted to utter a word.

"Oh Link! I told you we should have stayed at Lon Lon Ranch," she berated him, but took pity when she glimpsed the fear that lay behind his eyes. "I'm only grateful that you're not hurt."

Navi landed on his shoulder and rubbed against his neck; her compassion pulsed like the light which surrounded her. His lashes fell and almost instantly he was asleep. For some time the only sound was Link's harsh breathing, which eased as he lay there. Navi felt herself drifting towards dreamland, but she shook herself and pulled at Link's ear.

"Link, wake up. You can't stay out here all night. Come on, wake up!"

"Go away," he muttered drowsily.

Navi persisted and finally roused him. He grabbed his sword, sheathed it, and then he and Navi searched for shelter. The houses were all dark and Navi felt that they would not receive much welcome so late at night. They wandered around and Link's steps grew heavier and more halting; he was almost out on his feet.

At last Navi found a house in a state of extreme disrepair and it seemed to be abandoned. Link tugged at the rusted doorknob and stumbled inside when it finally gave way. He let the dusty, cobwebby couch near the door claim him, without even bothering to remove his sword. Navi heard faint rustlings from deeper inside the house and she didn't want to learn what they were. She nestled into Link's warm hair and joined him in the place from which dreams come.

Late the next morning Link awoke and stared groggily at his surroundings. Through the dimness he could see the gray dust which covered every surface and the faded spiderwebs that spotted the walls and ceilings. He lifted his head from the green book which he had been using as a pillow and Navi pushed her way out from Link's mess of hair. She took to the air as he stretched and the soles of his boots met the floor.

"Come on, Link, let's get out of here," she urged him.

"I want to explore the house first," he argued.

"Well, since it's not so dark in here anymore... All right." She remained by his side as he wandered through the seemingly uninhabited home and discovered that in the depths lived a cursed family.

Sometime later Link emerged from the house. He and Navi tried to figure out which direction they should follow, since they had turned themselves about in the darkness and panic of the night before. He met a little boy not more than five years old, who carried a stick and marched about in a heavy-footed fashion.

"Who are you?" the youngster questioned curiously. "Why do you have a fairy?"

"I am Link and this is my guardian fairy, Navi."

"Where Link comes from, everyone has a fairy," Navi added.

"I want one too!" the small boy exclaimed. "Will you give me yours?"

"I'm sorry, but my task is to watch over Link. You have parents who watch over you, do you not?"

"Yes. My Mummy and Daddy take care of me. Daddy works as a soldier. Would you like to come home with me? My mum gives me yummy lunches and she'll give you one, too."

Link's stomach was rumbling mightily so he wasn't about to refuse. He followed the boy, whose name was Reneld, to the latter's home. Reneld's charming young mother, Narla, greeted the forest boy and his fairy and made them welcome in her small abode. She wondered why the child was was not with his parents, but her worries were assuaged as she saw the tender care with which Navi watched over her charge.

When the two boys were finished eating, Reneld was in a hurry to return to his play. Narla caught her son and held the squirming youngster as she scrubbed his face and hands. "Hold still, Ren, darling."

When Ren was clean enough to satisfy her, she released him; he bolted for the door. Link made a move to follow the younger boy, but Navi flew to his ear and whispered something. Link turned back to Narla and uttered a shy farewell.

"Thank you for the lunch, ma'am."

"You're welcome, dear boy!"

Quickly she planted a kiss on his forehead, which was something she had wanted to do since she first laid eyes on him. Link backed away, wondering why women and girls were always trying to do that. He exited the house and followed Ren to the small boy's favorite place to play—the graveyard.

Ren tramped around the graves, occasionally poking his stick into the ground. "I'm gonna dig and dig! Just like Dampé!"

"Who is Dampé?" Link queried.

"He's the gravekeeper. He sleeps in that hut all day and doesn't like to be disturbed." Ren motioned to the wood shack situated in one corner of the quiet graveyard. "When he comes out at night he has this game, but little kids like me can't go on the Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour. Since I can't do that, I'm just imitating Dampé the gravekeeper all day. With my cute face I'm not heart-pounding at all, am I?"

"No," Link agreed. Navi had the urge to laugh over Ren's fixation, but she kept it to herself.

Link played with Ren; they pretended that the latter was Dampé and he had to chase two ghosts from the burial grounds. It was much like a game of hide and seek; Link and Navi hid somewhere and Ren came stalking along, searching for the intruders. Upon spotting them, he chased them away from the tombstones. Navi was small and could find clever hiding places, but her glow invariably betrayed her presence.

They lost track of the time, until a dark shadow fell over them and Ren said he had to return home. Link remained behind, wandering deeper than Ren had been willing to go. The younger boy had recounted tales of ghosts and ever-wandering spirits that emerged in the graveyard in the hours of dusk, but our hero brushed aside all cautions.

The sun sank regretfully below the horizon and Link glanced about, if only for the conviction that Ren's stories were just that, stories. At first all seemed to be well but then a peculiar phenomenon exhibited itself. Spheres of pale light materialized and grew until they bore semblance to pale, purplish-blue flames. The appearance of the flames was unsettling rather than frightening; Link's first thought was that they were unique fairies.

These were spirits that wandered about, prevented from leaving the world by the evil that plagued it. Now they tried to float upwards but crystalline lanterns formed around them and Link glimpsed wraith-like hands that hardly seemed to be there, each holding a lantern. Transparent bodies clothed in equally ghostly rags appeared accompanied by faces so dark they would have blended into the night, if not for the white cloths that covered their heads.

These were the bodies, turned evil by Ganondorf's dark designs, that prevented the souls from going to their heavenly rewards. They menacingly turned their eerily glowing eyes on the green-clad intruder and Link's heart missed several beats. He fled from the creatures but wherever he ran another one found him. In the gloom of the new night he could hardly see where he was going, managed to get all turned about and ended up going into the deeper recesses of the graveyard, rather than towards the exit.

He paused for a few moments to catch his breath when another of the unearthly beings appeared in front of him. Link was ready to bolt again but Navi stopped him.

"Wait, Link. Do you hear that?"

When he listened hard he could just make out a tiny voice crying, "Help me! Help me!"

"It is the spirit trapped inside the poe's lantern!" Navi exclaimed. "It wants you to free it!"

The poe, wildly swinging said lantern, flung itself at Link, who ducked. "How?" he asked.

"Slay my captor," replied the lilliputian voice.

Link took a deep breath and readied his blade; the next pass that the poe made was its last. The boy plunged his sword into the ghostly being, thus snuffing out its already half-dead existence. The lantern that it had been holding fell to the ground and shattered, leaving the flame that was a lost soul. Nothing could break that glass while the poe was alive to hold it, which was why the poe used it to attack trespassers.

The flame-spirit quivered and squeaked, "Thank you, brave traveler! It was me, yet it wasn't me. I didn't want to attack you. That was my body that you killed but when I died evil made it keep me prisoner. Now I am free! Thank you and farewell!" With those words the freed spirit disappeared, leaving Link half-wondering if he was dreaming.

"Well, that was nerve-wracking!" Navi exclaimed. "Now, let's find the way out of here!"

In searching the exit Link dispatched several more poes and received gratitude from the liberated spirits. Then he came to two curious gravestones unlike all the others; one had a sun carved into it and other, a moon. The inscription under the sun read:

Royal Composer Brothers

Sharp the Elder

Rest in Peace

and the words under the moon were identical, save that the name was instead Flat the Younger.

Link turned away but then heard another miniscule voice crying out to him. He made an about-face and instantly perceived a pair of poes that had arisen over the two graves. Theses two creatures, however, were different from the others; their clothes, if the ghostly garments could be called that, were elegant and even had gems attached to their robes and round hats. One of the ghosts wore red and the other, green. These poes were larger and more forbidding; in addition to holding the lanterns, in the other hand they each held a white baton. The color of the trapped spirits had a greener hue to them as they trembled and besought Link to free them.

Aside from using their lanterns as blunt weapons, these poes also made thrusts with their batons, which Link learned were sharp when one of them grazed his shoulder. He staggered back a few paces, which turned out to be a Godsend because the other poe stabbed at the air where he had been. Link darted forward and delivered finishing strikes to the two ghosts.

"Gyaaaah! You killed me!" cried the spirit freed from the poe dressed in green.

"He didn't kill us, Flat," reasoned the other. "We are already dead."

"Oh, what? He's not one of Ganondorf's men, is he?"

"He freed us, didn't he? For that, dear adventurer, I thank you most humbly."

"I apologize. Since you have aided us we have a secret which we shall share with you, right Sharp?"

"Quite, but first we must introduce ourselves. Ahem..."

"We are the ghostly Composer Brothers of Kakariko Village."

"All the people in this village are born to serve the Royal Family of Hyrule. We brothers also served the Royal Family and were assigned to study the hereditary mystic powers of the family," Sharp informed Link.

"Though we never could figure out the power of the Triforce, we had almost completed our study of controlling time with the tones of ocarinas."

"Flat, what are you saying?"

"Uh, I mean... Actually, we completed that study! We would have been famous if that hateful Ganondorf had not tried to steal our results!"

"Being famous was only a small part; we could never let him reap the fruits of our research! That is why we gave our lives to protect the secret."

"But you're a fine lad and we will let you possess our fantastic composition."

"Because we were faithful to the Royal Family to the end, we hid our song deep in their burial grounds. You will find it in the furthest reach of their grave. Beware of the undead who dwell in the darkness."

"Use our secret to calm them," was Flat's piece of advice. "Thank you for saving us from that fate worse than death." The flames of the two brothers faded.

"I know what you want to do, Link." Navi sighed resignedly. "Let's go find the secret for which the Composer Brothers died."

The boy sheathed his sword. The heart-pounding terror he had felt when being chased by the poes had worn off and he thought that finding the song would be a simple task. "Thanks, Navi."

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked.

Link nodded. "They weren't so tough!"

He easily found the gigantic stone that covered the Royal Family's crypt. The worn words etched in the stone bade him to prove his connection to the Royal Family, so he played Zelda's Lullaby. He stared as the great grave marker slid back, revealing a narrow set of stairs that descended into the damp darkness of the earth. The yawning blackness made him think twice about going into it; he mustered his courage and stepped downwards.

The damp underground passage swallowed him as if he were a mouse. Link stumbled on the steep stairs and he placed his hand on the stone wall to steady himself. Navi's efflorescence provided a half-light by which he picked his way through the spiderwebs and pitfalls of the dank crypt. He came to an opening in which lurked the dark shapes of several keese. He jumped as one of them swooped at him.

"It's just a keese, Link. You've seen them before," Navi told him.

He pulled his slingshot from his pouch and planted one of the hard deku seeds squarely between the eyes of that and the rest of the keese. At one end of the room he located a door inscribed with many letters. At his touch it groaned and slid back, revealing more corridor beyond.

He found a few more keese and some rats as he progressed but nothing that fit Sharp's warning about the undead. Then the sound of moans caught the tips of his ears and he was getting closer to them with every step. The creepy noises were made worse as they bounced off the walls; Link shivered involuntarily and Navi, despite her determination not to show fear to her charge, landed on his hair and burrowed under his hat.

Link came upon another room; it was larger than any of the caverns he had yet gone through in the crypt and had a strange, glowing substance pooled in depressions on the floor. It threw light around the area and a horrible smell rose with the columns of cloudiness; both of these were same sickly green as the stuff on the ground. The nasty odor that permeated the air also forced its way into the boy's lungs, making him choke.

Stationed around the icky green messes were some truly frightening creatures; it was from them that the groans that set his backbone to freezing had come. They had human-like bodies, but with so little flesh that they were nearly skeletons, and they stood with their shoulders hunched. They had no faces, or at least none that showed; instead they wore crude masks with two small holes for the eyes and a larger one for the mouth.

Link scurried across the room, picking a path furthest from the redeads and he avoided looking at the horrible monsters. He arrived at the other end of the room quite safely and breathed an immense sigh of relief. Navi emerged from under his hat.

"I'm sorry, Link. I shouldn't have hidden myself away like that. I was frightened, but that's no excuse. The Great Deku Tree would not approve."

"I was sacred too! Don't feel bad Navi."

He went through one more passageway and reached a dead end. Pools of the odoriferous green stuff lay on either side of a narrow path that led to an impressive stone carved with letters. Link approached it and read the worn hylian.

"'This poem is dedicated to the memory of the dearly departed members of the Royal Family.

The rising sun will eventually set,

A newborn's life will fade.

From sun to moon, moon to sun...

Give peaceful rest to the living dead.'"

"This is an interesting poem, eh Link?" Navi said and then pointed below the large letters he had been reading. "Look! There's something inscribed on the tombstone! Why, it's the secret melody of the Composer Brothers!"

Link pulled Saria's gift from his pocket and put it up to his lips. After several tries he had it memorized and could play it with ease. He tucked away the ocarina and gazed once more upon the tombstone.

"There's something else," he realized. "'Restless souls wander where they don't belong. Bring them calm with the Sun's Song.' Are those the undead things we saw out there, Navi?"

"Yes, Link. They are redeads. Flat told us we could calm them with the song, remember?"

"I'll play it as soon as I go back out there."

Link shivered slightly at the thought of having to go past the creatures again but he felt less frightened because he knew the Sun's Song. When he returned to the room in which he'd seen the redeads, much to his dismay, they had vanished. He glanced around uneasily. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know. Be very careful, Link."

Link again scampered from whence he had come, occasionally throwing a glance over his shoulder to make sure that nothing sneaked up behind him. He should have been paying more attention to what was in front of him. As he neared the exit he did not see the shadows that twitched ahead of him. The only sound in the tomb was the soft patter of Link's hurried steps; it was an ominous quiet.

Suddenly a bone-chilling scream filled the dank air. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeayh!"

Link jumped, his heart palpitating. Foolishly he glanced in the direction from which the shriek had come and met the hollow eyes of a redead. It screamed several more times and he was paralyzed as he stared into those terrible holes of living death. Another of the creatures jumped on his back and placed around his throat fingers as chilling as the screams that froze the marrow in his bones.

"Link! Don't look at them!" Navi shouted.

Link dropped his eyes and regained the ability to move. He struggled weakly against the clammy hands that were squeezing the air from him. Navi flung herself mercilessly into the masked faces. Distracted, the redeads turned their attention on her and Link slipped out of the choking grasp the one held on him. Fear lent him speed as he half-staggered, half-ran towards the stairs, with Navi flying after him.

What a welcome sight was the appearance of the glittering, whispering stars over Link's head! He scurried up the stairs as speedily as he could on legs trembling with stark fear, but it was not quick enough. A hand gripped his ankle and made him topple. His head hit the unforgiving stone steps, making dark spots float in front of his eyes.

The redead, for that is what had grabbed him, transferred its strangle-hold to his throat. He tried to kick out and struggle against the creature cutting off his air supply, but he could not make his limbs move. The whole world fell away from him and he knew nothing more.

The next thing Link could remember was that he was lying on something soft and Navi was floating over him anxiously. His head ached and his throat felt funny; if he had been able to get a glimpse at himself he would have seen that his neck was quite bruised. He didn't even notice the cloth tied around the inconsequential cut on his shoulder.

Navi landed on his chest. "Oh, Link! I'm so glad to see you awake! It was all my fault! I should never have let you go into that horrible place!" she wept.

His heart gave a great twinge as he glimpsed tiny, sparkling tears fall from her eyes and splash on his tunic. "Don't cry, Navi. It's not your..."

He stopped abruptly as an ugly face came into his peripheral vision. Not knowing to whom it belonged, he jumped up painfully and instantly wished he hadn't. His head spun and a pair of hands gently pushed him back on the bed. The face appeared above him, though he could hardly see it for the fog that clouded his swirling senses.

"You mustn't be afraid of me, little boy," an unfamiliar, rusty-sounding voice assured him.

"Link, this is Dampé. He saved you from the redeads!" Navi added. "He's been taking care of you."

The hands placed a cold cloth on his forehead and the young hero relaxed. The throbbing in his head lessened until it just ached. Being careful not to move too suddenly, he took another look at his rescuer. Dampé's back was permanently hunched, his large head was bald, his left eyelid sagged, his nose was too big, and his chin jutted out, showing missing teeth.

Dampé noticed the boy's eye on him. "I'm not a pretty sight, am I?"

"N-no," Link admitted, looking the gravekeeper in the eye, "but I don't care. You saved my life."

"I can tell we're going to get along very well," Dampé chuckled. "The reason why I live here and don't mix with the villagers is because most people cannot stand to look at me. Now, young one, suppose you tell me what you were doing here at that time of night."

"I was playing with Ren from the village, and when he went home I stayed here. I met the Composer Brothers and they told me they had hidden their special song deep in the Royal Family's tomb, so I went to look for it. I was okay at first, but then those monsters, they..." Link started shivering uncontrollably. The terror he had experienced still seemed all too real.

Navi nestled against Link's cheek. "There, there," she crooned. "You're safe, Link. The redeads cannot hurt you now. Don't tremble so."

"That's right. When I saw the monster choking you, you were just as limp as a rag doll. So I just whacked it over the head will my shovel until it was dead. Another one came towards me, but I gave it the same. Then I took you to my humble abode, and here we are."

"You should try to get some sleep now," Navi said. "You'll feel better tomorrow."

Link obeyed and closed his eyes. Singing softly, Navi calmed him into sleep with his favorite tune; chosen as such because it was Zelda's Lullaby. Once he was slumbering peacefully, she nestled in his hair for her night's rest, while Dampé slipped outside to take up his rounds of the graveyard.

Kindhearted Dampé graciously invited Link to stay and rest in his tiny home for a couple of days, until the boy recovered his strength. During that time they became two of the unlikeliest of friends. Dampé may have seemed gruff and hideous on the outside, but within that homely mask was a pure soul. To Link he was like a grandfather, at whose feet he could lay all his troubles. Dampé listened intently to Link, imparted sage advice, and consoled him in his troubles. During his adventures, the growing hero frequently returned to Kakariko Village to visit his friend.

During Link's stay, Dampé asked him about his quest and Link replied blushingly, "Princess Zelda gave me the task of finding the two remaining Spiritual Stones." Dampé learned from this that his young friend had quite a crush on the fair princess.

Once again ready to travel, Link departed from Dampé for a time. On the way to Death Mountain he met Ren's father, Lerral, whose task it was to guard the gate. Lerral laughed at Link's insistence of being on an important quest, but let him pass when the boy produced the princess's letter.

~O~

After completing Dodongo's Cavern, Link recounted to Dampé his experiences at Death Mountain and gave a demonstration of the lovely explosions made by his newly-discovered bombs. "The gorons are very rough and friendly!" Link exclaimed, as Dampé applied a bag of ice to the child's bruised head (a result of Darunia's enthusiasm).

Link traveled to Castle Town and borrowed the masks offered to him by the Happy Mask Salesman. Each one he showed off to Dampé before he tracked down the person who had a desire for it. Lerral he made happy by presenting the popular Keaton Mask.

"My boy will be very happy with this! I want to give it to him for his birthday. You really are Mr. Hero! Wha ha ha hah!" Lerral grinned.

Link liked the Skull Mask because it was so scary. He found for it a perfect owner, the Skull Kid who wanted to make fiercer his face.

The Spooky Mask had not quite the frightening appearance of the previous one. Dampé told Link that it gave him the shivers because it was made out of a plank from a coffin. While wearing the mask, Link met Ren again.

"Gyaah! It's Dampé the gravekeeper!" Ren cried in surprise and half-fright. "Oh, it's just a mask. I get a different kid of fright from that mask than I get from Dampé... Will you give that mask to me?"

Link hesitated, wondering if Dampé would approve.

"I really do have some money, you know," Ren added. "I asked my daddy to get me a Keaton Mask, but I want this one even more!"

"Okay," Link agreed and took off the mask to give it to Ren.

"With this mask, I'll be just like Dampé! Here's my money."

Later, Link repeated Ren's words to Dampé, who laughed heartily. "Link, m'lad, there is a saying that goes, 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.' I take the boy's words as quite a compliment."

The next time Link's path crossed with Ren's, the older boy asked, "Would you like to meet Dampé?"

"Oooh, I would be too scared!" Ren exclaimed.

"He's very kind. He saved my life," Link hurried to assure him.

"Well, maybe when I'm just a little bit older. If I was six, I think I could be brave enough for that. My birthday is in a month, you know."

~O~

Slightly damp was Link when he came to Dampé after venturing inside Jabu Jabu. "The Zora Princess was bossy but in the end she gave me her Spiritual Stone. I like her, even though she's a girl. She didn't mind going into Jabu Jabu at all. She tried to kiss me but I didn't let her!"

A short time later, a crestfallen Link returned to the graveyard. "Ganondorf attacked Hyrule Castle!" Link cried. "Zelda is safe because Impa took her her away. Zelda threw this to me." Link held out the item he had kept clutched in his hands the whole time.

"It's a beautiful instrument. The Ocarina of Time, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh. She entrusted it to me. She left a message for me, saying that I had to open the Door of Time. I'm scared, Dampé!"

"You've been afraid before, haven't you?" Dampé questioned.

"Uh-huh."

The old gravekeeper continued, "I've noticed something about you, Link. You may be as frightened as anyone could be, but you have the courage to do what you know you should do. None of the villagers dare to come to this graveyard after dark, but you spent half the night here. Very few people would have even thought of venturing into the Royal Family's Tomb, as you did. You've fought monsters and aided many people. I'm proud of you. Never forget that, m'lad!"

The little hero drew a deep breath. "Thanks, Dampé. I'll do my best."

"You come back to see me after you take care of your task, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!" Link replied, grinning.

He wrapped his arms around Dampé in a brief embrace and then pulled back, feeling a bit sheepish. Without another word, he ran off. He paused at the entrance of the graveyard, waved and was gone. Neither he or Dampé knew it, but many things would change before the two of them met again.

This tale had its beginning as I was making use of a glitch exclusive to Ocarina of Time 3D. I was in the graveyard, collecting extra heart pieces in the Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour. My mind wandered and I thought, "What if Link met Dampé near the beginning of his adventure and they became fast friends?" From there I imagined what might happen and I decided to write this story.

I shall update with Part II: The Adult Meeting in a week's time.