Author's note:
Hello everyone! Welcome to my first story ever! I'm looking to improve my writing skills so, I would greatly appreciate it if you left a review. If not, that's okay too. I really hope you all enjoy this. There'll be a new chapter each week so stay tuned! With all that out of the way, let's get to the story!
Lightning crackled across the sky, followed by a booming sound of thunder. Heavy rains followed soon after. Hyrule never had storms this strong. At least not since The King of Evil was sealed away, many years ago. The occasional storms that the land received followed a common pattern. No one ever saw strikes of lightning, they only heard soft rumbles of thunder in the distance. Rains were always very light and soothing. Mothers across the land found this to be the most suitable time to rock their newborns to sleep. But tonight was different. The storm was unusually violent. It was almost as if the goddesses themselves were unleashing their wrath upon the land. No one had seen a storm quite like this in a long time.
"It's raining awfully hard outside, don't you think?"
The woman's voice was soft. Delicate. It made you feel as though you couldn't talk too terribly loud around her or else she might disappear.
Mael looked at her husband. He usually answered her right away when she spoke to him. She waited for a few moments, but no answer came. Something was different about him tonight.
Gonzo was a young, strapping man in his early twenties. He had dark black hair, brown eyes, and long pointed ears. There wasn't anything special looking about him. No birthmarks, scars, nothing that would stick out to anyone walking in Castle Town. He looked like any other Hylian. Most considered him a good man. He wasn't a heavy drinker, and he did right to those in his life.
Mael was delicate, but full of life. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and of course, the long pointed ears. Everyone that had met her thought she was the most beautiful woman in Hyrule. She had many suitors before Gonzo, yet he was really the only one who stood out to her. She wasn't quite sure what made him stick out among the others. Maybe it was how he wasn't like all these other men, who just spoke words without any meaning. His words were not fake. They had met at a festival in their village while they were still teenagers, Gonzo being seventeen and Mael sixteen. Things slowly fell in place after that.
They had gotten married just two weeks before tonight. Mael had always said how much she "adored Lake Hylia" and so Gonzo had it arranged for their wedding to be there. It was a very beautiful wedding. The day was bright and sunny, and like Mael, full of life. One might have considered it the "perfect" weather. The great lake itself glistened under the sun, its waves softly hitting the sandy shore. Family on both sides came from all over the land to see the marriage. When Mael had heard how many people had shown up, she nearly fainted! That may or may not have been due to how tight her wedding dress had been, though. When the young bride finally began her walk down the aisle, you could hear everyone gasp in awe at how elegant she was. She gracefully made her way down, her white dress sliding behind her. When Gonzo caught his first glimpse of her, he too was in awe, along with the rest of the people. She stole his breath, utterly. He had never seen anyone so breathtaking in his life.
Once you reached the age of twenty-one in Hyrule, men were required by law to serve two to three years in the Knights of Hyrule. Gonzo, having just come of age, was to leave tomorrow. He did not seem very upset, nor very happy. But Mael knew something was different.
"Aren't you scared?" Mael finally asked, although she hesitated. Gonzo did not give an answer for awhile. Then finally he spoke.
"I don't know."
Gonzo did not know what else to say besides this. Something was eating at him.
"What?"
"I just don't know."
"Aren't you afraid to leave everything you've known? To leave me here all alone to go up and sleep with fifty other men that you don't even know?" Mael said, starting to get upset. She didn't understand why he had said what he did.
"You'll have to be in those cramped barracks! And it certainly won't smell too good in there either."
Gonzo had often thought about how he would feel when this time came. He had not accounted for the fact the he might have a wife when the time came to leave. He realized that he had to leave his beautiful Mael, to go sleep in close quarters with a group of hard ass men whom he didn't even know. It would be cramped and probably wouldn't smell the greatest. Just as she had pointed out. Although the sleeping around men part did not bother him too much. Gonzo was used to being around smelly men.
Gonzo, of course, did not want to leave Mael. But he knew she would be well taken care of. Both of their families lived in this village, so he had no need to worry. What really ate at him, was the fact that this situation didn't bother him like it did Mael. He felt that he owed her to feel at least some kind of emotion.
"Gonzo, if you're scared or angry, it's okay! You don't have to hide it. I know you men think that you have to be big and tough all the time, but you don't have to! You don't have to keep your guard up for my sake!"
Gonzo rubbed his face with his hands. He honestly wasn't scared, angry, happy, sad, or anything. It was almost as if he didn't care. He did, to an extent, but the fact was that it didn't bother him like it did Mael.
Gonzo looked up at the wooden ceiling for a moment. He slowly traced over it with his eyes. He noticed the pattern that had been eroded into the wood before this house had been built. Tracing patterns into the trees was a popular pass-time for the children of Kakariko Village. This wood had not escaped the children's reach before it was cut down and sent to the lumber mill.
The rain was still coming down hard. It beat upon the roof, like a drummer beats upon his drum. This did nothing to lighten the tense mood.
Gonzo returned his attention to Mael.
"Mael, you know I wouldn't hide anything from you." Gonzo said. He didn't know how to comfort her. He wasn't good with affection. He loved Mael, very much so. But he had never found a way to truly express his affection for her.
"Then what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"
No answer.
"Do you just not care at all? Mael said, her soft-hearted voice slightly cracking.
This cut Gonzo deep. He didn't want to hurt her. It was the last thing he wanted.
"That's what it is isn't it?"
The rain suddenly stopped.
"Mael, please it's not like what you thi-"
"Then what is it then?"
Gonzo didn't know what to say.
"You don't care. You almost seem happy to leave."
"It's not like I want to leave you! It's not like that at all!"
"You just want to get away, so you can do whatever you want when you get to the capital. You'll get away and forget about me an-"
"Mael!"
Gonzo stopped her right there. He looked Mael straight in her blue eyes.
"You know I would never do anything like that. Ever." Gonzo said sternly. He had never spoken like this to her before. This was a tone he had reserved for when his anger was about to overtake him.
Mael looked back at Gonzo. She was about to cry. He knew exactly how she looked right before she was about to cry. He knew she said things she didn't mean when she was upset, but knowing that didn't make it any less hard.
The fireplace was growing weaker. The flames had been dancing for quite some time now, but their rhythm had taken a slower pace, as if the flames were performers in an orchestra and their conductor had changed tempo. Gonzo would have normally put more firewood in by now.
"I don't want to lose you, Gonzo. What if you never come back from that wretched Castle Town? What if you die in some kind of battle, far away from here? What am I supposed to do then?"
The tears finally burst forth. Gonzo hated to see her cry. It was as if the whole world cried with her when she was like this. She would throw her face into her hands and her body would shake ever so slightly with each sob that escaped her.
Gonzo went over to Mael and held her close to him, her head resting on his chest as she cried. It was almost as if she was mourning for someone who had died.
"I'm going to come back. I will, I promise. If it's the last thing I do."
The rain began again.