Blind Spot (Legend of Zelda, Link/Zelda, #2)
Title: "Blind Spot"
By: Jadealiya
Pairing: Link/Zelda
Fandom: Legend of Zelda
Theme: 30kisses #2 News; letter
Timeline: Original/Unknown (same as Theme # 11 "Wilt")
Disclaimer: Nintendo's characters, written neither for profit nor gain
Thanks as always to Keiran
A line. Meaningless, yet balancing so much potential within its narrow confines. Barriers and boarders and the essence of willful foolish separation. Your side, my side, and only the thinnest of pretensions in between.
The badly weathered paper had been tacked up in the public square. Appearance spoke to the news being slightly out of date, but the man had been out on patrol, cut off from civilization. A common enough occurrence to return and find he had missed some trifling announcement. Typically, it did not matter. Regardless, the man shrugged off his muddy hood and took a step closer.
Several lines. Beginning of form, imitation of shape. Countless variations and swirling patterns, drawing the eye into an unwilling dance, no matter how tenacious the wallflower, how resolute the loner, how hesitant the viewer in really viewing what he saw.
It was strange. The man knew he was close enough to view the paper, to read the words, to make sense of the message. Absentmindedly scratching the skin on the back of his left hand, he puzzled over the strange phenomena before him. He felt as if there was a dam somewhere between his eyes and his mind, preventing the information from truly processing. Again, a common enough occurrence, but typically the inability to comprehend stimuli was limited to her. It was not something that occurred with anything mundane like reading.
Chaos, yes? Chaos. Meaningless patterns in the greater scheme of the universe. Mindless sketching, in spite of the repetition. Ignore the tendency of the microcosmic to repeat, to align, to emerge a perfectly ranked army, an arrow-straight harbinger intent upon engaging the hapless passerby with their message. With their news.
The last time had been just before he left, volunteering to go on an extended solo patrol of Hyrule's southern region. She had stood just outside the formal audience chamber, holding her crown in her hands and watching him with those inscrutable eyes as he told her of the assignment. Ignoring all protocol, she presented her hand to her champion, the knight who had risked his life to save her in their youth and who had stood dutifully behind her throne throughout their adulthood. Unquestioning, he had bent low over the offering, brushing his lips against fingers that smelled faintly of flowers and quickly releasing her hand. She had watched him for several more moments, as if waiting for something…and he had gone blank, unsure how to respond, once again struck blind to the nuances of her voice, her face, her actions. With a slight upturning of her lips, she wished him well and set her crown in place, entering the audience chamber with the regal stance of a seasoned ruler.
The mind delights in structure, even when structure is artificial. The lines are words, the words convey meaning, the meaning…the meaning is the stumbling point. The mind delights. The heart numbs. The spirit screams.
Patiently, painfully, the man broke the message down to its component parts. He allowed it to pass through the barriers of ignored signals and lost potential. Silent messages and desires paled as he read the news word by word. The message was succinct, simple, and shattering. It made sense, now, the accustomed blindness. He was never any good at reading her…why should reading about her be any easier?
"Zelda, The Queen of Hyrule, is Dead."