verse: majora's mask
notes: i rather love the moment link salutes to captain keeta. it's a crowning moment of heartwarming/tearjerker/funny all in one.
additional: this is riding on the theory that stalchildren are dead children. and that the stalchildren in ikana valley are child soldiers from the ikana war.
i own nothing.
As Time Goes
Captain Keeta is the best.
He's super big and sometimes people are really scared of him, but he's also nice. He has a big body, so he also has a big heart. Captain always takes care of us when we're camping, and he teaches us everything he knows. He taught me how to filter water a while ago; it's one of the first things he shows us. He's really patient and never gets mad when we don't understand.
Captain's always getting new recruitments from the king – that's right, he's also the only one of us who's ever spoken personally with him. Captain says the king is strong and that with our help the war will be over. I know he's right, because Captain is such a good teacher. We also have a really good king, that's what the captain tells us. We all have pledged our loyalty to the two of them.
Even so a lot of us were taken to Captain Keeta without knowing what was going on at first. But Captain always takes the time to explain things to us – he treats us like adults. He doesn't talk down to us like a lot of grown-ups do. And he trusts us to be able to fight with him. That's why he's the best.
A lot of the times, new recruitments see Captain Keeta and then scream. They're always scared because he's such a big person. This one time when Tam first came to our camp, he screamed so much louder than any of us could and then he completely blacked out – we all laughed and pointed, but not Captain. He smiled and scooped up Tam's sleeping body with one hand, and put him in a bed. "He's a lot younger than you all," he said to us, "so let him rest." We kept poking Tam though. He was little. Seeing the captain and Tam next to each other was always really funny.
We camped in a lot of different places. Captain said that it was because of the Garo, the ones who made the war happen. They were always moving, and that's why the war started. It was all their fault. Tam kept asking questions though, even after Captain said the answers. But Captain never grew impatient, because Tam was so much smaller than the rest of us. And at every campsite Captain would teach us about the Garo and how to kill them. They're really quiet and fast, so it's hard to find them. But Captain told us everything he knew about them, and always said that he trusted us. Even little Tam. But we didn't think so; Tam was the most scared of the Garo. Whenever he had bad dreams about them, we would poke him.
Sometimes the captain leaves to go meet with the king. He's never gone for long, though. And it's always whenever he knows that we'll be safe without him there to command us. Usually the older ones of us take charge and just make us practice exercises for a few days. When Captain Keeta comes back, he always brings some food from the castle with him. He can carry a whole lot because he's so big. On those special days we would have a feast and take turns riding on Captain's helmet. We could see forever when we were that high.
One time after a feast, Tam asked Captain Keeta about where he came from. But the captain shook his head and said that we don't talk about that kind of stuff. Where we all came from – they weren't important. Because until the war was over, we were sticking together and were looking out for each other. Like a family.
After a long time with Captain, we had camped in hundreds of places, killed many Garo, and Tam was no longer the smallest in our battalion. We always had new members joining, and they were always scared of the captain at first. Soon after, everyone in all of Ikana knew Captain Keeta's name. Whenever we stopped by a village the women would give us food and their children would gawk at us. They were always nice, and it was all because of Captain Keeta.
He treated each and every one of us seriously, and that's why he's the best.
.
One time the captain started talking about how the war was almost over. The king gave him a message and the captain couldn't stop smiling. Everyone was really excited, and to celebrate we all climbed on top of the captain and danced around. He laughed a lot that night.
But in the middle of the night the Garo came. They were really quiet, just like always, and some of us didn't get the chance to wake up. It was mostly by chance that we awoke, and even then we could barely see them in the shadows. And then when the captain rose, he started screaming out – louder than we've ever heard him. It was chaotic after that – many were coming to as the Garo tried escaping. But they underestimated us; we could draw our weapons almost as quick as they could. And in the end several managed to get killed.
Tam was one of them. He still looked like he was sleeping, too. But he was cut up everywhere, and it smelled bad and wet. Many of us couldn't look at him. We wanted to cut up the Garo too because that's what they did to Tam, but they never left their bodies.
Captain Keeta was the saddest out of all of us. He didn't cry a whole lot, but whenever he made a tear it was bigger than our heads. That's how much he liked us. Tam also liked the captain, even though he fainted when he first saw him. They always looked funny side by side, because Tam was the smallest and Captain was the biggest. The captain probably liked Tam a whole lot because of that.
We weren't really sure of what happened after that, but it looked like day by day Captain Keeta grew more sad and anxious. Whenever we asked about the war, he wouldn't say anything. He told us to go guard the graves at the graveyard. He said that when the war was over, we could go home. But sometimes we like to pretend that we'll never go home, because we all liked Captain Keeta the most.
We haven't seen him for a while. But we know he's doing the greatest he can.
Captain Keeta really is the best.
Convey my words to my men, who, even in death, remain loyal to me. Tell them the war has ended...
End