Chapter II
In which Hana meets an unlikely person...
They were all dead. That was the report that returned to Kakariko Village a few days later. Every single guard and civilian that had gone to help the burning Hyrule Castle Town was gone. It was the twins that brought this message, they had managed to escape the slaughter and run to the village. Hana found herself hating her new home. Her mother would not stop crying, and the atmosphere of the entire village was that of complete resignation; resignation to the fact that someday, they would probably share the same fate. No word of what had happened to the royal family was available, but it was obvious that the castle had been taken over by someone. It was only a matter of time now before all of Hyrule was overrun by the monsters that had been spotted near the castle.
Instead of remaining in her depressing household, Hana began to spend more and more time with Tak. Despite the fact that the younger boy had also lost his father in the same battle that had claimed Hana's father, Tak seemed to be handling the affair much better than anyone else.
"I never really knew him, you know?" Tak said casually as he swung his stick at one of the gravestones. "I mean, he was always nearby, guarding the path to Death Mountain and all, but he had long hours and by the time he got home I was already asleep. He did get me an awesome mask for my birthday this year though!"
Hana listened silently, her hands in her pockets and her eyes watching the wind push through the neatly trimmed grass. A light drizzle was pouring over them, causing the air to smell damp and earthy, but the pair barely even noticed as the water continued to splash onto their heads.
"Besides, he always dreamed of being in a battle. I guess he died doing what he wanted, can't ask for much more, can we?"
"Is that really all we can hope for?" Hana asked quietly. "Dying as we achieve our goal?"
Tak shrugged. "Sure, I guess. I mean, nowadays, anyway."
Hana nodded slowly. "Nowadays; I suppose so."
The two exchanged solemn glances before the familiar beat of Dampe the grave keeper's footsteps grabbed their attention.
"It's getting late, guys," the old man said gruffly. "Time to pack it in before your ma's get worried."
"They probably wouldn't even notice!" Tak complained. "Besides, it's not fair. The ghosts don't come out until night, you can't keep sending us back right before dark!"
"I can do what I want, you brat! It's my graveyard!"
Tak stuck his tongue out at the older man, who mimicked the movement before Hana gripped the young boy by his arm and dragged him back to the village.
"We'll be back, Dampe!" Tak shouted.
"I'm so scared!" Dampe shouted back sarcastically, a masked laugh in his voice.
Listening to the two throw insults at each other forced a smile onto Hana's face. The movement felt so foreign to the young girl, however, that it quickly faded.
"Hana!" Tak suddenly said, stopping so shortly that he nearly ended up pulling the girl to the ground.
"What?" Hana snapped back impatiently.
"Let's sneak into the graveyard tonight! Maybe we'll see a real ghost!"
"Do we even want to see a real ghost?" Hana asked wearily.
"Well, probably not, but, I mean, it's something to do. You know? Or we could just go back to our houses..." Tak shot her a sideways glance, knowing he had her with that remark.
Hana sighed as she thought of spending another night listening to her mother's muffled sobs. "Alright, but let's grab some blankets first. I don't want to sit on the hard ground all night."
"Oh don't be such a girl, Hana! Come on, we're going to be running from ghosts in a few hours anyway, we won't have time to sit still!"
Hana rolled her eyes as she was pulled back towards the graveyard. They slipped past Dampe, who was tending to one of the graves and humming a tune under his breath. The pair were soon settled behind one of the larger gravestones, completely hidden from Dampe. Hana leaned back against the grave marker, letting the cold stone press into her back. They sat for hours, peering into the darkness and waiting for a ghost to appear. As the minutes slowly ticked by, Hana felt more and more that she actually did want to see a ghost. Any sign that there was an afterlife.
Hana awoke with a start; she was still in the graveyard, but the sun was beginning to rise. The previous night's rain had stopped for the moment, the only signs that it had been there being the damp ground beneath them. Despite the wet grass she was sitting on, Hana realized she didn't really feel all that cold. She sat up, rubbing at her eyes, and found that a heavy blanket had been placed over both her and Tak. Tak was still sound asleep, curled under the blanket. Glancing towards the small hut where Dampe lived, she could just make out the figure of the old man sitting near the window. He waved at her and then disappeared from sight.
Tak suddenly sat up, nearly hitting his head against Hana in his rush. "Huh, what? Where'd this blanket come from?"
"I think Dampe gave it to us."
"Aw man, I fell asleep! Now we'll never know if there were ghosts here or not! Huh? What do you mean Dampe gave this to us? Our hiding spot was perfect, he couldn't have found us." Tak stood up and brushed damp blades of grass off of his pants. Hana followed suit, cleaning her skirt as best she could.
"We should return it," Hana said, picking up the blanket and folding it as neatly as she could.
"Fine, whatever. I bet he hung out here all night, scaring off any ghosts so that we wouldn't know they exist."
Hana smiled; she agreed with Tak. Dampe had probably stayed awake all night, watching over them. They knocked lightly on the door, but Dampe, as usual, refused to let them in.
"Get lost, brats! How many times do I have to tell you, keep off my property!"
Hana sighed. "We just wanted to return this and thank you!"
Tak scowled at her. "No we didn't. Return the blanket, sure, but don't thank him!"
Dampe yanked his door open and snatched the blanket from Hana's hands. "Fine, now get lost."
The door was promptly slammed in their faces.
"Lousy old man," Tak grumbled as he began to walk stiffly back to the village.
"Thank you!" Hana called through the wooden door before following her friend.
Days slowly grouped together to form months, until nearly a year had passed since Hyrule Castle had been taken over. The new king, King Ganondorf as he called himself, had stated that so long as the villagers obeyed him and submitted to him as their king, he would allow them to live.
"King Ganondorf. What sort of name is that?" Hana scoffed as she tossed the pamphlet that was being passed around the village.
Tak picked it up and scowled at it, as if Ganondorf could actually see his resentment through the paper. "He's not king until he's proven he's killed the entire royal family. You know, the real royal family, rightful heirs to the throne and all that." The boy had started to let the rest of his hair grow, and his head was now full of red tufts sticking out in random directions.
Hana sighed as she seated herself onto one of the many steps that led into the village. Hyrule Field spread out beneath her; the sky was covered with a thick layer of clouds that had been hovering there for months now, blocking out the sun. "He can be king if he wants to, who's going to stop him? There's no one left to fight, the entire army is dead now."
Tak plopped down next to her. "Well, I guess," he replied uncertainly.
"Want to come to Lon Lon Ranch with me? Mom needs more milk, and lately Talon hasn't wanted to risk sending the horses out onto the fields to deliver supplies."
Tak considered this then shook his head. "Nah, I promised Dampe I'd help with some crows that are nesting too close to his house."
"Ok, see you then!"
"Be careful!"
"You, too!" Hana called back as the two began to walk in separate directions.
"I don't need to be careful, it's just a bunch of stupid crows! I can handle them!" Tak hollered back indignantly.
Hana chuckled to herself as she walked briskly along the path that led to the ranch. She was making good progress, and it was barely noon before the gates to the ranch became visible. As she drew closer, the familiar sound of horse hooves beating against the ground reached her ears; she frowned when she realized that this sound seemed to be coming from the wrong direction and not from the ranch at all. Turning around, Hana spotted a small cloud of dust heading towards her, the image of a panicked horse appearing as the cloud came closer.
Hana was forced to leap out of the way as a white stallion came dangerously close to trampling her. The animal pulled to a sudden stop next to the girl and gazed at her with desperate eyes. A low groan caused Hana to turn her attention towards the person mounted on the horse. Hana felt her jaw drop open as she gazed upon the familiar face of the nearly unconscious rider.
"P..." Hana found herself having difficulty forming the words that were racing through her mind. "Princess Zelda?"
So, last chapter I forgot to let you all know what my plan is for when I'll be updating this thingy. I thought that I would aim for twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday. Now keep in mind that I live in the US, so some of you might be getting updates on different days than that; I'm of the understanding that Australia is in the future from the US (what fun!), and you guys (if there's any Australians reading this) are in Friday right now, but for me it's Thursday and I imagine that it's different like that in other areas of the world, too. I basically decided to update early, to let you know that there's another chapter on the way tomorrow. Plus I figured it wouldn't hurt to have an extra chapter this week, so y'all can figure out sooner if you want to keep reading or not.