Compass
West - The Great Bay
From Great Bay, you can see clear to the ocean. It lies this way. Be careful.
When the wind blows from the west, the western part of Termina Field smells like sand and sea-salt. As luck has it, that's the way the wind is today, so he smells the Bay long before he can see it.
Everywhere else in Termina reminds him of places back in the home that isn't his home anymore. The swamp is like the woods, the mountains, well, the mountains, and when he can ignore the strange, lingering emptiness and sadness that fills the Canyon (which isn't often), it's almost but not quite like the desert and the Gerudo's Fortress.
The closest thing he can come up with is Lake Hylia, but... the lake is nothing compared to the Bay. The lake only stretches so far; he remembers being able to see the water's edge on the other side.
Yo!
He stops, his boots sinking slightly into the sand he just now realizes he's reached. He's done that a lot the last few days, hasn't he? Link sighs. He's lucky there haven't been monsters (what monsters?) taking advantage of that.
He shakes his head to clear it and walks to the edge of the water. It's almost like he can see forever; the water stretches out to the horizon and probably beyond that. Even out at the temple in the Bay, there's nothing but sky beyond the water. It's completely unlike anything in Hyrule, limitless and more than a little daunting.
You say that like it's somethin' bad.
He doesn't think it's bad, just... different. When he looks at the Bay, he can't help feeling like it's staring back at him. Maybe it is.
Link kicks at the water, watching it sparkle in the sunlight, and then looks across the shore. There's no one here. He might as well go ahead and put on the Zora Mask, so he does.
'Course not. They're probably all out fishin'.
Oh, right. He isn't sure why, maybe because the first time he was here, the sea was in such bad shape no one dared go too far from shore, but he never really thinks of people going fishing here. Maybe he can go fishing sometime.
Your way or my way?
Link laughs at that. "We can do it your way if you want, Mikau. It's your turn."
Yeah, yeah, you say that like I want a turn.
"Don't you?" It isn't right to skip him, Link knows. Oakin and Darmani both got their turns, after all, even if Darmani did have a seemingly weird way to spend his.
Everythin' 'bout Darmi is weird. You know that; I know that; no surprise at all.
There's a soft, rumbling laugh from somewhere deep in Link's head.
Yeah, I know you hear me.
"Um, Mikau, what do you want to do?" Link wants to change the subject before Mikau and Darmani start an argument (wait, since when could he hear Darmani laughing at all?).
Huh?
"It's your turn," he repeats. "What do you want to do?"
Mikau doesn't answer at first. He doesn't answer for a while, actually. Link is just about to ask if he's okay when Mikau finally says, I dunno.
"Is there anyone you want to see?"
Well, when you put it like that, there's someone, yeah.
"Okay," Link says, taking a breath and letting himself go. Then go see her.
Mikau starts stretching. "Hey, how'd you know it was a her?"
Link grins to himself as much as one can as just a mind. There's only one 'someone' Link can think of, and since Mikau said someone instead of the band, then it has to be her.
"C'mon, how'd you know?"
I just kind of knew.
Mikau laughs. "I guess I'm wearin' off on you." And with that, he leaps into the Bay and heads off towards his goal, flying through the crystal clear water. Link pulls back and takes the chance to just rest.
The next thing Link is aware of is the sunset painting sky and sea alike in reds and oranges and of a slow, gentle guitar melody. He doesn't recognize this part of the shore. Where are they?
"We're in my private spot."
Oh. Did you have fun?
Mikau laughs softly (nostalgic and bittersweet). "Yeah, I had a good day." He strums his guitar, continuing his song. "Time to go, little dude?"
No, not yet. It's late enough that we might as well stay here. He likes the sound of waves, after all. Lake Hylia has waves sometimes -- or he remembers it did, anyway -- but it's nothing like this. The waves are ever-present but gentle, sweeping against the shore...
"I knew you'd get to like the place if you had the chance," Mikau says with another laugh. "So much awesomely better than those boring mountains or that lame canyon."
Link doesn't quite agree with that. Each part of Termina has its own beauty, and he can't really compare them to each other. The Bay is nice, though. He can definitely agree with that.
"Hey, Link?"
Yeah?
"What's so special about this lake of yours?"
Link tries to explain it, but he isn't sure how well he does. Lake Hylia is important to Hyrule, yes, but sitting here on the edge of what seems like endless water makes any description he can give of the lake seem tiny. Still, he hopes he's explaining it well.
"You've traveled a lot. Doncha ever get homesick?"
I don't really have a home. (And yet he'll risk everything to save the world that denies him that.) He tries to explain it, but he doesn't really understand it himself. He's Hylian. He should be at home around other Hylians, right? He should belong with his own kind...
Mikau laughs a little at that thought. "I've got the blood of Zoran heroes, remember? The big ol' turtle even called us 'Zora hero' when we went to the Temple... though okay, he was probably talkin' more to you than me. The Gorons all think Darmi's some kinda hero, too. Maybe we heroes gotta stick together."
But--
"But nothin', little dude." The guitar's music is slowing down, gaining a sadder edge. "This ain't what I expected from an afterlife. I always thought it'd be a ton more borin', but look at me. Seein' the world, helpin' people... If not for bein' away from the band, this'd be perfect."
Link can't help feeling a bit guilty at that.
Mikau sighs. "Man, you just gotta make me remember makin' a fool of myself, doncha? The gulls were just waitin' for me to give up. I still haven't paid you back, little dude."
You don't owe me anything.
"Oh, c'mon. You dragged my sorry butt to shore. And..." the music falters for a moment, "I remember what you did on the shore. I really owe you for that."
No, you don't. I did it because I wanted to.
Mikau doesn't say anything at first; he goes back to his music. "Yeah, maybe. But for someone you never met? I didn't think anyone could be that nice a guy. You're cool, Link."
Link doesn't know what to say. He didn't do any of that for a reward, just because it was the right thing to do. It's kind of embarrassing to be thanked for that.
"How's it embarrassin'? Someone thanks you, you say you're welcome. Simple as that."
No, it isn't.
"Uh, yeah, it is."
But --
"Seriously, little dude. I'm not sayin' it just 'cause. I mean it. Thanks for everythin'."
Link really doesn't like the sound of that. It sounds too final (split and part never to meet again). He's tired of things ending, not because he wants the things he's lived through to last forever, but because he's tired of the finality of it all. Zelda sending him back in time with scarcely a goodbye, life in Termina continuing on as if he hadn't been there at all... It's a triumph that life can go back to normal, but he can't just go back to normal.
No matter what, he can't redo the past. Even with the Ocarina of Time and the Song of Time, he can't undo what he's done.
"Link..." Mikau apparently knows where he's going with that line of thought. "I was barely hangin' on when you found me, and I kinda deserved it. I rushed on in without thinkin', and the pirate chicks got me good." All the while, Mikau continues to play his song, melancholy and rhythmic, the notes floating over the sound of waves. "Never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Darmi. I'm glad I could help.
"And since I know you're gonna bring it up, it's like I said earlier. This is almost perfect, bein' like this. As long as I can see the Bay here and there, I'm good to go wherever. Just not much of those stupid dry canyons, okay?"
Link laughs a little at that. I'll try not to stay there long.
"Good. 'Sides, someone needs to keep you company, and all that old boulder's gonna do is be all serious and stoic. A dude's gotta have fun here and there, or he ends up forgettin' how to live, y'know?"
I'm not sure I really know how to live.
"Seriously? Dude, how can you not know? Someone like you, savin' the world?" Mikau sighs heavily. "Maybe that's why you can do it. You don't realize what you're missin'."
I know what I'm missing, Link protests weakly. But, um... That's for normal people. I'm not normal.
Mikau sighs again. "You got me there, little dude."
Of course he does. How many grown men could do what he (they) has done? Even now, months later, he's a child to many. A child who became a man who became a child again, a man who wielded sacred steel and a child who helped destroy a moon, but normal people don't see that part of him, do they? They only know the strange boy in green, some as a boy with no parents and others as a little swordsman.
Even Mikau calls him little.
"It's not 'cause you're a kid. It's 'cause you're short. You and Oakin are both little compared to Darmi and me, so you're 'little dude'. Y'know, not like that Stalfos from the graveyard; he's a big dude."
Link sighs. I'm being selfish, Mikau. You should be enjoying yourself, not trying to make me feel better.
"What if I wanna? It's cool, Link. I got to see the guys and Lu, and you've already said this ain't goodbye forever. And I kinda like hangin' out with you. We never really got to talk like this before."
It's still hard to believe. He feels kind of crazy, honestly.
"Lots of stuff's hard to believe," Mikau replies, pausing his song. "Everythin' with Majora, for one. But we did it, somehow, and now everyone's nice and safe, and we can sit here watchin' the sunset without a care in the world. Want me to play you a lullaby, little dude?"
I didn't think you knew any.
"Well, I can always use that song the Goron Elder taught us..." Mikau laughs. "Kiddin'! I dunno any lullabies, but I know a song or two that should help you rest, anyway. So, just sit back and relax, and let me play you a good song."
That's exactly what Mikau does, and between the gentle melody and the rhythmic waves, it doesn't take Link long to drift off to sleep again.
When he wakes up, it's morning, and all he can hear are the waves and the distant calls of seagulls. He sits up -- or he starts to, anyway; he stops when something falls from his chest to the sand beside him. It's Mikau's mask. Link picks it up and brushes the sand off of it before climbing to his feet and glancing along the shore. They must have moved at some point; he's not on the secluded section of beach he was on last night. Now he's not very far from the lab.
Time to go, he guesses. Then again... next stop is the canyon, and he knows Mikau's view of that (dry, dusty, dead)... He's not really in any hurry, he decides.
Besides, neither he nor Mikau went fishing yesterday, and it's a long trip (even though he'll fly to save the climb up to the canyon). Link laughs to himself and starts towards the lab. The professor probably has a fishing pole he can borrow for a while, especially if he offers to share his catch.
He'll have to ask Mikau what the best tasting fish around here are. Maybe he can even catch one of Mikau's favorite kind.
Heroes gotta stick together, after all.
