~Chapter 2~

Part 2

Most of the village consisted of the houses of various villagers, each of whom Alaiza greeted, introduced Link to, and had a short conversation with before moving on. There were a lot of other buildings, and attractions, however.

The bottom tier was mostly the marketplace. Empty market stalls lined the west wall of the village. Alaiza explained that today was Wednesday, and open market was held on only Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

"It's been uninteresting lately, though," she said as they walked to the Malo Mart on the south side of the marketplace. "We don't have a great deal of resources here in Kakariko. We mostly distribute what the gorons and Demirsians give us, and from what they say, it's been hard to get anything for the past few years."

The spring of the province's light spirit, Eldin, was also on the bottom. Just being near it, Link got the impression it was certainly not a normal spring. The water was very clean, and reflected the sunlight abnormally well. Maybe a light spirit really did live there.

"Jaryd tried to summon it when he was here," Alaiza commented. "Watching from Rikardo's window (who lived on the edge of the spring) it was really funny. He was doing all these weird movements and stuff," she put her arms in a series of strange poses and started chanting gibberish. "Kinda like that. He failed utterly, though. He probably scared it off, if anything."

This didn't surprise Link. Legends had it that a light spirit would only appear for a hero. And Jaryd was desperate for such a title. But, he didn't say anything to Alaiza.

The middle tier, other than several houses, only had Alaiza's inn and a restaurant.

"Great people; cannot cook," Alaiza warned. "At all. But that's just my opinion. Some people love the food."

Finally, they made it to the top. A tall watchtower stood at the northwest edge. A well covered with a nailed down piece of wood sat just to the west of the path winding up the cliff. Across the path lay a wooden shack; a hole in the cliff wall visible just over the roof. A sign in front read "Kakariko Hot Springs." At the northeast corner of the village, the road led out up the mountain.

"That's Death Mountain Trail. We can't go there today, though. It's getting too late. There are guards a ways up that won't let us through the gate," Alaiza explained. "The Gorons are suspicious of nighttime visitors."

Link looked up at the sky. The sun had already set. The tour had taken all day. He didn't feel that it was a waste of time, though. The purpose of the journey had been to get to know other places, right? Nevertheless, he planned to leave no later than tomorrow night. There was still a lot to see, and he had to be back in Aturea by sunset on the 20th. Today was the 14th.

"Come on, Link. We have to get back to the inn before dark. I can show you Death Mountain and the graveyard tomorrow. Like I said earlier, going outside at night can be really bad. Just look out your window tonight and you'll see. And besides, you already paid. If you try to escape, I'll have to tie you to the bed - that sounds really wrong-, but I will."

He figured it wouldn't be in his best interests to point out that his room had no windows.

Link followed Alaiza back to the hotel, this time entering through the door on the middle level. The room they entered into was not one Link had been in before. It was very open. After the wall that Link faced ended, it became a rail for another balcony overlooking the bar, this time from the back. On the far north side was the staircase that led up to the third floor. He had a sudden desire to know what was up there.

Alaiza instead, turned left, grabbed his arm, and pulled him through a bunch of hanging brown beads that did an excellent job of blending in with the wall. Suddenly, they were in the hallway that led to the three rooms Alaiza had shown him earlier. His room was now the first door on the right.

"I guess you could spend the night exploring the building if you really don't want to sleep. I'll have to figure out a way to get my dad really drunk, though. You're probably safe until the bar closes, but after that, try not to make too much noise. We don't have any other guests right now, so all the rooms will be unlocked. The place has a few 'secret' passages like the one I just showed you. Except they are painfully obvious. All in all, it's not the most exciting adventure you'll ever have, but it'll keep you occupied for a while. Anyway, good night. I'm going to bed now." She waved back at Link as she walked downstairs.

Link stared after her for a couple of seconds before entering his own room. He wanted to explore the hotel, anyway, but surely that wouldn't take the entire night. He didn't really want to be hanging around the empty building when Alaiza's family was trying to sleep, either. He really wanted to go outside. He wasn't afraid of any Poes or ReDeads, but he had a feeling that he should listen to Alaiza. Something would surely go wrong if he went out.

Resigned, he fell back on the bed. He wasn't at all tired, but he figured he might as well sleep at least the second half of the night to restore some energy. That meant he had some time to spare. He jumped up and placed his sword and shield on the bed. As Alaiza said, the hotel mightn't be the most interesting place in Hyrule, but it was so big, and he hated to leave any corner uninspected. He might find something good.

The third floor wasn't as interesting as he'd hoped. Up the stairs was a small cramped hallway lit by two torches on the opposite wall and two bedrooms. The two person bedrooms weren't locked, but the insides looked practically the same as Link's room, except that there were double beds instead, and the rooms had blue and red themes instead of orange. Before departing, however, he grabbed a few rupees from the pots lying about the room. Surely nobody would notice… After all, they just left them up there…

On the second floor, Link managed to find another secret passage to the outside beneath the bed in the four person room which lay right next to the stairs. He noted this location. If Alaiza didn't know about the small hole, then tomorrow night he could slip out…

Then, a thought occurred to him. Alaiza had said that it was extremely dangerous to be out after dark in Kakariko. Yet, the residents stayed at the bar until late. Wouldn't they have to be outside to get home?

Wandering into the bar, he got his question almost immediately answered by the same tall man who'd talked to Alaiza earlier, Jo.
"It depends where ya live. We try to advise outsiders to get inside as soon as possible, because it's generally unpredictable, but every night the creepy spirits make a journey from the graveyard to the well. It's not usually until well after midnight they pass the Inn's upstairs door, but if you live on a lower tier, ya'd better get home before the spirits pass. We don't know what'll happen if they catch you, but we have had strange disappearances by people who stayed up just a little late."

"What about Poes and ReDeads?" Link asked.

"Them? Oh, they never leave the graveyard, thank the gods. But they're there as soon as the sun goes down. And they're real monsters. No mysterious disappearances around them. Just unpleasant deaths. Speakin' of which, I'd better get going. It is getting to be around eleven. I can push it a bit, 'cuz I live on the top, but I'd better not let it go too long. I'm sure Alaiza and her parents don't appreciate freeloaders."

The bar emptied relatively fast after that, so Link continued his exploration. He entered a door behind the counter. Another hallway lay stretching out to either side. There were several doors, but they were all locked, and not long after, Link realized that this had to be the living quarters of Alaiza's family, and quickly made his way out.

There seemed to be nothing left to do at the Inn, and though the thought of seeing creepy spirits was tempting, he decided not to sneak out tonight.

A young woman sat on a soft bed in the corner of a very small, but luxurious appearing room. A white silk curtain draped over three sides of the bed, the side the woman sat on open. A short, round wooden table sat in the center. The carpet was a deep blue that matched the window coverings.

The woman sat in a very composed position, but stared aimlessly at the covered window. Link could not see her face, but he could tell she was sad. Her hair was a shade of golden blonde that was not too far from his. It was long, with a section of it braided in the back. She wore a solid white robe, the hood hanging limply in back.

Someone knocked on the door. Without waiting for the woman's permission, they entered.

First came a little girl. She looked to be about seven or eight. Her hair was translucent white, which looked rather... cool with her somewhat dark skin. She wore a little silver tiara on her head, and a sleeveless gold and red dress that came down no further than her ankles. But in a way, she was creepy. Her smile and bright green eyes did not give off a feeling of happiness or playfulness that most little girls her age would have. It was a kind of cruel taunting, in a childish way. She was not some witch or immortal entity in the form of a child; she was certainly a child. He'd seen the look on Mike, Laura and Maurene often enough. However, it was indeed off putting to see it in such a situation. Why would a little girl be looking at an adult in such a manner?

"Papa's coming!" she announced. "He's got plans for you!"

The woman turned around. Seeing her face, Link realized she couldn't be more than a couple years older than himself. Her eyes were blue, and her face young, pale, and unmarked. She was certainly no peasant. She said nothing.

"Don't ignore me, imposter princess!" the little girl demanded, as she stomped up to the woman.

Imposter princess? What was going on?

"Calm down, Catherine. She's not ignoring you. Nobody would do that," came a man's voice from the doorway. He stepped into the room. He was very tall; probably around two meters. He had dark skin and green eyes that matched Catherine's, but his hair was dark brown. He had this permanent-looking smile on his face that looked as if he'd told the greatest sickest joke ever.

Catherine crossed her arms. "She'd better not, papa. I'm the real princess here."

Her father chuckled. "She's a princess, too. She's just the princess of a different place."

The woman finally spoke, "I suppose I'm technically the queen now. My own father died a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said, in a failed attempt at sympathy.

"Don't be. He wasn't exactly an asset to my kingdom. I barely knew him, besides, of all people your sympathy is what I want least. Now, may I ask? Where is my attendant? Is it your usual greeting to promptly capture anybody who wishes to speak with the king?"

"Emperor, actually. Calistra is an empire, and I am its ruler. And we do tend to find it suspicious when a foreigner claiming to be the princess of a legendary realm comes in demanding an audience with the emperor."

"First of all, I claimed nothing. It was Dyrin who spoke. Second, I demand to know what my land means to your people. Why is it so strange that I come from it? What's so legendary about it?"

"Its mere existence is said to only be a tale. It's supposed to be a land of magic. It's supposed to be the place where…"

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down a stone hall.

"Ah! It sounds like the persuader is finally here!"

"Yay! He'll set this lady straight!" exclaimed Catherine.

"Persuader?" asked the outsider queen. She'd been talking in a calmly angry manner up to then, but when she said this, Link noticed a glimmer of fear.

"Yes, persuading people to cooperate is his job. And he does it quite well," The emperor replied. As the queen glanced at the covered window, he added, "There's no point in trying to escape. The window behind that curtain is an illusion. The walls of this cell will never fall, and even if you managed to sneak out, your soul is being held here by the light beams…"

The footsteps were getting louder. The persuader was about to enter the room. Link had only just realized that none of them had noticed his presence. He thought he was standing in the corner connecting the walls with the door and the bed. He stepped out of the corner; each time picking up his legs seemed harder than normal. He wanted to protect the woman. He didn't know who she was, or where they were, but he felt like she was surely on the good side, whatever that was.

It felt like he was trudging through thick mud by the time he reached the center of the room. Yet, Catherine and her father never saw him. They weren't even looking in his direction. Catherine was facing the queen chanting, "Persuader! Persuader!" The emperor was staring out the door patiently. The queen, however, looked right at him. Her eyes widened. The room began to fade to black.

She spoke a single word. "You?"

What about him? The last thing he saw was Catherine stop chanting and point at the queen and say something as her father turned around, a quizzical expression on his face. Then complete darkness fell.

The footsteps of the persuader coming down the hall continued. What was happening? He didn't know, but he figured it wasn't good. The pace quickened, then broke into a run.
A young female voice cut through the blackness.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIIIIIIING, LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!!!!!!!!"

He didn't know where he was; only that he was lying on something soft, and that something heavy was flying through the air in his direction.

Reflexively, he drew his sword, which he kept next to his bed, and blocked the oncoming object with the flat of the blade. It fell back onto his legs.

"HOLY CRAP!"

Link sat up. Alaiza was sprawled near the foot of his bed, one knee bent up; her mouth gaping open at the ceiling. She jerked up, and started rubbing her left foot.

"Owwwww, I think I broke something…"

"I'm sorry. Are you okay? Perhaps you shouldn't sneak up on someone sleeping?" Link apologized nervously.

"My back's not doing much better. Do you wear iron boots in bed, or something?" Before waiting for an answer, she pulled off his top sheets. "Nope, apparently not. But damn, are your feet bony! I could have died! If you'd given me the edge of that sword, I'd have had my leg sliced in half vertically, and then fallen to break my spine on your stupid foot!"

"I'm really sorry. It's just that I had this really strange dream…"

"Nah, it's fine," said Alaiza, shaking her head. She seemed to have recovered. "I'm not dead, luckily, so we'll forget it for now. Now, get up. We're climbing Death Mountain this morning!"
She sounded awfully cheerful for talking about going to a place called "Death Mountain."

Alaiza jumped off the bed. "Hurry up! It's already nine in the morning! We're wasting the day!"

As it turned out, however, there would be no climbing Death Mountain. Just outside Kakariko was a long gate spanning the entire width of Death Mountain Trail. A Kakarikan guard and a Goron stood on either side.

Link had never seen a Goron before. He'd heard of them before from other villagers and books. As he'd thought, they were indeed tall and bulky, and very… rocky. It was like looking at a fat, muscular, practically bald yellow man with his back covered in a huge stone shell, and wearing nothing but a loincloth. He looked kind enough, but stood proud with his arms crossed and an expression on his face that clearly said, "If you want to get past me without my permission, you'll have to fight me first," something Link really didn't care to do. Though, he didn't really want a hug from him, either.

"Our apologies, but Chief Darumachi has ordered not to let anyone pass. The mountain has been erupting more than usual lately. It would be very dangerous to let humans up there."

And that was that. Disappointed, Alaiza dragged Link down to the graveyard, only to meet another obstacle. Gary, the grave keeper was refusing to admit anyone today.
"I mean, if you're willing to go in there, it's usually no problem. I didn't even used to believe in ghosts, you know. But then, they started coming up at night. And yesterday, they didn't leave when day came, like they usually do. Strange things are happenin' because of that cloud. I also feel responsible for people's lives while they are on my property. I can't just let them in with it in this state."

Link protested that he wanted to see the ghosts, but Alaiza and Gary simultaneously contradicted him. "It ain't a children's book with the little ghosties in white sheets. These are magical, vengeful spirits and dark monsters. They'll get you."

"So it's either back to the Inn or to Rikardo's house," Alaiza stated. "Which do you prefer, Link?"

As an answer, Link pointed to the shaman's house.

Alaiza sighed. "Fine, then. To Rikardo's it is."

Rikardo's house was a single round room as it appeared from the outside. The walls inside were solid off white, the floor seemingly made of light brown stone. Two white stone curving staircases built into either side of the wall led up to a small platform on top with what looked like the shaman's bed. The sun shined in the house's single window which was located over Rikardo's bed. As the bed was on the east side of the house, the window probably made for a better alarm clock than anything else. In the center of the first floor lay a huge, round rug colored all sorts of warms colors in patterns telling stories of rocks, and mountains, and people.

Not especially surprising, the shaman's greeting when the two entered the house was, "Oh, now what? What do you want? Come to torture me some more, Alaiza?"

"No. We're just going to hang out here for a bit, because we have nothing better to do." She threw herself down on the rug.

"And what makes you think that my house has any form of entertainment?" Rikardo asked, annoyed.

Alaiza tugged on the side of Rikardo's oversized pants. "Sit down. Tell us stories." She grabbed Link's wrist and pulled him down. Rikardo snatched his pants out of Alaiza's grasp, and backed up a safe distance from her reach.

"What kind of stories do you expect me to know?" Rikardo challenged as if he didn't know any.

"You're an old shaman. Old shamans are supposed to know lots of stories and legends and stuff."

"I'm not that old," Rikardo protested. "I'm only thirty six."

"That's fine."

"Fine for what, Alaiza? Being old?"

"No, knowing stories."

"There aren't that many legends I know that you don't. You already went through all my books," he pointed at a light wood shelf sitting in the first floor spot beneath the platform his bed was on.

"So what? You don't have anything passed down verbally? Or pointless stories about life?"

"I've got stories about life, but I can't think of anything verbal offhand. But I don't think you'd find those very interesting."

"We should tell Link about that time Jaryd came!"

"Oh, that. I remember that."

Alaiza started grinning. "Yeah, it was pretty memorable."

"What did he do?" Link asked.

"Nothing, he was just an idiot."

"Well, I don't know if that's the best way to put it. Like Alaiza said at the inn yesterday, he came with this attitude. Like he was so great coming from Aturea. Then after having to find two hundred rupees to pay Alaiza, (lucky bastard happened to come across one hundred in the graveyard that we'd never found) he dropped that. Then he just got kind of weird," said Rikardo.

"Weird? How?" asked Link.

"You know how I told you about that bizarre ritual with the spring, right?" Alaiza said.

Link nodded.

"That was the night before he left, which was about the first night he arrived, if you don't count the fact that he arrived at three in the morning the previous day. During that time between coming up with the money and leaving he was very outgoing, almost to the point of being annoying. He was constantly being overly friendly and pestering people if they needed help. I was about this close," she held her pointer thumb really close together, "to smacking him."

"He very quickly went into village records as the most annoying guest that's ever passed through," Rikardo added. "He was the strangest for a time, but that was broken just over a year ago by…"

"Don't even remind me of that," Alaiza interrupted grumpily.

"Why not?"

"Just don't. I've been eternally scarred."

"By what?" Link asked.

"Pray to Farore you never know," Alaiza replied. "It was terrifying."

"No it wasn't, really."

"It shall be no longer brought up. End of story. Wasn't Shinrin not as weird as Jaryd?"

"Shinrin? Oh yeah! I remember him! He stayed here what, twelve years ago?" Rikardo said.

"Thirteen," Link corrected.

"So you know him, too?"

"The village consists of very few people. We all know each other well."

"I see. Then you must know he's more tolerable. He definitely had a large evil side, but for the most part, and especially compared to Jaryd, he was normal. Pretty nice whether or not he was in a good mood. But if he wasn't his kindness probably wasn't what it seemed. He was really good at talking other people into doing what they didn't want to do."

"That sounds like him."

"I told him that time about something… A legend… What was it?"

"Legend?" Alaiza asked. "You finally remembered one. 'Bout time."

"Shut up. I haven't remembered yet… That was it… one of them at least."

"What?"

"It was about the Light Spirits."

"Oh, I already know that one. I gotta go use the bathroom. You can tell it while I'm gone." She stood up and walked through a door under the left staircase hidden in the wall.

Once she was safely out of sight, Rikardo said, "I ought to tell you this while she's not around. Just so you know, the normal price of the Kakariko Inn is one hundred, not fifty rupees. And don't bother trying to force another hundred upon her, because she won't accept it."

Link almost objected, but then decided against it. Rikardo had a point. If Alaiza was only going to charge him fifty a night, so be it. It wouldn't hurt anyone, and he'd save money. What the heck.

"Okay, so the Legend of the Light Spirits. Now I don't have an especially good memory, so this'll likely be short. I don't really know much about them that don't involve the events that supposedly took place marking the beginning of the current era.

"A long, long time ago, long before even the Time Era, and the civil war, which essentially marks the beginning of the numbering of the years by modern reckoning, back before any form of recorded history in what we call the Legendary Era, possibly as far back as the controversial Beginning Era… well, maybe not that far, but a long time ago there were people that practiced dark magic. They created the fused shadows, which were very powerful dark magical artifacts. The gods did not want them about, so they imprisoned the dark ones in the Twilight Realm and left the fused shadows to the three northern light spirits to hide. They hid them deep in their lands. That's the first I've ever heard of the doings of the light spirits.

"I know they had something to do with the Legend of Twilight, which, like I said, by common opinion marks the beginning of this era. I 'm not sure what exactly it was. I think it was that eternal twilight could only fall on a province if the light spirit that governed it had its light stolen.

"There are four that we know of; part of the modern kingdom. Ordona to the south, Faron of the forest, Eldin of the mountains, and Lanayru of the west. Their springs have been popular tourist destinations for centuries, but nobody other than the Hero's been able to see them. It's said that only the brave can. Probably only the chosen. Though, I've heard versions that other swordsmen have been able to see them, too. I don't know. They're just picky about who they show themselves to."

Alaiza came back out of the bathroom. "Did you already finish?"

Link nodded.

"Darn, I missed it. But that was really short. Did you forget most of it?"

Rikardo groaned, "I don't care about remembering details, just the big picture. And besides, I thought you said you didn't want to hear it!"

Alaiza waved him off. Apparently, she'd changed her mind. "So, what's next?"

"What do you mean, what's next? I already told you that there's nothing to tell you!" Rikardo protested.

"You managed to come up with that."

"Only because I… I only thought of it because you reminded me of Shinrin! Otherwise I wouldn't have thought of it!"

"Alright, fine. Link, do you have anything to tell? Maybe you could tell him about Aturea…"

"I couldn't care less."

"You're a shaman! Shouldn't you know everything?"

"What makes you think that!?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "So, does Link have anything to say, then?"

What did she mean by "say?" Was she asking if he had any legends to share?

"Oh, I know," she answered herself before Link could. "This morning you almost killed me when you woke up…"

You mean, when you tried to attack me, he thought.

"…you said you'd had a weird dream..."

"Like that doesn't happen often," Rikardo rudely interjected.

Alaiza ignored him, "...What happened? Was someone trying to kill you or something?"

"Not exactly," Link replied. He told Rikardo and Alaiza what he remembered about the dream, which was surprisingly most of it.

"How can you remember it in such detail?" Rikardo asked doubtfully.

"It's probably some secret Aturea skill," Alaiza said.

"No, I don't think so," Link disagreed. "It was just clearer than normal dreams… I think it might be real…"

"Real? How could you have dreams that are real? What are you?" Alaiza asked.

"I do sometimes, too," Rikardo grudgingly admitted. "But they're never anything useful. Just a bunch of idiots picking grass on Hyrule field. I wonder if it's their life mission or something…"

"Don't make fun of Link," Alaiza demanded.

"I'm not! I'm serious! It was mostly before you were born, and I thought that I had some sort of brain disease. Then, one day, the weirdoes just came right through Kakariko, barely saying hi to anybody, completely focused on the different species of grass and flowers. Ask Gary or Jo or somebody, I'm sure they remember it! What I'm trying to say is that dreams of real things aren't impossible, and in the unlikely event that yours really happened, it doesn't make you inhuman or anything. It probably just means that for whatever reason the gods like you more than me."

"'For whatever reason,'" Alaiza snorted. "Hmm, I wonder why that might be. Perhaps because you're the most incompetent, sarcastic, and self-centered shaman in the history of Kakariko Village."

Rikardo ignored this comment. "Obviously, stuff like that doesn't happen much, unless the person is of high importance, like the royal family, or sometimes village leaders like me. But if the scene is somehow involved in someone's fate, or is important to them, they may have a dream about it."

"This doesn't sound like anything he'll be doing in the near future," Alaiza observed.

"You never know," Rikardo replied.

"Do you have any ideas as to what it might be?" Link asked.

"No," Alaiza said flatly.

"Not really," agreed Rikardo. "However, I can guess, I suppose. Your description of the blonde woman sounds kind of like the princess. And you said she was a queen."

"Princess Zelda?!" Link exclaimed.

"No, duh. Whenever I say 'the princess,' I generally mean the princess of Hyrule. Yes, Zelda! I met her once, a couple years ago. But she's technically the queen now. Her mother died long ago. Her father died a week or two back… But it wouldn't surprise me if she's been captured. Bad things are happening at the castle. The dark cloud is over there. And I remember getting a royal messenger about a week ago asking about the weather."

"What has that got to do with me?"

"Looks like your fate somehow involves her, then," muttered Alaiza grumpily.

"Not necessarily," Rikardo reassured her. It looked more like he was trying to calm her down than tell her what he really thought. "It's probably not even real."

"Meh."

"I don't understand what she said at the end," Link said. "How could she have seen me if I was just observing? And what did she mean by, 'you?'"

The recap of the final event put Alaiza in super- sulk mode. And she wasn't even one to sulk much. "Probably mistook you for someone else."

"Beats me," Rikardo sighed. "Time travel?"

"I see. So he saw the future or something, and he and the princess had met in the past which is still our future?" Alaiza suggested.

"Or he came from the future back to the past, and met her by the present." Rikardo added.

"Except there's one problem," Link pointed out. "I can't time travel."

"Yet. Wouldn't you have to obtain it in the future so that you can go back from the future?"

"Oh, I know!" Alaiza shouted. "He was born in the past. His parents are really time travelling aliens from the future. They went to the past, got him while he was a baby from his real parents, and brought him back to Aturea in this time to raise him. On the way, they met the princess. Except they brought a strange disease from their planet, which caused the Aturea Plague. They had to leave before spreading it all over the world, but they couldn't take Link with them, so they left him behind! See! It's flawless!"

"I can believe in heroes and evil magic wielding desert men, and nasty monsters, but I think aliens from the future is pushing it a bit, Alaiza. Besides, that was really off- topic and random. I thought we were trying to explain how he could have met Zelda." Rikardo said.

Link found the idea very interesting, but there was no denying that it was very far-fetched.

"Here's the main problem," Rikardo stated. "With the dream, that is. There is no empire called Calistra. Not nearby, anyway. I think you must have seen the near future. Maybe Calistra is what will result from this cloud."

"No, that can't be it," Link replied. "They said that her land was legendary to them. This has to be in the distant future, when Hyrule is nothing but a tale."

"Zelda looks like an older teen, right? That's about the age she should be by now, according to Rikardo. She could have time-travelled to get away from that cloud, or something." Alaiza said.

"Maybe," Rikardo agreed. "I don't really care. Anyway, what color were the girl's eyes? Were they red?"

"No, they were green. I remember that much," Link answered. "But I don't remember as well how the man looked."

"I wonder what race they are, then. I would say she might be related to the Sheikah, 'cuz they have dark skin and light hair, but they and their descendants almost always had red or brown eyes. I don't think it's possible for them to have such bright eyes…"

"They're probably invading foreigners, or maybe a mix of several tribes," Alaiza said. "They're Calistrans, whatever that means. They're part of some new kingdom or empire, or whatever they call it, from the future or a faraway place, or something. Who knows what all they are."

"Again, I don't really care," Rikardo repeated. "Someday, you'll probably have to save the princess or something. Hooray!"

"Shut up, Rikardo," Alaiza grumbled. "If you don't care, then why do you keep asking about it?"

"It's just minimum curiosity, Alaiza. Whenever I think of something, I ask it."

"I still don't understand your logic, but okay."

"Fine, I won't ask any more questions. You can stay here for a late lunch, and then you can leave."

"You're always so kind, Mr. Shaman."

"Your opinion is not wanted here. I'm the leader here, you do as I say."

And that was that. Alaiza, though it was evident she wanted to, did not argue with Rikardo. She quietly ate her lunch, and when departing, dragged Link out with her.

Having nothing better to do, they went back to the Inn, where Alaiza pulled out some board games, and promptly won them all. Her justification was that she'd played them all a million times before, whereas it'd take Link a bit to get adjusted to the rules.

Link made up his mind that he would leave tomorrow morning. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of Alaiza and the Kakarikans. It was just that if they were reduced to playing board games, there wasn't really much point in staying when there was so much to see in the outside world.

When Link told her of his decision, Alaiza shrugged. "That's fine. But you'll come back someday, right?"

"I don't know, but I hope so. Only if I get a mission here."

"How come you guys never leave Aturea unless on mission?"

"I don't know. Tradition?"

"That sucks. Not that I should talk. I've hardly ever left Kakariko. My parents took me to Demirsi once when I was little, and I climb Death Mountain sometimes, and that's about it."

"I've never left Aturea at all until two days ago."

"That's true," she yawned. "Ugh, I'm tired. It's getting late. I think I'll just go to bed now. Can you clean all that up?" She stood up, and pointed to the pile of pieces and cards from various games that she'd piled on the next table.

Can't you, Link thought, but he didn't object. He might as well. If Alaiza had any plans to see him off tomorrow, she'd have to go to sleep early. He was planning to leave at first light. Plus, he planned to sneak out tonight using the hole he'd found in the second floor room. He felt somewhat guilty for going against her and all the other villagers' strong advice.