Linkali never really finished the second book of the Hero's story. She read it in pieces every night, devoting a few hours of her evening to reading how Link cleared the many Temples in the land. She accepted now that the books Aldez had given here were Hyrulian history rather than amusing fiction, though she found it haunting to think that the Hyrule of her day was so vastly different from the Hyrule of the Hero's time. The more she read of his adventures, the more she found that she could like about the brave young man; however, as admirable as she found him, she could not relinquish the beliefs she had held since she was a child. Link—who up until recently had been a nameless Hero in Lin's mind—was, despite his dogged determination and raw courage, a fool.
The Hylian girl stopped reading the book at the point where Link ascended Ganon's tower to confront the evil man himself. She knew how history played out from there, for she had heard the story told by many of Kokoria's elders over the course of her young life. Frankly, she had started to develop a liking for the brave Hero, and she didn't want to ruin that opinion of him by reading of his great slipup. She did not want to read again what she already knew—that the Hero of Time was slain by his own stubbornness, struck down in the fight against Ganon because he refused to flee from the impossible fight. (Linkali began to wonder if that was the reason why her people were so risk-adverse and hesitant to voice their opinions: They'd already seen what happened when you stood for something.) So she set the books aside without finishing the second; the two tomes took up residence under her bed, keeping company with a stray sock, crumpled drawings, and a cat toy that Russie hadn't seen since she was a kitten, among other things.
As the story of the Hero of Time gathered dust beneath her bed, Linkali's shifted feelings towards him also began to fade away. They hadn't really taken a solid root in her heart, and after a few days of listening to children taunting each other with the word "Hero", they began to slip out of her mind. They had been causing a good bit of unconscious conflict, with her approval of the courageous youth grappling fiercely with the scorn that she grew up around for the same boy; when her former feelings again took seat, the conflict was eased, and so was her heart.
Before long, a week had passed since the morning when Aldez had given Lin the two books. In those brief seven days, the young Hylian saw her elderly friend almost as frequently as she saw Bartal. Aldez would often invite Linkali into her home for an afternoon of conversation—which was not nearly as one-sided as most Kokorians would think. The more time she spent with the woman, the more Lin realized that Aldez could speak volumes despite being mute, and that she frequently had a lot to say. Linkali stopped trying to interpret aloud as much as she had, and let her friend speak for herself with her body language, face, and hands. It was an experience that she was usually at a loss to describe—it was one of those things that had to be seen for oneself—but the youth rather enjoyed her afternoons with Aldez. She found that she was quickly developing a profound sense of respect and liking for the silent old woman, and got the sense that the village founder had some feelings of the same for her.
Linkali invited both Talina and Bartal to join her on separate occasions when she met with Aldez, but the other youth declined in their blunt, matter-of-fact way. Bartal had burst out laughing and declared he found the graveyard to be a cheerier place; Tali had looked at her sister as if the older girl had announced her marriage proposal to a Kirikiri. Clearly, they both held onto their old beliefs about the mute woman—that she was a mournful, sighing character whose past sorrows were always bringing her and those around her down. (Quite the contrary, Aldez was a very friendly, animated person to be around, and Lin found that an afternoon with her was just as fun as a morning spent making mischief with Bartal.) Nothing Linkali could say would convince them to join her, so her almost-daily visits remained between the two Hylian women. Lin found that she didn't mind it at all.
"The funniest thing happened yesterday when I was with Bartal," Linkali said, leaning forward in her chair a little. Aldez also leaned in closer, her eyes bright with interest. "We were outside his house, trying to do wall jumps—you know, running up to a wall and springing off of it. Well, Bartal got a good fast start, and he managed to run up the side of the wall"—she made running motions with her two fingers along the palm of her raised hand to illustrate—"and actually was able to not only turn a full flip before he started to fall, but also land on his feet!" The old woman nodded appreciatively, looking a little startled at the thought of such a feat. "But that's not the funny part. This boy decides he's going to do a victory run, but he doesn't bother to look where he's going and winds up running face-first into the window shutter as his mother is opening it from inside the house!"
Aldez began to laugh—at least, that's what Lin knew she was trying to do. The mute Hylian's laughter was, like everything else about her, almost totally soundless; the expression on her wrinkled face spoke more amusement than the breathy sounds she uttered. She shook her head, one hand pressed against her thin chest. When the burst of mirth began to fade, Aldez looked over at Linkali; she brought the back of her own hand in gentle collision with her face, then held out the other hand palm-up and cocked her head to the side.
"Oh, he was fine," Lin answered, brushing the air nonchalantly. "He had a nosebleed for about twenty minutes, and that was it. Before it was all said and done, though, the three of us were checking the shutter for damage."
Aldez grinned, shaking her head with amusement. She bonked her face lightly with the back of her hand again, and her smile broadened at what her actions symbolized. The young Hylian seated before her nodded in agreement. "We were laughing about it for a while afterwards, his mother and I," she said. "It was just so perfect—the timing couldn't have been better! Bartal was a little cranky about it at first, but it wasn't long before he was laughing too." She sighed and glanced off to the side. "You know, I thought about inviting him to come, but I remembered that you told me to come alone today. I think he was going to go off with Coren and do some brother-bonding, anyway."
Aldez nodded, still smirking from the amusing story. Linkali turned back to the old Hylian woman, her eyes bright with curiosity. "So, why did you want me to come by myself?" she asked.
The innocent question seemed to sober the village founder; the high corners of her smile dropped as swiftly as if they were tied to lead weights. She shifted her gaze away from Linkali, and she seemed to be looking at some thought or memory worlds away from her humble kitchen. Lin was not entirely startled by this sudden change in demeanor, for she had often seen Aldez grow distant for no apparent reason. (She took it in stride; her respect and affection for the elder far outweighed any discomfort that Aldez's mood shifts might bring.) The young woman ran her finger mildly over the rim of her teacup while she waited for her friend to return to the present.
After moment, though, it became apparent to Linkali that Aldez was not nearly as distant as she'd first seemed. The old Hylian's deep blue eyes were scanning the village outside her kitchen window. The world was cloudy and gray; Lin's father had predicted another rainstorm was on its way to soak Hyrule, and would arrive before night fell. Though it was only the middle of the afternoon, the cloud-choked skies made the village seem darker than usual. Only a few Kokorians were out and about; Aldez's eyes seemed to follow each individual with nervous intensity. Linkali reached out and rested her right hand atop the elder's, startling her a little. "Aldez, is everything all right?" she asked.
The old Hylian nodded briskly. She took in a deep breath and released it quickly, then let her gentle smile return to her face. There was a strange look in her eyes, a kind of fire that flickered behind her normally tranquil stare. She started to rise from her seat slowly—hesitating for a moment as if she were about to sit back down—and walked away from the table; her graceful strides had a bit of stiffness in them that Lin knew was not the result of age. Her long fingers moved in uneven ripples as they stroked the palms of her hands, clenching into loose fists every so often. Aldez was breathing rather deeply; Linkali got the sense that the elder was either very anxious or very excited about something—or perhaps both. She walked maybe ten steps away from her young guest, then stopped and turned on her heel. Again, Lin saw the bright glint in her eyes, and began to wonder why Aldez was steadily growing agitated. Before she could open her mouth, the older Hylian turned back around and sighed softly.
"What's wrong?" Linkali queried, for she knew that something was troubling the elder. Aldez waved her hand in the air nonchalantly without turning. Lin frowned a little. "No, I won't let it drop."
Aldez stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at the teen. The sharp light in her eyes had mellowed to its normal, warm glow, and a gentle smile was creeping up the side of her face. She shook her head and turned back around to face Linkali. She held up her hands horizontally, palms facing each other, in front of her chest and sighed. Lin raised one eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with why you asked me to come alone?" she asked. Aldez inhaled and held her breath for a moment, then released it with a nod. Lin glanced at the window, the view from which seemed to be the original trigger in all this, then looked back at the village founder. "So…why did you?"
The old Hylian pursed her lips thoughtfully. She glanced at the teacup in Linkali's hand, which was empty; Lin saw a flicker of frustration cross Aldez's placid face, and wondered if the elder had hoped to use an unfinished drink as a means to delay explanation. Aldez held her hand out to the youth and flipped her fingers towards her upturned palm, then began walking towards the door. Linkali obediently followed after. As they walked down the hallway, the mute woman turned to Lin and made a few motions. The girl interpreted them aloud, something she usually reserved for times when she was not sure of their meaning. "There's something you want to give me?" Aldez nodded in agreement. "A-all right." Linkali wondered what she could possibly give the elder in return, since it would be difficult to come up with a gift equal in worth to some of the things Aldez had already given her.
The village was fairly quiet when the two Hylians stepped out of Aldez's home, though Kokoria's calm did not seem to soothe the elder. She still moved stiffly, and her hands were twisting at her sides again. Linkali reached down and wrapped her right hand against Aldez's left gently, smiling when the woman turned to look at her curiously. "Where are we going?" she asked. Aldez pointed to the right, then swerved her wrist around deftly to indicate a turn. Lin nodded, and the pair of them walked around the side of the house.
Linkali couldn't help noticing the change in Aldez's posture as they walked together. The village founder's chin was dipping closer to her chest, and her normally straight shoulders were starting to slouch in towards the front of her body. It struck her as strange to see the mute woman, whose poise and grace never failed to impress Lin, would choose this day to start walking like every other Hylian in the land. She was used to Aldez sweeping across the ground with subtle flourishes and regal bearing; now that she was hunching and starting to skulk, she almost didn't look like Aldez anymore. (The hand that Linkali held was also twitching slightly—not the tremors of age, but the spasms and jerks or great nervousness.)
Lin squeezed Aldez's hand lightly, drawing the woman's attention. "We don't have to…do whatever it is you're thinking of doing," she told her softly. "I mean, if it's causing you this much anxiety and stress—" She snapped off the sentence there as Aldez suddenly straightened her back and shoulders, and gave Linkali a firm, level stare. They stopped walking—or rather, Aldez stopped, and Lin took another step before the old Hylian's firmly-planted feet pulled her back. Aldez held the young woman's gaze for a few minutes, her blue eyes fearfully sharp; suddenly, Linkali felt just as ashamed as if the village founder had given her a loud scolding in front of gods and everyone, and she dropped her eyes. Aldez exhaled slowly and jiggled Lin's hand, indicating that they were to start moving again.
For the rest of the night, Linkali would wonder about the stare (among other things) she'd received. There had been something unusual in Aldez's eyes, a glint that did not belong in the gaze of an old, mute woman. It had been piercing, fierce, and almost intimidating. It had been…warrior-like. Lin wasn't sure how Aldez had been capable of giving such a look, especially not with such swiftness and intensity. It was almost as if the village founder had, in her long and largely unknown past, given that same glare many times. It didn't settle with the young Hylian, and it added yet another piece to the ever-growing puzzle that was Aldez.
They continued around the side of the house and went around to the back of it. Linkali saw the wooden doors to the cellar, which rested on a small platform atop the ground, and wondered if that was to be their destination. Her suspicions were confirmed a second later, when Aldez (who had reverted to her semi-hunched posture and had taken to glancing about furtively) pointed her free hand at the doors. Lin released the elder's left hand and stepped up to the twin doors. "All right, we're heading to the cellar."
Linkali lifted the heavy wooden bar that held the doors closed and laid it against the side of the house. She reached for the door on the left with both hands, only to see Aldez's gloved hands grasping the handle of the door on the right. She looked up into the old woman's dark blue eyes. "Aldez, I'll take care of it. I wouldn't want you to hurt your back—these doors can be pretty heavy." Aldez quirked up an eyebrow and flexed her right biceps with a carefree grin that Lin was accustomed to seeing on Bartal's face. The youth shook her head. "I really don't think it's a good idea for you to—"
She broke off there. Before she had even said the word good, Aldez had bent down, grasped the door handle in both hands, and started to pull. By the time she was putting the d-sound on the end of the word, the old Hylian had already lifted her door to a forty-five degree angle. As Linkali was saying the word for, the door was open at an angle just wider than ninety degrees. The word to was nearly lost in the loud thudding of the door as Aldez stepped back and let it fall onto the ground. The mute woman dusted off her gloves and parked her hands jauntily on her hips. She grinned over at Lin; for a moment, a cocky pride filled her face and pushed away the unease. Linkali laughed aloud. "If it takes me longer to raise this door than it took you, I hope you'll spare my pride and not tell anyone," she joked. Aldez scoffed and gestured around her open mouth, her expression seeming to say, As if I could! Lin giggled again. She set to work tugging the door open; on the other side of the cellar entrance, Aldez folded her arms over her chest and looked away with a quiet sigh. The amusement that lit up her face melted away, and the nervous, twitchy look returned.
When the door came to rest on the ground, Linkali looked over at Aldez. "What are we getting—?" she started to ask, only to break off as the old woman whipped around and hushed her swiftly. Lin tensed guiltily, wondering why Aldez was being so secretive. "There aren't many people out," she said in a softer voice. "And most of them are out closer to the common." Aldez nodded fairly, though her expression said she clearly did not want to risk being seen. Lin glanced up at the sky. "Looks like that storm's going to break soon—that should clear the village. Well, the doors're open now, so we can head down."
Aldez stepped closer to the entrance of the cellar, bundling her skirt into one hand to keep it from dragging in the dirt. She peered down into the darkness, then looked up at Linkali curiously. She dropped her skirt, then held up one hand as if she were gripping something in it and gestured with her other hand to the empty air beneath her hand. "Are we really going down deep enough that we'll need a lantern?" Lin asked. Aldez nodded the affirmative. "Do you want me to run home and get mine? It shouldn't take long." Again the woman nodded, and the youth bobbed her head in agreement and darted off through the village.
"Mom, I'm borrowing the lantern, all right?" she asked as she stepped in the door. Halvara poked her head around the corner of the hallway.
"Good afternoon, Linkali," she said somewhat testily, emphasizing each syllable separately. "Would you like something?" Lin grinned.
"Good afternoon, Mom," she replied. "And yes, I'd like to borrow the lantern, if you can bear to part with it for a while."
"Sure." Halvara jerked her thumb at the opposite side of the hall. "You might want to take some extra oil, though. I found it in Tali's room this morning; I think she was up late last night playing at making shadows on the wall, so it's probably running low." Linkali nodded. "What do you need it for?"
Lin hesitated. Aldez's strange anxiety and furtiveness made her wonder if it would be a good idea for her to tell her mother the whole story—or even any part of it. The youth shrugged aside the worry. "Aldez wants to show me something in her cellar," she responded, not sure whether it was a lie or not. She walked towards the place her mother had indicated, a hollow in the wall where one of the family's lanterns nestled. A bottle of oil stood beside the lamp; Linkali gripped the handle of the lantern and pocketed the oil.
"Watch out for rats and Skulltulas," her mother said. "They tend to gather in dark places, and they don't take kindly to being disturbed." Lin nodded and gave the woman a quick kiss on the cheek. "Make sure Aldez doesn't trip or fall—a woman her age is not as sturdy as a girl like you."
For a moment, Linkali contemplated telling her mother about seeing the mute woman yanking open the cellar door, but decided against it. Few people in Kokoria realized just how strong and hearty Aldez really was, and something told Lin that the village founder liked to keep it that way. "I'll keep an eye on her—and thanks for letting me borrow this!" she added, lifting the lantern. Halvara smiled and tucked a pack of matches in one of her daughter's belt pouches. Linkali departed, racing back to Aldez's house with the lantern in her hand.
Aldez was waiting patiently on a large rock beside the gaping cellar-hole. Though she looked sedate and relaxed, Linkali knew that on the inside, the old woman was probably just as tense as when she'd left her. Aldez rose gracefully to her feet when Lin approached, nodding as she saw the lamp in the girl's grasp. "My mother warned me to watch out for the usual basement-vermin," she said as she filled the lantern's base with oil and lit the wick. Aldez was silent, her blue gaze sweeping the sky and village nervously. It almost seemed like she was on the lookout for something sinister, like she expected some fearsome beast to spring out at her from behind the dark clouds.
When Linkali stepped towards her, Aldez motioned the girl into the cellar first. Lin obeyed, descending the earthen stairs. She stopped a few steps from the bottom and turned just in time to see the old Hylian close the double doors after them. A few shafts of gray daylight shone weakly between the wooden doors; other than that, the only light in the cellar came from Linkali's lantern. A silence stretched between the mute woman and the uncomfortable youth. Aldez looked considerably more relaxed now, and when she began to walk across the darkened floor, the curious stiffness was gone from her strides. Linkali sighed, shook her head, and hurried after her. She didn't like being down in the cellar with the doors closed behind her, but it was what Aldez wanted and she wasn't going to protest.
The air in the cellar was somewhat warmer than the cool village above and dry, heavy with the rich smells of decomposing leaves, old leather, musty rope, and dried herbs. Soft skittering, churring sounds came from the dark corners of the room—probably the Skulltulas Halvara had warned her daughter about. In the lantern's flickering glow, Linkali could see that the walls were hung with all manner of things, some of which looked normal in the cellar, and some of which did not. Like the pitchfork and gardening tools, the racks of withered leaves and the coils of rope, the broken pieces of furniture that could probably be scrapped and used for something else—those were the kinds of things that one might expect to see in a cellar. But the suit of armor and the collection of pikes, the richly-embroidered tabard with its strange emblem of the Triforce and a red bird, the golden harp that looked like it could be comfortably carried in the crook of an arm—those struck Linkali as being unusual items for anyone (much less old Aldez) to have in their cellar.
The basement was larger than any Lin had ever set foot in; she would have pointed this out if she hadn't gotten the distinct feeling that Aldez desired silence. The air was charged with a strange current of anticipation, and something mystical. Linkali wished she could shake the feeling that something was drawing her through the darkness of the cellar—it was starting to give her the creeps. She swallowed hard and glanced over at Aldez, and saw that the mute Hylian's face was as peaceful and dignified as ever. Clearly, if there were undercurrents here, Aldez was unaware of them. Linkali fought the urge to shiver. She wasn't so sure she liked this cellar adventure anymore, but she wasn't about to ask her hostess if they could abandon it.
Thunder rumbled the ground around them, and Linkali's hands jerked spasmodically. She gave a ragged gasp of surprise and fumbled her grip the lantern; it dropped from her hands. Aldez swooped forward and snagged the falling object before it struck the ground and spilled its precious oil over the floor. She held it out to Lin with a concerned look. The Hylian youth took it back and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry," she whispered. "I…The thunder just…startled me." Hell, who am I kidding? It scared me. It always scares me, she added in her mind. Aldez raised her eyebrows curiously, almost as if she had heard Lin's thoughts. "I know, it's stupid for someone my age to still get spooked by storms." The old woman smiled gently and shook her head, patting Linkali's arm. The girl swore she saw a glimmer of knowing in those blue orbs, but she couldn't work out why it would be there.
Up ahead, after what felt like nearly ten minutes of walking, they reached the end of the cellar. Linkali stretched out her lantern and patted the earthen wall with her other hand. She turned to Aldez. The old woman was motioning her further down the wall. Lin squinted, but could make out nothing important in the low light. She had no choice but to follow Aldez as the mute Hylian strode through the shadows. A few steps later, though, the lantern-light danced across something that made all of the unusual things Linkali had noticed earlier look downright normal.
A blue-gray stone slab engraved with the Triforce.
The slab had no hinges or handle to suggest it was a door or anything other than a decorative chunk of rock. And yet Aldez was stroking it with one hand and looking at it as if there were something other than a wall behind it. She closed her eyes and whistled a soft song; it was the same three notes twice, and something about the way it sounded put Linkali at ease. The strange calm the song instilled in her did not last long, for no sooner did the old woman's whistle die from the air then a rumbling far deeper than that of thunder shook the earth. Lin could only gape in confused awe as the stone slab began to rise up along the wall (into what, the girl could only guess), revealing a hidden chamber in the cellar.
Aldez deftly snatched the lantern from Linkali's hand before the youth could release her grip on it out of shock. She smiled mysteriously and started into the room. Lin could only follow, shivering as the strange feeling of being pulled forward redoubled. She folded her arms firmly over her chest and hunched her shoulders forward, glancing warily over both shoulders before following the village founder. Again, thunder murmured through her bones; the girl was glad she no longer held the lantern, for her hands jerked spasmodically at the sound.
Aldez hung the lantern on a hook on the wall, and it cast its flickering light over the scene. The room behind the stone door was small, barely six feet long and six feet wide. The complete skeleton of a rat lay in a jumbled heap in one corner, and the light from the lamp played eerily about the empty eye sockets of the skull. Aside from that, though, the tiny room was virtually empty…except for the chest. It was large—probably as tall as Lin's hip—and fairly nondescript. Aldez crouched down in front of it and drew the key that locked it from a thin chain that hung around her neck; Linkali had often noticed the necklace, but she had never thought about what was on it, since the chain dipped into Aldez's shirt. There was a click as lock embraced key, and Aldez set the heels of her hands against the bottom edge of the lid and pushed upward. The lid of the chest creaked upwards, and the old woman kneeling in front of it gave a quiet sob. She put her face into one of her hands, her shoulders shaking as she fought for control.
Linkali sank down to her knees and rested one hand on the mute woman's back in a comforting gesture. She hadn't seen what was in the chest, but whatever it was, it was clearly causing Aldez some kind of emotional pain. (Frankly, it was causing Lin emotional pain, but only because the wave of familiarity that struck her after the lid went up was making her nervous.) After a minute or two, the woman began to recover herself. Her breathing evened out and her body stopped trembling with repressed sobs. Lin stepped back while Aldez reached her hands into the chest and drew out the treasure that lay within. She stood straight and tall, and turned around to face Linkali. She then held out her arms, and offered the young woman what they held. Linkali took the object, nearly dropping it when it turned out to be heavier than she'd first thought.
It was a sheathed sword. Linkali ran her fingers over the ornate, gold designs that ran up and down the length of the blue scabbard. The colors were muted and dusty with age, although the girl suspected that a good polish would have them gleaming in no time. She turned it over in her hands, listening to the strange rattle from within; the straps that would attach the sheath to a swordsman's belt looked like they would work just fine, despite the obvious age of the item. Linkali's hand ran up the sheath, stopping with a sudden twitch when they came to the hilt that poked out from the top. The indigo-blue crossguard was splayed like the wings of a bird in flight; the langet was decorated with a raised, golden triangle. The sword's grip was longer than most swords Lin had seen, and the pommel was unusually shaped. The young woman rested her hand on the grip and pulled lightly, her eyes stretching wide when she saw the mark of the triangles on the blade.
For a few minutes, all Linkali could hope to do was stare at the sword in silence. Her heart pounded loudly in her pointed ears, filling her world with its rapid thudding. For a brief instant, she felt as if she had stepped out of her body, and was seeing the scene—Aldez, her holding the blade, the dancing light of the lantern—from the eyes of another.
She knew this sword.
Of course, she thought briskly, swallowing hard. I…I read about it in that book. The book Aldez gave me. She drew the sword the rest of the way from the sheath, and an indescribable feeling filled her as she saw that the blade was broken halfway between hilt and point. With a flicker of disappointment, she realized just how dull and worn the legendary sword looked—the story had described the Master Sword as being keen and bright and alive with the power of the gods. Now that she held it in her hands, though (something told her that this was no clever look-alike), she could see chips and scratches along the lusterless blade. The Master Sword looked positively…defeated. Almost as if its spirit had been broken along with its blade. Was this truly the sword of a Hero?
Linkali jerked her eyes away from the weapon in her hands, centering her gaze on Aldez's face. Aldez was smiling and nodding, holding out her hands as if to say, It's yours now. Slowly, Lin slid the hilted half of the sword back into its sheath and started to pass the whole thing back to the old woman. "Aldez, I can't…take this," she stammered softly. "It…It's…I can't take it."
Aldez reached out her hands, and for a moment, Lin wondered if she were truly about to take back the blade. What if this wasn't what the old woman had meant to give her? What if she was merely showing off one of her treasured possessions? The youth felt a flicker of shame begin to burn in her belly, sickening and embarrassing. But Aldez did not relieve the young woman of the sheathed sword. Quite the contrary, she began gently pushing it back towards Linkali. Lin saw something like desperation, a silent plea, spark behind the elder's blue eyes; it was gone in an instant, but the girl had not missed it. She was a little afraid to think of what it might mean. Aldez turned around and closed the chest, locking it with the key around her neck even though it was empty of treasure now.
Linkali took a deep breath. "This is really it," she whispered. Aldez turned over her shoulder. "Th-the Master Sword…I'm actually holding it." The old woman nodded. "And you just…gave it to me…" Another nod, this time coupled with a smile. "I…I don't know what to say."
Aldez turned back to Lin and held up one finger. She indicated the Master Sword, then hunched over and wrapped her arms over her chest as if she were trying to keep something hidden. Linkali nodded. "It didn't strike me as the sort of thing I should be parading through the village," she muttered. The Hylian elder flicked her index finger through the air, as if it were a tiny whip she was cracking. Lin shook her head, a little worried and thoroughly unsure of what to do now. She knew that she held in her hands a critical piece of Hyrule's history…Aldez had probably been holding onto this sword for most of her life, hiding it away in secret.
Which led her to wonder just how the woman had managed to get a hold of such an important item. Lucky deal in a pawn shop, maybe?
Either way, Aldez had had it, and now it belonged to Linkali.
Rain was pouring down from the heavens when Lin and Aldez left the cellar. Kokoria Village was dark—silent, save for the dull pattering of the raindrops and the roars of the thunder. Linkali hurried back to her house, flinching and cringing a little each time lightning seared overhead. She was glad she had made so many trips from her house to that of the village founder; she didn't even need to see the ground to avoid holes, she was that familiar with the route.
The young woman managed to sneak her new sword home in the same manner she had snuck in the books. Later that night, she locked her door and shuttered her window, and drew the sword from its sheath. The broken blade was unwieldy and difficult to even move slowly through the air—so much for the perfect balance she'd read about! It was strangely heavy, too, as if weighted down with the sorrow of losing its Hero all those years ago. Linkali sheathed it in disgust. She knew she should be grateful after receiving such a wonderful gift from the village founder…but she hated to think that such a mythical weapon could be so easily crippled. It was her weight now, her shame. She had been given the story of the foolish Hero, and now she had his dead sword to match.
Lin froze, glancing down at the scabbard in her hands. Come to think of it, this was the second (actually, the third) item Aldez had given her that had something to do with the Hero of Time. First the books, and now the blade. What did it mean? Aldez wasn't the type of person to just give things away randomly; her gifts always had some kind of meaning behind them, whether the recipient understood it or not. But what was the meaning of this? Linkali scowled as she stashed the sheathed Master Sword under her bed beside the two books.
Aldez was going to have a visitor tomorrow.
