AN: I'm going to try to finish this story by the end of the summer time... so around September of this year if I can manage. That's all as far as news goes. Cheers!

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Love of the Daughter

Chapter 7

Rykan lay on the beach, fully dressed and staring up at the cloudy sky as Midna walked towards him. His hair wet and sticking to the sand and his face. He stood and walked up the bank.

"It's all yours!" Rykan said, stretching over his head and groaning. He scratched his wet hair and smiled at her lazily. Midna sat for a moment and watched him put on the gear that they'd commandeered from Thanial and his group. He strapped on the arm guards, the brown tunic, the boots, Midna felt perplexed by it at first. A rapid fire of images of her father in that strange garb struck her.

Then he put on a brown leather cap over his hair. His skin had been vague sunburned and was turning red. The clothes seemed to be fitting him better then they were earlier in the day. Midna wasn't sure whether she was imagining if they were fitting better or not. She watched him and Rykan gave her a frown. Midna continued to stare, then smiled at him faintly and turned away. A knot was developing in her stomach.

Midna walked a bit down the beach, kicking a pebble off into the lake and watching it make a ripple effect on the serene water for a long minute. She found a secluded grove with a number of tall bushes and slowly undressed, and then stepped her feet into the cold water. Midna gazed at her reflection again. Some quiet images and thoughts came to her as her feet adjusted to the temperature. She thought of Khir and Telma. Two people she had known so briefly and yet she felt an ephemeral connection with them. Midna went waist deep and dunked her head under the water as she thought of her father.

The swim was icy at first and Midna went under water very briefly in bursts. Midna stroked through the water and ran fingers through her short hair, shaking her head as she came back on shore. She sighed as she looked at her clothes again. Midna sniffled and sat on the beach for a few seconds in the shadow of the bushes. She waited as the sun slowly dried her skin. A breeze ran through the leaves, causing them to flutter and for her to shiver. Midna clothed herself again and sauntered back along the shore, her hair up in the band from her pants pocket, staring at the beach. Midna looked out briefly over the lake; somewhere in her mind, she felt like they were being watched today, closely.

Midna paused for a second and kicked another rock into the water and watched it ripple. She turned to see Rykan sitting on his back on the ledge a couple meters away, sunbathing with his hands over his eyes. "Hey Rykan?"

Rykan sat up, blinking. "Huh?"

"We should get going."

Rykan paused and studied her for a second. "Okay..."

Midna walked towards Sai, who Rykan had tied to a nearby tree and was carefully picking the leaves off the nearest vegetation. Sai turned to Midna as she approached and Midna watched Rykan out of the corner of her eye. He was still sitting and staring blankly at her from the rock. Rykan paused a second more, and then slide down to the ground, impacting and causing the chain mail that he was wearing to rattle. Midna looked at him as he looked back at her just as perplexed and blank at before.

"So... where are we going?" Rykan asked, looking away.

"I think we need to go west from here."

"Why?"

Midna shuffled on her feet, her hand unconsciously brushing the bulging pocket that held the sphere. Rykan's eyes flicked down briefly. He frowned. "Why do you think that?" Rykan asked, more irate.

"Because I do!" Midna blurted out.

Rykan blinked. The two stared at each other and Rykan looked away briefly and frowned.

"Never mind.. let's go." Midna said, frowning and turning from him. She could feel Rykan's cold stare on the back of her neck. It was quiet as Midna mounted Sai. He snorted and his head bobbed, ears facing back to listen to her. Rykan was watching her, and Midna felt her heart begin to beat against her chest. "Rykan..." Midna said.

"What fearless leader?" Rykan said, walking over and swinging into the saddle behind her. He gripped her and grunted. There was silence. Rykan's focus seemed to be permanently glued to the horizon for the trip up the trail to the basin of the Great Bridge. Midna walked Sai much of the way, savoring the moderate temperatures and the wind. It dried her hair surprisingly quick and she felt much more relaxed and alert.

Midna watched a sparrow hop across a branch and call as they stopped briefly to rest and eat in the early afternoon sun. Midna's imagination flickered with thoughts of Telma and Khir. She wondered if Telma was okay, because she knew she wanted to see her again, and to ask her about her father. Midna watched the sparrow flutter off. Rykan had been unusually silent and he was looking off at the horizon again. Midna watched him chew the granola and nervously shake what was left in the palm of his hand.

Rykan stopped shaking it and Midna studied him more closely. She followed his gaze across the basin and could see some movement from a trail that lead to the opposite side of the bridge. Sun glinted briefly off of a metal object. Rykan seemed to notice this also and sat completely still, yet still didn't say a word. Midna cleared her throat.

"Who do you think they are?"

Rykan turned to give her a half glance. He shrugged and stuffed the rest of the granola into his mouth. The movement had disappeared behind a grove of trees when Midna tried to pinpoint it again. The two sat there for a while and then Rykan stretched to his feet and the two remounted Sai and moved on. The craggy canyon was an unfamiliar landscape as they exited the Lake Hylia basin. Midna felt most comfortable going at a slow pace. A few tektites eyed them as they bathed in the noon sun on some rocky outcroppings. One of them twitching its spindly legs and croaked softly as they passed. Rykan had fallen asleep an hour later, his head firmly planted into her back. Midna and Sai trudged on at a slow walk. Midna keeping her eye on the sun as they moved.

Midna took a deep breath. The walls of rock would dip high and low and the path narrowed and widened randomly as they proceeded forward. Midna watched as the clouds gathered above them, hoping to the goddesses that it wouldn't rain. There were patches of random fog, and then the heavy mist came and the cold. Rykan awoke to this and the two wrapped themselves into their cloaks again. Midna could smell Ordon and her mother's cooking in the fabric, and it made her weak as she gripped the reigns. A flood of memories hit her;

She was crying and her father had her in his arms and was talking to her, patting her back gently in time with a strange song that her parents used to sing to them at night. The lyrics were not in native Hylian, but an older language that was now extinct. Illia had told her once it was the language of the Sheikah people, who were now gone. Midna could feel her mother's soothing laugh as she listened to her parents talking as they ate together and then she saw them kiss. Midna played with the ranch Goats and Illia held her brother. She remembered watching her father practice sword play with Colin's father in the yard. The two were swift, and Midna remembered gripping the window sill so hard that her knuckles hurt.

Midna blinked, realizing that her knuckles hurt right now. Rykan was breathing on her back. Midna realized she had seen a shape in the fog, and then Sai had stopped walking. He swayed on his feet, his head pointed in the direction of the gray flicker that had now disappeared. Midna stared at the spot for a few seconds longer. Her brother shifted behind her.

Midna stirred Sai into walking again and the rolling fog came in and out again. The wind was howling now. Midna couldn't see much to either side in front of her. The ground felt softer. They must have been out of the craggy canyon by now. The fog in front of them swirled over the ground in long trails. Midna could feel the dew sticking to her skin like film now as the wool cloak kept her warm. She started to sweat. It was cooler here then in the basin of the lake, that much she was sure of.

Sai continued into the wind and the fog. There were the sounds of fluttering leaves from the trees. Midna turned again as another set of flickers proceeded through the fog to their left. She gripped the reigns and gently stopped Sai once again. Rykan was just as focused on the same area. Midna could see her breath as she sat there for a dreadful couple of moments, straining to listen into the fog.

"They're just animals." Midna whispered, staring as Rykan shifted behind her. A few more moments passed and nothing more happened. A gust of stronger wind and the fog cleared in the area they found themselves staring into. it was an empty landscape, flat and grassy. A few yellow wildflowers dotted the ground.

Midna urged Sai forward at a faster pace, focusing back on the sound of the flowing water. The fog lifted sometime after that point. The sun was lower on the horizon and the sky turned to an intense twilight orange. The running water was a nearby stream bubbling out from the mountains. Midna suspected in fed directly into Lake Hylia if she followed it far enough. They stopped at a dry patch near the mouth of the stream. It was tucked away again the cliffs and Midna and Rykan set up their tent and spent the evening watching the sun settle. It became pitch black frighteningly quick.

--

Midna stayed out for a while, gazing up at the stars. It was a sliver of a moon that came out that night. Midna watched it rise over a large fir tree as she sat and contemplated. She honestly did not want to sleep, she was scared of doing so now. The sphere in her pocket had begun to glow softly; opaquely under the moon. Midna stared down at the distinct tiny light from her pocket and her mind went blank.

Midna strained to stare at the moon at long as she could, but soon she felt herself blinking to keep her eyes open. Exhaustion hit her and Midna turned and crawled back into the tent next to Rykan, feeling around for her sleeping roll. She closed her eyes and felt the voices, which had been a presence in the back of her mind suddenly push themselves forward. It felt like they were right next to her, and she strained to hear them.

"That is preposterous!" The scene liquified. Midna could tell that she was floating next to a throne in a huge hall. That same beautiful woman sat in the seat, she face twisted in anger as she uttered the words. The scene a sepia tone wash out of color; almost black and white.

"That was the reason the goddesses blessed us with the light spirits; to protect us from that magic, it is not for us to touch!"

Midna followed her gaze to see her father standing just a couple feet down the stairs, behind him were a number of different, heavily dressed soldiers, some shifting uncomfortably behind her father as he slowly advanced up the stairs. Midna's eyes widened as she pinpointed a familiar young man among the crowd. Despite the washed out colors of the vision, his hair was a flaming red, and he was tall and stockily built, his face a stoic mask as he stared with the rest of them towards Queen Zelda.

"Zelda, I know I can harness it without the side effects. If we isolate the magic into new sealed containers, it won't be as strong, and we can use it to train our new regiments. Hyrule is weak fro..."

"Link, you have no place telling me how to deal with these matters, you should know that well enough yourself!" Midna looked at her father, it seemed older in this vision, and he wore the clothes of an Ordon man. A long cloak and a sword still strapped to his hip. He took another step up the stairs towards Zelda.

"Zelda," Link said. He brought out a bound leather book from his cloak and as he showed the cover, Midna blinked. There was a strange symbol etched into the front; swirling etched lines that formed what Midna recognized, to her surprise, as the symbol that was etched on the stone pillar, the one in her other dream in the desert. Midna jumped as Zelda shrieked.

"Link, you steal from my library and except a hearing!? I don't care if you think you can control the forbidden magic. You are hereby restricted from this castle entirely. Guards, get him out of here!"

Her father sat staring, shocked; up at Zelda, who was now quickly rising to her feet. Two large men were walking towards her father and attempting to escort him out of the room. Midna watched her father turn to look back at Zelda, that look of pure shock was moving into sadness. Midna felt a cold chill. She turned around, feeling a breath graze her neck. Behind her the throne room dissolved into a strange, inky blackness that Midna was sure hadn't been there before. She watched Zelda walk off into it, seeming unaware of it even after it consumed her. Midna felt her whole body tense.

That uncomfortable tickling sensation next to her ear was back. Midna looked around, she turned to her left as a flicker of something moved against the darkness. Midna realized suddenly that the room was deathly quiet, and that she was the only one in it now. Midna looked back to where her father had been, and noticed that the strange blackness was now covering the exit to that side of the room and was blocking out some of the stairs leading up. Midna jumped as she felt a distinct brush against her shoulder.

She turned towards the movement out of the corner of her eye and found herself staring into into the face of a solid form that was inches from her own face, it's own face a featureless slate. It stood out barely against the darkness behind her as a solid mass. Midna felt her heart thumping against her chest. She felt like screaming but the scream tangled in her throat, and she realized her could no longer move. Midna gasped for breath, her feet and hands felt like they were being dipped slowly through ice water. The featureless face leaned closer still, and she felt strange icy forms close around her face and jaw.

"Come... please, come..." the voice invaded her left ear like a sick, desperate fly. "Please, freedom... please..." there was an incredibly loud cackling scream. It made Midna want to scream for help; she was being choked. She was being choked to death. The fingers invaded her mouth. They were like ice.

A faraway cry. "Midna!"

Midna struggled against the grip, feeling herself finally let out a scream. Midna was trembling terribly as Rykan's voice alerted her and she felt the cool sensation of her own body come back in a hot rush.

"Midna!" Rykan said. Midna realized his hands were on her shoulders.

Midna was hyper ventilating. She felt the hot sensation of the sphere against her hip. As she moved to touch it and it burned her fingers, causing her to yelp. Midna gripped it, gritting her teeth and flung it to the other side of the tent, where in sat on the ground, still glowing that innocent turquoise green. Rykan was sitting next to her and shuffling about. Soon there was a light from the oil lantern as Rykan fumbled to light it.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Rykan said, his eyes wide, scared spheres.

Midna knew she was shaking, she could feel the quaking all the way to her bones. She flashed hot, cold. Midna felt herself tearing up. Her right palm was steaming from the heat of the sphere and she felt the ache of the newly acquired burn awaken her even more.

Rykan shuffled on his seat and stared at her with his wide, intelligent eyes. Midna took a long deep breath and sat staring at the faintly glowing object. "You're going to think I'm crazy..." Midna chuckled darkly. Rykan's face tightened a bit under the flickering lantern light. He continued to study her as she calmed herself down. "I was being choked to death, by this weird... thing, and the last two nights I've been having these dreams." Midna paused. "I... I think they're more like memories... yeah, not dreams..." Rykan was unencouragingly, still silent. His face was a blank, shocked expression. "I think they're dad's memories." Rykan blinked oddly at this statement. He slowly turned to look at the sphere, then back at Midna.

Midna and Rykan sat there for a long while, both of them staring at the sphere. Midna felt that icy sensation run over her a few more times in successively less intense waves. The sphere would occasionally tilt and move on its own. "Has it been moving like that since we got it?" Rykan asked quietly.

"Yeah... I've felt it moving..."

"I knew there was a reason I was having those dreams too..." Rykan said quietly. Midna looked at him at he still stared at the sphere. "You know... the one tonight, where dad is in that room with Zelda? ... at least, I think that'd who he was talking to."

Midna was stunned that these words kept coming out of her brothers mouth.

"But I woke up when those soldiers took him out of the room, it was like the dream just cut off abruptly or something." Rykan turned towards her. "I guess it's good that we're having the same dream... that makes it less weird." Rykan smirked a little. Midna's eyes flicked back as the sphere made another twitch on the ground, rolling more towards the corner. Midna watched him as Rykan just sat there. Rykan looked back at her. "Maybe we shouldn't touch it anymore." Rykan said. Midna nodded and they both went back to staring at it.

"Hey Rykan?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should... read the rest of dad's journal before we do anything else tomorrow."

Rykan nodded, his eyes still glued to the glowing object. It had gone stationary now for a few tense moments.

Midna continued. "Maybe we can find out what Fused Shadows are... I'm thinking dad might have talked about them more." Pause. "But knowing how disjointed that journal is now, I'm not even sure." Rykan smirked at this, sighing. He looked back at Midna.

"It doesn't seem like dad though... to be this mysterious on purpose." Rykan said quietly. He shrugged. "I mean, he's late a lot and sure he's kind of absent minded sometimes, but I don't know." Rykan blinked. "I just have the weird feeling that he didn't write that journal sometimes."

Midna sighed. "Yeah." She looked at Rykan.

The sphere suddenly made another roll and Rykan jumped, surprised. "Dins fury, that thing is freaking me out!" Rykan grappled for his dagger and leaned towards the sphere, poking it with the dagger and rolling it across the ground towards him. He took a linen cloth from his bag and carefully wrapped the sphere in it, being careful not to let his bare skin touch the sphere.

"Where's the satchel that Telma gave you?"

Midna fumbled for the bag, watching as Rykan tentatively held the sphere in a ginger, loose grip, seeming ready to drop it again at a moments notice. "Did you have the dream about the desert?" Midna asked nervously as she finally wrestled the satchel from her pants pocket.

Rykan blinked at her. "No..." pause. "I didn't have the choking dream either..."

Midna handed him the satchel and Rykan dropped the sphere into it. Midna noticed that the bruising around his left eye was slowly turning into a sick yellow. She was just glad it hadn't appeared to do any permanent damage to him. Rykan dropped the satchel into yet another bag and then tossed it back to the corner of the tent and stared at it.

"Let's not touch it anymore..." Midna said.

"Yeah," Rykan agreed. "Yeah, I think we've firmly established that's a bad idea..."