Chapter 9: Solace of Solitude
The following day, Link refused to travel.
Epona had been through more than enough, and he absolutely, vehemently refused to force her to take a single step forward. And, as Navi had pointed out, he was far from being in the best shape himself, so he could use a day to recover.
Hyrule field was a pleasant change from the dry heat of the desert. The field was lush and green, speckled with collections of trees and foliage. The air felt immensely cool and refreshing. Each breeze that played though his hair seemed to breathe new life into the Hylian's aching body. The sun returned to being a far off ball of light high in the sky.
Link had settled by a clear brook, where he and his horse had both quenched a burning thirst. It felt incredible. Like being able to breathe again after so long suffocating.
As Epona wandered about, free of her saddle and cargo, nibbling happily at all the green surrounding them, Link had found a nice spot half shaded by a towering tree. He pulled the pouch from his belt and turned it upside down onto the long blades of grass. He took careful inventory of everything that tumbled out, making sure he hadn't left anything indispensable back in the Temple of Time. He had no great want to return there any time soon.
His compass was fine, still about five degrees off. It went back into the pouch. His small collection of rupies had more than doubled as he'd been traveling, but he did note that a few were missing. It wasn't nearly enough to get him back into that temple. The money rejoined his compass. A toothbrush and a hair comb went back into the pouch, though neither were being used nearly as much as they should have been on this long trip. A well folded scrap of paper went in next- a map of Hyrule that proved a little too vague to be considered helpful. He next picked up the curious ocarina that he had discovered within a hidden room at the Temple of Time.
He owed the little instrument his life, really. He never would have defeated that ugly eyeball if the ocarina hadn't shrunk it and reduced it powers. A smile flashed over his lips. In the bright sunlight, Link saw that the ocarina was a blue color, and near the mouthpiece was a small, golden Triforce symbol. He arranged his fingers properly on it and rose it to his mouth. Link played a song on the wind instrument, not one that he had ever known, just another collection of disjointed notes that formed a decent melody when played together. He'd always been told that he had a good ear for music. The low, smooth tune went on for a while, filling the meadow with its song. But Link soon found himself trying to replicate the curious song that seemed to crop up every time he laid his hands on a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom when in the presence of water. A few less than satisfactory attempts later and the ocarina had joined the rest of his belongings in the simple leather pouch.
That left the three golden shards resting on the grass, glowing an impossible gold in the warm sunlight.
Link stared at them for a good long while. Now that he wasn't fighting for his life, he could get a much better look at them. Their surfaces were polished, mirror-like in reflectiveness. One was completely jagged all around its edges, the other two each had a smooth side. Those two even seemed as if they fit together. Link reached for one, and immediately upon contact, the hymn began. It came in two parts; one section sang loudly, rushing and bubbly, clearly from the brook that flowed only a few steps from where he sat. But the other part was slight, almost lost to his ears by the louder section, and focused directly underneath him. He looked around for a moment, and when he realized where it was coming from, he gave an airy chuckle. The dew still on the grass was singing, softly, muted, with very few voices being lent to the choir.
Link then reached for the other piece that seemed to align with the one in his hand; he noted, with a slight disappointment, that the mysterious hymn neither multiplied or grew louder. He took just a second to properly match the broken side, then laid the two conjoined pieces back onto the grass for inspection. One way, it seemed to be the lower left section of the Triforce, but turning the two pieces could deceive the holder into thinking they might have formed the lower right, or even the very top section. The third piece he had recovered didn't seem to fit along with them at all, looking instead as if the slightly smaller fragment had once belonged to the very middle of the sacred relic. He turned the two pieces that formed an edge again, around the jagged third fragment which sat in for the whole middle of the Triforce.
It was strange. He could feel an unsettling calm sensation every time that song played from nothing more than water vapor, but he had always heard tales of how mighty and how powerful a creation the Triforce was. He felt nothing of that. Even as he lifted a piece of the glowing gold metal, and felt its surface warm in his hands. All that came to him was a serene smile as the melancholic melody swam through the air, reaching only his ears. He knew the legend well enough. That if a person laid their hands on the Triforce with a wish in their hearts, that wish would be granted, regardless of plausibility, possibility, or consequence. The great sages had even told him that this Ganondorf person had done just that, and even still held a Triforce in his possession. Link wondered vaguely if that Triforce caused the elements to sing as well. Or if the tune was as haunting.
It seemed a shame that Link would not get to keep the Triforce of Wisdom. Maybe even just a small fragment, one that he could hold on to just so that he would not have to abandon that beautiful and eerie melody forever.
With a sigh and a stretch, Link left the three shards to sit in the grass. He reached to where he had dumped his saddle bags and rummaged until he found his loaf of bread, by now more than half eaten- the milk that Malon had given him was long gone- and tore a piece. He chewed at it, taking note that it was tougher than the last time he'd eaten it. The small piece of bread hardly filled him, more like tided him over until he had a real meal before him. He would have to hunt something down soon, or risk running short of food. He cast one final look over the collected fragments of the Triforce, now arranged so that the two bordering pieces formed the top of the relic, before gathering them up and carefully laying them back inside his leather pouch, alongside the blue ocarina.
His eyes went skyward. The day was mostly clear with only a few smoky clouds stretching across a deep blue sky; nearly as clear a blue as the eyes that stared up into it. He hadn't been on this journey too long now, had he? It simultaneously felt like forever and no time at all. It had been forever since he had seen his quiet home and his close friends. Yet it felt as if the frantic events of combat and discovery had taken no time at all. Link's thoughts wandered to this princess that he was apparently going to save. Did she perceive time as moving quickly, or slowly through all of this? Had she been spared, or killed? Was she holding on, or had she lost hope? Could she even see the clouds on this falsely perfect day?
A blue haze of light drifted into his vision, snapping him from his thoughts, but unable to pull his attention away from the sky. He felt suddenly, oddly, as if he were watching for more than just his own sake.
"Well? Any idea where we go next?" Navi bobbed at his shoulder.
Link nodded, eyes still focused up. "...been thinking about it a while...I have a pretty good idea..."
"Really?" the fairy asked incredulously.
He nodded again, "The Lost Woods. Great Deku Tree."
Navi made a sound of mild amusement, "Hmm. That's a good point. The Great Deku kinda is a sacred place. Kinda. And if not, he'll at least know where another one is." Link nodded, but Navi got the impression that he wasn't paying attention to just what he was nodding at. "Or maybe you're just homesick?"
He gave a huff, smiling. No, he wasn't homesick. It was the most sacred place he had ever come to know. The Great Deku Tree, a massive holy tree that sat hidden deep within the mysterious Lost Woods. He'd had the very same train of thought- that the Great Deku Tree, if not holding a piece of the Triforce, would at least have a clue as to where the next one might be found.
...Homesick. Hm. He wondered if the princess was feeling terribly homesick. Link stayed and watched the clouds roll by until the sun sank and the stars blossomed from the velvety curtain of night. He hoped that doing so might somehow pass the vision to the unknown captive and ease her spirit. Somehow.
…...
It hadn't been until she looked about ready to collapse and die from hunger that Princess Zelda was offered any sort of food from her captors. And calling it food was being kind. It looked more like warm mud and pig slop, and considering who her captors were, she would not have been surprised. The unusual crystal prison that held her dissolved only enough to allow one of the witches to pass the bowl and spoon through to her, sealing right back up as the withered hand was withdrawn. Even starving as she was, Zelda would not accept the food while the twin witches and their host of moblins were present, though her stomach protested the show of defiance angrily.
Show no weakness before the enemy. Give them no kink in your armor for which to aim. These teachings that had been passed down to her, now more than ever, were proven vital for the princess.
Only after all of those sneering faces had retreated did she grab the bowl and consume the contents. Something so disgusting tasting had never been so good. Insult as it was to her crown, the foul concoction sustained her and kept her a few days more from imminent death. The bowl was scraped clean, and then placed aside.
So long her imprisonment seemed that Princess Zelda had all but lost track of time's progression. Whenever she caught sight of errant beams of sunlight, she would find herself surprised. Though, why should she be? Of course, day and night fell normally, with or without her. More than once, Zelda found herself scowling at the golden mark on the back of her hand. What good would wisdom do to save her now? Power at least would have allowed her to smash free of her cage and throw her abductors into the deepest, most unforgiving cell of the castle.
Courage would have calmed the voice in her head that whimpered at every onset of absolute darkness.
But no. The princess had been blessed with the mark of wisdom, something she suspected that a vast majority of the people who knew her would not be shocked to hear. So she would use her wisdom. And she would trust, not only the Goddesses, but the dear people of her kingdom. Trust that they would find a way to hold the sovereign state together. Trust that they would find a way to defeat Ganondorf. And trust that they had not yet given up on their princess. A pulse emanated from the mark on her hand, soothing, comforting her.
"Yes..." she spoke only to the dark, her voice soft and shaky from latency, "I place my trust in you, dear Hyrule. I do so knowing that you would never let me down."
That night, when Zelda closed her eyes to sleep, her dreams came simply. It was as a feeling of serenity; watching clouds pass over a sky of blue that she had sincerely missed.
…...
"...no freaking bodies...not a single one!"
Ganondorf's blade sliced cleanly through one of his follower's faces, gore oozing from the moblin's skull as it fell to the sands. The mighty Gerudo had arrived at Lake Hylia with his small entourage, and lo and behold, there was not a single dead moblin lying around.
Correction. There had not been a single dead moblin lying around. Now, however, Ganondorf was repaying the treachery by methodically dispatching the quivering pig-men that had the misfortune of escorting him to the lake. There were now a host of bloodied corpses littering the sandy shoreline. "Not one! Do you understand what that means! Huh! Do you!" Ganondorf's sword struck at another moblin, biting deep into the monster's stubby neck and spraying a wash of blood over beige sands. The pungent scent of blood mixing with the clean lake air only seemed to taunt his senses. How dare they- how dare they! How dare these worthless half pigs steal away with a piece of his Triforce! Rage licked like tongues of flame at the back of his mind, causing him to down another of the filthy monsters with a single, clean blow. He would make good on his word to slay every last moblin for this deception. They were not the only fools that could be made to follow him. He could sway dozens of Lizalfos, or Bublins. Hell, he'd do everything himself if he had to! So long as he-
"Master!"
Ganondorf whirled about, mental tirade halted as one of his lowly moblin followers approached, shoving a bloodied male Zora forward. Behind the moblin, a female Zora and small child tried, without result, to free the green-finned man. "What the hell is this?" Ganondorf snapped, hand grasping so tightly at the handle of his sword that his knuckles nearly shone white.
"Him know!" the moblin gave the Zora a shove, snorting, "Him see it!"
The Gerudo towered over the fishy creature. Pitiless red eyes scanned that grayish skin, finding a multitude of old wounds that were beginning to heal among the ones his grunting pawn had obviously just inflicted. He reached down and grasped the Zora by the neck, his massive hand able to encircle it perfectly well. The man gasped as his air was cut off. Ganondorf only squeezed harder, "Tell me. Tell me what you saw. Now."
The male Zora was unable to respond.
Ganondorf's sword went clear through the fish's stomach and out through its back.
"Noooooo!" the female's shriek pierced through the air, unfortunately turning the murderous Gerudo's attention to her.
He first tossed the green-finned Zora aside like so much garbage. The man hit the shore with a limp thud, unmoving. Ganondorf's hand was next at her throat, fingers pressing into her jawbone, "Same question. Hope your answer's better."
This time it was the small child that squealed, "No! Mama, please, no!" The moblin that had brought them grabbed the girl by her arm and lifted her clear of the ground.
"I...it was..." the older female was shaking, cowering under the gaze of those eyes. She could hardly breathe, let alone speak.
Ganondorf drew his long blade upwards.
"Please, stop! It was...it was a boy!" the squirming child Zora screamed.
He paused mid swing, inclining his head towards the little girl, "What was that?"
"A... boy. He came here and defeated all the bad guys..." she as well crumbled under that suffocating glare, though not as badly as her mother, "H-he...saved us..."
"What boy!"
"I-I dunno. He...uhm...p-pointy ears...and...was all in green..."
"Pointy ears?" was it possible that the Hylians would actually fight back against him? What was that damn idiot Agahnim doing? He was supposed to have their worthless king under his influence so that things such as this didn't happen! "If you're lying to me, girl...so help me..."
"H-he..." the scared little girl continued, tears rolling down swollen cheeks, "He...took a shiny thing...and left...looking for holy places..."
The rage burst, and Ganondorf pressed his blade to the older female, dragging a slow, painful wound from her collar bone to her hip. The child he left for his moblins to deal with.
A piece of his precious Triforce had been here. And it had been taken away. A ticking at the forefront of his brain screamed at him, counting time as it flew passed. He had to get his hands on the Triforce of Wisdom, and soon. Every moment without it felt like anguish dragged out. An eternity and a breath of time all at once. It was driving him into a deeper madness than he would have thought possible. Ganondorf did not know why this Hylian boy was seeking holy places or what the significance of them was, but if that's where the brat had taken the piece of the Triforce, then that was where Ganondorf would go. He would hunt this rat down, tear his insides from him, and adorn a wall of his fortress with the brat's hide. The Gerudo would have Agahnim contacted immediately. The false priest would be able to compile a much more complete list of sacred places than Ganondorf himself would be able to.
It would fall into his hands. All of it- power, control, the Triforce of Wisdom. Everything. Whatever fool was trying to stop him was only delaying his victory and assuring death. That single thought kept the former Gerudo king from unleashing his full power and ripping the entire area apart.
Ganondorf moved to stand over the bodies of the wounded Zora, hefting his blade vertical to the ground. He drove it swiftly downward with a satisfying and bloody 'thunk.'
