here's chapter ten, all nice, edited and redone!! sorry for the delay and all, and the scare from the original chapter ten i put up, but rewriting an entire chapter off of nothing but a crappy version is hard. anyways, chapter ten's all fixed!!
-Chapter 10-
"Hey, mom" Link said walking slowly into the kitchen "I want to ask you something…" he took a deep breath, hesitant about what he was about to say "Something about dad" he finished. But as soon as he had said it instantly wished he hadn't, because his mom nearly dropped the plate she was putting away.
"What do you want to ask sweetie?" she said, not turning to look at him.
"I want to know why I got a horse from him" Link muttered, now feeling really bad.
"Honestly, I want to know that myself" his mother replied
"You don't know?"
"Well I have a few good reasons why" his mother said, busying herself with cleaning the kitchen counter to avoid looking at her son "I'm personally wondering how, though" she muttered through clenched teeth.
"What do you mean?" Link asked, sitting down at the table "if you don't mind me asking of course, since we are on the subject."
Link's mother sighed "I knew this day would come eventually" she whispered, her head hung low. She pulled a chair up and sat down, her eyes staring at the table, refusing to look up at her son. "You're father was a great man, Link, and I loved him so much…"
"And…" Link urged. He felt almost guilty asking it, but he had gotten this far on the topic already, and wasn't going back now.
"You wouldn't remember him; he left shortly after you were born" his mom said quietly "I almost wish you could, you two are so much alike." A faint smile played across her lips "I asked him to stay, but he insisted that there was something that he had to find. He left, searching for it."
"Did he ever find it?" Link asked
"I don't think he did" his mother responded, and Link saw a tear fall down her cheek. "They found his body, two years ago, in a country just outside of here. He's dead now."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Link asked
"I don't know, I guess I just thought…" she was crying hard now, and Link felt really, really, really bad. He rushed over and hugged her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. Sorry…"
"It's fine, it was a fair question to ask, and I should have told you. I honestly wanted to just forget about it all myself…" she took a deep, shaky breath "I'm fine now sweetie, you can let go…"
Link let go of his mother and smiled. She smiled back, though it was a heartbroken smile.
"You would have loved you're father" she said "he was a brilliant man, and he probably could have given you a fair sword fight. Not to mention a run for your money if you got into a shooting contest."
Link smiled "he sounds like a great man." After a moment of silence he said "I'm going to go, I don't know, practice my shooting or something," and he left.
Link's mother smiled as he went. Her son could always tell when she could use her space, just like his father did. "If only he could see our son now," she thought aloud.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She went to answer it. Who she found at the door definitely wasn't someone she was expecting to see. "Zelda?" she said, utterly confused.
"Hi," Zelda said, waving. Sheik grinned from behind her.
They all sat around the kitchen table moments later, each with a cup of tea. "So tell me," Link's mother asked, sipping her tea "what brings you two here?"
"I have something to say about Link" Zelda said.
"And I'm only here because they wouldn't let her out of the Castle alone." Sheik added
"So what do you have to say about Link?"
"Well," Zelda said "we're going to need him, like soon."
"Need him for what?" Link's mother asked, starting to look worried
"We need him to be a hero" Zelda said, and she watched with a bit of guilt as Link's mother blanched "I know, sooner than we would have all wanted. But evil is awakening, and we need him to be ready."
"Isn't he ready enough?" Link's mother asked
"Yes, he's ready, but one small problem" Zelda began, but Sheik finished for her:
"He's not equipped."
"You know he can't get the Master Sword right?"
Zelda rolled her eyes "what do you think I've been doing for the past three or so years? I've been finding something to replace it. Haven't found anything really, but we're going to send him to get the Light Arrows."
"When?" Link's mother asked
"As soon as possible" Sheik replied
"Have you informed him?"
"Haven't gotten around to it yet"
"And honestly," Zelda added "we kind of hoped he would already be here so we could tell both of you at the same time. But"
"It didn't work as well as we had hoped" Sheik said before Zelda could finish. She looked at him and he just smiled, shrugged, and took a drink of tea.
"Right…" Link's mother looked at the two of them
"Did Link say where he was going?" Zelda asked
"Practice his shooting," Link's mother said quickly "I think…"
"That's just great" Sheik said, standing up "oh well, finding him shouldn't be too hard. Let's go Zel,"
Zelda stood up "Bye then, and thanks for the tea!" she called before she and Sheik left.
"Your welcome!!" Link's mother called after them. When did Sheik start calling Zelda, Zel? she wondered. This odd feeling was creeping up on her that something was up between the two of them…
"There he is!" Zelda said, pointing. Link was at the Kakariko shooting range practicing hitting moving targets. Sheik and Zelda ran over.
"Told you I could find him" Zelda told Sheik
"You never said a word" Sheik replied.
"Prin— er… Zelda!" Link said, "what brings you here?"
"You know how I told you like a year ago that you were going to be a hero?" Zelda began, Link nodded "well, time's come!!" she grinned
"Really?" Link's eyes widened "what do I do?! What does a hero do!?" he started to panic.
Sheik put a hand on Link's shoulder, calming him down "you need to go find the Light Arrows."
"And how do I do that?" Link asked
"Snow Peak" Zelda said "they're on Snow Peak. Sheik will fill you in on details and stuff, and help you on your quest." She watched, smiling slightly, as Link started firing questions at Sheik. It was funny seeing how different they were. Sheik was an inch or so taller, and his hair was a lighter blond, not to mention the fact that his eyes had a twinkle in them, saying he was just ready for anything. Link's eyes, on the other hand, usually betrayed confusion or amazement. Sheik also seemed more sure of himself, Link tended to act before thinking, and ask a few too many questions.
"So when do I start?" Link asked
"As soon as you like" Sheik replied
"So I start now?"
"Hang on," Zelda said quickly before Sheik could say anything "don't you want to, I don't know, see your mother before you go? Get a good night's rest, prepare food, and make sure you have enough arrows… You know, get supplies and stuff."
"Good idea" Sheik and Link replied at the same time.
"Let's go!" Link said, running toward home. Sheik followed.
"Boys," Zelda laughed, before heading back to the Castle.