Author`s Note: What if instead of wading through dungeons of enemies to reach the treasure, Link must face an altogether different challenge. What if he had to give up something precious to gain the treasure? This is that story. Enjoy.
He comes awake with a throbbing knot of pain beating away at his head. He can`t move and he can`t see; his hands feel bound together and there is the touch of rough cloth over his eyes. The ground is soft and warm; his fingers scratch the surface of woven mats. His breath comes in shuddering gulps with the wave of pain from his head. Slowly sounds filter in as panic subsides; bird`s song, creak of timber, clang of metal and a door opening.
He is suddenly jerked upright by rough hands and pushed against a wall. "Ahh, my head dammit! Who are you," he shouts, but there is only silence. A hand grips his chin as a cold liquid slides down his throat. It tastes of moss and berries. Immediately his head feels better. The blindfold is yanked off and the first thing he sees is wild, green eyes. They are framed by short, copper-colored hair and a mouth that scowls in hate. It is a young woman, not much older than Link, yet when she growls at him he see the ageless mind of an animal.
She slaps him hard and retreats to the corner of the dark room, content to squat and finger the short sword at her side. His questions go unanswered. With eyes free he slowly adjusts to the light and can see the details of the small room. The mats underneath are colorful, woven of gentle images: flowers, trees and butterflies. On the walls are strips of inner bark with drawings on them and several swords on racks. There is a small, carved wolf on the sill of the only window, in front of which hangs a red-dyed cloth. It strikes Link that the room is eerily similar to one of Kokiri Village.
The young woman still squats in the corner but now her head is cocked as if listening to a sound. The door is suddenly thrown open and Link is blinded by the bright light of day. In from the doorway steps a figure of noble cut, his long gray hair and stern face matching the light, blue armor he wears giving him an unquestionable air of authority. He squats down in front of Link and gazes hard into his eyes. There is judgment in his eyes, as if he cares for nothing but the truth. He finally speaks but it is nothing Link understands. Again the man speaks, again Link shakes his head.
"My father asks why you tried to invade our tribe`s shrine?" This from the angry, young woman in the corner. "What? You speak Hyrulean? Why didn`t you answer me before?" Link is a little more than taken aback.
"I can speak your distasteful tongue. Answer my father!" And she takes a step towards Link, drawing her short sword. Link manages to speak, "I came seeking help from the spirit shrine. I did not know it was yours or that it was forbidden to enter. Anyway, who are you people? I`ve heard no rumors of any tribe living this far out." But she does not answer, instead speaking in a foreign tongue to her father. He angrily speaks one word and she translates, "Why did you seek our spirit?" And Link answers, "Hyrule, the ruler of these lands, and its princess are in trouble. An army grows to the far east and an unknown corruption spreads through these lands even now. I came for the spirit`s magic and its seal. Surely you must help! Your land is in danger as well!"
This is all relayed to the man, who then barks out a command. Through the door comes a tall, thin man with the same intense eyes. He hands Link`s pack to the man who now seems some chief or leader and departs. The gray-haired man pulls out the two spirit stones; holding them before Link he speaks, long and quietly. After he is done, he puts them back, gets up and leaves.
The young woman also rises and stands over Link, "You have stolen from the spirits and planned to do so again from our shrine. Our lands are far away from your petty Kings and Queens of Hyrule. We are safe in the wilds of our woods. You will not be given another chance. You are now a prisoner and will remain in the room until my father decides what to do with you." She picks up his pack, walks out and locks the door. Once again Link is left in darkness.
……………….
It is a hard day and night for Link, full of black and despairing thoughts. Every minute he sees his grand quest fade a little more and he groans into the empty room.
The next morning he awakes blindfolded and is bundled into a sling and carried for several hours. Finally rough hands set him on his feet, seize the back of his tunic and whip away the blindfold. Before him lies a drop no man could survive. His toes touch the edge of a cliff that plummets downward so far that Link believes he would have enough breath to curse a dozen times before hitting. From the base of the cliff a carpet of green stretches unbroken to the horizon.
The cold voice of the young woman calls to him, "Death or obedience, stranger! Death, and we let you fall. Obedience, and you will live, bound by your word never to escape on penalty of death. You will learn our ways, our language and you will teach us of the outside world, of new tools and weapons and magic. Link grimaces and thinks "To live and know the world grows darker as I sit by? To be a slave and never see the face of Zelda again?" It is all so distasteful and unimaginable that in a brief moment of weakness and oblivion he leans forward and falls.
A hard jerk and he is caught by his tunic. "So eager for death? It is customary in our tribe for death to be seen out with music and song. We will let you go after it is done." He still faces the void of empty air when the first sounds of drifting notes play out around him. They are the winds whistling through branches, leaves drumming in rain, the creak of trunks in a silent forest and others that fill Link`s mind to bursting. A lilting and pure voice rises into the melody, mixing with notes in an elegant dance. The voice is the sunshine that pierces the maze of leaves and dapples the eye below.
"Life; I am still alive, to breathe and see this life. If all I am to be is a slave, then I will be a slave, but a slave alive and still living, still believing in some hope." Hope, it rings through Link like the music and song. But the melody comes to an end and hands let go of Link`s tunic and he falls. The grass and earth are soft and only his ego is bruised at the thought of almost throwing his life away.
…………………
So his days become busy. He is let out of the single hut and given freedom to roam within the village. They have built small huts both on the ground and attached to large trees with vine and supple, slender branches. They are an agile people, wiry and strong, transitioning quickly between ground and tree. They think nothing of jumping large gaps between huts and when Link wanders the area he sees his guardians circling high up in the crowns of these massive trees. In the mornings he learns their language, a lyrical tongue that sometimes reaches the range of song. In the early light of dawn, when he can see enough to read scratches in dirt the young woman, daughter of the tribe`s chieftain, comes to instruct him. She is often curt and angry at Link though he cannot understand why. She is often his babysitter, accompanying him to meetings with her father and the elders of the village. They demand much him as he struggles to explain his youth and inexperience.
In the afternoons he is tested. Swordfights with skilled warriors, full of tiring attacks and counter-attacks. Endless questions about agriculture, construction of towns and political intrigue. They even make him explain the religions and myths of his lands. The last is difficult for Link; he admits that his knowledge is limited to his father`s tales and certain spirits. There are never any answers from these grim faced men and women.
……………………
"No, that means the green of moss and grass. You must say it like this, which is green, the color of leaves shot through with light." It is his second week since choosing life and still he struggles with every word and wakes up every morning sore and aching. Link raises his hand and says, "Can we talk for a bit? My head hurts with all these words." They are sitting on logs at the edge of the village, looking out on a low hill with a river running around it. "Ahh, we might as well. You will never learn our language."
"How did you learn mine?" Link asks this and secretly hopes she will finally answer his questions after refusing every single day. The woman turns her head away and says "We have tribe members, who in the past have chosen to live outside these forests. I went to their lands as a small child and learned this language. It is required of every chieftain`s heir. What is this Hyrule like? A question for a question right?"
"Hyrule?," and Link thinks for a moment, "There are times in my travels when the plains and mountains are coated in golden light and farmers are out greeting the day and harvesting in a cold dawn. I have come upon the castle of Hyrule at sunset, the thousand glass windows stained a beautiful purple and the lines of brick and mortar so straight and precise; it is our symbol of peace and strength. I have been in the crowded cities full of dust and noise, so many people that one can barely move. And yet the people of Hyrule take pride in their homes and community, they smile at any day`s offerings and often go out of their way to help each other. Even in the most isolated corners; on the ranches and in small towns of the mountains Hyrule is present. It is an idea and a passion. Our rulers have always embodied the best principles and it shows in the lives of the people in the kingdom. We have a saying, "It is not hard for a flower to be beautiful in a field of a thousand; but it is hard and worthwhile to be so beautiful individually as well."
Link picked up a flower by his foot and gave this to his instructor as he said this last line. The straight line of her face softens and she smiles. Her green eyes find Links and she says, "We are taught Hyrule is a land of harsh laws and aggressive people. To find it different is surprising." She brushes a curl of copper hair from her eyes. "My name is Lia, daughter of Dassen, who is the chief of our tribe." She stands to leave but Links asks, "What of your tribe and these lands? What are they called?"
She pauses with one hand touching the giant trunk of a tree and says sadly, "that is why you were forbidden to enter our shrine."
Later that night though, for the first time, Lia brings Link his food in the hut and sits silently with him while he eats. There are no other words for him, and when he is done she picks up and leaves. A full moon finds a hole in the forest canopy and shines through the hut`s window, on a Link lost in thought and memory.
……………….
Red and gold drift down and cover the village in an ocean of leaves. It is fall in the great forest that stretches to unknown horizons. It has been two months now and Link has learned much. "Let us see how you fare now," calls out Dassen. Immediately three nimble warriors rush Link. He lets the first slide by as he pivots and plants his wooden sword squarely on the back of the second attacker`s head. The third`s sword slides over his head as Link ducks and jumps back to gain room. "Mud-walkers!" he calls out, a new insult he learned recently. One stabs quickly inward. His sword slides along Link`s as he parries with a wonderful grace and comes out with a slice along the neck and boot to the back of his defeated opponent. The last assumes a solid stance but then whips his sword overhand at Link. The sword bounces off his own and they careen off into the leaves. Hand to hand now and they circle. The warrior dances in on soft feet and throws a foot. It is caught by Link and twisted. The attacker goes flying, sending leaves up in a whirlwind of energy.
"You have improved Link. You would make a good warrior of our tribe." This from Dassen and Link can`t help but wonder what he means. Later, after lunch and language lessons, Lia suddenly and strangely says "Link, can you run like the fleet deer?" Before he can answer she is off through the circling trees and gone from view. Link grins and laughs, "can I run? Hah!" And he gives chase.
They run like wild creatures of the forest. Link follows her slight form through dense lands of ferns and roots, across valleys littered with the bodies of fallen trees, over streams and rocky banks, up cliff faces and down long, winding slopes. They run like that is all they have ever wanted to do; he, to chase and she, to be chased. Scenery whips by like an afterthought and the dangers of falls, trips and loose rocks are forgotten. Link laughs occasionally, at this sudden freedom and the pure rush of energy of pursuing the copper-haired woman through twists and turns. She takes to the branches of high trees and Link scrambles along behind. They cross logs spanning huge chasms with barely a hesitation. Finally Lia stops at the mouth of a small cave and sits to wait for Link.
They sit together on a flat rock and catch their breath. Golden leaves lie all around, coating the ground like a flood of golden coins. "Link, tell me of this Zelda you knew." An odd request from Lia who never touched on this before. Link draws a deep breath and says, "She is beautiful and regal like some untouchable angel, like some symbol of ageless nobility. But at the same time she is so vulnerable and innocent, finding her power in truly trusting others for help. She embodied so much of what I had never known before I saw her. I went to sleep many nights believing that she was a reason to wake up in the morning. But Lia, that world is behind me now. I don`t care to return. I know it was your voice and music that pulled me back from death and for that I owe you everything. I can see the world differently now; the forest breathes and lives just like we do. And Lia, I do owe you everything." Link reaches out for her hand and takes it tightly.
Lia smiles shyly at this and squeezes his hand back in return. They sit hand in hand in silence while leaves continue to drift down. Finally Lia breaks the silence, "Link this is my secret spot. Nobody of my tribe knows of it. It is a gift to you. Also I must be honest. That I learned your tongue from cousins outside our forest is a lie. I was five when I was taken by a raiding party of thieves and criminals. They had been seeking the treasures of this forest and killed my two brothers when they found us wandering far from the village. I spent three months cruelly captive, forced to reveal paths through our lands. They took me with them when nothing of great value could be found. I was traded for meat and wine to a traveling trader and spent five years as a slave with him, going to all the backwater towns and hovels of some distant swamp country. He taught me well though and I made my escape when he was killed over an argument of rupees. It took me another two years to find my way back and my hatred of all outsiders built so that I saw all of you as evil, murderous bastards.
But Link, you have changed my sight. You give me hope that I and my tribe need not be scared of Hyrule and the far lands. For that I thank you." They both smile and Link takes her hand between his and asks, "Would you sing that song again?"
Her voice echoes out of the small grove, soft and muffled by the falling leaves.
……………………..
A few days later Link wakes in a gray dawn and hears a growing din outside the hut. In the fog of morning he thinks he is back in Kokiri village and he will find his childhood friend newly killed. But memory returns and he rises and pushes through to outside. The village is up and circled around someone yelling in the inside. He gets a glimpse of a bloody arm and suddenly he is pushing through the crowd to reach the center. It is Yorell, one of the fastest runners in the tribe and a friend to Lia. She is babbling like a river and Link can barely understand. "What? What happened?" He reaches out to a neighbor and asks again. Everyone is yelling but he catches a few words, "Lia…….hunting……..attack………monsters…….killed." His eyes go wide and he turns away, bursting through the crowd. He stops to grab his sword, straps it on and begins to run. "Hunting? To the north then, towards the cave." It's his only lead and he runs like the fabled horses of Hyrule, his mind roaming far ahead while his body takes to the trail. His feet pump over stumps, fields and hills, and he barely notices the growing light to the west. It`s in a small glade of grass that he finds the first signs of blood. Not far off are the bodies of two of the villagers, cut open and left to die. Link follows the blood on until he stumbles over a body. But it is not of the villagers or any animal. It resembles a person in shape but is large and muscular with the head of a boar. It has been cut and stabbed more than twenty times and yet, even as Link looks, it drags itself forward slowly. Up goes his sword and down into its back. The beast is finally still.
The beaten path and scarlet patches of blood lead straight towards Lia`s secret cave and Link hopes she is there now, hiding from these strange monsters. An hour passes and Link flies onward. Finally he arrives at the cave and calls out her name, "Lia! Lia!" There is no answer so he enters the dark cave. There is blood at the entrance as he walks by. The cave is not deep, perhaps the thirty paces and he finally spots a small, crouched figure. "Lia?" he says approaching slowly. The figure suddenly growls and charges him with sword pointed. Link dodges aside and catches Lia as she falls. She is covered in blood and can barely breathe. "Oh, Lia, what did they do to you."
He lays her to the ground and tries to clean and bandage her wounds. She seems to see Link then and clutches at his arm, "Link! I`m so sorry." "Don`t speak, Lia, save your strength. I`ll go get help," and Link rises to go. But she screams, "Link! They will come back. Those beasts wait for dark and circle the forest. They will come!" Lia faints at the effort of speaking. There is such anger then on Link`s face and he goes to the entrance and listens. "Only the sounds of the forest...but wait." Softly, Link can hear snuffling sounds and the breaking of twigs. It comes from beyond the clearing and he thinks "we`re surrounded." He grabs grass and branches from near the entrance and makes a bed for Lia. He starts a fire and sits thinking and watching the entrance.
"Dassen and the villagers will never find this place before dark. Lia is badly injured, how bad I don`t know. Damn, what can I do? If I break out of here Lia is left to those beasts. If I stay they will overwhelm us in the dark." Link yells out, voicing rage and frustration.
………………..
The light outside the cave grows darker. "Soon" thinks Link. He is sitting by Lia, stroking her forehead with water coming from a crack in the ceiling. She has a fever and sweats and moans, crying out in a frightened voice. Link picks her up in his lap and holds her tight. "Lia, I`m sorry it comes to this. I wish I could have held your hand one more time and told you of your beauty and how I feel for you. You gave me hope when I despaired. Why can`t I give you life now? Oh! Why does tragedy follow every moment of love?" And for the first time since his father stepped out of their house on that starry night Link cries.
The light fades; the shadows of darkness creeping down the walls, slowly falling over the two faces of Link and Lia. Rising, Link grabs four branches entwined with vine and sets them alight. They cast flickering shadow in all directions. Link walks to the entrance and sets them in crevices of rock. They throw circles of red light into the small clearing. It is full of deep pools of dark but no menacing creatures. Link draws his sword, looks up to the night sky, back at Lia and then draws his head back and yells. Loud squeals echo back and slowly they emerge into the torch-light. All bright, yellow eyes and gleaming tusks, they come crunching through the trees and advance on the cave. The metal of their swords and spears shine and they heft them excitedly. Link stands still and ready in a crouch, waiting for the first. One beast comes fast, sword rushing straight down. Link stands aside and stabs into its head. Down it goes and others come.
He clenches his right hand and thinks of boiling fury. A wave of fire shoots out around him and down go five more, withering and turning black. But Link only had one and now he fights; for Lia and for hope that should not die. But over the heads of the pressing monsters he sees more and more; so many that he loses their number in the far shadows.
Lia wakes from her fever and cries out. Link is not there. She staggers up and makes it ten feet before falling. But she can see the entrance now; can see a figure silhouetted in fire, struggling with the rise and fall of a forest of swords. She feels faint again and the last sight she sees is Link, hacking and slashing; his face lit up in grim determination by brief flashes of green fire that throw enemies back.
…………………..
Dassen and his fastest warriors approach the cave near dawn. They call out names but get no answer. They reach the clearing and stop dead. Heaped in front of the entrance is a wall of enemies waist high. The bodies spread out from there, some smashed into trees and some half-burned on the ground. They waste no time and press on, rolling the bodies aside and enter the cave. "Lia!" he calls but no answer. "Link" he calls but all is silent. The rising sun paints the fallen bodies of the beasts in bright light, all blood and gaping wounds. Dassen steps over them as he goes farther in. At the very back a single beast lies dead with a sword sticking straight up from its back. "Here," Dassen calls and rushes to it. Underneath its heavy weight is Link, his hand still clutching the sword that killed the last boar. His body has so many cuts that his tunic is more red than green. A spear head sticks out from his ribs.
Links other hand still holds Lia`s. He had fallen on top of her, protecting her to the last. Dassen bends down and wipes his daughter`s face, "Lia! Can you hear me?"
There is the quiet rush of the cave. Into that silence Lia gasps loudly and opens her eyes. "Father!" And she throws her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. "Link? What happened to him?" Lia sits up and looks around. She takes in the blood and cuts on his body and tries to rush to his side. Her father catches her as she falls. "Daughter, you must be still." And he pushes her down gently. More warriors show up and he finally bends over Link. "I owe you everything young man. I`m sorry we could never talk together." Suddenly there is a very small rasp of breath and Link is alive! Dassen starts and bends closer. He feels Links chest and suddenly turns to his three of his warriors. "Quick, make a sling. We must get to the shrine.
………………….
There is blackness, and then there is a single star of light. "Link, wake up." Link wakes but only to this stark world. The star sits shining, the only source in this black night. "Where am I?" The star pulses and a voice say`s "You are in the shrine of the forest, my shrine. I am the spirit of these lands and people. You were near death and they brought you here for healing. Do you know why I healed you?
Link can think of no answer. The star answers, "Because your first instinct was for another; for love. In that instant you threw away thoughts for yourself. I could not know that when you walked these paths so long ago. To the people of this forest you were merely an outsider."
It is not just the forest, Link. The world is alive, it breathes as you breathe and feels the pain of living just as you felt it so clearly in the cave. It is true that an evil rises in this age and it already threatens lands far on the peripheral of known lands. Those beasts are evidence that no land is truly safe. My people now realize this and their mistake becomes a rallying call to other tribes in other forests. But Link, a hero is made through choices and you have chosen the lives of others in moments of danger. That is a small part of being a hero, making tough decisions.
Time comes though, Link. A moment is approaching when you must make even tougher choices. I`m sorry to say this but you cannot stay in this wooded world. The world outside awaits you Link, you must depart."
………………
Link wakes for a second time in the middle of a vast chamber of cut stone. The kneeled figures of the forest tribe surround him. Lia is the first to get up and hug him tight. "There can be no thanks enough for what you did. We are eternally linked and if you ever need me, play my song and I shall come. And she kisses him once, long and hard before she turns and runs out through a side arch.
Dassen rises, approaches Link and kneels again. "You have saved my daughter and demonstrated how wrong we were. You are no longer a slave. We stand now awakened to this threat and will prepare. You have an army if ever you need it."
Link rises and looks around at the bowed heads and sighs, "I must leave, right? Lia knew it and you know it. But why don`t I? No, don`t say anything. It is my destiny right?" Link`s shoulders slump and he whispers under his breath, "and never to love."
Dassen holds a pouch and gives it to Link. "This is our heart, the essence of the forest. Take it and never forget what happened." Link opens the pouch and a green gem shines out. The middle burns bright silver and suddenly Link is as wide as the forest and breathes with the leaves and knows the sun soaking into his trunks. His blood is sap and it runs with energy to sit long in peace. But it ends and Link comes back to himself. His things are by the archway and he stuffs the gem in along with the others. "Tell Lia…" and he thinks, "tell her I`ll see her again." But it is not what he wanted to say, those things being lost in that dark cave between the two of them.
He shakes hands with a few of the warriors and finally with Dassen, looking into those hard eyes. "Thank you," he says and Link turns and walks out of the shrine and down the path out of the village, towards his growing destiny.