UNITING THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH

Chapter 10: The Sage of Happiness

There are many different kinds of "crazy" in the world. Some would contend that the entire world is crazy and that the difference between sanity and madness within any world is nothing more than labels and a matter of that which a given society finds acceptable. Among the non-typical thought-patterns and behaviors are the things that are cause for fear or sorrow – the crazy that leads to a person acting out violently, or that which is quiet, but harmful to the person who experiences it. Various forms of depression, for instance, are weights upon the soul and are nothing but suffering.

Perhaps the crazy people who suffer the most are those that are crazy, but sane enough to know that there is something wrong with them. They know society's disregard for them. They can hear the condescension in even the kindest of voices. This is in addition to carrying the terrible weight of their own burdened minds.

Then, there is another kind of crazy – the kind where the "sufferer" remains, despite popular consensus, unconvinced that there's anything wrong with them. If they are very lucky, they do not suffer at all. While some that see visions are plagued with demons, others see angels. While some are crushed by the weight of the world, others see potential and dreams. Maybe some people are only called crazy because they are capable of dreaming bigger dreams than the rest of society, leaving the rest to sit and stew in their own insecurities.

As Kukiel grew up, she grew comfortably into a rather positive kind of crazy.

Jakamar and Wryna moved down into the Hylian Settlement early on, with their daughter. They stayed on in Skyloft for a little while to take care of a friend, Mallara, after she'd lost the only family she'd had left to tragedy. When Mallara had decided to try to live on her own again, the little family moved down to the Surface for good. There was more work down here for Jakamar as a carpenter than was available in the Sky, for his hands were needed to build a city. While other hands worked, as well, he'd become Hyrule City's chief architect.

Kukiel was proud of her daddy, and her mommy, who did lots of pretty art. She got to go to school with Uncle Bats most days and she kept hush-hush on his secret because she knew that other people weren't like her – other people would be afraid of him if they knew he used to have flappy bat wings. Kukiel never understood that – why people would be afraid of him just because he used to look different, but she knew she had to protect Uncle Bats, so she was quiet. Besides, secrets were fun.

There was the time she saw the little mouse-people in the woods and no one believed her but Uncle Bats. Other kids called her "crazy," but she knew what she saw. The Kikwi knew what she saw too, but they said that the little mouse-people were afraid of getting eaten by the mean-monsters, just like they were afraid of getting eaten by people before they met Mr. Link. Even Mr. Link couldn't see the tiny people, even though he was really good and protected everybody. Uncle Bats said that he was too much of an adult-Hylian, that the little people only showed themselves to special children. He said that maybe if Link were a little child like her, he'd see the mouse-people because he was pure-hearted like she was.

Kukiel learned early on that she was "strange," but that was okay, because her strangeness could make people smile. Aunt Mallara, for instance, was so sad when she came to live with her family on Skyloft. The poor lady's son had gotten hurt so bad that he died and was carried away forever by his Loftwing. His name was put on the family marker in the graveyard and Aunt Mallara had no family anymore. Kukiel had dreams. A nice boy in yellow talked to Kukiel in the dreams she had of the soft-snowy Skyloft and the soft-snowy forest and said that he was alright and he didn't hurt anymore. He said he'd been reborn, but could still talk in dreams to people who were sensitive so he could let everyone know not to worry. Kukiel told Aunt Mallara her dreams and hearing them made her happy, but also made her cry.

Kukiel never cared what people thought of her when she'd dance barefoot down the street where she lived on the settlement's southern edge, or when she chased fireflies and butterflies well into her adolescence, her being too old in the judgment of many for such things. She eventually stopped seeing the little mouse-people, but didn't feel bad about that because she knew they felt like hiding, especially as Hyrule City grew. She'd sit at the base of the statue of the young man she saw in some of her dreams and paint her toenails in bright colors – a different color for each toe. She'd lace up her boots and visit the statue of another person she saw sometimes in her dreams but had never met in life. She'd say "Hi!" to the robot that lived in the temple sometimes.

There were days, after she'd gotten big, when she'd help Mr. Batreaux teach the children at his daycare and school. She'd make daisy-crowns for the little girls at recess and she made a few for the boys, too. Not many little boys wanted them, but a few brave souls didn't care if her handiwork made them look silly or "girly." Kukiel thought being "girly" was fine and dandy.

Kukiel talked to everything. She talked to remlits just like she had when her family lived on Skyloft, though they only mewed back. She talked to the Kikwis without hesitation. She played tag with Gorons, even though it was rather dangerous, as they'd chase her down by rolling themselves into big boulders and had a way of not knowing their own strength. The young woman developed an easy friendship with Mogma tradesmen, although her family did not approve.

The young woman wasn't sure what she wanted to do for a career. She thought about helping her Uncle Bats and taking over the school for him if he ever retired. She took to helping her Aunt Mallara in her weaving and sewing business, making clothes for people. Some people wondered if she should keep house with the apothecaries or even find her place in the palace dungeon, locked away before she could do anyone damage simply because, wherever Kukiel went, she only seemed to be halfway in reality. She'd never harmed a soul and was a gentle soul, herself, but some aspects of the way she talked, or spun around singing to herself in the open square with a flower-crown on her head, or the fact that she kept pet keese was vaguely threatening to some individuals.

She saw, heard and felt spirits all the time, she'd said. They lived in the forest and were of all kinds, not just the kind that revealed themselves to Heroes. Some spirits were those of slain monsters that regretted their fates – and most of those were consumed by revenge, hatred, and material attachments. Kukiel swore that the trees had their own spirits and did not need to talk because they were too busy growing and living. She saw the dead in dreaming and living ghosts all around her. She said she could sense the true nature of people – between those that thought that the world was a mechanism and those who saw the world as a big, living body. She knew that there were many more colors of red than just one and that the Goddess Din liked red, the Goddess Nayru liked blue, and Farore's courage was found in many shades of green. She also knew that though the white-Goddess had been Zelda, a portion of her spirit had never left the natural world.

She was a joyful figure in Hyrule City. Some people thought of zany young Kukiel as spiritually connected, a prophetess or even a Sage (since she had no element to connect to and hadn't shown any particular power, people favorably disposed to her started calling her the "Sage of Happiness" for her upbeat ways). However, not everyone liked her particular preaching. It wasn't so much that she was a "heretic," since Queen Zelda seemed to like her and invited her to the castle to play with her children sometimes – it was just that her words were strange. Many who prided themselves on being grounded in logic found her wild dreams and the fact that she wouldn't shut up about them in public or polite company either frightening or a pain.

It seemed the assertion that she was either a visionary or deluded was a matter of labels and opinions – none of which the girl apparently cared about. When she declared herself "Empress of Nature" was when even Zelda started to worry.

In the end, whatever they'd thought of her mind, most would say that Kukiel was the freest person they'd ever known. She was strange enough not to care about appearances. She was strange enough to see the good in every creature, and, at the foothills of the mountains of Eldin, she was strange enough to try to single-handedly stop a battle.

When that incident happened, she was staying in one of the small Hylian mining-villages that had cropped up. Her family was there to see the great fire-mountain. Uncle Bats was there, too, because he wanted to collect some igneous rocks as samples to show his students. A fight broke out among the miners, between Hylian workers and the Mogmas at work there. Kukiel had been awakened by the commotion and wandered out to the edge of town in the rising light of dawn.

"Whoom!"

A bomb went off, sheering off a portion of one of the area rock formations.

"Go on and get out of here! That was a little taste!"

Kukiel didn't know who was shouting, a human or a Mogma. "Stay back, honey," her mother said, grabbing her wrist. "It's just a worker's dispute. It'll be over in an hour or so."

"But, mom, someone set off a bomb!" Kukiel protested. "Is this town going to get blown up?"

"No, dear. Your father will get the Mogmas back in line."

Kukiel stared down at her mother. Perhaps it was her father's genes, but she'd grown tall and was about a head taller than the slightly-built woman. "People are gonna get hurt!" She said. "Maybe if I do something, everyone will play nice."

"Kukiel! Don't!"

Kukiel ran to the front lines, where men were drawn up in a line on one side and Mogmas were drawn up on the other – some of them peeking up out of holes in the ground. Everyone was yelling and shouting insults at one another. Some were brandishing sticks, crowbars, stones and bombs.

Shouts of "Beasts!" and "Invaders!" sounded back and forth. No one seemed to be willing to make the first move, either toward reconciliation or violence. As it was, it definitely looked like violence was the greater possibility.

"You monsters made our king sick! He's going to die! We should kill your leader to make it even!"

"You'll lay your filthy hands on Lord Tubert over our dead bodies! Thieves! Invaders!"

"We'll make our wives coats of your furs!"

Kukiel slipped out from among the men, the long and colorful robes she wore dragging and swishing on the ground. She positioned herself in the dead center of the space between the arguing Mogmas and men.

She began to sing.

"Oh, youth, guided by the servant of the Goddess, unite Earth and Sky and bring light to the land…

Oh, youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower… and before you a path shall open and a heavenly song you shall hear…"

She went on to sing other parts of the sacred song, parts bespeaking courage, love, and of the peoples living together in harmony.

Everyone who had been shouting paused to listen to her. Kukiel had a strong and beautiful voice. A few men sniffled. One of the Mogmas was crying until another Mogma smacked him for being overdramatic.

Kukiel knelt down on the ground. "I'm not moving until all of you get along, okay?" she said.

"Get out of the way!" one strong man shouted.

"Un-uh," Kukiel replied, shaking her head. "You all have to play nice."

Someone threw a rock, which hit someone on the head. That was the tipping point that triggered both of the drawn-up sides to descend upon one another like packs of angry wolves.

They left their pacifist bleeding.

"Thank you, Uncle Bats. I can manage."

"You're still in quite a bad condition," he said, stepping aside to let her crutch up a set of steps on her own.

Kukiel was bandaged up from cuts, still had some bruises, a cracked bone in her right arm and a limp in her left leg. She still felt a bit of pain in her ribs from where someone had taken a heavy wooden stick to her side. She had some stitches in and a bandage over a cut across her left cheek. She was better off than some who'd been in the riot, however. A young man named Heron had been killed, as well as two Mogmas, Geo and Fossa.

A week after the Foothills Fracas, as it had since been called, Kukiel was visiting Hyrule Castle, upon request from the king and queen. They wanted to talk with her about the riot and they wanted to give her an honor for her bravery, although what she'd tried to do had ended in failure.

She met on a private balcony close to the royal bedroom. King Link was still sick. He was on the mend, but it was not a wise idea for him to be up and around too much, even around his own castle. Zelda had brought him out to the balcony from the room in a rather nice wicker chair with wheels. He kept a wool blanket over his knees. He smiled at Kukiel as Batreaux helped her to sit down in a chair across from him.

"Oh, my…" Zelda said, gazing upon her. "I wouldn't have called you here so soon if I knew you were this badly hurt! Oh, Kukiel, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright," Kukiel said cheerfully. "I've got Uncle Bats to help me. I'm not hurt that bad. I'll heal soon, 'specially with potions."

The queen sighed and rubbed her knotted brow. "To think this land has made our people so savage, to beat up on a little girl…"

"I'm not little anymore."

"Yeah, but…"

"I still call you Link and Zelda, not King and Queen. And it's not the land; it's just that people forgot how to be nice to one another. The people don't play nice with the Mogmas, 'cause they look different, like animals. The Mogmas don't want to play nice because people are being bossy to them in their own lands. It doesn't make sense to me."

"Me, either," Link said with a cough.

"Well, a lot of it does have to do with economics… people making a living…" Zelda said. "There has to be a way to resolve these disputes."

"People don't like that Link's sick," Kukiel added. "He's gonna get better, isn't he?"

"Yeah…" Link assured, "I'm gonna get better. I've been getting better. The doctors have said that I'm out of both the contagious stage and the danger zone. I have nothing to do but to get better." He smiled. "Don't worry about me, Kukiel. I'll be fine. You worry about yourself, okay?"

"Okay. But I heard someone tried to kill you, Link."

"Karane stopped him." He looked to his Captain of the Guard, who grunted an affirmative and remained stoic from her place behind him.

"That's good. I know what might cheer us all up! The Scream-As-Loud-As-"

"No, don't!"

"Just kidding, Link" Kukiel laughed. "You think I'd do that with all your guards around?"

"Yes, I would, actually." Link laughed in earnest now, until he started coughing. Zelda pounded his back until he regained his breath.

"Silly Link. I'm worried now, though. People's spirits are restless. Everyone's mad because people got killed in the riot. Some people are mad that I got hurt and are blaming each other. I… I'm sorry I got hurt. I shouldn't have gotten involved."

"No…no…" Zelda said. "You did what you thought was right, and you tried. In any case, you made people think. That's why we're giving you an honor today."

Zelda took Kukiel's good hand and pressed a small, golden medallion into it. It had a design with a swirl on it and a red feather attached to it.

"Goddess Farore's symbol?" Kukiel asked.

"Uh huh," Link explained, "And a feather from my Loftwing. It's a medal for courage. It's the same kind as I gave to Captain Karane. It's for uncommon valor."

"I'm gonna put it on a ribbon for my neck and wear it!" Kukiel exclaimed. "Thank you! It's so pretty!"

"Keep being yourself, Kukiel," Link admonished, "but be careful out there and take care of yourself."

Kukiel flashed him a grin. "And when things aren't right in the world, I'm gonna scream as loud as I can."

END CHAPTER 10