The Waters of Nayru
Chapter 10: Invisible Eyes
By, Frank Hunter
The morning meant a reluctant farewell to the beautiful oasis, and it faded behind them like so many forgotten footsteps. But even the desert didn't seem so daunting anymore. Every part of the journey had taken on new life, and like the water that again filled the skins, that new sensation came along for the ride too. It permeated everything they did. The daily rides were filled with joyful conversation, and the breaks were much more comforting. The kissing became a regular pastime, an enjoyable new part of life. Rigo didn't know what it would mean when they got back to Jirin. He knew that a king's marriage was a strict tradition, and he didn't know if the bond he now shared with Amili would require such a ceremony, but neither of them worried about it yet. If Amili was concerned at all, she didn't mention it.
With the newfound happiness and comfort, this second leg of the journey went faster than the first. The concerns that had so plagued Rigo's mind were left behind as Jirin fell further and further into the distance. This was the adventure he'd wanted, here was the fun!
The idea of starting a new life with Amili began to take a more serious residence in his head. He wasn't sure he would really want to give up his destiny just for what they had, but on the other hand, he was still young. He didn't know if he needed anything else if he had the love of this girl. He'd heard the stories about how fertile and welcoming the lands of Hyrule were. Maybe they could find a place and stay. Maybe they could farm, and live together happily ever after like the people always did in the stories.
He didn't know if Amili would even consider such a thing. He didn't even know how to approach her about it; it had only been a joke when she'd said it in the oasis. But it wasn't an idea that would go away.
Maybe, he thought, if she shoots it down, it would be enough.
But, the permeating fear of rejection kept the thought from reaching his tongue, and whenever he thought he would say something, he bit it back and chose just to enjoy the happiness in the moment, without introducing these new worries into their journey. Before long, they'd have enough to worry about.
It was only another week at the pace they'd set before something new began to rise before them. This thing they could see from a distance, almost a day away, towering into the sky like an obelisk.
"It's huge," Amili marveled from behind Rigo as they rode.
"Do you think…" Rigo stammered. "Is that…is that it?"
"It's gotta be," said Amili.
They got closer the following day and the tower began to take shape, showing several smaller peaks around the perimeter and a façade that resembled a great arena. Other ruins spanned for miles out around the temple, the remnants of shanty-dwellings that must have been set up in the times after the Gerudo left and abandoned more recently than that. It was a proper ghost town, devoid of life. But, as Rigo guided the camel through it, desert sun aside, he felt cold.
He brought the camel to a slow trot. They had passed through a valley to get here, the walls of which now blocked his view of the temple he knew was not far ahead of him. But something felt wrong.
"Take the bow," he said to Amili, who complied immediately, unstrapping the weapon from his shoulder and setting an arrow on the string as Rigo had taught her. She kept the string drawn and kept her eyes off to the side as they passed through leagues of broken girders and crumbling walls.
"It's freezing," Amili whispered. Rigo didn't respond. He knew she was right, but it wasn't natural. There was only one thing he knew of that could have that effect on the living.
"The dead," he whispered.
"What?" Amili asked. If her eyes could have gone wider, they would have.
"Pureet taught me, once, that the dead never really leave us after they pass on. They're always with us. Around us. And if you train yourself, you can feel them. It's like a cool breeze on the back of your neck, the kind that raises your hair on end. That's what she said."
"Some lesson," Amili said.
"I had nightmares for a week."
"This feels more like a blizzard than a breeze."
"Yeah," said Rigo. "I wonder how many there must be."
Amili's weapon darted around frantically. The sound of a rock coming loose and falling down a slope ahead of them unnerved her, and she gasped, almost firing. Rigo gripped her knee to try and steady her.
Whatever watched them stayed hidden though, and made no move against them. Rigo wondered who they were, why they were still here. But he also knew that spirits do not harm the living without good reason. He told this to Amili, which also helped her to relax, if only slightly. But he wondered also if their trespass on this place was reason enough to instigate them. And what had happened to the people who had been here before? This he kept to himself.
They passed through a connecting tunnel and felt the coldness shed and drop behind them. It was like a weight off their shoulders and Amili shivered in relief, though she didn't replace the bow until they reached the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Before them now stood the temple.
"Wowww," Amili gasped, and it was indeed a sight. The building was no less impressive up close, enormous, but Rigo's eyes were drawn to one thing only. The crest of the Hyrule Royal Family sat atop the façade, dead center over the door, and perched on every single peak around the building's perimeter. The symbol, made up of three triangles set within a bird's wings, looked hideous in contrast with the temple, and overbearing in its redundancy. It was a symbol shown to Rigo throughout his childhood, in the books that documented the wars of the Gerudo people. It was the embodiment of his people's persecution and the violence that forced them from their homes, into fear and the unknown. He loathed it.
The crest loomed over them as their camel trotted up to the stairs, toward the entrance to the temple, and took its final footstep before coming to a halt. The shadow of that image cast itself over the satisfaction Rigo should have felt at reaching their journey's end.
"If this is the temple, they…they bastardized it," Rigo muttered. "The Hylians."
"It…looks like they built over what the temple used to be," Amili said, studying the ruins. She hopped down from the saddle and ran a hand over the stairs leading up to the temple. They were made of a stone so different from the clay and adobe the Gerudo preferred to build from.
Rigo just sat where he was with his shoulders slumped. "Then we're finished. If the Hylians rebuilt it, they're sure to have raided it," he said. "I bet there's nothing left inside except what they put there."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Amili consoled.
"Why not?"
"Well, your grandmother told you the treasure would be protected, right? Maybe it is still in there. Hidden away."
"I don't know," Rigo said. He felt hopeless. Could all of this have been for nothing?
Amili was done with the pessimism. Intent to redeem herself for her moment of panic, and wanting to revive Rigo's own resolve, she swallowed her reservations and turned back to Rigo, eyed him, and stormed over to him.
"Listen," she said. "You dragged me halfway across the world on the back of a smelly camel, through heat and exhaustion, and you even got me to kiss you on the way," Rigo glanced at her and kept wallowing. The camel looked a little put off, but didn't spit or snap.
"You were so excited to get here. Well, guess what? Now we're here! So we're gonna go inside, we're gonna find the treasure, and we're gonna bring it back to the pueblo. You with me, or not?"
"With you?" Rigo sighed.
Amili grabbed the side of Rigo's breastplate and tugged hard, almost pulling him from his mount headfirst. Rigo barely managed to keep his feet from flailing into the air and got them under him unsteadily before he hit the ground.
"Hey!" he yelled.
"I said, are you with me, or not?"
"Geez, I'm with you. Calm down," he said, backing away from her. But he couldn't help a laugh as he did.
They unloaded their gear, setting up camp beside the foot of the stairwell. The walls of this place blocked the wind, so they wouldn't need to worry about holes and windscreens. They could sleep on the sand here. With the entrance in front of them, they decided to take one more day before venturing inside. They had no torches or materials with which to make anything long-burning, so they would be at the mercy of daylight and anything they found inside to light the way. There was a river babbling not far away, they could actually hear it, but although Amili made some half-hearted noise about restocking the half-drained water supply, neither of the kids was too intent on passing back through the haunted ruins so soon after they'd gotten out.
In the end, they settled on gathering enough nearby wood to light a fire for the evening, and spending the night together, with the comfort of each other. Memories of the oasis fluttered about both of them, but try as he might to cheer up and enjoy Amili's company, the shape of the Triforce in the temple wall was a gloomy reminder of the failures of the Gerudo, and he could not think of anything else but having to go home, empty-handed, a failure himself.
The next day would make or break his destiny. It was hard to forget that.