A/N: This chapter was revised as of 2/8/13 – Polished, added narrative.
This chapter was revised as of 5/12/13 – Minor errors and typos fixed.
What Makes a Hero
By: Selphie Kinneas 175
Chapter 11: Forever Their Protector
.:.
The journey back to Ordon had taken the entire day, the moon beginning its ascent in the sky as he arrived in his hometown.
He had veered off to the left before heading into the village to let Epona drink from the spring. He dismounted, allowing her to take a break from his weight as she lowered her head and took in the much needed hydration. Link knelt down as well, filling his palms to the brim with the healing waters and splashing it onto his face. The liquid cooled his skin considerably, the breeze helping with that even more so; it was rejuvenating.
However, something had suddenly caught his eye to the right of him. He ignored it at first, thinking it might be a wild animal, and he knew from experience that with some of the larger predators of the forest it was best not to look at them.
There was something strange about this, though; it had a beautiful glow about it. He turned his head to look at what it was and what was there both shocked and excited him – it was the golden wolf.
He stood and approached it, unsheathing his sword as it prepared to lunge.
Everything had happened the same in this instance as it had previously; although this time he was taught a new skill. He was happy to meet with the ghost again, for he had an inexplicable connection to it, but he couldn't understand what exactly that was. He was quickly taught the move the creature called the shield attack, and it soon after made its departure.
He decided to rest in his home for the night where he could also eat a decent meal – something he hadn't had in over a week. Midna complained and whined, but he pointed out that it was the middle of the night, and Bo had been sleeping anyway, so they couldn't very well seek his guidance while he wasn't conscious. She huffed, but she knew he was right, so she took the much needed rest as well.
As soon as the sun was up, so were they. He mounted Epona and headed into the village where the mayor noticed him immediately and called out to him, bringing him into his home.
Link let him know that the children were safe, but he couldn't bring about the words to tell him that he had yet to find his daughter. He knew it though; by the way Link looked down and away from him at the question. The mayor's sadness could be felt in the air like a thick fog, and Link felt horrible about it. He wished he could tell Bo that his daughter was safe; he wished he could say that she was back in Kakariko with the rest of the children, but he knew he couldn't.
It broke his heart to think that Ilia could still be suffering somewhere, or worse. It made him upset, anxious, but mostly angry.
The subject was quickly changed as he asked the mayor about the Gorons and how he could help. He brought him into a room in the back of his residence that Link never knew existed, and he had been in this home multiple times during his youth. There was a large ring in the center and various torches were lit. Bo explained that Gorons like to match strength in sumo contests, and that he would like to teach him the ways of the art.
As they donned different clothing for the lesson, Midna couldn't help but drool. Link had removed his tunic and all the garments beneath, save a pair of short, baggy pants with the traditional Ordon style belt around his waist.
Usually the imp was more attracted to the darker skinned Twili from her realm, but the young man's toned body definitely enticed her. His arms were very muscular, his chest was well-toned as was his back, and his skin was evenly tanned from head to toe. Perhaps he sometimes herded goats bare-chested? She had no idea, but it was obvious that he had worked very hard for many years of his life to have built up such a nicely toned physique at such a young age.
Living in his shadow wasn't so bad sometimes, she smirked, enjoying the view. Never, would she ever, utter a word of this to him though. She compared it to being like telling your dog you found it handsome, or telling your toy it was looking good – simply absurd in her eyes. She laughed inwardly at the thought.
They proceeded to wrestle, and even though it took a couple of tries to get it down, Link learned extremely quickly and was soon outdoing his teacher. After the short match, the corpulent man relinquished the iron boots, admitting that they were behind how he truly earned the Gorons' trust.
With what he needed out of the way, he took his time in visiting with each villager, letting them know that their children were safe in the hands of Renado, which most of them were acquainted with or had at least heard good things about. Link's heart swelled with joy at bringing relief and contentment to his friends and neighbors, more so to his family. Each of them delightfully thanked him with all their hearts and bid him farewell, telling him to be careful before he left.
He remembered one more thing he needed to do before departing from the village, though.
Epona trotted up the trail leading to the ranch, the sight of Fado wandering about instantly reaching Link's vision. Upon seeing his arrival, his old friend shouted to him in an excited greeting. Link couldn't help but smile; he had genuinely missed everyone from his home.
He also made sure to let his dear friend know that the children were safe just before offering to help round up the goats. Fado eagerly accepted and stepped out of the way, watching as the inseparable duo did what they did best.
Link spurred Epona into a quick gallop, performing a sweeping motion back and forth over the field, moving the animals in closer and closer with each pass. He closed his eyes for a moment, simply taking in the smell of air and the warm breeze through his hair. He never thought he would have to savor the feeling of herding the goats; it had always been a daily chore for him, not something he had to miss out on doing.
He shrugged off the bad feelings and quickly finished his task at hand. Fado's jaw dropped as he told Link of how drastically he had beaten his previous record. He had gathered all the goats into the barn in mere seconds – he was slightly surprised himself.
He told his friend his goodbyes one last time before finally exiting the calm village.
As he came into the open clearing that was Hyrule Field, something felt off. There was a stench in the air, and it was entirely too quiet. None of the mindless creatures were roaming the plains as they usually did – it was lifeless. That was, until he moved forward a bit more when more of the field came into view.
Up ahead, he met the gaze of a green demon. He would recognize those eyes anywhere. They were red and filled with no emotion whatsoever; they were an empty void of crimson, almost as if he had no being and was nothing more than an empty shell. Link froze, Epona doing the same as Midna popped out of the shadows to lecture him.
"What's the hold up?"
His face became like stone, his stare locked with that of the beast, and there was an indomitable will about him as he replied sternly, "That."
The imp turned to look at what he gestured to and what she saw was a large, grotesque creature atop a massive boar.
She looked back at him, "So what? Either leave it alone or kill it. Just get a move on!"
All was silent. Link hadn't even blinked; he was reliving that day over and over again in his mind. The hideous, green monster with which his gaze was locked was the reason for his lost childhood, the reason he grew up without a family, the reason he had no parents.
He was staring at his mother and father's murderer.
"I'm going to kill it," he declared, his voice low and holding all the seriousness in the world.
Midna was slightly shocked; she had yet to hear him speak with such anger, and she had noticed by now that he refrained from killing most things unless they were the ones starting the fight and the only solution was to end lives. To Link, killing was used only as a last resort.
This creature – although hideous and obviously up to no good – had done nothing… that she knew of.
The demon snorted, as if to be taunting him, and then gave him a wide, mostly toothless grin before it spurred its ugly pig in the direction of Kakariko.
Link's jaw dropped, just ever so slightly; was this thing heading to the village on purpose? Did it know where the children were located and that they were some of the only family he had left? It was as if this monster made it its one goal in life to destroy all of Link's loved ones.
'Why!' He screamed in his mind. What had he ever done to this beast?
The young man kicked Epona's sides a bit more harshly than he intended, sending her speeding after the fiend. It had a head start on him, though, for when he spotted the creature it was already a great distance ahead of him - nearly to the bridge. It was quickly out of his sight, but he knew where the ogre was going, he just knew it was after the children.
Midna was confused, but she wouldn't argue with his sudden change in speed. Finally, she thought, he was going at the pace she had wanted him to go at this whole time.
They crossed the short bridge and were in the village just in time to watch the repulsive troll dash away with an unconscious Colin in its grasp. An unwanted image flashed into his mind's eye at that moment; the way it was lifting Colin up in the air was the same way it had lifted his father's corpse. He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head, trying to shake away the memory.
As if Link didn't have a fire burning underneath him already; now the creature had only stoked the flames of his hatred towards it. Now he was even more determined, he was going to bring an end to this miserable being's life, even if it cost him his.
He kicked Epona harder, sending her flying at a breakneck pace after the demons. The hero's mare had never been pushed to run so fast, but she did it well, her hooves kicking up the brown dirt as she went. They sped by so fast that he couldn't even hear the words of the shaman as he called out to Link to hurry. To all others standing by and watching, the duo must have appeared as nothing more than a blur; their shadows even had a hard time keeping up.
Midna had never seen this kind of tenacity in his eyes before – she liked it.
As they emerged in the northern field, the beast had come to a halt, as if waiting for Link to arrive to mock him. He ceased his charge as well, shouting out to the creature, "Give me the boy!"
The monster grinned evilly, "Ha! Come and get 'im, kid!"
It raised a horn, summoning its pesky minions to help it with the battle before it turned around and ran away. Link growled in rage at the creature's spinelessness; he wanted nothing more than to face the beast, not its mindless followers.
They all charged him in a flash, firing arrows imbued with fire and swinging clubs in his direction. He spurred Epona onwards, trying to ignore the senseless drabble and assault the leader of the pack. He came up alongside it, swinging his Ordon sword with all his might. Most of the hits were successful, knocking off some of the ogre's armor in the process. That was, until a club from one of the lesser creatures met his right side.
He slipped from the saddle at the impact, but kept his hold on it as Epona continued her charge. He grunted slightly as he pulled himself back into the seat; the force had hit his still-freshly-healed wounds, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
He nudged her sides again, urging her next to the beast once more. It only took a few more swings until the rest of its useless armor had fallen off from the contact with Link's blade.
The fiend staggered off onto the nearby bridge of Eldin where Link quickly followed. He could tell it was a trap as both ends of the bridge were barricaded and set to flame, but he didn't mind. He wanted to be confined with this beast; he wanted nothing more than to fight it to the death. It stood confidently at the opposite end, taunting Link with his newly acquired trophy. He gritted his teeth in anger.
"Relinquish him," the young hero began, "or I promise you, you will be sorry."
The massive troll laughed so loud it reverberated off the walls of the chasm below, "And what would you do, boy? Cry me to death?" it chuckled again.
Link strangely smiled, "What do they call you?"
The imp in his shadow thought he had lost his mind, why was he talking to this thing? Just kill it!
"You're lookin' at the king of the Bulblins, boy. Come to pay your respects?"
He shook his head and replied forcefully, "No, I wanted to know the name of the demon that killed my parents. I wanted to know the name of the beast I was about to kill! Just as it killed my family seven years ago!" he screamed, his blade now raised.
Midna's mouth fell agape from the shadows; so much made sense now. He was beginning to make it harder for her to merely use him for her own gain, but she would still do so nonetheless.
King Bulblin snickered, remembering the day in his mind as if he was proud of his accomplishment, "Well then, kid, I'd be happy to destroy the last of the bloodline!"
With that, the king's enormous boar began its stampede. Link noticed this and spurred Epona to do the same. The bridge was long and narrow with nothing on the sides to keep one from falling off. The enemies charged each other head on, and with the first pass Link landed a strike on the brute, causing it to sway on its mount.
They reached the end, turned around, and began again.
They made a pass in which no damage was dealt, but with the third pass, the hog's colossal horn made contact with Link's left side. He groaned loudly as he doubled over, leaning on Epona's neck for a moment. His right hand instinctively went to where he was struck, blood quickly wetting his tunic.
Luckily, the horn had not stabbed into him, but instead it grazed the skin of his already wounded side much like a slice from a sword. He grunted, pushing himself to ignore the pain as he turned his steed around and charged at the monster yet again.
There was another pass with no contact until finally Link's blade collided so harshly with the large Bulblin that it sent him soaring off the bridge into the abyss below.
He halted, taking a moment to revel in the victory as he watched the wretched creature fall to its death. He sighed in relief upon its defeat before turning Epona around to go retrieve Colin.
Having lost its master, the boar didn't fight Link as he used his sword to cut the rope that bound the small boy to the long saddle horn the pig adorned. He grumbled slightly at the discomfort in his side as he reached from atop his mare to grab the child's small frame and bring him into his lap.
By now the flames that were ablaze at either side of the bridge had died down. Deciding to spare the mindless warthog, Link slapped its back harshly, sending it running in the opposite direction of the village as he pressed Epona back toward Kakariko. She galloped back, but not at the intense speed she had previously, knowing full well that her master had taken damage.
"Well, stupid wolf, you went and got yourself hurt again," Midna chastised, suddenly popping into his line of sight.
He closed his eyes momentarily and exhaled, "I had to save him, Midna. You have no idea how important he is to me."
She placed her dainty hands on her cheeks, "Aw, how sweet," she chimed.
He looked over at her, perplexity on his worn features.
The imp scoffed, moving her hands to her hips, "Yeah right. Was he really worth almost losing your life?"
Link didn't hesitate, "Yes."
"Ugh," she rolled her eyes, "Why would the so-called Goddesses choose someone so stupid to be their hero," she mumbled to herself as she swooped back into the shade beneath them.
Back in the village, Talo had taken to the cliff top to watch for their friends' return. It had been at least an hour since they darted out of their sight, and some of them had gone back inside to escape the heat while waiting for the young boy's call of their arrival.
Malo and Luda had gone into the sanctuary while Renado and Beth thought it best to wait it out until they returned. Beth could hardly stop crying; she felt awful for what she had done, or more so, what she hadn't done. The shaman had tried his best to console her, but it only helped so much.
"WHOA!" the scream of Talo could be heard by everyone in the village, "Hey everybody! I can see Link and Colin coming back!" he yelled as he ran down the hill as quickly as he could to greet them when they arrived.
Beth's head snapped up, wiping her nose with her forearm as she did so, "Did you hear that Mister Renado?" she asked excitedly.
He looked down at her with a smile, "I did."
Luda and Malo came outside when they heard the call, and soon after that Talo made his way down and joined the others on the dusty path in front of the sanctuary as well. They watched and waited as the sound of distinctive hoof beats filled their ears, and they were finally greeted with the sight of Link holding Colin atop Epona.
The children's faces immediately lit up, their optimistic young minds automatically thinking the best of things. Renado, however, wore a serious expression; he was very aware that something could be wrong with either one of them, or even both of them.
Reaching the sanctuary, Link dismounted his steed, Colin still in his strong arms. He found he was slightly weakened though, and in order to hide it, he knelt down right there, laying the unconscious boy in his lap on the ground. The children quickly ran up to the two on the dirty terrain, barraging Link with questions. They all seemed to inquire at once:
"Is he okay?" Beth asked.
"Is he DEAD?" then came Talo.
"…Did you kill that thing?" Malo murmured.
Renado hushed them and Colin soon came to. His first question was if everyone was okay, and if Beth was angry with him for pushing her. She couldn't help but smile, she had always been cruel to him, and yet he still helped her and wanted to make sure she wasn't upset with him. No, she was upset with herself. She shook her head, relieving him.
He told Link that he finally comprehended what his father meant when he told him he needed to be stronger, that he needed to be more like his hero was. He finally understood that his father wasn't speaking of physical strength, but of strength of the heart and of the spirit. He needed to be braver.
The blond boy asked Link if he had been the one who rescued him, although, he already knew. He had always been there to save him for as long as he had been alive. He couldn't think of a time in which Link wasn't there, wasn't always watching over him and keeping him safe, because there simply wasn't one.
"You… You can do anything," Colin whispered, "You can do something to help the Gorons in the mine too, can't you, Link?"
Link smiled and nodded, and with that, the boy's consciousness slipped away from him.
The children panicked, thinking the worst. Talo, wanting so desperately to help, tried to pick him up, but it was no use. Renado stepped in and lifted his small frame into his arms easily, everyone else rising to their feet as well. However, as he did so, he noticed blood on the boy's white clothing.
Shocked, he asked, "What's this?" gesturing the sight to Link.
Link sighed, remembering his injuries as the pain returned, "Don't worry, it isn't his."
They all fell silent as they turned their attention to the young hero.
"Then, whose?" the shaman inquired.
It all suddenly rushed back to him. Now that Colin was safe, the adrenaline in his body was dissipating and his mind refocused on his wounds. He wavered a bit, resting a hand on Epona's side for support. The young ones were shocked at his sudden loss of balance. With his side turned to them, they could then easily spot the damage.
"Link, you are injured. You must let me dress your wounds," Renado stated calmly.
He thought for a moment, remembering that he needed to go to the mines and shrugged off the shaman's words, "I'll be fine."
Renado handed the boy in his arms to his daughter; she was rather strong for her age and Colin was much littler than her and proved to be very light. He approached Link's unsteady body, "You are losing a good amount of blood, you need to be tended to or you will bleed out."
He didn't want to frighten the children with his words, but he needed Link to know the severity of his situation so he wouldn't run off and expire.
Link exhaled slowly, his vision beginning to blur as he tried, "I'm…"
He trailed off and closed his eyes. Renado saw him falter and knew what was coming next. The hero lost consciousness as he began falling back. If it weren't for the shaman, he would have fallen roughly to the ground, but his steady arms caught him before that could take place.
The children gasped; they thought this couldn't be truly happening. They all followed him and Luda as they took Link and Colin into the rundown inn. Renado told his daughter to place the young boy on the bed in the middle room in the hall as he took the more-needed of the two into the last room.
"Luda," the shaman began just before the two separated to different corridors, "Get a cool cloth and dab it on Colin's forehead. That should be all he needs, along with rest," he instructed, knowing his daughter would do just fine with the responsibility. She had long watched and helped her father care for patients, and she knew many of the simpler techniques used. In this case, a mere cloth was all that was needed, and she could very well handle that by herself.
Having his daughter occupied watching over Colin just in case anything should go wrong, Renado asked if Beth would help him tend to Link. She agreed, Talo begging if he could do so as well. The older man argued at first, wanting to have as few people in the room as possible, but then he thought that the child's presence might help Link recover more quickly; he knew that they all were very important to him.
Malo decided to stay behind in his newly acquired shop, though, never caring much for gatherings that didn't revolve around him or his efforts – he was sure both Link and Colin were going to be fine anyway, so why would he need to be there?
Renado placed the young man's unconscious form on the small bed in the center of the room, Beth and Talo immediately going to his side. The shaman picked up Link's upper half and supported it so he was in a seated position as he asked, "Beth, Talo, help me by removing his effects please."
They obliged, needing some words of guidance along the way as they were unsure of how exactly to unfasten a few of the buckles. They took off his boots, his sword, his shield, his cap, his gloves along with his bracer, and then the pack on his waist. With the unpleasant movement near his sides, Link began fluttering his eyes open slowly.
"Ah, Link, you have come to. Do you have the strength to remove your tunic, or do you need assistance?" the shaman questioned.
He shook his head weakly, "I can do it," as he began doing just that.
He grimaced slightly at the motion but in time he managed to remove his green tunic, chainmail, and finally the white undermost shirt. The kids couldn't help but be amazed at how much the young man wore now; he never had this many layers back in Ordon. That shortly became the least of their worries as they laid their eyes on his wounds.
As soon as he was done with removing the top portion of his clothing, Link slowly slinked his upper half back down into the cot. The older man pulled a chair up beside the bed so he could have a seat at Link's left side, where he could easily tell the majority of the damage was dealt.
Renado motioned to Beth, "Would you go into the cabinet and bring its contents to me?" as he began examining the extent of his injuries.
There were three round marks on Link's right side from the puncture wounds that were never healed properly and the same with his left where there were two of the same appearance. Also on his right side was a large, purpling bruise from the small Bulblin that had clubbed him. Lastly was the large slash to his upper left side, nearly reopening the older injuries. It was obvious that he was hurting, but he hid it well for the young ones, the only indication of pain being the worn expression on his face.
Physical pain and excessive bleeding was foreign to him at this point. There had been various smaller injuries he had incurred when herding goats and such back home, but never anything like he had experienced since he learned that he was the hero. He prayed to Farore that he wouldn't have to go through much more of this kind of pain.
Beth returned quickly with the things she had found in the cabinet that the shaman had pointed her to. He took a moment to get the needed tools prepared and he got to work, starting with cleaning the wounds out to prevent infection.
The little girl brought up a chair of her own so she could sit by Link's bed opposite Renado and Talo stood beside her.
"Link," Beth began, "Are you mad at me?" she asked, her voice filled with guilt.
He looked at her through half-lidded eyes as he tried not to grumble at the discomfort of the cleaning process, "No… why would I be?"
She couldn't stop the tears, "It's all my fault you and Colin got hurt! If I had just turned and ran like Talo did… you might have gotten there before Colin even got taken!"
He tried to shake his head, "Don't be silly… that thing was a monster… it would have taken anyone…" he mumbled as he winced at the sting of the alcohol on his open flesh. He normally would have had more comforting words to say, but his head wasn't in the right place at the moment.
Talo stepped in, "Are you going to die?" he asked in his usual manner.
He mustered a chuckle, "No… I'll be alright…"
"Is that a lie?" the persistent boy asked, turning his question to the working shaman.
"No," he stated simply and with a smile, "he is going to be just fine."
No harm will ever come to them, not as long as I live.