A/N - Ah, sorry this took so long! I'm terrible. After I got back from spring break, school got really hectic, so I haven't had time to do any sort of personal writing. But here's a new chapter, and thank you all for your reviews! Please keep them coming.
Chapter Ten
Home
It's about a three weeks' journey to Lake Hylia, and thankfully, our horses are where we left them, looking perfectly fine. Lightning Strike snorts when he sees me, and I rub his nose, wishing I had a treat to give him. We have to backtrack back the way we came in order to get out of the Lost Woods; otherwise, we'll end up wandering until we die, and our souls will remain trapped among the trees as Stalfos.
Mostly, we travel in silence. Tall Link tries to tell a few raunchy tales about Ordon Village, but that just makes us homesick, so he stops. And Sheik's too busy watching for danger to tell us one of his many tales. I don't have any interesting stories, nor am I good at talking unless it's to say something snarky or get myself in trouble, so I keep my mouth shut and my head down.
It takes us just over a week to get out of the woods, carefully retracing our steps, using Sheik's perfect memory, and by that time, we're nearly out of food. I'm exhausted. I think the saddle has completely rearranged the shape of my butt, I haven't been sleeping well, and I definitely smell like it's been weeks since I showered. We all do. Every morning when I wake up, I hate the sight of Lightning Strike standing there placidly because it means another long day in the saddle.
At long last, we see the cave that marks the end of the Lost Woods and the start of the Faron Woods. Thank Din, I think. I'm tired of the endless trees and the whisper of the bare branches in the wind. Sheik pulls out his lantern and lights the wick, and then we dismount from our horses to lead them inside.
We don't get very far into the tunnel before we encounter a problem. We find a giant, sticky web stretched from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, thick and tightly woven. "I do not like the look of this," I mutter. I try to search the shadows beyond the web, but there's nothing to see, the darkness too complete beyond the circle of our lamplight.
Sheik touches the little fire to the white strands, and the whole thing goes up in flames all at once, the blaze baking our faces before it runs out of fuel and dies away to nothing. We all draw our weapons before continuing on.
Our footsteps seem so loud, so very loud on the stone ground, and our lantern is a blazing beacon, announcing our approach to all watching, but there's nothing to do about it. We need the light.
And then the beast looms up out of the darkness.
It lunges before I can get a good look at it, but I see too many flailing legs for comfort and a set of gnashing fangs. I cry out as I stumble back, knocked into the wall by Tall Link's wild leap away from the creature. Some of the leftover webs cling to the back of my cloak and keep me trapped there. The horses rear and buck, whinnying in distress, but they get caught on each other and can't flee as they'd like to.
"It's underbelly!" Sheik yells. "That's its weakness."
His light falls fully on the monster. It's one of the dreaded Skulltula. Its white and black body seems to fill the tunnel, and its eight angular legs are tipped with sharp points. Its mandibles are as long as my forearm, and they drip a viscous, white liquid, eyes glowing green as it glares at us.
My spine goes watery, and the sticky webs become the only things keeping me upright. Tall Link knocks a leg away with his shield and lashes out, his sword slicing only air. The Skulltula hisses, venom dripping to the ground.
Sheik reaches inside his cloak and flings his hand out, a white powder flying through the air. The spider shrieks and rears up. "Now!" he yells, but Tall Link is already moving, and his sword sinks deep into the Skulltula's underbelly.
The beast screams loudly enough to make dust rain down on our heads, and it thrashes wildly, threatening to squash Sheik and Tall Link. They jump back, though, and finally, the spasms stop, and the thing lies still. It's not actually as big as it first appeared. Though it is nearly as tall as Shiek, it doesn't fill the tunnel as it originally seemed to.
"Help, please," I squeak, embarrassed that I was useless in yet another fight.
Sheik and Tall Link turn around. For a moment, they just stare at me, stuck to the wall, feet dangling an inch or so above the ground, and my face turns red. Sheik slides his dagger between my cloak and the wall, and I drop to the dirt, bits of web still sticking to my back.
"Thanks," I say, coughing into my hand.
We have to shove the spider carcass to one side of the tunnel in order to fit the horses through. Its body is rock hard and covered with a coarse hair thick enough to poke holes in our hands and draw blood. Grimacing, I wrap my palms in my cloak and keep pushing. Eventually, we clear a big enough path, just wide enough for the horses to squeeze through. They don't like being so close to the Skulltula, but with a bit of cajoling and more than a few threats, we convince them to pass through.
The rest of the tunnel is quiet. We pass the Deku Baba's corpse, slowly decaying where it rests, and the sunlight begins to leech back into the darkness, turning it grey then crystal clear. We step out into the winter coated Faron Woods, and I let out a slow sigh of relief. I hadn't realized it until now, but there had been a constant pressure pushing down on my shoulders, a never ending weight, the whole time we were in the Lost Woods, and now that it's gone, I can close my eyes and take a deep breath.
We file through the metal gate, and Sheik shuts it behind us, securing it as best he can without a proper lock. "So, we need supplies," Tall Link says. "We can't make it all the way to Lake Hylia on what we have."
"Ordon Village is the closest," I say. "There's nothing else unless we want to back track all the way to Castle Town."
"You're right," Sheik agrees. "Not since Lon Lon Ranch was abandoned."
Tall Link visibly perks up at the idea of returning to Ordon Village. He's got the ring in his pocket. He's got something worth fighting for. As for me, I only feel dread at the thought of facing my parents.
There are only a few hours of strong daylight left, but they're enough to get us to the tiny village. The gnawing sensation in my stomach grows with each step, and I feel as if I'm sinking into the earth, whereas Tall Link grows more buoyant the closer we get. I snuck out. I didn't say goodbye. I didn't even leave a note.
What if my parents don't let me leave again?
Sheik knocks on their door as the dusk gathers around us. I hide myself behind Tall Link. My father is the one who answers, and his eyes grow wide at the sight of us – well, the sight of them, because I'm pretty sure he can't see me yet – then he steps back, grabbing Tall Link by the arm and dragging him inside as he calls for my mother.
I follow Sheik in, sidling into the shadows cast by the tall cabinet beside the door, but Sheik gives me a frown and pulls me out, keeping hold of my arm so I'm forced to stay in the light.
My mother clatters down the stairs and lets out a strangled sound when she sees Tall Link. She rushes to embrace him, pulling his face down so she can get a good look at it, tears on her cheeks. Then she gasps when she realizes what he's wearing. "That tunic! Tall Link, are you…?"
"The Hero Chosen by the Gods?" my father finishes. Their voices both turn reverent and awed.
"Is Ilia here?" Tall Link asks instead of answering her question.
She shakes her head sadly. "Oh hon, I'm sorry. She went to visit her grandmother. She won't be back for another two days."
In her old age, my grandmother decided to shun the company of the village and move about a half day's journey away to live on her own. My parents hate it just a little bit when Ilia goes to visit her because they're worried it's not safe, but they can't stop her.
"Oh." Tall Link's face falls. "That's – that's okay. We'll wait, or we'll go down to see her."
"No," Sheik says. "We have to leave first thing. Our mission is more important than anything."
"What exactly is your mission?" my father asks, but then they notice me.
The mood in the room shifts instantly. My father's eyebrows draw together like thunderclouds, and he snatches my away from Sheik, dragging me across the floor so fast I stumble. "You! Just what exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Father, I–"
He bowls over me. "Bed empty, no note, horse gone! What the hell were you thinking, young man? You could have gotten yourself killed. You could've gotten somebody else killed!" At that, he steps and looks around our group. "Where's Rusl?"
"A bandit killed him. It was nobody's fault." Sheik's kind enough to lie for me.
It's obvious from the way my father's fingers tighten around my arm that he doesn't believe Sheik. "Go upstairs," he orders, shoving me towards the stairs.
"But, Father–"
"Now!" He seizes me by the arm again and storms up the steps, nearly wrenching my shoulder from its socket. I pull at his fingers, voicing garbled protests, but he ignores me, stomping down the hall to my room. He shoves me inside. The door slams shut, and the lock clicks.
"Hey!" I yell, pounding my fists against the wood. I hear his footsteps recede back down the hallway.
I sink to the ground, tears pricking at my eyes, and before I can stop them, they start running down my cheeks. I draw my knees up to my chest as my whole body shakes. Some stupid part of me had hoped that my parents would be proud or impressed. They always said I never did anything. I thought that going on a mission to save the world, well, surely that ought to count as doing something. But they're just mad, just think that I'll make everything worse.
And maybe they're right. What have I done since I ran away? I got Rusl killed. I've been on my ass, helpless, for every single fight. If I go with them to Lake Hylia, I'll probably get Tall Link killed. Maybe even Sheik.
I crawl over to my bed and burrow under the covers, making sure every inch of me is hidden from the outside world. Maybe I'll just stay under here for the rest of my life.
Time blends into itself. I may be asleep or I may just be floating, suspended half in my body and half out of it. There is nothing but the darkness, and for that, I'm grateful. I can't deal with my thoughts right now. Better to be a nothing, a nobody.
"Sleepy Link?" a quiet voice asks near my head. It sounds a little like Sheik.
Maybe if I stay quiet, he'll go away.
"Sleepy Link, it's time to leave."
Yeah, right. As if my parents will ever let me go with him.
"Your parents are asleep. If we go now, we can be gone before they notice. Sleepy Link?" He gently pulls the covers away, and a beam of light falls on my head. I squirm away from it.
"You don't want me with you," I mumble, my voice muffled.
"Yes, I do. We need you. You're funny, and you're insightful, and you think of things that Tall Link and I don't. Sleepy Link, you climbed Hyrule Castle. That's no mean feat. You eavesdropped on us without me knowing. You killed a white wolfos."
"I'm the reason Rusl is dead."
"No, that was just an accident."
I stay silent. I know it's my fault.
"Okay, maybe you killed him. Maybe he died to save you." Sheik's voice grows a little harder, a little steelier. "What are you going to do with this life he gave you? Are you going to hide for the rest of your days, or are you going to do something that matters? How are you going to repay him, Sleepy Link? How are you going to repay Rusl? How are you going to make his death matter? He would want you to see this through."
I slowly poke my head out from beneath the blankets. Sheik's tan face is right beside mine, his red eyes burning, and my breath catches. I nod, and he grins widely at me. "Get up then. We need to be out of here before your parents awake."
I toss the covers off fully and roll out of bed, retrieving my pack from where I dropped it the night before. I follow him downstairs and find Tall Link waiting by the door. He, too, grins when he sees me, though his eyes remain a little distant and sad. Sheik hands me a paper wrapped parcel. "Supplies," he says. I nod, tucking it into my bag.
We slip out the door into the fresh, dim sun. There's a small makeshift stable attached to my house, and our horses are there, waiting for us. Quickly and silently, we saddle them and lead them out, walking along beside them until we're out of the village. Then we mount up and take off at a trot, passing the rusted fence before the dark tunnel that I never want to see again. The skeleton of the house beside the trail is completely covered by the snow that fell the night before.
Resupplied and refreshed – well, mostly – we set off towards Lake Hylia, turning east after we leave the Faron Woods and following the edge of Hyrule Field. We can't move very quickly; the horses have to lift their knees high to clear the thick fall of snow, so we can't go any faster than a walk. I wrap myself tightly in my cloak. It's much colder out here without the trees to block the wind which cuts like a scythe through a field of wheat.
I hang at the back of the line. I'm still shaken up by the events of the previous night. My knives hang heavily at my belt, and I wonder if I'm worthy of them. Sheik thinks so, and I know I should trust his judgment, but that seed – actually, it's more like an entire tree – still wiggles inside me.
We travel for a week, training every evening when we stop to make camp. I throw myself into it, determined to grow better and stronger, determined to prove my parents wrong and Sheik right. And I train for Rusl, so he won't have died for nothing. Each night, we either sleep in a way station or we spread the goddess stones out across the ground. On one of those nights, I can't sleep, so I sit up, staring out at the empty field around us.
The Stalfos wander through the snow, plowing deep troughs in the powder, dragging the tips of their swords behind them. They don't notice us, hidden as we are by the goddess stones, and one even passes within a foot of us without so much as a twitch of its head. Great winged shapes soar lazily overhead, too faraway and indistinct for me to make out anything more than crooked wings and long, sinewy necks.
At the end of that week, we're about halfway to Lake Hylia, and we've reached the final safe house. The Zoras don't leave their domain, and nobody travels all the way out there anymore, so the shacks past this point have fallen into despair. Since it's so bitterly cold, we cram ourselves against one wall, and Tall Link and Sheik let me lie in the middle because I'm the smallest. Sheik drapes the extra blanket over the three of us, and soon, the warmth envelops me. I feel myself sinking into sleep. Just before it claims me completely, I feel Sheik's arm slide around my waist.
In the morning, we wake up late. I suppose the warmth and the spooning lulled us all into a deeper sleep than we'd experienced before. It even effects Sheik, he of the perfect internal clock. It's actually a knock at the door that finally pulls us from the darkness.
Sheik snorts as he jerks awake, withdrawing his arm from around my waist and leaving the spot cold. He sits up, and on the other side of me, Tall Link pokes his tousle-haired head out from under the blanket and blinks blearily. The knock comes again.
"What in Din's name?" Sheik mutters and hefts himself to his feet, using the wall for support. He buckles his belt around his waist, keeping a hand on one hilt as he goes to answer the door. I can't see who's there from my position on the floor, but Sheik says, "Shit," and slams the door shut again.
"Who was it?" Tall Link asks.
"Get your weapons," Sheik says.
I scramble up, tangled in my blankets, and fumble my belt on. Whoever's outside knocks once more. And then they just go ahead and open the door. A woman with a foxlike, pointed face and long, black hair, one side shorn close to her head and a braid trailing over the top and down the back, steps into the shack.
My mouth drops open. "You're dead."
The woman smirks, flicking a curl away from her face. "Did you ever actually see my body?"
I think back to that terrible night. The night the bandits attacked. The night Rusl died. Sheik was fighting the bandit leader, the woman standing right in front of us, but then I slammed into Rusl, he took an axe to the stomach, and the fight ground to a halt. Bodies littered the snow, but now that I think about it, I can't remember seeing her form among them, though everything had gone fuzzy by then.
"I snuck away as soon as I saw the fight going south," the woman says. "After your older friend bit the dust. Or should I say…bit the axe." A malicious grin spreads across her face.
I snarl and yank a knife from my belt, lunging forward, but Sheik catches me by the arm. The woman's sword is drawn and pointed at my chest. I hadn't even seen her pull it. "Now, I'll be taking all your things," she says. That smile doesn't leave her face.
"If you hadn't noticed," Sheik says coldly, "there are three of us and only one of you."
Tall Link steps forward before the bandit can reply. He's discarded his cloak, donned his green hat, and strapped on his sword and shield. He plants his hands on his hips, the woman's blade on an inch from his chest, the very picture of a hero. "I'd suggest you turn around," he says, pitching his voice as low as he can.
The woman bursts out laughing. "What the hell are you supposed to be? Tingle the forest fairy?"
Tall Link hesitates but puffs himself back up again. "I'm the Hero Chosen by the Gods."
"…You're serious?" The woman stares at him for a long moment.
"My friends and I are on a mission from Princess Zelda herself. We're trying to retrieve the Master Sword. If you interfere with us, you're dooming Hyrule to be ruled by monsters forever."
I think he may be laying it on a little heavily, but the woman is speechless. "That's the biggest bit of bullshit I've ever heard," she says finally. "And I'll take the cute costume along with the rest of your stuff."
"Ma'am." My mouth opens before I know it's going to. "Fifty years. It's been fifty years since the monsters came crawling out of the woods and stole the night from us. Fifty years since the last hero left this world. Do you know what the stars look like? Do you know what it's like to lie in the grass and look up at them with the wind blowing across your face? I don't. None of us can step outside after sunset. To do so is to invite death."
I walk forward and use the back of my hand to push her sword out of the way so I can step right up to her face. "Don't you want to walk out among the stars without fear? Something was taken from us. Stolen. Something out there stole our freedom from us, and we didn't even know it. Not until it was too late. Don't you want to get that back? This man," I point at Tall Link. "His name is Link." I leave out the part where my name is Link, too. "He is the Hero Chosen by the Gods. We know where the Master Sword is. We can get it back. We can stop all this." I pause. I look directly into her eyes. "But only if you step aside right now."
The bandit woman stares at me for a long time. "Damn kid. That was some speech."
My face heats up, and I hope the redness doesn't show on my cheeks. "You could join us. You're obviously incredibly skilled with a blade. Help us save the world. Be a hero."
"I'm no hero." The woman laughs derisively. "But you make some good points, and you're kind of cute, so I'll let you go." She closes the last of the distance between us, and her eyes burn into mine, devilish. "Do you want to kick these other two out for a bit?"
My brain locks up, and now, my face is truly on fire. "Uh…" I choke. No one's ever made a pass at me before. "I…uh…"
The woman doesn't need me to say anything else. Her eyes slide past me to Sheik, and her grin takes on an amused edge. "Ah, I see. Good luck, kid." She reaches around to smack me on the butt.
Now I'm definitely redder than a tomato.
"Well, I'm out," she continues, sheathing her sword. "Maybe I'll see you again, cutie." She winks at me one last time, then spins on her heel and disappears through the door.
I flounder, wondering what I'm supposed to do with my hands or anything else. When Sheik claps his palm down on my shoulder, I jump. "Good job, Sleepy Link. That was awesome."
"That woman hit on you," Tall Link says with a grin. "Nice."
My gaze slides over to Sheik, and he winks on me. I'm sure my entire head is literally ablaze.
We gather the rest of our things, stepping out into the snow. The bandit is walking back the way we came, leading a horse along behind her. She doesn't look back at us. One by one, we lead our own animals out of the little stable and saddle up. I can barely feel the aches and bruises left on my butt from the past couple of weeks, too astounded by what just happened. I did something right. I got us out of that situation. And someone hit on me; that was a nice little jolt of confidence.
Sheik lets Tall Link take the lead and falls back to ride beside me. "That was incredible, what you did back there," he says.
And I'm red again. I thought I was done with that. "Thanks. My mouth just kind of took over before I knew what was happening."
"Well, color me impressed. I'm glad I brought you along."
I laugh and glance over at him, then my stupid mouth takes control again. "Sheik, listen, I think I…" I clamp down on the next word before it can come out, panicking. I think I'd been about to say 'I think I love you'. Mortified, I quickly look in the other direction, anywhere but at him.
"You think you what?" Sheik nudges his horse over to mine until our legs are pressed together, and then he leans over and rests his hand on the saddle just in front of my leg, putting some of his weight on it. His face is very close to mine, and I seize up. Sheik stares into my eyes and waits for an answer.
But I have none. My words, so powerful and so fully in my control not too long ago, have deserted me. They're literally just gone.
Sheik smirks, pulling back, and tugs his white scarf up over his mouth. "You know where to find me when you remember," he says, then he spurs his horse forward, leaving me staring at his back and wondering if I'm reading too much into his words.