Chapter 11 - Paths United

"We can't give him that horse! She's too temperamental. She'll throw them before they even get out of the village!"

Shamrock was arguing with the stable master, Tallor. As he said this, Link walked into the stables, and he perked a brow. Shamrock didn't sound too completely happy, and Link wasn't sure if he'd come in at a bad time or not.

"Hey guys, should I come back later?"

Turning around, Shamrock faced him and Tallor looked over at him. Their tempers seemed to die down, and Shamrock smiled, "Good morning, Link, no, no, come on in. We were just discussing you actually."

Link stepped further inside of the stables with the words and he approached the two men. "Alright. I came by because Mira said you told her that you had something for me here. She said to come out while she was putting a few things together for our ride."

"Well, Tallor and I decided we want to give you a horse."

Link looked at Tallor and then at Shamrock, the middle aged man nodding his head and grinning about it. Cringing a bit, Link told them both, "You guys don't have to do that. I was actually going to buy one anyway. Mira needs one to help with her deliveries growing for when we get back."

"No, it's fine, really." Shamrock assured him as he stepped over, placing a hand on his shoulders. "I know the Gerudo left this morning, and you don't have anything for yourself really. With what you've done for Archer's twins, it's a way of saying thank you from the entire village. After all," he chuckled, "Archer said we all needed to give you a magnificent gift, and I saw him hugging the two of you last night. I'm afraid for my frail body if I don't," he grinned.

Link and Tallor both chuckled softly, over the words. The Hylian nodded in response, knowing what Shamrock meant. Archer was no weak man. "Good point, Shamrock."

"Right." Tallor chimed in, "So we wanted to give you something to have that's all your own, get you started off on the right track."

Shamrock sighed over the words, and Link looked in his direction, brows raising somewhat at the agitation the old man seemed to be having. "He wants to give you Epona though. She's a temperamental beast and she'll throw ya the minute you try to ride her."

"Epona is a strong, sturdy horse, and she's beautiful as well," Tallor argued.

"She's not fit for a rider, much less for Link!"

"She's perfectly fine!"

Link held up his hands to stop the two men from their arguing, stepping between them, and he said, "Hold on, guys! It's okay, just show me the horse. Who knows, maybe she'll like me. I mean, if you really want to give a horse like that up."

"That's why he's giving her to you. He can't do anything else with her!"

Tallor sighed loudly, grumbling on his breath. Turning around, he said, "Shamrock, go back to your tavern. Link, she's this way. Follow me."

Link smiled, unable to help it because of the two men's arguing, then reached up and patted Shamrock's shoulder. The old man shook his head and added, "I still say he's just trying to rid himself a nasty horse."

Link smirked and walked outside with the two men, into the fenced in arena where the horses were allowed to run and be ridden. He looked over the field in the early morning, most of the horses grazing, several of them large animals, some grey with white splotches, others black, and a white or two. Tallor stepped before the men and he pointed, "That's her, in the back, heading this way."

Taking a look, Link saw a tan brown horse emerging from behind some of the others with black fur covering the ends of her legs, along with a white mane of hair. She really was a beautiful horse, and she slowed to a stop, lowering her head to the ground as if to feed amidst the rest of her equestrian companions.

Link looked a bit incredulous. With the way they'd talked, he figured she might've been a common breed, but she really was more than he'd expected, at least to look at and watch anyway. Glancing back, Tallor smiled proudly, and he waved his hand, "Go check her out."

With a nod, Link moved past the two men, heading toward the grazing horse somewhat slowly, lifting a hand up as he did so as to not spook her if he could help it. Epona turned it for a moment as she grazed, then back, lifting her head up from the ground as Link approached her and she saw him. Shamrock and Tallor both watched intently. As they did, they spied Epona shaking her head, and then stepping forward, heading toward Link slowly until her muzzle met his hand. Link became still and Epona seemed somewhat wary. Shamrock looked at Tallor, then back to the scene, wanting to know if the ill tempered beast would let Link on her back or not.

She'd been saddled already, Tallor had taken care of that before Link came along, and the young Hylian could tell from the sign there that apparently the horse was used to one, so she'd been ridden before. She was probably just very picky about who she let ride her now for some strange reason. While she sniffed at his hand now, Link finally lifted it and rubbed his fingers along the front of her head. In doing so, the horse whinnied a slight bit, and Shamrock covered his mouth dramatically. Tallor rolled his eyes at the old man's theatrics.

Finally, Epona stepped forward, stopping next to Link, and the young Hylian smirked, rubbing his hand down her back and up again. Glancing toward the two men watching, he said, "She seems pretty even tempered to me."

Tallor grinned and Shamrock sighed. "Wait til you mount her." The tavern owner muttered out blandly.

Smirking, Link grabbed the reigns and then started walking her slowly. As he came back to the two men, he told Shamrock, "Maybe I will shortly. For now, I just want to spend a little time with her. Was she born on this ranch?" He turned to ask Tallor.

"No, she came from a mess of horses gathered from a village that burned to the ground about a month ago. There were five horses left, and she was cut up just a little, but in good shape. She'd completely healed from all of that now though."

"Hmm, no wonder she's a bit temperamental then," Link suggested, "she's probably seen too much. I'll keep that in mind."

"You're not going to ride her yet?" Shamrock asked.

Knowing the man was eager to find out how fit the horse was, Link just gave him a kind smile. "Give me a little while. I'll let you know." With those words, he turned with the horse and walked her away from the men. "Gerudo were good at training horses," he added, "I think I can manage her."

As Link began to walk off, Tallor looked at Shamrock and said, "See, I told you she'd be a good horse for him. If he can get her ridden with no trouble, then he deserves to have her."

"Yeah, yeah," Shamrock grumbled out, shrugging a bit. "I'm glad, really. I just don't want the kid getting hurt. Not after what happened before."

With a nod, Tallor told Shamrock, "He's a tough kid apparently. Surviving a fall on a cliff of a mountain called Death is a major feat in itself. I doubt he'll get hurt too badly if at all."

And Tallor was right. Link was riding the horse within an hour, without being thrown or even any troubles directing her. Shamrock commended him, and Link thanked Tallor for the huge gift, very grateful to have it. As he rode her a little to try to bond, Mira came to the stables and walked out into the horse arena, looking over to see Tallor with one of his mares, leading her inside to be fed and bathed.

"Hello, Mira," Tallor greeted as he passed her with a smile. "Did you come for Link?"

"Yes, is he still here?"

Nodding, Tallor pointed off into the distance. "He's been getting to know Epona, his new horse. They've gotten along really well."

"You gave him Epona?" She asked a bit disbelievingly, putting her hand over her eyes to shield the morning sun as she looked off into the distance. "I thought no one could ride her."

"Link can. Pretty well too. Those Gerudo must be horse masters."

Mira could see Link off in the distance, and Tallor turned to let a shrill whistle. Hearing the sound, Link looked up, seeing Mira waving her hand to flag him down. He grinned at the sight of it. Turning the reigns, Link took off into a mild gallop, and Mira watched as he rode, wondering how he seemed to fit so well on the horses back. Tallor left to go inside with his mare, and as Link arrived, Mira just smiled up at him.

"This is a," she tried to think of the right word, "tremendous gift."

"I know, but apparently no one else could ride her."

"Yes, I know. She came here about a month ago. I'm really surprised," she nodded, looking up at his face, "and impressed yet again."

"Nah," Link drew his hand to the side, "it's nothing really. So, are we ready to go?"

"If," Mira started, looking at Epona somewhat uncertainly, "you are."

"I am," he told her, dismounting. "And we won't have to worry about rupees too much since I didn't have to buy one. Nabooru gave me enough to purchase one before she left. So if we have to stop somewhere on the way to the Temple, we should be able to get what we need."

Mira nodded, smiling the whole time. Turning, she held her hand out and asked, "Shall we?"

"We shall," he smirked back at her, walking through the stables and out of the arena with Epona trotting behind them, seeming as content as could be to go with them both. On the way out, they said goodbye to Tallor, who just grinned as well as telling them he hoped they enjoyed Epona.

On the way out of the stable, Mira, who'd tied her hair back into a long braid, and was wearing a lavender colored dress with a corset tied around the bodice, heard Link asking, "Where to? Stopping by the cabin before we leave?"

"Yes, I packed a satchel. We can put it on Epona's saddle." She looked over at him to see him nod in understanding, and she asked, "Did you get to say goodbye to the Gerudo?"

Smirking, Link told her, "Yeah, Nabooru almost cried again. She keeps picking about how Masita's going to miss me, but I think she'll miss me more than Masita will. Nabooru likes to hide her emotions behind her jokes like that."

Link saw Mira smiling over the comment, and he thought about it for a moment. The Gerudo had all seemed sad, but they also seemed happy for him as well. He had also reassured them all that it wouldn't be the last time they saw him, he would come back often whenever he could, and they promised to keep a room ready for him incase he did.

There'd been another event that had happened that morning, one which Link had yet to tell anyone because he wasn't sure about the meaning of it. As they reached Mira's cabin, and he stopped outside to wait for her while she went to grab her things, he looked down at his left hand. Wearing his leather gauntlets, he wondered what the symbol on the back of his wrist could have been about. It looked like the symbol of the triforce, but why it was there, he had no clue. It had never been there before, so he couldn't explain it away.

For the time being, he decided that he would keep it a secret until they'd visited the Temple of Time, then he could let the so-called cat out of the bag. Mira walked back out of her home with the satchel in hand, and he helped her to tie it to the back of Epona while she told Nissa to help watch over the place while she was gone. Nissa had promised she'd do a good job, giving the both of them a kiss on the cheek and the promise of missing them while they were away before they left.

Walking instead of riding to the entrance of the village, Link glanced over at Mira and watched her for a moment. He wondered what she could have been thinking about, but she seemed to be ready to go, if not a little bit anxious, probably wondering what the trip would entail for them both. Deciding he wanted her to talk to him, he asked her something to get a conversation started.

"What are the rumors about this Temple you've heard?"

Mira looked up and over at Link, lifting her brows a bit as if she hadn't expected the question. "Oh, just that it's cursed somehow. That's really all I know about the rumors."

Link nodded his head as they came to the road just outside of the village waiting for them, and he stopped in his gait and turned, moving over to Mira. She looked up at him as he took her hand, apparently ready to mount the horse.

A slight bit uncertain, she hesitated, asking, "What if she throws me without you on her?"

Link just smiled at her, "Then I'll catch you. Don't worry, she's safe."

"Okay, I trust you," Mira replied as if trying to convince herself, all the while giving him a humorously suspicious look while taking the reigns and hooking her foot into the stirrup. With Link's help, she mounted the horse, settling there without any negative reactions. Link climbed up behind her just a moment later, reaching around her sides to grasp the reigns.

As he did so, Mira realized those same awkward feelings from the night before when their gazes had caught were now coming back. But she wasn't looking directly at him, so, hoping he wasn't feeling the same way, she just sat patiently and pretended she were simply waiting for him to goad Epona off into a trot.

Why did it have to feel so nice to be settled against him like that?

Trying to get her mind off of it, she asked, "What did you do to make her so calm?"

"It's a secret," she heard him say, lightly tapping his heels into the horses sides to make her start to trot. "Tallor said that she was in a burning village, so I just tried to ease onto her, that's all."

Nodding her head, Link watched Mira lowering her arms again to grab the pommel of the saddle they were settled on, and he could only wonder over his luck. Those awkward feelings had returned, and he wasn't sure what to say, but she'd asked how he'd calmed the horse down, breaking him out of his stupor, and preventing him from looking like an idiot by just sitting there staring at her. After all, he wouldn't have had an easy answer ready for any questions she might've asked over a delay in movement.

Riding along now, Mira looked back at the village as they left it, and she sighed out her breath softly. It was nice to ride like this - that was, for reasons aside being settled in his lap - but the only memories she had of leaving the village she'd grown up in were all bad ones. Looking ahead again, to the road before her, she just hoped her luck changed now.

"Is everything okay?" She heard from behind her. "You looked a little sad."

"Mmm hmm," Mira drew out softly, "I was just considering everything, wondering what we might find on this ride."

"Well, we have to get there to know for sure," Link told her, "I think we'll have fun no matter what we find out."

Without expecting it, Mira smiled. She'd almost forgotten about his ability to make her feel better where few others could. With a slight shake of her head, she told him so, "You always manage to make me feel more optimistic about things. Did you know that?"

"Nope. But that's good, it's what I wanna do."

"Well, then you've succeeded, sir. The lady in distress thanks you."

Her tone was definitely a playful one. His soft chuckle filled her ears as they made it out onto the sunny fields, the roads leading away from the village tracked by wagon wheels, no one in sight. Moving right along, Link asked, "You know another way to make yourself feel better?"

"How is that, Link?"

"By finding out exactly what your new horse can do," he grinned, then snapped the reigns. Mira softly gasped as Epona reared up just a bit, and for the slightest of moments, she thought the horse might throw them. But instead, Epona pushed off into a gallop, the wind whipping by the both of them. It felt freeing and invigorating, even though it was a chilly autumn morning, and Link was right, Mira completely loved it.

Somehow, she knew she needed to trust him a little more.

But moving through the fields now, Mira could see the world through new eyes somehow. After recent revelations over her true self, the person she'd been born as unknowingly, there was something different when it came to gazing at the land around her now. Something a bit more dire, as if she knew the fate rested in her hands, and Link's if the prophecy was true. Not to mention, there was a pride there in knowing what this Kingdom could be when restored, and she suddenly, as Impa had suggested she would, felt the need to be that person in order to see to it that it happened.

Now, the dark, gloomy cloud that resided over the northwestern skies of the kingdom, where the palace of Hyrule was located, seemed all that much more hideous to her, like a dark mar on a glass goblet that had just been shined.

She wanted to be rid of it completely.

The riders rode at a gallop for a short while, but not too long to tire out the horse, just long enough to get good and started. Continuing on as Epona came back down to a trot, Link had noticed his new horse was definitely a strong, sturdy one, and she didn't seem to mind at all carrying the both of them. Though, just to be safe, he suggested walking instead of riding her as well, climbing down from her back to let Epona simply ride Mira. Mira had argued at first, but Link told her it would be good for her, so if Mira had to ride the horse on her own, Epona would be used to her too. Mira just couldn't argue with that, but she gave him a look that said she didn't appreciate losing a fight, even though it hadn't really been one.

Walking now, Link had noticed two or three in different spots, but there seemed to be a few white stones with smoothed over surfaces here and there. They weren't located on the roadsides exactly, but rather, settled in raised stone alters nearby them, and it wasn't the first time he'd seen one. Thinking back, there was one in the Gerudo Valley, located at the entrance of the Spirit Temple where the Gerudo gave their worship. He could have sworn he'd seen one somewhere else too, but he just couldn't think of the place.

"Mira, have you ever heard what those pedestals with the white stones on them are called?"

Looking out into one of the fields as Link asked the question, she noticed one of the structures he was speaking of now, and she glanced down at him. "Impa told me that not many do. There's on in Kakariko, just before you reach the Valley Pass."

Link considered that, thinking to the Pass, and he remembered seeing it but paying no mind to it on the night they'd left the village and he'd taken the fall. "I remember that. Did she say what they're called?"

"Yes, they're Myriad Stones."

Myriad Stones? Link looked back up at Mira from where he walked and asked, "Does she know what they do?"

"Hmm," Mira thought, trying to recall. "Well, she said that a long time ago, there was a powerful Sage named Myriad who placed these stones throughout the kingdom to thwart evil. Apparently, the Sage went into some kind of slumber though, so whatever these stones do, they don't work anymore, at least, not until she awakens again."

Link's brows raised over the description, looking back to the pedestal he'd spotted before, nodding his head slowly. "When is she supposed to awaken?"

"Impa never said anything about it, so your guess is as good as mine."

"Typical. Whenever you want to know something important, there's never a direct answer."

Mira smiled over the words, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. It was then that Link looked up and ahead of himself. Like Mira, the direction they were facing, northwest, allowed them to see the gloomy clouds in the distance, but due to the mountains, they couldn't see to the other side. Parting his lips, he commented on it, "I've always wondered why the sky looks so stormy in the distance too."

Mira had been staring in the same direction. She glanced down at her close friend and then away from him. "Impa said it's the curse. She also told me the stronger it grows, the bigger the cloud will get, until it's consumed all of Hyrule."

"Impa seems to know a lot. She must've been around."

"Well, that just means you're lucky," Mira smiled.

Looking back at the young woman, Link asked her, "How's that?"

"Because it means I'm well versed," she informed him with a nod.

She watched Link shake his head at her, which made her smile grow bigger. The lighthearted talk was exactly what she needed, having grown a bit more tense as time went on, knowing what they could possibly be drawing near to. They continued on like that until a short while had passed. Both of them took a break, resting Epona, and themselves as they had to, galloping sometimes, and traveling at just a casual pace during others. The ride would take most of the day, and they discussed stories during times when they'd been apart while they weren't riding too hard to talk much.

Eventually, Mira had nodded off without meaning to while they were trotting along. Link watched her fall asleep, her head against his upper arm and shoulder, and with the quiet time came his thoughts of unexpected events since his return, most of them revolving around her.

They were little instances such as eyes catching, their position riding the horse, and even dancing last night had given him that odd kind of fluttering in his stomach that he hadn't had too often in his lifetime. Though, there'd been one other circumstance where he'd had it, but that one had been much different, and he wasn't even sure how to relate it to this one.

It was the last thing he'd expected to happen, but he knew it had to mean there was some kind of feeling there for her that he hadn't had before - or maybe he did have it and just didn't know it. The biggest sign had come from the celebration, when he'd spotted her talking to the miners that evening, and they'd all left, except for Hayden, whom she'd talked to a bit and laughed with.

Jealousy. He was man enough to admit it, sure, but he also knew that he didn't yet understand Mira and Hayden's relationship fully enough to know what kind of friendly terms they were on. So he felt guilty over being jealous. But something he was actually glad for was that he didn't feel too uncomfortable around Mira because of the odd feelings rolling through his brain for the past few days. Sure, he got a little embarrassed from time to time over something like a caught gaze, but that didn't make him want to tuck tale and run away from her. He knew he'd just have to be careful that those feelings didn't grow too large and get out of hand.

After all, he respected her too much to allow that to happen and risk her feelings getting hurt somehow when they didn't have to be. His mind made up to keep himself in check, now clearing the range of mountains to their east, Mira started moving a slight bit and she opened her eyes, reaching up to rub them with a softly muttered apology for falling asleep on him. Link told her it was fine, allowing her to wake up a little more without saying anything else, then peered off into the distance to see a place he'd been before.

"Mira, look."

Mira turned her head at his request to look, seeing a string of geysers in the distance, set against the back drop of Death Mountain with its signature ring of smoke clouding its peak. There was a very small set of buildings in a roadside town that was literally so small only a handful of people lived there settled around the area, prompting her to ask him what it was that she was looking at exactly.

"The geysers or the town?" She asked him.

"Both, have you ever been there?"

"No," she shook her head, glancing back at him, "what about you?"

Link nodded his head, surprising her, and he grinned a slight bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as if he might've been a slight bit embarrassed, "Bath houses," he explained.

"Bath houses?" Mira asked. "They have them there?"

"Yeah, costs a small fee to use them, but they're worth it. They have warm water instantly because of the geyser's. It was really nice."

"Sounds like it," Mira smiled, turning to face ahead of them again as they rode. "Maybe we'll have to stop there sometime." After making the idle comment, her eyes suddenly went wide and she twisted to the side to give him a horrified look, realizing what she'd just implied. "I don't mean we as in taking a bath, I just mean, you know...visiting and..."

Link had looked to the side, his lips pursed, but the expression on his face suggested he was about to start laughing and was trying to contain it because she was so embarrassed. Mira stared at him with her jaw a slight bit agape. "You think it's funny!"

She smacked his arm, though she was grinning, and settled herself forward once more. Link started snickering, and then said, "Hey! Come on, you have to admit, that was funny."

"Maybe," she shrugged a bit, smirking and trying not to grin herself. "As long as you're not laughing at me." She amended, then risked another look back at him.

He was still grinning, and she shook her head, finally letting a little snicker herself. As she did so, Link looked down at the back of her head, and his grin faded into a soft little smile. For the millionth time since they'd been riding, he took a breath and caught her fragrance in the air. It was nice, very much so, some kind of floral scent he couldn't place. Maybe he'd have to ask her sometime what it was.

He was glad he'd found her again, definitely, and their teasing of one another right now was just, well, icing on the cake. It made him smile and feel more content than he had in a long time now, cleared his thoughts out and somehow made their goals of visiting this Temple to assess the situation there seem all the more easy to accomplish.

In the distance now, they could see it, the Temple of Time, a tall, granite structure that glinted in the sun slightly, settled amidst the woods of the forest, the Lost Woods to be precise, and even farther in the distance, toward the north-northwest, they could see the banners of Hyrule wavering in the wind, the dark sky looming above it having grown bigger through their travels closer to it.

"It so big, even from this distance." Mira spoke the words as if in a slight daze, like she might've been staring and lost in deep wonder.

"The closer we get, the easier it is to see how odd the sky looks over it."

Mira's head nodded a time or two before she looked away and back to the Temple of Time, the closer of the two destinations. "The power of the new King manifesting itself no doubt. But let's just concentrate on the Temple for now. We don't need to confuse ourselves."

It didn't take them long to draw in closer, the branches of the trees surrounding the base of the temple full of life, green leaves, birds flying away from them and into the distance, chirping happily. It was peaceful even, the canopy dressed by hanging vines sporting white flowers, making one wonder why anyone could say this Temple was cursed, or how it was saying the rumor was true, prompting Mira to comment on that very thing. "It doesn't look so cursed," she said softly.

"I hope it's not," Link replied.

"So do I. Do you know what I heard?"

While Epona trotted up the path, Link shook his head, asking her, "What's that?"

Still looking about the scenery, she told him, "I heard that a long time ago, Sages of Light and Dark had a battle to seal off the chaos in the world into another Realm, and that descendants of those Sages are still here, taking care of this place, and they never speak, because their ancestors said everything that has ever needed to be said concerning their cause."

"They never speak, or they can't?"

"I don't know," she smiled, looking back at him, "but it's a nice story somehow. To think that what your ancestors said might have been so important and thorough that you'd never have to reiterate the point is prestigious in a way. It also seems to prove they were right."

Link could see what she meant, and he nodded at her, looking up to see the steps ahead of them, leading up to the massive doors which were decorated with a symbol of an eye, several lines shooting out from beneath it. As they came toward the steps, Link drew up on the reigns and Epona came to a stop, clapping one of her front hooves on the ground idly while her rider dismounted, and turned to help his companion. Mira took his hand and climbed down herself, thanking him as she straightened her skirt out and stretched her legs.

"I also heard," she started again, "that this place is also called the Temple of Light, but the true Temple of Light resides within the Sacred Realm, and this is it's gateway."

Link nodded as he listened to her, turning to walk in front of Epona, reaching up and brushing her nose. Finally, he replied, "I've heard a few things myself, but nothing like that. I've heard of chaos coming back over a period of time and needing to be extinguished again and again. It makes me think that even if there's a time of peace, there's still a war being fought somewhere, because evil and chaos won't rest from trying to have what it wants."

She listened as she reached into a pouch on the bag they'd tied to the satchel and pulled out a small bottle of the potion she'd brought along incase they needed it, unsure what to have expected from this trip completely. "Hmm, that sounds like a good assumption," she told him, putting the bottle into a pouch on her belt. "I'd never really considered that before."

Looking from Epona and over at Mira as she headed toward him, Link turned and looked up the steps. "So, are you ready to get some answers?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's go."

Link gave her a nod when she looked at him and started walking toward the door as she headed up beside of him, taking the large knob and twisting it to the side in order to open it.