Chapter 13

"Home" Link repeated." as in, the place where you live; where you hang up your boots, 'where your heart is'…?" Link ran finger around the rim of his now empty bowl.

She just looked at him, licking his fingers Link waited patiently for an answer. Her eyes shifted about the room then back to him, as if that were her reply.

"So this is your home, just you. No one else?" he pressed again. The girl gave him the same blank stare before her eyebrows puckered slightly and she nodded slowly at him. He wasn't sure, but it was either that this woman didn't speak Hylian, or she thought Link was very stupid. Conversation was forced, like he was trying to communicate through a pane of glass, and she was constantly reluctant to answer him.

"Have you…always lived here, Rhobyien?"

He stumbled over her name.

"Rhobyen" She corrected.

Her voice escaped her throat in a hoarse whisper, like silk being pulled over broken glass. A low gravely rumble. Link wondered how long it had been since she last made a sound.

"Robiien" He tried again.

"Rhobyen" She rolled her R's

"Rrrob-biin" He tried to copy her sound.

"Rob-yn" She said it again for him.

"Robyn"

Her mouth twitched, and she nodded graciously at him. He paused.

"You're not from Hyrule are you? Your voice, the accent, it's, errh, well, I've not heard anything like it before. But- you understand what I'm saying, don't you?" another small nod from Robyn, Link nodded back "right, right," he continued "so, I can't help but wonder how in Hyrule did you get up here?"

Robyn kept her lips pressed shut as she busied herself with tidying up pots.

"So… you understand Hylian. But you don't speak it? Is that right? Din give me strength, where under the heavens did you come from? Please, tell me. Why won't you answer my questions?" Link swung his legs over the side of his bunk to face her, his hands gripping the edge.

"With your tongue so busy asking questions, however will you hear the answers you seek?"

It was the most Robyn had ever spoken in all the days she had cared for Link. She spoke with such bluntness it stunned him into silence for a moment, his mouth slackened as he tried to comprehend what she had just said.

"I..." Link stammered. Robyn pressed her fingers firmly to her lips to signal him into silence. His cheeks flushed pink and his slunk back into his bed, afraid to make another sound, least he insult her or be reprimanded again. Her voice was very strange to his ears. There was something about it that sounded odd, yet familiar. Thinking hard it actually sounded reminiscent of the old sage Raru; the tone and rhythm in which she spoke held the same archaic twang. Impa practised it too on occasion, whenever she read aloud to Princess Zelda from ancient books about times long since past. He would have liked to hear it again, but they spent the rest of the night in silence.

Still in the process of recovery, Link fell asleep early, leaving Robyn sat by the fire sharpening a long hunting knife. He was surprised when he awoke the next morning, to find she wasn't there. The fire had died down to a dull glow and even with numerous furs and blankets, Link could feel the artic chill drift through the small house. The candle in the window was still alight, but burnt down low, molten wax dribbling down the sill. The door, like before was locked, and the room was silent. Link sat himself up, swinging his legs over the bunk and stretched. Pain shot down his shoulder, and his stomach convulsed with a sharp pang. He doubled over clutching at the pain and looked down at himself. He was dressed in soft breeches and a long faded green tunic that did not belong to him, lifting it up he found that his middle had been bound in strips of linen dressing. His arm and shoulder too; where the Wolfos had sunk his teeth into his flesh, were also bandaged. His body had been extremely beaten leaving him very bruised and sore and having lain in bed for so long, his muscles were extremely stiff. He made to stand, and at that exact moment the latch on the door lifted. Robyn stepped through the small door dressed in her furs just in time to see the invalid Hylian's legs give way beneath him. Link fell and she lunged forward to catch him, dropping the brace of rabbits she had been carrying. She staggered slightly under his weight, but supported easily him and set him back on the bed. The blood rushed from Link's head and dizziness stole his vision. Robyn clutched his head as she knelt down before him and caught his gaze until he focused. When the room stopped spinning and Link found himself looking into a pair of steady green eyes, he let out a breath he didn't know he's been holding.

"Thank you" he whispered breathlessly.

Her face its usual impassive mask Robyn stood, but a thumb passed softly over his cheek as her hands dropped. His eyes followed her as she set about hanging the rabbits, ready to be skinned later.

Link rolled his shoulders, gently flexing them to try and alleviate a little of the tension, but his left shoulder was too painful, this annoyed him because he could feel his arm turn into a prickling numbness from not having moved enough over the past days. Yet before he realised it, without any seeming signal, Robyn pulled off her heavy gloves and came over to him. Kneeling upon the bed, she patted the space before her, gesturing for him to sit before her. With the efficiency of nurse, Robyn drew the furs about Link's legs to keep him warm before smoothly easing the tunic over his head to revel his bruised and bandaged back. She warmed her hands by rubbing them vigorously together before placing them upon his back. Almost intuitively she worked out the knots in his muscles within a matter of minutes. The pain eased, and as she worked away so did a portion of the stress that Link had carried up the mountain with him from Hyrule. He felt it melt away from him like ice melting in sunlight. He relaxed for the first time. Robyn's hands slid from his shoulders up his neck and around his head. He could feel her dexterous fingers plough tentatively through his matted locks of golden hair. His skull throbbed dully, and as Robyn pressed her thumbs gently against the back of his cranium he hissed sharply in pain. Robyn briefly stroked the side of his head by means of an apology, before turning her attention to rearranging his bandages.

Continuing to check her patient, Robyn traced a red raw scar that was starting to heal nicely over his shoulder and collarbone; she tilted his head back to rest on her shoulder as she adjusted a bandage to cover it. Link looked up at her cool face.

"You saved my life. Thank you" he said quietly.

Robyn nodded graciously but her lips opened; "Save your thanks for the Goddesses" she murmured.

Link wanted to protest, but he was starting to realise that words meant nothing to Robyn, and did little but irritate her, and so he held his tongue and nodded.