Chapter 13: How Bizzare
After Link & Zelda's attempt at a vacation had failed, it was back to the normal routine at the Hateno house once again; back to work.
Link was preparing the field for his morning training. It's time to mix it up today, I think I'll put on my stealth gear, and sharpen my skills with those Shiekah weapons I've let sit and collect dust… He thought as he was carving some targets for shuriken practice, and while he was at it he made a few wood dummies to try out some short swords.
It didn't take too long and Link was finished with the outdoor preparations, he went back inside to change his attire for this session. The stealth suit was something that he picked up on his journey while he spent some time in Kakariko Village - the home of the Shiekah Clan. It was skin-tight, a feeling that Link wasn't quite used to with his clothes, it was ideal for hunting in the nighttime because of the way it hugged his body. The bad part was that the suit itself lacked armor, so it wasn't great to use in hand-to-hand combat while on the field.
He just got his hair styled into the traditional bun with the vermilion hairpieces pinning it in place, the face mask and scarf were a nice touch, it probably was the idea of the tailor that ran the boutique in Kakariko.
Link warmed up with a few rounds of shuriken throws; his aim was slightly off the mark, just that they hit the target's edge. It was starting to bum him out that he couldn't be as proficient as the guards outside of Impa's mansion.
Zelda had been watching his training, making observation of his work, and devising ways to improve his form and accuracy. She seen the face he made when his shuriken barely hit the targets.
"Link I think I may have something that could help you out,"Zelda shouted his way. "Wanna give it a try?"
"If it's going to help me be more accurate with my throws, sure,"Link replied. She got off of her perch on the fencing, and headed inside. She picked a random bottle from the ones that still remained, and returned outside. Link shed his face mask for a moment to gulp down the contents of the bottle, and went back to practicing again.
This didn't help his problems. In fact, he got worse… much, much worse.
"FORE!" Link shouted just as one of the throwing stars strayed from Link's desired target. Zelda ducked her head down at the right moment as the projectile whizzed over just short of her head, stopping at the house's foundation.
"What in Hylia's name was that for?!"Zelda shouted. "If you hadn't warned me, I'd be dead!"
*gulp* Zelda is pissed. Furious… Link thought as she went back into the house for her own safety. I think that was just a fluke, probably was going to wildly at it. Let's just take this nice and slowly…
He winds up for another throw, releases it and yet again the shuriken soared far away from it's intended target.
"It's time I stopped with the target practice. Time to move onto that short sword," he says trying to not discourage his less than savory bout of practice.
He unsheathes the sword from its scabbard, and gets into position with the training dummy. He charges, and just before he was able to launch a smiteful strike, the strap on his sandal snaps and he tumbles down.
Zelda peered out from the window curious as to how his endeavors were going, and seen none other than her knight with his face planted in the ground once again. She rushed out to his side to assess the damages.
"Link!" She shouts, "You okay? What's happening to you? This isn't normal for you to be so… klutzy."
"It's just some stupidly bad luck today," Link said as he removed his face from the ground. "Nothing you need to worry about, Zelda."
"If you say so…" she said back in an unconvinced tone. "I was sure I grabbed the right bottle for the job…"
He goes for another try, and trips on his scarf. Again, he falls on his face, and the blade went soaring through the fields below.
"What if the elixir reacted with the remnants of those mushrooms you made me eat while we were on vacation?"he asked, getting up again from the fall. "Don't think I didn't see you pick those mystery mushrooms when I told you to leave them alone."
Busted… Zelda thought. "It's all possible…"she spoke out loud to her knight, "You may have gotten klutzy instead of dead on accuracy like intended?"
" $#%" Link blurted out another expletive.
"Language, please," Zelda kindly reminded him.
"It's just got to be the accuracy that is off, but just to be safe, I'll use the cooking pot outside here," Link said as he pointed to the pot sitting over the fire pit.
He ran back inside the house to change back to his usual attire, the blue champion's tunic with his khaki dungarees.
Grabbing an armful of food Link made his way back to the cooking pot sitting over the hot flames. He seen that the pot was hot and ready to be used, he tossed in the ingredients… Things were going smoothly till….
*BOOOM*
The noise shook the house and made Zelda jump from her seat at the desk upstairs. Fearing the worst happened, she went outside to check on how the meal was coming along.
Link stood right in front of the fire, his face was full of ash and his bangs stood on end thanks to the soot that clung to it.
"Zelda, I think this means I'm doomed!" he said as he looked over her way, his face had a look of shock plastered on from the incident.
"Quit being a drama king," she sighed, "You just need to wait it out right?"
"Right," Link answered back. He went back inside and cleaned the debris off of his face, only for his hair to frizz from the explosion earlier. Great… he sighed, just great…
Rather than chancing another mistake to blow up in his face again, both of them went into the village in hopes of an easy meal. On the way, Link caught his toe on a loose plank on the suspension bridge, lost his balance and fell into the river below.
"Zelda HELP ME!" he shouted, "I think I may have broke something…"
Zelda sighed at him, and went to the river basin to meet Link there as he floated down the current. His leg was bent in an unnatural way. It was most certainly broken. He needed medical attention right away.
"$# #!"Link managed to let out from the searing pain from his leg. He never experienced an agonizing pain even from his memories. This wasn't a flesh wound, it's going to take some time to mend - a lot of time.
Zelda got him to shore without inflicting more pain to her vulnerable knight. Link's face was twisted in anguish as he tried to endure for his princess. It was embarrassing to let her see him in this state.
"I'm going to get Purah and Symin's help to get you inside," she said as she turned to town.
"Just…. my luck…"he muttered to himself. The pain blinded his sight and seized his breathing to quick pants. He began to do what he could to crawl to the house dragging his limp legs, he was a stubborn mule. "I…. don't... want… their… pity..."
Link pushed his body too far and passed out from the pain, he barely moved from where Zelda left him.
When he came to, he was in a stretcher being carried by Symin and Zelda. Purah had cleaned the table off in order to examine him.
"We've got to set the fracture,"Purah instructed, "Zelda I need you to grab a towel, some painkillers and some liquor of some kind."
"Sure," she gives a hard reply, "But why do we need the liquor?"
"It helps to dull his pain while the painkillers are taking effect," Purah informs her, "I also think we all will need a drink once this is over."
"Got it," she said as she went through their supplies in search of those items. There was another one of those ultra-concentrated bottles of alcohol in the pantry, and the painkillers weren't too far away.
They gagged Link with the towel so he would have something to bite down on while they set the leg into a splint. It was the most excruciating part of correcting the break.
Zelda handed him the bottle of liquor, it was a strong, dry spirit, not for the weak hearted, but it would have to do the trick. Next was the painkillers. Link quickly washed them down with the remnants of the liquor, the pills themselves were horrendously bitter.
They gave it a moment to take effect before they went to work resetting his leg.
"Alright, this is going to hurt a lot,"Zelda warned Link "Are you ready?"
Even though the pain was numbed by his intoxication, and his vision was spinning out of his control, he gave her a firm nod and braced himself for the worst.
"Okay, One….Two…. THREE!" she said, Link bit down hard into the towel between his teeth, trying to stifle and screams, but it was a futile attempt, in one swift motion Symin had his leg properly aligned. He let out nearly every profanity in his vocabulary, but it was muffled from the towel.
Link's incessant cries stopped as Zelda gently placed her lips on his forehead. He forgot the pain for just that moment. Purah seized the opportunity to get his leg into a splint while he was distracted.
"You are one lucky kid, Link ,"she noted as she began to bind the brace to his leg. "This was a clean break. If you had shattered it, you would have been in even more pain than now."
His mind was too fuzzy from the alcohol to even care, what mattered most to him was that the worst part was over. Now he was on the mend.