The trio re-formed in a stagnant pool of murky water. All of them immediately collapsed as they finished appearing; Midna from exhaustion, Link and Jen struggling to breathe. The creature felt like she couldn't get in air, no matter how much of it she took in. She managed to open one eye, and leapt out of the water at what she saw. The sacred pool she was standing in was black with algae and filth, and the rocks decorating the edges were completely encrusted in black vines.
"Link, get out of there!" she barked as she poked at the goopy water and desperately shaking the gunk out of her thick hair. He complied immediately, and they stood on the bank of the water calming the rapid beats of their hearts.
"Oh, goddesses, that's so gross," Jen murmured as she stared at the remains of the pond, trailing a finger through the gunk and wiping it on a rock. The guardian was nowhere in sight, and all residual traces of light magic had been crammed under layers of dark. Link suddenly tensed, and she became alert to danger. Jen couldn't hear, smell, or see anything out of the ordinary, however, and turned to Link in confusion.
He was looking around the former sacred pool with a mixture of horror and recognition, taking in every detail like he knew what it should look like. Then, without warning, he turned and sprinted for the exit, turning right.
"Jeez, what's gotten into him? Hurry up and catch him before he does something stupid!" Midna's voice, faintly breathless but still annoying, snapped her out of her stunned surprise, and she raced after him. Jen could move just as fast as Link when she really needed to, and she just managed to catch sight of his tail as he rounded the corner. Jen passed dead Moblins by the dozens, each just breathing their last. Others were still somewhat alive, and they swung at her with their clubs as she passed, forcing her to finish them off. The shards of their source magic got caught in her clothes before it faded, choking her breath like a cloud of smoke.
But still he ran.
Jen caught up to him as he passed by an old treehouse. When she said treehouse, she meant a large house located in the boughs of an ancient oak tree. He was staring up at it with forlorn homesickness.
"Link, what the hell are you doing?" she hissed when she finally caught up to him, "You can't just run off like that, it's too dangerous!"
Link didn't answer. Instead, he averted his gaze to a sagging old gate, leaping over it easily and racing off into the darkness. Jen rolled her eyes heavily and jumped over the bars after him.
She ran through a narrow gully between two jagged peaks for a while before she caught up to him. These hills looked like it had been used as a defense system, but now the only thing left was a pile of rotting, broken wood planks and a few arrows. She made a note of this as she continued onwards.
When she finally exited the path, Link was facing away from her, looking at a rustic old town that had a river and a mill. There was a path that went up the hill, though it was closed, much like the one She'd passed through. Truth be told, if she had been here without Link by her side, she wouldn't have thought twice about this worn-down community. It sucked right now.
There were monsters prowling the streets in packs, passing to and from the gate. No one human was outside. There were torches set up strategically, so that the light kept most of the monsters away. Jen couldn't be certain, but she thought she saw some goats grazing peacefully on the opposite side of the river, in the shadows of the forest. The entire town looked completely abandoned and wrecked to boot.
Link was still staring at the ruins of the village with horror written clearly on his wolfish face. He hadn't moved for a full ten seconds.
"Link?" she asked gently, "Link, we have to go. The sooner we look for – GAH!" The last part came because she felt something skitter underneath her foot. Jen shrieked like a banshee, cursing like a sailor, and scuttled away from whatever the thing was. She couldn't see it. She saw Link's ears and nose twitch, signaling his use of his wolf senses. He leapt suddenly, barking and snarling, at one specific dusty part of the ground. Jen tuned in to the same level of sensory sensitivity, and found herself face-to-ugly-face with the biggest bug she'd ever seen.
"JESUS H. CHRIST ON A BICYCLE, FUCK!" she screamed in English, leaping away from the hideous bug. It was huge, nearly the size of her entire torso with legs the length of her forearm or more, and all she saw was a large pair of mandibles and spiky legs. All aboard the Nope Train to Fuckthatville!
As she ran away from the hideous creature, it decided to chase her, and Link chased it. So whoever was watching hopefully was seeing only a creature being chased by a wolf, and not something more stupid.
Who was she kidding, the heroes looked incredibly unprofessional in that moment.
"Stay still!" Link yelled at her, furiously chasing the insect as it chattered menacingly, snapping at her tail.
"I would, but there is this nightmare fuel intent on eating me, thank you very much! Move faster, I'm not slowing down!" she shouted back, jumping slightly as the bug nipped at her tail, taking a mouthful of air and fur. Suddenly, it leapt into the air, sparking slightly with magical electricity, landing on her back. Jen shuddered at the touch of its thin legs as it dug into her leg. It bit into her calf, its huge mandibles passing through the material of her jeans easily, and she howled with pain as she felt its fiery bite. She stomped, squishing the bug off her, and raced away.
With a ferocious bark, Link full-body tackled the offending insect, biting into its carapace. With a short squeal, the crushed insect gave up the ghost, bursting into a pale blue light that hovered around him like a spirit.
She watched him observe the Tear of Light curiously for a second, and shook her head in amusement, but the pain in her leg made her wince. Jen craned her neck to look at it. There was a large gash in her calf, and it was bleeding profusely. The blood made her pants cling to her leg uncomfortably, and the pain made it difficult to move. It would certainly need stitches, if she couldn't close it with magic. She grimaced, looking around at the pitiful remains of the village. No doctor or healer in their right mind would dare stay around here.
A sudden warning bark drew her attention. Apparently, the commotion from their scuffle with the insect-thing had drawn undue attention, and the resident band of Moblins had arrived to investigate. Equally as unfortunately, Link's natural camouflage into the dim colors of the shadows was compromised as the Tear hovered over him like a beacon. Worst of all was that she would be worse than useless in this fight, as she only had one working leg and was losing blood at the moment.
There were four heavily armed Bokoblins advancing on Link, each of them wielding some sort of weapon. Link seemed to be fighting easily and naturally, taking them down one by one. However, there were more across the river, and potentially even more up the hill. If they decided to see how their companions were faring, then both of them would be worse than screwed.
Jen decided to do some quick thinking. She mentally pulled up an info sheet on everything she knew about this certain breed of Bokoblin, rapidly looking around her surroundings to find anything she could use against them. Her eyes feel on the river, specifically the larger pond that the main Bokoblin tribe had chosen to tent next to. In the twilight, it was almost impossible to tell where shore ended and river began. It would not be difficult to trick them into following something into the water. Luckily for her, Bokoblins not only had poor eyesight, but they also couldn't swim.
However, the Bokoblins were getting wise to the danger Link posed, and she was in no condition to move into a position where she could bring them to the water. Jen was instead hiding under the awning of a nearby building with a deep, deep wound in her calf.
Useless can't do anything to help just pitiful shouldn't even be here just a burden-
"Man, this place is a dump!"
She wheeled around to the source of the voice. To her surprise (wait, no, she wasn't that surprised), Midna was hovering directly to her left, a few feet above her. She glanced at her from the corner of her eye and gave her a broad, sharp-toothed grin. Then she turned back to the fight with a thoughtful hand on her chin, leaning back a little as she hovered.
"Who knew he could fight so well? Man, if only he showed that kind of ferocity with those Shadow Kargarok, then maybe we might not have wimped out so quickly!" Jen grunted a little bit in annoyance, settling back on her seat, delicately lifting her injured right leg in the air with a wince as she accidentally put weight on it. Midna noticed her pained whine, floating over to her right side to inspect it. Her only reaction to her injury was the slight climb of her eyebrows. She then hovered back over to her side of the doorway and continued making snide comments about the Bokoblins, the shoddy state of the town, and how Link fought.
Wait… plan to kill Bokoblins…
Jen turned to her and began whining as loudly as as high-pitched as she could. She pointedly ignored her, though she could see her sensitive ears twitching. She made another pious whine, longer and even more high pitched than the last. She barely looked in her direction, but her muscles began to tense with irritation. She took a page from her book and let a savage smile grace her lips as she continued to whine.
"What do you want?!" Midna suddenly yelled, irritation etched into every line in her face. Jen began to limp to the water, noticing she wasn't following. She hopped delicately on one limb, whining shrilly, then jogged to the water's edge. Jen gestured towards the water, hoping she would get the hint. Instead, Midna rolled her eyes.
"What, do you want me to lift you into the water or something?". Jen grumbled a little under her breath, whining again.
"Great golden goddesses, do you ever shut up? What is it?!" Midna's eyes were wide, and her teeth were bared, with her hands gripping her long ears tightly.
Jennifer eased her whining, motioning again to the 20+ Bokoblins on the water's edge. Jen barked once, catching the attention of one Bokoblin particularly close to the water. It stood, noticed them, charged with a squeal, and promptly fell into the water, sinking quickly. She turned to Midna with a lopsided beast-grin, motioning again. Midna looked slightly impressed, and flashed her a smirk.
"Bet'cha I can get them all!" she hissed, bounding through the air to hover just over the water. She began to shriek like a banshee, mimicking the Bokoblin attacking cry. Without hesitation, the entire collection of Bokoblins released their own cries, rushing to attack Midna.
None of them touched her. By hovering close enough to the water to appear like she was standing on it, she confused the monsters into thinking it was really land. Paired with the poor lighting and the Bokoblins' natural stupidity, they all sank. A few of them, by standing on the shoulders of their drowning companions, swung at Midna, but she easily leapt out of the way, perching on a high rock formation and leering down at the dying canon fodder.
Jen found the situation much more disturbing than she imagined in her head.
"Ha! I told you! Good goddesses, they really fell for that! Eee hee! Look at their faces!" Midna cackled, zooming around the dying monsters like a demonic bird, pulling on their ears and kicking Bokoblins deeper underwater. Jen grinned nervously, leaving Midna to her fun as she left to check on Link.
'Note to self, when giving Midna a challenge, don't make it a to-the-death one. Results are disturbing'. she thought to herself with a shudder. Link was where she'd left him, standing over the last Bokoblin as it exploded into shards. His back was to her, facing the way they entered the village.
"Link!" she called to him. He jumped a mile, wheeling around to face her with his teeth bared. Jen recoiled a pace at his expression and appearance. He looked like hell, with fluffed up fur and blood trailing down his back. Another bleeding cut was on his hind right leg, and she noticed an arrow in the grass near him. A near miss by an armed monster. Curiously, none of the Bokoblins had any bows, leading her to worry about more monster species nearby. The Tear of Light was still hovering above his back, casting creepy shadows down his back and highlighting his features in all the wrong places.
"Link?" she asked, "are you alright?"
He breathed a loud huff, sneezed slightly, and her panic faded minutely. He trotted forward almost amiably, though clearly favoring his back leg. He eyed the bite on her leg and cracked a grin that would have been less frightening if he wasn't a wolf.
"Fine, though I could be better. Seems that bug got the better of you, eh?" he replied, cocking his head to the side a little.
"That thing was literally as big as my chest. I could have gotten eaten, you insensitive furball! Besides, you look even worse! I guess we both could use a shower and some Band-Aids, eh?" she grumbled, adding a mocking tone to 'eh'.
"What's a Band-Aid?" he asked.
"Small, sticky bandage that's good for small cuts," she replied flippantly. She looked around the square, eying the damaged buildings, "though it doesn't look like anyone's around to hand them out."
Link's expression soured quickly (well, as sour as a wolf's face could get) as she mentioned the town's sorry state, and she couldn't help but feel that she was missing some really important context.
"Uh, Link, not to be pushy, but that's a nasty look you've got there," Jen said, hoping he'd tell her more.
"Hm," he grunted, and began to trot… somewhere.
"Link, where're you going?" she yelled after him. He didn't reply, walking up the hillside like he had a purpose. He didn't respond, picking up his pace and sprinting up the hill. Clearly, that gash in his leg was not slowing him down in the least.
"Where's he going?" Midna asked suddenly. Jen nearly leapt out of her hide until she realized who it was, furiously berating herself for jumping like a startled cat. She didn't answer her, though, instead opting to yell after the disappearing form of the wolf.
"Link! Link, slow down!" she called, beginning to lightly jog to try to catch up. Her calf protested loudly and she was forced to stop. Despite her cries, Link didn't hold up, and she was quickly left in the dust. Midna sneered at the path where he had been a few seconds previously.
"Well? Go fetch him!" she said with a lazy wave of her hand. She pointed to the slow-moving Tear with a different grin, "Good thing we have him tagged!" Jen sneered at her and awkwardly limped up the hill after him, following the path the Tear of Light took. She trotted past several branching paths marked their own signs made nigh-illegible with age and neglect. There was also a gate on most of them, though each was smashed to shards. A quick look down each of these paths revealed trashed gardens, ruined buildings, or destroyed animal pens with the animals nowhere in sight. Jennifer noticed that each of these places had large paw prints in the dust leading to them.
Link's large paw prints.
The marks in the dusty trails were frantic and rushed, like he was still running. At one particular trail, she noticed some blood and fur left behind on a bush, and further investigation led her to discover a tunnel hidden by the shrub. Link's trail didn't go further than the bush, and the Tear was still moving, so she decided not to follow it any further, though she memorized the location away for later.
Finally, at the way end of the trail, she found Link fighting with a good-sized band of Moblins, confirming her suspicion of multiple looters. There was a large campfire in the middle of the clearing, with a large goat-like creature with conjoined horns roasting on a spit. Link was furiously tearing into the neck of the leader while the rest of the squad shrieked and swung at him. Fortunately, none of their passes were connecting, and as the band leader disintegrated, the Moblins seemed hesitant to fight the snarling wolf.
Even with their leader dead, they approached Link threateningly, swinging their weapons over their heads and letting out gurgling grunts. Jen rushed forward, weaving between their clubs, tripping them either backwards into the fire or pitching them off-balance for Link to handle. Those unlucky few who landed in the fire raced back into town, which held the nearest large body of water. Jennifer hoped Midna would get a kick out of helping them drown themselves in the deceptively deep water.
Eventually, when their numbers were whittled down to only four or five, the survivors realized that the fight was completely hopeless, and rushed headlong into the forest. They stood gasping for breath and watched the last of the Moblins disappear into the dark woods in silence. The Tear of Light, having found its master again, hovered above them, providing unnecessary light.
Glancing up, Link locked eyes with the goat's carcass and shuddered.
"We should get rid of that," he muttered as he examined the remains of what looked like a (completely trampled) goat pen. Jen could just barely catch him mutter, "Urg, Fado, I hope you're okay."
She opted not to mention that she heard him say that. With a shock, she finally put 2 and 2 together.
'Oh, crap, this is his hometown,' she thought to herself, 'Oh my god, I've been so insensitive! And stupid, but let's think about that later!'
"I'm going to get some water to douse this fire," Link said out of the blue, distracting her from her mental berating. Suddenly, her stomach growled impressively loudly, and she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since… oh, man, she hadn't eaten anything since that protein bar back in New York!
As if on cue, Link's stomach also gave a terrific growl. Both noticed that the dead goat also smelled amazingly good.
"Lunch first?" she offered, poking at the spit. Link sighed.
"Now isn't the time for levity. My home is in ruins and I can't find anyone! We can't afford a break!" he growled, steadily getting angrier. She flinched backwards, almost singeing her foot. Jennifer shook herself out for confidence, sitting down by the goat and arranging herself so that her injured leg would protest minimally.
"I'm just saying that the spell I cast only hides the effects of weeks of starvation, and you still need to eat. You're no use to anyone if you're dead. And you know what that means. That's right, then there will be no one to save your village from the eternal reign of a tyrant!" she tried to sound calm, but sarcasm and irritation bled into her words as an entire day of stress and frayed nerves wore away her cool. Link growled deep in his throat in response, but before he could get a word in otherwise, Midna appeared.
"Ah! There you are! Jeez, if you wanted privacy, you could have just asked," the imp muttered, partially to herself, as she surveyed the remains of the Moblin encampment. She perked up as she noticed the cooking goat.
"Ah! And you found us something to eat! Good for you! I think now's a good time for a break, wouldn't you agree? I'm starving!" And like that, she set herself on a nearby post and leaned back. Jen looked to Link for advice, but almost recoiled at his icy glare. She would have preferred his vocal anger to the expression he wore. But she chose to ignore it.
"Well, then, I guess she's the boss. If you can collect a few rocks, I think I can find a knife and some plates. Deal?" she asked, pausing.
"I thought the deal was that I was in charge, and we didn't have to talk," he hissed back. Anger flared in her chest, along with… hurt? Yup, hurt.
"Well I thought the deal was that you'd drop that attitude when we left, but I suppose that's too much to ask," Jen hissed back, flashing her teeth in a sneer. Link growled back, but didn't respond, so she left to go loot the abandoned village. She might not have felt good about it, but it was necessary. As she trotted over to the lowly town, she was entirely startled to find a small wisp located through the ruin of a house in the main square that was tucked somewhat into the corner between two shelves of rock. Though she was surprised she hadn't seen it earlier, she honed in to the spirit, listening to what it had to say.
The form of the spirit was a young woman with tired eyes wearing peasant's clothes, sporting a… oh my goddesses, she was pregnant. She was severely swollen, looking like she would go into labor at any given minute. She was crouched beneath a long table, saying nothing, but the expression on her face was one of absolute, mortal terror. Her heart ached for her, and she renewed her vow to help. Hesitantly, she picked her way around her form, ensuring she didn't scare her (spirits only responded to major stimuli or changes to their immediate environment) as she hopped around the ruin of what might have been her house. Jen found a large carving knife right next to her, and delicately took it into her mouth, careful to not touch her.
On a whim, she nicked a nearby curtain (missing the metal) and draped it around the table, hiding the glow of the wisp from sight entirely. Satisfied that she would be safe, she took another nearby pillowcase and dumped it on the ground, placing the knife in it. She could use that as a sack for the stuff she found. In another cupboard, she found some bandages and what she hoped was antiseptic. She quickly cleaned and dressed the bite on her leg, satisfied when the healing ointment took effect and reduced the sharp ache.
In another house, Jen found a random saucer of (spoiled) milk that was half-empty. She dumped the milk onto the ground, putting the dirty saucer in the river before she took it. She also managed to open a pantry, where she found some wooden plates and cutlery. Jen also found a random blue rupee, and stashed that away as well. The total items that she ended up with were a knife and fork for Midna, three plates, a saucer of water, the carving knife, the blue rupee and a pillowcase.
As she dragged her stolen goods back up the hill, she spotted Link shuffling around the woods on the edge of the village, the Tear of Light still hovering nearby. He was completely silent, save for the faint snuffling of his nose as he searched for some faint scent. He glanced at her from the side of his eye, observing her and her pillow bag. He sneered and trotted off in a different direction, still searching for a scent.
'I hope you find something repulsive' she thought to herself with a growl. Jen picked up her bag, dragging it up the hill. It kicked up dust that lingered in the air as she passed, dancing in the twilight. She was alone with her thoughts, except for the occasional chatter of some far-off monster or animal.
She sank into a daydream quickly, pretending she was on a hike to find the amulet that would return the day. She was almost at the magical, mystical grove when she ran into the one piece of the shattered gate still standing.
"Ah! There you are, finally! Jeez, I was wondering if you fell into some hole somewhere," Midna said, looking up from where she was reclining on a nearby rock. Jen ignored her, as usual, and simply dropped the pillowcase of stuff she was carrying. Midna zipped over, picking up the large knife and a plate, carving herself a generous piece and sitting down again, biting into the meat happily. Her stomach growled again, louder than ever, and she started whining as loudly as she could.
"Keep it down, Yarie, I'm trying to eat here!" the imp said around a mouthful of food. Jen continued barking, gesturing at the knife, then to the meat and to one of the plates.
"Oh, right. You're hungry, aren'tcha? Fine, then, if you can find the wolf, and bring him back here, I'm sure I can spare a little something for you." Without another word, she turned back to her meal, loudly smacking her lips as she bit into the goat meat again.
Inwardly seething with rage, she turned and walked back down the trail. How the heck was she supposed to find a wolf who didn't want to be found? The dusty trail offered no fresh clues as to where he could be found, and she fruitlessly checked the surrounding buildings and structures for any sign of him.
When she arrived back in the town square, a new scent was hanging in the air. At first, she couldn't recognize it. The new scent was heavily laden with the stench of fear, sweat, dirt, and leaves, but there was one last part of the smell that she couldn't place, though it seemed familiar. Jen almost believed that a deer had wandered through the town while they were away, when she realized that the unrecognizable part of the smell was something she had recognized on Link before, as well as people in NYC; the smell of a person.
Nose in the air, she trailed the scent to the edge of the forest beyond the town, when she found another scent, very similar to the first. Another person, she surmised. Jennifer was about to enter the forest to see if she could find these people when a thought occurred to her. What if they thought she was a monster and tried to kill her? It would be a really pathetic way to go if she was killed by the people she was trying to rescue.
She decided to leave the scent; so long as it didn't become a problem, she could ignore it. Granted, she also wanted to follow it simply to see where all the wisps were, and because her job was literally to save these people. Jen decided against following the trail partially because as wisps, people were much safer, as they were incorporeal. Nothing could truly hurt them. As she turned away from the woods, she noticed a fleck of blood and a small tuft of grey fur on a nearby bush. The girl gave it a brief sniff, almost choking on the cloying, coppery tang of blood, but she knew the scent immediately. Link.
The trail was fresh, and she picked a new path back towards the dusty trail to the goat pens. The trail seemed to suddenly go up the hillside, around one of the houses, and towards the top of a nearby hill. It required a lot of jumping on her behalf, and she began to wonder if doing this was really worth it. After all, she could just as easily leave him and let him walk down on his own than pick him up.
Finally, after what felt like hours of climbing, she reached the summit of one of the hills overlooking the village. Jen almost cried in relief when she spotted Link's shape, outlined against the yellowing grass on the hilltop by the seemingly ever-present light of the Tear. Breathing hard, she collapsed next to him silently. He was lying down, head on his legs, with his back legs sticking out sideways. Jen sat on the side opposite his back legs, just to his right.
"Link, Midna says that she has food ready for you if you want it," she said breathlessly, breathing deeply to steady her heart rate.
"I'm not hungry for stolen meat," Link replied evenly. She glared at his back, absently noticing his ribs.
"Doesn't matter. Its either stolen food or you starve," she snapped, "And besides, the Moblins already killed it. So its either stealing food from somewhere else or eating now. I don't know about you, but I'd like to eat something now. Midna wants you there anyways, but whether or not you come willingly is your choice."
Link stood up suddenly, staring her down with no small amount of frustration in his eyes. The Tear of Light deepened the contours of his body like a bolt of lightning. The effect was somewhat terrifying. The fact that she was still sitting down and he was twice her size didn't help matters in the slightest. He began growling at her in frustration.
"Midna this, Midna that, its like… you're so… you act like you don't have a will of your own! You just follow the stupid imp wherever it takes you and you do whatever it tells you! And worse, you're making me do the same! Look, you've been very helpful to me, but at the same time you're just… so obedient! You've gone along with whatever she wants you to do! She really does have you trained well."
Son of a bitch. Jen clambered to her feet indignantly, glaring up at the offending wolf, "And your point? Look around, asshole! You are starving to death, we're both animals, and Midna still got us out of the castle in one piece! At least she is trying to do something, rather than just moping around these ruins like…like… grah! You've been acting incredibly fucking unhelpful, you fucking stale piece of toast! The only way things will get better is if you contribute, not if you starve yourself! That spell I put on you hides the effects of starvation, but it doesn't fix it. So get your sorry ass back down here or I will let you die!" she hissed, turning her back on him as Jen leapt back down the hill. She sat down on the hill, slightly out of sight, trying to cull her anger and frustration. Her patience had worn down to a string, and she needed to relax. She needed to get him to the fire. Jen needed to get him from point A to point B to fix this shit. She needed to relax and let him relax too.
"Wait," she heard Link mutter. She paused, turning back around sharply.
"Look, Yarie-"
"That's not my name." she cut in.
"What?"
"That's not my name. My name isn't Yarie." she replied. Link looked confused.
"But isn't that what Midna called you?"
"Yes, but it's not my name." she responded. Link looked even more bewildered, but then shook his head, understanding dawning on his features.
"Then I suppose introductions are in order." She rolled her eyes, but with a small smile, and jumped back up onto the hillside next to him. Success. The two sat down facing each other, though Link towered over her.
"Hello, young lady, my name is Link, Hero of Legend, of Ordon Town, in Hyrule as a human citizen of Hyrule under the reign of Princess Zelda the Wise of the House of Royalty." Link said with the tone of voice that he was meeting a young child. She paused for a second before replying. Some misguided sense of pride and patriotism asked for her to use a longer title, so she did.
"Hello, Link, Hero of Legend, my name is Jennifer Temperance Aubry the Goddess-Blessed, of the human House of Aubry, of New York City, of the state of New York, citizen of the United States of America, under the command of the 44th president, President Barack Obama of the House Obama, on North America, on the American Continent, on Earth, of the only living planet in its solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy of the Universe, a point in the multiverse unique to itself," she responded just as politely. "My title is longer than yours, so ha!" she added childishly.
"Huh." Link looked entirely overwhelmed. Jen laughed at his mildly vacant expression, and he shook himself back into reality. "I guess you're right. You win," he conceded, "So, your real name is Jennifer Temperance Aubry. I don't know if I know anyone who could pronounce your name correctly, honestly. Also, what does being Goddess-Blessed even mean?"
She shrugged. "Truth be told, it's just something that Zelda told me. You know, when she asked to talk to me in private? She said that I had Goddesses' Blessing or something like that, as are you and Zelda both. I guess it has something to do with you being the Hero of Legend, bearer of the Triforce of Courage and all that," Jen surmised, looking at the faint mark on Links left forepaw for emphasis. He followed her gaze, absently observing the marking adorning his foot without much interest. He huffed lightly to himself disdainfully.
"Yeah. You know, when I was a kid, I practically grew up on stories about the past Heroes of Legend. It feels strange actually being one of them. All the heroes are supposed to be … heroic. Strong and cunning and … courageous. And I don't feel that way at all. I'm stuck here, in the middle of the wreck of the only home I've ever known, and I...I…" he broke off, unable to form words. Feeling slightly uncomfortable in the sudden emotion of the moment, she looked at the view.
"So, you grew up around this old dump?" she said suddenly. Jen regretted her choice of words almost immediately. Some things don't translate too well into Hylian. Link looked affronted.
"Dump? Ordon village isn't a dump! It's the second largest village in Hyrule! It's the leading export for farm animals and their products! How dare you call it a dump!" he hissed angrily, not quite strong enough to yell. Jen still flinched, though.
"S-sorry, sorry, that's really not what I meant. It's a more of a… uh… English thing to say. T-the actual meaning is lost in translation. It's like calling something… un… uninspiring? Common? Basically that, but kinda…but fondly, if that…if you can understand what I'm trying to … communicate…say?" she replied shakily, trying to find the right words for conveying the sense of home as a… urg, English is weird.
"You describe my home as a… bad place? But in a good way? I really don't understand what this means," Link responded incredulously.
"…yes? It's like saying something like, "Oh, this place is familiar and I like it, but I don't know if you will get what I like about this place". It's like a furthered form of understatement, y'know? It doesn't mean it's a bad place to be, it's just not as big or as grand as someplace else. Like New York, for example. Compared to New York, where I'm from, this place isn't much other than a rough place out of the woods, but I know that you love it for something other than how it looks. You take pride in where you're from for something other than its impressiveness. I'm just commenting on that, if you can understand what I'm saying," Jen finally stammered out. She hoped that he'd gotten the sense of what he'd tried to say. Link certainly looked like he'd understood, if only somewhat.
"Yeah, I grew up in this old dump," he replied nonchalantly. She inwardly let out a sigh of relief. They were silent again for a while. She couldn't think up any way to further the conversation and Link didn't feel like filling the silence, so they sat quietly, admiring the hillside. Left to her own thoughts, Jen suddenly remembered her hunger.
"Link?" she asked quietly. He turned to look at her silently.
"Do you want to eat now?" she continued awkwardly, remembering how angry he got about the stolen goods a few minutes ago. He looked back at the hills and for a second she was worried that she'd insulted him somehow. But then he slowly stood up, joints crackling like Rice Krispies in milk (wow, she really was hungry if that's where her mind went), and stretched. He nodded to her. Jen leapt down the hillside carefully, mindful of the drop, until they returned to the main road.
He silently followed her as she led the way up to the main goat enclosure. Midna was already there, pensively chewing on a piece of meat. She didn't notice them at first. Link calmly barked to catch her attention. Her eyes slid almost languidly from the woods to her animal minions, barely giving them any attention.
"Yes?" she asked. Jen's urge to kill her rose ever higher. Maybe she was just hangry, but the way that she gave them no more attention than a meal just… Urg! All the wrong buttons. Link motioned towards the still-cooking goat.
"Oh, you're hungry," Midna said, stating it as a fact. She warped from atop her perch to the roast, deftly wielding the butcher knife, handing them both a heaping plate of meat. Jen had just as much on her plate as Link did, which amused her for some reason. Midna set both plates down on the dirt near the fire and teleported back to her meal silently. Jen was almost worried. Midna had said no more than three and a half words to them, and even performed a task for them without complaint.
Jen counted her lucky stars for that one second of silence.
She settled in front of the plate she decided had less meat on it, though it was still much more than she could eat. Jen decided Link could have the rest, since he could certainly consume what he had in front of him. The first few minutes they ate almost silently, except for light meal-time noises. Jen fully expected the late lunch to go by completely without conversation. The meat was fairly bland and somewhat dry from being cooked for so long, but to the hungry stomach, it was a feast for a king. She ate a little less than half the plate Midna gave her before stopping due to a sudden bout of the hiccups. She gave the rest to Link, who ate it with gusto.
By the time all of them had finished their plates, Jen estimated that night was not too far away. Though, to be honest, she had no idea when night would come. It was just as dim now as it had been before. She was feeling sleepy enough to lie down for a nap, though, and Link didn't look too energetic to her either. Midna was still staring off into space, though her eyes seemed half-lidded and her blinks were slow. Turning to the massive wolf next to her, Jen decided to inquire about his somnolent demeanor. Jen stood up and stretched, looking down at the wolf, who was staring into the eerie coals under the goat.
"Link, are you tired yet?" she asked quietly, trying not to ruin the post-feast atmosphere. He lazily moved his head, though didn't raise it off the ground. He had sprawled out completely on the dirt, belly facing the fire. He didn't respond, though his half-lidded and unfocused eyes were answer enough. Jen felt somewhat silly thinking that he couldn't not be exhausted if he was in that position. She was barely in the mood to move at all.
"Same. I'm going to return this stuff we borrowed and then I'm going to find a bed. Want to come with me?" she murmured. He exhaled hard, wiggling his legs weakly. He gave her a look that said, I would, but I'm too tired.
"Fine, you lazy butt, I'll just have to have the best bed in all of Ordon Town all to myself! Have fun sleeping in the dirt!" she said jokingly. Link grunted to himself, rolling over and sitting up. As she turned and began to collect their dirty dishes and other stolen items, he stretched and followed her down the path. After a moment of watching her get dragged downhill by the heavy pillowcase with her badly injured leg, he seemed to remember his manners.
"Here, let me carry that," he decided, taking the pillowcase into his own mouth as she dropped it a third time to breathe.
"Thanks," the girl muttered as he effortlessly picked it up. Jen suddenly remembered exactly how large wolves are. He came up to her hip easily. The walk down was silent, though Jen could see Link glance around the familiar road at the nearby buildings. She felt a sudden rush of pity for the thin wolf in front of her. He had just lost his home, was pretty much mentally tortured for weeks as he was left to rot in a cell, starved until he could barely move, and was now stuck with an obnoxious shadow who bossed him around and had to help a petty thief rob his neighbors just to survive.
Wait, did she just call herself a petty thief? This is turning into a weirdly self-critical analysis of her survival skills. Eh, she guessed it couldn't be helped. And besides, they were giving the stuff back. Kind of.
To distract herself from her thoughts, she became focused on her surroundings. The fading light of the unnatural Twilight case everything into shadow, putting her on edge. The dying grasses and leaves of the trees helped drain the atmosphere of color and to give the world a foreboding edge. The partially torn down and burned husks of some passing houses and buildings that they passed did not help the tone in the slightest. She had a feeling that if she didn't have supernaturally assisted sight (thank the goddesses for that) then she would be nearly blind.
Okay, this was not the distraction she was hoping for. Look for the pretty things, dammit!
She took a closer look at the treeline. she guessed that the flakes of magic drifting around them looked somewhat cool. The faintly golden color of the hazy ambient magic nicely outlined the dark flakes, and toned down the hard outlines of the buildings. Though, to be honest, it just made the world look like a horror map in a video game. There was no color whatsoever and the blurred outlines of things just made her feel helpless and gave her a mild sick feeling in her stomach. She renewed her vow to restore everything with utmost haste.
The blinding glare from the Tear of Light took her attention. It was a pathetically feeble-looking thing. It occasionally dripped light magic that was bright blue in color, though that dissolved pretty quickly in the Dark-saturated environment. She liked the color immensely. If she could find a pencil in a color that matched it, she'd probably try to sketch a dress design or a nice doodle. Doodling aside, it was probably the most depressingly reassuring thing she'd ever seen. On one hand, it was a beacon of Light in the Dark. On the other hand, it was literally the only Light thing she'd seen all day.
Her thoughts suddenly drifted over the events of the day. Jen wondered how the Avengers were doing, as well as the other citizens of New York. And what about her parents? Zach? Vera? … Mrs. M? And what about the other servants of the household? Tears pricked at her eyes when she thought about what might have happened to them. They were family. More so than her parents.
Suffering because you couldn't do one damn thing right.
Jen shook her head violently to clear it and refocused on the task at hand. She suddenly felt guilty about berating Link for mourning for his town when she was only now allowing herself to mourn her own. They both needed support, not criticism. She couldn't allow herself the luxury of crying just yet. Link couldn't either. They both had a job to do. What would the Goddesses think of her for crying now? She had prepared and trained for this practically her whole life, and now she was slacking on the job. Billions of lives rested on her shoulders, Light and Dark and Nonmagical. Jen couldn't take her time with this mission.
She suddenly realized that they were back in the town proper, and that Link had put down their stolen goods someplace. She had unthinkingly followed him to the opposite outskirts of town, right outside of the Ultimate Treehouse. He paused, staring up at the ancient flora. Jen followed his gaze to admire the craftsmanship of the wood. Absently, she thought about owning a place like this. That would be cool. Nice relaxing nooks all over the place, an attic that opened into the tree branches, maybe a swing far above the ground. Ah, soothing translucent green drapes, plenty of natural light, maybe a glass prism in the corner. A table full of knick-knacks. A closet with a hidden escape tunnel in it. A hammock in the branches.
So many soothing thoughts came into her head at the thought of a tree house that she almost missed Link's fleeting form as he disappeared into the trees. Jen would have forgotten him completely if it wasn't for the vanishing light of the Tear causing the immediate area to sink into frightening darkness.
"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" she yelled after him as he trotted into the forest. Cursing under her breath, she ran after him. The trees leered down at her and she shivered slightly. Stupid forest, stupid Twilight. Fortunately, he hadn't been going that fast, and she was able to spot him turning off the main path onto a smaller trail that led more deeply into the darkening forest. There was a small trail-marker that she recognized. He was heading back to that filthy old sludge-pond they landed in. Jen followed the light of the hovering Tear as she caught up with him, trotting alongside him.
"What the hell, Link? You ditched me in the dark forest, you ass!" she barked up at him. He had the nerve to look sheepish.
"Sorry, Jennifer. It's a habit of mine," he explained, swishing his tail slightly. Jen exhaled strongly through her nose, though took a moment to look around. She had to admit, if it hadn't been enshrouded in darkness, the place could've looked nice.
"What did you do that made you go to this scum-trap?" she asked, partially to herself.
"Well, usually, at the end of the day, I would go wash and water my horse, Epona. Then I'd wash myself and go back home to sleep. After a while, it just became sort of a routine," he disclosed quietly. She fell silent as well, deciding to allow him to indulge in his familiar routine. The two walked quietly down the foreboding and well-worn trail, the light of the Tear guiding the way. As they walked, the trees gave way to the old pond. The sandy shore was stained a greenish - or perhaps yellowish, it was hard to tell in this darkness – black, and the water itself was like a black slurry of everything she hated about the Twilight.
Link sighed wearily. He sat at the edge of the pool, careful not to touch the water, and bowed his head. Jen pushed her head into his shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting way. She had a dog once, and he did that all the time, so she supposed it would be a good substitute for a hug. The former humans stayed like this for a few moments, until Jen noticed that the Tear of Light had suddenly disappeared, dousing them in heart-attack-inducing darkness. Link flinched hard enough for her to get scared as well, and they both bolted to their feet, spluttering in surprise and fright.
The pond suddenly pulsed with a bolt of Light magic. Then another. And another. Jen stood, mesmerized, as the pond slowly dimpled at the top layer. A small, hazy patch of pure Light energy collected above the surface of the water and surrounding stones, barely holding a spherical shape. She leapt backwards in alarm as a rogue wave almost doused her with corrupt water, though Link wasn't as fortunate and was splashed with the rancid water. Before she could think of laughing, an ancient and tired voice emanated from… somewhere.
"O courageous Hero... you ... and your companion... are burdoned with a journey nigh impossible..."The guardian's voice was impossibly deep, reverberating deep within her chest not uncomfortably. It made her feel … dare she say it… safe.
"The challenges are great... and the fate of Hyrule rests in the balance..." the spirit continued. "I am weakened... my Light was stolen... but you recovered enough for me to impart one gift to you..." As the fallen spirit spoke, a small, strange looking chain of connected pale beads rose from the depths of the water, settling around Link's neck. She frowned. It looked more like a tool to do another upcoming task than something really useful to them right now. Like maybe a flashlight, or a sword and shield.
"This will carry my Tears, so that they may not cause you trouble in carrying them... Please take it, and restore Light..." Quietly, the Spirit's presence faded, casting the two in complete darkness once again. The chosen heroes were quiet for some time, thinking over what the Spirit had told us as its soothing, almost hypnotic presence left them.
Wait… this was a request to perform another task! WITH THOSE STUPID BUGS! Jen shrieked inwardly.
As if they had a mental link, they both groaned at the top of their lungs as they thought about hauling themselves around the town in search of those filthy insects.
"Tomorrow?" she asked Link tiredly.
"Tomorrow," he affirmed just as flatly.
The matter was settled. As dusk's fading fingers of light vanished, she curled up on someone's pillow with Link at her feet. Jen relaxed as Link started to snore, letting all of the day's distractions slip from her mind. Tomorrow. She closed her eyes one last time, and sank into a restful sleep.
Hours later, she was rudely kicked to the floor as Link shoved her in his sleep. Just to make things clear, if it's late and she's tired, she gets groggy and irritable. So she kicked him, hard.
When the morning came, she had all the blankets and Link was on the floor.