Chapter 21: The Desert
We start our trek across the vast desert, crossing the sand dunes towards the direction of the pillars in the distance: the only sign of anything in this barren wasteland. The red late afternoon sun bears down hot and heavy on the already burning sand. And unlike the warm, comfortable glow that it gave in the woods, its heat is almost unbearable here. There's a lack of shadows here due to the bright sunshine, only leaving me with Link's shadow to find some relief in. And even there, the burning sun in devastating. No wonder the Mirror of Twilight was hidden here in the desert; only someone who is either deliberately seeking it or who has little regard for their own life would choose to travel here.
Yet even the oppressive conditions do little to discourage monsters from thriving here. During our travels through the first half of the desert we encounter small worm-like creatures that randomly pop out from under the sand. Luckily, they're ignorant things and easy to avoid, making our first few hours in the desert mostly uneventful. As we go, a tentative silence lingers between the two of us and in them, I finally let my mind stray away from thinking about much of anything. I simply watch lazily from the shadows as we go, unwillingly soaking up the dry desert heat and hoping that the sun's slow descent will eventually offer some relief.
And by the time the sun finally sets over the hills to our backs, we've gotten quite close to the pillars and can finally make out the imposing, ancient structure that they surround. Through the diminishing rays of sunlight, I can see that the place is slightly sunken into the ground, but behind it sets a circular atrium-like structure, quite similar to the place that had been in my dream. Or course, I won't know for sure until we actually go inside of it, which may end up being more difficult than it sounds considering the camp of monsters that has been set up not too far from its entrance.
The glow of their camp fires can be easily seen in the approaching darkness of night, however the entire portion of the desert where the entrance to the structure lies is blocked off by a row of high fences that would be most likely impossible to simply climb over. We come to a stop a subtle distance away from them, so the horde of monsters will not spot us just yet, as we try to devise a plan for getting past them.
"Well this is annoying…" I sigh as I rise from Link's shadow to better examine the situation. "These little pests just don't know when to quit, do they?"
He looks over the layout ahead of us for a moment before responding and I can easily tell that he's trying to formulate a solution by that look of stern focus that he always gets when confronted with a problem. I patiently wait for as he does so, until he sighs, defeated, clearly finding no good ideas. "Those fences are too high," he frowns, stating what I had already known from the moment I saw them. "If only I had brought Epona. She'd be able to clear them easily."
As he says this, my gaze drifts off to the left where, standing right beside the gate, is a pack of large, horned beasts equipped with simple saddles, clearly meant for riding. Obviously these things are how the monsters must get around, but a clever idea comes to mind as I examine them. "Or…" I say grinning as I slowly glide in their direction. "We could always just use one of these guys… I'm sure they'll be able to do the trick just as well…"
Link returns my smile as he walks over quietly, as not to arouse the suspicion of the monsters standing nearby. "Good idea," he whispers as I slip back into his shadow. From there, I watch, hoping that my hunch is correct, as he carefully mounts one of the beasts. Luckily the ignorant beast doesn't seem startled at its unfamiliar rider and it lets Link point it to face the direction of the fences. However, the moment he gives the creature a starting kick to the sides, it suddenly panics, rising up on its hind legs for a second as Link holds onto the saddle for dear life, before barreling uncontrollably towards the fences. I have to glide along in the shadows at a feverish pace just to keep up alongside the beast as it simply charges head first through the wooden fences, not even attempting to leap over them. But it does achieve its purpose; its large body and quick force completely knocks down the fences, as I had hoped it would.
By now, the beast's thunderous charges have alerted the entire camp to our presence. But the beast does not discriminate. It dashes along a winding path, going whichever way it pleases, and eliminating anything in its path, be it fences or monsters. I glance up from the shadows, trying to see if Link has gained any control over the beast, but obviously he hasn't considering that he's just trying to keep a steady hold on the saddle so he can stay on. I can't help but let out a loud and wild laugh as I see this, considering the startled look of panic on his face. I'm drowned out however, by both the sounds of the beast's hooves and another sound entirely: the cries of war of the monsters from somewhere above us. I quickly snap my head in the direction of the sounds to see a few watchtowers, guarded by monsters that are equipped with bows and flame-tipped arrows. The only ones slightly safe from the beast's rampage. Already they're taking steady aim with their potentially deadly ammo, pointing them towards the beast as it barrels forwards. Or rather, the obvious intruder into their fortress who's desperately clinging to the beast's back.
I take in a sudden sharp gasp when I see this. "Link, watch out!" I shout from the shadows, though I am clearly drowned out by all of the commotion. From the monsters' high vantage point, they have a clear shot at him, since he'd be able to do little to block their attacks since his focus is caught up by remaining on the beast's back. Knowing that he won't hear my warnings, I can do little but hope that the archers miss their target by some rare chance…
But my hopes are dashed only a second later as I watch one of their fiery arrows sail through the air and hits Link's right shoulder blade, the rushing wind luckily dousing the flames but burring itself deep. I immediately panic as I hear his painful cry, but again, there's absolutely nothing I can do but watch in horror as he blindly reaches a hand up to take the arrow out, but quickly losing his grip on the saddle of the beast before being thrown from its back altogether, the beast continuing to rampage until it's out of sight. I watch in frozen fear as Link lands hard on the ground, sounds of agony escaping from him.
My eyes begrudgingly move away from him as he lies there, trying to rise in all his pain, to the monsters, still standing proudly on their perches, ready to send even more burning arrows his way. Anger and hatred towards them suddenly swells within me as I hear their teasing rouge chuckles. How dare they mock him like that! Unable to stay still any longer, I set myself into motion without thinking. I separate myself from the shadows so that they can plainly see me as I glare at them harshly, setting myself between them and Link.
"Hey!" I shout at the creatures hatefully. "Leave him alone!"
The monsters pause for a moment upon hearing my fierce proclamation then suddenly, they break out into raucous gales of laughter. I growl wickedly at them, letting my extreme rage and determination show on my face. However, their foolish giggles are cut short as each one meets their end with arrows that come from behind me flying into their throats. In turn, they each fall off of their respective pedestals and vanish away, defeated. I turn around to see Link, yielding his bow, not standing but positioned on one knee, his face awash with both anger and pain. For a moment, I just stay still, staring at him in slight awe as I realize how heroic he looks, until my senses return to me.
"Oh!" I gasp, quickly gliding behind him too see the arrow still lodged into the back of his shoulder. My suddenly frantic mind turns back to my dark dream upon seeing crimson blood pouring from the wound that it's made, but I quickly force the thought out of my mind. "Um, should I try to get this out for you?"
He doesn't turn his head to look at me but simply nods amidst his short, pained breathing. I nervously bite my lip and grasp the arrow shaft with my small hands, giving it a small, quick tug. But the moment I do so, he cries out in agony, collapsing to his hands and knees. My hands fly away from the arrow as my eyes widen in surprise and compassion. "I'm sorry!" I say shakily, knowing that it won't be easy to get out since it's buried past the arrow head.
"No…" he says after a moment of recovery. His tone is much harsher than I expected it to be, but his words are slightly slurred due to the pain he's clearly in. "Do it…Get it…out…"
"But Link… I-"
He cuts me short and almost shouts in desperation, "Do it!"
I take in a deep breath, realizing that he must be right. Keeping that arrow buried into his flesh would be more agonizing then getting it out. So once more, I grab the shaft and watch as he braces himself for the impending pain. To reduce his suffering, I yank up on it with as much quick force as I can muster, taking less than a second to draw out the bloodied arrow out completely. But as I do so, he can't help but let out a sharp, loud cry of misery, one that's so thick with distress that it tugs at my heart and almost brings me to tears.
With quivering hands, I quickly toss the arrow aside, not wanting to stare at its scarlet painted tip. I float in silence by Link's side as I watch him try to chase away the lingering pain from the experience. Of course, I've seen him take a hit before during our previous travels, but never one as deep and scarring as this one. Seeing him in such a poor condition has unnerved me, almost as much as my dream did and so I decide to not push him on any further until he feels like he's recovered enough to go. But I know that this could take quite awhile, especially out here in the barren desert. Luckily, the monsters seemed to have fled from the camp, leaving the rest of the path to the stone structure wide open.
As I look in the direction of the structure and its foreboding presence, I hear Link's heavy breathing gradually become more even and calm. I glance his way to find that he's now sitting on the sand, taking the cork off of a small bottle full of some kind of red liquid. I eye it curiously as he puts the bottle to his mouth and drinks the whole thing, giving a relieved sigh when he's done. Putting the bottle away, he rises to his feet and looks at me, his face calm and free of any traces of pain. I don't hide my clear confusion and curiosity as I try to figure out how he drove the pain away.
"It was healing potion," he explains, answering my unvoiced question. "I picked some up this morning before we left the village."
"So…" I say wonderingly. "That stuffed healed you?"
He nods. "Mostly. Take a look."
He motions to his shoulder blade and I glide behind him once again to see that the once bleeding wound is now only an ugly scar amidst dried blood and torn cloth. Not gone, but at the very least healed.
I finally find myself smiling in relief. I have to say that I'm quite surprised at how resourceful he is, a fact I already knew from our previous travels, but it's all the more reinforced to me now. Gathering our bearings once more, we press on towards the direction of the now very near structure, preparing ourselves for whatever may lie within its depths.
As the full moon lights up the once again calm desert sands, my mind swims in various thoughts. I remember how quick I was to blindly throw myself between Link and those monsters, to keep them from hurting him anymore and I'm reminded of how he had carelessly tossed himself between Zant's dark attack and me. Perhaps I'm already starting to repay my debt to him, and I haven't even noticed. The thought fills me with lasting warmth, as does another one entirely. The fact that just beyond this structure hopefully lies the Mirror of Twilight, the gateway that will return me to the Twilight Realm once again. To my kingdom. My home. How I've missed its familiarity and soothing comfort. It's rare and subtle beauty. Things my heart has pined for since I left it more than a week ago. Yet at the same time, I'd be lying if I were to say that I haven't grown attached to the world of light at least in some ways. The numerous sensations that this world's constantly changing landscape cause bring exhilaration with each new one I experience. And that's not the only reason why I've taken a liking to this world.
Though when I had first arrived in the world of light, I thought that its main race, the humans, were fools, unable to discern who wanted to help them and who wanted to hurt them. Yet as I've come to know a few of them these past few days, namely Link and Zelda, I have discovered that humans are not as empty headed as I had first believed them to be. They are a resourceful, often times clever and intelligent. Yet at the same time they are plagued by problems and they are not afraid to admit when they need help if they can't handle them on their own. They develop a sense of community and form bonds and opinions that aren't too incredibly different from the kinds that my own people form. Yes, the Twili and the humans may look little like each other and they may come from opposite ends of the light-dark spectrum, but the more time I spend in this world, with the beings of light, I think I'm slowly starting to understand something important.
Maybe the worlds of light and Twilight aren't that different after all.
So I think that this chapter was kind of empty, but you can be the judge of that. I didn't really feel like fitting the Arbiter's grounds in here just yet, but in the next chap, i'll probably make it both that and the sages appearance and it will be most likely very long :O So anyway, not much else to say, until next time!