Act 21: Decisions

"You know... I like you kid. I'm not sure why though." The man who kicked Link laughed. "What's your name?"

"Um... Link." Link replied slowly and cautiously.

The man kneeled down and extended his hand. "Link, how would you like to join us? There's something about you that tells me that you'd make a good addition to this crew."

Link looked down at the hooded man's hand and then around at the hidden faces of his protégés. He made a pathetic grin as he weighed his options and then nodded before accepting the man's hand and shaking it. "Okay."

"Good! Great!" the man laughed as he pulled Link to his feet. "If you didn't join us, we would have had to kill you."

Link swallowed hard as many of the other hooded outlaws surrounded him and greeted him with hugs, pats on the back and handshakes of warm welcome.

"Tonight we celebrate!" the man cheered. "Celebrate the death of Gregor Warhawk! Celebrate the addition of a new member of our gang! Celebrate, just for the sake of celebrating!"

"Here here!" cheered the men and women of the group in unison as they punch the air victoriously.

Link did the same motion and repeated with less enthusiasm. "Here here."

The man who kicked Link then put his arm around his shoulder's and escorted him away from the crowd, as if he wanted to speak with him in private.

The rest of the outlaws picked up instruments and began to sing and dance happily around the fire.

Link looked up at the man with a worried look in his eyes before he asked. "Who are you people?"

The man pulled back his hood to reveal his face. He was middle-aged and his face was covered with scars. His hair was blond and he had sad blue eyes. "I'm Tross, leader of the Faron Few."

"Faron Few?" Link narrowed his eyes at the name.

"Outlaw group. We're not as infamous as the Kakariko Bandits or the Clan of the Rising Sun or the Moonlight Gang. But all the same, we're outlaws." Tross explained. "We've been hunted for quite some time. You heard us talking about Guinevere back there, right?"

"How couldn't I?" Link raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, well Good Lady Gwyn has a few friends who are in the same profession. The profession of the manhunt." Tross nodded. "Well, I guess they aren't really friends, more like competition."

"Okay."

"Well, bounty hunting is a cut throat profession. Some make it, some don't. I tried my hand at it before I got to this point in my life. It's tough. All the big boys and girls in the field beat you to the punch before you even catch the scent of the criminal." Tross shrugged. "It's hard to keep food in your mouth when someone is always stealing the bread off your table, if you know what I'm saying."

"Yeah, I do."

"My point here is that this is dangerous business." Tross shook his head. "I've lost a lot of good kids like you out here over the years to hunters. They're like a pack of wild dogs. Some hunt alone, others in groups. For example; it is my understanding that Gwyn prefers to hunt alone."

"Good kids like me?" Link laughed, remembering exactly why he was where he was.

"Yeah, good kids like you; kids that could have made something out of their lives, but instead decided to take up the lackluster life of a criminal." Tross nodded. "Like, look at you! You could be a knight, easily! Maybe even a member of the noble royal guard!"

Link just laughed and smiled. "I don't think I'd ever be accepted back into normal society. Being a knight would be out of the question."

Tross gave the young hero a look of curiosity. "Oh? Why's that?"

Link swallowed hard. I might as well tell him. I've got nothing to lose. He's a crook anyway, so who is he to judge?

"Well?" Tross asked.

"I was found guilty of killing King Gengo." Link exhaled heavily.

Tross almost fell over when he heard this statement. "Are you serious? You're the one everyone was talking about? You? But you're just a kid!"

Link nodded solemnly. "I think I was framed though."

"Framed you say?" Tross widened his eyes.

Link then began to explain his suspicions to the outlaw leader. After all was said and done Tross merely nodded and said. "So for you there is no going back now, I guess. Everyone has experienced a little injustice in the past I suppose. But this is the cherry on the cake."

Link then felt this stomach growl loudly. "Why did you have to say cake?"

Tross laughed loudly and smiled. "I'm sure we have something that will appease your appetite."

The logs in the royal office's fireplace burned a brilliant orange, like a fiery sunset in the autumn sky. They snapped, crackled and popped like the queen's favourite cereal as a group of older looking men with grey beards and black pointed caps shuffled in and made themselves comfortable in front of the queen's desk.

"Take note!" Zelda's voice chimed through her office as her arsenal of senior advisors and councilmen watched her intently and hung off of her every word. The scribe raised his quill pen, ready to write the queen's statement. "It has come to my attention... no, no, no."

Zelda bit her lower lip, unsure of how she would word her statement. "That sounds too disconnected and formal."

One of her advisors stepped forward and raised his voice. "But your majesty, you are the queen. You are suppose to come across as formal as possible."

Zelda tapped her temple. "Yes, but don't you understand the undermining factor here? These people have just had everything they have ever cared about blown down like it was a nothing more than a stack of hay! Then I just sit here and comment and say 'oh, what a pity shame. Here are some rupees to fix your shed. I will stop giving you payouts after about two weeks because I can use it for more fine china to eat off of'. Ridiculous! "

Zelda rolled her eyes as her advisors and councilmen remained silent. She spoke once more. "I can't stand to just sit here and feel sorry about a place I have never even seen!"

Yes, Zelda had never been out of the castle before. Well, actually her coronation was in Castle Town, so I suppose she had indeed left the castle ground before. But, she had never experienced the world outside of the secure walls that barricaded Castle Town and the open fields of Hyrule.

This was when a very interesting idea flowed into the mind of the young queen. She then spoke frankly and swiftly. "I wish to go to Kakariko tomorrow."

"What!?" the advisors and councilmen gasped. They began to chatter amongst each other about the dangers about making such a move.

"You all heard me correctly." Zelda folded her hands in front of her mouth as she rested her elbows on the desk. "They need to know that the queen feels their pain and is suffering right along with them. The people need a monarch, not a ghost who will not show herself."

"It's far too dangerous and stupid!"

"Her majesty must be out of her mind!"

"Her majesty mingling amongst rubble and debris? Not a chance."

The advisors continued their outraged chatter. Zelda again rolled her eyes. "Say what you will gentlemen, but I do have every intention in the world of going to Kakariko tomorrow. I wish to see the damage first hand and to communicate with the victims as well. That way I will be able to come up with a sufficient action plan based on my experiences, and not those of a scout who could possibly lie to me."

One of the advisors spoke out again. "This is unheard of! Your father never-

"My father was not a good king at all! It will do you all well to realize that he is gone and that there is a new royal wearing the crown now! As long as I wear the crown, we will do things my way!" Zelda raised her voice and made herself sound incredibly powerful and like a queen. "My father is dead. I tell myself every night before I fall asleep that Hyrule can do better. Hyrule will do better. Hyrule will once again achieve the greatness that it once held in the time of Laertes. I promise you that, gentlemen!"

The advisors fell silent; they had nothing left to say to the young lady. Her heart was set and her mind was made up.

"I will make arrangements for your caravan immediately, you majesty." One of the advisors bowed before leading the line of underlings out of the queen's office.

Zelda waited for the door to slam shut and as soon as it made the heavenly sound, she sunk down into her chair and sighed as she covered her face with her hands. "You're the queen. At the end of the day, everyone will do what you want. Just remember that Zelda. Do not break. Do not let Mihari win. You can do this."

Mihari stood outside the queen's office door and watched as her councilmen and advisors left with their feathers ruffled. Mihari covered his mouth with his hand, trying to cover his smile. "My oh my, what has the queen done to you fine gents this evening to get you all flustered like this?"

"She is being a liberal minded brat that has no respect for the traditional way of doing things!" one of the advisors jeered. "A monarch going to a disaster zone? Ludicrous that's what it is!"

"What do you mean?" Mihari docked his head to the right, confused by what was being said to him.

"Her majesty has ultimately decided to pay a visit to Kakariko Village. She wishes to examine the wreckage first hand. She also wishes to speak personally with commoners and address them in person." Another advisor explained.

Mihari raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? When was the last time something like that was done?"

The advisors looked at each other for the answer, and somehow came up with it without even communicating. "On royal record no one since Laertes and his mother, Zelda the Sixth. But they did not do what the current queen is wanting to do. They did not walk about the destruction."

"So you are telling me that in times of dire need, the only monarchs to have stepped up to the plate in the last hundred or so years has been a mama's boy and his mama?" Mihari asked cynically.

"W-well, usually the monarch s-sends their heirs to do such things." Stuttered another one of the advisors.

Mihari shook his head dramatically. "I think it is a wonderful thing the queen is doing. You old geezers would find it best to adjust to her ideas, I am sure she has many good ones. She is a most brilliant child. She is also your queen. Now get out of my sight."

The advisors dispersed after nearly fainting from Mihari's intimidating antics. The magician merely grinned and chuckled to himself. Silly people.

In the eye of the storm, overlooking Lake Hylia a lone woman stood, trying to look through the fog that the lake was producing. "Where did you go, you bastard? Jumping would have been suicide. There's no way you jumped, you're not smart enough to do that."

She stood for a moment longer, looking down over the wooden fence that was near the Great Bridge of Hylia. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to listen for sounds other than her horse and the rain crashing to the earth. "I lost the trail. Damn rain made me lose the tracks."

She frowned as if she had eaten something sour as she returned to her grey horse and climbed onto its back. The spurs on her boots clicked and clanked with each step. "If this rain keeps up, I could lose everything. It makes hunting nearly impossible."

The woman exhaled heavily in frustration as she heard the wind whistle with a haunting tone. It was as if it was trying to whisper a cryptic message to anyone who would lend their ear.

"Winds are changing." The woman whispered to herself as she bit her thumb. "Might be time to move on from Hyrule."

The rain poured down as a clap of thunder boomed through the sky. The horsewoman slowly placed a pipe in her mouth, produced a matchbook, struck the match and lit the pipe's contents. She waved the match around in the air to put it out before discarding it on the ground.

Large puffs of smoke blew from her lips as she sat on her horse and stared pensively into the darkness of the storm.

Her thoughts stirred each time she inhaled another round of poisonous smoke from the pipe. "Or maybe it is a sign that I need to stay in Hyrule a little bit longer."

The thunder roared again, followed by a flash of lightning. The woman looked up with a less than worried gaze and sighed. "I suppose this means I should not stay here any longer."

Her tobacco pipe began to stop smoking as the tears of heaven had soaked the contents of the pipe's mouth.

She nodded and then spoke loudly before putting the pipe away. "Wilhelm, this is your last warning! If you do not show yourself, I will hunt you down one more time and I will gut you like a fish! Do you hear me!?"

There was no answer, but the woman knew her prey was indeed listening. She sighed and then kicked her horse's sides. The horse stood up on its hind legs before rushing into a canter and then a gallop and running across the Great Bridge of Hylia and vanishing into the stormy night.

Mihari smiled at the young queen as he took a seat at the other side of her office.

Zelda's eyes were laced with annoyance at the magician's presence. I really wish he would stop staring at me like that. It's creepy.

"What is it you want this time, Mihari?" the young queen finally spoke after a long stare down competition. "I wish to go to bed."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of your choice to visit Kakariko and not fold to the wishes of your council." Mihari smiled. "You are very wise. Your father always did as they said."

Zelda's eyes didn't even dare to blink. She was use to Mihari's charades. "What do you really want, Mihari?"

The magician stood up and sighed. "Straight to the point I see."

"Just get on with it." Zelda cleared her throat as she began to play with a small ruler on her desk by slowly toggling it back and forth.

"I think while you are in Kakariko, you should try to get out to Ordon as well. It would only be fair. If they Ordonians found out that the queen went to Kakariko but not their village, they would be quite upset."

Zelda stopped playing with the ruler and looked up, realizing the magician actually had a point. "I suppose that would be very true."

"Why, snubbing them would greatly upset them. After all, they were a disaster zone first, and they are experiencing some awful flooding."

Zelda was quiet as she weighed her options. "I could be gone for a while. Who will look after things here while I am away?"

The magician smiled as he voluntarily raised his hand.

The young queen frowned and ignored the magician's actions. "I suppose I could leave Carmine or Percy in charge while I am gone."

"Carmine or Percy? Those old geezers can barely make it to the washroom in time; let alone carry out the royal schedule!" Mihari gasped dramatically outraged.

"Yes but you see... they know what they are doing and they won't do anything ridiculous while I am away." Zelda smiled sarcastically at Mihari. "My father trusted them, and they always came through. Therefore I will trust them as well."

The magician balled his fists in frustration. "Very well then, your majesty. Shall I go and tell everyone of your wishes to go to Ordon as well and have this side trip added?"

"Yes." Zelda nodded as she stood up from her chair.

Mihari went to the door but stopped short. He stared at the horizontal painting that was mounted on the wall next to the door. "Lovely piece of art."

Zelda narrowed her eyes as she looked from the magician to the picture. "Oh... I suppose."

"The Two Brothers." The magician read the title allowed. "Oh yes. This is depicting when Laertes fought Perceval on the Bridge of Eldin all those years ago. What did they call that battle again?"

"The Battle of Blood." Zelda replied sullenly as she remembered her history lessons. "After being seriously injured, Laertes somehow managed to trick Perceval into thinking he was dead and then stabbed him heart and killed him."

"Oh yes, I remember now." Mihari tried to hide his smile of nostalgia. "History could have been very different had Laertes lost. It was a very close fight indeed if I recall correctly."

You were probably there so of course you would remember. Zelda watched as the magician ran his fingers down the painting.

Laertes was on left side of the portrait, wearing a white uniform and a blue cape. With his sword held aloft, he was running across the bridge at Perceval, who was wearing a black uniform and a red cape and posing in a similar position. On Laertes' side of the portrait, the viewer could see all the knights and bystanders watching in worry as the future king ran at his brother. At the very front of the crowd, Zelda VI was depicted with her left hand in front of her mouth and her face creased with concern. On the right side (Percival side), there was no one but a shadowy figure wearing a purple cloak. The sun appeared to be shining down on the people on the left side of the portrait, whereas the right side seemed to be all shadows. In the skyline there were three gently sketched out faces, portraying the Golden Goddesses. They appeared to have looks of sadness and disapproval on their oil based faces.

Mihari ran his finger across the gold engraving for the title and caption. He began to read it aloud. "'There is nothing glorious, romantic or profound about killing another man. When that man is a brother, goddesses weep and angels cry.' -King Laertes the First of Hyrule."

"That was one of the only comments he ever made about that battle." Zelda looked down at the floor, reflecting on her family's history. She knew in her heart that Mihari was the one standing on the far right in the shadows. She knew Mihari was the reason for that fight. She knew Mihari was the reason that a mother had to watch her own sons try to kill each other.

"Well, that is quite a profound quote if I must say so. It's right up there with Zelda the Fourth's 'Visions of the Future' speech." Mihari chuckled. "Well, maybe not."

Zelda sighed as she recalled the speech word for word in her head. Like many other young people in Hyrule, the speech had been drummed into her brain. It was a historical and profound speech made by the Sage of Time many ages before. To the current day of this tale, many Hylians cited a small portion of the speech as the oath of Hyrule.

"Good night, your majesty." Mihari turned and bowed before leaving.

"Yes, good night." Zelda nodded as the door closed behind the magician.

Mihari walked down the hallway with a grin so broad that it would disturb even a circus freak. He was relishing in the past. He knew what he had to do from that point on. He knew he would not fail again.

Review it my pretties.