Chapter 21:
Securing the future.
Why…
Why did this seem so familiar?
…
He was waking up from a dream… and a voice was calling him.
Oh yes.
That's what he just remembered.
Remembered…
"Hey! Com'on! Don't just let us hang like this, alright?!"
A voice. But not Princess Zelda's.
It was his own voice… no, a little different. A little higher in pitch, a little more nervous and a little less soft…
But still his. That of the other "him".
Oh yes… Now, he recalled…
Link…
Toki opened his yes:
"Oh…"
"Ahh…"
Both, Kaze and Eyne sighed in utter relieve.
"Never do this again…", Kaze whispered.
"Never, never, never!!", Eyne added more or less shouting at him, causing Kaze to turn at her:
"Hey, go easy on him, he just woke up again."
"B-But I was so scared!"
"Oww… My head…", Toki stated, half to gain their attention again, half just to hear his own voice and get his mind back into reality… what happened just n—
His eyes widened abruptly.
Just now…
Of course!
"Hey, are you alright?"
Kaze bowed down to Toki and looked a little worried:
"Why did you pass out? What happened?"
Exactly. That was the right question. What did happen to him? This… this…
Now everything made even less sense then before! How… How…How…
But… more importantly…
"I…"
"Toki?"
"I remember again!!"
He suddenly sat up and shook his head to get it clear. After reassuring that he was not just still dreaming and indeed awake again, he continued:
"I remember everything again!"
„Heh? W-What do you mean?"
A puzzled look accompanied this question of Kaze:
"Wait a minute… you don't mean… You remembered how you died?!"
"HE DIED?!", Eyne exclaimed in shock, completely clueless as to what the boy was talking about
Meanwhile, Toki quickly raised his arms and hastily stated:
"N-No, not that—well, actually, yes, but that's not it… well it kind of is, but it's completely different from what you think! I… I…"
"What are you talking about?!"
"I had a life!!"
"…"
Silence for a short moment. Finally, Kaze gave him an even more clueless look than before and a single word came out of his mouth:
"What."
It was the kind of "what" a person gives when they just heard something that makes no sense in context whatsoever.
"Ah—I mean… I just remembered that I… well, it's kinda weird, but…"
"Calm down now, alright?", Kaze sighed: "I will never get what you are trying to tell me like this. One by one… Just try to tell me what you remembered. We'll talk about the rest later, OK?"
"Alright…"
Toki took a deep breath:
"Just now… when that spell hit us, I had a kind of… kind of Flashback."
"A Flashback?"
He nodded:
"Yeah, and a rather long one at it… approximately 60 years long. I suddenly recalled… more than 60 years…"
"What?!"
In disbelieve, Kaze starred at him.
"S-Sixty… but…."
"I suddenly remembered, what happened after Termina---Correction. That anything happened after Termina at all! I made it back to Hyrule. I settled down, founded a small village, had a wife, children, a calm life and finally died peacefully of old age. The end."
"…Old …Age?", Kaze asked with emphasis on both words. "But… you…"
He mustered the approximately 13 years-old looking boy before him with his eyes, while the same replied:
„I know!"
Toki looked down himself:
"And… And it's not just my body! I don't feel like an adult either! I went completely back to being a child, like I had been reset or something! Even now that I remember everything, it's not like I could actually relate to that older me in my memories. And… More importantly…"
He looked at the ground and added in a more silent voice:
"More importantly… this doesn't check out…"
"Huh?"
Toki looked up again:
"What I remember… It doesn't check out with your stories! Neither with what you told me, nor with what the Great Dekutree said! I came back to Hyrule and Hyrule wasn't flooded during King Daphnes Nohansen's rule! I survived him! He died before I did."
"But King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule was here! He was the one to tell me what happened to Hyrule!", Kaze stated "The King of Red Lions… Why should he have me told something that never happened? He wouldn't have lied at me!"
"No, just locked you away along with his daughter…"
"What?"
"Oh. Never mind."
Toki stood up again:
„Also, when I spoke to the Great Deku Tree two days ago… Do you remember what he said?"
"No.", Kaze stated "You were talking ancient Hylian. I didn't understand a word."
"Wait… ancient…?"
Now it was Toki's turn to look puzzled:
"So… When you didn't understand that song that friend of yours sung, it was not just because of the old dialect?"
"Nope. I actually don't speak that language. Nobody does anymore. Except Tetra, that tree, a dragon and some fish."
"But…what are we talking now then?!"
Kaze opened his mouth and raised his finger… but stopped and said nothing. He threw a look at Eyne:
"…Does our language even have a name?..."
Eyne shrugged:
"…Great Sea-an?"
"That sounds stupid."
"I know, I made it up."
"Obviously."
"OK, guys, forget that I asked.", Toki interrupted them, before the '?'-issue could confuse him any more than it already did:
"…There are weirder things to worry about right now. The Great Deku Tree acted, like I never returned from Termina. He said that Ganon returned, while I was gone… But it can't have happened like that! Ganondorf didn't come back while I was gone and… He's a guardian spirit! He should know! Something is wrong… Something is wrong with those memories… why did I lose them in the first place? And why am I a child again? That doesn't make any sense!"
"Hm… Maybe it's because of me?", Kaze asked. "I was the one to summon you after all. And I am a child. Also… I don't know why, but when I thought "Hero of Time" I thought "My age". Probably because of that tradition we have…"
He looked down at his tunic.
"But that doesn't explain how you could meet a King Daphnes Nohansen, who told you that I didn't come back during his rule! I was on his freakin' funeral, for crying out loud!"
"But-I-met-him! He-was-my-BOAT!"
"But according to my memories, his story never happened!"
"ARGHHH!"
Kaze sat down on the floor and held his head:
"Great! Now we got two conflicting stories, which are about as compatible to each other as you and beer!"
"HEY!"
"How are we supposed to make any sense out of that?! Every time I think, we finally figured out something, the next detail comes along and screws everything over again!"
"Welcome to time-travel, buddy!", Toki faked a laugh "Where your headaches never end! Believe me, I got experience with this kind of thing… except that this time, I have not the slightest clue how this is even remotely possible!"
Kaze nodded:
"Yeah, we must be missing out something important! Either you remembered stuff that never happened, or I got told stuff that never happened!
"Yeah, it's like those were two absolutely separate stories— Wait…"
Something inside Toki's head clicked, as he said this… But he couldn't quite tell what. Two separate stories… this reminded him on something. But what? Something he heard not too long ago, he was sure…
Wasn't there something else strange about what the Deku Tree told him as well?...
"Ehem, excuse me, boys…"
Eyne was floating up and down in an irritating manner:
"But isn't there a sage waiting for you?"
She gestured at the altar:
"Hurry, Hurry!"
"Oh! Darunia!", Toki remembered.
Kaze nodded:
"Let't put your past aside for now and focus on how to get the sage of fire to awaken!"
They approached the altar and found a blank stone tablet. A piece of coal lay beside it…
"Oh, I know this one!", Kaze stated "It's a magical drawboard. You have to write a symbol or password onto it, in order to solve the riddle!"
"Hm…"
Toki looked around carefully:
"Hey, there's something written here!"
"Really?"
Kaze bowed down… but found himself unable to read the writing.
Ancient Hylian. He frowned.
Luckily, Toki started reading aloud:
"The future lies in the hands of the children. Children, who can become heroes, if you give them the chance to. The future belongs to all children, but only two link the people of fire and fields through brotherhood and only those two open the way to the one whose time has passed."
"Sounds like some corny Greeting Card.", Kaze stated with a grin. "Or an oversized fortune cookie."
"Hahaha… Hmm…"
Toki took a second to think:
"Saria said, the only way to reawaken the sages where things, that they chose themselves to be the key… and this talks about children…Ah! I get it!"
Proudly, Toki looked up from the Hylian writing:
"I was a sworn brother of the Gorons! And Darunia has a son, whom their people called a hero as well!"
"Which gives us the two children!", Kaze nodded "But… what are we supposed to write on the board now?"
Toki grinned:
"Simple! Darunia named his son after me! And what did the riddle say again? 'Only two link the people…'"
"Ah! Well, that's a piece of cake than!", Kaze laughed.
He picked up the coal and wrote his signature onto the board.
Immediately, his writing started to glow.
The Links crossed their fingers, that it would work… if not, they'd have a problem. But there was no need to worry after all:
The light that illuminated Kaze's writing soon passed on to the rest of the altar and finally lit up the whole room. Finally, from the center of the light, a person appeared.
A Goron.
Darunia, sage of fire.
"So, you solved the puzzle? Well, that was only to expect of a sworn brother of the Gorons. Ha Ha Ha!"
"It's a honor to meet you again, Darunia!", Toki stated right away and bowed. Kaze quickly imitated this, but Darunia gestured:
"No need to be so formal , Brother. A friend is always welcome."
"Oh… alright then."
Toki stood up straight again.
As Kaze rose his head again as well, he had to smile… How Darunia treated Toki was very similar to how the Goron Leader in the Realm of the Ocean king had been to him. It was probably Goron-custom to treat sworn brothers like this.
… Oh, he hadn't greeted him yet! He bowed down again:
"Ah--- Great Darunia I am… honored to meet you."
"Honor" again, because he couldn't come up with a synonym for that word that quickly. How awkward…
"I am the new hero… but you probably know that already, so…"
"Ah, not you too… Stand up, brother, if you bow forward like that for long, you're gonna fall on your nose!"
"Huh?"
Kaze stood up straight as well. He looked a little confused. Toki laughed:
"Seems like what applies to me, applies to you as well in the sages' eyes! Heheh"
"Hmm.", Darunia agreed with a nod: "I guess, Saria already told you about everything, didn't she?"
Both boys nodded.
Darunia laughed again:
"Ha Ha Ha. Ah, if just my son could see this… So much courage and will gathered in one place! That's something special, I say!"
"We do our best!", both Links answered simultaneous… causing them to laugh right afterwards.
"Well, 2 sages down, Impa already taken care of, 3 more to go!", Toki stated, rubbing his nose satisfied.
But Darunia shook his head:
"2"
"Huh?"
The boys looked up at the sage, as he stated:
"2. Not 3. Only 2 of us are left now."
"Wait! Does that mean, someone else already broke the seal on another sage?", Kaze asked in surprise „Who?"
"Yeah, yeah… who?", Darunia repeated and closed his eyes:
"Princess Zelda, that's who! She lifted the seals on Impa and Rauru!"
"ZELDA?!"
The boys gasped. Did that mean…
Darunia nodded:
"The descendant of the royal family. The one baring the Triforce of wisdom. I have to say, she's quite clever and skilled for a that young girl!"
"Tetra.", Kaze stated joyfully "Tetra lifted the 2 other seals… So she's alright! She's been helping us all the time!"
Darunia nodded again.
"Where's she right now?!", Kaze asked in excitement.
The sage of fire answered:
"Just a few moments ago, she was in a hidden sanctuary inside the tower of the gods. That's where she helped Rauru to awaken. She's now on her way to the next temple, in order to break the next-to-last seal."
"Alright!", Kaze jumped: "Which means Tetra is alive and well and there's only one more temple for us to clear! We're gonna meet up again, restore the order, I'll get my baton back and everything will be alright!"
"Wait a minute… so… the two remaining sages would be Nabooru and…"
As Toki thought about this… suddenly horror befell him and his expression reflected this:
"Oh no…"
His pupils narrowed and he started shivering:
"..Darunia?"
"Yes, Brother?"
"Would you… please… please tell me that the temple we'll have to head to now, is the Spirit Temple? …P-P-Please?"
There was something begging in his voice--- before Darunia could even answer, Toki suddenly fell on his knees:
"PLEASE tell me that Zelda took the darn Water Temple and that we are gonna go see Nabooru!! Nabooru, and not R—"
"Nabooru?", Darunia asked in confusion: "No, sorry… actually, she's the one Zelda is going to take care of now. You'll head to the Water Temple and awaken Ruto, Princess of the Zora."
"NOOOOOOOO!!!", Toki shouted "All, but Ruto!! Not Ruto!!"
"Ehh…" Kaze almost didn't dare to ask "What's wrong with Ruto?"
Toki looked like he was about to burst into tears of horror:
"She wants me!!"
"Uhm… But at least she's not a giant fairy, is she?"
"Ruto is HORRIBLE!", Toki exclaimed, looking like he had a server headache: "She's a spoiled, arrogant, vain…"
"Uhm, don't forget that you're talking about another sage, brother.", Darunia tried to remind him, but Toki didn't care:
"She started flirting with me after I saved her from some monster when she was little and now she won't leave me alone! I can't even get near her without her mentioning—I just don't want to see her!"
"Com'on.", Kaze tapped him on the shoulder: "This was thousand years ago! Maybe she has changed and it's not gonna be that bad!"
"Or she used that 1000 years in stasis to come up with more cheap pickup-lines for seducing heroes!", Toki argued "Argh… why am I even bothering… It's not like I had a choice… Ha~llo Ruto… Oh joy…"
Toki shivered a last time, then he tried to think about something different got a little calmer.
Even though Toki's reaction to finding out that they'd have to meet Ruto had been pretty hilarious and Kaze actually had to hold himself back from laughing, he also felt compassion for his poor buddy. If that Ruto woman was really that horrible-
Wait a sec-
Didn't they just say, that the sages applied to him everything they applied to Toki? Wouldn't that mean, that Ruto woman would-
-He quickly stopped thinking about it, because he was gonna snap out just like Toki, if he did too long.
"OK… Is there anything else that we should now, Darunia?", Kaze asked quickly.
Toki nodded:
"Yeah, you know, we're… kinda confused about everything right now. This whole situation is beyond chaotic!"
"Hm…", Darunia took a moment to think: "Sorry, we sages are trying our best to find out what exactly caused all those problems, but as for now, I have to admit, we are rather clueless ourselves. All we can sure about is that somebody caused this chaos on purpose. Somebody who had access to strong magic. Also…"
Darunia took a short break:
"For some reason, the Triforce left the sacred realm again…And it's rather active."
"So it was really gone?", Kaze asked. He took a look at his left hand: "But… why did it come back then?"
„And its shining pretty brightly…", Toki added, rising his arm, in order to take a closer look „Can't remember, when it last did that…"
"The activity is greater than it should be.", Darunia explained "You see, if the Triforce grants a wish that involves breaking the powers of the gods, it returns to its original place in the sacred realm. You can see this as a kind of security measure. But for some reason, the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom returned to you and Zelda now."
"And… what about the Triforce of Power?", Kaze asked with fear in his voice.
Darunia just shook his head:
"No idea, brother…"
Kaze shivered…If the Triforce of Power was missing… Oh no… What if Tetra was right?...
"And… can one piece of the Triforce exist… twice?"
This question came rather suddenly from Toki. He showed the back of his hand to Darunia:
"There should only be one Triforce of Courage, shouldn't it? But we both got a mark! Does this mean that we somehow both got the Triforce?"
Pondering about this question, Darunia put his hand to his chin:
"Actually… this shouldn't be possible. It may be possible to part life-force… You two might have noticed that- as basically the same being in two different forms- you are sharing yours right now, didn't you?"
The boys looked up.
"So this is why…", Kaze whispered and Toki nodded:
"This explains a lot."
"The Triforce, however, is different.", Darunia explained "It's the power of the goddesses, crystallized into its purest form. It is impossible to replicate it and if the separate pieces of the Triforce are further split, they just become shards that have no individual power and wouldn't accept a bearer until reassembled. "
"But why does my mark shine too then?", Toki asked.
"A reflection, I guess.", Darunia said, but he didn't sound completely sure. "Yours shines, because his does… But that's all I can tell you, really. I'm a little ashamed not to be able to help you further…"
"You still helped us a lot!", Toki stated "Thank you for everything!"
And he bowed again and again, Kaze mimed him.
And again, Darunia laughed:
"Brother, we have to thank you! Without your and Princess Zelda's hard work, we sages would be absolutely powerless right now! You are truely something special, Link…"
As both of the boys looked rather flattered, Darunia started to fade out of their view.
"We sages will continue to help you with all the power we've got! Good Luck!"
Darunia disappeared, as the shine in the room faded. Finally, the only light in it came from the volcano's magma again…
"…It's still rather hot in here.", Kaze suddenly stated. As he started to sweat buckets of water again, he suddenly remembered why he started out disliking the Hero's clothes so much…
Toki nodded:
"Let's get out of here, before we're dried out completely!"
The two of them ran towards the exit…
… Eyne stayed behind.
Absentminded, she just starred at the altar.
"Sworn Brothers… Friends, huh?"
She took a quick glance at the bandages around her wound…
…It didn't hurt at all anymore…
…
"Uhm…"
"Eyne, Com'on! We want to get out of here!", Kaze's voice suddenly echoed from the exit.
The fairy looked up. She turned around and followed the boys, without looking back even once.
-~-
Sunrays.
Incredible, how bright they could seem to you if you were just coming from a dark cave, only lit by glowing streams of magma.
Even if there was no more heat to bother the two of them now, their hurting eyes certainly made up for it. At least Toki could finally get out of the large, red Tunic and put it back into his bag:
"Well… one more Temple to go, I guess. Once we managed this, everything will go back to normal and you'll get back your baton."
"Actually, getting back the Wind Waker is not that important to me."
Kaze smiled in joy:
"What I actually care about is, that I finally know that Tetra's fine. I'm so incredibly relieved… I wish, we could meet her right now, but, well, at least now we know where she is! Heheh…"
With a big grin, Toki assured him:
"Zelda will get through the Spirit Temple in no time, trust me! She's clever. And she absolved the Shadow Temple and whatever is replacing the Temple of Time now faster than we got through the Forest- and Fire Temples!"
"Hmm… actually, that's kinda weird." Kaze looked down, up and at Toki:
"How did she manage that, all by herself? Yes, Tetra's skilled, but still…"
That's when Eyne suddenly started to giggle:
"Hee hee. Well, I guess it's a whole lot easier without all those monsters chasing you!"
"Huh?"
With puzzled looks on their faces, the boys turned towards Eyne, who, still smiling, asked:
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Without all those monsters?", Toki repeated what she said "What do you mean by that, Eyne?"
"AH!"
Eyne's wings stopped moving for a split second, when she heard those words and she had almost fallen down to the ground, hadn't she quickly started fluttering again. She hurried to get up to the boys eye height again and put on a rather artificial looking smile
"Hee Hee… Well… you know… Oh! You surely noticed that the monsters are clearly focusing on chasing the two of you, aren't you? So they might have let her alone! Hee Hee…"
She seemed nervous, but in a very different way from usual.
Which earned her a very skeptical look from Toki: With slightly slanted eyes, he looked at her, like he was waiting for a better explanation…
Eyne, however, just tried not to look into his direction anymore.
Her words seemed to have caught on with Kaze at least, who's thoughts were completely focused on Tetra's wellbeing right now:
"Of course! Hey, that's probably what happened: Tetra's progressing faster than us, because the monsters are only attacking us! Don't you think so too?"
„Hm… yeah, probably."
Toki finally let his eyes off the fairy, who seemed strangely relieved about this.
"…Maybe the monster's are somehow tracking down the Triforce of Courage. This would explain why they are so numerous and persistent."
"Uhm…"
The Triforce…?
Just why did Kaze have the weirdly uncomfortable feeling, that this was not the actual reason…?
"HEY! LINK!"
„Huh?"
Two voice pulled Kaze out of his thoughts. He looked down the path…
Medli and Komali came run their way. The young Rito girl was the first to reach them:
"Thank heavens… You're alright!"
She sighed relieved.
"There were earthquakes, so we thought the volcano was going to erupt! The great Valoo even left his spot on the top for a few minutes!"
"We were really worried for you two in there!", Komali stated in excitement "What did happen?!"
"We don't exactly now." Kaze told them with a shrug "But we still managed to finish what we came here for, so it doesn't really matter unless someone got hurt… Was anybody hurt?"
"Nope.", Komali shook his head "Everyone is fine. For whatever reason this earthquakes started, I guess we were lucky that they ended so quickly again."
"So… you're going to move on now?"
Medli couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.
"Uhm, I guess so… We've still something important to take care of somewhere else."
"So you probably won't be at the festival… That's a pity!", Medli stated her opinion "I practiced with Radin this morning. Her new choreography is marvelous! This is going to be her best dance ever!"
When Kaze saw the shine in Medli's eyes, he laughed:
"Ah… Well… maybe, we'll finish our quest in time for the festival! Then we'll surely attend! Promise!"
Happy and seemingly slightly surprised by this statement, Medli bowed a little bit and nodded:
"Oh! Of course! We'll reserve you two spots in the front row for the dancing contest! Right?"
She threw Komali a smile and he answered it with his own smile and nodded:
"Of course!"
"Heheh…" Kaze smiled as well: "Thank you two! We're already looking forward to it, right…huh?"
Kaze realized that suddenly, Toki became silent. His face didn't look exactly happy either… what was he thinking about right now?
"We'll fly back and tell your people to prepair!", Medli said and Komali nodded:
"Yeah, the faster you can set out to your next destination, the faster you can finish your quest and come back to visit us! Come, Medli, let's go!"
"Alright!"
The two of them spread their wings and took off:
"See you later!!"
"See you later, Medli, Komali!", Kaze shouted, as he waved at them…
Then, he let his arm sink. He turned towards Toki…
Somehow he seemed rather… upset.
"Is something wrong…?", Kaze asked carefully.
"Well… it's because that girl said she'd keep two spots reserved for us…", Toki said in a calm, but somewhat melancholical tone.
"Hm?"
Since he didn't understand what Toki meant, Kaze just tilted his head a little bit…
"Ahh…"
Toki sighed… He turned around and looked up to the sky:
"One more temple to go… then, everything will be alright again. Everything will go back to normal here…"
He closed his eyes:
"Everything will be the way it's meant to be again… which means for me…"
"AH!"
Kaze was shocked when he realized what Toki was talking about…
Of course!
According to the sages, Toki was his past self and not supposed to exist next to him… once the order of everything was restored… did that mean, that he would fade away once that happened?
Kaze approached him a little:
"H-Hey! Don't worry, Ok?! We'll surely find a way to—"
"No…"
Still looking at the sky, Toki shook his head. Finally, he turned around. He was smiling:
"I'm not worried about that."
"Huh?"
"This is the way it is supposed to be. I was brought here, when this started. And once it's over… I'll be gone again."
"But…"
Cutting Kaze short, Toki closed his eyes again and went on to explain:
"I'm remembering my life again… I had a life. And not a bad one, I'd say. For all the bad times there were, there were also many happy times to make up for it. I'm glad that I got the memories of those times back…and…and, among the things I remember is…"
He opened his eyes again and gave Kaze a very determined look:
"When it ended, I was ready."
Kaze said nothing, as Toki continued:
"I was ready… but I think I wanted to see this world just once again after all. I guess I was curious how this world would continue. I guess this may be another reason why I'm here now. And you know what? Despite knowing what happened to Hyrule, I still like this world! I But… I already had my time. This is yours. I'll just see this as a kind of „trip". And once the trip is over, I'll go back to where I came from…"
Back to where he came from…
As Kaze heard this, he put his hand to his chest… 'where he came from'… yeah, but where was this? Actually… If he was him… where had this „he" that was standing before him right now been those past thousand years? Just gone? Would he be just gone?
Toki took a short breath, before he finished his speech:
"…I'm a little upset, that I won't get to see that festival and more of this world…there will be an empty seat at this contest…but I'll just enjoy the additional time I got. And once this time is up, I'll be ready, just like back then…"
"Hey! Don't say stuff like that!", Kaze suddenly shouted, with a somewhat scared tone in his voice: "That makes you sound, like you were…"
"Heheh…"
Toki sunk his head a short moment, then he looked up again and asked:
"Hey…"
"Hm?"
"You said, that you wished for meeting me… when you did, why exactly did you? What were you expecting to get by meeting me?"
"Well, I…"
Kaze thought a moment… Actually, yeah, what?
"I…
I think, I wanted to know more about myself… Some people had already told me, that I was similar to the legendary hero. Even Ganondorf said something like that… but I can't exactly remember what he said… I wanted to know, why this was. I wanted to know how much of this hero I really had—No, not just this."
He stopped a short moment:
"I think… somehow… Somehow I also felt, that there is something, I didn't know yet. Something about us, Tetra and me, and that ancient legend. I wanted to know, why the Master Sword accepted me, when it was supposed to only accept you. Why the Triforce of Courage went into my body. Why Ganondorf saw me as a worthy opponent, even though I was just a child. And why—"
Suddenly Kaze seemed to recall something. He looked up:
„…There was a statue in Hyrule castle… A statue of you. And when I first saw that statue… I was so surprised. My first thought way: "It looks just like…me". But I didn't know where this thought came from. The statue was an adult and rather stylized. It could have been anybody, but for some reason I thought that it looked like me… Kind of like I somehow knew that this adult woman I saw was Princess Zelda..."
Kaze looked at his Triforce:
"I quickly forgot about that statue. I thought I was just imagining things because of all the stress I've been through. I discarded that portrait of a girl, looking just like Tetra, I saw there for the same reason. But somehow, the feeling that the ancient legend had something to do with me, wouldn't go away. Because of that, I wanted to know more about you… but actually, I also wanted to know more about myself…"
"And in the end, both of those goals turned out to be one and the same!", Toki added with a grin. He then added in a calm voice:
"As I said… I wanted to know, how this world would continue and… and I also wished I could see Navi again, so I could finally tell her goodbye."
"So, you never met her again?"
He shook his head.
"Hm… Well, maybe we'll meet her on our way to that last temple. The possibility is still there!"
Toki looked up and nodded:
"Yes… maybe…" He smiled "If I'd get this chance, I guess I'd have no more regrets."
"Arghh!" Kaze shock his head "Stop it! You're doing it again!"
"Doing what?"
"Talking like you were… you know what!"
"What?"
"Like you were gonna drop dead any second!"
"…What's wrong about that?"
"It… it creeps me out!"
"Why?"
"Because…"
Kaze took a deep breath:
"Because you are my friend and I can't stand my friends d-"
He didn't even want to finish the sentence.
"…Wow… " Toki bit his lip "I didn't think that would upset you like that…Now I feel actually bad for not being able to stay."
"Sorry…", Kaze said, for no particular reason.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about me!"
"Hm?"
Kaze looked up and saw Toki smiling at him:
"You said that you felt the connection to the ancient legend, didn't you? So my memories are still somewhere inside you. Which means that I can't really go away! Well…hm…"
He thought a few seconds, and then came up with something:
"Ah! Think about it, as me being some sort of Guardian spirit to you! You won't see me, but I'll still be there!"
"…That's even creepier.", Kaze just replied.
"Hmpf!", Toki seemed to think different of this. He crossed his arms: "You're hard to please, you know that?"
"And you've got a weird definition of "please!", Kaze answered and crossed his arms as well. The two looked at each other for a few second… Then suddenly, laughed.
"Heheh… Hmm…"
Kaze closed his eyes and thought about something:
"What I still don't get is, why my wish brought you here like this in the first place… wouldn't it have been easier to just let me remember the memories of this previous "me", instead of somehow transporting it here? And the sages don't even know how exactly this can even work! I mean, I just wanted to know about the hero of time. That song acted… unnecessarily complicated… Not that I would mind it, really!", he quickly added.
"I don't know how it can work either…", Toki said "But I don't really care, how it happened. But I'm glad it did. So… Don't worry about me. Let's enjoy this last bit of time I've got here like this, together, alright?"
Kaze looked at him, as he started to smile again. Toki said:
"I'm part of you. It's like Saria said: Our memories are what seperates us. Mine end where yours begin and the other way around. Just because we can't access them, it doesn't mean they're not there! Right?"
After a short break, Kaze smiled and nodded:
"Right."
They nodded at each other, as they crossed the bridge above the pond at the end of the path…
"KID!"
As the boys looked forwards again, they saw, that the pirates, as well as Linebeck, were already waiting for them on the other side of the bridge… looking rather startled for some reason.
"Guys!", Kaze exclaimed, as they came run their way.
"Ah, the kids are alright…", Nudge sighed, wiping away some sweat, while Niko ran up to Link(Kaze) and grabbed him by the collar:
"SWABBY! You worried us! Are you aware of that, ha?! HA!?"
"Ehh…", was Link's only response.
Gonzo rolled his eyes and explained:
"There were quakes, you know!"
Link looked at him:
"Yeah. What about that?"
„What about that?!", Linebeck repeated in disbelieve, taking over Link's collar from Niko and starting to shake him.
"Wohhohohohoho---"
"That mountain sounded like a bomb store, that somebody set on fire! We thought you kids were FINISHED! Out, over, kaputt, gone, finito!!"
"Ah! Cut it out!"
Link(still the Kaze one), finally freed himself from Linebeck's grasp and tried, not to stagger, despite his dizziness:
"Wooohh…- Linebeck, I survived the temple of the Ocean King and Bellum himself. You think an eruption was gonna kill me? Come on!"
He rubbed his nose confidently and somewhat proud:
"I'm not that easy to get down! Piece of cake!"
"He almost collapsed because of a heat-stroke.", Toki suddenly added with monotonous voice.
The pirates (+ Linebeck) gasped.
"Hey!"
Kaze turned towards Toki:
"You too!"
"Yeah, but I didn't lie about it!"
"You WOULD have lied about it, if somebody brought it up!"
"But nobody did~!"
"Argh! I always said it: You're overdoing it, Kid!", Linebeck suddenly said: „Don't dare to die on us, OK?!"
A skeptical look appeared on Kaze's face when he heard this and he turned his eyes towards Linebeck:
"Since when are you that worried about me?"
Linebeck quickly leaned down to him and whispered:
"…Ever since you are the only thing keeping those guys (he pointed at the pirates) on my side. Look…I just don't like the way they're looking at my pockets…"
As the sailor shivered for a short moment, Link laughed:
"They? They are harmless! Every since Tetra declared herself 'crusader of the seas', the only thing they maraud is our own storage room at lunch-time! Without her permission, they wouldn't even hurt a fly! And even with it, the worst thing I ever saw them do was… uhm… catapulting me out of the ship, I guess… … OK, to be honest, that hurt… a lot… uhm… Now that I think about it, they once robbed a store and tied up the owner… You don't happen to have a store, do you?"
"Hey, what are you talking about?", Niko noticed Linebeck and Link whispering and tried to listen, but Gonzo was standing in his way and he couldn't get through, since he and the other pirates were being distracted by a dramatic retelling of the events inside the temple of fire, brought to them by none other than Eyne, fairy of overdone storytelling (or so it seemed):
"…and so a TEN FEET high fountain of lava shot out of the ground, burning with the flames of HELL ITSELF!! Believe me, I thought, the boys were done for, but stop-!! Our brave heros dodged every single deadly drop of the molten DOOM and got through without even so much as a scratch on them!! But what was that?! Hundreds and HUNDREDS of terrible, horrible BEASTS were making their way through this dreadful cave, towards us!! Already was I praying my last prayer for getting more luck, more courage and a better skin-tone in my next life, but wasn't the battle over yet! And the bravest warriors slew the beasts, slew them like they were harmless insects, cut them down like mere grass! It was awesome, inspired by awe, it was---"
"…But, this doesn't check out with what the boys said a few seconds ago…"
"Shut up, Mako, I want to hear this!", Senza quickly said.
Eyne was obviously having fun. Probably because this was her chance to talk fast, loud and a lot, without getting scolded by the others of it.
"Haha…"
Toki felt a little left out once again… But he didn't mind.
This wasn't his time. He was just a guest…
He glanced over towards the other Link.
It was his time.
"The hero of time"… Link started to understand, that his title had more than just one meaning… he didn't only cross the stream of time by becoming and adult. Or by using the song of time to repeat three days that have passed.
This was another way of his to cross the stream of time… this other "him". As well as the ones who came before them… and would probably come after them.
No matter, how much a person accomplishes, once their time is over, all they ever created can be undone very quickly. And they will never have the chance to restore it.
Link was different.
He could gain more time, when needed… by restarting from zero.
In a way this thought was very awesome… in another way, extremely sad and a little frightening.
How many forgotten lives had he already lived? How many forgotten friends and foes met?...
Then, he remembered that this live had been a "forgotten" one until recently as well. Sure, people remembered he existed in this time… but did anybody know that he was friends to a girl called "Saria"? Did the story ever mention that his horse actually belonged to a singing girl, called "Malon"? Or that the one who woke him up this one morning was a little, blue fairy, called "Navi"?
Did the legend tell of his friends smiling faces, of their gentle words or their encouragements?
Or even their sadness?
All those things were only in his memory… once he was gone, nobody would know about those memories anymore. Yet… they wouldn't die.
Because he wouldn't let them die.
As well as…
While thinking about all of this, Link had slowly walked over to the coast…he looked up to the sky again. Seagulls were floating in the wind, through the air, while the clouds' shadows drew curious paterns on the surface of the, seemingly endless, blue ocean…
Yes, this wasn't the Hyrule he held so dearly in his memories anymore. The fields and meadows and forests and towns and villages… all that stayed was a legend that changed, every time it was being told. One day, nothing about it would be correct anymore. And only a hidden memory would be left of the "ancient Kingdom", as the people here called it.
But… this "new" world… was beautiful as well.
Very beautiful.
Even if beyond it the ruins of "his" Hyrule were drowned…
It was still worth being protected. Worth being loved
…Not "Forsaken, Forgotten and Lost".
Protected by the goddesses, their wind and those who believe in their world…
…This world was not his anymore.
It was the world of his future.
And this future, that he had been allowed to catch a glance of, he would help protect. Because he wanted to thank them for this short glance.
Even if his "Hyrule" didn't exist any longer—
Wait.
Toki's eyes widened momentarily, when he noticed something.
This world---
Split.
Hyrule still existed.
That meant… Of course---
Suddenly, he realized what the source of the dissonance between the stories was… they were different stories.
The world split.
Which meant—
"Wait a minute…"
Link let everything go through his head again… when he realized that something was still wrong about it.
Something… crucial.
About him.
"But… if that is true…if I really-"
The thought running wildly through his head, he starred at the open sea. Soft wind hit his face…
Link gulped:
"…What does that mean…
For him?"
---Note
The much too long chapter.
Brought to you by: HECK YEAH, MY SCIENTIFIC WORK FOR MY FINAL EXAMS IS FINALLY DONE, NOW I CAN FINALLY WRITE (FAN)FICTION AGAIN!
Also, Tenerife/Spain was fun. Unlike… the masses of snow we got here now.
…I can't remember when we last had THAT much snow here in Austria… O.o… *looks out of the window* HOLY—Is that a tree or an oversized Snowman? O.o
As for this chapter, it's a lot longer than the german version, because I added a lot of stuff and expanded. Also, huge junks of dialog are changed, especially regarding OoT Link's flashback and his talk with TWW Link on their way back down the mountain. In the original, OoT Link was a lot less accepting of his probable fate to fade away once their quest is done, but I changed it, since I wanted to finally shift the focus of the "angst". I don't want OoT Link to be the synonymous with "Wangst" here. Also, I could show of some important personality-differences between the two Links that way, while still showing similarities as well.
As too what OoT Link noticed in the very end (and yes, that scene was not in the original german version. It stopped right after him deciding to help protecting that world), I want you to guess around like crazy and amuse myself by reading how far off or extremely close you are! XP