Nabooru's Diary Day 16
What would I say about today? It wouldn't seem right to write about sadness or happiness. I couldn't write about the fall of Hyrule to evil and the slaughter at the castle. I couldn't write about that pain.
Link came back to me today. He rode in on horseback, barely awake. It was not the hero's welcome I had envisioned for him. I allowed him some respite in my private quarters while he told me everything that had happened to him so far. It was terrible.
I was so hopeful for our success. I don't really understand what went wrong. He had rescued my daughters, confronted my brother, survived the battle and returned to Hyrule to see Zelda put on her father's throne. It didn't work out like that. Somehow my brother had become powerful enough to single handedly storm the castle and seize power with his lieutenant Agahnim the traitor.
Link had escaped but he had been separated form everyone in doing so. He had lost the princess and from what he told me, my brother has Hyrule and the Triforce of legend.
I allowed him some sleep and stayed by his side waiting for him to wake. Why? I wasn't even sure what to say to him when he woke up. He had been beaten, broken and cast aside. I know because I had seen that same look of defeat in my own eyes when I lost my daughters.
It is a terrible thing for a warrior to be beaten but it is worse for the warrior to be defeated. Anyone can be beaten in combat, it's a matter of realizing there will always be someone stronger then one's self. This is what drives a warrior to become stronger. But to be defeated is truly a fate I don't wish on anyone. The difference is in the mind, It is a belief of failure within the person that prevents them from even waking in the morning. He now knows, like I before him what it is like to be totally and utterly defeated.
He woke later on in the day and I took that chance to talk to him right away. I told him that I knew what he was thinking. What is the point of facing up against my brother if he can't hope to beat him? Even if he manages to find a way to defeat the man while he is the master of the Triforce, why even bother when the world is doomed to die.
He didn't even look up at me when I spoke to him. He was so depressed. I took him out to where Samu was playing her lute in the warm air. I asked him if he remembered the tune. Luckily he did, it was the same tune playing when the tribe celebrated his recovery. A look of reminiscing fell across his face, I took that opportunity to try a little heart to heart.
Open handed I slapped him with all the force I could manage. He fell on his back from the force, I might be an old lady but I am still a Gerudo warrior. I shrieked at him,
"How dare you look so glum! You are a warrior and my apprentice, have some pride! When you are beaten stand tall and proclaim loudly to all of Hyrule that you will not rest until you have bested your enemy. Get out of my sight, I don't want to see you until you get some sense into you!"
He scurried away with all the speed he had. It brought an expression of savage delight to my face to see him run. It serves him right for being so stupid. Oh well, he is young and will soon learn.
I found his travelers journal while he was sleeping and looked at where I had written the first verse to a song only some days ago.
The earth will pause fastest before the quake.
The sky will sit calmest before the storm
The light will shine brightest before the dark
Beware beware the illusion of peace
Prepare prepare for the oncoming turmoil
I suppose like this it seems a message of foreboding doom. I needed to finish it, To write the other verse to the song.
The earth will shake hardest before the still
The sky will blow harshest before the subside
The dark will be bleakest before the new dawn
Do not despair the illusion of evil
Rejoice rejoice for the eternal peace
I know he read the last verse of the song because I spied him again much later that night. He had passed out over to the tallest dune in the desert, barely on the horizon. Standing on its peak he turned to face Hyrule and screamed so loud some of the sound even carried on the wind to me. I didn't understand the words but I think the essence of it was something like this.
"All of Hyrule and evil and the approaching darkness hear my voice. You will not stop me! I swear it by all that is sacred I will see justice prevail and good restored to this land. Not one of you will hope to stand in my way. As long as I stand in the light I will prevail!"
While I didn't hear him say anything I can be permitted to twist the truth a little. That phrase is similar enough to an old Gerudo warrior's pledge. Even if it is not exactly what he said I know his heart carries the same feeling. This is my most proud moment as a teacher, to see her pupil surpass her.