Chapter 20
-Kingdom Dance-
Link groaned as the light of morning stretched across the land. He forced one eye partway open, then, deciding against waking up, snapped it close again and curled tighter into a ball. He gripped his hat, which he had been attempting to use as a pillow. A tiny shriek forced him into wakefulness. He sat upright and sleepily looked around for the source of the yelp. Finding nothing, he yawned and tried to lay back down.
"Please watch out for me!" Navi squeaked, "I was sleeping on your hat, too, remember? You squished me then you almost laid on top of me!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Link replied drowsily as he rubbed his eyes, "Are you okay? I didn't break a wing, did I?"
"No," she said, lifting herself into the air to prove it, "I'm alright."
"That's good," he nodded, "So, it's morning already? I hardly slept. How about you?"
"I slept fairly well," Navi said, "Your hat is very soft, Link."
"Yeah, it is," he admitted, putting it on, "But I wish I could be tiny like you, if only for the night, so I could curl up in it like a bed, too. Anyway, I guess we should wake up the princess, eh? I hope she's not grumpy in the mornings. My Papa could be, sometimes, back home, and so could my aunts. They're scary when they're grumpy."
"Oh?" Navi said, perching on his shoulder, "What do they look like?"
"In the mornings?" he said, "Ah, you mean just normally, right? Well, they're both short and they have white hair and huge bulging eyes. Kind of like bugs. Just imagine what it looks like when they wake up and they don't want to- those big eyes get even bigger and look like they'll pop out! Anyway, my great-aunts are twins; identical twins. You know, they look exactly alike? But the way that I can tell them apart is by what they each always wear. One of them always has blue in her clothes, while the other one always wears red. Once you can figure out which witch wears which, you can tell them apart, see?"
"I see!" the fairy said, "Are there any other twins in your family?"
"Not that I know of," he said, "I only have my great-aunts and my Papa. That's all. Now, I need to get down to them, so I can let my aunts know that I'm okay. Where's Tetra?"
"She's that ball over there," Navi giggled, "Remember when you said she could have the blanket for the night? The princess is still bundled up and asleep."
"Oh, no, no," Link sighed, shaking his head, "We can't have that." He walked over and began to prod the brown lump of blanket with his foot.
"Wake up, princess, it's morning…" he said softly, remembering how his father had awakened him when he was sick once. Though the man's voice had been a bit gruff, as it always was, but he made it very quiet, as Link's long, pointed ears had been particularly sensitive that day. The young man was hoping that handling the situation in such a gentle way would let Tetra act a bit more cheerful. But despite his intentions, he was not terribly patient, especially when noticing that their transportation was missing.
"Tetra!" he hissed, nudging her harder until he was practically kicking her.
"What?!" the girl snapped, jerking her head toward him as she narrowed her eyes dangerously, "What do you want? Let me sleep a little bit longer!" With a huff Link knelt down beside her and began shaking her.
"Epona! Where is she?" he said, hoping that she would catch the urgency in his voice, "She's missing!"
"What…?" Tetra said, rolling back over.
"She's missing," Link said slowly, "As a matter of fact, I didn't see her when Noctis came for me last night."
"I'm sure she's fine," she said, getting up and folding the blanket, "Epona is a smart horse…"
"Some ranch hand you are," he said, crossing his arms in disapproval, "You didn't tie her up, when you probably should have. Even I know that! You just let her roam in a new place! What if she never comes back? What will you tell Mrs. Midna, hmm? Will 'I'm sure she's fine, Epona is a smart horse' work on her?" Tetra shrunk back slightly at the scolding from this odd boy, staring up at him nervously for a few moments, seemingly actually thinking over what he had to say. Link even surprised himself, mentally noting how much he sounded like his father. His serious expression faltered for a second as he realized this, but he quickly resumed his glare.
"Fine, fine!" Tetra growled, "Come on and help me."
"Help you?" Link repeated, raising an eyebrow, "Why should Navi and I help you, when this is your fault?"
"Look," she began, "I-"
"Oh, look, look!" Navi exclaimed, bouncing up and down in the air, "There she is!" They looked in time to see Epona galloping toward them.
"See?" Tetra said with a smirk, "Just like I said. Epona is a very smart horse." Link rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.
"So, how do you figure that we'll get down there, to Lake Hylia?" she asked, "You were, after all, the one who not only lived down there, but you were also scanning the area from that ledge, right?"
"Yeah…" Link said, thinking as he looked around until he spotted something, "Hey! I know! There might be a way down from over there. Follow me." Tetra frowned but followed after him and the fairy. He lead them to a colorful building that appeared to be a dead end.
"Now what?" she asked, "Are there stairs in here?"
"Maybe," he shrugged, opening the door and gesturing for her and Navi to enter. Before he could stop her, Epona walked past him and squeezed herself in, barely making it through. He hesitantly followed in after them. Link held his arms up in defense to avoid Epona's tail as the horse shook. Dust flew everywhere, making his view of the room limited. It seemed to be how he had remembered it, but he couldn't be sure. After a coughing fit from all the dust, he jerked his head up at the sound of a new voice.
"Welcome to 'Falbi's Flight By Fowl'!" a cheery voice exclaimed, "How many will it be? Just you, ma'am? I'm afraid the horse can't go- it'll stress out the cuccos too much, I'm afraid, but-"
"Hello…? Link called, waving his hand about in the hopes of seeing better through the haze. He narrowed his eyes to see the strange man who stood in front of Tetra. His face was caked with makeup and his clothes were colorful and odd. Perched on his head was a little hat and from under that flowed brown, messy hair. He did not appear to be very old, Link noticed by his youthful face and fit body, most likely what muscle the man had gained had been partly from caring for the multitude of cuccos that wandered about, clucking and crowing perpetually.
"Falbi…? Link said slowly, unsure.
"Yes, sir!" the young man said happily, "Falbi is indeed my name! Well, actually, I'm Falbi II, to be precise. You see, the original Falbi, my great grandfather, started this- 'Falbi's Flight By Fowl'!" Would you like to give it a try, or… or…" He paused as his eyes grew wide with realization.
"Link…?!" he gasped, "Is that really you?" Link grinned and nodded.
"Where have you been all this time?" Falbi said, examining his friend, "You've been gone for… let's see… seven years?"
"I've been… away," the young hero replied.
"No kidding!" he said, "What, were you taken captive by the yetis and frozen at Snowpeak for all that time?"
"…not exactly," Link said, unsure of what to tell his friend.
"Well, where have you been?" his friend tried again
"It's complicated."
"'It's complicated'…" Falbi echoed, nodding, but frowning, "Do you know, then, what happened to your father? Don't worry, your aunts are fine, just so you know."
"I know," Link sighed, "He was taken by Ganondorf, to Hyrule Castle."
"Along with a bunch of other men, too, from around Hyrule," his friend added, "I've got this theory that he's trying to brainwash them into serving him as his personal army. I've been trying to keep my head low, so he doesn't take me or anyone else from Lake Hylia."
"What about your family?" Link asked.
"My family?" he said, "No worries; they're all fine, at least for now. I mean to keep it that way. Right now, I'm working for my father. He comes up here every so often, but I know he needs to rest. So, I'm making the money for my family by doing this job. I'm also sort of the gate keeper to Lake Hylia. I watch out for Ganondorf's minions and send out a warning signal whenever I see one of them."
"'Warning signal'?"
"Yeah!" Falbi said, "Here at Lake Hylia, we have a lot of celebrations. It drives Ganondorf, or King Ganondorf, I suppose, insane. He hates it when we have any fun. But, you know, the people are stubborn and want to oppose him in any way they can, so that's what they do. Most of the people have been through a lot since they evacuated Hyrule Castle Town, losing a lot of friends and relatives who were imprisoned in the castle dungeons or worse, killed. So they also do that to keep some hope and happiness alive, you know? But my job," he said, pointing up at the sky is to send out a red firework in the shape of whatever monster is close by, like some keese that keep dropping by. If Ganondorf ever wanders around here, I've got one that looks like a pig, because in the legends about him, he would turn into a giant boar. Fortunately, I haven't had to use that one and hopefully I never will."
"That's great!" Link said, "It sounds like you're doing a lot of good for these people."
"I hope so," he said.
"Hey, with all these new people down there, are my aunts still living in the same place?" Link asked.
"Yup!" Falbi grinned, "and they've been saving room for you and your father for when you two get back. They'll be really happy to see you. I think they've been missing you."
"Then I- we- need to get down there!" the young man said, pounding his fist into an open palm, "So, how do we do that?"
"Well…" Falbi said with a sly grin, "You could try out 'Falbi's Flight By Fowl'… only twenty rupees per person!"
"No, we need to have a way to bring down our horse, Epona, too," Link said, causing his friend to droop.
"Oh, fine," he sighed, "There's a elevator just back there." He pointed toward a back wall.
"Thanks, Falbi!" Link said, hurrying towards the elevator, followed by his companions.
"Don't allow any, ah, 'feathery hitchhikers', okay? I can't afford to lose any cuccos," Falbi said, "Oh, and Link?" The young man turned back toward his friend.
"You haven't seen Saria, have you?" he asked, "She left some time ago, looking for you. I've been pretty worried."
"Yes, I've seen her," Link replied, deciding on what he should say, "She's in the Faron Woods. She's alright."
"Oh, that's good," Falbi sighed with relief, "I hope she makes it back, soon, though. Everyone has been really missing her. But I'm glad you found her." His friend smiled and stepped into the elevator.
"Hey, Link!"
"Hmm?"
"Be sure and enjoy the festival today- it's one of the bigger ones!"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"I've never been in an elevator before," Link said, glancing back at the strange, moving box they had just ridden.
"I have," Tetra said, "when I lived at the castle. They were working on how to make them automatic."
"How would you do that?"
"I have no idea," the girl replied, "but, come on, do you want to see your aunts or not?"
"Yeah, right!" Link said, trying to focus. He was difficulty as his attention was immediately taken as he turned back around. Lake Hylia had once been rather calm and quiet. His father seemed to like it that way. But now, it was very crowded. Not near as dense as he had experienced Hyrule Castle Town to have been, but it was still overwhelming to him.
"Look at all the people!" he gasped.
"Country boy…" Tetra muttered.
"Hey Navi," Link said, "Think you can guide us to my house? There are so many buildings now that I can't tell which way to go."
"Sure!" the fairy chirped, "What does it look like?"
"It's way up on a hill. Last I saw, it was next to a tower, unless someone tore it down," he said.
"Okay!" she said, rising high into the air, "I think I see it! Follow me!" Link raced underneath her, followed closely by Tetra and Epona.
"Almost there!" Navi called down. Link smiled as they rounded one last corner. The familiar sight of his home captured his gaze.
"This is it!" he cried, "Navi, you did it! You found it! Thank you!"
"H-hey, wait up!" Tetra said as Link burst into a run again, "Alright then, go on. I'll just… find a place for Epona." She pulled the horse away as Link rushed up the steps leading into his home and knocked.
"Aunt Koume! Aunt Kotake!" the young man called, as Navi landed on his shoulder, "It's me, I'm here! It's Link! Please open the door!"
"Wait, did you say-" Navi said, but was interrupted as the door creaked open to reveal a wrinkly old woman.
"What do you want?" she said, "We're busy making potions. Come back later."
"But Aunt Kotake," he said, identifying the twin, "It's me, Link! Don't you recognize me?" The old woman slowly looked up and when her eyes reached the hero's, they bulged with shock.
"Link?!" she gasped, "It is you! Where in Hyrule have you been, boy? You've been gone seven years! If you are looking for Papa, he left to look for you years ago and never came back."
"Yes, I know," he replied gloomily, "and I'm sorry. Papa was kidnapped by Ganondorf's men and-"
"Yes, we already know," the witch said, "Come inside already! We must let Aunt Koume know that you are here and safe."
"Where is she?"
"Inside, dear, helping me brew a potion," Aunt Kotake replied, "Since there are so many people here, now, our potions are in high demand. Usually, I'm the only one making the potions, while Koume knows exactly what to gather. But now we have had to share the work."
"Oh," Link said, "But isn't that a good thing? You're both helping the people of Hyrule, right?"
"Oh, I suppose so…" she grumbled, "We can't get any peace and quiet, though, when everyone wants our potions..."
"Ah…" he said, but his heart leapt as something occurred to him, "Papa! What about Papa? He needs his blue potion! You don't… you don't think that he's… no…"
"Dead?" his aunt finished bluntly, "No, not him. He is surly fine. You don't know just how strong your Papa really is, do you, boy?"
"What do you mean…?" Link said. A mischievous grin spread across her wrinkles.
"Have you heard about all the festivals we have here?" she said quickly, "They're probably just starting to dance! You should go out, find a pretty girl and ask her to dance. You're young and handsome, so that should be no problem. Here's a few rupees. Now, go have some fun!"
"What? No, I need-"
"-to let Aunt Koume know that you are here," she 'finished', "I will that do for you. Now, go on, go on!" She pushed him out the door, causing him to nearly fall down the steps. He barely caught himself in time. He frowned, but decided to obey his aunt and explore where music was now drifting from. Heading toward the noise, he stopped as Tetra suddenly stumbled in front of him.
"Hey, there you are!" he said, "Where have you been?"
"I took Epona someplace safe, don't worry," she said, "Now, where are going?"
"To whatever is over there," he said, "I talked to one of my great-aunts, and she told me to."
"She didn't want to see you?"
Link frowned then shook his head, "I don't think that that was the reason at all. I'll go back and see them later."
"If you say so…" Tetra said as they entered the source of the commotion. They watched as couples lively danced about and various shopkeepers called out their wares to draw attention, while others enjoyed each other's company while eating delicious-looking pastries.
"Let's look around," Link said, pulling Tetra along behind him. Navi giggled at the sight of the happy festival and the fun everyone was having.
"Oh, wait…" Tetra said, almost too softly for Link to hear.
"What is it?" he said, looking back at her.
"Over there," she replied, pulling him along. He tried to look over then in between the heads of the partygoers, but could not yet see anything.
"Where are you going?" Link laughed, smiling down at her.
"I just… I wanted to see this," Tetra replied, motioning toward a blue dress. He first raised an eyebrow at her sudden interest in the dainty thing, as she had not seemed to be the kind of girl who would appreciate such things. But instead, he continued to smile, wheels turning in his head.
"I bet you'd look really pretty in that dress," he said, "Hey mister! How much is this dress?"
"Wait, what?" Tetra said.
"This is handmade, fit for a princess," the man said, sliding his glasses further up along his nose, "It's most likely a little more than you can afford."
"Oh," Link huffed, "How about I trade you something for it?"
"Perhaps," he said with a smirk, "What have you got?"
"Um…" the hero said, grabbing his old pouch, "let's see… I have a Zora scale."
"That would be valuable, but not enough," the man said, examining it.
"Okay," Link said, "How about this empty bottle?"
"We sell plenty of those around here. Besides, you don't want to sell that. They come in handy."
"Then what about this Kargaroc feather?"
"I could sell that at a rupee a feather and still make a fortune, we see those so much."
"Well… I have this other feather…"
"Probably not something I…" the merchant trailed off at the sight of the feather, "This… do you know what this is?!"
"Um… a bird feather?" Link said.
"Well yes, but it's not from just any bird!" he said, examining it, "This comes from a bird that many believe are extinct! My grandfather and his father before him believed that there were sky beings. This helps prove it!"
"What kind of bird is it from?" the young man asked, leaning forward.
"There were- presumably are- a very large species of bird that existed about thousand or more years ago called Loftwings!" he explained, "And this, I believe, even comes from a rare type of Loftwing! Please, I must have this!"
"I'll trade you for the dress," Link offered.
"Done!" the merchant replied, excitedly running a hand through his graying red hair as he examined the feather. He quickly locked it away in a safe at the back of his tent before carefully taking down the blue dress and handing it to Link. The young man turned to the princess with a grin.
"What do you think?" he asked, playfully holding the dress in front of himself and twirling about.
"You shouldn't have- why did you- I can't-" she stuttered.
"Just say 'thank you' and try it on to make sure that it fits," he said, "because I think I just traded it for something really valuable that I'm not sure if could ever get back."
"Thank you…" Tetra said softly, numbly taking the dress from him.
"Here," he offered, guiding her along, "it looks like you can change in here, see? Go on, I'll wait for you here. Really! Go on! Let me see what it looks like on you!" Tetra stumbled into the little dressing room. It seemed to have been what the inhabitants used as a dressing room for when they decide to go and swim in the lake, because the floor was mildly wet, but she hardly noticed.
"You know," Navi said, floating in front of Link, who had leaned against the side of a bench, "that was very nice of you. I mean, she has been kind of mean to you."
"I know," he said, "But I've been wanting to make friends with her. I thought that this would help." A few minutes later, Link looked up to see Tetra step out of the little dressing room. She twirled about in the blue dress, just as he had earlier when he was playing around with it, but he noticed how she clearly made it look more graceful. He felt his face suddenly grow warm as he blushed.
"Oh, no…" he groaned.
"What's wrong?' Navi asked.
"I think I might be coming down with something," he said, holding a wrist to his forehead, "Do I feel like I have a fever to you?"
The fairy flew up and held her own tiny wrist to his forehead. She giggled.
"I don't think there's anything funny about getting sick, especially on a day like this!" he said indignantly.
"I don't think you're sick," Navi said, "I just think that you see somebody that you think looks awfully pretty in a blue dress!"
"What…? I-"
"What do you think?" Tetra said, hurrying over to them, "Does it look okay?"
"You look…" Link said, trying to choose the right words, of which he was still learning, "…like a princess. I looks very nice."
"Thank you… for this," she said, looking down at the dress again, "You didn't have to do this."
"Sure I did!" he replied, "Now, hear that music? You wanna dance with me?" he cleared his throat and tried again, "Er… I mean… would you like to dance, princess?" She smiled.
"Sure, Twinkletoes," she said, grabbing his hands, "You know how to dance?"
"No, but-"
"That's okay!" she said, "Follow what I do and try not to step on my toes." He yelped as she pulled him in amongst the other people.
"Careful, careful, now…" she directed, "Watch me. Now spin around!" He did as he was told and instead landed in the arms of a very large woman who laughed when she caught him. She began to spin around and around until he was dizzy. His head spun when she let go and he staggered to the next person.
"Tetra?" he guessed as he looked down at his new dancing partner. Two large green eyes on a freckled face told him that it was not her. The girl laughed and she pulled him around. From dancer to dancer he spun until the music abruptly stopped and Link realized that the girl that had caught his hands was Tetra. He sighed, happy to see the familiar face again.
"I guess I'm not so great at dancing," he said.
"That's alright," she replied with a shrug, "So what? That sword and shield you've got says that you're a warrior. But for the record, I thought you did pretty well." He grinned.
"Hey, why don't we go back to my house?" he offered, "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired. Besides, I can show you around and introduce you to my great-aunts."
"That sounds good," Tetra said.
"What about me?" Navi suddenly piped up, having been trying to keep up with Link during the dance.
"You too, Navi," he said, as she landed in the fold of his hat, "But I think we should definitely rest tonight. Starting tomorrow, I've got something important I need to get back to."
-This chapter ended up being about twice as long as I originally intended! I almost split this chapter in half, but then I thought that, no, I didn't have time to post any chapters in November, I believe it was. So… I suppose you could consider this a sort of apology/ Christmas present? Besides, I've had a lot of time on my hands over the past couple of days (although this chapter was completed in a day), mostly because I've been sick with a nasty sore-throat-and-fever kind of cold. Not fun. But I've been insanely bored anyway, so I thought that this would be a great time to sit back, relax, and write this chapter! So, here it is, and even though there really isn't much action in it, the action scenes are about to pick up, again! And by the way, I don't really consider the 'romance' thing to be official, because Link (with the 10-year-old mind) really just wanted to make friends, initially, and is just starting to 'like' Tetra. But the thing is, he doesn't fully understand why he feels that way, so it's a little bit irritating to him. Oh, and one more thing- as I mentioned in my note of that last chapter, this chapter was named after and inspired by the song/scene in the movie 'Tangled' called 'Kingdom Dance'. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and I hope to be able to post another chapter soon.- TwilightFairy928