Chapter 33: Four Meetings
There were to be four meetings that day. Four councils, four conversations. Four.
The first was between Link and King Zora.
They met, soon after their early greeting, to talk. Link had no idea what to expect. The Zora King's manner was rather grave, and yet he seemed so excited about something that Link could not help but feel it must be good.
King Zora led him into a noisy clearing, where scores of Zoras were at work constructing several large, skeletal structures.
"This is what I wanted to show you." Said King Zora proudly. "We have been building for quite some time now."
Link remained confused. "What are they?"
King Zora laughed, but it was not a happy laugh. "They are siege weapons. Catapults and battering rams."
Link was still confused. "What for?" then another thought struck him. "And why are the Hylians here, in the Kokiri Forest?"
King Zora sighed. "The weapons are to breach Hyrule Castle's walls." He said. "And the Hylians are here because Ganondorf has forced them all out of the Castle Grounds to avoid rebellion."
Link shook his head. It was all too much to absorb. He had known about Ganondorf's talking the throne, but had never suspected the crisis was this bad.
"I think," he said, looking at the soon to be powerful siege weaponry before him, "that Ganondorf will regret his actions…"
The second meeting was between Old Majora, Link, and Ereb. They ate lunch together in a hut built for the old man. It was highly reminiscent of the last time they had eaten together for the same meal like this, so long ago.
"I was responsible, I am afraid," Old Majora was saying between bites of roasted helmaroc, "for the picture of you on the warrant. Ganondorf captured me, and forced me to draw it under threat of Zelda's death."
Link nodded. "It's alright. I understand. How did you escape?"
The old man laughed. "Escape? Bah! I never escaped. I was set free."
"Set free?" Link echoed. This made no sense.
"Yes. Ganondorf may be a liar, traitor, and murderer, but he does, at the very least, keep his word on occasion. I was not enough of a threat to execute; after I finished the picture of you, I was forgotten and released. But not before I was forced to swear loyalty to the new King."
Link shook his head. Even explained, this made little sense.
"You swore loyalty to Ganondorf?" he asked.
"Yes, but the oath is null and void." Old Majora laughed.
"What do you mean?" Ereb asked.
"I mean simply this. An oath to a traitor is an oath to one who broke his own oath. By not going by my forced word, I have brought him full circle. By betraying, he will be betrayed."
"Will be?" said Ereb, "Don't you mean has been?"
Old Majora laughed. "No, I was not the traitor I speak of. That traitor is deep in the enemy's own council. That traitor is one I have bribed, and who has accepted. When I was captured, I was caught writing a letter. In reality, that was not the real letter, but a duplicate of one I had already sent."
Link again shook his head. "I'm confused."
Old Majora cackled. "By pretending that I was caught writing treacherous messages, I have made it seem that they stopped me from doing something." He said. "When really, I was only covering for myself. By pretending that it was the first message, I have made Ganondorf assume that I attempted treachery. Not that I had been able to carry it out."
Ereb nodded. This made more sense.
The mask maker looked at Ereb. "And I am sorry for what you suffered." He said.
Ereb nodded again. "It wasn't your fault."
As they walked out the door of the hut, Old Majora murmured, "More than you know. More than you know."
The third meeting was much larger than the preceding two. It was of all the leaders of the Zoras, Gorons, Hylians, and Miniblin. Link and Ereb were also present, along with a throng of others who wanted to be in the know.
A former Captain of Hyrule's army who Link barely recognized strode to the head of the assembly. He leaned over to John, the former Weapons Instructor who Ereb had talked to about the Knighting Ceremonies so long ago.
"Who is that?" he whispered.
John smiled. "He's the closest thing to a Commander we Hylians have left. Ganondorf executed the major heads of the Old Army, and Stagrim there was one of the few overlooked. He is the cornerstone of the rebellion, and, seemingly, answers only to the Cloaked One."
Link frowned. "The Cloaked One?"
John nodded, sitting back up. "Aye. And he's a strange one, at that. His identity s a great secret, and only a group that attended a meeting several days ago know who he is. But they're not going to tell anyone, mark my words. I've tried to find out several times. Hidden authority is dangerous to an open follower."
Link sighed. He had missed a lot.
Captain Stagrim stepped up onto a recently built podium. He leaned against it like a preacher in mid sermon, and said nothing for quite some time.
Then, finally, he opened his mouth. "I welcome you, all of you, to our temporary home." He began. The crowd cheered.
He smiled grimly, and bowed to Big Brother, King Zora, Mido, and Bruustow. "I welcome you great leaders of your own peoples, who come to aid us in our time of need."
The four bowed back, Bruustow more stiffly than the others.
"I would like to address each of you." continued Stagrim. "Mido, Eldest of the Koroks, you have sheltered us and fed us. You have supported our efforts with your people's powers of espionage, and for that, we all thank you."
The crowd cheered again, with the shrill voices of Koroks sounding slightly louder than usual.
"King Zora. King and ruler of your people." Stagrim said. "You have gathered the great nation of your Water Dwelling people into a vast army, and led them to a forest that, while beautiful, must without a doubt be a difficult home for them. Yet you have sworn to defend us, and strike down Ganondorf's armies with your blood. For that, we all thank you."
The crowd's jubilance was more grim this time, but it was none the less grateful.
"Big Brother. Great Chieftain of the Goron Tribes. You have also gathered your people and brought them to this haven. You have also brought to us the Hero, the hope of our cause! For that, we all thank you."
The Hylians were loudest in the applause that followed. Their prayers and dreams were upon the boy, upon the Hero.
"And finally, Bruustow, General of the Miniblin of the Black Caves. You have joined us against Ganondorf, against the force of Evil we all hate. For that, we all thank you."
The applause was scattered. The Miniblin roared their approval, but even the great clamor they caused could not break the stillness. A very few Gorons, who had made friends with the Miniblin, yelled and clapped, but were quickly silenced by icy glares.
Ereb, the only other person who had cheered, sighed. If only things had turned out differently.
Bruustow nodded, his red eyes gleaming. He, too, sighed, but no one saw it. He did not let them.
Stagrim continued, breaking the awkward silence.
"We have all gathered here to prepare for war." He said. At the moment he said the word war, everyone seemed to forget the Miniblin. Their eyes were all on Stagrim once again.
He gulped, and continued. "We have all come from different places and lives. But all of us have been affected, in some way, by Ganondorf's evil. All of us, in some way, have felt the darkness closing in more and more with each passing day." He looked at Bruustow. "All of us." he said.
Bruustow nodded once. He was not happy, but he was, at least, reassured of the Captain's standing.
The Captain plodded on. "We will fight the traitor. We will defeat him. Hyrule will be safe, and peace will reign once more!"
The crowd went wild. No one noticed a cloaked figure approach and dismiss Stagrim. Not until the Cloaked One was standing on the podium was anyone aware that the speaker had changed.
A strange voice filtered out through the shroud.
"The Zoras have initiated construction of siege weapons. Big Brother has told me that his people, masters of the forge, will work to arm us. The Koroks will continue to be our spies. And the Miniblin…" the Cloaked One paused. "…The Miniblin are to be treated as friends. That is what they have become, and is now what they are."
The Miniblin, heartened, looked up at the speaker hopefully.
"But as great as our allies works are, they are not enough." Ignoring the shock that passed over each face in the crown, the Cloaked One proceeded. "We have only one hope. One person will break Ganondorf's power. One, and only one. Our duty is to help him accomplish that, for alone, we cannot."
Though he could not see the face of the mysterious leader, Link had an uneasy feeling that the leader's eyes were fixed on him. He shuffled a bit in his seat.
"Only the Hero can." The strange voice was quieter now. It was barely audible. "Only Link can."
There was a long silence. The leader pulled back the hood.
Revealed was a head wrapped in a muffling shroud. Shining blue eyes and a delicate mouth were all that remained uncovered.
Link felt, mixed with the unease, a strange foreboding. The eyes were fixed on him. But they were strange eyes, familiar eyes…
The Cloaked one reached up, and unraveled the shroud. A mane of golden hair fell from the wraps. A face, a full face, pale but proud, was revealed.
And Link and Ereb found themselves leaping to their feet, running, laughing, without quite realizing why.
And then they, too, were on the podium, all three of them locked in a great bear hug, and they were weeping, and smiling until it hurt, and babbling about how it had been so long, so long…
And when the three of them parted, Hero, Helper, and Leader of the Rebellion…
…It was Zelda who was the first to speak.
"Welcome home, Link and Ereb!" She cried.