Autumn mornings in Hyrule began with shy blue light and a rising wind. The trees whispered as Castletown stretched and groaned under ash-blue clouds. The noise of masons and carpenters beginning their day drowned out the gossip of songbirds long before the sun shooed away the clouds and the heavy outer gates opened to the world.
Rajo refused to even acknowledge the daylight's hateful advance. He pulled the patterned bed curtains closed and sulked alone in the dark. Castletown could see to itself - he wanted nothing whatever to do with it.
They would be leaving week after next, and Rajo still hadn't found a proper gift for Anna. Worse, Vah Kamenus refused to let him borrow any of the concordances he was supposed to be copying. Master Budro's reading list was so long he'd never finish half of it in a whole season of work and never mind a holiday month. Only the maths instructor understood anything at all, and only her work list resembled possibility. He could even begin it now if he wanted. Which he didn't.
Eventually the sheer boringness of staring at the shadows on the intricate tapestry over his bed sent him into a restless sort of drowse. Memories and dreams nibbled at the frayed edges of his mind, and still he pulled the blankets high and refused to budge until nature demanded he move at least a little.
Link was away building walls and towers for Hylian overseers, so he washed his face and retied his hair in a simple three-strand plait. It came out lopsided, but no one would see anyway. He fed himself simply on bread and cheese stolen from the tiny pantry Link built under the stairs, and returned to bed.
- o - O - o -
Link knocked at his door on the sixth day, and wouldn't go away until Rajo agreed to let him in. Mostly because he promised sweet tea and honeyed nut cakes, and Rajo could smell both even through the door.
"Hey," said Link when Rajo opened the door. "You feeling any better? You didn't tell me you were getting sick."
"Yeah? So what," said Rajo, taking the dish of cakes from the tray and retreating back to bed with it.
Link sighed, and followed with the rest. "You haven't been to school in days."
"So," said Rajo.
"So everything." Link hooked the chair from under Rajo's desk with his foot and dragged it over beside the bed. He settled the footed tray cautiously on the bed next to Rajo and draped himself backwards over the chair, crossing his arms on the top rail. "The headmaster sent me a message, and I talked to your teachers today."
Rajo scowled into his cup of tea. "Who else ratted me out? Vah Kamenus?"
Link shook his head, pouring tea for both of them. It smelled of flowers and freshly turned soil and of course, honey. "Talk to me, Jojo. Why don't you want to go to school?"
"School is stupid," said Rajo. "I don't see what reading about dead people and counting made-up goats has to do with anything important anyway."
"Learning things is never stupid," said Link, cooling his tea with his breath. "What happened, Jojo?"
"Nothing," lied Rajo.
Link only stared at him and waited.
"I hate this place," snapped Rajo.
"I know," said Link.
Rajo snarled at him in sheer frustration, but Link didn't look away or even flinch. He looked almost sad. That was somehow worse than yelling.
"It wasn't my fault," mumbled Rajo.
"Ah," said Link. He drank his tea, and shook his head. "It never is, is it?"
Rajo rolled his eyes. "I mean it. I'm doing all the stupid tasks Vah Kamenus gives me, and I pray to the stupid gods every morning, and nothing changes. It's completely stupid and I'm not going anymore and you can't make me."
"That doesn't sound like nothing," said Link quietly.
Rajo glared.
Link waited.
"I burnt the velvet, ok?" Rajo growled, looking away. His stomach churned and his ears burned with the shame of it all. "It's all ruined, and Vah Kamenus doesn't even want me in his class anyway, so good riddance."
"What happened?"
"I told you," Rajo snarled. "I burnt it. I didn't mean to, but I did, and now it's ruined. I'm never going back and I don't care what anybody thinks!"
"Ah," said Link, finishing his tea. "But. You do care, or you wouldn't lock yourself away like this. Tell me exactly what happened when the velvet burned, so we can solve the riddle together this time."
Rajo stared, dumbfounded. Link wasn't yelling even a little bit, though a single ell of the black wool velvet cost fifty rupees. Vah Kamenus had turned a fascinating shade of purple when it happened. Then the yelling started.
Link picked up a little cake for himself, and nudged the plate towards Rajo.
So Rajo told him how his stitches wobbled and how he did the pattern backwards the first time. How he spent two days carefully unpicking all the thread-of-silver and indigo silk and brushing the velvet so he could do it over. How he fought with tangling thread and stupid slippery needles to make his stitches even, while the rest of the class learned how to write the secret names of the spirit the black cloths were for.
He didn't mean for it to happen. He was just so angry. He saw red spots just thinking about it - but only littles cried and threw tantrums. He was supposed to be ten. And he was witchborn. This should have been easy.
The reek of burning sugar brought him back to himself at once, and he dropped the cake back among the others. Two misshapen black marks glared from where his fingers had touched it. Because of course they did.
"We will fix it," Link said softly, offering his hand. "I will buy some new velvet tonight, and we'll work on it together."
Rajo looked at his hand and nursed the ache in his chest. "And when I ruin that one too?"
Link shook his head. "Don't think about that yet. Rest for now - we have some work to do."
Rajo frowned. "What kind of work?"
"You'll see," said Link with a sour-apple smile. "It's a secret."
-o - O - o -
Rajo paced the confines of the cold grotto, uneasy in the eerie blue light. He didn't like the glowing crystals at the grotto entrance and he didn't like the queasy blue-purple light from the glowing stone Link brought with him. He'd wondered why Link brought an iron pot with them, but now that it held the blue-purple stone he found he'd rather Link brought the lid too.
The grotto didn't get any larger or brighter for circling it a third time.
"Don't be stubborn," said Link, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked so strange and almost ghostly in this light. "Call your magic. It's important."
"I know that," snapped Rajo, kicking a pebble savagely. It bounced off the hard-packed dirt and stone walls and landed with a plop in a puddle of stale rainwater. "I just can't ok? This is stupid."
"You can and you will," said Link, his voice hard. "It's nothing you haven't already done a thousand times before. I know what you're capable of - I need to see how you're doing it."
"That's not fair," Rajo growled, crossing his own arms over his chest and planting his feet. "I haven't broken that many things - anyways this is completely different. I won't do it. I won't."
"We can't go home until you do," said Link with a shrug. "Show me how these accidents happen."
"I can't do it. You don't understand - I don't know why it happens," Rajo shouted. Maybe if he was louder, Link would hear him. "It just does. Stupid witchblood I never even wanted-"
"Then we'll stay right here until it does," said Link, settling into a parade rest stance he could hold for hours on end.
Rajo kicked pebbles and paced and wrestled with his anger.
Link waited.
- o - O - o -
Rajo woke slowly, confused and a little dizzy. His stomach roared - and somewhere in the formless darkness he smelled toasted cheese and spiced apples. He rolled over, and he felt the inside of his head slosh painfully against his eyes.
He pressed his face into the soft floof of a down pillow and tried to think of nothing but breathing, as Vah Kamenus taught.
Rajo wasn't at all good at not thinking about things.
Everything about last night was somehow jumbled and fuzzy around the edges. Where last night he knew he'd gotten angry, now he felt hollowed out. He'd lost all sense of time in that grotto, and didn't even know how they'd gotten home. If he was home. It certainly felt like his own bed. It smelled right.
So what happened? Besides losing his temper? Besides Link calling some weird light-prism? If in fact it wasn't just another nightmare.
Rajo fumbled for the curtains and peered out into the soft darkness of his own room. The golden window held only the faintest glow, and all the shadows of his furniture and books and discarded clothing fell exactly where they should.
Rajo pulled himself out of bed and rubbed gunk from his eyes. He had to push his sleeves up to do it - for some reason he was wearing a kitten-soft tunic many sizes too large. He peeked out onto the quiet landing, and caught the glimmer of lamplight from downstairs.
"Good morning," said Link from somewhere below.
Rajo grunted, working his way carefully down the stairs. He felt almost like his head might roll away without him if he moved it too much. The smell of breakfast was only stronger downstairs - and when Link uncovered a tray of all his favorite things on the table, he couldn't stop himself. He stuffed his face with sweet and savory, blind to anything but the next bite until it was gone.
Link sat across from him in silence, drinking tea and waiting, red-eyed.
Rajo hiccuped and stared at the table as he wiped grease from his face. The shallow box lay open in the middle of it, overflowing with silver and topaz jewels. He didn't know what to ask first.
"These are yours," said Link, touching the bright cabochon in the middle of one triangle bauble. "They say topaz is drops of sunlight caught in stone. But they also say it carries the power of lightning."
"Don't need help with that," grumped Rajo. The jewels were beautiful - but whether it really happened or not, the vision of Link's skin crawling with lightning unsettled him.
"No, I think I've been looking at the riddle upside down," said Link, shaking his head. "They were always meant for you. I just didn't understand. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," said Rajo, even though he didn't really understand at all. "Can we go home now? Home-home?"
"Not yet," said Link with a sigh. He picked up a book from beside him and slid it across the table. "This is also yours. It will help you."
"I don't want help," muttered Rajo.
"I know," said Link. "It's okay, you know. You didn't do anything wrong. I asked you to show me, and you did. I'm not hurt, see?"
Rajo hiccuped and folded his arms and tried to count slow breaths like Vah Kamenus said. So it did happen. It wasn't a dream and it wasn't really an accident. He called the lightning.
Link came around the table and offered his open hand. Rajo looked - Link didn't have any more scars than he did yesterday. Except for the redness about his eyes, and a hint of spirits on his breath, he was unhurt, just as he said.
"It's ok," said Link, drawing him into a fierce embrace. "Just - talk to me, Jojo. I can't help you if you lock yourself away in the dark like that. Hold onto light - to hope. I'm here for you. Always."