Malice
By: dontwaitupxx
Chapter Twenty
As they departed from Kakariko Village via the southernmost entrance, the winds shifted, blowing in air from the east, from the peaks of Mount Lanayru.
Snow then drifted in from the skies above them, making their descent onto the West Necluda and Central Hyrule, its flakes small and wispy. The flakes melted the second they hit the ground, doing well to turn the dirt roads leading out of Kakariko wet and muddy. One snowflake, in particular, landed on Zelda's nose, freezing for but a moment, before melting away all together.
Zelda smiled.
It was the first snowfall of the season, gentle and lulling. It was almost as though the snow was casting a blanket onto Hyrule, numbing the air and shushing the world. By now, most animals in that region had migrated south for the winter, or had burrowed into hibernation. Their horses, strong and steady as they were, did not seem to mind the cold. Rather, they seemed to enjoy the snowfall as well, with the cold beneath their hooves.
If only the snow could act as a way to freeze all of Hyrule in a sort of stasis, exactly the way that it was now. If only it could preserve the life within, freezing everyone and everything in a blissful state, unknowing and unaware of the dangers that emanated from the most central point of the country.
The roads were completely deserted as they made their way down past the Pillars of Levia towards the Kakariko Bridge. There was not a single person in sight. There was not even a lone Yiga Foot Soldier, disguised as a traveller, which was strange considering that the clan tended to frequent the roads leading up to Kakariko, hoping to catch a lone Sheikah by surprise.
As it was, there was hardly anything that could catch a lone Sheikah by surprise.
They passed over the Kakariko Bridge without much consequence, both keeping their eyes and ears open for the telltale maniacal laughter signaling a Yiga's entrance. Still, there was no laughter, no Yiga masks, and no bananas to be found. There was not a single soul in sight as they gazed across the Blatchery Plains, with the only sign of movement in the distance being of the snowflakes falling over the plains, and a single cloud of smoke, rising from a single campfire at the Dueling Peaks Stable in the distance.
And the movement of a frail Hylian, over encumbered by the weight of his disastrously large pack.
As Link and Zelda approached the Dueling Peaks Stable, they could not help but be taken aback by the lack of travellers at the stable. Much like what they had already seen in the lands outlying Fort Hateno, the stable itself was completely deserted, save for its proprietor, who was desperately nailing down the tent flaps, as though the threat in Central Hyrule was a mere windstorm, and Beedle, the travelling salesman, who was absolutely ecstatic to see a friendly face.
"Link!" Beedle waved him over, from his spot by the fire, "What are the odds, seeing each other at this stable, again, out of anywhere else in all of Hyrule! We must have been married in a past life!"
Somehow, Link had a feeling that he was never married to Beedle in one of his past lives. But he just smiled, patting the merchant on his back as he sat down next to him by the fire, pulling up a log for Zelda to sit on.
"It's good to see you too, Beedle," Link said in response, looking out into the empty stable, "I'm sure the owner here has seen better days for business."
"Actually, on the contrary," Beedle laughed, "In the past couple of weeks, the proprietor here has never had his place more busy! So many people coming from the north and west, fleeing the country, running for their lives! Well, they can't run the entire time, so they stop here for a bed and a hot meal."
"And you?" Zelda said, "I'm sure you've seen the threat. Aren't you going to be going that way too? You can only stay here safely for so long."
"And miss out on all of this business? I don't think so!" Beedle absolutely gushed, reaching back into his enormous pack, "People come by to this stable, and they're always looking for something to buy. Mostly arrows, some weapons, some bugs and critters for potions… by Hylia, they're just insatiable! The amount of Hearty Lizards I have sold just in the past few days is astounding!" Beedle then pulled out an assortment of goods from his pouch, "But then, more often than not, they are looking to sell everything they have on them. Something about being able to 'run faster', or whatever. It's bizarre to me: wouldn't they want to have their packs filled to the brim with all their pots and plates and lockets and boots? Well," Beedle stuffed the goods away, "One man's trash is another man's treasure!"
Link leaned in, eyeing Beedle's pack, "What's been the most interesting thing you've bought off of someone so far?"
"Oh, mostly odds and ends, but you know, quite a few families will come by and hand me a chest full of gems, saying that they would rather have the rupees than the gemstones in this day and age. And I would rather have the gems than the rupees! So it's an even trade!"
"Did they pick you clean of all of your bugs and critters, Beedle?" Link asked.
"Did you just ask me if I had somehow run out of critters?" Beedle asked, an incredulous look on his face, "I always have more critters to spare! It's part of my business model!"
And so with that, Link and Zelda rode away from the Dueling Peaks Stable, with parcels of bugs and critters, fit for the freezing climate of Hyrule, amongst other effects. As they left, Link took the time to say goodbye to both the proprietor of the stable and Beedle, even going as far as to embrace Beedle in a hug before departing.
It made Zelda's heart ache in ways that she had not anticipated.
From the sound of it, the two of them were going to stick their ground at the Dueling Peaks Stable, if only to be a safe haven for the last few stragglers as they made their evacuation out of Central Hyrule. She had to wonder if any of the other stable masters across Hyrule were doing the same thing. Surely not in the immediate Central Hyrule area, but perhaps beyond. Furthermore, the Dueling Peak Stable's location was strategic, as the mountainside would do well to contain much of the destruction.
However, if they were to fail, it wouldn't take long for Ganon to devastate the mountainside.
As they travelled across the Big Twin Bridge, the wind from Mount Lanayru began to blow violently around them, sending cold chills down their spines and warding off any lingering warmth that they had held onto from the campfire at the Dueling Peaks stable. Zelda held her hood tightly to her body, using her back to shield her from the winds. The Faron region would not be nearly as cold as East Necluda and Central Hyrule, she knew, though it would not be at its tropical temperatures like the last time she was there over one hundred years prior.
They turned due west towards the Dueling Peaks. Once past the mountains, they would head south once again, taking a shortcut parallel to the Hylia River and Lake Hylia, bypassing that trek of their journey all together. Zelda vaguely remembered the way: she had taken the shortcut on an excursion to the springs just after her mother had passed. The Faron region was littered with monsters and beasts, and the shortcut bypassed most of them.
Emphasis on 'most'.
Link halted, suddenly, on his horse in front of her, and she stopped abruptly, looking around to see what Link was looking at. Speaking of monsters and beasts, up ahead was a Bokoblin camp, fully resurrected with thanks to the consistent Blood Moon.
"Black Bokoblins," Link muttered, reaching for his bow and quiver, "And – for the love of Farore – a silver beast as their leader."
As Link dismounted from his horse, Zelda followed suit, reaching for her Sheikah bow and a fire arrow, "What's the plan?"
"Well, it's tough to have good strategy when all of them are near impossible to shoot down in one hit, and can knock you out in one, too," Link said, crouching behind a rock, "We're the only Hylians nearby, and though Bokoblins are dumb, black and silver ones are the smartest of the bunch. I say we let fly as many arrows as we can before they notice us, and then once they do, I'll run in with the Master Sword, and you stay back and keep shooting."
Zelda nodded wordlessly, following Link as he slowly crawled closer to the monster camp, keeping himself concealed behind rocks and boulders, as the Bokoblins all danced and screamed around their fire, their weapons laying propped up against a nearby log.
Up on a lookout post was a sentry, looking out towards Central Hyrule, eyes scanning for any threat or unwelcome visitor to their camp. As it was, the sentry had its back to them, and so they took that as their cue to nock their bows back, both aiming towards the sentry. They would knock out the sentry before the rest, to avoid them all being alerted.
Hidden in the shadows of the boulder, Link and Zelda each alternated letting their arrows fly, one regular arrow alternating with one fire arrow. The Bokoblin, as dumb as it was, could not seem to pinpoint which direction the arrows were coming, and would just as well forget all about the ordeal, as the next arrow would fly to land right between the eyes.
Oh, this Bokoblin just would not die, would it? It was a black Bokoblin – not even the strongest of the bunch – and yet, it had three arrows sticking out of its side and had caught on fire three times. Still, the damn monster stood, its slow eyes scanning the hillside, struggling as it was to find out who its attacker was and why it was hurting so bad.
Finally – finally! – the Bokoblin died, evaporating in a puff of smoke, while still, the other Bokoblins snorted and danced around the fire.
Only six more to go.
The sun was beginning to go down, and soon it would be dark. It wouldn't be much longer until the Blood Moon rose over the horizon, resurrecting that very same Bokoblin once again.
They needed a better strategy.
Zelda scanned the camp before she saw the monster's weapons propped up against the log. Really, it was the weapons that packed the punch, not necessarily he Bokoblins themselves. Zelda looked to the weapons, then to the fire at the camp, and looked at Link, a mischievous look in her eyes.
She had an idea.
The Bokoblins were in a state of ignorant bliss as the Princess of Hyrule pulled back the string of her bow, a fire arrow being aimed. However, it was not at any of the six Bokoblins at the camp, but rather, at their weapons.
They would be much easier to kill if they didn't have their weapons.
She let the arrow fly, and the arrow landed true, in the middle of all of the wooden weapons, setting them all ablaze in a great big inferno. It came as no surprise to the two of them that the camp of Bokoblins noticed this, and realized where they were.
However, they really should have thought this through, as the Bokoblins ran over and picked up their now flaming weapons, and began running towards the hero and the princess.
Perhaps it was a better idea to pick their battles. So they ran.
They climbed back onto their horses with haste and sent them into a furious gallop, running their horses straight through the mob of Bokoblins. Link's horse even ran straight through the silver Bokoblin, hitting it and sending it flying towards the walls of the Dueling Peaks. This alone, wouldn't be enough to kill the Bokoblin, however, it would buy them the time that they needed to escape.
That, and it was quite satisfying to hear the Bokoblin scream as he was sent careening towards the cliffs.
Under normal circumstances, Link would have had no issues taking on a camp of Bokoblins, no matter how strong. However, he was normally by himself, and by himself, he preferred to throw caution to the wind, and would have just thrown himself into the thick of things, head on. Travelling with Zelda, however, it was not the smartest thing for him to do, no matter how capable Zelda was in a fight: it was more than just his life on the line.
Perhaps it would be in their best interest to avoid confrontation altogether until this entire nightmare was all said and done.
It didn't take long for the Bokoblins to lose sight of Link and Zelda; they weren't very fast, and preferred not to stray far from their campsite. The two of them made camp in the outskirts of Deya Lake, surrounded on two sides by the Hills of Baumer and the Popla Foothills. It was more strategic this way, to be covered by at least two sides. They built their fire in the vanishing glow of twilight, watching as the skies began to glow a deep red near the horizon: a telltale sign of the Blood Moon making its approach.
Link poked at the fire with a stick after they had finished with their supper of wolf meat and mushrooms. The immediate radius around the fire was warm, and left the grass and dirt around it warm and dry. Beyond it, however, the air was treacherous, threatening to nip harshly at their skin. No doubt, Deya Lake would begin to freeze over if the air got any colder.
This reminded Zelda of winters spent ice-skating to the east of the castle, as the Hylia River froze over. Of course, she was never allowed to go unaccompanied, and her father had always deemed it as a 'waste of time'. However, prior to her passing, her mother had always said that she had liked it. And so against her father's wishes, she went ice-skating.
Zelda leaned into Link, placing her head on his shoulder, "You seem quiet."
"I could say the same about you. What are you thinking about?"
"Ice-skating on the Hylia River," Zelda said, "Have you ever tried?"
"Not that I can remember," Link confessed, "And I never tried once I woke up."
"We should go once all of this is over."
Link only nodded, staring into the flames of the campfire, nuzzling her forehead with his cheek, "Zel, there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Link, every time you start with that preamble, you usually have something bad you have to say."
"That's because I do."
Zelda lifted her head up from Link's shoulder, meeting his eyes with her own. His eyes were downcast, hallow, and they pleaded with her in a way that she did not expect.
"What is it?" Zelda asked, her hand reaching down blindly to find his.
"I had a long conversation with Impa a couple of days ago," Link said, "before we made the connection about the powers have with the luminous stones. She reminded me that the Goddess still has a hand in what happens with her people, and that I wouldn't have received these powers from the Zonai on accident. Impa firmly believes that with these powers, we will be able to defeat Ganon once and for all, or at least banish him for another ten thousand years."
"Link, that's wonderful," Zelda said, "Impa's right: Hylia wouldn't just leave her people without a solution."
"There's more to it, though," Link said, his eyes breaking away from her to look into the fire, "Ten thousand years ago, it took all of the Zonai warriors, as well as the souls of the rest of the Zonai across Hyrule, to lock Ganon into a stasis for the next ten thousand years. It took a mass extinction event to seal him away last time. I am just one man. Though as the Goddess's chosen hero, Impa thinks I might just be enough."
Link couldn't be saying that she thought he was saying, right? No, the two of them were going to walk out of this as they had done time and time again. Zelda shook her head with a small laugh, her eyes widening as disbelief overcame her, "Link we're going to be fine, we have always been fine."
"Zelda," Link's voice threatened to break, though that was the only hint she got. His face was impassive, his eyes stoic, his breathing normal, albeit a little forced, "We will be fine. You'll be fine. And you'll learn to be fine without me."
"What," Zelda spat, "So you're telling me that Impa intends for you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good of Hyrule? That there is no other option? I refuse to believe that."
"You'll need to believe that because it is the only option."
"No, Link, the whole reason we are heading to the Zonai ruins is so you can hone in on the magic so you can defeat Ganon once and for all."
"The reason we are heading there is so that way I can learn the spell they had used ten thousand years ago to freeze him in a stasis," Link said, "I bet that once I focus in on the hub of the magic, I'll be able to hear the Zonai clearer and I'll be able to learn the precise spell they had used."
"This is ridiculous," Zelda whispered, wringing her hands nervously, "Remember right before we went into the Forgotten Temple, you had said almost the same thing? That you didn't think you were going to survive that? Well you did, so I don't want to hear this from you that you have to 'sacrifice yourself' to defeat Ganon."
"Technically speaking, it's still not over."
"Regardless," Zelda interrupted, giving him a pointed look, "I refuse to believe that the only way that we can win is by you sacrificing yourself to seal away Ganon for another ten thousand years. Because honestly? That doesn't sound like winning to me."
"It's not winning," Link said, "No one wins in this situation."
"So then," Zelda said, "Let's keep working to find a solution where we do win; where we do walk out of this fight alive, and with Hyrule not up in flames."
"I'm all ears if you have any suggestions."
"And enough with you being so nonchalant about this," Zelda snapped, "This is your life at stake, and you're acting like it doesn't matter. If you're gone, don't think that you are the only person effected by it."
"You think I like this solution," Link finally snapped, his head turning towards hers, his eyes cold, "Do you think I like the thought of leaving you alone in this world? Of course I don't. I, of all people, understand what it's like to lose someone you love."
It was silent for a long moment, as they stared at each other. From behind them, the Blood Moon began to rise over the horizon, molten and menacing.
"I've been meaning to tell you for a while now," Link confessed, watching as Zelda's face glowed red in the light of the moon, "Back in the ancient Zonai ruins, beneath Hyrule Castle, remember in the first trial? Where we both saw our mothers?"
Zelda nodded wordlessly, unsure of where he was going with this.
Link licked his lips, continuing, "I… It wasn't my mother that I saw. And in the aftermath, I was confused, and wasn't sure what it all meant."
"Link…"
"I saw Mipha," Link spat, a lone tear falling down his cheek, "I saw her and I felt her and it was different from when I saw her spirit in Vah Ruta. She was there, and real, and breathing, and wasn't glowing like an apparition. I spoke with her, and remembered a memory with her, from right after I had pulled the Master Sword. She cared about me, and I can't remember caring about her, or loving her, or harboring any form of affections towards her, but I felt warmth, and companionship, and longing towards her that I had never remembered. Since then, it has terrified me, because I can't remember anything about her, but I remembered these sensations. I might have loved her, and then I lost her, and I just don't know. Did I love her?"
"Oh, Link…" Zelda whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. Link recoiled, as though she had burned him.
"Did I love her?" Link asked again, his voice breaking, and Zelda could see the pain and desperation in his eyes, "Prior to that day, I could have lived the rest of my life not thinking about her again. But then, I saw her, and remembered those emotions and feelings, but without any memory of her. She wanted to propose to me, and I can't even remember the day I met her."
"Link…" Zelda whispered, her own tears falling, as she tucked a piece of loose hair behind his ear, "I truly don't know. You were always so quiet back then, and kept to yourself, especially regarding personal matters. What I do know, though, is that you cared about her. You spent your summers in Zora's Domain as a child, and you knew her all your life. The two of you were friends. I can't say if you loved her the same way that she loved you, but you certainly cared about her. I wish you had told me about this earlier, instead of letting it eat you up inside. I think that it's clear to me you cared about her with how you're feeling right now."
"Yes, and now she's dead," Link said, his eyes drifting back towards the fire, "Do you see where I am going with all of this? Everyone that I have cared about has died, and you're all that I have left. There might be another solution to defeating Ganon, but I have this solution right here that does not require losing you, and so I am more than happy to take that option than to explore other, unknown, options. Any solution where you get to live is good enough for me."
"Any solution where you don't get to live is not good enough for me," Zelda countered, bringing her face to meet his again, "I understand the pain that you're going through. I do. You lost someone very dear to you, and you're afraid of that happening again. However, that does not mean that you simply get to cop out and sacrifice yourself for the greater good. That's not fair to any of us. That's not fair to me," Zelda laughed quietly, the irony bleeding off her tongue, "Really, to subject me to the same torments, O Hero of Hyrule."
Link shook his head, his lips pressing together, "I don't know what else to do."
"We fight," Zelda said, and she was back in Kakariko that second day, where Impa had said those exact words, "We fight like hell. We hold onto the people we have in our lives. And if the only way we can defeat Ganon is by sacrificing yourself, then this spell is going to be double as strong because I'm coming with you."
"Zel -"
"No: enough with you getting to be the lone hero, for once. We do this together."
A/N: Hi! Did any of you think that I gave up on this? Did any of you think, "oh, well there goes another unfinished work". NONSENSE! *nervously laughs* five weeks late is better than never, right?! Nevertheless, I am working on a new story, Treacherous Intentions, and I have the first four chapters posted! So *shameless plug* if you have not started on that, you SHOULD!
Anywho, let me know your thoughts on this chapter! I put some angst in here that probably no one asked for, but I've had it set up since chapter 13 soooo…. yeah! I've put these kids through so much crap, haha! Thank you for sticking this far!