Was it wrong to want more that what he had?
It wasn't that he wasn't well taken care of. Really, he had everything he needed. Plenty of food, a nice place to live, friends to play with. Plenty of space to explore too, there was always something new around the next corner. If he looked hard enough, there was always something to do.
But as time passed, those things seemed to ring hollow. The food was always the same; sometimes there'd be something new, but they always lost that novelty after being combined in countless ways. His house was nice, but isolated, as if purposely put apart from the others, marking him as…well, not an outsider, but separate from the rest.
He could see it in his friends too. They were nice to him, always eager to join him on his explorations, but he could tell it was different. He caught glimpses of them when he wasn't around, and he saw the differences. They all seemed more relaxed, as if something about him put them on edge.
So instead of forcing it, he allowed them to distance him from them. Or maybe he distanced himself from them. He wandered off alone, finding solace in the silence of his surroundings, his only companion the breeze. It gave him space to think, to listen to the quiet voices of his mind that spoke to his discontent.
And so he thought as he walked. The landscape twisted sometimes, often leaving him lost and wandering until he happened upon something he recognized. He wondered what it might be like to choose to get lost. To set off in one direction and just walk, to purposely stride into the unknown and see what he could find. A lake? A mountain? A small village that wasn't his full of people he didn't know? What would they think of him? Would he feel at peace there? Like he had a place he belonged?
Eventually, he knew the questions that echoed through his mind needed to be answered. If only in some small way. He had heard of a wide green field no more than a day away from others within the village. It was beyond their borders, so few ventured there, but he knew he could do it. Knew he had to do it.
So he left home, heading off on his own, not intending to leave forever, but determined to see what lied beyond the reaches of what he knew. He found himself at the bridge that marked the end of where he had been. The worn wood boards were more intimidating than any creature he had seen in his wanderings. But he had come this far already. He wasn't about to let a bridge stop him.
Nothing much changed after the bridge, the landscape continuing just the way he would have expected. After walking for another couple hours, he finally started to see his surroundings change, different looking grass and bushes, the cry of unfamiliar animals. Rounding a bend in the trail, he finally saw.
A wide, verdantly green field spread out before him, full of sloping hills and swaying grasses. Trees dotted the landscape at random, some in small clusters, others alone. Small animals bounded through the tall grass, scampering from their burrows. He heard the echo of water flowing from somewhere nearby, though he couldn't see it. A few roughly hewn roads, little more than well trampled dirt, crisscrossed the field, partially overtaken by grass. A large fenced-off area was visible in the distance, appearing to be a ranch or farm of some kind, judging from the cows and horses wandering nearby.
But above all else, at the very north end of the field, rested a large town, encircled by smooth white walls. And rising above it all was a magnificent castle, with countless blue-capped spires reaching to pierce the sky. He fell to his knees, struck by the pure beauty of the whole of it and stayed like that until he forced himself to stand again. Still in awe, he wandered into the field, meandering as he pleased. He found a river and jumped into it, not caring if he got his clothes wet, merely reveling in the crispness of the water. He trailed his fingers along the grasses as they waved back and forth. It was only when he realized the sun was getting lower in the sky that he realized he should return home.
He slowly walked back to the bend in the road, looking once more onto the field that had, he realized, changed his life. This was what he wanted, he realized. Endless possibilities extended before him, their nuances epitomized in the hilly landscape and rippling green grass of the field in front of him. This was what freedom looked like. The freedom to make his own path in life, separate from the fetters that had held him down until then. From that moment, he knew as he turned back, he belonged in that field. Someday, he would leave his small village, set out to make his mark on the world, and make that field his own.
Satisfied and with a free heart, he returned to what had once been his home.
The two men stood across from each other atop the black tower. From the height of the monolithic spire, they could see out onto the great field, its sloping hills the same as always, though the grass was shorter, the result of the drought that had struck the land. The two men's eyes met across the room, their gazes piercing into each other. They knew their enemy and knew that they would clash, and only one would remain. But underneath their fury and hatred for each other, lingering below the surface, each sensed a kinship with the other. A strange duality between them that they had once felt the same way upon seeing the expansive field they looked out upon now. The desire to belong in a new world.
The dream they had once shared to become something greater than themselves.
With twin screams, the men threw themselves at each other, beginning their battle. They both resolved that, once the other fell, they would once again look out on that field of dreams and adventure.
I've always felt there was a strange sort of kinship between Ganondorf and Link in Ocarina of Time. This is just my attempt to put that into words. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
If you like it and want more of me, feel free to drop a quick review and check out my other Zelda one-shots and my big story, Revival of the Gods. Your feedback is always much appreciated.
~Aro