Chapter 21

Dance at the Maker's feet

Holding Ilia's wooden statue between his paws, Link protectively laid his head across the effigy and slept at the foot of the gate. Around midnight, the breeze whispering across Hyrule field transformed into a gale, blowing pollen and dust into his nose. Unable to sleep, he tracked the moon as it travelled across the sky. White circles bloomed in his eyes and he sighed, exhausted beyond the point of comprehension.

The sacred wolf never recalled such fatigue, not even when he escaped from Hyrule Castle with nothing but the clothes on his back, a tattered cape and a pregnant goat for company.

And the goat needed more attention than him.

He closed his eyes. Cyan and white flowered beneath his eyelids. Streaked across the inky waters of the sea. Beads of lapis tumbling in a jar. The dream marbled into an image of his home in Hyrule. The children sat around the table, grinning while Link puttered around the kitchen, wearing a sleeveless tunic and bare arms warmed by the fire flicking in the hearth. He read stories to them, taught them about fishing, about sword fighting and regaled stories about the knights guarding princess Zelda. On work days, he lay on a carpet of pine needles, eyes occasionally flicking to the goats grazing in the corrals as he tamed a falcon or shared small talk with Fado.

A frosty light heralded the appearance of the sun. Rising to his forepaws, Link yawned, pink tongue curling over his teeth. The air reeked of blood and black flies swarmed a couple of dog corpses, lying bloated across the bridge.

Away from him, the Twilli slept in a flower bush, her puffed, two toned abdomen rising and falling rhythmically. What was she doing sleeping in a thorny hole like that? And was she crazy? Padding to her, he prodded her viciously in her stomach and she shot up, saffron eye wide in fright. Launching to the air, she veered cleanly out of his reach and eyeballed him, expression guarded. Disgusted at the blood matting his fur into spiky points, Link rolled the wooden idol absentmindedly and arched his back.

The shadow crystal phased out of his forehead and the adolescent grinned lopsidedly.

Midna's stern expression melted and she carefully laid a clammy hand on his cheek. "For some reason, I came back." Link kicked a pebble with his boot and recoiled when it turned, revealing a cracked paw pad. "Eww..." He sniffed. "I couldn't visit Grandma," he said, voice thick with sadness. "Boaty said I could visit Outset after I finish the Tower of Gods but...but...I can't use the WindWaker. I'm useless at everything." He bent to pick the owl statue up. "My neck hurts," he confessed and sneezed and the fetid smell hanging beneath his nose. "What happened here?" he asked and pointed to the wooden bridge littered with body parts and swelling corpses. "The last thing I remember is going down in the Darknut's chamber," Link pressed the tips of his trimmed fingers into the side of his aching neck, "the sword smashed here and everything went black."

Tossing the wooden effigy in his palm, the adolescent watched the open doors leading to Castle Town. Beyond the bulwarks, people stumbled from their quaint houses in a sleep induced haze. Bird song rent the air and their cacophonous chirps hammered in Link's skull.

"I woke up back home, on a boat, a talking boat," Link clarified. "And I read a map and started for home," he stated proudly. "But Boaty said I can't visit... and I got stuck inside it. I'm not the Hero the Hero of Winds…"

Breaking off, he shivered in the dawn air. Tree leaves rustled and easing up from his shoulder, Midna tore a portal into the sky. Link stared vacantly at the vacuum of red and black ripples.

Wordlessly, he rammed the shadow crystal into his forehead and meekly touched on the dusty landscape of Kakariko Town. At the foot of the spring, he glimpsed the circular sanctuary.

Urging him to the Shaman's house, Midna gently tugged his ear. "You belong here," she explained and the human lowered his face, expression doubtful. "If not," the Twilli pressed, "why have you come back?" she asked.

Link raised an eyebrow, a scintilla of emotion flickering in his irises, something akin to profound enlightenment. "Isn't it obvious?" He pawed the loose gravel underneath his boot. "We are…I'm a plaything. It's convenient for the Goddesses to do what they want with me..." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "They do what they want with us." He tapped the Triforce. "It's like...replacing the damaged parts of a broken boat."

The male squatted on the sandy floor, ears momentarily cocking to the swell of voices spilling from inside the sanctuary, Midna joined her human, alarmed at the sage like wisdom bubbling from his lips. He traced a boat with his index finger and drew stick figures holding lines.

"This is a boat," he pointed to the boat drawn in dirt, "or ship...or whatever you wanna call it." He inhaled. "A vessel." Bewildered, the Twilli's attention snapped from the drawings on the earth and his strangely blank face. "So, this ship has a name...let's call it Zeldy," he grinned humorlessly and continued, "now Zeldy's a really nice ship and everyone loves her and she's doing fine on the high seas till she sustains damage, but its fine because Zeldy is a strong ship." He drew sharks and peahats and other ugly monsters all lunging for a proverbial piece of the Zeldy. "Anyway, she gets a lot of damage and one day, something major occurs to her...a breech." Link explained to the clueless Twilli what a breach was. "So now, the ship is taken to port and repaired with new logs...bit by bit, she is entirely replaced, the sail cloths, the wood making her up, her crew..." The boy sat flush on the earth, soil griming the bottom of his pants. "Now you tell me...can we still call this ship Zeldy?" he questioned.

"I don't understand." Midna impatiently pointed to the squiggles in the dust. "What does this have to do with you?" she demanded and crossed her tiny arms over her chest.

The blond blinked, disappointment leaking behind his glassy irises, his words made her uncomfortable. "I don't understand it either," Link admitted and stood, erasing the drawing with his boot. "But when I got back here, I just remembered the story Sturgeon used to tell me when I was little. It's like, the goddesses likes to swop us around when it's convenient for them. Because I'm not fit to save my home universe," Link's lips curled at the irony, "a stranger has to do it for me."

"Perhaps it should be as such." The Twilli sunk in Link's shadow when a small crowd of people exited on the bare, main street. "The Link of this realm turned into a wolf, but he could not transform back into a human. He was stuck." The news did little to lift the veil of despair resting on the human's face but nonetheless he smiled disarmingly and tried to hug Midna. She awarded his efforts by pinching him painfully on his cheek and directing him to the task at hand. "The idol, show it to your girlfriend." Link sputtered heatedly at Ilia's status as his girl-friend and entered the shadowy interior of the sanctuary.

Beaming at the sight of Gor Coron sleeping in a hammock suspended between two dusty oak beams, Link ignored the pale skinned Hylian laying in a bedroll on the floor and vaulted over the giant lump of rock snoring on the ground. Darbus' flat head peeked from beneath a brown sheet and previous worries forgotten at the sight of his adopted Grandpa, Link threw his upper body over the Goron's gangly one and the elder woke up, head crashing against Link's own.

Half an hour later, they sat around a round table and Link stuffed rock buns in his mouth. He reached for a slice of pumpkin pie and stopped on glimpsing Ilia working inside the kitchen. Extracting the owl statue from his tunic pocket, Link wondered how he went from searching for the Twilight Mirror pieces to restoring a girl's lost memory.

Excusing himself, he greeted Renado as the shaman returned, bearing a tray with glasses of cloudy lemonade. Resisting the urge to snag a glass, Link stepped into the warm kitchen and Ilia hesitantly smiled and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. The heavenly aroma of pie and burnt cinnamon sugar wafted from the oven and taking her hand, Link placed the blood speckled, wooden idol in her soft palms and stepped back as she examined it.

Time stretched for eternity. Ilia held her breath and studied the carving in her dusted hands. Bits and pieces of cruel reality flashed in her mind.

That day in Ordona spring, many months ago.

A goat herd, icy blue eyes listless, stood in front of her father's house. Mayor Bo's house; and talked about delivering a gift from Ordona to Hyrule Castle. He waved tanned arms wildly, protesting his role. Behind him stood a majestic horse and Ilia frowned; Link overworked Epona and she put down her half completed flower wreath and stood, bare feet balanced on the wooden porch. Link's eyes grew wide at her approach and he stood stiffly, a testament to his guilt. Admonishing both her father and him for their slovenly ways, she held Epona's reigns and ushered the horse into the Springs.

He arrived when she finished brushing the horse's coat. Link silently sat at the foot of the springs and watched, the boredom in his irises melting. He plucked a piece of grass and played it, the oddly comforting screams diffused in the crisp, fragrant air.

The wooden gate burst apart. She jumped and clawed for Colin. He jumped too.

How odd, Ilia thought as she faded. Link did not look afraid.

She woke in a wooden cage filled with many other people. However Ilia felt alone. Alone as the moon drifting between sheets of ominous clouds speeding across the dark sky. Goosebumps rose along her arms and she smoothed her tattered dress. Tears sprung to her eyes but Ilia refused to cry and instead curled into a ball and focused on conserving heat. The cage rattled and lulled her into a restless sleep.

A tear slid down her cheek and in the comforting warmth of the kitchen; Link flicked the drop of moisture away. "This..." Ilia raised the carving, "was given to me by the woman who saved me." An image of a face hammered by hardships and sadness surfaced in her head. Jars winked in candle light and she drew closer to Link, briefly brushing her fingertips against the crystal surface of the spice pots. "I know you," she said shyly. "The children too. You." She faltered and wrung her hands. Link eagerly waited for her to regain her memories so he could resume his Mirror shard hunt with Midna. "You were the goat herd in Ordona Village." The male stared at Ilia in disbelief and sneaked a glance at his shadow, outlined against the polished wooden counter. "I'm sorry if I can't recall anything else," she smiled ruefully, marble green eyes apologetic. "Would you care for some pie?"

Ilia's owl statue prompted a full debate back at the breakfast table. The wind outside blew dust devils and hopefully buried Malo's shop under a sand dune, Link prayed, and the rest of the occupants inside the Shaman's house heckled back and forth and the effigy passed from palm to palm. The hero ate, stuffing himself full of meat pie while Ilia smiled and heaped more on his plate.

The adults argued with Shad, the centerpiece of attention. In a corner, Link and Ilia sipped tall glasses of lemonade. "What do you like doing?" he asked and turned to her, she finished refilling Gor Coron's tumbler and rested her hands on her lap.

"I don't know..." She thought. "I think, I liked horses." Grinning widely, Link pulled out the horse's call form the layers between his tunic and pressed in her hands. "I made this?" she questioned and he nodded. "Oh...maybe I like making craf-"

"The Hidden Village!" Twin bellows forced Link to scramble up from up his chair, heart roaring loudly in his chest. The rest looked at him and Midna's ungodly sneer graced his head. "Sit down boy!" Gor Coron patted the chair. "I know where the statue came from," he announced proudly and Shad hurriedly poised with a quill pen over a blank book. Darbus rose, his rock muscles gleaming in the orange glow of the room, the patriarch bowed and excused himself. "As you know, the owl is a symbol for wisdom..." Gor Coron started

"It is?" Link whispered under his breath and Ilia stifled her giggles politely behind a palm.

"And it is also a symbol affiliating the Hylian Royal family with two other groups," Gor Coron related, missing the ashen quality of Shad's face. "First of all, this owl statue," he pointed to the effigy rooted in the middle of the round table, "is found plenty in the Temple of Time." Murmurs of agreement accompanied the sentence and Link nodded and stuffed another rock bun in his mouth. "Secondly, it speaks of a long lost tribe that used to guard the Hylian Royal Family. The Tribe of the Hidden Village, also known as the Sheikh tribe, was the personal guards of Princess Zelda," the elder informed amidst the sounds of Link pulverizing pie between his teeth. "However, they have cut off all connections with the main world and this is due to..." here, the Goron stopped and quelled Shad's lustful gaze with a stern glare. The scholar meekly dropped his quill and stuffed his notes into a leather satchel. "...A disagreement between the royal family and the tribe."

A loud burp signaled the end of Link's feasting but none took note.

"They practice magic and were thus exiled." A chair scraped the dilapidated floorboards and Renado rose, dreadlocks winking with colorful beads. "Link will be paying the Hidden Village a visit," he stated and all eyes swiveled to the hero.


Still a crack shot with the bow, Midna peered from her perch atop Link's head as he raised the hawkeye. An olive skinned body fell into the well with a low splash and sunk under water. Like Kakariko, the Hidden Village seemed neglected. Raised walkways reeked of abandon. The water wells tinged green with algae and plant scum. Eyes darting nervously, Link crawled from his hiding place and wiped dirt from his cheeks. He drained his water bottle and tossed it at his companion and she dodged it without looking.

A graveyard silence permeated the village and only the low, mournful hum of wind skipping over the mountain faces broke the monotony. Boots caked in dust, Link held his bow and advanced, Darbus told him the village chief, a vitriolic old woman named Impaz, lived at the outskirts of the village and may provide clues as to Ilia's mysterious savior.

"Why am I doing this?" Link complained and kicked a pebble; it skipped over a dirt road and vanished into an alley. Skipping after it, he squeezed into the narrow road and caught glimpses of a lost civilization.

Broken window panes offered him a candid snapshot of village life. In one house he saw a dead fireside; a low table held a teapot and neatly stacked cups. Another home revealed carpets and a loom. The rug on the floor, caught on a nail, depicted an eye and golden triangles. Forgetting the pebble, Link walked into the caved in remains of another house. Dust powdered a ravaged lounge. Quilted cushions scattered on the floor. Grime covered the fine china on display on a wooden shelf and he ran his fingers across a silver teapot, the streaked surface reflected a broken picture of sandy hair, a Twilli brooding at the entrance and pewter clouds rumbling on mountain peaks.

Letting the teapot fall on the floor, Link retraced his steps and emerged in the open. "Really," he pouted, "why am I chasing an old woman in the middle of nowhere?" He walked through the maze of streets and peered in a well. "I know Ilia's memory depends on it...but why can't I do it after I'm done searching for the mirror shards?"

Squinting at a map, the imp identified landmarks and tried to match them with the building stumps in front of her. "It's because the other you couldn't wait to cure his girlfriend," Midna stated and looked up, she scowled and floated away, finding Impaz's house became a herculean task. "And although finding the Twilight Mirror is important," she landed delicately on the rim of an ancient, stone fountain and searched the waterless structure critically, "we all need distractions for a while. Besides, that four-eyes is currently researching the myth of the owl statues and something called the City of the Sky." Midna stopped speaking when Link crept into the edge of her vision. He was swarmed with cats and kittens. Crouching, he communicated with the felines and each 'mew' passing his lips ignited a frenzy and the cats faithfully responded to his call. "Stop fooling around and help me find the old woman's house!" The Twilli snapped and the congregation of felines stared at her, eyes collectively blazing.

Losing interest in the tone toned imp and its puffy abdomen, the cats circled their new found scratching post and raked their claws all over Link's pants. The human shuddered and shook them off to no avail.

They prowled for an entire day, dehydrated and cranky; Link peeked into the water wells and snarled in disgust when none offered fresh water to drink. The maze like layout of the Hidden Village confused him and after trying to navigate for a while, he gave up and followed Midna.

She led him through a zigzag of roads, doubled back no fewer than ten times and demolished buildings to create new paths. The village sprawled into an intricate, spider-web like network and following the carnage left by the monsters, they slowly inched to the outskirts. The mountain faces loomed, casting orange grey shadows over the weary travellers and senses dulled, Link stared fascinatedly at an arrow sticking from the top of his foot before the pain set in. Gritting teeth angrily, he pointed his weapon at the bulblin standing rigidly on top of a watchtower. Aiming, Link pulled the drawstring back and the monster keeled over.

Twilli and human stared bewilderedly at each other. "What did you do?" Midna questioned and scanned the surroundings for other humans, she stood on Link's shadow for a quick getaway.

"Nothing?" Link answered uncertainly and lowered his bow. "It just dropped dead." The Twilli phased into his shadow and he spun around, eyes widened for potential dangers.

Breath catching in his chest, Link pitched forward and face planted on the floor when a staff whacked him on the back of his head. Sputtering, he clutched his head, curled into a ball and goggled at the diminutive old woman towering over him.

Impaz cut an impressive figure, even if she barely reached Link's chest height. A belt of navy blue beads wreathed her waist and the ends of her loose, brown robe glided above the dusty ground. "We don't welcome strangers here," the woman spoke in a fragile voice but she managed to strike fear in Link's heart. Muttering, he rubbed his head and stood and she tilted her chin defiantly, glaring at him with startlingly blood-red irises. "What do you want?" she demanded and whacked her staff for emphasis.

Link flinched. "I'm here because you saved my...girl-friend," he began and fumbled for the owl statue. "She told me you gave her this." Impaz glanced at the effigy, eyebrows drawn and suspicious. For a long moment, she said nothing and Link shifted impatiently. Wind howled and debris tumbled in the front road.

Without speaking, Impaz turned and hobbled to the only intact house in the village. At a loss for what to do, Link watched her go and hopped from one foot to the other. Dusk descended on the abandoned hamlet and the heat drowned with the sun. The oppressive chill nipping the air reminded him of the Gerudo Mesa.

"Are you going to stand there or do you want to come in?" Impaz indicated the open door. "Hurry lad; the monsters come out at night." Link shuffled towards the door, comforted by the slice of golden light bleeding from the interior. As he passed, she clapped a gnarled hand on his back and he froze. "No need to be so stand-offish," she scolded and pointed to worn sofas circling a fireplace in the middle of her living room. "I heard the dying screams of monsters and wondered if you were coming. Ilia, bless that young child, firmly believed that a friend of hers will save her." Link eased into a chair and warmed himself in front of a merrily crackling fire. The aroma of cinnamon wafted from the kitchen and he yawned. "She forgot to mention that you were a bearer of the Triforce."

Pausing with a butter biscuit halfway to his mouth, Link solemnly replaced the cookie on a plate and checked the back of his left hand. "Some believe it's a birth mark," he explained lamely as Impaz disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a steaming teapot. "Although I'm not so sure anymore, the shadow invasion has woke the nation up." The hero stopped speaking and desperately wracked his head for something intelligent. "Oh and Princess Zelda is..." he glimpsed his barely existent shadow, "incapacitated."

His statement drew a sharp inhale and Impaz splashed tea on the little table. Brown liquid soaked a lace tablecloth. She served Link a tiny stone cup and sank into a couch, her tiny form swallowed by cushion and material.

"The Hidden village was once called Old Kakariko." Impaz stared at the door, eyes misting to a time long forgotten. "And I was named after the founder of the Sheikha Tribe...A woman of mysterious origin, who swore allegiance to Princess Zelda at all costs." She laid a palm flat on her knee, a little ball of purple swirled in her hand and she closed her fist, condensing it into smoke. "We of the Sheikha tribe are proficient in magic, we are the self-imposed guardians of the princess and it all started with one remarkable woman." Impaz's head quivered, displaying a rare moment of weakness and her pointy ears vibrated. Suddenly, she sat ramrod straight and leaned forward, her eyes sharp. The fire roared and died, collapsing into ashes and glowing in the veined logs. "You pierced your ear," she said and Link shrugged, he hated his pierced earlobe. "It is a Sheikha tradition to pierce only one earlobe and it was started by Impa, the founder of this village." The old woman mumbled softly and stared into the ashy fireplace. "Let me tell you her story."

The tale continued long into the night and Link listened, enraptured. His tea grew cold between his hands but he did not remove his eyes from the little old woman commanding his attention.

Deep in the realm of Twilight, a figure stood from a throne of polished black glass.

A white scar throbbed. Sweat bloomed in dark patches. Staining an ebony vest into a color darker than night.

The Triforce of Power pulsed gold.


XXXXX


Beasts tell lies

"Link...Link, it's alright, if you cannot do it, return, we will find a way to..." The King of Red Lions fought to keep panic out of his voice, the child refused to reply ever since he could not use the WindWaker and the watercraft worried greatly. "Don't worry, there is always a way to...are you listening?" The stone on deck glimmered feebly and winked. Dead. Staring disbelievingly at the Pirate's charm, the boat feebly tried to contact his passenger again. "Link..." he called to no avail and hung his head.

The creak of wet, dejected wood echoed in the cavernous space of the Tower.

Dropping the Pirate's charm, Link considered his surroundings. He stood before a slab of engraved granite. The Command Melody, the words stitched above, read and he clutched the WindWaker tighter between his fingers.

A small smile tugged at his face and without anyone to see him, he let the smile spread till it cut his face in half. The gold bases distorted his reflection and he grinned with free abandon. Back. Back into the world of sea and sharks and adrenalin pumping adventure. He returned to the bizarre realm of pirates and tiny islands. Of months floating across the sea with nothing but a talking boat for company. Dangers and storms proved to be a constant companion and no one knew him.

Absolutely no one.

Back into the world without responsibility.

The child laughed. Giggles morphed into an animalistic howl and he panted, supporting himself against a pillar. Here he was free to do what he wanted.

What he wanted...

He stared at the backs of unmarked hands. His stomach dropped.

A dry well of despair.

Pulling the Pirate's charm off his neck, he stuffed into his haphazard sack and circled the slab of stone. The Tower of Gods, assuming from the decor, reminded him painfully of the Temple of Time back home. But someone else assumed his responsibility, surely the other Link would look after the children and restore Ilia's memory right?

Right?

Pushing such thoughts out of his mind, Link stopped in front of the slate slab and raised the WindWaker. Midna's words constantly drummed the back of his mind. The Triforce was the child's.

The child's.

The boy's.

Somewhere along his life, the original wielder lost the right to carry it and it transferred to a young boy who proved himself.

Whatever, Link's irises dropped to the floor. He needed to complete the Tower first. Then, he will allow time for contemplation.

Learning the Command Melody opened a door to the west; clutching the WindWaker, Link vindictively eyed the pottery jars decorating the circular room and emerged on a golden sandstone platform. A multitude of bubbles, their skull faces wreathed in red flame, flapped in the cavernous space and he gave them a passing glance. A beam hung from the inky black recesses of the roof and using the grappling hook, he crossed the chasm. Link landed heavily on the either side and hopped when his little toe protested with a violent throb.

Absentmindedly massaging the appendage, he threatened an investigating bubble with a gust from the Deku Leaf and a shining switch winked to his left. A statue stood pompously on a raised pedestal of basalt and Link recalled the Command Melody. Raising the ivory baton, he guided the WindWaker to the required positions and a soothing tune flowed. Like the idols in the Temple of Time, the statue glimmered to life.

An oppressive weight settled on Link's temples and the edges of his vision caved in.

He pressed his pulsing temples furiously but the headache persisted in torturing him. Fumbling in his backpack, Link tossed and array of items, desperately searching for a potion to calm his rapidly fraying nerves. The bottle slipped in his sweaty fingers and crashed, splattering blue on his boot. Mouth open in shock, he searched again, cursing his childish strength. The dark mist in his eyes thickened into a cloud of charcoal fog and he lowered himself on the ground, no longer fighting the foreign presence invading his mind.

His vision changed. No longer grainy and black. And he stared at himself. A young boy, face pale and coated with sweat, hunched on the floor, one arm dangling in a sack. Willing himself to move, Link lifted one foot off the ground and jumped. Stone crashed on stone but the green clad child on the floor remained sitting.

I am moving the statue with my mind...The realization elicited no special feelings. It was something that must be done.

Quickly grasping the basics of moving the hunk of alabaster, the hero directed the statue to the glowing switch and a bridge of light weaved across the abyss. Wondering if the light was solid, Link attempted to detach his mind from the statue and easily enough, he returned to his body. An uncomfortable sensation of pins and needles cropped on his skin and ignoring it, he shouldered his bag and stood at the seam of the light bridge.

Sliding his sword out, he scored a thick line on the surface of the shimmering pathway and cocked his head, examining it from all angles. Odd, it did not have any supportive structures like the bridges in Hyrule and the material constructing the pathway was transparent, he could see right through the pink light and into the drop below. Placing one foot on the bridge, he tested his weight and when it held, scampered across without a second look backwards. At the door, he paused, frowned and whipped out his map.

Wrong way, the compass and diagrams sneered. Glaring at the parchment, Link noted another door to the south of the statue and sighed. He retraced his steps over the bridge of light and stopped at the very edge. The light passages were convenient, he decided, they only needed the use of a switch to activate them. Unlike the cumbersome bridges of stone spanning across Hyrule (although Link often stood at the threshold and marveled at the architectural feats), these easily collapsible bridges could be deactivated with a weight and the routes automatically cut off.

Extremely handy when it came to disrupting an enemy's course or laying siege...

He landed in front of the southern door and a cyan, winking light bled through the thin, cotton exterior of his backpack. Opening it up, Link regarded the flashing Pirate's charm and solemnly covered it. He needed to think without distractions and the King of Red Lions could remain patient for a while longer.

Eager to see the withered boat again, the boy passed through the door without a second thought and froze at the eerie stillness blanketing a hexagonal chamber. Dim light shrouded the room and reflected off oddly placed columns rising up like stark naked trees. As Link bent to examine the ancient runes on the floor, he heard the distant scrape of a sword dragged across the ground. Seeing no imminent hostilities, he traced his fingers over the runes, struggled to read them and visited one pillar after the other, hoping to make sense of the history etched at their feet. The columns lead him into the center of the chamber, where the smooth floor gave way to broken bricks and shards of long forgotten pottery.

A bulky shape emerged and Link peered at the silent sentinel. The hero compared his tiny sword against the Darknut's wide blade and his irises narrowed.

Time to steal a new weapon.

The boy lunged like a snake poised to kill. The tip of the sword snagged in the leather straps crisscrossing the Darknut's waist and he slashed sideways, sawing through leather and springing back when the Darknut twirled its humongous sword. Steel flashed in the dismal light, Link ducked as the weapon whistled across his head and trimmed his unruly puff of golden hair.

He rolled backwards, touched the top of his head and brushed his hand free from blonde strands. The Darknut's sword thudded next to him and he maintained a respectable distance between him and the heavily armed monster.

What's going on?He thought and held the sword tighter. A Darknut should not be giving him problems.

Keeping the prowling knight in his sights, Link swung his sword, perplexed at the creeping sensation of wrongness weighing on his limbs. A pillar exploded into dust, clobbered by the Darknut's hoof and a piece of shrapnel rebounded from Link's temple, sending a dizzying pain dancing across his cranium. Hissing and shaking his head, he retreated warily, barely dodging a strike to his chest.

The Hero's tunic tore, the sword clanged out of his numbing hands and he instinctively tossed a bomb in the room to buy time.

A silver of skin peeked between the ragged tear in his tunic and Link breathed heavily; he was not used to this. Testing the sword on his palm, he groggily eyed the pearls of blood escaping the incision and shook the sword irritably. It felt too light. The air whooshed above his head and he rotated when the Darknut charged out of the billowing cloud of gunpowder smoke. Hooking his blade beneath the armor, Link grunted and pulled the breastplate off.

The Darknut spun, disorientated. Link grabbed the monster's heavy sword and tugged; unfortunately, the beast did not let go and instead, kicked the human in the abdomen.

The boy soared, cap flaring behind him and landed with a sickening crack against the facade of a pillar.

He wondered what happened. Surely he did not fly two meters through the air and land on a pillar? Not happening. Link stubbornly pulled to his feet and massaged his lower back. It hurt like someone crashed a cannonball into it.

Partially swallowed by the gloom, the Darknut, missing its breastplate, pawed the ground and held its sword like a lance. Ready to charge. Closing his eyes, Link breathed deeply, trying to anchor himself back to the present.

Remember the training.

The reflexes.

The illegal scrolls he pored over in the dead of the night when no one was looking.

A devoted swords master inked the Hero of Time's preferred sword strikes. And Link learned them all, mooning over the pictures once he perfected the stances.

Silver cut through air. Time slowed. The blade dipped a fraction, missing the protective rim of the helmet and cutting into leather straps, slicing through thick hide and meeting bone. It resisted and Link grunted, willing, forcing, pushing the blade deeper. The Darknut's sword careered closer; aiming for his heart.

Bone snapped and the little sword cut clean.

The Darknut crumpled, its gloved hand still wrapped around the heavy blade, its head rolled to a stop and Link clubbed it towards the kneeling body. He wrestled the blade from the monster's grasp and tested its weight, discarding it when the weapon unbalanced him. Out of breath, he tottered towards the magically appearing chest and opened the lid.

An appropriately sized Hero's bow lay at the bottom, covered in lengths of egg-shell silk. Lifting the bow, he pulled the drawstring experimentally and scowled. Midna's jibe rang in his head and Link ran his fingers across the curve of the bow. Anything used by the previous heroes' were coveted objects, this one included. The boy nocked an arrow, walked out the room and let it harpoon through the air, striking an eye switch. His fingers cramped. A platform materialized and whizzed across the open spaces. The movement excited the bubbles and they flapped collectively, veering for the tiny boy standing sourly on the southern platform. Raising his new found weapon, Link swiped them all, watching their skull bodies' drop with a sense of hollow detachment.

They say justice is blind...

Perched in front of a colossal, gold leaved pair of scales, Link barely made out a line of cracked walls underneath the carved dishes. The gurgle of sea water reached his ears and he grinned crookedly; those bomb arrows would come in hand here.

Smile vanishing, he stared at the scales and his distorted reflection smudged its glorious shine. The scales, bolted against the white wall of the tower, filled him with dread. The shapeless horror ballooned in his chest and popped. Leaving an empty cavity in its wake. What he did in Hyrule could not haunt him here. Here, he checked his small sword; he did not have the Master Sword. He did not have the Triforce of Power and he gained a gangly body which gave up on him in the most unexpected of times. Link wanted to jump on the scales, he needed to jump but a phantom force glued him to the platform above. If after all of this (this?) he managed to return home...will he be made to stand trial for a crime he committed unwillingly?

Of course Zelda with her infinite wisdom will...might forgive him but the imp said the princess was dead.

Link long forgot how it felt to be guilty.

He disguised the Master Sword and presented it to Rusl so Ordona could gift it in the upcoming Queen's coronation. The local blacksmith was aptly devastated but no one could deny the sword's godly craftsmanship. Link brushed questions aside and quickly bolted for the ranch when Rusl looked at him oddly.

Who dictated life?

Who chose him to be the Triforce bearer?

Stepping away from the brim, Link listened to the timeless ebb and flow of the waves below. The water slapped against the bricks and retreated. Although it did no damage, the tireless gnawing will eventually take its toll. In a century, a millennia, water will gush through bricks.

Eroding and decaying.

He lost the Triforce of Courage when he ran away. And a child inherited it. Link stretched, reaching for the mysterious top of the tower. He broke into a short run, jumped from the raised landing and tucked his legs in. The collision with metal jarred his bones and smacked him back to reality. Hooking his arms around the chains holding the golden dish, Link examined the cracked wall and lit a bomb, leaning over, he placed it against the wall and ducked to safety. Fist sized chunks of rock rained into the sea and dust settled to reveal a tunnel emptying into darkness. The boy glanced at the uneven scales and remembered the statues. The Tower of Gods resonated with the Temple of Time. They contained the essence of the long forgotten Hero. This place captured history. A small, humorless grin snaked across Link's mouth as he crawled into the rocky duct.

The tunnel led him to an empty room with an emblem in the middle. An image of wind embossed the circular plate of earth and Link played the Ballad of Gales. A chest materialized on the emblem and he rifled in the inside to extract a series of maps. Unfolding them, he squinted at the marked co-ordinates and thought of the charts he stole from Tetra's pirate ship; according to the King of Red Lions, they contained valuable information. Link did not have a chance to properly scrutinize them but what little he read, spun his mind.

Back in the atrium with the golden pair of scales, the boy checked his collection of small, armos like statues and threw them one by one. The balance clanged, spreading its cacophony throughout the tower. Each statue forced the scale to even but when the last stone idol crashed on the dish and it remained unbalanced, Link's eye twitched and he whipped out his map, grabbing the edges tightly and tearing it.

Exhaling, he studied the unvisited rooms and worked the vestiges of his anger on the local pottery. Link collected spare arrows, a couple of bombs and long forgotten potions. Giving the bottled contents a sniff and deeming them drinkable, he set off.

The Command Melody forced his consciousness into a statue and he seized a moment to stare at the boy heaped at the base of a totem pole.

Hair and cheeks streaked with dirt, his lean arms could not support his own weight for a more than ten minutes and it disgusted Link. Inwardly snorting, the stone statue moved from its place, collided on the ground and cracked slate tiles. It proceeded to drag across a stretch of ground and Link experimented, seeing how far he could exert his influence; a maximum range of roughly ten meters, before his consciousness painfully slammed back into his body.

He woke up with a jerk, the kind produced when he dreamt of falling from a great height. Heart thudding in his chest, the boy grabbed the stone statue, hefted it above his head and arms straining, traced a path back to the airy atrium.


A portal led to the upper floors of the Tower and Link slowly climbed the bronze steps leading into the shimmering elevator. A trio of statues surrounded the podium and the switches beneath them leaked pale green color into their hollow mouths and eyes. Boots planted firmly on the octagonal platform, Link glanced at the tall columns on either side and sucked in a deep breath. His hands trembled and trying to calm the turbulence in his gut, he stepped into the light.

The world opened in darkness and blade poised, Link frowned at his blue-black surroundings. He vaguely saw a shape etched in the wall and streams of light blinked to life and faded rapidly. Rotating, the boy searched for clues, mind churning like storm tossed waves. The Tower of Gods tested the potential bearer of the Triforce, Link's sword grip tightened till his knuckles strained against skin, and he will make sure to pass this test and reclaim what was once his. The room stayed quiet...no, not a graveyard silence, but an unsettling hum smothered the empty space. The walls pulsed with veins of cyan. Cyan…like the stone Link carried. Perhaps the guardian of the tower watched him, stalking around like a frightened brat.

Striding to the center of the room with confidence he did not feel, Link sheathed his sword, stood bolt upright and waited for the test to come to him.

The walls throbbed, lighting up from a center piece of what appeared to be an elaborate mask and two sets of hands. Resisting the urge to pry the mask out and examine it, Link stood still, desperate to make a good impression on whoever it was.

Time stretched. Immemorial.

"Chosen one..." the mask rumbled and Link snapped awake, hand automatically going for his blade. He relaxed when the voice echoed from the walls and the guardian peeled off. "You must accept this final challenge." Two gigantic hands and a gold plated mask hovered around the boy and he swallowed, shaking off the sensation of claustrophobia. "To find the secret buried in the deep, you must ring the bell and proclaim your right." Link vaulted backwards, glaring eyes swiveling to the middle of the stone palms and he repressed a smile. Too easy.

Armed with the bow, Link fired two arrows in rapid succession. The steel tips glinted wickedly in the muted blue light of the room and unerringly pierced the palm eyeballs. Arrow shafts quivering, Link waited for the hands to drop but they only decreased in momentum. Muttering under his breath, he fired two more arrows and dodged a laser from the main face.

The stone palms floating in the air lost its unearthly glow and crumbled to the floor. Link raced to them. In the corner of his eye, he saw the main face drop and without hesitating switched sides. The mouth opened and after a moment's contemplation, he lobbed a bomb and dove for cover. The hazard flashed; red, blue and red, blue and detonated. The mask's golden crown dislodged and collapsed to the ground, spiky metal tips gouging the soft stone.

Walls pulsed and it rose again, casting a majestic shadow over the diminutive boy.

Head raised, Link waited for the verdict, his heart hammering. The calm perfusing his body moments ago vanished and he fumbled childishly with his hands.

Did he pass?

Gohdan studied the small, defiant figure standing in his shadow. The boy's pitch irises shone with a burning passion. A consuming desire. The bearers of the Triforce must possess untold courage and wisdom, this child was the perfect candidate yet, the guardian sensed a deep turmoil raging in the child's consciousness. The boy shifted conveying both patience and impatience. His eyes blazed, demanding, protesting and pleading all at once.

"Do you know what it means to be a hero?" Gohdan asked and the boy blinked, unprepared for such a question. "Tell me why you want the Triforce." The ancient voice rumbled, invoking fear and respect to those addressed.

Shoulders squared, Link stood taller and answered.

"Because it is my birthright."


A/N: Link sounds like one of those snotty, entitled people, because it's my birthright. Poor him. I like Impa, my favorite Impa is from Skyward Sword, I never finished the game, but her design was impressive. Ganondorf stirs at last, I wonder if there will ever be a game where we get a skinny Ganondorf instead of the hulking brute we are familiar with.

As you can all see, exercise is very important, you don't want your body giving up on you when you least expect it. Link speaks from experience.

Once again, please read and review, constructive criticism and advice are appreciated. Protein shakes to all those working out, keep rocking.

At Novirp13: Wind without his windwaker is just a little blood thirsty brat with agenda to save the world and take selfies with his arch nemesis.

At James: Once again, thanks for the comment