There was absolutely no way Kali was getting back down that mountain that day. Shortly after she and Link had returned to the camp, she was practically dozing off in the middle of packing her things. Her head nodded as she faded in and out of sleep while she was sitting cross legged by her bed roll, packing her soiled clothes into her pack. It had dawned on the party, with confused amusement, that she hadn't slept at all the night before.
"Nightmares," she claimed bluntly, trying to keep a pink blush from creeping up her neck as she turned her back to her friends.
The group decided after she'd slumped over on her bed roll to just let her sleep for a few hours. Kiden, however departed from them, stating that the hot springs healing properties were only effective when the water was kept at least a little warm the ceramic jugs he'd collected them in would only last so long. Anju had decided to follow him back down the mountain path, claiming that she was already late getting back and needed to tend to the cuccos.
Later that day on the way back down the mountain, Impa piled Kali's bag, and Link's, and her own onto Kali's back. "Training is back in session," her teacher declared, smirking down at the blonde girl. Kali tried to resist groaning as she adjusted all the bags on her shoulders, knowing that if she complained the exercise would only be made worse somehow. So Impa made her job down the mountain path, and challenged her to not slip on gravel or stumble over anything and to keep her speed in check. Link smiled at her sympathetically and made to follow them both in the back of the small group. At least she wasn't alone, but she'd probably be the only one who was miserable.
Impa did indeed mean that training was back in session, because the week that followed was hell. Kali felt like she'd started all over again, and she practically had, she supposed. It was warmer now, so her runs and resistance exercises had her drenched with sweat. Her hand to hand striking drills left her feeling like she was unable to breath. The following week, Impa started on weapons training and it was much more intense now. With Link lingering around the village more often, Impa was able to drag him to training sessions to be Kali's sparring partner. At first, while she was still learning the techniques of wielding one sword, it was nothing but drilling the movements with Impa or Link matching her pace. Then one day Link arrived with a round wooden shield in hand, claiming that it was Impa who sent him on the errand. Then she began training with a shield and a sword. The difference in the techniques were wildly different, and the shield felt foreign on her arm. Her shoulder muscles burned at the weight of holding it for so long. At times, Impa trained with her personally, both of them wielding dual daggers and nothing else. Those sessions were especially ruthless since Impa showed her no mercy, and knocked her down again and again and again until Kali had no choice but to react quickly, or risk getting her ass kicked. It made for drastic improvement, but there certainly were days where Kali would become extremely discouraged, feeling like no progress has been made.
And when she wasn't training in combat, she was in her room, practicing her time manipulation abilities in secret. She wasn't sure how the others would react to actually seeing it, and wanted to feel some semblance of control when she finally addressed it with the others. Kali chose to keep running the exercise by marking a paper with an X, and focusing on reversing the X until it was blank paper again. She found out quickly that stretching the use of her abilities gave her a fierce headache, and even once her nose began to bleed. When she burst out of her room, her hand covered in blood Impa thought they were under attack somehow. Kali waved her off and said she'd smacked her head off the posts of her bed while napping. It wasn't a very convincing lie.
She would change up her exercises to try and get a feel of how else time could be manipulated. She would toss a piece of paper up into the air and try to make it stop - this exercise was easier, since she had done it before on a much larger scale on the twins during her escape. Then she'd throw many pieces of paper in the air, and try to stop them all at once in the area around her. The first time she tried that her head immediately broke into mind blowing pain. But she kept up her attempts. She also discovered that if she turned time forward enough, the paper would begin to decay and she frowned upon completing the process. She didn't like the thought of what that could do to a living thing, and tried not to dwell on it too much. But it stirred a thought in her head - about how Pallas had "healed" her broken ribs. It must be possible to heal wounds then. She tested it by poking her fingertip with a needle and attempting to close the hole. After many attempts, she decided that either she really sucked at healing or the ability didn't extend to herself.
On the day that Kiden finally returned for a visit, Kali had been at the table with Impa - who was attempting to teach Kali how to read Hylian letters, and failing miserably. Kali just couldn't focus that day. She was antsy, and her thoughts kept drifting off to Pallas and the twins. They had been awfully quiet lately, but she didn't want to let herself hope that maybe they gave up on her or just disappeared on her own. That hateful, poisonous expression that Pallas had as Kali ran away from his fortress flashed in her mind's eye, and she flinched a little. Link, who was studying books on Zora folklore across from her didn't miss the expression on her face. The flashbacks and nightmares have been easier to bear since her trip to the springs, but they weren't gone forever, and she imagined they never would be. Even Link still struggled with the demons he's had to face over his years of life. And on especially bad days, she'd travel to her favorite spot by the windmill and hum the song of healing, so nobody else would hear her over the creaking of the old mill, and the whooshing of the wind around her.
"What's wrong?" Link asked, setting the book down gently.
Impa glanced at her expectantly. Kali sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I was just thinking of how quiet they've been."
She didn't need to elaborate on who she meant, and Impa's expression was tight. The house had been warded, but those protective wards surely didn't extend to the runs they've made up Death Mountain - did they?
Suddenly the door to the house burst open and everyone in the room jumped, startled by the loud bang of the wood smacking the wall. Kali stood, hands up and then immediately relaxed when she saw Kiden step over the threshold, his hands full of thick books stacked nearly to his nose.
"You couldn't knock?" Link muttered, unenthused by the sudden visitor.
Kali immediately went to Kiden to relieve him of several heavy, dusty books and sat them on the table. Kiden ignored Link and announced, "I've found something."
Impa's scarlet eyes lit up with interest, and even Link looked up from the book he was holding, his eyes on Kiden and Kali standing together. "About?" Kali prompted.
"The time manipulation abilities." Kiden said breathlessly, pulling one thin journal out of the stack and pushing his skewed glasses back up on his nose, "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. It's such a well known theory." He babbled, delicately picking through the pages of the aged journal.
All three of them watched Kiden with anticipation as he flipped to a specific passage. The whole journal appeared to be handwritten, and Kali could only pick out a few simple words with her bare bones knowledge of Hylian. But on the page he picked out appeared to have a drawing of one, giant solid triangle and the illustration of a faceless womanly figure with an hourglass. "Have any of you heard the rumor about the missing piece of the Triforce?" Kiden started, his finger trailing the text to find a specific line in the book.
The effect of the statement to Impa and Link was immediate. Link rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to his own research, looking more annoyed now. Impa sighed harshly and waved her hands to Kiden, as if dismissing the idea, "That's blasphemy, boy. Nothing more."
Kiden glanced up at them and his expression tightened, "Yeah, I always thought so too - But don't you think it's a little blasphemous that not one, but two, random people with rounded ears just pop into Hyrule that have time manipulation abilities?"
Kali wasn't sure of the context of his theory yet, but she had to admit that he did have a point. They couldn't really afford to discount any theory, no matter how out there it was. "What is the rumor about the missing part of the triforce?" Kali asked, her tone curious.
Kiden grinned at her. His shoulders relaxed a little bit knowing that not everyone in the room was just going to brush him off. "You know how there is a gap between each sacred triangle right?"
Kali nodded. Impa and Link watched him, skeptically but attempting to humor Kiden.
"There is a rumor, or a folk story really, that the gap is actually a missing piece of the triforce that was stolen and that it used to represent a fourth goddess." he continued, pointing at the massive triangle on the page that she assumed represented the completed triforce. "In the story, it's said that a Hylian with nothing but greed and loneliness in their heart somehow made it into the sacred realm, and stole away the piece of the triforce which has now been missing since shortly after the creation of this world. When he returned to Hyrule, the piece of the triforce, refusing to let time itself be manipulated by one man, then took the shape of a Hylian woman who was merely bound to the man for the rest of his days. The man, soothed by the presence of the woman, hid them away and made the woman his bride and they lived happily ever after."
Kali raised a brow, unsure of the ending of that story. Usually that's not how tales of stolen brides go, at least not in the traditional fairytales of her world, but she let Kiden rush ahead, "This story has been around for….Goddesses, who knows, since forever."
He turned the yellowed page of the journal, and on the next page were what appeared to be entries with dates marking the beginning of each. A diary of some kind? "I'm sorry Kiden, but what does this have to do with the time manipulation abilities? This is just a folk tale, it's a story that mothers tell their children before they go to sleep." Impa said, clearly trying to reason with him without feeling condescending.
"I'm getting to that," Kiden said, making that grin that Kali recognized as when he was sure he was about to surprise someone. He tapped the back of his hand on the pages of the journal, "This is a journal of a very long dead historian. His name was Jarrill Kirindok."
Impa's eyes went wide for a moment, and Kiden paused, catching her look. His eyes lit up with interest, "Does that name mean something to you?"
Impa crossed her arms over her chest, her full lips pressed together. It was an expression Kali didn't often see on her teacher - as if she were unsure. "Kirindok is a Sheikah name." she said quietly.
Link blinked his eyes at Impa, and some sort of dawning realization entered his expression, but he kept silent.
Kiden only nodded and continued, "Jarrill was a historian who was very hands on, and was very insistent on doing his own research - so he was often out in the field, discovering ancient ruins in Hyrule on his own." He placed a finger down on the journal entries and explained, "At some point, he got himself hopelessly lost, on a specific search for the ruins of a dragon god that ancient Hylians were said to worship for a short time. And he found a tribe of people, just hidden away."
He turned another page, and there were more entries, accompanied by sketches. She gazed at them, and realized one sketch was a small, abstract version of some kind of map. Another sketch was of what appeared to be a shrine lit with old candles, stacked with jugs of wine and breads, behind the shrine was the depiction of a single triangle that was suspended upside down and kneeling in front of it was a man with pointed ears, a shaved head and a blindfold over his eyes. A chill ran up her spine at the image.
"In these entries he describes that the clan of people worshiped at this altar, and that this man," he jabbed a finger at the blindfolded man, "was their 'God'."
Impa kept her tense eyes on the images, and Link had leaned back in his chair, his fingers at his chin as he digested the information. Kiden began to read a passage straight from the journal entries, "These people have been willing to provide information to me of their beliefs, and in exchange, they have asked for tales of my own people's, which I was happy to agree to. The man, in reality, was not a true God after all - but just a vessel for which these people's deity speaks through and channels their will through. They have said the tradition is passed down by blood only, and it is a requirement of the vessel to be able to provide an heir to teach the ways in which their child in turn would become the new 'God'. I will address him as a shaman from here on. This shaman had the ability to reverse wounds, make people forget painful memories, and claimed to have visions which were prophetic in nature."
Kali's heart began to race at that. It sounded an awful lot like time manipulation to her. Kiden moved onto another passage several entries later, "It appears that there is an origin story to this 'God' that the people worship. It is a tale told of a mysterious traveler who appears seemingly from nowhere with his wife and children. The wife was said to be ethereal in beauty and many people did not believe that she was wholly of this world. They agreed to take the man into their civilization but insisted that his family live on the outskirts of the community. A bad stroke of luck fell and fell upon the people after their arrival. Crops would not grow, terrible storms washed away any new seeds that were planted, and children were getting sick. They claimed that the woman was cursed, and would need to be sacrificed to their God to appease it's rage at the people for taking in the family. When confronted, the woman went with them peacefully and without a word of goodbye to the children she left behind. It is said that they laid her in white, and blindfolded her, and once they were about to drive a sacred dagger into her chest that she suddenly disappeared for their world in a gust of rippling air - and she was never seen again. They end their story with the conclusion that the woman was spirited into another realm to become the bride to their God. Her children were honored in the highest regard afterwards, and eventually made leaders of the community due to their astounding abilities, and there is where the line of shamans began."
When he finished reciting the words of Jarrill, the room was quiet. Kiden didn't have to elaborate for them all to understand that the tale that the historian had discovered was a mere continuation of the story about the missing piece of the Triforce. "That's….how were we never able to find anything about this before?" Kali asked, looking to each face in the room.
Link was the one to answer, "It makes sense - because Jarrill was a Sheikah. Most of their historic documents were destroyed during the Hyrulean Civil War during a raid. That was when most of the Shiekah Clan were killed."
Kali bit her lip, and gazed at Impa mournfully. She was the only Sheikah that Kali had ever met, or even seen, for that matter. "And it's such a...vague source of information. Only one man has managed to find these people. How did they just...suddenly disappear?"
Kali's thoughts raced through the information Kiden just provided. The woman that was meant to be sacrificed had just up and disappeared. That sounded pretty familiar...Her guts twisted painfully and she went to sit for a moment. They were all quiet as they collected their thoughts.
She noticed Impa watching her carefully after a few moments, and Kali must have looked like she was going to vomit because she said, "Let's discuss this later. It's time for some training." A distraction. Perfect.
Upon thinking of Impa, Kali remembered Impa's shadowy abilities and gazed down at her own hands. Kiden was incredible for finding this information for them, and was so smart. With his help, and Impa's then maybe it was time. "Wait.." Kali muttered, and then straightened her back, taking in a deep breath. "I want...to show you guys my abilities."
Impa and Link looked stunned, and Kiden looked thrilled. Link stood from his chair, "You've managed to tap into them?" he asked, his eyes suddenly intense.
Kiden fumbled with digging a pen out of his vest, and a tiny journal the size of his palm. He crossed to the table to sit down, pushing up his glasses and then set his eyes on her with interest. Kali flushed pink, but nodded her head. "When?" Impa asked, "How?"
"I've been practicing for the past few weeks, and then some before that." Kali said, suddenly feeling shy. She stood from the table to retrieve some papers from her room, the same ones she's been practicing with. "It's...still a work in progress - I still have a few new things I'm wanting to try, but this is what I've figured out so far." she explained, sounding nervous.
She used her elbows to make room on the table and set the paper down. She started to show them the trick with reversing the X, but her nerves were distracting her more than she thought. The first few tries, only the air around her outstretched hand flickered slightly. She sighed and blushed, feeling embarrassed. This wasn't going how she wanted it to, and the frustration must have been evident on her face because Link rounded the table and pressed a reassuring hand to her back. "Don't worry so much," He muttered, smiling, "You've come this far already."
Kali felt Impa's strong hand squeeze her shoulder on her other side, "I can tell you from experience that things are much easier when you just let things flow, instead of forcing it." her teacher explained. "Take a slow breath in, and just let it happen."
Kiden was watching her expectantly, offering his own reassuring smile but standing by to jot down notes. Kali couldn't help but smile and did as she was told. A slow breath in, and held out her hand again, just letting the warmth of her abilities flow through her and out. The X on the paper reversed so it was blank again. The expression on everyone's faces was well worth the struggle of showing them her powers for the first time. She reached out again and forwarded time so that the paper had an X scrawled back on with an invisible hand, and then further, until the paper was just dust. She grinned at them and showed them everything she knew so far.
Impa helped her establish a range on her abilities, which could be anywhere from 5 - 10 feet depending on how hard she pushed herself. She explained the side effects of when she pushed herself too hard, and also her theories about healing. They tested it together, Impa making a small cut with a dagger on the pad of her finger. A drop of blood swelled there, and Kali bit her lip almost afraid of messing up and somehow aging just that one finger until it fell off or something. Impa chuckled at her concerns and convinced her to just try. Kali had to strain for this, but the welling drop of blood receded back into the cut and the skin managed to stitch itself back together. "So….Then my abilities won't extend to just me." Kali sighed. "I can't heal myself if I need it."
Kiden reassured her that with the healing potions they should be keeping on them, it wouldn't be necessary anyway. After they seemed to be finished testing her abilities for the day, Kali hesitated, biting her lip. It was a dead giveaway that she had more to add. It was something she remembered Pallas mentioning and when Impa asked her to elaborate she said, "Pallas was able to create portals in time. And the way he explained it to me was….he made a portal intended to take him from his current place in time to a point in time where he would be somewhere else. Anywhere else I imagine." she explained, sounding worried, "And I wanted to test it, because it could be helpful. And….if I truly did unintentionally create a gateway, then it's probably still open somewhere."
Link leaned his elbows on the table and pressed his intertwined hands to his mouth with thought, eyeing Impa questioningly. Impa shifted her weight to one hip and her eyes were churning with thoughts. "The way I shift into the shadows is different, I believe…" she muttered, "When I shift into the shadows, that space is always available to me at all times. A gateway doesn't need to be created."
Kiden finished scribbling his current notes in the journal and looked up at her, "Would you even know how to start to make one?" he asked.
Kali stood from her chair, considering the question. It would probably be a lot like her current abilities, which would just be willing the portal into being - but how could she be sure it leads to her desired destination or time until she stepped through it?
"I don't know if we should try it now.." Link said, his eyes on her. She turned to take in his expression. He looked concerned, but his eyes also had a fierceness to them. She recognized it as protectiveness. He had been holding to his promise since they returned from the hot springs to back off a little, but there were some times, like now, where his concern outweighed his desire to remain more distant. She understood this time.
Kiden frowned at him, "She is perfectly capable of doing this if that's what she wants."
Link shook his head and sighed, "What would you know what she's capable of? You don't train with her."
Kiden blinked his hazel eyes, surprised at the statement. Impa's eyes narrowed on them both, and Kali began to pick at her fingers, embarrassed at their argument and how she had no part of it even though she was the source of it. "What do you mean? Kali, you train with Link?" he asked, looking bewildered.
Kali nodded, shyly. "Are you nuts?" Kiden outright glared at Link now, "I know how much experience you have, since you've come into our shop practically since you were 10. What would you do if you hurt her?!"
Impa crossed her arms, and Kali knew immediately that she was losing patience with the boys. "Hurt her? How dare you even-" Link started, his chair scooting back noisily as he rose to a stand. He looked like he wanted to punch Kiden in the face.
"That's enough!" Impa growled, her voice loud. Kali didn't like when Impa shouted. Her voice was so mature that she didn't normally need to yell to get her point across, but when she did, the sound boomed off the walls of the house. She turned to Kali, looking annoyed, "If you want to try it, then go ahead. We are ready, but if you don't, then you don't have to."
Eager to get the conversation off the opinions of what she could and couldn't do, she nodded. The whole reason she brought it up was to give it a try. She wanted to see if her closing the gateway would solve their problems. Kali shook out her hands and took some deep, centering breaths. She imagined she'd have to select a point in time and a location that she wanted to step into. She went with the first thing that popped into her mind, at the bottom of the stone stairs leading to Kakariko Village 3 minutes from right then. Kali held her hands out in front of her, willing a portal to open. She closed her eyes and imagined what it would look like, the same vortex of shimmering air that Pallas had stepped through, imagined the exact spot she would step onto through the portal. There was a jolt of pain in her head, right down the middle of her skull, but she grit her teeth and breathed as steadily as she could manage through her nose. There was heat building in her core, and travelling as if her soul were being sucked out. Her hands became hot, and it was increasingly difficult to keep her focus on the portal, the location, and the time. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Kiden, and when her hands were suddenly burning so hot she felt like she was holding her fingertips to a stovetop, she yanked back her hands, hissing. She opened her eyes and saw before all of them, a swirling, shivering mass of air about her size. It seemed to nearly suck up all the light and oxygen in the room - or she could just be faint and breathless. Even Kiden had stopped scribbling to stare, open mouthed at the mass of power. Kali shook out her fingers, the heat fading from her hands as she narrowed her eyes at the portal. There was no way to see what was on the other side, just as she feared. She tried to make eye contact with Impa, but she was only staring, as still as a statue at the portal, speechless at the sight of it.
Well, she'd done it. She made the portal, now the only mystery was - did she make the portal she intended? Kali drew in a steadying breath, and clenched her fists at her sides. There was only one way to find out. She took two strides towards it, reaching out her hand. She wanted to feel the sensations first in her fingers before she threw her whole body through, and could feel her fingers tingling as they approached the portal. A hand closed around Kali's arm and when she looked to her side, she met steady blue eyes. Link was silent, not wanting to say the words. No doubt, he was wondering if he was crossing the line again but his hand was gentle and his expression was pleading. Kali looked from him to the portal, her fingertips still tingling as they nearly touched the vortex. She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding and lowered her arm, and took a step back, relenting to Link's wishes. He also breathed out, his shoulders relaxing, "I just….we don't know what will happen when you step through." he said quietly, his arm still gently resting on her arm.
Kali nodded. She did understand what he meant. Maybe it was reckless to just jump through the portal with no plan and no clue what could happen if she made a mistake. "I know," she offered him a reassuring smile.
A grin spread wide on his face, "But, it was impressive that you managed to make a portal."
He mussed her hair, and she giggled, jerking her head away from him. She looked back to see Kiden eyeing them both sourly, and when he opened his mouth to speak Impa pointedly gave him a look that said to keep his mouth shut. He sighed and gently shut Jarrill's journal, as well as his own small notebook. He began to gather his books, and seemed to change his mind on what he was about to say, "I think we should conduct more studies on some plants outside or something. I'm interested to know how your abilities could affect living things. Do you think you could make plants grow backwards and become younger? If you kill a plant, would you be able to bring it back to life? Those kinds of things might be useful information." he explained, tapping his pen against his lip thoughtfully as he crossed to where Kali and Link stood. He smiled down at Kali, his expression softer now, "Meet me outside?" he said quietly, pointedly ignoring that Link was there at all.
Kali gave him a tight smile, and nodded, "Alright."
He stroked her cheek with his thumb briefly before departing, making claims that he remembered seeing a patch of flowers near the Kakariko Village gate so he was going to head there first to make some notes on how the flowers started out. Once he was gone, Kali glanced at Link, whom she noticed had his other fist clenched tightly. But when he turned to her, there was no sign of tension in his eyes, "You don't have to push yourself if you don't want to. If you're tired, he will get over it." he chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.
Kali pushed her hair back from her neck, sighing as she held her hair in a mock ponytail, trying to get her body to cool off after that much effort of creating the portal. She stared at it again, and felt within her a tether. Just a tiny pull in her gut towards the thing she'd created, and she knew that if she cut that tether, the portal would disappear.
She closed her eyes, and felt her power reach out to do her bidding. She ended the connection, and the portal vanished into nothing. Impa's eyes were on the space where the portal had been, her hand pressed to her mouth with thought.
"No, Kiden is right. This would be information that could help give us an edge," Kali said, sounding tired already.
Link grinned down at her and his hand, which was still resting light on her arm squeezed gently, "Stubborn."
"You know it." she shot him a mock grin.
He laughed and nodded, moving towards the door, "Have it your way then, I'll meet you outside." he said, "Try to drink some water before you head over. You look exhausted."
"Wow...thanks." she rolled her eyes at him and waved him off.
She heard him chuckling again on the other side of the door once it clicked shut, and when she faced Impa, the woman was staring hard at her. The stare made Kali stop in her tracks, immediately forgetting what she had intended to do. She waited for Impa to speak, but when she didn't. "What?" she asked, already feeling guilty, even though she wasn't sure what Impa was thinking.
"The boy," Impa said, sounding serious.
Kali's eyebrows pinched together in confusion, "Which one?" she asked.
"The apprentice," Impa went on, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes further at her.
Kali ran her hands over her face and groaned unpleasantly, "Do we have to discuss this now?" she pleaded, a whine in her voice.
"He...fancies you quite a bit, I've noticed." her voice was accusing, and deadly serious.
There was a pause between them, and unsure of how to respond Kali muttered, "Okay?"
"You fancy him as well," that accusing tone again.
Kali's heart pounded, and she went to sit at the table as her teacher stared her down, "I think so. On what level I'm not sure yet." she admitted.
"Does he know that?" she asked.
Kali nodded sullenly and placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms, settling in for a good scolding. But it never came. This prompted Kali to continue.
"At the hot springs….we kissed," Kali said vaguely, "He asked me if this made us anything specific, and I told him I don't know - because I don't. I'm too scared of Pallas, too worried about failing, and too confused about how I left things in my world to be able to think of anything else. Maybe if some of that was taken away, I'd had more of a….mental capacity to consider it." she explained, tiredly.
Impa's eyebrows pinched almost imperceptibly, she was thinking about something. Kali bit her lip as she went on, "And then….after that - Link told me something, which I never questioned before. He said that he cared about me." Silence followed, and Kali met Impa's eyes, searching them for the answers she's been putting off seeking since they returned from Death Mountain. Impa said nothing.
"A lot." Kali elaborated, her tone sounding tight.
Impa watched her a few more moments and then released a long held breath, placing her hands on that table. "That stupid...ignorant boy." Impa muttered, and Kali felt her stomach drop.
"What does that mean, Impa?" Kali asked, resting her tightened fists on the table in front of her. She remembered Link and Impa furious whispering after Kali had snapped at him and he stormed off. She remembered Impa stating that she'd go talk to him after they both exploded.
Kali felt like it was so quiet in the room just then, that she was sure Impa could hear the furious pounding of her heart. Impa just stared at the swirls of the wood on the table, frowning. When she straightened, she sighed again, "I don't think he even knows what that means, girl."
She pressed her lips together hard so that she didn't stand up and start screaming. These people were going to make her rip her hair out. Impa must have sensed her sudden, intense frustration because she went on. "Link...has had a hard life." she said quietly, sounding sorrowful and she gazed into the crackling fire in the fireplace across the room.
Kali understood that part, based on what Link had already confided in her.
"He - as far as I know - has only been in love with one person in his life, and it was a long time ago. He grew out of it...I think. Or I hope." Impa explained, "So I'm not sure he would recognize real love if it came up and struck him in the head."
Kali felt her heart drop, and somewhere in the back of her mind could hear her own voice explaining to Link, shortly after meeting Kiden - she had been talking about her last relationship.
"I guess I liked the idea of love more than acknowledging that what I had wasn't the real thing - at least for me."
Link's feelings suddenly made horrible, accurate sense. "I can relate…" she whispered, sounding frustrated, and sad.
Impa just gazed at her student with sympathy, and she crossed to place a soothing hand on her shoulder as Kali dipped her head. "I only ask...that you don't hurt him more than you have to. If it comes down to it." Impa murmured, her voice uncharacteristically gentle, "Maybe he will figure it out before you do, and things will work themselves out."
Kali wanted to cry, to tell her that she didn't want to hurt anyone. That was never her intention. She had never intended for Link to feel anything besides platonic, true friendship. But like Impa said, maybe that's truly all there was, and he just hasn't had a friendship this intense or charged with risk before. Maybe if he had more faith in her ability to protect herself, he would calm down and decide that yep, they really, truly were just. friends.
She held her face in her hands and released a tense breath, preparing herself to go outside and face both Kiden and Link. Those preparations were dashed out the window when the door banged open again. The women both jumped, and Kali stood a sudden burning smell stinging her nose. It was Kiden. His hair was disheveled, his glasses were skewed and his expression was panicked. He breathed heavily, and Kali wrinkled her nose at the smell coming from outside. His mouth was moving, as if he were trying to speak, but no sounds came out.
"Damn it, what's wrong?!" Kali demanded, adrenaline already flooding her body.
He finally managed to choke out the words that made a heavy stone settle in Kali's stomach.
"The village is under attack."