Link rose to his feet, not expecting the old Sheikah to come to him so soon. She had her white hair pinned up in a bun, and she wore a belted robe of blue and tan on her thin body. Ilia had mentioned that the woman that had helped her was old, but this woman looked ancient. At the same time, she stood up straight, and her voice was not a weak croak like that of so many other elderly women.
"Never in my one hundred and twelve years did I think I would see the Hero of Hyrule appear." the woman said, confirming how old he was, as if she could read his mind. "Things must truly be dire. Yet Gerudo, Gorons and Hylians fight together. It is a sign of hope." She looked past Link at Auren, her red eyes sharp and aware. "Young lady, can you stand?"
"I can." The Gerudo rose slowly, hanging her left arm limply at her side as to not disturb her wound. She seemed steady on her feet, like she hadn't lost all that much blood despite the amount on her clothes.
"Excellent. Please dear, come with me. I'll tend to that wound." She turned and then looked over her shoulder. "Hero, please come as well. There are some things I'd like to talk to you about."
"Same here." He stood and stooped to pick up his lantern. "Lead the way."
The old woman led them back down the main street of the town, moving to avoid the bodies of Bulblins and Shadow Beasts. Link couldn't even look at the corpses, knowing that he had killed most of them. Despite the kind words from Ashei and Auren, he still did not relish the amount of power he could wield.
"I saw you fight these black monsters." the Sheikah told him.
"I wish you hadn't." Link blurted out.
"Don't fret about it, young man. I have seen many things in my life, and this was no more shocking than most of them." She moved slower due to her age, but she didn't totter along like a woman over one hundred years old would. "I am quite happy that the Master Sword has been drawn, and that it is being used to help the people. We would still be prisoners if it was not for you and your warriors."
"One of the people who escaped this place told us about it. We would have been here sooner, but we only found out about it this morning." He stepped around a Shadow Beast that had its stone mask and the top part of its head cleaved in half. Link didn't want to think of how much strength he had used to do that. "The Gerudo were already stationed at Kakariko—that is, new Kakariko—and the Gorons sent one hundred of their best warriors."
"Best of the best." Darbus interjected proudly.
"We left New Kakariko as soon as we could, and got here at sunset." Link continued. "If it wasn't for the rocks in the canyon, we would have rescued you sooner."
"But rescue us, you did." the old woman said. The freed people watched them as they passed, muttering among themselves. Link tried not to hear what they were saying. He knew he was still covered in blood.
She brought them to a house at the end of the street, situated behind a boarded-up old stone well. A hill with a series of windmills set at regular intervals rose behind the house, their blades spinning gently even though they most likely lacked grain to mill. She opened the door and smiled up at Link. "Please, come inside. My house is not the largest, so I will ask that only the hero and his two female friends enter for now. The little shadow being may come too." The elderly woman stepped back to hold open the door for them, even though they ought to be holding the door for her.
The inside of the old woman's house was neat and tidy, lit by a combination of oil lamps and wax candles. There was a low table that had kneeling cushions around it set on a faded blue and cream rug, and the walls were covered with watercolor paintings and pictographs. Many of them were of cats. The other side of the room had a table with chairs, with a vase full of flowers in the middle of it. The vase was shaped and painted to resemble a calico cat, and the flowers looked to be made of silk. A room split off the main room leading to what looked like a kitchen with a corner hearth.
"I would offer you a seat, but you three are quite covered in blood. Please follow me into the kitchen, if you will." She waved them over and led them into the next room. The kitchen had a small prep counter with a sink and a pump, and another well-scrubbed table on the opposite wall situated below a neat row of hung herbs. A door was at the back of the room, and next to it a dark room beyond. "Now young lady, I will see to you in a moment, but this other woman must wash if she's going to be any help. Blood must not mix with blood, since it can make one ill." She crossed to the hearth and poked at the coals there, intentionally leaving the poker in the fire. "Why don't you lay out on the floor while you wait?"
"Thank you...uh. What's your name?" Auren asked, lowering herself to the floor near the glowing hearth.
"My name is Impaz. I am named for the woman who founded this town about two hundred and seventy years ago." She started going through a small cabinet near the table, drawing out rolls of linen.
"A pleasure to meet you." the Gerudo said politely. "My name is Auren Tafia, and I am the daughter of Hida Tafia, Chief of the Gerudo people and leader of the Tafia tribe."
"I'm Ashei Mabe, and I'm the daughter of Sir Brent of Mabe." the warrior said when Impaz looked at her, waiting for her to introduce herself.
"I know I look strange right now, but this isn't how I normally look." Midna said it was her turn. "I am Midna of the Twili people, from the Twilight Realm." As she usually did when she formally introduced herself, she bowed. He wondered if Midna had a surname too, and was choosing to keep it hidden.
"I know who you are, but I would like a name." Impaz smiled up at Link.
"Link. I'm the son of Sir Gwyn of Lon, and the Sheikah warrior Sami."
Impaz produced a short chuckle. "Of course you would be called 'Link'." Her smile broadened. "And part Sheikah as well. That's new. Normally the hero is a full-blooded Hylian." She set down the linen and the small wooden kit she was holding, and reached out to gently touch at his left hand. "It's also unusual that you have one of the pieces of the Triforce. I saw it glowing, dear. Not only do you have it, but you know how to use it."
"Yeah." There wasn't anything else for him to say to that statement, and he didn't want to discuss it anyway.
Neither did Impaz, who was far more focused on Auren's wound. "Well now, wash up you two. I will need you to hold down this young Gerudo lady, Ashei. I may need you as well, Midna."
"I can handle a bit of pain." Auren said. "I'm not going to get all wiggly when you're patching me up, I promise."
"Your people are notoriously strong. I would rather your friends help me, just in case." The old Sheikah pulled out some rags from a lower cabinet and offered them to Link and Ashei. She hadn't asked Link for help, but he certainly needed a cleaning, so he accepted the rags.
Ashei only had some blood on her, and much of it was on her steel armor, but Link was a different story. After all the fighting he had one in the past, he had gotten some dirt and gore on his clothes, usually on his cloak. While this time the cloak had taken most of it, it was also on his face, green tunic, baldric and belts, bracers, vambrace, leggings, boots, and even his hair. His left arm was practically coated. He removed the cloak and dropped it in a pile on the floor and then set his shield down next to it. The shield was not clean either, and had gained a few more abrasions and marks. He sighed, wet one of the rags at the pump, and began to wipe himself clean. After a few minutes he could see that this was going to take him a while.
"Ugh, I wasn't this much of a mess after the battle at Gerudo City. I don't suppose you know a spell to get rid of blood?" Link asked Midna hopefully as she combed her small fingers through his wet hair in an attempt to help.
"As a woman that would come in handy, but no. Twili do laundry like everyone else." That statement gave him pause, but he knew that Midna was a woman in her regular form. Of course she would have monthly bleeds. "How is it you've fought that battle in the desert and so many other things, but this time you're a total mess?" she complained, scrubbing at one of his long ears with a wet rag.
He made a disgruntled face and waved her hands away from his head. He could wash his own ears. "Because in the desert, I wasn't in a rage. I still killed a lot of things there, but it wasn't over a hundred, like today." The numbers bothered him more tonight than they did in the desert. He had felt remorse for killing the Shadow Beasts then, but now he felt it for how quickly he was able to kill.
"What? Was it really that many? Max had to be exaggerating." She accepted his attempts to shoo her away from his ears, and started rubbing at blood stains on his arm.
"You saw his face. The guy wasn't exaggerating. He was right about there were about fifty of the Shadow Beasts, and I killed every one of them. I couldn't let them touch anyone." He unbuckled his vambrace, deciding that removing it first was better than trying to clean it on his arm. He had already tugged off his gloves. "There were more of the Bulblins, but I couldn't say how many...only that it was far more than the Shadow Beasts. I really don't want to go out to count them, in case it really was close to a hundred like Max said." He looked over at Auren, who was watching him as Impaz cleaned away the blood from the Gerudo's arm, but her expression did not change. You're still the same person to me, no matter what, she had said. No matter how strong he was, she still felt the same about him.
"No wonder it bothered you." Ashei said, wiping at her gauntlets as she knelt on the floor. She had removed all of her metal armor, and now was in her dark gambeson and red leggings. "That would bother me too."
"I understand how you feel." Midna said, scrubbing at the top strap of his baldric. She had given up on his arms since he was moving around too much. "I was strong enough to kill that many in a short amount of time, just like you." She looked up from what she was doing to stare with her round red eye. "I never did, but it's still hard knowing you have that kind of power. How you use it is what matters in the end." She looked down at her thorny imp form, gesturing at it. "I didn't want to use mine to fight Zant, and he did this to me. Being afraid to use my power led to everything that has happened so far." Midna met his eyes again, and he saw that she felt the same remorse he did, but for a completely different reason. "I know it can be scary, but don't let it stop you. Don't be like me."
"Midna…" he began, understanding her guilt. She really was like him, wasn't she? "I think everything with Zant and Ganondorf would have happened anyway, whether you fought him or not. Don't blame yourself. Zant is using Ganondorf's power, and there are only two people that can stand up to that power: me and Zelda." He gave up on washing things while wearing them, and began to unbuckle his baldric.
"Ganondorf?" Impaz asked, her mild demeanor suddenly transforming into one of alarm. "He was sealed away somewhere. Has he really returned?"
Link nodded and set the Master Sword down before removing his belt. "There's a lot to tell. I can share in a bit, but right now I'm worried about Auren." He continued to remove his things, with the intent of removing everything except his boots, leggings and gambeson.
Impaz's formal tone disappeared, either from hearing about Ganondorf or due to the work she was about to do. She watched the two warriors for another few minutes as they tried to divest the blood from themselves. "I think you two are as clean as you're going to get, at least Ashei is. Link, why don't you take your gear out back with some rags and keep scrubbing? I think it's time to see to your friend's shoulder."
He shook his head at Impaz's suggestion. "I want to stay here to make sure she's all right."
"Young man, I understand your concern, but I need to remove her top in order to finish cleaning her skin." Ah, so that was it.
"It's fine." Auren said from where she lay on the floor with her long-fingered hands folded on her stomach. "I'd rather have him here too."
"I don't think that would be proper." Impaz said, setting her thin lips into a flat line in disapproval.
"I don't mind. Besides, it would be no worse than when I had to help him after he was poisoned by a Lanmola." Of course she would bring that up. It was actually a big deal, but it was still embarrassing that his friends had seen him that way. "He needed care while he was barely conscious, so we had to take his clothes off to clean him up and then stitch him up."
Ashei perked a brow at Link in amusement. "She's seen you naked?"
He groaned, feeling his face turn hot. "Why did you have to tell her, Auren?"
"Why not? It wasn't like it was just me. Sumati, Midna and the healer were there too. Actually, Sumati and I had to hold him down so Midna could undress him, since he kept trying to punch us." Why bring that up, too? Why bring any of it up? She had seen his reaction when she had told him about it, so she knew it made him uncomfortable.
Link gave another embarrassed groan. "You know, that's probably because people were trying to take my clothes off against my will. You'd be throwing punches too."
Ashei was quite amused by this information. "Your face is red."
"To be fair, Auren's was pretty red at the time too, or as red as somebody with brown skin can be." Midna said, tossing the rag she was holding into the kitchen sink. "She hadn't seen a guy with no clothes on, so I think that left quite the impression on her."
"Midna, you are not helping." Link growled. He took a deep breath and let it out in a short sigh. "If she wants me here, I'm going to be here. I'll turn my back while you clean her up and then...I don't know, keep my eyes closed if there's anything I shouldn't see."
"Fine. You had best behave. I'll boot you out of here if you start acting rude, whether you're the hero or not." She was so much shorter than him, but Impaz carried herself with authority. Who was this woman before all the other Sheikah left? "Come here and sit where you can pin her arms, and get ready to shut your eyes when I say so. Ashei, go by her feet. Midna, wait over by the hearth, please."
"I really don't think I'm going to give you that much trouble." Auren said in mild irritation as Link came to sit at her right side. She was taking it a bit personally.
"Young lady, I no longer have the medicine to numb you up. I've been taking care of these poor people for weeks, and many of them were injured when the Bulblins brought them here." She watched as the warrior and the Twili went to where she instructed, and said nothing about why Midna was there. "Have you ever been shot before?"
"I admit, this is a first for me." the Gerudo said in a dry tone.
"Then you know nothing about how much an arrow wound can bleed, depending on where it is. Sometimes extreme steps must be taken in that case. Do you understand what I am talking about? I'm talking wound cauterization, young lady." At that, Auren's tan face lost just a bit of its color, and the Sheikah nodded. "Yes, now you know what I'm talking about. It's why a lot of hack doctors think it's best to break off an arrow and sew things up with it still in there. I don't do that, because I don't want to sew up a ball of infection."
Her stern tone became a bit softer, and she kindly patted the side of the Gerudo's face. "It's all right. I don't know if we'll need to cauterize anything. I'll still need to stitch you up, which is unpleasant. I wanted to tell you so you could prepare yourself. The bolt may or may not have missed the large artery going from your arm straight to your heart. We won't know until I remove it."
That made Link nervous. He didn't know very much about the internal workings of the human body, but he did know wounds that sever a large blood vessel could bleed a dangerous amount. He didn't want to lose Auren to a damn crossbow bolt, bleeding out next to him. He couldn't lose another person to an arrow.
Impaz saw his expression and lay a wrinkled hand on his. "She'll be all right. I have experience doing this kind of thing. I was a warrior when I was younger, but also a field medic." Hearing that dulled his anxiety some. This woman was the Sheikah equivalent of a doctor. She smiled at him. "My, your eyes are very expressive, aren't they? It's easy to tell how you're feeling."
"So people tell me. It's not like I can see it for myself." People sure loved talking about his eyes. Maybe he should go through life wearing a blindfold so he wouldn't have to hear people's comments anymore. At that rate he should just wear a bag over his head, since people wanted to comment on how attractive he was too.
The Sheikah took a pair of shears and knelt down at Auren's left side. "Link, shut your eyes. Let's begin."
He did as he was told, and could hear the sounds of the shears cutting through the blood-stained red blouse that Auren was wearing, and then faint wet sounds coming from in front of him. After a moment, Impaz stepped away and then came back immediately. "Fine, that'll do. You can open your eyes."
Link did so, and saw that Impaz had draped a kitchen towel across the Gerudo's bare chest. It was ridiculous, and he doubted the other three women in the room cared if he saw anything or not, but Impaz was over a hundred years old and proper. The Gerudo looked up at him, her amber eyes nervous. He tried to smile in a comforting manner, but he could understand her apprehension.
Satisfied that the area around the wound was clean, she turned her head towards Midna. "You see that poker I left in the fire? You need to bring it to me immediately if I say so." Impaz stood in the slow, creaky manner that the elderly do, and she planted her left foot on Auren's sternum. "Hold her." she commanded, and Ashei and Link complied. He placed his hands on her upper arms to pin her down, not sure if Auren was going to flop around or sit still like she claimed she was.
He soon found out when Impaz bent and grasped the crossbow bolt with pliers and yanked it out. The Gerudo let out a low grunt of pain and involuntarily arched her back, but he held her in place. The wound oozed blood, but did not bleed profusely or leak in time with her heartbeat. Impaz tossed the bolt aside, pliers and all, and immediately knelt back down to press a folded-up strip of linen to Auren's shoulder.
"Hold this in place, with just a bit of pressure. Don't let up." she told Link.
He had only expected to hold Auren down, but did as he was told. He actually did have some experience with putting pressure on a wound until it began to hold itself shut, but it was on goats, not a human. Link didn't need to mention that fact to Auren, though. He held the cloth in place and watched as a small red bloom of blood slowly spread from the center of the linen. There was pain in Auren's eyes, and so he released her right arm and put his hand to the side of her face comfortingly. "You're doing fine." he told her gently. She gave him a wan smile.
"So did the last young lady I patched up from an arrow wound." Impaz said, reaching for the needle she had threaded with white silk. "You know about her, don't you Link?"
He raised his face to look at the old Shiekah. "Ilia, yes. Did she mention me?" He wanted to know what had happened here. Perhaps something would offer a clue to restoring Ilia's memories of him.
"We can talk about that in a bit." The old Sheikah woman was completely different when she was working. When Link had met her, she seemed as sweet and saintly as one would expect from an old woman. Now that she was using her skills as a medic, he could see traces of the confident warrior she once was. She was all business. It was almost as if the sweet old lady routine was a front.
Auren reached down with her right hand to touch the red blouse that had been cut away and lay at her side. "I liked this shirt." She suddenly assumed a panicked expression. "Wait, what can I wear now? I'm far too large for you to give me clothing like you did for Ilia."
"Relax, dear. I can sew it back up when we're done. I cut it next to the seam for that reason." Impaz took a nearly-empty pot of salve out of her kit and rubbed some on the needle and white thread. Then she put a glob on her gnarled finger. "But for now, I'll have to sew you instead. Lift that bandage, will you?"
Once again he followed her instructions, and saw that the round wound was bleeding less. Knowing what was coming next, he pinned Auren down by her arms again. Impa smeared the skin around the wound with the salve and immediately stuck the needle through the Gerudo's skin, pulling the thread through. Auren made a small sound and squeezed her eyes shut, but did not move.
"Talk to me, Link." she said, her voice strained. "Tell one of your jokes or something. Distract me."
"Uh." He was put on the spot, doing his best to be helpful while also trying to be calm for Auren's sake. What should he talk about? He had told her about the two previous mirror shards already. "A distraction..."
"Why don't you sing that song for her that you sang for me?" Ashei suggested. "It's long, and I can sing it for her too."
"I—" Auren flinched a bit as the needle went through her skin again, and then opened her large yellow and orange eyes and looked up at him. "I'd like that."
This time he didn't feel awkward, not after using a song of power to open a time gateway yesterday. The fact that he could sing and use those songs as magic was part of him now. "As long as it doesn't bother Impaz."
"Not at all. Go ahead." She tugged the needle through Auren's brown skin, and the young woman flinched again.
He started the song in old Hylian, and Ashei joined in with her pretty voice. He had taught her the song after all, and she pronounced the old language fairly well. Not that he understood most of it. Auren watched him with her beautiful amber eyes, transfixed almost as Ashei had been in the cave. The only difference was while Ashei had a look of wonder, Auren's face was full of adoration. She reached up with her right hand and he took it with his left, still holding her down with his right just in case. The Gerudo smiled as the two of them sang, but she was not paying attention to Ashei; it was very clear from her expression that she was only listening to Link.
The elderly Sheikah had finished stitching up the wound before the song was finished, and was cleaning the excess salve from around her neat, white stitches. She had a small smile on her face as she worked. Even she enjoyed the song.
The song ended, and Midna spoke up from where she sat on the counter next to the pump. "I could have sang along, but I wanted to hear you. I like it when you sing." Link had no idea whether she was talking to him or Ashei, or both.
He felt tired, another layer of weariness on top of his already exhausted body. He had used magic without meaning to again, hadn't he?
Affirmative. I would refrain from using any more magic tonight. I advise not singing any more songs. The sword's confirmation didn't surprise him. He had wanted to distract Auren, and he did. She fixed on him alone, her heart in her eyes. It was like the song had brought out the inner feelings of the two women in regards to him. Auren was not shy about telling him of her feelings, but Ashei's astonishment was nothing she spoke of. Did the warrior find him impressive?
"That is a very old song." Impaz said, wrapping linen around Auren's neatly-stitched injury. "Do you know what it means?"
"Something about being thirsty and not being able to find water. Every time, the water turns out to be dirty, or salty or something else that makes it undrinkable. My mother taught me the song when I was a boy, and she told me what the lyrics meant." He looked down at Auren, who wasn't quite as entranced as she had been during the song, but still watched him carefully with her eyes. She did not look away and was practically staring. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"It's a song about not giving up. Every time you search for water, it must be safe to drink, so you must keep looking until you find some. The end of the song is about finding a spring." She slowly rose, still an old woman. "Speaking of water, why don't you go out back and wash some of those clothes of yours? Blood can stain. There's a tub and a washboard, and I can give you some soap."
"Are you suggesting I walk around without a shirt on like Auren? How scandalous." He said as he stood up. This made the three younger women laugh.
"It's only in front of your friends, dear. Still, take one of these larger towels to wrap around your waist so you're not in your skivvies in front of a bunch of women. I'm going to suggest you remain in my home for the night. From what Darbus told me, you're uncomfortable in front of the others right now." She shut her red eyes, recalling what the Goron had said. "He told me, 'He did something amazing, and even though it brought the battle to and end quickly, he isn't happy about it'." She opened her eyes. "I was watching everything from my window, and I could see how the others reacted to you, and your body language when you spoke to them. The discussion you had with Midna about how many you killed only added to it, and I understand how you must be feeling." She smiled her wrinkled smile and reached out to pat the back of his hand. "You'll be better off if you stay out of sight for now."
"I should check to see if anyone else is hurt, and then I need to find my horse. I have no idea what happened to her." Not only was he worried about Epona, he couldn't sit back on his laurels when there was still work to be done. He had to speak to the Ordonians as well, to make sure that they were all here and safe.
"I can do that." Ashei said, standing. "I'm not as tired as you, and Epona knows me. I also need to talk to Max about how he treated you." She became warrior Ashei when she mentioned the man's name, and her face became cool and reserved. She was not pleased with him. "Stay with Auren. I'll let the other Gerudo know that she's fine. If anyone else is injured, I'll come back." She walked out of the kitchen and into the front room, and then out through the front door.
"I would offer the two of you some dinner, but food is scarce in this place. I barely have enough to feed myself, let alone my poor cats." the old woman said. Link hadn't seen any cats, but it didn't surprise him that Impaz had some, after seeing her decor.
"That's all right, we all brought rations. We expected to stay the night here." He wished they had brought enough to share with the hungry people, but the majority of the rations brought by his makeshift army were rocks. "I'll go do some laundry, I guess."
Impaz placed a chunk of homemade soup into his hand. "Good. You smell of blood, and I doubt you'll want to smell that way when you leave here. I'll sew Auren's shirt back together and then give it to Midna to wash, so she'll join you soon."
The imp looked displeased by that idea. "Me? Why me?"
"Because you said it yourself: Twili do laundry." Impaz had caught her there, and the gleam in her eye said that she knew it. Midna pouted a bit, but didn't say anything else.
Auren stood up and carefully touched at the bandage, and then smiled at how well Impaz had taken care of her. Now that she was standing, the towel fell off and she was suddenly showing him far too much of herself. He needed to get out of here. Soap in hand, he quickly gathered up his discarded gear and fled out the back door without looking at the topless woman. Why she would do that and let him see her bare chest after Impaz made such a big deal about it being improper was beyond him. He thought Auren had more class than that.
Fifteen minutes later, he was kneeling in nothing but a towel around his waist next to a washtub, scrubbing. This was not what he had expected to do tonight. In fact, he hadn't really thought about doing laundry for this adventure the gods had sent him on, until it became necessary. It wasn't as if Link didn't know how to care for his own clothes or do other domestic chores. He had been living on his own for four years. It was more that after being named hero, it seemed so damn mundane.
Midna came out carrying the mended red garment, looking a bit surly in the light of the moon. "This was not what I expected to be doing." she said, echoing his thoughts from a few minutes ago. She went to dunk the blouse in the tub, but he stopped her.
"Hold onto it until I'm done. I don't know if the dye in that is going to run if you put it in soapy water."
She put her hands on her hips, the blouse dangling from her right hand. "Well aren't you knowledgeable about cleaning clothes?"
"And you quite obviously aren't. I'm supposed to have a green outfit, not a brown one. Hold off for a few minutes." He wondered how she had no idea that red dye could run.
"Look, it's not my fault that your world of light has all these fancy dyes and colors. Back home, everyone's clothes were black, white or gray." She floated in the air, holding the blouse out to the side in an attempt to not touch the blood on it.
"That sounds dull."
We don't exactly have a lot of pigments that we can use for dyes, you know. A lot of our plants are dark-colored, like everything else in the Twilight Realm. That's why we use enchantments to add color." She stopped and cocked her head to the side, listening to a sudden sound. There had been an angry shout.
Link heard it too. It was Ashei's voice, and it was getting closer, as if she was approaching the front of Impaz's house. He looked over at Midna, who put a tiny finger to her lips. He nodded, and they both listened as the voices drew closer.
"I don't want to talk about it!" Ashei sounded angry. Who had made the normally calm woman angry?
"You were the one who came to talk to me!" accused a second voice. Max. Ah, that made sense.
"I had hoped you would be reasonable and not a bonehead. He told you that you were in no danger, I told you that he would never hurt you, but you can't seem to get it through your thick skull, yeah?" her voice said hotly.
"Did you see how he looked at us when we were trapped in that dead end? He's mad." The man still didn't trust him. Even knowing that they were related, Max didn't trust him. Ashei had likely tried to talk some sense into him, but he was stubborn.
There were footsteps on the other side of the house on the gravel path there, as Ashei retreated to someplace more private where she could argue with Max without an audience. All that separated them from the two listening in was the single room on the back side of the house. "He is not mad." she retorted. "He's a lot more sane than you. Not to mention a lot more empathetic. How do you think he feels right now? You probably can't even guess."
"Why do you care how he feels?"
"Because Link's my friend, that's why. He has become a very good, dear friend. I care about him, and he cares about me...just like with all his other friends." She paused. "That's what this is about, isn't it?"
"Ashei—" Max began.
"This again. You're jealous. No, don't deny it! I can tell." She sighed angrily. "He bashed your stupid face in over this, I gave you a stern talking to, and you're still like this! What do I need to do, beat you up too?"
"No, that's not-" He stopped. There was silence for a moment and the sound of shuffled footsteps on the gravel. When Max continued, his voice was quieter, his anger gone. "I'm afraid for you, all right? I'm afraid he's going to lose it and hurt you. He seems like a pretty good guy normally, but there's this other side of him that I saw tonight. There's all that power he has, with that sword and the glowing thing in his hand, all on top of the warrior's rage. You can't blame me for being alarmed."
"He wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt you either. You're his cousin, for Hylia's sake. Do you know what he did, after the battle was done? He came over to check on Auren. That was his first concern, the well-being of his friend. And that was what made him fight like that. One of his friends was hurt, and he reacted. Don't tell me you wouldn't react if you saw me wounded on the battlefield."
Max made a sound almost like a growl. "This seems different. It feels different. I know I'm related to him, but it still bothers me." He paused briefly. "I heard you singing earlier, and I could hear another voice with you, a man's. It was him, wasn't it?"
"Why does it matter?"
There was silence for a moment, and when Max spoke, his voice sounded agonized. "Listen...I feel like he's taking you from me. Like I'm losing you when I need you the most."
"Max…"
"No, it really seems that way. You've only known him for two weeks, but you've followed him everywhere. He's strong and charismatic and…" He made a weak sound, and his voice became small and heavy with emotion. "...and I'm just me."
"Oh, no. No…" Ashei's voice was full of sympathy and there was more shuffling of feet on gravel, and then more silence. Link looked down at the wet clothes in his hands, having not moved since the two went to the side of the house. "It's all right…" he could barely hear her. He began to feel awkward, like this conversation was becoming too private.
Max said something but his voice was muffled, and it wasn't too clear. Midna looked at Link and made a hugging motion around her body. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she probably was right. Ashei had been willing to put her arms around him when he needed comfort, even though she personally did not like touching others. She would naturally do the same for Max, the friend that she had grown up with.
"I know you do." Ashei said gently. "I'm sorry if I can't be what you want me to be. It hurts me to hurt you like this…" She sighed as Max made a muffled sound, and there was more silence. "I know this is hard for you, and I'm sorry. I plan on becoming a knight in Zelda's service once this is over. I need more time, Max. I need to follow in my father's footsteps, even if it breaks your heart."
"But I want the same thing." Max's deep voice was hoarse. "I plan on being a knight like my father, too. I know that we'll need each other, like we always did before." His voice became quieter. "A year ago you were different around me. You knew I wasn't like the other men. You still know that, don't you? You still trust me." There was another pause. "Then trust..." Whatever he said after that was too quiet to hear, and so was Ashei's response. Then there was another lengthy silence. Midna stared at Link, who shrugged. The two of them were held captive by the uncomfortable conversation. If either one of them went inside, Max and Ashei would hear them.
"I can't do this." Ashei said in a quiet, strained voice after a moment.
"Ashei, please-"
Her voice became cool and unemotional as she put her barriers up. "You should go eat something and get some rest. We can talk about things another time." There was the shuffle of feet on gravel. "Goodnight." Her footsteps went to the front of the house, and then there was the sound of a door opening and shutting a second later. After a few agonizing minutes, the sounds of Max's footsteps moved away from the house, back into town. The two stuck in the rear yard were silent a little bit longer, and then both let out a breath as they relaxed.
"He was crying, wasn't he?" Midna asked, speaking a bit more quietly than she did before.
"Maybe. It must be hard on him. I'd certainly be crying." Link resumed scrubbing.
She laughed. "Link, you'd cry if you saw a cute kitten. You're not a good comparison." Midna grinned when he laughed in response. "Some of those long pauses made me wonder if certain things were happening."
"Wait, what? No, earlier Ashei told me that she didn't have feelings for anyone because she had more important things to do." Of course his mind had suspected what Midna was implying, but it seemed out of character for Ashei.
"Yeah? And she also lied to you about her father and some things at Mido, remember?" Midna had a point. Whatever had happened on the other side of the house wasn't their business, regardless. "When are you going to be done, so I can give you this shirt to wash?"
After another half an hour, he had managed to get the blood stains out of the clothing the gods had given to him. Just like the other times, they became clean. His brown cloak was a different story, and would have a few more rust-colored stains on it. Auren's shirt came out fine, since Midna wasn't the one actually doing the work. She had gone inside as soon as she passed it off on him. He did the best he could with his leather gear, and when he was done he picked up the Master Sword and the damp baldric it was attached to. Then he went inside.
Auren was seated on the floor in front of the hearth with a blanket pinned around her shoulders in lieu of a proper shirt. She was holding a Sheikah teacup, which was a taller vessel without a handle made out of dark clay. She watched Link as he came in. "Did Midna ruin my shirt?"
"No. She didn't wash it, I did." He came to stand next to her by the cozy fire, where a teapot was warming on the stones in front of it. He heard a faint rumbling sound coming from the Gerudo. "Auren, you're purring."
"Well I would be if you took me up on my offer." she said archly. Then she laughed when she saw his stunned expression. "Come on, I'm my father's daughter. Did you think I was serious?" She pulled back the blanket from her crossed legs to reveal a black and white cat curled up there, its top half on her thigh. The animal was purring contentedly.
Link smiled and leaned down to scratch the ears of the cat. He liked cats. He should have known that she was joking, since that's how Auren normally was.
"Your fingers are all wrinkled." Auren said. "And you're still covered in bruises. It looks like you have a new one, too."
"I'm trying to look my prettiest today." He was going to make another wisecrack, but she reached out to touch the fresh bruise on his bare chest. Her fingers lingered far too long and then began to trail down his stomach. He quickly grabbed her hand it moved it away. "Please don't make this awkward." he said to her quietly.
Auren's face darkened in color, and she withdrew her hand. While she had touched the bruise on his back before, it wasn't like that. No, what she just did was completely different. She turned back to stare into the fire, her face guilty. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't. It's just...you're so close. It's hard for me not to, after you sang to me." He recalled the look she had given him. He had used magic again, hoping to keep her calm and distract her, but did it do something else? Did it intensify her feelings for him, or her attraction? If his songs could do something like that, it was troubling. He didn't want to toy with people's emotions.
"Sometimes when I sing, things can happen. I use magic, although so far it's been unintentional. If it did something to you, I'm sorry." He straightened, moving away from her just in case. "Did you eat?"
"Yes, Ashei brought our saddlebags here. She told me the horses have been loose to graze in the graveyard, of all places. Plenty of grass there, I guess. She told me that nobody on our side died, either. Only a few Gorons got shot with arrows." She stared into the fire and her long fingers clutched the cup tightly. "You need to go." she said quietly. "I can't be near you right now." Auren was dismissing him, and he completely understood. There had been times where his attraction to Ilia was intense, and it didn't have magic involved either. It was probably best if he left Auren alone for now.
He left her in the kitchen and went out into the front room, where Ashei was seated at the taller table with Impaz. The Sheikah was eating some bread from the warrior's rations, but Ashei looked as if she was done eating and had a cup of tea like Auren. Midna sat nearby on the floor, waving around a fuzzy toy on a string for an orange tabby. Watching the Twili actually play was amusing, and Link found himself chuckling. She looked over at him, unsure if the laugh was directed at her.
"Cute cat." he lied. Link sat down at the table and reached for the bag that Ashei and brought in to him. By now he was ravenous, and hunger had been eating a hole in his belly. It was no wonder, after all the energy and magical power he had used tonight. He dug through the saddlebag to see what Ilia had given him. She hadn't just saddled Epona, but had done everything else, even though he still had two Gerudo rations left. Hopefully things weren't packed in a way that would make Ashei poke fun at him. He produced bread, cheese, a sausage and two apples. Well, that was pretty normal. He saw Impaz's eyes look over at the sausage and felt sorry for her. "What have you been eating, if food has been scarce?" he asked.
"Plums, apples, and carrot soup. What I would give for a nice fish dinner." She tore her eyes away from Link's meal, not wanting to be rude. "We ate all the cuccos, so we can't even have eggs. That wasn't my idea, by the way. I'd rather have eggs."
He broke the sausage in half and offered a piece to her. "Here. I'm pretty sure it's mutton sausage. You're welcome to some, if you'd like some meat."
"No fair. Ilia actually gave you meat." Ashei complained, watching as the old Sheikah set her bread aside and took the sausage.
"Well, maybe you can ask her nicely and she'll mother you too." He began to eat. It was fine for him to share a little with Impaz, but he intended to eat everything else.
"Mm." was all Ashei said in response, not falling for the bait. He thought about the awkward silences that were on the other side of the house when she was outside with Max, but she spoke again. "That's really quite the bruise. From when you got hit by the sword yesterday, yeah?"
"Yeah, another one. I think I'm going to be permanently purple at this rate." He turned his attention to Impaz. "Impaz, can you please tell me about Ilia? Something traumatic happened to her and she lost her memory. We're working to get it back, so anything you can tell me will be helpful."
The old woman had finished the meat already and was sipping her tea. "Very well. Where to begin… She was brought here with the other people from Ordon. It was quite the trip to get here, and they were all very tired. That's why I didn't think much of her not saying anything." She frowned. "But it didn't take me long to realize that she had been wounded. The back side of her shirt was covered with dried blood. I brought her in here and did my best to take care of her. Apparently the Bulblins had snapped off the arrow, and the tip was still in her back."
She took another sip of tea, then continued. "I still had some numbing salves at the time, so I was able to remove the arrowhead without hurting her too much. There was nothing to be done about her clothes. After I stitched her up, I found one of my old robes and started altering it for her. She's not too much larger than I was when I was her age. I gave her soap to wash, and she seemed to be more comfortable once she was clean. I helped her dress, and gave her a pair of boots since she was barefoot. She didn't say too much to me, other than she was from Ordon, and the ride through Eldin was difficult. Her eyes were very distracted. It's not surprising, since many other people are like that when they get here. It's a frightening experience to be abducted."
Link listened as he ate an apple, but so far what Impaz had told him didn't provide him with any new information, other than she had forgotten everything after leaving the town. Did that mean something happened to her in Lanayru? She had thought she blacked out while hiding beneath the cart.
"After she had clean clothes and some shoes, she appeared to be doing better. I thought I would try talking to her again, since her mood had improved. She was wearing a small musical instrument like a pendant. I asked her about it, and she told me 'This is for Link'."
His heart skipped a beat. She had still remembered him at that point.
The Sheikah shook her head sadly, and continued with her story. "Then she lost it. She started screaming and threw the pendant across the room. She called your name over and over, and started to cry. I tried to calm her down, but it was as if she couldn't see that I was there. Then as suddenly as it started, it was over; she passed out. I checked her heartbeat and breathing, but she was fine physically. Whatever had happened to her, it was entirely mental. I'm an old woman and I couldn't move her, so I covered her with a blanket and waited nearby. She didn't wake up, so eventually I went to bed. In the morning, she was gone."
He felt a lump in his throat and swallowed. He had seen Ilia like that, but to hear that she had done it while crying out his name was almost too much for him. Even though it was difficult to hear, the story did give him something: the whistle she had made for him. She had it when she came here. He took a deep breath. "So whatever trauma happened to her, it was before she came here. And it involved me. Then my instincts are right, and it had to be what happened at the spring." He took in Impaz's confused expression and explained. "Ilia and I were attacked at a Spirit's Spring by the Bublins. They shot her, and when I tried to stop them, they hit me over the head and left me to die. We were both injured." He rubbed at the back of his head through his thick blonde hair, remembering the pain of that final blow. "I lived because the Light Spirit healed me. It knew I was the hero and didn't want me to die."
"Do you think that her fit was caused by the memory of you two being attacked?" Impaz asked.
"Yeah, and because of that she can remember almost everything from home except for one thing: me. She even remembered her feelings for me, although I don't think she knows she felt like that before everything happened."
"Ah, so she's your girlfriend. I had thought so." the Sheikah said.
He decided not to elaborate on the complexity of his relationship with Ilia. "Do you still have that pendant?"
"Yes, I kept it. It was important to someone, so I couldn't bear to throw it away." She rose and went to a cupboard that was behind the table and opened a drawer. After a moment she returned and held out her hand to him. She held what looked like a wooden ocarina made from a single piece of light wood, carved into the shape of a horseshoe. It was on the end of a leather thong.
Link's hand trembled slightly when he reached out to gently take it. He ran his fingers over it, touching the little holes that she had drilled into the small, polished flute. Ilia had made this for him. She had made it for him because she loved him and wanted to tell him; only she never got the chance. He held it to his chest and closed his eyes, almost losing his composure. No, he wouldn't cry. Not this time. This gift for him was hope. It could be the thing that returned her memories.
"Are you all right?" Ashei asked, sounding concerned.
He opened his eyes. "Yeah." He put the leather thong around his neck and the flute hung lower on his chest than his grandmother's pendant did, about where his heart was. He felt it was appropriate. "I'm hoping that if I talk to her about this, she might remember what happened before we were attacked. It was kind of a personal moment for us."
"Do you think that little flute is what will make her remember?" The warrior looked doubtful, but then again she didn't understand the significance of Ilia's gift.
"Her father seems to think so." he said. "Ilia made this for my eighteenth birthday, but there was more to it than just a regular gift. She made it for me because she loved me, and was going to tell me before I left for my trip to Hyrule Castle."
Midna gave up on playing with the cat, who had gotten bored, and floated up to examine Ilia's gift. She reached out and gently touched it with a small finger. "Well then, you found something you were looking for. Now I think it's only fair that we tell Impaz about Ganondorf."
It took him a while to explain everything that had happened so far to Impaz. He didn't leave anything out this time, not the bit with Rolf or his fight with Rusl, not even the part where he was transformed into a wolf in the Twilight. There was one exception, however. He did not tell the old woman what happened to Zelda. He only told her that she had healed Midna. Even though Impaz seemed strong-willed, he still felt that the news of the princess falling into an endless sleep would be too hard on the old Shiekah.
Auren came to listen once she heard Link talking, but she took care to sit down at the far end of the table and away from him. Impaz was quiet through most of the story, listening intently, but her expression changed when Link mentioned the Oocca that fell to earth and wound up near the Temple of Time. Once he mentioned the Dominion Rod and needing it to teleport to the Oocca city to retrieve the last mirror shard, she interjected.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" the Sheikah asked, gnarled hands in her lap. "You have the Dominion Rod and a destination, but no means to travel."
"We never had a chance to ask Ooccoo about that, to tell you the truth." Now that he thought about it, it was foolish of him not to ask more about the teleportation device, and where it could possibly be. "She did say that she knew of the teleporter, so she probably knows where it is. We had only returned from the Temple of Time and the Sacred Realm late last night, and it was only this morning that Ilia told us about this village. There hasn't been a lot of time to discuss it."
"The Herald of the Heavens has not gone to the Oocca in over two centuries. Once the new Castle Town and Hyrule Castle were built, Queen Zelda was far more concerned with rebuilding Hyrule and aiding the people harmed by Ganondorf." Impaz's eyes were knowing and shrewd. "And of course, her son was focused on revenge against the Gerudo once he became king, so he neither had the wisdom of his mother nor the guidance of the Oocca. Because of that, important information about any Zelda and her role outside of being princess or queen was lost."
"You sure seem to know a lot." Midna commented, sitting on the table not far from Link in a bit of a slouch. "Is that a Sheikah thing? Or is that an Impaz thing?"
The old woman smirked. "A bit of both, young lady. "We Sheikah are the protectors of Hyrule, the royal family, and the history of both. Not all Sheikah are historians, but I had to learn certain things. One of which was what my father did, which was something passed down in my family even though the practice had gone extinct. That of course is to safeguard the knowledge needed for the Herald of the Heavens to reach the floating Oocca city."
The Twili stopped slouching and sat up straight. "Wait, does that mean you know where the teleporter is?"
"Of course. It isn't here, if that's what you're thinking, although it is in a Kakariko….the new one. It's near Eldin's Spring." The old woman looked amused. "The thing you needed to find was right under your noses."
Link gaped at her. "Are you kidding me? It was there the whole time?" That would figure. Yet they had the key and knew where the teleporter was, which meant that they could go to the sky at any time.
"I wonder if that has anything to do with Shad's ruins under the Sanctuary." Ashei said. "He had mentioned it had something to do with the Oocca." She shrugged. "I admit, I didn't completely understand what he was telling me. He tends to leave out details when he's excited."
"That is likely where the teleporter is, yes. You will need to activate it, however. While the Dominion Rod is the key to make it work, you need to be turn the teleporter on in the first place." Impaz slowly got up, stiff from sitting through the long story, and left the room to head to the back of the house. She was gone a few minutes, so Link idly looked at the flute again. He was wondering if he could figure out how to play it, and even considered trying it, but then Impaz came back and set two items in front of him on the table. One was a cup of tea, the other was a worn moleskin book.
"This book contains a bunch of incantations and important stories in Sky Writing, the written language of the Oocca. Of course that's not their name for it, but since their language is difficult for us to speak, 'Sky Writing' works." The Sheikah slid back into her chair and tapped the small book with a gnarled finger. "I've bookmarked a particular page. That page has the second half of the incantation to turn on the teleporter. The first half is on the wall near the teleporter chamber."
Link opened the little book to the page that was marked with a bit of faded red ribbon, and saw a bunch of odd, rounded characters. He had no idea what they said. "I can't read this."
"Of course you can't. You did mention that you met an Oocca and went with her to retrieve the Dominion Rod. She can read it, and you can sort out how to pronounce the words with her." She waved her hand at him in an encouraging manner. "But I interrupted your story. Please, tell me...you retrieved the Dominion Rod after fighting Ganondorf's phantom. What then?"
He continued telling her of the remaining part of the Temple of Time, including how he had no choice but to hurt Rusl. Then there was little to tell other than the way Ilia had remembered about Impaz and the imprisoned village, and both the journey to get there and the fight to free it. "Sometimes I think I should start writing all of this down for the history books."
"Ah, is that your Sheikah side saying that?" Impaz asked, poking a little fun at him. The orange tabby jumped up into her lap and began to purr.
"No, that's the Link from the time of the Twilight Invasion talking. I want history to remember me properly, since I'm one of the few born every few centuries with a specific job to do. I'd rather not be known as the guy who sang to his horse and had a cranky gremlin friend." He was grateful for the tea that she had brought him, since he had done quite a bit of talking and needed a drink. "In any case, we plan on going to the sky, getting that last fragment of the mirror, then heading to the Twilight Realm to kill Zant and break the curse on Midna. Then she'll get the Fused Shadows back from him, and be strong enough to break through the barrier around the castle, and I can take care of Ganondorf." It sounded so straight-forward. He knew it wouldn't go as easily as he made it sound.
"A sound plan." She shooed the cat off her lap. "Darn things. They always can tell when I'm about to get up." Impaz rose once her legs were free. "That story took quite a while, and I'm an old woman. I need to rest. I'll get you four some spare blankets, and then you can find somewhere to sleep on the floor. Excuse me." She plucked the empty teacups from the table in front of them, tidying up.
Midna stood from where she was seated next to the cat-shaped vase. "I can't sleep due to my curse, but thank you anyway."
"That's why you never ate anything either, isn't it? You poor girl. Here's hoping you can return to being human soon." The elderly woman left the room with the dirty cups in hand.
"I didn't know you turned into a wolf." Auren said. "What was it like?"
"It hurt, like something was trying to stretch my body into the wrong shape. Running around on all fours was fine, but the tail took some getting used to. Not to mention figuring out how to talk to Midna with a completely different mouth." He was glad that he never had to transform again. Midna still had that jagged black crystal that had cursed him, but he didn't want her to use it for any reason. There wasn't anything he could do as a wolf he couldn't do better as a human.
"Rij, ress?" Midna leaned forward and shot a fanged grin at him.
While he got the joke, the two women seated at the table had no idea what she was talking about. "Inside joke. Don't ask."
Auren shrugged it off, but Ashei's mind was on something else. "I'm sorry about what happened with Rusl, after he picked up the mirror shard. I would have had a hard time fighting him too." she said kindly.
"It isn't just that. It…" He took a deep breath. "I was afraid of using my power against him and hurting him, this man who became my father now that Gwyn is gone." His voice got quiet and he rubbed at the triangles on the back of his hand. "The fact that I lost control of my emotions and used Courage to fight him really bothers me. I broke his hand, but it could have been worse. I know you want to tell Max that I wouldn't hurt anybody, but I could. I could, and it would be so easy to do it without meaning to."
"We both know you wouldn't, any more than Midna would." The Gerudo smiled at him from the far end of the table. "Ashei said you love everyone too much to hurt us, and I think she's right."
"But I love Rusl and I still hurt him." He kept circling back to it, even though he knew he couldn't do any thing about his abilities. Using Courage had become innate now. "I almost attacked Darbus earlier, when I was in a rage. That Goron was one of the first people who saw me as a guy and not just the hero. He calls me 'brother', and look at what I almost did."
"You didn't. You stopped as soon as you saw it was him. I was right there with you two." Midna stood up and walked over to him. "Stop worrying about things, you worrywart. What you did to Rusl was what I did to Yeta. Just because he happens to be family doesn't change anything. We both could have done much worse, and we didn't." She patted his cheek with one small hand. "I know you're afraid, and I get that...but you'll be fine. You're not going to hurt anyone."
"He really is a worrywart, yeah? I think Midna's right. Auren and I can't hold a candle to how powerful you are, but the two of us are pretty strong warriors in our own rights. We don't use that strength in the wrong way, and I think you're an awful lot like either one of us." She smiled lightly. "Will you cheer up? I'm not giving out any more hugs for you today."
He had to laugh a little. "I know it's in my nature to worry, sorry. I think it's in Max's too, and that's why he feels I'm a threat. I don't know what I can say to him that will change his mind."
"He'll have to figure things out on his own. I had an argument with him earlier, and it went nowhere. If I can't convince him that you're all right, then the only one who can is himself. The man's stubborn." Ashei shook her head sadly. He thought about the conversation he and Midna had overheard outside. The man was stubborn, but his heart was in the right place. He quite obviously was in love with Ashei, and worried about her.
Impaz returned with an armful of blankets and linens. "Some of these probably smell like old cedar since they've been put away for years, but they'll do."
Link was ready to lay out on the floor without any cover at all, he was so tired. "Good. I was going to fall asleep sitting here in a few more minutes. You ladies can keep talking if you like, but I need to pass out."
It was the roiling white mist again, set beneath the sparkling stars. Link hadn't seen it in a while, and he turned to look around until he saw the skeletal form of the Hero of Time. He could barely see the image of the man now, since his magic reserves had been depleted from all he did in Old Kakariko.
"I have not been able to speak to you for a while." the shade said. "Much has happened that I'd like to discuss with you, but your mind has been blocked from me."
"Blocked?" Link didn't understand. His dreams had felt fairly normal, when he had dreams anyway. Most nights he slept deeply due to pushing his body hard, and he did not dream; or perhaps he was too exhausted to remember them. "What do you mean?"
"There is someone who is trying to reach your mind, but you aren't listening. Because she keeps trying to communicate with you, it makes it too difficult for me to do so." The shade looked at him, his one red eye glowing, his skull dark and translucent over the faint image of a man's face. "Do you know who it is?"
Link thought back to the one time in Lanayru, when he had a strange dream where a woman's voice faintly called to him, offering to help. "No, but I know what you're talking about. Is there any way that I can listen to her better?"
"That is up to you. I'm sure that you can use that magical brain of yours and figure it out. Your mind seems to be very different than my own even though we share the same soul, and so your magic is not quite like mine." The wraith took a few steps forward with the faint clatter of armor and passed Link. "Your fighting ability is different, however. It has become quite impressive. I have seen many of my own skills in you, even things I have not taught you."
While the previous hero was praising him, he didn't feel great about it. "Yeah, I guess. I don't like how I can lose myself to the beast. The way I fight when I'm like that is scary."
The Hero's shade turned back to him. "Ah, is that what you call your rage? It's fitting, considering you were transformed into a wolf." The armored skeleton stared at him for a moment before speaking again. "I know it troubles you, but I did warn you. It is a difficult thing, to be the Hero of Hyrule. We have different abilities, yet every one of us has been powerful in his own way. Our soul is the soul of the Ancient Hero, and we inherit his fighting ability, as well as that of the heroes that came after him. Our power grows every time, even if its potential is not released...which you most certainly have. You are very strong. People will either be in awe of you, or fearful of you and the great strength you command."
"You warned me that it would be lonely. I admit I want more people to see me as just another person, but I still have my friends, and I still have Ilia." He kicked at the thick white mist that swirled around his calves and feet. "Does that mean I'm going to lose all of that? Will I drive everyone away?"
"I did, but I told you of my foolishness. You?" The shade barked a short laugh. "You have so much heart in you. I doubt you will fall down the same dark path I did, even though you've had your darker moments. I saw when you did not have confidence in yourself. I was frightened of Ganondorf as well."
He remembered collapsing in the field in Eldin, overwhelmed by his failures. "That was not my proudest moment, but I'm only human, hero or not."
The shade lifted one bony finger. "Ah, you are...but so is he. I understand that Ganondorf has now increased in power, but you are also far more powerful than I ever was. You are able to use Courage, where as I only barely understood what I carried within me. Even though my deeds were lost to time, I still killed him. I believe you can do the same."
"You killed him? What, when you were an an adult and not a child? The time travel thing?"
"I was a child in a man's body. Not too different than how you behave, sometimes." The skeleton chuckled when Link scowled at him. "The Master Sword sealed my body in the Sacred Realm for seven years so I could safely grow strong enough to fight Ganondorf. My mind did not age. I was still a ten-year-old-boy through it all. Believe me when I say that I was terrified."
Link felt pity for his ancestor. He was born in a time of war and lost his family, and was forced into the body of a man when he was still a child. Then, after all was done, he had to go back in time and ultimately undid everything he had done. Then sometime later he tried to search for something that couldn't be found and died from it. It made Link's own difficult life seem rosy by comparison.
"Thinking of it, are you? Don't pity me." It was as if the shade could read his thoughts. "My life wasn't entirely bad. I still became a knight, married and had children. I had friends. Some of them you've met at the Arbiter's Grounds. They awoke as Sages in order to capture and execute Ganondorf, and then guard the Mirror of Twilight. It seems that they cannot pass on, just as I can't."
He thought back to the true forms of the Sages he had seen with his ability; a Kokiri, a Goron, a Gerudo, a Sheikah and a Hylian. They were friends of the Hero of Time? They had been at the Arbiter's Grounds guarding the Mirror of Twilight for over two hundred years. It seemed like a lonely existence.
"Link." the shade said, his voice closer to the voice of the man he used to be, and he flickered between the image of the skeleton and the image of the knight. "I know you are afraid of your abilities, and doubt whether you can control them. It is a reasonable fear, but please do not doubt yourself. I know that you have a lot of heart, and that is the core of Courage and the power of Farore that has bonded with you. You are strong, but you are thus because you are responsible, whether you want the responsibility or not."
"You did see how I hurt Rusl and almost attacked Darbus, right? That wasn't very responsible."
The normally gruff voice of the previous hero was kind, as was the man's face. "Don't you trust Midna's words? She is correct when she says that you're not going to hurt anyone. That little brawl you got into with Max is proof of that. You were angry, yet you did not use your abilities. That fight was two idiots swinging their fists in the snow and little more." The image of the man smiled lightly, and Link realized that the other Link wasn't just a man talking to another version of himself; he was an adult, a father speaking to someone who was barely an adult. "The fact that you fear your own abilities should show you that you won't use them for selfish reasons. Do you think I would have pushed you to discover them if I didn't think you could handle it?"
Link looked down at his left hand, frowning. The hand with Courage in it, the hand that weilded the Master Sword, and the hand that could kill with ease, even though he hated killing. The potential to use these things was always there inside of him, and he only started to use them when he needed to. "Am I hung up on this because I'm one of the few adult Links? The Master Sword told me that most of them were children."
"I believe so, and you have made choices that a child could not make. I did as I was told since I knew that it was the right thing to do, and I am certain that the other child heroes were the same. Only once I was an adult did I fully realize what I was capable of, and by then I had done everything I had needed to do to help Hyrule." The man's one blue eye looked away. "Nearly everything, but nobody's perfect. I did enough." He looked back, not elaborating on that statement. "I have faith in you. I know you are able to defeat Ganondorf, and that is why you have this power you fear. You will step up to do this thing that time erased. And after you do that...I have a request."
He didn't expect a request. Link stopped thinking of his own issues and focused on the dead man. "Sure. What is it?"
"This very well may be the last time I am able to speak to you. Every time it becomes more difficult, and now another is trying to reach your mind and blocking my attempts." The Hero of Time looked down at his hands, and the double image of flesh and bone. "I believe my regrets will be eased once Ganondorf breathes his last. However...my bones still lay somewhere." The shade clenched his fists. "They are in an enchanted forest, where those who enter are doomed to wander and become lost, and turn into what you see before you. I myself went through this enchanted forest with no difficulty when I had the Master Sword, but I become lost there when I was older and no longer carried it." The previous Link lowered his hands and looked at him with his one glowing eye. "I believe you will be safe to go there if you have the sword. If you can, will you find my bones and return them to a place where they may rightfully be buried?"
The request tugged at his heart. All this poor soul wanted was to rest eternally, and had not been able to for over two hundred years. "I'll see what I can do. How will I know where your body is? The enchanted part of Faron's forest is huge."
"The part of the forest I am in lies to the south of the ruins of the Temple of Time, and there is a great sentient tree near where I lay. You could try asking the Koroks for help."
"Koroks?" There were a lot of strange things in that forest, but that was one he didn't know.
"The children of the forest. I don't know if any of them remember me, but they will know the Deku Tree." The skeletal face did not change, but the bearded face of the man grinned. It was strange to see the teeth of the man and the teeth of the skull line up perfectly. "A talking tree stands out, so you should be able to find it."
"A talking tree? Right." He'd seen stranger. He thought of the forest spirits that had been living in the ruins of both Kokiri and Hylian, little bits of life in places long dead. Then he had a thought. "Did you want me to bury you next to your wife?"
The double-image stared at him with his mouth barely open, not having expected it. The image of the man looked genuinely touched by Link's offer. "Please. She is buried where you are currently, in Old Kakariko. Her name was Malon. I wish to rest with her, even though her soul moved on long ago."
Malon. That name was familiar to him, but he couldn't remember why. "I'll do my best to fulfill your request, Link. I'll also remember what you did, along with the Master Sword. You won't be forgotten."
The thick mists swirled around the spirit that was the Hero of Time. "That," he said as the white mists filled Link's vision. "is all I could wish for. If we do not speak again, then farewell, my grandson."