The Legend of Zelda: Reconciliation
Hey again!
My third chapter in within a week of the previous one, which is good, but I'm pretty sure the wait's going to stretch once again, which is bad. The downside of the co-op program is that occasionally, a full-time study semester coincides with the summer, and this is one of those occasions. What this means is that I'm only working part-time at my job in the afternoons (which doesn't mean less work, just less time to do it all in) and I'm in school from 5:30 to 8:30 every night of the week. On top of this, one of the courses I'm taking is Victorian Lit., and the Victorians aren't exactly known for their succinctness.
So basically what this means is that this roll I've been on for updates is likely to slow down. I'll still try to get them out as fast as I can, I just can't promise it'll be one a week like its been. Sorry guys! On the upside, the summer semester is a short one.
Hopefully by the time it registers this chapter, will also have registered my penname change. I had no idea how many other "Lady Rose"'s were out there until I decided to type it into Google. I've also always had a problem registering that particular name on sites due to it already being taken (ironically enough, was the ONE exception to this rule). It's been a wonderful penname, and I've used it for a good five or six years for many things, but it's time for a change. Rose Zemlya is a name I've used in the past (usually when I can't have "Lady Rose") and it, in and of itself, has a certain significance for me, plus I keep the "Rose" which should smooth some of the transition problems inherent with an alias change. Hopefully this won't really affect you guys at all, unless it screws up the author alerts or something of the like, which I doubt.
In other, non-story related news, if there is anyone out there who has an online RP (free lance, or play-by-post, or whatever they're called now) and is frustrated with ads and everything else, KA has informed me that we have a lot of free space in our domain (which is technically her domain) and she's been experimenting with some forum code and has finally found one she's happy with. We haven't really got much to put on it though (except the X-RP of course, which, for the record, is once again looking for players), so she's offering to host RPs (for free), as long as they're based on something appropriate for the Feng's Shui site and they're well planned out (not just a haphazard, no-account-necessary, posting spree). There's more details on our homepage () if you're interested.
I think that's about it for now. Hope you enjoy the read!
Rose Zemlya (a.k.a. Lady Rose)
xxx
Chapter 5
"Nabooru, my bestest best buddy in the whole wide world …"
"Whatever it is, I'm thinking I don't want to hear it."
"You'd be right," I say, grinning at her from my upside down position draped over the throne. "Because I'm about to remind you of what day it is today."
"Your birthday?"
"You know perfectly well that my birthday is in the summer."
"I live in the desert, Highness, it's always summer. Unless, of course, it's the rainy season."
"Which it is," I point out. "And my name's not highness."
"You let Rue call you highness."
"I don't let Rue call me anything. She just does. I'm not about to tell her otherwise."
"Awwww … is the poor little baby afraid of an 80 year old woman?"
"First off, she's not 80, she's 78. Second off, damn straight I'm afraid of her. So are you. And third off, you're changing the subject in an attempt – that is as desperate as it is pathetic I might add – to distract me from the original topic of this conversation."
"That I'm your bestest buddy?"
"Bestest best buddy, and no. That it's been exactly three weeks since the day I gave you exactly three weeks to have those pendants for me before I take matters into my own hands."
"So I'm not your bestest best buddy, is that what you're saying?"
"Nabooru, I'm serious."
"Could've fooled me."
I twist myself around right side up again and wait a moment for the blood to rush from my head and the dizziness to pass.
"A deal's a deal, Nabooru. I waited patiently like a good little boy—"
"Patiently? HA!"
"—and I've yet to see so much as a sparkle from those pendants. I'm not waiting any longer."
"Blame the Sheikah," she says easily, stretching out on the dais like a cat. "They're the ones who were supposed to get the Pendant of Power."
"Well I don't exactly have the Pendant of Courage either, now do I? So don't tell me to blame the Sheikah. I blame all of you. Together."
"And what can you do, then, Link, that fully-trained teams of Gerudo and Sheikah cannot?"
"Are you not even worried that you haven't even heard back from the girls you sent out?" I demand, frowning at her. "After what happened at the Tower of Nayru?"
"To worry is to doubt their abilities," Nabooru returns stubbornly – as she has every time I've asked her that. "They are experienced, competent women and will complete the mission to the utmost of their abilities."
"And if they weren't good enough?"
"If they weren't," she says bluntly, "then you won't be."
"You know, your faith touches me. Right here." I say, a mock-touched expression on my face.
"Well it's true," she says mule-headedly. "If four Elite couldn't get that pendant back, what odds do three kids have?"
"We're not kids, Nabooru."
"Yes you are."
"No. We're not."
"Yes. You are."
"No, we're – whatever! It doesn't matter! I'm going and that's that!" I cry, crossing my arms and glaring at her.
"I'll just forbid Neesha to go. You won't go without her."
"Well I'll forbid you to forbid her to go."
"You can't."
"Can so, I'm King."
"Fine. Then as a Sage, I forbid you to forbid me to forbid her to go."
"First off, as a Sage you can't forbid me from doing anything. Second, if you're going to be like this, I'm just going to sneak out, like I always do. For Din's sake, Nabooru! Every second we waste here is a step further from ever finding the people who've been kidnapped! It's a step further from finding out what the Hell is going on with Thomas, Bel and Mel! And it's a step further from getting my hands around Aghanim's throat!"
"And at last we're at the heart of the matter," Nabooru says, her eyes glinting craftily all of a sudden. "This whole thing is about what he did to Bruiser, isn't it?" I gape at her for a minute, then narrow my eyes.
"This whole thing is about a lot more than Bruiser," I say flatly. "But yes. Bruiser is a large part of it." She shakes her head but remains quiet, and for that, I'm grateful. It's easy enough to joke around and smile about other things, but I'm still not exactly ready to talk about the subject of Bruiser, or his death with any but a select group of people.
"Listen kid," Nabooru says softly after a moment. "I'm sorry about what happened to him. I know it might not seem like it sometimes, but it's true just the same. I kinda liked the big guy. He was all right for a Sheikah." She peers at me out of the corner of her eye. "You're not going to cry or anything are you? The rest of the Sages will be here today and I don't want you embarrassing me or anything in front of them. I've been bragging to Impa about how much I toughened you up and the last thing I need is you to go and make a liar out of me." I roll my eyes. Typical Gerudo. It's impossible for them to be sensitive for more than three seconds at any given time.
"No I'm not going to – wait. Will it make you give in and let me go after the pendants without a fight?" Nabooru gives a short laugh.
"It might force me to beat the living crap out of you, but no, as for giving in, no."
"You know I'm going to win this in the end, anyway, Nabooru. Just give it up and let me go."
"Fine," she says slyly, folding her arms behind her head and laying down on the ground, "but you're taking the Elite."
Of all the words, in any language, ever … I hate those five the most.
xxx
"Highness!"
I look up from where I've pinned Nabooru to the ground and pause in the act of raising my fist to glance over at the door.
"Amplisa? Kinda busy right now. What's up?"
"Just thought you might want to know that your little Sheikah friend's on his way over here at three hundred miles an hour and he looks about ready to chew rocks. I'm not sure but I think I heard him muttering something about killing you." She raises an eyebrow. "You do know that under Gerudo law I can kill him for threatening you like that, right?"
"No! No killing!" I say flatly, jumping up off Nabooru. "He doesn't mean it, for Nayru's sake."
That's a blatant lie.
I'm pretty sure he's got every intention of killing me at the moment.
"Have it your way," Amplisa says with a shrug. "Just thought you'd want to know."
"What'd you do?" Nabooru demands as she picks herself up off the floor and Amplisa disappears through the door again. I straighten out my hat and frown.
"Well … you know how Dune and Impa arrived this morning?"
"Yeah, so?" Nabooru demands.
"Well … I might have sort have told Dune my suspicions about Thomas."
"So what?" Nabooru demands. "That woman could use some hope right about now." Trust a Gerudo to consider 'your son is being mind-controlled by an evil wizard who's forcing him to kidnap and kill people' good news, though I suppose it is better than Thomas doing all that stuff of his own will.
"Yeah, well, I might have also asked her to be the one to talk to Hunter about the possibility." Nabooru winces. "Yeah," I say. "Mind like a Gerudo, heart like a Hylian. And Hunter knows it. If anyone can convince him to give Thomas the benefit of a doubt, it's her. Now, if you don't mind, we can continue this … debate about me taking the Elite some other time, because right now, I need to find a hiding place before he actually—"
"Too late," interrupts a flat voice from the doorway.
"Dammit," I hiss, "hey! Where do you think you're going?" I demand as Nabooru moves towards the door.
"You know, as much as I enjoy watching your little schemes blow up in your face like this, I have to go assemble the Elite so they'll be ready to go with you to the Towers after we talk with the rest of the Sages."
"Hey!" I shout after her. "I said NO ELITE!" But she's already gone, leaving me with nothing to look at but Hunter's completely unimpressed expression. I'm suddenly aware of how alone I am in this room.
You know, normally I can't even breathe without the Elite around me.
And now, when I could actually use some over-protective bodyguards …
"Uh … hi, Hunter!" I say brightly.
"You know, Link," he says, leaning almost casually up against the doorframe, "there are cheap shots. And then there are cheap shots. And what you just put me through?" He shakes his head and I wince.
"Hunter, come on. Don't look at me like that," I say. "You would have had to speak with her sooner or later, all right? I just sped things up a bit." He frowns.
"For what possible purpose?" He demands. "Was that some kind of misguided attempt at making me feel better? Because it didn't work, Link." I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Give me some credit, here," I return. "I know you better than that. I wasn't trying to make you feel better."
"Then what in Din's name were you trying to do, Link?" He demands, glaring at me. "Farore! She came in there … almost already in tears over something you told her about Thomas and apologizing up and down for happened to Dad, and …" He cuts himself off and grinds his teeth. I wait for him to regain control before I say anything.
"Fact of the matter is, Hunter," I say as gently as I can manage, "I was trying to remind you that you're not the only one here who's got something at stake. Look, I know what you're going through, all right? Because I'm going through it too. Farore, Hunter, Bruiser was the closest damn thing I had to a father until three years ago. And even after I got Dad back, it didn't change a goddess-damned thing about the way I felt about Bruiser. You're not the only one who misses him. And you're not the only one who's angry that he's gone." I give him a pleading look. "But if there's even a possibility that it wasn't really Thomas … Hunter, we've already lost Bruiser. I don't want to lose anyone else, all right?" He shakes his head and won't look at me.
"Why didn't you tell me about Thomas?" He asks after a moment. "About the mind-control?" I cross my arms and lean back against the arm of the throne.
"Because a) I can't be sure," I answer easily, "and b) you wouldn't have listened to me even if I was. You know as well as I do that we have a history of disagreement when it comes to whether or not certain people are redeemable. I couldn't have convinced you of it, and then we'd probably have just wound up wanting to kill each other. We're both a little touchy right now and I just didn't think it was a good idea. Bruiser wouldn't have wanted us to fight over it, so I sent someone else to fight over it with you."
"Yeah, Thomas' mother. Because I'm going to fight her on it."
"At no point during this discussion did I deny it was cheap of me," I return easily. "But it was necessary one way or the other."
"Emotional blackmail?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," I respond. "Emotional blackmail. The best kind as a matter of fact." He shakes his head again.
"Whatever," he says. "You're not forgiven for it."
"If that's the way you feel," I answer cautiously.
"And I'm not promising anything when it comes to Thomas."
"Wasn't really expecting you to." He meets my gaze and I raise an eyebrow at him. "But …" I prompt. He sighs.
"But for Dune's sake I'll at least wait until we can confirm you're stupid mind-control theory," he finishes. "And for the record, you're a stupid bastard and I hate you." I offer him a grin that's more of a peace-offering than anything else.
"Love you too, buddy," I say. "Now come. Let's go get Neesha and pick out a nice room for the Council of Sages."
"You're a council, now?" He asks as I approach him, being careful to keep an arm's length between us, just in case.
"Not really," I answer with a grin. "I just sort of made it up to make us sound important …"
xxx
I can feel the last vestiges of the tattered pieces of good mood I've managed to somehow desperately cling to the last few days slipping through my fingers as I look around the room.
The last time the lot of us were all together like this was for the farewell party, three months ago, before we took off over the mountains. The fact that most of us are here together again just highlights the absence of the ones who aren't …
Saria's customary seat beside Darunia is conspicuously empty. Laruto is not giggling from her mother's lap at the faces her dad is making at her. Thomas, Bel, Mel, and Goron Link aren't hovering around the door alternating between begging to be let in and complaining that Neesha, Malon (who doesn't exactly have an authority figure in the room to tell her to get out except maybe Zelda, and royal or no, Malon's not about to listen to Zelda) and Hunter get to take part but they don't.
What we have instead is a room filled with hunched shoulders and long faces. Ruto and Acqul are seated as close as they can get and still be within the bounds of propriety and looking absolutely miserable. Acqul is studiously avoiding looking at Dune who's returning the favour in kind. Dune's grey hair looks a little paler than before and there are lines on her face I don't remember being there. Darunia's stooped – something he never was before – and his customary hello beating lacked its usual enthusiasm. Karun's not looking much better beside him. Impa's face is devoid of emotion, as per usual, but even there you can see a little something new in her posture. Some indescribable grief that wasn't there before. Hunter's wearing a similar expression to her right and so is Dad, to her left. At the moment they probably look more like father and son than Dad and me.
The only people in this room who don't look any different than usual, save for the serious expressions on their faces, are Rue, Nabooru, and Neesha, but the Gerudo mentality doesn't leave itself open as a rule to anything that might be perceived as weakness, and grief, fear and concern are on that list.
Which isn't to say they don't care. Far from it. In fact every time Nabooru looks at Saria's empty chair a barely visible wince flashes across her face for the briefest of instants, and the exact same expression crosses Neesha's whenever she looks at Hunter. The Gerudo aren't immune to grief and concern, they've just made a life around resisting those things, and there's no changing it.
Rue, on the other hand, is nothing but neutral expressions, except for the occasional sympathetic glance directed at anyone she suspects might need one.
"All right," Zelda says, hushing the sparse few conversations going on around the room as she settles into her chair, "I think that's everyone. Let's get started. Impa, Nabooru, could you give us an update?"
"Not much to tell," Nabooru sighs, idly flipping the end of her ponytail between her fingers. "I sent out a team of four Elite – four of the best I might add – and that was three weeks ago. I haven't heard jack from them since." Impa nods slowly from her end of the table.
"Six agents were sent to the Tower of Din," she says heavily. "None have reported back. I sent a few up there again with instructions to observe, but not enter. They say that there are definite signs of the team entering, but none whatsoever of them coming back out again."
"We tipped our hand by attacking the Tower of Farore too soon," Rue notes. "They've likely upped their security precautions since. They know we have one pendant and they don't want us getting the rest."
"Speaking of which," Karun rumbles, "where is the Pendant of Wisdom?" Hunter reaches beneath his uniform and pulls out the delicate blue medallion. It spins for a brief moment, catching the light on its edges, before he drops it back under his uniform. The Sages blink in surprise and turn to me – not because they don't think Hunter should have it, just because they're surprised I don't. I meet their gaze evenly.
"Malon kept it. Malon hid it. Malon left it for him," I say simply. "I figured he should carry it." The sages all nod and turn their attention back to the subject at hand.
"All right then," Nabooru says, "so we've tipped our hand. We've screwed up. How do you propose we rectify that?" I roll my eyes when a few of those gathered look at me.
"You all know what I think we should do," I answer, raising an eyebrow at them. "Do you really want me to say it?"
"It would be proper," Ruto says, raising an eyebrow right back at me. It's not even hard to bite back my usual scathing remark. She's been through enough lately. She doesn't need me heckling her.
"Well then, I'd say it comes down to if you want something done right …"
"Tell Link it can't be done then sit back and watch him do it," Hunter says, throwing me a slight smile.
"That's all well and good," Dune notes, "but Link, dear, there's only one of you. There are two Towers."
"So?" I ask.
"Dune's right," Acqul agrees. "We made a mistake by taking the Tower of Nayru on its own. All we did was give the other two towers warning. If we're going to try this again we're going to have to synchronize the attempts. Hit them both at the same time so neither one is totally prepared for us."
"Then we'll have to split up," Impa says.
"We?" Zelda asks in surprise. "As in we the people in this room?"
"Yes," Impa answers. "We've sent the best that could be found and they've failed." Nabooru frowns but Impa holds up a hand before she can say anything. "I know that it's not a sure thing," she says, "but there comes a time when reality must be faced. They've had three weeks. The mission is compromised. As good as they were, they weren't good enough. Which isn't to say that there's no hope for them. They may be captured, or simply injured, but we'll never know unless we get in there."
"So you're saying, then," Darunia rumbles, "that this has become Sage business."
"What I'm saying," Impa replies, leaning back, "is that this has been Sage business from the start."
Immediately an explosion of protests erupts from the majority of the non-Sages around the table, which is quickly quieted by Zelda standing up.
"Look," she says, addressing them all, "you have to admit that this situation calls for powers above and beyond what most of you have. Except Rue," she added, with a nod at the Gerudo, "since she's a mage. But," she added, raising her hands again before they could continue their complaints, "we didn't invite you take part in this meeting because we didn't believe in your individual abilities in times like these. When every last Sage in this room was captured, it was the lot of you who saw Hyrule through, so we've no right to claim that we can do anything you can't."
"What are you saying?" Acqul demands suspiciously, frowning at her.
"I'm saying," she said, "that Sage or not, you're in."
"Not me," Rue says as Zelda sits down again. "I'm out."
"What?" I say, turning to blink at her in surprise.
"Me as well," Karun says with a heavy sigh. Hunter gives a start.
"What?" He demands. "Why?" Rue and Karun share a look that is at once frustrated and resigned.
"I am old," Rue says by way of explanation. "Much too old to go gallivanting off around the Kingdom on quests.
"Rue!" I protest. "You're not—"
"Yes I am, Highness," she interrupts flatly.
"But … during the war, you—"
"I did what I had to do," Rue answers, shaking her head at me. "That's the way of the Gerudo. But I am not needed for this quest. There are others, younger than me, and more capable of something like this." She nods her head at Nabooru and Neesha, both of whom look a touch embarrassed by the statement. "Besides," she adds, tossing her short hair over her shoulder, "if I've told the lot of you once, I've told you a thousand times. I'm retired."
"And you, Karun?" Hunter asks, staring at his mentor. "You're not that old."
"Old enough, lad," Karun sighs. "And with a dead leg like mine I'll just slow you down. Ah, ah," he says, raising a hand to stop Hunter's protests. "What did I teach you about war, Hunter? It applies now."
"Know your limits," Hunter sighs, settling back in his chair.
"Aye lad. Know your limits. And I know mine. I'll be sitting this one out with Rue."
"Well I'm in," Acqul and Dune say at the same time, then abruptly stop and stare at each other before their eyes narrow and they look away with identical scowls.
I get a brief flash of déjà vu from back during the war when this type of fight was a daily occurrence and it's suddenly all I can do not to leap over the table, take them both by the neck and slam their heads together. Hunter, Neesha, Karun and Rue all look like they're contemplating the same thing.
"I'm in too," Neesha says finally, rolling her eyes.
"Me too," Hunter adds.
"Like there was a doubt," Nabooru mutters, rolling her eyes.
"As much as it kills me to say it," Darunia rumbles, "Impa, and Ruto … I think it would be best if you two sat this one out, as well." Impa nods – apparently having already come to that conclusion on her own – but Ruto looks offended.
"What?" She demands shrilly. "Sit it out? When my baby's been—" Acqul touches her shoulder and she sucks in her breath and attempts to regain her composure. Darunia takes advantage of the opening to explain himself.
"The Gorons and the Gerudo parted ways with the Hylians when the Gerudo treaty was broken," he rumbles. "For good or for ill remains to be seen."
The Gorons have a saying that goes something along the lines of "fill an upset stomach, empty an upset mind," and Darunia has always been a big supporter of this philosophy. When he heard that Aghanim had broken the treaty with the Gerudo, he was upset, and therefore emptied his mind in something akin to a massive fit of temper that resulted in his severing all ties with the Hylians until the treaty is reinstated. He admitted afterwards that the move had been rash, and he should have remained calm about it, as the Zora and the Sheikah had, but it was done, and it was too late to go back on it.
Besides, it had also served to shatter many of the remaining barriers between the Gorons and the Gerudo that had been in place since the Great War, and that, in and of itself, is worth something.
"So you're saying …" Nabooru prompts.
"He's saying," Impa replies, "that for the sake of appearances, it would be better if Ruto and I remained at home, in charge of our respective peoples, instead of disappearing with the rest of Hyrule's leaders – particularly those that are currently not on speaking terms with the Hylians."
"But," Ruto says, a pout in her voice, "it's not like Aghanim doesn't know that we're working against him."
"Aghanim does," Darunia says. "But the rest of Hyrule doesn't. And we're best to keep it that way."
"Politics," I say disparagingly, settling back in my seat and crossing my arms. "It always comes back to that somehow, doesn't it?"
"Well that's everybody but you, Uncle Bray," Hunter says, leaning forward to look at Dad. "Are you in or out?"
"Out," he says. I sit up straight and gape at him.
"'Scuse me?" I demand. "You're out?"
"That's what I said," he confirms with a nod.
"Why?" I demand incredulously.
"Oh don't look so betrayed!" He cries, rolling his eyes at my expression. "Impa and I were speaking beforehand. Getting the pendants is all well and good, but even having the Master Sword won't be much good to us unless we know what we're up against."
"We do," I respond flatly. "A black-magic using, bastard of an old man – who, for the record, I said right from the start was bad news and none of you listened to me – who's dead set on killing, maiming, and otherwise harming every living thing in Hyrule for reasons unbeknownst to us."
"Exactly," Dad says. "Use your head, Link. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why he's doing this? Why he's kidnapping people? Where he's keeping them? Or even why he hates Hyrule so much? What is he after? What is he doing? Is he working on his own, or is there a higher power at work here?" I pause and frown thoughtfully at him.
"I was actually kind of working off the assumption that he was just crazy like that," I admit, "but you bring up some interesting points." Zelda rolls her eyes.
"Remind me again why you're the Hero of Time?" She demands.
"Because I have a big sword," I answer her with a crooked grin. "Or will once we get those pendants."
"So if you're not going to help us get the pendants, what will you be doing?" Nabooru demands.
"There's an old hermit who lives up in the mountains," Dad answers. "And when I say old, I mean old. As in, nobody knows how old but he's been up there for generations."
"And this has what to do with Aghanim?" Neesha demands, eyebrow raised.
"Dune and I have been all over Hyrule in the last three months," he replies, "speaking with every damned mage we could get out hands on, asking what use a black magician could possibly have with the people kidnapped. They couldn't offer us much. A few managed to put forth theories, some plausible, some really not, but they all directed us to this old hermit, Sahasrala. Apparently if anyone can shed some light on this, he can."
"So you're going to go ask him what he knows?" Hunter asked.
"Precisely," Dad answers. "If we're lucky he might know – or be able to guess – what Aghanim's planning with the people he's kidnapped. Maybe even give us a way to stop him, or to get the people back."
"All right then," Zelda says, "that makes eight of us in on the quest for the pendants. We need to—"
"Eight?" Interrupts Impa with a raised eyebrow. "You mean seven." Zelda blinks and recalculates her math.
"No," she says slowly, "I mean eight. Darunia, Acqul, Dune, Nabooru, me, Link, Hunter and Neesha." Her face falls suddenly. "Impa, don't you dare."
"You're not going, princess," the Sheikah replies. "You're out." Zelda's eyes narrow.
"Yes I am," she says flatly. "I'm in."
"Zelda, be reasonable about this," she says.
"I am being reasonable," Zelda replies flatly, her eyes hard. "We need those Pendants, Impa, and of all of the Sages I'm probably the best suited for this type of mission. My powers will let us bypass any locks and doors that won't open and everything else."
"If she comes I've got dibs," I say, making sure everyone heard me. "If I never have to do another key puzzle it'll be too soon."
"First off," Impa says, rolling her eyes at me, "the Towers won't be set up like the Temples were. The Temples were meant to be tests. The Towers are meant to be fortresses. Second off, we can be reasonably sure that Aghanim would like nothing better than to do to you what he's done with the others he's kidnapped."
"Oh for Din's sake, we cannot," Zelda interrupts. "You're reading into it. There's a million and one other reasons Aghanim could have tried to kidnap me. Because I'm the heir to the throne, because I'm a Sage, because I'm rich for love of Nayru! There's no guarantee he wanted me for the same reason—"
"Regardless of why he wanted you," Impa says, her tone as flat as before, "he still wanted you. And we can't risk you falling into his hands. While the rest of us go get the medallions, you'll go back to the Sacred Realm with Rauru, and you'll stay there." Zelda makes an irritated noise and mutters something under her breath that I can't quite make out.
How many times have I been in her situation?
How many times have I been there, because she put me there?
You can't go here they might catch you. You can't go there they might kill you. You can't do this because I said so.
She totally deserves this. Payback is sweet and what goes around comes around, or so the saying goes, and man am I going to enjoy this.
Less than a second later, though, my smugness is shot right to Hell because she looks at me and gives me her biggest, best, puppy-dog-eyed, damsel-in-distress, please-please-please-if-you-love-me-you'll-do-this-for-me look, and what, in Din's name, am I supposed to say to that, exactly? No?
Ha!
Yet another thing to add to my list of "looks people give me all the time that I hate with a passion."
I grind my teeth and glare at her.
"You owe me for this," I hiss, then turn around to face Impa, who saw the look and is already rolling her eyes.
"I say she goes," I say. Someone – either Nabooru or Neesha, I can't tell – makes a whip noise from behind me, but I ignore them. "Look, like it or not, we're all in this together. That means nobody is left out unless they ask to be. If we start telling this person or that person they can't go, for whatever reason, we'll never be able to beat Aghanim. We didn't win the war by excluding each other. We won't win this one that way either." The Sages still look unconvinced, but the generals are nodding in agreement. Impa's shaking her head.
"Zelda, as your guardian, I can't just—"
"You're not here as my guardian, Impa," Zelda says, her expression pleading. "You're here as the Sage of Shadow and my friend." She meets Impa's gaze steadily. "I want to help." An uncomfortable silence descends, but is broken when Nabooru leans across the table.
"You can bypass locks?" She asks, her eyes taking on that crafty glint again.
"Yes," Zelda says. "I can use my telepathy to—" I lean forward and insert my face between Zelda's and Nabooru's and give the Sage of Spirit an unimpressed frown.
"We're going in there to steal the pendant, Nabooru," I say flatly. "That's it. Keep your sticky fingers to yourself for once, would you?" Nabooru rolls her eyes at me and looks at Zelda again.
"Hey, tell you what," she says, "when Captain Bring-Down here is gone, you and I should have a chat. I think I've got a business proposition for you if you're interested."
"Nabooru!" I cry disapprovingly, but she just smirks and me and leans back in her chair.
"So it's settled then," Zelda says, rerouting everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "Eight of us are going." She stares flatly at Impa, daring her to object. Impa's expression darkens, but she remains silent, opting instead to turn her flat expression on me.
Inherent in her glare are two things: the official shift of the position of Zelda's protector from the Sheikan leader to me in her absence, and the threat of bodily harm if anything should happen to her. I meet her gaze steadily, trying not to be offended that she feels the need to tell me to protect Zelda, as though the instant she's not there something terrible will happen to Zelda and I'm just going to sit back and watch it happen.
Not likely.
"Eight people, two towers, so four on a team," Darunia says. "Who's with who, and which team goes to which tower?"
"Well," Hunter says, "we could do it the logical way and sit here for the rest of the afternoon arguing who's talents are better suited to which tower and go from there …"
"Or …" Prompts Zelda with a raised eyebrow.
"Or we could do it the old fashioned way and pull names out of a hat." I frown when everyone turns to me.
"Oh no," I say, "you're not using my hat – hey! Nabooru!" I reach upwards to guard my poor hat an instant too late as Nabooru snatches it off my head. "Give it back!" I growl, getting up out of my chair.
"Oh Link," Zelda says, rolling her eyes and pulling me back down, "they're not going to hurt it."
"Yes they are," I whine. "Do you know how many people around this table hate my hat? Especially the Gerudo around this table."
"The King's complaints aside," Nabooru says, throwing the hat into the middle of the table, "I vote for the hat. We've tried strategy already. Maybe it's time to put our faith in the Goddesses and leave things up to chance."
"Well …" Zelda says, a touch doubtfully, "I suppose it's as good as any other way …" There are nods from all around the table – some hesitant, some not – and a moment later everyone's scrambling around trying to find a scrap of paper to write their name on.
"I love how official we are," I tell Zelda with a smirk as I pass both our names to Nabooru to drop into my hat. "The fate of the world rests on us and we're drawing names from a hat." She flashes me a smile.
"An awful hat at that," she adds, then laughs outright at my offended expression. I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow.
"If you'd like I can always retract my insistence that you come with us on the quests," I say flatly. "After all, I'm sure spending a bit of time in the Sacred Realm with Rauru instead of crawling around dangerous dungeons and fighting monsters with us will be just so much fun."
"No, no!" She says hastily. "Don't … I … it's a very lovely hat."
"And?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. She frowns.
"What more do you want?" She asks. I turn around to face the group again, busily stuffing my hat full of names.
"Imp—" The rest of it is muffled as Zelda covers my mouth with a gloved hand, pulling my face back towards hers and glaring at me.
"Fine, fine," she hisses. "It's the best hat in the world, green is my favourite color, and I wish I had one like it. Happy?" I smirk at her beneath her hand and nod. She rolls her eyes at me and removes her hand just in time for me to stick my tongue out at her without getting a mouth full of lint. She narrows her eyes. "You have no respect, you know that?" She demands.
"So I'm told," I say with a grin. "But now go ahead and ask yourself if you'd still love me if I did."
"Hmph," she says in answer. "I hope you're not on my team." I smirk again.
"I'll take that as a no," I reply.
"All right," Nabooru says, taking the hat and tossing it and its contents over to Rue. "Since you're not going and you've got seniority over pretty much everyone in the room, you draw the teams." Nabooru grins at her. "Unless of course, this violates your self-proclaimed retirement."
"Any time you'd like to step out in the ring and be reminded of who taught you to swing that pretty little scimitar of yours, Nabooru, you just ask," Rue replies with a raised eyebrow as she scoops up my hat. "I've earned my retirement." She reaches in and fishes around for a moment, then pulls her hand out of my hat, clutching four pieces of paper in a gnarled fist.
"The first team will be Darunia, Neesha, Acqul and Dune," she announces, reading the slips of paper.
"What?" Dune and Acqul cry from their ends of the table.
"Absolutely not," Dune adds, glaring flatly at Rue.
"Draw again," Acqul says flatly. Rue's expression doesn't change as she returns their glares.
"There is no drawing again," she says. "You decided to leave it to chance, and the Goddesses, and one or the other has spoken. There's no going back on it." Dune and Acqul both rise to their feet, but I get there before them and slam my fist on the table to cut off their angry shouts.
"Too damn bad," I growl as everyone around the table turns to stare at me in surprise. I glare flatly at Acqul and Dune. "The names are drawn, the teams are made, and you two will just have to put aside your issues and remember that once upon a time you were friends." I say flatly. "Now get over yourselves. There are lives at stake here – your children included – and all your stupid fight is doing is jeopardizing them." Their faces take on a balking, mule-faced expression, but they sit back down without another complaint.
"Well," Nabooru says, raising an eye at Neesha after I sit back down. "Looks like the dream team's missing one of their members." Neesha smirks and leans back in her chair.
"Those losers were just holding me back anyway," she says, stretching. "I'll be way better off without—"
"Link!" Dad snaps from the other end of the table, just before I can slam my foot into the back legs of Neesha's chair and send her toppling to the ground. I turn to look and he frowns darkly. I roll my eyes and lower my foot, turning back straight in my chair. Neesha – realizing what I had been about to do – drops her chair hastily back onto four legs.
"You never let me have any fun," I grumble bitterly. "Link, don't hit Neesha. Link, leave Neesha alone. Link, put that down."
"Link," Dad says, mocking my tone, "shut your mouth and quit whining." I roll my eyes at him again.
"Smart-mouthed old man," I mutter under my breath. Zelda offers me a sad smile.
"Enjoy him while you have him, Link," she says. "Hunter will tell you the same. He won't be there forever and you'll miss him when he's gone." For a brief instant something cracks in her cheerful composure – and I'm suddenly cursing myself for an idiot for not seeing through it right from the start.
Hunter's not the only one who's lost a father to this whole mess, and I haven't even …
I shake my head, angry at myself suddenly.
"Zelda, I'm sorry," I say softly. "I should have realized…" She winces, realizing that she's given herself away, and shakes her head suddenly.
"Don't worry about it," she says. "I mean … it's not like he's dead, right?" She says. "Just … sick … or something. Assuming he's even sick. I mean … he might be perfectly healthy for all we know."
"Of course," I say, offering her a smile. "And we'll get him back too. Just wait and see if we don't." She offers me a hesitant nod and the cheerful mask is back up before anyone gets a chance to notice it's gone. I sigh inwardly.
You'd think, sharing a mental link and everything, I'd be better at this intuitive stuff … she's hard to read sometimes, though.
"All right then," Darunia rumbles, his voice cutting across the chatter caused by the team announcements, "Me, Neesha, Acqul and Dune will all be on one team. Zelda, Nabooru, Hunter and Link will make up the other. Any complaints? Any valid complaints?" He adds when Acqul and Dune both look ready to speak up. The rest of us shake our heads. "All right then. Which team will go to which tower?"
"No offence, there, Darunia," Acqul notes, "but I think perhaps we'd be best at the Tower of Din. The Tower of Farore is located out in the water at Lake Hylia. It may be similar to the Water Temple, and … something tells me you can't swim any better than Karun here." Darunia – far from taking offence – gives a heartfelt laugh.
"That's the truth, brother," he says with a wide grin. "That's the truth. All right then. Any objections if the four of us head for the Tower of Din?" Nabooru makes a face.
"Besides the fact it leaves me to deal with a lake?" She demands. "Can't say that I do." I'd say something mean right now, but I don't have to. Nabooru has caught me smirking and the message is delivered without me needing to say anything. I grin.
"Tower of Farore it is, then," I say. "Let's break up for tonight then. We can spend tomorrow getting whatever supplies we need and then we're off the next day."
The 'Council of Sages' nods in agreement and as one we get up from the table.
I suppress the urge to fidget excitedly.
We're finally on the move.
xxx
A Brief Interlude
"Is there a reason you're prowling the halls at this time of night, Zelda, or do I need to alert the guards?"
Zelda just managed to choke back a scream, but couldn't help jumping and whirling around, her hand flying to clutch at her chest.
"Neesha!" She gasped in a high-pitched whisper. "Don't do that to me! Nayru, Farore, and Din, you scared me out of my wits!" Neesha threw her a dry smirk.
"Doesn't take much for a Hylian," she said. Zelda frowned at her but bit back a reply. It was some kind of test, that much was certain. For one reason or another she always felt like Neesha was testing her. Everything the girl said had some hidden, ulterior motive that Zelda, for all her mind powers and telepathic abilities, couldn't for the life of her figure out.
So the diplomat in her kicked in and she just let it go.
For all she knew that's just how Gerudo were. Nabooru did it to her too, from time to time. They were an odd people and she wasn't about to pretend she understood them. Neesha raised an eyebrow at her lack of response, then rolled her eyes and let it go as well.
"You haven't answered my question," she pointed out. "It's kind of late. I thought you went to bed."
"I … did," Zelda answered, avoiding the younger girl's gaze. "I just …"
"Nightmare's," Neesha said sagely, nodding to herself. "You had a nightmare. A bad one too, from the look of it." Zelda blinked in surprise.
"How did you …" Neesha grinned.
"Link gets them too, from time to time. Sometimes they're serious, sometimes they're not. But when they are, you can tell. He starts wandering the halls in the middle of the night, for example. And won't tell anyone why." Zelda stared at her for a moment more, debating, then decided to give in.
"All right," she admitted, "so I had a nightmare. A bad one."
"How bad?" Again Zelda hesitated.
"Bad enough," she answered. Neesha remained unimpressed and Zelda sighed. "Link … was in it," she said. "He, um … he didn't make it out of it, though."
"Oh," Neesha said, her face softening slightly. "Yeah, that would be pretty rough."
"They are. It was," she corrected herself hurriedly, but Neesha's eyebrow had already gone up. Zelda covered a wince by starting off down the hall again.
"They?" Neesha asked, catching up to her, then abruptly shook her head. "Never mind," she said. "It's your business, not mine. Are you headed anywhere in particular? You're going to get lost if you wander too long. You're already deeper in than you should be, and if the guards catch you there'll be Hell to pay."
"Why?" Zelda asked curiously. "What's back here? If you don't mind my asking, that is." Neesha grinned at her.
"Link is, as a matter of fact," she answered. "You'll have to forgive us if we're a bit protective. We only get one King every hundred years, and our last one didn't work out so well if you catch my drift."
"Caught and duly noted," Zelda said wryly, then sighed. "I was actually looking for Link," she admitted. "Or his room at least. Nothing like that," she added hastily, upon seeing Neesha's eyebrow practically sky rocket off her head. "Just … the nightmare threw me off a bit. I just wanted … reassurance, I guess, that he was all right." Neesha struggled and failed not to make a face. "What?" Zelda demanded. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Neesha said, waving her off. "Link practically begged me to be nice and he made me promise I would. I'm not going to make a liar out of myself." Zelda raised an eyebrow at this.
"You promised to be nice?" She asked. Neesha frowned.
"Yes," she said flatly. "And to tell you the truth you're making it very hard." Zelda rubbed her temple tiredly.
"Well, I hate to break it to you Neesha," she said, "but you can't just say things like that and expect me to let it go. If you've got a problem with me, let's hear it." Neesha crossed her arms stubbornly and closed her mouth. "Neesha … oh fine. You know, technically it's not nice to refuse to answer someone's questions. Especially if they asked politely." Neesha glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. Zelda's voice took on a coaxing tone. "I promise I won't tell Link …"
"All right, fine," Neesha said, unfolding her arms. "But only because Link's being stupid if he thinks this will sort itself out without you knowing about it. And I'm not telling you this for your sake either, I'm telling you this for his."
"Well, then," Zelda said, not sure whether to be amused or offended at her bluntness. Not that this was anything new. She always felt that way around Neesha. She was never quite able to decide whether the girl liked her or not. "Spit it out already." Neesha stopped walking and turned to fully face the princess.
"Fine," she said. "Here's the issue. Link likes you. Link likes you a lot, as a matter of fact."
"This I'm aware of," Zelda pointed out. "I happen to like him quite a bit myself."
"Exactly," Neesha answered. "That's the problem right there. Not that you like him, or that he likes you. That's fine. That's his business and yours. The problem is that our King likes you. And you like our King. And here's the part that Link made me swear to never say to you ever, on pain of absolute and utter annihilation. He even got stupid Hunter to be a stupid witness to it." Zelda raised an eyebrow expectantly. "You aren't good enough for him."
While it would be a lie to say that she hadn't expected something of the sort …
She was still taken aback at the … straightforward way something so … damning had been delivered. Had she tried something like that back in Castletown she would have been drawn and quartered politically before she could so much as blink.
She was starting to understand why Link liked the Gerudo so much.
They were as painfully blunt as he was sometimes.
"I'm not … good enough?" She asked, unable to make her brain come up with more. Neesha rolled her eyes and made a disgusted noise.
"See, that's exactly why you're not," she said. "If I told you I hated your guts and you were ugly and you couldn't fight worth a damn, you'd just sit there and take it! Like you're doing now! What the Hell is wrong with you? Do all Hylians do that, or is it just you?"
"Well … what am I supposed to do, exactly?" Zelda demanded, surprise starting to give way to anger.
"Stand up for yourself!" Neesha cried, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world and Zelda was blind to it. "If I offend you, fight me! Yell at me, or punch me, or whatever! Don't just sit there, like a dead leever, staring at me with your mouth open like that. And for Nayru's sake, don't run to Link every time something doesn't go your way!"
"What?" Zelda demanded. "I've never—"
"You do so!" Neesha interrupted. "You did it today when Impa wasn't going to let you go after the pendants! You gave up and made Link fight for you. What's wrong with you that you need a male to fight for you? All the time, you're getting other people to do it for you. You're using other people for your dirty work. If you can't win a fight on your own, Zelda, you don't deserve to win at all." Zelda stared at her, resisting the urge to scowl.
"Neesha, if you felt like this, you should have—"
"It's not just me," Neesha interrupted again. "And in fact, if you really want to know, I don't really care all that much. It if keeps Link smiling, it's fine by me – even if what keeps Link smiling is not exactly what I would have picked for him. But for the rest of the women here – except Nabooru, who actually likes you and seems to think for some reason that you actually have a spine – you're just not good enough. They're offended, first off, that of all the women in the fortress, Link decided to pick a weak Hylian girl with no sense of pride and honour. Farore, Zelda, if you could hear half of the crap he takes for you …"
"Weak?" Zelda demanded. "I'm weak? Neesha, I didn't survive seven years disguised as a boy because I was weak. I didn't try to take on Bongo-Bongo on my own because I was weak! I didn't … I didn't follow Link all around Hyrule trying to help him awaken the Sages because I was weak!"
"Then prove it!" Neesha cried. "Prove you're not! Prove to us you're good enough! Prove you're worthy of a Gerudo King! Fight for him! Don't just sit there and think you're entitled to him! Because you're not. You're not entitled to anything until you've proven you deserve it."
"Deserve it?" Zelda demanded angrily, crossing her arms and shifting her weight. "I have proven I deserve Link! If I hadn't, we wouldn't be—"
"Nobody cares, Zelda," Neesha interrupted. "Nobody cares what you did outside the desert. Nobody cares what you proved out there. We're still waiting to see it here."
"Well how?" Zelda demanded, making an impatient gesture, her temper slipping from her grasp at last. "How in Nayru's name am I going to shift an opinion as strong as this one apparently is? And why the Hell should I have to prove anything to a pack of barbaric, thieving desert rats? Link doesn't belong to you anymore than he does to me, and if he and I decide we're in a relationship, it's none of your damn business!" Before Zelda could go any further, a grin suddenly cracked Neesha's face.
"So you do have a bit of spunk," she said slyly. Zelda's anger dulled with the realization she'd been had. "What's sad," Neesha continued, "is that it took a full five minutes of me ripping you up before you lost your temper. You'll need to work on that, for starters. If someone gets in your face, Zelda, you don't have to take that. Nabooru's convinced you have a backbone. Maybe it's time you started showing it to the rest of the world." Zelda's anger faded completely and she was once again back to staring at Neesha in shock.
"Come again?" She asked.
"I said you're a stupid, lack-wit of a Hylian who couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag." There it was again. The feeling that she was being tested. She hesitated for only a moment.
"And you're a backstabbing, ignorant thief with no sense of morals or class." Neesha flashed her a grin she could only have learned from Link.
"You're catching on," she said. Zelda smiled, and then laughed.
Maybe the Gerudo weren't so bad after all.