The trip down the mountain with the Gorons was a bit slower than I'd hoped. Because their usual method of travel was to simply roll down the mountain and I couldn't do that, we were all walking. At a fairly slow pace, might I add. It's not that I don't like walking, it's just that I'm worried about Link. The ever present thought of something happening to him was enough to make me want to run into the mines myself to find him. Eventually though, we did make it down to the village, and for a moment everything was alright.
The Gorons stood around the village doing...whatever the hell they were doing. I didn't care to find out. I looked around at the small house-like buildings, wondering which one housed this "Renado" character. I sighed in frustration. It's not like it matters anyway.
"Hey! Aren't you that girl that helped Link save Colin? Oh what was it...Rheikah?" a small girlish voice says from beside one of the huts. I believe she was called Beth, the girl that Colin was trying to save. I nodded at the girl.
"Yeah, That's me." I say. She looks around for Link until her eyes once again settle on me.
"Would you like to come inside and see him? Colin, I mean. Renado says he should be waking up soon enough." She asks with a smile. I smiled back. Again with everyone being so nice! Honestly, does no one else find it kind of weird?
"I would love to" I say. Beth leads me inside the hut and over to the sleeping blonde boy who was surrounded by those who care about him. The children and who I assume is Renado all look up at Beth and I.
"You all remember Rheikah, right? She's the girl that helped Link save Colin. Rheikah, this is Malo, his older brother Talo, and Mr. Renado. I, of course, am Beth!" The boys all waved to me as Beth pulled me to sit next to the sleeping blonde. A silence settled around us for a moment as I watched the steady rise and fall of Colin's chest that meant he was breathing. The quiet was quickly broken though by Talo asking me a question.
"So where is Link?" He asks and everyone's attention was once again on me.
"He's in the mines. The Goron elder thought it would be best if I stayed back so I wouldn't get hurt." as if that would happen. Just because I'm a girl and I don't exactly look tough, doesn't mean I'm not stronger than I put off.
"So are you like... Link's girlfriend?" Beth asks. I shook my head, chuckling a little at the impossibility of anyone—much less the supposed savior of Hyrule—caring about me. It was weird when people were being nice to me. Bokoblins would fly before anyone actually liked me.
From there, the kids asked me the basic new girl questions like, "Where are you from?", "How did you meet Link?", and "Why did you leave Castle Town?". They were all pretty easy to lie about, until Talo asked one I wasn't expecting.
"Do you think your family misses you? I mean, they know you're coming back, right?" I froze. My family... Short flashes of memories from that day played in my mind. The day I lost them. The day I got my dad's bow. The kids seemed to realize that Talo overstepped and immediately tried to make it better.
"Nice going, Talo!" Malo whisper shouted. His brother responded with a "sorry!" while Beth patted my arm.
"It's okay, Rheikah! Link's an orphan too! I guess that's just something you guys have in common!" She says, earning a crude stare from the younger boys.
"I didn't mean to upset you Miss Rheikah. Please don't cry!" Talo says. I looked at him confused for a moment. Cry...? My hand instinctively went up to my face and I felt the water on my face.
"It's fine." I say, wiping away the tears I didn't know had fallen. I excused myself from the group and went outside, tugging at the bow string secured around my torso. The string that was once comforting, now felt like a grief filled reminder. A feeling of anger coursed through me as I pulled the bow off over my head and threw it into the spring just ahead of me. I ran my fingers through my deep red hair and sat by the water side to clear all the negative thoughts from my head.
My family was good.
My parents were brave.
The villagers were wrong and simply paranoid.
We were fighters, and I wouldn't change that for the world.
I sat there for a while, repeating those words to myself. As long as I believed it, it doesn't matter if any one else does. I looked up from my lap to see the clear, glistening water of the spring. The calming waves licked up at the edge of my boots, wetting the material slightly. Then I saw it.
I crawled in the water after the bow, realizing it was still in the spring, not caring if my clothes got wet. I grabbed the red and black limb and pulled it out of the water. The wet feathers attached to the string groove spun in half circles as the excess water dripped off back into the spring around me. I carried the bow back to my spot by the spring and set it down next to me while both it and myself dried off.
I'm not sure how much time passed, but soon it was almost sunset. The kids had checked on me a few times but I sent them away each time, assuring them I was fine. Eventually, Beth came out and told me Colin was waking up and I went inside to see him for myself.
Sure enough, just as she said, Colin was awake and sitting up. The kids were all crowded around him, making sure he was okay despite Renado telling them to give the boy some space. Colin looked up at me as I came in, smiling at me. He got up and hugged my legs, surprising me with the sudden gesture enough to push me a bit. I only chuckled at his enthusiasm, catching a small glance of green from out the window. An odd feeling found its way into my chest. Could it be Link?
"How are you feeling?" I ask. Colin lets go of me and takes a step back, answering with a quick, "Better". He looked around a second.
"Where's Link?" He aks, a bit of worry in his expression. I glanced outside again, this time sure of what I saw.
"Actually, I think he's outside." I say, making my way back outside, followed by Renado and the kids. When Link heard us he turned around, looking us all over. My eyes found his and I took a moment to confirm it was him, and that he was okay. I didn't know I was walking toward him until there was only about two feet between us and Colin broke our eye contact by stumbling up beside me. Link gets down to his height and catches him before he falls too hard, helping him hold himself up. He was still very weak from his earlier encounter with the monsters.
"Ilia..." The small boy starts, on his hands and knees in front of Link. "You've got to save Ilia!" I scrunched up my face in confusion. Who the hell is Ilia?
"Those monsters left me with the other kids, but they must have taken her somewhere else! Whenever I thought I couldn't go on, I'd think of you and Ilia and hold on, Link..." Colin stood up and put on a reassuring smile.
"See? I... I'm fine now." Link stood also, a small smile gracing his features.
"Remember what I told you back in Ordon, Link? So you don't have to worry about me anymore! Go help Ilia!" Colin says. Whoever this Ilia person is, she must be loved very much by these people — Link included. I almost chuckled. Must be nice.
I didn't even notice Renado approaching us until he spoke, telling Link not to worry and that he'll watch over the kids. We all stood in front of Link —the kids and all —and Renado spoke once again.
"In Hyrule, countless tales are told of the ancient hero...and your deeds bring them all to mind. May the graces of the great goddesses who shaped Hyrule bear you on your way" Renado says and bows to Link, followed by the children. Now that I think about it, I guess Link does fit the description for the ancient hero.
My father used to tell me stories about a 'Hero of time' when I was little. The stories he told me though, weren't like the ones everyone else knew. His stories were more realistic. In my father's version, the hero was neither pure nor extraordinary and in the end, an important decision had to be made for the good of Hyrule. Because of his choice, the hero was destined to live again as the goddess's attempt to make him choose differently. My dad never told me what the choice was. Instead, every time I asked, he just smiled, winked, and said that one day I'd find out on my own.
Eventually I stopped asking.
Renado took the kids back inside, leaving Link and I alone. He looked at me expectingly, knowing I wasn't going to like his next words.
"I need you to stay h—"
"No"
"Rheikah, you can't com—"
"Yes, I can"
"You don't understand. You really can't—"
"I'm going with you. Just accept it." Link groaned, holding his head in his hands.
"I've already sat out of one thing. I'm not sitting out another. I can help you Link!" I say. He sighs, looking up at me.
"I'm supposed to be taking you home.." He mumbles then stands straight. "Castle town is still covered in Twilight. You would just be sitting outside the border waiting."
"Then that's what I'll do" I say, smiling. He puts his hands up in surrender, mumbling out an "alright" before grabbing Epona by the reins and climbing on her back. He helps me up to sit behind him and we set off to the North, towards the west gate of Castletown. The ride was mostly silent as far as talking went, but I didn't mind. It was pleasant.
"So... were the kids nice to you? They tend to be a bit mischievous at times." Link says in a horrible attempt at making small talk. I rolled my eyes and leaned into his back.
"Yeah, they were fine. Just asked a lot of questions." I say. Something hard poked my chest and I leaned back, looking for what it was. Across Link's back, secured by the tight string, was a brown bow. How had I not noticed that before?
"When did you get this?" I ask, running a hand along the smooth limb on his shoulder. It looked new, but there was no way it could have been made recently. No, it had been preserved for some time.
"Hm? Oh, I got it in the mines. Which reminds me, I brought you back some arrows as a thank you for helping me get Colin back." He says, and digs around in his bag for a moment before pulling out a bundle of arrows. I take them and put them in my quiver, finding a new peace in the small weight they provided.
"Thanks. That's really nice of you." I say and he says a short "you're welcome" but I ignored it almost completely. Instead, I hugged him from behind and placed a small kiss on the only part of his face I could reach from this angle— part of his ear, which turned red after.