Chapter 7 The Unsafe Plains and a Stolen Trophy
We walked in silence, and I avoided meeting his eye contact like even that will make me explode with rage, and I often wondered if he felt the same. Our boots clomped rhythmically and sent up small puffs of dirt in bravado with our march. The sun was pleasantly warm and shown itself free in a pure blue sky with few sailing clouds. The birds and bugs sang in harmony as they celebrated the fine weather. The road was clear and the short rolling hills allowed a far view. From the dirt roads near the castle, one could see everything from the distant forests, the tall soaring mountains, and finally the beautiful castle itself.
Hyrule's white castle still looked the same as it always has, so breathtaking and glorious, but now it seemed to only defy the dark secret inside it. I tore my gaze from the mighty towers to see it held the prince's attention as well. He looked longing, like he wanted to change his mind and just go home.
Now that he saw me staring, I could not cowardly break the glare, and so I held it a while before I mustered the strength the shatter the agonizing quiet. "You still have a choice."
The prince frowned for only a moment before laughing quietly and shaking his head. "I have no desire to go back home. Not after what I've done."
It was useless to press it further, so I settled on the sight of the road ahead and ignored him, but he didn't look away from me. "You don't know what it's like. I'm supposed to be their king, I was expected to help the people and be their leader, but after this? What's worse is not being pushed to fix this myself. Everyone just wants me to linger and wait, but I can't handle the stares, and undoubtedly the thoughts in their heads. I'm a tyrant."
I wanted to push back the past argument, and yell that he can't fix this, but, for once in my life, I chose to wisely hold my tongue. Yelling such an accusation will only bring the argument back up with no resolutions. And so, we fell into the same rhythm once more until...
"Link! Get him!" The disgruntled voices caused both me and the prince to look back where the dense forest was where a small group of moblins ran with cause towards us. They pointed, yelled, and charged with spears.
I drew my sword and the prince followed with a touch of confusion. I couldn't hold a tired sigh. "Here we go again." I remarked quietly.
His majesty heard me and glanced over to me as we waited for our opponents. "This happens a lot?"
"Oh, yeah." I answered, and by then the group of moblins were near enough to take a swing at us. I sidestepped clear of the spear weapon leading and batted it aside with my shield. The clumsy thing stumbled with the direction of its spear, but I had no time to fight with it more. From a quick glance, there seemed to be seven moblins, and every last one of them were charging at me like my companion never existed!
But the prince was prepared and intervened, taking quite a few off my back. Moblin spears flew everywhere in front of my eyes as they began swarming around me. They tried to mingle in a circle and surround me, but I couldn't let that happen! I slashed at the ones moving behind me, but that gave too much of an opening for the ones ahead. Unable to block every attack, I jumped back so the ones that were behind were then in front. The moblin now to the left went for an overhead swing. I lifted my shield and braced my muscles to steady the hit, but now that the other saw that I was busy, he took the chance for a low pierce. I crouched low and tried to redirect the piercing moblin's weapon. My plan worked, but I felt the sharp edge graze my back as his weapon cleared away. I had no time to nurse the pain! I stabbed at the first moblin's legs and raised up to my feet when he flinched and dropped the spear down.
As I rose up, I could see the prince. He was fighting well and now had more moblins than I did! His movements twirled, struck in rapid succession, and matched against the enemies' in a royal splendor. And I didn't even realize at first that he has already fell two of the beasts!
In that short moment, I hated the prince's gut. And watching him fight so well against the moblins made me feel one thing.
Jealousy.
Quite simply, I hated that he wasn't struggling! As the Hero of Hyrule, I should be the best fighter in the land! That made the all familiar rage build back up inside me yet again. And here, I had an output. With all the strength my arms could possibly muster, I slammed my sword down hard right on the already injured moblin's head. Then, knowing another moblin to be almost completely behind me, I spun on my heels and used the momentum to cut the air with my weapon. My sword's flying attack was suddenly stopped however, having struck the moblin's spear so hard that my blade was embedded in the wood. Pulling back against it will only give me a disadvantage, and so I kicked high and landed the blow into the moblin's stomach. The force shoved him violently backwards, and the spear was yanked free from the sword.
Another moblin already made his way over to me and was ready to attack. He jostled the spear forward, but I saw him long before he even he started the attack, and backed out of range in time. With his spear now safely away, I stepped in front of him, still aware of the moblin I had sent to the ground next to me. I shot my sword high then low, and he met both strikes, first with the tip and last with the wood. Then, I struck his other side, thinking to keep him busy in every direction, but after only a few clashes, he quickly grew tired of my useless antics. He grasped the shaft horizontally with both hands and roughly shoved into me. I was in the middle of another attack at the time, and could do nothing as I stumbled and fell to the ground.
I was at a clear disadvantage, and to make matters even worse, the moblin I had pushed down was already standing back up. More concerning to me right in that moment though, was of the moblin standing over me. He took his spear, and I watched him closely for the right moment to dodge. But the opportunity never came.
The prince came running in from the side with his rapier. The moblin saw the next opponent and turned to meet him, but he never had time to bring his spear up. His royal highness was already in the midst of a stab when he approached the moblin. The glittering sword entered between the connection of arm and chest and the moblin fell away. Now, the noble sword was spattered with the monster's blood.
My opportunity for dodging the attack was needless now, and with my feelings towards the prince, I couldn't keep quiet. "I didn't need your help!" I yelled.
The young man's face twisted in confusion before he shrugged. "What do you mean?" He replied. "I'm involved in this battle too. Was I supposed to stand by and watch?"
I didn't bother to answer, but to sate my want to continue the argument, I subconsciously clenched my teeth and rolled away from the last standing moblin. My stubborn companion ran up to it next, but I was not going to let him take the last kill. I was up on my feet in no time and rushed to join the battle.
The moblin flailed his weapon between us and was slowly trying to back up, like he was wanting to run. But it was too late for him. Like I was competing with the prince of Hyrule, I was little focused on my defense, and was all offense. My moves were wide and targeted any opening the moblin had. But defense was also important, and with every wrong move I made, the prince had cover for me. After protecting my every opening, the moblin became distracted by the prince's strikes, and I was able to creep over to the side enough to end the fight.
Now that the battle had been won, I wiped my sword down and continued down the road without a word. "Wait up!" The prince called. He rushed at my side before settling in pace. "You're injured, shouldn't we stop to rest for a while?"
"No," I shot back, never slowing, but feeling the aftermath of the spear that grazed me. "We need to reach Ruto as soon as possible. We wasted enough time already."
"How unwise!" The prince returned. "Does this decision have anything to do with what happened back there?" He paused, like that was a real question awaiting a real answer. But I felt like it was pointless and he was only seeking to attack me with words, so I remained quiet. But then, the prince caught up to that as well. "I thought so." He stated, clearly thinking of when I yelled at him. "You know, you have a pride issue."
He struck close, too close. I stopped my pace and turned to face him. "This has nothing to do with pride! If it wasn't for you, I would probably be in the next palace already!"
"No, you wouldn't. If I never came to your door, that roadblock would still be there and you would have wasted even more time backtracking."
I sighed, faced with the realization that he was right and picked my pace up again. "Then quit slowing me down."
"Zelda would cry if she saw you like this." He continued from behind.
That last step I took I let explode in a cloud of dust on the road and I glared at him once more. "I told you, I don't have a pride issue!"
His Highness let that go finally, and like before the battle, we continued yet again in silence. That argument, however, lingered like a sting, and his accusations led me to think of Zelda for the first time in quite a while.
The sun began to set when we finally stopped for a rest. My wound from when the spear glazed the side of my back was raw and dried blood crusted around it. The prince observed me as I placed a hand over the injury. "You should clean that now that you can. It would be bad if it got infected."
"Maybe later." I returned, removing my hand and trying to look normal once more. I thought I saw the prince shake his head, but I couldn't be sure. I pretended not to notice him and let that slide past.
After a moment of rest, we decided it was smart to find a more concealed place to sleep. In the middle of plains however, it was hard to find such a place. But after walking and searching for almost an hour, we found that one of the hills were sloped enough to make an overhang. The prince moved in and took only a few minutes to settle down before he lied down to sleep.
I left only for a short while to clean and bandage my wound before returning to find a comfortable position to sleep as well. If the prince was still awake when I settled, he remained quiet and I drifted off to sleep without a word between us.
Ganon plagued my sleep that night. I saw him, like he glared into my world from the afterlife. He watched patiently. And he waited for my blood to be spilled so he could rise again. I felt that he continued to stare until it burned me from the inside out.
So far, I had refused the rumors. I didn't even give much of a thought about if Ganon could really come back or not. But now, I was scared. Like from when I saw him in the desert, he gave me a fright that nothing else could.
But something else was amongst the camp. And if I wasn't trapped somewhere in my unconscious mind, I would have heard someone shuffling in my bags. But now that I was more awake than asleep, the sound stopped.
And was replaced with approaching footsteps.
I opened my eyes and saw a silhouette standing in front of me. As I continued to look at it and tried to decipher who it was, the form froze, like it wasn't supposed to be caught. "Your Highness?" I asked, wondering why the prince would be awake at this time.
And that was when I saw the white gleam of a dagger.
Instinct woke me fully and made me quickly reached for my equipment. The form was startled and it backed away before throwing the shiny blade, but I managed to pull the shield in front of me in time. The force used to throw the weapon made it bounce far off my shield.
The form moved to collect the fallen dagger and I stood up. A quick glance to the side allowed me to see that Zelda's brother, the prince, was starting to stir from groggy sleep off to the side. And as if to finally show my attacker, the still young moon shone white onto its face and revealed its identity as a lone goriya.
The short rodent beast took a step back and put the dagger away only to replace it with a boomerang. I waited for the monster to throw it towards me so I could easily sidestep around it and run nearer to the goriya. I stayed further away than I wished, but I knew the boomerang would come soaring back in no time. I tried to stab him from my angle anyway, but he easily stepped out of harm.
"What's going on?"
I glanced to the side to briefly see the prince on his feet, awake and with weapon drawn. I didn't reply to his confusion, for by that point, the goriya reached to catch the boomerang. Now was my best chance. I took a step closer and slashed at the monster. Like before, the goriya jumped back, but not in time to stop my sword from creating a gash on its arm.
The monster looked at the open wound with a horrified realization, and ran in the other direction. "Link, he took our supplies!" My companion yelled and pointed to a large bag that the goriya picked up before running.
Together, we broke into a dash to keep up with it. The grass ruffled from a gentle night breeze that felt like a hurricane's wind against us. I breathed in the smell of fresh nature with every huff, and I felt like we weren't alone in the chase. Owls and crickets offered their voices of encouragement, and the trees seemed alive when they ruffled their leaves together, giving a sound like that of ocean waves.
The goriya was quick, having always stayed in front of us, but fortunately, we never fell behind. And the chase couldn't go on forever. And so, we ran on and left our camp suddenly abandoned. I became tired fast from little sleep and from the wound I had, but I didn't dare slow and let Zelda's brother reach the monster first!
I had felt like I had run forever, but just when I was wishing I had brought more weapons like arrows or bombs, a small cave came into view, and the goriya was running straight for it. How long could that cave be, I asked myself, was it a maze? Or perhaps it led all the way through back to the outdoors? Or maybe, it was simply a dead end. Either way, now was my time to catch the tricky beast.
The small rodent with the large bag of stolen goods disappeared into the dark mouth of the cave. And I was already reaching for my candle and sword before I broke into my quickest run. With a thought, the candle was lit and revealed the surprisingly smooth and narrow walls as I entered in behind the monster. Aches hung upside down on the ceiling and watched me with their small, beady eyes. They appeared curious, and almost seemed like the light was bothering them a bit, but they remained where they were. Perhaps they were too tired to care?
Whatever it was that made them not wanting to bother me was now the last thing on my mind. I could hear sobbing, and even with the echo, I knew the thief was close by. The soft cries drove me to continue down the passage. The cave was quite small and simple, and after walking a short distance forward, I saw him.
The goriya sat as a pitiful lump. Having tucked himself into the tightest, most guilty ball he possibly could. And he hid his face against the wall, like he thought I wouldn't be able to hurt him if he didn't see me. The bag that had our belongings in it sat, spilling over behind him. "Please..." The goriya choked out once his voice let him. "I want to live! I will return everything I've stolen, so please just leave me alone." I looked back at the bag behind him. The things he stole were all jumbled together. Provisions thrown in with currency, the prince's jewels crowding my scroll of shield, and the crystal gems mixed like common rupees. "I know I attacked you earlier, but now I'm asking you not to do the same!"
Here he was, begging for mercy, but I hardly even processed what he said. Deep down, I only cared about the gems that Impa had given me. And if he was somehow about to escape, then my quest would have been forced to come to a halt. It would have been humiliating to me to have my quest stopped because I lost the ancient crystals to a lowly goriya.
I could almost feel the glimmer that my sword caught from the flickering candle.
"Please!" The rodent beast cried again.
The emotions provoked me to the return of ire like a resurfacing symptom of a sickness. And I only expressed those feelings by frowning at the monster with nothing to say. But the longer I looked at him, the more upset I became.
"I promise I will never steal from anyone or anything ever again!"
I thought of running him through, to place the pitiful creature out of its misery. But then, a simple question filtered through my mind; what was I doing? Was I going to run a helpless creature down? As if there was an echo from thought to word, my companion finally showed up clomping from behind me and said alarmingly, "What are you doing?"
He shook me from my thoughts, and I recoiled from the truth of what I was about to do. I then moved to sheath my sword to find that I was pointing it threateningly at the goriya the whole time. I tried to reply then, but couldn't find a way to start. His Highness didn't spare me a moment's glance anyway, but just moved to pick up the bag, to which the goriya whimpered and shrank back closer to the wall and away from the prince. "We should go." The prince stated without pause and instantly walked back the way we came. My own thoughts had left me in an aftermath of shame that I desperately didn't want the prince, or the goriya either, to see. But I still couldn't help to look back at the pitiful creature as I followed behind my companion. The goriya still remained curled up, but watched us retreat with wide, dampen eyes.
It didn't take us long to reach outside again. And once we were clear from the cave, the noble turned to look at me. "What went on in there?" He asked.
Yet again, I stumbled for a reply. I knew what he was asking, but I couldn't bare to admit it to him. "What do you mean? I chased the goriya into the cave and after he surrendered, you came in and-"
"Saw you about to end the life of a helpless beast that was begging for mercy?" As if his point was the last to be stated, he dropped the bag on the grass and started to go through it. "It doesn't matter if the beast was Ganon himself asking to be spared, a true hero wouldn't do such a cruel act."
A shudder coursed through my body at the mere mention of my greatest enemy. "I wasn't about to kill him!" I denied, trying to find a spit of truth in my own statement. After all, I was already withdrawing my threat from the goriya right before the prince barged in.
"Then what were you doing?" The prince answered, this time though, his voice was calmer.
But I still hesitated. And I never moved to help him, I just stood off to the side, watching him.
"I thought so," He concluded, never stopping his work. "My sister always admired you, but now I can't see why."
That shocked words from my mouth. "Stop bringing Zelda into our fights! Even if I was going to kill that monster back there, why would you stop me anyway?"
The prince continued to sort the stolen things in silence until he stood up, my items in hand. "Because I don't want to regret another wrong doing." He dropped everything of mine into my arms. "We should move away from this place. What do you think, Hero?"
Again, he used that title like an insult and walked away. I looked down at my stuff that he has given back to me. Everything seemed to all be here, but there was also something that wasn't mine. Resting on the top was a small trophy of a golden angel with her hands on her chest and wide wings spread out on either side.
Was it His Majesty's? Where did it come from?
