Chapter 9

A New Spell and a Challenge Yet to Come

"Do a lot of girls talk to you like that?"

"What do you mean?" I asked back, never stopping my walk on the cobble streets. It was well into the middle of the day, but soon, we would be making our way to the mountain just south of here.

The prince stumbled for a reply. "Like- well... I think she likes you."

I couldn't hold back laughter at his absurd conclusion. "Are you crazy!?" I cleared my throat to speak more clearly. "No, I've known her for some time. We live in different towns, but whenever I'm leaving for a while, I like to stop there to gather supplies."

"Which makes me think." He started again, now clearing his thought of romance. "Why do you travel like that? Was it common for you to just leave home before six years ago for the sole purpose to explore?"

"What are you saying?" I responded. But the truth was, I didn't know an answer to this question. "That killing Ganon has changed me?"

"Well, I didn't know you back then, so I could only assume or ask. It's just... I find there's little reason for it." I was growing offended and I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he cut me off. "Listen to me. Where do you see yourself in a decade? Still a lone traveler who always leaves home? You need to decide where your life is going, and I don't think this exploring is doing anything for you."

Again, I tried to speak, but I found that I could not. Where was my life going? It was funny to think that I never pondered that thought. No, I wasn't going to give into his pestering. What he asked was personal, and I wasn't going to give him an answer. But the truth was, I didn't have one. I didn't know what I was aiming for. And if I was completely honest with myself, he sounded really wise. He reminded me of his sister, Zelda... How he was talking of taking choices, but he was of royal blood. His life was laid down before him; he was becoming king and he didn't have a choice about who he wanted to be.

He remained quiet and allowed me to sit on his statement, and even though I refused to give in, I still thought about the question and was seeking an answer from myself. I focused on my surroundings to shake off the thoughts, and that was when I noticed the tallest building in town with the many windows.

The lady was standing in the doorway talking with who I presumed to be the elder. Like the elder back in my hometown, his long white beard fell to his waist, and his face was old and filled with countless wrinkles, but the wisdom still shown in his eyes. As we neared the house on our way south, I heard them talking. "I have to make sure their kindness doesn't go rewarded!"

"Uncle, don't be silly." I heard the lady reply. "Stay here, if they want a reward, they will come to us."

Now we were close enough for her eyes to catch us. She said nothing, but her face told the elder everything. He turned around and called out to us. "Are you the people who found my precious trophy?"

"Uncle, please don't bother them."

"Oh, I'll only take a second!" He exclaimed as he briskly walked to us. "I wanted to thank you in person. This trophy you found means the world to me. I was close to my grandfather who gave it to me, and I can't tell you how relieved I am to have it back!"

"We happened to find it by accident." I spoke up before the prince could take over. "I didn't even know what it was or where it came from."

"It doesn't matter to me how you found it, I'm just so pleased that it's home. Please let me reward you." Before we could protest, he dropped several rupees in both of our arms and was checking the pockets in his robes for something else. "Also," he continued. "I was undecided what else to give you two, because I wanted to give you more than money. Then I decided to pick one of my spells that I don't need with me much longer." He removed a wrapped scroll and handed it to me. "But I must warn you; this is a simple spell to cast, but hard to use as a novice."

I caught my companion's eye and shrugged. We might as well accept the gifts now. "I wish you luck, wherever you two are going." The elder then reached to shake my hand, but I had to shift the money and scroll in order to return the gratitude awkwardly. And after paying respect to His Majesty, he backed away. "May the Goddesses guide you!"

His niece was shaking her head when he came back to the door, but she couldn't hide her smile for her crazy uncle. Now that we were free, it was easy for me to slip the rewards quickly away. Once my hands were free of the rupees, I opened the scroll, curious what it would have on it. Above the old, written chant was the simple word, "Jump". What kind of spell is that? The only thing I could think of is that it'll let me jump further or higher. I rolled it back up and slipped it with my last scroll, and the elder turned just in time to wave at us when we picked up the pace.

Once we reached the border of town, we could see the mountain just sitting on the horizon. But it was too steep and dangerous for a lot of people to climb. This mountain next to the village used to be a mine, I knew, the quickest way to the other side was to travel through it, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. People have abandoned the place years ago because they had a more rich mine else where, and that left these tunnels free for anything to sneak in.


We had only traveled close to an hour when we stopped to eat before going in. I sat down on the grass and reached into my bags for the rations that I had brought, but the prince left, saying something about this being the best time to change into his new armor. I didn't think he had to leave to strap on the leather, he was going to keep wearing his underclothes, and with him being royalty, he probably didn't know how to change by himself. But perhaps that's why he left; he was afraid that I would make fun of his lack of knowing anything that a commoner would know.

I didn't care to bother him about it. I remained seated in my place on the grass, eating bread and dry meat. He was gone for quite a while, and I wondered if he was struggling with his armor. But soon, he appeared and was walking towards me. Even from here I can see a lot of the buckles were too loose or not buckled at all. But the leather made him look more like an everyday person, save he was still wearing some royal jewelry. The brown suit mingled with the color of his curly hair, and just for a moment, I didn't recognize him as the soon-to-be king of Hyrule.

The prince furrowed his face, suddenly seeming embarrassed. "Um, so what do you think? Does it hide my identity as Prince?"

I bit off one more bite of the meat before setting my meal on the pouch that I took it from on the ground. I stood up and moved near him to fix the buckles. He made no protest, but I could tell he was uncomfortable. I didn't mock him though, I just adjusted the straps and went back to finish my meal. "Better, but you should remove your jewelry too."

At the mention of the riches, he exclaimed like he forgot them altogether and started to take off the rings one by one. He then sat next to me and brought out his food. "Now you look like a commoner." I stated. "No one will give you a second look."

"Good," He replied, obviously relieved.

Silence passed between us. The late afternoon sun was catching the ground like orange fire, and birds flitted looking like racing black spots across the suddenly clouded sky. The mountain never budged against the rising, but yet steady, wind that the clouds brought with them. I looked up at the clouds covering the forever sky and making it seem a lot shorter. With them sailing right in, and bringing such a breeze with them, I realized it could bring rain as well. But for right now, the weather was pleasant.

I finished the last of the bread and dusted the crumbs off before placing the pouch back on my belt. But my companion needed more time to eat his meal. No rush, I thought, I have been pushing myself to my limit for quite some time now, and now was a rare moment to relax. I may have chosen to stay quiet, but my mind raced from one thought to another. From thoughts about the quest, to our encounters in the town of Ruto. Diane had asked me a question in Hiker's that I didn't have the answer to, and now that I remembered, I wanted to ask the prince himself. "You told me, back at Rauru, that there is a roadblock on that southern road, right?" I blurted from the quiet.

He didn't look at me, but continued to eat when he answered. "That's right, why?"

"Well, I never asked you before, but I've been wondering how did it get there."

Then he turned and met my eyes. "I never told you? I guess in the midst of our arguments, I never thought about it." He replied, but he wasn't expecting me to say anything, because he barely paused. "Soldiers were sent to the south of Rauru because of a group of moblins were hiding out over there. This particular group have been loads of trouble. They've been ransacking almost every town in this part of the kingdom, and my men have reported that they were coming closer to the castle and the settlements near it."

What were they doing? I wondered, and as if reading my very thoughts, the prince paused and looked at me. "They were probably looking for you."

A shiver was sent up my back just thinking of their lust, but I could only hope that my companion didn't notice. "But they were plundering as well?"

He shrugged. "You know moblins are easily distracted. In their search for you, I guess, since they were looking in the towns anyway, the thought of stealing and terrorizing took over." He then shook his head in continuing the story. "Anyway, they had to be stopped. Solders were sent to be rid of the beasts. They told me that when they got there, more moblins have joined together, thus proving to be more of a problem. There was a battle, and many of the monsters died, but this is what's astonishing, once the moblins saw that they were losing, the beasts retreated past the border of the tight cliffs and into the swamps. As my men went to pursue, there were moblins on top of the high formation who worked together to roll a boulder down, blocking the way between the solders and the monsters.

And that's how the boulder got there. No one was killed from the rock slide, thank the Goddesses, but some of the men were wounded when they came back home." He gave a slight break like to think about the circumstances before speaking again. "I never thought moblins could work together like that, let alone come up with such a smart plan. But what bothers me is that they got away. Who knows where that group is now?"

"You haven't heard of anymore attacks?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"No, not one!" He sighed, and took a bite from his bread. "Why would they stop?" He asked, but I shook my head. That question was forced to go unanswered.

He ate the last of his bread and stood up, brushing off his armor when he did. "Anyway, should we press forward?"

"Of course." I agreed and moved to stand as well.

We had sat right in front of the old mine, so just a few steps ahead allowed the eyes into the first part of the darkened tunnel. One could tell, without knowing, that the mine hasn't been used in a long time, because the many tools and forgotten materials strewn about were quite old and rusted.

I just knew. I could sense the danger from there. The old mines had something dwelling in it. The people of Ruto didn't know what they were allowing when the left the entrance wide open. But we had no choice. If we wanted to reach the swamp sooner, we had to face the dangers in there.

Author's Note: As always, thanks for reading! Let me know of any errors or what I did well. Just anything. Have a passing thought? Leave them in a review, I pay a lot of attention to what my readers think.

Earlier, I had written of a small quandary. That I didn't want to give the prince a name because he isn't entirely an original character. Then it occurred to me; if he's to have a name, realistically, it would be Prince Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule the Fifth, or Prince Gustaf the Second, or something like that. You know, named after one of the kings from the games.