Chapter 22: Promises
The swaying of the ship could be described as soothing, but it did little to placate the sobbing child in his lap.
Link had dealt with his fair share of crying children, as one of the eldest minors in Ordon village and, thus, a default babysitter, so his current position wasn't anything new. The reason for it, however, was.
Usually a scraped knee or a frivolous dispute with another child were the only issues he had to deal with. While they may have caused a fair amount of distress, they were always easily fixable. Never were they heavy issues. Not like this.
"I d-don't…w-want him to di-iiiee!" Aryll wailed as Link held her close, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her.
"He's not going to die, Aryll," Link said in as soothing a voice as he could muster. "Your big brother is strong."
"B-but not strong enough," Aryll sobbed, fruitlessly wiping at her eyes. "If he was, he would have won that fight, a-and…and he wouldn't have to leave me again."
Link was startled by the crying girl's reference to their loss against Ghirahim. Nonetheless, he recovered quickly. "That was just a little bad luck."
"So he might get bad luck again!" Aryll cried in obvious distress.
"Maybe," Link admitted, his stomach souring at the thought of losing again, "but even if he does, I'm going to be there too. I won't let anything happen to your brother."
Aryll pulled away a little to look up at him, tears still falling down her cherub-like face. "But if you're protecting him, who will protect you?"
"We're all going to protect each other, so don't worry," Link informed her, reaching out to wipe the tears from her face. "Your big brother will come back home to you, alive and in one piece. I'll make sure of it."
Aryll sniffed, and when she spoke her voice was far quieter than before. "A-and you will too?"
The child's concern for him was unexpected, yet sweet, and he couldn't bring himself to disappoint her. He'd probably be able to visit her before he returned to his world anyway. "Yes."
"Promise?" Aryll pressed, her emerald eyes peering intensely into his.
"I promise," Link pledged with a confident smile that visibly put the little girl at ease.
Of course, if he'd known then what he knew now, Link doubted his answer would have been so confident. Nonetheless, he wouldn't have changed it. He still meant it with every fiber of his being. Kid wasn't going to die. Not on his watch.
"Horses!" Tetra's cry snapped Link out of his musings. The young pirate captain had been especially disgruntled to discover that the horses they'd used before had not waited for them to return like good mounts. Of course, anyone that knew anything about horses could deduce that there was no way on Farore's green earth that the animals would stay by the sea with monsters on the loose, especially since they weren't their horses. Tetra, obviously, wasn't one of those people, and had been complaining, quite loudly, about it for hours.
Link was just glad to have horses as long as it stopped Tetra's whining. However, as he took a quick sweep of the immediate vicinity, Link failed to see a single horse.
"Where?"
"Over there!" Tetra informed him haughtily, pointing to a slope to their right with Aryll's bright red telescope, which he knew for a fact Kid hadn't given to her willingly.
Even with the direction, Link couldn't see much of anything, but at least now he understood that he wasn't supposed to. Unless his vision was as sharp as a hawk's, which it wasn't…without the Hawkeye, anyway.
Taking out the bird-like mask, Link affixed it to his face and peered in the direction Tetra had indicated. Sure enough, he was able to locate a band of horses peacefully grazing at the bottom of a hill.
"Come on, let's hurry and grab some horses!" Tetra urged, breaking into a run.
"You're eager," Midna observed with a giggle.
"You don't understand how exhausting walking is, Midna," Tetra countered, slowing her pace and whirling around so she was walking backwards. "You can fly."
"Flying is taxing too, you know," Midna returned, drooping a bit in the air as if to prove her point.
Tetra rolled her eyes, evidently unconvinced, and turned back around, resuming her race to get to the horses first.
"If she can run like that, we don't need horses," Zelda quipped, and Link smiled in agreement as the rest of them began to trail after the pirate captain at a much more relaxed pace.
Fortunately, Tetra had the sense to stop before she drew too close to the animals, so none of them were aware of the group's presence. That wouldn't last long, though.
Scanning the options, Link attempted to discern which horses were the most likely to be even-tempered. None had his own mare's chestnut coat so using coat color as a determinant was out of the question. All of them were either some sandy variation, dark bay, or silvery grey and white, and since all of the animals were grazing, they didn't offer much in the way of hints. He had no choice but to guess.
With the firm instruction to stay back to his companions, Link went to work. The first horse was easy to capture and calm. The second and third, however, were not.
Having already disturbed the tranquility of the animals, Link was not a trusted creature among them, which made getting close again difficult. Nonetheless, an hour later, sweaty, out of breath, and bruised, Link had managed to secure horses for everyone. Begrudgingly, he noted that he wouldn't be banged up at all if it weren't for Anjean. It was the third horse that had given him the most trouble, after all.
Perhaps that was why he didn't assist the Lokomo girl with calming and mounting her horse. Then again, it wasn't like she needed the aid anyway. She managed it just fine after a few minutes.
"So, where to?" Link asked Zelda once everyone was settled atop one of the horses. Until now, they'd just been moving in the general direction of the forest, hoping to stumble upon mounts.
The princess hummed in thought, closely examining the map in her hands while Tetra peered irritably over Zelda's shoulder.
"Oh, give me that!" Tetra snapped impatiently after Zelda spent a few more moments contemplating the map. "You shouldn't have it if you can't read it."
"I can just lead you there. I know where it is," Anjean spoke up as Tetra's eyes darted over the parchment in her hands.
"So do I," Tetra shot back, her tone daring Anjean to argue.
Anjean took her up on it, urging her dapple grey horse forward with a little trouble. "It's this way."
"I know," Tetra huffed, looking up from the map to shoot a glare in the purple-haired girl's direction.
"Then come on. We're wasting daylight," Anjean said. "It's going to take a while to get there even with horses and-"
"No one asked you," Tetra glowered.
"Tetra, really." Zelda sighed in an exasperated fashion, as she led her own mare after Anjean's. "If she can make our lives easier, let her."
Link didn't object to making their lives easier, but after the little stunt Anjean pulled earlier, he just couldn't bring himself to trust her. "How do we know she isn't leading us into a trap?"
"Link, you too?" Zelda sighed, shooting him a disappointed look over her shoulder.
"Well, it's a valid question given all that's happened," Link argued.
"We did bring her to act as our guide," Midna commented, drifting up from the shadows and miraculously not spooking the horses, though that was probably because she kept to the rear so they couldn't see her.
"Thank you, Midna," Zelda said, evidently grateful to finally have someone agree with her.
The Twilight Princess, however, didn't stop there. "Then again, logic says we should be wary of her."
"Exactly, so we go our own way," Tetra declared, shoving the map in Zelda's face and pointing out their destination.
The princess batted the map aside. "She has no reason to mislead us. Her goal is the same as ours."
"I really just want to help," Anjean chimed in when the rest of them hesitated.
"Fine, then," Tetra said. "You can help if Kid says you can."
Link glanced back at his counterpart only to find the boy looking sincerely lost. "I…um…I don't know."
"That's not an option. Yes, she can lead, or no, she can't," Tetra pressed. "Choose one." The daggers the pirate captain was shooting the young hero's way indicated that he should pick the latter if he knew what was good for him.
It seemed to take forever before Kid said in a small voice, "Yes."
"WHAT?!" Tetra screamed in outrage, crinkling the map in her fist. "You're supposed to say no!"
"Why even ask me then?" Kid demanded with more fire than before.
"Because I thought you had sense!"
"He does," Zelda interjected. She turned to Anjean. "Lead on."
Anjean hesitated, or maybe she was just having trouble getting her mount to obey, before doing as Zelda requested and taking the lead.
"Don't listen to Tetra," Link told Kid as he led their own chocolate-colored horse after the others'. "She's just mad because she didn't get her way." Of course, Link wasn't too happy having Anjean lead them, but he wasn't going to hold that against his counterpart.
Kid hummed, in what Link could only assume to be agreement, but said nothing. He had no idea what was going through his counterpart's head, but Link was sure it wasn't good. He'd been too quiet after the fiasco this morning.
Striking up any conversation after the recent disagreement was out of the question, so the group traveled in silence.
Only once they reached the edge of the forest, did Anjean dare to speak. "There are normally Skulltula deep in these woods, but now I'm not sure what they hold. We should go slowly."
Anjean's reasoning was sound, and Link felt just a little better as she led them into the forest. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but feel uneasy in her presence. He knew he'd seen something in his wolf form last night, and now he was kicking himself for not checking. The incident this morning was entirely avoidable, if only he'd had the courage to look.
Then again, Link supposed it was a small blessing that he hadn't taken a peek at the spirits dancing around Anjean. After all, if the Lokomo girl hadn't snapped this morning, they'd all still be unaware of the spell on Kid which would mean that they'd kill Ghirahim as originally planned, and then-
Link stopped the unwelcome thought before it could continue, reassuring himself with the feeling of his counterpart's steadying grip on his shoulders. Kid was here, safe and sound. There was nothing to get worked up over.
With this in mind, he took a deep breath and attempted to find comfort in the forest. Growing up in a farming village with a thick wood nearby meant that places like this were quite soothing. When he'd agreed to come to his counterpart's world, Link never thought he'd get the chance to traverse a forest so large, much less witness the falling of leaves tinted red, yellow, orange, and brown by the autumn air.
One thing that didn't seem to change, however, was the wind. It was still rather strong, and he could smell the salt from the ocean, though it was turned even more unpleasant by the acrid scent of smoke that remained in the air. He hoped that the burned down village they'd found yesterday had been the only unfortunate village in the area.
His thoughts continued to wander as they tromped through the forest, the horses' hooves crunching fallen leaves and birdsong twittering above their heads among the rustling boughs.
It must have been an hour or so later that Tetra broke the silence, her dislike for Anjean obvious in her voice. "Are we almost there?"
"No," Anjean replied, her tone apologetic and devoid of all the enmity that Tetra's tone possessed.
"Are we halfway there?" Midna wondered with mild interest from the shadows since she only risked spooking the horses if she dared to stay outside them.
Anjean shook her head. "We probably won't get there until tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Tetra cried in outrage.
Zelda's response was much mellower. "This land of yours is quite vast, isn't it?"
"Yes," Anjean agreed with a tiny smile. "I'm afraid it doesn't make traveling swift."
"Humph, that's going to have to change," Tetra announced. "This is way too slow."
"How are you going to change it?" Midna inquired.
Tetra titled her head to the side, considering it, before she sighed. "I don't know yet. Maybe…have horse drawn carriages so we don't have to ride horses."
"That's not going to be much faster," Link piped up. "Horse drawn carriages are pretty slow, and they're not the smoothest rides either. Plus, you'd need at least a dirt road. All this grass will get the wheels stuck."
"Thank you, Mr. Know-It-All," Tetra returned sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Ruin all my plans, why don't you?"
"I'm just saying for your benefit," he replied. "If you want fast travel, horse drawn carriages are not the way to go."
"Fine then, I'll…hmm…oh! I'll use trains. They have to be faster, right?" Tetra reasoned.
Midna shrugged. "Who knows?"
"You mean to have trains flying around all the time? I mean, I guess the demon train is pretty fast but it is a demon train," Anjean interjected. "It'll take a lot of power just to get one train in the air and moving, and there are only so many Lokomo strong enough to generate that power."
"Oh, shut up. I'm just brainstorming. Even a flying train has to be faster than this!" Tetra carped, indicating the horses with broad gestures. "And actually, horses can go faster than this, can't they?" At this, the young pirate threw a glance back at Link for confirmation, and he was obliged to give it.
"They can."
"Exactly, so why aren't we going faster?" Tetra demanded, turning back to Anjean with renewed vigor.
"Because it's not safe to go faster," Anjean replied evenly. "As I said before, there are Skulltula in this forest. They can appear at any time, and if we're going fast, then they can pop out and spook the horses."
"Oh, please." Tetra gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "We've been in this forest for hours, and we haven't run into anything. I think it's safe to say that there's nothing."
"Still, it's better to be cautious…" Anjean said, and Link couldn't help but agree with her.
Of course, Tetra wouldn't let it go. "Cautious isn't quick. Don't you want to help your fellow Lokomo?"
"Of course I do!" Anjean exclaimed.
"Then let's pick up the pace," Tetra ordered.
Uncertainty flashed across the purple-haired girl's pale face. "I want to help him but…we need to make it there in one piece too."
"Didn't you think he might be in pieces right now?" Tetra asked, causing Anjean's expression of uncertainty to transform into one of horror.
"Tetra, stop it," Zelda scolded the pirate girl, her tone icy. The princess turned to Anjean. "I am certain the Guardian of the Forest Realm is in one piece."
"For now," Tetra added. "But who knows, really? Evil spirits are pretty, well, evil. Anything could have happened to your friend. Anything could be happening to him right now, and we can't stop it because we're not there."
"No…he's fine. He has to be." Anjean breathed, one hand straying to the Spirit Flute dangling from her neck.
"Maybe, maybe not. The point is-"
"Tetra, knock it off," Kid's voice startled Link just as much as it did Tetra. The Hero of Twilight glanced over his shoulder to see his counterpart leveling a displeased look at the pirate captain.
Tetra narrowed her eyes at the Hero of Winds. "Why should I?"
"Because I said so."
A faux look of surprise alighted on Tetra's face. "Oh, you're my keeper now? Forgive me, I didn't know." She whirled back around on Anjean. "So, what'll it be? Speed up our pace and save your friend or keep it as it is and let him die?"
"Why are you so mean?!" Anjean cried sorrowfully, the horse beneath her reading her agitation and tossing its head. "You and Zelda share a soul, yet you're nothing like her. She's kind to me, and you're not. Why?"
"Oh, let's see," Tetra mused sarcastically as if she had no idea. "Maybe it's because you just tried to kill my best friend this morning!"
"I told you I'm sorry!" Anjean returned.
"That doesn't cut it for me," Tetra said.
"It does for Kid," Anjean pointed out, throwing an arm in the direction of the Hero of Winds. "And he doesn't hate me."
"That's because he's too nice for his own good," Tetra countered.
"And you're too rash," Kid chimed in, before Anjean could respond.
Tetra whipped around to glare at Kid. "Guess what, bad things happen to nice people, so if I were you, I'd stop being nice."
"Bad things happen to bad people more often than good, Tetra," Link retorted, his own temper rising.
"But he is too nice! That's what landed him in the boat he's in right now!" Tetra argued.
"Then I'll let you get hit next time!" Kid shouted.
"Please do!" Tetra yelled back. "I didn't ask you to jump in front of me anyway!"
"Okay, kiddies, why don't we all calm down?" Midna suggested, coming to hover strategically between his horse and Zelda's so neither horse could see her and holding her hands out like a mediator.
"Stay out of this, Midna," Tetra growled.
"No, please, stay in it," Link invited the Twilight Princess. He sensed that he and Zelda would need all the help they could get to corral Tetra. He focused his attention on the fiery girl seated atop the rear of the horse in front of him. "I don't know what makes you think you can just say anything you want to whoever you want."
"Unless you've forgotten, I'm royalty," Tetra declared, holding her chin high. "I can say whatever I want."
"That doesn't mean you should," Midna commented in a blasé manner as if she was just making an observation in passing rather than scolding the girl. "It's a pain, but people have feelings."
Tetra scowled. "I know that."
"Then you would do well to keep that in mind and consider it before you speak," Zelda added sagely, earning her a dagger-filled glare from Tetra. "Otherwise, people aren't going to like you very much."
Link certainly wasn't liking Tetra very much at the moment, and a quick glance over his shoulder told him that Kid wasn't either.
"Tell that to her! She's the one trying to kill people," Tetra refuted, jabbing an accusing finger at Anjean.
"But I-ahh!" Anjean's rebuttal was cut off in a scream as her grey horse bucked suddenly. Link's immediate reaction was to help her. Sure, he wasn't a big fan of her at the moment either, but that didn't mean he wanted her dead.
Unfortunately, there was no time to assist her, for Zelda's horse caught onto the danger next, followed immediately by his own horse and his full attention was concentrated on preventing himself and Kid from falling off.
Since his horse was the last in line, it was the farthest from the danger, so Link managed to wrangle it into semi-obedience in a matter of seconds, which was long enough for him to identify the threat. A Skulltula, its bone-white carapace shaped like an angry skull displayed for all to see and fear while its black and yellow striped legs wriggled about like oversized maggots, hung from a thread that disappeared into the colorful canopy above. It was positioned just in front of Anjean's still freaking out horse.
"Anjean, dismount!" he called to her.
"I can't!" she cried as her horse reared. This time she wasn't as lucky.
"Link!" Zelda's tone indicated that she expected him to help Anjean, but everything happened too fast.
By the time Link had dismounted his own horse, Anjean was already on the ground and her horse had taken off in terror. The threat of the Skulltula had registered in the other horses' minds by now, and they were restlessly shifting, dancing in place and tossing their heads. Noticing this, Link made sure to grab Kid off of their horse before running over to the fallen girl.
He knelt down at her side. "Are you hurt?"
"Forget her; help us!" Tetra screamed, evidently in a panic because the princess had yet to get their horse under control.
Ignoring Tetra, Link focused on Anjean as the girl shakily rose into a sitting position. "I…don't think so…"
Link didn't think so either. Other than some dirt coating her legs and clothes, there wasn't any injury he could see and the girl was completely coherent. That was good enough for him to turn his attention to his other female companions.
Zelda and Tetra were still having trouble with their horse, and much to Link's chagrin, Kid was trying to help them.
"Move," Link ordered, pushing Kid back out of the immediate vicinity of the frightened animal with his left arm and reaching out to Tetra with his right. The girls' horse wasn't as panicked as Anjean's horse, but it did look like it may buck any second. "Grab my hand and swing off."
Wordlessly, Tetra followed his instructions, then joined Kid and Anjean behind him.
A piercing noise caused him to jump as he was helping the princess down, and he half turned to see Anjean standing with the Spirit Flute raised to her lips, blowing into one of the pipes.
"Stop that; it's scaring the horses," Link snapped, tugging Zelda away from her horse as it tossed its head and danced anxiously in place, irritated by the sound just as much as he was.
Anjean complied, but didn't drop the flute entirely. "It scares them more." She pointed, and Link followed her finger to where the Skulltula was, or at least, where the Skulltula used to be. There was now no sign of the over-sized arachnid.
"Why didn't you do that before it came down and scared the horses?" Tetra demanded, placing her hands on her hips in her usual bossy manner.
Anjean frowned. "I didn't see it because you were distracting me."
"Are you trying to say it's my fault?" Tetra challenged her.
"It is your fault," Kid asserted before Anjean could reply. "You're the one that started it."
"She started it earlier!" Tetra argued, flinging an arm in Anjean's direction.
"And I'm ending it," Zelda interrupted with icy authority. "What's done is done, and there's no changing it so let's all proceed civilly, please."
"My horse ran off…" Anjean said, indicating that she didn't know how they'd be able to continue.
"Then walk," Tetra snapped at her. "Serves you right."
"Tetra, that's enough," Zelda warned.
Of course, Tetra being Tetra, she persisted. "Oh come on, like she even needs a horse. We're going so slow anyway, we might as well all walk. It's not like I'm suggesting she run alongside the horses or anything."
"If anyone should be walking, it's you," Midna observed, earning her the furious pirate's full attention.
"Excuse me?"
Midna shrugged. "I'm just saying it would be a suitable punishment."
"Punishment?!" Tetra screamed in outrage. "For what?"
Link shook his head and turned away from his disagreeable companions, focusing instead on the two remaining horses. They were still skittish, and the tension in the air wasn't helping matters.
Approaching the closest horse with care, Link set to soothing it, whispering calming words he hoped that it could hear over all the noise his companions were making and reaching out a hand for it to sniff. By some miracle, it took to him quickly, and he was able to pet it, calming it even further. At least, until a shriek from Anjean's instrument startled it again.
He whipped around, his gaze immediately going to the canopy above. However, he couldn't see anything.
"We have to move. The Skulltula will just keep trying to come back, and I'll have to keep scaring it off," Anjean explained, lowering the Spirit Flute.
"I'm trying to get us to move. I need the horses calm first," Link returned, turning back to his work. Zelda came over to help and after giving her a few instructions, she left to try her hand at calming the other horse. Between the two of them, they managed to calm both horses and lead them to an area farther into the forest that was devoid of monster spiders, their younger companions trailing behind in displeased silence.
The peace, unfortunately, didn't last long.
"You're not seriously making me walk," Tetra glowered, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stared down her counterpart.
"You were the one complaining earlier about how uncomfortable riding horses is," Zelda reminded her, reaching out a hand to help Anjean onto the horse. The Lokomo girl took it gratefully and swung up onto the horse behind the princess.
Tetra gaped at her, furious.
"Eee hee hee!" Midna giggled from the shadows. "Walking will do you good anyway."
Link agreed wholeheartedly. It would benefit Tetra to walk off her frustrations, at least for a little while.
Tetra, of course, didn't think so. "Let me ride with you and Kid."
"There's no room," Link objected.
"Sure there is."
"There really isn't," Link insisted. If they rode three to a horse, they risked hurting the animal. Even two was pushing it. "Just walk for a little bit. It won't kill you."
An aggravated sound tore itself from the young girl's throat, and she stomped off ahead. The rest of them trailed after her on their horses, Zelda and Anjean in the front and Link and Kid following up the rear.
It took a good while, but shortly after they finished their lunch break and resumed their trek, they stumbled upon the grey horse that had bolted earlier. Anjean and Tetra switched places in silence, the purple-haired girl reclaiming her spot atop the grey horse.
With that, they were off again, Anjean taking the lead and blowing into her flute whenever she sensed a Skulltula with her soul-seeing power. Link had to admit, having her around was handy now that Tetra wasn't distracting her and trying to sabotage her attempts at redemption. Still, she'd have to do a lot more than keep away a few spiders to earn his trust.
They continued to travel until the last rays of the sun had all but set before stopping for the night and making camp. After a brief dinner during which nothing much was said, Zelda produced the blankets and such from her bag and passed them around. Of course, they'd only brought enough for the four of them, but this didn't turn out to be a problem as one of them had to keep watch anyway.
Link volunteered for the job, and no one complained, so as his companions spread themselves out around the fire and lay down with their blankets, the Hero of Twilight settled down a fair distance away with his back to the fire, his sword and shield by his side within easy reach.
The night sounds were familiar, chirping crickets and hooting owls, the fire crackling. It sounded like Faron Woods except Faron Woods wasn't nearly this massive.
It must have been half an hour before his ears pricked up at the sound of crunching leaves. He whirled around, hand reaching for his sword, only to lay eyes on Kid. Immediately, he retracted his hand.
"I'm going to keep watch with you," Kid announced, sitting down so they were back to back.
"You don't have to," Link informed him, wishing his counterpart would return to sleep. He needed it, after all, and Link could keep watch by himself just fine. His sharp ears made it like he had eyes in the back of his head.
"I know," Kid replied. "I want to."
"Fine, but if you get tired feel free to go to sleep," Link conceded, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to convince Kid to do otherwise.
The two of them sat in companionable silence for a while, their eyes staring into the blackness surrounding their campsite and ears perked for any unusual sounds until…
"Link?" Kid's voice was soft, mingling the nightly symphony surrounding them.
"Yeah?"
Kid hesitated a beat before asking, "Do you ever miss it?"
"Miss what?" Link returned, puzzled.
"Before." Kid said. "How everything was before you were a hero."
"Well…yeah," Link admitted. Living in Ordon had been peaceful. The most exciting event that had ever happened back then was a goat getting loose. While plenty dangerous, it didn't compare to anything Link had been forced to face on his adventures.
"Do you wish you could go back to it?"
'Do you?' The question was on the tip of his tongue, but Link held it back, sensing that Kid would be more inclined to answer after Link himself had answered. "Not really. I've always been kind of…restless, I guess. I need to be doing something, and traveling around, fighting monsters, helping people…it all makes me feel more complete in a way."
Kid was quiet, digesting the Hero of Twilight's answer. Just when Link was sure he'd given the wrong one, Kid spoke. "Is it bad…if I don't?"
"No, not at all," Link replied immediately, twisting around so he could see his counterpart. "It's perfectly fine."
Kid continued hastily as if he felt the need to justify himself despite Link's reassurance. "I mean, I like helping people and seeing new places but…I don't like being in danger all the time. It was boring before, and I thought I wanted more, but I don't. I like being at home bored out of my mind because even if it's repetitive, it's safe." The young hero peeked back at Link, his eyes partially hidden by his bangs. "Is that selfish?"
The torn expression on his counterpart's face pierced his heart and it was all Link could do to reassure him. "No, it's understandable." He gently grasped Kid's good arm and tugged him over so they were facing the same way. "We didn't ask for this. It was just thrown on us. Believe me, I don't like being in danger any more than you do."
"I just want to go home," Kid whispered, his voice thick.
"You will," Link assured him. If he could, he'd take Kid back to his family right this instant.
Kid shook his head in disagreement. "I could die any second."
"But you won't," Link refuted, putting an arm around the boy he viewed as a little brother and pulling him close. "You'll make it back home. I promise."
"You can't-"
"I can," Link returned fiercely, cutting his counterpart off mid-protest. He'd already made the same promise to Aryll. There was no harm in making the same one to Kid. Because he'd do it. He had to. "You're not going to die. Ghirahim might not even know about the spell he put on you so he can't do anything to you, and even if he does know about it, he still won't do anything to you. He just wants you to think he will. You know he's sadistic. He wants you to get upset and paranoid, so don't play into his game. You're alright."
The expression on Kid's face told Link that he hadn't been convincing enough so he pulled the boy into a tight embrace. "I promise you, I'll get you home to your sister and grandma, so don't worry."
"I never wanted to be a hero," Kid sniffed, his voice muffled from where he'd buried his face in Link's side. "I thought I did but I don't. I just wanted my sister back."
"I know," Link assured him, rubbing his back soothingly like Uli used to do for him whenever he was upset. It used to help him calm down, and Link could only hope that it had the same effect on his counterpart.
"Does being a hero ever even stop?" Kid demanded, breaking out of Link's hold suddenly and staring intensely into his eyes, searching desperately for an answer. "Aren't we cursed to do it for all eternity? So it doesn't even stop when we're dead. We can't rest then either, can we? We have to keep doing it over and over again and losing our parents and getting hurt and being scared and-"
Link cut him off by abruptly pulling him into another embrace, and this time Kid couldn't hold back his sorrow. Nonetheless, his cries weren't like his little sister's, loud and unrestrained. They were quiet and choked, the type of sobs that only came with practice.
Because heroes didn't cry.
A pang of fury struck him, then. This wasn't right. No one should have to go through this, much less a child. The life of a hero had robbed Kid of his happiness, his sense of safety, and his entitlement to show his true emotions. Link wanted to give those things back to him. Except…he didn't know how.
All he could do was hold Kid and rub his back while he cried, trying not to break down himself. None of this was fair. Kids should be allowed to be kids. Fighting for their lives shouldn't even have to cross their minds.
Anger burned hot in his veins, yet he didn't know who to direct it at anymore. The goddesses? A demon king's curse? The world? A combination of the three?
Eventually, Kid's tears were exhausted, and he fell completely silent. The two of them sat there that way for a while, bitterness creeping through both their minds, until Link spoke. "Try to get some sleep." Kid had to be exhausted now if he hadn't been earlier.
Kid shook his head vehemently. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because…what if…I don't wake up?" Kid peeked up at him, his eyes swirling with fear.
"You will," Link reassured him. "Nothing's going to happen to you. You're safe."
"But-"
"Kid, trust me. You'll wake up in the morning," Link stressed, cutting his counterpart's doubt off.
"How do you know?" Kid whispered.
He didn't. "Just a feeling. Now come on, lay down." Kid needed to be fully awake and alert tomorrow since they'd most likely be confronting the first possessed Lokomo. Of course, he wasn't going to use that to reason with his counterpart. It'd only remind him of his duty as a hero and distress him more.
Kid rubbed at his eye furiously. "I don't wanna sleep."
"Link." The name got an immediate reaction out of the boy nestled next to the Hero of Twilight. His hand froze, and his eyes snapped up to meet Link's. He looked…well, awed that Link had called him by his real name. It was almost as if he believed that everyone had forgotten it, that it had been replaced by titles and nicknames and expectations and destiny. But it hadn't been. Link, the boy from Outset, still existed beneath it all. "You will wake up. I promise."
"Even if I do…I don't wanna dream," Kid mumbled after a moment of silence, burying his head into Link's side once more and muffling his voice. "All I'll have is nightmares."
Pity and understanding washed over Link's features as he gazed down at the blond head nestled into his side. After his initial quest had ended, he'd come to fear sleep for the same reason.
"Try to think of something good," Link suggested, knowing that doing so had helped him numerous times.
Nonetheless, he wasn't surprised by Kid's answer. "I can't."
"You can always go to your happy place."
Kid pulled away a little to look up at him at that, confused. "My what?"
"Your happy place. It's like…" Link trailed off, taking a moment to think. "It's a real place that you have fond memories of or that just makes you feel calm. You can imagine yourself there whenever you need to relax." His counterpart's expression was still somewhat uncertain, so Link decided to give him an example. "Like, for me, my happy place is Ordon Spring because it's the place where Ilia and I used to play all the time when we were little, and I'd always wash Epona there, and just…go there whenever I needed to think. It's just a place I've always felt safe." With the exception of the time when King Bulblin and his followers invaded it, of course. "Can you think of a place like that?"
Kid's gaze drifted away from him, his expression one of deep contemplation. Finally, his eyes focused on some distant spot beyond the surrounding trees, Kid said, "When I was little…my parents used to take me up to the top of Outset, but not where the Fairy Forest is. It's the cliffs before that, before the bridge. There's a bunch of grass and flowers up there, and we'd have picnics.
"Except…the seagulls would steal our food." Link chuckled a little at that, and he saw a tiny smile flash across Kid's face. "We still kept going, though. It was like a game, to see how much of our food we could eat before the seagulls took it."
"Did you win?" Link wondered.
A dreamy smile appeared on Kid's face. "Sometimes. Usually not, but it was fun. And later when Aryll was born we took her with us, and the seagulls still bothered us, but they didn't bother her. They never took her food."
"So Aryll's always had a connection with the seagulls," Link observed.
"Mmhmm," Kid hummed, unresisting as Link gently pushed him down into a laying position so that his head rested in Link's lap.
"Tell me more," Link encouraged, his voice hushed. As silly as it may be, he didn't want to scare away this happy memory Kid had managed to tap into. "What else did you do there?"
"Mmm…my mom taught me how to make crowns out of the flowers, and I made a bunch for her and Aryll."
"Do you still remember how to make them?" Link asked.
Kid yawned. "Yeah."
"Good, imagine you're at that place, and you're making one for your sister, then," Link instructed.
"Can anyone I want be there with me?" Kid wondered, his voice weighed down with weariness.
"Sure, it is your happy place," Link reminded him.
This seemed to satisfy the boy, for in just a handful of minutes he was asleep, his breathing soft and even.
Link reached over and grabbed the blanket that had fallen from Kid's shoulders earlier, covering the sleeping boy with it just as a rather strong gust blew by. He couldn't help but peer in the direction it had come from. Was it always this windy here?
"Is Kid alright?"
Link jumped and whipped his head around. "Zelda? What are you doing up?"
"Sleep was eluding me, and then I heard you two talking. I couldn't help but overhear. Forgive me."
Link shook his head, dismissing the princess's eavesdropping and turning back around. "It's fine."
Zelda settled herself beside him. "So…Kid?"
"He's…" Link's gaze drifted down to his dozing counterpart. He looked to be sleeping peacefully but that didn't mean he wasn't still hurting. Link sighed. "I don't know."
Zelda nodded sagely as if she'd been expecting this answer. "And you?"
Link furrowed his brow, confused. "What about me?"
"Are you alright?"
"What kind of question's that?"
"A genuine one from a concerned friend," Zelda stated.
"I…" Link looked away from her, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. It's just…" He blew out an aggravated sigh, struggling to keep his voice low. "It's not fair. They're kids, Zelda. They shouldn't have to do this stuff. They shouldn't have to worry about anything but growing up."
"It is cruel and unfair," Zelda agreed. "But I think that's one of the reasons why we met them."
Link shot her a puzzled look and the Princess of Hyrule took it as an invitation to continue. "We know exactly what it's like. We know what they're going through, so we're the best equipped to help them. Even before we met them, they were troubled by their pasts. Of course…what's going on now with Ghirahim isn't helping matters, but all of that…" She nodded at Kid, indicating his earlier breakdown. "…wasn't because of Ghirahim. He'd felt that way long before, and if he didn't have you, there'd be no way to fix what's broken."
"But I can't fix this," Link argued, barely managing to keep the volume of his voice in check. "I don't know how." He wished he did. He wished he could snap his fingers and make Kid happy again, but he didn't have that kind of power.
"You're doing fine in my opinion," Zelda offered. "Just look." She motioned to the boy in his lap. "He's sleeping now because of you."
Link considered this, brushing some of Kid's hair out of his face. No signs of distress showed itself.
"I am not suggesting that there's an immediate fix," Zelda continued. "However, comforting Kid and supporting him is helping even if it doesn't seem like it right now. At any rate, you're doing better than I am."
Link shot her a quizzical look, only to find the princess's eyes downcast. "What do you mean? You're doing fine. Tetra's just…Tetra."
Zelda shook her head. "I want to help her, but she makes it so difficult. I try to give her advice, but she doesn't heed it. All she does is push me away. I try to be kind to her but…I fear she despises me."
"Tetra doesn't despise you," Link objected. "She just…has trouble showing her feelings." The princess's gloomy expression remained so Link tried again. "When you were captured by Ghirahim she knew, and she insisted on saving you as soon as possible. She doesn't want you dead."
"Perhaps, but she does not favor me either," Zelda returned. "Not like Kid does you. Both of you are like siblings. I'd like to have that relationship with Tetra, but rather than a supporting older sister, I seem to be a wicked witch in her eyes."
"Give her time," Link advised. "She'll come around. Just keep being nice to her and eventually she'll have to acknowledge that you're not her enemy."
A small, appreciative smile alighted on Zelda's face. "Thank you, Link."
He smiled in return, and the two of them lapsed into contemplative silence.
"Speaking of enemies…" Zelda spoke up a few moments later. "Please, try to be nicer to Anjean."
The request caught Link off guard, and he immediately went on the defensive. "I am nice to her!"
"Giving her the wildest horse and letting her figure out how to calm and mount it herself is not what I would call nice," the princess retorted.
Guilt clutched his heart at that, and Zelda seemed to notice, her expression softening. "She's a child too, Link. Please, keep that in mind. I'm not suggesting that excuses her recent actions. However, do not hold them against her. She's been displaced, and she's obviously scared. Unlike Kid and Tetra, she doesn't have anyone to turn to."
"She has her "spirits," Link muttered.
Zelda shook her head. "I believe she's doubting them now. And guides aren't necessarily friends. Just…don't be too hard on her."
"Alright," Link conceded. He wasn't a fan of Anjean but he couldn't deny that Zelda was right. Plus, Kid was willing to forgive her to some extent, so the least he could do was try.
"You should bothgo to sleep," Midna interjected, melting out of the shadows and into plain sight after neither of them had spoken for a few minutes.
"Who will keep watch?" Link wondered.
Midna rolled her eyes at his daftness. "I will. After all, I don't have a broken kid to fix like you two."
"You could always take Anjean," Link quipped.
The Twilight Princess's gaze drifted over to the purple-haired girl and an expression of distaste flickered onto her face. "I'll pass."
"What I said to Link about being nice to her goes the same for you, Midna," Zelda voiced.
"Yeah, yeah." Midna waved the Hylian princess off playfully. "Go to sleep already. I'll wake you up if there's any trouble."
"You intend to keep watch all night?" Zelda inquired.
"Well, yeah," Midna replied, stretching. "If there's a battle tomorrow, I'm not going to be much help anyway, so it doesn't matter if I'm tired."
"Oh! Wait, if we can't kill Ghirahim then…" Link trailed off upon seeing the sour expression on his friend's face that indicated she'd come to the same conclusion herself. How exactly were they going to return Midna to her true form? Would sealing Ghirahim away be enough to dispel the curse?
"I am certain we'll figure something out," Zelda said softly. "There are plenty of magic users here. One of them must know some other way to return you to your true form."
Midna crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm counting on that. Now, you two go to sleep and leave this keeping watch thing to me."
With a small parting nod, the princess rose and returned to her previous resting place near the warm fire.
"Thanks for taking over, Midna," Link said, eyeing the black and white imp as she settled herself on the ground. As much as he'd like to deny it, he was tired.
"Go to sleep, wolf boy," Midna returned playfully.
Carefully, so as not to wake his sleeping counterpart, Link repositioned himself so that he was lying beside Kid. A definitive frown dominated Kid's face but Link couldn't tell if that meant he was having a bad dream or not. He watched him for a little while, just to make sure, but eventually Link closed his eyes as well and gave into sleep.
A decidedly gloomy sky greeted them in the morning, thus making it harder to motivate themselves to wake up. Nonetheless, everyone managed it after some breakfast, and they set off once again atop the horses.
To Link's relief, Tetra didn't object to Anjean taking the lead. She did, however, find something else to complain about hardly an hour into their journey.
"What is up with this wind?" Tetra demanded, irritably batting Zelda's braided hair aside as it whipped her in the face, and throwing a glare over her shoulder at Kid. "Can't you make it stop?"
"I can't control the weather," Kid returned. "The most I can do is change the wind direction."
"Then do that. I'd rather have it blowing behind us than against us," Tetra ordered, picking a red leaf out of her hair and releasing it so the wind whisked it away from her. Link watched the leaf as it blew past him and Kid, expecting it to change direction any second.
When it didn't, he glanced back at his counterpart, only to find him holding the Wind Waker with a puzzled look on his face.
"Not working?" Link wondered.
Kid shook his head. "It's working but…" Kid closed his eyes and bowed his head in concentration, holding the white baton aloft. He waved it around in a specific pattern that Link had come to association with the Wind's Requiem. Still, the wind did not shift.
"I can hear the wind," Kid said slowly, opening his eyes, "but that's not it."
Link furrowed his brow in concern. "What is it then?"
"I don't know, but it isn't natural."
"Just what are you leading us to?" Tetra interrogated Anjean, distrust evident in her tone. Link couldn't help but lack faith in Anjean as well, despite the princess's reminders last night. This powerful wind was strange, and it hadn't been present before.
"We're going to the Forest Sanctuary," Anjean replied, her violet eyes trained ahead on the lookout for abnormally large spiders.
"And is it normally this windy?" Tetra pressed.
Anjean hesitated. "…No."
"Could the Guardian of the Forest Realm be causing it?" Zelda proposed.
"Maybe?" The Lokomo girl sounded uncertain, and they left it at that.
As the group progressed, the gusts only became stronger and stronger, further solidifying their theory that something was amiss. Kid attempted to alter the mysterious wind's course multiple times without success.
Eventually, the horses refused to go any farther, as if taking the wind's hint to go away. Link attempted to coax them forward on foot but that failed also, so they turned the horses loose and hoped there would be more to wrangle later.
A half hour more of walking took them out of the forest, or rather, into a recently made clearing. Downed trees littered the ground like sticks, and the wind was so strong that the five of them could hardly stand on their own two feet.
Even shielding his eyes from the harsh winds, Link could see enough to discern the source. What looked to be a half-formed tornado swirled in the sky, centered around an object floating completely unaffected in its midst.
"What is that?" he wondered, squinting to see better.
"That is the Guardian of the Forest Realm," Anjean breathed in disbelief, staring in horror at the swirling mass. "Gage."
