A blue beetle slowly made its way across the oak floor, being careful not to stumble and fall on any of the cracks that were there. As it scurried along, it came across an incredibly large barrier. The beetle let out a small sigh and began to climb the enormous mountain. The first part of the journey proved to be the hardest. The tough leather refused to let him climb, but he eventually made it to the top. The beetle stopped, resting before starting again on his journey. For the most part, the soft ground was even, no other forms of climbing was necessary. The final part of the journey was a steep mountain climb. The ground here was not smooth; it had a rough texture to it. Not an easy climb, but not a hard challenge for the experienced beetle. As he came to the top, he instantly noticed the many holes that were on the plateau. As the beetle carefully made his way around each hole, two of them caught his attention. It looked like tall bushes or trees surrounded them, but the leaves were black, not green. Curious, he ventured towards them. As he approached them, he noticed that they looked more like tiny blades of grass. He decided that they might make a tasty meal, so he nibbled on them just a little bit. Suddenly, the black grass moved, and he realized it was not grass after all.
"Holy fire of Din!" Derik screamed, as he awoke to a beetle right next to his eye. He jumped up and swatted ferociously at the insect, before it flew away.
It was then that Derik remembered what had happened. He quickly fell back down to the ground from the crushing headache he had. He slowly sat back up and reached his hand towards the back of his head, touching it gingerly. It was still fresh with blood and hurt like hell. How long had he been unconscious? A few minutes? A few days? He wasn't sure.
There was a lot of the blood on the floor. Derik wished that maybe most of it was from the cuccos, but he knew better than that. He looked at his arms and saw the many holes that were still bleeding. "They must have had a feast on me." he thought. He tried to stand up, but the loss of blood was too much. As he sat there, he unconsciously reached for his necklace. To his horror, it wasn't there.
"What the…?"
He looked inside his shirt, foolishly believing that it was there. It wasn't. Panic started to set in as he frantically looked around his broken body for the symbol of his lost self. The pain that shot through his body did not bother him; he had to find it. A normal man would have fainted from the rush of pain that was slicing through his veins, but he was no ordinary man. As he crawled on all fours, his hand ran into an old weathered boot. Slowly, he raised his head to the figure, which stood at the door.
"Looking for this?" the figure inquired.
Dangling from his hand was the necklace. Derik, already angry enough, reached out and grabbed it from him, and quickly put it back around his neck.
"Woah, calm down, I didn't take it."
"Didn't say you did." Derik replied; looking at the stone, assessing the damage it had taken.
Numerous scratches were etched into the center of it. Tearfully, he rubbed at them, trying to make them disappear. Surprisingly, it seemed to work. The scratches slowly faded until the surface was smooth. Derik too shocked to do anything else, put the necklace back in its place; underneath his shirt, next to his heart.
"What are you doing here?" Derik asked. "And how did you get ahold of my necklace?"
The man who he was addressing was soaking wet. He was leaning against the door and looked very uncomfortable.
"Well, I was on my way home when I saw this rooster. It looked straight at me and flew at my head. I hit it with a book I was carrying and it squawked at me. It flew over to a clump of bushes and plucked something out of it before flying away. Intrigued, I followed it. I threw another book at it, bringing it down. It was hurt, that much I could tell, but it didn't want to give up. It continued to elude me by hopping in a zigzag kind of path. It was then that I saw that it had your necklace. I dove for it as it reached the lake and grabbed the necklace. Unfortunately, the ground beneath me turned into the lake and I fell in. The rooster landed on my head and decided to leave me a memento." He pointed to the white cream that was on top of his head. "It flew away before I could kick its sorry butt. Anyway, I came in here and saw you looking around the floor. What happened here anyway?"
Derik looked around and noticed all of the feathers covered with blood.
"Well." he said. "I had a run in with that same rooster. Only he had some of his friends with him. I didn't fare too well." he said, motioning to the back of his head.
The man walked over and glanced at the wound on the back of the young man's head. "Yeah, it looks like it's stopped bleeding. I'll fix it up for you in a bit."
"Hey, fix it now you Gerudo!" Derik cried. His headache was only getting worse and this rambling wasn't helping it.
"Don't insult me so! I am no more a Gerudo than you are a Sheikah! But I will tend to that wound, if you would be still for a moment."
The man walked over and picked up his healing bag and got a red potion out of it.
"Here, drink this, it will dull the pain and speed up the healing process." he said, throwing the bottle over to Derik.
Derik caught the vial of red liquid and drank it down. It tasted horrible, but he felt almost instant relief.
"Happy now?"
"Yeah." Derik stood up slowly and walked over to the window. "So what are you doing home so early?"
"Well, good to see you too."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Ravin, your worship, how hast thou fared on thin long journey that thou hast traveled?"
Ravin frowned slightly after Derik had finished talking. He was a tall man, a few years older than Derik was. His hair was as black as a raven, and his skin darkly tanned. He hated it when Derik called him a Gerudo; it really got to him. His mother had been a Gerudo, but he had never seen her. She had been killed in the Civil Wars that had erupted there long ago. Ravin hated to say it, but he really despised the Gerudos. They had killed his mother in a senseless war and he couldn't forgive them for that. His father had been a high-ranking soldier. It was from him that Ravin got his black hair from. His father had had silky black hair that drove the ladies mad. He raised Ravin by himself, and taught him how to fight. However, he let Ravin hang out with the noble women, and when he first ran into Derik, he talked very proper. Derik never forgot that, and teased him about it every chance he got.
"Well, if you must know, the trip was horrible. I made it to Palitona in just under two days. You've been there right?"
Derik shook his head. "Nope, never been there. Is it a nice place? I might visit there sometime."
Ravin smiled and said. "Yeah, that place was great. The motto of the town says it all: 'Come for the cakes and the special beer, you'll be…'"
"be glad that you got off your horse and stopped by here." Derik answered.
Ravin looked over at him suspiciously
"I thought you've never been there."
"I haven't"
"Then how did you know the motto? They don't broadcast it out anywhere. You only could have known it if you had been there before."
Derik scratched his head. "No, I've never been there. I don't know how I knew it." "Where did I hear that?" he wondered.
Ravin looked at Derik. He could see the troubled look in his eyes. He wondered what he was thinking about. Bringing up Palitona might not have been such a good idea. It seemed that the name of this town was bringing up some old memories. Even though Ravin wanted Derik to regain his memory, he felt that now was the worst time. "Could he be remembering…?" he wondered. He shuddered at the thought.
"So if the town was so great, then why did you have such a horrible time?" Derik said, interrupting Ravin's thoughts.
"Hmm? Oh, well, as you know, I went there to teach one of the young men over there about making these red potions that I carry."
He pointed to the bag of potions that he had. Never before had there been such a fast working potion as had been created by the man that stood there. The red potion could cure almost anything. It could be drank for internal injuries, or applied directly to the wound for instant relief.
"The kid who I worked with showed much promise, he will be able to help out in the coming years, if he is still out there."
"What do you mean, if he's still out there? Why wouldn't he be?"
Ravin sighed and walked over to his bag.
"Did I tell you that I'm working on a potion that will restore your magic power? It's still in the making but I think it is possible to make. I'm thinking of making it green."
"Stop beating around the bush! What the heck happened over there?"
Ravin sighed again and walked over to the bed. He looked at the patterns on the bedspread. He and Derik had woven it a few years after Derik had recovered from his battle scars. Its colors didn't match and the stitching was horrible; neither of them really knew how to stitch. He had to teach Derik how to even hold a needle. He remembered getting pricked many times by an energetic student who thought that a needle would be fun to play with as a dagger. He smiled at the recollection of old times. Sadly, he knew that such times were long over.
"It was noontime. I had just finished teaching that young man how to make my potion. There were about six of us in the bar. The barmaid, Lilith was her name, brought me my meal, which was quite delicious, and offered me a drink. She sat down with me and talked with me for a while, mostly about her and the town. It was getting kind of late so I excused myself. As I was getting up to leave, she grabbed my arm. I was about to protest, but I looked in her eyes and saw that she would not let go until she told me what she wanted me to know. She warned me to go home now, not to wait until the caravan came, but to get my own horse and leave this town as soon as possible. She then turned around and walked out of the door."
"I was confused. I thought about following her advice, about leaving on my own. But I decided on waiting for the caravan. I didn't want to risk my life traveling alone on an unfamiliar path, just because some bar wench told me to. So, since I had some free time on my hands, I went into the local shooting gallery, I can't believe that it can actually stay in business, it was so simple, their targets were all so predictable. The man there seemed impressed that I had won so easily. My prize was this."
Ravin took out a large quiver and threw it onto the table. Derik walked over to it and picked it up.
"Is this a Gerudo quiver?" he asked, amazed at the fine workmanship that he held in his hands.
"Yeah," Ravin said. "I don't want it. I have no use for it, I already have one." Ravin was referring to the quiver that he had made himself slung over his shoulder. "Besides, I don't want that piece of Gerudo crap."
Derik decided that he better get the quiver out of Ravin's sight before things got nasty. He quickly slung it over his own shoulder and sat back down.
"So, was that the bad part of your trip? Winning the quiver?"
"Hardly. That was the highlight. I thanked the man at the counter for the quiver and walked outside. I immediately noticed the change. A cold wind had started blowing through the small village. I shivered at the wind. It wasn't a wind that blows when a winter storm was coming; it was the type of wind that accompanies an evil presence. The cold wind seemed odd and out of place, it being the middle of summer and all. The other people in the town seemed to notice it too. The children were running around, trying to find their parents. Dogs and cuccos were also running, but they were running to hide. I thought to myself, if the animals are afraid of what is coming, then I better leave quickly."
Ravin stopped for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure.
"But then it happened; the calm before the storm. The entire town went silent. The wind stopped blowing, the animals stopped crying, and the people stopped moving. A few people looked up at the sky, as did I. The thick billowing clouds were quickly covering the sun and making it seem that much more dark and sinister. It was then that you could hear it. First, it was just a low hum, but it got louder and louder and louder. Then you could see them, there was one and then four, and then more until the entrance to the town was filled with them. I don't even know who they were. They had dark skin, like the Gerudo scum. But they had blond hair and black hair, not red. Most of them were males, so I knew that it couldn't be the Gerudos. Then the arrows came. Burning with an unbelievable fire, blue as ice. You could hear the screams of the men, women and the children as the arrows struck their mark and burned their victims, I myself was struck by one in the leg. It felt like someone was ripping apart my leg from the inside out. It burned through my leg with a thirst for my blood, my flesh, it almost seemed that it tore through my flesh so it could devour the rest of myself. I fell to the ground in pain. When I hit the ground, I saw the little girl beside me. An arrow had hit her as well, but in the chest. She stared at me with her dead eyes, as if asking me why I didn't save her. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I knew I had to get out of there. My bag was underneath me and I grabbed one of my potions out of it. I yanked the arrow out of my leg, screaming in pain and quickly poured the potion onto the wound in my leg and limped over to one of the houses. By now, they were all over the village. I had little time to come up with a plan. Then, I saw it. There was a small crevice in the mountain that surrounded the village. I made a bolt for it and squeezed myself in. I could still hear the battle as I crawled away, the sound of those arrows slicing through the sky and the sound of the burning homes. I had to cast my light spell to lead me through the dark tunnel. I was crawling on all fours for hours, not knowing if I would ever get out. I don't know if I was going insane or not, but even when I was far away, I could still hear that little girl's screams. The screams of all of those people getting shot by arrows, and being burned alive, or being chopped down by those men like wheat in a field. I should have stayed and helped, I should have taken someone with me. I should have…"
Ravin couldn't take it anymore. He broke down into tears and sobbed on the bedspread that he had made so long ago. Derik walked over and put his hand on Ravin's back, trying to comfort him. It was the least he could do. After all, this guy had taken him in when he didn't have anyone. He believed in him when all others lost hope. He had helped him make it through that first year, that year when didn't have any strength and had danced with death every day. So he felt that this was something he could do to repay for all that he had done for him.
After what seemed like hours, Ravin seemed ok. He wiped his eyes, got up and went outside.
"Where are you going?" Derik called out.
"I've got to get some firewood, we need some to cook dinner."
Derik looked at the hearth and saw the large pile of wood that he knew was there. He had just cut it the other day. He ran outside and yelled out "We already have some firewood, we don't need..."
He suddenly stopped short.
'Just let him chop the wood' his mind told him. 'He's seen too much in the past few days, he needs to blow off some steam.'
Derik walked back to his home, hoping that Ravin would eventually come in.
**
"So, I was thinking about going to see the king tomorrow." Derik said.
It was nighttime; Ravin had cut so much firewood that they were forced to put it outside. The pile was as tall as the house. Derik didn't say anything about it though.
"What? Why do you want to go and do that?" Ravin asked.
He didn't want to go to the castle, and he especially didn't want Derik to go. Too many memories were there, and Derik wasn't ready for that.
"Well, let me see, you and an entire village were attacked by an unknown enemy that poses a severe threat to Hyrule and no one else knows about them. How's that?"
"You can't go to the castle, and even if you did, they wouldn't let a commoner like you in."
"Oh ye of little faith. If they don't let me in, I can always sneak in. I am, after all, the master of disguise."
"Fine, I'll take you there tomorrow."
"Hey, who said you're going? I don't need you baby-sitting me on my first real journey away from this lake."
"I'm going whether you like it or not. Sneaking into the castle? Are you out of your mind? Do you know how much trouble you could get yourself into? I'm going to keep your butt out of trouble. And don't even think about leaving early to get away from me, because I sleep lightly. Ok?"
"Fine. What ever you say."
**
As the two young men traveled on in their conservation, a lone figure appeared over the far mountaintop. He surveyed the vast land that lay before him, tasting the sweet air with his tongue. He grinned at the sight that lay before him, a sinister grin, one that would make a baby cry and a woman run away screaming in fright.
"Yes, it does seem that Hyrule is just ripe for the picking."