Chapter Twenty
Lance was still asleep when Link returned to camp, and the chosen archers had gathered near the gorge entrance, nervous and waiting. The Hero of Time felt bitter about his conversation with Miyako, but even such was tainted with some regret. It had been an interesting conversation.
The blonde nineteen-year-old sat outside the tent, searching the sky moodily, thinking how easy it was to become angry but so difficult to apologize. Of course he had been offended, but Link guessed that she had probably not expected an answer like that from him because he had never really said anything particularly intelligent during the time she had known him.
'Maybe I shouldn't have taken it to heart, but what's done is done. I can't help being who I am, and she can't change who she is,' he thought pensively. '...That goes for Zelda, as well. I can't keep beating myself up over something I've already decided on.' Or had he? Perhaps it was just nerves; with him always gone, he would wonder if Zelda would grow tired of his absence and the love (if there had been any) would die. After all, a hero doesn't become a hero by sitting on his arse all day.
There came a stirring from within the tent and Lance crawled out, looking somewhat sleepy but satisfied.
"Ahoy, matey, room for two?" He plunked himself beside the Hero of Time and stretched contentedly. "Aye, anything seems possible after a good nap, eh?" Then the sailor noticed his friend's gloomy mood, and asked, "What's wrong, ger fada? You look down about the mouth."
"I am down about the mouth," muttered the young man darkly. "I had... well... sorta had an argument with Miyako. I don't think it really was one, but we're both angry now, so maybe it counts." Lance appeared to think this over as he swept the last of his nap from his eyes.
"I thought it might turn out like that," sighed the sailor. "I knew she were a Fire element, but I thought you'd get along fine with her, even if y'are an Earth yourself."
"What?" Link blinked, a little confused. He, an Earth element?
"Aye. I've known since I met you, and I thought 'twould be a little dangerous, if we were to perchance meet another element. 'Tis obvious I'm a Water sort, but..." The dark-blue-haired young man closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "This bears some explaining on what Miyako said earlier, but I think it's time for truth now, as we're going to be facing a trial tonight. Aye.
"Amicitia fatalis is ancient Kreyan for 'destined friendship.' 'Tis no legend, though; it is alive and common enough these days. A band of such people consists of different elements, usually. People who work different magic, or perhaps none at all. Ye needn't be skilled at all in magic to be an Earth element; everyone has an element, but they ain't using their magic, nay.
"Ye can't have a band of all Fires, but ye can have a band of two Fires and two Earths, or such... A rarer kind is destined with four or five elements. Y'see, an amicitia fatalis can be three, four, or five people of differin' elements. Aye, there's Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, and Dark. I'm a Water, yer an Earth, and Miyako's a Fire... so you see the problem. To top that off, we've all some connection to one another, so we do. I've known Miyako from childhood, and ye've met me just afore your best friend died, and you saved Miyako. 'Tis like a triangle, only... more complex. I don't doubt what she said it's true, but hopefully... for the best, 'tis not. But I feel the changes, don't you? I felt you sad outside the tent; the nearness of it was beckoning."
"You felt my emotions?" 'I'm not sure if I like that at all,' Link thought uneasily. It would be too easy to tell what he was thinking, and he liked his privacy fine.
"Aye... but only if you're close will I feel 'em. And you'll feel my emotions, too, and such between you, Miyako, and me. I know ye've felt the bonds growing closer, a sense of completion and peace, aye, but... if I'm not mistaken, I know our Fourth and maybe Fifth is out there. You're the First, Link, 'cos you found me, and it ain't mattering that I talked to ye first, it matters that you're a natural leader. I'm the Second, and Miyako's the Third."
"How do you know... we'll have a Fourth or Fifth?" 'Could it be... Zelda?' His heart raced a little at the thought.
" 'Cos... I feel the completion, but t'ain't all complete, y'know? 'Tis like having built a fine house, but forgot the kitchen, or summat like that. 'Tis odd, but I accept it. It isn't gonna be of our choosing. When we find our Fourth, we'll know." Lance sat back and bobbed his head a little. "Does that answer yer questions?"
"I think so... but... How are we connected? I mean, do we just sense each other's emotions and that's all?"
"No, by being with each other, we become more divine," Miyako said, appearing from around a rocky outcropping. She hesitated when she saw their surprised faces. "I was sitting here, and I overheard. By which I mean that our skills, our magic, our strength, 'tis like a coven of sorcerers and witches; sticking to their own groups makes them stronger than mingling with those they don't know well or a'tall." She lowered her eyes for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry about earlier, Link, and I didn't mean to insult you or anything, it's just... when you grow up around men like Lance—"
"Watch it," growled the sailor.
"— you don't expect them to say anything as pretty as you did." The Hero of Time studied his gauntlets, having not the slightest clue what to say. He had never had his speech called "pretty" before, and wasn't sure if he should be happy or confused.
"Confidence," the red-haired girl added, nodding her head swiftly. "That's a big thing we all gain. We're more sure, more secure, with each other." He looked up at her and still didn't know what to say. Confidence in his fighting... that he had. Confidence in other areas... not so strong there. Still, when she walked closer and sat down, a little separate from them, he felt calmer... in control of himself.
'My Gods, he speaks truth, then," Link thought, and confusion stole his confidence away again.
" 'Tis almost full night," Lance murmured, gazing upwards at the velvet sky. "I think we best get goin', Link." The two of them rose to their feet, and the Hero of Time said, awkwardly to Miyako,
"I think... you should go inside the tent. It would be safer." She started a bit at that, seeming to roll his words in her mind as though checking them for tones of malign arrogance, then nodded. Lance had already begun walking towards the gorge entrance, and Link hesitated, wanting to say more as she approached the tent but not knowing what he could possibly say. With her, he felt, there was always that sort of tension that made him feel there would always be one more word to speak, one more gaze to see, one more breath to live. "...I..." Miyako stopped and looked at him. "Uh... good night."
"Let us pray it so," she replied soberly.
General Torris and some Selintan soldiers watched Link, Lance, and fifty archers scale the rocky face of the gorge.
But they were not the only ones who saw, and the others who saw were not a part of the Royal Selintan Army.
Lance was still asleep when Link returned to camp, and the chosen archers had gathered near the gorge entrance, nervous and waiting. The Hero of Time felt bitter about his conversation with Miyako, but even such was tainted with some regret. It had been an interesting conversation.
The blonde nineteen-year-old sat outside the tent, searching the sky moodily, thinking how easy it was to become angry but so difficult to apologize. Of course he had been offended, but Link guessed that she had probably not expected an answer like that from him because he had never really said anything particularly intelligent during the time she had known him.
'Maybe I shouldn't have taken it to heart, but what's done is done. I can't help being who I am, and she can't change who she is,' he thought pensively. '...That goes for Zelda, as well. I can't keep beating myself up over something I've already decided on.' Or had he? Perhaps it was just nerves; with him always gone, he would wonder if Zelda would grow tired of his absence and the love (if there had been any) would die. After all, a hero doesn't become a hero by sitting on his arse all day.
There came a stirring from within the tent and Lance crawled out, looking somewhat sleepy but satisfied.
"Ahoy, matey, room for two?" He plunked himself beside the Hero of Time and stretched contentedly. "Aye, anything seems possible after a good nap, eh?" Then the sailor noticed his friend's gloomy mood, and asked, "What's wrong, ger fada? You look down about the mouth."
"I am down about the mouth," muttered the young man darkly. "I had... well... sorta had an argument with Miyako. I don't think it really was one, but we're both angry now, so maybe it counts." Lance appeared to think this over as he swept the last of his nap from his eyes.
"I thought it might turn out like that," sighed the sailor. "I knew she were a Fire element, but I thought you'd get along fine with her, even if y'are an Earth yourself."
"What?" Link blinked, a little confused. He, an Earth element?
"Aye. I've known since I met you, and I thought 'twould be a little dangerous, if we were to perchance meet another element. 'Tis obvious I'm a Water sort, but..." The dark-blue-haired young man closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "This bears some explaining on what Miyako said earlier, but I think it's time for truth now, as we're going to be facing a trial tonight. Aye.
"Amicitia fatalis is ancient Kreyan for 'destined friendship.' 'Tis no legend, though; it is alive and common enough these days. A band of such people consists of different elements, usually. People who work different magic, or perhaps none at all. Ye needn't be skilled at all in magic to be an Earth element; everyone has an element, but they ain't using their magic, nay.
"Ye can't have a band of all Fires, but ye can have a band of two Fires and two Earths, or such... A rarer kind is destined with four or five elements. Y'see, an amicitia fatalis can be three, four, or five people of differin' elements. Aye, there's Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, and Dark. I'm a Water, yer an Earth, and Miyako's a Fire... so you see the problem. To top that off, we've all some connection to one another, so we do. I've known Miyako from childhood, and ye've met me just afore your best friend died, and you saved Miyako. 'Tis like a triangle, only... more complex. I don't doubt what she said it's true, but hopefully... for the best, 'tis not. But I feel the changes, don't you? I felt you sad outside the tent; the nearness of it was beckoning."
"You felt my emotions?" 'I'm not sure if I like that at all,' Link thought uneasily. It would be too easy to tell what he was thinking, and he liked his privacy fine.
"Aye... but only if you're close will I feel 'em. And you'll feel my emotions, too, and such between you, Miyako, and me. I know ye've felt the bonds growing closer, a sense of completion and peace, aye, but... if I'm not mistaken, I know our Fourth and maybe Fifth is out there. You're the First, Link, 'cos you found me, and it ain't mattering that I talked to ye first, it matters that you're a natural leader. I'm the Second, and Miyako's the Third."
"How do you know... we'll have a Fourth or Fifth?" 'Could it be... Zelda?' His heart raced a little at the thought.
" 'Cos... I feel the completion, but t'ain't all complete, y'know? 'Tis like having built a fine house, but forgot the kitchen, or summat like that. 'Tis odd, but I accept it. It isn't gonna be of our choosing. When we find our Fourth, we'll know." Lance sat back and bobbed his head a little. "Does that answer yer questions?"
"I think so... but... How are we connected? I mean, do we just sense each other's emotions and that's all?"
"No, by being with each other, we become more divine," Miyako said, appearing from around a rocky outcropping. She hesitated when she saw their surprised faces. "I was sitting here, and I overheard. By which I mean that our skills, our magic, our strength, 'tis like a coven of sorcerers and witches; sticking to their own groups makes them stronger than mingling with those they don't know well or a'tall." She lowered her eyes for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry about earlier, Link, and I didn't mean to insult you or anything, it's just... when you grow up around men like Lance—"
"Watch it," growled the sailor.
"— you don't expect them to say anything as pretty as you did." The Hero of Time studied his gauntlets, having not the slightest clue what to say. He had never had his speech called "pretty" before, and wasn't sure if he should be happy or confused.
"Confidence," the red-haired girl added, nodding her head swiftly. "That's a big thing we all gain. We're more sure, more secure, with each other." He looked up at her and still didn't know what to say. Confidence in his fighting... that he had. Confidence in other areas... not so strong there. Still, when she walked closer and sat down, a little separate from them, he felt calmer... in control of himself.
'My Gods, he speaks truth, then," Link thought, and confusion stole his confidence away again.
" 'Tis almost full night," Lance murmured, gazing upwards at the velvet sky. "I think we best get goin', Link." The two of them rose to their feet, and the Hero of Time said, awkwardly to Miyako,
"I think... you should go inside the tent. It would be safer." She started a bit at that, seeming to roll his words in her mind as though checking them for tones of malign arrogance, then nodded. Lance had already begun walking towards the gorge entrance, and Link hesitated, wanting to say more as she approached the tent but not knowing what he could possibly say. With her, he felt, there was always that sort of tension that made him feel there would always be one more word to speak, one more gaze to see, one more breath to live. "...I..." Miyako stopped and looked at him. "Uh... good night."
"Let us pray it so," she replied soberly.
General Torris and some Selintan soldiers watched Link, Lance, and fifty archers scale the rocky face of the gorge.
But they were not the only ones who saw, and the others who saw were not a part of the Royal Selintan Army.