Disclaimer: It's rather annoying to have to state that I don't own anything but the original characters in my fics. But I don't, so be happy.
A. N. Here begins the seventh Tale of the Middle-ages. To show my appreciation to certain author and because I liked a character from another fic I wrote this tale, longer than most. Also, I include a short foreword that has nothing to do with this particular fic: it only shows my thoughts during a snowy afternoon when I almost ran out of ideas for the stories. Thanks for everything.
*Ahem*
I never imagined how fun would this be, writing short stories about the Zelda Universe. I initially had begun another fic some time ago; I wasn't very good (It was quite bad to be honest :- P) so I decided to drop it and begin once again. It wasn't easy since I had well over forty pages and hadn't even gotten to the main plot, but I finally made out my mind and sat down to write again. I had in mind to write a shorter story with a more immediate plot development; also, I decided to drop totally original plots since they did contradict very much the storyline. I came up with the idea, then, of narrating an event that really occurred according with the LoZ canon but had not been developed entirely in its details. Of course, I immediately thought of the Seven Years between OoT's past and present. But about that time I discovered ff.net and my fan fiction perception changed dramatically. Besides many other categories, I found the one about Zelda and began scanning it with surprising eagerness. After a few days of just having stumbled with this great site I had seen (though not read) about seven stories, all talking about Zelda, Sheik and the seven-year gap in time. I then thought that there were way too much fics about this very subject, and wondered at the lack of fics that actually involved other circumstances that happened during the games. I went on with my scan of the category but could only find another two stories based on canon facts, both concerning Link's mother.
Do not get me wrong: I did like both stories and found them very good; I am not trying to compare mine with any other. But, anyways, I found two remarkably alike elements on both: they were very short, (indeed, no more than two-thousand words each) and characterized Link's mother as a defenceless woman that, nonetheless, remained calm at all times, even before death. I think of people that show nerve before death to be very brave and not very numerous, though that image (in my opinion) is made quite common in fan fics concerning characters who are to die at some point of the story. Thanks to Snowsilver now, I can say this: those Link's mother were nothing more but a couple of Mary Sues, unable to feel fear.
That is how, in the first place, it came to me the idea of a fic about the dead mother of Link. I wanted, though, for her to have misadventures, to feel fear, to despair, to suffer physical pain, to let her appear to be human in other words. And what is more, I wanted to show her journey from the castle to the woods, not just merely tell of her existence, her name and her child and then state that she died heroically. The rest is history. I posted my first fic in the Zelda category and, to my surprise and rejoice, I got very good reviews. Since it was a chapterless story, I had to cut it into three parts to avoid frightening the readers by its length. I laugh at my occurrence now although it is just a few months since this happened.
Now, that single fan fic which I posted long ago has grown and extended into this: a good compilation of different smaller fics of various themes. I thought in the first place that the idea would be original, since most fics (as good as they are sometimes) only concentrate on a gigantic story that often do not attract readers because of their apparent length. I want, therefore, to thank the reviewers that have bothered to actually read some of these tales. And to those that may have the tales without reviewing I say: do not deny me the pleasure of a constructive criticism. I really need those to improve and carry one. It has been great to do this.
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A Cry in the Wood: The Huntress
Maeron guard of the Hylia gazed about him in the uttermost attention to his surroundings. The tranquil bushes and trees of the Lost Woods were known for their deceptively calmness that could suddenly end by many means. Some leaves lay in the ground about, and a cracking noise went up each time a Hylian would take a step in the almost hidden path. Many sounds also issued from the bushes, but all of them were known to the guard; and they represented no peril at all to the monarch at the time. The loyal bodyguard had never approved the excursions the King had recently been doing to the edge of the wood, although no Hylian had been about in the forest longer than himself; the lord of the Hylia was safe. But even in discussions, the knight had tried to weaken his lord's resolve for those monthly journeys, but he King would reveal to none his purposes at the shores of the great sea that lay beyond the accursed wood, and very few could ever accompany the monarch into these perilous journeys. The guard had often wondered at these purposes, which were not revealed even to him, regretting that bodyguard duties would not allow him to even walk along the King when the small company halted at the grooves signalling the end of the woods. Thenceforward, the King would walk alone into the waters of the Great Sea and stand silently and still for a while, the weak waves washing away the sand that piled about his bare feet. After this, the King would stare into the spot where the sun would rise and remain still again. And not until the next dawn, after the King had risen from his sleep to contemplate sunrise, would the company depart back to the castle, again crossing the forest and its dangers.
Maeron noticed nothing in the surroundings about the small company and sighed in resignation. The King would not listen to his words but would often march on, leading a small part of his household. Among those, much to the dismay of the loyal guard, would always ride the bodyguard of the King's daughter, and in her arms would be the young heir to the throne, a child no older than a few months. Together, the King and his heir would spend the nights in a tent by the shores at night, where the light did not went out till the last minutes ere midnight. The girl had beautifully golden hair that was yet to grow long and silky. Her deep-blue eyes were said to have been her mother's and her face was wrought as if with joy; yet there remained a sorrowful expression when she was not smiling.
Something shook a bush a few steps behind the servant at the rear. Although barely perceivable, Maeron turned his head to whence the sound had come and frowned. Long years of walking through the woods without becoming lost had given him great knowledge in the lore of the perils in it. Warily, he traced his steps back after leaving a guard beside the King and came to the bush. He found nothing.
Another crack in the leaves outside the path made him raise his head in awareness. The bushes near the King shook again as the monarch passed them by carelessly. Rushing back to his lord, Maeron got beside the King and spoke hastily.
"There is something about us, my lord. Set the guards about you and your household and let me walk ahead."
Trusting his bodyguard's words, the monarch called for the soldiers and his household. Maeron saw with slight appraise how the princess' Sheikah caretaker delivered the baby to a nearby maid and drew her long knife. The loyal guard now walked into the bushes and disappeared behind them. And all was quiet for a while.
The Sheikah whose name was Impa walked towards the King after a short time of stillness, her eyes gazing about her with mistrustfully. She spoke to the lord of the Hylia in these words then: "My lord, I, who am of the children of shadow, cannot feel any evil that should be matter of our concern. The wood is perilous, indeed, but we cannot stop and tarry uselessly, if only for a moment, each time the ranger deems for us to do so."
The King had been listening with his gaze straying into the woods; but he retrieved it and set it in the Sheikah's red eyes. "Do not be so eager to judge a man that may cross Lost Woods alone and unaided without being lost. If I keep my trust in him with blind hope, so should you, Impa daughter of Lampa. For I do not hold any wild child as my bodyguard ever, although he be not of the Hylia or Sheikah line.
The tall woman slightly bowed her head in acknowledge, but she was rather annoyed. "Nonetheless, I doubt his skill at times," Impa said anyway. And mere seconds had passed since her harsh words when there came a shout from the rear of the company. The King and the Sheikah turned round and beheld, in terror and sternness respectively, a huge wolfos as it leaped into the air and landed over a defenceless servant. The poor Hylian yelled and hit the wolfos desperately as the creature dug its claws into his chest. Impa sprang and in a swift movement hurled her long knife at the beast. At the same time an arrow stuck in the wolfos' head. The King turned again his head and saw Maeron the guard with his longbow drawn and bent with another arrow fit in it. The shaft flew through the air and stopped another nearby wolfos that poised to attack the Sheikah woman from behind. At once, a whole pack of these fierce creatures jumped out of the bushes where they had lain hidden and charged at the company. A score or more attacked the few Hylians that had dared to enter the woods; but the fair people had long ago devised weapons stronger than claws and jaws, and after a brief skirmish about thirteen wolfos lay dead on the leafy ground. The rest fled howling.
Maeron leaped from the low branch in which he had been standing onto the ground. The soldiers stood in formation round the company, but the loyal guard deemed the peril to have passed away now. Walking towards him, Impa stooped to pick up her knife and stood before him, her eyes glaring.
The guard met hers with his own undaunted eyes and said: "You could not feel any evil approaching us because these creatures are not evil. They only act upon instinct and so we slay them upon instinct."
Impa said nothing for a while, but then her proud gaze dropped and her mouth issued uncommon words for her: "I thank you, Maeron guard of the Hylia." She then bowed and turned away from him.
Although the company was almost come to the edges of the woods, they had been delayed in the tending of the wounded by the wolfos. No Hylian had perished, even if many were injured with bloody wounds. A few hours after the attack, the sun was finally beginning to wan, and the Hylians had still some miles to go. The King held a small council with his most trusted servants; and after some debate, and much to the unwilling of the Sheikah woman, the King had ruled in favour of Maeron and decided to continue the journey till the next morning. The servants left for their tents and only Impa and Maeron remained with the lord and his child.
"My lord," Impa said with hope of a change in the mind of the King, "I still counsel that we should get out of these forests as soon as possible. These dark boughs and branches above us may hide from either the sun's or the moon's light more than plain squirrels and mice. Rumours of feller beasts creep about these accursed woods, and there is more than one tale of beings that get lost when falling asleep in the woods. Do not forget, although I grieve at the incident, about the lady Dainúviel and her child years ago."
The King shook his head and said: "My mind does not change with the passing of mere seconds since my decision. I wish not to hear more of the matter tonight. But since you are so faithful and loyal a servant, I will spare a moment to answer your words. Yea, shadow-woman, there are more evils in the wood that most Hylians reckon. But neither adventurer nor warrior that has ventured to the forest has had the company of the ranger Maeron guard of the Hylia. If you bring him in a journey across lands well-known to him, it is wise to hearken his words. And since he says we should stay the night in the forest, so we shall. I think not you should deem my bodyguard to be so slow-witted or foolish with such a quick manner.
"As for the events concerning the fair Dainúviel of the woods, you ought to remember that the fate of the lady remains in the veils of mystery. You cannot know, even if your mother was ruefully slain in those same events, what came to happen to the wife of my captain. The arms we found lying in the ground were of Gerudo craft, not of Hylian, so it is not certain that who disappeared in fact while in the woods.
"So this is my answer, Impa of the Sheikah: we shall spend the night in the wood and I bid you to accept my decision and be at peace."
Impa bowed and glared at Maeron with a stern look. The guard seemed impassibly unmoved and just returned the Sheikah's bow with another. After the shadow-woman had departed, the loyal guard took his leave and went forth from the lord's pavilion. Outside the night had covered the woods with its dark mists that were enhanced by the looming branches that hung like hideous arms. The stars could dimly be seen and the moon showed only but a small part of it as it waned in the sky. Looking about him, as it was his custom, Maeron noticed nothing queer in the surroundings of the bivouac. With a slow but firm pace, he headed for his tent, bidding a good night to the standing guards keeping watch. His small pavilion came to his view and he was keen to have some rest.
A great rousing of voices and shouts and howls wakened the guard. Shivering a little by the cold of the night, Maeron rose from his bed and went outside. What he saw horrified him, but he quickly overcame his astonishment and went back into his tent for his gear: for he had seen a great number of wolfos ravaging the encampment and attacking the surprised Hylians. Already he saw the dead guards that had stood watch hours ago with great gashes and profound claw-wounds on their chest. With natural instinct and knowing that Impa would be already with the King and his daughter, the guard ran to the middle of the bivouac and began slashing at the wolfos. Half a dozen had fallen before the might of his long knife and bow when he heard a scream coming from the King's tent. Hurrying to his lord's pavilion, he darted forth and arrived just in time to prevent one of the beasts from entering. Upon flicking the entrance's curtain away he saw the Sheikah caretaker with light wounds on her forearms and a great wolfos on the floor. The King had his sword drawn and stained, although he was unscathed.
"Why did you counsel us to remain in these accursed woods?" the shadow-woman spat. "If you had listened to me we would already be walking amidst the field of Hyrule instead of battling these over-grown dogs!"
Maeron scowled at her and spoke angrily: "Do not judge my counsel before knowing the full tale of this. If the wolfos have been aroused it is because somebody went and disturbed them. But let us not argue in a time like this. Stay with the King and head to the Children's Forest. I would have you face the perils of the Lost Woods by night rather than sit and wait for a score wolfos come and tear you. Fly!"
With this, he ran from the King's tent and rejoined battle. Upon the western flank of the encampment the soldiers fought bravely with the numerous beasts, and many of these had fallen pierced by the might of the Hylian swords. But their numbers increased as more wolfos came from the dark corners of the wood in aid of their kin. Steadily, Hylian by Hylian fell to the sharp claws and jaws of the creatures that howled in desperation at the King's household. Many servants and maids had attempted to fly eastwards only to be caught by the same beasts that roam the hither lands about Kokiri Forest. With Maeron himself, after a hard fight, only six stout swordsmen remained in a circle of wolfos that closed slowly but fiercely. Then the beasts slew one of the remaining soldiers. Maeron gave up to his bow and drew his knife. Stooping and hewing at one the beasts that came too close, he retrieved the fallen Hylian's blade and held it aloft. Another of the guards fell by a terrible paw that pierced his head. Maeron looked about him and realized that his time was indeed come, and that there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The third of the small company fell, and so did the fourth and the last. Maeron stood alone.
A soundless lightning parted the darkness about them as it fell to one of the biggest and most evil-looking of the pack. The creatures howled and forgot for a split second about the loyal guard; but they soon howled in fright and rout as more of these lightning shafts stuck on them. Still wondering what could be causing this, the guard charged at the fleeing creatures and slew many with his sword nonetheless. When there was some distance, he drew his yew longbow and shot many an arrow at the beasts. Every one of his fifteen arrows slew a bewildered wolfos until the small clearing was covered in the bodies of wolfos and Hylians.
Gasping for breath, Maeron fell to the ground in his weariness. The light of the shafts that issued from the dead beasts was waning and everything was beginning to return into the night's shadows. Then, the guard heard approaching steps and stood up as his could. In the darkness he could make out the figure of a person walking with a drawn bow. Maeron was spent, indeed, but his wit had not left him yet and he spoke to the silhouette.
"I thank you for your aid, stranger," he said wearily, "although it would have yielded more fruit had you come earlier."
The person laughed quietly and to the guard's surprise a feminine voice answered: "I've just saved your life and you still complain about something? Well, if you hadn't been going around waking an entire pack of wolfos, then maybe things would've gone better-like. Still, ―here the strange woman lit a torch with amazing speed and skill― I think you owe me something. Don't you think so?
Maeron felt queer speaking to so a resolute woman in those circumstances. "Do not misunderstand me. I am indeed thankful that you saved my life. But I bitterly rue for all the Hylians that now have perished in these woods." And he bowed his head.
The woman dragged the torch about her and saw the slaughter and destruction that the wolfos had caused. Many Hylians, young and old, soldiers and maidens, lay slain in the leafy ground of the clearing. Many dozens of wolfos also lay with their life extinguished, pierced and hewed by the Hylian blades. Some tents had been thrown down in the madness of terror and lay all torn and ragged on the ground; and the last, brave swordsmen that had remained with Maeron till the end were all dead about the tiny circle in which had been just moments ago. The light in the shafts stuck on the fell creatures had gone out completely.
"Come," said the woman to the guard. "We can't do anything tonight. Let's get back to my home and rest. Tomorrow I'll bring you back here and then we'll think things out."
Maeron woke and almost immediately rose from his blanket. The wide, hollow tree trunk that served as the woman's home met his gaze. A small bed besides him was the only trace of possible furniture about the hollow. Other than piles of arrows and a bow and a broad sword, the trunk was completely empty of anything else. The guard turned his gaze towards the bed and saw a simple, thick blanket spread over the old mattress. The mysterious woman had evidently left some time ago.
Maeron suddenly noticed a small piece of parchment lying on the bed, partially covered by the blanket. He reached for it and saw the note written in it:
Meet me at the encampment site. I will be looking for survivors, though you shouldn't expect much. Also, pick up your bow and your sword from the floor. I don't want them to mix up with those of mine.
The Huntress.
The letters were firmly written, and the slant did not bend but was straight. These traits of her writing helped the perceptive guard to get an impression of the woman's personality: a firm one.
The bodyguard did not tarry for long. After having retrieved his gear, he headed for the encampment area, hoping that the Huntress would have found someone still drawing breath. He crossed the entrance and curiosity made him turn round and behold her strange house. It was a gigantic tree with huge, grey branches looming over the threshold. The hanging leaves would often conceal the entrance when the wind blew, making it hard to spot unless one would look carefully. Smiling at the cleverness of the woman, although he did not quite understand the need to be and hide in the forest, he turned again and sped towards the clearing.
It did not take him long to see the first pavilion in the distance. He quickened his pace, and after a few minutes he was standing besides the small patch of soil where he and his soldiers had been caught in the last night. To his surprise, their bodies were not about and only the dark figures of the wolfos were lying in the ground. Raising his head, he looked for the bodies of the rest of the company, but he saw only dozens of dead wolfos in the soil. Wondering at this was Maeron when a clear whistle came to his ears. Gazing to whence the sound came, the loyal guard saw the Huntress waving at him atop of a branch, a few fathoms away from him. He sighed and walked for the tree from where the strange woman had leaped. With a distressed air about him he spoke the first: "I take it there were no survivors."
The Huntress nodded and pointed to the north. "I found why the wolfos were aroused last night," she said. And she started to walk in that direction and beckoned him to do so too. After a few scores of feet, they came to a small mound in the ground. It had two small stones lying over them.
"There were two youths: a young Hylian and his girlfriend, I assume," she said looking down at the tombs, sounding almost wearily. "Anyway, they were near a cave that I presume it was a wolfos pack's. That must've been what disturbed them. So much for wanting a bit of privacy."
They walked back to the bivouac's remains. There, the Huntress pointed again at a large mound that peered over the wood's floor. "I came here early in morning, almost at dawn; but I found no one alive, so I buried them all in there. It was a sad view: there were some soldiers about the site, but there were also many maidens and young men who were not yet all grown up. I'm really sorry for what happened." Maeron looked surprised as he saw a tear come down from her eye on her nodded head.
"You have a kind heart, lady. But why do you grieve so much a loss that had nothing to do with you?"
"I don't like it when young people die," answered the woman. "I've had some experiences with death before, and I can tell you: death is not fair when she takes away from a mother her child, or from a lover his lady. No, she's not fair at all." And then the Huntress was silent.
Maeron looked in wonder at her, and he suddenly wondered also about her situation in the woods. Why did she live there? Why had she chosen to become a Huntress? Why did she felt the stirring of pity so strongly in her heart? What had she forsaken in her past? What was her name? Who was she?
"What is your name, lady?" he asked, almost not knowing what he was asking.
Without turning her head, the woman remained silent for a while, and then she said: "Many names I have been called since my childhood. But it has been long ago since I actually was named with anything."
"But surely you have a name you call your own?"
The woman turned her face towards him and smiled gratefully for his concern. And he could behold, for the first time, her beauty and loveliness. For unlike many women that were considered pretty by the reckoning of most Hylians, her hair was not golden, but of a dark brown; and it was like a cascade of fine strands that fell over her shoulders and hung above her forehead. Her eyes were of a strange colour, sometimes they would seem green and sometimes they would seem brown. Her nose was small and straight and her lips were pink, but they were of different hue each time she smiled. And out of her mouth came these light-hearted words: "My name used to be Sondrael, a long time ago. But most people called me just Sond."
The guard could listen to her, but barely. For her beauty had caught him and his choice was made.
Noticing his stare, the Huntress reddened a bit, a thing most unusual in her. She then inquired with a half-flattered tone: "What are you looking at?"
Maeron barely heard her again, instead he asked, in a most unusual also stammered manner: "Would, would you tell me about yourself? Why do you live in the woods?"
The smile in the Huntress' face faded. "It's a long story that wouldn't like to remember. Let's just say that my father was a bad person and my mother had to run away from him. So she entered the Lost Woods when I was but fifteen, and she fell asleep although I told her not to. And the next day, after I had been wondering about and came back… She was gone."
The guard saw how she turned away and walked to a nearby trunk and sat down on it. Being perceptive as his was, Maeron concluded that the Huntress could not be more that a few years older than when she had returned to her mother only not to find her any more. He walked towards the same trunk and sat beside her. She looked at him and suddenly sprang up. She looked distressed.
"I don't know what's going on with me. I haven't known you for more that a day and I'm already speaking about this again." She turned her face away again and said between sobs: "Go away. Please. Your people is buried now, and you can find your own way back home." And she darted away into the woods.
"Pray! Lady, come back!" the guard called. "I love you!"
Sondrael stopped in her tracks and froze. What had he said?
"Pray, lady," he called again. "I do not wish to be parted from you yet. I want to see your beauty still. Do not run away."
The Huntress turned her head to him and stared at him with an unblinking gaze. How her eyes shone in the light of the wood!
"How… how can you claim to love me when you hardly know me at all?"
Maeron looked at her and spoke softly: "What else might I need to know about thee? A beautiful woman, with a heart so easily moved to pity and such a sorrowful past is a woman I can love without much strife between my mind and my heart. But tell me, Huntress, is your heart so grieved and torn by sorrow that it has forgotten how to love?"
Sondrael walked towards him till she stood before him. A long time did she stare into his deep eyes of brown. The wind seemed to die away and the leaves in the ground cracked no longer. All was still for a while.
She dropped her gaze slowly but spoke softly these words: I don't grow to love a man easily, stranger. But I didn't expect to meet someone who could read so plainly my feelings. You really are special, you know."
She then let out an imperceptible laugh, and leaning to him she whispered in his ear: "And no, guard. My heart can still be rejoiced and happy. Just give me enough time." She said these last words with beautiful smile, and he kissed her under the tall branches and leaves of the woods; and the sun was high in the sky and the air seemed fairer.
And the tale of their lives as lone Hylians was come to an end.