A. N. To my worst discovery yesterday, I realized that people at the Zelda category are, wachamaycallit, afraid of weird crossovers as they call them. I regret to announce, then, that my fic 'Daeridhrim Chronicles: the Sheika' will end where I left it. Special thanks to Snowsilver, Tao Shui, Snoopy, and Squeak-chan for their support.
I had started a fic a long time ago, about a winter that fell over Hyrule. It did not do very well, for it was my first fic. But I liked the idea, and I decided to use it even if it meant to start all over from scratch.
So here it is, the new fic. Please leave your comments and I will gladly return the favour if possible.
***
Of partings and feelings
Once again Link turned his gaze back and stared into the remoteness where her fiery hair could still be seen, and only snow there seemed to be between them. She stared back at his green figure, almost lost already in the whiteness of the plains. He raised his open palm and waved at her, and she could see him, and she waved back at him. He could not stand the sight anymore though, and dropped his gaze at her, and a tear ran along her cheek. For the last time she waved at him, but he would not return her farewell now; and the memory of that last warm embrace came back to her heart. There before the flickering fire of the house in which she had grown up, there in the same house where they had shared the last night together ere he would depart into toil and danger in the hunt for a fell beast, there her memory flew; and in her heart the last song they had sang together echoed like a lost voice in the depths of a fathomless sea.
O dear love, do not cry,
O child, wipe the tear from your eye.
You know I need you to be strong
When the day is as dark as the night is long.
In his mind, though, his thoughts about her were quailed, but never forgotten; but soon his senses were bent back towards the wood where his company would find It: It that had caused so much loss to the people of Hyrule, It that had wickedly slain so many a tender Kokiri child in the deep Forest of the Lost, It that had become a tale of horror to all that by strange fortune had met with it and come out alive, It that was not bred by Dark Powers and yet had caused so much sorrow to the folk of the realm. In it was set his mind and heart; in the capture and slaying of the Fell Wolfos known as Arawn, the Bane of the Wood.
A gust of cold wind met his face, and Link felt the strong and heavy hand of his Sworn Brother Darunia the Goron.
"Don't worry too much, lad," he said with in soothing manner. "You will see her again before long. I reckon the creature won't be hard to catch."
"You speak as one that has met with White Wolfos before," said the knight. "But I don't think you have truly done so before. How can you tell me that? For all we know, one of us –and perhaps more than one of us- might get killed by those beasts; and the deeper we go, the more creatures we are bound to find."
"If that should come to pass, so be it," said the Shadow Woman Impa, and Link had always listened to her words as those of the wisest warrior of the realm. "Do not trouble your mind with those thoughts, for it is too soon to do so. I do not think that death is our doom in this quest; but if it should come to take one of us, I at least hope to take as many Wolfos with me as I may be allowed."
"Indeed," said Nabooru the Gerudo, but she was smiling as if the thought of battle was of her liking. "And the more dogs we find, the merrier."
"'The merrier'? What are you talking about?" asked the Saria the Kokiri, and fright and memory of dread hung in her voice. "Surely you don't mean that you'd be happy to find these monsters?"
"Of course she didn't mean that," Ruto the Zora said with a small laugh. "But she can't hide the Gerudo in her, can she? It would be like asking Impa to smile for once." And when she had said this, she and Nabooru broke into laughter.
"Need I remind you that the experience by which this girl has gone through can be held along the worst this realm has ever seen?" spoke a fair and deep voice, and another figure clad in Sheikah robes had spoken; though her hair was not neither dark nor white, but of gold; and it was not short and loose but long and bound in a single braid. Fair Princess Zelda spoke again, and she said: "We should not by any means recall that memory lest we hurt an already wounded heart."
"And I agree," said Link the Hylian. "I know it must be hard right now, but has anyone something happier to talk about? And I think we'd best leave the Wolfos out."
But silence loomed over the company thereafter. The snow under which most part of the realm was covered was thick and had fallen heavily, and to their knees it reached. The trees had long ago been bereft of their red leaves, and as gloomy statues of long-forgotten beings they stood all about the wide Field of Hyrule; and even the tree-friend Saria was not keen to remain for too long beneath their bald boughs. The path that led from Hyrule Castle to the Lost Woods was all but gone under the layers of snow, and only by having descried the road to the Forest from atop the walls of Lon Lon Ranch they had been able to go forth without much fear getting lost. But they had now walked scarcely four miles, and already the dread of fear for the Wood and the evil that yet lingered there was heavily burdened in their hearts; and only Saria longed to arrive to the Forest as quickly as they could.
When the day had finally been gone and the night was come, Malon at last climbed down from the wall. No desire to go back into the house, where she would have to face other loved ones, came to her; and she just remained there standing back to the wall. Cold was the night, and yet she did not feel the pains of winter but till quite a while after. But by the time she needed the warmth of a fire she had had time to gaze at the stars mysteriously lit and with few clouds about; but she rued that the Moon had spread his light but two weeks ago and was not there to light the travellers way.
She turned the knob and entered the house, and at once she noticed her father fast asleep before the fire that flickered and made the shadows dance about. Long she had been used to Talon's odd sleeping habits; yet she felt a small pang of sadness: he had not waited for her to come, and he had not bothered also to go out and look for her. But she comforted herself by thinking that he was hard-working man and needed rest more than she did. His slight lack of concern did not leave her heart though.
Up the stairs she went, to her bedroom. The warmth was all but gone there, but she longed to be alone, and no other place there was where no other would think to go; for the cold was bitter, and only her heart moved her to seek loneliness at the time. She drew a blanket and wrapped it about herself, and she sat on the bed in deep thought; and her mind wandered all about the dark and light corners of her heart. Memories of joy and of sadness were recalled, songs of old days she remembered, and she quickly lost count of time, and a sleepiness fell over her. And amidst this running of thoughts, for a while, a vision came to her, as only those that folk with heavy hearts at the hardest times can see.
She could see the mysterious Lost Woods, not with its queer green hue all about and within, but with the whiteness of a winter's veil instead. The trees had long lost their leaves to the autumn, and their spiked branches hung and were drawn downwards, like halberds in a thicket of spears. Howls rang in the air time and again, and they filled her with fear and despair. Fell they sounded, as though the beasts were laughing; but it was not so, for now she could see them, white and terrible, with their yellow eyes and their paws as red as their maws: the White Wolfos that had appeared in the wood because of the harshness of Winter. They were running; running towards something that seemed to be warmer. Long and heavy were their strides, and with each step they took a sense of foreboding flooded her, as if something terrible were approaching.
Startled she woke, for a light sleep had crept into her. But the feeling left her not, and she felt even more fright for her love. As hastily as her numb body allowed her she went to the window; but she dared not open it, and she tried instead to gaze again into the wood far to the east. But the snow had begun to fall again, and she felt as if the last embers of her hope had been quenched.
"It is too risky to do so," Princess Zelda said trying to sound calmed, but the cold was making her voice tremble.
"But we need it!" said Link, and wrapped with him in his heavy cloak was Saria shivering. Her own cloak was not enough to protect her from the raging cold that had befallen along with the winds. "She's not as big as you! She needs it!"
"He's right!" said Darunia, but he was wearing only a slight cape, for the Gorons had much more custom than any other races to harsh weathers. "Just look at the little one! And if it's not enough, look at the Zora!" and he pointed at Ruto. The Zora princess was suffering much also; yet the pride of her line did allow her to speak a word of complain.
"Princess," Impa said, and even though it was not raised all could hear her voice, "perhaps they are right. The cold is too bitter for a child and for a Zora. You must cast the spell."
"But our hope is in secrecy!" replied the princess. "You know that the fire will be seen even as far as Lon Lon ranch!" and at the mention of the ranch the knight's heart jolted. "If there are spies about the wood, I shall clearly write Zelda is here for them to read as an openly as a book."
"If you don't want me to write Link is here instead, please cast the spell," Link said almost defiantly as he set his arms about the Kokiri. "She's freezing; and so is Ruto."
Princess Zelda frowned, but her voice became fair and calm as she always strove for it to be; and for a while a special light shone in her eyes. But it was as though a shadow had been cast on her face, fair and dark. She gazed into the whitened horizon were the wood was, and her thoughts were clearly marked on her face. "Very well," she said at last after a short time of silence. "I shall do what you request, if only for the sake of my fellow sages. But from now on, you must keep your blades sharpened and ready."
She raised her arms, and her lips began to move as in prayer; and for a moment only the wind's cry filled their ears. But then a red light began to issue from between her hands, and as it grew the company was suddenly surrounded by waves of warm air, and the snow about them began to melt and to uncover the dead grass; and the company felt relief in their heavy hearts for a while as the heat caressed their aching limbs. Saria stopped shivering and dared to peer outside the knighs's wrap; and Ruto, though she had been standing firmly as though the wind had not been hurting her too much, sighed and nodded her head in exhaustion.
"Thank you, princess" Saria said timidly, and the tenderness of her words made everyone but Impa smile.
"Only because of the pain of two of my fellow sages," Zelda said proudly; yet she felt anxious about Din's Fire, and the others also did, though not as greatly as her. And a slight anger overtook her.
"Don't mind too much the dog-spies, princess," Nabooru said after having been in silence for quite a while. "It was just a matter of time before they would take notice of us anyway. So what if we have told them already? That'd only mean some battle in advance."
"Let us hope, then, for a quick sunrise," Princess Zelda said. "We shall be warm for the rest of the night; yet I shall not cast Din's Fire again unless real mortal peril is about us."
At once Link felt the true meaning of these words.
"What are you saying?" Ruto said suddenly, and the others also perceived Zelda's harsh meaning. "Do you think we were just faking? Do you think I just needed the fire because I'm afraid of the dark? If you hadn't cast the fire Saria would have frozen!"
"Only Saria?" the princess said. "You fail to mention that not only Saria would have frozen."
"Princess!" the Shadow Woman Impa spoke, and earnestly she said to Princess Zelda: "Let not your concern for our secrecy veil your mind, for it will only hasten your mouth!
For a while a cold lingered about the company, but it was in the form of anger and disappointment. The light in Princess Zelda's eyes shone with a stranger hue, and between her guardian and she cold gazes were fixed, and Link knew that only Impa's manner was enough to silence the princess. Then to the knight it appeared that Princess Zelda shrank, even in all of her fairness and pride, and that Impa grew taller and darker. It lasted for a while though, till everything faded back into the wind's charge all about the spell and the melted snow at their feet.
"Indeed," said the princess quietly, and Link saw that her proud voice had been lessened; and to Ruto and Saria she said: "My attendant is right. Please forgive my arrogance."
"It is the air of evil," whispered Darunia to Link. "As we come closer to that dratted wood everything will get darker; even our moods I reckon."
Over the wooden roofs a thick layer of snow had been set. The ranch was all covered in the whiteness of winter, yet its beauty had not shown since the first snowfall. All outdoor activities had been abandoned for a while, and even if it was not of her liking to repeat the same tedious work every day Malon had found quite boring these last. To milk the cows and keep the house clean were all of her duties; and even if it was her delight to sing when bored, even the songs she desired to sing were cold and sad, and naught she thought of made her change her mood. So it was when she found herself the next day, sitting at the table, besides her father and the stable groom Ingo.
"I'll tell you!" said Talon the owner to his worker between sips to his tea. "It was incredible, when the company left. I've seen loads of battles in my life, and I've seen good armies. But those lads ought to rid us from those disgusting dogs in no time!"
"Really?" said Ingo frowning, but Malon knew that he frowned more than anything else. "Well then! Let's hope they'll all return in one piece. If you'll tell me, I'll tell you back: those Wolfos aren't good dogs: I saw the poor lad done in a few days ago in Kakariko. What a sight! He was all stained in blood; blood and bites I'll say. But the worst sight of all was the lass that was walking with him: she was all torn and ragged, as if the beasts had tried to rip her inside-out. Horrible, horrible; I'd seen those kind of wounds only back when we were at war.
Malon gulped too much of her porridge and coughed at these words, but the men did not take notice.
"Yeah," said Talon with a queer look in his face. "I think you're right. Do you remember that poor captain brought from there Gerudo Fortress the last day of the War?"
"Ho!" said Ingo with a jolt. "How cold I forget it! Killed as death as only those thieves can. But they say he died saving the king, so I guess he was rather happy to have been brought like they did."
"Don't know if those kind of folk are still about though," said Talon with a sigh. "I'm not sure if lads as brave as that captain come all the time. I'd say that if that lord, (what was his name? Oh! Yeah, Gilestel,) were yet with us those plagued dogs wouldn't be festering round here with poor folk that happen to stray in the night."
"But I think that there are still some men as brave as that Gilestel of yours," spoke Malon at length, and her father and his worker turned to her. "I'd think that, if not braver, Link is just as valiant as that lord you talk about."
"Now here, lass," Talon said with a smile. "I know this boy Link is nice and all, and I remember all he did for us when that Ganondorf was king; but you'd had to see the real Gilestel to understand courage."
"Yeah!" Ingo said, and when he agreed with Talon, Malon knew nothing she would say would change their minds. "You'd really have to see him: with his sword, and his shield, and his spear, and that white steed he always rode, and his voice. Yeah, I say again: you'd have to see him. Now that was a knight!"
"I guess so," she said coldly, and stood up and walked away leaving the two men talking about the lord Gilestel and his ride to some place Malon had not heard of. Again a slight pang of sadness crept into her heart, for her father had not noticed with much concern her abrupt leaving and her despise for him having misjudged Link. If she had not been in the daylight and with Ingo near, perhaps a tear might have slipped from her eye. Yet she did not quail before weeping, and she thought that cool gust would quench her feelings. Her cloak she took, after climbing up the stairs and entering the room, and she put it on. Down the stairs she went back.
"I'm going for a walk," she said already opening the door. A chill wind blew in.
"All right, lass. Just be sure to be back quickly," said Talon absently.
"I promise nothing" she thought, and she closed the door behind her.
Outside there was a bench where she liked to seat in the summer afternoons in front of the stables. She brushed the snow away and sat down with a sigh. Again, loneliness she yearned; and not even the quiet company of the horses she would have stood. An air of dread was about her, and the rumour of the wind as it carried the echo of distant lands met he long Hylian ears. At that time was that I happened for the first time: her keen hearing told her that music was in the air. She looked about her, for the music went away the moment she had blinked in surprise. But the sound she heard was again that of the wind as it blew the cold over the wide fields. But she was sure that a song she knew she had heard. And the voice she had listened had sounded fair and familiar.
The song had slightly lifted the foreboding in her heart, and she felt light again, as one that has been sleeping during a night just to wake and rise to a warm spring day. She did not stand up, though she felt the desire to sing; not a cold and fell song, but a warm and fair song, yet sadness she could not take away from it.
Fairly, in the voice she had been blessed with, she sang.
When the cold of winter comes,
Starless night will cover day.
In the veiling of the Sun,
We will walk in bitter snow.
But in Dreams
I can yet hear your name
And in Dreams
We will meet again
When the wind of dread comes forth
To destroy my last dream of you
In the slaying of the light
To the night I shall begone
Yet in Dreams
I will hearken to your words of love
And in Dreams
Together we shall remain.
When the seas and mountains fall
And we come to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
Where you linger
And back to you.
***
A. N. I know that I have, in the past, rambled about the lack of originality in most fics I see nowadays in the Zelda category at FF.net; and I know that I now might fall in that same lack of originality. But, for reasons I can't explain, the people at the Zelda category like these kind of stories more than anything else, and I need critical reviews in order to improve my writing skills; and I'd try a bit more in other categories, but the ones I like are, IMHO, way out of my reach to attempt a great fic on them. So I apologize to all that might consider what I'm doing an act of hypocrisy; I assure you that is not what intend, to write yet another fic about the same subjects on the same events.
On a second note, I'd like to make a bit of publicity to what it is, in my opinion again, the best Zelda fic of FF.net. If you want original characters, original timelines, original landscapes, yet you want it to feature Zelda, Link and the rest of the gang, please check out The Kirby Kid's awesome 'Her Story.' It's not yet finished, and believe, you won't want it to finish once you start it.
Well, nothing else to say from yours truly.
I Fëasin.