Chapter Six
Curiouser and Curiouser . . . . .
As they stepped into the noonday sunlight, Link blinked his eyes. It had been quite dark in that cave, even with the candles the girl had lit. When they were both out of the cave, they walked together in silence, listening as the trees whispered about them, the birds twittering about the odd pair, and the wind whistled in their ears. The girl knew what would come if she did speak so she kept silent. In her heart she knew that she would tell him eventually. The peaceful silence of nature only lasted a mere moment to her as they walked on. Her mind full of ideas, ways to avoid telling him about her past and why she had no name.
She knew he would ask, she didn't know how or why she knew, just that she knew it was to come. It was one of the first things people would ask her. What was she suppose to do? How long would she wait until he asked? Silence. Why didn't he ask her? She looked at him with a side-ways glance and saw that he was completely absorbed in the workings of his mind. He will ask in a few minuets, she thought. More silence. The suspense in time was almost unbearable. The silence crept on, making her feel a prickling on her neck. Why didn't he say something, anything? Weren't boys suppose to be loud and idiot like? This was the most odd boy she had ever met.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, he finally did say something, but not what she expected. He looked at her with his twinkling blue eyes and said, "Do you have any idea where we're going?" The girl groaned, a sound loud enough for the entire forest to hear. "Is something wrong?" he asked her with a puzzled look on his face.
"No," she lied, looking at him, trying to control her temper by smiling, which made her voice crack as they walked further on. "I thought you knew where we were going." She had to bite the inside of her cheek to not blurt out, confessing to her true rage. So he hadn't any idea where they were going or what they were looking for. "So, you don't have the slightest whim of what we might be looking for?" Her eyes were huge and green, sparkling with an inner beauty she possessed unknowingly.
"I thought you were the one who knew," he said calmly, slowing their pace to a crawl, "Do you want to stop and talk for a while? Get to know each other, come up with a plan and the lot?" He stared at her, looking for an answer in her flushed face.
"Fine with me," she huffed, a bit out of breath, "I could do with a rest." Her spirit was as determined as ever to help Zelda. As they sat down, she looked up at the tree they were engulfed by. It was a weeping willow tree, with long arms hanging down to dry the tears of those who cried beneath it. The leaves showed that they had been cried on, for their hue was a bit too blue for the green they should be. The tree's trunk had a few ivy vines clinging to it for what little life they held dear. The very essence of the air around her seemed to spring with life and it comforted her from all her worries, her pain, her suffering, her losses, her heartbreaks . . . The girl slipped off to the world where dreams are real, your soul is set free to be what it longs to be and go where it aches to thrive.
Link smiled as she slept. She must have been tired from the long walk, he thought. They would just have to get to know each other later. As Link stared at her, wondering what she was dreaming as she slept there, lying on the grass, her hair flowing neatly around her. Then his eyes grew wide as the vines from the tree . . . no. His eyes were playing tricks on him, yet had the vines been moving? He began to look away and think about what was real and soon found himself dozing in the fading sun.
-*-*-*-*-
A rustle could be heard as the boy and girl slept on into the moonlight, unaware of the world around them, caught in the web of dreams . . . perhaps even enchanted dreams. Slowly, as a snake, a lone vine slithered off the tree it clung to and reached out for the girl. It felt a radiance around her, life pouring out of her, beckoning it towards her. The vine happily wrapped itself around the slender arm lying on the ground in the dewy grass. Another felt the warmth and left the tree as well, holding on to the fragile leg, not far from the many others who followed the greeting of life.
-*-*-*-*-
The light was of green warmth inside the tree's shady branches. It was a color meant for a moment of joy, of mirth yet it was not here for that reason. The girl woke gasping for breath. She felt a squeeze on her neck growing tighter and tighter as she tried to sit up. Nothing happened. She tried again and felt a million gentle, yet strong ropes holding her down as she struggled for her every breath. Her eyes shot open and her mouth opened in a scream at what she saw.
Her entire body was covered in the green ivy vines from the sobbing tree, squeezing out her essence, her life, her soul. The girl tried to scream again but no sound escaped her mouth for vines had covered her small pink lips. They were alive! Crawling on her body, pulling out . . . out . . . her! She felt weak as the ivy took over. She looked up at the sky, hoping for it to be a beautiful last sight but instead saw something that made her soul flare up with hope. It was the boy cutting at the vines around her. His blade was hacking at them and they seemed to be fighting back, trying to mend their severed parts. The girl's sea green eyes were wide with fear as she looked at the boy. He saw her and gave her a look of pity as he continued to slice the vines that engulfed her.
This was the last she saw of the mysterious battle, as the growing vines crept over her eyelids. Her nose filled with the sweet smell of life that the vines gave off. They seemed to be hugging her rather than squeezing her, as a small child might do when their father or mother must leave them. She heard the voice of the green spirit, crying out with pain as the blonde boy cut off its end. It yelled a fierce war cry and slashed at his leg, where many others had done the same, leaving a deep mark on his leg.
Then, the revelation came to her like a slap on the face, but how and why it came she never knew. The ivy was her friend, she could talk to it, control it! The thought gave her energy as she tried to make the ivy move. Her mind focused on the vines over her face. If she could tell the boy to stop she could make the ivy leave her imprisoned body and return to the tree. To her own astonishment the vines did listen to her and they moved.
"Stop!" she yelled and the boy turned around. His face wore an expression that told her he thought she was crazy. "I can't!" he said, still cutting, the screaming vines, "If I don't, these vines will . . ."
"You don't understand! Listen to me. You're hurting them! If you stop, I can make them leave without force!" Her voice was faint as she struggled to keep them away from her mouth, "You must trust me!" The boy looked as if he was about to loose a good friend, but backed away and sat down watching with painful horror on his face.
Alright, thought the girl, commanding squadrons as she spoke, Now lets move back to the tree. She focused her mind on the image of the tree, it's wonderful smell, the golden wood, the inner life it held waiting for them. Slowly, the vines one by one sensed it and moved back to the tree. Some of the stronger, older ivy stayed on her, clinging to her outstretched limbs. "I said get going!" her voice more commanding. Her green eyes pierced the vines as they pridefully moved back towards the tree.
The girl smiled at her success, as she felt a wave a dizziness and exhaustion wash over her boundaries. She collapsed on the grass, her body as well as her mind weak from the effort. How had she known what to do? Where had the power come from? Her mind was trying to make sense of it all as the boy gently picked her up and carried her away from the vines. Her eyes were closed and she left them that way, her body weak from . . . from . . . what she had just done. The boy looked at her curiously. She was an odd person, a very odd person indeed.
-*-*-*-*-
Consciousness. Where was she? How had she gotten here? The girl opened her eyes to a blazing light and tried to sit up, but immediately laid back down. She was sore and stiff all over, and moving wasn't the best idea right now. She stared at the room around her. It was a small room made of sticks of all shapes and sizes and there was a small window letting in the last of the days light onto her bed. The roof was pointed, with plants and animal hides hanging from it to dry. The smoke from a smoldering fire beneath it escaped through a hole in the top. There were shelves upon shelves covering the walls. On top of them, were bottles. Some were round and squat, while others were long and curvy. Some held powders and others held slimy looking liquids. On a particularly dusty shelf a large bottle held a creature of some sort. It had huge eyes and looked to be a frog of some sort. It continued to stare at her, as she turned away from the bulgy eyed monster.
As the girl continued to become familiar with her surroundings, she heard gentle footsteps approaching her. This startled her, for she wasn't accustomed to being around people. She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. She heard voices as the footsteps got closer and recognized one of them as the boy and the other was hardly audible to her. I really need to ask that boy what his name is, she thought as they began to walk in the room through the creaky door.
"Is she . . . is she going to be alright?" the boy asked the other voice. To her great surprise, his voice was wavering and had a hint of worry to it. Why should he be worried? He has no reason to. We're not friends . . . Her thoughts were stopped abruptly by a pang in her stomach as she thought this. Some part of her would not let her think this and she had no idea why.
"She will be just fine, my boy," said an old, low male voice, "She's been beaten up pretty bad from what happened in the woods but if she rests you can be on your way in a matter of days."
"That's alright. It won't matter much since I have been here for three days alre . . ."
"THREE DAYS!!!" It was the girl. She had bolted up out of the bed and blurted out her thoughts before she could stop herself. The elderly man looked at her and smiled a surprisingly white smile.
"Well, I see you have your strength back." The girl looked him over. He was a short man with bushy white eyebrows and a long beard that trailed onto the floor. His bald head was shiny and his crooked nose was mounted with a pair of gold framed glasses. He had laughing eyes the color of fire. As the girl stared at him she yelped as she felt a pinch on her cheek. She whirled around to see the boy leaning back to miss her swipe at him.
"I see you two get along very nicely." His eyes, despite their color, were very friendly and intriguing. The girl discontinued her pursuit and went over to the man. She opened her mouth to speak, but the man had read her mind. "My name is Erdwick, Erdwick Baggins, the healer." She was shocked that he had read her mind. The boy was grinning at her. He had been quite surprised himself when he had done it to him as well. She continued to her other questions, as a way of breaking the unearthly silence. "I don't mean to be rude, but what am I doing here?" The question seemed friendly enough but the man frowned at her.
"If you mean how you got here, this young man brought you here and I treated your wounds. Other reasons I can not explain to your impervious mind right now."
"Now wait just one minuet," the boy was now looking quite confused. "I brought her here for help. What other reasons?" He looked a bit furious at the man for not telling him this.
"Alas, you too are not ready for the answers I have to give." The man walked to the door and said, not turning around to face them, "I will prepare supper for us. You two have some things to catch up on, I suppose." And then he shut the door, leaving them alone in the room
The girl decided it was best to start sooner than later. "Well, I do have a few questions. I should have asked you this long ago, but what is you name?" She had been waiting to ask him this for days.
"It's Link," he said offhandedly, waving his hand, "I suppose you want to know all about me as well?" he questioned her with one eye, waiting to tell her he was the Hero of Time and see her shocked expression of disbelief.
"No not really," she said, not interested at all.
The boy was quite offended at this, but remained silent.
"What I really want to know is what happened after I . . . well, . . . collapsed." She would not admit that she had fainted to anyone.
"Not much. I carried you here to this place, Erdwick healed you and then I've been here for the last three days waiting for you to wake up." At this, the girl flushed with embarrassment. She was annoyed at herself for this but her questions continued. "How do you know Erdwick?"
"Actually, I don't," said Link, his head turned away, "I was a bit frantic and this was the first place I found." The girl's mouth was open in disbelief.
"Are you telling me you . . . you left me in the hands of a total stranger? And you trusted him?" Her eyes were shooting sparks at him.
"What did you want me to do? Let you die? I saved your life! You should be at least a bit grateful . . ."
"Grateful!?!" the girl said, her voice full of shock, "Grateful? Why should I be grateful to you? I was the one who saved us! If you had kept killing those vines . . . " but she stopped and took a long breath. All her hate washed away in a few moments. Once again, some part of her would not let her hate him. A long silence went between them, until Link broke the silence.
"How did you stop those vines anyway?" his voice a bit awed with wonder. She had been thinking about the same thing herself. Slowly she answered, her voice no more than a whisper, "I don't know. I just . . . it was . . ." she stopped lost in bewilderment. How had she done it? "I just sort of knew what to do." She looked at him. His face looked very confused, as confused as she was inside.
"Well, can I ask you a few questions?" he said, sort of solemnly.
"That depends." she said pulling up her defense wall. Here it came. The thing she had been waiting for. "Alright," she said slowly, "What are they?"
"Why don't you have a name?" said Link, his voice full of curiosity. The girl sighed, shaking her head.
"It's a long story," said the girl, her voice trembling a bit.
"I have time," he said with curiosity, ignoring her saddening expression. Then she began her story, but that can wait for another time . . . .
