Chapter Six
Gatle's home was very quaint, just like all the other little cottages around them, with a small garden growing around and a fence around the area. From the outside it seemed warm and inviting.
A phosgane, Link found out, was sort of a home decorator powered by water. It was made of glass, catching the sunlight and glinting of green shades off the house as it hung from the corner of the house next to the drainage pipe. It spun around, Gatle told him, when rainwater from the drainage flows next to a little propeller connected to it, and sprays water in different directions when it does.
Link admired the little trinket before Gatle pulled him inside the house. "Ma, pa, I'm home! And I want you to meet someone!" A short, cheery woman stepped out from what smelled like the kitchen, her face plain and loving of green eyes and red hair. A tall, black-hair man came in from another entrance outside the house his hands dirtied with work. The woman stood, staring up at Link, whose head was a foot from touching the ceiling, and at once said brightly, "Welcome to our home, Mr.." "Link," he answered, "just Link."
Gatle's father came over and shook his hand. "Well Link," he said humorously, "What did Gatle do now?" "Nothing," Link answered, "In fact, Gatle helped me out finding my way around this town." "Oh, you must be a traveler!" Gatle's mother replied, "And you look starving! Come sit at our table, I've made extra helpings!" She turned around and yelled, "Daren! Lysell! Come downstairs immediately and greet our guest!"
Two children's feet pummeled the staircase, and the dark raven-haired boy that Epona nearly stomped on looked on curiously while a little girl with bright, curly red hair and green eyes hid behind him as they stood bashfully at the foot of the stairs. "Daren, come over here," the father motioned to the little boy, who bounded gleefully towards him and pounced on him. Link watched with a softened expression as the boy and father wrestled playfully while the little girl silently dared herself approached him, then stopping again.
"That's Daren," Gatle pointed out the little boy and then at the small redhead. "And that's Lysell. She's a bit younger, just around four last week." He motioned for her to come. "Come on, Lysell, come on," their mother urged softly. The little girl moved slowly towards them, glancing in awe at Link's towering height. With a gentle smile, Link slowly crouched to level his height near hers. The little girl came up with a look of pure innocence and said in a small voice, "Why are you so tall?"
Link smiled at the inquiry and answered, "Well, I guess it's because I drink a lot of milk." Lysell's eyes widened. "Did my daddy drink that much milk too, mama?" Their mother smiled and replied, "That's right. I always made him drink a lot, just as I make you." She said this with a kiss. "Now Daren, off to dinner. Come, Mr. Link, I'll put out a chair."
Dinner was delightful. Gatle's mother prepared something she called corn cake, which was semi-sweet and grainy, delicious next to a serving of her roasted bird in gravy sauce with potatoes at the end. While Daren and Lysell playfully threw pieces of potatoes at each other, their father gave them a stern word before they stopped. Then, Lysell threw another piece when their father wasn't looking, which landed on Daren's head. Link couldn't help but laugh.
"Tell us, Mr. Link," Gatle's mother said, "There must be many adventures you've gone through. Do you travel alone?" "No ma," Gatle said abruptly, "He rides on this beautiful roan mare and he's also got Navi with him." "Navi?" their father said with amusement, "Is this Navi a woman you're very fond of?" Link choked on a corn cake.
"Jacobson!" their mother replied sharply, "How rude! You've probably offended him!" "No," Link sputtered through bits of the corn cake, "No, ma'am. It was just a – ah, funny thing." "Navi's a fairy," Gatle said as-a- matter-of-factly, "In fact, she's a blue Hyrulean Forest Fairy." The two younger children stopped their bout and stared. "Wow," Daren said in awe, "A real live fairy?" Lysell asked meekly, "Mister Link, could you let us see her?"
Link smiled at her little face and answered, "Sure. But I don't have her with me here, she's back at my inn-room." "Why is she back there?" Daren asked impatiently. "Well," Link started slowly, "I guess she got mad at me for some reason." "Why? What did you do?" "I just accidentally shut her in someplace really cold, and when I got her out she didn't seem too happy about it."
Lysell looked horrified. "You mean you shut her inside?" "Not on purpose, of course," Link replied quickly, "You see, she went inside to look for something to eat and the door just kind of closed on her without me knowing it." Gatle gave him the same expression as on Lysell's. "You mean you left her in the ice box?" he asked. Link assumed it was the same thing, so he nodded briefly. Lysell was bored with the subject and started asking him all sorts of questions about Navi and then Epona, which was where Daren proclaimed loudly, "Hey! I remember that horse nearly killed me today!"
Both parents gave him an utter look of shock while Daren went through his traumatic event in detail. "…and if Mr. Link hadn't stopped her, I would've been stomped into pulp!" he ended dramatically. Their mother was in a paralyzed state, and through the awkward silence Gatle retorted to his little brother, "Well you didn't even thank him back then. I came out of work to tell him that and you just went back playing."
Jacobson responded to this very harshly. "Daren, this young man saved you from a terrible way to die. How could you be so ungrateful?" "Sorry, papa," the little boy replied in a low voice and ran to Link's side from his chair. "I shoulda' said thanks and now I'm going to say it. Thank you, Mr. Link, for saving my life." Link nodded at his gesture, and the little boy went back into his chair, his face bright from the retelling of the feat.
"Well Farore's faith," their mother finally managed to say, "Mr. Link, I cannot begin to thank you enough." "You're welcome," Link answered politely. It was really nothing compared to what he faced in the past, but kept that information to himself. Jacobson cleared his throat and looked at Gatle intently. "While we're on the subject of horses," he started, "Gatle, I've seen Mr. Rufio just today."
Gatle swallowed hard on his potato. "Um, that's great, papa," he muttered. Jacobson shook his head slowly. "He arrived just moments before you came back, and he managed to tell me the trouble you were in with his horses – again." Gatle looked at his father feebly, "I didn't ride one, honest! I was just admiring them in their stables." "Really?" Their mother answered this time, "Those sores on your arm don't look the like. Did you fall off when you rode this time?"
The young boy snapped in a flurry of frustration and explanations, "No I didn't, honestly, I didn't! I was in the stables looking at his horses when he grabbed me by the arm! That Rufio has a big grip, you know, and he was dragging me down the street yelling at me and bruised my arm. Mr. Link came just on time and told him off, or I would have gotten beaten like he promised he would last time."
Jacobson retorted, "Then you shouldn't have been near those beasts in the first place." He turned the kind blue eyes to Link and smiled generously, "Thank you once again Mr. Link. You managed to rescue two of our children today, and you are always welcomed here." "Thank you," Link answered, with a pitying look towards Gatle, who looked down at his plate.
Their father sighed. "We're sorry of our son's behavior. He just loves those creatures, been loving them ever since he first saw one of Mr. Rufio's stallions come into town way back when he was about Daren's age. Ever since he's been getting in trouble with horses and their owners. One time he hitched off a gray little pony from a merchant, and we had a hell of a time clearing that up," He suppressed a laugh of the memory.
"That was before he started eyeing Rufio's horses and managed to get on one and rode it around. He was seen on that bucking bronco, hanging on for dear life outside the streets, and Mr. Rufio came in all flustered and angry and he took that thing in. Very strong with his horses, that man is, took that wild thing and it was as docile as a rabbit. He came back telling us that our boy's been in trouble and the next time he'll do as he sees fit."
His wife came in a soft tone, "You have to understand Rufio. Big man, he is, very passionate of his horses. But he's so boisterous, sometimes almost wild and angry just like them. But when he has those creatures around him, oh," she stopped to wave a finger at him, "They're like tamed horses. Still that fierceness, yes, but just tamed."
Link pondered on a question and asked, "Just how good are the horses he trains?" "Rufio? Rumors say he's the best there is. That's why King Dykat's got him going for all of his men and even himself and his daughter, the king's own horse breeder and trainers aren't even in his league. Has his ranch way out west of this town, just less than a day's stop from here. He comes and goes on with his business here and rests before he gets to the capital, also not too far, about three days if I remember correctly."
By then Lysell had put up with her patience and started asking more questions. Link sat at the dinner table, telling them of Hyrule and the people and races there: "You mean you were gonna' marry a fish?"; leaving out as much as possible as the events that occurred in a span of around seven years. "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?" Lysell asked. Link was quiet for a moment and answered with a slight smile.
"No. They live…far away," he said in a low tone.
When it grew dark, Link dismissed himself from the family's comfort. They stood at the door, waving at him and asking him to come back soon. Gatle, with a twinkle in his light blue eyes, mouthed the words, "At dawn." Link waved back at them, a slight soreness in his chest he didn't know of at the thought of leaving them. Then he turned and made his way along the streets.
' "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?"' Lysell's little voiced echoed through his mind. Link never thought of that day the Deku sprout had told him of his past any more than he needed to, especially since he was raised in the Kokiri Forest for as long as he could remember. Yet the way Gatle's mother showered her children with kisses and pointing out the messy state of her sons' hair, and Jacobson's domineering position in the family in his fatherly way reminded him of what he never had.
He began to pound his head for a memory, a glimpse of his mother's face or his father's voice. But there was nothing for him to bring forth such memories, and at night he could only imagine his mother's crooning voice to him while he slept. Link headed down the street towards the inn as he struggled to think of the words she would whisper softly in his ear, urging the night to bring him peace and slumber.
The attempts grew weaker and soon failed. Link brushed past the receptionist's room and headed towards the stairs. He was at the top of the staircase when he saw a familiar face from across the corner. Silently, he pressed against the staircase and spied on the person unlocking the room a few doors from his room. It was Rufio, and Link waited until he had entered before he came out of his hiding.
'Din-damnit,' he silently cursed to himself, 'Why'd he have to be here of all places?' Link thought for a while as he placed the key into the keyhole. 'If he's here, than that prized colt of his must be around here, too.' He had a temptation to see his competition for himself, but thought the better of it. Epona could beat any old horse, and he smiled to himself.
As soon as he entered the door a raging storm awaited him. Navi, defrosted and alive as ever, set off quite an explosion. Link couldn't make any sense at all of what she was trying to say, but decided to let her blow the fuse. After fifteen minutes, the fairy took a moment to catch her breath. Link stopped her there and announced, "Why don't we go around the town? I'll look around for stuff and you go fill yourself up with something."
"Well?" the fairy said, unaware of Link's proposal, "Exactly where the hell did you go off to?" "I went to get something to eat and ended up in Gatle's house," he answered, "That and we need to get up pretty early tomorrow morning." Navi gave off an icy glow. "Why? Can't I at least sleep in?"
Link told her about Rufio and their race tomorrow morning, and added quickly when Navi's color began to turn slightly yellow, "But you could sleep in if you wanted to. I mean, we're off to race and come back, or I'll leave the window opened for you whenever you're ready to leave." The fairy tinkled. "That's better," she said sweetly.
It didn't take long for Link to fall asleep as he lay on the soft mattress of the bed. A real bed, not like the bundle of blankets he used as a sleeping bag against the rough ground or even the hard one back at his tree- house in the Kokiri Forest. Navi fell asleep in an arrangement of pillows on a sofa; her light snoring was easily ignored by Link as he fell asleep contentedly.
* * *
King Dykat paced around his study, unable to pay any attention to the pile of decrees lying on his table. His mind wandered off to his daughter Helena, who had the uncanny ability to disappear even under an army of guards. 'She's to be married and how does she approach this matter? Running away, blasted gods!'
He gazed out at the full moon, which had tinted to a light orange shade in the season of a bountiful harvest, and thought fondly of his late wife. She had been beautiful, and a great deal of that beauty lies within their child. Yet it must be from his own reckless nature back in his youth that could make the king's daughter so vibrant and demanding.
A large creature sailed across the moon, its cry like that of a whale. Dykat took no notice to it, the creature was merely another inhabitant of the ocean and the air that made Nemix so famous. It was from this creature's name and body markings that the country branded as their own symbolic sign: three circles arranged like the endpoints of an upside-down equilateral triangle, with a water-drop mark hovering above the area just between the two higher circles completed the Raykern.
'There's a royal inspection in a few days and still all these decrees to revise…' The king sighed and decided to retire himself tonight, just to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, Helena laid inside her bedchamber, awake. She slammed her fists unto her bed in frustration, unable to think up a decent plan to escape this wedding. The incident at dinner (when Kroahn spilled half a bowl of hot soup on his clothing and screamed: dancing around holding his pants away from his skin to prevent the burning to his privates) sent Helena in a mad desperation to find any lengths in order to keep this marriage at bay.
"Link would make a much better husband," she noted to herself and lay on her side. Her face twisted in annoyance at the thought of that infuriating ball of light and that beloved horse of his. Somehow she'll have to get rid of them all: Kroahn, that fairy, and that horse. If only there was a way for her to find him…
Slowly her mind drifted off to the tournament. Yes, that was it. It was held only once every three years, just around this time. With all the prize money, no decent warrior could resist a challenge. Her lips curved into a smile. Nor would anyone know of the special reward apart from the money itself. She positioned herself and slept soundly.
* * *
The misty pond was there, in the field now drafted with fog. Everything was the way it was before…except for the boy. Link found himself once again in the dream, but what he thought was to be again a repeated course of actions was not. The boy was not here, not even the pond. The pond too had now disappeared.
Link stood lost amidst the rolling clouds of fog and watched around him, that the field too subsided into darkness. Soon there was nothing but darkness, and he found himself staring into indefinite space. "Hello?" he called out in his dream. His voice echoed through the expanse. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
Softly, a murmur grew from the shadows. Link turned to face it, but it came from all around him. It was soft and cheery like a child, and was not at all threatening. Link felt himself relax and listened to the words that were becoming clearer with each moment:
"I wanted a dolly today, but mommy didn't let me.
She said that the world was cruel to her and why she doesn't love me.
I asked for a dress another day, and still she said the same.
I could tell she didn't care; how I was tired of this game!
I asked her then to give me love, and still she refused to try.
She complained about everything and would continuously cry.
'I've tried my best,' I told myself, 'There's nothing else to do.
I'm sick and tired of this old bitch, I'm absolutely through!'
That night mommy, you were so dumb, to leave it on the desk.
I took it with my small, bare hands and plunged it through your chest.
Now you're fine, you don't complain, you're completely unaware.
Now mommy, who's the one who really needed care?"
A soft giggling erupted into hysterics, and a woman's screams deafened Link's ears as they tangled in madness.
* * *
Link bolted from his bed, the ringing in his ears did not stop. He let out deep gasps of air, shaking off the last unnerving edges of the nightmare. The little girl's voice soon was lost in his mind, and he looked outside the window. The fields from the view were tinted lightly by the sky, which was a slight shade of purple nearing to a light gold. A clock on the wall across from his bed indicated 5:10 AM, and immediately he remembered the events of the day before.
"Rufio," he muttered and fetched his red tunic, the green one suffered lightly from the fight he had at the diner yesterday. After he had washed up and placed on his boots, he reached for the keys to the room. "Wait," he started and went towards a window. Unlatching it, he lifted it all the way up for Navi to travel en route if she wanted out. Then, catching the keys from midair, he headed towards the door.
*Hope I kept you all waiting. I brushed a bit on Link's orphaned childhood and on Gatle's family: Jacobson the father, Maryanne (though not mentioned) the mother, Daren the younger brother, and Lysell the little redheaded baby girl. Also the king himself, Dykat the diplomatic and beloved ruler and father who's being stressed at the moment. I included just a brief relapse about the tournament that's mentioned earlier. There was also that freakish nightmare. I made up the poem myself, so I'm proud of it, no matter what anyone else says! ( Lol, keep reading! The race is starting soon…
Gatle's home was very quaint, just like all the other little cottages around them, with a small garden growing around and a fence around the area. From the outside it seemed warm and inviting.
A phosgane, Link found out, was sort of a home decorator powered by water. It was made of glass, catching the sunlight and glinting of green shades off the house as it hung from the corner of the house next to the drainage pipe. It spun around, Gatle told him, when rainwater from the drainage flows next to a little propeller connected to it, and sprays water in different directions when it does.
Link admired the little trinket before Gatle pulled him inside the house. "Ma, pa, I'm home! And I want you to meet someone!" A short, cheery woman stepped out from what smelled like the kitchen, her face plain and loving of green eyes and red hair. A tall, black-hair man came in from another entrance outside the house his hands dirtied with work. The woman stood, staring up at Link, whose head was a foot from touching the ceiling, and at once said brightly, "Welcome to our home, Mr.." "Link," he answered, "just Link."
Gatle's father came over and shook his hand. "Well Link," he said humorously, "What did Gatle do now?" "Nothing," Link answered, "In fact, Gatle helped me out finding my way around this town." "Oh, you must be a traveler!" Gatle's mother replied, "And you look starving! Come sit at our table, I've made extra helpings!" She turned around and yelled, "Daren! Lysell! Come downstairs immediately and greet our guest!"
Two children's feet pummeled the staircase, and the dark raven-haired boy that Epona nearly stomped on looked on curiously while a little girl with bright, curly red hair and green eyes hid behind him as they stood bashfully at the foot of the stairs. "Daren, come over here," the father motioned to the little boy, who bounded gleefully towards him and pounced on him. Link watched with a softened expression as the boy and father wrestled playfully while the little girl silently dared herself approached him, then stopping again.
"That's Daren," Gatle pointed out the little boy and then at the small redhead. "And that's Lysell. She's a bit younger, just around four last week." He motioned for her to come. "Come on, Lysell, come on," their mother urged softly. The little girl moved slowly towards them, glancing in awe at Link's towering height. With a gentle smile, Link slowly crouched to level his height near hers. The little girl came up with a look of pure innocence and said in a small voice, "Why are you so tall?"
Link smiled at the inquiry and answered, "Well, I guess it's because I drink a lot of milk." Lysell's eyes widened. "Did my daddy drink that much milk too, mama?" Their mother smiled and replied, "That's right. I always made him drink a lot, just as I make you." She said this with a kiss. "Now Daren, off to dinner. Come, Mr. Link, I'll put out a chair."
Dinner was delightful. Gatle's mother prepared something she called corn cake, which was semi-sweet and grainy, delicious next to a serving of her roasted bird in gravy sauce with potatoes at the end. While Daren and Lysell playfully threw pieces of potatoes at each other, their father gave them a stern word before they stopped. Then, Lysell threw another piece when their father wasn't looking, which landed on Daren's head. Link couldn't help but laugh.
"Tell us, Mr. Link," Gatle's mother said, "There must be many adventures you've gone through. Do you travel alone?" "No ma," Gatle said abruptly, "He rides on this beautiful roan mare and he's also got Navi with him." "Navi?" their father said with amusement, "Is this Navi a woman you're very fond of?" Link choked on a corn cake.
"Jacobson!" their mother replied sharply, "How rude! You've probably offended him!" "No," Link sputtered through bits of the corn cake, "No, ma'am. It was just a – ah, funny thing." "Navi's a fairy," Gatle said as-a- matter-of-factly, "In fact, she's a blue Hyrulean Forest Fairy." The two younger children stopped their bout and stared. "Wow," Daren said in awe, "A real live fairy?" Lysell asked meekly, "Mister Link, could you let us see her?"
Link smiled at her little face and answered, "Sure. But I don't have her with me here, she's back at my inn-room." "Why is she back there?" Daren asked impatiently. "Well," Link started slowly, "I guess she got mad at me for some reason." "Why? What did you do?" "I just accidentally shut her in someplace really cold, and when I got her out she didn't seem too happy about it."
Lysell looked horrified. "You mean you shut her inside?" "Not on purpose, of course," Link replied quickly, "You see, she went inside to look for something to eat and the door just kind of closed on her without me knowing it." Gatle gave him the same expression as on Lysell's. "You mean you left her in the ice box?" he asked. Link assumed it was the same thing, so he nodded briefly. Lysell was bored with the subject and started asking him all sorts of questions about Navi and then Epona, which was where Daren proclaimed loudly, "Hey! I remember that horse nearly killed me today!"
Both parents gave him an utter look of shock while Daren went through his traumatic event in detail. "…and if Mr. Link hadn't stopped her, I would've been stomped into pulp!" he ended dramatically. Their mother was in a paralyzed state, and through the awkward silence Gatle retorted to his little brother, "Well you didn't even thank him back then. I came out of work to tell him that and you just went back playing."
Jacobson responded to this very harshly. "Daren, this young man saved you from a terrible way to die. How could you be so ungrateful?" "Sorry, papa," the little boy replied in a low voice and ran to Link's side from his chair. "I shoulda' said thanks and now I'm going to say it. Thank you, Mr. Link, for saving my life." Link nodded at his gesture, and the little boy went back into his chair, his face bright from the retelling of the feat.
"Well Farore's faith," their mother finally managed to say, "Mr. Link, I cannot begin to thank you enough." "You're welcome," Link answered politely. It was really nothing compared to what he faced in the past, but kept that information to himself. Jacobson cleared his throat and looked at Gatle intently. "While we're on the subject of horses," he started, "Gatle, I've seen Mr. Rufio just today."
Gatle swallowed hard on his potato. "Um, that's great, papa," he muttered. Jacobson shook his head slowly. "He arrived just moments before you came back, and he managed to tell me the trouble you were in with his horses – again." Gatle looked at his father feebly, "I didn't ride one, honest! I was just admiring them in their stables." "Really?" Their mother answered this time, "Those sores on your arm don't look the like. Did you fall off when you rode this time?"
The young boy snapped in a flurry of frustration and explanations, "No I didn't, honestly, I didn't! I was in the stables looking at his horses when he grabbed me by the arm! That Rufio has a big grip, you know, and he was dragging me down the street yelling at me and bruised my arm. Mr. Link came just on time and told him off, or I would have gotten beaten like he promised he would last time."
Jacobson retorted, "Then you shouldn't have been near those beasts in the first place." He turned the kind blue eyes to Link and smiled generously, "Thank you once again Mr. Link. You managed to rescue two of our children today, and you are always welcomed here." "Thank you," Link answered, with a pitying look towards Gatle, who looked down at his plate.
Their father sighed. "We're sorry of our son's behavior. He just loves those creatures, been loving them ever since he first saw one of Mr. Rufio's stallions come into town way back when he was about Daren's age. Ever since he's been getting in trouble with horses and their owners. One time he hitched off a gray little pony from a merchant, and we had a hell of a time clearing that up," He suppressed a laugh of the memory.
"That was before he started eyeing Rufio's horses and managed to get on one and rode it around. He was seen on that bucking bronco, hanging on for dear life outside the streets, and Mr. Rufio came in all flustered and angry and he took that thing in. Very strong with his horses, that man is, took that wild thing and it was as docile as a rabbit. He came back telling us that our boy's been in trouble and the next time he'll do as he sees fit."
His wife came in a soft tone, "You have to understand Rufio. Big man, he is, very passionate of his horses. But he's so boisterous, sometimes almost wild and angry just like them. But when he has those creatures around him, oh," she stopped to wave a finger at him, "They're like tamed horses. Still that fierceness, yes, but just tamed."
Link pondered on a question and asked, "Just how good are the horses he trains?" "Rufio? Rumors say he's the best there is. That's why King Dykat's got him going for all of his men and even himself and his daughter, the king's own horse breeder and trainers aren't even in his league. Has his ranch way out west of this town, just less than a day's stop from here. He comes and goes on with his business here and rests before he gets to the capital, also not too far, about three days if I remember correctly."
By then Lysell had put up with her patience and started asking more questions. Link sat at the dinner table, telling them of Hyrule and the people and races there: "You mean you were gonna' marry a fish?"; leaving out as much as possible as the events that occurred in a span of around seven years. "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?" Lysell asked. Link was quiet for a moment and answered with a slight smile.
"No. They live…far away," he said in a low tone.
When it grew dark, Link dismissed himself from the family's comfort. They stood at the door, waving at him and asking him to come back soon. Gatle, with a twinkle in his light blue eyes, mouthed the words, "At dawn." Link waved back at them, a slight soreness in his chest he didn't know of at the thought of leaving them. Then he turned and made his way along the streets.
' "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?"' Lysell's little voiced echoed through his mind. Link never thought of that day the Deku sprout had told him of his past any more than he needed to, especially since he was raised in the Kokiri Forest for as long as he could remember. Yet the way Gatle's mother showered her children with kisses and pointing out the messy state of her sons' hair, and Jacobson's domineering position in the family in his fatherly way reminded him of what he never had.
He began to pound his head for a memory, a glimpse of his mother's face or his father's voice. But there was nothing for him to bring forth such memories, and at night he could only imagine his mother's crooning voice to him while he slept. Link headed down the street towards the inn as he struggled to think of the words she would whisper softly in his ear, urging the night to bring him peace and slumber.
The attempts grew weaker and soon failed. Link brushed past the receptionist's room and headed towards the stairs. He was at the top of the staircase when he saw a familiar face from across the corner. Silently, he pressed against the staircase and spied on the person unlocking the room a few doors from his room. It was Rufio, and Link waited until he had entered before he came out of his hiding.
'Din-damnit,' he silently cursed to himself, 'Why'd he have to be here of all places?' Link thought for a while as he placed the key into the keyhole. 'If he's here, than that prized colt of his must be around here, too.' He had a temptation to see his competition for himself, but thought the better of it. Epona could beat any old horse, and he smiled to himself.
As soon as he entered the door a raging storm awaited him. Navi, defrosted and alive as ever, set off quite an explosion. Link couldn't make any sense at all of what she was trying to say, but decided to let her blow the fuse. After fifteen minutes, the fairy took a moment to catch her breath. Link stopped her there and announced, "Why don't we go around the town? I'll look around for stuff and you go fill yourself up with something."
"Well?" the fairy said, unaware of Link's proposal, "Exactly where the hell did you go off to?" "I went to get something to eat and ended up in Gatle's house," he answered, "That and we need to get up pretty early tomorrow morning." Navi gave off an icy glow. "Why? Can't I at least sleep in?"
Link told her about Rufio and their race tomorrow morning, and added quickly when Navi's color began to turn slightly yellow, "But you could sleep in if you wanted to. I mean, we're off to race and come back, or I'll leave the window opened for you whenever you're ready to leave." The fairy tinkled. "That's better," she said sweetly.
It didn't take long for Link to fall asleep as he lay on the soft mattress of the bed. A real bed, not like the bundle of blankets he used as a sleeping bag against the rough ground or even the hard one back at his tree- house in the Kokiri Forest. Navi fell asleep in an arrangement of pillows on a sofa; her light snoring was easily ignored by Link as he fell asleep contentedly.
* * *
King Dykat paced around his study, unable to pay any attention to the pile of decrees lying on his table. His mind wandered off to his daughter Helena, who had the uncanny ability to disappear even under an army of guards. 'She's to be married and how does she approach this matter? Running away, blasted gods!'
He gazed out at the full moon, which had tinted to a light orange shade in the season of a bountiful harvest, and thought fondly of his late wife. She had been beautiful, and a great deal of that beauty lies within their child. Yet it must be from his own reckless nature back in his youth that could make the king's daughter so vibrant and demanding.
A large creature sailed across the moon, its cry like that of a whale. Dykat took no notice to it, the creature was merely another inhabitant of the ocean and the air that made Nemix so famous. It was from this creature's name and body markings that the country branded as their own symbolic sign: three circles arranged like the endpoints of an upside-down equilateral triangle, with a water-drop mark hovering above the area just between the two higher circles completed the Raykern.
'There's a royal inspection in a few days and still all these decrees to revise…' The king sighed and decided to retire himself tonight, just to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, Helena laid inside her bedchamber, awake. She slammed her fists unto her bed in frustration, unable to think up a decent plan to escape this wedding. The incident at dinner (when Kroahn spilled half a bowl of hot soup on his clothing and screamed: dancing around holding his pants away from his skin to prevent the burning to his privates) sent Helena in a mad desperation to find any lengths in order to keep this marriage at bay.
"Link would make a much better husband," she noted to herself and lay on her side. Her face twisted in annoyance at the thought of that infuriating ball of light and that beloved horse of his. Somehow she'll have to get rid of them all: Kroahn, that fairy, and that horse. If only there was a way for her to find him…
Slowly her mind drifted off to the tournament. Yes, that was it. It was held only once every three years, just around this time. With all the prize money, no decent warrior could resist a challenge. Her lips curved into a smile. Nor would anyone know of the special reward apart from the money itself. She positioned herself and slept soundly.
* * *
The misty pond was there, in the field now drafted with fog. Everything was the way it was before…except for the boy. Link found himself once again in the dream, but what he thought was to be again a repeated course of actions was not. The boy was not here, not even the pond. The pond too had now disappeared.
Link stood lost amidst the rolling clouds of fog and watched around him, that the field too subsided into darkness. Soon there was nothing but darkness, and he found himself staring into indefinite space. "Hello?" he called out in his dream. His voice echoed through the expanse. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
Softly, a murmur grew from the shadows. Link turned to face it, but it came from all around him. It was soft and cheery like a child, and was not at all threatening. Link felt himself relax and listened to the words that were becoming clearer with each moment:
"I wanted a dolly today, but mommy didn't let me.
She said that the world was cruel to her and why she doesn't love me.
I asked for a dress another day, and still she said the same.
I could tell she didn't care; how I was tired of this game!
I asked her then to give me love, and still she refused to try.
She complained about everything and would continuously cry.
'I've tried my best,' I told myself, 'There's nothing else to do.
I'm sick and tired of this old bitch, I'm absolutely through!'
That night mommy, you were so dumb, to leave it on the desk.
I took it with my small, bare hands and plunged it through your chest.
Now you're fine, you don't complain, you're completely unaware.
Now mommy, who's the one who really needed care?"
A soft giggling erupted into hysterics, and a woman's screams deafened Link's ears as they tangled in madness.
* * *
Link bolted from his bed, the ringing in his ears did not stop. He let out deep gasps of air, shaking off the last unnerving edges of the nightmare. The little girl's voice soon was lost in his mind, and he looked outside the window. The fields from the view were tinted lightly by the sky, which was a slight shade of purple nearing to a light gold. A clock on the wall across from his bed indicated 5:10 AM, and immediately he remembered the events of the day before.
"Rufio," he muttered and fetched his red tunic, the green one suffered lightly from the fight he had at the diner yesterday. After he had washed up and placed on his boots, he reached for the keys to the room. "Wait," he started and went towards a window. Unlatching it, he lifted it all the way up for Navi to travel en route if she wanted out. Then, catching the keys from midair, he headed towards the door.
*Hope I kept you all waiting. I brushed a bit on Link's orphaned childhood and on Gatle's family: Jacobson the father, Maryanne (though not mentioned) the mother, Daren the younger brother, and Lysell the little redheaded baby girl. Also the king himself, Dykat the diplomatic and beloved ruler and father who's being stressed at the moment. I included just a brief relapse about the tournament that's mentioned earlier. There was also that freakish nightmare. I made up the poem myself, so I'm proud of it, no matter what anyone else says! ( Lol, keep reading! The race is starting soon…