Harsh Reality
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By Zel the Stampede
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Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda, don't sue.
AUTHOR'S GENERAL WARNING: Some disturbing subjects (child molestation) are mentioned in this chapter, just warning you, so please no unnecessary flames.
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Chapter 2: Dr. Kit & Navi Wicket
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Dragmire groaned as he poured himself a rather large cup of coffee.
"Come now, Riles can't be all that bad!" Kit said as she sat down at the lounge table. Dragmire grimaced and eyed the younger doctor. She was a young woman, in her twenties, with long, braided red hair and bright blue eyes.
"You have no idea," Dragmire murmured.
"Well, if he's giving you that much trouble, you could transfer him over to my rounds," Kit suggested.
"You're a saint, Malon," Dragmire said, "but I can't do that, Link Riles is my patient."
"If you insist," Kit said hesitating by the door, "but don't work yourself too hard, sometimes you can't save them all…"
"But you can try," Dragmire said glaring down at his coffee mug. Kit sighed and picked up her clipboard.
"I-I got rounds to do, see ya 'round," she said quickly straightening her jacket.
* * *
The hours dragged by sluggishly, and Link found himself being pulled down into the depths of idleness and boredom. Once in while, just to make some noise, he'd yank at the leather binds but they were as taut as they'd always been. The silence in this strange building was heavy and even worse then the restraints. Even the fan spinning slowly on the ceiling made no more sound than a faint hum, it was enough to drive a man insane. Link almost wished Navi was here, her endless babbling was a nice alternative to the pressing stillness.
"Ahem."
The sound was barely audible, meek and tiny like a child. Link glanced over in the sound's general direction. A girl stood in the threshold. A very small girl, with short blond hair and smoky green eyes, and very, very thin. She was clad in a light blue outfit, with pants that reached mid-calf, and a short-sleeved shirt with buttons running up the front. She smiled and walked up to the bed.
"Hi!" Her voice was very small like her stature. Link looked at her, baffled.
"Who-who are you?" he asked.
"Don't be silly," she said, "it's me, Navi."
"N-navi?!" Link gasped, he gaped at her and she was Navi but only in name. His Navi was no bigger than his fist, his Navi had dawn-tinted hair that fell way pass her waist, amber-colored eyes, and crystalline wings that reflected light like a prism. This Navi was human.
"Sorry, I had to come out so late!" Navi said, "I had to sneak out! Sneaking out is fun though! Did you have to sneak around a lot in Hyrule?"
Link paused, "How do you know about Hyrule?"
"You told me, silly," Navi smiled, "you told me stories about your adventures and saving the six sages! And Princess Zelda! And Gannondorf!" Navi grinned and got a far-off look in her green eyes. "It must have been fun, Link, to be a hero…"
Link lay back on his pillow, recalling with grim sobriety what it was really like to be the so-called Legendary Hero of Time and the difficult task of carrying the burden of that title.
"So what happened?" Navi inquired, her voice stirring Link from the depths of his thoughts.
"What happened?" Link asked puzzled.
"Did you fight Twinrova and win?" Navi asked rapid-fire. Link's heart sank as he recollected the battle with the two Gerudo witches.
"Well," Link started, "while I was confronting them…the two witches combined their efforts and gained up on me. They fired a blow and…"
"And…what?" Navi asked impatient.
"I died."
The brief statement was followed by a lengthy silence.
"You…died?" Navi said more to herself then Link.
"Yes…I died, and when I woke up, I was here…in this room," Link said staring up blankly at the ceiling.
"But if you died, how did you wake up?" Navi asked.
"I don't know," Link said.
"That was a bad ending," Navi complained, "tell me about the Forest Temple again and Saria, and the Deku Sprout." Navi sat at the foot of the bed, waiting in anticipation. Link sighed and glanced at her.
"It started after I won the hookshot from the Grave keeper's ghost, rumors reached me that Kokiri Forest had become a realm of monsters…"
* * *
Malon Kit has always considered herself good at what she practiced and found giving her patients the freedom to leave the clinic, happy, healthy, and sane very rewarding. She, even, admitted at times that she loved her job, at least, until she met him.
It was a shame when he first came to the clinic; Malon felt it in the core of her being. He was young, barely out of his late-teens, handsome, blond and blue-eyed, smart too, according to his girlfriend. It was shame to see people go like that, and the funny thing was a car crash had triggered it. An awful crash and only one was pulled free of the twisted metal, alive, but he walked away from the warped wreckage with shattered ribs, broken legs, and burns crisscrossing over the once unmarred face. The scars were gone now all but those that maimed his mind. 'And that's how he got here…' she thought, pausing outside the door, the door with the scarlet number plates, 231. Malon smiled weakly, he wasn't her patient and her only business with the man dealt with Navi. Navi liked him, trusted him, and had confided to her doctor that she called him friend.
It distressed Malon, wearied her with concern for her patient. Navi was sixteen and like a porcelain doll, tiny, pretty, and fragile. It frightened Malon and she shuddered to think of what could happen to little Navi alone with that man.
Malon sighed, suddenly the room seemed very dark and cold, and she felt helpless. The building had a mysterious air about it, ancient and old as it was, it had its own shadows lurking in its basements and closets. Malon frowned, hugging her arms as she rose, 'This place gives me the creeps sometimes.'
* * *
"The forest temple is definitely my favorite!" Navi squealed with glee, her face fell, "I didn't like the shadow temple though, all those vampire-things." She shuddered, "Scary."
Link laughed, that was just what his Navi had thought, she hates re-deads.
"Hey!" Navi's face was suddenly hovering over his, her short blond curls tumbling over her shoulders, "I wanted to show you something! I drew it just for you!" She smiled and began fiddling with the shackles, easing them free.
"Come on," she said as the last bind was picked loose. Link gulped and reluctantly followed. "Don't worry," Navi assured, "the nurses and everybody are down stairs as long as we don't wake Mr. Rauru, we're fine."
The girl silently tiptoed past a room with the door cracked ajar, an elderly man slept within occasionally murmuring 'hellfire' and 'damnation' in between rolling snores.
"That's Mr. Rauru," Navi hissed, "he always shouting and likes to tell Dr. Dragmire to go to hell and such." Link snickered as Navi gently pushed the door aside. The quarters within were quaint, a small bed, table, a lamp, and a variety of illustrations mounted on the wall with scotch-tape. The vivid images registered in Link's memory, Hyrule, they were pictures of Hyrule. A gallery of Hylian landscape and populace was displayed upon the wall. Kokiri Village, Zora's Domain, Goron City, Gerudo Valley, Hyrule Castle Town, the castle and Kakariko village, each filled with the race that dwelled there. Zelda and her sages watched with sightless, painted eyes and the elusive Sheik fixed his audience in a ruby gaze. In the up-most corner, Gannondorf resided, cold and hard in the artist's rendering.
"Do you like them?" Navi asked brightly, "Dr. Kit finally let me put them on my wall!"
"They're very nice," Link breathed, they were breath-taking, every brush-stroke and pencil-sketch, "Amazing, Navi. Where did you learn to draw like that?"
"I just know," Navi said, leafing through a pile of sketches, "I have others, wanna see?" Link nodded as Navi handed over the loosely organized collection of papers. Pictures came to life under Navi's artistic hand, gunmen in red coats with saffron-tinted shades, half-finished elves, angels with three wings and dragons with glided scales.
"Wow, Navi, these are fantastic," Link marveled.
"Dr. Kit says they're good too," Navi said with a nonchalant shrug. Link sighed heavily, wondering how a girl like Navi had ended up in a dreary place like this.
"Navi?"
"Hmmm?" she'd gone back to doodling the rough figure of a dancing child with a large hat splashed with huge flowers and carved flute.
"When did you first come here?" Link asked slowly. Navi's pencil stilled, "When Momma died…after Daddy hurt me." The silence chilled Link and gradually Navi's pencil was at its scribbling again.
"Do you-" Link was hesitant, "ever think about leaving?"
"No," Navi said easily.
"Why not?"
Navi was quiet again, her drawing discarded on the bed, cradling her knees to her chest.
"Because…I'm safe from Daddy here." Her voice was flat, suddenly devoid of its light and spirit. Link swallowed, this world, wherever it was, was darker than his Hyrule or what he knew of it.
"Link," Navi asked tentatively, "you're my friend, right?"
"Of course!" Link said. Navi smiled, "Good, I like having a friend."
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End of chapter, chapter 3 will be along shortly, Author's honor.
Please review.
ZelComing Soon:
Chapter 3: Spilled Milk
