The Legend of Zelda: The Return
Chapter 4
Voices . . .
Vague, hazy and indistinct forms shift and pulse and move around me. I can't focus . . . I can't bring them into focus . . . it's too much effort . . . I hurt too much . . .
My head is lying on something soft and smooth, my body on something hard and flat.
" . . . he's dying Rauru!" I struggle to focus on the voice, but before I can place it another one speaks.
"We've got to do something!" And then another, and another.
"If he dies, we're done for!"
"There's got to be something we can do!"
"The Moblins have taken over Castletown. The palace has fallen."
"They're clearing the way for Gannondorf's return. If the boy dies . . ."
Gannondorf . . . something in that name turns my blood to ice. What are they talking about? The boy? Is that me? Are they talking about me? I struggle harder to focus, but my head hurts so much . . . I feel like I've been run through . . .
Wait a minute . . .
I have . . .
"Sages! Please!" A new voice says. His – at least I'm reasonably sure it's a he. Hard to tell. Everyone sounds like they're underwater – voice is clear and commanding, but in no way loud or unpleasant. I think it might be coming from that orangeish blur in front of me, but there's no way to tell really. "I understand your fear, but we mustn't panic. We're all that stands between Gannondorf and Hyrule now. We must stay calm."
"Please," whispers a trembling voice from somewhere above me. Something warm and wet falls on my cheek. "Please . . . Rauru . . . you have to save him. You can't let him die . . . please . . ." Zelda . . . that's Zelda's voice . . . is she . . . is she crying?
For some reason, that bothers me more than the pain that's searing every inch of me.
"I'll do what I can," the voice says again. "We'll all do what we can. I just hope it will be enough. He's very far gone . . ."
"Rauru!" Says a voice to my right somewhere. Or is it my left "Rauru! What about . . . Navi?" There is a surprised rumble from the rest of the group. "No! Seriously! The bond between a Kokiri and their fairy is very strong . . . Navi could help him! She could augment whatever healing we can give him! I know she could!"
Fairy? They can't be talking about me . . . I don't have a fairy. I'm the Kokiri who never was . . .
Navi . . .
Navi . . .
Now why does that sound so familiar?
"Well," says the voice. "It is possible . . . if she would be willing . . ." I struggle furiously to hear what they're saying but it's no good. I hurt too much. The voice fades out. The images fade out. All that's left of reality is the warmth of Zelda's tear on my cheek, and then even that fades out as I lose consciousness and slide into blackness again . . .
xxx
I wake with a start and find myself staring at the floor of my tiny little treehouse. I'm breathing hard and it takes me a long moment to be able to focus on something other than the vivid images from my dream. That man . . . his eyes . . . they glowed like embers. And that girl . . . who was she? Her eyes . . . I've never seen eyes like those . . .
"Hey!" Shouts a tiny voice from above me. "Snap out of it!" I whirl around with a gasp, but find any movement beyond that made impossible by the tangle of blankets I'm in. I must have fallen out of bed . . .
"Who's there?" I shout, trying to sound tougher than I'm feeling. "Is that you Mido?" My expression darkens. "I'm in no mood for any of your dumb tricks today. Go away!" I struggle to my feet, face flaming in embarrassment at the thought of Mido having seen me fall from my bed. Bad enough he harasses me about not having a fairy. I don't need him harassing me about this too . . .
"Hey!" Says the voice again – only this time it's accompanied by a tiny blue face dangling upside down in front of my eyes. "You're Link right?" I answer by screaming and jumping back, tripping over my blankets and falling over backwards. I hit the ground hard. I swear violently.
"Hmph," says the tiny fairy, flitting over to me and perching herself imperiously on my chest. She puts her hands on her tiny hips and glares down at me through a wild shock of blue hair. Her wings flutter in irritation behind her. "Well that was certainly rude," she snaps. "I hope you're not planning on using language like that in front of the Great Deku Tree.
All I can manage is an oh-so-intelligent "Huh?" as I stare uncomprehendingly at the tiny fairy. She smirks at me and sticks out her tiny hand.
"My name's Navi!" She says brightly. "I'm your fairy partner!"
xxx
"I never should have left him! This is all my fault! How could I leave him?"
Someone is crying. Someone is crying very, very hard . . .
I open my eyes and manage a bleary eyed stare at the ceiling of the room I'm in. I try to turn my head but I'm too weak. I can't quite manage it.
"Hey come on," says a soft voice in a comforting tone. "It's not your fault. You had to leave. You wouldn't have lived much longer if you hadn't, and besides, it was for his own good."
"Stupid!" The first voice was sobbing. "He's so stupid! I should have known he'd get into trouble without me! Stupid, stupid stupid!" If I was more awake I think I might feel insulted . . . I get the vague feeling they're talking about me.
"Well, he may be stupid, I won't argue with you on that one – "
This ceiling looks so familiar . . .
" – but he's your partner, and he needs you now. Beating yourself up over things that have already happened is no way to help him."
Hey wait a minute . . .
"I guess . . . I guess you're right," sniffles the first voice.
This is my ceiling . . . my old ceiling . . . I'm back in the Kokiri's village . . .
Damn.
I black out again.
xxx
Music, bright and lively, surrounds me and pulls me back to the realm of the living. I know that song. That's Saria's song . . . but that's not Saria's ocarina . . .
I blink several times, until finally the room comes into focus.
It's definitely my old room.
I can see the nasty things I carved into the wall about Mido from here . . .
But where's that music coming from . . . I catch a glimpse of gold out of the corner of my eye and I roll over with an effort, unable to stop the gasp of pain that leaves my mouth as I do so. The music abruptly stops and Sheik's crimson eyes stare concernedly out at me over the white scarf he wears around his head. In his hands he holds his harp.
"You're awake," he says simply. I try to answer him but all that comes out is a hoarse groan and I roll back over. He drags his chair closer over to the bed – the uncomfortably small bed I can't help but notice – and leans over me, pulling up my tunic and examining the bandages wrapped tightly around me. I somehow manage to lift a hand to my face and I try to rub some feeling other than pain back into it.
"What happened?" I manage finally. Goddess, even my voice hurts . . . like I haven't used it in days. "What's going on? Why . . . why am I back here?" I shake my head weakly and stare at Sheik, who carefully avoids my gaze. "Sheik, I never wanted to come back here . . ."
"Well," he says softly, "sometimes we all have to do things we don't like." He tightens my bandages again and I wince – audibly and visibly. "Sorry." He says.
"Yeah," I manage through my teeth – gritted against the sudden pain. "Sure you are."
"You should sleep," Sheik says, picking up his harp.
"No," I say, shaking my head. "No . . . I don't know what's going on. Sheik, tell me what's going on." He starts to play his harp again, a different song this time. Slowly the events I went through before I lost consciousness that first time leak through my thick skull and into my brain.
The package . . . Psycho Me . . . the Moblins . . . Zelda . . .
Zelda!
"Sheik!" I gasp, turning to him despite my wound's protests. "Sheik! The Princess! Where's the Princess?"
"Sleep, Link," he says softly. "The princess is fine. She's safe. You need to sleep."
"I don't want to sleep," I whisper, settling back on the pillow as my eyelids start to fall shut. "I don't understand . . . I don't understand anything . . ."
xxx
The next time I wake up my head is much clearer.
Not that that means I understand anything any better.
I lay in bed for a long time, frowning up at the ceiling, running over everything I can remember in my mind. I go over the night I met Zelda in minute detail, trying to make some kind of a sense out of it. Things keep getting in my way though. Stupid things like grief, and anger, and fear. I don't understand anything that's going on. I don't know what any of it's got to do with me.
Except that it's got everything to do with me . . .
I don't know why I've come to that conclusion, not that that's anything new. I don't know much or anything right now. That one fact though, seems to stick out in my mind.
This is somehow all my fault.
And that god damned princess knows why.
She better not be dead. I've got a few questions for her.
Actually I've only got one.
What in the name of the Three Goddesses is going on?
With this happy thought in mind, I push myself to my feet, scowling and swearing at the pain that suddenly erupts from my middle. It staggers me for a minute but I'm tired of lying in this bed and not knowing why. My weapons are lying in the corner and my hat is hanging from the back of the door, my boots lying beneath it. I move over and grab my quiver – somebody's refilled it – and sling it around my torso. I pick up my pouch and tie it back onto my belt. I blink in surprise when I see the third thing lying there. It's the sword. The one from my Temple.
The Master's Sword.
The name comes out of nowhere. I don't know how I know that, but I do.
The name doesn't matter really, though. It's my sword.
Don't know how I know that either, but that's what matters.
I reach down and pick it up as well, slinging it on and adjusting my quiver so they both sit easily on my back. I move over, grab my hat and pull it on and then put my boots on. I reach out, grab the handle of the little door, wrench it open, step outside . . .
. . . And am immediately assaulted by a blue glowing thing.
"Oh Link!" The thing – a Fairy I realize – cries, clutching my nose and sobbing against it. "Link! You're awake! You're okay! I was so worried! I thought you were going to – hey! HEY!" I've grabbed her gently by her wings and pulled her away from my face so I can look at her. "Lemme go!" She shrieks, her blue hair thrown into a wild disarray by her thrashing. "Lemme go!"
"Who are you?" I demand. "Where's your partner?" Of all the things I was expecting to happen when I stepped out the door, this was not one of them.
"You're my partner you jerk!" She cries, kicking my nose with all of her strength.
"Hey! Ow!" I say, letting her go and rubbing my nose. "What was that for?" I blink suddenly and freeze. "Who did you say was your partner?"
"You are," she answers haughtily, crossing her arms and flying up in front of my face again. "Here I am, worried sick about you for days and days and days, and I haven't seen you in years, and the first thing you say to me is 'Who are you?'!" She moves as though to kick me again and I step backwards. "You ungrateful little brat!" I frown at her.
"Let's get a few things straight here," I say, looking around for who her partner could possibly be. Crazy fairy. She's cracked! I haven't got time for this. There's a crazy princess out there somewhere I need to find. "First of all, I'm a hell of a lot bigger than you. Second off all, I can't be your partner. I'm not even a Kokiri. I've never been a Kokiri. Even when I lived here I didn't have a fairy." She flutters her wings indignantly.
"What are you talking about?" She cries, flying furiously around my head. I'm getting dizzy trying to keep up with her. "Of COURSE you had a partner! You had me!"
"I did not!" I cry, reaching out and snatching her out of the air, holding her out far enough away from me that she can't kick me anymore. "I didn't have any fairy! I think I'd remember having a fairy!"
"Hmph," she says. "I don't know, you've always been kind of thick!"
"Hey!" I cry. "Now that's just not nice!" Her eyes well up with tears and her full blue lips turn down in a pout.
"Why don't you remember me, Link?" She asks as huge tears – well, for a fairy anywhere – began to fall from her eyes. "It's me! Navi!"
"Navi?" I repeat blankly. "Doesn't ring a bell." What is wrong with this fairy? She blinks at me and struggles in my grasp.
"Z – Sheik!" She cries, twisting around in my hand to stare mournfully down the ladder of my treehouse. I follow her gaze and spot Sheik, jogging towards us. "Sheik!" She cries. "He doesn't remember me!" Her musical voice trembles. "Why doesn't he remember me?" Sheik scrambles up the ladder and stares down at her.
"I tried to tell you, Navi, but you wouldn't listen to me," he said. "He doesn't remember anything. Not even you."
"Why not?" The fairy demanded, squirming out of my hand and floating up in front of the Sheikah's face. "Why doesn't he remember?"
"Because I . . . she . . . because it was for the best," he says finally.
"Well I hardly think –"
"HEY!" I shout suddenly, causing them both to turn and stare at me. I look from one to the other and back again. "What are you talking about?" I demand. "I haven't forgotten anything. Is it just me or has the world gone crazy?"
"If anyone's crazy here, it's you," Navi says sullenly.
"That's rich coming from a fairy who thinks anything over four feet could be her partner," I say sarcastically. She sticks her tongue out at me and I turn my expectant gaze on Sheik who shifts uncomfortably.
"I don't think you should be out of bed yet, Link," he says, edging towards the ladder. "You're still hurt . . ."
"Yeah, funny thing that," I say with a dangerous edge to my voice. "You know why I'm hurt? Because some guy, who just happens to look just like me, ran me through. You know what's even funnier? I'm not dead for some reason. And hey, you wanna hear something abso-freaking-lutely hilarious?" He watches me expectantly and I take full advantage of his hesitation by grabbing the collar of his uniform and pulling him back from the ladder. I swing him around and use our momentum to carry him back into the wall of my house.
"I think you know what's going on," I say as Navi flutters nervously behind us. "I think you, and that Zelda woman, and hey, maybe even that fairy ("Hmph," says Navi, "I have a name you know!") know exactly what's going on." My eyes narrow. "And I don't."
Sheik's eyes widen . . .
Sheik's eyes widen as he turns to look at me.
"Link! What are you doing here?" He cries. Hmm . . . so the all powerful Sheik doesn't know everything.
"Looking for another temple like I'm supposed to," I reply. "What's happened here?" I look around at the flames illuminating KakarikoVillage. "Why is everything on fire?" Sheik looks incredibly nervous.
"Link! Get out of here!" He cries. I glare at him and draw my sword, recognizing the look on his face. There's a threat here somewhere.
"Nothing doing," I reply sharply. "Not until you tell me what's going on." A deep rumbling fills the air, emanating from the well behind him. Navi flutters nervously at my shoulder.
"Maybe we should take his advice, Link," she suggests. "Something's wrong here . . . I don't like this at all . . ."
"No, shut up," I hiss. "I'm not leaving until I find out what's going on. Besides, I can't just leave Sheik to face it alone. Not after all the help he's given us . . ." Navi mutters something nasty about my sense of morality and continues to flutter around my head. Sheik holds my gaze until he finally accepts the fact that I'm not going to cave on this one.
"There's an evil spirit in the well," he says, turning back to it. "I'm trying to seal it, before it can – " The wooden boards that once served to hold the bucket that would be lowered into the well suddenly fly off the well as the rumbling grows louder.
"Link! GET OUT!" Sheik shouts, raising his hands at the well.
"Like Hell I will!" I shout. I break into a run, but I don't make it to Sheik. Something – what? There's nothing there! – picks him up and spins him around and upside down and over. He cries out in pain and confusion as whatever it is throws him easily through the air. He lands hard, just behind me.
"Sheik!" I cry, running over to him. He groans. Thank Din . . . he's alive. I turn back to the Well just in time to see something purple and black flow out of it. I pull my shield off my back and hold it in front of me, watching the stuff as it swarms all over the city, running up and down buildings, before finally turning it's attention back to Sheik and I. I raise my sword, position my shield and brace myself for the impact.
"LINK NO!" Sheik shouts from behind me. But it's too late, whatever it is, is on me.
"LINK!" I hear Navi scream as I'm ripped away from her.
It's like a hundred Gorons have spontaneously decided to beat on me from every available angle. I can't even raise my sword, let alone use it. Blows rain down on me from everywhere and it's too much to take . . .
I black out . . .
I break free of the vision with a strangled gasp. I realize that I am once again on my knees, clutching my head in my hands, and shaking. Sheik's gripping my shoulders tightly and shaking me gently. Navi's panicking in the air above me. I look up suddenly and meet Sheik's concerned gaze.
"Link? Are you okay?" He asks. All I can do is shake my head wordlessly and lower my gaze.
"I want to go home," I say softly. "That's all I want . . . I just want to go home." Sheik's voice is oddly gentle.
"You can't go home, Link," he says softly. "I'm sorry. You can't. You . . . there's no home anymore." I start to tremble, but it's not from the vision this time. "I'm sorry Link . . ." Something settles on my shoulder. I don't have to look to know it's Navi. Her tiny hand strokes my cheek gently.
"Sheik . . ." I whisper. "Sheik please . . . tell me what's going on. Please!" I look up at him pleadingly and I can see the struggle going on behind his lashes. "You're my friend, Sheik," I whisper. "You can't do this to me. You can't just . . . you can't just leave me hanging like this. You tell me I can't go home, but you won't tell me why. Zelda tells me the Moblins are after me, but she won't tell me why. I keep . . . I keep seeing things . . . in my head . . . and I don't know why!" I reach out and grip his arm tightly. "Please Sheik . . . don't do this to me. Don't . . ." Something breaks in that iron gaze of his and he sags in defeat.
"All right," he says. "Okay. But not . . . not now." I frown at him. "Link, please understand. I can't . . . this isn't just . . . when we meet the others. You'll find out then."
"The others?" I ask. Sheik nods.
"At Lon Lon Ranch," he says. "That's where we're going to go when you're healed enough to travel. The others are probably there already, or almost all there anyway."
"Fine," I say. "I'm healed enough. Let's go." Sheik gives a short laugh.
"That's the biggest load of bull I've heard in a long time,' he says. I frown darkly.
"I mean it, Sheik, I'm fine," I insist. It's a lie of course. Not like I'm going to admit that though.
"Navi?" Sheik says, looking at the fairy. She lays a soft hand on the side of my cheek and closes her eyes.
"He's lying through his teeth," she reports. "He's slightly dizzy, a touch feverish, and weak as a day old kitten. Oh, and did I mention that his wound's reopened?" While I'm busy staring at Navi in shock Sheik's busy pulling up my shirt and noticing the fresh blood on my bandage. There's no way Navi could have know all that! No way! In order to do that she would have had to be my . . .
Oh damn.
She smirks at me.
"Told you I was your partner," she says smugly. I continue to stare openmouthed at her as Sheik forces me to my feet and into my house. I cross my arms angrily as he bullies me back into the bed. I glare at him and Navi. I've only got one thing to say to the both of them:
"This had all better make sense when we get to Lon Lon Ranch."