The Legend of Zelda: The Return
Chapter 14
The world turns to blue around me as Hunter, Detsu, and the Sheikah Caverns disappear . . .
Time suddenly seems to lose its sense of any kind of linearity, or any kind of system at all. It whirls and eddies wildly . . . around me, through me . . . everywhere at once . . . moving too fast for me to catch a glimpse of anything except this eternal, endless blue . . . I close my eyes and grip the Master Sword so tightly that I'm painfully aware of each ridge in the hilt – even through my gloves. The sword rings vibrantly in my ears and I focus on it, trying to find something steady in the shifting world of blue I've entered.
"STOP!" I shout.
Time slams back into linear form with the force of lightning against a mountain face.
I lurch forward and fall down, breathing heavily.
As I slowly and painfully recover my wits, it starts to become obvious to me that I'm no longer in the Sheikah Caverns. First of all, I'm lying face down on grass. There was no grass in the Sheikah Caverns. Secondly, although it's dark out, it's the blue darkness of night, not the black darkness of places without a sky. I suddenly become aware of the ringing sound of metal on metal. My eyes widen suddenly.
Hunter!
Detsu!
I Push myself hurriedly to my knees and cast a frantic glance around – hoping against hope that Hunter somehow managed to follow me . . .
I'm on a grassy hill, somewhere in Hyrule Field I guess. Down below me I can make out three people . . . two Sheikah men, and a woman with flaming red hair – probably a Gerudo – fighting furiously with each other in the night air.
That's not really what bothers me, however.
What bothers me is the line of Moblins behind one of the Sheikah men – grunting and cheering in their guttural voices. The Gerudo woman launches herself at the Moblin closest to her as the two Sheikah continue their fight.
This doesn't look like basic training . . .
This looks like life or death . . .
The wind carries the sound of frightened crying to me and I blink, redirecting my attention towards the small stone fence, just to the right of the fighting. From my vantage point I can see a little kid there, looking afraid, and confused, and angry all at the same time. Something in his expression draws me to him.
He looks like I've found myself feeling lately.
The kid's eyes widen suddenly as two Stalchild's suddenly erupt from the ground around him, immediately joined by a full-grown Stalfos separating itself from the shadows. He presses himself back against the wall and stares from one to the other and back again as they advance.
The kid probably can't, but I can see the lethal intent in their steps . . .
They're going to kill him . . .
For love of Nayru, he's just a kid!
I throw myself to my feet and into a dead run down the hill. One of the Moblins fighting sees me and raises a pudgy finger to alert his buddies, but the Gerudo's blade suddenly finds it's way through his rusted armor and he doesn't get much farther than raising his pudgy finger.
The Stalfos raises his sword to strike the kid and the Stalchilds lunge at him. I slam the Master Sword back into its sheath and dive towards him. My arms wrap around the kid's waist an instant before the Stalchilds and Stalfos's claws and sword do. Something sharp grazes my back and I can feel a thin trickle of blood. The kid instinctively wraps his arms around my neck and clings to me – his logic is probably simple. I have skin. Those things do not. I'm his best bet.
I hit the ground at a roll and spring back up to my feet, clutching the kid in my arms. I whirl around and quickly take stock of my situation, ignoring the sting from my back.
The Stalfos and Stalchilds are quickly advancing on me – looking about as angry as their muscleless faces will allow. I can't put the kid down. There's no way I'll be able to keep all three of those things away from him. One of them's bound to break free of me.
"Hey kid, do you know how to piggy-back ride?" I ask. He looks up at me, wide blue eyes afraid, but willing, and he nods. "Good. Hold on tight to me." I shift him around so he can wrap his legs as far around me as they'll go and wraps his arms around my neck, gripping me tightly. I pull the Master Sword back out of its sheath and glare at the Stalfos, leaping at it first. He's the biggest danger. The Stalchilds are strong, but they're not bright.
It raises its sword and blocks my slash. The Stalchild close ranks around me, forming a circle. I raise my sword again and stab at the Stalfos with it. It blocks. I turn around and lash out with my foot, connecting solidly with the chin of one of the Stalchilds. It's head flies off and disappears when it hits the ground and its body begins swiping blindly. I give it a shove towards its partner and then turn back to deal with the Stalfos, bringing my sword up just in time to block its.
The kid on my back hasn't made so much as a peep.
For someone so small he's pretty brave . . .
The Stalfos' blade slides across my shoulder, bringing a hiss of pain from my lips, but I don't bother trying to avoid it. I bring my blade up and then down again, slicing through the Stalfos from the shoulder down to his side. It lets loose an unearthly scream and dissolves into dust. I clutch my shoulder and gasp for breath. Behind me the Stalchilds – both headless now – finish each other off.
"Dad!" The kid suddenly cries in fright, his grip tightening on my tunic. I follow his gaze, trying to see the source of his sudden fear. The Gerudo woman looks up at the cry, distracted.
"Link!" She cries, but her distraction costs her. The last of the Moblins she'd been fighting suddenly wraps its arms around her and lifts her off her feet. She gives a furious scream. I shake my head in confusion.
How does she know who I am?
"Mom!" The kid cries. "Dad!"
All right, so the Gerudo's his Mom . . . now where's his Dad?
I turn my attention towards the battling Sheikah, wondering how I'm going to be able to tell which one is this kid's dad (and what, exactly, I plan to do with that information . . .), but the answer is painfully obvious.
There's no mistaking one of the fighters.
It's Detsu.
A younger Detsu . . . but Detsu nonetheless.
Well I know who's side I'm on now!
And I can be pretty certain I'm in the past . . .
Guess Hunter was right, after all. The pedestal did react to me differently . . .
But that doesn't matter right now . . . what matters is that someone down there is fighting Detsu . . . and they look like they could use my help. But first I've got to put the kid down. I reach for his right hand with my own but freeze, unable to do anything but gape at the mark on the back of his hand.
A tiny, gold Triforce gleams up at me.
My eyes widen and I rip the glove off my right hand, staring at my own Triforce mark . . . the one Zelda said identifies me as a Child of Destiny – a carrier of a Triforce piece. But . . . there are only three Triforce pieces . . . and Zelda, Ganondorf, and I have them all . . .
Unless . . .
But it couldn't be . . .
Just because I'm in the past doesn't mean that he's . . .
But if he is . . .
Then that means . . .
Detsu knocks the other Sheikah down, a triumphant grin on his face as he dives at him with his sword . . .
"Dad!" The little boy screams. My eyes widen.
"NO!" We both cry, reaching out simultaneously, as though the gesture will somehow stop Detsu.
A shimmering sound fills my head, and my hand suddenly burns fiercely. Golden light erupts from the twin Triforce marks and floods the clearing, enveloping me, the kid, the Gerudo, and the unknown Sheikah. The last thing I hear before darkness rushes over me is Detsu's frustrated scream . . .
I lose consciousness with a smile on my face . . .
xxx
I open my eyes with a groan and raise my hand to my head – which is pounding furiously with pain. Reminds me of the morning after Sheik and I snuck into Bruiser's liquor cabinet a couple years ago . . .
"You're awake," says a tense voice from somewhere close to me. I try and push myself into a sitting position, but a strong hand on my shoulder pushes me back down. I blink blearily and try to focus on the owner of the hand. It's the Sheikah . . . the one who was fighting Detsu . . .
Maybe it's just wishful thinking, or maybe I'm just not coherent yet, but if I look at him from the right angle . . . he looks like me . . .
"What . . . happened?" I ask, slowly trying to take in more of my surroundings. We're in a small cave. There's a tiny fire burning close to where I'm laying, illuminating the sleeping form of the Gerudo woman, the small boy clutched tightly in her arms.
"Well," says the man, "if what Link tells me is true, you fell out of the sky in a blue light . . . and then you saved him." He turns to look at me. "Saved us all." I look at his eyes. They're a deep green color . . . kind of reminds me of the ancient parts of the Lost Woods . . . that kind of green . . . I like his eyes . . . they make me feel . . . safe . . . He's studying me closely, measuring me with his eyes. "What's your name?"
"L – Hunter," I say. He smiles slowly at me.
"I have a nephew named Hunter," he says. "He's a good kid." He reaches for a stick and stirs the fire a bit. "But he knows enough not to lie to me . . ." I force myself not to react to his words, hoping I look cool, calm and collected . . .
Why do I get the feeling I'm failing miserably?
The man's eyes flick briefly down to my hand, taking in the gold triforce mark.
"Do you know the legend of the Triforce?" He asks me.
"I know a few legends," I reply cautiously. "The Triforce is in a lot of them . . ."
"Do you know what happens if someone who's heart isn't in balance tries to take the Triforce and use it?"
"It separates into its three pieces," I answer, watching him warily, wondering at his point.
"Right," he answers. "Do you know who Ganondorf is?" The look on my face is all the answer he needs. "Ganondorf tried to take the Triforce . . . and it separated. Because of his obsession with power, that was the piece of the Triforce he got to keep. The other two, Wisdom and Courage, fled, and found themselves new protectors. The Triforce of Wisdom, recently chose the tiny Princess of Hyrule as its protector." He grows silent for a moment. I hesitate, almost afraid to ask . . .
"And the Triforce of Courage?" I ask. He looks up, watching the Gerudo and the kid.
"The Triforce of Courage chose my son, Link," the man says. He turns to look back at me, his eyes suddenly penetrating . . . "There are a few conclusions to be drawn from your arrival. The blue light that Link told me about . . . there is a legend among my people about the Hero of Time . . . someone who can control the Pedestals of Time and use them to travel the Flow of Time – the legends usually associate him with a blue light. Therefore, I am going to assume you are from the future. The Triforce mark, on your hand, however, concerns me. It has to be the Triforce of Courage. The way you fought . . . you were brave, but stupid. But in order for you to have the Triforce of Courage . . . it means that at some point between now and your time, my son died . . . or . . . it means that you are my son." He looks back at me.
"What is your name?" He asks again.
My mind is so jumbled and twisted and confused right now . . .
My back stings . . . and my head hurts . . .
I can't even react to what's happening . . .
All I can do, is tell him the truth . . .
"Link," I say quietly. "My name is Link." He looks back at the fire and his face is hidden from my view.
"Link . . . " He whispers.
"Your name . . ." I say.
"Brayden," he answers. "You should sleep, Link. Morning is in a few hours. We'll have to get moving again . . ."
And as much as I burn to ask the questions my jumbled mind can hardly form, I haven't got the strength.
Within a few moments I'm asleep again . . .
xxx
I'm trembling.
Because of the cold? Because of the pain? Because of the fear?
I don't understand . . .
I'm surrounded by whiteness, cold and blank. I spin around, searching desperately for some familiar sight. Some sign that I'm still . . . I don't know, alive?
Alive or not, there's nothing here. Nothing but me and this whiteness. Suddenly, however, I see something, out of the corner of my eye. I turn and look, hope rising up in my chest, then dying still born when I see it. It looks almost like a ripple. A huge, dark, ripple in the whiteness. I swallow hard and take several steps back as the ripple advances, picking up speed as it comes. Some buried alive instinct thumps deep in my chest: this is going to hurt.
I whirl around in an attempt to run from the ripple, but I've take no more than two steps before it reaches me, and knocks me back against a stone altar. I'm pressed up against the smooth stone, uncomfortably aware of the three dents in it. Pain sears through me. Every inch of me burns with a pain unlike anything I've ever felt before . . .
Or have I?
Blurred images run through my mind. A tall, imposing man – Gannondorf I realize now – with ember eyes glaring at me with a venomous look. I see him raising his hands . . .
Another, earlier memory . . . another tall man . . . with crimson eyes . . . not like Ganondorf's, but close . . . it's Detsu . . . he raises his hands as well . . . but he's not aiming for me . . .
I scream as the pain increases.
"Hero of Time . . ." A voice whispers. Gritting my teeth I force my eyes open, peering around me. The whiteness is gone, replaced with an absolute dark.
"Who's there?" I cry around the pain. I press a hand tightly to my stomach and work my way into a sitting position. "Who's there?" Before I even finish the question I know the answer. I know who it is.
It's Psycho Me.
It's Dark Link.
"HERO OF TIME!" Screams a voice from behind me. I whirl around just in time to see an ebony figure lunging at me, three feet of black steel gleaming in his hand.
"Wha . . ." Without wasting any more time on half formed words, I try to roll off the altar and onto my feet. The pain abruptly increases however and I cry out and crumple back on the cold, smooth surface.
"HERO OF TIME!" The figure screams again. He leaps at me again and I struggle to roll out of the way, but I'm not fast enough. His black blade slides through my stomach, impaling me, pinning me to the altar as my blood runs down the sides of it, filling the gaps in it. I gasp and my eyes go wide, even as my hands clutch at the blade inside of me. Dark Link smiles wolfishly down at me.
His face blurs and shifts . . .
He looks . . . like . . . Brayden . . .
Like . . . my father . . .
"Your blood," he whispers, "will open the seal . . ."
xxx
I lurch awake with a gasp, throwing myself into a sitting position. My breath comes in short and ragged gasps and my hand clenches into a fist against my stomach.
That dream . . .
That damnable dream . . .
"You are Link?" Asks a voice to my right. I blink and try and shove the images from my dream from my mind. The Gerudo woman peers at me.
"I am," I say, squinting at her face. I've seen her somewhere before . . .
"Brayden says you are my son from the future . . ."
Farore . . .
She's . . . she's . . .
"Natalia," I whisper. "You're Natalia!" Her eyes narrow at me.
"I would not have raised my son to fight as clumsily as you do," she says harshly. I wince.
"All right, so I'm not the greatest fighter in the world," I grumble. "I've had that pointed out to me multiple times, by multiple people. But it's hardly my fault. And . . . if I really am your son . . ." I look away. "You didn't raise me . . ."
"You sound like you've quite a story to tell us," says Brayden from the cave opening. We both turn to look at him. In his hands his little boy stares curiously at me. I stare just as curiously back.
He's got amazing eyes . . . they're so blue . . . like the color of the Master Sword when it glows . . . like the color of Time . . .
Are those my eyes?
"I don't think you're going to like my story much," I say softly. Brayden keeps his face expressionless.
"I'll be the judge of that," he says. "Come on. You can tell it on the way."
"We're taking him with us?" Natalia demands suddenly, staring at him in surprise. She frowns darkly. "Brayden, you can't seriously believe . . ."
"Look at him, Nat," he says. "Look at his eyes . . . tell me he's not your King. Tell me he's not a Child of Destiny . . . tell me he's not your son. I dare you." I turn back to meet her gaze. She holds my eyes for a long time, searching for something . . . I hold my breath, afraid she won't find it . . . even more afraid she will . . .
This is so beyond anything I ever dreamed of . . .
What if it's true? What if these people are my parents?
I've wondered my whole life . . . I've wanted my whole life . . .
What if . . . what if . . .
"Woah! Hold on!" I cry suddenly, my head snapping around to look at Brayden. "King? What?" He raises a puzzled eyebrow.
"Well . . . you are the King of the Gerudos aren't you?" He asks. I frown.
"No, Ganondorf is," I say. "I can't be King of the Gerudos. There's only one boy born every hundred years. And Ganondorf is that boy." I pause and stare at the little boy in puzzlement. "Except . . . then he couldn't be . . . "
"Ganondorf was that boy a hundred years ago," Natalia says shortly. "He was stolen from my people as a child by the witches, Kotake and Koume. He disappeared for approximately 50 years, before reappearing. The witches immersed him in the Black Arts . . . prolonging his life indefinitely and making him infinitely more powerful than anyone expected. No one was sure how this would affect the birth of our new king . . . apparently it did not. You were born three years ago."
"So . . . then . . . I am your son?" I ask hesitantly, looking from one to the other.
"I can see the Goddess in your eyes," Natalia says. "You are Gerudo. And I can see Brayden in your temper. You are my son." She looked like she didn't quite know what to do with that information.
I can't blame her . . .
Neither do I . . .
There is an awkward silence.
So many times in my life I would have killed for this opportunity . . . to meet my parents . . . to know what I am . . . to know where I come from . . . to know that I didn't just appear one day . . . that I actually have some kind of history . . .
And here I am . . . and I have that chance . . .
And all I can do is stare from one to the other in disbelief and uncertainty and bewilderment . . . Brayden suddenly looks sad and sympathetic all at the same time.
"You don't recognize us," he says simply. "You don't remember us, do you?"
"I can't . . . I didn't . . ." How can I explain? How can I tell them? I know their future . . . they're going to die . . . and I'm going to be left alone . . . I look at little Link. He's going to be left alone . . .
"Is that why you didn't know that you were the Gerudo King?" Natalia asks. "Is that why you don't know how to fight?" Her eyes narrow angrily. "You were taken away from us."
"No!" I say quickly. "No, no! It's not . . . I wasn't . . ." I'm so confused. I press a hand to my forehead and close my eyes tightly. "You were taken away from me," I whisper. "I don't know . . . who, or what did it . . . I just . . . you left me in Kokiri Forest . . . with the Great Deku Tree . . ."
"Kokiri Forest," Brayden repeats, his grip on little Link tightening suddenly. "That's where we're headed now . . ."
"Why did we leave you?" Natalia asks. "Why would we leave you there?"
"I don't know!" I cry helplessly. "I don't know! I've always . . . I've never understood why . . . no one knows! No one even remembers . . . not even me . . ." I look up at Brayden suddenly. "You said Hunter was your nephew . . . and Hunter said Bruiser was his Dad . . ."
"That's right," Brayden says in surprise. "My brother's name is Bruiser."
"But don't you see? I've lived with Bruiser for the past seven years almost, and never once has he ever mentioned the fact that I'm his brother's son . . . never once! Because he doesn't remember me. Or you," I say, looking at Natalia. "Detsu . . . Detsu did something. He told me . . . said he took away everyone's memory . . ." Natalia looks at me in surprise and I can actually hear Brayden grinding his teeth.
"Detsu," he hisses. "That son of a bitch. That explains why the Sheikah haven't sent us help . . ." I look at little Link . . . despite the fact he looks about as confused as you can get, I can actually see him storing away the term 'son of a bitch' for future use . . .
If there was ever a doubt in my mind that he and I are one and the same . . .
Kid's me all right . . .
"We have to go," Natalia says, getting to her feet. "The Triforce transported us a fair distance away, but it won't be long before Detsu figures out where we've gone."
"The Triforce?" I ask. "That's what got us here?" Natalia grins sarcastically at me.
"No," she says. "The Great Fairy appeared out of thin air and carried us here in her arms."
"Hey, don't knock the Great Fairies," I say, getting to my feet as well. "They exist."
"So not only can you not fight, but you believe in the Great Fairies as well?" Natalia asks. I frown at her.
"But they do exist! I've met them! Or so I'm told . . . but anyway, that's not the point, and my fighting's not that bad."
"Bah," Natalia says. "Any ten-year old Gerudo could take you out."
"Hey, I can take the ten-year-olds," I say, crossing my arms. "It's the twelve-year-olds I have trouble with," I add under my breath. Brayden hears me and laughs.
"No shame in losing to a Gerudo, son," he says. "They all fight dirty anyway. No honour at all. Just a bunch of savage thieves. No civilized person would ever eat those blasted green things they're so fond of . . ."
"Leevers," Natalia says flatly, driving her fist into his shoulder as she walks past him. He keeps his face still until she turns her back and then winces and rubs it with his free hand. I smirk at him.
"Remember, no shame in losing to a Gerudo," I say. He frowns at me.
"You're Nat's son all right," he mutters. "Same sense of humor." I can do nothing more than grin stupidly at him.
I have my mother's sense of humor.
Go figure.
"So," Brayden says as we catch up with Natalia, who has some kind of carrying case now slung across her back. He lifts little Link up and sets him down into the case. "How about you start telling us you're story . . ."