CHAPTER 8

"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."

Link silently remembered the phrase his father had told him over and over again as a child. He closed his eyes tightly and envisioned his father's face speaking to him. It was so real, Link reached out to touch the phantom memory with his hand, only to find the emptiness of space in front of him. Slowly opening his tear filled eyes, he looked to the sky, as if expecting to see some sort of symbol that his father was still with him somehow. Link closed his eyes again, and softly cried. All of a sudden, Link felt a sudden wave of strength within himself, and wiped his eyes dry.

"No more tears," he whispered. "From now on, I will make my own destiny, and not live in the fear of the past. If I am some hero, then I can't be laying around mourning the dead forever."
Aragon walked up behind him, and sighed. "Remembering the dead should be a source of strength for a true hero, young Link. I see you have successfully buried the pain, but you can not completely bury the memory, or else it will grow inside of you and become a bigger problem later on in life than it was now. You must learn to harness your memories and use their strength. Only then have you truly conquered your past," he remarked.

Link gazed into his dark brown eyes, and nodded in understanding. "I know that I must conquer my past, Aragon. It is my future I have yet to discover how to make. I know all the facts, but I do not know what course of action to take," he replied

Aragon chuckled and responded, "Well, that is something you must discover on your own. However, I suggest you figure out a temporary solution, for we are close to Misery Mire, the location of the first stone. We rest at the tavern in the wetlands of the Southern Ruins, though, before we embark for the temple."

Link felt a chill run through his spine. Misery Mire was an endless swamp of darkness, where nobody ever came back from. It was filled with all sorts of nasty beasts and fiends that Link's father had told him of as a child. However, now he would actually get to see them in person. Link only hoped he'd live to talk about the experience with Eric someday.

They approached the tavern at nightfall, the sounds of drunken delight and female companionship could be heard in the distance. Link was unsure about resting at the tavern, for he was only a child and had never actually been around grown men in their unnatural state. Aragon came up to Link as he dismounted his horse, and slowly kneeled down to his level.

"If anyone asks, you are an Elven man from the Forest of Kokiri. That way, the men inside should only have their fun at the expense of your height rather than your age, a factor we don't want them to be aware of to avoid any unpleasantries," he spoke.

Link was kind of surprised, and replied, "But Aragon, I am not an adult! How am I suppose to pass as a man?"

Aragon laughed, and sarcastically responded, "It's time you started to act a bit more mature, don't you think?"

Link ran after Aragon, as the other were already entering the tavern. Upon walking inside the smoke filled room, the bartender looked at Aragon and nodded, and then looked down at Link, and chuckled, "Hey there little fellow, are you a little young to be in these parts?"

Link couldn't get the words out, when Aragon barked back, "He's a friend of mine, good sir. He is Link, father of three and loving husband of his Kokiri wife Saria."

The bartender nodded with approval, and apologized, "Sorry young sire, I didn't know. Please forgive me, my sight is leaving me for I am an old man." He then motioned for them to sit at a table, and then sent a maid to tend to their needs.

The five of them sat at a table, and the lady promptly brought them mugs of Hyrule's fine Romani Chateau, finely brewed at Lon Lon Ranch by Talon and Malon Romani. Darunia thanked the lady, and took the mug with his giant hand, and downed the intoxicating drink with one swig. Aragon took his and drank a bit less than the giant, and Ruto politely sipped her drink. Roam, not to be outdone by the Goron, attempted to down his beer in one swig, but most of it ended up on his face and shirt rather than in his mouth.

Finally, Link was handed his mug, and eyed it with more fear than any monster he had ever been told of by his father. He then looked up to see Aragon's smiling face, and said "To be or not to be mature, that is the question young lad. Drink or don't, it is your choice."

Ruto turned and replied, "Link, you don't have to. Don't listen to their man talk and pressure you into doing something you don't want to. Link nodded, and then looked around the table.

Roam laughed and yelled, "Come on boy, be a man and take a swig. It won't kill you or nothing. Go ahead, if you can't handle this, how are you going to handle what is ahead?"

Darunia chuckled and added, "It's a man's drink, young sir. Maybe you aren't ready to handle what manly pleasures await you when you are ready."

Link, filled with anger and embarrassment, grabbed the cup, paused, and then took a drink. At first, he thought it wasn't too bad at all. As he swallowed the liquid, though, he face turned blue, and what bit was left in his mouth he quickly spat out across the table. Link then promptly began to cough and hiccup from the experience.

The three men began to laugh hysterically at the youth in his valiant attempt at drinking the beverage. Aragon began to take control of his laughter, and commented, "I guess it is because of scenes like this the king has decreed that no youth shall drink intoxicating beverages until his coming of age!" The others laughed with agreement, but Ruto leaned over and tried to console the boy who was still recovering from the drink. After the incident was resolved, the group headed off for bed.