A note from the Hime no Argh herself-
Glad to see that response to The Kiss was generally positive. ^^ It was the first moment of actual romance in the story, so naturally I was a bit nervous about how it would be received. I hate writing romance, but I guess I like torturing myself or something because I write it all the time. -.-;
Writer's block was impeding the release of this chapter, but happy to say I've broken through it, so here is Chapter 14 for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
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Chapter 14
Great Fairy Fountain
Zelda drifted in and out of consciousness, sinking into uneasy dreams, awakening long enough to feel a throbbing ache at her side and someone half-dragging, half-carrying her along. Some time later–she didn't know how long–she realized they had stopped.
She fought to open her eyes. She sat on cold, damp grass, leaning against Link; the moon was peeking behind drifting clouds. The rain had lightened to a steady drizzle, though it hardly mattered–she was soaked through and chilled to the bone. She tried to stir, but the awful pain at her side made her groan.
"Easy." Link smoothed her hair behind her ear with a shaking hand. "One of those things attacked you?"
Zelda nodded dully.
"Let me look. Just lean against my shoulder, okay?"
Link shifted her so that one arm supported her back, his free hand lifting her shirt up around her ribs. She would have protested, only she felt too exhausted to do anything but lay her head against his shoulder.
"Farore's mercy," Link muttered. The wound was a mess of blood and torn flesh; one rib was visible. Zelda groaned, turning her face into Link's shoulder as pain seared through her side.
Link produced a roll of linen; Zelda supposed he must have taken it from the wagon before they left. Ignoring her protests, he wrapped the linen around her torso as tightly as possible and tied a firm knot. Only when he was finished did the excruciating pain subside to a throbbing ache.
"We've got to get out of here," Link said, looking toward the sky as if to mark their bearings. "I think we're near the edge of the field, but I don't know what side."
Zelda shook her head. "The others. I have to go back for them."
"You can't," Link replied, gently but firmly. "You'll die."
"I'm going to die anyway."
"No, you're not." Link wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her to her feet. "We're going to get out of here, and when you've healed we can search for the others."
They picked a direction and set as fast a pace as Zelda could manage. She bit her lip to keep silent, certain that Link had no idea where he was leading them. For all they knew, they could be heading deeper into the field. Blood soon soaked the linen binding her wound. She was going to die, of that she was certain.
At one point she stumbled and fell to her knees, only to discover that she couldn't get up again. Zelda gritted her teeth, unshed tears burning in her eyes. "Just go, Link. Leave me, please."
"Not a chance," Link said grimly, trying to pull her to her feet.
"It hurts," she begged.
"Dammit, Zelda, are you really that weak?! Get up!"
At last Zelda got to her feet.
Some time later, they both looked up to see a large, dark mass of trees looming before them. A pale gray light above the forest canopy suggested dawn was not far. "We're heading east," Link realized abruptly. "This must be the Lost Woods."
The trickling sound of water came from a small creek flowing south at the edge of the dark forest. A large, familiar shape drank from the brook.
"Demon!" Link cried.
The gelding tossed his head, whinnying, and cantered toward them, prancing like a frisky colt. Upon reaching their side he lowered his head and gently butted Link's chest. Link wrapped his free arm around Demon's neck.
"Why is he here?" Zelda asked sluggishly.
Link smiled at the gelding, scratching him behind the ears. "He killed two monsters during the fight. I guess their paralyzation didn't affect him. But I lost track of him when I went to look for you. Glad you're okay, boy," he added to Demon. "Think you could carry Zelda for me?"
Demon lowered his head to sniff gently at Zelda's midsection, and recoiled at the stench of blood. Link smiled wryly. "He says yes. C'mon–"
Link helped Zelda clamber up onto Demon's broad back. Once she was safely on, Zelda found, to her relief, that she could lay against the gelding's soft neck. Link took Demon's reins and led him on foot into the dark haven of the Lost Woods.
"Keep awake, okay?" Link said to Zelda. "Keep talking to me."
Zelda sighed, feeling very weary. "Nothing to talk about."
"There's lots of things to talk about." Link paused briefly. "Tell me about your childhood."
Zelda frowned. "Why would you want to hear about that?"
"I just do."
"Well..." She sighed, her tired mind struggling to recall the details of the past. "I was born in Kakariko Village, I think. Impa took care of me. I never knew my mother or father."
"How long did you live in Kakariko?"
"Oh...a few years, I guess. Then we went south to Hylia City. Impa took me to see the oracle, and she said I should be a thief. So I learned."
"That young, huh?"
"Yeah. I started out picking pockets. I was only five." Zelda stroked Demon's silky mane. "I guess I just got really good at it. Me n' Impa just...experimented, I guess, learning through trial and error." She added with a hint of pride, "I've been arrested five times and jailed twice."
Link smiled up at her. "So you're battle-scarred, huh?"
Zelda laughed quietly. "Something like that."
"And the Best Damn Thieves Around? How did they come to be?"
"When I was twelve or so, I met Marek and Rune in Hylia City," Zelda explained. "Marek was an indentured servant to an opium peddler, and Rune was working the brothels. One day, we all just decided we wanted to get out of that city. So the three of us ran away together. Impa caught up with us, and she was furious."
Link chuckled. "I wouldn't want to see that woman furious."
"No, you wouldn't," Zelda agreed emphatically. "But the four of us stuck together. We just traveled all around Hyrule, picking up strays, so to speak. There's so many people in this world who are suffering," she added sadly. "Sometimes I wish I could help them all. The life of a thief isn't much, but it's better than being a slave, or tilling the fields day and night for Ganondorf's tributes, with barely enough left to feed your family..."
"I know," Link said simply.
"It's his fault, you know," Zelda said in a low voice. A fierce emotion was rising inside of her; a feeling of rebellion, of insubordination. "It all comes down to him. He's an evil, vile man. He's not worthy to be king."
Link shifted nervously, glancing around as if expecting to find the King himself hiding behind a tree. "You could get in a lot of trouble for saying those things, Zelda."
"So?" she replied bluntly. "He's after our lives anyway."
Link was silent for a moment. At last he said quietly, "You're right. He is evil. He's disgusting. I hope he dies someday soon and frees this land...I hope he suffers in the afterlife."
"Link," Zelda said, impressed.
He gave a short shrug. "I'm only saying what everyone's thinking."
Demon whickered softly, his ears perking. Link frowned, cocking his head to one side. "Do you hear that?"
Zelda listened. From somewhere ahead of them in the woods she could hear a dim, continuous roar. "It's not another monster, is it?" she whispered, feeling a bolt of sharp pain in the wound at her side.
"It's water," Link said suddenly.
He was right, of course. Soon revealed through the trees was a moonlit clearing; water rushed from a short cliff in a foaming cascade to the pool below, flowing more gently into a small creek that trickled through the woods. There were five stepping stones in the silvery pool, leading from the bank directly into the waterfall. Gazing around the clearing, Zelda felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. There was something eerily beautiful and all too unnatural about this place.
"What do you think?" Link asked her.
Zelda gestured to the stones in the water. "That's no natural creation."
"I heard that there were once people living in this forest, many years ago," Link said thoughtfully. "They were a tribe of children, supposedly. Maybe this is their home?" He was silent for a few moments, then abruptly seemed to arrive at a decision. "In any case, we need to find you shelter for the night. There's got to be a cave behind that waterfall."
Link helped Zelda down from Demon's back and told the gelding to stay put. Together they crossed the five stepping stones, hesitating before the waterfall.
"Leap of faith, right?" Link said wryly. He tightened his arm around Zelda's waist, and they jumped through the waterfall.
The shock of icy water was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a small, sandy cave. Ivy vines crept up the walls and twisted about stalactites reaching from the ceiling. A short path led to a small pool in the back of the cave–lit, it seemed, by a silvery light below the surface of the water. Zelda stared around the cave, feeling chills rippling up her spine. It was not fear that she felt, nor unease; it was recognition.
"I've been here before," Zelda whispered.
Link looked at her sharply. "You feel it too?"
Zelda raised her eyes to his, wordless. She could think of nothing to say.
* * *
"Are you thirsty?" Link asked, towing her toward the small pool of water toward the back of the cave.
Zelda drew in a ragged breath, looking too tired even to answer. As Link set her down against the cave wall, he saw that blood had soaked through the linen binding her wound. She's lost too much blood, he thought with a flare of panic. It's a wonder she's even still conscious.
He knelt before her, placing a hand on her pallid cheek. "Does it hurt?" he asked gently.
She smiled wearily at him. "Not so much now."
"Stay with me, okay?" he coaxed, trying to hide his worry. "You've come this far; it'd be such a waste to die now."
"Yeah." Zelda's eyes fluttered shut.
Link took his hand from her cheek. Goddesses, he thought grimly, Farore, Nayru, Din–if you really exist, then you'll answer me now. Whatever you do, don't let her die. Please, just don't let her die.
A silver glow in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Link turned his head–Zelda opened her eyes and did the same–to see the mysterious light in the pool beside them was growing brighter. "What in Din's name...?" Zelda whispered.
A shape rose slowly from the pool, taking on form and detail. It was a woman, dressed in robes that seemed to be made of shimmering dewdrops; silvery-blue locks of hair stirred in an invisible wind, her skin radiant with the same silver light shining from the pool. Her eyes were black, glittering as if thousands of stars were contained within those unfathomable hues. Floating in midair, she looked upon the awed Link and Zelda, and smiled.
"Welcome, dear mortals." Her voice was a beautiful, clear melody, full of kindness. "I am the Great Fairy of the Lost Woods. How may I aid you?"
"Great Fairy...?" Link echoed dimly. "But–I thought–you only exist in stories!"
"That is what you mortals believe, yes," the Fairy replied benevolently. "My kind has been forced to hide away from the eyes of evil for many years now. The little ones are all but gone from this world. Only we Great Fairies remain, in hopes of aiding our beloved mortal companions, as we were once able to do when this land was ruled by purity."
Link glanced at Zelda, shivering and pale beside him. He couldn't think of anyone more in need of aid than her. "Great Fairy, my friend has been badly injured. Can you help her?"
"Of course." The Fairy's bare feet touched the floor of the cave. "Look at me, dear one," she coaxed Zelda gently. The Fairy placed her hands on either side of Zelda's face, their gazes locked together.
First Zelda's eyes fluttered shut, then the Great Fairy's. Nameless, sightless energies surrounded them, a power unlike anything known in the mortal world. At last the Fairy took her hands from Zelda's face, rising into the air to float over her pool once more. Zelda opened her eyes, and the weariness and pain were gone from them.
She blinked. "I think it's stopped bleeding," she said to Link.
He helped her to unwrap the blood-soaked linen. Both gasped when the last layer was peeled away–all traces of the wound were gone. There was only fresh, new skin.
"Goddesses," Link murmured, pulling Zelda against him. They held each other tightly for a few moments, wordless.
"Thank you, Great Fairy," Zelda added when they parted.
The Fairy smiled sweetly at them. "It is my joy to be of aid to you in any way I can. Please, come to me whenever you are weary of this world and its troubles." She turned her lovely face toward the ceiling of the cave, eyes seemingly focused on something neither Link nor Zelda could see. "Ah," she whispered, eyes closing. "Do you hear it? The great ones are speaking. I hear their celestial harmony."
Link felt the hair on the back of his neck prickling. He heard something–a few short notes of a lyric-less song, sung in a voice that was unfathomably pure. He glanced at Zelda, and could tell by the expression on her face that she heard it too.
"Yes...of course. I see." The Great Fairy opened her eyes and gazed upon them once more, smiling. "My dears, your time has come."
A shining circle of light appeared on the cave floor before them. "Step into the portal," the Fairy instructed. "It will take you to them."
"Take us to whom?" Zelda demanded.
"To the goddesses, child. To your destiny."
* * *
To be continued.