At last getting myself around another bout of writer's block, I find writing is going extremely well for The Destined. In fact, it draws closer and closer to the end. I don't know when the next update will be, depends on whether the writing continues to flow.
Oh, and to a certain person (you know who you are), please stop pestering me all the time for updates. It's extremely irritating and puts a lot of pressure on me, especially when I'm at a very crucial and difficult part of the story. I would hold off on posting even longer just out of irritation, except that there are other people waiting for this story. I post when I feel it's safe to post and I never take more than a few weeks to update (usually much less), so try to have a little patience.
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Chapter 36
Fairy Magic
With the arrival of Saria, the remaining thieves, a few hundred citizens of Hylia City, and over a thousand fairies to light the ranch with their shimmering glow, Lon Lon Ranch suddenly seemed much more cheery. Though Zelda had never seen a fairy in her life, except for the much larger and more powerful Great Fairy, she knew that these tiny spheres of pure light could be nothing else. Some were pure white, while others were tinted red, green, and blue. She watched them as they soared through the ranch in awe, unable to think of a single word to say, before being accosted by Rune and Dagger.
"Ow," Zelda gasped as the two slammed into her in a hug that started the vertigo again. "I'm happy to see you too–but–"
Marek came to pry the two girls gently away from her. "C'mon, you're going to crush her. Nice to see you again, Miss Zelda," he added with a grin.
Dagger had tears in her eyes, but she glared at Zelda with her hands on her hips and demanded, "Have you been taking care of yourself properly? You look as white as a ghost "
Zelda gulped in several deep breaths to try and get her head to stop spinning. "I'm okay," she assured them once the vertigo was under control. "The spell I did to freeze time–it took a lot out of me."
"That's what Saria said it would do," Rune informed her tearfully. "We were worried about you "
"As I was about you," Zelda assured them quietly, sliding an arm around Dagger's shoulders. "How did it go in Hylia City? I notice you brought a lot of people. You didn't get in any trouble, I hope?" she added worriedly.
The three exchanged grins. "We decided to just be ourselves," Marek told Zelda with a broad smile. "We went back to the old life–robbing everyone we passed."
"We traded a lot of our loot on the black market," Dagger explained, "and while we were trading we talked. About you, about the plan to overthrow Ganondorf–turns out a lot of people were interested in what we had to say."
Rune shrugged. "You know how Hylia City works. It's like a sieve, everything that goes in gets sifted through. Before long the entire city was whispering the rumors we'd spread."
"It wasn't any trouble finding secret places to meet and talk," Marek added. "I don't think Ganondorf has as good a hold over that city as he'd probably like to think."
"All the same we were glad to leave," Rune confided with a shudder. "Talking about the Black King makes everyone sweat. It was a big relief when Saria came with the fairies."
"Speaking of, where did she find these fairies?" Zelda asked in amazement, staring around at the glittering swarm.
"In the depths of the Lost Woods," was Saria's calm reply. The young sage had come to join in the conversation. "They hid themselves so well that even their cousins the Great Fairies thought they had disappeared from Hyrule. But they answered the Forest Sage's call. And there is something else I have to show you, Zelda."
Marek, Rune, and Dagger went to find their fellow thieves in the dense crowd in the horse field while Zelda followed Saria toward the barn, where the travelers had stored what little belongings they brought to the ranch. Saria had left her things outside, around the far side of the barn where they were hidden from passing eyes. She had brought a sole item–a large clay bowl, etched with mysterious runes and filled to the brim with clear, pure liquid, shimmering with a silvery glow not unlike that of the fairies. Zelda stared into the bowl, frowning. She had seen liquid like this before.
"What is it?" she asked Saria.
The Forest Sage smiled mischievously, knelt beside the bowl, and passed her hand over it. The silvery glow brightened until it was almost blinding–then suddenly a shape began to rise from the pool, taking on form and detail.
"Nayru defend me," Zelda whispered in amazement as the Great Fairy of the Lost Woods materialized above the clay bowl.
"She will purify this place," Saria informed Zelda. The Great Fairy smiled on them benevolently, shrouded in mist and silvery light. "The fairies will help. They'll guard your soldiers in the war and give them comfort on the battlefield. They'll be strong assets."
As if taking her cue from Saria's words, he Great Fairy began to rise through the air, up and up, until she hovered far above Lon Lon Ranch like a lone star shining through the darkness. One by one the fairies rose with her, a thousand tiny points of light against the brilliant glow of their great cousin. Below, sages and thieves, warriors and rogues, all dropped what they were doing to stare upward in awe at the spectacle.
The light of fairies and Great Fairy combined into one, then shot up into the sky like a brilliant silver arrow, piercing the swirling mass of clouds. The black thunderclouds retreated as if fleeing the great light, revealing a calm twilight sky dusted with stars over Lon Lon Ranch.
"I told you they would be strong assets," Saria said peacefully.
* * *
The fairies were a welcome arrival, especially after they and the Great Fairy had purged the land around Lon Lon Ranch, eliminating the possibility of an enemy attack. With the Great Fairy's assurances that no harm would befall them, half of the soldiers were persuaded to camp outside the ranch's walls, Link among them.
Rather than pitch a tent, he opted simply for a blanket on the ground. The thick grasses of Hyrule Field would make the perfect mattress. He laid an oiled canvas down on his site to keep off the wet, then built up a small fire.
"This is cozy." Link glanced to his right to see Saria smiling at him. A white fairy was hovering beside her head. "Mind if we join you?"
"Not at all," Link said politely, making room for the sage. She crouched beside him, gazing at the fire, while the little fairy zipped around Link's head. Saria grinned at them.
"Link, there's somebody I want you to meet." She indicated the fairy, bobbing excitedly in midair. "This is Navi. Navi, meet Link."
"Hello!" the little fairy cried in an enthusiastic, high-pitched voice. "Nice to meet you, Link. We'll be working together!"
He blinked up at the tiny sphere of light, now zipping back and forth over his head in excitement. "Working together?"
"Navi has agreed to accompany you in your battle against the Black King," Saria informed him. "She'll help you."
Link winced at this. "Um...little fairy, I don't mean to sound rude, but we're talking about Ganondorf here. I don't see how you can help me, to be honest."
Navi did not seem at all offended. "Don't worry " she squealed. "I'll help lots, you'll see "
Saria caught Link's eye and grinned mischievously. "She did seem eager for the job."
Link sighed. "You couldn't hire the Great Fairy instead?" he asked in an undertone.
"I heard that!" Navi squawked indignantly.
* * *
Saria eventually retreated back within the ranch, but the little fairy seemed content to stay near Link's side, sometimes drifting off to explore his neighbor's campsites, then returning and perching on Link's shoulder or on the top of his cap. Her presence wasn't bothersome, so Link resigned himself to his new fairy companion.
It was night, and everyone was tired–the camp soon fell quiet, inside and outside the ranch. Link watched his fire burn lower and lower, preoccupied with thoughts of the coming war. Since the Iron Knight's attack, danger to their side had become so much more tangible, so real. It would not be long before they were forced to meet their destinies.
Which side is destined to win this time? Link silently asked Farore, his own patron goddess. Who will it be in the end?
A rustling close to him made Link reach for the hilt of his sword, but glancing behind him, he saw that it was Zelda, picking her way carefully through quiet campsites to reach his. "This is cozy," she remarked, just as Saria had done, squatting next to him before the fire. Link noticed that Navi had conveniently chosen to disappear.
"The sages are cleaning out that old house, making it habitable," Zelda went on. "I helped for a while, but I don't think I really want to sleep there. It looks like the sort of place that'd be haunted." She shuddered.
Link caught her wrist and tugged her down beside him. "Stay with me, then," he suggested, holding her gaze with his own.
Zelda stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few moments, then abruptly looked away. "Link, we need to talk," she half-whispered.
He let go of her wrist immediately. "I don't like the sound of that."
Zelda smiled sadly. "You'll like it even less when you here what I have to say." She took a deep breath and began talking, explaining all that Impa had told her when she was drawn aside on the road to Kakariko. She talked fast, without stopping, as if by letting out the words quickly she could make them any less painful.
There was a long silence between them when she finished. At last Link said, very quietly, "So that's why you've been avoiding me."
Zelda nodded miserably. "She's isn't right, is she?"
"Maybe she is." It took every ounce of Link's strength to keep his voice steady. "Maybe she isn't. I don't know. I'm not a monarch."
"Neither am I " Zelda cried harshly.
He caught her by the wrist again and pulled her into his arms, feeling her shoulders shaking with repressed sobs. She curled her fingers into his tunic and clung hard. "Damn the goddesses and whatever divine notion made us Destined," she wept bitterly, her voice muffled against his shoulder. "Damn their cycle, damn their balance! We are–we are made to suffer for a fate that will only repeat itself, and for what? "
Link had nothing to say that wasn't pointless. He could think of a million arguments, hundreds of people he could damn, but none of it would help. Holding Zelda was like holding water in a sieve, and she was slipping away from him, little by little.
She stayed with him that night, but neither of them slept. It was strange, Link thought, that before this night he'd have given everything to have the score settled and done with Ganondorf.
Now he could only think that whatever happened, something precious would be lost.
* * *
Training commenced once more under the watchful eye of Valan and his commanders-in-chief. The old general no longer had to estimate their numbers and skills in his nightly battle plans with Impa and Rauru. The new additions all had some kind of battle experience, from the mountain tribes of Gorons and Hylians, for whom attacks from bandits and highwaymen had been a regular occurrence, to the Gerudo, who were trained from the cradle in combat with their deadly scimitars. The emigrants from Hylia City fought with stealth and precise skill, especially the Hylia women, who could not walk through the streets of their own city without fear of being raped or kidnapped and sold on the black market. Darunia and Nabooru helped in the command and training of the soldiers, and even Ruto fought with her Zora, who used no weapons other than the razor-sharp edges of their fins.
Saria became Valan's his eyes and ears in the field, observing the training and taking note of the troops' progress and their strengths and weaknesses in battle. Several fairies enthusiastically took up the task with her. Zelda often accompanied Saria as well when she didn't have training of her own to do, getting to know a new set of future subjects and allies. She observed their training, tried her hand at weapons she had no experience with, such as war axes and pole arms, and struck up conversations with veterans, criminals, wives, apprentices. People were wary of her at first, or openly doubtful that a woman like her could become a queen.
The presence of the fairies, however, changed everything. No one could help being affected by the joy and gladness they spent wherever they went. Even the most tight-lipped Hylia City rogue could find himself enthusiastically describing his family, his dreams, and his reasons for fighting the war with Zelda when a fairy hovered nearby. The soldiers worked hard and long through the day and enjoyed one another's company late into the night. More and more often Zelda was invited to join a fireside in the evenings, particularly by Peliwin and her mixed circle of new friends from all corners of Hyrule.
The longer they trained and honed their skills, hidden safely away in the ranch in the company of sages and fairies, the more confident the soldiers grew about their chances in a war against Ganondorf. The only ones who didn't share their enthusiasm were Zelda and Link.
Link trained with every weapon he could get his hands on these days, from the crack of dawn until long after twilight had fallen, while Zelda was busy with Valan and the sages. They barely spoke throughout the day, but she could not keep herself away from his campsite at night, knowing that no matter what the outcome of the war, these were their last days together.
She continued to sit every battle plan that she could, listening as Valan, Rauru, and Impa slowly planned an attack against Ganondorf. They knew that sieging and successfully capturing the castle-fortress in the far north was their primary objective. It was the major source of Ganondorf's power, where he ruled and where the majority of his army was stationed. Impa, who could pass unseen through shadows, visited it firsthand. She reported a great stone wall surrounding the castle-fortress, while the structure within was laid with numerous evil enchantments. It was Impa's opinion that Ganondorf had become complacent in his decades of rule; few sentries patrolled the wall, and it was crumbling in areas beside the gates and watchtowers, obviously not well-cared for. A surprise attack could be done.
Azura was invaluable in helping them estimate the numbers they were up against. As Ganondorf's underling she had visited the castle-fortress several times and seen what lay within. Based on Azura's reports, they counted roughly three thousand opponents. They all paled at the thought. Ganondorf's troops outnumbered them three to one.
Yet, as Azura pointed out, nearly three quarters of Ganondorf's troops were monsters or evil spirits summoned to his service. Without his evil to sustain and control them, they would easily fall.
"Then the most important thing is to get Link inside Ganondorf's castle-fortress," Zelda offered quietly. "Unless he destroys Ganondorf, our army doesn't stand a chance."
Valan and the sages agreed. With the sages to bless and guide Link, they believed he could get past the spells and evil enchantments that would undoubtedly be protecting the fortress. Any physical enemies he would have to fight on his own. Knowing that Link was honing his skills every moment of every day, that he could beat Impa two times out of three and was almost always too quick for Valan, that he had not merely the sages and a fairy to bless him but the power of the goddesses within him, Zelda tried not to think about the possibility that he once he was inside Ganondorf's fortress, he might never emerge.
* * *
They continued training throughout the weeks, and under Valan's command Zelda saw the roughly one thousand soldiers living within and around the ranch become a skilled, well-trained army prepared for a battle against Ganondorf's forces. As the weeks wore on, as training fell into a routine that many could go through in their sleep, as battles became as well-planned and detailed as they could, Zelda sensed that everyone was waiting for a signal from her–a call to war.
For the first time, she understood why Valan had been so unwilling to serve as her general. She understood the terrible, crushing pressure of having to send hundreds of soldiers into war, and hundreds more into death. She knew that she was stalling longer than was wise. She knew it was selfish and cowardly of her hold back the command that needed to be given. She knew this, but it didn't make her any less afraid.
On a day that dawned cloudy and gray, she wandered to the training pitch around midday to watch the sword combat. There was a circle of onlookers grouped around the pitch, and Zelda soon saw the reason–Link and Impa were preparing to duel again.
The two took some time to limber, then at last stood facing each other in a cleared area of the training pitch. Zelda felt Peliwin, who stood beside her in the audience, tensing as the two bowed to one another and crossed swords.
Impa was, as usual, the first to attack, but Link was too quick for her. He skipped easily out of the range of her sword and darted in when she stumbled, off-balance, forcing her to stagger back as she thrust blindly to deflect his sword. They exchanged a flurry of block and blows; Zelda could see that Link was teasing Impa with a series of short, quick jabs that forced her to continue defending instead of focusing on offensive maneuvers. Impa growled at him and lashed out with fists or feet when she thought he was unguarded, but Link was not about to be caught by those. It amazed Zelda to see how much better he'd become in a few short weeks.
At last Link got serious. Hooking his sword beneath the hilt of Impa's, he gave a quick, sharp turn of his wrist and the sword flew from the Sheikah's hands, landing beside them in the dirt. Before Impa could move, the tip of Link's blade was pressed lightly against her throat.
Peliwin let out a whooping cheer as Impa grinned, shaking damp hair out of her eyes. "Not bad. Not bad at all."
Link ducked his head modestly and sheathed the Master Sword once more as the crowd began to disperse. Impa bent to retrieve her sword, and as she straightened, her eyes met Zelda's with an undercurrent of meaning that Zelda understood perfectly.
She waited as the others returned to their own training or other tasks. The white fairy who always accompanied Link these days was zooming excitedly around and around his head, squealing about his victory over Impa. At last Link reached up and caught the fairy gently but firmly in is his fist.
"I'm happy you're happy," he told her, "but if you're going to keep flying around in circles, can you please do it somewhere else? You're making me dizzy, Navi."
In response the fairy slipped out of his hand and zipped beneath his cap. Link sighed and grinned at Zelda, looking at her for the first time. "For something so small, she sure has a lot of energy."
"She does," Zelda agreed. "Congratulations on your match, by the way. You fought really well."
Link looked at her with an uncommonly serious gaze. "We've got to do it soon, Zelda. I'm ready for him."
"I know," she whispered, her mouth dry. "I'm scared. It's going to mean the end of everything."
Link met her eyes levelly. "And the beginning."
She knew he was right, though it didn't make her duty any easier. One night about a month after the migration, however, Zelda realized she had waited too long.
* * *
To be continued.