Chapter 19: Holding Out for a Hero
The smell of charred wood and burning flesh invaded my senses even as I charged down the path towards the Kokiri village. Tears ran defiantly down my cheeks, not all from the stinging smoke that threatened to blot out the sun. A flash, and my sword was in my hand, ready to battle whatever Demons the Sorcerer had unleashed upon the unsuspecting Children of the Forest. How could I have been so blind? Why hadn't I realized? Of COURSE he'd been following me. Even not knowing about the Oracles, I knew he'd already promised to return to exact revenge. The Deku Tree had been cocky, still new in its power, and none of us had realized just how strong our Adversary really was.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Oracle, and DO something." Saria's voice came from behind me, spurring me into further action.
When I came to the clearing the Kokiri called home, the rage welled up in me. Innocent Kokiri, gender indiscernible, lay scattered in smoldering heaps of charred fabric and scorched flesh. Several of the smaller buildings already lay in ashes, while flames leapt and danced destruction upon others.
"Sorcerer!" I was conscious that I didn't actually know the Sorcerer's name, but it didn't matter, anyway. It fit into the damn heroic rhetoric I was spouting anyway. "Sorcerer! Show yourself!" I can only imagine what I must have looked like, then. My blonde hair matted and sweaty, already covered in soot, wearing dirty clothes I hadn't washed in days, waving a sword that could, for all intents and purposes, have been a large dagger. Another time, I would have laughed at the ludicrously of it, but now was not the time. Now, there were innocent lives to avenge. Innocent lives who would still be living peacefully, if it hadn't been for me. None of this would have happened, if I hadn't been so selfish.
No. The thought rose unbidden, a dark shape rising from beneath the tides, and I knew, even as it surfaced, that it wasn't mine. You had no way of knowing. You're doing the best you can. Link is on his way. He'll help you fight back the hordes. Hyrule is counting on you. I'm counting on you. And, as quickly as it had come, the connection was severed, and I was alone.
No. Not alone. While I was wallowing in my own self pity, a gang of Moblins and rabid Wolfos had spotted me, and were making their way, slobbering and howling, in my direction. "Fine. Bring it.!" I waded into the mass, blade flashing. Slash, whirl, a burst of dust. Again. Slash, whirl, a burst of dust. The stench of rotting flesh threatened to overpower me, but somehow I fought against the nausea, and continued to swing my steel like some over-grown weed-whacker. Slash, whirl, burst of dust. Again. Comforting, familiar, the pattern of death became all, and I forgot my self pity, my misgivings about my presence here. I was the Hero. I was the Reaper of Death that the Dark Hordes used to frighten their children. I was the ORACLE!
Only, it soon became clear that I was not the only one fighting. Every now and then, out of the corner of my eye, I would catch a blur of green movement, dispatching Moblins and Octorocs at a rate I could never hope to match. At first, I was furious at this interloper, coming in to steal my glory, but the feeling quickly faded into a greatful silence. There was no way I could have taken on the entire mass by myself. I'm no great Hero. That's HIS job.
And then it was over. Every enemy had been scattered on the wind, and all the Kokiri who weren't seriously injured had begun to tend to those who were. My purpose served, I stood on and watched, impotently wishing I were skilled in things more useful than death.
"Y...y...you sh...shouldn't be h...here." I sighed, and turned to face the Hylian Hero.
"I know. But then again, if I hadn't..." I trailed off. Not even he could have taken everything the Sorcerer had dished out this time. And next time? I shook my head.
"Y...you're hu...hurt." He reached out, tentatively, his hands surprisingly gentle on my shoulder, laid bare by some Moblin's fangs. Even so, I winced. I hadn't noticed it, not until just now, when he'd pointed it out. Funny, that.
"It's just a scratch." The conversation lulled for a moment. What did he expect me to say? I had disobeyed him, true, and gone off to the desert, instead of coming here in the first place, but if I hadn't gotten the Oracle of Power... We both might be dead. "Look... I'm sorry about the Princess, and about everything... But I made a promise to Saria, and the Deku Tree. I'm going to help you fight this... thing, whether you like it or not. I have... Power, now, I guess. I'm not really sure what it is, or how to use it, but I could feel it coursing through me during that last fight. You need me. Whether you want to admit it, or not." I didn't feel like mentioning how the power of the Oracles had threatened to sweep me away in a torrent of rage, how I'd almost lost myself in the delussion of me as the great 'Hero'. There was time enough for that later.
I don't know what I expected from Link, exactly, how I thought he'd respond, but I didn't expect him to nod. "Y...y...you're r...ru..ri..right. You're h..h...here, lu...like it or nu...nuh...not." With a rare smile, he handed me a bottle of red liquid, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Partners?" I held out my free hand, cradling the bottle of potion in the other.
"Partners." And we shook on it. It wasn't until later that I noticed... He didn't stutter the word.
"How sweet..." A voice from behind me, taunting and cruel, sent shivers up my spine. I spun, sword in hand. "Always looking for a fight, Colt? I would be happy to oblige you... But I don't have the time. Alas, alas. But you'll have all the time in the world." He raised his hand, and fired a bolt of blue energy at me, but my reflexes had obviously improved since the last time I'd run across his path, because I managed to dodge it. "Hmmm..." The floating figure pondered for a moment. "That's interesting. An unforseen complication. Ah, well. I can always go around it." He raised his hand again... But instead of firing at me, he let loose straight for Link.
"NO!" I was on my feet, and with a flying tackle that would have made me a star on the football team, I shoved Link out of the way. But I wasn't fast enough. The front of the bolt caught my back just as I was flying past, and I slumped to the ground.
As I faded, I began to hear music. Is this what it's like to die? My body felt as though it had become thousands of tiny bubbles, and I was floating on a pillar of red light. Before the darkness took me, though, I could have sworn I heard a shriek of rage...
The smell of charred wood and burning flesh invaded my senses even as I charged down the path towards the Kokiri village. Tears ran defiantly down my cheeks, not all from the stinging smoke that threatened to blot out the sun. A flash, and my sword was in my hand, ready to battle whatever Demons the Sorcerer had unleashed upon the unsuspecting Children of the Forest. How could I have been so blind? Why hadn't I realized? Of COURSE he'd been following me. Even not knowing about the Oracles, I knew he'd already promised to return to exact revenge. The Deku Tree had been cocky, still new in its power, and none of us had realized just how strong our Adversary really was.
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Oracle, and DO something." Saria's voice came from behind me, spurring me into further action.
When I came to the clearing the Kokiri called home, the rage welled up in me. Innocent Kokiri, gender indiscernible, lay scattered in smoldering heaps of charred fabric and scorched flesh. Several of the smaller buildings already lay in ashes, while flames leapt and danced destruction upon others.
"Sorcerer!" I was conscious that I didn't actually know the Sorcerer's name, but it didn't matter, anyway. It fit into the damn heroic rhetoric I was spouting anyway. "Sorcerer! Show yourself!" I can only imagine what I must have looked like, then. My blonde hair matted and sweaty, already covered in soot, wearing dirty clothes I hadn't washed in days, waving a sword that could, for all intents and purposes, have been a large dagger. Another time, I would have laughed at the ludicrously of it, but now was not the time. Now, there were innocent lives to avenge. Innocent lives who would still be living peacefully, if it hadn't been for me. None of this would have happened, if I hadn't been so selfish.
No. The thought rose unbidden, a dark shape rising from beneath the tides, and I knew, even as it surfaced, that it wasn't mine. You had no way of knowing. You're doing the best you can. Link is on his way. He'll help you fight back the hordes. Hyrule is counting on you. I'm counting on you. And, as quickly as it had come, the connection was severed, and I was alone.
No. Not alone. While I was wallowing in my own self pity, a gang of Moblins and rabid Wolfos had spotted me, and were making their way, slobbering and howling, in my direction. "Fine. Bring it.!" I waded into the mass, blade flashing. Slash, whirl, a burst of dust. Again. Slash, whirl, a burst of dust. The stench of rotting flesh threatened to overpower me, but somehow I fought against the nausea, and continued to swing my steel like some over-grown weed-whacker. Slash, whirl, burst of dust. Again. Comforting, familiar, the pattern of death became all, and I forgot my self pity, my misgivings about my presence here. I was the Hero. I was the Reaper of Death that the Dark Hordes used to frighten their children. I was the ORACLE!
Only, it soon became clear that I was not the only one fighting. Every now and then, out of the corner of my eye, I would catch a blur of green movement, dispatching Moblins and Octorocs at a rate I could never hope to match. At first, I was furious at this interloper, coming in to steal my glory, but the feeling quickly faded into a greatful silence. There was no way I could have taken on the entire mass by myself. I'm no great Hero. That's HIS job.
And then it was over. Every enemy had been scattered on the wind, and all the Kokiri who weren't seriously injured had begun to tend to those who were. My purpose served, I stood on and watched, impotently wishing I were skilled in things more useful than death.
"Y...y...you sh...shouldn't be h...here." I sighed, and turned to face the Hylian Hero.
"I know. But then again, if I hadn't..." I trailed off. Not even he could have taken everything the Sorcerer had dished out this time. And next time? I shook my head.
"Y...you're hu...hurt." He reached out, tentatively, his hands surprisingly gentle on my shoulder, laid bare by some Moblin's fangs. Even so, I winced. I hadn't noticed it, not until just now, when he'd pointed it out. Funny, that.
"It's just a scratch." The conversation lulled for a moment. What did he expect me to say? I had disobeyed him, true, and gone off to the desert, instead of coming here in the first place, but if I hadn't gotten the Oracle of Power... We both might be dead. "Look... I'm sorry about the Princess, and about everything... But I made a promise to Saria, and the Deku Tree. I'm going to help you fight this... thing, whether you like it or not. I have... Power, now, I guess. I'm not really sure what it is, or how to use it, but I could feel it coursing through me during that last fight. You need me. Whether you want to admit it, or not." I didn't feel like mentioning how the power of the Oracles had threatened to sweep me away in a torrent of rage, how I'd almost lost myself in the delussion of me as the great 'Hero'. There was time enough for that later.
I don't know what I expected from Link, exactly, how I thought he'd respond, but I didn't expect him to nod. "Y...y...you're r...ru..ri..right. You're h..h...here, lu...like it or nu...nuh...not." With a rare smile, he handed me a bottle of red liquid, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Partners?" I held out my free hand, cradling the bottle of potion in the other.
"Partners." And we shook on it. It wasn't until later that I noticed... He didn't stutter the word.
"How sweet..." A voice from behind me, taunting and cruel, sent shivers up my spine. I spun, sword in hand. "Always looking for a fight, Colt? I would be happy to oblige you... But I don't have the time. Alas, alas. But you'll have all the time in the world." He raised his hand, and fired a bolt of blue energy at me, but my reflexes had obviously improved since the last time I'd run across his path, because I managed to dodge it. "Hmmm..." The floating figure pondered for a moment. "That's interesting. An unforseen complication. Ah, well. I can always go around it." He raised his hand again... But instead of firing at me, he let loose straight for Link.
"NO!" I was on my feet, and with a flying tackle that would have made me a star on the football team, I shoved Link out of the way. But I wasn't fast enough. The front of the bolt caught my back just as I was flying past, and I slumped to the ground.
As I faded, I began to hear music. Is this what it's like to die? My body felt as though it had become thousands of tiny bubbles, and I was floating on a pillar of red light. Before the darkness took me, though, I could have sworn I heard a shriek of rage...